You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2007.
Ok, we all accept that wide-eyed, breathy sighing over household appliances is patently uncool by our former standards, but I am A-OK with being a dork.
Dyson vacuums are stinkin’ amazing.
My best friend has one and that thing is *phenomenal* — on our team-cleans, she brings the vacuum and I bring the steamer.
So would you like to try one? Like to own one? Like to WIN one?
Head over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enter the “Dyson Has Gone Pink” contest!
A pink Dyson…<sigh>
Did you know that people have made a “job” of blogging????
Seriously, there are people making money blogging (consistent and significant in some cases)? And there are plenty of sites willing to teach bloggers how to begin raking in the Benjamins)
I had no idea.
And how does that work, exactly?
Part of me would like in on some of that action, but truth be told, I think I see this as simply cheaper than therapy. 
It’s 7am. Most everyone we know is up and around and preparing to bound out the door for their day.
We’re all piled in the Big Bed snoozing or watching Curious George. We’ll get up and do family worship and sing in a minute. As soon as we finish our pillow fight
9am. Corporate America is knee-deep in solving the economic crises of the day. Educators nationwide are dutifully filling the minds of young learners with facts necessary to life, liberty, and the pursuit of grades.
We’re buried in a book together. Oh, and we’re still in our pajamas.
Lunch time. Scores of elementary schoolers are filing into lunchrooms — silently in our niece’s school, so they can “better focus on eating” and benefiting from classical music. Full-time employees are heading to the break room or the lunch counter.
I’m heating up leftovers and spelling new words while ya’ll finish writing your letters to Shuko. We’ll eat and read some more. After lunch, we probably ought to get dressed.
2pm. Final homework assignments for backpack laden little ones. Final stretch of work for office running Moms and Dads. There are carpool lines to conquer and quality time to be had.
We’re on the way out, too; we’ve finished our reading, you’ve told me all about the stories, and now we’re taking our addition facts and our calculator to the store. We’ll probably hit the library again on the way home; we’ve got four books on hold there, and that always feels like Christmas!
It’s 5pm and corporate America is, by and large, heading home. There’s plenty of traffic and conversation and pilfering through packs to show today’s projects; it’s an exciting time!
We’re (finally) getting the hang of using the equal sign on the calculator; four aisles, three long pauses, and two amazingly elongated sums later, ya’ll are getting the hang of hitting =. Once we get through the checkout and into the car, you’re both ready for your quiet time. We’ve listened to Wee-Sing a couple of times before, but one more time won’t hurt.
7pm Dinner’s on the table. Lots and lots of families are gathering around savory dishes (or to-go bags). Conversation, laughter, deep thoughts and random questions; there’s nothing like being together.
Hey! We’re normal for once today! Ya’ll did an AMAZING job helping with dinner, and now we’re all enjoying each other’s company. And some really good food!
Little ones, we only homeschool because God called us to; it’s not the “only” way, it’s not the “best” way for everyone. It’s what’s best for us; thus, it’s the only way for us. Twenty years from now, you might need to be out of your pj’s before lunch. But I hope that the other things we enjoy and value now — time together, constant learning, being Kingdom-driven rather than just driven — will remain priority in your lives. I love you and I treasure this time! Thank you for being mine!
It’s bedtime now; we’re going to go read our book, mark where Daddy is on the map, pray for that city, and don our pjs. And I promise, you don’t have to take them off until after lunch.
I was going to put this in my last post, but I feel like it deserves its own mention –
Many of us have cellphones with cameras (or even small digital cameras that slip easily in purses or pockets). When my two were little, I would use my phone’s camera to take a picture of them when the three of us went places like the mall, unfamiliar stores, concerts, fairgrounds, theme parks, etc. My thinking was that should we be separated, I had an accurate picture of what each of them looked like that day. The littles loved having their pictures taken, and I could easily erase the pics when we got home.
