Leaving on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again.
Okay, so not exactly true. I'm leaving on what will most likely be a tiny, two seats to a row airplane and I know when I'll be back: Sunday night. Still, I couldn't help but have these lyrics playing in my head today was I was going through my mental (and written) to do list to get ready for our trip. On top of our normal oblications, I was thinking about how I needed to scrub the bathrooms, finish several loads of laundry, and put the mounds of displaced clutter on my tables, countertops and entryway back where they belong or in the trash. My in-laws will be spending the weekend at our house taking care of the 4 boys while Jon & I head to Memphis to run our second marathon. While Jon & I are use to the clutter and the level of cleanliness (or uncleanliness) in our house, I didn't want to subject Grandma and Grandpa to it.
Tomorrow morning after we drop our 2 littlest at my good friend Yvonne's house and the big two at school, we'll be heading to the airport. At 9:10 am, we will officially be starting our 60 hour vacation. Now, some people don't think you can call 60 hours a vacation, but I doubt that they are parents of several young children. They are probably singles, married without kids, or empty-nesters. People who are use to flying on airplanes without a lap child (by the way, I'm REALLY looking forward to traveling sans kids).
3 days and 2 nights away is technically only 60 hours on the clock, but it feels like a full week vacation. When you eliminate all the things you do on an hourly basis for multiple little ones, an hour suddenly takes on new meaning. No packing and repacking diaper bags to make sure you have everything because heaven forbid you get caught out and about without a paci when its naptime (not that I've done that because I'm supermom and I ALWAYS remember).
Also, I will get to carry JUST a purse (hopefully I still have one somewhere in my closet upstairs) and I won't have snacks in it (unless I'm sneaking candy in to see a movie). I will only have to go to the bathroom when I actually have to USE it, not when someone needs me to wipe, turn the water on, or remind them which side is the hot water. There will be no meal prep and better yet, there will be no meal cleanup where I question if ANY of the food made it into their tummies because so much is on the table, the chairs and the floor.
Don't get me wrong. I love being a mama. Really, I do. But, I also LOVE getting away from it all. I mean, they don't say "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" for no reason. In the last 24 hours, I've pulled a jar of shaving cream out of the toilet (after Caleb threw it in), had my shower interrupted when someone just HAD to use the potty and the other two bathrooms weren't sufficient, entertained all 4 boys playing in my bedroom while I straightened my hair and had someone reach over and wipe something on my shirt that they didn't want on their hand. For the record, I don't know what "it" was, I just removed it with a baby wipe as fast as I could and moved on.
A couple of days where I don't have people banging on the bathroom door, interrupting whenever I speak and undoing everything I clean within minutes sounds fabulous. And if I have to also run 26 miles while I'm there, so be it. Although secretly, I'm kinda freaking out about how hard that's gonna be. But who cares if I have to hobble into the movie theater on Saturday night because my knees are throbbing like an arthritic 90 year old who was hit by a car? My date will be limping around pretty badly too. It's all good, I'm going to the movies and I can stay for a second one if I want (not that its likely since I could barely keep my eyes open past 9 pm after the Chicago marathon), but I technically could.
I'm still kinda surprised that my husband bought into this idea (going to Memphis to run a marathon 8 weeks after completing our first marathon in Chicago). When I brought this idea up in May, I had just had a high ankle sprain injury and we didn't know when I'd be able to run again. Part of the reason I wanted to add Memphis to our goal for the year was that I didn't think I'd recover as quickly as I did and I thought the Chicago marathon would be a lot worse. I was hedging my bets. If I have two marathons, one should go well, right? My theory was that Chicago would be my warmup and then I'd go to Memphis and do better. I'm not sure that's likely to happen since Chicago's weather was absolutely perfect on marathon day and the course is flat and I exceeded my time goal. Memphis will have more hills and we won't have any fans cheering us on like we did here, so I'm readjusting my expectations for my running.
I'm also making a list of things to do while we are there like eat ribs, go to a movie, take a nap, eat some southern food, finish the book I'm reading, eat some more local food (I'm running a marathon for pete's sake, I have a lot of extra calories).
Memphis, here I come.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Family Rules
A few months back, I saw this awesome Family Rules canvas sign when I was browsing pinterest. I thought it was great, but it cost $150. There was no way that I was spending that kind of money on a sign for our house at this point in time. So, I figured I'd try to make my own version. I downloaded a piece of brown digital scrapbook paper and then used Picasa to type my own family rules out on it (using different fonts and sizes for each rule).
I actually finished this a while ago but I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. Should I print it as a picture and frame it? Find a great coupon code for a canvas print and go that route? Finally I decided to just print it on poster board. It was inexpensive and it easily mounted to the wall with some 3M mounting squares (that are removable, so hopefully will not damage the walls).
I decided to hang it on a small wall in our entryway. I like the spot because you can see it when you enter the house, when you come down our stairs from our bedroom each morning, and you can sorta see it from the kitchen (the other room where we spend a LOT of time). I've been thinking about this project for a while, but finally brought it to fruition on Sunday night when we hung the sign and the FAMILY letters (we used these wooden letters in our family pictures this summer).
We took care of all of this when the kids were in bed. On a side note, the hours of 8-11 pm are when we get projects done in our house, when the distractions are sleeping soundly in their beds.
I wasn't around Monday morning when they woke up, but they noticed it right away. It makes total sense to me that they notice this sign right away yet don't notice when they leave the toilet full and don't flush. Okay maybe not. They asked Jon about it, so he read the rules to them before he took them to school.
Last night read we read through the rules with the boys several times and discussed what all the words mean. We also named specific actions that would be following the rules and ones that would not be following the rules. I gave myself a pat on the back for accomplishing the project and taking time to use it as a learning tool with the boys to reiterate some of our family rules. Maybe not mom of the year, but definitely mom of the week, right?
So, the irony is not lost on me that today, of all days, we struggled with many of these rules, myself included. There were so many violations that I was physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the day. What's that saying: Pride comes before the fall? We had some of our "normal" things like not sharing toys and some fighting which I'm pretty sure doesn't comply with the 'Hands are for hugging, not hitting.'
More frustrating to me was the more intense issues that we dealt with like lying, taking something that is not yours and disrespect. Its hard to sum all of it up as three boys can provide a lot of incidents in one day, but the gist of it is this. I took all 4 boys to a new play area today where we met my lovely friend Yvonne and her two girls. During our time there, the kids started finding "treasures" in the ball pit.
First one came over with a hair clip that Yvonne's daughter had lost. Then another boy showed up with a pretend eyeshadow case that her other daughter had lost. He also had found a small toy with a sticker on it and he asked Yvonne if it was her daughters' and she answered no. A few minutes later that same child returned and told me that he found the person the toy belonged to and returned it to them. The rest of our time was uneventful and there were very few problems, so I considered the outing a success.
We spent Caleb's naptime drawing pictures at the kitchen table, eating a leisurely lunch, catching up on some homework assignments and watching a few TV shows. Again, I was thinking I had things going pretty good on the homefront. Jon was going to be late tonight but I thought, no big deal, easy peasy. We had gotten out today, baby napped well, we had art time, what could go wrong.
About two minutes later, things got crazy. Everyone ended up in separate bedrooms with activities while I made dinner.
At dinnertime, I noticed a tiny silver cross on the floor. It looked like something that had fallen off of a necklace. I didn't recognize it. I asked each boy if it was theirs. They all denied it. Then one boy folded and said it was the other brothers treasure that he found at the play place. When asked a second time, the guilty party admitted that he had taken it from the play area. I looked closely at the item and determined it wasn't worth much, but I also knew that my son doesn't know the difference between real jewelry and plastic/fake jewelry yet. I explained to him that he had stolen the item as taking something that isn't yours is stealing. One of the boys said it was okay because it was lost. I went on to explain that just because something is lost, it doesn't mean that its yours to take or that its okay to take it. We had a long discussion about how sometimes we lose something temporarily and retrace our steps to find out and how sad it would be if something had taken it for themselves. More than the 'stealing', I was upset that I had been blatantly lied to.
After dinner, I sent the offender up to his room to have some quiet time until I finished cleaning up dinner and feeding the others. While he was upstairs, I was sweeping up under the table. Next to a piece of broccoli, I saw that tiny toy with a sticker on it that had been shown to me at the play area. My heart sank, a second child had stolen and on top of that, he had created an elaborate lie several hours earlier about having returned it to its rightful owner. I picked it up and showed it to my son and immediately shame spread across his face. His first defense was that it had been his brother's idea (the one up in his room awaiting a talk) to find treasures and take them home with them. I'm seeing that this rule of "Share Everything Except Bad Ideas" is going to be a tricky rule in our home.
