The Mothership

I love new information. I love it even more when it is presented to me in a way that I can clearly understand. Listening to audio books and podcasts are some ways I have found to have knowledge sewn in. My day to day responsibilities can be all consuming but when I listen to these I feel equipped and empowered and productive as I fold laundry/drive. Even with my comprehension dyslexia, my body craves information. Listening gives me an avenue of just enjoying the information and ingesting it without the seriousness of having to take notes as I usually do in a tangible book - fiction or non.  But I stumbled across a podcast by Dr. Aliza named "Raising Good Humans". The content was scientifically explaining how we can grow compassion in yourself and your family (episode 74). She does not speak specifically to the connection of "God creating us this way," but it made think about how HE has made us. God has so intricately designed us, even our stress responses and in our...

You have not lived the life of a first world parent until you have many stories of some kind of bodily fluid cleanup happenstance story. So many that you feel like no one else could have this many stories - but infact I can tell you that Susan down the street, as much as she is trying to hide it, ALSO has these stories under her belt. Let’s play a game of “Never have I ever...” where I name something and you lower your head in defeat if you have. READY?!?? NEVER HAVE I EVER...  Caught throw up in my hands...voluntarily  I’m gonna let that one sink in for a bit Never have I ever put my smiling baby up high in the air with their beautiful face looking down at you only to be directly vommited on with accuracy of a nuclear bomb.   Been changing a baby’s diaper and caught their poo in your hands mid change.  Awoken by the cry of someone breathing putrid smelling breath over you saying, “I fink I got sick mommy...” In the car on an awesome family vacation...

The amount of things I have unfinished at the moment is unreal. I don't usually let things get this out of hand (or what I think is out of hand) ...but April/May happened and I haven't been able to catch up. Or is that my reality?!?! Am I really as organized as I'd like to think?!?! My desk would say otherwise. Sometimes, as I walk through my house, all I can see are the reminders of all the unfinished projects and loose ends.  Does your mind ever wander into mindless banter? And then as you begin to start your day accomplishing Mount "whatever" you trail from project to project and child's need back to project, accomplishing maybe only one thing?!?! I mean as I sit here trying to type out my thoughts I am couponing, reading a devotional, looking at my calendar because I never got back to that person about that date, birthday shopping, making breakfast, and my to-do list for today. I am distracted... I walk from room to room and these are just some of th...

My kids eat pretty well at home - I mean if the stars align, there is a possibility that everyone will remain in their chairs and that gravity won't work against them, finding their bottoms on the floor once again. Or the reminders to "Take another bite" will be minuscule...but all in all, they eat and they sit at the table and they come back to do this about 5 times a day. So naturally I think "I just don't feel like cleaning up another mess today," or "I'm tired of packing 4 lunches...let's go out" But eating out with these fine humans is a whole other ballgame...a game I enter with prayers that THIS time we enter into this restaurant will end differently than the time before... and ALMOST every single time I am reminded that I was wrong. I am fully reminded of why we don't take our three out to eat unless the whole dining experience can take less than 45 minutes from sitting to standing. It's like dipping your toe in i...

I like that name...slimnastics... I typed in "exercise" to see what words were synonyms and this was one of them. Ok, people...I have something I want to say... It might be news to some of you, but to those of you who know me, maybe not so much of a surprise... I do not like exercising... I don't. I know.  Super motivating. I am just in aw of people who say, " I do because it's my one hour of peace "...or " I thrive on it. I NEED to do it. " I have yet to be in a workout that is actually peaceful for me...even Yoga, yes calming, but yeah I'm not buying peaceful. AND I also have never said the words, "I NEED to go workout, I've missed it." P-sh! I get it. One hour without someone pulling/climbing/whining all over me is quite delightful and filling, but not peaceful for me. I enjoy being active, and with other people, and such, but the actual act of getting myself to the gym or outside to run by myself...It's just hard m...

So far, pretty much every August, EVEN BEFORE kids, when I was a teacher...I get seriously bummmed. When I think about school starting up, I just grab the kid closest to me and give them a "hug of death"...insert children's eyeroll. I'm flooded with all kinds of emotions... about the responsibilities...the schedule...the time change (bleh)...earlier bedtimes...less time for adventures...less time with the kids...gotta be "on it" all the time...more commitments...homework...are they being challenged...are they being respectful...more independent actions from my kids (I mean he's gonna be gone ALLLLLL day this year!)... bleh, bleh, bleh I basically get the "blues" about having to adult. But I can't revel in the bummer attitude. So I do what puts my mind at peace...ORGANIZING.  I usually go over the top with systems to put in place in hopes that things run more smoothly. One year I tried to make freezer meals before the school y...

What person, in their right mind would buy a child, under the age of 6 SILLY PUTTY?!!?!?! My mother, that's who...oh wait she's a grandma, and does just about anything for me and my kids, so I guess she gets a pass (I really do love you mom).  BUT, if you are a mother of young ones..proceed with caution! If you have the time to sit and supervise the playing with silly putty, then by all means, buy it.  But, if you expect them to be able to keep track of it...nuh-uh...just don't. People...I lost all sense of being a human being the other day over silly putty...I went from nice, friendly Mommy: to crazy person that may or may not be an alien: You know why? Because, the havoc it ensues upon my house, I have endured before.  I remember...not fondly...trying everything to get silly putty out of the shorts pocket that my child "saved" it in....which somehow cannot be removed by any means possible BUT I assure you, can metastasize to any other piece of c...

