This past week has been a bit crazy. Okay, in all honesty is has been a bit BEYOND crazy. In one week we've had: a vomiting child during the night, a missed school field trip, sick toddler resulting in six hours at Children's Hospital ER, breathing treatment and steroids (also in the middle of the night), 103+ degree temperature, a fight with my dad, missed play date with cousins, cancelled much looked forward to camping trip due to closed National Park, rescheduled camping trip at a new location, only to be cancelled again by the oldest child then sporting 103+ temperatures and Croup. Cancelled slumber party and more fun play dates scheduled for the long holiday weekend, a very disappointed little girl, a fussy toddler who can't always express what she wants/needs, missed dance class, disappointment at not rescheduling the camping trip, two days of missed school, waking every few hours to check temperatures/distribute medicine for each child, another doctor appointment, migraine, Oh and the deep freezer broke and we lost more than $100 worth of food that was stored and had a lot of melted ice cream to clean up.
So...it's been a week! It's easy to let all of that stuff get you down. And, depending on the moment, it did/does get us down. BUT... amidst the craziness, we've had lots of good things too. Today, I was reminded of the verse Psalm 107:1, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."
I am choosing the good. I am giving thanks. And I LOVE the abundance of blessings we have been given...especially during one of those weeks.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Pajamas and Playdough
When awoken at 3:00 am by a vomiting child, it's inevitable that the plans for that day will be altered.
Today, we had plans to attend Elliana's first school field trip. Yeah, I could tell even at 3 am that wasn't going to happen.
And so, here we are home all day in quarantine. Truthfully, I wish a sick child wasn't the cause for the laziness but we are all enjoying our day thus far.
Friday, October 4, 2013
No Supermom
My friend jokingly refers to me as super mom. I laugh at her face and tell her she's crazy. Without really trying, I tried to be "that mom" today. That super mom that I aspire to, work toward and frequently fall short of attaining.
I had grandiose plans to wake up early, work out and get a shower before the kids awoke. At 6:00 am I am on the ground of my bedroom, crunching my first crunch when Elliana walks in, saying she is unable to sleep. I tried to swallow my bitterness at my only scheduled "me" time was now foiled, so I strongly encouraged her to return to bed and jumped into the shower to at least get one of my goals met.
My shower was interrupted three times by that same cute child, making requests, and demanding attention. I smiled and tried my best to be "that mom."
I made a hot, fresh and HEALTHY breakfast. French toast, bacon, fresh fruit and orange juice. I spent too much of my morning cleaning, cooking and directing my children. Post breakfast I was greeted with a high five and a "good job Mom on making breakfast!" So...that gave me encouragement to keep it up.
I attempted to hem Maya's dress which I goofed on last week, so that the girls could wear their matching dresses. That didn't work out too well, so we raided their closets until we found matching outfits (per their requests).
Fast forward, we dropped Elliana off at school. Maya and I ran errands and returned to school an hour later to volunteer for lunch duty. Maya fussed and cried the first two lunch duties, and when Elliana's class had arrived she was onto the "duty" part and tried removing lunch boxes from the table while children were eating, and then eagerly throwing away food when the kids were finished.
After lunch, I realized I managed to pack lunches for the girls and none for me. Hmm...diet pepsi and candy bar for lunch it is! Yep, pretty sure super mom WOULDN'T do that.
Maya threw tantrums in two different stores while we continued to run errands, maximize coupons and wait until pick up time for Elliana. I left both stores with both of us in tears. Awesome.
We came home and the girls played/fought for a while while I locked myself in the bathroom trying to maintain some sanity or at least not lose my cool. In my mind I ran through the list of to-do's and thought maybe checking some items off my list would help.
I went to my happy place and tuned out the girls as I made some zucchini bread. My first attempt and I must admit it smells awesome. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells. I put the girls to nap time and stepped over the Polly Pockets and Barbies to plop on the couch. And I admit, it feels good!
The caffeine and sugar is hitting my blood, the dirty dishes from baking and cooking are piled up in the sink and I am listening to my baby cry (who STILL hasn't napped). I'm not as stressed as I was earlier. I know I'm no supermom. And I feel good knowing I don't have to try to be "that mom." I'm just a mom. I have good days and bad. Good minutes and bad. And that's okay.
