A brief moment

I had one of those brief moments of brilliance this morning.  You know the kind where you think "Wow, I should write a book and share my wisdom with others."  So instead of writing a book, I'll just record it here on the blog so that one day my kids, when they are trying to figure out the parenting thing, can read it and get some ideas and have their own moments of brilliance.  My kids hate going to the grocery store.  I really can't state this strongly enough.  It is perhaps their least favorite thing to do.  They would rather go to the dentist then follow me around our grocery store.  I think I spoiled them (and myself!) when I was just babysitting one child last fall and was able to get all the shopping done while they were at school.  Now that I have 4 kids, 3 and under, I do not venture out to the store while they are at school.  So, since everyone seems to be convinced that they need to eat 3 meals a day, I do have to drag them to the store.  And, yes, I mean literally drag them.  We came to one of those moments this morning and suddenly I had a light bulb go on. (I think there really was one that popped up over my head).  I decided that we would make personal pizzas today...regular pizzas and dessert pizzas...mmmm.  (Daddy's away so the mice will play!)  So I had them sit down and figure out what they wanted on their respective pizzas, make a list and then at the store, while I went down the aisles filling my cart, they would go together and shop for the things on their list.  Wow, is all I can say.  We had shouts of joy at the prospects of shopping by themselves at the store.  And, as a bonus, it didn't take me long to get everything on my list because I was by myself....definitely a win, win for everyone involved.  So, while we may not have personal pizzas every time I need to go to the store, you can bet I will definitely be dividing up the list and letting them do some of the shopping for me.

On the nightstand

I rarely read one book at a time.  I find that even with good books I need a break occasionally.  Thought you might like a glimpse at what I am currently reading.

Fiction:  I have a fluff mystery that I am reading on Joe's kindle. I don't remember the name of the book or the author and, since it is Joe's kindle, I let him take it with him on his fishing trip.  How kind of me, right?  ;) I just finished an Agatha Christie....I can't remember the name of that one either.  It was good, but not one of her famous Miss Marple or Inspector books.  It took place just after the Lusitania sinking.  Good read.  I love Agatha Christie.

Non-Fiction:

The Unofficial Guide: Walt Disney World 2012  Yes, we are headed to see the Mouse this summer.  I got this book before Christmas and looked through it then.  Last week (and this is the complete truth) I had a nightmare that we were at Disney World and I had decided to "wing it" and didn't plan anything.  It was awful.  I woke up in a cold sweat.  I got the book out the next day and am prepping for our trip.  (Joe thinks I may have a problem...supposedly most people don't have nightmares about Disney World)

Bonhoeffer:  Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas  I found this book in Joe's truck on my way to the doctor's office.  One of the dear women in our church had loaned it to him.  She has a rich German heritage.  I am really enjoying it and it is working my brain.  When you spend most of your days with babies, you need something that will work the brain. I am only about an eighth of the way through it and it is a thick one, so I will be reading this one for awhile. It gives a lot of his personal history and you get to see how his upbringing impacted the direction he went theologically.  And then those beliefs are what lead him to his actions. I am in the late 1920s and looking forward to getting to the point where he confronts the evil of his time.

The Good News We almost Forgot:  Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism by Kevin DeYoung This book is not nearly as "heavy" as it sounds.  Pastor DeYoung spent a year writing devotionals based on the Heidelberg Catechism for his church.  This is a compilation of those devotionals.  He writes his thoughts on each of the  "Lord's Day" questions.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  I have developed an appreciation for the catechisms as my children have been growing up.  I enjoy going through Big Truths for Little Kids with them and it has been a great tool for teaching them some theological truths.    And while I don't agree with all the teaching in the catechisms, they are designed so that it is easy to skip the ones I don't believe.  The Heidelberg Catechism is much longer and I have enjoyed reading Kevin DeYoung's thoughts on it.

Lately...