I am not a food guru and certainly don't know EVERYTHING about nutrition with kids.  My kids have good days and bad days...just like me.  But my kids are pretty good at eating a variety of foods and trying new things.   Since I wrote about MY clean eating, I thought I would mention our method for our children. Tim and I are not picky eaters and try most things, aside from small aversions.  From what I have heard, we were not super picky when we were little.  I think some people are more sensitive to certain foods and it's important to listen to that.  If something doesn't sound good, don't eat it.  There are PLENTY of other clean foods to eat.  I think that is important for kids too; to know you respect their food aversions can go a long way when they are trying new foods, otherwise you can bet they are never going to try ANYTHING new.  Plus, my tastes have changed from when I was a child... except for the taste of wet bread or li...

My kids eat chicken most of the time.  This dish is made probably twice a month. It's super easy and takes about 30 minutes from getting the pans out to plate. The veggies listed below are what I had in the fridge that day, but I put more or different things in. Other good veggies are: kale, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, brussel sprouts, onion, the list could go on. Just pick a few you like and it'll be great. The same goes with the potatoes. We eat potatoes very infrequently, but they beef up the veggies a little bit and give it a nice texture. When I put the veggies and potatoes into the skillet, I just keep chopping and adding until I think I have enough for however many people are here. That's why there aren't exact measurements. The chicken I usually buy is chicken thighs because the kids seem to enjoy it better, but sometimes we do a pack of breasts and a pack of thighs.  If you get the combo of thighs and breasts, make sure you cut the breast pieces in half so...

Prayer works my friends.  It really does.  I have seen firsthand how it works time and time again.  I know this is not a revelation to a lot of you, but I am still amazed every time it does!  As a mother, I have been using prayer for things that I never would have thought I would. "Lord, please help me find my keys!" "Lord, give me patience for cleaning up the pee from the floor for the third time today." "Lord, take his boo-boo pain away right now!" "Lord, help me to be on time this morning." "Lord, please calm this terrorist of a toddler!" There are millions more, but another one has most recently been so effective for my children... "Lord, take away their nightmares..."  My children are really good sleepers.  They sleep through most nights, in their own beds, and fall asleep fairly quickly.  They sleep well at strange places, as long as we are there.  But, if someone is sick, all of that goes out the window, and...

Good night sweet heart, well it's time to go... Good night sweet heart, well it's time to go... I hate to leave you, I really must say, Oh, good night sweetheart, goodnight. Sad emoji face... Such sweet words... I sang this to all my sweet babies after they would fall asleep from a nightly feeding.  Oh how I enjoyed those feedings.  Maybe not the waking up part.  But most definitely the snuggling, and inhaling the sweet smell of that baby. I believe that this time has come to an end... I have been blessed with three beautiful babes and am so thankful for all their different characters and personalities.  But, I always, obviously not realistically, envisioned myself as a Mother of young children. so this is hard, people... We recently switched the nursery, that I so carefully planned, into my 4 yr old daughter's bedroom.  No more nursery.  I always knew that the end of my baby making years would be rough, but I did not expect to be...

So, praying for people... Sometimes I'm great at it and sometimes...not so much I LOVE prayer and praying for others.  The high that I get when God's words touch my lips so that he can bless someone is overwhelming.  He needs communication from us and some of the most powerful prayer is surrounded by other believers.  I love the feeling God gives me when the Holy Spirit enters a room and is helping guide prayer, and working on those receiving prayer.  It just makes me happy inside. Public prayer can make people so uncomfortable...including myself. Thoughts just flood my mind: should you close your eyes...should you open your eyes...what if I say something that offends someone...what if I don't say anything at all...should I touch this person...do they need a hug...should I stop praying...should I offer to pray...what if I cry... and that last one...that's the one that gets me.  Every.  Single.  Time. I am a cryer.  I cry about EVERYTHING!...

To my friend at the play date.... ...I am so sorry that I never get a chance to be fully present.  We used to be able to talk about everything, each taking our own turn at giving advice and taking it.  Now, our lives are different with these beautiful little ones consuming each and every happy and sad moment.  But within each moment are small moments that can still be filled... ....please don't stop telling me your stories.  Funny, sad, embarrassing, I want to hear it!  Even though we have been interrupted for the uptenth time, I REALLY want to hear it.  One thing that makes me so sad after a play date is how many stories I realized were just left hanging and I didn't get each important tidbit.  So please, don't stop telling the story because I REALLY want to hear it.  I want to know what is going on with you. ...I apologize for texting you one million questions right after seeing you.  But yet again, those little gems interrupted us wi...

So, it's been a while, and I never updated about my goal of not yelling. I'm happy to say that I made it 10 days! But then of course, there were too many days of asking repeatedly the same things, not enough Daddy time and,yada, yada, yada, I was right back in my old ways. Luckily one of my children likes to snap me out of it. I think this 10 days of no yelling was something like a reset for the kids and when I exploded, they were caught off guard...and yet they were so forgiving. I can't even remember the reason why I yelled.  I just remember Luke saying, "it's okay, Mommy. I forgive you too." And this time instead of yelling at him for being disrespectful, I took it in the back of my throat and swallowed hard. I hugged him and just said, "Thank you." Since that moment when I broke my streak, there have been longer  "streaks" and shorter moments of explosion.  The Lord is providing me with better words and understanding.  I'm not p...