The second boy was no longer hungry, so he was sent up to my bedroom to read books and wait for me to come talk to him. This was all before Jon was home from work, so it was a bit tricky working out the logistics of finishing up the last one at dinner, keeping Caleb occupied and then having one-on-one discussions with each boy.
Before I even got up there, the second son came to the stairs asking if we could go to the play area right then to return the treasures so they could be put in the lost and found box. Sadly, the play area was closed for the day. I assured him that we will stop tomorrow after school. As we discussed how he felt inside and how sad I was to hear that he had lied to me earlier in the day and also tried to hide his "crime" even when I discovered the necklace trinket, the tears flowed from his eyes and I got choked up. I hugged him and while he cried, I reminded him that I loved him, but also talked about why the truth is important.
I had a college professor who talked about how when he would spank (or discipline) his children that he would immediately hug them afterwards. His point was that discipline isn't the opposite of love and that rather they go hand in hand.
I'll be the first to admit, these moments of heartfelt discussion and then implementation of a consequence or punishment are WAY harder than just telling the child they were wrong and giving a random punishment. And its definitely harder than just ignoring the whole issue and pretending you don't see what happened (the lying, the taking of something that isn't yours). They are even harder when they come back to back and involve multiple children, but these moments are where I feel I get to see their hearts being reshaped and formed.
And just in case you think I handle all my parenting moments this way, I do not. Just thirty minutes earlier I had kicked all the boys out of the playroom for the rest of the day for a toy being thrown/dropped/crashed (I wasn't even in the room so I don't totally know what happened, I just reacted when I heard the commotion). While I don't enjoy toys being thrown for many reasons, taking the playroom away from them because I was angry was probably not my best decision (it was only 4 pm). And the way I told them was not in my calm mom voice, it was in my scary yelling mom voice. Ugh! Total fail. There was no love there, only frustration and penalty giving.
In summary, it seems that we are going to need that Family Rules sign up for a long time. Maybe I should have invested in the canvas after all? Or maybe I need to print one for each room in the house?
I'm thankful that tomorrow is a new day for all of us. I'm thankful for the boys' hearts that can feel remorse and forgiveness. And I'm hoping that when we return these lost "treasures" to the play area tomorrow that they don't laugh at us because really they aren't worth much monetarily. In fact, they may toss them right into the trash after we leave.
They are however priceless as they were an important learning experience and character making experience for the boys in my house. And for this exhausted mama.
I'm also thankful that tomorrow is a school day as the boys lost TV for two days as a punishment for lying. This brought tears to one of their eyes (mine too buddy, mine too!).
I actually finished this a while ago but I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. Should I print it as a picture and frame it? Find a great coupon code for a canvas print and go that route? Finally I decided to just print it on poster board. It was inexpensive and it easily mounted to the wall with some 3M mounting squares (that are removable, so hopefully will not damage the walls).
I decided to hang it on a small wall in our entryway. I like the spot because you can see it when you enter the house, when you come down our stairs from our bedroom each morning, and you can sorta see it from the kitchen (the other room where we spend a LOT of time). I've been thinking about this project for a while, but finally brought it to fruition on Sunday night when we hung the sign and the FAMILY letters (we used these wooden letters in our family pictures this summer).
.JPG) |
| The Y is there, you just have to look closely because its laying flat in the lap of the child who isn't looking at the camera at all. And pay no attention to the child holding the "M" who is angry that he is not holding the "A". I mean, rightfully, he is entitled to hold the "A" since its in his name. That idea was rejected by mom as it would screw up the order/composition of the picture that mom is trying to recreate from Pinterest. Don't get me started on the "I" and the "L" holders who clearly didn't get the memo to casually hold the letters across their chests. |
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| Here is the tiny wall...just the right size for this. Notice it is sandwiched between two lovely baby gates. Our house is now where baby gates go to die. We have another one that we haven't installed yet as we still need to get hardware, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a house with more baby gates even if you don't include that one. |
I wasn't around Monday morning when they woke up, but they noticed it right away. It makes total sense to me that they notice this sign right away yet don't notice when they leave the toilet full and don't flush. Okay maybe not. They asked Jon about it, so he read the rules to them before he took them to school.
Last night read we read through the rules with the boys several times and discussed what all the words mean. We also named specific actions that would be following the rules and ones that would not be following the rules. I gave myself a pat on the back for accomplishing the project and taking time to use it as a learning tool with the boys to reiterate some of our family rules. Maybe not mom of the year, but definitely mom of the week, right?
So, the irony is not lost on me that today, of all days, we struggled with many of these rules, myself included. There were so many violations that I was physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the day. What's that saying: Pride comes before the fall? We had some of our "normal" things like not sharing toys and some fighting which I'm pretty sure doesn't comply with the 'Hands are for hugging, not hitting.'
More frustrating to me was the more intense issues that we dealt with like lying, taking something that is not yours and disrespect. Its hard to sum all of it up as three boys can provide a lot of incidents in one day, but the gist of it is this. I took all 4 boys to a new play area today where we met my lovely friend Yvonne and her two girls. During our time there, the kids started finding "treasures" in the ball pit.
First one came over with a hair clip that Yvonne's daughter had lost. Then another boy showed up with a pretend eyeshadow case that her other daughter had lost. He also had found a small toy with a sticker on it and he asked Yvonne if it was her daughters' and she answered no. A few minutes later that same child returned and told me that he found the person the toy belonged to and returned it to them. The rest of our time was uneventful and there were very few problems, so I considered the outing a success.
We spent Caleb's naptime drawing pictures at the kitchen table, eating a leisurely lunch, catching up on some homework assignments and watching a few TV shows. Again, I was thinking I had things going pretty good on the homefront. Jon was going to be late tonight but I thought, no big deal, easy peasy. We had gotten out today, baby napped well, we had art time, what could go wrong.
About two minutes later, things got crazy. Everyone ended up in separate bedrooms with activities while I made dinner.
At dinnertime, I noticed a tiny silver cross on the floor. It looked like something that had fallen off of a necklace. I didn't recognize it. I asked each boy if it was theirs. They all denied it. Then one boy folded and said it was the other brothers treasure that he found at the play place. When asked a second time, the guilty party admitted that he had taken it from the play area. I looked closely at the item and determined it wasn't worth much, but I also knew that my son doesn't know the difference between real jewelry and plastic/fake jewelry yet. I explained to him that he had stolen the item as taking something that isn't yours is stealing. One of the boys said it was okay because it was lost. I went on to explain that just because something is lost, it doesn't mean that its yours to take or that its okay to take it. We had a long discussion about how sometimes we lose something temporarily and retrace our steps to find out and how sad it would be if something had taken it for themselves. More than the 'stealing', I was upset that I had been blatantly lied to.
After dinner, I sent the offender up to his room to have some quiet time until I finished cleaning up dinner and feeding the others. While he was upstairs, I was sweeping up under the table. Next to a piece of broccoli, I saw that tiny toy with a sticker on it that had been shown to me at the play area. My heart sank, a second child had stolen and on top of that, he had created an elaborate lie several hours earlier about having returned it to its rightful owner. I picked it up and showed it to my son and immediately shame spread across his face. His first defense was that it had been his brother's idea (the one up in his room awaiting a talk) to find treasures and take them home with them. I'm seeing that this rule of "Share Everything Except Bad Ideas" is going to be a tricky rule in our home.
The second boy was no longer hungry, so he was sent up to my bedroom to read books and wait for me to come talk to him. This was all before Jon was home from work, so it was a bit tricky working out the logistics of finishing up the last one at dinner, keeping Caleb occupied and then having one-on-one discussions with each boy.
Before I even got up there, the second son came to the stairs asking if we could go to the play area right then to return the treasures so they could be put in the lost and found box. Sadly, the play area was closed for the day. I assured him that we will stop tomorrow after school. As we discussed how he felt inside and how sad I was to hear that he had lied to me earlier in the day and also tried to hide his "crime" even when I discovered the necklace trinket, the tears flowed from his eyes and I got choked up. I hugged him and while he cried, I reminded him that I loved him, but also talked about why the truth is important.
I had a college professor who talked about how when he would spank (or discipline) his children that he would immediately hug them afterwards. His point was that discipline isn't the opposite of love and that rather they go hand in hand.
