Cinderella - Steven Curtis Chapman

I don't know how I missed this news, but Steven Curtis Chapman's 5-year-old daughter, adopted from China, was killed in a tragic accident on May 23rd. The oldest son accidentally backed over her in their driveway. Ironically, he wrote this song about her, Maria Sue Chapman, a couple of years ago. The words say, "All too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone." This family has a special place in my heart, not only because I love his music but because of their commitment to children and adoption. It is a great reminder to appreciate every moment with our families.

I'm a Good Talker

My children always provide me with rich fodder for blogging. That sounds very agricultural, doesn't it? Anyway...Little Sissy has just taken off with talking lately. It seems like overnight she went from combining signs with grunting and facial expressions to convey her point to whole conversations like "Baby chick scare me. Hold in hand. Pet baby chick. Baby chick flap wings. Baby chick scare me." Somebody apparently pushed her "on" button this week. She never stops. I keep telling her, "You are doing such a good job talking, honey!" When Hubby got home from his business trip, apparently I was talking a lot to try to catch him up on the last few days of our lives. All of a sudden, Big Sissy said, "You're doing a really good job talking, Mommy!" Thanks, baby doll. It's a gift. :)

Best Friends

Big Sissy has a new best friend. We'll call her V. I met her mom at the library last summer. They are the same age, and now they have baby brothers the same age. We've been doing some playdates throughout the year, and they've been in the same class at M.O.P.S. (Mothers of Preschoolers) This week we went to the mall to play, and the girls held hands nearly the whole time we were walking. When they weren't holding each others hands, they were both holding the hand of April May, Jr.--Big Sissy's little purple lamb she takes everywhere. At lunch they drank from the same water cup with 2 straws. Such sweet innocence!

PawPaw's Ears...among other issues

I don't particularly care for my ears, but that is not what this post is about. Hubby's dad (the kids call him PawPaw) has some difficulty hearing after working for many years in a steel mill. Sometimes this results in some really humorous and confusing conversations. The older grandkids have coined the term "PawPaw's ears" to mean an auditory disfunction. I sometimes have PawPaw's ears myself. Add that to sarcasm and some edginess from having the kids all week by myself and here's how tonight's conversation with Hubby went. (He's been in Chicago for business all week.)

Setting: The girls are in the bathtub, it's already past their bedtime, and I still have to give Little Buddy a bath, go to the grocery store because it's "no coupon Thursday," and I'm exhausted. I'm trying to get the stains out of the kids' clothes that I have been soaking in the sink so that I can use the sink for the baby's bath. I'm working feverishly on a little yellow skirt when Hubby comes sauntering in.

Hubby (pointing to the skirt): Is that lemon?

Me (in my head): OMG. Do skirts come in flavors now? Why does it have to be lemon just because it's yellow? Why can't it be banana? Does it look like a lemon? Furthermore, why are you standing there watching me wash this "lemon" skirt when there are a million things to be done so the kids can get in bed before I fall asleep standing here? If I ignore this question completely, I'm going to look totally rude. On the other hand, if I answer this question, I have no choice but to be sarcastic because WHAT A DUMB QUESTION!!!!

Me (out loud--opting for sarcasm even though I know I'm going to sound like I'm in junior high): I don't know. Why don't you taste it?

Hubby (with a blank look on his face): Huh? What is linen supposed to taste like?

Oops. Thankfully he has a wonderful way of laughing instead of getting mad...usually. Here's the moral of the story. Those with PawPaw's ears should not think snide thoughts about others, and should definitely not talk without clarifying. Note taken.

In case the suspense is killing you, it's 60% linen/40% cotton. *sheepish grin*

Family Vacation

After graduation, we drove until 2:00 a.m. on the first leg of our vacation. We drove the rest of the way to Arkansas the next day to be at a friend's wedding by 2:00. It was a crazy couple of days, but then we got to relax with friends in AR and then enjoy a couple of days in Branson. The girls loved Silver Dollar City!

It's Official!

I finished my classes in December, so graduation was a bit anti-climactic in some ways, but it was a great sense of closure on a LONG journey toward getting my master's degree. It feels very bittersweet to be done. I already miss that place. I grew so much there, and the things I learned extend far beyond the academic.

My proud moment

Tired but very supportive family

Yeah, Mommy!

Me and my 2 beautiful sisters

I couldn't have done it without the support of Hubby!

Proud Parents

Superstar!

