Blessed By Bloggers

I admit I have a problem.  I have a blogging problem.  I read blogs constantly.  I am totally addicted to them.

That being said...there are a few blogs out there that have totally changed me in a profound way.

Yesterday's post from Kelly's Korner shook me down to my very soul. 

I am saved by the grace of God.  I have a good life.  God takes care of me.  I have a great family.  I have a faithful, loving husband.  I have four very HEALTHY children.  I am SO blessed. 

However, I am a glass have empty kind of gal. 

When I read the prayer requests that Kelly listed, my heart melted.  Shame came over me like an ocean wave.  I was especially moved by the story of little Tripp.  How Lord can that be?  How can a mother hold up when her marriage falls apart and her darling baby boy is hurting so much?  Her strength is from the Lord through the power of prayer.  But as for me,

Very

Often

I

Forget

How

Blessed

I

Am

I fall apart because my hormones are raging or because my house is a mess, or because my children are not being obedient.

But in the light of eternity, none of that really matters.

I am determined to live my tomorrows caring more about people than things.

Am I really the Mother of BOYS??????

Dear Lord,

I have always said, that I am the Mother of girls.  That simply means, I relate to girls.  I like girl things.  I like girl talk.  I understand girls.  I like pink.  I like giggling.  I like all things girl.

I have always said that I never wanted to mother boys.  But you, Lord had other plans for me.

Boys are LOUD, they are LOUD, and then they get LOUDER.  I understand, some girls are like this too,  But my boy is really LOUD.  Loud talk, loud play, LOUD Everything!  Quiet anything around here is a rare thing.  A VERY rare thing.

My boy Louie is also CHATTY.  And that is a very nice way to say....HE NEVER SHUTS UP.....  Understood here that I am a pretty quiet soul.  I like to be alone with my thoughts.  My girls are quiet, my husband is quiet.  And then there is Louie.  Did I mention that HE NEVER SHUTS UP??????  My ears are bleeding most days by 7:15 AM.

Louie is a PLANNER.  "After we get done eating our breakfast what are we going to do next?"  "After we drop the girls off at piano, and we go to the store, what are we going to do next?"  I am sorry son, but that is waaaay to much to ask from a sleep deprived mom like me. 

I dislike toy cars.  Really truly dislike toy cars.  They hide under the couch, the TV, in every corner of the house.  I DISLIKE TOY CARS.  When toys cars are played with, they must be played with LOUD, they must CRASH, they must fly off into unknown directions never to be retrieved until the furniture is rearranged. I fully expect someone to break any arm around here any day now.  And when that happens, I am sure that there will be a toy car involved.

Don't even get me started on Superheros, toy weapons, or all things camouflage.  YUCK!  DISLIKE!!!

I will not go to the bathroom issues of boys......but you know what I am talking about.  TAKE AIM, PLEASE!!!!

So Lord, ~~Why on earth did you give me boys to mother?  What are you trying to teach me?  Louie is a sweet boy, but I just don't relate to any thing boy.  HELP!!!!!

The Police May Be Looking For Me.......

Yesterday, Louie's preschool class visited the Cincinnati Museum Center for a field trip.  Part one of the field trip was the visit Holiday Junction, a holiday train display at one of the muesums. 

Louie LOVES trains, so part one of the field trip was great!

He was in absolute wonder at so many trains!  So much to see!!

Beloved Thomas the Tank, Annie and Clarabell

There was a very short time to look at the trains, and then it was time to make our way back upstairs for part two of the field trip.  All the classes were to preform together part of their upcoming Christmas program.  This is where it all went down hill.

Louie informed me that we was his stomache hurt and he would not be able to preform.  Much whinning, crying, and boo hooing followed.

Since there was such  a short time to see the trains, I told the girls and Louie that after the preschool performance we would go back down to see the trains again.  I also offered them the option of going to Children's Museum for a short time before we heading home.  The girls decided they wanted to go to the Children's Museum and we started to make out way to the elevator.  Louie had an amazing recovery and was anxious to go play.

I then explained to Louie that since he was "sick" he would have to sit by me instead of playing.  Cue the tears.......  I knew this was going to be challenging, but what happened for the next hour was much more than I anticipated.

Louie cried all the way down the elevator, he rolled around on the floor crying for a good 30 minutes.  At this point an employee of the museum began walking past me at regular intervals.  I suppose she thought I had done something to him, but this little tantrum was ALL him!

Now it was time to go home.  I tried to put his coat on him, as he was rolling on the floor ( as a horrified father looked on).  It is about 20 degrees out, so how could I not put his coat on him?  He refused to put his arms in the armholes. He had kicked off his cowboy boots it the middle of his fit and I put them back on him.  He had them off as quick as I had them on him.  I stuffed the boots and the coat in the stroller.  I knew what was going to happen next and it was going to be ugly!!!

I got the girls all ready to go, bundled up the baby, and then gave instructions to the girls.  I told them I needed their help, and they needed to be ready to help me.

It is now time to pick up my 33lb 3 year old and head to the van.  The battle was ON.  So I carried my boy out of the Children's Museum on to the elevator, out through the lobby, and then down the parking lot to the van as he kicked and yelled and screamed the entire way. This was the longest 10 minutes of my life!