I'll be the first to admit, these moments of heartfelt discussion and then implementation of a consequence or punishment are WAY harder than just telling the child they were wrong and giving a random punishment. And its definitely harder than just ignoring the whole issue and pretending you don't see what happened (the lying, the taking of something that isn't yours). They are even harder when they come back to back and involve multiple children, but these moments are where I feel I get to see their hearts being reshaped and formed.
And just in case you think I handle all my parenting moments this way, I do not. Just thirty minutes earlier I had kicked all the boys out of the playroom for the rest of the day for a toy being thrown/dropped/crashed (I wasn't even in the room so I don't totally know what happened, I just reacted when I heard the commotion). While I don't enjoy toys being thrown for many reasons, taking the playroom away from them because I was angry was probably not my best decision (it was only 4 pm). And the way I told them was not in my calm mom voice, it was in my scary yelling mom voice. Ugh! Total fail. There was no love there, only frustration and penalty giving.
In summary, it seems that we are going to need that Family Rules sign up for a long time. Maybe I should have invested in the canvas after all? Or maybe I need to print one for each room in the house?
I'm thankful that tomorrow is a new day for all of us. I'm thankful for the boys' hearts that can feel remorse and forgiveness. And I'm hoping that when we return these lost "treasures" to the play area tomorrow that they don't laugh at us because really they aren't worth much monetarily. In fact, they may toss them right into the trash after we leave.
They are however priceless as they were an important learning experience and character making experience for the boys in my house. And for this exhausted mama.
I'm also thankful that tomorrow is a school day as the boys lost TV for two days as a punishment for lying. This brought tears to one of their eyes (mine too buddy, mine too!).
Monday, November 26, 2012
Turkey Races
The boys had a great time. Andrew definitely has more of a natural push when he runs (at least right now). James looked like he was just out for a leisurely stroll so its no surprise that he finished after Andrew. That being said, they both had a blast and that's really all that matters. They both had smiles on their faces when they took off and when they returned to the finish line. In a funny note, they started out together, but got split up from each other within thirty seconds because it was so crowded. I think if they had been able to stick together, they would have finished much closer together in their times.
Here are a few pictures I managed to get.
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| Playing it cool before the race begins. |
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| The start line. You can't see the boys at all as there are over 300 kids and they are in the middle of the crowd. |
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| The Fox and the Turkey were there. |
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| Andrew coming down the homestretch. |
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| James finishing. |
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| Got their finisher's ribbons and a quick congrats from the Turkey. |
Then on Saturday, I got to do a Turkey Trot Half Marathon with my dear friend Jaime. It was her very first half marathon and we've been running together lots this summer and fall, so it was fun to share in it with her.
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| This was taken right when we arrived and before we were totally frozen. |
We did also have some pretty awesome little fans who cheered us on at the 10 mile mark. Apparently, they also really enjoyed cheering the other runners on who were before and after us. If you give them a high-five, they will cheer for you.
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| My superfan |
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| I have no idea who that guy is, but those are my three kiddos with their superhero gloves out cheering on the runners. |
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| All my race pictures are this same bent down pose giving my kids high-fives. Its not pretty but it is what it is. I'm kinda annoyed at how cute my friend Jaime looks in the back. You shouldn't be that cute when you're running. |
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| Ready for high-fives |
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| Bundled up against the cold. |
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| Our good friend Chris Grigson getting ready to give his daughter (in purple) a high five. |
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| Smiles on our faces as we see our men ahead cheering us on. |
We finished under her time goal and did the race with basically no walking (just two very short breaks while we got down some chocolate energy gels). I'm super impressed with Jaime's first time out. I'm amazed by her ability to squeeze all the training into her schedule (she works two days a week, volunteers at church, bakes amazing treats, and is a great mom to her kids). And the last two weeks of training were during a major remodel of her kitchen which turns life upside down for a family. So many congratulations to her for an awesome job done! I'm gonna give her a full week before I start talking about spring races with her.
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| Here we are about fifty yards from crossing the finish line. Yay! |
Here we are after we finished, caught our breath and got our medals!
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| Me and my adoring fans. Aaron decided he should be held by mom even though she just finished a long run. |
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| Clearly the littlest fan is not impressed with my running. |
Catching up on Thankfulness
The holiday week came and went and I didn't write down any of the things I was thankful for, so I'm going to do a quick recap. Here goes.
Day 20: I'm thankful for my friend Jaime . Today she and I took turns watching each other's kids (along with our own) so that we could both get an outdoor run in. This might seem silly, but when you aren't normally able to go outside and run right in the middle of the day when the sun is shining and its warm (this is Chicago in November after all), its a big deal. Whenever I'm driving to/from preschool pickup and I see people running outside, I'm always a little jealous that they are out there in the middle of the day enjoying a run. Today's run reminded me why I love running. Putting my shoes on, pushing myself for a few miles, and listening to music was so relaxing. So, today I'm thankful for both Jaime and the run.
Day 21: Today I'm thankful that Aaron learned to zipper his coat without any assistance from me. It was so fun to see how proud and excited he was that he mastered it. And, for me, I'm excited because it means I have one less coat to zip before we leave the house. For the first time in years, I'm down to zipping up just two coats when we head out the door. Amazing!!!
Day 22: Cousins. I'm thankful for cousins. My kids have a slew on each side of the family. They have cousins that live just a few blocks away that they get to see for a few hours each week.
They also have cousins that live all over the US (Delaware, Texas and
Minnesota). They get to go on fun trips to visit these cousins and have
weeklong sleepovers when we all get together for Christmas every other
year. They get to make memories with boths sets of cousins in different
ways.
Day 23: I'm thankful for vacation days. Today was "black friday." We celebrated by sleeping in (as much as four kids will allow you to). Then we packed up the kids and stopped at The Radio Shopping Show where we purchased half-price certificates. If you live in Chicago and you don't know about The Radio Shopping Show, I can fill you in. Its still strange to me, but for some reason, the show sells majorly discounted certificates to area restaurants, services, entertainment, and activities. Their "stock" varies from time to time. Everything was 50% off of the normal selling price (which is already 30-50% off). I'm too tired to do the math, so let me just say, its a great deal.
After we loaded up on those certificates, we decided to take the boys on a date afternoon using some of them. We called it our "taste of Bartlett, Illinois" because we're cheesy like that. We used a certificate to get pizza at Nicodino's in Bartlett. Nicodino's has yummy pizza and it happens to be about three blocks from my in-laws, so we dropped Caleb there for his naptime. After lunch, we took the boys to the batting cages at Hitting Zone in Bartlett. They haven't really done batting cages, so it was interesting. They each got turns in the slow pitch cages. Aaron had a bunch of foul tips, but no real hits. He was okay with that the first time, but the second time he wasn't as happy until we reminded him that he's only four and that his brothers didn't even get to do the batting cages at that age. Yes, we're always battling male competition. The twins thought it was awesome, although when they saw another family with older boys who brought their own bats from home, they were a little miffed that I hadn't had the foresight to bring along their tball bat.
After baseball, we went to 2 Toots Train cafe where we cashed in some coupons for free cupcakes for the boys while Jon and I split a basket of onion rings and fries (Obviously we were going for healthy food today). They each got fifty cents to spend. Each of them rode the horse ride once and then bought an alien out of toy dispenser. It was a great day. While I love big family vacations like the beach and Disney, I also love the simple days that we spend a few hours out doing something new as a family and then head back to our house to relax for the rest of the night.
Day 24: Today I am thankful that I have finally found an amazing recipe for French Silk Pie. We For years, I've attempted to recreate a delicious version of this pie. Most of the other recipes I've tried haven't been chocolately enough. My other pet peeve is many recipes use raw eggs (which many people don't like or won't eat). Or the recipe uses granulated sugar and it seems gritty because of the sugar.
This new recipe I found finally solved all my dilemmas with making a great French Silk Pie. It has a lot of steps, but they are all easy and totally worth it. This recipe is officially going in my "Keeper" folder. I highly recommend it. Here is my finished product.
I was also especially thankful as I got to showcase it at a pie party at a friend's house. She had prizes for the pies and I won one of these platters that I've had my eye on forever. I can't wait to use it for holiday entertaining this next month. They make awesome gifts, so if you still have some Christmas shopping to do, go here and check out the serving dishes and all the cute "minis" that you can buy to change the platters to be appropriate for any occasion.
