Growing fast....

Me: Are you my baby??

Little Dude: No. I a kid.

Me: Oh.... (sniff)

Jesus Loves You

Me: Who loves you?

Little Dude: "Jesus wuvs Meeeeee" (sung in perfect Sunday School tune!)

Me: Where is Jesus?

Little Dude: Jesus in my heart

Me: Jesus is in my heart too

Little Dude: No. Daddy in your heart.

All You Need is Love

Did you know that I have a job??? As of January 1st, I am the Youth Coordinator for a Parish of seven Churches. I am mostly responsible for organizing, coordinating and communicating all the extra, fun stuff to help the youth connected to our Parish grow in their faith. It's a little weird receiving a paycheck for the first time in almost 8 years and I hardly feel like it's work.

Yesterday I felt the lives and worlds of some of the youth I serve (and some who I don't) resting heavily on my shoulders.

Life is tough for some kids and it breaks my heart; some of the kids just say things that make me worry as if I'm their mom and I want to lecture them; some of the kids I want to scoop up and put into a bubble.

All I could think of to do was pray. It all felt too overwhelming to do anything else.

This morning I opened my daily piece of scripture that gets sent to my email inbox. It was from John 13:35 (NLT) and said,

"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

As Little Dude was falling asleep for nap time today, I opened up the Bible that I have been reading. It is The Message Remix Pause. It matches up one Old Testament reading and one New Testament reading each day and can get you through the Bible in a year if you are diligent about your reading.

Guess what part of today's reading was???

Yup!

John 13:35

When scripture pops up more than once in a week I usually figure I'm suppose to pay attention to it. Today it popped up twice. The Message translation says,

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."

I read it again trying to figure out what God was trying to say to me

And then it dawned on me....

All I have to do is love them.

I don't need to fix all of their problems. I don't need to plan fantastic lessons. I don't need to micro manage their faith walk. I just need to LOVE THEM where they are and for who they are in the same way Jesus has been loving me all along.

God will take care of the rest.

Then a little tune popped into my head....

"All you need is love,
All you need is love,
All you need is love, love is all you need"

Our Story.....

February 15, 1995

This was the night I was meeting his parents. He came to pick me up after he got off of work. He lived about 30 minutes away from me in a small town.

I remember him pointing out a video rental store and thinking, "Why is there a video rental store in the middle of no where"

Then we drove a little further and he said, "Welp, that was it. That's the town I grew up in!"

I remember thinking, WHAT town??? I didn't see anything!!!!

We drove another 5 minutes and pulled into the sub-division where he lived with his family. Then we pulled into his driveway and I saw the house and thought, "I am out of my league with this guy! LOOK at this house!!"

We had dinner, I met his family, we watched a movie, we kissed, I cried, I told him I had forgotten who I was with (nice, huh?) and he took me home.

That was 15 years ago......

I suppose that's not our "whole" story....but it's how it all started and what a beautiful story we've created together ever since.

Our Story.....

February 14, 1995

....the clock struck midnight.

My head was laying in his lap and I was looking up at him.

He said, "I think you know what is going to happen" (HA!!)

And he leaned over and kissed me.

BEST start of a Valentines Day EVER! I thought!!!!

It was a Tuesday and I knew I wouldn't see him that day.

It was an especially busy day at work I remember.

He came in the door and I kind of waved at him and kept on going. He was waiting patiently as I worked through the busy lunch crowd.

Someone asked me if he was here to see me. And even though it was BUSY they told me to go talk to him real quick.

As cute as could be he pulled out a single red rose.

What is it about one red rose that is so sweet?

I was so excited. But work was so busy that I said thank you and quickly got back to work.
(I think he was expecting a kiss or something but I was feeling a little shy!!!)

The gals at work were doing the "AWWW THAT'S SO SWEET's" and asked if he was my boyfriend.

I giggled and said yes.

I put my rose someplace safe and got back to work.

Our Story.....

February 13th, 1995

He came over to my house that night. I think he had dinner with us that evening.

He met my dad.

I remember them visiting around our kitchen table.

