Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
And In Other News
Just the high lights today.
My little mini rant did run in yesterday's paper for what ever that was worth. It was more work writing it than it was worth, I think. The effort I put in, all told, wasn't more than an hour or two, but the length really kept what I wanted to say down to just a bullet point. The other thing, slightly surprising, seeing it in print in the paper, wasn't nearly as satisfying as I'd hoped. I'm sure that it was simply glanced over as is most of the daily paper. Hmm. Something to think on there, I'm sure.
Little One is doing well, but starting to show his Foster Care-ness. He seems to have a high need to be held and coddled. Some sort of abandonment issues, I'm sure. Little Miss is doing well also, but is the same as Little One. There are some issues that pop up from time to time that just make a person say, wow, that's an issues tied to the birth home. Good thing there's therapy.
Yesterday was a day that I'm going to count as a win. Over all, it was good. We had more good behaviors than bad, we made it through our lessons with minimal whine, we got our rooms cleaned up, laundry reasonably tackled and ate a real dinner together. We made it through Tae Kwon Do practice with great behavior from both Little People. Amazing. Really amazing.
Now I'm starting to think forward. Past Halloween. I'm starting to think about the next big events.
We have a Tae Kwon Do tournament soon. They are really something to watch, so if you're interested, let me know. It's a little bit of an effort to get the boys ready though. We haven't been faithful with practice lately, just too much life happening around here to get there, so now we have to hit it hard for a week or two until it's time. We also need to make sure we have our uniforms and boards all ready to go.
That same day is the black tie charity event for St. Marcus school. It's a really fun night, but it is black tie. It's a night I simply wish I could be a man. I mean, how easy is it to just whip on that tux. There's no deciding about what to wear or trying to justify shopping. You could wear the same tux for years and years and no one would blink, but the lady, no, it needs to be something new. Now, last year at this time, I was a whole lot leaner and had quite a selection of things in the back of the closet. This year, well, I know that even my shoes aren't going to fit. I'm trying to get in the mood to at least try on what's in the closet soon enough to leave myself time for the awful trip to the store.
I hate shopping, almost more than anything else. I'll even take dental work over shopping and for me, the queen of bad dental stories, that's saying a lot. But, this is black tie. It's not like I can pull out a nice sweater and a pair of jeans and head out to the event. Let's not even begin to think about all the extra stuff like hair and make up and nails and accessories. Ugh. It's just too much work sometimes to be the girl.
Then it's on to Thanksgiving. It's a big deal holiday in my family. It's one I really like too. Mostly because I'm a food junkie. I love the cooking and eating. This year should be special. It's been a while since my boys were healthy enough to eat anything and so to be able to make all the traditional stuff will be a real treat. I'm sure I'll be farming parts of it out though, as I've never done a Thanksgiving dinner while caring for 4 kids. Good thing The Mr. will be on vacation!
I'm not usually much of a girly girl, but here I am thinking about clothes and dinner parties. Wow.
In between all that we'll have about a million medical appointments for the kids and at least one more court date. There will be case workers and adoption workers. There will be school, too. I'm sure there's more, but I'm really good at blocking it from my mind!!
My little mini rant did run in yesterday's paper for what ever that was worth. It was more work writing it than it was worth, I think. The effort I put in, all told, wasn't more than an hour or two, but the length really kept what I wanted to say down to just a bullet point. The other thing, slightly surprising, seeing it in print in the paper, wasn't nearly as satisfying as I'd hoped. I'm sure that it was simply glanced over as is most of the daily paper. Hmm. Something to think on there, I'm sure.
Little One is doing well, but starting to show his Foster Care-ness. He seems to have a high need to be held and coddled. Some sort of abandonment issues, I'm sure. Little Miss is doing well also, but is the same as Little One. There are some issues that pop up from time to time that just make a person say, wow, that's an issues tied to the birth home. Good thing there's therapy.
Yesterday was a day that I'm going to count as a win. Over all, it was good. We had more good behaviors than bad, we made it through our lessons with minimal whine, we got our rooms cleaned up, laundry reasonably tackled and ate a real dinner together. We made it through Tae Kwon Do practice with great behavior from both Little People. Amazing. Really amazing.
Now I'm starting to think forward. Past Halloween. I'm starting to think about the next big events.
We have a Tae Kwon Do tournament soon. They are really something to watch, so if you're interested, let me know. It's a little bit of an effort to get the boys ready though. We haven't been faithful with practice lately, just too much life happening around here to get there, so now we have to hit it hard for a week or two until it's time. We also need to make sure we have our uniforms and boards all ready to go.
That same day is the black tie charity event for St. Marcus school. It's a really fun night, but it is black tie. It's a night I simply wish I could be a man. I mean, how easy is it to just whip on that tux. There's no deciding about what to wear or trying to justify shopping. You could wear the same tux for years and years and no one would blink, but the lady, no, it needs to be something new. Now, last year at this time, I was a whole lot leaner and had quite a selection of things in the back of the closet. This year, well, I know that even my shoes aren't going to fit. I'm trying to get in the mood to at least try on what's in the closet soon enough to leave myself time for the awful trip to the store.
I hate shopping, almost more than anything else. I'll even take dental work over shopping and for me, the queen of bad dental stories, that's saying a lot. But, this is black tie. It's not like I can pull out a nice sweater and a pair of jeans and head out to the event. Let's not even begin to think about all the extra stuff like hair and make up and nails and accessories. Ugh. It's just too much work sometimes to be the girl.
Then it's on to Thanksgiving. It's a big deal holiday in my family. It's one I really like too. Mostly because I'm a food junkie. I love the cooking and eating. This year should be special. It's been a while since my boys were healthy enough to eat anything and so to be able to make all the traditional stuff will be a real treat. I'm sure I'll be farming parts of it out though, as I've never done a Thanksgiving dinner while caring for 4 kids. Good thing The Mr. will be on vacation!
I'm not usually much of a girly girl, but here I am thinking about clothes and dinner parties. Wow.
In between all that we'll have about a million medical appointments for the kids and at least one more court date. There will be case workers and adoption workers. There will be school, too. I'm sure there's more, but I'm really good at blocking it from my mind!!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Laundry, Snow & Mondays
Just as I'm sitting down here and starting to think about what to share with you today, I look out the window and see the most amazing, huge fluffy snow flakes falling down from the sky. I'm shocked and amused all at once. I don't even have a snow suit for Little One yet. I'm sure in a minute it will be over, but yet, I can't help but smile thinking of what sort of winter must surely be in store for us this year.
As always around here, it's been a Monday full of laundry and just plain striving to get back into the groove. I was realizing late last night, that this is really our first "real" week with Little One. We're all finally sort of used to each other and having a sort of "regular" schedule week. No big events or travels. So far, no medical junk. Just plain life. Ah. Sounds nice on paper.