Day 25: I'm thankful for family traditions, even more so at this time of year. My mom established lots of family traditions during my childhood, many of them are ones that I'm continuing with my own children like making them a special birthday cake each year, doing an advent calendar each December, giving each child a new ornament each year for the Christmas year reflecting something that went on in their lives, reading the same books together at Christmas, family vacations. The list could go on and on.
We have also started some of our own traditions like an annual family picture in the summer, a thankful tree for the month of November, etc. As the kids get older, its fun to see them get excited and anticipate these traditions too. Just this past week, the boys asked me if I remembered that I need to get their new ornaments for when we decorate the tree. I have so many great memories of these concrete ways that my mom celebrated our lives and time together throughout my childhood. Its not the toys that I remember, but our family being present with each other to create new memories and to carry on our family traditions. I'm thankful for this past of family traditions and for the ongoing ones I'm establishing with my own family of six.
Day 20: I'm thankful for my friend Jaime . Today she and I took turns watching each other's kids (along with our own) so that we could both get an outdoor run in. This might seem silly, but when you aren't normally able to go outside and run right in the middle of the day when the sun is shining and its warm (this is Chicago in November after all), its a big deal. Whenever I'm driving to/from preschool pickup and I see people running outside, I'm always a little jealous that they are out there in the middle of the day enjoying a run. Today's run reminded me why I love running. Putting my shoes on, pushing myself for a few miles, and listening to music was so relaxing. So, today I'm thankful for both Jaime and the run.
Day 21: Today I'm thankful that Aaron learned to zipper his coat without any assistance from me. It was so fun to see how proud and excited he was that he mastered it. And, for me, I'm excited because it means I have one less coat to zip before we leave the house. For the first time in years, I'm down to zipping up just two coats when we head out the door. Amazing!!!
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| Demonstrating his new found zipper skills. |
Day 22: Cousins. I'm thankful for cousins. My kids have a slew on each side of the family. They have cousins that live just a few blocks away that they get to see for a few hours each week.
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| The Shogren/Regier Cousins - Thanksgiving 2012 |
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| The Shogren/Walmer Cousins - Christmas 2011 |
Day 23: I'm thankful for vacation days. Today was "black friday." We celebrated by sleeping in (as much as four kids will allow you to). Then we packed up the kids and stopped at The Radio Shopping Show where we purchased half-price certificates. If you live in Chicago and you don't know about The Radio Shopping Show, I can fill you in. Its still strange to me, but for some reason, the show sells majorly discounted certificates to area restaurants, services, entertainment, and activities. Their "stock" varies from time to time. Everything was 50% off of the normal selling price (which is already 30-50% off). I'm too tired to do the math, so let me just say, its a great deal.
After we loaded up on those certificates, we decided to take the boys on a date afternoon using some of them. We called it our "taste of Bartlett, Illinois" because we're cheesy like that. We used a certificate to get pizza at Nicodino's in Bartlett. Nicodino's has yummy pizza and it happens to be about three blocks from my in-laws, so we dropped Caleb there for his naptime. After lunch, we took the boys to the batting cages at Hitting Zone in Bartlett. They haven't really done batting cages, so it was interesting. They each got turns in the slow pitch cages. Aaron had a bunch of foul tips, but no real hits. He was okay with that the first time, but the second time he wasn't as happy until we reminded him that he's only four and that his brothers didn't even get to do the batting cages at that age. Yes, we're always battling male competition. The twins thought it was awesome, although when they saw another family with older boys who brought their own bats from home, they were a little miffed that I hadn't had the foresight to bring along their tball bat.
After baseball, we went to 2 Toots Train cafe where we cashed in some coupons for free cupcakes for the boys while Jon and I split a basket of onion rings and fries (Obviously we were going for healthy food today). They each got fifty cents to spend. Each of them rode the horse ride once and then bought an alien out of toy dispenser. It was a great day. While I love big family vacations like the beach and Disney, I also love the simple days that we spend a few hours out doing something new as a family and then head back to our house to relax for the rest of the night.
Day 24: Today I am thankful that I have finally found an amazing recipe for French Silk Pie. We For years, I've attempted to recreate a delicious version of this pie. Most of the other recipes I've tried haven't been chocolately enough. My other pet peeve is many recipes use raw eggs (which many people don't like or won't eat). Or the recipe uses granulated sugar and it seems gritty because of the sugar.
This new recipe I found finally solved all my dilemmas with making a great French Silk Pie. It has a lot of steps, but they are all easy and totally worth it. This recipe is officially going in my "Keeper" folder. I highly recommend it. Here is my finished product.
I was also especially thankful as I got to showcase it at a pie party at a friend's house. She had prizes for the pies and I won one of these platters that I've had my eye on forever. I can't wait to use it for holiday entertaining this next month. They make awesome gifts, so if you still have some Christmas shopping to do, go here and check out the serving dishes and all the cute "minis" that you can buy to change the platters to be appropriate for any occasion.
Day 25: I'm thankful for family traditions, even more so at this time of year. My mom established lots of family traditions during my childhood, many of them are ones that I'm continuing with my own children like making them a special birthday cake each year, doing an advent calendar each December, giving each child a new ornament each year for the Christmas year reflecting something that went on in their lives, reading the same books together at Christmas, family vacations. The list could go on and on.
We have also started some of our own traditions like an annual family picture in the summer, a thankful tree for the month of November, etc. As the kids get older, its fun to see them get excited and anticipate these traditions too. Just this past week, the boys asked me if I remembered that I need to get their new ornaments for when we decorate the tree. I have so many great memories of these concrete ways that my mom celebrated our lives and time together throughout my childhood. Its not the toys that I remember, but our family being present with each other to create new memories and to carry on our family traditions. I'm thankful for this past of family traditions and for the ongoing ones I'm establishing with my own family of six.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Day 19
Talkie, Film, Flick, Picture Show, Motion Picture...whatever you want to call it, I love movies. Today I'm thankful for movies. While I am a book lover, sometimes I don't have the time to read a novel and a two hour movie is a good substitute.
I like all kinds of movies. Wait, let me correct that, I like many kinds of movies. There are some that I don't care to watch. I'm not sure what genre it would be, but I'm not a huge fan of the creepy, horror movies where the little children in it are demonic or are the only people that can see evil ghosts that are terrorizing everyone else. I can barely sit through the previews. I do, however, love action, comedy, drama, thriller, musical, animated and classic movies.
The bottom line is that I love stories in both their written (book) and visual (film) version. I like renting movies at home, going to the cheap theater for second run movies, watching outside in the park and going to a first run movie.
Tonight I met up with two girlfriends to see the final installment of the Twilight Saga. You may be rolling your eyes about the movie choice, but you can at least agree that a Monday night at the movies with your friends and a purse full of candy from Walgreens is a great Monday night.
I am thankful for movies--all kinds (well except maybe for those creepy kid ones and the new Star Wars with Jar Jar Binks). I'm thankful for the entertainment that they provide and for the break from reality.
In summary, I will quote one of my favorite songs from Annie:
Let's go to the movies!
Let's go see the stars
Red light holler
Deep depression
What do we care?
Movies are there!
Only happy endings
that's our recipe
Welcome to a lovely
M-O-V-I-E
I like all kinds of movies. Wait, let me correct that, I like many kinds of movies. There are some that I don't care to watch. I'm not sure what genre it would be, but I'm not a huge fan of the creepy, horror movies where the little children in it are demonic or are the only people that can see evil ghosts that are terrorizing everyone else. I can barely sit through the previews. I do, however, love action, comedy, drama, thriller, musical, animated and classic movies.
The bottom line is that I love stories in both their written (book) and visual (film) version. I like renting movies at home, going to the cheap theater for second run movies, watching outside in the park and going to a first run movie.
Tonight I met up with two girlfriends to see the final installment of the Twilight Saga. You may be rolling your eyes about the movie choice, but you can at least agree that a Monday night at the movies with your friends and a purse full of candy from Walgreens is a great Monday night.
I am thankful for movies--all kinds (well except maybe for those creepy kid ones and the new Star Wars with Jar Jar Binks). I'm thankful for the entertainment that they provide and for the break from reality.
In summary, I will quote one of my favorite songs from Annie:
Let's go to the movies!
Let's go see the stars
Red light holler
Deep depression
What do we care?
Movies are there!
