My daughter pointed out yesterday that the family always has to match on holidays and special occasions. I don’t like accusations without evidence, so I decided to see if this was true.
Nathan’s parent’s 40th wedding anniversary:
Easter 2011:
Thanksgiving 2010:
Easter 2010:
4th of July 2010:
Need I go on? I guess she may have a point. Do you think there’s a support group for this or should I just start saving now for therapy for my kids?
Nate’s been asking me for new flip flops for awhile. And I’ve been telling him, now that he has a job, he can get his own. And, of course, I believe you can never have too many flip flops; I could live in them year round.
Today, was our day! Old Navy had their flip flops on sale for $1 apiece! Each person could buy 5 pairs, so up to the mall the kids and I went. We went a little crazy. Daniel could only find 4 pairs he liked, but you do the math. 4 people, limit of 5. Bring on the warm weather!
I did something so completely moronic this past week, I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. But, I’m going to, in the hopes that you, my blog readers, will also ‘fess up to your brainless moments to make me feel better. Yes, I’m turning to my Internet friends for comfort and solace. Pathetic, I know.
So, I bought this awesome, new sewing machine two months ago, and it’s been working like a charm. I love it. But, the other night I was sewing with it in my kitchen and the foot pedal just quit working. I was so frustrated! I mean, c’mon! My brand new sewing machine! We looked at it and hemmed and hawed and I eventually brought it in to get it repaired.
Two weeks passed, and I was in quilting withdrawals. I finally pulled out my old machine and decided to sew with. My sewing room is kinda cold right now and messy, so I hauled my machine up to the kitchen and plugged it into the same outlet. Uh-huh, do you see where this is going?
It worked fine for awhile, but suddenly the foot pedal quit working! If I was a cartoon character a little light bulb would have appeared, BING! over Molly’s empty head. Could it be the outlet? I did what I should have done the first time and plugged the machine into a different outlet, and wouldn’t you know it worked just fine?
Not the sewing machine, just a faulty outlet.
I picked up my new machine from the repair place yesterday and skulked out, hoping they wouldn’t ask too many questions. I’m sure there’s some sort of lesson or conclusion I could draw from this, but right now I’m just feeling too silly.
One friend told me she bought a new curling iron when the same thing happened to her, but this friend and I have decided that we have one full brain between the two of us, so this didn’t make me feel much better.
Please, please, tell me I’m not alone in my stupidity! Or just laugh at my expense if it makes you feel better.
I love being a mom. Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to grow up and be a mom. That was always my one goal in life. I knew I wanted to have kids and stay home to raise them. By the time I was in college I also knew I wanted to homeschool my kids. So, to say that I love being the mom of Laura, Nate and Daniel is a massive understatement.
This is my 15th Mother’s Day. My, how the time does fly! Every mother with more than one child can attest to the fact that each child is unique, and I celebrate the differences that make my kiddoes so fascinating.
Laura Jane is my only daughter and made me a mom when I was just 22 years old. I sometimes wonder what in the world I was doing at such a tender age, taking a tiny little newborn home, but she was gracious to me, and we got along just fine. Thankfully, she was a pretty easy going baby and such a fun little girl. Our personalities couldn’t be more different and when she was younger, this would frustrate me to no end. Laura is extremely unemotional and almost nothing flusters her, including her mother’s emotional ups and downs. When she was little, her stubbornness drove me insane as she would pick the craziest hills to die on. Today however, she has channeled this character trait into something positive. She is assertive and will not back down on something she believes is right, even in the face of tremendous peer pressure. For a mom of a teenager, this is something that is reassuring and makes me incredibly proud. Laura also has a great sense of humor and is becoming my ally and closest friend. I love having a daughter! It might be prejudiced to say, but I happen to think she’s the most beautiful 15-year old I know; inside and out!
Then there’s Nate! He was my happy baby. He giggled and laughed his way through babyhood. And really, he hasn’t stopped. He has a funny, outgoing, charming personality. Oh yeah, and if you know him, you’ll know he never stops talking. About anything and everything. Hmmm, I wonder where he got that from? Nate is our miracle baby. I lost a baby in between Laura and Nate. When I was only 5 weeks pregnant with Nate, we nearly lost him too. For most of the my pregnancy with Nate there was an enormous blood clot dwarfing Nate in my uterus that threatened his life. We went in for weekly ultrasounds to check up on him. By the time that threat had passed, I went into pre-term labor with him at 30-weeks. The doctors were just minutes from an emergency C-section when things turned around. Nate, thankfully, was delivered full-term, just a week early. Everything was normal and he was a healthy 8 lb baby boy! God must have big plans for our first son! Nate loves Legos and loves to build. In fact, he is incredibly gifted at building. He hopes to be an architect someday and I can’t wait to see what amazing buildings and structures come out of that imaginative mind of his!
