5MinFri - Quiet

Five minute Friday is a blog carnival where a beautiful crowd spends five minutes all writing on the same topic and then sharing ‘em over at Gypsy Mama's blog.  Want to know how Five Minute Friday got started and how to participate? All the details are here.

Sometimes even 5 min worth of quiet time seems like a precious gem in my house. I have a beautiful 2 year old son who simply has more energy than I know what to do with sometimes. If you peeked into my house on any given day, you'd see for yourself that he plays "drums" on everything, he yells for seemingly no reason, he sings, and that one of his recent "favorite" toys is a keyboard that plays a few different children's songs. It drives me nuts but I love the joy he gets from it. Which is really my point in all of this. I genuinely love being this little boy's mom. I love the fact that I've traded the ability to sit and read a book for hours straight for a symphony if noise. I love the creativity that he is exhibiting by grabbing two spoons and banging on every surface in the house. He's my son and while I've always wanted to have children and all that comes with parenting, I've quickly learned from the newborn crying to the screaming toddler that "more quiet time" just isn't I'm the cards for me right now, and honestly, I'm ok with that!


-STOP-

Until next time,
Mel

Not in Labor But...

...I just want to go on the record as saying that I think this baby is coming soon. My due date is 14 days away, but I woke up feeling *something*. I have no idea how to describe it but something has changed in my body for sure from the time I got into bed last night.

Updates to come. Until next time!

-Mel

Do Your Very Best

There is always someone ready, willing and able to step up to the plate when you aren't willing to commit yourself 100%.

Until next time!

-Mel

Verse of the Week - Total Life Prosperity

I've decided to work harder on memorizing scripture. The plan? Work on at least one verse each week. I happen to be blessed with an extensive list of slightly more than 200 verses that refer to prosperity in one way or another beginning in Genesis and making its way all the way through the 3rd letter of John. To memorize the entire list doing only one at a time would mean a few weeks shy of 4 years working only on this theme. If I'm honest with myself and with you, I'll admit here and now that probably won't happen. There are so many topics I'd like to cover! That being said, this list is still the place where I feel most led to begin so, for this week at least, it's where my verse comes to me from. Want to join me on my journey? Let me know! It would be great to have a prayer pal along the way!

This week's scripture is:

3 JOHN 1:2 "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."

 

 

Take some time to think about what God is saying to you through this.  Happy memorization!

Until next time!
-Mel

A Weekend Away

Working a retreat this weekend. Only the 2nd time I've been away from hubs and my son for this long (and last time I was in constant communication with my husband.)

Feeling like an 18-wheeler is sitting on my chest.

Until next time!
-Mel

5MinFri - Grasp

Where a beautiful crowd spends five minutes all writing on the same topic and then sharing ‘em over at Gypsy Mama's blog.  Want to know how Five Minute Friday got started and how to participate? All the details are here.

Sometimes (like right now in life) I feel like things are slipping through my fingers. I'm just barely making it and losing my grasp on life. This is tough for me as a closet control freak. On the surface, you might see my pile of dirty dishes, messy house and unbathed 2 year old and think "Wow, she just doesn't care." But the opposite is true. I see these things and it overwhelms me. The problem is that in addition to being a mom and homemaker, I find myself agreeing to everything people ask me to do. There just aren't enough hours in a day to do it all and until I can get that truth into my heart I'll be feeling like I'm losing my grasp for awhile.

-STOP-

Until next time,
Mel

The Way I Imagine the Conversation

My body: "I've been so good to you why are you depriving me of oxygen? I haven't even pointed out the extra pounds you've put on these last few months!"

Me: "I'm so sorry, it's not my fault! The baby seems to be comfortable leaning right against my lungs. I'd give you more oxygen if I could, I swear!"

Discouraged

Being pregnant and raising a toddler are a difficult combination. Today alone I've managed to allow my own frustrations to be an excuse for yelling at him for doing something I fully expected, for touching something that normally wouldn't have bothered me, and for not telling me in time that he needed to use the toilet. Days like today make me feel like such a failure, especially when he still looks up at me and smiles as if I'm the best mom in the world. Ugh, I just realized that we've done very little new content from my homeschool curriculum, meaning I'm going to quickly fall behind if I don't pull it together quickly.

How do other parents deal with days like this?

Until next time!

-Mel

Big Bites

As I prepare for an upcoming retreat that I agreed to speak at, I'm feeling as though I've bitten off more than I can chew.

God, only You truly know why I was asked to be there. I trust that You will shine in spite of my insecurities and that what is left of this planning process will run smoothly. Please give me peace and ease my feelings of loneliness so that I can present Your Son with the spirit that He deserves!


Until next time!
-Mel

Dear ChocolateChip - 24 Months (Happy Birthday!)

