Snow day in the 'boro

The best thing about snow days are: the excuse to watch too much t.v./play on electronical devices; a chance to drink all of the hot chocolate in the house; a reason to pull out the never used turtle neck shirts and torture your children by forcing them to wear them all in the name of "keeping warm"; walking around in freezing temperatures until your fingers and toes go numb; using your imagination to come up with the most craziest ways to reach high speeds going down any hill you can find.


Elizabeth and I hung out in the van most of the sledding adventure.


When we did get pulled on the sled Ian found it fun to hang on like a cowboy to our sled...Nate was so sweet to pull us all over the parking lot.


We found a crazy hill that was actually just the side of a very busy road. There were over 100 people sledding down this overpass. The boys had a lot of fun on the "smaller hill".


This was the actual overpass...the big hill as it is called in M'boro. There were all sorts of people sledding with cardboard boxes, garbage tops, laundry baskets and even a kayak. It was redneck snowfest in Middle TN.


The boys had fun just walking around our backyard. Ian thought it was great to lick the ice or eat the ice or rub the ice over his lips. I kept waiting for him to get freezer burn or better yet stick to the ice!


They were pretending to be polar bears and not "break the ice" by crawling on their bellies. Can you tell there wasn't a whole lot to do in the backyard? The snow wouldn't make a snowman so they had to use their imagination.



This was after we spent an hour, yes an hour, getting Eli dressed for playing in the snow. He has some fear of dressing in multiple layers and for goodness sakes, wearing a turtle neck, and being seen by anyone! It was drama in then tenth degree and many tears but finally we got him outside. He sat in the snow for about 5 minutes sulking and then he got up and had fun. I had to put this picture in here as payback for the torture he put me through...yes, he knows it is on my blog!

3 reasons to not complain this morning...

I realized looking back that I sound like a complaining whiner! The temptation with a blog is to write those thoughts you have that you wouldn't say to a friend thus getting them off your chest; but, when they all add up they make you look pretty negative. And now that I have this silly map on my blog to see where people are reading it from I'm a little freaked out (b/c NO ONE EVER LEAVES A COMMENT) that so many of my ghost friends are reading my negative thoughts.

So here is a positive post...You might not find it as exciting (hee hee)!

My oldest son has turned into the most helpful child when it comes to 'caring' for Elizabeth. He doesn't change diapers and spit up makes him gag but for example when I had to take all three kids with me to the pediatrician last week Eli stepped up. He pushed the stroller and helped me watch over Elizabeth when I had to sign in or do other things. He watches out for Ian when we are in the parking lot. He offers me his last piece of gum b/c he knows I like gum even though he would die before offering it to his little brother. He checks on me in church services to see if I'm crying. He still holds my hand. He says thank you...

My middle child Ian shares my love for cooking. He knows what he wants and isn't persuaded by friend or foe or paddle or candy. I don't think I would have made it with Elizabeth without him at home. He plays with her like a best friend and never intentionally hurts her despite their size difference! He doesn't go out of his way to get attention but when chooses to he can be the funniest kid!

Elizabeth makes me laugh as I realize she is a force to be reckoned with. Her facial expressions would stop a grown man in his tracks (which I admit she has copied from me...every single one of them!) She has the Callender funny bone in her already as well as an unprecadented ability to dance in rhythum during our weekly kitchen dance nights! She has the most sparse unruly hair mass on her head that I hear she got from me; so I guess that means she will one day have an abundance of unruly hair that she can sing "Rosana Rosana Anna" to while fixing for an hour!

All this to say that even though you may only read my complaining of my children or my busy life I absolutely love it. Three kids is a lot to juggle and they do make me crazy from 4 to 7 but not everyday and not every minute and sometimes not each one of them...hee hee!

4-7pm

I've heard it called the bewitching hour. That sounds rather harsh when referring to your baby but then again after a few months of it I think that is what I will call it.

