Girls vs Boys

One morning while having breakfast in the lobby of the hotel on our mini vacation, a group of soldiers in fatigues came in.

Ni Ni pipes up and says, "All the boys in this room except Dad have matching clothes on...."

Leave it to a girl to recognize fashion sense of soldiers.....A boy would have asked where they were going to fight or if they had a gun, etc.

Vacation? The ugly, the bad and the good...

I know the phrase is usually "the good, the bad and the ugly" but I wanted to put the good at the end....

We decided last week to take advantage of the children's 4 day weekend off from school and take a mini-vacation.

The ugly:

Hotel noise, hotel beds, yada, yada....
Trying to take everyone out to eat all the time.....Why is it that every restaurant looks at you as if you're crazy if you say "3 children, 2 adults and a carseat"?
Dirty looks for nursing in public (even though there was complete coverage)
Me threatening the children within an inch of their lives when they don't want to spend time doing something Dad wanted to do on vacation - how dare I ask them to tolerate 60 minutes in a museum that Mom and Dad found interesting.....

The bad:

Children who start out asking "are we there yet?" 10 minutes from home.
The restaurant that brings us 3 dinner rolls for our party of 6 and informs they have to charge us for extras (even though they didn't carry thru on the threat)".
6 of us in a room about the size of my living room (along with our "stuff").

The good (negates both of the above):

The FUN we had! The things we learned! Spending time together without the pressure of the world on our backs!

a note to my neighbors....

To the mom of the 12 yr old, what made you think that the child would actually shoot paintballs at ONLY the 12 x 12 cardboard box??? (Pink paintball paint does wash off the house, at least when its still wet)

To the mom of the 7 yr old, please do not send your child over as soon as we pull in the drive to see if she can play here - I am not a babysitting service - do not self-invite. Also, don't send her over again 5 minutes later when I tell her the first time that the kids have 15 minutes of homework to do.....

To the guy who thinks detailing and revving his engine at 10 pm for 30 minutes plus is okay....it's not!!!!

My kids

For all the posts about the frustration, there are many smiles that I only get from my children....

For instance,

the facts that Sha Sha finds interesting about Kansas History - like that it used to be a law that vanilla ice cream could not be served on cherry pie.

for instance,

the boy has started playing coin "magic tricks". Guess which hand it's in? (But you can only guess the one in front of your face, the one behind the back doesn't count.)

for instance,

NiNi's curiousity about everything! While eating chinese food the other night, "Mom, what's in crab rangoon?" After I list the ingredients, including crab of course, "EWW! I hate crab!!! First I've heard of it considering she eats them every time we have Chinese and half of one is on her plate.... I guess it's silly to think crab might be in CRAB rangoon.....

for instance,

GiGi was sitting on my lap today while I was typing an email and she kicked the keyboard tray by accident, but of course then it became a fun game to kick the keyboard tray out from under mommy's hands. Giggle, Giggle....

Lots of laughs and smiles amidst the gnashing of teeth......

Library books

Sha Sha (9 yr old) is usually the responsible one. I say usually because she is after all, 9 years old. We tore the house up (and the cars) over the weekend looking for a public library book that was due last week. Sha Sha swore she looked everywhere (as did everyone else in the family). This was a tiny book. A short story really....maybe 4 or 5 inches by six inches, I was beginning to think the cat ate it....

Anyway, after school today, we decide to go to library to pay for the lost book. Stopping by home to pick up our library bags (which is where the books are supposed to reside when not being read), Sha Sha miraculously finds the lost book......IN THE LIBRARY BAG!!!!!!!


AAAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

what to say?

My absence has been the result of a couple of things -

1 - being busy (What mom of 4 isn't? - Nix that, what mom isn't?)
2- fear of being redundant
3 - some serious prayer and contemplation

Am I at a point where there is resolution? Some.... But growth and change aren't productive without a little pain, now are they?

Thank you

to my anonymous benefactor. If you read this, you'll know what I'm talking about, and yet I don't have any other way to Thank you.....

Catch up

Wow a week goes by fast. Gigi is rolling all over (when she wants to) - not on a performance basis, mind you!

I backed away from some commitments, and that makes me feel better about things.

I still have trouble getting dinner on the table sometimes and feel bogged down by the "dailies". I am also feeling guilty for doing anything that might be enjoyable when I have "stuff" to do. Feeling guilty, I know is a weapon of the enemy, but I can't seem to shake it.

All of my children are such a joy, but Nini is such a delight recently. She has noticed my "moods" and tries to say things to cheer me up or make me laugh, and she usually succeeds. She is also always sneaking up on me with a surprise hug or two.

Revelation

or not? Anyway, sometimes we just need to be reminded of all the lies we buy into. I wrap my value up so much into what I fail at doing, or what is not done perfectly, that I forget how God see's me thru His eyes. Thanks to you know who at Bible Study for the reminder and Thank you God for directing her to share.

I don't know who sings it but the song lyrics that follow hit me hard yesterday -
"You make all things glorious. What does that make me?"

Bathroom duty

If any of you have little boys - you will identify...

I walk into the "kids" bathroom and besides toothpaste all over the vanity (which I have already pontificated about in an earlier post), the "aroma" hits me. What "aroma" you may ask? What to call it?

"Eau de Pee-pee"
"Missing the Toilet fragrance" or how about
"Urine Couture".

Anyway, does their aim ever improve?

Why is it ...

that when you expect a store to honor an advertised price and point it out, they act like they are doing you a favor by giving it to you?

that no matter how early you get up, you still can't get out the door when you want to?

that my 9 yr old now finds herself qualified to correct my spelling?

that my 7 yr old is qualified to correct my grammar?