Onlookers were simply amazed, I am sure, at my lack of mother skills at this point.  If they only knew the whole story. But I could see no other options than taking him out thrown over my shoulder.  All the while people are staring at me, the crazy lady. 

The picture of me carrying this child in the cold with no coat on, no shoes on, screaming his head off was just ugly! 

Let me just say, Louie is an EXTREMELY intelligent 3 year old.  He was playing me, and he wanted to see if I was going to back down.  Which I COULD NOT do.  Once the challenge is on, you have to follow through.

He cried and kicked and screamed all the way home.

So Louie chose consequences instead of blessings yesterday.

I feel as if I wrestled with a hog.

And the police may be knocking on my door any minute to see if Louie is OK.

A Good Read

I have been reading a great book the past few days.  It is A Sister's Secret by Wanda E. Brunstetter.  It is a story of a young Amish girl and the secrets that she is hiding from her "running around years."  

I have read many books set in Amish Country, but I have never read one that has so many unexpected twists and turns in the plot.

I can't wait to get a quiet moment tonight (hopefully) so I can finish it!  A good book an a cup of hot tea....sounds great doesn't it???

This author has also written a series for children set in Amish Country.  My daughter has read most of them, and really enjoys them.  http://www.amazon.com/Schools-Always-Trouble-Somewhere-Book/dp/1597892335/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291673060&sr=1-5

Thanks to my mother in law for giving it to me for my birthday! 

Dear Teddy

My story starts in early July when we realized that Sunshine's beloved bear Teddy was missing.  Sunshine received Teddy for her first birthday.  He has been her comfort in many storms.   Tornado sirens....loneliness....sickness...  Teddy accompanied her in the OR when she got her tonsils taken out.  Teddy was a trusted friend.
Teddy is now gone.  We conducted a thorough search.  I made phone calls.  We backtracked our last days with him.  He was just gone.

I bought Teddy at Toys R Us.  I knew that he was an in house brand called Animal Alley.  So I began to search E Bay.  Maybe I could find someone who was kind of like Teddy.  I searched for hours, and then low and behold, I found TEDDY!  Same brown and white plaid bow, same fur, same eyes.  AMAZING! 

So we put in a bid, and Sunshine bought Teddy with her own money.  It was great to find him. 

He arrived soon, and Sunshine was thrilled.  But you know as well as I do, that a new bear doesn't feel the same as a loved bear.  His fur wasn't as soft.  His fluff was not the same.  He became Mrs. Teddy and he would have to due, because he was all we had.

Fast forward three weeks ago.  Teddy was on my mind.  He kept popping up in my brain at random times.  Was it just Mommy guilt?  I have to admit, I did feel reasonable for letting Sunshine lose Teddy.  Of course it wasn't my fault, but how could I let her lose her beloved bear?  I was heartbroken because I couldn't find him, I couldn't fix it.

Last Friday, I was at a friend's house.  Her older two children and her husband were on a youth group over night.  They were going to several places that night.  Including a Columbus Blue Jackets game and to hotel with an indoor water park called Fort Rapids.  We had taken a trip to Fort Rapids back in May.  It was a fun family place to go.

Monday morning...my first thought of the day Teddy.  I went throughout my usually busy day, but at the end of the evening Teddy was on my mind.  I started thinking we never contacted Fort Rapids to see if Teddy was there.  Sunshine was sure that she hadn't taken him there.  But, I guess it wouldn't hurt to send them and email and see how long things stayed in the lost and found.  I sent an email that night explaining that we had lost the bear over the summer, and I inquired how long they kept things that ended up in the lost and found.

Tuesday morning....I received an email from the housekeeping manager at Fort Rapids.  She explained to me that they usually kept things 30 days.  They donated somethings and threw some things away.  But she went on further to say, it might still be here.  Please send a description of the bear. I sent her a description of the bear and I also attached a picture of Mrs. Teddy.

The bear was really driving me crazy.  Why was the bear coming to my mind?  Was this God trying to tell me something?  Was it the Devil playing tricks on me?  I asked a dear friend what she thought.  She didn't really have a clear answer for me, but she said she would pray for me that I would have a peace about the situation.

So later Tuesday afternoon I got another email from Ms. Karen, the housekeeping manager.  It read like this:

I have the bear.  What do you want me to do with it?

Seriously?  I was awestruck.  I had goosebumps.  I could not locate Ms. Karen's phone number and call her quick enough. 

When I spoke to her on the phone, she said, "We get rid of alot of things that are left here, but we keep the animals.  I read you last email and opened up the attached picture.  I then looked up and there Teddy, sitting on a shelf in my office."

Ms. Karen put Teddy in the mail to us on Tuesday and he came in the mail today.

This is Sunshine and Teddy reunited.

Sunshine and Mr. and Mrs. Teddy.

But the most incredible part of the story is that God put this Teddy bear on my mind.   If he hadn't I would not have continued to look for him.

Our God cares about us.  Even about the "little" stuff.  He is SO GOOD!



When a Two Year Old Dresses Himself......

You praise him because he did it all by himself.  No matter what :)

All Dressed Up

You just never know...

what a day around here...

is going to bring.

I love my goofy kids!