Saturday, April 30, 2011

7,6,5 weeks.

In just seven short weeks, I get to go to day camp with my daughter.  Horses, zip lines, arts and crafts, cooking and more await her.  I'm still waiting to see where I'll be assigned.  I've requested programs this year, so I won't be with her most of the time.  That's a big change from last year, but I'm sure she can handle it.  I'll be fine too.
In just six short weeks is VBS at our church.  This year, our preschool director has to work her real job, so in the preschool department I'm doing Missions and Music, and making sure everything else runs smoothly.  Thankfully Ms. J is still helping get it set up, gather volunteers, and such or I would be totally lost.   I love ms J.  This year is going to be hard for both of us.
In just 5 short weeks, our home is supposed to be ready for us.   Our real home.  Our "I don't want to move out unless there's dire circumstances home."  Our home that was chosen for us 1.5 years ago, and we've watched be reshaped into something even more amazing than it already was home.  A home that truly reflects our character.  A FIVE bedroom home with TWO working bathrooms!  A home w/ a fridge with a bottom freezer and a working full sized oven with a warranty.  A home with main floor laundry, hardwood floors, and lots of red & blue paint.  A home with a decorative fireplace.  Yes, I'm a bit excited about moving home.  Just a ripple of what I'll feel when I get to heaven.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter

Happy Resurrection day to all my friends.  We are so blessed.  Our morning started by the kids having candy and hard boiled eggs for breakfast, shooting rockets and bouncing balls and blowing bubbles in the house. 
Then we settled down to watch "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.." and explaining the parallels between the movie and Easter.   Some of the kids got it, others not so much, but our second feature was the new Veggietale "Twas the Night Before Easter" for the small fry. 
Then something amazing happened.  Every single one of our kids spent some time with their new devotionals.  Only God could have guided me to ones each kid would relate to.  I especially like E2's one, because it has an emphasis on our stewardship of the earth.
Easter Dinner was ham, cheesy taters, sweet taters, corn and broccoli, shared with my fantastic in-laws.  Now we're all in the post food daze.
Peace be with you.  It was with us today.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

My mom.

Every now and then I do a list post.  My mom is having some pretty major surgery tomorrow, and this post is for her.
Things I learned from MY mom.

1.)  God has to be first.  all the time.  period.
2.)  It is better to laugh than despair.
3.)  Worship music is the best, most meaningful music...and an easy way to memorize scripture.
4.)  Intelligence is a gift.  Don't waste it.
5.)  Quality ingredients lead to quality results.  This doesn't just apply to cooking.
6.)  Unconditional acceptance is the first step to unconditional love.
7.)  Those we love the most will drive us the most crazy.
8.)  Anything worth doing is worth doing wholeheartedly.
9.)  The most important thing you can do as a parent (besides praying for/with your kids) is be there for your kids when they really need you, which is not the same thing as when they want you.
10.)  Relationships are a two way street.
11.)  Pay attention to how you look.  People WILL judge you by it. 
12.)  Do whatever you need to do to protect your family.  The world be damned.
13.)  Every decision you make has consequences.
14.)  How to have a mutually submissive marriage.
15.)  Games are not about winning.  Really.  They're not.  (This one had to be repeated, and repeated, and repeated....)
16.)  Appreciate the family you have.  It's not like you can spin the wheel of families for a new one.
17.)  Do the best you can with who you are and what you have....and let go of the rest.
18.)  Love your friends like family and your respect family like friends.
19.)  Keep an eternal perspective.
20.)  When in doubt, pray.   When not in doubt, pray.  Just keep praying.
21.)  All things work for the good.  It does not mean all things are good at the time.
22.)  Don't feel bad about taking breaks when you need them.
23.)  Take time to appreciate the details.
24.)  Performance DOES matter.  Do the best work you are capable of.
25.)  Money isn't everything.  People are.
26.)  Take time to play with your children.  It will be some of the best memories they have in their entire lives.
27.)  Everyone needs to feel appreciated.  Voice that appreciation sincerely and often. 
28.)  Respect people.  No exceptions.
29.)  All situations are temporary.  Don't get too wrapped up in one.
30.)  Things are temporary.  The only thing here you're definitely going to see in heaven is people.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Palm Sunday

