It's the Little Things

Sometimes it really is the little things that make my day. And sometimes I think I'm just an odd sort of girl. I walked into Walmart a couple of weeks ago and was doing my normal shopping when I noticed a mop display in the middle of the aisle. Now let me just tell you that I HATE mopping. Not sure why, but I do. That and laundry are my two least favorite chores. Maybe it's because neither of them stay done for more than about .03 seconds, I don't know, but I just don't like doing them. The laundry I do regularly because as much as I hate it, I do like wearing clothes. But the mopping, well, I'm not about to tell you how infrequently it gets done. So here I was minding my own business and came upon this mop. Not sure why it caught my eye other than the fact that it looked like another mop I had tried and loved, but couldn't justify because I had to purchase special mop pads and refill cleaner for it. You know the one. Well this one was just like it except it came with a washable pad and a refillable bottle that you could fill with whatever cleaner you wanted. I was sold! But, being the good little housewife that I aspire to be, I decided not to make an impulse purchase. However, now that I knew about it, I wasn't about to use the old mop and bucket method I had at home, so my floor just got dirtier and dirtier. I finally broke down and bought it this past weekend. And no, I am not selling this mop, but I do really like it. I guess it caters to the lazy side of me. No bucket to drag around after me and no mop ringing between each re-wetting. I like to tell myself that I'll mop more because of it. We'll see. But at least my job was made easier.

But what did I do with the old mop you ask? Well:

It turned into a horse

And then a shepherd's staff

And then a guitar!

Gettin' Real

Most of this blog is dedicated to funny stories and sharing the happy times we have as a family. But sometimes there just isn't anything funny to write about and for some odd reason, I feel compelled to keep this silly blog going, so today's post might get a little real.

Living in a new (as an adult) city without close friends and missing that southern hospitality we encountered when we first moved to Texas is hard. Living here and having a sweet little boy in the midst of the very trying Threes is even harder. I have never seen the depths of my own selfishness as I have seen it in the past several weeks. I really want this parenting thing to be easy. I want to do what the parenting books say to do and have it work quickly. I want Benjamin to desire to obey. I want to not have to be inconvenienced by his lack of obedience. I want to sleep a whole night through instead of being awakened at 4am. I want to have a little peace and quiet. I I I I I. And yet when I look back on my life, I've never really had to give up that "I". Granted, I've dealt with a lot of circumstances that didn't go my way. Infertility and having to let go of a child we thought we were supposed to adopt taught me a lot about not being in control of my circumstances. But now I am finding myself facing the fact that I want to be in control of my son, and my reasons are often driven by selfishness. And when I find that I cannot control him, I find it difficult not to become frustrated with him.

Today, after almost a full week of Ben deciding to get up somewhere between 2am and 4am, we are both tired. After an attempted nap, I got up and decided I needed desperately to meet with the Lord while Ben was still sleeping. And wouldn't you know it, my study today was on patience. Not patience with circumstances, but patience with people. Not only that, but I was reminded that I cannot achieve that kind of patience on my own. It's a fruit of the Spirit and can only be attained through His power. On the one hand that's so freeing. On the other hand, I feel like my selfish ambitions so often keep me from being filled with the Spirit and bearing His fruit. Living Spirit filled is just not something that happens once and continues. I have to be surrendered every single minute of the day. And lately, I haven't been.

For the past several weeks, I have been seeing a chiropractor about a hip problem I've had for a couple of years. Ben always goes with me and usually we don't have to wait at all before going back to our room. Today however was a super busy day and we waited in a full waiting room. Benjamin does not have a shy bone in his body and usually thinks that if there is another person around, they are desperate to interact with him. I love this about him, but I'm usually cautious about encouraging him because he quickly gets out of control and starts doing crazy things to show off. One of the ladies sitting next to me kept staring at me and for some reason I just felt judged. She said something to me about how energetic Benjamin was and I said something jokingly about how amazing it was that he had that much energy since he'd been up since 4am. She quickly told me I should probably think about putting him to bed later. Right after that, the showing off escalated and after Ben threw magazines at two patients and was about to dump the contents of the trash can on another, I decided it was time to take him outside to settle down. As we walked out the door, Benjamin said "where'm I going?" That same lady said "sounds to me like you need a good paddling." It was all I could do to keep from losing it. I mean, in reality she was right, but did she really think I would just do it right there in the office, or in the front yard of the office? I stewed about it for quite some time before finally seeing myself and how often I've judged others around me without really knowing their circumstances. Before having kids, I was one of the first to look at a harried mother and her misbehaving child (ren) and think that if she would just give them a good spanking or be a better mom, they would be much better kids. Ha! So here I am getting lessons both in humility and in patience.

