Elf on the Shelf

     We have an Elf on the Shelf this year. His name is Sprinkles. Dave’s pretty sure I’m certifiably INSANE by taking this on, and maybe he’s right. I didn’t really NEED one more thing to remember to do. I didn’t really need more stuff to clean up.  I didn’t need to be up late at night planning our next move. I didn’t really need more responsibility.
    But I DID need to laugh. I needed to watch my kids eyes widen in excitement. I needed to hear squeals of laughter. I needed to smile and enjoy some Christmas magic. I needed to have fun. And that’s exactly what happened when Sprinkles came into our house. I don’t think the kids have stopped smiling.
    It does require a lot of brain power, though, and I’m still trying to figure out this gig. The kids have all responded in different ways. Emma is skeptical, of course, but thinks the Elf is HYSTERICAL. Katie mostly just likes to fling it around the room and try to feed it sugar cookies. But Ben- he has whole-heartedly fallen for this little Elf. He leaves food out for him, puts out books for him to read, and even writes him notes.
    The kids couldn’t find Sprinkles one morning. So Emma said, “We have to think like an Elf”. After about 5 minutes of ransacking the house Ben said, “Maybe he was hungry!” All 3 ran into the kitchen going through drawers and cupboards. When they opened the refrigerator there he was- propped up against some Egg Nog, jelly jar opened, holding a big spoon. I seriously don’t think I’ve heard my kids laugh that hard in my life. Music to my ears.

   
But Ben has required me to lay down some ground rules for Elf on the Shelf. He came and woke me up around 4:30 in the morning excited to see what the Elf had been up to. I said sleepily, “Bud, it’s dark out, you need to go back to bed. We’ll check in the morning.” He nodded and walked out. I should have known better. About 2 minutes later I heard a muffled scream and footsteps pounding down the hallway. I sat up and there he was again, breathing really hard.
    “Sprinkles is standing on the table staring at me!” He said in a loud shaky whisper. I tried to shake the sleepiness off. “What? Ok, I’m coming out.” I got up and followed him as he tiptoed to the kitchen. We peeked around the corner and sure enough- through the darkness it looked like a scene from Goonies or something.
    But when I turned on the kitchen lights there was Sprinkles, tied up to a 2 liter bottle surrounded by Army guys. Ben doubled over laughing, no longer scared out of his mind.

Anyway- new rule. They can’t go out to see what the Elf has done until morning.
They also can’t leave notes out telling the Elf to clean their rooms- this has to be done by THEM.
And the Elf doesn’t do homework either, much to Emma’s dismay…..
Stay tuned for more Elf stories…

Thanksgiving in Central Oregon!

We had a great time spending Thanksgiving with Dave's brothers and families! Thanks Mark and Thuy for hosting all of us! The cousins all had an awesome time playing together, lots of food, and the weather was great... I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Driving over Mt. hood was like a winter wonderland...kiddos were SO excited to see snow!

                                             We had to stop and throw a couple snowballs

The Bros- Mark, Dave, Brian, Adam

                        Kids table! As you can see, 2 of my kids did not want their pics taken..

              Brady and Ben- the stick collectors. These two could have been outside the whole time. if it hadn't                                                            been so cold we would have pitched them a tent!

                                             The guys hanging out at the Old Mill in Bend

        The girls doing some shopping- obviously Katie wasn't too happy about the picture taking thing again.

                               Hughes cousins (Brady was taking a nap)! Happy Thanksgiving!

                     And I sorta like this one A LOT :) She is very happy when she's with her daddy!

A good day

You know those moments you just wish would last forever? It's hard sometimes as a mom with 3 busy energetic kids to slow down and enjoy these moments. But I really try. Because I know that they pass quickly. I know I won't ever get them back. I only have this one chance to experience life with my kids. And on a beautiful fall day, there's nothing more I'd rather do than take a walk with my baby girl. We looked at every beautiful leaf, fuzzy caterpillar, and stray rock. We watched geese fly over our heads. She laughed at the way they "honked" across the sky. She twirled down the sidewalk like a ballerina, and talked about how much she liked chocolate milk. We had so much fun. It was a good day.

Wish list

   Usually I avoid the toy aisles at all cost. It’s just not worth the drama that inevitably comes from strolling through them with 3 kids. But today, I thought it might be fun to do a walk-through and get an idea of what the kids might want for Christmas.
   And surprisingly, they totally got into it without any temper tantrums. All 3 thought it was a blast to point out what they wanted on their Christmas list. (Quick DISCLAIMER: Don’t go out and do this just because I said it worked. Believe me, it could have been the biggest mistake of my life.)
   We had gone through the boy aisles, and were now smack dab in the middle of  Barbie and Littlest Pet Shoppe Heaven. Every few seconds I would hear a loud GASP, a muffled scream, a high pitched squeak with stomping of the feet. Emma was seriously dancing in the aisle as she pointed to everything she wanted to put on her list.
   “Oh my gosh mom this is THE Barbie jetboat I saw on commercial!”, “Oh man look at this SUPER cool Barbie that takes pictures! “Oh my word, seriously! I’ve wanted this my whole life!.” You get the picture. This went on and on.
   I stood there as she pointed to one thing after the other.
   “I know I’m not gonna get all this stuff, but I want to have lots of options,” she said seriously. I agreed that was probably a good idea. Then she let out another squeal, “A Barbie pool! I LOVE IT!” Then she turned to me and said, “Mom, I’m thinking that I’ll just put aisle E9 at Target on my list. That would be so much easier!”
   Now THAT’S thinking outside the box people….

