For Mom

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Fish Lessons

A few months ago I was given a large reality check.  Or should I call it a humility check?  I wrote a blog after a fairly long, tiring day (ok, half day.  I wrote it at like noon).  It was a way to vent ... to be a little creative ... well, ok, I was complaining to an audience I considered fairly small (thanks for reading, mom).  

In this blog I compared myself to a witch.  Umm Hmm.  I did.

In said blog I also mentioned that I had been to a recent mom's conference.  And here's where the humiliation came in.  The woman (author, notable speaker, pastors wife ...) who founded the conference READ THE ENTRY.  AND COMMENTED.  Ahhhhhh!!!!  I could just envision her copying the link and sending it out to the prayer partners ... "here's a gal who really needs some prayer.  ASAP."  Oh my gosh.  I've never been so embarrassed.  *sigh*

I decided some serious prayer was needed.  If God was graciously putting me in my place in such a public manner, maybe I had some serious pride issues going on.  This girl got on her knees and begged Jesus to reveal weeds of hidden pride (it's always hidden, right? When's the last time you thought, "oh, I'm just so stinkin' proud!"?)

And He said to me:

Loaves and Fish, Rachel.  What you have, anything you have, is the same as everyone else.  You can come to me with your loaves and fish, and I will do miracles.  I will multiply your gifts, talents, blessings in amazing, exciting ways.  But remember - I will.  Keep the focus on the miracle worker who gave you the loaves and fish in the first place.  

Whoa.  That's been ringing in my ears for 2 or 3 months now.  He's the One.  He's the giver of all things.  I had developed a few small weeds and sweet Jesus gave me a weed puller.  

Now here's part two.

This last week, an unexpected whisper came in my ear.  Ready for it?

What are you doing with all your fish?

Rachel!

What are you doing with all your fish?

Uh.  Whoops.  

I got the weed out of my garden, but now I am sitting with a pile of 5,000 fish and bread - and if I don't use it the way it is intended, I'm pretty sure they will start to stink.  And me with them.

Oh Lord forgive me.  Is anyone else this slow to learn?  Seriously!  Does it take everyone else this long to learn lessons from Him?  I am in a constant cycle - frustration at my slowness, then gratitude with His patience.  

Now that He has shown me these lessons, I'm waiting for the application.  (One other lesson I learned the hard way over a long period ... wait for His timing.)  He's usually setting me up so that when I see the opportunity for obedience I won't miss is.  So I'll keep praying, and waiting.  And bringing Him every fish and loaf of bread He provides.

I'm hoping that you'll all tell me when I start to smell a little fishy.  

Christmas Sewing Projects

I found this awesome pattern on CraftApple.  It was SO fun.  These kids "artists case" are sure to be a hit with my three.  And the reason I know is that I made them for our neighbor friends and Stephen said "wow, mom, Kate and Sarah are SO lucky."  :)  Can't wait till they open them tomorrow.

It's a little hard to see, but I monogramed Clara's initial the lower right corner.

Abbie's has her initial in the top, middle.

And Stephen, my baseball fan, was a little tricky.  I wanted his to look like a guys so I made a patch with a TC (for the MN twins) and put it in the middle.  That was a TON of work, but really fun to learn how to do.  I also used suede shoelaces for the closure rather than the grossgrain ribbon I used on the girls.  

Homemade Christmas Gifts

It's been a while.

Here's what I've been up to.

the merry old land of Oz

It's one of those 'full bowl of macaroni and cheese followed by a raid of my kids halloween bags during nap' kind of days.  My kids probably feel like Dorothy, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion (and the little dog, too!) chased by you know who. 

You guessed it.  It's chore day.  

But what about those fantastic chore charts you ask?  Yeah.  Those are great - when I consistently enforce them.  And I haven't.  Clara can drag her feet like nobody's business, and Abbie can make this sound... it's indescribable, really.  Stephen was actually pretty great at it until he realized that the girls are VERY effective at avoiding chores.  Then he jumped on the 'it's not fair' wagon and deftly mimicked his sisters actions - adding some of his own noises of agony.  

It's enough to make a mom want to sic flying monkeys on her kids.

So the perfect storm has occurred here in Oz.  Whiney kids, fairness police, deflated and inconsistent mom, and a busy morning schedule.  And here I am - silently thinking "I'll get you, my pretties!" 

As one of my friends recently confirmed - what goes on in my head is ALWAYS written on my face.  This is probably the reason that my kids are avoiding me.  I should check the mirror and see if my face is green and my nose pointy.  

The cure?  You guessed it.  Pray.  It's so simple and so effective - why do I fight it?  How can I forget it?  

You might have noticed that I added a little link on my side bar - it's a picture of a little girl with a 7x7 on it.  One of the blogs I check regularly (and have blogged about before) has written up 7 prayers of scripture that she prays for her kids 7 times a day.  I'm pretty sure 7x per day will be way out of my reach, but it's worth a shot, right?  Right?