Only happy endings
that's our recipe
Welcome to a lovely
M-O-V-I-E
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Day 18: The Weekend
Today I'm thankful for the weekend: Saturday & Sunday. There is a reason everyone looks forward to the weekend. Its a break from the routine. A mini-vacation of sorts, especially if you don't have kids. Before children, the weekends were a 48 hour party. Weekends were for church, going out late, eating, sleeping in, relaxing, reading books, watching movies and being social.
Now that we have children, we still use our weekends for some of that stuff (when we can secure babysitting or after the kids are in bed), but we also use it for lots of other things. Some of the new things that have been added into our weekends are long-distance runs, homework, catching up errands and housework, playing with the kids, and many more things.
This past weekend we did all our normal stuff but we also used it to accomplish a mega "to do" list. If you think I'm joking, I'm not. I take my "to do" lists seriously. They must be written out like this so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing things off as they're accomplished.
First up was some serious babyproofing. We bolted two large book/toy shelves to the walls, mounted the changing table to the wall in his bedroom, put a glass coffee table at the curb for a stranger to take since we cannot keep Caleb off of it, stored our rocking chair at my in-laws house until Caleb is old enough to not climb it and knock it over, moved his dresser into the closet so he cannot climb it and bought a second superyard gate. We already had one superyard gate, but this one means that we can keep him from hanging on our drapes (and pulling the curtain rod down). It also allows us to entertain the idea of putting up a Christmas tree this year. It also means that at this moment, we have 35 feet of continuous gate zig-zagged across our living room--Don't be jealous. After a crazy week, we are taking this babyproofing business serious!!!
Two college-educated adults should be able to outwit a 17-month old toddler, right? We shall see.
I also used the weekend to attack my second goal: Simplify.
I packed up clothes that all the boys have outgrown. We listed a bunch of items on craigslist and had some of them picked up already. This weekend, "we"(I mean Jon) cleared out the garage so we can actually park BOTH of our cars inside of it for the winter months. "We" also ran a bunch of errands after dropping one of the kids at a birthday party. We didn't get through our entire lists, but we got WAY more done than I anticipated. My stress level has been greatly reduced, not only from the relaxation this weekend, but also because Caleb cannot get into as much stuff and there is less stuff to manage in our house.
That being said, I'm exhausted. Since we tucked the kids into bed at 8, I've been sitting on the couch. Monday morning is going to come too soon but I'm thankful for the weekend, for the time to get so much accomplished and the time to just rest. I love the weekend!
Now that we have children, we still use our weekends for some of that stuff (when we can secure babysitting or after the kids are in bed), but we also use it for lots of other things. Some of the new things that have been added into our weekends are long-distance runs, homework, catching up errands and housework, playing with the kids, and many more things.
This past weekend we did all our normal stuff but we also used it to accomplish a mega "to do" list. If you think I'm joking, I'm not. I take my "to do" lists seriously. They must be written out like this so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing things off as they're accomplished.
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| Yep, I write out the lists and cross them off as we go, I'm a nerd. |
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| I've got a fever and the only cure is more babygate. |
I also used the weekend to attack my second goal: Simplify.
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| Another written "to do" list--I love crossing things off! |
That being said, I'm exhausted. Since we tucked the kids into bed at 8, I've been sitting on the couch. Monday morning is going to come too soon but I'm thankful for the weekend, for the time to get so much accomplished and the time to just rest. I love the weekend!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Day 17
Jalapenos are the new love of my life! While it might be a bit of an exaggeration, I really do love jalapenos and am thankful for them--they are so yummy. About six months ago, I discovered fresh jalapenos and since then, my life has never been the same.
This summer my friend Stacey shared some from her garden. And they have become such a staple in our house, they aren't even on the grocery list, they are just bought weekly along with milk, bananas and bread. I'm not joking.
First, I discovered this delicious way to eat them as the best appetizer ever. Apparently everyone already knew about that recipe, or at least my good friend Jaime did. I'm still a little miffed that no one told me about it. I'm even more upset that no one had made me a tray of these delicious appetizers. Jon doesn't like cream cheese, so he has taken to making these with cheddar cheese inside instead and they are delicious that way too (although much trickier to keep the cheese inside as it melts)
After that, I started adding them to any kind of sandwich or wrap that I made at home for lunch. I made this sandwich after a good friend sent me the link. And then I went on a jalapeno roasting kick. Roasted jalapenos are even yummier, although more time consuming.
This summer I had cheddar jalapeno mashed potatoes and jalapeno grits at different restaurants. I discovered a jalapeno artichoke dip that Costco sells. I cannot buy it anymore though as I'm the only one who eats it and its embarrassing how quickly it is gone. And just tonight, Jon made us a delicious plate of loaded oven-baked fries. Potato, cheese, bacon and diced jalapenos---all my favorites!
So I'm thankful for those little green peppers that are spicing up all my food these days.
This summer my friend Stacey shared some from her garden. And they have become such a staple in our house, they aren't even on the grocery list, they are just bought weekly along with milk, bananas and bread. I'm not joking.
First, I discovered this delicious way to eat them as the best appetizer ever. Apparently everyone already knew about that recipe, or at least my good friend Jaime did. I'm still a little miffed that no one told me about it. I'm even more upset that no one had made me a tray of these delicious appetizers. Jon doesn't like cream cheese, so he has taken to making these with cheddar cheese inside instead and they are delicious that way too (although much trickier to keep the cheese inside as it melts)
After that, I started adding them to any kind of sandwich or wrap that I made at home for lunch. I made this sandwich after a good friend sent me the link. And then I went on a jalapeno roasting kick. Roasted jalapenos are even yummier, although more time consuming.
This summer I had cheddar jalapeno mashed potatoes and jalapeno grits at different restaurants. I discovered a jalapeno artichoke dip that Costco sells. I cannot buy it anymore though as I'm the only one who eats it and its embarrassing how quickly it is gone. And just tonight, Jon made us a delicious plate of loaded oven-baked fries. Potato, cheese, bacon and diced jalapenos---all my favorites!
Friday, November 16, 2012
Day 16
Today I'm very thankful for two things that go hand in hand. First, I'm thankful for God's protection over Caleb, especially over the last week or two. Secondly, I'm thankful for safety equipment, things like baby gates, outlet plugs, cabinet locks and the like.
If you are facebook friends with me then you've likely seen me post pictures of our sweet Caleb's propensity to climb things and to get into all sorts of mischief. I naively thought that our house was baby-proofed adequately from the other children and would be good enough for #4. Boy was I wrong! Caleb has managed to break out from rooms where he has been gated in, to climb things our other boys never attempted and to get into cabinets where no other child has ventured.
In an effort to not be constantly overwhelmed by his adventures, I've tried to take the approach where I laugh about his amazing feats and subsequent messes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This week it hasn't been working for me. More than being angry about the ongoing messes, I've been worried and stressed about how to keep him safe while not losing my mind and being able to occasionally accomplish something around the house.
This week, I've been struck by how amazing it is that he hasn't been seriously injured. He broke into our china cabinet when I was in the bathroom and smashed several wine glasses but managed not to get a scratch or cut anywhere on him. When I changed out laundry from the washer to the dryer, he found his way on top of our kitchen table where he spilled a glass of milk on the table. As I walked back into the room and saw him dancing in the puddle of milk, I said a quick prayer of thanks that I found him before he slipped and fell onto our hard ceramic floor. The next day when I left him in his bedroom to run get more diapers and heard a loud crash (but no crying), I raced into the room to see his rocking chair knocked over, but Caleb out of harm's way. Again, I gave a sigh of relief that he was okay and a quick prayer of thanks.
I feel like life this week has been a series of near catastrophes. We obviously are raising our levels of babyproofing. We installed some new cabinet locks, got rid of some furniture that was too easy to climb and are bolting dressers and bookshelves to the walls. While Caleb has us rethinking how to keep him safe, I'm thankful for the many options of safety equipment that are available to us.
It also has me thinking of the Amy Grant song "Angels". Specifically, the chorus where she sings "Angels Watching Over Me" has been stuck in my head all week. I grew up on Amy Grant's music and use to rent her music videos over and over as a child. If you've never seen it, here's the link so you too can enjoy some 80s cheesy Christian music videos as you've definitely been missing out. Jon & I just re-watched it and had a good laugh. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYjwT9ANdbg
If you are facebook friends with me then you've likely seen me post pictures of our sweet Caleb's propensity to climb things and to get into all sorts of mischief. I naively thought that our house was baby-proofed adequately from the other children and would be good enough for #4. Boy was I wrong! Caleb has managed to break out from rooms where he has been gated in, to climb things our other boys never attempted and to get into cabinets where no other child has ventured.