Practice Shower

   The night before my sister Crystal’s baby shower, I was trying to explain to Ben why he couldn’t stay for the party.
“There’s gonna be LOTS of women there at the shower, and absolutely NO boys. You wouldn’t like it at all. That’s why Uncle JD is coming to get you so you can hang out with the guys.” I explained.
There was a few seconds of silence. Then, from the backseat he says in a serious voice, “So, are you all gonna see each other’s butts?”
Another second of silence as I try to process this juicy bit of info.
I said, “Excuse me? What did you just say?“ My sister Alicia is cracking up now in the passenger seat.
“You know, when you’re all in the shower. Will you see each other’s butts?” he said.
Now I’m trying not to laugh. “Buddy, this isn’t a REAL shower!”
“Oh, so it’s just a practice shower?” He was obviously perplexed.
Hmmmm… “No, it just means that we’re showering Auntie Crystal with presents- not taking a real shower!”
“Oh, I get it now!” He seemed relieved and quickly moved on to talking about something else.
Poor kid. I’m a tad concerned that he’s spent the last 2 weeks thinking that 30 women were going to be taking a shower together at this party. And come to think of it, a tad concerned that he wanted to come in the first place…

Pilgrims and Indians

The kids had their Thanksgiving feast at church the other night. They had so much fun dressing up and eating with the Primetimer class! Emma's best friends Preslie and Paige go with us to Odyssey every wedneday night, and they dressed as cute little pilgrims. My kiddos were Indians. So much fun :)

Curious George and Smarties

   I was putting Katie down for a nap yesterday, and she was NOT happy. The tears were flowing, and I could see a temper tantrum in my future. I sat her on the edge of the bed and said, “Do you see how tired you are? That’s why you need to sleep.”
   She shook her head and cried, “I don’t want to sleep! I want to watch Curious George and eat Smarties!”      She threw herself down on the bed.
   Oh, geez…Like THAT was gonna happen.
  “You can watch curious George when you wake up. But no smarties.” I said.
   She sat up and rubbed my face. “Please mommy, one pack of smarties.” The eyes are killing me. Had to make my exit fast. I laid her down and covered her with blankets.
   “Go to sleep, we have a big day ahead of us,” I said.
   She struggled to sit up again and pleaded, “But mommy, I only have a little day ahead for me.” Then she stuck her lip out.
I    made it to the hallway before I busted up laughing. I swear, kids are too smart for their own good sometimes.

3rd grade plant project

Emma is really loving 3rd grade. Well, most of it anyway. There is a lot more homework, which she's not thrilled about, but she loves being one of the older kids at her school. The third graders get to do a lot more big projects, and she's having fun with that. One of the 1st semester projects was completing a 3-dimensional plant model. Hers turned out great and she even got to use her label maker! good job Em!

Mystery in the bathroom

I’m very confused. While giving Katie a bath tonight I saw something strange behind the toilet. Upon closer inspection I found about 10 squiggly crusty ramen noodles.  I have no words. When did we eat ramen noodles last? Was someone eating them AND going to the bathroom? Why are they behind the toilet? Who would have ramen noodles in the bathroom? Sooo many questions. I may never know the answer to this one…

Boy Logic

Me: “Ben, are you and Elijah still hanging out at recess?”
Ben: “No, we’re not friends anymore.”
Me: (eyes wide with shock) “What? Why? What happened?”
Ben: (shrugging his shoulders) “Nothing. I think we just forgot about each other.     It happens a lot, you know.”
Me: “Ok, but nothing bad happened, right?”
Ben: “Don’t worry, We’ll become friends again someday when we remember about each other.”

Back in time:Halloween

I'm totally blaming it on the flu, but I'm way behind with posts on here. I never posted Halloween pictures of the kids. This year, we had a Supergirl, a Knight and a princess clown. The kids had a blast. Katie wasn't sure what was going on, but dutifully followed her brother and sister up to doors and was very happy to receive candy :) About halfway through trick-r-treating, they were walking back to the sidewalk when a little boy passed her wearing some kind of freaky mask. She yelled and took off running full speed screaming, "Daddy, daddy, Daddy" at the top of her lungs. Luckily Dave was there to scoop her up. I think it took her a good 10 minutes to calm down. When confronted with a "monster", it's good to know your daddy will be there to protect you. Hope you all had a good Halloween!