I'm looking forward to a chunk of time that is just average. I'm learning not to be mental about all the small stuff and not to be a total control freak. I'm learning to have a lot of patience and acceptance for things just the way they are. I'm learning, or maybe relearning to see the good things and efforts that the kids make. I'm trying to make the effort to see the joy in the things they find joy in.
On another note, we had a great night out for our anniversary. We went to a very grown up restaurant, thanks to the coupon book and a giant gift certificate. It was really quite fun and romantic. Then it got funny. On Sunday morning we ran into our waiter at church. Talk about a small world. It was pretty cool though, to be able to walk over to him with his family and tell him what a great night we had thanks to him. I think his dad was proud.
Well, it's back to the laundry and the babies. Who knew kids could make so much laundry! I wish they were taller and could do it themselves, but I know it would be so hard for them. After all, I have to stand on my tip toes to get the laundry from the bottom of the washer and crawl part way into the dryer to get the socks from the back. Sometimes short isn't all that cute. A couple more inches would have really helped a lot!
As always around here, it's been a Monday full of laundry and just plain striving to get back into the groove. I was realizing late last night, that this is really our first "real" week with Little One. We're all finally sort of used to each other and having a sort of "regular" schedule week. No big events or travels. So far, no medical junk. Just plain life. Ah. Sounds nice on paper.
I'm looking forward to a chunk of time that is just average. I'm learning not to be mental about all the small stuff and not to be a total control freak. I'm learning to have a lot of patience and acceptance for things just the way they are. I'm learning, or maybe relearning to see the good things and efforts that the kids make. I'm trying to make the effort to see the joy in the things they find joy in.
On another note, we had a great night out for our anniversary. We went to a very grown up restaurant, thanks to the coupon book and a giant gift certificate. It was really quite fun and romantic. Then it got funny. On Sunday morning we ran into our waiter at church. Talk about a small world. It was pretty cool though, to be able to walk over to him with his family and tell him what a great night we had thanks to him. I think his dad was proud.
Well, it's back to the laundry and the babies. Who knew kids could make so much laundry! I wish they were taller and could do it themselves, but I know it would be so hard for them. After all, I have to stand on my tip toes to get the laundry from the bottom of the washer and crawl part way into the dryer to get the socks from the back. Sometimes short isn't all that cute. A couple more inches would have really helped a lot!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Forgivness
I'm having one of those days with the kids. Every time I turn around they are into something that I just plain thought they knew better than to do. I'm having one of those "clarity" issues right now too, where everything that either they do or I do seems to look and feel like it's somehow tied up in sin. I'm seeing them do things that I'm calling naughty and saying to them this is behavior rooted in selfishness. I'm thinking to myself where do they get this from? I'd humbly say that The Mr. and I are not selfish. In fact, I've been accused, by my own family I might add, of being generous to a fault. Something about giving away my last dime if I thought someone else could use it more. But that's besides the point.
I'm also having a hard time determining how much is "kids being kids" and if there is such a thing or if I'm just neurotically hard on my kids with expectations through the roof.
Then I look at my own responses to the kids stuff and I see more sin. I'm being quick to anger. I'm not controlling my tongue the way I should. I see myself steeped in sins too.
What a yucky day. The weather is gloomy. I'm gloomy. We're all still sick.
They all help to rationalize, but they don't excuse.
Being sick and tired and gloomy is no excuse for laziness with sin areas.
What God is helping me to see today is just what a huge problem sin is in our lives. I think it's easy to get caught up in thinking well, I really only have this one big sin thing to work on or these couple of sin things that keep creeping back up. It's much harder to see what I'm seeing today. Sin is prevalent at all times. It's just waiting for that split second of weakness or loss of focus to jump in and take over.
It is startling to see such sin so rampant in kids.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying my kids are heading down the path to felony crimes or anything like that, but it's amazing to me to see how even in a small child who is being actively taught the "right" way to live how sin sets in and takes over. It is exhausting as a parent to need to be so constantly vigilant in teaching them AND monitoring our own behavior.
It makes grace that much more amazing. It makes the fact that we're forgiven always something that brings tears to my eyes. The fact that the Father continues to love me in my failures is something that I cannot even fully grasp. To see that love and grace and mercy as a parents guide given to us by a loving, living Father, is overwhelming.
My journey as a parent is a constant exercise in humility and accountability.
I'm also having a hard time determining how much is "kids being kids" and if there is such a thing or if I'm just neurotically hard on my kids with expectations through the roof.
Then I look at my own responses to the kids stuff and I see more sin. I'm being quick to anger. I'm not controlling my tongue the way I should. I see myself steeped in sins too.
What a yucky day. The weather is gloomy. I'm gloomy. We're all still sick.
They all help to rationalize, but they don't excuse.
Being sick and tired and gloomy is no excuse for laziness with sin areas.
What God is helping me to see today is just what a huge problem sin is in our lives. I think it's easy to get caught up in thinking well, I really only have this one big sin thing to work on or these couple of sin things that keep creeping back up. It's much harder to see what I'm seeing today. Sin is prevalent at all times. It's just waiting for that split second of weakness or loss of focus to jump in and take over.
It is startling to see such sin so rampant in kids.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying my kids are heading down the path to felony crimes or anything like that, but it's amazing to me to see how even in a small child who is being actively taught the "right" way to live how sin sets in and takes over. It is exhausting as a parent to need to be so constantly vigilant in teaching them AND monitoring our own behavior.
It makes grace that much more amazing. It makes the fact that we're forgiven always something that brings tears to my eyes. The fact that the Father continues to love me in my failures is something that I cannot even fully grasp. To see that love and grace and mercy as a parents guide given to us by a loving, living Father, is overwhelming.
My journey as a parent is a constant exercise in humility and accountability.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Life With Kids And Other Things
In yet another episode of Life With Kids, you know you live with them when you find the half done 50 states puzzle on the floor of the master bathroom and your first thoughts are; I'm glad they're learning something and I'll just step over it.
You know your kids are history junkies when there is an air craft carrier permanently docked in your shower and you simply step over it daily.
You know you have kids when you realize that you can get up from a dead sleep and do just about anything you need to do.
You realize that the most peaceful time of your day is between 3 and 4 A.M.
You can recite any children's book by memory and know when to turn the pages with your eyes shut.
Stickers are one of your main fashion accessories.
You let the kids pick the shampoo and then spend a month with your hair smelling like a giant green apple jolly rancher candy.
