3 year old thinking

Grace thinks the sky is going to be orange tonight. Because it's Halloween. I'm not sure WHERE exactly she dreamed this up, but she is INSISTENT that the sky will in fact be a nice shade of orange. Here's hoping for a colorful sunset.

Wordless Monday

I read a blog that does "Wordless Wednesday"--I thought I would copy and do "Wordless Monday" since most Monday mornings it's all I can do to get out of bed and hit the "on" button on the coffee pot...

Motherhood should come with cup holders. I decided that as I was walking into church today with Grace, Sam, a diaper bag, a purse, and a cup of coffee in tow. Coffee is most important in my life. It keeps me awake, alert, and mostly pleasant....sooooo....that being said--Motherhood should come with cup holders...oh and an extra hand for each child....

Interesting...verrrrry interesting....

Check it out...We're a flu vaccine free family this year.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/21/avoid-flu-shots-vitamin-d-is-a-better-way.aspx

Oh....My....LANTA!!

Here is a small tidbit of advice (no charge): it is easier to STAY in shape, than it is to GET BACK in shape. I was recently motivated by my Weight Watchers leader. She challenged our group that in the 6 weeks left until Thanksgiving we should set a goal and strive to achieve that goal. Now, I wanna lose weight...that goes without saying. WHY else would I be attending Weight Watchers? Why would I insist on dragging two NOISY children to a quiet adult meeting each week (side note: don't give a three year old a box of tic-tacs to "keep her quiet")? Why would I plan my weekly schedule around 9:30am on Tuesday morning (that's when the meeting is)? So losing weight would have been an "easy" goal to set...I could say "I want to lose weight" but then HOW am I going to go about doing that?? I resolved to set a different goal. I have decided that in the 6 weeks before Thanksgiving I will train for a 5K run. That SOUNDS easy when I type it out...it sounded easy as I wrote it down on my "motivating strategy" sheet...the weekly running schedule printed off nicely on my printer. It wasn't until I actually hauled my bootie on the treadmill that I began to have second thoughts. The first day was to run 10 minutes...NOT a problem...10 minutes was honestly a piece of cake...the second day was 15 minutes....a BIT harder, the last 5 minutes I would not call "fun". BUT TODAY...the third day...was to run 2 miles. It looked SO easy on paper. You see, if you had asked me to run 2 miles about, oh, a year and a half ago I would have glady and easily and QUICKLY done it. Enjoying the day, the feel of the earth beneath my feet, the beat of the music, the rhythmic in-and-out of my breathing...2 miles was a WARM UP...that was a looooong time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Today was a miserable sad story. It took me 26 minutes...that's a 13 MINUTE mile, people. That is not good. It was all I could do to place one foot in front of the other. And the single solitary thought that went through my mind had nothing to do with "enjoying" the run...no, all I could think was "it is easier to stay in shape than it is to get back in shape"...never again...never again will I let myself lapse into such a lazy, weak, and tired body. It is good to be back...it is good feel the rush of blood to my legs...even if there is no blood going to my brain.

P.S. The above pic was taken the morning before Earl and I ran the Oklahoma Memorial half marathon...

Apparently I've been tagged...

I supposed to tell you 7 Random/weird things about me so here goes:

1) One of my FAVORITE things to do is to be the first person to open the peanut butter jar--My husband knows this about me and WAITS for me to open it because he knows how happy it makes me. Same goes for a new can of coffee. I do not like to be the first to open the milk jug.
2) I cloth diaper my 6 month old...I don't think that's weird but some people do
3) I have a primal fear of the dark but I can't sleep unless it's TOTALLY dark in the room I'm sleeping in...lately I have started sleeping with a mask, because even faint glow from the smoke detector light wakes me up. HOWEVER, when I wake at night to feed the baby I JUMP out of bed and run run run into his room and turn on a nightlight...
4) I can play the violin...I just don't
5) I can pick stuff up with my toes.
6) I have blond hair and blue eyes, but am a registered Cherokee Indian...yes, 1/256th Cherokee Indian...go figure
7) My husband says I eat my sandwich "backwards"...I don't know HOW exactly one eats a sandwich backwards, but that's what he says...He says Grace does it too.

For the record, I found this to be an extremely difficult task, writing about how I am weird...

My apologies

As you may, or may not, have noticed...I haven't blogged in awhile. This is because me SWEET husband decided this past weekend was THE weekend to begin to paint the ENTIRE inside of our house. Did I mention we have almost 20 foot ceilings...seriously, no lie folks...20 feet of grey sheet rock...prison grey...flat paint grey...Now halfway painted a nice shade of "sauteed mushroom" (at least that's what the paint company "named" the color) I will take pictures when it is all finished--which, by my calculations, should be sometime around 2010. Oh and Sam got his first tooth on Sunday...cheers to a biting breastfeeding baby.