The boys come home from school and the house explodes: backpacks fall open with papers flowing out onto the once cleaned kitchen counters (well who am I kidding...the already messy kitchen counters). Shoes try to make it to the shoe basket but don't quite get there, coats find themselves on the living room chair right next to the closet door - oh, so close but yet so far away from that hanger! Snacks are begged for; cookies are often made, sometimes hot chocolate brewed. And then it happens...

Elizabeth starts her screaming.

She loves the energy that the boys bring and the onslaught of attention but it comes on hard and fast. Sometimes she can keep up with it but most of the time she falls fast and hard. She is ready for a nap but knowing she will miss ALL THAT is too hard to fight against. So, she cries for my attention.

And Eli needs my attention.

And Ian needs my attention...well, usually Ian does his own thing but that is the sad part in it all (middle child).

I try to make them do homework at first before watching t.v. but then I have a screaming baby, a fidgety middle child who really doesn't have homework other then reading a book which he can't possibly do right after school and a second grader who tends to bring home an hours worth of work and about 30 minutes of attention span.

And then it is 4pm before I know it...supper has to be started...while all that above is still going on.

I've tried many different approaches over the last few days and honestly I haven't found one that really works. Homework, t.v., supper, homework, quality time together...with baby and bath and cleaning up all in between.

I managed to squeeze in a piano lesson for Ian after Elizabeth went to bed; a short recap on English grammar that Eli had failed at during school last week; a book for Ian to read and finish finally; review of at least two spelling words; all of Eli's other homework; Ian's bazaar Arctic animal he chose and had to draw for show and tell; supper all alone since dear husband now has the stomach bug that I had yesterday...I'm going on and on...sorry...

Point being - I sometimes hate the hours between 4 and 7. I love being with my children and love doing those things mentioned above but I hate having to squeeze them all in those 3 hours along with all the house chores. I love my baby so much but I hate that I can give her 100% of my attention all day and then when the night falls upon us she turns into a wild screaming banchy (could not figure out how to spell that word!) that can only be settled when in her mother's arms (even if her mother is up to her elbows in raw meatloaf!)

And so it is 9:40...the boys are asleep; dishes are washed; backpacks packed; my tennis shoes are still on; my husband is passed out in the bed (poor thing); and yes, I hear my baby crying off and on in the far distance (well not to far...our house isn't that big). But for just this one moment I will sit here and not think for anyone or do for anyone or talk to anyone...

those blasted tubes

Yes, those tubes I so didn't want to put in my daughter's ears have become the nemesis of my life.

Just a few days after surgery she caught a cold and began pulling on her ears. I thought I was seeing things. Why would she pull on her ears with those magic plastic things in there ready to fix all our problems. I ignored it...she kept waking up at night...I just practiced getting up with a newborn again...she kept pulling on her ears. Long story short: Called ENT - they told me it couldn't be an ear infection b/c her tubes weren't draining - told me to go to my pediatrician. Go to Ped. - he looks in her ears and says "Oh, this isn't good."

Left tube is blocked! Something he sees maybe twice a year in his office. The ear drum is so infected it is about to push the tube out of her ear. Wouldn't that be just great!

So, we go home with ear drops...try those for three days...don't work...now we are trying an oral anti-biotic (what we did before the magic tubes). Still not working.

And finally got the ENT to say we should come in this week to have a look! So..the drama continues with the little plastic tubes! And my sleep? Well, lets just say I'm drinking a lot of coffee!

Do we just give leftovers?

I've been reading this book "Crazy Love...Overwhelmed by a relentless God" by Francis Chan. To say it is challenging me is an understatement.

I'm currently in the chapter titled "Serving Leftovers To A Holy God." I'm going to write just a few statements that have struck me here and then I'll comment.

"If one hundred people represented the world's population, fifty-three of those would live on less then $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4,000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet? Which is more messed up - that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don't think we're rich? That on any given day we might flippantly call ourselves 'broke' or 'poor'? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich." (pg. 89)

Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a Scottish pastor in the nineteenth century said this..."I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day...I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not grudgingly at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity." As William Wilberforce once said, "Prosperity hardens the heart."