The poor house

     The kids and I were playing the game Headbands. It’s basically like 20 questions but in reverse. You have an animal, food or object card strapped to your head so everyone else can see it but you. Then you ask yes or no questions to everyone else playing and see if you can guess what’s on your card. They LOVE this game, probably because of the bright blue headbands we all have to wear.
    So, it was my turn and I knew it was an object, but I was stumped.
    “Is it big?” I asked.
    “NO!” they all giggled.
    “Is it something people use?” I asked.
   “Oh yeah..all the time!!” they all said.
   This went on and on for some time. Right before my time was up I said, “Do mommy and daddy have it?”
    “NO!” They all shook their heads. Hmmmm…
   “Do we have any in the house?”
   “No way-hardly ever,” was their response. Time was up.
    I reached up and grabbed the card off my forehead and turned it over. It was a picture of money. Cold hard cash.
Interesting. I guess they’ve heard me say, “We don’t have any money to buy that” one too many times….

The flu part 1

First of all, I want to say thank you SO MUCH for all the birthday wishes! I am very blessed to have such amazing family and friends!
The good news about my birthday was this: I was with my favorite 4 people, Dave made chocolate chip mint pie, and he surprised me with a really cool present (more on that later).
Bad news: About 1pm on Halloween I was blindsided by the flu. Every. Single. Part. of my body hurts. Even my eyelids. I barely made it through trick or treating, and have been down for the count 4 days now. Luckily Dave has stepped up to the plate- what a guy..
I encourage you to try these scenarios the next time you have the flu:
*1- Let a 2 year old crawl all over you while you’re trying to sleep, patting your face hard and saying, “It’s OK, sleep mommy, sleep” over and over again. It’s VERY relaxing.
*2- Cleaning poop up off the floor while your head is pounding and your husband is gagging. It’s kinda like a scene from a low budget horror film.
*3- Contract the flu the DAY AFTER Halloween. It helps teach survival skills when you have to try and relax in a house that just got 3 huge buckets of candy the day before. It’s not loud AT ALL…I think it should be the next episode of Man vs. Wild.
*4-have Bubble Guppies playing in the background for hours on end- it’s soothing to the aching body and tired mind.
Start with that- if I can survive this, so can you..
Oh, and side note. While I was writing this, Ben came up to me and said, “Accidents happen, right mommy?” I don’t even want to know. He says it will probably make me mad, so I’m going to curl back up in my blanket and not care right now. That’s the good things about the flu- it dulls your senses..

The flu part 2

I actually left the house today. I know, I know- that doesn’t seem like a big deal. But after 3 days of using all my energy just to walk through the house, this was a big accomplishment. It took 2 hours just to convince my body to cooperate, and I only really did it because I had 3 kids going CRAZY out of boredom. This flu has kicked my booty pretty bad.
So off we went. I want to clarify that I had absolutely NO INTENTION of getting out of the car. You’ll understand why I’m clearing that up right away. My intent was to get myself and kids in the car, and then drive around running errands- dropping books off in the library drop box, depositing a check, mailing my ballot, and getting us all a treat from the coffee shop drive-thru. All things I could handle from the comfort of the warm car.
Because I had no intention of actually interacting with people, I didn’t spend too much time getting ready. Have you ever seen someone who’s had the flu for 3 or 4 days? There’s absolutely no way to make that face look pretty. I didn’t even try. I had thrown on rubber boots over my sweats, a tank top and hoodie, and no makeup had touched my face in days…maybe a week if I’m honest. Come to think of it, I’m surprised my kids even set foot outside with me. Hmmm..
Anyway, after the last errand had been done, I suddenly remembered that we were out of milk and laundry soap- two things we needed really bad. And here’s the strange part- It didn’t register to me as I pulled into Fred Meyer what I looked like. I guess I’ll blame it on the chills, or the cold medicine, or the 3 loud children in the backseat.
 People, I proceeded to walk right into Fred Meyer looking like that. It wasn’t until Ben proceeded to spray hot chocolate all over the glass doughnut cases that something registered deep from my subconscious. Maybe it was the stares from other customers, or the look of pity from the bakery manager as he wiped up the hot chocolate. Whatever it was, I suddenly had a flashback to this morning. I remembered sitting on the floor letting Emma and Katie do my hair, and Ben paint my nails. Gasp!
My hands reached up to feel my hair, and sure enough….I had never taken it out! My hair was in 3 different braids, going out in 3 different directions. I had one scrunchie high up, and 2 barrettes holding loose strands in place. I felt panic setting in as I looked down at my sweats and rubber boots combo.
I sucked in a deep breath and tried not to panic. I still had to go through the checkout line… I whispered fiercely to the kids, “We have to get out of here fast- I look horrible!” Katie just smiled and touched my face, “But you look beautiful mommy!”
And that’s why I keep them around…they are confidence boosters.
I feel like I should send apology letters to all I came in contact with today and had to see my wild hair, pale face, dirty hoodie and wild children. Sorry coffee shop lady. Sorry teenage checker at Fred Meyer. Sorry library patrons.
My advice? Don’t leave the house when you have the flu- there’s just no good outcome to that at all….

Cravings

A few nights ago around 10pm Katie was still up and not looking at all tired. So, I asked her what I could make her for a snack.
Me: What do you want?
Katie: Mmmmm...a sandwich!
Me: What kind of sandwich?
Katie: Just one that's delicious.
Here's hoping it will meet her high expectations...

And yesterday she came running in the room crying and said this :
“Ben won’t let me love him today. I just want to love him.”
She and Ben definitely have a love/hate relationship these days..