In other news, it was my wonderful sister who sent dinner to our house. We thank you tremendously. Not only was it dinner, I'm embarrassed to say it was also lunch and dinner today and will most likely be lunch tomorrow at the very least.
Tomorrow is our official anniversary. I had thought about scanning in some pictures from long ago, but as you've already read, I have kids, so that didn't happen. Anyway, tomorrow is our 16th anniversary, I count us in the 20's though because we dated for 6 years before we finally got around to getting married.
Little One gets these late night feedings and medications which leaves me watching late night reruns. I had forgotten how great old TV was. I watch so little TV I could be content for a long time on reruns. Will and Grace reminds me of Moonlighting. And what ever happened to China Beach? How about shows that remind you of other shows, like, doesn't Boston Legal remind you of Ally McBeal?
Watch the paper for my letter, it should run soon. It's not much. You're only allowed 200 words, and well, frankly, I'm wordy. Cutting down from my original draft of 600 was harder than I thought it would be. Plus, I was trying to make one of my tantrum rants about society short and to the point. I think the real issues is that I have a few too many opinions and as I get older, I'm having a harder time keeping them to myself.
You know your kids are history junkies when there is an air craft carrier permanently docked in your shower and you simply step over it daily.
You know you have kids when you realize that you can get up from a dead sleep and do just about anything you need to do.
You realize that the most peaceful time of your day is between 3 and 4 A.M.
You can recite any children's book by memory and know when to turn the pages with your eyes shut.
Stickers are one of your main fashion accessories.
You let the kids pick the shampoo and then spend a month with your hair smelling like a giant green apple jolly rancher candy.
In other news, it was my wonderful sister who sent dinner to our house. We thank you tremendously. Not only was it dinner, I'm embarrassed to say it was also lunch and dinner today and will most likely be lunch tomorrow at the very least.
Tomorrow is our official anniversary. I had thought about scanning in some pictures from long ago, but as you've already read, I have kids, so that didn't happen. Anyway, tomorrow is our 16th anniversary, I count us in the 20's though because we dated for 6 years before we finally got around to getting married.
Little One gets these late night feedings and medications which leaves me watching late night reruns. I had forgotten how great old TV was. I watch so little TV I could be content for a long time on reruns. Will and Grace reminds me of Moonlighting. And what ever happened to China Beach? How about shows that remind you of other shows, like, doesn't Boston Legal remind you of Ally McBeal?
Watch the paper for my letter, it should run soon. It's not much. You're only allowed 200 words, and well, frankly, I'm wordy. Cutting down from my original draft of 600 was harder than I thought it would be. Plus, I was trying to make one of my tantrum rants about society short and to the point. I think the real issues is that I have a few too many opinions and as I get older, I'm having a harder time keeping them to myself.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Our Story
Twenty odd years ago I did a favor for a friend of mine. I'm really glad I did. It was an odd request, but we were in high school, so I guess it wasn't all that odd. She wanted me to dance with this guy and quiz him to find out the answer to the big question. Does he like me?
We were lowly underclassmen and he was a junior, way back when. He drove and had a car. He was good at everything. Good grades, good in music, done with sports but had been good at it, good in theater, debate and on and on and on. Once I got to know him better, I told him he had a golden lucky streak. But I'm ahead of myself.
We were all marching band geeks and way back then after the football games the school held dances with dj's and everyone stayed. That was the thing to do, go to the game, stay for the dance. I wasn't a very good follower though, and that night, I planned to stay for the game and go home. I wasn't hanging around for the dance, but my friend had other plans for me.
She begged and bugged and talked until I just gave in. She even lent me some clothes so that I could stay and complete her mission. Ask the boy.
So after much fluffing, you remember the 80's, break out the hair spray and gain a few inches, we went out to the gym. It took a while again to convince me to go talk to a guy I didn't know, let alone an upperclassmen. But time was ticking and she was waiting so off I went to ask this guy to dance with me.
In the end it was easy, he just said sure and off we went. The song was Amanda by Boston. And we danced. We danced like a fairy tale chick flick romance. We fit together, he could dance and we looked into each others eyes.
I'll never forget it, he said to me, "Don't look at me like that."
It's been one of our catch phrases for 20 years now.
How did it all turn out that night? Well, I never managed to ask him if he liked her, somehow with him being such a great dancer and all that eye gazing, I just never got around to asking the question. She, of course, was not too happy about it and claimed that I liked him and was only interested in him because he was older and had a car.
I knew, way back then, I just knew. He was the one. The one I would marry.
Now, it wasn't like it all went smoothly and we got married right away and lived happily ever after. No, in fact, it was a lot more like real life. There were families and friends to convince. We had break ups and fights and all sorts of crazy episodes. Even after we were married, we had some really rocky times, but then we became believers and everything changed.
We can easily look back now and see that God had a plan for us, even when we didn't know Him. He was watching out for us. Even when we were putting everything in jeopardy He kept it all under His control. He did indeed provide a way out, just as He promises.
What else can I tell you, as our anniversary approaches again, I'm still as crazy in love with this man as I was 21 years ago. He's still the best dancer I know and I'd slow dance with him any old time. His golden lucky streak? Well, it basically still stands. I've never known another person who just seems to always be in the right place at the right time, or have the right answer, or be able to create an unbelievable good outcome out of thin air. Deep down, he is a spectacular romantic.
Our lives are wildly different than we ever imagined. Long ago and far away we were going to be a dual income no kid family just living the high life. Some how God changed us and everything. I never would have pictured us living this life, but just the same, I love this life and could not picture us living anything else.
And my girl friend? Well, we stayed great friends though all of high school, even though I ended up with the boy. College saw us part ways and go in different directions, but today we're still in touch. And just in case you're wondering, she has a heart of gold, she was my maid of honor when I married "her" man all those years ago.
Our anniversary isn't until Friday, so odds are good you'll get some more memories, but just in case I get buried under mounds of laundry and snot and diapers and vomit, I thought I'd take this relatively quiet morning of fevers and ear aches to share part of our story with you.
It's been a 20+ year romance like no other.
**********************UPDATE************************
Can I just tell you that The Mr. can still surprise me like no other. Our door bell just rang and we answered it to find the pizza man delivering dinner from New York. Thanks Mr.
*****************MORE UPDATES*************************
So let the games begin, turns out it wasn't The Mr. who sent our dinner after all, even though the delivery man said it was him. I have my suspects all lined up. Any which way, thank you, thank you, thank you, we have been blessed and you can bet I won't have to cook for the rest of this week.
We were lowly underclassmen and he was a junior, way back when. He drove and had a car. He was good at everything. Good grades, good in music, done with sports but had been good at it, good in theater, debate and on and on and on. Once I got to know him better, I told him he had a golden lucky streak. But I'm ahead of myself.