I read these words and others in the chapter and thought a lot about my heart and giving. Then I got to be tested.

Nate and I are planning to take a small trip with the family to Chattanooga to the aquarium and stay in a hotel for the weekend. Now once you add it up this is no small feat for a one income family but with my preschool paycheck it can be easily done in saving for one month. I got my first check of the month this past week. Not soon after Nate and I were talking about the need to give to the Haitians. He said he thought we should give what we would have spent for the weekend trip and I guess upon seeing my face he added, "think about it, we would take a trip to a hotel and eat at restaurants and go to museums for two days for the amount of money that could give so many people tents, water, food and medical care." Of course that was enough for me to hear to wake up out of my fat and lazy stupor and get on board. How easy for me to save next month and go on the trip. But how funny that even in the midst of reading this book and being challenged when it came down to it I wanted to hold tight to my money. Sure I wanted to give before to the relief effort but give so much? Give my trip this month?

This is what it talks about in the bible that we read so easily but then turn the cheek. I hear so many friends say including me, "the more you make the more it disappears." Why is that? Why do we hold so tight to what is not ours? Why is it so hard to give till it hurts but easy to throw pennies at a cause when it won't effect our way of living?

I had passed by an e-mail from a friend asking for clothes for a woman and her two kids whose house burned last week. Her husband was killed and they have nothing. Her church was collecting for her. I actually passed by the e-mail thinking I would come back to it later. Come back to helping this woman by just reading exactly what she needed and taking the time to go through my closet. While she waited with nothing for someone out there to help.

Nate saw the e-mail today and commented, "don't you have this size clothes?" I looked again at the message and my heart was struck. When Elizabeth laid down for a nap I went to my closet and started pulling out pants and sweaters and shoes and shirts all in her size that I haven't worn in years. I have a heaping pile of clothes now to give this woman because I stopped my "busy life" and thought about someone else in need. Why is it so hard sometimes? But when you do it it feels so good!

I'm not writing this to pat myself on the back. I'm writing this to admit that even I have a hard time giving till it hurts. I'm good at giving my leftovers but that is not what God wants. We who have much, much is expected! (my paraphrase)

tubes

Well we survived the highly anticipated tube surgery with Elizabeth. When it came down to it I was more scared of her not being able to eat food after bedtime the night before and waiting for her scheduled surgery at noon. But as is most often with Elizabeth she surprised me. Eating a Popsicle at 7am was a highlight that took her mind off any idea of food; playing at her cousin's house for an hour before checking into the hospital was also a plus!

Once we got to the hospital it all happened so fast we were walking back to our van by the time her actual surgery was scheduled to begin. She enjoyed a little KFC on the way home and then slept for the afternoon. Even getting her ear drops last night and this morning she was a perfect patient, laying down still and awaiting the cotton balls to be put in her ears. I look forward to a healthier year with my little one!

I have to write even though everyone said it would be as it was, an easy procedure, every time I find myself back in that hospital I have flashes of my two week old baby being rushed into the ER and the next 24 hours that followed in that building. I have to choke back tears as I walk down the same halls Nate and I did that whole week as we waited for her body to heal. When we were walking to meet Elizabeth after she woke up in the post op yesterday we had to walk past rows of curtains hiding families with their sick children. There were all kinds of kids waking from their surgeries that were I'm sure a lot more serious then some tubes in their ears. It made me feel very blessed that we had made it once through something scary and were now just walking through a very simple procedure where as some of those families would be staying for quite awhile as they awaited healing.

I don't know if I'll ever shake the nauseous feeling that overtakes me when my mind takes me back to those days of her unstable life but I'm thankful that every time it does I get to remind myself what a blessing it is that she is healthy now.

A day of firsts...