One day, there will be no Polly Pockets to climb over or Barbies to dress constantly. One day, there will be an opportunity to take my time in the restroom. One day, there will be an opportunity to watch a 40-minute television show without interruptions or taking 4 days to complete. Those days aren't in my forecast any time soon. What is in my forecast....smiles, hugs, cuddles and laughter. And that...is worth more than gold.
I had grandiose plans to wake up early, work out and get a shower before the kids awoke. At 6:00 am I am on the ground of my bedroom, crunching my first crunch when Elliana walks in, saying she is unable to sleep. I tried to swallow my bitterness at my only scheduled "me" time was now foiled, so I strongly encouraged her to return to bed and jumped into the shower to at least get one of my goals met.
My shower was interrupted three times by that same cute child, making requests, and demanding attention. I smiled and tried my best to be "that mom."
I made a hot, fresh and HEALTHY breakfast. French toast, bacon, fresh fruit and orange juice. I spent too much of my morning cleaning, cooking and directing my children. Post breakfast I was greeted with a high five and a "good job Mom on making breakfast!" So...that gave me encouragement to keep it up.
I attempted to hem Maya's dress which I goofed on last week, so that the girls could wear their matching dresses. That didn't work out too well, so we raided their closets until we found matching outfits (per their requests).
Fast forward, we dropped Elliana off at school. Maya and I ran errands and returned to school an hour later to volunteer for lunch duty. Maya fussed and cried the first two lunch duties, and when Elliana's class had arrived she was onto the "duty" part and tried removing lunch boxes from the table while children were eating, and then eagerly throwing away food when the kids were finished.
After lunch, I realized I managed to pack lunches for the girls and none for me. Hmm...diet pepsi and candy bar for lunch it is! Yep, pretty sure super mom WOULDN'T do that.
Maya threw tantrums in two different stores while we continued to run errands, maximize coupons and wait until pick up time for Elliana. I left both stores with both of us in tears. Awesome.
We came home and the girls played/fought for a while while I locked myself in the bathroom trying to maintain some sanity or at least not lose my cool. In my mind I ran through the list of to-do's and thought maybe checking some items off my list would help.
I went to my happy place and tuned out the girls as I made some zucchini bread. My first attempt and I must admit it smells awesome. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells. I put the girls to nap time and stepped over the Polly Pockets and Barbies to plop on the couch. And I admit, it feels good!
The caffeine and sugar is hitting my blood, the dirty dishes from baking and cooking are piled up in the sink and I am listening to my baby cry (who STILL hasn't napped). I'm not as stressed as I was earlier. I know I'm no supermom. And I feel good knowing I don't have to try to be "that mom." I'm just a mom. I have good days and bad. Good minutes and bad. And that's okay.
One day, there will be no Polly Pockets to climb over or Barbies to dress constantly. One day, there will be an opportunity to take my time in the restroom. One day, there will be an opportunity to watch a 40-minute television show without interruptions or taking 4 days to complete. Those days aren't in my forecast any time soon. What is in my forecast....smiles, hugs, cuddles and laughter. And that...is worth more than gold.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Weekend Getaway
we meet George (as in Curious George) when we were at Disney?" Well,
rather than explaining copyright issues and character ownership, we
realized it was the perfect time to announce our weekend surprise.
We had booked a hotel near the recently opened Curious George exhibit
at the local science museum. Earlier in the week I had whipped up some
Curious George dresses for the girls to wear and found a new book to
top off the surprise.
Needless to say, the trip was a success!! The girls loved exploring a
new museum and of course hanging with their favorite animated monkey.
You have been sent 11 pictures.
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Bushels of Fun
literally had BUSHELS OF FUN! We kicked off our weekend at Lynd's
Fruit Farm where we indulged in apples. Maya surprised us all with her
chomping on an apple all the way to the core, and then began another
apple.
Elliana loved climbing up Daddy to grab the apples from the top of the
tree, and later grabbing some low hanging fruit. Daddy and I loved
watching our girls cherish this experience and investigate the apples
before dropping them into our bag.
We walked away several hours later with 10 pounds of apples!! We've
slowly made a dent in those apples and this Momma is already digging
up lots of fall apple recipes.
You have been sent 10 pictures.
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