I would not consider myself a naturally positive person. It's something I work at for if I'm left to my own devices, I tend to only see the negative in every situation. God has a way, however, of putting things in my path that force me to smile and be grateful when I otherwise would not. Here are a few practical examples from the past month:
1. The negative: Last month I found rats in our shed. Not only were there rats, but they were nesting in our infant carseat that I had washed, packaged and put away in the shed to await the arrival of Clancy.
The positive:
After cleaning it up, it sat in the hallway where my kids entertained themselves for a morning. What's not to love about a 3 1/2 year old shoved with all her animals into something designed for someone 1/4 of her size?
Also, the rats are dead. Joe put out some poison and we happily found 3 decomposing rats a few weeks later in the shed. I love happy endings.
2. In the process of moving our computer to the sunroom a few weeks ago, it broke. Joe unplugged it, carried it across the house and when he plugged it back in, it didn't work. Not good.
The positives: 1. We had an old laptop called dino we were able to use in the interim. 2. We got to see the inside of the computer. 3. Joe got to fiddle around inside a computer, which I think he secretly loves. 4. With $50, a new power supply, and a few hours of his time, he fixed it! 5. Now you get to read my blog posts and see the inside of our computer while I type on it. The wonders of technology.
3. The negative: I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed (as seen in yesterday's video) a few weeks ago. It was followed by large amounts of pain and swelling, sleepless nights, and long days at home with small children. All of this was accompanied by some tears.
The positive: Milkshakes. And my family enjoyed a quieter than usual momma. Also, by the end of the week, I was eating pork tenderloin and enjoying the company of these folks:
Mike & Jeanne Corbin are the parents to one of my dearest friends, Sara. They stopped in for a visit one recent Sunday afternoon while they were in the DC area.
We enjoyed their company so much and pork tenderloin never tasted so good. I don't know if it was the Corbins or the week long hiatus from food.
Also, no matter how hard your week's been, I can't help but smile when I see pictures of these four,
Many moons ago, my husband suggested that I write a "Day in Our Life" kind of post for the blog, so I could remember what our days looked like when the kids were little. Today I'm finally crossing his long-ago suggestion off my always too long to do list.
No day is the same, but I find recently that our days at home certainly have a rhythm to them. Here's a peak at a typical morning.
Theia, our child who needs the least sleep, is usually the last to fall asleep at night and the first to wake up in the morning. If she wakes up and Joe or I are still in bed, she crawls in bed with us to snuggle. Snuggling is the only way I actually enjoy waking up. If we've already vacated the bed, sometimes she moves in anyway
for some quiet reading before the day begins.
After everyone is awake for the morning, the whole family enjoys oatmeal with bananas and a glass of milk. If daddy's home, he eats his with brown sugar, no bananas and a glass of juice. If daddy's not home, sometimes a bear joins us for breakfast. He's just there for company, he doesn't eat.
At some point before, during or after breakfast, the girls help daddy pack his lunch.
The argument over who gets what and how much is also part of the routine. After daddy's lunch is packed and everyone has stopped him at least three times to give him a hug and a kiss, usually with him forgetting to kiss me in all the chaos, he heads off on his scooter for work. At least one of the girls is still convinced he works on his scooter.
After breakfast, I try to sneak in a quick clean up of the kitchen, a load of laundry or some other chore. The kids are generally happy to play on their own or complete their own chores during this time. In early September, I made a more intentional effort to include the girls in the completion of some of these daily chores with a new chore chart and reward system. I've been pleased with the results, thus far, as the cat gets fed, outside lights get turned off, plants get watered, peed in diapers get put in the trash can, and teeth get brushed with minimal nagging from me. Candy is a wondrous bribing mechanism for small children, and for me, come to think of it. One of my favorite surpirses with our new chores is that the two older girls can now completely empty the dishwasher, minus reaching the high, breakable items, of course. Theia takes the job most seriously:
(Nothing like the removal of an impacted wisdom tooth to give you a swollen cheek, an inability to smile, and a real spring in your early-morning step.)
Since September we've also been incorporating some school-type activities into our routine, at least three days a week. It usually involves: a calendar time where we fill in a large wall calendar with dates, days of the week, weather, etc.; some very hands on math that all three girls enjoy; and
reading time where Xandra is learning how to read. We also spend time working through our Cubbies books. New to our Cubbies routine is a supplemental book called Character Builders. It's got extra verses to memorize each week and a few activities, too. The kids are really enjoying it and it's a good challenge for Xandra, our third year Cubbie. Joey doesn't really care for our school time, so he finds other ways to occupy himself and generally cause mayhem and grief to his mother.
The bathroom cabinet with feminine hygiene products seems to be his favorite stop on his morning rounds between the tupperware cabinet, junk drawer, sippy cup cabinet, crying at my legs, pulling numbers off the calendar and push pins out of the wall, dumping toys, magnets and who knows what else into the trash can, eating Cheerios in his high chair, climbing on the dishwasher
and dipping whatever he can find into the toilet.