I remember thinking, I'm not sure my dad likes this guy.

We went downstairs and watched TV in our family room.

We talked.

We flirted.

It was a fun evening

Then....

Our Story.....

February 12, 1995

He CALLED ME!!!!!

Our Story.....

February 11, 1995

I can't remember if I had to work that day or not. But I do remember talking to him on the phone and making arrangements for later that evening.

The plan was to go to a movie. We were going to a later movie because I did have to go help work a Public TV event. I helped in the "TV Studio" where kids got to go sit with different local TV anchors and be interviewed. It was fun and made the evening go quick.

I remember being annoyed with my mom because she told me I needed to be home at midnight. I didn't want to have to tell this guy I had an early curfew.

I remember thinking I wanted to look cute but not LOOK like I was trying to look cute.

The doorbell rang and he looked cute!!!

We did some quick introductions and were on our way to the movie.

"I'll see you at 1," my mom said as we walked out the door. (TEEEHEE!!! She must have thought he was cute too!)

We went to see a movie...."Before Sunset" I remember thinking it was a good movie, but remember spending most of the time hoping and waiting for him to hold my hand!!! He did eventually.

After the movie we went and got coffee and pie and talked.

This is where the story has a different perspective for each of us....so since it is my blog, I'll tell you MY version.

We get back to my house and I very slowly take my time getting out of the car, not wanting to seem like I was trying to run away from him. We causally walk up to the door.

We look at each other.

It is awkward.

He says goodbye and I go into my house.

WHAT!!!!

NO kiss!!!

He must not like me!!! I was a little bummed. A little unsure of what to think. But maybe he was a gentleman????

His version goes something like this....I ran to the door so quickly he couldn't keep up. I got to my door, said goodbye and let myself in and he had no time to give me a kiss.

Our Story.....

February 10th 1995

Class was over. I was in the furthest possible building from where my mom was going to pick me up. I don't think our friend was in class with us again that day, for some reason.

He walked with me through the halls and tunnels back to the main building.

Just as we were about to walk up and out of the tunnel he asked, "What are your plans this weekend"

"Nothing really....." and I think I said something completely lame like, "I'll probably just stay home and hang out with my brothers"

REALLY!! I couldn't have just stopped at "Nothing really."

Then he asked if I'd like to go out and do something.

"SURE!!!"

I'm certain that I was a little too eager with my response.

Then it hit me.

OH GREAT!!!! I have JUST received a pity invitation to go out Saturday evening!!!!! GO ME!

I got into the car, a little more giddy than usual, and told my mom that I had a date the next evening.

I later found out that he was actually parked just outside the building where our class was and that after he walked me all the way to where I needed to be, he had to turn around and go back to where it was we had just come from.

Our Story.....

February 8th, 1995

We were less than a month into the second semester of the school year. I had met one of his best friends the semester before and now this semester the three of us shared a class.

The two guys would go to lunch after class. Eventually I started to "tag along" too. Apparently we had been doing it for a few weeks because our friend wasn't in class that day, so we went to lunch together, just the two of us. No big deal, right?? It was just lunch.

We went to a Gyro place.....I ordered chicken strips.

Then came the awkward moment.

"Will this be together or separate?"

I drew a blank. It was a simple question yet I had no words! It was almost like I was choking to get my words out....there was no reason for the bill to be "together".

"It'll be together" he said, a little hesitant.

I felt like a big jerk! I had just made him pay for my lunch!!??? Way to go, ME!

We took our food and sat down. What I remember most about our conversation was him sharing the idea of opening a place called "food wars" A place you could go, and have food fights for fun.

I remember him making me laugh.

I remember him making me smile.

I don't remember the ride back to school but I do recall that it was a sunny February afternoon....

Police Report

Date: February 4th, 2010

Time: Crime occurred sometime between 1:15 p.m. (after the mother put the suspect down for a nap in her bed) and 2:30 p.m. when the suspect came to the door claiming to have "waked up" from nap.