The Timeline of Life

I've always been a planner. I remember lots of nights in high school where I would stay up late with my college catalogs spread all over my bed, trying to figure out which one I should go to. I would make lists of qualities of guys I knew and try to figure out which one I should marry.

And God would sit in heaven and smile because He knew the plan He had for my life.

When Hubby and I got married, we would get out our calendars and try to plan when we would have kids and when we would graduate. Our conversations would go something like this:

Me (pointing to the calendar): Let's get pregnant this week so we can have a baby over spring break.
Hubby: We might not want a 2-month old when we move to wherever our first ministry position is.
Me: That's true. Maybe we should have a baby over Christmas break instead.
Hubby: OK. That would give us just one semester with a baby. We could probably manage that.

And God would sit in heaven and smile because He knew that His plans were better than our plans.

And here we are. I'm turning a nice round number of a birthday tomorrow AND graduating, and we have 3 beautiful children, and we are not in full-time ministry. This was not at all the timeline we planned during those many conversations. And God is smiling because His plans are perfect and beautiful, and He is teaching us to trust Him more with the details of our lives. He does such a better job at it than I do!

I've Been Tagged

This must be a blogging game created for girls by girls. I've been tagged by my dear friend Bryonie. If you decide to participate, here are the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm petty sure I don't even know seven other people who blog, but I'll tag everyone I know. :)

1. I grew up Pentecostal holiness. I wasn't allowed to cut my hair or wear makeup, and I had a whole closet full of gauchos. I saw my first movie when I was a senior in high school (sorry, Mom), and I didn't get my ears pierced until I moved out. I was probably 22 the first time I wore pants inside of a church.

2. I won the title of "best hair" my senior year. This was a big deal for the yearbook. Of course my hair was long (see above), and I slept in rollers every night. Oooo...

3. I've attended 5 colleges, but I finally have graduated from 2 (B.A. from SIUE and M.A. from Covenant Theological Seminary)

4. I eat my corn on the cob by scraping my teeth down until I get back around to the beginning rather than eating it across.


5. I rarely get thirsty. I can work on a glass of water for an entire day when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding.

6. I used to write Sunday School curriculum for preschoolers, then 5th graders. I freelanced some devotionals for teenagers.

7. I've known my husband most of my life. He grew up the same way I did, and we probably met at camp but neither of us actually remember when we met.


OK. I would like to hear from my friends J.J.'s mommy, Asher's mommy, Tammy, Erin, and the Galt twins' mommy. That's only 5, I know. Wish more of my friends blogged...

We are So Green

Unfortunately, I'm not talking abouts saving the environment in some noble way. I'm talking about our cheesy coordinating outfits at the Mother/Daughter banquet. Little Buddy got to go, too. This will be his last year, however.

Honoring My Mother

As my life is defined by my motherhood right now, I've thought more about the ways my mother took her role seriously, and I appreciate her more than ever. This Mother's Day I just want to remember some of the ways that she was and is a great mom.

In 1st grade there was a 6th grade crossing guard who yelled mean things at me and made fun of me in ways that have scarred me to this day. My mother was my hero and called the principal. I never saw that crossing guard again.

I had LOTS of dentist appointments when I was younger, and my mom always made them fun because it was time when I got to hang out with her--just me. We'd usually go out to lunch or something, and sometimes I didn't have to go back to school when they were done. One bad memory about that was the time I decided to take off walking and meet her halfway. We didn't find each other, and everyone was worried...oops.

I have always liked to write--not necessarily stories or interesting contemplations--sometimes just words. When I was about 4 I decided to write down the names of everyone in our church who I knew. One by one I asked her, "How do you spell so-and-so?" She patiently spelled out every person's name in our church, which I then cut out and handed out to them. I remember everyone turning their papers over to look for a note or a picture. Nope. It was just their name. I was so proud.

Speaking of writing words, another time I made a list of bad words in my children's church memory verse notebook. I clearly marked it "words not to say," but we still had to burn it and have a prayer meeting after that one. This is unrelated to being a mommy, really, but it's a funny memory.

So my mother always instilled spiritual values and an appreciation for God's Word. I remember being in trouble about an issue and having to go look up scriptures on the topic. I might have been the only 7-year-old in my class who knew how to use a concordance. No wonder I have a degree in theology. Mom started me early.