This is what I'm calling Elizabeth's first real snow. Last winter didn't count since she was such a tiny baby. She watched it fall today and then when her brothers finally had their chance to go out and play in it before the sun fell she looked longingly out the kitchen window at them. I asked her if she wanted to go outside and she got so excited. I swear she is the most patient child I've ever had...she stood there and let me pile on the snow clothes, only crying once when she fell over because she was so stiff and her boots were too big (I had to laugh though). The snow suit she is wearing is the same one both boys wore on their first snow days too!


They didn't exactly go sledding but the boys did spend over an hour last night shopping for this sled at about 5 different stores in Murfreesboro to no avail. Nate found it this morning down the street at a local hardware store. They had fun the total of 30 minutes they stayed outside pushing each other in the backyard in it.



Elizabeth loved being outside with the big boys. I think she did like the snow and she never complained about being cold or getting wet when a big brother kept throwing snow balls at her!



A day of firsts...she rode in her forward facing car seat for the first time today. I think she was pretty excited about seeing so much on the short car ride. My baby is growing up fast!

A new year???

A new year...a new beginning...what a pain...

I like new beginnings sometimes. It is fun to come to a stopping point and have closure with something. To finish the last page in a scrapbook (if that can be mastered) and close the book with a sigh of relief. To finish a good book and have a good cry that all ended well or not so much. To finish a season in parenting and realize you are done with that hard/easy/challenging/fun stage and move onto the next one. But a new year bugs me. It is right in the middle of my made up year, you know the 'school year'.

For me a new year begins in August. New school clothes. New shoes. A new season approaching. A round of fresh, new holidays around the corner. But a new year? It is right in the middle of winter. No new clothes to pull out of the closet. School is the same. Jobs are the same. Money is usually a little tighter come the 'new year' because of all the joy full giving we just did in the old year.

But yet we are to set new goals. Make new plans. Discipline myself so I am a better, new me.

I have tried to come up with such goals but I'm falling short. Instead I'm looking backwards. What did I try to do last year that I didn't master. That I didn't have closure on. All those things I wanted to do but didn't do. That is what I'm going to look forward to in this new year.

Pick back up my exercise routine; but since I hated running and never carried through with it I'm going to try swimming again. I use to love doing it and it actually brought me more results then running ever did.

Invite more friends over to eat dinner with my family. At one time we made a point to invite those friends whom we enjoyed being around but didn't see a whole lot of to the house; but somehow we got busy and stopped doing that. I want to make a point to have one family over at least once a month that we don't usually hang out with.

Rejoin a bible study. Lord knows (and He does) that I haven't finished one of those since before Elizabeth was born. Oh, I've started them but finished them???? =( That is a good goal for me...get back into a small women's group like I once was in and really have those heartfelt conversations about God and my faith. And would you believe 2 women have already approached me and asked if I would be interested in being in a small group study at night (with other moms). I guess God wants me to check this one off my list as well.

Make an actual budget each month for my spending to track where our money is going. Oh I've started this one many times but following through with it? Not so much! I'm going to try again though...I even went ahead and wrote down on a spreadsheet (well Nate helped with that part) how much I had to spend in different categories this month. It's a start in the right direction!

And of course those other things that I try daily to remember but often times fail but still try again the next day...don't yell at my children; sit on the floor with Elizabeth and play with her instead of just doing doing doing all day and not stopping to really enjoy her at this stage; watch for opportunities to point out "God sightings" as they are called to my children: those small times when you see God working around you or when you can call on Him - to teach my children to love and depend on Him as something that is real in their lives rather than just stories they learn about in the bible; to remember my husband's love language is physical touch & not ignore that fact; to not gossip even when it creates easy conversation; to be more friendly to those people in my life who are very unfriendly in hopes that they will soften up a bit; to have one on one dates with my sons; to make at least one new friendship with a woman who needs a friend this year.

So, I'm not looking at this 'new year' as a start over but rather a continued chance of being a better person and not giving up on those things that didn't get mastered last year. I'm not going to run out and get a new hair cut nor paint any rooms in my house...but I might clean out my closet again and finally get rid of those clothes that have lost their style and hang a new picture in my living room.

So here's to continued chances of living our best...and enjoying life as we live it for at least one more year!