Instead of doing my usual weekly check-in on my stewardship of my week's specific resources, I want to talk about stewardship from a larger parenting perspective. BestestHusband and I led a discussion on the topic at church on Sunday. It's not because we have the answers or are experts on the topic, but because it is a topic of great concern to us.
How do we teach our children to be good stewards of the gifts that God gives them - their time, their talents, and their possessions?
In the group discussion on Sunday, it was discussed that children pay more attention to what they see us do than what we say they should do. "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't work.
This is much easier said than done.
When children see us being stingy with our time and money, they are more likely to be stingy with their time and money. When we are impatient and unforgiving of others, they are more likely to be impatient and unforgiving. When they see us act on faith, not our own self-serving interests, they are more likely to live their faith.
So in other words, if we want our children to follow a lifestyle that propagates God's love, we have to do it first.
Dang. That's hard.
This is going to require some figuring out. Are we being good stewards? What do our children see when they look at our lifestyle?
Now that the girls are getting old enough to have discussions with, we can start to explain the rationales behind our decisions. We can explain why we don't spend as much money on vacations as some others do, and don't have a giant flat screen TV as some others do. We can explain why we feel it's important to go to church every Sunday. We can help them connect the dots between our actions and our faith. We just have to keep talking about it.
But we have to be careful. Because if we aren't consistent, they'll notice. And we can talk all day long about our beliefs, but if our actions don't match our words, all is for naught.
This is a scary thing. A very scary thing...
Showing posts with label Stewardship Sundays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stewardship Sundays. Show all posts
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Stewardship Sunday Again
It's Sunday again. Wow, that was quick.
This was a weekend of domesticity. I harvested lavender and mint. I made yogurt. I made bread. I made soup. I made a mess. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning something...
My Show is on Sunday nights. I haven't had my own show in so long. Ok, that's not exactly true, I do love Revenge. And Castle. And I do watch Dancing With The Stars. But that's mostly just to have a good excuse to spend more time sitting on the couch with BestestHusband... I've become a PBS junkie. There's a new show, Call the Midwife. I'm a sucker for period BBC drama. I've seen 3 episodes and I can't wait for more. Unfortunately, it's right through bedtime. But that's what repeats on the Pbs.org are for. I apparently need to live vicariously through a naive 1950's London nurse-midwife who lives in a convent. Maybe it's all the newborns. Or maybe it's the quiet of the convent that's so appealing...
I've been fighting a bad head cold this week. It was a great reminder that sometimes I don't appreciate something until it's gone. Like free airflow through my left nostril.
Fall arrived early this week, with a hard frost, coats and mittens. I resisted the temptation to turn on the heat, and turned on the oven and stove instead. It's that time of year again. The requests for baked goods are starting to come in from my family.
Ok, again, it's late, and I need to take my NyQuil and go to bed. So I'll report in on the week.
Time: I didn't give up Facebook, but have cut back. We spent a lot of time inside, and I tried to nap more this week. I'm not sure it helped much. I don't feel like I really used my time well, but I don't feel like I frittered it away so badly, either. I did watch a ton of full episodes of other BBC treats on pbs.org, but that was just because I needed to sleep and the meds wouldn't let me. I was resting, really.
M&Ms: when the Sudafed didn't kill my appetite, I indulged too much on the M&Ms. My taste buds may be dulled for healthy stuff, but still register M&Ms very well. Sigh.
Patience: The Patience Angel was my constant helper, but I still have difficulty when I'm not feeling well. I hope this week will be better.
Money: I made some big grocery shopping trips this week. I'm going to try to coast on that for a few weeks and use what we've got. Wish me luck. Did I mention that I got good deals at the yard sale? But I mostly got them for other people. I still need to buy pants and other things for HeyMama. Wish me luck.
Food waste: I ended up throwing out some leftovers that were just leftover too long. Last week, BestestHusband, my usual waste-preventer, was at a conference and didn't need lunches. So my usual level of leftover-production was excessive without his lunch-taking. And I have a more active gag reflex than he does. So I threw out probably 3 lunches worth of food. Sigh. Tonight's dinner used up quite a few ingredients that needed to be used. Hopefully that trend will continue and I'll have a better report for next week.
So the next week starts in about 40 minutes. I'm thankful for Sundays, and the regular time to gather with my church family and refocus on God and His unending grace. I'm thankful that we're given a blank slate to start over again. I'm thankful for forgiveness, and the knowledge that God gives strength where we need it the most. Because most days, I really feel like I need it!