Last weekend I went to a conference called 'Hearts at Home.'  It was an amazing time.  What an encouragement!  One of the break out sessions was called 'Living the Promised Life' - by Susie Larson (also on my sidebar).  Wow.  The challenge to live a life of promise.  

Hopefully praying over my kids - saying a blessing and a promise out loud to them daily (yes, even during these perfect storms of life) will help them embrace what God has in store for them.  

And maybe, just maybe, it might keep me from melting every time a little rain falls.  :)  

Say Uncle

Stephen and I were sharing our special Monday together today.  The girls go to preschool in the morning so we do errands and something fun.  

While at Target, Stephen was particularly interested in the bagging process while we were checking out.  

Stephen:  Mom - I think I've changed my mind.  I want to be a bagger when I grow up.

Me:  Oh.  That's a pretty complicated job.  

Stephen (surprised):  Really?  How?

Me:  Well, you have to figure out which groceries go on the bottom, which ones might get squished - so you put those on the top... you have to be careful about where the meats go in case they leak ...

Stephen (with new respect):  Wow.

Me:  You know, your uncle David used to be a bagger.

Stephen:  NO WAY.  

Me:  Yup.  At the HEB in Texas.  

Stephen:  Wow.

Then, while at lunch at his favorite stop (Arbys, people.  Arbys.) something brought Christopher to mind.

Stephen:  You know, I can find a cul-de-sac in our neighborhood.  

Me:  Really?  (I am pretty sure there aren't any on the streets we take)

Stephen:  Yup.  Christopher knows.  He found it when he got lost one day.

When driving home from Arbys, he was looking at the new toy he got.  It's a book on the pyramids in Egypt.

Stephen:  Hey mom, they've got egypt writing on this!

Me:  Cool!  Your uncle Scott likes to read languages like that.  

Stephen:  Like the egypt letters?  What do they call that?

Me:  I'm not sure.  

Stephen:  Maybe Scott knows.

Me:  Yeah.  He likes to play detective with the languages that no one talks anymore.  That way he can figure out what other people noticed about God's people.  Like maybe the Egyptians wrote something about Moses that would give us clues about how Moses was used by God.

Stephen:  Wow.

A few minutes later after a bit of silence...

Stephen:  Mom, my uncles are pretty great.  

Chore Charts

What a drag, right?  Seems like the chore chart becomes a chore for mom - and I don't need any more of those!

I was looking for something that was more work for the kids than for me.  Something that they would have to be in charge of themselves.  Teach a little responsibility, but keep it tactile enough for them to be successful.  Am I the only mom that shudders at the thought of my 3 year old with a marker checking off her chores?  Stickers?  Much more than the chart would be decorated!  

So here's what I came up with after scrolling through the internet FOREVER.  It's a compilation of ideas - and as yet untested since it went on the wall yesterday.  And - my 4 year old is testing her limits with said chores.  But she's testing everything so why should this be any different?  :)

First I thought of the jobs that they already do, but that I have to remind them of (remember, the goal is to help me get off their cases - I will add more responsibilities if this thing works.).  On my computer I made a template for the "chore card," then, I found cute icons of the chores for my non-readers, and then added a character for each kid.  Stephen has the Millenium falcon, Clara has Belle, and Abbie has Cinderella.  My goal here was two-fold - 1.  Get them a little excited about their little card, 2.  Eliminate some creative job sharing.  Mama's no fool.  

Then each chore was taped to either yellow or green cardstock.  Yellow for morning chores, Green for afternoon/evening.  Each card was laminated, then I used the free tools at Archivers to punch holes in the cards and cut them to the right size.  

I purchased these simple wood hangers with 4 knobs from Ikea for $2.  Painted each with leftover paint from around the house, and bought letters for 1/2 off at Michaels.  

On a side note, I also purchased these wood hangers for two of our bathrooms.  I put button-holes in 4 kid washcloths and hung them on each knob.  The kids use the washcloths like hand towels.  They each have one and it has really cut down on the viruses that we share!

And here it is!  A little ribbon from around the house, leather shoe-lace for Stephen, and some hot-glue to put it together.  The chore hangs on the left side until they complete it - then they move it to the right side.  In the morning they work until they get to the green cards.  

My absolute favorite chore was a little surprise to me.  As I was working at Archivers, I had a little light-bulb moment.  I made Stephen and Clara both a card called "Ask".  When they get to that card, they come find me, tell me what they've done for the morning/afternoon, and ask if there's anything else I need help with.  Oh yeah, this is definitely my favorite card.  

I'm pretty happy with how it looks and hopefully it works.  Stephen had his done by 7:30 this morning.  I doubt the enthusiasm will last, but it was worth one stress free morning!