Then there’s Daniel. Oh my. Daniel. We thought long and hard about a third baby. My body had been through a lot with my fibromyalgia and the hyper emesis I suffer with in pregnancy. We were advised to not have anymore children after Nate, but we prayed about it and felt strongly that we should have one more. I am so glad we did. I can’t imagine this family without Daniel. Daniel, although to the outside world, seems to be quiet and shy, is the resident family clown. Once you get to know him you find out that he is hilarious! Daniel keeps this family in stitches! Daniel also has a will of iron! This was unbelievably difficult to me during his 2nd and 3rd years. It took me quite a bit of patience and digging to figure out this little boy who could scream for 45 minutes because I cut his toast in squares instead of triangles and who instantly began to bang his head on the floor and scream the minute we walked into church. But, we got through it. I found Daniel some coping mechanisms and we also discovered that he couldn’t hear! Surgery for tubes twice have certainly helped with that. Daniel has tenaciously overcome many challenges and is currently chipping away at learning to read. I love to snuggle with Daniel. Daniel is the one who will cuddle up on my lap, hugs me every morning and tells me I’m beautiful every day. What mom could resist that!? Daniel says he’s going to be a policeman someday.
“I get kissed by the sun
Each morning
Put my feet on a hardwood floor
I get to hear my children laughing
Down the hall through the
Bedroom door
Sometimes I sit on my
Front porch swing
Just soaking up the day
I think to myself, I think to myself
This world is a beautiful place
I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given
At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed”
-I Have Been Blessed
Martina McBride
What is it about the human pysche that abhors change? I’m tired today. I faced a lot of change, just running errands. Three bad changes, and one admittedly awesome change.
The first was the massive re-arranging of my local grocery store. Really!? Why, SuperOne, why!? Why are all the organic products placed randomly throughout the store on bump out shelves in every single aisle? What is the rhyme and reason? Why are the chips now in aisle 2 instead of the last aisle? What was wrong with the deli in the back of the store and why in the world is there now a big DITCH in the middle of the produce section!? I can only assume several, oh-so-intelligent men who never grocery shop, EVER, EVER, EVER, decided on this change.
Then I went to Wendy’s for lunch. Wendy’s. Who has the best fries in the whole world. And has had the best fries in the whole world for like, what? 25 years? Now they have, “natural cut fries with sea salt.” WHY!? They’re ok, but they’re not the best fries in the whole world anymore.
And of course, we can’t fail to mention the wonderful, changeable weather here in Duluth. Yesterday I enjoyed a perfect Spring day. 73, balmy, sunny. Today, 35 mph winds, 36 degrees, driving rain. Glad I didn’t let Nathan put my down coat away yet.
I admit, all this frustrating change was getting me down until I went to Target. Have I ever said before that I love Target? Yeah, I do. I loved it when they “changed” and got a grocery section, and today I noticed where an exit used to be there was a new sign behind a piece of plastic. Oh. My. Word. What was that sign, shining like a lighthouse of hope in my future? STARBUCKS!!!! Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!! At last. A good, fabulous, fantastic change in my world! I can shop at Target to my heart’s content AND get a cinnamon dolce latte on my way out!
Change is inevitable in our world and I suppose we might as well get used to it. Those who are flexible, roll with the changes and even learn from them. Those who are stubborn and hard, only get broken by change. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that made me laugh. It said, “Blessed are the flexible, they never get bent out of shape.”
So, I guess I can learn to navigate my new grocery store, and put on my stupid coat and scarf again, AND ok the fries were alright. And I can definitely get behind a Starbucks at Target. And the bigger, less fun changes in my life, well, maybe I can learn from them too.
Grow or get out of the way.
Today is a bittersweet day for my family. Five years ago, my 26 year-old cousin, Beckie, lost her battle with cancer and went home to heaven. For everyone who was privileged to know Beckie, of course it’s always hard because we miss her. But, we also are able to look back on her life as an incredible gift.
Sometimes when someone dies young it seems like such a tragic waste. The young person has often not done very much yet or has lived selfishly for themselves. My cousin, Beckie, however, was an extraordinary young woman. In her short life she inspired everyone who knew her to live more fully, to know God better, to be unselfish. In short, hers was an unwasted life. Beckie’s life was lived for others, for the glory of God.
Beckie’s life verse was I Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Such small words packed with such enormous implications.
Rejoice. ALWAYS.
Pray. WITHOUT CEASING.
Give thanks. IN EVERYTHING.
One small thing I remember that made a huge impact on my life was that Beckie made it her goal to thank each and every person who gave care to her in the hospital; from the nurse who gave her her chemo drugs, to the worker who brought a lunch tray in. At the time I was going through many surgeries myself. Shortly after Beckie’s funeral, I underwent an extensive surgery and hospital stay. I remembered this verse and Beckie’s example and even in my pain and drugged state I thought, “If Beckie could do this while going through chemo, so can I.” I tried to remember to thank the nurse who drew my blood (ick) and the guy who brought me yucky hospital food and especially the ones who gave me pain meds!
Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks.
In the good times and the bad.
When she was in the hospital I made Beckie a quilt. It was called “Tea in the Garden.” I tried to include lots of bright colors and flowers since she was in isolation and couldn’t go outside that spring. After her death, I was privileged to receive that quilt back. Today I sleep under it at night and am reminded of Beckie’s amazing life and her Savior she served who made her life possible.
I am grateful I knew her. Grateful for the summers on Old Hickory Lake in Nashville. Grateful for her example.