After a break to clean, check email, clean up Joey's messes, wash some laundry, break up a few arguments, etc. sometimes we play a game or read a few books before lunch. A new favorite game around our house this month has been Zingo! It's a pre-reading game similar to bingo.
Even our littlest girl enjoys it and can win on occasion.
Lunchtime is last for the morning. Between doling out food and keeping Joey sitting in his highchair, I've been reading a chapter book to the girls during lunch most days. So far we've tackled Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, and are now finishing up our second Pooh Book by A.A. Milne. Lunch is followed by a much needed rest/naptime for the entire crew.
It all sounds so perfect and idyllic when I type it out. Many days it really is nice. It's never perfect, however, and sometimes it's crazy and chaotic and I wonder what in the world I'm doing. But I'm learning, ever so slowly, to take the good with the bad, to enjoy the moments playing with my children, watching them learn, grow, and interact. They're growing up before my eyes and I don't want to miss it just because sometimes it's exhausting, frustrating, and everyone's grumping, fighting, complaining, whining, and I can't get anything done. I wouldn't trade the joy of learning and living with them, watching them discover the world and be delighted by the simplest of things like a game played on the living room floor, a lunch packed for daddy or an early morning snuggle in bed for even a few less tough days. Someday I'm gonna miss these days, even the frustrating ones, I suspect. I know I can never have them back but thanks to Joe's suggestion I will be able to read about them and remember again what it was like when Joey, Aliyah, Theia, and Xandra were 1, 2, 3, and 5.
Thanks God for these precious gifts. Give me the grace to properly love, train and enjoy these precious ones you've entrusted to me. Help me to remember that our lives are but a vapor, here for a little while and then vanishing.
By far the most oft asked question in our house in the last year has been, "When do I get to go to Cubbies?" The question has been spoken by Theia, usually in her best whining voice, and has long resounded with the answer in the fall (or after Xandra's birthday) after you turn three. I'm confident there has been no event more anticipated than Theia's first night of Cubbies. The girls could be heard talking and dreaming about it in their bed at night. Xandra would tell Theia all about it and they would both say they hope they got to be kangaroos (Xandra's book group with the famous Ms. Meuschen) together. Xandra promised her over and over to show her all about Cubbies and help her so she would know what to do when. It was then with great joy that the girls prepared their things on that long awaited night in September.
Theia's normally silly, but when she gets excited her silliness takes on a whole new level.
Xandra made sure to wear her Cubbie vest, Cubbie shirt (under the vest) and bring her Cubbie bag and book from last year.
The first night of Cubbies the parents get to stay for awhile. We enjoyed songs, a puppet show, and a special parents-only meeting.
The first week received rave reviews and Theia was most excited to report that they got juice for snack. I'm pretty sure she had four dixie cups worth.
We worked all week long on our verses and the following week Theia was awarded with her very own Cubbie vest. The slideshow below needs little narration. Thanks to my quick-fingered friend, Maureen, for the pictures. It would have been a shame to miss this moment.
She's now earned her first patch and will be getting her second patch tonight. Pretty amazing for a girl who often substitutes the word poop right into the middle of a Bible verse to which she has momentarily forgotten the words. I've no idea if this type of recitation is reserved solely for me or if Ms. Meuschen also has the pleasure of being the recipient of this very unique translation of the Bible. Either way, she's a bona fide Cubbie now, and just like it has been for Xandra for the last two years, the best day all week is Wednesday.
My favorite part is seeing them enjoy it together.
On the weekend of Joey's first birthday, our church hosted a family retreat at a beautiful
and rustic camp in rural Maryland.
We made plans last year to attend, loaded the car and drove to pick Joe up from the metro station. While we were waiting to pick Joe up I started having contractions. Needless to say, we missed the retreat last year with another kind of wonderful adventure, but we were glad to join in on the fun this year.
We enjoyed: family-style dining where Xandra spent a meal at a table with other kids instead of our family's table;
times of corporate worship,
where our kids were more entertained by playing with the pills from this doormat than by the service;
a chilly swim in the pool,
where Joe raced Colin only to find out he was the only one racing and where Aliyah proved how big her mouth really is;
smores by the campfire, where Joe found the PERFECT marshmallow roasting stick and Joey was so exhausted that he slept in my arms;
pretend cakes created by Xandra
this was Joey's birthday cake.
and lots of
family time,
sweet smiles
outdoor adventures,
and fun.
Also on the list of adventures was Theia and Xandra's first night in the top bunk of a bunkbed and two nights in a room with the entire family. There are some advantages to sleeping three children ages 5, 3, and 2 in the same bed in the same room at home. They don't bat an eye when three other people join them for the night.
All in all, it was a great weekend, however, sleeping six to a room, chasing kids around camp for a weekend, killing spiders bigger than Joey's hand, staying up late playing the train game and enjoying the company of fellow friends has a way of making one feel like they need a retreat when they get home from the retreat.