And that's enough rambling for today. Maybe next week will be funnier. :)

A Three Year Old Boy's Prayer

"Lord Jesus, thank you for poop, and dirt, and bikes, and salmon with cheese on it, and for cars, and for mommy and daddy. In Jesus Name, Amen."

This was Benjamin's exact prayer before bed tonight. I think it completely sums up the thoughts of a little boy: Poop, Dirt, Food, Cars, and don't forget Mommy and Daddy.

Summer Activities

This summer I joined a mom's group here in town called Mothering as a Career Club. The group offers play dates and mom's nights and I thought it would be a good way to get to know some other moms with kids Ben's age. The first month I was a little shy about getting involved and we were also pretty busy with family stuff, so I didn't do much. But this month I was determined to go to some of the play dates. It's been really fun and has allowed Benjamin to be around some other kids and me to see what there is to do around here. Last week we got to see a fire truck and Benjamin got to spray the hose. We also checked out the local gymnastics place and they divided the kids up according to age. Benjamin had a great time jumping on the trampoline and jumping into a pit of foam blocks. Pretty sure tumbling will be in order as an activity when the yucky winter weather hits. Today we went and visited a local cheese farm and got to hear how they make cheese and even take a look at where they milk their cows. We got some yummy raw cheese and I also purchased some raw milk which I am excited about. I think Benjamin's favorite part was the homemade ice cream. He is definitely my son with his love of that sweet treat. ;-) I took my camera to the firetruck demo but forgot it for both the other activities. I really need to be better about that. But here are some fun pictures of Ben spraying the hose and sitting in the truck.

He was having a pretty serious discussion with the fireman

Dressed for Church

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful weeks when it comes to mommying. I'm pretty sure that whoever called the twos terrible hadn't even gotten to the threes yet. I know I'm not the first mother to wish for this, but some days I wish little man had come with a "here's what will get through to him" manual. I struggle to maintain consistency and lets not even talk about maintaining sanity. I so desperately desire for Benjamin to know and understand his need for a Savior, but some days I get so focused on behavior that I forget about the bigger picture and become a yucky angry mom. But despite the fact that I fail daily at being a Spirit filled mother, God's grace is so evident. He gives me reasons to laugh in the middle of it all and even lets those reasons for laughter come from the very source of my frustration. So, this past Sunday, we were getting ready for church and this is what Benjamin said he wanted to wear: 

He came into my room sporting his tank top PJ shirt, along with an inside out long sleeved PJ shirt, topped by his inside out and backwards polo shirt. For the bottom, he decided to just wear plaid shorts. Underwear is way over rated. And in this house, that underwear can sometimes be found in the fridge anyway.

Catch Up Time

Well we have now been in Indiana for four months and I think we are starting to feel a little more settled. I still have a lot of days (like today) when I really miss San Antonio and the familiarity of good friends. But I'm also really finding some things I love about a smaller city. We have really enjoyed the weekly farmer's market here and while my frugal side won't let me buy much at a time, the fresh produce, grass fed beef, free range chicken, and fresh eggs have been delicious. I really love summer produce and it's been fun getting it straight from the farmers. We've also been a bit spoiled by my parents' sharing from their garden as well.

The biggest news of the month for us is that we finally sold our house!!! When we listed it for sale last November, I never dreamed it would take quite this long to sell. Especially because we kept lowering the price. We received our first offer at the end of June and after a little negotiating, we accepted the offer. But after having the inspection done, the buyer gave us a lengthy list of pretty picky things she wanted done and we began to wonder if she was for real. (One thing she wanted was for us to clean out some lint that was stuck in the dryer vent) We picked a couple of the somewhat reasonable things and told her we would do those, but she ended up backing out. Needless to say, it was frustrating and we were very ready to be free of the house. But the Lord's timing is always perfect and he brought us another buyer two weeks later. And this one paid cash, so the closing was done in just a week. It's amazing how free it feels to know that we no longer have an empty house sitting 1200 miles away. I think after that experience we will be content to be renters for quite some time.