Suspect: Male, Blonde hair, Hazel eyes, About 2 1/2 years old, Adorable


Crime Scene Photos:


Conclusion: After reviewing the evidence and taking note of the suspect falling asleep (or passing out) at 5 p.m. the same day as the crime, it is our conclusion that the suspect did not actually take a nap when he was suppose to.

Adventures in Potty Training

When Little Dude met me at the bedroom door after a nap one day like this.....




and would tell me each time he was wet I decided it was time to attempt potty training....again.

Back in October I thought I'd brave it and I decided he wasn't ready.

I tried again in early January by putting "big boys" on him and he wet his pants 5 minutes later.

The thing is he still hadn't actually used potty.....he would sit there, occasionally. If we asked if he wanted to go he'd say, "I fine" and proceed to later tell us his diaper was wet.

The following week I had myself psyched up to endure a week of repeated accidents. But we were going to tackle this next step with our chins held high!!!

After returning from a morning outing with the boys I decided to take Little Dude to the potty and put him in big boys since we were going to be home for the rest of the day. And much to my amazement he PEED!!!!!

I was e static!!!!

Since he disliked being wet so much I was certain that once he used the potty the first time and we celebrated it (which we did, by the way!!!) that it would just get easier from there.

Let me tell you what a amazing job he did last week! He stayed dry, used the potty, told us when he needed to go.

He walked around much of last week all decorated with stickers and was oh, so proud.



This week, we have experienced a complete 360 turn around.

We've talked about the stickers and the M & M's that we rewarded him with last week and it hasn't had an impact. We've even told him he could watch a movie/TV if he used the potty and THAT hasn't worked! So the TV has not been on. Today I even threatened not to pick him up and hold him until he went potty. (Seriously, what mom does that!!!! I'm horrible!!!)

Today I'm just frustrated with potty training. For an hour I watched him dance and hop around and whine because he had to go potty soooo bad. He clearly felt miserable. He sat on the potty at least 6 times, partly by his own choice and partly with my promoting and did nothing. Then about 60 seconds after our last attempt he wet his pants.

Part of my frustration I'm sure part of it was because of how well he did last week that I just figured we were done with the process.

It'll get better....right???? The only thing I am hoping for is for him to be daytime trained before his 3rd birthday in April and completely trained before he starts preschool in the fall.

Monkey Boy

Me: BuhBuh, please stop climbing on the counters. You are not a monkey

BuhBuh: But maybe I am and I just learned how to talk.

Me: But you're not because I was there when you were born.

BuhBuh: But I am hairy.

Hand Made with Love

My Sweetie came home from work the other day with a BUNCH of gifts for me!!!!

I got flowers, chocolate, a good book, wine (which I don't drink, but apparently he thought I was having a rough day and might want some anyway) with promises of some quiet time in a hot bath listening to my iPod.

Isn't he amazing????

What's better.....is that I didn't cost him a single penny to shower me with these gifts.

Isn't he amazing AND thrifty??!!!

Here they are.....

He even made sure that some of the flowers were my favorite color, purple!!! How thoughtful!!!

And he made sure my chocolates had a MAP! I will NOT bite into a piece of chocolate without knowing what it is I'm biting into. He really did think of everything!

Ahhhhh.....with bubbles. Perfect!

He even made sure to remember the GIANT ear buds needed for the strange sized holes in my head. Thanks, honey!

What a guy! He really does spoil me.

In all honesty though....it really was the BEST card I've EVER received from him because it was hand made with lots of thought and lots of love!!! The fact that the pictures were all stapled to the card stock because his office didn't have any tape, made it that much sweeter.

Race Day

It is always a much anticipated Scouting event.

The Pinewood Derby!!!!!!

I'm not sure who enjoys it more....the kids or the dads....but it's a fun event nonetheless.

This year it was BuhBuh who was participating.

It's been several years since our last Derby as The Boy only did Scouts for a couple of years. But The Daddy broke out his handy dandy Derby Tool Box. Complete with wheels, axles and weights.

