My car accident

I had my first real car accident happen a couple of days ago. Isn't it crazy how you can be having an absolute perfect day and then all of a sudden your day is turned up side down with something upredictable. While I was leaving Deerpark mall a girl pulled out in front of me and I T-boned her, with my kids in the car!! It wasn't good at all. I jumped out of my car and the girl that pulled out in front of me was screaming and swearing at me. She was putting all the blame on me. It's funny how in those moments you can get super defensive. Well I did, because she wouldn't stop screaming at me. Finally, an off duty officer told her it wasn't going to do her any good to yell at me. After a few minutes went by the police and the ambulance arrived on the seen. At that time the girls boyfriend came into the picture and starting yelling at me, crazy, huh!!! The police officer immediately told the guy to back off and leave me alone, thank God!! I really wanted to cry! My kids had to go into the ambulance to get checked out, they were on cloud nine, loved every second of it! You really wouldn't have thought they'd been in an accident, it was hilarious! I wouldn't be surprised if they asked if we could do that again because they enjoyed it so much! So back to the accident, no one got a ticket due to it being on private property. After the accident I had to deal with all the insurance calls. The girl I hit spent a half hour on the phone with our claims guy swearing and telling him how much she hated me! The claims guy called me after his conversation with pyscho girl and told me all that she said. Long story short, my insurance decided that she was at fault because I was on her right, and the state of IL says that you have to yield to the person on the right and that I have the right away. Well, the girl gets the letter in the mail stating that were not covering any of her damage, so I know when she gets that letter she is going to flip out and probably come find me and beat me up!
As for us we now have 2 broken cars and a $500 deductable, that I don't have a clue how were going to pay. So please pray for a miracle because we are in need of that. This was definiately bad timing, but I'm so thankful that God protected us!

Healthy boundaries & the Overindulged Child

If you are a mother of a young child I would highly recommend you to get involved with a MOPS in your area. I've joined MOPS about a year in a half ago and it has been such a HUGE help with advice in parenting.
Last week we had a child therapist come in and share in setting boundaries and the overindulged child. Wow! What a great talk he shared with us. I think a huge problem that moms face is knowing when and how to start putting into place the boundaries that kids need and when your kids want things, how much is too much! Sometimes I also think that as woman we tend to try to act like we've got it all figured out, but in reality we don't have a clue! Parenting is such a HUGE journey, and just when you think you've got it all figured out, you don't!
Ken broke down the morning into 3 catagories:
1. Giving the child too much and too many things (Anything they what they get it)
2. Over-Nurturing your child (Doing things that they should and could do, like putting on clothes, tieing shoes, school work)
3. Soft Structure (Too much freedom too soon. are not consistant with rules in place, lack in discipline)

As I heard these 3 points I thought I was doing it all right for the most part, well then we starting digging deeper and I realized I have a TON to work on. I think it's so hard to find that balance on not giving your kid too much. I can think about Christmas coming up and how we all love to go overboard and buy our kids so many gifts, because we want to see their faces and them to have the best Christmas ever. Sometimes we lose the meaning of Christmas because we so wrapped up in buying the next gift. I think that becoming aware of what your kids have and need and knowing what is really practical and neccessary and what is not. This will help us in the process of what to get them. The over nurturing part, I kind of had to laugh, because I do find myself getting so impatient that I put on my kids shoes because they take forever! It's so easy to do things yourself, then waitiing that extra 5 minutes. I realized with that point that I'm only crippling my kids when I do everything for them. Lastly the soft structure, now Dave is SO much better then me at this. If you are a stay at home mom it gets really difficult not to slack in the rules an diciplining. Because your with your kids all the time, you don't want them to feel like your the crazy woman with all these rules and spankings all the time. Let's face it, kids and their behavior wears on you and it's easy to not follow the rules and lack in discipline. I've really come to realize that it is SO dangerous when you have a soft structure. Kids need consistent rules and structure because they are so smart and will try every second to get their ways if you let them.
Being a mom and a parent there is a lot to learn, but it's important not to act like you know what your doing all the time. I would suggest getting involved with a moms group, reading parenting books, find a woman who has successfully raised her family and asked her questions. There are so many ways to better ourselves as parents, we just have to be willing to find those ways.

Raising the Bar

Tonight I was sitting in a high school watching a high school play. Usually when I think of a high school play, I think of fun, innocent, you know like the kind that you leaves all happy. Well tonight that wasn't the case for me at all. This play had students, swearing all the way through it, making several sexual remarks, having a gay couple get engaged, and a seen where girls and guys were dancing so provocatively that you almost felt like you were in a strip club! Maybe I'm old-fashioned or something, but I really believe that high school plays should not be like that. I think it's so inappropriate and sad! I can't imagine what it would be like 10 years from now when my daughters in high school.
After the play I got to my car and felt like I need to start raising the bar in my life. I really was convicted with the stuff that I watch or just all the inappropriate things that we all joke around about. All the conversations that are meaningless. I really feel like it's time to raise the bar and make standards that don't budge no matter what. I really want to strive to live life differently, even though it's not the popular thing to do.

