3 errands attempted and achieved with my 3 kids this morning.
3 errands in a row with my children is my absolute maximum.
10 people ahead of us in line at the post office.
2 times I said, "Because it's a post office not a playground!"
4 or more thoughts of leaving without mailing the package
6 = number of sewing projects I currently have in process
2 homemade pizzas created for dinner with
2 small helpers
1 set of frazzled nerves reluctantly agreed to let them help
3 year old says, "Making pizza is my favorite part of the day!"
1 Mama's heart melted
7 year old began the day like this. . .
7 year old ended the day like this. . .
$20 = amount of money Cameron from my son's class at school got for his last tooth
$1 = amount of money my son got for the last tooth he lost (a bottom tooth)!
"10 times a day!" I told my son. "Cameron must have brushed his teeth 10 times a day for the tooth fairy to think it was worth that much money!" I told my son.
2 times - In all fairness, we only manage to get ours brushed 2 times each day!
This post is part of the
Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.
I made it!!! A sweet ruffle skirt for my daughter. Last weekend, I used this tutorial, one of my old pink t-shirts, and some nylon chiffon left over from this project. I love how it turned out and have so many other sewing projects I want to tackle -- if I can just find the time!
____Wanna know what's really hard to sew?Sleeves for a doll dress!Don't ask me how I know.____ My house is definitely suffering from the new sewing addiction! My fridge needs to be cleaned out in the worst way. A child that will remain nameless spilled a cup of milk in the refrigerator a few days ago. We wiped up the obvious spill, but I'm still ignoring the fact that it seeped under the shelf edge in a few spots.____And speaking of messes, my 7 year old and I have been having some quality control issues. As in, he is supposed to do a chore like wiping off the table, he comes to tell me its done, but I go in later and only about 1/16th of the table appears to have been wiped and the rest still has crumbs and sticky stuff. And the rag and spray? Left on the floor next to the table!I've decided he's way too old to allow this behavior to slide, work ethic and doing a job right are very important life lessons, and that summer is a perfect time to tackle this little issue. So, I've been doing the extra steps of inspecting his work, calling him back over and pointing out the problems he needs to fix. The other day this entailed me inspecting the room he supposedly cleaned and when I lifted the bedskirt I discovered about 40 small toys, mostly action figures. "What's all this?" I ask. He says, "Mom, that's where they go!"Praise God for the label-maker labels! I was able to hold up an action figure guy and say, "No Baby, what is this?" Him: "A guy" Me (pointing to the drawer labeled "Guys"): "And what does this say?" Him: "Guys" Me: "So then where should it go?"I know, you're so glad you're not my kid!____My 3 year old has a recurring complaint about life. I hear at least 50 times each day, "It's taking a long time! Why it taking a long time?!!!!" I hear this when it is 8AM and the Children's Museum does not open until 10AM. I hear this when it takes any longer than .5 seconds to get him a cup of milk.Those are the annoying parts, but the funny parts:He's working on floating on his back in swim lessons and the other day he was doing great, his teacher had dropped him in the water feet first, he came up on his back and was floating towards the side like he's supposed to, but it takes a couple minutes to make it to the side, so there he was doing a perfect back float but hollering, "It takes a long time! Why it take a long time!" Have mercy on his poor swim teacher!And when I was tucking him in bed a couple nights ago, he crawled in, put his head on the pillow for about 20 seconds, and began fussing, "It takes a long time! Why it take a long time?!!!!" I asked, "What takes a long time?" because I really couldn't imagine what he was so frustratedly waiting on. "To fall asleep!" he tells me!
____Have you ever been talking to a friend on your land-line phone but at the same time herding your children in the car -- shoes on everyone, grab the purse, water for the thirsty child, keys, send one back in to go potty, get everyone strapped in -- and begin reversing down your driveway before you realize you are talking on your home phone and not your cell phone?!!Yeah, me either!!!
____And for added grins, anybody remember when cell phones were that big? Or actually bigger. My dad had one the size of a carry-on bag!
Ann from Holy Experience wrote this amazing piece where she speaks about her heart hurting.
I can relate.
The past few years as God has led the hearts of my husband and me to the orphans, the poor, and the hurting in the world, it has been a difficult journey, but through it we feel closer to God.
I feel like He's allowed us to stand in the cleft of the rock and catch just a glimpse of the back side of His heart. And I know that is all we could bear to see.
I relate to the Grinch at the end of the movie whose heart has grown three sizes because as I've discovered with fresh eyes the plight of "the least" in this world and God's great love for them and desire that His people care for them, I now care for and love hurting people on a much larger scale than before.
But, with that larger heart not only comes a greater capacity to love but also
a greater capacity to hurt for them,
a drive to want to help them,
feelings of helplessness when it is hard to figure out how,
and frustration living in a culture where most seem to spend their energy and resources creating their own comfort.
