Time to rest

I just read this post by Lisa-Jo. Reading her posts is always good for my soul, but this one on rest
especially resonated, as it follows on the tails of yesterday’s sermon.

I’m coming off of five years of a 140-mile-a-day, five-day-a-week commute. It was every bit as stressful as it sounds, and then doubled. I left that job in March, for a new one that required full time travel for the first few months. Also every bit as stressful as it sounds. But thankfully that chapter ended last Thursday.

Friday I didn’t leave the house except for a quick trip to the store for school supplies. Saturday involved a few chores around the house, and I started to feel not exhausted.

It was so nice to be in my home church Sunday morning. The first point in the sermon was about following God’s rhythm, six days of work followed by a day of rest. Work hard, play hard, yes. But remember that even God rested. That He commands us to rest, it is that vital to our well-being.

Yesterday after the sermon I thought how nice it would be to have an afternoon at home with little to
do, but instead my day required going back to church. I was there five hours for a meeting that will bring changes in the next month or so, hopefully the right ones. It was a good, productive time, doing the important work of the church.

When I left the house I was worried I would feel like I hadn’t had a Sunday, which has been my normal for way too long. For five years Sunday afternoons were dedicated to preparing for five days of commuting. The last four months, Sundays have been spent in the car or the airport, traveling to
company headquarters.

But last night, when I got home at 8:00, I didn’t have to figure out what to wear all week, and pack a
suitcase and a lunch, and wonder if the car had gas. I didn’t have to go to bed at 9:00, since the alarm
didn’t have to be set for 4:20 am.

Instead, I sat on the couch and talked with my husband, and played a mindless game on my iPad.

And I woke this morning feeling tired, but not weary.

I worked today, sitting on my couch in comfy clothes. I handled conference calls, on-line meetings, and document revisions. I can’t begin to tell you how much I got accomplished.

But I did it while my daughter sang “Let it Go” at the top of her lungs in her bedroom.

I stopped and had lunch with my people at our kitchen table.

I brought in the boxes the UPS man delivered, and got the bathroom organized before it was time to worry about dinner.

I had a leisurely dinner with my family.

I hung out with my kids and watched cooking shows.

And I read a blog post, then found the energy to write my own, for this little blog that hasn’t seen a post in way too long.

The change has been hard, but this change, this new job that comes with challenges and struggles as all jobs do, will also bring more days like these.

Days where I have worked and played, handled countless tasks for work and home, been wife and mom, yet still found some time for me at the end.

And so change is good.

We are gearing up for school, for the messes and the professor, and the usual chaos of the fall. But I
hope this year I will be able to more fully participate in the fun and the work of my home, so that we can all find more opportunities to do the things that define rest for this family: to read, to play, to cook and bake, to sew, and hopefully to write.

It will be good for all of us.

Five minute Friday

My cell phone is ringing and dinging a text (at the same time? can it do that?), the office phone is blinking at me “voice mail waiting” and the computer is popping up emails, one, then two, then six, then 10, then... I’ve only been gone 15 hours since yesterday afternoon, how can I have four new voice mails and 25 new emails, and it’s only 7:30? Today’s to do list has grown overnight too. And somehow the budget got confused and the purchase can’t be made because the contract’s expired and now the license is no longer valid, and, and, and

Breathe in, breathe out…

OK, it’s not a million things to do, more like a thousand.

Breathe in, breathe out…

OK, down to a couple hundred

Breathe in, breathe out…

OK, now it’s manageable. And I have the first thing done.

Breathe in, breath out…

One thing at a time, and I can make it through today. And then a wonderful weekend with my people, all I have to do is breathe.

I'm ready

Above our kitchen table is a set of five pictures from a trip to the UK Hubby and I took with some friends in 2003.

One of them is this picture I took of St. Paul's Cathedral:
Mess 1 was looking at it tonight at dinner and asked me where it was. I told him it was in London, and that it was a really big church. Then a few minutes later he asked if I wanted to know what he was thinking; I told him yes, I did.

After a moment of serious contemplation, he said "I am thinking about you being there," and he pointed to the picture.

I asked him if we were all going, or just me. He responded, with a very sweet smile "How about just you and me?"

"Would you like to go to London with me?"

"Yes Mommy."

"OK, when would you like to go?"

"How about we go next weekend?"

"Next weekend, really?"

He thought about it then asked how long it takes to get there. I told him it would take about 15 or 16 hours by plane.

"Wow!"

"So how long should we stay?" I asked him.

After some more thought, he responded with "Sixty nights!"

"Sixty nights?"

"Yep!"

Sounds good to me kiddo. I'm ready.