Fancy

    We’re borrowing my mom’s car for the week. She had surgery on her leg so no driving allowed for her. Needless to say, the kids were VERY excited to get to ride in her car. For some reason, this ranks right up there with Disneyland and the Ice Cream truck on a hot summer day- it’s just “SO awesome”.
    The day after I got back from my mom’s, the kids couldn’t wait to go for a drive. Being that it was Saturday and I was tired, we finally got around to leaving the house in the afternoon. I told the kids to get ready and we’d go to the library.
    Five minutes later Katie, Ben and I were waiting in the driveway. No sign of Emma. I opened the door and yelled, “Are you coming?”
    “Just a minute, I’m just finishing up my outfit!” She yelled back.
    Oh, my…the jeans and t-shirt she had on 5 minutes ago looked fine to me. A few minutes later she came walking out- jeggings, long sparkly shirt, high heels, puffy scarf, glittery hat, bracelets and a couple purses.
I just smiled and said, “What was wrong with your other outfit- you know we’re just going to the library, right?”
    “Mom”, she said as she walked past me, “It might be ok to wear comfy clothes in the suburban, but in Nana’s car it’s better to look fancy.” She clicked her way to the passenger side and heaved her purses in.
Apparently I never got this memo….

Lost and Found

I broke the news to the kids at 10:30 this morning. I waited until they had a chance to sleep in, catch a couple cartoons, eat breakfast and do some coloring. But then I HAD to tell them. I wasn’t happy about it, but I said the dreaded words- You three have GOT to clean your rooms. The are seriously DISGUSTING. Three smiles turned to frowns, three happy voices were silenced. Sometimes the truth hurts.
“But mom, it’s SATURDAY”, Emma started to say.
“Nope, I don’t want to hear it.” I said. “The fun stuff has to wait till the rooms are clean.”
Dejected, they headed down the hall. I went to clean my room, and 10 minutes later Ben yelled from his room that he was done. I thought it seemed pretty fast, so I went to inspect. Every inch of the floor was clean, the shelves were neat and tidy, and his top bunk was made. I was about ready to fall over in surprise.
Then I looked down at the bottom bunk. Ahhhhhh…it was PACKED high with stuff- LOTS of stuff.
“So, what’s going on with all of this?” I said pointing to the pile.
“Oh”, he said shrugging his shoulders. “That’s my lost and found area.”
“What?” I asked.
“I made a lost and found area so I know where to look if I can’t find something”, he said this as if it was perfectly normal.
“So basically you moved all the stuff from the floor and dressers to the ‘lost and found’ area?” I replied.

“I guess, it’s just easier that way” he said.

Of course it is, what was I thinking??

Prizes

The kids made up a game called “pass the toy around” and we were playing it yesterday. Basically, it’s like hot potato, you pass the toy around the circle till the music stops and then the person holding it wins. For the game, Ben had ransacked his room to come up with a box of prizes to give out. Emma and Katie had won almost all the rounds, and FINALLY the toy landed with me. I jumped up all excited to grab a prize. Ben looked in the bucket and said, “Sorry, Mom, the only prizes left are a flyer to do gymnastics and a coupon to save money on car insurance.”
Emma (laughing uncontrollably) said, “Why do you have a coupon in your room about car insurance?”
My thoughts exactly….

Old Soul

The kids and I were joking around in the car about reading each other’s minds. Then, the conversation turned towards predicting the future. What do we see in our future? Emma was having a blast with this and said, “Katie, guess what I see in you future?”
Katie: “What?”
Emma: “Chocolate!”
Katie: “Yeah!”
Emma: “Mom, guess what I see in your future?”
Me: “What?”
Emma: “A wedgie!”
Me: (laughing pretty hard) “It better not be from you!”
Ben was pretty quiet through this whole conversation. He was just looking out the window. Emma said, “What do you see in your future, Ben?”
Ben: “I see Hope.”
Me: “You mean you hope you don’t get a wedgie?” This made Emma laugh really hard.
Ben: “No, some people don’t have any hope. But I do, I have hope in the future.
Silence….. I realized he wasn’t joking around. I swear sometimes this kid was born with an old soul…

Utterly exhausted

4 hours playing at Jungle Playland = one happy exhausted little girl :)

Stranger Danger

  Katie was taking a shower and I went to get a towel from the other bathroom. When I came back I opened up the shower curtain to wash her hair. She looked absolutely scared out of her mind and jumped back a little. I said, “What’s wrong?” She did a nervous giggle and laughed, “I thought you were a stranger!” Yeah, in the 10.5 seconds I was gone a stranger broke into our house…I think she’s a little on edge.

Too early to smile

    This morning when I went in to wake up Ben he was wrapped cozily in lots of blankets. It made me want to crawl back into bed, too. But, as my dad always said, we were “burning daylight.” So, I opened the curtains and tried to sound excited.
  Me: “Hey buddy, wake up.. It’s gonna be a fun day! You get to go to the pumpkin patch and go to soccer practice!” I said as I tried to pull the blankets off.
  Ben: “Mom”, he mumbled into his pillow, “I’m excited about that but I need to have some wake up time before I smile about it.”
The kid makes an excellent point.

