I was in that state between dreamland and reality. The pillow was still covering my face from the light... and the world. Just five more minutes. Five more minutes before I start all over again.
I hear foot steps coming up the stairs. It must be Ally. She often climbs into bed with me in the mornings to snuggle. I look forward to those mornings because I know someday I'm gonna miss her toddler giggles and remains of baby fat that fade with each passing day. But today is not one of those days. I peer out from the darkness to see a blurry, blond-haired boy standing at the end of my bed. This is new. This is the kid who is normally always last to get up. He's definitely not here to snuggle- not his thing. He's holding something in his hand.
"Mom, I made you breakfast in bed," He says almost without emotion. He practically tosses a piece of bread at me, no plate. "It's even gluten free." He says with a stoic voice. I look at my tiny piece of bread with an attempted, but failed effort to spread cold butter across the surface. Most people wouldn't think much of this. But somehow this is quite possibly the best breakfast I've ever seen.
"I would have made you eggs but we don't have any," Be still my heart.
He cares. He's thoughtful. He's loving. The heart is catching up.
From the overflow of my heart...
Friday, March 15, 2013
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Old Yeller
I yell at my kids. Not just once a month, or when they are about to run in the street, but all the time. I'm not proud of this, I'm confessing the facts. Sometimes it because I'm tired. Sometimes it's because I'm distracted and don't want to deal with the situation. But you know what? Sometimes it's because my kids do stupid things.
That's right, I said it. Sometimes my kids just do stupid, childish things because they're children. Part of me raising them is correcting stupid things. I don't need to coddle them or say things like, "Now sweetie, WE don't color on the walls," Because you know what? I never color on my walls. I spent too many days painting them and getting help from others to paint them as well. Hard work and money went into those walls. I don't say, "We don't color on the walls because that's not nice." I say, "Don't color on my walls!" And then I make them erase it. One time Abby and Ally took crayons and colored both sides of their doors, the laundry door, their walls, and their closet. They scrubbed walls for two hours and I took their crayons away for a few days. I wasn't stifling their creativity I was purging the demons! ( I'm kidding, don't freak out.) When they said, "Mommy, our hands are tired." I didn't say, "Well, you learned an important lesson." I said, "That's because you spent so much time coloring on my walls. Keep scrubbing."
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times when I yell at them unjustly. EVERYday, in fact. There is a whole lot of realizing my own failures as a mother and a lot of grace needs to be poured out on this old yeller.
-End of rant-
That's right, I said it. Sometimes my kids just do stupid, childish things because they're children. Part of me raising them is correcting stupid things. I don't need to coddle them or say things like, "Now sweetie, WE don't color on the walls," Because you know what? I never color on my walls. I spent too many days painting them and getting help from others to paint them as well. Hard work and money went into those walls. I don't say, "We don't color on the walls because that's not nice." I say, "Don't color on my walls!" And then I make them erase it. One time Abby and Ally took crayons and colored both sides of their doors, the laundry door, their walls, and their closet. They scrubbed walls for two hours and I took their crayons away for a few days. I wasn't stifling their creativity I was purging the demons! ( I'm kidding, don't freak out.) When they said, "Mommy, our hands are tired." I didn't say, "Well, you learned an important lesson." I said, "That's because you spent so much time coloring on my walls. Keep scrubbing."
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of times when I yell at them unjustly. EVERYday, in fact. There is a whole lot of realizing my own failures as a mother and a lot of grace needs to be poured out on this old yeller.
-End of rant-
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Every Stain Tells a Story
"You're busy!" The lady at the store says as she observes my four children in line at the check-out.
"Yeah," I say with a smile. I've heard this a thousand times before. In fact, I've heard this since I've had two kids. And I am. I'm busy. I have been for a long time. But I have never felt it so much as I do now.
Do you know what scares me more than anything? An unexpected guest at around 1:00 pm. They would see me open the door and immediately observe hair uncombed, smudged glasses, dirty clothes, house a mess, and kids still in their pajamas. There are truly not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Today, after a long day in which the hubs had to leave the house at 4:45 am and did not return home until about 6:00 pm, I walked back into my room for the first time all day. I looked in the mirror and was horrified by the state of my attire. Here's a glimpse:
"Yeah," I say with a smile. I've heard this a thousand times before. In fact, I've heard this since I've had two kids. And I am. I'm busy. I have been for a long time. But I have never felt it so much as I do now.
Do you know what scares me more than anything? An unexpected guest at around 1:00 pm. They would see me open the door and immediately observe hair uncombed, smudged glasses, dirty clothes, house a mess, and kids still in their pajamas. There are truly not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
Today, after a long day in which the hubs had to leave the house at 4:45 am and did not return home until about 6:00 pm, I walked back into my room for the first time all day. I looked in the mirror and was horrified by the state of my attire. Here's a glimpse:
Totally disgusting. This shirt is the result of not one, not two, but three girls with a cold. It's a baby who spits up if she is not burped well. It's a homeschooling "wouldn't it be fun to make your own clay" project, and oil splatter from cooking. It's apparently a napkin too.