PRAISE GOD we have never needed to use the pictures, but I’m glad for the extra seconds in the car before walking into the store that would’ve given me something to show to a manager, a clerk, or a security officer if one of my littles had wandered away. Again, PRAISE GOD that never happened!!!
Today made an even week at the Holiday Inn It’s been lots of fun; we’ve gotten to do some pretty neat stuff and see some really great people. While this kind of adventure isn’t odd for us, there are plenty of “teachable moments” God provides each trek (some far more spiritual and uplifting than others).
So, just for Twinkies and HoHos, here’s a list of things I’ve learned about living out of suitcases:
1. During children’s naptimes, the bathroom is a WONDERFUL place to be completely alone with God; there is nothing else to do, no “housework” to be done, no distractions sitting on the side of the tub. It’s a great way to get extra study time in the Word and focus on His voice.
2. Slow Cookers and electric skillets are a girl’s best friend while staying at a hotel. One grocery trip at the beginning of the week has provided well over half our meals. Obviously, a microwave is wonderfully convenient as well. This trip, we used primarily Skillet Sensations and Steamfresh veggies, but a good electric skillet also lends itself to great eggs in the morning (I hate paying $2 for kids’ eggs at a restaurant) and pancakes for easy, filling suppers too. (Ok, so you already know about the beauty of these things… let me stop before Captain Obvious has to don her cape)
3. Rearranging the hotel room will make life a thousand times easier. Obviously, the bed stays, but everything else is negotiable in our world. The side/end tables in a hotel room are usually the perfect size and height for children’s use, so we move them out where they’re handy for every possible activity. If there are no side tables, we pull the desk out and arrange a chair on either side. Lamps usually get moved to corners where they’re either not used or provide a fun “reading nook” effect for the evenings. Luggage racks serve better when we can use them in the closet & not take up floor space. (We always try to put things back from whence they came before checking out!)
4. Playdough is a GREAT car & hotel activity!!! If any gets in the carpet, we let it dry completely and then flick/pick it out (since the nap of both car and hotel carpet is so short & doesn’t harm easily). This time, we discovered that the smaller size containers were both more convenient for mixing (because isn’t that what Playdough is all about???) and less risk if the lid was left open (which it — fortunately!!! — has not been).
5. Please understand that, by the nature of things, we spend a good deal of time *in* our room. Yes, we go usually twice a day up to the venue to be with D, but outside of that, we’re a little stuck. Tooling around in the car costs me gas money, child patience (both theirs in the car and mine with them in the car), and shopping money (I ain’t too proud to tell you that when I’m out and about, things look perty-er than they do at home). So we’ve worked hard and literally prayed for God to show us ways to enjoy our time en suite. Hotel pools are wonderful; a friend tells me workout rooms are great for her kids; playgrounds are like winning the lottery; but an absence of these does not necessarily make life harder. We’ve learned that hotel rooms are great for:
– painting (see aforementioned end table discussion) with washable paints (once a picture is done, it goes under the bathroom counter to dry and not get stepped on)
– Magnetix (we just learned that this trip! These were LittleMan’s birf-day pwesent)
– storytelling
– hide and seek (you’d be surprised how delighted little ones are by just hiding around the big bed!)
– computer games (in the age of free wireless with the stay, we’ve cashed in on the freedom to hit Starfall and Noggin for some free entertainment!)
6. Being in a hotel is a homeschooling DREAM for us!!!!! This trip, I designated a single blue bin and filed all my resources for the week in it — books, worksheets, blank paper, flash cards, you know, the whole caboodle. I then used LittleBit’s Awana Sparks bag to hold writing implements, brushes, pencils, sharpeners, etc. It was small enough to fit in the bin easily, was readily accessible thanks to the handles, and didn’t require me zipping and unzipping during cleanup. This week, my angels helped me close their fold-out couch bed, move the end tables in front of the sofa, and they drew and listened and read and played comfortably with few distractions. We actually got a LOT done here; I’m praying we can “replicate” our efficiency once home.