I feel that Palm Sunday is the best Sunday to be a kid in church, hands down.  As a parent, it brings back some of my favorite parts of childhood.  Sure, it's fun to proceed around the sanctuary waving branches and towels.  It's fun to sing, LOUD, with adult approval.  It's fun to remember this part of Christ's life, as a kid.
The best part is the palm branches themselves.
After church I had one kid dissecting his, to figure out all the veins in the leaves and the "why" of the shape.
I had another turn his into a ponytail for "crazy hat night" at AWANA.
I had a couple more treat them like swords.
There's still one in the back of car, and one that's been "deleafed", for lack of a better word.
All in all, the bottom line is Palm Sunday shows kids it can be fun to worship Jesus.  Any day that makes my 10 year old jump out of bed ready to go to church is a good day to me.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Today's picky topic

A friend of mine posted a link today, stating her point of "I believe the cure to picky eating is kids in the kitchen."
I believe that when someone says they have a "cure" to any particular
childhood behavior, they haven't been exposed to enough children yet.  I too, have fallen victim to these attitudes in my past, and having another baby or two usually cured it. 

Using the example before us, I have six kids, all of whom have "helped" in the kitchen from the time they could stand on a chair, if not sooner.   They also grocery shop with us.   Every one of them usually is game about trying new foods, especially whatever we pick out at the farmer's market.  Each and every one of these six kids has totally different ideas about how said food should be prepared.
Granted, food intolerances/allergies, etc. have played a role in shaping some of them.  The one who is a sauce hater and likes all food plain is probably that way due to being extremely intolerant to gluten and dairy, and sauces being one the worst culprits for his "accidental exposures."  Ditto on the kid who eyes every granola bar w/ suspicion and is allergic to nuts.
Even my human garbage disposals (aka, boys 1 & 3) have some definite preferences about food.  They are also the ones who cook for themselves the most.    Reconciling E2s sauce addiction to E1s sauce hatred is one of my top kitchen challenges.
Our little first grade princess has always had standards for dairy products.  She doesn't like to drink milk that doesn't come from a glass bottle, prefers certain types of cheese over others, and adores yogurt.
Miss P likes to "doctor" whatever is put before her, even if she helped make it.
Si guy will try any new food before 3pm...but hates to eat dinner, even if he likes it.  It's just too close to bedtime as far as he's concerned.
All of our kids preferences come from their exposure to food in the kitchen, not the lack of it.

And that's okay.  Their dad doesn't like most fish.  I don't like many, many, cooked vegetables.  (Raw is another matter.)  I empathize w/ my anti-sauce kid, because I don't care for tomatoes either.  Everyone is entitled to their likes/dislikes within reason.  The trick is to learn to accept what you dislike with grace when it's presented with love.  Food is for our nourishment, not our whims.  Everyone has to accept situations they don't like sometimes.  Everyone has to eat food they don't like sometimes, just to be polite.  It's a grown up skill.  At least that's what I tell my kids if they start to complain.
This means daddy eats fish.  It also means E2 eats spaghetti and Miss D has to deal w/ non-glass milk until we can afford to increase our food budget by about $20 a week.  It means E2 eats roast beast and our oldest eats baked beans.  And for the most part, they've adapted.  Sure they're still kids and we sometimes find broccoli or beans under the dining room table rug.  Sometimes we catch them trading what they don't like for what they do off each other's plates. 
In general though, what we're doing seems to be working.   Other than our oldest two, who push the top and bottom of the weight chart, our kids are in the normal range.  All six are active.  They eat a green food every day and take a fresh fruit or veggie in their lunch without me having to inspect daily.  They have favorites like broccoli and jicama.   It works. 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Remembering the church songs of my childhood

Today my brain was playing radio station.
During Sunday School the tunes were
"They will know we are christians by our love, by our love..."
& "The horse and rider thrown into the sea."
During kidz world, of all the songs to pop into my head was the "meet and greet" song from Full Faith.  I even sang it to Gordo.
"I love you with the love of God, yes I love you with the love of God, I can see Him in you, the image of our King, yes I love you with the love of God"  Okay, the word might be glory instead of image...but you get the gist, what makes this memory particularly squirm worthy is that while we sang this song, we had to hold both the other person's hands and look them in the eye, and at the end of the verse find a new victim and repeat.

Tonight it was "he has shown thee, oooh ma-a-an, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee..."