I'm tired. I'm tired of the baby waking up to nurse twice a night and I'm tired of two year old potty accidents. But you know, I'll get up the next day and do it all over again. And I'd do it over and over again. Because each of these stains tells a story. A beautiful, messy story about a mom and her kids and their daily disasters adventures of growing up and growing together.
PS Olivia has her own story about today...
or the last two days... ehhh, let's say today for saving face purposes.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Allison the Great
Look at this girl. Totally cute and adorable. She has the sweetest little voice and much to her dismay, I kiss her all day long. She's sweet, she's funny, and she's.....destructive.
I just had to go to the bathroom. It was only going to be a minute. But when I came out I started to piece together the crime scene. Somehow she had managed to knock over the baby monitor, play with my china, take several of the canned food jars down in the kitchen, play with my ipod and take the case off, dump a game out, and flush a bar of soap down the toilet. It's like something goes off in her head, "Mom left the room, must do as much damage as possible."
I know every two year old is messy and destructive but Ally is my most deliberate one. She once put toothpaste all over her sister's face while she slept and when she woke up screaming, she ran away laughing.
The other day, I told Ally she was a big girl and big girl's don't poop in their diapers. That day, she woke up from a nap and had a mischievous look on her face. "Do you want Mommy to hold you-" "No!" she immediately responded. Uh oh. I knew something was up. She probably pooped in her diaper and didn't want me to hold her.
"Did you poopy?" I asked. No answer. I lifted up her dress to check her diaper and didn't find any poop. In fact, I didn't even find a diaper. "Where's your diaper, Ally?" She didn't have the nerve to answer. She just pointed to her room. As I stepped into her room I felt something warm and squishy between my toes. It felt about 98.6 degrees so I knew it was fresh. I didn't even have to look down to make sure, I knew. "Allllllly!" I yelled. Immediately tears and loud wails came from my adorable mischief. It was hard to be mad when she was following my instructions to "not poop in her diaper."
God made this one adorable on purpose.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Claustro-Phonophobia: Tips on Traveling with Children
It's summer time! Time to lather on the sunscreen, hit the lakes and beaches, take walks... and plan vacations that involve long rides in the car with screaming children. I don't think there is a word for this experience so I have made one up:
Claustro-Phonophobia- Fear of loud noises in small spaces.
I suffer from this. There is nothing that can get my eye twitching like a screaming or whiney child in a car. It grates on me and I slowly come unraveled.
I don't really consider myself an expert on anything. Parenting is nothing like I expected and much of what I have learned has come by trial and error. But I have traveled A LOT with children. So much so I have been asked on more than one occasion if I was crazy. In one long (but fun and eventful) summer we traveled 116 hours, 6,000 miles, and crossed 30 states in a 2 month period. Oh, and we had a 4 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old in the car. We've made another across country trip with two of our kids ages 1 and 2 at the time. We've made countless one day drives in the past seven years as well.
I have learned a thing or two in that time. But the most important thing I have learned is road trips can be really fun with even the youngest of children (you just called me "crazy," didn't you). Seriously, don't stop reading! Here are a few of the tips I have learned to make traveling a fun and relatively whine/cry- free experience...
1. Get them excited! Talk about the trip with your kids (if they are old enough). Do some plan-ahead research and find some things they will see on the way. They will anticipate each site even if you are only driving by.
2. Buy a map. I got this map and every time we crossed a new state the kids got to put a sticker on (we would wait until the next stop to put it on and the kids would take turns). The best part is you can reuse it for each trip and the kids can keep track of all the states they've been in.
3. This one is pricy but is possibly the greatest invention short of antibiotics in the past 100 years: The automobile DVD player. You'll take a hit with the initial purchase but you will hopefully have it for years to come.
4. Baby entertainment. For young babies who can't eat snacks, there's not a whole lot to do. I usually reach back and hand them a toy if they can hold onto things. I keep a small bag of little baby toys and hand them a new toy each time they drop them into the new area of your car you didn't know existed. Baby mirrors that attach onto the back of the seat are great. Things that make noise and have a remote control (that particular toy works great if they are rear facing because you control the remote and forward facing because they control the remote). Also, this and this. And this is great so your older baby or toddler can't lose their sippy cup or bottle. If they can eat snacks, I prefer Mum Mums because they dissolve in their mouth and are not a choking hazard but they take awhile to eat. And it goes without saying, make the most of your stops so you are stopping as little as possible (i.e., change diaper, feed and let baby stretch during each stop. And don't stop if baby is sleeping... no matter how bad you have to go to the bathroom).