It is easier not to care.
But now that I do, what do I do?
Ann mentions the Bible verse Proverbs 31:8-9, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy." And she asks, "Is this what true women do? Work so that many make it Home?"
I love the way she put that!
And it gives new definition to my career as Home-maker. Working so that many make it Home, not just creating a home here on earth for myself, my husband, and my children.
It has been a struggle for me to figure out what I am to do, and I believe God doesn't want me to stop asking the question, but He does not want the question to keep me from the doing.
The practical, daily life steps of that doing is going to look different nearly every day.
On a particular Thursday last week it involved me getting babysitting for my own 3 kids, dealing with parking downtown, interacting with difficult lawyers, so I could spend the morning in court advocating for 2 children in CPS custody, a job I am not paid for. I went to court to present my observations and recommendations to the judge about the children, and I did, but on that day, probably the biggest difference I was able to make was to wrap an arm around their mother as she broke down in tears on the way out of the courtroom and tell her that as long as she was doing everything that was asked of her to get her kids back that I was going to help her. Help her, a young mother who grew up without a mother herself, put her life back together, create a healthy environment to raise her two precious children.
Because as much as I love adoption, children should be with their biological parents if they can provide a safe, loving home where the kids needs will be met.
And as I left the juvenile court house and walked the 8 blocks back to my car in the rain, I was thankful for the opportunity to bring a bit of Jesus to the dark parts of this world, the best therapy for an enlarged heart!Find more
Thankful Thursday here.
Last night I was trying to let the dog in from the backyard, but I couldn't find her. I closed the door and turned to walk away, then she came running up on the patio, my husband saw her through the window and cried out, "What does she have?!!!"
Um, those would be hot dog buns!
Only we haven't eaten hot dog buns lately.
We accidentally left the gate opened and somehow somewhere (although the next day wasn't even trash day so our neighbors didn't have bags at the curb) she found her prize.
I don't know what was funnier, seeing her proudly trotting around with those buns in her mouth or watching my husband try to catch her so he could take off the wrapper!
"I'm going to let you eat them, just let me take off the wrapper. I'm trying to help you." He kept saying, but she didn't believe a word of it! We finally cornered her, unwrapped them, and let the little thief eat her treasure!Find more
Wordful Wednesday and
Wordless Wednesday here,
here and
here.
So, have you ever had one of those phases where you don't feel like making dinner?
The very idea of even planning it, much less shopping for groceries, or preparing the meal is just the last thing you want to be doing.
Yeah, well, I'm there.
Maybe it's that summer's here and it is about a billion degrees outside, so food that is not fruit just doesn't sound very appetizing to me.
Or maybe it's that the kids are out of school and I rather just hang out with them, or the fact that they're out of school has thrown my meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prep. routine completely out the window.
Or maybe it's because I have a new love for sewing and would rather be creating adorable things for my daughter to wear like this precious skirt than cooking.
Probably all of the above.
But still, I look at the other 4 members of my family and think, "Man, it's time to feed you people again!"
And I still have the goal of eating out a maximum of once a week (which includes take-out and lunch counts). We eat healthier when we eat at home and we waste less money.
So what to do when you just don't feel like cooking? Here's what I've come up with:
* Find some new recipes
Fixing something new just might get you excited about the process again. I love allrecipes.com as a recipe source. All the recipes are rated, so you know if something has been rated highly by 300 people, it's got to be good! There are also tons of blogs with great recipes.
*Tap into your freezer meals
I do a lot of "cooking once eating twice", meaning I double recipes so I have a meal my family can eat right away and one to freeze for another day when I'm too busy or too lazy to cook! Also, I buy chicken breasts in bulk at Sam's but before I freeze them I put some marinade in the freezer bag with them, then I can just pop them right into the crock pot set on low in the morning and dinner's magically ready by evening!
* Don't cook dinner
Mix things up by serving breakfast for dinner. Eggs, whole-wheat pancakes, bacon and fruit can count as a pretty healthy meal even if served as dinner. My kids love this concept, so I do it often!
* Make it a family activity
Bring the kids into the kitchen to help! My 7 and 4 year olds are great at snapping beans and measuring ingredients and my 3 year old? Well, he's good at tasting things and spilling half a bottle of vanilla ensuring a good smelling kitchen for days!
* New perspective
A friend of mine got a terrible stomach virus and was in bed for over a week, she couldn't cook or do any chores around her house and she said when she was finally able to get out of bed she was so glad to be able to cook and clean again, even though before the sickness they were things she dreaded! So, I'm not wishing a confined-to-bed-sickness on anyone, but maybe we could borrow the perspective of being thankful for the ability to cook for our families without suffering the illness?
What about you? Ever get in a cooking slump? How do you handle it?
This post is part of the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.
$20 = amount of money Cameron from my son's class at school got for his last tooth
