An update for mom and my new soapbox

Here is my newest dilemma: by the time I am finished with the day, I am finished. I have no words, no thoughts, and definitely no energy to write anything.  Thus, my blog is suffering. I just entered into my last and final transition of the fall: piano lessons.  First it was school, then extra curricular activities and now 11 piano students. My plate is full, although balanced and hopefully, in a few weeks I'll be adjusted to it all physically and mentally and will be able to be more consistent once more.  Until then, sorry mom, it will be more of "take what you can get"! :) 

A's panda bear drawing..

SO here's an update:  A is doing terrific with homeschooling.  She loves all the scientific experiments, learning how to read maps, thinks word problems in math are easy, and drew a terrific panda bear as part of our “living things” chapter. All these “new lessons learned” made going to the zoo this weekend in Birmingham fun as she read all the “animal facts”, and determined where we would go according to the map and it’s “keys”. My favorite thing about A being home this year (so far), is how much it has de-stressed our afternoon/evenings.  There are no battles about homework, etc., because she works on it all after lunch after we have “finished school”.  We can actually go to our extra stuff, or just play, watch tv, and go to bed with out me becoming “mean, over-tired mom”.  She had her first soccer game this weekend and played pretty well.  The kids don’t aways know who is supposed to “get” the ball, and following it all the way down to make a goal can apparently be confusing.  But it was fun to watch.  I do have to admit I was a little shocked when I impulsively started running up and down the field sidelines following her and yelling. Yep, I have definitely psycho soccer mom potential. Self- control will have to be implemented and exercised (but first, discovered).

At the game with a buddy

Today A had to write a “silly story” about an animal friend with real/fantasy elements.  In the first draft,  the “blue bird that loved to play the wii…got ran over by a car..and now there’s a graveyard…but then she bought me a new wii”. What?!  So I tried to redirect her by saying that a dead bird could not buy a new wii game- she got things out of order- so she needed to re-write the story.  Draft 2, “the red bird liked to play star wars on the wii…this man said,  ‘what am I doing, here a bomb, and it bluw up”  DOUBLE what?!  So maybe watching Mythbusters etc isn’t such a great idea. AND she spent ALL DAY taking apart a cell phone with various tools because she wanted to see how it worked/what was inside.  Apparently that was the ONLY thing that could hold her Benadryl dosed self’s attention as everything during school took 10 times longer than usual.

AG continues  to be sweet, thoughtful and always very emotional/expressive. And her feet have started to really stink. She is SO excited about buying pizza AND ice cream on Friday’s at school, and helping people. She constantly wants to watch food network for “good recipes” for me to make- although  she deemed (LOUDLY in HORROR) Paula Deen’s Banana and Ham casserole with corn flakes on top, terrible. AND she also declared that she uses too much butter- because “that recipe used 8 cups of butter!”.

AG had also been giving away her special princess rings as “friendship rings” to her friends so they won’t forget her when they go to college.  AND regularly wants to talk about who HER college roommate will be, and what kind of birthday she’s going to have when she turns 6 , SIX MONTHS from now (will it be with horses, ballet, or VBS?) , and of course what she will be for Halloween (Pippy Longstocking? or something else from the Party City catalogue?).

K is talking constantly. Apparently, like his dad, he thinks out loud.  He finds rocks everywhere he goes and carries them with him. He wants to drink “dader-ade” all the time, and has started making sound effects when he plays with cars, planes, crayons…He wants to hear “Rock-a bye Baby” before bed, and if he hears someone in the hall passing by before he’s asleep he yells “Wheels on the bu!” in a last ditch effort to postpone bedtime. My man swears something has "happened" in the past few days because K now wants to be with his dad all the time.  He wants to go everywhere with him, snuggle on the couch, wear daddy's t-shirts, shoes.  My man declared today that he and K need a backpacking trip.  Good luck with that.  Burying diapers along the trail doesn't sound like fun (or green).  Plus, four minutes down the trail, K will be yelling, " I HOLD YOU" (interpretation: please carry me). But it will be great when that day comes- K can even wear the new size 29 forest ranger belt my man just bought him!(?) I'm just glad for the little moments of male bonding occurring.