5. Kid/Toddler entertainment. My 5 and almost 7 year old like to play video games. My 2 1/2 year is entertained by each device for all of two minutes. Fun Pockets are great because they stick to the scenery without being sticky. Magnetic Books are great for the same reason. Obviously no one can buy this kind of stuff for one trip. I have come upon most of this stuff at garage sales or have accumulated stuff over time. If you have two kids sitting next to each other this is a great way to store everything. I put all their entertainment, including coloring books and crayons and their water in there. aquadoodles are great entertainment without making the mess as well as Color Wonder books and markers.
6. Comfort. Uncomfortable kids make for cranky kids. We bought our kids these a long time ago to ease the long amount of time in a car seat.
7. Snacks, Snacks, Snacks. Each day of travel I pack a brown paper bag full of snacks for the kids to eat at their own discretion.
8. CD's. Not just music cd's (Those are great too). Try books on tape. You can even check them out at the local library. It gives them something to follow without starring at a screen.
9. Presents! Everybody loves to unwrap a gift. I am going to wrap a present for each day of the trip and I will give it to them at the "half way" point each day. That will give them something to look forward to as well as a boost of energy for the second half of the trip. Again, I have picked up a lot of this stuff at garage sales. Buy a toy for a quarter at a garage sale, wrap it up, and you buy an hour in the car.
10. Pack separate suitcases for each day you are staying at a hotel. There is nothing more frustrating and tiring then hauling all your luggage into a hotel you are only staying one night at. Pack a separate, smaller suitcase with all the stuff you and your family will need for that night. If you are staying at more than one hotel, pack a small luggage bag for each night and carry a small back pack with all the stuff that will need to be used at every hotel like toiletries, pajamas, bathing suit. That way you don't have to worry about transferring stuff over to the next suitcase. So, you are walking into the hotel with a backpack and a small suitcase and maybe a few small items like a purse, computer, etc..
Most important, don't forget to take pictures and have fun.
You'll always remember your vacations!
We will be traveling for three days (24 driving hours) this summer
with a 6, 5, 2 yo and 4 month old.
Claustro-Phonophobia- Fear of loud noises in small spaces.
I suffer from this. There is nothing that can get my eye twitching like a screaming or whiney child in a car. It grates on me and I slowly come unraveled.
I don't really consider myself an expert on anything. Parenting is nothing like I expected and much of what I have learned has come by trial and error. But I have traveled A LOT with children. So much so I have been asked on more than one occasion if I was crazy. In one long (but fun and eventful) summer we traveled 116 hours, 6,000 miles, and crossed 30 states in a 2 month period. Oh, and we had a 4 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old in the car. We've made another across country trip with two of our kids ages 1 and 2 at the time. We've made countless one day drives in the past seven years as well.
I have learned a thing or two in that time. But the most important thing I have learned is road trips can be really fun with even the youngest of children (you just called me "crazy," didn't you). Seriously, don't stop reading! Here are a few of the tips I have learned to make traveling a fun and relatively whine/cry- free experience...
1. Get them excited! Talk about the trip with your kids (if they are old enough). Do some plan-ahead research and find some things they will see on the way. They will anticipate each site even if you are only driving by.
2. Buy a map. I got this map and every time we crossed a new state the kids got to put a sticker on (we would wait until the next stop to put it on and the kids would take turns). The best part is you can reuse it for each trip and the kids can keep track of all the states they've been in.
3. This one is pricy but is possibly the greatest invention short of antibiotics in the past 100 years: The automobile DVD player. You'll take a hit with the initial purchase but you will hopefully have it for years to come.
4. Baby entertainment. For young babies who can't eat snacks, there's not a whole lot to do. I usually reach back and hand them a toy if they can hold onto things. I keep a small bag of little baby toys and hand them a new toy each time they drop them into the new area of your car you didn't know existed. Baby mirrors that attach onto the back of the seat are great. Things that make noise and have a remote control (that particular toy works great if they are rear facing because you control the remote and forward facing because they control the remote). Also, this and this. And this is great so your older baby or toddler can't lose their sippy cup or bottle. If they can eat snacks, I prefer Mum Mums because they dissolve in their mouth and are not a choking hazard but they take awhile to eat. And it goes without saying, make the most of your stops so you are stopping as little as possible (i.e., change diaper, feed and let baby stretch during each stop. And don't stop if baby is sleeping... no matter how bad you have to go to the bathroom).
5. Kid/Toddler entertainment. My 5 and almost 7 year old like to play video games. My 2 1/2 year is entertained by each device for all of two minutes. Fun Pockets are great because they stick to the scenery without being sticky. Magnetic Books are great for the same reason. Obviously no one can buy this kind of stuff for one trip. I have come upon most of this stuff at garage sales or have accumulated stuff over time. If you have two kids sitting next to each other this is a great way to store everything. I put all their entertainment, including coloring books and crayons and their water in there. aquadoodles are great entertainment without making the mess as well as Color Wonder books and markers.