Grace

Mess 1 said grace tonight before dinner:

"Dear God, thank you for today, and for our hearts, and for loving us. Thank you for trespassing against us, and those that trespass against us. Thank you for our minds, and our hearts, and our strength. Amen."

"Sweetheart, what does trespassing mean?"

"Giving money to the poor."

We should probably explain more of the words as we are teaching him the Lord's prayer.

Not brave

Last Friday Hubby took the messes to the local mass flu clinic for their flu shots.

All by himself.

He’s such a brave Daddy.

We talked about the shots with the kids before they went, telling them that yes it will hurt for a second, but getting the shot was important since it would help them stay well this winter. Mess 1 told me that getting his vaccination was very important (thanks Sid) and that he would be very brave and not cry.

Friday evening I was fixing dinner while Mess 1 was coloring and telling me about his day. “Mommy, I went to the doctor (check up with the ENT) and then I went to get my vaccination.”

“How was it; were you brave?”

“No, Mommy, I wasn’t brave.”

“Oh, did you cry? It’s OK if you cried a little, shots hurt.”

“No, Mommy. My sister cried but I didn’t cry and I wasn’t brave.”

I was totally confused by that statement so I just looked at him blankly. Then, just as proud as he could be, he told me:

“I got to sniff mine.”

The child cracks me up. Although I think we now have to have a chat about not sniffing anything unless it’s given to us by a doctor or nurse. Thank you big pharma.

Big girl bed

Last weekend my parents came for the Labor Day holiday. They brought with them the toddler bed that has been in the family for generations. I used it as a little girl and and now Mess 2 will get to use it for her first big girl bed.

My mom made the quilt for me and there's a blanket she made just for Mess 2 under it. My mom also had to cut down the fitted sheet so it would fit the narrow mattress, so the bedding is almost all handmade.

She was so excited to be able to get in it by herself.

And of course her brother wanted to get in it with her. I shudder to think of the trouble they can now get into.

And this is how I found her last night. Whether she crawled out onto the chair, or fell out and didn't wake up, I have no idea. She didn't really wake up when I put her back in the bed, so I guess she was comfortable.

Bits of my weekend

We had a wonderful, quiet weekend at home.

We rescued a frog from our frog sandbox/pool.

We made yummy lemon muffins for breakfast.

We made jerk chicken, coconut rice and black beans, and friend plantains for dinner.

We had some success with potty training (thus the chocolate mouth) and then danced in the kitchen.

Hubby and I used all of dominos (double 15s) and it ended in a draw.

And we spent lots of time running up the water bill: Daddy washed the cars while the rest of us played in the frog.

Little boys like to put buckets on their heads. I don't know why.

Punkin Chocolate

First you take some punkin and add some chocolate and stir it all up.

Den you add some oil and stir that up.

Den you add some crackers that you smashed up with the smasher and stir it up really well for a long time.

Den you add one more chocolate chip.

Den you bake it in the oven so it all squishes together.

That's how you make punkin chocolate.

Recipe by Mess 1 age 3

Improving

Hubby took Mess 2 to Children's a few days ago to see the ophthalmologist for her six month checkup. It was a long appointment for them since they dilated her eyes and did a number of tests. Plus my poor girl was very sick; she and I had been in the ER the night before because she was having such a hard time breathing (thankfully her O2 levels were good), so she was low on sleep.

But the good news is her eyes are improving and the odds of her vision correcting by the time she is a tween/teen keep getting better. We also found out the lazy eye part is not due to weak muscles (so not patching her was the right thing to do), but a result of her trying so hard to focus. Her vision is still as bad as mine is so I have some idea of what it's like for her without her glasses, and I can see how she'd go cross eyed trying to focus. I don't even try, it just gives me a headache.

So the optometrist here in town is getting her new glasses, which is good since her old ones aren't working well at all. They are way too small, and the earpieces broke during the move (yes eight weeks ago). They were replaced once with earpieces from a pair that didn't quite match or fit, but one broke again within a week. We tried various types of tape, but then finally gave up and let the half earpiece do its best. They really are pretty pathetic.

Once we get the new ones in I'll post pictures, both of her current pitiful pair, and her fun new, purple, pair.

Road Trippin'

Mess 1 and I went on our first long road trip together a few weeks ago. My grandfather (Pepaw) had just come home after a stay in the hospital and a rehab center, so we went to help out for a few days while my father was out of town.