We are connected...more than we know...

Today was an absolutely beautiful fall day. I couldn't have ordered better weather. So in celebration of a day like today, my children and I went to the Kansas City Zoo. There were several school buses of children arriving at the same time we arrived, so I told Grace "Let's go fast in our stroller so that we can get ahead of this big group of kids. Plus I THINK if we hurry, it's early enough, some of the animals might still be eating their breakfast." She was ALL for the "plan" and we went on our way. Sure enough, the elephants were eating their breakfast (hay) and we got to talk about how they use their trunks like hands. And the rhino was eating his breakfast (hay...must be a favorite) and we got to talk about his BIG horns. And the giraffes were eating their breakfast (leaves) and we BOTH learned that the giraffe's tongue is prehensile...meaning they can grab things with it like a finger. And finally, the chimps were eating their breakfast (fruits and veges)...the viewing pavilion for the chimps is set WAAAY back in the corner of the zoo. Lots of shade, very quiet. We (Grace, Sam, and I) were the only people in the building (good idea, huh? zooming ahead of the big group!) It was a calming place, I'd almost be willing to call it "sanctuary"...there was only one chimp out, but I told Grace that we would sit for awhile and see if any of the others joined him. She was content with that, going about her three and half year old business...exploring, touching, observing...we weren't talking. Which is weird for BOTH of us. Usually we are filling up the air with talking, lots of talking. But today we were quiet, still even...it was a state I don't find myself in much lately. It was a moment in my life when NOTHING--absolutely NOTHING--was buzzing through my brain. I could FEEL the world around me...my breath--rhythmically in and out, in and out...I could almost SEE myself relaxing...see Grace relaxing. It was a peace. And then the chimps began to arrive--at least 8 to 10 of them. Foraging for food...beginning their day...knowing more than we give them credit for. One chimp had a baby clinging to her back. He was little, littler than Sam. Eyes wide. Clinging to his mother. Learning about the world. The mama chimp gathered food for a bit with baby in tow, then "passed" him off to another chimp who took him behind a big rock--I told Grace he "needed a nap". Mama chimp remained...searching for food, drinking from the watering hole. I watched her...silent. A beautiful creature indeed. Dark eyes, strong body, and breasts--obviously being used to nurse her baby--full and heavy with milk. At this point, Sam broke the peace around us...he was hungry. There is NO doubt when Sam is hungry...he has an almost annoying grunt of a cry. I scooped him out of his seat in the stroller, pulled my shirt up discretely, and brought him to my breast. It was at this point, mama chimp took an intense interest in me. She quickly scurried over to the glass that was dividing us--man and primate. And got as close as she could to me--closer than you sit with someone at the dinner table. She looked at Sam nursing heartily...then looked at me straight in the eyes...then back at Sam...then back to me...back and forth, back and forth with SUCH interest and knowing. I swear she was grinning. Then she tapped the glass with her fist. Sam finished quickly as he does now that he is a "professional" nurser and I left my breast exposed. Mama chimp seemed absolutely amazed that I was doing exactly what she does with HER baby. She couldn't take her eyes off me...As I tucked my breast back into my shirt, she looked at me as if to say "Well, now that's silly. Why are you putting it away? Won't your baby NEED that?" I sat Sam up, feet against the glass...touching mama chimp had it not been for the divider. Again, she seemed to smile and again, she tapped the glass (softer this time). There are no words to explain what I felt in this moment. I could only praise God for gifting me with it. It was certainly spiritual...And then, the crowd caught up and a twirling group of school children came through the door and mama chimp was gone. There are certain "movies" of my life I'd like to replay in heaven...this is one of them.

Come on PEOPLE!!!!

Blog....for the LOVE!!! Blog...I cannot hold up the blogging world on my own two narrow shoulders!! Seriously, I am reading the blogs of COMPLETE strangers...which is fun and weird all at the same time! BLOG...write something I can read and comment about...BLOGGGGGGG!!!!

Testing, testing, 1...2...3...

