Mommy! Mommy!

We finished all of our schoolwork, and I sent the kids outside to play while I heat up some soup leftover from last night. I sat down to send an e-mail and heard Caris's pat-pat-pat on the back door's window, and she calling excitedly, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" I went to see what was going on and she said, "Mommy! It's RAINING today! I can't BWEEVE it!" LOL The simple joys are the best!

Almost noon

I have spent all morning trying to get us ready to go to the store. It's 11:09 and we are nearing the "ready" point. Oh my. Yesterday I felt so blah, and it all came to a head in the evening as I spent several hours running to the restroom. I have no idea what brought it all on. Maybe a tummy bug, maybe hormonal, I don't know. I didn't even get to finish watching ice skating. I went to bed and tossed & turned all night, but at least this morning my tummy's not screaming at me. I'm really tired and can't wait until naptime, but I simply must get to the bank and store. I'm going to cut my menu in half and just do my shopping through Monday's meals. At least that will make for a shorter shopping trip.

Caris and Graham are completely ready, Malachi's finishing up his bath, I'm done with my tepid shower and just need to do my hair and makeup, and then we'll be on our way. :::yawn:::

Moxy's Pamperlicious Day

I have been so lazy today, and I figured as long as I hadn't showered yet, AND the sun was out, I might as well give Moxy the bath he's needed since day one. The water was definitely dirty, and he really smelled like horse, but after two lathers and rinses, he looks SO shiny and beautiful! He's so soft too!

Then as I laid down for a little afternoon rest (which lasted less than 5 minutes), the mail came with Moxy's new personalized nylon collar! It fits him so well, reads beautifully with his name and phone number, and looks a LOT more comfortable for him than the bulky leather one he was wearing. Bravo!

Exhausting Day

This morning started out in an ordinary way. Nice day, pleasant, sunny, slept in a bit, chatted with Lynette on the phone - just, a nice beginning to the day.

Then the phone rang. I saw that it was my friend Cyndi calling and answered. We are good friends, but we don't just call to chat, so I wondered what she was calling in regard to. I thought maybe she was calling to see why I wasn't at Bible Study on Thursday. So the phone call started in kind of an odd way, and I wondered what she was leading up to. Well, it turns out that God had just completely put me on her heart and she wasn't exactly sure what she was leading up to either. LOL I so admire (AND APPRECIATE!!) that she was willing to step out in faith like that. It's way too long to write about all the details, but it actually turned out that she had some serious spiritual truths to speak into my life. Some of it was just completely encouraging, and other parts were exhortations delivered in the most uplifting manner. I felt . . . well, just amazed that God really cares enough about me that he put my name on Cyndi's heart that way, and also that she actually followed through, not even knowing what it was God was asking of her.

I left that conversation feeling primarily really grateful and loved, but I have to admit that I also feel completely upside-down. What's so special about today, February 17th, that made God want to bring together so many loose ends? That's not even the right way to put it - I'm just at a loss to explain what I'm feeling. So many things that God has been trying to tell me came together through that conversation. Confirmations of things I *thought* he might be trying to say, new things that need to be refreshed and pressed into my heart, really old promises that I thought maybe He'd forgotten . . . wow. Like I told Cyndi, there's so much of God's power that I want in my life - I so want to be 100% poured out for Him EVERY day, and believing Him REALLY - deep down, in the core of my being . . . but man, the flesh in me rises up to DO something about it. Just - God, tell me WHAT TO DO! Alas - that's just not what He has in store right now. I've gotta just BE. Just be before Him humble, believing and the hardest part, waiting for what He wants to do in me.

So - I got off the phone with Cyndi and was just reeling, so many thoughts and prayers and just - WOW. Then reality hit. Graham bent up his new glasses, hit the dog with a stick repeatedly, got into Daddy's tools . . . I immediately felt so discouraged and disheartened.