What's important

       Have you ever longed for simplicity? Not just as an afterthought, I’m talking about for real. The true gut-wrenching need that starts deep down in your soul and wrestles itself to the surface: the need for stillness, quiet, time, and peace. I have been wrestling with this thought for over 2 weeks now. With the amount of technology at our fingertips, the fast pace of life, and the pressure to be everything to everyone ALL THE TIME sometimes leaves me lying awake at night staring into the darkness. I find myself saying these words over and over again in my head : there has to be a better way.
I was in the car pick-up line at Emma and Ben’s school waiting for the throes of kids to come out the double doors. Usually I’m busy trying to entertain Katie while we wait, but on this day she had fallen asleep. It gave me time to look around. I was AMAZED at the number of parents glued to their iPhones. The ones IN their cars and the ones waiting outside. Eyes focused on a little screen and jumping to answer the rings and text prompts. Now, I’m not against ANY of these things, and I am guilty of this too. But what my eyes were opened to for the first time was this: Most didn’t even look up when their kids found them waiting. I saw kid after kid walk up to their parent and were shushed, ignored, or just simply told to get in the car.
They never put down the phone. I felt humbled instantly. Have we become SO connected to the world of technology that we are missing what’s right in front of us? Are we losing touch with what’s real? Do we really want our kids to think that the ring of a cell phone trumps them telling us about their day? Do we want our spouse to think we care more about connecting with long-lost friends on face book than actually talking to them from the other side of the room? Do we want our kids to remember us sending text after text instead of pushing them on the swings at the park? We’ve become disconnected, and I don’t like it- at all.
Friday night was the straw for me. You know, the one that broke the camels back? It had not been a good day. There’s just no better way to put it. Sometimes you just pray for grace and patience to start over again tomorrow. The craziness of the evening was in full motion. I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned up from dinner. There was a lot of whining going on: toys that needed batteries, cuts that needed band-aids, dolls that needed that one special dress right this minute. The news was on in the kitchen, Just Dance Kids was blaring “Kung Fu Fighting” from the other room, Dave’s work phone was going off, and my cell said I had 3 new text messages.
I started crying. All the sudden it was too much. I couldn’t even think straight. I wanted to SMASH every piece of technology we owned. And then I had a revelation: there IS a better way. It was a moment of clarity that I totally believe was the Holy Spirit. A peace fell over me and I set the rag down right in the middle of scrubbing the counters. Go outside. That’s what I needed to do. I left the kitchen, grabbed a blanket and walked out the front door. I know I got a lot of stares from my family as I passed them, but I was on a mission.
I laid out my blanket in the middle of the front yard and stared up at the sky- peace. I felt it instantly. A new perspective. I laid out there alone for only a few minutes. I knew they would come. Emma was the first to come out. She lay down by me and said, “Why are you laying out here?” I just said, “Looking up in the sky.” She looked up and as if on cue, a falling star shot right in front of us! She screamed and that brought out Ben. He plopped down next to me and layed his head on my shoulder. A few minutes later I heard the TV’s turning off inside, the porch lights go off, and Dave and Katie joined us.
      It wasn’t quiet anymore but we were together. We were talking with NO distractions. It wasn’t complicated. It felt right. It felt like the better way. I know we will probably relapse and fall into old patterns. But I am earnestly praying that we all can live in the moment. That God will stir in us a desire to prioritize what is important. Hug your kids. Grab their little faces smeared with jelly and tell them how much you love them. Kiss your honey right when they get home. TURN OFF the distractions and talk to each other. God is teaching me to be still.
     Psalm 23:1-3 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”
And Exodus 14:14 : “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
And finally, I leave you with this verse from Job 6:24:
“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.”
            THERE IS A BETTER WAY….

Possibilities

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

   We have 3 potted chrysanthemum flowers- they are one of my absolute FAVORITE’s! For me, they seem to usher in the season of pumpkins, foggy mornings, and apple cider . For some reason, though, I have always had a hard time taking care of them. The ones I grew last year died out early, so this year I was DETERMINED to learn all I could about mum’s.
    Last month Ben came with me (he’s our resident gardener- he LOVES flowers) to pick out our 3 new plants. He carefully chose fiery red, deep orange , and his favorite- the daisy mum. They’ve been doing really good, and we’ve been trying to take good care of them.
    His daisy mum is by our front door, and it’s beautiful. A couple days ago though, I noticed the petals were turning brown on the edges. I quickly got online and learned a little more about deadheading- Plucking off the dying flowers to keep the plant healthy. I sat down and got to work.
    I was about a quarter of the way done when I heard a gasp, and then a muffled sob. I turned and there was Ben standing behind me with crocodile tears coming down his cheeks. “What are you doing to my flower?”, he choked out, “You’re killing it!”
   “No buddy, I’m trying to save it! We have to do this to keep it healthy.” I tried to explain.
   “But it was beautiful, mom, and you’re taking all the pretty flowers off!” He was crushed. I am always in awe of how the most ordinary of moments can become something very special. I wasn’t planning on having a heart to heart. I was planning on getting yard work done. God had other plans.
   I pulled him over to me and sat him down right by the flower. “I want to show you something,” I said. “Do you see the petals on these flowers? They’re all starting to die.”
   He looked closer. “But from far away they look fine.” He said.
   “That’s true. But when you look close they are brown all around the edges. Now, look closer inside the plant.” I parted the dead flowers so he could see inside. “What do you see underneath?”