Mess 1 was a real trooper, handling the two 10 hour days in the car like the seasoned traveler he is. Of course, getting to watch movies for the whole trip helps. :0)

It was a fun trip, with some very memorable moments:

• My boy did get tired of the movies toward the end of each day, so I'd start the praise and worship playlist on my iPod. Whenever Toby Mac's "Lose My Soul" would start he would perk up, and then he'd ask me to play it again and again. He loves that song, and I love listening to him sing "I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soooouuuul."
• We also heard Audio A's "Big House." I don't think he's ever heard it, but he perked up when they mentioned football, so we listened to it a few times. Days later he asked for the "Big song." And then proceeded to sing most of the chorus. The child's memory for music continues to amaze me.
• At one point, after asking him repeatedly to be quiet for a few minutes so I could deal with the traffic, I finally had to call his name in my mean mama voice. His response: "Aw man!" but then he was quiet. It was too funny.
• While Mess 1 was talking to Hubby on the phone, Hubby handed the phone to Mess 2. My sweet boy said "Hey sweetie-girl." I hope he calls her that forever.
• Two days later while talking to Hubby he said "Can I talk to my sister?" I hope he always wants to talk to her.
• Mess 1 fed Pepaw popcorn while they read the Sunday comics
• Pepaw was sitting in the recliner with his feet up at one point when he wasn't feeling well, and Mess 1 kept walking over to him and patting his arm and asking "Are you OK, Pepaw?"
• Mess 1 told both the PT and OT that came to my grandparent's house "That's not Mr. John, that's Pepaw!"
• We stayed with some friends the last night of our trip to help break up the drive home, and he shared the bed with me. I accidentally woke him up at 2:30 in the morning trying to get him to stop digging his knees into the middle of my back; he then chatted to me about who knows what until almost 5. I did at least get one nice hug/"I love you, Mom" out of it, but man the drive home was rough
• And just for the record, the boy watched Aladdin five times, Mickey's Three Musketeers six times, and Monsters Inc. twice. I tried to tell him I had other movies (at least 10), but he wasn't interested.

I can't wait to see what future car trips hold...

She can see now

We think. But I'm still having a hard time with them....

Confirmed

I always suspected what would be my least favorite part of parenting. Monday night it was confirmed.

Vomit.

Specifically, having to be the person to clean up the vomit. I don't deal well with vomit. I end up needing to vomit myself. So when Mess 1 got sick Monday night, it wasn't good

Because of course Hubby was out of town Monday night. My children have some sort of "Daddy's out of town, let's get sick" radar. So I got to be the clean up crew.

I think I did pretty well; I only gagged four times.

Anyway, Monday night he woke crying about 9:00 pm. He told me he banged his knee on the wall and it hurt. I should have know then something was up, normally that wouldn't have even fazed him.

A few minutes later he started crying again and told me he had to go to the bathroom. So off he went and used the bathroom, and then he headed back to bed.

Thirty minutes later, he started crying again. When I went in that time he told me his tummy hurt.

Lesson learned: when the three year old says his tummy hurts?

Get Him. To. The Bathroom!

Do not go to get medicine or a splatter bucket. Get the sick child near the toilet, then go get those things.

While I was in the bathroom getting the medicine, I heard it. When I got to the door I smelled it. And by the time I got to him he started again.

It was bad. He got the bottom sheet, the pillowcase, the actual pillow inside the pillow case, and Turtle and Puppy Dog. So I got him to the bathroom, cleaned him off and I settled him next to the toilet. Poor baby, when I got him settled down and got his "soft blanket" to keep him warm, he looked at me and asked "What happened to me?" He'd never thrown up before, and had no idea what had just happened.

Next I went to deal with the bed. I got the sheets off the bed and in the washing machine, and then did what anyone dealing with their child throwing up for the first time would do.

I called my parents.

My mom's a nurse, so I called to ask what, if any, meds I should give him. Then I asked how to get vomit off stuffed animals. Things you only learn from experience.

I got all of the vomit off Turtle and most off Puppy Dog, but Hubby gets to finish that project. It will involve lots of Febreeze.

Once that was done I got my poor boy settled in my bed, with the splatter bucket close by. We watched one episode of Little Bill on Noggin to help him calm down, and finally he fell asleep around 11:30.

He had one more episode about 3:00 am, but we managed to hit the bucket that time, so clean up only took a few minutes.

Tuesday morning he woke up and wanted to make muffins.

I called Hubby and told him he owed me, big time.

I hate vomit.

L.I.O.N.

In my ongoing attempts to occupy Mess 1 while Hubby writes his dissertation, we are taking advantage of every cheap children's outing I can come up with.

Sunday I took the children to the zoo with Sunny and Sam (and most of Columbia) since it was sunny and in the mid-70s.