7. When we need to get out, we go to the public library. In fact, a couple of years ago we’d been coming up here about every 6 weeks and decided that the $25/yr. out of state library membership was an excellent investment. Don’t know about yours, but my children are completely confused when they go in a library or book store and don’t get to take books with them. This way, every time we came up we could visit the library, check out books, movies and music that felt very special because we couldn’t get them at home. It also guaranteed us an affordable/doable outing a day or so later when we went to get new things. This week, we stayed in a different area of the city and thus discovered a new library (along with a new playground). We got to do story time one morning and computer learning games there one afternoon.
8. R.E.S.T. — plain and simple. Because there’s less on hand for me to do, God has taught me over the years that these little business trips are mini-vacations for Mommy. When my littles nap, I lay down. Our schedule takes a toll and the trip is *very* burdensome if I don’t rest; we’re up at a normal morning time, we do activities in the room, we head to the venue for lunch and hang out, we come back for naptime, we return to venue for hang out and dinner, we stay at venue until D is done which is usually around midnight. If I don’t listen, I get crabby. And we all know that a crabby mommy in a hotel room with small children has the same effect as fingers on chalkboard.
9. When it’s going to be a LOT, we bring a buddy. When my children were tiny, I almost always brought a niece or a homeschooler with me to help; I was very adept at navigating my hometown with two babies, but the idea of trying to keep up with each of them physically in places I didn’t know, meet their needs in the midst of all kinds of activity, and keep up with the group’s schedule was overwhelming alone. Consider shower time when LittleBit was 2 and IttyBitty was 1,– D’s already working, what exactly do I do with them in a hotel room by myself??? Oh that’s right, I keep playing with them and just apply extra deodorant. A “nanny” helps a LOT. One time we were blessed that my best friend and her little boy could come with us — not only did we have practical help, we also had built in friend-fun!
10. Everybody hauls their own. From the time they were big enough to bumble a bag around, that’s what mine did. Now, we’ve inherited children’s size suitcases from friends, so they’re now able to roll their own things. Our policy is, if it doesn’t fit in your arms or in your bag, then it stays in the car. Obviously I bring up a toy bag, but it does eliminate “Mommy, can you hold my…”
Ok… that’s my (verbose) account of living in hotels. I need to weed through and de-babble most of it so it might actually be useful to somebody. But for now, I’m ready for SLEEP!!!
Wonderful Savior
My heart belongs to Thee
I will remember always the blood You shed for me
Wonderful Savior,
My heart will know Your worth
So I will embrace You, always, as I walk this earth
Be blessed, be loved, be lifted high
Be treasured here
Be glorified
I owe my life to You my Lord
Here I am….
Beautiful Jesus
How may I bless Your heart?
Knees to the earth I bow down to everything You are
Beautiful Jesus
You are my only worth
So let me embrace You, always, as I walk this earth
Be blessed, be loved, be lifted high
Be treasured here
Be glorified
I owe my life to You my Lord
Here I am…
LORD, this is a different life. Oft, I don’t understand it. It makes me feel things I’d never dream to experience and pushes me far past the limits of “capable.” Thank You for the gift, LORD. Thank You for “such a time as this” and “making the most of every opportunity” and “bearing one another’s burdens.” Thank You for “supply your every need according to His glorious riches” and “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” and “great will be your children’s peace.” Thank You that “all the promises of God find their Yes in Him.”
I can’t do this without You, LORD. But more than that, I don’t *want* to keep trying. Thank You for Your forgiveness; and thank You for Your friendship.
I love You, Jesus. “How may I bless Your heart?”
“Knees to the Earth” by Watermark
I’m at a loss for words, there’s nothing to say
I sit in silence wondering what led me to this place
How did my heart become so lifeless and cold
Where did the passion go?
