High Praise

We very rarely drink anything but apple or grape juice in our house.  Yesterday, however, we tried berry juice.  At breakfast yesterday morning, I poured Carter some of this juice.  As he watched the red liquid flow into his glass he said  "ugh!  what is THAT mommy?"  I told him it was berry juice, and to try it.  He took a big swig and said "hmmm, that is not gross mommy!"  I said "wow!  That is high praise, Carter".  He said "high praise?  What is high praise?  I think I am allergic to high praise!"

A perceived allergy to high praise...what does that say about my parenting???

Volunteering...my quest to say no for Lent...

I gave up volunteering for Lent.  So far it has been pretty good...I have had a slip up here and there, had to revision and refocus, but all in all it is going well.

I do keep getting asked, however, "will you do this for me, after Lent then?"  I think they have missed the point...

and I hope I have received the message of this endeavour loud and clear...but I am sure it will be a process, with lots of revisioning and refocusing along the way.

What did you give up, or bring into your life this Lenten season?  I would love to hear from others about their journeys through Lent.  Are you struggling like me?

Where Procratination Can Get You...

Yesterday morning while I was in the bathroom downstairs, Maya was in the bathroom upstairs unrolling a brand new roll of toilet paper into the toilet.  I came upstairs to find this and promptly closed the bathroom door.  The kids needed breakfast and to get dressed, this could wait...I thought.  So, I went about the morning routine of our household, forgetting about the problem in the bathroom.  Forgetting until I heard Carter call from the bathroom..."uhhh"  (as if he has never made a mess in his life exasperated sigh) "what a mess Maya made, I'll help clean it up" as he flushes the toilet 5 times.  I run to the bathroom...the water is rising, the toilet is running...its not stopping...water is creeping across the bathroom floor, coming fast toward the hallway...I wade across the quickly rising mess lift the back off the toilet...the floater has caught the flap for the opening making the water run continuously...I lift the floater, close the little flap thing (yes those are technical plumbing terms) and begin the process of cleaning up my bathroom floor.  I finish up and take the mass of wet towels down to the laundry room to find that half the water had leaked through the floor onto my baskets of clean clothes...more mess, and more laundry. 
The whole time Carter is following me repeatedly commenting about the mess Maya made but "I helped".  You helped alright buddy!  You taught mommy a valuable lesson about procratination!

Best Feeling Ever!

Maya called me Mommy today! 

First time she said mommy...not mama, or mommm...so I am sure she was actually talking to me, not just stringing sounds together.  I know that she has called me mama for awhile...but it still feels good to hear that first mommy!

Best feeling ever!  Love!

Million Hour Drive

Has anybody ever taken a road trip with their kids???  Happenstance has it that we live 6 hours away from my parents and 5 from David's parents.  This means we take a road trip about once every 6 weeks.  Sometimes we travel all together, but sometimes it is either David or I with some or all of the kids.  Today I am about to leave my parents for the journey home with the 2 youngest, this sparked me to share what a road trip is like with our family.  Now our kids are all individually great travellers, but when you put them together as a collective unit in close quarters for 6 hours there is definitely the potential for trouble.  We usually start out well, but then Lauren touches Julie, which makes Julie shove her; Carter steals Maya's blanket and thus Maya starts to squeal; Julie says she doesn't want to watch The Incredibles, which makes Carter yell that he does.  Then we stop for lunch.  One of the kids inevitably spills something, David and I forgot to leave a couple diapers out so we have to unpack the back of the van so we can change the baby; someone's lunch tastes funny so they won't eat it, and we have to stop an hour later so they can all pee out what they drank during lunch.  We always end up arriving at our destination later than we planned and quickly find something to occupy the kids or put them to bed, so we can unpack the van, and get to bed ourselves at a reasonable time.  It is an adventure!  I have to say we get much better at it every time that we do it, but sometimes it feels like the million hour driving marathon.
This is what happens on an average trip to our parents.  I have to admit, the thought of an actual vacation scares me, just a little. 

How do you explain that to your 8 year old?

Lauren asked us today what Modernistic Expressionism is.

Seriously???

New Friends!

So, I have made a new friend.  She is the kind of friend that asks very good questions that make you reflect on yourself.  Today she asked if I felt that everything I do was a lot, or whether it just sounded like a lot to other people. 
This was a great question and it made me reflect on what I really wanted from life right now, and if maybe, just maybe all my activities were not helping me reach my goals.  I am not sure this reflection was the intended effect she expected her question to have, but it was none the less, how I experienced it.
After the question was posed David looked at me from across the room for my response...I think he wanted to know the answer, and was wondering why he could not have asked the same question so brilliantly.  I answered truthfully, that some days it was too much.
This brought me full circle to a conversation from yesterday, when our minister (another friend who asks great questions) challenged our congregation to have meaningful conversation during the lunch after church.  One suggested topic was what we might give up for Lent.  Over lunch David did ask me this question, and I jokingly responded that I was going to give up volunteering for Lent.  
After my freinds question today, I don't think I am joking any more, volunteering might be the perfect thing for me to give up for Lent.

I am so thankful for those people in my life that can ask these questions.  They truly are a blessing!