"Not Me! Monday"

If you haven't already checked out the blog phenomenon known as 'My Charming Kids' you should really do yourself a favor and check it out. I have the privilege of being actual "real life" friends with "McMama" and I can tell you that she is even more amazing, creative, unique and fun in real life as she is on her blog. That being said, I thought I would join in on her "Not Me Monday" invention that is both hilarious and refreshingly therapeutic.

Here is my rendition of "Not Me's" that I committed this past week:

1. I did not get up at 6:30 a.m. this morning and then sit around in my pajamas until 10 a.m. doing "stuff" on my computer and I most certainly did not let my kids play in their pajamas until 10 a.m. because that would have been highly counterproductive to our always highly productive school routine each morning.

2. I did not tell my kids that, "NO!" they could not have a square of chocolate and shew them out the door and then as soon as they were gone, shove 2 chocolate squares in my own mouth before I headed out the door. Not me! That would be very hypocritical!

3. I definitely did not give in this morning when my son asked if he could wear his Vikings shirt... for the second day in a row... and let him retrieve it balled up from the bottom of the dirty clothes hamper... and I definitely did not let him wear it after he scooped it out. dirty. wrinkled. for the second day in a row.

4. I did not bring along fruit/veggie "spray" and a rag to "wash" off all the apples before we ate them at the orchard as we walked along picking- because that would be semi-neurotic.

5. And, speaking of the apple orchard, I most certainly did not find myself in a very precarious situation in the bathroom stall having to be very creative by folding a diaper in half, inside out, and creating a very bulky feminine hygiene product- no way, no way! Because that would have been very embarrassing, desperate, and made for a very "padded" ride in the tractor wagon. (P.S. thank God men don't read this blog!)

Whoa, Nelly- I should stop myself right THERE. Before this thing gets out of hand!

i love this man...

A decade ago, when my love for this man was brand new and "fresh" I will never forget turning to him as we drove in the car on one of our fabulous dates during those early months and making him promise me that the love that we felt for each other- at that moment, as I squeezed his hand for dear life- would never change. He looked back at me and replied, "I promise! It will never get old!"

But the thing is- it has changed. It has grown roots. Deepend. Strengthened. What started as such intense affection and passion for one another has grown into something so much more. In that moment, nearly a decade ago, I had no idea what true married love could inspire. Such deep respect. Incredible security. And a bond that goes beyond what words can describe.

He has surpased any expectation of what I had hoped and dreamed for as a little girl.

He is the love of my life!

I love this man...

Walk for Autism

Last Saturday, my family and I joined in the Walk for Autism. As many of you know, my precious nephew, Benjamin, is afflicted with Autism. He is an amazing, smart, funny 12 year old and he is a fighter. It was a priviledge to walk in his honor to raise awareness and funds for research to find a cure!






P.S. Thanks Octamom for sharing scrapblog idea!!

i love nature (part 2)...

Some of my fondest memories from growing up are of times spent on hikes with my Dad and my sister. Every weekend, my Dad would always make sure that we spent time outside... winter, spring, summer and fall. Sometimes we'd go to the beach, sometimes build forts in the snow, sometimes just play at the park- but my favorite of all was hiking in the woods. It was during those times that some of the most influential discussions took place. And how could they not? Being out in nature- God's amazing, miraculous creation- always sparked interesting inquiry, discussion and revelation.


Well, life has changed quite a bit, and that group of 3 (my Dad, my sister and I) has turned into a party of 10! And though we may not get a word in edge wise while we hike with the kids, it is still just as meaningful - and, in many ways, even more so to be sharing this with my children.



One of my favorite things about hiking, besides the obvious feeling of communing with our creator, is that my kids always seem to nonchalantly throw out the most insightful questions. Why? How come? What about about this? What about that? And, the questions aren't always about nature- yet walking through the woods seems to give such a sense of peace that it feels safer to ask any question about life....