When all my efforts seem like chasing wind
I’ve used up all my strength and there’s nothing left to give
I’ve lost the feeling and I’m numb to the core
I can’t fake it anymore.
chorus:
Here I am at the end I’m in need of resurrection
Only You can take this empty shell and raise it from the dead
What I’ve lost to the world what seems far beyond redemption
You can take the pieces in Your hand and make me whole again, again
You speak and all creation falls to its knees
You raise Your hand and calm the waves of the raging sea
You have a way of turning winter to spring
Make something beautiful out of all this suffering
Here I am once again I’m in need of resurrection
Only You can take this empty shell and raise it from the dead
What I’ve lost to the world what seems far beyond redemption
You can take the pieces in Your hand and make me whole again, again
You have a way of turning winter to spring
Make something beautiful out of all this suffering
– “Resurrection” by Nicol Sponberg
Lord Jesus,
You know all too well what I’m about to say. Father, where *can* I go from Your presence??? No where, I’m learning. There is literally no where that You can’t find me; or chase me or hug me or chasten me or confront me or forgive me or love me.
Thank You.
Thank You for what You paid on the cross because You saw the need of my heart right now. Thank You that You didn’t just forgive me to get me to Heaven when it’s all said and done, You saved everything about me completely so that I could be in a relationship — a friendship; a Father-daughter relationship — here in my everyday.
LORD, I need You in my everyday. Especially with tour coming up. I’m not going to lie, to You or to myself; there’s a reason my throat tightens and my stomach leaps when I think about it. Please forgive me for taking things lightly, and please help me to identify clearly where our needs really are so that I can prepare us for the days ahead. I want my family to be clothed in scarlet and I want to be laughing. Please…
Father, thank You for Your sovereignty; thank You for Your grace. Thank You that You grant wisdom without finding fault — You don’t mind that I’m asking again; how’s that possible, LORD?!?!? I can’t even stand hearing “Mommy” three times in a row from the backseat, yet You have answered me — KINDLY – every time I’ve prayed for You to renew my heart again!
So LORD, I ask You one more time — please, PLEASE resurrect me. Place in me YOUR beating heart of love and use my limbs to reach Your world — starting with the tiny souls asleep next to me. I have nothing to offer You; nothing. There is no good in me; I am incapable of doing anything on my own. If any of this is going to get done, any Kingdom-worthy work accomplished, You must do it, Lord! There is nothing in me that’s able, and much in me that’s wrong. Please forgive my attitude, my striving, my desire for approval other than Yours, my fear of disapproval, and my need for “me.” Please change me; O LORD, please change me!
Thank You for my babies… who aren’t babies anymore. Thank You that they never have to walk in the chains I fight to be free of. Thank You for my husband; prophet and priest of our family, leader and provider, my beloved and my friend. Thank You for establishing the work of our hands and for providing so RICHLY for us — we are awed by You, LORD.
I want YOU to be my Very Great Reward. I give up looking for anything and everything else, Jesus. You are the Author of my faith, and the Omega of my need. Please forgive me… one more time.
In Your Holy Name, Jesus,
Amen.
Originally posted August 8, 2006 on my first blog.
Dear LORD,
I know there will be a time when I miss this –
Peanut butter messes on my freshly cleaned table
Various shades of popsicle decorating t-shirts and play shorts
High-pitched laughter and stumbley bumbly running around and around and around the Buzz Lightyear tent
Squeals of delight over each tiny insect that presses itself to the kitchen window glass
– Yes, I will miss this.
But not today. Today I’m tired.
Happy. But tired.
Today, I’m fighting through my flesh to praise You for the fifteen toys I’ve bounced over to get to the couch now that they’re down for naps;
I’m fighting to praise You for their excitable little spirits that are alive and kicking today, knowing Daddy’s coming home, and fighting the aforementioned naptime
Lord, I’m fighting not to feel resentful because when Daddy’s on the road, I can’t sleep for fear.