Last night Hubby took Mess 2 home and Mess 1 and I went to the children's museum with Scott, Sunny, and Sam for family night. Admission would have normally been $16.00 for the boy and me, but family night is sponsored by Food Lion so admission is only $1.00 per person. Also as part of their sponsorship, Food Lion was giving out little 3-D wooden puzzles of a lion.

About 6:00, the adults decided we were getting hungry, so off we went to get pizza. While we were sitting at the table, Sunny put the boys' lions together so they would have something to play with while waited on dinner.

After she unwrapped the package, Mess 1 picked up the paper that had that instructions on the back and was looking at the picture of the lion on the front. As I watched he took his finger and pointed at the letters.

The next thing I hear is "L. I. O. N. Lion." Sunny, the reading recovery teacher, wasn't fazed by this at all, she just said that's good. Meanwhile I'm thinking "Is he supposed to be able to do that?"

Either way I bet he's going to start reading sometime this year. What is the child going to learn in kindergarten?

In one other interesting moment, Scott told me my money smells nice. I had given him some change to get Sam a bottle of juice, and it apparently smelled nice.

There's really no reason I told you that. I just felt it should be documented that I can make money smell nice.

Although, I wonder if there's a way to turn that into a marketable skill? We could use some extra income...

Music People

The other members of my family are music freaks nuts people. My husband is a musician by trade, working on his doctorate in beating on things (he is a percussionist, or, as my father refers to him, "that drummer who married my daughter").

Mess 1 seems to be following in his father's musical footsteps. He loves to play the drums that are scattered around our house, the keyboard gets daily use, and he wants music playing whenever possible. If there isn't any music playing, he's singing something he heard sometime or another. He only has to hear a song once to be able to repeat it, melody, rhythm, and words. The scary part is he's three.

Even Mess 2, at eight months old, is developing a reputation in the music department where my husband is both student and faculty. The early childhood music students that see her at her daycare, who go back and report to their teacher, who is a colleague of my husband, say she is the only baby they've ever seen who can sing and eat at the same time. Talented, that one is. Unfortunately for me it means feeding her takes four forevers.

Meanwhile I needed help getting my headphones to work while trying to listen to the new Dave BarnesEP on iTunes. Apparently plugging them into the microphone jack doesn't cut it. Who knew...

Three

From this:

to this:

in one short year.

There was something...

Y'all, I just can't remember.

There was something going on today, wasn't there? Something I needed to do or someplace I needed to be. And something about today felt strange, there wasn't any traffic, people were late to work, and there were crowds all over the place.

But still. I just... I can't seem to put my finger on it... I don't...

Oh well, it must not have been too important. Like Scarlett, I'll think about it out tomorrow.

(Oh, I'm kidding. I'm so kidding. I was in line at 6:45 this morning, thanks to children who are still on DST and were up at 5:15. But really, thanks to the people and posters EVERYWHERE reminding me, I feel like everyone thought we were all going to forget. I'm so glad this one's almost over.)

(Oh, and by the way, don't forget to vote ;0) )

Really.

The Weather Channel website has a candidates tab with an article titled "25 things you didn't know about your candidate." A quick look showed that it covers things like their office decotations and high school mascots.

This is relevant to the weather how?

No pineapple for you!

Tonight while we were eating dinner Mimi (Hubby's mom) called. When the phone rang Mess 2 was screaming because she was hungry, Mess 1 was singing some song or another, and the beagle was barking at the dog next door.

Norman Rockwell has nothing on us.

After I started feeding Mess 2 and the decibel level dropped Mess 1 started talking to Mimi. She asked him why his sister stopped screaming and he told her "My mommy is feeding her."

Mimi asked what she was eating, so he proceeded to tell her everything that was on his plate. After he told her he was eating pineapple Mimi asked if Mess 2 could have pineapple. Mess 1 very calmly replied:

"No, she's a girl."

Apparently we are not doing a very good job explaining the differences between boys and girls.

Morning serenade

The dyslexic version of "You Are My Sunshine"

Are you my sunshine?
Only my sunshine?

A combination of two versions of "The Wheels on the Bus"

The wheels on the bus go vroom, vroom, vroom

Sung to the chorus of "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock"

The light turned green so we ca-an go
The light turned green so we ca-an go

And a variety of others, along with the running commentary about the COWS!, the HORSES!, the LAKE!, the BOATS!, and the TRAIN TRACKS! (BUMPITY-BUMP MOMMY). It's our own little morning variety show, executed with great enthusiasm.

We're going to have to start keeping the video camera in the car...

My smiley girl

We see this face a lot these days. It's so fun!!

But her Daddy's going to have to do something about this one, before she gets old enough to make this face at boys...