Ok, it has very obviously been awhile since I have posted because blogger has completely changed up their posting page since the last time I was on here.  Wow...looks totally different.  Okay, so onward to the post if I can get past the distraction.  Here is a little of what I have been up to lately....

• Traveling.  I got the blessing of traveling westward to Oklahoma to visit my only sibling and surprise her for her 40th birthday.  We had a great time as my parents came out and surprised her as well.  I pretty much cooked for them a little, played with my niece and nephews, and loafed the rest of the time.  All in all a great trip.
• Reading.  I have about 4 books (I think) that I am in the middle of right now.  I think I will just dedicate a later post to that and keep you in suspense as to what I am reading.
• Babysitting.  Yes, the job continues.  I was filling out some insurance forms today for the daycare and actually asked the agent what I should put as my title.  She replied "owner".  Oh yeah, I guess I am a business owner.  Still doesn't feel official even though I've been doing it awhile.
• Not taking pictures.  I dropped my phone on my sister's tile floor and, alas, the camera no longer works.  So I will get you a post later of the pictures I haven't been taking.
• Baking.  My bread machine broke.  Well, not exactly broke.  I lost one of the pieces so it no longer works.  At first I was greatly saddened by this development, but I have recently discovered the "art" of bread making and am possibly never going to buy another bread machine.  I love baking bread and trying new recipes.  Tonight we are having a cheese bread and it turned out really good.
• Watching some reality TV.  Yes, I am not ashamed to admit that I watch some American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.  We DVR them and watch them with the kids.  I should use the term "watch" loosely since it is a rare show that we don't fast forward through at least a part of it due to the inappropriate nature...especially for my kids.  But we've been having a good time picking our favorites.
• Discovering Spotify.  I really like Spotify.  Unlike Pandora, I can pick an artist and only hear his/her songs.  Downside? I think it posts everything I listen to to facebook.  Being an avid musical fan, I officially apologize to my friends because I listen to music all. the. time.

Oh sigh...

I have these moments in which my kids seemed to have aged...a. lot. Moments in which the realization that they are only going to be here truly for a short time more and moments in which I say to myself "Really? They are that old?" These moments seem to be happening more frequently of late. Either I am being more observant or it is just the stage of life that they are in. Today I had one of those moments. Sara came home from school and announced that one of her teachers had sent her an email and attached the project that they were working on at school. I responded by saying that I hadn't seen any emails. To which she responded "My teacher sent it to me, not you" (emphasis mine). Oh, that's right, she does have her own email address. And obviously I don't need to see it. I've been bi-passed. Another step to adulthood. Joe keeps reminding me this is a good thing. I know it is a good thing, but....Sigh.

Conversations of late

I am not sure if I have mentioned it on my blog, but I absolutely LOVE the stage of life my kids are in right now. When the hormones aren't completely raging (yes, they do start before the teenage years hit!) we get to have some really, really cool conversations. Here's some summaries from the discussions of late:

• I fixed a Korean rice bowl for supper on night this week. It was really delicious and would have been even better with steak. Anyway, the starter question by one of the kids was do they really eat this in Korea which led to a long, massive discussions which include war (we spanned several wars including Vietnam, Korean & WWII), the reason to go to war and what communism is all about.
• Music....I cannot even begin to count the number of discussions I have had with especially the girls lately about music. Between their age, the newly acquired iPods and American Idol, we've had plenty of conversation starters. It reminds me of a class in which Joe teaches concerning the culture (the arts, music, philosophy) and its impact on Christianity over the years. Can't wait for the kids to get to take that class.
• John evidently knows what suppositories are. Ahh, the education that comes from classmates. That was a very short conversation.
• Dating...One of my girls asked me how old I was when I went out of my first date. Then she informed me that her classmates were "dating" and how she didn't get it since they can't go anywhere. Smart girl!
• Spiders and male responsibilities...I'm not sure if your house is like mine this spring, but mine seems full of spiders. And my brave Nathan has decided that the one animal variety that he does NOT like is bugs or spiders. So after two occasions this week in which he came to me concerning the spiders in his room, I decided it was time for us to have a mom to son chat. I explained to him that he was a boy and part of his job was to take care of spiders for his mom, sisters, and one day his wife. His prompt response, in a very matter of fact tone, was that he was not going to get married. And, in that moment, I believed him. I could totally see him moving to Texas, finding a ranch in the middle of the nowhere (there's a. lot. of nowhere in Texas..I've seen parts of it in west Texas), and hanging out with all the animals he can find. I don't think it was out of a response of not wanting to kill the spiders either, because 5 minutes later I heard him in his sisters' rooms killing their spiders for them. My sweet Nathan has always been an animal lover almost to a fault. When he heard the story of Noah's ark he literally wept...not for the people that died but for all the animals that didn't get to go on the ark. And there are many days that we question which he loves more...animals or us?
  