We were all marching band geeks and way back then after the football games the school held dances with dj's and everyone stayed. That was the thing to do, go to the game, stay for the dance. I wasn't a very good follower though, and that night, I planned to stay for the game and go home. I wasn't hanging around for the dance, but my friend had other plans for me.
She begged and bugged and talked until I just gave in. She even lent me some clothes so that I could stay and complete her mission. Ask the boy.
So after much fluffing, you remember the 80's, break out the hair spray and gain a few inches, we went out to the gym. It took a while again to convince me to go talk to a guy I didn't know, let alone an upperclassmen. But time was ticking and she was waiting so off I went to ask this guy to dance with me.
In the end it was easy, he just said sure and off we went. The song was Amanda by Boston. And we danced. We danced like a fairy tale chick flick romance. We fit together, he could dance and we looked into each others eyes.
I'll never forget it, he said to me, "Don't look at me like that."
It's been one of our catch phrases for 20 years now.
How did it all turn out that night? Well, I never managed to ask him if he liked her, somehow with him being such a great dancer and all that eye gazing, I just never got around to asking the question. She, of course, was not too happy about it and claimed that I liked him and was only interested in him because he was older and had a car.
I knew, way back then, I just knew. He was the one. The one I would marry.
Now, it wasn't like it all went smoothly and we got married right away and lived happily ever after. No, in fact, it was a lot more like real life. There were families and friends to convince. We had break ups and fights and all sorts of crazy episodes. Even after we were married, we had some really rocky times, but then we became believers and everything changed.
We can easily look back now and see that God had a plan for us, even when we didn't know Him. He was watching out for us. Even when we were putting everything in jeopardy He kept it all under His control. He did indeed provide a way out, just as He promises.
What else can I tell you, as our anniversary approaches again, I'm still as crazy in love with this man as I was 21 years ago. He's still the best dancer I know and I'd slow dance with him any old time. His golden lucky streak? Well, it basically still stands. I've never known another person who just seems to always be in the right place at the right time, or have the right answer, or be able to create an unbelievable good outcome out of thin air. Deep down, he is a spectacular romantic.
Our lives are wildly different than we ever imagined. Long ago and far away we were going to be a dual income no kid family just living the high life. Some how God changed us and everything. I never would have pictured us living this life, but just the same, I love this life and could not picture us living anything else.
And my girl friend? Well, we stayed great friends though all of high school, even though I ended up with the boy. College saw us part ways and go in different directions, but today we're still in touch. And just in case you're wondering, she has a heart of gold, she was my maid of honor when I married "her" man all those years ago.
Our anniversary isn't until Friday, so odds are good you'll get some more memories, but just in case I get buried under mounds of laundry and snot and diapers and vomit, I thought I'd take this relatively quiet morning of fevers and ear aches to share part of our story with you.
It's been a 20+ year romance like no other.
**********************UPDATE************************
Can I just tell you that The Mr. can still surprise me like no other. Our door bell just rang and we answered it to find the pizza man delivering dinner from New York. Thanks Mr.
*****************MORE UPDATES*************************
So let the games begin, turns out it wasn't The Mr. who sent our dinner after all, even though the delivery man said it was him. I have my suspects all lined up. Any which way, thank you, thank you, thank you, we have been blessed and you can bet I won't have to cook for the rest of this week.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Do Something New Every Day
In spite of all the vomit yesterday, I did read the paper and that got me in a snit and caused me to do something I've never done before.
Today I wrote and sent my first letter to the editor. Yeah, I know, a big leap for the lady who would rather be invisible than noticed for speaking her mind. I must be getting old or something because I went ahead and spoke.
I'm just so tired of hearing people talk about the village raising the child and yet they aren't DOING anything. Just the constant flap, flap, flap of the mouth gets to me. I don't mind the flapping when it comes from someone who is actually involved in solving a problem or is helping to make whatever flawed system is in place to work better, that's totally different than just shooting off your opinions from on top of your box.
I'm sure my letter did nothing more than make me feel better, but I'll let you know if the paper calls.
On to other thoughts for the day.
Why is it that people believe you can not see into their cars? I'm really tired of pulling up to a stop sign and seeing my fellow motorist with his finger up his nose or checking my rear view mirror and seeing someone squeeze their zits. So to the general driving population I beg you, please do these things inside a bathroom or at least any room with a little privacy!
More insanity. Politics. Need I say more? Well, yes, today I will. See I'm wondering about those neighborhoods like mine, where just about every lawn has the same candidates sign stuck into the grass. What's the point of advertising to your neighbors that you're all doing the same thing? If everyone has the same signs out, who are we trying to convince? Especially in the burbs, the one lonely UPS man? The trash collectors? The mail man? Who?
I'm not loving either candidate, really, I'm not. All this arguing about who's lying just makes me feel like I'm on referee duty with my kids..."but he said", "but he did", blah, blah, blah. Let's all just agree that they're politicians, so even the "honest" ones are lying. They're moving around the information to make it be the things they "need" it to be. We've all experienced statistics, we know how they can be manipulated to say anything we want them to say, this is exactly the same thing. What I really hope is that as a country, we are really ready to live with which ever person gets elected.
And finally, Christmas humbugs. Today, while driving the kids to their piano lesson I saw them. The city has started to hang up it's Christmas decorations on the light poles around town. Frankly, I'm just not ready. I'm barely starting to think about Thanksgiving. The Little Mr. is thinking about it though. He's wondering if we could have an ice cream pumpkin pie this year. I'm thinking he might just be on to something. I'm thinking a chocolate cookie crust with pumpkin pie flavor ice cream in it. Maybe it's my sore throat, but that seems like a really great idea to me.
Today I wrote and sent my first letter to the editor. Yeah, I know, a big leap for the lady who would rather be invisible than noticed for speaking her mind. I must be getting old or something because I went ahead and spoke.
I'm just so tired of hearing people talk about the village raising the child and yet they aren't DOING anything. Just the constant flap, flap, flap of the mouth gets to me. I don't mind the flapping when it comes from someone who is actually involved in solving a problem or is helping to make whatever flawed system is in place to work better, that's totally different than just shooting off your opinions from on top of your box.
I'm sure my letter did nothing more than make me feel better, but I'll let you know if the paper calls.
On to other thoughts for the day.
Why is it that people believe you can not see into their cars? I'm really tired of pulling up to a stop sign and seeing my fellow motorist with his finger up his nose or checking my rear view mirror and seeing someone squeeze their zits. So to the general driving population I beg you, please do these things inside a bathroom or at least any room with a little privacy!