Today K was difficult to please.  He could not decide what we wanted to do other than constantly eat “nacks”…at one point I had to go outside to finish a phone conversation due to his loud incessant demands.  While I was standing outside, he locked the door and pulled all the clean clothes out of the washing machine to the floor in search for his blanket (?) – that was in the dryer.  Needless to say we had lots of  “time-out”- which apparently left a big enough impression for him to carry a doll from the girls room to the kitchen, loudly tell her “NO NO- NOW YOU GO TIME-OUT...M’AM? SORRY!”.   At dinner he asked for “MEELK” (milk) and once his sippy cup was in hand he declared “’dis MY beer” and asked to do cheers with a friend who was over for dinner. I literally have no idea where that came from…(we don’t call beer, beer, we call it “daddy juice” and it’s not common place as my man prefers wine and I don’t drink it at all.) They don’t have beer commercials on PBS or Disney channel do they? Or maybe it's the football we've been watching.

And now for my soap box and how the dots are connecting.  As you may remember, I have been reading a book "Jim and Casper Go to Church". (getglue.com/books/jim_casper_go_to_church_frank_conversation_about_faith_churches_well_meaning_christians/jim_henderson)  It has been a great book- insightful and thought provoking, a welcomed rest from the specific themed books I read (and like).  And this is my present take away- Church is not meant to be the "BE-ALL- END ALL" of following Jesus. It's a place where we come together, worship, learn, encourage each other and then GO FROM. It's not supposed to me the main event, but rather a spring board into all we do throughout the week.  That may not be profound, but I'm afraid that many, including myself, forget this.  We can easily get so busy in "church life" that we forget where/ how we are really supposed to ministering. I think I have quoted Augustine's "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words" but I have been once again awakened the reality that in the end, our words mean little and sometimes nothing at all (especially in southern culture). Jesus didn't spend all his time in the synagogue, He was out with the people- loving them, serving them, healing them, hanging out with them.  The only people he called out and rebuked were the religious leaders IN the synagogue. Jesus went and ministered to the people where they were in everyday ways. He didn't "befriend them with ulterior motives".  He loved them first as He loves us, as they were. If there was (is) a change, it is one that He brought (brings) about, not one that is manipulated through fear or emotion etc.  Again, not a new concept. I can name a dozen books that have reiterated that reality to me throughout the years, sermons I've heard, discussions I've had, so how is this so easy to forget?!  Here's my "so what"- that I can't quite reconcile yet.  How do we invest in our families, and our church, and simply live IT out and be able to do it all well.  How do we balance and decide what to do and when? Just with family life, schedules are crazy. Add a few church commitments, and there isn't much time left to "live it out". And reality is we just need to BE as we should- as He was, right? But for me, and maybe it's the nature of our occupational calling, but I feel like it's so easy to become so immersed in the "christian culture" (I use that term wearily, as it is a title I really don't want to claim due to the stereo types and assumptions that accompany it) that we forget that it's not supposed to be a culture, but simply a gathering of like-minded people to worship and grow IN knowledge and depth of insight. I know this has the potential of opening a whole can of worms, and there are a million angles I'm not addressing etc.  I'm not saying that church isn't important, necessary, or needed.  But at the end of the day, I think we need to stop talking and start living. I don't know what that means for others, but I need to get back to the basics- kinda like Ina Garten.  Things are always tasty in the basic ways- without lots of additives and preservatives and colors. When it's in food, it can mean spending more money (I'm not up for that commitment quite yet- nor is my pocketbook).  But maybe walking with the Lord,  means "doing less" and "being more". And maybe (of course, and obviously) I  need more time to process and own this- other than with the leftover brain power remaining at the end of the day.  This could be more challenging than a New Year's resolution!