Any Time, Any Place

Little John has been sick.

And if you're a parent, you know that when you have a sick toddler, the time ticks by V. E. R. Y. S. L. O. W. L. Y.

To make matters worse, I've been sick, too. So my patience has been wearing a little thin.

Desperate to make the time pass, and desperate to sit for just a few minutes, I ran the tub and stuck John in it. He thought it was a blast. I sat there watching him smile and laugh, and it made me smile, too.

All of a sudden, he squeezed his little two year old eyes shut, and said "Dear God, thank you my friends, and granny, and grandpa, and tractor."

Then he picked up his pirate toy, and kept on playing.

Melt. My. Heart!!

How absolutely precious to hear his two year old little self being thankful for his favorite things, in the midst of a mundane day. He didn't wait for "prayer time." He didn't wait until we were talking about friends, or family, or toys.

His little heart was just plain thankful, and no matter where he was, or what he was doing, he stopped to thank God for it.

That's how it should be always, isn't it? Any time. Any place. For reasons big and small.
Just come and talk to Him.

Eat THIS!

Have you SEEN this new book???

I bought it at Borders the other day. It's called: Eat This, NOT That! For Kids!

WOW.

Did you know that your kiddo is better off eating a peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar, than a Nutri-grain bar?

Listen to this: You know that healthy-lookin' cereal called Smart Start? It has 7 different sweeteners in it. More than any other cereal at the supermarket. It's just 3 grams of sugar shy of a Hagen-daz bar.

Now, get ready to be SICK.....
Let's say you go to Chili's. Your kids order the usual - chicken nuggets or tenders. Chili's has Chicken Crispers. If they eat the 2 chicken strips and french fries, with ranch dipping sauce and ketchup, they will have consumed 1,110 calories, 82 grams of fat, and 1980 mg of sodium!!! (this doesn't even include the Coke or sweet tea that they will down with it...)

Oh. My. Freakin. Gosh.

Seriously, y'all.

Go Buy This Book.

You will be absolutely amazed by what's in it. It not only goes through all the good and bad choices at restaurants, it gives color pictures of all the things you'd normally buy at the grocery store, and gives surprising answers to what you should be picking for your kids.

It's seriously making me take a good hard look at what I feed my kids, and even pack in their lunches.

What do you feed your kiddos most of the time? What do you pack in their lunches?

I'd love to hear your comments about this!

Wisdom in the Word

Sunday Scripture:

"I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3:20

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:3

QUIET

Picture THIS.
Mamma is in the kitchen cooking. Dishes are everywhere. 3 kids are annoying her. Hubby is laying on the couch sick. Ridiculous cartoons are playing so loudly, that Mamma has visions of strangling that stupid Sponge Bob.
The phone rings.
It's Grandpa.
He wants to know if.....get this....

we want him to come pick up the kids for the night!

GASP!
"Oh, no," I say. "I couldn't last a night without them."

Are you kidding me? What I actually said was...

"ALL THREE OF THEM??"

Sure enough, an hour later, Pa came to get the kids.
I left the dishes in the sink. We watched a movie. We decided to go out for coffee in the morning. I went to bed earlier than usual.
I went upstairs, looked in the 3 empty bedrooms, and felt a little sad.

Something about seeing that little crib with no one in it...

I could close my bedroom door, all the way! and there were no kids to listen for. When Ryan got up at night to use the bathroom, I cringed when the toilet seat made a loud noise.
Oh yeah, there's no one to wake up.
I didn't even know what to do with myself when I didn't get woken up by a crying toddler at the butt-crack of dawn.
It's almost noon now, and no one has been whining for chicken nuggets. It's Q.U.I.E.T. here.

Almost too quiet..........
When are they getting dropped off???

That Darn Fairy

She did it again!
I don't know what's wrong with that darn fairy.

Last night a little girl could barely contain her excitement as she put her tooth in a box and wrote a note to the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy knew the tooth was there of course.

But did the tooth get taken? Did she leave $1?

Nope. Nothin but a sad little girl was in that room this morning.

So what's up with that fairy chick? (I think she must have fallen into bed exhausted last night...)

Now mama is trying to convince Clara that sometimes the fairy gets backed up. I'll bet she gets $2 left for her tonight since she had to wait so patiently!