More insanity. Politics. Need I say more? Well, yes, today I will. See I'm wondering about those neighborhoods like mine, where just about every lawn has the same candidates sign stuck into the grass. What's the point of advertising to your neighbors that you're all doing the same thing? If everyone has the same signs out, who are we trying to convince? Especially in the burbs, the one lonely UPS man? The trash collectors? The mail man? Who?
I'm not loving either candidate, really, I'm not. All this arguing about who's lying just makes me feel like I'm on referee duty with my kids..."but he said", "but he did", blah, blah, blah. Let's all just agree that they're politicians, so even the "honest" ones are lying. They're moving around the information to make it be the things they "need" it to be. We've all experienced statistics, we know how they can be manipulated to say anything we want them to say, this is exactly the same thing. What I really hope is that as a country, we are really ready to live with which ever person gets elected.
And finally, Christmas humbugs. Today, while driving the kids to their piano lesson I saw them. The city has started to hang up it's Christmas decorations on the light poles around town. Frankly, I'm just not ready. I'm barely starting to think about Thanksgiving. The Little Mr. is thinking about it though. He's wondering if we could have an ice cream pumpkin pie this year. I'm thinking he might just be on to something. I'm thinking a chocolate cookie crust with pumpkin pie flavor ice cream in it. Maybe it's my sore throat, but that seems like a really great idea to me.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Spray Me Down With Lysol
I'm not usually a germ phobic person. Usually, I don't get bothered. Sickness among kids just seems like the norm so we don't make it a big deal, but this could be some sort of week.
Little one spent the weekend in barf mode. He seems to be done with that now and just really intent on pulling his tube out. That means every few hours I'm trying some new way of taping the silly thing down to his head. So far, I haven't found the answer to that one.
Little Miss just started barf mode with a spectacular display at lunch. Quite impressive for such a little tyke. I love interrupting lunch to give a bath and do laundry and disinfect the kitchen. While doing these things Little One again tried to pull his tube.
All four are feverish, achy, coughing and snotty. They all have headaches and icky tummies.
I'm getting a little tired of being sneezed on, coughed on and vomited on. It's bad when I have to change clothes before noon.
I think I might blame this on The Mr. getting a flu shot last week and the rest of us not getting one yet. Either that or Little One's visit. Or maybe our trip to Children's. Or our trip to public health for WIC checks.
I guess it doesn't matter where it came from, it's here. It will make for a longer week than usual, especially with The Mr. in the big apple, but it seems our schedule is pretty light this week, so for that I'm thankful. I think I'll be skipping some other activities too. I might even cancel on our teens. We'll just see how it goes.
Time to clean things up again.
Little one spent the weekend in barf mode. He seems to be done with that now and just really intent on pulling his tube out. That means every few hours I'm trying some new way of taping the silly thing down to his head. So far, I haven't found the answer to that one.
Little Miss just started barf mode with a spectacular display at lunch. Quite impressive for such a little tyke. I love interrupting lunch to give a bath and do laundry and disinfect the kitchen. While doing these things Little One again tried to pull his tube.
All four are feverish, achy, coughing and snotty. They all have headaches and icky tummies.
I'm getting a little tired of being sneezed on, coughed on and vomited on. It's bad when I have to change clothes before noon.
I think I might blame this on The Mr. getting a flu shot last week and the rest of us not getting one yet. Either that or Little One's visit. Or maybe our trip to Children's. Or our trip to public health for WIC checks.
I guess it doesn't matter where it came from, it's here. It will make for a longer week than usual, especially with The Mr. in the big apple, but it seems our schedule is pretty light this week, so for that I'm thankful. I think I'll be skipping some other activities too. I might even cancel on our teens. We'll just see how it goes.
Time to clean things up again.
Friday, October 17, 2008
NG Tube Adventures
Seems I got ahead of myself yesterday.
Late in the afternoon Little One pulled all the tape off his NG tube. It's a lovely plastic/rubber tube/hose that is half outside his body and half inside using the nose as the entry way. One of our big goals since bringing him home was to make sure the tube stayed in. We've been pretty careful with it and trying hard to keep it taped down well.
After he pulled all the tape off, The Little Mr. and I did a little team work, held him down and taped away. We thought we did well and all was secure.
Fast forward a little. At bed time we had a very cranky toddler. Little Miss is getting her molars and has a bad cold. This meant lots and lots of tears and comforting. In between her cycles of crying and dozing, Little One would have a coughing fit due to the same cold and his other issues of not having control of his saliva. You can imagine how my night went. I almost considered not putting on jammies and trying to lay down, but instead just changing clothes for the next day and staying awake.
Coffee this morning was critical.
We made it through the night feedings. We had one bigger spit up, but no big issues. Then the morning feeding came around or more accurately came back. Vomiting with a tube in your nose is not pretty or fun.
Around the time I got done panicking about the vomit, our visiting nurse came by. Good news, the boy continues to gain weight. Honestly, you can tell just by looking at him, he's plumping up quite nicely. Shortly after she left, in the middle of some lovely sibling insanity, he pulled his tube right out of his nose!
I returned to panic mode!! Now I start making phone calls all over the place to determine what I'm supposed to do. The plan was that the tube would never get pulled out and some medical person would change it when necessary.
A wonderful nurse at Children's basically said, we have confidence you're the kind of mom that can do it, so give it a try.
It's hard to know for certain, but I think I've done it right. I believe that his meals are hitting his belly and he seems to be pretty content.
I, on the other hand, am jittery, jumpy, exhausted and being way too short with my other kids. I know the "crisis" is over, but I'm having a hard time coming down from it and regaining a measure of peace in our house. I'm looking back over my afternoon and again seeing too many angry expressions on my face and sharp words coming out of my mouth at little people who are simply reacting to and reflecting their mama's mood.
It's the same sin all the time. Self-control. In my mind, almost all of the sins come back to self-control. Think about it, gluttony is self-control, right? How about envy? It's a lack of self-control over our thought life. Jealousy? Same thing. Stealing? Murder? Adultery? Anger. Arguing. Lying. Laziness. Cheating. Gossiping. They're all about self-control aren't they.
So, at the end of today, I'm not thrilled with things. More clearly, I'm seeing my own failures and lack of self-control. Yeah, I managed to do this crazy medical thing all by myself, inserting an NG tube through his nose, down to his belly without causing major damage, but so what. Big deal. The really big deal things, like using kind words with my kids or being slow to anger, I just failed. It's hard when you fail with fellow adults, but it's doubly hard when you fail your kids.
Late in the afternoon Little One pulled all the tape off his NG tube. It's a lovely plastic/rubber tube/hose that is half outside his body and half inside using the nose as the entry way. One of our big goals since bringing him home was to make sure the tube stayed in. We've been pretty careful with it and trying hard to keep it taped down well.