I have found that God has provided endless parables in nature to reveal the depth of His love and His character to us. And Papa (my Dad) is an expert at identifying a parable in just about anything....



But that involves us listening, and paying attention!






My nephew, Samuel (the observative one), even found some type of vertebrae. It was pretty gross, I'm not gonna lie. Let's just hope that it belonged to an animal at one point...



Times spent together with family are priceless, and even more so when we are blessed by the abundance of God's creativity that surrounds us.

Imprompteu Tea Party

One of my favorite things about home schooling is the complete freedom and flexibility we enjoy to do what we want, when we want. I had an agenda in my mind of how last Thursday was going to go. But just before we were about to start our school work, Grace looked at me with the sweetest expression she could find and asked if we might do a tea party first. I suppressed my natural inclination to blurt out "No" and somewhere out of my mouth the words, "Sure! That sounds look a good idea!" came out.

And, thus, we enjoyed a wonderful tea party of water tea, water soup, and water juice.



Ariana especially enjoyed the water soup...



And really loved the delicious water tea...



And, in fact, thought it would be a good idea to use her spoon to drink up her water juice because, after all, it's much more fun that way...



My little Gracie girl. The hostess with the mostess!

Wordless Wednesday...

actions speak louder than words...

If you are like me, you've heard this "saying" about a gazillion times in your life. Parents love to say this... and, as such, I heard it plenty growing up.

But, what about when your kids say it to YOU? Even without using those exact words?

Today as I snuggled with my little sweet heart, Ariana, and told her how much I loved her, I tried to get an "I love you" out of her, as well. I said, "Can you say- "I luv you? Go ahead, say I. love. you." And she looked at me with her big beautiful eyes and pursed her little lips together and instead of saying, 'I luv you" said, 'mmmmmmm whhaaa' (more or less) and gave me a big huge kiss and a smile.

My heart melted. And my mind remembered how much louder actions can speak than words alone.

A few days ago, out of the blue, Grace said to me: "Mom! I've got a GREAT question. This is really interesting!..."

I eagerly waited, my ears perking up in anticipation of this exciting question...

"How come you never laugh? It's really weird, Mom. You just never laugh. Why is that?" she pondered with as much enthusiasm as if, say, she was wondering out loud about one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Wow. So that was the big question.

My ears no longer perked, and my own enthusiasm quite deflated I retorted with furrowed brow, "what do you mean? I laugh all the time! I am a very funny person!!" grrrrrrrrrrr

We proceeded to discuss her notion that I never laugh- and I tried to defend myself. And, of course, I asked her if she thought Daddy ever laughed. When she said, "No!- he never laughs either!" I felt strangely redeemed (i.e. at least it's not all me)

Now, lest you start thinking we are a bunch of stern, mad parents and spouses let me beg you to believe me when I say we are NOT unhappy! And, despite when my daughters claim to the contrary... we DO laugh. I think we laugh a lot! Perhaps my kids have a bit of an edge over me- but, then again, they are 2, 4 and 6 and find goofy things, bodily functions and potty words hilarious- whereas I do not. So, I'll give that much to my daughter.

And though an extra loud stinky "toot" may never send me over the edge roaring in laughter (it may send me over the edge in disgust) - the truth is, I might do better to find a little more humor in everyday things. In goofy things. In things that my kids find funny.

And even if I don't find the humor, I may do well to reach inside and turn off my busy, agenda ridden mind and just smile... SMILE! It's so simple. So easy. And it speaks so much louder than words.

I have many times in recent years felt convicted over not showing my kids enough joy. I let the busy day get in the way. I forget to stop. slow down. take a moment and give them my full attention and actually listen (with my ears and my eyes) to what they are telling me.

And more often than not, I forget to laugh. OUT LOUD! I do find things funny and I do find great joy in everyday happenings, but so often I am in such a hurry to move on to the next thing on my list.

I don't want to be like that. I want to stop. Look. LISTEN...

SMILE!!!

LAUGH!!!!