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| What mom? I'm sitting down, this isn't even remotely dangerous anymore. |
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| Who are you calling trouble? |
In an effort to not be constantly overwhelmed by his adventures, I've tried to take the approach where I laugh about his amazing feats and subsequent messes. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. This week it hasn't been working for me. More than being angry about the ongoing messes, I've been worried and stressed about how to keep him safe while not losing my mind and being able to occasionally accomplish something around the house.
This week, I've been struck by how amazing it is that he hasn't been seriously injured. He broke into our china cabinet when I was in the bathroom and smashed several wine glasses but managed not to get a scratch or cut anywhere on him. When I changed out laundry from the washer to the dryer, he found his way on top of our kitchen table where he spilled a glass of milk on the table. As I walked back into the room and saw him dancing in the puddle of milk, I said a quick prayer of thanks that I found him before he slipped and fell onto our hard ceramic floor. The next day when I left him in his bedroom to run get more diapers and heard a loud crash (but no crying), I raced into the room to see his rocking chair knocked over, but Caleb out of harm's way. Again, I gave a sigh of relief that he was okay and a quick prayer of thanks.
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| This is his first attempt to climb the chair which resulted in it tipping over. |
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| After we got the chair upright and i was restocking the diapers, he decided this was an even better way to use the recliner, with his toes perched on the skinny armrest. |
I feel like life this week has been a series of near catastrophes. We obviously are raising our levels of babyproofing. We installed some new cabinet locks, got rid of some furniture that was too easy to climb and are bolting dressers and bookshelves to the walls. While Caleb has us rethinking how to keep him safe, I'm thankful for the many options of safety equipment that are available to us.
It also has me thinking of the Amy Grant song "Angels". Specifically, the chorus where she sings "Angels Watching Over Me" has been stuck in my head all week. I grew up on Amy Grant's music and use to rent her music videos over and over as a child. If you've never seen it, here's the link so you too can enjoy some 80s cheesy Christian music videos as you've definitely been missing out. Jon & I just re-watched it and had a good laugh. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYjwT9ANdbg
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Day 15: Pictures
I'm a picture girl. For as long as I can remember, I've loved taking pictures and then having them to look at them. I'm not a photographer and I won't pretend to be one. I just like having the snapshot to remember people and experiences by. I've always been one of those people who brings their camera along to events, vacations, etc.
I made my first scrapbook when I was 8 and went on a trip with my grandparents to Chicago. I still have it. It has tons of mementos like a ticket from my first Metra train ride, a napkin ring from the restaurant in the Marshall Fields where we ate downtown and lots of pictures of extended family I met on that trip, Chicago landmarks we visited and family sites like the houses my grandparents grew up in.
Recently when my college roommate Lindsey visited, I pulled out my college scrapbooks, I had three from my freshman year. Clearly, I had a lot of time on my hands for doing silly things and then documenting it. I still do lots of silly things (or at least people in my house are always doing silly things) and I still document it by taking lots of pictures, but I don't get the pictures into photo albums or photo books as often or as quickly as I'd like.
My oldest three children all have baby books that I made through snapfish of their first year. I finished the twins' books and ordered them the night before my c-section with Aaron. I finished Aaron's baby book about two weeks before Caleb was born. And in typical fashion of a mom with several children, I've yet to even start Caleb's baby book. Poor child #4. I have no deadline to get his book done since there are no more babies on the way. In my defense, this child is keeping me busy, Busy, BUSY chasing after him and his crazy antics, so its not like I have oodles of time to sit down and put a photo book together. I do have pictures though and maybe someday when he isn't climbing everything in my house and getting knives out of the dishwasher I'll make that baby book. Just maybe!
I have always loved pictures. I'm thankful for pictures as this stage of life is so all-encompassing that its hard for me to remember what the boys looked like before, things we've done together or other milestone. Pictures help me remember, especially those first 6-8 weeks with the twins where everything was a blur. I also love that I can share what I looked liked and what my childhood was like with my own children through pictures. I love re-living those special family trips and memories through pictures.
So, I'm gonna share a few of my favorite pictures (its so hard to pick only a few) but here there are in no particular order.
I made my first scrapbook when I was 8 and went on a trip with my grandparents to Chicago. I still have it. It has tons of mementos like a ticket from my first Metra train ride, a napkin ring from the restaurant in the Marshall Fields where we ate downtown and lots of pictures of extended family I met on that trip, Chicago landmarks we visited and family sites like the houses my grandparents grew up in.
Recently when my college roommate Lindsey visited, I pulled out my college scrapbooks, I had three from my freshman year. Clearly, I had a lot of time on my hands for doing silly things and then documenting it. I still do lots of silly things (or at least people in my house are always doing silly things) and I still document it by taking lots of pictures, but I don't get the pictures into photo albums or photo books as often or as quickly as I'd like.
My oldest three children all have baby books that I made through snapfish of their first year. I finished the twins' books and ordered them the night before my c-section with Aaron. I finished Aaron's baby book about two weeks before Caleb was born. And in typical fashion of a mom with several children, I've yet to even start Caleb's baby book. Poor child #4. I have no deadline to get his book done since there are no more babies on the way. In my defense, this child is keeping me busy, Busy, BUSY chasing after him and his crazy antics, so its not like I have oodles of time to sit down and put a photo book together. I do have pictures though and maybe someday when he isn't climbing everything in my house and getting knives out of the dishwasher I'll make that baby book. Just maybe!
I have always loved pictures. I'm thankful for pictures as this stage of life is so all-encompassing that its hard for me to remember what the boys looked like before, things we've done together or other milestone. Pictures help me remember, especially those first 6-8 weeks with the twins where everything was a blur. I also love that I can share what I looked liked and what my childhood was like with my own children through pictures. I love re-living those special family trips and memories through pictures.
So, I'm gonna share a few of my favorite pictures (its so hard to pick only a few) but here there are in no particular order.
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| June 2011--the big boys meeting Caleb for the first time. |
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| July 2006 Andrew touching James' face when they are just a few hours old. |
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| August 2008 Aunt Natalie gives Aaron a do-rag to wear. |
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| January 2009--Matching PJs are so fun! |
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| December 2010-Matching Christmas PJs are even more fun! |
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| 1988ish--My little sister and I in some old-school matching Christmas dresses. |
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| November 2002--Jon and I are calling people to let them know we're engaged. I'm holding the ring because it didn't fit so I couldn't wear it until it was re-sized the following week. |
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| My siblings & I sometime in the 90s |
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| My siblings & I at Christmas last year (Dec 2011). |
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| All the Walmer & Shogren grandchildren last year. This picture is already outdated since #10 (Harvey arrived this year). |
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Day 14
Let's try that again. Usually I'm a day behind, but apparently I got ahead of myself this time.
Day 14
Today I am thankful for teachers. The teachers I had as a child, both at school and church have shaped who I am today. My fourth grade teacher was amazing. I cannot remember exact details, but I know she allowed me to be creative and encouraged me. As a present, two of my friends and I made a memory book for her where we compiled entries from each of our classmates in secret. I have no idea what was in that book, but I know I was proud of it.
My high school English teacher taught me the mechanics of a five paragraph essay, introduced me to many literature classics and drastically improved my writing skills. I have used those writing skills on a regular basis since high school. I was in the last class that he taught before he retired. Even as a highschooler, I knew he was an amazing teacher and would be greatly missed. In honor of his pending retirement and the sheer volume of reading he had us complete, two friends and I filled his lawn on Halloween night with tombstones titled with all the books on his class reading list. We spent a lot of time making those tombstones and setting them up.
My typing teacher was a drill sargeant about having us type without looking at the keys. At the time, I thought it was a silly class. There is not a day that goes by where I don't use those typing skills. It was one of the most useful classes I ever took.
I still keep tabs on what my Sunday School and Pioneer Club teachers are up to these days and I love going home to visit the church where I grew up and seeing those women who poured their time and energy into me when I was a child and teen.
About a month ago, a 30-something year old man said something to my mom about how Mr. and Mrs. Prochaska (my grandparents/her parents) liked him as a kid. He remembered that they taught him first and second grade Sunday School. More importantly, he remembered that they loved him.
Its amazing the impact that teachers can have on your life.