Status updates

I have been taking a break from Facebook recently. Well, I've been checking in occasionally in the evenings, but for the most part I've been good. I thought I would share some of my status updates that I haven't posted lately....

• A child up with a nightmare at 3:15am and staying awake until 6am which happens to be the time I need to take my shower makes for a very. tired. momma.
• Joe had to hide the oatmeal cookies I made yesterday because if I know where they are the likelihood that there will be any left at the end of the day is very small.
• My girls have grown at least 1/2 inch in the last 3 months. We measured them this morning.
• I LOVED working in the flower beds at church and home on Saturday. However, I was so stiff the next day I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get out of bed.
• Babies make me smile.
• Kindergarteners can be amazingly mean at times.
• I think I will count how many times I say "no" today because that is just what you tend to do when you are hanging out with a 2 year old, 3 year old and 19 month old all day. I'll count my "good job"s as well and see if they balance out.
• We are thinking of sending the girls to camp next summer. I have gotten so excited just reading the websites!!!
• Loved Colton Dixon on American Idol last night!

things that have made me smile this week...

• Being in church. After missing 3 of the 4 last Sundays I actually got to attend church this past weekend. It made me smile. We will dwell on that instead of the fact that Nathan had vomiting Sunday night. I remember telling Joe at 1am how thankful I was that it was Sunday night and not Saturday night. I think the Lord knew I needed to be in church. And maybe, hopefully (dare I even think it?) Sunday night's episode was the last "hurrah" for this very long flu season at our house.
• Wandering my "estate" and looking at all the blooms...in the middle of March!!! Feels much more and looks much more like May here.
• Being treated out to dinner with friends last night and hearing Nathan request bacon as his side dish with his fried fish. Nathan's motto in life "You have not because you ask not". He settled for the green beans with bacon instead.
• A three and a half month old's smiles and coos.
• Stylish hats on my two girls. Even better...the hats were only $1.50 each! Woohoo.
• Feeling the breeze rush through my house and feeling the cool air as I fall asleep at night. Alas, we had to turn the air on last night. My poor John, John was breaking out in hives because his allergies had gotten so bad. This is a new development to his hay fever that began last fall that I will would go away.
• Crayola Stories Interactive DVDs. I have the Undersea Adventure one. And the sweet almost 3 year old at my house everyday LOVES it!
• Fresh baked bread. We won't mention that the reason I am making fresh baked bread is because I am totally out of bread. It is easier to make it than haul for kids 2 and under to the store.
• my turquoise blue toe nail polish!
  