    He looked and then his eyes got wide. “What are all those tiny balls?” he said.
   “Those are tons of brand new flowers trying to grow, but they can’t because of all the other flowers that are blocking the sun from them.”
    “Oh, so we have to pick off the dead ones so the new ones can grow?” He seemed to be getting it.
    “Yep, if we don’t do this, it might be pretty for awhile longer, but the mum won’t be healthy, and soon it will just die.”
    "I don't want that to happen at all." He said. So he helped me finish plucking off the flowers, and soon  it looked very bare- but FULL of possibilities! He ran off to continue crashing monster trucks into each other and I sat down by the flower pot. I looked at the freshly plucked plant, and then at the pile of dead flowers.
   That’s ME- that’s YOU. That’s US. God is always at work in us, he knows our potential- our possibilities. He sees what’s underneath, what’s in our hearts. Sometimes we might look OK from far away, but God is working to peel back our layers, so the world can see our potential!
    I don’t know about you, but it’s scary to make a change. It’s HARD to take a step of faith. It’s painful to step out of our comfort zone. But sometimes we have to be willing to take a chance, to “cut off” the parts of us that are dying, or holding us back, in order for God to use us for HIS glory.
   Ephesians 4:22-24 says, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it’s evil desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on a new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
    Let’s not be afraid to let God peel back our layers! He is ready and waiting to do AMAZING things in our lives- to use us in His ultimate plan. We may react like Ben did- with utter disbelief. But let’s be willing to look deeper, and see all the possibilities God has for our life!

2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

M&M's please

   This morning while snuggling with Kate, I asked her what she wanted for breakfast. I said, “We have bacon, cereal, strawberries, eggo waffles, yogurt.”
  She said “I’ll just have M&M’s mommy.”
  I broke the news to her -“Sorry, that’s not even an option.“ She frowned.
Girl after my own heart….

Best friends

A couple days ago I picked Ben up from kindergarten and he was really pumped up. Obviously he’d had a very good day. He told me how he won an award for being a 5-star listener, got to be a helper, and the “mean” girl didn’t take his soccer ball at recess. All great things.
Then he announced “And I have a new best friend!”
I said, “That’s awesome! What’s his name?”
“I have no idea. But we’re best friends!” He said happily.
Interesting

Urgent care- again...

Never a dull moment...Kate and I ended up at Urgent Care last night. She had a pretty bad asthma attack and needed 3 breathing treatments. Let me tell you- keeping a 2 year old still for 3 hours holding a mask to her face was not easy- I think I got a few more gray hairs. If you think about it, say a quick prayer for her that she will REST so we can kick this thing!

Random fun stuff

The kids started some fall sports..Ben is playing indoor soccer and LOVING every minute of it. And I LOVE the fact that he is running for 60 minutes and TIRED :) Emma is doing gymnastics and loving that too- she's very torn between swimming and gymnastics, so we'll see what happens...

Soccer dude!

This last weekend we got to hang out with Dave's brother Brian and his kiddos- Emma and Bella are pretty much inseparable.. they really love each other :) 

Hanging out after a fun afternoon of swimming!

Who will you choose?

   It all started as a simple quote from my 5 year old son. One night as I was tucking him into bed he said to me, “Mom, I love you more than thunder eggs and sand dollars.” I smiled, gave him a quick hug and went to say goodnight to the girls. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that God brought those sweet words to my mind again, and just wouldn’t let them fade.
    You see, Ben doesn’t just like those things. He LOVES them. He is a passionate collector of beautiful things. He treasures each and every rock, shell, feather, coin or birds nest he finds. If you threw one of his treasured rocks out into our gravel driveway, he could find it. He knows exactly what they look like. He loves them.
     As the Lord spoke to my heart, I was hit by a sudden realization. Ben was telling me a lot more than just I love you. He was also declaring how important I was to him. He loved me more that all those other things he also loves.
    Then the tables were turned on myself. Whenever God brought Ben’s words to my mind, all I could think about was “Do I love God more than _______?” You can fill in your own blank. For me, I could fill it in with hundreds of things. Do I love God more than my husband, my precious kids, my family, my free time, TV shows, my friends, my pride, my hobbies, my computer, my status, my sinful desires.
     Of course I can say that I love God more than all of these things, but do my actions testify to this? Do I carve out time with God the way I make time to watch my favorite TV show? Or desperately look forward to my time with God in prayer like I look forward to a date with my husband? The answer was NO…and that was very humbling.
     I was humbled a second time this month by something my daughter said to me. About a week before school started my husband and son decided to have one last campout in the backyard. The girls and I preferred the comfort of our own beds, but I still wanted to make the night special for them. I let them choose a movie, we painted our nails and ate smores over the stove. Then Emma and I played Barbies until 11:30. We had a blast.
    A few days later I was sitting at the edge of Emma’s bed saying goodnight. The next day was the first day of school after a fun-filled summer. I asked her, “So, what was your FAVORITE thing we did ALL summer?”
As she thought about it my thoughts drifted back through the last 2 ½ months of camping trips, museum adventures, swimming lessons, bike rides, trips to see family, sleepovers, vacations and friends. She looked at me with a big smile on her face and said, “Playing Barbies with you all by myself for 2 whole hours- that was the best!”
     Wow. Later, as I lay in bed, I realized what the difference had been. She loved doing all the other things too, but this was her favorite because it made her feel special. She knew I was choosing to spend my night playing with her, no distractions getting in our way. I was truly focused on her, listened to her, laughed with her, was silly with her. And that made her very happy.
     Doesn’t God desire just that with us? To truly have our undivided attention with no distractions? He delights in our company, he wants a relationship with us, he wants us to choose Him. Rev. 3:20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with them, and he with Me.”
    I just started a Beth Moore Bible study called, “A Woman’s Heart”, and I love how she words this : “God doesn’t just love us. He also likes us!”
   I desperately want to walk with the Lord. Every day. My prayer is that we can honestly say, “God, I love you more than thunder eggs and sand dollars”. I want to set aside distractions and choose time with my Savior. Just like Emma said to me that night, I want to be able to say, “My favorite part of the day was being in the presence of the Lord.”
     I will leave you with this verse that is resonating in my heart today:
Joshua 24:15 “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

