Friday, February 14, 2014

My Valentine's Day

Today my children said thank you.

Ethan said thank you Mommy, after I told him he could play with the water in the kitchen sink. (A big deal for me because the plumbing is still not working.)

Saoirse said thank you Mommy because I held her while she drank her milk, instead of sitting on the couch by herself.

I lost my cool more than once today. We did manage to make cookies without spreading flour across the house. There is popcorn on my carpet and standing water in my sink. My husband had to work all day and is still working tonight. But I want to remember that my children said thank you because they felt loved. These two little ones have no idea just how much I felt loved when they said, "Thank you Mommy!"

Now I will spend time with the chocolate my husband brought home between jobs! Happy Valentine's Day!

Sometimes they get along great at the grocery story.




 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Building Your Vocabulary:The Library

Hush children!
This is not the place for lips to speak
or mouths to taste. Instead delight another sense:
Feast your eyes!
The words, the pages
Let them take you to the far off places.
Internal delight!
Let your mind be flooded
With tales of magic, and good the winner.
Ancient war chronicles,
beloved talking animals,
photographs of the unseen beyond.
With in these four walls
between the covers both glossy and dull
you will find the world!

~Caitlin Mallery

I love going to the library. I cannot remember the first time I went; my mother probably took me there quite early. There are a few memories I have of living close enough to walk to one when I was six or seven. There was also a duck pond nearby where we would take our stack of stories and we would feed ducks and my mom would read a new story to my sisters and I. As a teen I would check out great big stacks to read in a month, and usually have them finished in less time.
Now I am starting to bring my wee ones into the gorgeous brick building filled with words. They are still rather little to truly make the most of the experience, so I am also learning how to use the library from my laptop. Browsing blue-lit webpages for new books is not quite as satisfying as running my fingers along the multi-colored spines. However, it is much easier than trying to find a book while chasing down a pair of toddlers. I place my hold and within a few days I can stop by the library and pick up my reserved stack. Just one way in which the Internet makes my life easier. And within a few years I will be able to take my brood into the public library knowing we could be happily placed for hours.

 
Roman and I have fun looking over this reading list from Teddy Roosevelt. 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Is My Life Intentional?

The past three days have been crazy.

On Sunday we had : bloody noses, black eyes, burns, and broken glass. All accidents, no tempers involved.

On Monday: constant phone calls, two hours of mopping with a two-year-old, making dinner for the family with the new little cousin, and meeting said new baby. Not to mention sub-zero temps!

On Tuesday: taxes with my sis, then bustling her wedding dress, calling a plumber because the kitchen sink won't drain, babysitting more little cousins, running out of dishes to cook with, and a bridal shower in the evening, coming home to find my desperate husband cleaning the foul-smelling kitchen sink (wondering all the while if his wife had to use so many dishes).

On Wednesday: the plumber came with diagnosis of ice in the pipe, so the rental company needs to call in some bigger guns. I am trying to avoid the further piling of dishes by using paper plates and ordering pizza. My son had a crazy emotional day (I thought that was a girl thing?!) and my daughter is testing boundaries. Pregnancy has my body tense, emotions high, and ...well, just being five months pregnant!

It is almost nine pm. The wee ones are bathed and in bed, my husband is working, and I am reflective.

I received Tsh Oxenreider's book in the mail this week Notes From a Blue Bike.

Even before I became acquainted with Tsh's blog, the concept of living intentionally was one Roman and I had talked of a great deal. I think it is the historian in me that wants to make of the most of life. I started following Tsh after having a potty-training post recommended to me (hardly glamorous, but necessary).
When the book was announced I was really excited, and the first chapters have me intrigued.

The past few days have felt anything but intentional, and mostly chaotic. And looking ahead my calendar boasts more chaos to come (weddings, auctions, babies, living life with toddlers).

Whatever the calendar says, however my children behave, no matter how hormones are affecting my day, intentional living is the very idea behind Mommy, Hold My Hand. Taking care of all kinds of needs, being the available to my sister-in-laws, embracing the stage of renting, knowing that some days I can't do any of it let alone do it all. So thank you Tsh, for your timely book. I look forward to the rest of your journey on a blue bike. My own path will be different, but I pray it will be intentional.