Hope you have a great week!
This was a weekend of domesticity. I harvested lavender and mint. I made yogurt. I made bread. I made soup. I made a mess. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning something...
My Show is on Sunday nights. I haven't had my own show in so long. Ok, that's not exactly true, I do love Revenge. And Castle. And I do watch Dancing With The Stars. But that's mostly just to have a good excuse to spend more time sitting on the couch with BestestHusband... I've become a PBS junkie. There's a new show, Call the Midwife. I'm a sucker for period BBC drama. I've seen 3 episodes and I can't wait for more. Unfortunately, it's right through bedtime. But that's what repeats on the Pbs.org are for. I apparently need to live vicariously through a naive 1950's London nurse-midwife who lives in a convent. Maybe it's all the newborns. Or maybe it's the quiet of the convent that's so appealing...
I've been fighting a bad head cold this week. It was a great reminder that sometimes I don't appreciate something until it's gone. Like free airflow through my left nostril.
Fall arrived early this week, with a hard frost, coats and mittens. I resisted the temptation to turn on the heat, and turned on the oven and stove instead. It's that time of year again. The requests for baked goods are starting to come in from my family.
Ok, again, it's late, and I need to take my NyQuil and go to bed. So I'll report in on the week.
Time: I didn't give up Facebook, but have cut back. We spent a lot of time inside, and I tried to nap more this week. I'm not sure it helped much. I don't feel like I really used my time well, but I don't feel like I frittered it away so badly, either. I did watch a ton of full episodes of other BBC treats on pbs.org, but that was just because I needed to sleep and the meds wouldn't let me. I was resting, really.
M&Ms: when the Sudafed didn't kill my appetite, I indulged too much on the M&Ms. My taste buds may be dulled for healthy stuff, but still register M&Ms very well. Sigh.
Patience: The Patience Angel was my constant helper, but I still have difficulty when I'm not feeling well. I hope this week will be better.
Money: I made some big grocery shopping trips this week. I'm going to try to coast on that for a few weeks and use what we've got. Wish me luck. Did I mention that I got good deals at the yard sale? But I mostly got them for other people. I still need to buy pants and other things for HeyMama. Wish me luck.
Food waste: I ended up throwing out some leftovers that were just leftover too long. Last week, BestestHusband, my usual waste-preventer, was at a conference and didn't need lunches. So my usual level of leftover-production was excessive without his lunch-taking. And I have a more active gag reflex than he does. So I threw out probably 3 lunches worth of food. Sigh. Tonight's dinner used up quite a few ingredients that needed to be used. Hopefully that trend will continue and I'll have a better report for next week.
So the next week starts in about 40 minutes. I'm thankful for Sundays, and the regular time to gather with my church family and refocus on God and His unending grace. I'm thankful that we're given a blank slate to start over again. I'm thankful for forgiveness, and the knowledge that God gives strength where we need it the most. Because most days, I really feel like I need it!
Hope you have a great week!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
I'm sitting down. It feels good. I worked yesterday, so I've felt behind the eight ball all day. I probably will all week. But I'll try to remember to be thankful for everything. The fact that I have as many work hours as I want. The fact that I have a wonderful husband watching my two wonderful girls. The yummy fresh tomatoes pouring out of our garden right now. The salsa fresca that my wonderful husband made from those tomatoes.
We did fun stuff this week. We ate dinners outside. We made yummy smoothies with spinach hidden inside. We did Mama/daughter mani/pedis. Well, I attempted to paint all of our nails. That's not quite the same, but we all feel fancy. We got an amazing box of clothes from a friend in Texas. It was Christmas in August.
I'm still coffee-free. My head is still a bit fuzzy. I feel totally behind with everything I need to do right now. I'm trying to breathe steadily while I think about it all. Maybe I should just report in and go to bed. Ok. Let's do that.
Food waste: We had to throw out a forgotten cucumber that got separated from the herd and shriveled. We have a crazy amount of tomatoes to use ASAP. Salsa fresca anyone?
Money: Holy cow we just bought new camping gear. A big tent with all the accessories, as we've completely outgrown our old one. It's still cheaper than a normal vacation, but HOLY COW! And I got this upcoming year's snow pants on super sale. I've resigned myself to winters in the snow pretending that I love it. Did I mention HOLY COW?!? REI, you are a gift and a curse...