Now that I'm a mom, I'm seeing the other side of it. I'm seeing people who invest in my children on a daily or weekly basis. I'm seeing how they shape my children. At first as a mom, its scary to give that control over to someone else, but the benefits of a good teacher in their life is huge. They are able to teach and tell them things that my children wouldn't believe from me. My kids may be young, but they already exhibit that idea teenage attitude that something I tell them is irrelevant from time to time, but if another adult/teacher tells them the same thing, it must be true.
I'm thankful for both of their kindergarten teachers. They are sweet, but firm. They are already challenging them to work harder and push to read new goals when it comes to math and reading. At the same time, they are positive and encouraging.
I'm thankful for their Awana leaders who give up their Wednesday nights to come to church and be excited to spend time with my kids, listen to them recite verses, and teach them more about God's love. I'm thankful for their Sunday School teachers that show up early on Sunday mornings and are happy to see them and teach them detailed Bible stories. I'm thankful for their Promiseland small group teachers and children's pastors that are energetic and show up each week to pour themselves into my boys.
I'm thankful for these teachers and the many hours they spend being with my children. I'm thankful for how they are shaping my boys into being boys of integrity. I'm thankful for the Biblical knowledge that is being passed along to them, the self-esteem that is being built in them and that they are making learning fun and relevant.
Day 13
Day 13 I am thankful for running and exercise. I'm thankful that my body is able to run. I'm thankful for the the way that it allows me to release stress, achieve goals and to clear my mind. I'm thankful for the benefits that it gives me: feeling good about myself, burning calories from those cookies I baked and then ate, gives me time to talk uninterrupted with my running buddies, the time to reflect and the things it teaches me about myself.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Day 12
Day 12: I'm thankful for sleep. It may seem like a silly thing to be thankful for (especially to those who don't have children yet), but sleep is one of the best gifts I can be given right now. For most parents with multiple young children, the days of sleeping in late and getting 8+ hours of sleep a night are long gone. I am no exception. Although, I must admit that my kids have all been pretty good sleepers, but Caleb has been the hardest and I can only imagine what people who go years and years with bad or little sleep feel like.
Some of my lack of sleep is my own fault. I am, by nature, a night-owl which means that my bedtime is rarely before midnight. I get a burst of energy around 9 pm and it keeps me up late finishing up stuff around the house, reading a book, watching TV or just hanging out with people. The problem is that 7 am comes very quickly and brings with it 4 little boys who are full of energy after a long night's sleep. Watch out on the days that Caleb decides to get up before then as I am not a happy camper.
So, extra hours of sleep are like a currency in our house. Jon and I will often alternate weekend mornings where we get to sleep in an extra hour or two. Two extra hours of sleep is delicious. Or, sometimes we barter with each other in the currency of sleep. For example, I will offer Jon two extra hours of sleep on a Saturday morning if I can get the afternoon to go do something without any of the kids or if he will take the big kids to go do something without me so I can clean the house.
Every so often we convince Jon's parents to take the kids overnight so we can go to a late movie and sleep in the next day. Its awesome. Or, when we are visiting my parents, they will offer (or sometimes we just assume they will) to get up with the boys so that we can sleep in several days in a row. In fact, this summer when the boys & I were visiting my parents, my mom and I struck up a deal. She would get up with the kids first thing in the morning and I cooked the lunches and dinners that week. It was heavenly. I got to try new recipes and I slept til 8:30 for four or five days in a row.
Sleep is a wonderful thing.
Some of my lack of sleep is my own fault. I am, by nature, a night-owl which means that my bedtime is rarely before midnight. I get a burst of energy around 9 pm and it keeps me up late finishing up stuff around the house, reading a book, watching TV or just hanging out with people. The problem is that 7 am comes very quickly and brings with it 4 little boys who are full of energy after a long night's sleep. Watch out on the days that Caleb decides to get up before then as I am not a happy camper.
So, extra hours of sleep are like a currency in our house. Jon and I will often alternate weekend mornings where we get to sleep in an extra hour or two. Two extra hours of sleep is delicious. Or, sometimes we barter with each other in the currency of sleep. For example, I will offer Jon two extra hours of sleep on a Saturday morning if I can get the afternoon to go do something without any of the kids or if he will take the big kids to go do something without me so I can clean the house.
Every so often we convince Jon's parents to take the kids overnight so we can go to a late movie and sleep in the next day. Its awesome. Or, when we are visiting my parents, they will offer (or sometimes we just assume they will) to get up with the boys so that we can sleep in several days in a row. In fact, this summer when the boys & I were visiting my parents, my mom and I struck up a deal. She would get up with the kids first thing in the morning and I cooked the lunches and dinners that week. It was heavenly. I got to try new recipes and I slept til 8:30 for four or five days in a row.
Sleep is a wonderful thing.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Day 11
Food, Glorious Food!
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
To do nothing but brood
On food
Magical food
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food
Fabulous food
Since I decided I was going to write about Food today, the chorus "Food, Glorious Food" has been going over and over in my mind. My childhood was spent watching musicals over and over and over, so I often have songs pop into my mind. Sadly, Jon doesn't appreciate or get my references to these movie versions of musicals from the 50s and 60s. Anyone out there know what this is from or am I alone?
Anyway, back to day #11 and being thankful for food. This weekend, my parents are here in Chicago so that my dad can attend a medical conference. My mom spent the last 48 hours with us in the suburbs while my dad went to the conference. Since we had to return her to my dad downtown, we decided to go out to dinner with him so we could spend some time with him too.
We took the 3 big boys along (major thanks to Stacey for keeping Caleb for us) and decided to go to the Weber Grill since our kids like it and we had coupons for free kids meals which I'm sure doesn't surprise anyone that knows us. These particular kids meals coupons had been earned when the boys finished the library reading program this summer, so they were even more excited about it.
The food was absolutely yummy. And after having done a big run today (18.5 mile for me, 20 for Jon), we were more than happy to dig into the warm pretzel bread, a grilled pizza and some smoked BBQ meat. The portions were ridiculous so we've got several boxes of leftovers to enjoy tomorrow.
This meal is just one example of how blessed we are. Not only do we not worry about where our next meal is coming from, we actually get to pick what we want to eat. We have three meals a day, access to snacks, and can go to the grocery store whenever we want. It truly is a life of abundance when it comes to food.
The entire Thanksgiving holiday revolves around feasting, but compared to much of the world, most of our daily meals are feasts by comparison. I'm thankful that I have access to nutritious, varied and yummy foods. And I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about if I'm going to be able to feed my family today.
What wouldn't we give for
That extra bit more
That's all that we live for
Why should we be fated to
To do nothing but brood
On food
Magical food
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food
Fabulous food
Since I decided I was going to write about Food today, the chorus "Food, Glorious Food" has been going over and over in my mind. My childhood was spent watching musicals over and over and over, so I often have songs pop into my mind. Sadly, Jon doesn't appreciate or get my references to these movie versions of musicals from the 50s and 60s. Anyone out there know what this is from or am I alone?
Anyway, back to day #11 and being thankful for food. This weekend, my parents are here in Chicago so that my dad can attend a medical conference. My mom spent the last 48 hours with us in the suburbs while my dad went to the conference. Since we had to return her to my dad downtown, we decided to go out to dinner with him so we could spend some time with him too.
We took the 3 big boys along (major thanks to Stacey for keeping Caleb for us) and decided to go to the Weber Grill since our kids like it and we had coupons for free kids meals which I'm sure doesn't surprise anyone that knows us. These particular kids meals coupons had been earned when the boys finished the library reading program this summer, so they were even more excited about it.
The food was absolutely yummy. And after having done a big run today (18.5 mile for me, 20 for Jon), we were more than happy to dig into the warm pretzel bread, a grilled pizza and some smoked BBQ meat. The portions were ridiculous so we've got several boxes of leftovers to enjoy tomorrow.
This meal is just one example of how blessed we are. Not only do we not worry about where our next meal is coming from, we actually get to pick what we want to eat. We have three meals a day, access to snacks, and can go to the grocery store whenever we want. It truly is a life of abundance when it comes to food.
The entire Thanksgiving holiday revolves around feasting, but compared to much of the world, most of our daily meals are feasts by comparison. I'm thankful that I have access to nutritious, varied and yummy foods. And I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about if I'm going to be able to feed my family today.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Day 10
As I'm getting ready to head to church tonight, I'm thankful. I've been going to church for as long as I can remember. Church and a "church family" has been an integrat part of my life since I was a young child. I'm thankful that I live in a country where I am able to worship freely and out in the open. I can go to church and I don't have to worry about it costing me my life or resulting in personal harm.