It could have been me...

A change of perspective can be an enlightening thing, can't it? What looks to be one way can quickly appear another way in a split second.

Take, for instance, my weekend.
It started Thursday evening.
With the stomach flu.
I was up all night, and totally exhausted on Friday. Could I count the hours till hubby got home to help me? NO! He was gone fishing for the whole darn weekend. Yes, that left moi to fix meals and drag the kids to Toys R US for birthday party gifts that were needed for the next morning. Saturday was spent shuttling kids to parties. Sunday, I was so tired, we didn't even make it to church. I had a sinkful of dishes, the house was messy, and I had a sitter coming over because I had to go do an open house for a client. After shopping for goodies, and lighting candles, and doing everything I could to make a nice open house, guess who came?
(go ahead, guess.......)
NO ONE.
Not one single person came.
My head was killing me, and I was so irritated that I'd wasted my afternoon.
What a lousy weekend!

Here's another perspective:
Hurricane Ike came through Texas this weekend. Thousands of people were told to flee from their homes. Some of those people were our family members and friends. The Galveston area is where Ryan is from, and other than his parents, his whole family still lives there. We got email updates from friends who were leaving their homes, knowing that there may not be anything to go back to. We worried about the family business - a fish farm - that it would be devastated.
Sunday we got the news that the family was all fine. The fish farm had been damaged, but was not ruined. One of our friends lost her home. Tons of other people are still waiting to be rescued.
That was their weekend.
It could have been me.

How would I have coped? What would it be like to leave my home, and all my belongings, knowing that there would be nothing to return to?
Take a quick look around you right now. (GO ahead......look!) Are you sitting in a comfortable chair? Surrounded by family pictures? Toys scattered around, a fridge full of food, a closet full of clothes? Imagine that, in the blink of an eye, it was all gone. Difficult, isn't it?
Please pray for all the people who are dealing with this unimaginable disaster.

Meanwhile, the sun was shining here today. My kids didn't get sick. I get to sleep in my own bed.
I think I had a pretty good weekend, after all.

expectations

One thing happening around here is that Emma is getting all excited to start Cotillion in a few weeks.
Don't get me wrong, I'm excited too. Because, in my mind, I've always planned on my girls doing this anyway. So I'm glad she wants to, and that she's excited.

HOWEVER.

Exactly how many dresses should I be expected to purchase???

Sunday dresses and white gloves are required, of course. I eased up on my requirements for what she wore to church this summer. So she really only has one dress that will be appropriate.
And, silly mom that I am, I mentioned that to her tonight. Just something along the lines of "Hey honey, you have that pink dress..."
Her response?

"UHHHHH! Mama, I am so not wearing that!!"

Me: (speechless, of course........)

W.H.A.T.???

Does my little pre-debutante really think she's entitled to a new dress for each class?

WOW.

More to come............

No Tears

I DID it!

I sent my baby off to preschool last week. My third child. My last child. The little boy who has claimed my heart.

I've thought all summer long about how I would just bawl the first time I dropped that little guy off. (And I've also thought about the fit he'd probably throw when I left....)

Well, last Wednesday was the BIG day. Here's how our morning went:

John wakes up at 5:45 am. (2 HOURS earlier than normal...)

He won't eat breakfast.

We run out of diapers.

Everyone runs around like idiots trying to get ready.

I can't find the shoes that go with his outfit.

We get a ridiculously cute picture of him.

Arrive at school 20 minutes late.

I notice the bags full of supplies that all the moms have sent with their children.

John has a backpack with 2 MASSIVE, size 6 diapers left over from the neighbor. (because remember, we ran out?) Nothing else. No wipes, no change of clothes, no smock, tissue, folder, sanitizer. Nothin. Zip. Nada.

Screaming two year olds are all over the room. Ryan sets John down at a table with play-doh. We say "Bye!" and walk out the door.

John didn't cry. And........ neither did I!

I don't know why I didn't. I fully expected to be in tears. I felt sad, but not overly emotional. I knew he was fine. And as much as I want to hold on to his baby years, and not let him go, I know that there will be joy in each and every step that we go through with all of our children.

SO, take a look at the cutest picture you've ever seen. That's my little school boy, all dressed up in his Ralph Lauren duds. Can it get any cuter???