6. Comfort. Uncomfortable kids make for cranky kids. We bought our kids these a long time ago to ease the long amount of time in a car seat.
7. Snacks, Snacks, Snacks. Each day of travel I pack a brown paper bag full of snacks for the kids to eat at their own discretion.
8. CD's. Not just music cd's (Those are great too). Try books on tape. You can even check them out at the local library. It gives them something to follow without starring at a screen.
9. Presents! Everybody loves to unwrap a gift. I am going to wrap a present for each day of the trip and I will give it to them at the "half way" point each day. That will give them something to look forward to as well as a boost of energy for the second half of the trip. Again, I have picked up a lot of this stuff at garage sales. Buy a toy for a quarter at a garage sale, wrap it up, and you buy an hour in the car.
10. Pack separate suitcases for each day you are staying at a hotel. There is nothing more frustrating and tiring then hauling all your luggage into a hotel you are only staying one night at. Pack a separate, smaller suitcase with all the stuff you and your family will need for that night. If you are staying at more than one hotel, pack a small luggage bag for each night and carry a small back pack with all the stuff that will need to be used at every hotel like toiletries, pajamas, bathing suit. That way you don't have to worry about transferring stuff over to the next suitcase. So, you are walking into the hotel with a backpack and a small suitcase and maybe a few small items like a purse, computer, etc..
Most important, don't forget to take pictures and have fun.
You'll always remember your vacations!
We will be traveling for three days (24 driving hours) this summer
with a 6, 5, 2 yo and 4 month old.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Moving On
I think a common
misconceived notion is that if I work hard enough or have the right amount of
faith, no troubles will come my way. God blesses the righteous and to
hell with everyone else. This is simply unbiblical and not true.
Ask Job. If anything, God calls the Christian to a life of crosses
and a certain amount of suffering. This is not to say the Lord does not
take absolute delight in blessing His children.
Or which one of you, if his son asks
him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him
a serpent? If you then, who
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give
good things to those who ask him! -Matthew
7:9-11
|
I can attest to this
verse. In my short lived life, God has blessed me and my family beyond
measure. I cannot tell you how many times the car broke down or
something came up and the Lord provided. But we have endured a certain
amount of suffering as well. I won't get into the details but I think
we can all agree every person does suffer. But the reality is people do
not suffer because they lack faith. They suffer because we live in a
fallen and sinful world. And no amount of faith is going to change
that. Believer and unbeliever alike, we all suffer, we all are
disappointed at times, we all experience heart break.
I have never lost a
child. I'd imagine that is one of the worst things that could happen to
a person. I've never been physically persecuted for my faith or had a crippling
illness. I don't know why I have been spared (thus far) in my life from
certain calamities but I can tell you it is not because of me. I do
know I am not exempt from such tragedies. These life altering events
happen everyday. If I am ever faced with such a crises I pray God would
give me the grace to persevere.
The Christian cannot/
must not ever boast of their own works. We are sinners and apart from
God's grace we are nothing. The difference for the Christian boils down
to one phrase: hope in Christ. Our hope is not in this fallen and
decaying world. The Rev. Lamb so rightly spoke when he said we must not
look to the god of death for life. We so desperately try to keep these
fragile and feeble bodies of ours going because we believe this life is our
hope. That is why we turn to abortion, assisted suicide, stem cell
research, and the like. We look to death to ease our suffering.
But friends, take heart! We were created by the God of life!
There is hope from the pain, the heart break, and the suffering.
God has given us His one and only Son to die on our behalf so that we
could live!
Life! That is what
our God gives us. That is who our God is. That is why He tells us
to eat and drink of His life giving body and blood while still on this earth.
That is why we can look past this earth and declare with the saints,
This is not it! There is so much more! There is the kingdom of
heaven that waits for all those who believe!
Hope, my friends!
Don't ever give up this hope.
|
Friday, April 6, 2012
Find That Human
Let's play a game. It's called, "Find That Human." The rules are simple. Below are three drawings created by Ethan. Your job is to find the human in each. The first one is easy:
Poor guy probably didn't know what got him. Okay, let's try it again with picture two:
Note to self: Don't create a robot that is 1000 times bigger than you are. They will always turn on you and then destroy you.
Those pictures were too easy. Let's try another. This one's a toughy. Here's a hint: That's not a human in his mouth. Keep looking...
Yeah, that was it. Your eyes did not deceive you. I want a front row seat inside his brain while he draws. This kid is not allowed to see a psychotherapist until he is out of the coloring stage.
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