I'm thankful for that church I grew up in. I am thankful for the sunday school teachers who invested in teaching me weekly, for the Pioneer club leaders who gave up their wednesday nights, for the older women who mentored me as a teenager and for the missionaries who allowed me to come visit them in high school. This church family that I grew up with is the one that celebrated my marriage by throwing me a bridal shower and for attending my out-of-state wedding.
For the last 10 years, Jon & I have been attending the same church. I'm also thankful for this church. When I say I'm thankful for church, I don't just mean the building. I mean the activities that take place both in the church and outside of the church. When I say church, I think of those usual things like the weekly sermons, children's programs, classes, etc. But I also think of the community aspect. The church sponsored serving opportunities that we've participated in that changed our perspectives.
Over the past decade, our church has provided us with several small groups and through participating in those gropus, we've developed friendships that still remain and are still growing. These are friends that have helped us through tough times, celebrated our children's births and dedications, and challenged us to grow.
Our children love going to church and this makes me glad. I am thankful for what they are learning there. I'm thankful that they have teachers who are investing time, energy and love into them. I am also thankful that because of these great children's programs, we are able to go to weekly services and participate without the interruptions of our children. I'm thankful for that weekly hour where I am able to worship and learn.
Church, to me, is both a building and a community. I am thankful for both the physical space where we attend church and the community of believers who are in our lives.
I'm thankful for that church I grew up in. I am thankful for the sunday school teachers who invested in teaching me weekly, for the Pioneer club leaders who gave up their wednesday nights, for the older women who mentored me as a teenager and for the missionaries who allowed me to come visit them in high school. This church family that I grew up with is the one that celebrated my marriage by throwing me a bridal shower and for attending my out-of-state wedding.
For the last 10 years, Jon & I have been attending the same church. I'm also thankful for this church. When I say I'm thankful for church, I don't just mean the building. I mean the activities that take place both in the church and outside of the church. When I say church, I think of those usual things like the weekly sermons, children's programs, classes, etc. But I also think of the community aspect. The church sponsored serving opportunities that we've participated in that changed our perspectives.
Over the past decade, our church has provided us with several small groups and through participating in those gropus, we've developed friendships that still remain and are still growing. These are friends that have helped us through tough times, celebrated our children's births and dedications, and challenged us to grow.
Our children love going to church and this makes me glad. I am thankful for what they are learning there. I'm thankful that they have teachers who are investing time, energy and love into them. I am also thankful that because of these great children's programs, we are able to go to weekly services and participate without the interruptions of our children. I'm thankful for that weekly hour where I am able to worship and learn.
Church, to me, is both a building and a community. I am thankful for both the physical space where we attend church and the community of believers who are in our lives.
Day 9
Well, I'm behind. Day 9 came and went without my thankful post. I'm a full day late. However, I think its okay since the reason that I'm late because I was out doing what I'm thankful for in this post. So, it's all good, right?
Day 9: I'm thankful for Date Nights. They might be planned out in advance or spontaneous (like last night's date). It might be something amazing like a concert, a fancy dinner at a new restaurant, or a wine tasting. Or, it might be something super ordinary like a night of errands without the kids, a quick cup of coffee, or dinner and a movie. It doesn't really matter all that much, its just the hour or few awayy from the kids with just Jon that I relish.
Grandma Mary happens to be visiting us for 48 hours while Pa Lynn is at a medical conference downtown. So, we put her to work right away. First, we left her with all four kids while we headed to a wake where we were able to share our condolensces with the family that have been long-time family friends of Jon's. We were also able to catch up with other friends and acquaintences there.
Then, we left just Caleb with her while we took the older 3 boys to the annual Fun Fair at their elementary school. After we had all the boys tucked into bed, we headed out around 9 pm without any kids for a fast dinner and a movie.
Dinner was at Steak & Shake. Obviously not gourmet, but it was fast and we got to sit and chat uninterrupted for a solid 45 minutes. Better yet, no one was absentmindly kicking our legs under the table, using our shirt sleeves as napkins or asking how to spell a million different words.
After that we headed to our local AMC and enjoyed a 10:30 showing of the new Bond movie. I do have to admit that it was a little difficult for me to stay awake during the whole movie (which makes me feel really old and a little sorry for always making fun of my mom for falling asleep during movies), but I did it.
It was a late night, but the impromptu dinner date was fun and worth missing an few hours of sleep. Date nights are a treat (because we can't just get out on our whenever we want anymore) but so necessary for our marriage. I'm so thankful for date nights and the people who make them possible for us like Grandparents, friends, and our high school babysitters.
Day 9: I'm thankful for Date Nights. They might be planned out in advance or spontaneous (like last night's date). It might be something amazing like a concert, a fancy dinner at a new restaurant, or a wine tasting. Or, it might be something super ordinary like a night of errands without the kids, a quick cup of coffee, or dinner and a movie. It doesn't really matter all that much, its just the hour or few awayy from the kids with just Jon that I relish.
Grandma Mary happens to be visiting us for 48 hours while Pa Lynn is at a medical conference downtown. So, we put her to work right away. First, we left her with all four kids while we headed to a wake where we were able to share our condolensces with the family that have been long-time family friends of Jon's. We were also able to catch up with other friends and acquaintences there.
Then, we left just Caleb with her while we took the older 3 boys to the annual Fun Fair at their elementary school. After we had all the boys tucked into bed, we headed out around 9 pm without any kids for a fast dinner and a movie.
Dinner was at Steak & Shake. Obviously not gourmet, but it was fast and we got to sit and chat uninterrupted for a solid 45 minutes. Better yet, no one was absentmindly kicking our legs under the table, using our shirt sleeves as napkins or asking how to spell a million different words.
After that we headed to our local AMC and enjoyed a 10:30 showing of the new Bond movie. I do have to admit that it was a little difficult for me to stay awake during the whole movie (which makes me feel really old and a little sorry for always making fun of my mom for falling asleep during movies), but I did it.
It was a late night, but the impromptu dinner date was fun and worth missing an few hours of sleep. Date nights are a treat (because we can't just get out on our whenever we want anymore) but so necessary for our marriage. I'm so thankful for date nights and the people who make them possible for us like Grandparents, friends, and our high school babysitters.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Day 8
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| This is the Thankful Tree that our family made last year listing all our blessings. |
I am even more thankful for the memories we've created in this home. The milestone occasions like birthday celebrations, anniversary dinners, mother's day breakfasts in bed, Easter egg hunts, decorating the Christmas tree and first day of school pictures.
I am thankful for the everyday but just as precious memories that take place in this home. Thankful for the nights that I got up to feed and snuggle my babies in my Grandma's rocking chair. Thankful for the nightly conversations that we have at the dinner table--the silly conversations full of knock knock jokes and the serious ones like how you get to heaven or how babies are made. I'm grateful for the bedtime moments where I tuck my little guys into warm beds and get to kiss them goodnight. I'm thankful for the hours Jon and I get to sit and talk each night after the kids are in bed (usually as we catch up on TV shows, mail and reading). I'm thankful for the many playdates and low key dinners we've hosted in our home where friendships have blossomed and grown.
I'm thankful for this home--this home full of love, laughter, clutter, tantrums, tears, forgiveness, and memories. To quote one of my favorite childhood movies -- There's no place like Home.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Day 7
Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
These lyrics have been running through my head all day today. Its the chorus to an old hymn that was actually written in 1865 (I actually googled it because I wanted to read all the verses again). I can't remember the last time I've actually sung this in church as our church doesn't play old hymns very often, but I obviously heard it a lot during my childhood since I can remember the words.
Today I am thankful for my salvation. I'm thankful that Jesus paid it all for me. I'm thankful that I don't have to DO anything, I can just accept the gift of Jesus dying for my sins (or as my four-year-old son Aaron likes to say 'Jesus died on my sins').
All to him I owe
Sin hath left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
These lyrics have been running through my head all day today. Its the chorus to an old hymn that was actually written in 1865 (I actually googled it because I wanted to read all the verses again). I can't remember the last time I've actually sung this in church as our church doesn't play old hymns very often, but I obviously heard it a lot during my childhood since I can remember the words.
Today I am thankful for my salvation. I'm thankful that Jesus paid it all for me. I'm thankful that I don't have to DO anything, I can just accept the gift of Jesus dying for my sins (or as my four-year-old son Aaron likes to say 'Jesus died on my sins').
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