America's Got Talent

    We were just a little (Ok.. a LOT) into America's got talent this summer. The finale was last night and we wouldn't let the kids watch it because they had school today. So, they got up early to see who the winner was :) And the act they LOVED actually won it all this year. Always fun to start the day off with jumping up and down screaming at the top of your lungs excitement. Anyway, before she left for school Emma wrote this note to Dave, who didn't get to watch it with us :) Hahaha...

For the love of meatballs

   While Katie was eating lunch today I was getting dinner going in the crockpot (and no, I don’t do this every day-ha!). She said, “Are you making sketti and meatballs mommy?” I nodded.
   “Yummy!” she said. Then it was time to take a nap.  She was quiet for awhile, and then I heard a bang on the door and she yelled, “I’m ready for my meatballs now mommy!” I went in and told her they were for dinner and she needed to go to sleep.
    5 minutes later she started crying and saying over and over again, “I need those meatballs, I need those meatballs soo bad!” For the first 15 minutes I thought it was just a ploy to get out of her nap, but now half an hour later I’m thinking the girl just loves her some meatballs….

Remembering

I can't believe it's been 11 years. I was asleep in my college apartment when my mom called. She just said, "Turn on your TV, something awful is happening." It seemed like the end of innocence. A turning point. Deep sadness that people could do this. Today I will pause and pray for the families who lost loved ones. Children that lost parents. Parents that lost children. And let's pray for our country and it's leaders, for our brave armed forces, and pray that people will look to God above all else.

Pictures by Alicia :)

My sister Alicia took some pictures of the kids this last weekend. I'm so happy about this! The pictures I have hanging on my wall now are very outdated- I think Katie is 6 months old in them!  HA! thats the third kid for ya... So, we needed some fresh new pictures, and Alicia got some great ones...Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, and it's amazing that she got them all smiling :) Here they are!

Never a dull moment

My mom called to ask the kids how their first day of school went. She asked Ben lots of questions, and in typical Ben fashion, he wasn’t giving a lot of information.
Then she asked, “Well, who did you sit by?” Long pause..
“Ummm..I have no idea who I sat by. I didn’t look to the sides of me either way.” He said.
   Apparently he was looking straight ahead all day not making eye contact with anyone.

I asked Emma what kind of ice cream she wanted for movie night- cookie dough or peppermint. She has ALWAYS loved cookie dough. She thought about it, and then said, “I’m becoming too grown-up to eat cookie dough ice cream, I think I’m old enough to eat peppermint now that I’m in third grade.”


Me: “Ben, Daddy’s out front hanging up the rope swing for you and Emma.”
Ben: (jumping down from his bunk bed) “Really? Awesome! I’m outta here like a soda can!”
Me: “Huh?”
Ben: (yelling while running down the hall) “You know, how when you shake a soda can the pop comes out really fast! That’s me!”
     I REALLY truly wish I got that excited about little things like this…

“Mom, I’m gonna be outside practicing my flips off of the rope swing- but don’t worry, I’ll be wearing my helmet.” - Ben Hughes

1st Day of school 2012 !

We were very ready for school! Here is our 3rd grader- love this little lady!

Mr. Kindergarten. He was born ready...

I love these two soo much! Can't wait to see what this year will bring :)

Dave and Emma....

Kate insisted on holding Ben's hand as his class toured the school. He was embarrassed at first, but she was pretty persistant. He finally said, "I'll hold your hand if you walk a little faster."

Now I am going to drink some coffee..........LOTS of it :)

Is it time for school yet?