Spiritual Milestones

There are many spiritual milestones I enjoy celebrating when I see them in my kids. The first, and by far the most fulfilling and comforting to me as a parent, is when they make the decision to choose Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him. I have been tremendously blessed to see all four of my kids make that decision already. After they make that decision, the next one that I cherish is getting to hear my kids read the word of God. I look forward to their baptisms and watching them grow in their faith, but aside from maybe when I see they've truly made their faith their own, hearing them read God's word is second only to that initial decision to follow Christ to me. Maybe it is because the Bible has had such a powerful effect on my own relationship with God. God's word truly transform and there is something supernatural that happens when we read it and take it in. So I always long for the day when my kids can read well enough to read it on their own....their first step to getting to experience that transformation by reading it themselves. My Nathan did that this past week and it made me tear up. You may find that odd, especially considering that after he read it his comment was that he wanted to rewrite John 3:17 instead of John 3:16 because it was shorter (a Cub Scout assignment he was working on), but knowing that my child can read God's word by himself brought me so much encouragement and comfort. In the days ahead in his life, he always has something to turn to whether I am with him or not. When he feels like God is silent, he can open His word and know that He is not. "For the word of God is living and active...." Hebrews 4:12

Boys will be boys...

I love my boys. I was just commenting to Joe this morning how my boys have surprised me. For example, my boys are much more huggy and snugly than my girls were at this age. Could be personality differences or just a boy thing...hard to know for sure but I think it might be a boy thing.

And then there are things that are not that surprising but still, for some reason, catch me off guard...like today next to the deli counter at Kroger. I spied the coleslaw that we'd had a few weeks ago at a church event. It was delicious. I know, right? Delicious deli coleslaw? But, yes, this was so good I had to get confirmation from about 3 different people that it was store bought and not homemade. Joe went to get some the other day and they were out. Evidently it is pretty popular. So I saw it today and headed to the deli line to get it. (Unfortunately, it wasn't as good this time around..sad...) Anyway, the boys and I were waiting for the chatty guy in front of us to get his meat for the week, and Nathan starts his chattiness. Actually he wasn't starting, he was launching into a new topic. Nathan: "Mom, did you know that farts and burps are actually gas leaving your body?" Me: "Umm, yes, Nathan, I did know that." Nathan: "Yeah, see there is gas in your body and there is this round...." I won't go into any more details about what he said because, frankly, it gets rather graphic. I just stood there somewhat speechless with my eyes getting big paralyzed into silence. John pipes up : "Nathan, I don't think that is appropriate right now." Me: "Um, yeah, what your brother is saying. And where did you learn that?!" Nathan: "Beakman's World". Evidently Beakman's World covers all topics of science. And now the deli gal knows all about how the body works too....

Oh, and completely side topic....another child down with the stomach bug tonight. Here's hoping I won't miss church again tomorrow. That would be 3 out of the last 4 Sundays that I have missed. Yikes, someone might start wondering about their pastor's wife...

Thursday tidbits

So here's what has been going on here today:

• Another call from the school, another child comes home....sigh.
• I bought John a new pair of jeans today thinking they would be big on him, but get us through spring and fit him great next fall. But, alas, they fit him great right now. Size? 12! And at age 8 my John-John is no longer little.
• Nathan got a new pair of jeans too...size 10. Again, thought they would be too big...sigh... (in fairness, I think they are a "big" size 10).
• We have Girl Scout cookies in the house. Mmmmm.....
• Nathan told me the interrupting cow knock-knock joke this morning. By far one of my favorite knock-knock jokes. I laughed again...never do I tire of hearing a good knock-knock joke.
• I am truly embarrassed by how many clothes I bought at our local second hand store today. But it got warm and after literally 5 cloth changes the other morning for the girls we realized that they desperately needed some new clothes for this spring and summer. And at $1.50/clothing item I am totally not embarrassed by how many clothes I got for such a little price.
• I am knitting Joe a blanket. It is camouflage color, of course. I am only a few years late on my promise so hopefully I will get it done by the end of the year.
  
• I am in my Colts blue today and feeling homesick for my Hoosier state. I find it odd how something like a favorite football player leaving my favorite team can bring on those feelings.
• Joe just shared something really hilariously with me, but I can't share it with you. Sorry...
  
• Speaking of Joe, he offered to fry up some deer steak for supper tonight. I think I will take him up on his offer....