BuhBuh actually received a lot of help on his Derby Car this year from his PaPa. But he did get to use some power tools I hear. It was also BuhBuh's idea to have a skateboard car rather than your "normal" lookin' derby car.

He won two of his heats. But they go by overall time and he didn't make the cut. But, it was fun watching his skateboard car race down the track and beat the other cars he was racing.

Little Dude was fascinated with the race. He sat and watched the entire thing and cheered his little heart out.

The Boy was acting like a cool 13 year old. BuhBuh was bored out of his mind. It was nice to see the boys bonding in their boredom.

The cool thing about the derby is after the boys all race there is an open race for dads, siblings, moms, whoever. The rules aren't as strict and it is just as much of a much anticipated race, if not more so.

My Sweetie was thrilled to hear this and spent a lot of time working on his car. He hand carved it and put lots of hours into getting it just right.

Can you figure out which one it is????

He was hoping there would be a prize for the "best looking" car. But there wasn't.

He spent so much time making it look good that he wasn't sure how well it was going to race. It raced....but.....it wasn't the fastest on the track. He did, however, get lots of compliments on his design.

We are unsure of BuhBuh's Scouting career and whether or not we'll be at next years race of if we'll have to wait a few more years until it's Little Dude's turn.

The Writing on the Wall

Last week was a tough one for my BuhBuh. I think part of it was because it was the first week back after break and it was too cold to go outside and run off some of his boy energy. The other part is that he's part ornery. Adorable....but oh, so ornery.

After a harder than usual round of homework, I was at my wits end. In my attempt to have him keep some focus I told him he wasn't allowed to talk to me unless it was specifically about the assignment he was working on.

After my 20 billionth time of telling him I didn't want him to talk, he sobbed "YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING!!!!" then he thought and added, "Except God and Jesus."

hehehehe.....I thought it was funny that he had to add that little disclaimer.

After kids were (finally!!!) all tucked in for the night I was in the bathroom picking up and getting myself ready for bed and on the shower wall in red (bathtub!) marker was a message (I tried to take a picture but my camera was unable to focus on the shower wall for some reason):

M
A
M
A
N
D
D
A
D
I
*heart*
U

Precious.

I think he knows that I really do care about other things in my life.


*************************************************************************

Our bedroom is just off of the kitchen. Countless times a day I walk past our magnet filled refrigerator to go into our bedroom. I had noticed a new arrangement of "flair" on the side of the refrigerator but hadn't taken a moment to stop and look closely.

But My Sweetie did.

And there was laughter.



"Come here!!! Come here!!!! Check this out!!!!"

It took me a minute but as I looked closer, I understood the humor and also began to laugh.


I wonder which one of my loving, adorable children was responsible for this???

And I wonder too, what exactly it says about the way he feels about himself and the way he feels about his brothers?

Laughter is the BEST Medicine....

One of the things that I love most about My Sweetie is his ability to make me laugh in most any situation.

His boys seem to be following in their Daddy's footsteps.

**********************************************************************************

The other night at dinner BuhBuh was not using his best manners at the table. I was attempting to correct him by asking him to use his silverware. He continued to use his fingers to pick up his meat and was using his "magic" to pull the meat from behind his ears.

"HEEEYYYY LOOOK....." he'd say with a big ole' cheesy grin. "There's MEAT behind my eaarrrr"

Then he'd put it in his mouth.
This made Little Dude LAUGH....so of course BuhBuh continues. Who doesn't like to get a laugh???

When I thought it had gone far enough, I again asked him to stop.

He continued to pull meat out from behind his ear and say, "HEEEEYYYYY LOOOK.....there's MEAT behind my ear." and then put it in his mouth....or so I thought.

He was pulling meat out from behind his ear at such an alarming rate that I couldn't figure out HOW he was able to pick the meat up that quickly from his plate without me noticing. And HOW could he possibly have THAT MUCH MEAT in his mouth at once???? Was he holding multiple pieces in his hand possibly????

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

He was using his new found skill of dinner table magic to pretend to put the meat in his mouth, continue to chew on a different piece then slip the meat down into his hand to pull it out from his ear again.