Patience: I was doing fine until I experimented with eating a handful of chocolate covered espresso beans on Friday afternoon. The Patience Angel abandoned me. I think she's currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a batch of my hormones, so I'll give her a pass for a few more days. But I really hope she comes back.
Time: So much to do, so little time. I cancelled the fun on Wednesday due to bad behavior, and feel like much of that day was a waste. I had the grumpies and couldn't recover from it. I'll have to try harder this week...
M&Ms: Not a problem. The ice cream in the freezer was a problem. Until I ate it. Now we're safe again. For now.
Hope you have a great week!
We did fun stuff this week. We ate dinners outside. We made yummy smoothies with spinach hidden inside. We did Mama/daughter mani/pedis. Well, I attempted to paint all of our nails. That's not quite the same, but we all feel fancy. We got an amazing box of clothes from a friend in Texas. It was Christmas in August.
I'm still coffee-free. My head is still a bit fuzzy. I feel totally behind with everything I need to do right now. I'm trying to breathe steadily while I think about it all. Maybe I should just report in and go to bed. Ok. Let's do that.
Food waste: We had to throw out a forgotten cucumber that got separated from the herd and shriveled. We have a crazy amount of tomatoes to use ASAP. Salsa fresca anyone?
Money: Holy cow we just bought new camping gear. A big tent with all the accessories, as we've completely outgrown our old one. It's still cheaper than a normal vacation, but HOLY COW! And I got this upcoming year's snow pants on super sale. I've resigned myself to winters in the snow pretending that I love it. Did I mention HOLY COW?!? REI, you are a gift and a curse...
Patience: I was doing fine until I experimented with eating a handful of chocolate covered espresso beans on Friday afternoon. The Patience Angel abandoned me. I think she's currently engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a batch of my hormones, so I'll give her a pass for a few more days. But I really hope she comes back.
Time: So much to do, so little time. I cancelled the fun on Wednesday due to bad behavior, and feel like much of that day was a waste. I had the grumpies and couldn't recover from it. I'll have to try harder this week...
M&Ms: Not a problem. The ice cream in the freezer was a problem. Until I ate it. Now we're safe again. For now.
Hope you have a great week!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Stewardship Sunday. It's Sunday again?
It's Sunday again. Didn't we just have one of those the other day?
I'm still coffee-free. I don't really miss it anymore. I do miss the caffeine highs. But not the crashes. I feel more even-keeled. That's a good thing when you have 2 and 3 year olds in the house.
I'm tired. Not drinking coffee has gotten me to bed earlier. But is has made me less productive. I guess this is the trade-off of being healthier?
So let's get down to business and report on the week. My bed is calling my name.
Food waste: We threw out some overly-old fish. It was too bad even for BestestHusband. Rarely does he turn down some too-old leftovers. But this week he did. We were better than last week in the food waste department. I used up over half of my green onions today in a scallion pancake recipe. I'm optimistic about the rest. But we went fruit-picking yesterday, and brought home 5 lbs of blueberries, 1 quart of raspberries, and a peck of peaches.They are all amazing. But ripe, so I need to eat or preserve them NOW. I've had worse problems to deal with...
Money: I did hit another end-of-season sale for work clothes online. I think $55 for a work dress and linen summer blouse is a pretty good deal. The box hasn't arrived yet, but hey, if they don't fit, the store is next to the grocery store for easy returns.
Patience: The Patience Angel came to our house this week. I'm praying she moved in. I really do feel calmer and more patient, and didn't find myself yelling this week. This is an amazing thing. Answer to my prayers? Result of no coffee? Maybe a bit of both? I'm just praising the Lord that this change has come about and hoping it's a permanent one.
Time: We had a fun week with some fun adventures. We did errand running at the beginning of the week, but Friday, the girls and I hit the town. We took the bus and train into the city, and were on the move for 8 hours. We did an errand at the new Charlie Card store. It was pretty painful. But then we ate an alfresco lunch, listening to a pianist near the fountain at Park Street. We walked to the Frog Pond and went swimming/wading. We cleaned up and went to Cambridge to visit BestestHusband at work. We picked up baked treats along the way. We hung out at BH's office for a bit, then went to meet the girls' best friend, Bea, at the library. Well, the library closed before we got there. But we hung out a bit outside, then went to the farmer's market there. I totally miscalculated time, but the girls didn't care. We got home too late and the girls loved every minute of it. Saturday, we took the girls fruit-picking. Tougas Farm was fantastic for little kids. They had goats to pet, a huge playground, and lots of berries and peaches to pick. They also had apples, but we decided to wait until my parents get here to do that. The housework is not done. I have a ton of stuff to do to start up my practice. There is just so much I need to do. But it's summer still. We need to drink it in while we can. While my planning wasn't perfect, I don't think we misused our time at all.
