A rubberband I am...

Woken up early by Bear

Drove Hubby to work

Get kids fed, dressed & clean

Try to wake up overnight guest

Search through the house for library books

Try to wake up overnight guest

Get kids into coats and boots cause its snowing again

Give up on trying to wake up overnight guest (teenager...I don't know why I even tried!)

Go to story time at the library

Let kids choose books

Listen to whining about said books

Let girls check out their own books

Grab books from their hands and do it myself

Go home

Let kids play in snow while I make lunch

Feed lunch and clean up

Make snack for Pookie's kindergarten afternoon

Get Pookie to school

Enjoy a cup of tea and chat with awake overnight guest (so great!)

Play game with Bear and guest

Have good friends stop by for quick visit. (one of the best parts of moving to the burbs)

Say goodbye to overnight guest

Load up Bear to go get Pookie

Pick up straws for Pookie's class

Let Bear stomp in the snow and carry straws

Pick up half a carton of straws that Bear dropped into the snow

Frantically count to make sure there is enough clean ones for the milkshakes

Pick up Pookie

Make smoothies and snacks

Go to swimming lessons

Come home to make dinner

Listening to Pookie freak out because she finally decided to learn her bible verse 45 min before class.  Irritate each other trying to learn it.  Pass Pookie to Hubby, I take Bear and her verse.

Run around home looking for uniforms while trying to make dinner

Begin to yell at the girls for their poor searching skills

Sit them down at the table, slam food in front of them and tell them to eat.

Hubby quietly tells me to calm down...

SNAP!  

It is really not like any one thing caused my melt down.  It was more like I was being stretched all day and finally hit my snapping apart point.  It was so bad I had to go upstairs for 10 min to calm down.  By the time I came down, the girls were quietly finishing dinner, Hubby was cleaning up and they were getting ready to head to church.  Hubby grabbed me into a big hug, whispered some loving words and gave me the evening at home alone as a gift.  I managed to get the girls dressed and kissed them goodbye.  When they came home, they were so eager to tell me about their night, verses said and prizes given.  My girls are God's Grace to me in the flesh.  

Now if I could just learn to let the tension out the rubberband a bit more gently...

Where were you when????

The space shuttle Challenger blew up? (In my Grade 6 class watching it)

When Tupac and Biggie Smalls were murdered? (In Camden, where it was a HUGE deal)


The Twin Towers were attacked? (Sitting in E. Van, pregnant with our 1st baby(not Pookie) )

When the results from the US election where it was announced that Barack Obama was President? (In the Banff Springs Hotel crying my eyes out)

When Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President? ( In my living room with Pookie and Bear on my knees)

Today was a memory making day in my world.

A thousand questions

Part of moving to the 'burbs was changing churches.  We've gone from an urban, edgy, social justice, contemplative church to a church that is slight conservative, but pretty mainstream.  There are good folk at this church who have made our family feel very welcome.  The children's ministry is great and my girls love LOVE going there.  

This morning, along with the sermon, we watched this clip "A thousand questions".  The challenge from the pulpit was to watch and reflect.  It was very moving to me and stirred something within my soul.  As I prepared to spend some quiet time reflecting, the lights came up in the sanctuary and people jumped up and began to chat, make lunch plans etc.  (What I'm about to share is not meant to criticize the people of the church, but more of a recognition of what I need in my own spirit.)  

For me, to see the shift made so quickly from 'reflection'  to life was very disheartening. Maybe, it is just me.  Perhaps because I am naturally introspective, things like this tend to shift me into a place of reflection easily.  I just wonder if the use of multi-media in church is wasted.  If it doesn't draw people into a deeper place, what is the point? I think part of the problem is that we need to led into reflection.  We are not a reflective generation.  We are a sound bite generation.  We are afraid of silence, afraid of stillness.  We need to be entertained otherwise we go elsewhere.  I don't envy pastors.  There is a tremendous pressure to keep people in the pews and attract more.  

I just wonder...if there was a new face in the pew today.  Someone who was deeply moved by the clip and then faced with "the shift".  What do they think of church?  Of Christians?

Of course, like I said to Hubby, I need to be kept off my high horse.  I am not a better person because I took time to reflect.  Just the opposite. I think because I finally made space for God, I was blessed this morning in church.  I'm not sure why I don't do that more often....

A parenting thought

As a parent, I've had some classic 'dumb' parent moves.  Like when Pookie went from AMAZING sleeper to a child who would not go to sleep without one of us lying down with her.  It only took me 4 months to realize that she was feeling lonely because new baby Bear was sleeping with Mommy and Daddy and she was all alone in a big girl bed.  Or the time when I forced my kid to eat dinner because I was sick and tired of hearing excuses, only to have said kid throw up all over herself.  Then I gave her pink Tylenol, only to have her throw up pink vomit all over our new carpet 10 minutes later.

So you can imagine my joy at reading Finslippy's post on Notable Parenting.  I just about peed my pants!

Crockpot madness...life in the 'burbs - part 2

When we first got married, Hubby and I got a huge crock pot as a wedding gift.  I came from a non crock pot kind of family, so I had no idea what to do with it.  (plus any meal you would cook in there would feed 50 people!)  Eventually we gave it away to a ministry that made soup for homeless folk.  

Then we moved to the 'burbs and I needed to become more creative with meal making.  We got a 1970's crock pot from the local thrift store for $2.  Then my parents showed up with a 'super' crock pot that has a countdown timer and 3 different heat settings on Thursday. (also for $2, thrift stores in the 'burbs are great!)  So Saturday I made beef barley soup. Shockingly, the girls loved the soup.  I thought it a tad bland, but if they liked it, who cares!!!  Sunday, Hubby made slow cooked BBQ ribs.  Fall off the bones good!  Tuesdays are going to be crock pot dinners due to the ridiculous amount of activities on that day.  Any suggestions?

New Year's thoughts...better late than never.

I've been pondering whether or not to make a New Year's resolution or not.  I'm not really all that good at keeping them, so why bother?  But as I kept thinking about 2009, one word kept coming to mind.  Posture.  It took me a really long time to figure out what that meant. Here's what posture means to me:

Physical Posture:  I have terrible posture.  The more stressed I am, the worse it is.  So I want to work on my physical posture because I am raising Amazon beauties (otherwise known as Pookie and Bear).  They are destined to be tall, and I want them to stand up straight, proud and tall.

Spiritual Posture: I need to regain a worshipful posture.  I need to take a posture of humbleness and waiting before God.  I need to relearn how to be in the presence of God.

Emotional Posture: I want to become more balanced in my emotional posture instead of having wild swings.

Posture of a Mother: Less nagging, more listening.  Less busyness, more play.

Posture of a Wife: Less nagging, more listening.  Less excuses, more loving.

So, there you go.  2009, the year of Posture.  Wish me luck.