Benjamin went in for his three year check up this past week. Let me just say that finding a good doctor is yet another thing that makes me miss San Antonio. There just aren't a whole lot of options, and I really didn't like the one we went to. But, all that aside, Benjamin was super healthy and has gotten to be quite a big boy. When he was born, he was in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. This didn't surprise me since neither of his birthparents were all that tall. But as he has gotten older, he has gradually increased in that percentage. By his second birthday he was in the 75th percentile and this year, he measured 40" and was 36lbs, putting him in the 89th percentile for weight and the 95th for height. People are always asking if he is tall for his age, and having grown up in a family of tall people, I usually don't really think about it, but I guess he is. It still amazes me that I have a three year old already.

This past weekend we celebrated Matt's 30th birthday. I think they say this is officially when you are supposed to act like an adult. Not sure exactly what that means, but we had fun celebrating anyway. Matt's parents came down for his birthday and stayed here with Benjamin so I could take Matt on a little surprise getaway to Indy. We have had three overnight getaways since moving here and I think we are officially spoiled. It's amazing how refreshing one night away can be.

I made cheesecake for Matt's birthday and Benjamin had to get in on the action with the candle blowout

I think that about sums up the news for this little family.

My Little Man is Three!

This year has by far been the most exciting of Benjamin's three birthdays. I LOVE birthdays and I love that the excitement of them is being passed on to him. I remember laying in bed before my fifth birthday and not being able to go to sleep because I was so excited. And I remember the year my dad got me this huge warehouse size pack of gum as one of my gifts. We were only allowed to chew it on Sundays and special occasions, so it must have gone stale before I finished it, but it is a fun birthday memory. But back to Benjamin. He's been talking about his birthday off and on for the past month two months. It was about two months ago that I asked him what kind of cake he wanted this year. He told me he wanted an HEB cake, which of course made me miss Texas, but even if we'd been there, I wouldn't have bought his cake. Then, a while later, after our conversations had moved on to other things, he suddenly told me he wanted a cement mixer cake. I made a train cake for his first birthday and it was no small feat for me, but I just couldn't imagine how I was going to make a cement mixer cake. So we came up with a construction themed cake instead. Benjamin and I went to the party store and he helped me pick things out. Just seeing his excitement made me want to buy the whole store. It also made me realize that this may be the last themed party we do because they are crazy expensive. But this year was construction themed, so we had caution tape, balloons, construction hats, and other fun decor. And I made a construction themed cake complete with several plastic trucks, but unfortunately lacking in the cement mixer department. Apparently those are not considered part of the construction sets when they make them available for purchase. Anyway, this year was different than the past two because our families were able to come for his party. We had a beautiful hot sunny day and had his party at the park. Benjamin could hardly keep his hands off the cake and we kept having to tell him to wait to open presents, but it was still a lot of fun for him. This was the first year he was fully aware of the fact that the day was all about him and I loved watching him experience it.

Since we celebrated his party a few days earlier than his actual birthday, I wanted to make sure the day itself was special too. He and I spent the morning playing games and then met daddy for lunch at McDonalds. Back when we were in San Antonio and living in our house while trying to sell it, I'm embarrassed to say that we often went there at least once a week and sometimes more if we had last minute showings. But, since we've moved, life has been a little less hectic and we really haven't eaten lunch out much at all. I think it had been almost two months since Benjamin had had McD's. (As a side note, I totally think the whole lawsuit against McD's for putting toys in their happy meals is ridiculous. It's the play area that draws my kid and none of the McD's here have them. (side side note, even if McD's is totally unhealthy, you have to be a kid every once in a while, and I really wish there were play areas at the McD's here) ) ANYWAY, he was pretty excited about his food and seeing daddy at a restaurant for lunch, so it was fun. To finish off a fun day for him, we spread sheets out in the living room and got pizza and ate it while we watched Veggietales. We had planned to let him sleep in the living room and do sort of a family camp out, but he was antsy and just wouldn't stay still long enough to go to sleep. We finally took him to his room around 10 and he almost seemed relieved and was asleep within minutes. Maybe we'll try the family camp out another year. :)