It's really hard to enforce table manners in this situation. So I resorted to hiding my laugh under my napkin so that I could regain my composure and try again.

*********************************************************************************

Yesterday The Boy came down to the kitchen while I was doing dishes and showed me a piece of partially eaten chocolate.

The Boy: Mom, I think a mouse found my candy and ate some of my chocolate.

Me (with a disgusted sigh because I know that there is currently an unwelcomed friend in our house): UGH! Probably. You should bring your stuff down here so........

The Boy....pops the candy in his mouth.....

Me (SHOCKED, GROSSED OUT AND TERRIFIED!!!!!!!) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Boy: Walks away laughing hysterically.......

********************************************************************

How is this mommy suppose to help with homework in a serious manner when she has to look at this.....

Planning for the New Year

I like to make goals for the new year to come this time of year. But I found myself struggling this year. I often make very broad, general goals that are had to measure and accomplish. Then as I clicked open my email inbox I found the answer to my dilemma in the form of my Hearts at Home newsletter.

The writer suggests making quarterly goals instead; goals that are flexible, measurable and attainable. She suggests coming up with 10 categories that are important to us and list 3 goals under each category. If 10 is too much, then try 5 to start.

I thought this was brilliant! So I sat down with a pen and paper at first and made my list, revised it a little then came up with my final list of 30 items of things I'd like to accomplish in the first quarter.

As wonderful as it would be to accomplish all 30, we have to be realistic. There is still laundry and dishes and homework and dinner and shopping and the other endless list of things to do ON TOP of this list of goals. As of January 1 I am also a staff member for a Parish of seven churches as the Youth Coordinator. SO, if I can accomplish 80% of my list I will be happy. If I only achieve half of my goals I will celebrate that but realize that my list might need some adjustments because it might not be realistic, measurable or flexible enough.

I won't bore you with my list of 30 but rather the the focus for the year. Remembering always that, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Priority Statement:

To be the servant God is calling me to be, the wife my husband deserves and the mother my children need.


In 2010 I will set up quarterly goals. I will list 2-4 goals, broken into priority categories of my choice, with a total of 30 goals each quarter. Have goals and priority categories reflect those things that are most important to me within the following general goals that I like to follow for my life



In 2010 I will…

…continue to strengthen my relationship with God

…make family, friends and taking care of myself a priority

…set up an effective plan to manage my home

…continue to grow and live my ministry mission of:

teaching children/youth about God’s love for them and the awesome gift He gave us in His son Jesus Christ.
living my life as an example and response to God’s grace
To reach out to those in greater need than myself

Happy New Year

It has become a tradition (that I hope will continue) to get together with friends on New Years Eve. These are friends who we have done play group with when our kids were little, taken day trips to family museums with, overnight trips to waterparks with and have participated in a babysitting co-op for the past couple of years with.

We get together for dinner and the adults visit and the kids play and then the much anticipated stroke of midnight comes. The adults are armed with cameras around the perimeter of the living room while the kids jump around and ring in the new year.

Who would have thought that my favorite way to celebrate the New Year would be through the lens of a camera.

There are just too many cute moments that I want to capture in those first few minutes of the new year.

Wishing you and your families a Happy, Healthy, Joyous New Year full of Adventure, Laughter and Peace.

Winding Down

So as I have been cleaning up and prayfully preparing for the New Year, I have been reflecting on the year we've had. When I look back through all of the pictures from the year I am warmed with such a feeling that is nearly indescriblable; God has been so good to me, so good to our family and I sometimes feel undeserving of all the blessings that we have been given. I actually find myself questioning WHY we have been so blessed and so watched over. It breaks my heart to hear the stories and see the pain that others are going through. I often find myself wanting so badly to do something but am left feeling helpless.

Why can't some families Just. Get. A. Break.???

But then I'm reminded of the words from Luke, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

So I will count my many blessings, pray for those who are hurting, and march with my head high into the New Year with those things that God is calling me to do and try to do it well. I'm being trusted with much. I'm being asked to do more. So I will.