That is what my kids need. That is what I need.

No words. Just actions. Small, simple, easy actions that speak VOLUMES of I love you!!

Teachable Moments...

Tonight as I was snuggling with Grace, we discussed how her ballet class (that resumed today) went. As she was telling me about it, she said she had a little disagreement with her best friend, Julia, who also happens to be in the class with her. According to Grace they had a minor disagreement about who would go first in line. Well, as she was telling me this story, the "teachable moment" light bulb went off in my head and I reminded Grace how Jesus told us that those who want to be first should go last (i.e. wisdom found in Luke 14:11), and that she should have not squabbled with her friend about going first, rather, she just should have gladly let her go before her.

To my surprise, Grace proceeded to inform me, "Mom, we don't need to listen to "God's Word" (and yes, she actually put up her 2 fingers and made the quote sign) ALL the time."

I wasn't sure whether to laugh (I mean, c'mon- the whole dramatic quote sign was pretty funny)- or, to be dismayed that somewhere along the line I failed to teach my daughter a fundamental truth that YES, actually, we do have to listen to God's Word "ALL" the time.

So, I explained to her, ya know- that core fundamental belief I have - in the Bible and trusting, relying and obeying ALL of it, ALL the time. And, lest I further aggravate my 1st born daughters inborn Type A, OCD personality, I did, of course, also make a reminder and reference to the truth of us being human (i.e. sinners!) and that we cannot be perfect, but that is where God's grace and mercy and forgiveness comes in. BUT- the point being... YES! We are told to listen to God's Word ALL the time.

But as I left her room, while I was still finding myself a little bit in shock that she actually thought we didn't need to follow the Bible all the time, I found myself in a revelation of irony of how, indeed, I have so many times in my life been convinced of that exact same false notion. It is so easy to pick and to choose and to find what suits us at any given time in our life. It is easy to make excuses and assumptions that the Bible just isn't relevant to today's "modern" society... or, at least the parts we don't want to agree with.

I found myself walking out of my 6 year old's bedroom with a powerful reminder...

God is the same yesterday. and today. and FOREVER.

And so it stands that His word is valid and true and holy and right yesterday. today. and FOREVER. God's Word is the ultimate expression of His love for us. It's His handwritten guide for me. For you! For anyone who chooses to receive and believe. What He speaks to us through His word may not always be easy to follow, but it is always- ALWAYS- meant for our good, for our protection and, most importantly, for His glory.

I am always amazed and amused how God continually uses my own parenting to teach ME lessons about Him. And I am thankful that in those teachable moments, I am not, always, just the one doing the teaching, but also the one who is taught.

her mother's daughter...

Ahhh.... yes.




She is definitely...


her Mother's Daughter...



and loooooooooves Guacamole Night,almost as much as her Mommy...

i love nature...

If i could take my kids on a hike every single day, I would.

God's creation never ceases to amaze me. To the contrary, I think that the older I get, the greater appreciation I gain for God's creativity and the works of His hand.



We are very fortunate to have the Arboretum close by. It is a breathtakingly beautiful place to wander and explore. I love bringing the kids there.

Ariana is fascinated with water. Baths, lakes, sprinkler systems, faucets, little fish ponds...



While we lunched, we sat under a huge (what we agreed to be) Sycamore tree. We are trying to learn the different types of trees by their leaves. So far we've got the Maple Tree down- but we're working on expanding our knowledge database...



The kids found this to be, perhaps, the most exciting moment of our hike- when we discovered a common garden snake. Grace was so impressed, she included a drawing of it in her nature journal.


I love these girls.



These are the coolest chair. I wish we had some for our own backyard!

who's that guy?

Some interesting conversation can always crop up completely out of the blue at our house...

Alex: Who's that guy again who dressed up in that snake costume?

Me: Hmm? Who??

Alex: You know- that bad guy?

Me: Oh- you mean, Satan?

Alex: Yeah!! Satan.

There you have it. Always have to be on my toes!