I talked to Lynette again, and she was so encouraging about mothering, as she always is. Through that conversation I got to thinking about what things I am not really doing as a mother that would be for the betterment of my kids - my family. I prayed about it a little bit, and felt the conviction about my time online. This is a scary step for me but I wrote good-byes to two large groups of online friends. So much of my fulfillment is coming from the Internet that the rest of my life is suffering, including my kids. That is a sad and convicting realization, but again - laying that all before the throne, I know that God has a plan. He didn't make me my kids' mommy for no reason, and despite my failures, He has a purpose!

So, you can see that I am so scattered right now, which maybe is exactly where God needs me. I've always gotta work everything out - figure out the why, how etc. and man - that really doesn't leave God much to work with, does it? Humility. Humility . . .

Glasses for Graham

We have been noticing Graham blinking a lot more than usual lately, and Alif is forever telling him to scoot back from the TV. Then we went to his 6-year-checkup last week and he did not pass the vision screen. Today we went to see an opthamologist and sure enough, Grammy-Mams needs glasses! We looked through all the glasses there at the office and none of them suited Graham's fancy. We went over to Lens Crafters and he found a pair he loves. They are brown rectangle wire frames, just like Daddy's, and they have clip-on sunglasses. They are very cool, and we'll go pick them up after nap! Dr. said he is about 20/40 to 20/50 and that he's been missing a lot.

Cuteness, TV and other things

I opened up my copy of Power of a Praying Wife today and the bookmark was a slip of paper with the following written on it: Malachi 9/10/02 Gave me a hug at bedtime and said, "Mommy, I love the baby in your tummy." I said, "Me too, baby." He said, "And when it gets big you will push it out through your bagina like you did to me." I said, "Yep!" and he said, "And when you do that, I want to see."

Last night Alif returned from a 5-day trip to Florida. I was so lonely for him while he was gone and really happy to see him home! I don't remember how it came up, but Alif joked about throwing out the TV. I said, "Let's do it!" and he said, "really?" We both agree that the stupid TV brings more negatives into our home than positives, but will we actually throw the thing out? I really doubt it.

Moxie Max is really meshing into our family life! He still has some lessons to learn but all in all, I think we're a good match!

Oh, and one more fun thing. I checked out my friend Stephanie's website today, while wearing my olive green drawstring Old Navy pants, and my raspberry short-sleeved fitted tee from Target. As I was scrolling through the darling necklaces, I found the cute one pictured above and bought it! Too bad it couldn't fly directly from the screen to my neck TODAY! Ah well, I guess I'll have to wear this outfit WITH the darling necklace the minute it arrives! I love www.mybeadedbliss.com!!

It's Friday alright!

Boy is it ever Friday! I just finished a long overdue diaper, only to realize as I literally put the final stitches in that I made it in the wrong size. AGH! Oh well, I'm restocking the store on Monday anyway - I guess I'll just use this as instock. :-P

Also, I lifted the tin foil on a cake that the kids & I made for Alif and took a swipe of the chocolate frosting. Caris saw me and asked if she could do that and I told her she sure could. Well, she keeps walking by and getting her own little tastes, and I don't even care. LOL! We did have cut-up pears, bananas, mangos and apples for snack though so I guess a little chocolate frosting won't hurt anything.

Ramblings

We got a dog! His name is Moxie Max. We found him on petfinder.com and Alif drove to Lancaster to pick him up. The first few days were anxious for me: he was 99% sweet as can be, and then there were a few times he downright challenged me, and that was scary and unacceptable. He has since settled in and he is now 99.5% sweet. LOL He still needs to learn some manners, especially with company, and perfect the "no peeing or pooping in the house" rule, but mostly he is as good as you can imagine!!

The weather has been absolutely spring-like. The bright sun and warm air really perks me up in a big way!

I am completely caught up on laundry. Can you believe it?? I'm also giving over the boys' laundry to Malachi. He will be paid $1 per load he washes, dries and puts away. He's already a great laundry helper, but it will be good for him to have this job. Graham's new paying job is going to be handling dog poops. Go boys!