After he pulled all the tape off, The Little Mr. and I did a little team work, held him down and taped away. We thought we did well and all was secure.
Fast forward a little. At bed time we had a very cranky toddler. Little Miss is getting her molars and has a bad cold. This meant lots and lots of tears and comforting. In between her cycles of crying and dozing, Little One would have a coughing fit due to the same cold and his other issues of not having control of his saliva. You can imagine how my night went. I almost considered not putting on jammies and trying to lay down, but instead just changing clothes for the next day and staying awake.
Coffee this morning was critical.
We made it through the night feedings. We had one bigger spit up, but no big issues. Then the morning feeding came around or more accurately came back. Vomiting with a tube in your nose is not pretty or fun.
Around the time I got done panicking about the vomit, our visiting nurse came by. Good news, the boy continues to gain weight. Honestly, you can tell just by looking at him, he's plumping up quite nicely. Shortly after she left, in the middle of some lovely sibling insanity, he pulled his tube right out of his nose!
I returned to panic mode!! Now I start making phone calls all over the place to determine what I'm supposed to do. The plan was that the tube would never get pulled out and some medical person would change it when necessary.
A wonderful nurse at Children's basically said, we have confidence you're the kind of mom that can do it, so give it a try.
It's hard to know for certain, but I think I've done it right. I believe that his meals are hitting his belly and he seems to be pretty content.
I, on the other hand, am jittery, jumpy, exhausted and being way too short with my other kids. I know the "crisis" is over, but I'm having a hard time coming down from it and regaining a measure of peace in our house. I'm looking back over my afternoon and again seeing too many angry expressions on my face and sharp words coming out of my mouth at little people who are simply reacting to and reflecting their mama's mood.
It's the same sin all the time. Self-control. In my mind, almost all of the sins come back to self-control. Think about it, gluttony is self-control, right? How about envy? It's a lack of self-control over our thought life. Jealousy? Same thing. Stealing? Murder? Adultery? Anger. Arguing. Lying. Laziness. Cheating. Gossiping. They're all about self-control aren't they.
So, at the end of today, I'm not thrilled with things. More clearly, I'm seeing my own failures and lack of self-control. Yeah, I managed to do this crazy medical thing all by myself, inserting an NG tube through his nose, down to his belly without causing major damage, but so what. Big deal. The really big deal things, like using kind words with my kids or being slow to anger, I just failed. It's hard when you fail with fellow adults, but it's doubly hard when you fail your kids.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
An Evaluation of Sorts
We're now a few weeks into the four kid family and I've been mentally taking a sort of measurement.
Where are we and how are we doing. I think it's the sort of thing that everyone does, especially home school families. For us, you add in the foster kids, and the need to evaluate rises. Even if you aren't putting it down on paper, it's always running through your head in a way.
I'm happy to say we're in a better spot than I gave us credit for. I knew we were falling "behind" in school and was starting to really pound myself over it. Well, when I actually sat down today and looked at where the kids were at, their work and my overly ambitious schedule for them, we're doing pretty great, life circumstances considered. Now, in the land of home school, the most common "excuse" for less than adequate is often "life happened". I'm not saying it isn't sometimes a valid thing to say, but even when life is in seeming chaos, we still need to be plugging away at the main and most important studies. Progress is necessary.
We've been adjusting to the added efforts that Little One requires. He has a slew of appointments and therapy times. There is a constant stream of people coming in and places for us to be in addition to all the ones we already had, so we're adapting. All in all, much better and faster than I had hoped.
Now, it's by no means perfect. We're certainly seeing our fair share of jealousy and rebellion, which leads me to the next set of forced studies. Every little while, when "life is happening" the flaws in your parenting are revealed in a startling light. For me it leads to lots of added prayer and confession and apology. For the kids it means lots of character training and manners lessons.
It's slow and draining and exhausting. It can be utterly exasperating. It makes me drink more Diet Coke than I should and eat more Oreo's than a person ought to. It leads to bed time snacks of Hershey bars and jars of peanut butter.
But every time I think that I'm just wasting my time, that I'm making no head way, that I'm talking to the walls, they come around a little bit and offer up the glimpse of mommy hope that says maybe, just maybe, one day they'll grow into fine young adults.
And so at the end of a very long day as I'm taking stock of where things lie, we're alright. I'm almost current with laundry, notice I don't say caught up or done, there is no such thing in family life. The dishes are under control, thanks to paper plates, and I'm noticing that my big kids are much more able than they were even 6 months ago. They're making their own breakfast without being told and relatively cleaning up afterward. They keep the trashing of the kitchen to a minimum. They take turns doing some basic baby helps and do it responsibly and respectably. I'm not fearing for a babies safety when I take 5 minutes in the bathroom. They are helping in a reasonable way with the dog. She is getting fed and watered, let out and cleaned up after more than not. They are making great strides at playing well with a very demanding toddler. They are getting quite independent with other tasks like getting the younger sibs out to the car seats and buckled in or making sure all the diaper bags are stocked and actually IN the car. Trust me, that's key. There is growing a much more respectful response to mommy's "no". They are making great strides in personal care. It's a nice thing to not have to supervise every single tooth brushing or shower or hand washing.
We've come a long, long way. We're at a new level of peace and calm, even when chaos strikes, it's less and shorter. I know now, that the boat does right itself, even when we go turtle. I've realized that those families I look at and want to be like have older kids, more years between them, or younger kids or fewer kids or less medically needy kids or kids without major behavioral issues or, wait, here's the light bulb moment, not my kids. Our family is unique to itself and thanks to God and foster care and ever changing family, but that doesn't make it a family unplanned by God or unnoticed by God. In fact, strange as it looks from the outside, we know on the inside, it's just as He planned it.
Where are we and how are we doing. I think it's the sort of thing that everyone does, especially home school families. For us, you add in the foster kids, and the need to evaluate rises. Even if you aren't putting it down on paper, it's always running through your head in a way.
I'm happy to say we're in a better spot than I gave us credit for. I knew we were falling "behind" in school and was starting to really pound myself over it. Well, when I actually sat down today and looked at where the kids were at, their work and my overly ambitious schedule for them, we're doing pretty great, life circumstances considered. Now, in the land of home school, the most common "excuse" for less than adequate is often "life happened". I'm not saying it isn't sometimes a valid thing to say, but even when life is in seeming chaos, we still need to be plugging away at the main and most important studies. Progress is necessary.
We've been adjusting to the added efforts that Little One requires. He has a slew of appointments and therapy times. There is a constant stream of people coming in and places for us to be in addition to all the ones we already had, so we're adapting. All in all, much better and faster than I had hoped.