"For me it feels like yesterday, just yesterday to me I looked into your tiny face, your tiny face held me Of course I know all children grow
All children grow of course I know.....
I didn’t know how fast you’d grow"

Somehow, two years have flown by me in the blink of an eye. You have grown so much from the baby that your Papa and I brought home from the hospital. Your personality has grown and bloomed so much that some days we feel like we don't know you at all. 

Someone asked recently what things you are "in to" so that they could buy you a birthday gift and as I wrote out a list, I was surprised at how long and all over the place the list seemed. You love things like "Baby Signing Time" and just about anything musical for that matter, have recently discovered PBS shows like Barney, Sid the Science Kid and Word World, and you do regular costume changes between Buzz Lightyear and Woody of Toy Story and Spiderman. 

You frustrate your Papa and I less than half a much as you make us laugh, so we think those "terrible twos" should be manageable (I guess we'll revisit that theory in 12 months.)

Things I hope to never forget: No favorite colors as you still can't identify them, but you can count in Spanish up to 3 and you make a decent attempt at singing the alphabet. You love Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Happy Birthday song, and will spontaneously break out in song throughout the day.  We read together and play together and spend lots of time together and I wouldn't have it any other way. You give the best hugs and kisses but only on your own schedule. Some mornings you want hugs over and over, other times Papa and I can beg for hugs and kisses and you yell "No" and run away laughing. 

With baby number 2 coming soon I'm trying to make sure you get lots of attention and know how much we love you. We try to show you babies and how delicate they are and have practiced with dolls, but we won't know how you'll react until baby arrives. I know you'll be an awesome big brother though since you really seem to care for people in general.

I look forward to the years to come as your mom. I love you baby boy!

Love always, Mama

Sick Baby

Sadly, my husband and I had a cranky baby on our hands today. Unfortunately for hubs, he had to deal with the brunt of the crankiness. At some point we figured that he might be coming down with something and would treat him as we figured out what was wrong. In the late evening I thought he felt warm and an hour later the thermometer confirmed his temperature was 101 degrees. A quick check on my favorite fever reference chart confirmed that 101 is still mild enough at his age 3 days until he's a 2 year old!) for me not to worry too much. About an hour after that his temp had risen to 102.5. He was laying down pretty calmly watching PBS Kids and it was already late so I decided to continue letting his body do whatever it was doing.
It's now just after 5:30am and I was awake with ChocolateChip for almost 2 hours (he fell asleep as I'm typing this next to him.) He's wasn't cranky or crying but not lethargic or delirious either. Just couldn't seem to sleep. He would close his eyes and appear to be resting but then he would speak and I would know he was still awake (it wasn't like talking in your sleep, it would be like a request for his stuffed dog or telling me a bug bite itches or asking for a hug). He's still warm to the touch but wouldn't let me take his temperature (now that he's asleep I can try again though.) Not sure what to make of it, but I figured this is as good a place as any to document this.

Thanks for listening. Until next time!

-Mel

Let's Hear it For the Boys - Swim Lessons

Let’s Hear it For the Boys is your chance to link up any post you’ve written on the topic of boys.

-Photos of your crew
-Something amazing he did!
-A tip or trick you’ve learned about raising boys
-Something fun you did that your boys loved
-A craft boys loved
-Something inspirational that grabs our hearts
-Something funny (we all need to laugh!)
-Or anything else you have to say about raising boys!
Tell us all about it on Thursdays in the MOB Society’s link-up…


Please leave a link back to the MOB Society so other boy moms can find them too!


As much as I complain about it, I must admit that I live in one of the most amazing cities in the world. There are so many opportunities available if you are willing to hunt for them. One such opportunity fell into my lap a few weeks back when a friend mentioned signing her daughter up for some free swim lessons being offered at the public pools. It was based on a lottery but I went ahead and signed up ChocolateChip and then I waited. I didn't hear anything back until a week before (2 weeks ago now) so I assumed that he hadn't been chosen, but when the email landed in my inbox I was ecstatic!

ChocolateChip had only had one experience with a pool before his swim lessons and that was at the beginning of this summer. We went to a public pool with my friend (same one who told me about the lessons), her husband and their daughter who happened to have been born on the same day as my little man. Her daughter was like a fish! ChocolateChip took about 30 minutes to even get in the water and then was not exactly willing to frolic and play (though he did eventually try blowing bubbles, much to my joy.)

All of this leads me to today. Today was the fourth and last swim lesson and he did awesome! At the previous three lessons we had to discuss not screaming even when we are upset (crying is ok but no yelling), we had little experience with the pool noodles and just forget about laying on his back. Today's lesson was different though. He chose the color pool noodle that he wanted, he did all of the activities, he sang along with the other kids, and he even tried to jump off of edge and into my arms for two of the songs! I couldn't have been prouder. Have we completely overcome his fear? Not yet, but we are definitely moving in the right direction.

That's all for now. Until next time, hug your boys a little tighter!

-Mel

Something New and Exciting!