Three years ago I began a bible study with 4 moms. Three years ago I lived in Yukon, Oklahoma. Three years ago I had ONE 8 month old little girl. We met once a week at the church and let our children play in the nursery together while we dug deeper into God's word. We did this for 2 weeks. On week three, the leader of the bible study lost her little 3 month old baby girl to SID's...we were devastated...the study group fell apart. There is more to this horrible story, but that is another day and another blog about grief and friendship and God and the hard lessons life teaches you. The reason I am writing today is because I just returned from the first meeting of that very SAME bible study here in Kansas City, MO--three years later...almost to the day. I must admit, the devil "got" me for a brief, fleeting moment...I thought "What if I sign up for this study again, and something awful happens? Just like it did the first time I signed up? What if this lesson in God's word is somehow 'jinxed'?" Now if you've talked to my big sister for any length of time, you will know that the words "God" and "jinx" DO NOT mix. God does not "jinx" us...and so, I remembered my big sister's wise words and signed up for the study...for a second time. And tonight God taught me that His timing is perfect...He loves me so gently and so passionately...and that in three years, He has been molding and shaping the clay that is Kathryn Eddins Farris. The author of the study talks about "oppression" and that God's people DO in fact experience "oppression" at some point or another in their walk with the Lord. She points out that there are four factors that cause oppression in God's people (I won't get into all four...you'll have to take the study and discover THAT on your own) ONE of those factors is testing. I know, I know...this is a touchy subject for some believers, but stick with me on this please. She goes on to say that God will bring us through a season of oppression by testing us and that SOMETIMES He tests us before we are ready to be tested. That if we KNEW we were facing a test and TRIED in all our humanness to "study up" for that test, we wouldn't even KNOW HOW to study...we wouldn't know how to get ready for what is coming. And this brings me back to God's perfect timing...Over the past year I have been TESTED. I have taken a test that I was NOT ready for...had I known I was going to be tested, however, I wouldn't have even known how to study. Many days I just got up in the morning and said "What next God? Where now?" and I learned how to rely on God and not on my "well laid plans" (and we all know what a "planner" I am!)..."The enemy CAN defeat us unless we are TOTALLY dependant on the Holy Spirit and God's word"...and so I look back over this past year and even back three years ago to when I first began this bible study and for the very first time in my life I can see "it"...I can see God's wonderful plan, woven so carefully and so intricately and with SUCH unending love...You see, I was NOT ready to take this study three years ago, BUT I was ready to learn another lesson about grief and friendship (another day, another blog)...TODAY I was ready to learn that "pop quizzes" are okay and that even if I'm not ready for the test, GOD in all his glory will be there when the testing happens. Today I'm ready to finish this bible study.

Not a very glamorous job...

...but it's MY job...This weekend I noticed that Sam's right eye was a little red. It got worse as the weekend wore on, so I put in a call to the "nurse line" at our doctor's office. After reviewing his symptoms with the nurse (red eye, no goop, light sensitivity) she concluded that it was "just" a corneal abrasion and suggested flushing the eye with saline solution. If conditions did not improve, I was instructed to make an appt. with my doc on Monday morning. Fast forward to Monday morning...Sam wakes up with a goopy, red eye...ick...I get on the phone to the doctor's office and the little girl on the other end of the phone says "Can you be here in 20 minutes?"--But of course I can, because I am Wonder Woman...Let's back up just a wee bit here...Grace has also not been feeling well and is in full on "cranky three year old girl drama" mode, I am baby-sitting my neighbor's 15 month old little boy, Ayden, and ALL THREE children are still in PJ's, eating breakfast...the house is TRASHED (with a capital "T") and I am fresh off the treadmill in a ratty t-shirt and work-out pants...I have NOT brushed my teeth, I DO NOT smell good...SURE I can be there in 20 minutes...SURE....Let me wave my magic wand...people, I made it to the doctor's office in UNDER 20 minutes. This includes prying an eating toddler out of a highchair as he's grabbing for grapes, putting all three kids safely into car seats (with the help of my sweet husband), popping a piece of gum in my mouth while spraying some car air freshener on my shirt so I smell "fresh", THEN UN-loading all three kids, putting two of them in strollers (Sam pooped somewhere during all this loading and un-loading), and sprinting to the elevator with a three year old screaming "ABRE!!" at the automatic sliding doors (Abre means "open" in Spanish...Grace thinks if she doesn't say this, the doors won't open...right) I MADE it....Oh and Sam has pink eye. Glamorous? No. Worth it? Absolutely...

The "morning gene"

It is much too early in the morning. I married a man who ENJOYS the wee hours of the morning. He relishes in the sunrise, likes the feeling of a new day. Now, please don't get me wrong...but personally, I like the sunset and I relish in the feeling of the close of a day. We are very much opposites on this matter. But it seems that my daughter has inherited this "early riser/happy sunshine" gene from my husband...ugh. I am awake early because I am watching my neighbor's little boy all week--by the way, setting your alarm is WAY overrated. I am on the computer because it is all I can do to function at this hour of the morning and it takes extreme effort to simply bring my coffee cup to my mouth. But as I sit here, I am listening to the deep conversation Grace and Earl are having in the back bedroom. He is packing for a business trip, and she is sitting on our bed discussing the mysteries of the world. I have no idea the details of their conversation, but their voices sound like music...and I am thanking God for a man that is a wonderful daddy to my babies....even this early in the morning. Oh, and I THINK that Sam may have gotten MY "morning stinks" gene...perhaps it will all even out.