Now, it's by no means perfect. We're certainly seeing our fair share of jealousy and rebellion, which leads me to the next set of forced studies. Every little while, when "life is happening" the flaws in your parenting are revealed in a startling light. For me it leads to lots of added prayer and confession and apology. For the kids it means lots of character training and manners lessons.
It's slow and draining and exhausting. It can be utterly exasperating. It makes me drink more Diet Coke than I should and eat more Oreo's than a person ought to. It leads to bed time snacks of Hershey bars and jars of peanut butter.
But every time I think that I'm just wasting my time, that I'm making no head way, that I'm talking to the walls, they come around a little bit and offer up the glimpse of mommy hope that says maybe, just maybe, one day they'll grow into fine young adults.
And so at the end of a very long day as I'm taking stock of where things lie, we're alright. I'm almost current with laundry, notice I don't say caught up or done, there is no such thing in family life. The dishes are under control, thanks to paper plates, and I'm noticing that my big kids are much more able than they were even 6 months ago. They're making their own breakfast without being told and relatively cleaning up afterward. They keep the trashing of the kitchen to a minimum. They take turns doing some basic baby helps and do it responsibly and respectably. I'm not fearing for a babies safety when I take 5 minutes in the bathroom. They are helping in a reasonable way with the dog. She is getting fed and watered, let out and cleaned up after more than not. They are making great strides at playing well with a very demanding toddler. They are getting quite independent with other tasks like getting the younger sibs out to the car seats and buckled in or making sure all the diaper bags are stocked and actually IN the car. Trust me, that's key. There is growing a much more respectful response to mommy's "no". They are making great strides in personal care. It's a nice thing to not have to supervise every single tooth brushing or shower or hand washing.
We've come a long, long way. We're at a new level of peace and calm, even when chaos strikes, it's less and shorter. I know now, that the boat does right itself, even when we go turtle. I've realized that those families I look at and want to be like have older kids, more years between them, or younger kids or fewer kids or less medically needy kids or kids without major behavioral issues or, wait, here's the light bulb moment, not my kids. Our family is unique to itself and thanks to God and foster care and ever changing family, but that doesn't make it a family unplanned by God or unnoticed by God. In fact, strange as it looks from the outside, we know on the inside, it's just as He planned it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Where I Am??
It's only been a few days, but it feels like a life time. This fourth kiddo is stretching me. I think mostly in a good way, I'm just going beyond what I thought I could do.
The highs and lows these days are large. My mind is everywhere and no where all at once. One minute I'm thinking it's great and perfect in spite of itself, the next I'm ready to throw in the towel and become like the rest of the world.
I know I'm on the path. I do trust Him beyond my own understanding, but I can't see the next steps and my path is more rocky than smooth. This part of my journey is so different from what I've been on before.
So, that's where I've been and that's where I'm at.
In "real life" we're just trying to make it to most of our stuff, keep our heads above the laundry and dishes, do lots of car schooling on the way to all the appointments and find some joy in Children's Hospital. I know it's a total blessing to have such an incredible facility right here in our back yard, but it isn't always the most family friendly place or most child friendly or maybe it's just my kids.
The highs and lows these days are large. My mind is everywhere and no where all at once. One minute I'm thinking it's great and perfect in spite of itself, the next I'm ready to throw in the towel and become like the rest of the world.
I know I'm on the path. I do trust Him beyond my own understanding, but I can't see the next steps and my path is more rocky than smooth. This part of my journey is so different from what I've been on before.
So, that's where I've been and that's where I'm at.
In "real life" we're just trying to make it to most of our stuff, keep our heads above the laundry and dishes, do lots of car schooling on the way to all the appointments and find some joy in Children's Hospital. I know it's a total blessing to have such an incredible facility right here in our back yard, but it isn't always the most family friendly place or most child friendly or maybe it's just my kids.
Friday, October 10, 2008
I'm Being Selfish
Today I have a simple request for all of you.
Say some prayers for Hollyn. You can follow the Caring Bridge link on the side to read her story.
She is an amazing little Tae Kwon Do warrior and her cancer is back. Again.
Her mama has awesome faith.
Please, please lift them up today.
As a mama, it is more than I can bear, all these suffering kids. The abused, the fosters, the terminal.
It's a huge reminder too. We all know it, but we somehow, forget it, or over look it, these kids are all His. Not ours. We're just part of the earthly care giving crew. He alone created them. He alone knows the plan for each and every one of them. He alone knows the reasons why.
Say some prayers for Hollyn. You can follow the Caring Bridge link on the side to read her story.
She is an amazing little Tae Kwon Do warrior and her cancer is back. Again.
Her mama has awesome faith.
Please, please lift them up today.
As a mama, it is more than I can bear, all these suffering kids. The abused, the fosters, the terminal.
It's a huge reminder too. We all know it, but we somehow, forget it, or over look it, these kids are all His. Not ours. We're just part of the earthly care giving crew. He alone created them. He alone knows the plan for each and every one of them. He alone knows the reasons why.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saint, I Am Not
What can I say, the days are going by in a blur. We're working hard at adapting to being a four kid family. I'd say, so far, so good.
Seems like we got most of our melt downs out of the way yesterday and today is going quite smoothly. That said, I expect it to blow up in the next 20 minutes or so. That is how it works, you know.
We get a lot of different responses when people get to know us. We live a life that is normal to us, but unusual for others. Home school, special needs, foster care, sports, music and Bible study seems normal to us. I guess when you see it from the outside, it doesn't look like anything close to normal.
I'm still, after 3+ years of doing this, working on my responses to people's comments.
Yesterday, I got one from an acquaintance. Up until then, I thought she was all right and could over time, even move into the friend category, albeit a more distant sort of friend. But then, she spoke. Why do people do that!
I know, let it go, move on, don't let people get to you with their constant need to chatter nonsense every moment. I generally do move on, but a day later, I'm still thinking about this one.
So we were at sports practice and she sees me from across the room. I'm holding The Little Miss in my arms as she REALLY likes to dart into practice and disrupt it. This is not the sort of relaxed practices that one can allow that sort of thing to happen more than say once every 6 months or so. I have Little One in the carrier car seat at my feet.
She sports this fake look of disbelief and mock shock on her face and says, "Did they really give you another one? Did you really TAKE another one?" At this, the whole lobby turns around to watch/listen to our exchange.
This is partially God's sense of humor. He made me, He knows me, He knows how much I HATE, HATE, HATE to be noticed in any way, shape or form. So this was just extra special.
A day later, now, I'm thinking, wow, genius, aren't you. Yes, I have a sarcasm issue.
Then she says, "What are you trying to do, be a saint or something?"
OK, yup, that one is still sticking with me.
In a bad sort of way.