And I know that’s not Your will. Everything in me can recite the verses that tell me Your Truth: perfect love (You) cast out fear; the one who fears is not perfected in love; You grant sleep to those whom You love, and I abide in the shadow of the Almighty; none can take us out of Your hand.
But there are lots of stories of things You have allowed; and I admit I’m scared of You sometimes. I fear what You are capable of that I am patently not.
So, I stay up WAY too late, tossing and turning over the “what if’s” and wake up to the “what happened’s” strewn about my living room floor.
Lord, I don’t know what the future holds; Father, I don’t even know what the rest of this day holds. But I DO know that I don’t want to miss this – the table that’s never fully clean, but rather varying degrees of sticky, the ear-piercing excitement, the doubled loads of summer laundry, the sweet smiling lips surrounded by lunch and headed straight for me.
God, I DON’T want to miss this!
Because someday, I will.
You are four years old today!
How on earth did THAT happen?!?!?!?
Four years ago to the minute, I was getting my ID snapped onto my wrist at the hospital’s where’s-your-insurance desk. Casually chatting with the woman filling out forms, your Daddy and I thought you’d probably arrive within the next day or so.
Oh no! Not you, Big Guy!
Less than 3 hours later, you were here!!!!!!! Our midwife thought she’d have to attend a C-section and then come back for you arrive; you were considerate enough to save her the return trip. Your tiny face was blue and you were QUIET. The midwife, the nurses, the attending, a NICU nurse — they all crowded frantically around you to make sure you were ok. Those moments were the longest of my life — I was completely at peace (and somewhat loopy from the anti-puke stuff) so I just waited and prayed, prayed and waited until they finally — mercifully– placed you in my arms. Turns out, you’d been trying so hard to arrive you’d bruised yourself — you weren’t a blue-baby, you were black-and-blue! See, you were a warrior from the start! And oooohhh my… you DID get LOUD!!!!!!! Your Daddy looked wide-eyed at me and said, “We’ve gotta make that stop” and I just laughed — you may be all Daddy’s in your looks, but you definitely got your Mommy’s vocals (I should possibly apologize now).
Miss C held you and prayed for you when you were only 5 minutes old; she was the first person to introduce you to Jesus. And we prayed with her as she went to the Throne with you that you would fall deeply in love with your Savior and that you would live your life to see others love Him, too. Miss N was there, she held you and talked to you — I didn’t hear exactly what she said, but I knew — I know — that she was explaining to you how fearfully and wonderfully you’d been created and what a strong warrior you would be for the God you love. A few minutes later and all our friends came in; one by one they looked at you, smiled with us, took pictures and prayed. Our nurse shooed them out so she could get you and Daddy to the nursery for cleanup and such.
But as she wheeeled me upstairs to our room, something triggered her soul and she began to unload the painful valley she was walking through right then. We talked and cried and prayed for a half an hour; by the time you and Daddy got back, she’d decided to come to our church that Sunday and begin restoring the relationship with Jesus she’d set aside years before.
That’s who you are, son; you are truly Christ’s ambassador. God has — and continues to — draw others to Himself through you. You literally open doors for Jesus; and honey, if you are Jesus’ doorman for the rest of your life, opening the way and ushering others into His presence, we will be the most honored and humbled parents on earth. No one looks down on your youth, Little Man; you DO set an example — by your compassion, your energy, your “flat-out-faith,” your prayers. You’re His. You’re truly His. And I am privileged to be your mom.
We laid you at the altar that first Sunday. And today I lay you down again. You’re His.
I love you, baby! Happy Birthday!
Father, the lump in my throat is evidence that this now napping treasure is not mine; he is Yours. Everyday you use this little guy to delight and draw in people of every walk and station. Please continue to draw him to Your Son; may He love Jesus and never look back. May I never be a hindrance or, please forbid, a stumbling block to this warrior in training. Holy God, only You can accomplish through this child what You have set in motion. May it be done unto him and unto us as You have said. I love You, LORD, I don’t deserve You, but I love You! Amen.
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