We are basing our first year of homeschooling on the ABC Jesus Loves Me 2 Year Curriculum.  As we go through the year, I'm sure we'll add our own stuff or change some of the stuff around as it works best for us.  Each week, I'll post a quick "at a glance" of what I'm scheduled to teach E that week.  Feel free to offer up suggestions for how to teach him some of these things as part of our everyday lives. 

Week at a Glance:

Theme: God Made the World Around Me
Lesson: Day, Night, Water, Sky
Scripture: Gen 1
Bible Story: Day 1 & 2
Poem: Pat a Cake
Memory Verse: Gen 1:1
Song: This Little Light of Mine
Color: Red
Alphabet: A - G
Book of the Week: Llama Llama Red Pajama
Number: 1
Shape: Circle (Do a Shape Walk)
Information: First Name
Self-Care & Manners: Sitting Quietly
Fine Motor Skill: Color on a Vertical Surface
Gross Motor Skill: Play "Put the Fire Out"

Until next time!

-Mel

Getting Real

My family is caught in an unexpected crossroad.  Baby #2 will be here VERY soon and no matter how hard we try to wrap our heads around them, our finances aren't in order.  I'm embarrassed to have to apply at the local McDonald's, not because I'm not willing to work there, but because I don't want them to call my former employer.  What an extreme difference.  I can't go back to my old job because they can't afford my position anymore, plus, let's be totally honest, I wasn't the best employee ever, even when they could.  I probably won't get hired for a similar type of position since I'm 6 months pregnant.  So what are my options?!  Trying to figure out how to make money from home, but drawing a blank.  I feel so overwhelmed.

Time to head to the "Good Book".  Off to read my bible and hand these issues over to the Lord.

Thanks for hearing me out.



Until next time!

-Mel

Little Man Love

Let’s Hear it For the Boys is your chance to link up any post you’ve written on the topic of boys.

-Photos of your crew
-Something amazing he did!
-A tip or trick you’ve learned about raising boys
-Something fun you did that your boys loved
-A craft boys loved
-Something inspirational that grabs our hearts
-Something funny (we all need to laugh!)
-Or anything else you have to say about raising boys!
Tell us all about it on Thursdays in the MOB Society’s link-up…


Please leave a link back to the MOB Society so other boy moms can find them too!


One of our local libraries has Arts and Crafts on Thursday afternoons. We happened to be in there when the librarian announced it. ChocolateChip was the youngest kid in there, but he sure seemed to enjoy it anyhow! *Notice how his workspace was getting progressively more paint as he worked!

As I watched him and listened to the handful of other parents who were there (most kids were on there own) I realized for the first time that I am already "homeschooling/unschooling" without any binders or lesson plans or assessment tools. It was a great realization to come too. I can finally let go of my uprightness about educating him "correctly" and just continue educating him correctly!!

What are your boys up to today?

Happily Painting

Painting the paint container

More paint on the container a few minutes after realizing that the paint on his hand could make a cool print!

Back to the box

Pretending to be sleeping after walking around and finding these in a corner

Stacking Away

Art Project? What art project?!

Until next time!

-Mel

Off To a Slow Start

All week long I considered and contemplated blogging, but life has a way of telling you that "there is something more important" to be done. I'm back now.

Where my life is at right now:
-I'm 23 weeks pregnant today with Baby #2 (and quite uncomfortable from a rough night of sleep
-I'm preparing things for beginning to homeschool my son at the end of the Summer
-My younger sis came to visit for the weekend and reminded me of how much my son and I love her
-I have to read part of my talk for an upcoming retreat to the retreat team tomorrow and I don't feel ready at all!

I guess I don't have much to say right now, but if you're wondering (or at least as a "brain dump" excersice for myself), some of the things that I'll be blogging about here are:
-Raising my kids
-Pregnancy
-Homeschooling
-My faith
-Boring ol' "This is my life right now" posts


Until next time!

-Mel

No Day Like Today

Welcome! This is my new blog. I could wait until something "special" happens to start it up, or until I figure out exactly what this blog will look like, or until I actually edit this first post, but why? This week I read some inspiring words written by member emylibef over at Blogher that really stuck with me,

So with much pain and heartbreak, I’ve come to the realization that it’s okay if no one reads what I write. Why? I’m not writing for anyone else. I will have a record – a concrete one – of days, months, years. However meager it may seem, I am shaping my legacy on my own terms. I can be honest. I don’t have to be afraid of offending anyone, because I’m not depending on them to read what I say. In itself, this is amazingly freeing. Whether I move on with my ideas or simply do this and nothing else, it’s okay with me. And by being myself, whatever happens, this piece of me exists. No one can pay for that.

I've tried my hand at blogging before, but for one reason or another, I've never been able to remain consistant with it. This time is different though. I am going into this with nothing to prove and nobody to impress, and that is truly freeing. So join me for the ride. Or don't. Either way, this is where I'll be.