Saint I am not, nor will I ever be. In fact, yesterday was one of my most awful, sin-filled days ever. Talk about a mama not showing too many fruits of the spirit, that was me. Definitely not a 12 hours that I'm proud of or would ever like to see again, unless I had a magical do over and could do it right!!
One of the bad parts or hard parts, is that I DO do this foster care thing because of my faith. I am certain that God has asked me to do this for this season of my life. Why? Not a clue. Is it working in me? Like you have no idea. Is it working in my whole family, both tiny and extended? You better believe it. Does it impact others around us in our many circles? Without a doubt.
One of my life goals is to be a Christian that actually LIVES a Christian life. I don't like being guilty of talking the talk and walking some other walk. I try to live a life that is the same, all the time, in all circumstances. I strive to be the same person in every setting. Like everyone else, there are settings where I'm more transparent than others, but who I am is who I am. All the time.
Again, so far from perfect it isn't funny, but striving none the less. I want to be so in tune with God and his requests of me that saying yes to His ask is the most natural thing ever.
So, that was a comment that really stung hard. I've been left wondering and hoping that that isn't how people see me at all. I hope they see instead, well, just about anything else.
Seems like we got most of our melt downs out of the way yesterday and today is going quite smoothly. That said, I expect it to blow up in the next 20 minutes or so. That is how it works, you know.
We get a lot of different responses when people get to know us. We live a life that is normal to us, but unusual for others. Home school, special needs, foster care, sports, music and Bible study seems normal to us. I guess when you see it from the outside, it doesn't look like anything close to normal.
I'm still, after 3+ years of doing this, working on my responses to people's comments.
Yesterday, I got one from an acquaintance. Up until then, I thought she was all right and could over time, even move into the friend category, albeit a more distant sort of friend. But then, she spoke. Why do people do that!
I know, let it go, move on, don't let people get to you with their constant need to chatter nonsense every moment. I generally do move on, but a day later, I'm still thinking about this one.
So we were at sports practice and she sees me from across the room. I'm holding The Little Miss in my arms as she REALLY likes to dart into practice and disrupt it. This is not the sort of relaxed practices that one can allow that sort of thing to happen more than say once every 6 months or so. I have Little One in the carrier car seat at my feet.
She sports this fake look of disbelief and mock shock on her face and says, "Did they really give you another one? Did you really TAKE another one?" At this, the whole lobby turns around to watch/listen to our exchange.
This is partially God's sense of humor. He made me, He knows me, He knows how much I HATE, HATE, HATE to be noticed in any way, shape or form. So this was just extra special.
A day later, now, I'm thinking, wow, genius, aren't you. Yes, I have a sarcasm issue.
Then she says, "What are you trying to do, be a saint or something?"
OK, yup, that one is still sticking with me.
In a bad sort of way.
Saint I am not, nor will I ever be. In fact, yesterday was one of my most awful, sin-filled days ever. Talk about a mama not showing too many fruits of the spirit, that was me. Definitely not a 12 hours that I'm proud of or would ever like to see again, unless I had a magical do over and could do it right!!
One of the bad parts or hard parts, is that I DO do this foster care thing because of my faith. I am certain that God has asked me to do this for this season of my life. Why? Not a clue. Is it working in me? Like you have no idea. Is it working in my whole family, both tiny and extended? You better believe it. Does it impact others around us in our many circles? Without a doubt.
One of my life goals is to be a Christian that actually LIVES a Christian life. I don't like being guilty of talking the talk and walking some other walk. I try to live a life that is the same, all the time, in all circumstances. I strive to be the same person in every setting. Like everyone else, there are settings where I'm more transparent than others, but who I am is who I am. All the time.
Again, so far from perfect it isn't funny, but striving none the less. I want to be so in tune with God and his requests of me that saying yes to His ask is the most natural thing ever.
So, that was a comment that really stung hard. I've been left wondering and hoping that that isn't how people see me at all. I hope they see instead, well, just about anything else.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Twice Blessed
This weekend we were unexpectedly blessed and blessed in a huge way.
Crumbs From A Full Plate filled our plates. Filled and then some.
She offered us a meal and I really hesitated. I'm not a good help taker, I'm a much better help giver, but we had a big, hard week.
The Little Mr. had some very big medical tests. We brought home another foster baby. He's a bit on the high needs side. We had family in to help, twice. We had a court date. The Mr. went on another business trip. A night with the teens. All our regular lessons and sports. All in all, a really full week.
The longer I thought through it, the more a meal sounded great. Things were piling up, like leaky washers and elderly dogs. A meal made by another. MMM, sounds great.
So I went ahead and said yes, please.
The Full Plate brought way more than a meal. Two wonderful meals, salad and an unbelievable dessert. Recipe please?
The responses? One boy said, "Cool, mom, she's a Godly woman and a great cook!" The next boy said, "she rocks". The Little Miss said, "more". The Mr. said, "mmm, wise woman, comfort foods".
Over all spectacular. Plus, I didn't think about cooking for two whole days. Instead, we got to church on time, we cleaned up the house, I made it through half a million loads of laundry and we had plenty of time to love on the new Little One.
It seems that he may be around for a while, so we'll be calling him Little One. He's sweet and precious and cute and sounds a bit like a baby bird.
Thanks and thanks and thanks again, Full Plate, our lives were indeed blessed by your willingness to listen to His prompt.
Crumbs From A Full Plate filled our plates. Filled and then some.
She offered us a meal and I really hesitated. I'm not a good help taker, I'm a much better help giver, but we had a big, hard week.
The Little Mr. had some very big medical tests. We brought home another foster baby. He's a bit on the high needs side. We had family in to help, twice. We had a court date. The Mr. went on another business trip. A night with the teens. All our regular lessons and sports. All in all, a really full week.
The longer I thought through it, the more a meal sounded great. Things were piling up, like leaky washers and elderly dogs. A meal made by another. MMM, sounds great.
So I went ahead and said yes, please.
The Full Plate brought way more than a meal. Two wonderful meals, salad and an unbelievable dessert. Recipe please?
The responses? One boy said, "Cool, mom, she's a Godly woman and a great cook!" The next boy said, "she rocks". The Little Miss said, "more". The Mr. said, "mmm, wise woman, comfort foods".
Over all spectacular. Plus, I didn't think about cooking for two whole days. Instead, we got to church on time, we cleaned up the house, I made it through half a million loads of laundry and we had plenty of time to love on the new Little One.
It seems that he may be around for a while, so we'll be calling him Little One. He's sweet and precious and cute and sounds a bit like a baby bird.
Thanks and thanks and thanks again, Full Plate, our lives were indeed blessed by your willingness to listen to His prompt.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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