While I was waiting for the kids at AWANA, an eldery member of the church was talking to me about how I was raising my kids right.  If that's true, it's because of the spiritual legacy my parents left me.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Today's kid quotables.

Miss P was full of commentary today.
"Si, that's it.  I'm NOT going to marry you anymore."
Si-"Yes you are."

"Mommy, we have to go to the park.  My baby needs some air."

And then miss D "Why does my Ariel doll have feet.  Hello?  She's supposed to be a mermaid."  (put in hair flip and eye roll.  How do six year olds learn that?)
"She turned human at the end."
"Why would she want to do that?"
I guess the water is always bluer on the other side.

E2 "Mom, look at this book I got at the library!"
"ARMY RANGERS."
"But there's not any violence in it really, except at the end, and there...."

 Seeing my 12 year old light up like a 6 year old.
"oooh, jellybeans!  Purple.  Grape!  I like purple.  Can I trade you for another purple.  I have two reds...Can I get the green one too?  I really thought you called me."
"No, it must have been the jellybeans calling you."


And even Eggy had his moment today.
"Mom, do blondies count as treat foods?  They don't have any sugar."
"They don't?  Let me see that bag.  hmm.  First ingredient.  Evaporated cane juice.  Can you tell me what sugar is made of?"
"Cane.  Awwe.  I'm doing movers today, but I could make them for tomorrow!"
I love my kids.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

a little separation

Our 10 year old is testing the separation waters.
"I know you don't like baseball, but can I watch the Royals game?"
"Sure.  Basketball isn't until tonight."
"Basketball.  bleah.  Baseball goood."

"k."

Later...
"Texas A &M is playing K-state in baseball.  Can I watch that?"
"Sure."
"Good, but I'm rooting for Texas.  I want to go to A&M for college."
"okay."
Our oldest pipes in outraged, "but MOM!"
"It's okay I, he can go wherever he wants to go, if he does well enough to get the financial aid.  It's too far ahead to tell."
"But Mom,..."
"And he can root for whoever he wants to root for.  You guys don't have to agree with us about everything."
I suppose that's going to be mantra soon. 

Friday, April 1, 2011

Grey's Anatomy

This post has some more "mature" themes than is common here at Mama's house.  Something about having a couple kids on the dawn of adolescence.
Grey's Anatomy is my guilty pleasure show.  Last night, my 12 year old wanted to watch it with me.   It has some very "mature" content, but at least for this particular episode I'm glad he did.  It led to some very interesting discussion.
Topic 1:
Why we wear seatbelts EVERY minute the car is moving.The opening scene had Callie splayed across the hood of a car, being thrown because she had unbuckled her seatbelt to reach the back seat, and then never fastened it again. 
Topic 2:
Out of body experiences, brain trauma's.  Callie wasn't in the best of shape throughout the show
Topic 3:
Sexuality.  E1 walked in as I broached this topic w/ our oldest.
He was horrified and fascinated at the same time to find out there were "girl-girl" and "boy-boy" couples out there.
We stated our stance of "we hope that is a road none of you go down,  (for religious and health reasons) but people have the right to make their own choices." and "people's relationship statuses do not give you a reason to treat them poorly" and "Mind your own bees."  Oddly enough, the best allegory I know for our position of sexuality issues is C.S. Lewis' discussing wine.  " I know there are people who think it is wrong to have a glass of wine with dinner, but I would be greatly disappointed if they made it illegal for me to do so." (paraphrased from Mere Christianity.)
There was also the reinforcement of "yes premarital sex is common, but please don't do it.  That's how diseases/babies happen, and condoms aren't perfect."

Topic 4:  No matter what choices you make, we can talk about them, and I will love you no matter what.  I will be happy for your happiness and have sorrow with your sorrow, because you are mine. 
Life isn't t.v.   but sometimes t.v. helps us to explain the ins and outs of life.

My baby girl is going to kindergarten.

This morning was kindergarten round up, and princess P is so ready. 
While mommy was getting schpeel about curriculum and being able to put their own straws in juice boxes, Princess P got to make a picture, meet the teachers and librarian, and plant a sunflower seed.
She spelled her name for everyone, and knew the answers at story time.
She moved along and never looked back.
She was excited, confident, and capable.
For her, August couldn't come soon enough.  She didn't need to be "rounded up", but at least she felt "welcome in".