Thursday's God Winks

I recently heard little sightings of sweetness called "God winks." Here are a few that we saw around here today.  I am sure we missed a lot!  Happy Thursday!

I was putting Lana Grace's tops back on her paints and look at that - a PERFECT heart in the yellow!

Someone at the pear factory has read too much Very Hungry Caterpillar - isn't that weird?  What a reminder- Read to your kids!

It started with an egg

No, this is not a post about infertility.  Goodness gracious, I don't know anything about that.  This post is about my meltdown caused by an egg....a dozen of them to be exact.
Here is a little background . :)We have successfully attended our Sunday school class approximately three times since the birth of the twins but someone hasn't taken us off of the email list so I guess they believe there is still hope for us.  I got an email from our Sunday school leader's wife, a sweet friend, asking for help to feed the family members of another class member whose father had passed away.  I really do enjoy serving by sending meals to those who need them.  I already have to cook and it is such a simple way to help.  With that in mind, I told Henry the date and asked him if he would be able to drop it off at the church.  "Yes, we should do that" he replied.  I told him again when I was updated that the location to bring the food had been changed.  After picking up Haigan from the church pool party, I went to WalMart to pick up the (demon-possessed) eggs and a dessert.

I have made deviled eggs probably no less than 50 times.....successfully.  These eggs were different.  These eggs had obviously heard the not so loving conversation that I had with Henry once I got home when he revealed to me that he had a meeting all day which had been scheduled for a while.  He wouldn't be able to drop off the food.  They boiled, they were rinsed with cool water.  I started to peel them...and the white started to ravel like a poorly sewn hem.  First one, I thought oh well...that is why you make more than you need.  I'll eat that one. (I usually offer these to Henry but I was ticked at him - He wasn't getting any!)  Second, third, fourth....
Defeated, I sat down to email my friend to tell her that the devil had truly taken over my "deviled" eggs.  Henry, meanwhile, was devising his own plan to use any staff member available to take this food by the church.  Each plan he came up with made me more frustrated.  My sweet friend said that they had plenty of food. I assured her that if they did not, I would call Domino's!  We both got a laugh at that.
With tears in my eyes, I moved on past that silly little failure.  Things seem so huge when you are in the middle of them!
Bless his heart, my husband called again this morning still trying to figure out how he could help me get food to this funeral.
He is a good man, a great father, and a caring husband.  BUT he will not be getting any deviled eggs for a while!

One of the cult

And thank you, Amy, for picking up a pie to take for me! :)

All in a Day

All in a Day's work play
I guess it depends on who you ask around here.  These are some activities from our last 24 hours!

We emptied the cookie cutter drawer

We made edible peanut butter play doh

We played behind tried to tear down the curtain

We rearranged the pantry by playing "store"

We had great bubble baths!

Hope your day is as great as ours has been!

It takes a village

Well, maybe it doesn't take a village...but wouldn't that be nice?  I am home alone tonight with the babies.  Everyone else had "things" to attend.  I was making bottles while listening to the babies cry impatiently "mom- a - moma - mom- a".  The moments during the day when there is just one you and too many "to-do's" left when you're done for....well...that was one of them.

I was finishing up the bottles and I glanced out my kitchen window and saw the sweetest sight.  A little girl was on her scooter and her grandfather was lined up beside her with his best "ready, set, go" stance.  They took off and he kept up for a bit! I watched for a moment and realized that I had this HUGE smile on my face. I was quickly brought back to the task at hand....and the babies were satisfied and ready for bed.

That scene still stuck in my head, I sat down to write this.  How amazing that must be to have people  to invest in the lives of your children.  There must be so many great things to come from that.  I can only imagine that your sanity would be saved a little, your load would feel lighter, your marriage would be better.  I could go on and on.

What is the purpose of all of this rambling?  I'm not quite sure.  I guess it would be to tell you that if you are reading this and you have people,whether friends or family, who are in a position to pour love all over, into, and around your kids....Enjoy it!  It is certainly a special blessing.

Has to be love.....

It has to be love that:
-allows you to enter the nursery at 2 am and still smile at the one(s) who woke you

-coaxes you into blowing bubbles in the house one hour after mopping the floors

-causes you to eat the "rest" of anything off of a toddler's plate for your lunch

-allows you to help with projects at midnight the night before they are due because your child "just remembered"

-causes you to wake during the night and think of uniforms that need to be put in the dryer before morning

-makes you consult "map" before leaving home and come up with exactly three points to highlight along the way, and repeat them every 1/2 mile until you have reached your destination

-change poopy diapers and be able to eat anything with gravy or mustard involved again

-causes you to clean off a paci by sucking on it to return it to a frantic baby (probably only after baby #2 though :) )

-sustains you while you sit through awards banquets that consist of every child's name being read at least twice

-search for pacifiers until the threat of knee replacement feels like a real possibility

-keep on loving when their sentences become grunts

I love my kids.  I love being a mama and all of the things that go with that.  It is not easy some days, but it is well worth it!