Then there's all the practical stuff. When I moved out, Mom taught me how to do a budget. then how to live on a shoestring budget. I remember asking her what I should buy if I only had $2.00 to live on for a whole week. She told me bread and peanut butter, which I'm pretty sure you can't buy for $2.00 now, but I ate a LOT of bread and peanut butter when I had my first job.

She taught me how to shop and look for bargains. I find myself saying, "I could make that for less than this, and it would be cuter." Unfortunately, I have no idea how to make clothes, but I know how to spot quality. She did know how, though. Oh, and she was the best at making doll clothes, and curtains for tiny little doll houses. And hideous camouflage gaucho dresses and neon ones that I picked out the fabric for myself. And when I wanted to go to OBI so bad she made me really cute skirts with no splits. And she gave me all her leftover fabric to make scrunchies for my hair. You just can't even imagine how many scrunchies I made with my mom's machine and fabric scraps!

When I moved out, she bought me tons of groceries and stocked my freezer full of meat. When she came to visit a few months later, all that meat was still there. I had been eating M&Ms for dinner most nights because I didn't really know how to cook. She cooked all that meat for me, put it in individual containers for me so I wouldn't go hungry, and made me watch so I would learn how to cook. Now I love to cook. I'm still learning things from her. Oh, and she she sent me a card so I would have some mail in my lonely little mailbox when I got home from work that 1st day. That made me cry. I cried a lot during that time, huh, Mom? I am married now with 3 kids, and I still get homesick for my family.

When I had my first baby and couldn't get the hang of breastfeeding, she bought me some kind of contraption to help. I have no idea what that was and thankfully I didn't have to use it, but it was so kind and thoughtful to rescue me in my stressful situation. She stayed around to give the baby her first bath when I was too scared to do it. Then when I had more children she and Dad took such great care of the others that I never once worried while I was in the hospital. That meant so much to me since I hated being away from them.

Then when I had the baby blues after my first child was born, she took me shopping for some new clothes so I didn't have to keep wearing maternity clothes. She said, "Let's get something that doesn't scream, 'I'm a nursing mom.'" Then she watched the baby and sent me off with money to get my hair done. Who else knows how to cheer up a girl like a good mom?

The thoughts are coming faster than my fingers can type them, and I'm teary now as I think back on all the memories. I am so blessed to have such a great mother, and now my children get to adore her too. Thanks, Mom, for showing me how to do it and for loving me through the hard years. Thanks for pointing me to Christ and for encouraging me to embrace who God made me to be. Thanks for letting me finally quit piano lessons and volleyball and write stories instead.

I love you!

A Perfect Day

Usually on warm days we go the park to play, but today Little Buddy was taking a good nap and we decided to stay at home and have fun with our own "stuff."

Having lunch on their new picnic table. They loved it so much they want to have breakfast there tomorrow. Why not?

Blowing the beautiful flower (a.k.a. spreading dandelion dander around our yard)

Smelling the flower (a.k.a. stuffing a dandelion up her nose)

Still trying to get the hang of pedaling. This has proved to be quite a challenge, for some reason.

Little Sissy helping out by giving a push.

Happy 3 months, Little Buddy!

Little Buddy is 3 months old today. Happy birthday, little guy! You are such a blessing to us. We adore your smile, your chubby cheeks, and your pleasant personality.

To celebrate, we let him start sleeping in his own room last night. :) It went fine. He woke up at 2:30 and 7 a.m.--about normal. I kind of miss him being next to me in the bassinet, but I'll admit it was kind of nice not to wake up at every snort, squeal, and coo. And it will be nice not to have to whisper in our own room or read my books by a little lamp at night. I keep thinking of Dr. Sears (one of my baby raising heroes), who says in other countries they think we put our babies in cages (cribs). How inhumane! Despite my mixed feelings, we were ready. Just another way he is growing up. We love you, little buddy.

Clarification about Last Post

Hi. Looking back on my developmental updates of the children, I keep stewing over whether I should have put "mommy's enemy" for Big Sissy. She definitely disobeys and acts ugly sometimes, but that's not what defines her. She's also mommy's big helper, loves to give me hugs and kisses, loves to tell me funny stories, etc. I should have put all that on the same list, I suppose. I'm trying to be realistic--not negative!!

Anyway...the more I thought about it the more urgency I felt to clear that up.

OK. That's all for today. It's weird when I started blogging to realize there are multiple days in a row that I don't have a single thought worth recording. More later when inspiration hits.