   Yesterday Emma and Ben were fighting over EVERYTHING. They fought over the tooth paste, the remote control, who got a bigger cookie, who got more ice cubes in their drink, who had to feed the dog, who had to sit by Katie at dinner (they did resolve this by actually sitting next to each other in order to avoid ‘Messy Kate‘) and who got to be the judge on their game show. I could go on and on.
    Emma's patience came to an end as we were driving in the car. Ben apparently kicked her seat one to many times. She lost it. She screamed, “I have had to be with Ben ALL summer and I just need a break from him! He’s driving me crazy!” Then the tears came. Sobs, really. I could sympathize.
   I looked at Ben in the rearview mirror thinking it maybe hurt his feelings. He was just staring out the window. The he said, “I think Emma needs a nap.” Yeah, that went over really good, too. Is it Wednesday yet?

The next morning I found this sign on her door. I guess she was being proactive...

Getting caught up (again!)

I'll start off with a qoute from my second child...

   "I don’t want Katie to sit by me! She’s bossy and smelly and annoying. But she’s also cute so maybe it‘s ok.”  - Ben Hughes

The summer is coming to an end. And YES, I am just a little excited about that! It's been a fun summer, but this momma is ready for kids to be back in school. We had open house yesterday, and got to meet Emma and Ben's teachers for the year. I can't believe they are in 3rd and Kindergarten this year...Time is flying. I got a little behind on the blog, but I'm doing my best to catch up. Lots has happened this month, and of course, the kids have kept us laughing and pulling our hair out at the same time! Life is never boring, that's for sure. So, below are some funny stories, some pictures, and even a FUN announcement :) Hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL summer!

Dreams...

This morning Ben was acting a little standoff-ish. He was just sitting up on his top bunk looking a little sad. I finally went in and asked him what was wrong.
   “Hey Bud, don’t you want to come out and watch cartoons?” He just shook his head. “Are you sick?” He just shook his head no. “Well, what’s wrong?”
   He looked me in the eye and said sadly, “You were very mean to me in my dream last night. It made me sad.”
   “Sorry, buddy. Dreams aren’t real, right?” He nodded. “So, how was I mean?”
   He scooted over a little closer to me, warming up again, I guess. “Well, we went out to eat at a restaurant and you told all of us we could have dessert if we ate all our healthy food. So I ate all my stuff, and then I wanted a cake pop and you said NO! You only let me get chocolate milk and I was so sad.”
   Wow- the boy loves him some dessert…. Hope he recovers from this at some point.

Get out of jail free?

Last night Ben and Katie were playing some sort of cops and robbers game. I guess Kate was the bad guy because she was constantly being taken to “jail”. Pretty soon Ben came out and said, “Kate’s locked in the bedroom.” I assumed it was part of the game so I said, “Oh, bummer..”
   He kinda stood there for a minute then said, “No, I can’t get the door open. She’s stuck in there.” Hmmm..
  How’d she lock the door?” Dave asked.
  “Well, I locked it and then shut the door. I just wasn’t using my brain I guess.” He said.
  As Operation “Free Katie” commenced, Emma got very nervous. “What if we never get her out?” She nervously asked.
  “Don’t worry Emma, daddy will just bust down that door if he has to.” Ben said enthusiastically. He seemed excited about the whole thing, and apparently had already forgotten he was in big trouble.
  While Dave tried to open the door from inside, I went around the house to see if our bedroom window was unlocked. I was starting to wonder if she was scared, or maybe sitting by the door crying. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There she was, bouncing on the bed, throwing pillows around and turning the lights on-off-on-off-on-off…Could not have cared less. I’m guessing she was enjoying the time she had all to herself.
P.s.- we did get her out….and the new “jail” is now in a room with no lock (I know, takes all the fun out of it).

Camp Bodine

The 4th annual Camp Bodine has come and gone. We had a great time playing games, swimming, crafts, laughing really hard, playing ladderball, water gun fights and staying up late. Thanks Mom for an awesome time! The cousins always have so much fun hanging out for 3 days... AND- next years Camp Bodine we will have 2 MORE cousins to play with!!! I haven't really announced this yet on here, but my little sister Crystal is having TWINS! We are all so excited, she and my brother in law are still in a little bit of shock! They have 3 wonderful boys, and decided to have 1 more. Well, God decided to bless them with twins. Needless to say, we were all so SURPRISED! They are going to find out in 2 weeks what those little babies are- boys, girls or 1 of each. I can't wait.....
       Here are a few pictures of our time in Dallas at Camp Bodine...

The Campers with their T-shirts (in order of appearance..ha!!)

Making Stepping stones..

The boys guarding the girls in their castle...

more crafts!

My sisters making dinner :)

Dave and Kate!

Jackson and Ben doing perimeter checks....serious business.

I can't believe how big these kids are getting! Austin (almost 9), Emma (8), Jackson (6), Ben (5 1/2), 

Charlie (3 1/2) and Katie (2 1/2) .

Hanging out in Dallas...

watersliding!

horse riding :)

And of course, lots of target practice!

Oh, I can't close this post without a story...

As I was tucking Ben into bed last night I asked him 2 questions:

Me: “What was your most favorite part of Camp Bodine?”

Ben: “Definitely exploring in the woods.”

Me: “Okay, so what was your LEAST favorite part?” 

Ben: (without hesitation) “When I had to stop exploring to go #2.”