It had to be love that held him to that cross.  Nothing else could have ever made him take that punishment for my sins.  Thank you God for sending me your son and for giving me my sons and daughters to love.

Growing up

Oh, the power of words.  What an ability they have to affect me.  Today they did just that.

I had been busily cleaning for the past hour or so while the babies napped.   I had gotten Lana Grace started on several projects....painting, cutting and gluing, matching shapes....most anything to keep her busy so that I could be.  Each time she finished an activity, I found her in the same place doing the same thing - sucking those (yes there are three) pacis!

We have been battling the pacifiers for quite a while now.  I got an idea from an article that I read to use the "paci fairy."  So Lana Grace knows that when she turns three in a few weeks and has her fairy princess party that the paci fairy is coming to get them.  A little baby somewhere needs them.  Now in exchange, she gets a ridiculous amount of "consolation prizes" but that is a story for another day!  

She prayed last night for her "best most favorite things," her pacis.  She has become very protective of them so she wants to have them now more than ever.  I suppose it is her fear of them disappearing. I hope we are not scarring her for life!  

Today's conversation went like this.  "Mommy I love my pacis."  "I know that you do Lana Grace but you are becoming a big girl."  "Well, when I get little for you again can I have them back?"  "Well that is not the way life works.  We don't get to be little again.  We grow up and become big people."

We don't get to be little again.  We don't get to be little again.  Wow!  Now I know I'm the mommy and I'm probably totally emotional about one of my babies turning three...but this made me sad.  When do we grow up?  When do we lose the ability to be comforted by something so simple?  When exactly do we put aside those silly things that make us giggle and let life become so complicated?  

Life is so short.  I'm going to do my best to slow it down a little.  I hope the paci fairy has the courage to show up at our house.  But if not, that is how things work sometimes....... I suppose.

Our little fairy

Why?

If you are a parent, you've been overloaded with this simple three letter word.  Our simple answer (and not a very good one) is "because I said so."  I read a post this morning at jonacuff.com about those three letters.  It was both inspirational and challenging.

I am an over-analyzer of my words.  I always wonder (probably worry but wonder sounds better) if I have offended someone through conversations.  I replay them in my mind and hope that my point was taken the way I intended it to be.  Or maybe I'm hopeful that my point was taken but hiding behind that innocent "Oh I didn't mean it that way" line.  Many times in my life I have allowed words to slip from my mouth or have written them for others to read and later regretted them.  The sinking feeling when I speak something that doesn't come from a pure heart is immediate for me.  I was challenged to think about what I wrote or said and find my motives BEFORE saying or writing it.  Wouldn't the world be a kinder place if we did that?  Wouldn't we save ourselves and those around us many heartaches?

So my challenge to myself is to question WHY I write and say the things I do.  What is it that I hope to give or gain?  Is it pure?  It is selfish?  Is it humble?  Is it necessary?  Will it build others up or tear them down?  Will it direct others to Christ or make me look good?

I hope that I find myself writing and saying things that are helpful not hurtful, wise not foolish, and humble not prideful.

Contentment

With three little ones who want the same thing at the same time, we have several "fits" a day over who can play with what.  Lana Grace is older and is able to play with some things that the babies just aren't ready for.  One of these things is her beloved beads.  She plays with beads any chance that she has and never seems to tire of them.  She sorts them continuously and in a million different fashions.

Our Sunday nap schedule is a little different and today the babies got up about the time she wanted to "play beads."  This means that Lana Grace gets to go into the dining room and close the door to be by herself and play.  Annabeth is our curious child.  She really wants to do big girl things already.  She wants to wear hats and necklaces and "preees" (her word for pretty flowers) in her hair.  Today she caught a glimpse of Lana Grace through the window and wasted much of the next 30 minutes just sitting and watching.  I don't know how content she was to watch and she obviously can't tell me that she wants to play that too but eventually she just went to the playroom.  

So much of that scene reminds me of things I have struggled with in my past.  I am thankful to say that I believe that I have overcome much of that and am truly content in my life now.  But there are those days when a quick look at something as simple as facebook can make me long for some material thing... a new car, a beach vacation, a trip to the mountains, a night out at a great restaurant, more of this, the best of that, less of this....whatever, whatever.

I am so blessed!  Today's sermon reminded me that if for nothing more, I'm blessed because I was born in this great nation.  So my prayer today for me, for Annabeth, and for you if you need it....is that we would be content with our lives and all of our blessings.