When Unimportant Things Become Important

During this past weekend at youth convention, I had a reality check. As I stood and worshiped during one of the songs i starting reflecting and realizing how my life is filled up with so many unimportant things. i kept asking myself "why do I worry about so much that doesn't matter?" I often worry about what we don't have, i worry about my kids and their safety, I worry about not having enough money to pay our bills, I worry about our future, I worry about my appearance, I worry about not having enough time in the day to get all my chores done, I worry about others, I worry about unanswered prayer. My list keeps going, but I realized that my worry for all these unimportant things have become the forefront of my life. Sometimes I become so consumed with my unimportant things that I forget what's most important. The Bible talks about not worrying about our life and the day to day unimportant things, but to "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you" Matthew 6:25-34
We need to recognize that we're not promised tomorrow, and we need to live each day as it was our lasts. i know the enemy enjoys seeing us get caught up with the unimportant so that we're so distracted we forget about God. This weekend I realized that once again I needed to give God control over my life in every area. I needed to stop worrying about unimportant things and trust in God in every area of my life.

The Best Dad Award

So my husband definitely deserves the best dad award. There are many reasons why he does, but I will only share a few with you. The other day Alexia was looking through her Highlight magazine and there was a project in there of a cardboard box house. Immediately when she saw that she was begging us to find a box so she could make one of these (well not her or me of course, her dad!) I told her that it wasn't going to be possible because I was envisioning this Huge box in my small living room and how ridiculous that would be! Well that's not what her dad thought. Everyday for the last week he has been going store to store searching high and low for the perfect box to make this house. Me on the other hand was praying that we wouldn't find one so I didn't have to have this house in the center of my clean living room. Just a little glimpse of Dave as a dad, he loves building forts all over the house, he puts up tents for our kids right in our living room. Just the other week I came in from the store and my kitchen table turned into a massive tent. Even though the kids love it and Dave loves it too, I on the other hand have a hard time with this because I like my house to be in order. Just when I have it clean, well another tent or fort goes up. I guess Dave and the kids are teaching me to chill out more with not worrying about the appearance of my house. It's a work in progress for me!!! OK back to the cardboard box house...today Dave dropped Alexia off at school, and he told me that he was going to be right back, we 15 minutes went by, 30 minutes and then and hour. Who comes walking in the door...all I could see was this huge box coming through the door, I couldn't see Dave just yet. He immediately said I found it, it was the last one at Lazy Boy Furniture Store. So sitting in my living room, I'm glaring at it right now is a cardboard house. Yep! It's here and Dave just went to go pick up Lexi from school. I don't think their are many dads who actually plays with their kids as much as him. So today I think he deserves the best dad award. Feel free to stop by and see it =)

Long Days...

So this past month the Mudd family has been really under the weather. Just when I think we're getting better one of us gets sick again. I have been confined to the house for a while now, it seems like forever!! Taking care of everyone, cleaning up puke, cleaning sheets, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning!! Never did I think back when I didn't have kids that I would be able to clean up puke and even catch it with my hands, I know it's gross!! I guess it goes along with being a mom =)
We just found out that Cayden has pneumonia, which is scary and last Thursday he had a seizure because of the huge fall he took. As a mom it is SO hard no to worry. He will be undergoing an EEG test next wednesday. I actually just found out today that we have to wake him up at 2am and keep him up until 9:30am. then bring him in for the big test. I honestly have no idea how we are going to keep him up, and me too!! So we are asking for lots of prayers. I'm really trying to just have faith that Cayden's tests are going to come back normal, it's just hard not letting the worry overwhelm me.

My Mom

I really don't ever get a chance to brag about my mom, so I thought I would take a second to do just that. I have one amazing mom, she is a great grandmother, wife, friend and mom. She has always put everyone else before her needs. She serves and gives to others like I've never seen before. She has a huge heart for the Lord. My mom growing up and still does run a daycare through her house. Not only did she have four kids of her own to raise, but 7 or 8 others that she took care of. One of her regular days would look like this; getting up at 6am the first kids arrives. Making breakfast for everyone. Making sure lunches were prepped and ready for us to head off to school. During the day with all of the other daycare kids, she has a structured day that has the kids rotating from different activities. Not most people would not be able to handle this, you should see her in action. Even though she has a house full of kids, she takes care of 5 animals, does laundry, keeps the house super clean and make a 4 course dinner every night. Now that us kids are all grown up you would think she'd be sick of kids by now, but no, shes not! She still takes care of kids and ALWAYS makes time for her grand kids. I know, I'm amazed at all that she does! Really there is so much more she does during the day for others it's hard to list it all. you would think after doing daycare all day she wouldn't want to be around kids, but that's not the case at all, she calls and begs us to bring the kids by so she can be with them. As you can see my mom is very selfless. The other thing I admire about her is her faith in God, she prays about everything. Even growing up if she lost something in the house and couldn't find it, she would pray! Pray! Pray! Pray! That's what she modeled for us. She is a giver beyond words can say. When we are struggling, she has always provided my kids with clothes, toys and food. Even when were not struggling she is always blessing us with something. The other thing I love about her is that she makes friends everywhere she goes. We joke around about this a lot because we can be in a grocery store, on vacation, at a gas station or just about anywhere and she LOVES talking to strangers. By the time we leave the store she becomes best friends with people she meets in the check out line. I know the list goes on. I can write a book about her, but I won't for now. This is just a glimpse of my mom. I can only hope and pray that I am like her someday. She is one of my biggest hero's my life.