M&Ms: I finished off those frozen chocolate banana slices all by myself. Sorry BH... But no M&Ms. Now, the peach frozen yogurt I made earlier this evening, that's a different story. Homemade yogurt, hand-picked super ripe peaches, homemade frogurt from the two of them. How can you resist?
So I'm thankful again to be blessed with yet another wonderful week. I look at pictures on Facebook of friends around the world doing exciting and exotic things. And wouldn't trade it for a moment of what we've got now.
Hope your next week is a great one!
I'm still coffee-free. I don't really miss it anymore. I do miss the caffeine highs. But not the crashes. I feel more even-keeled. That's a good thing when you have 2 and 3 year olds in the house.
I'm tired. Not drinking coffee has gotten me to bed earlier. But is has made me less productive. I guess this is the trade-off of being healthier?
So let's get down to business and report on the week. My bed is calling my name.
Food waste: We threw out some overly-old fish. It was too bad even for BestestHusband. Rarely does he turn down some too-old leftovers. But this week he did. We were better than last week in the food waste department. I used up over half of my green onions today in a scallion pancake recipe. I'm optimistic about the rest. But we went fruit-picking yesterday, and brought home 5 lbs of blueberries, 1 quart of raspberries, and a peck of peaches.They are all amazing. But ripe, so I need to eat or preserve them NOW. I've had worse problems to deal with...
Money: I did hit another end-of-season sale for work clothes online. I think $55 for a work dress and linen summer blouse is a pretty good deal. The box hasn't arrived yet, but hey, if they don't fit, the store is next to the grocery store for easy returns.
Patience: The Patience Angel came to our house this week. I'm praying she moved in. I really do feel calmer and more patient, and didn't find myself yelling this week. This is an amazing thing. Answer to my prayers? Result of no coffee? Maybe a bit of both? I'm just praising the Lord that this change has come about and hoping it's a permanent one.
Time: We had a fun week with some fun adventures. We did errand running at the beginning of the week, but Friday, the girls and I hit the town. We took the bus and train into the city, and were on the move for 8 hours. We did an errand at the new Charlie Card store. It was pretty painful. But then we ate an alfresco lunch, listening to a pianist near the fountain at Park Street. We walked to the Frog Pond and went swimming/wading. We cleaned up and went to Cambridge to visit BestestHusband at work. We picked up baked treats along the way. We hung out at BH's office for a bit, then went to meet the girls' best friend, Bea, at the library. Well, the library closed before we got there. But we hung out a bit outside, then went to the farmer's market there. I totally miscalculated time, but the girls didn't care. We got home too late and the girls loved every minute of it. Saturday, we took the girls fruit-picking. Tougas Farm was fantastic for little kids. They had goats to pet, a huge playground, and lots of berries and peaches to pick. They also had apples, but we decided to wait until my parents get here to do that. The housework is not done. I have a ton of stuff to do to start up my practice. There is just so much I need to do. But it's summer still. We need to drink it in while we can. While my planning wasn't perfect, I don't think we misused our time at all.
M&Ms: I finished off those frozen chocolate banana slices all by myself. Sorry BH... But no M&Ms. Now, the peach frozen yogurt I made earlier this evening, that's a different story. Homemade yogurt, hand-picked super ripe peaches, homemade frogurt from the two of them. How can you resist?
So I'm thankful again to be blessed with yet another wonderful week. I look at pictures on Facebook of friends around the world doing exciting and exotic things. And wouldn't trade it for a moment of what we've got now.
Hope your next week is a great one!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
I'm posting about Sunday ON Sunday this week. It's about the only thing that's not glaringly overdue in my house right now... It's bad when your 3 year old points out that the trash cans are overflowing, the floors are too dirty to walk barefoot, and you really need to do laundry. Thanks kid, thanks for that. I was hoping I was the only one in the house that had noticed. Nope.
Busy week. I think I always say that. But it's always true. This was a week of catchup from vacation. But I didn't really catch up...
I did have my new business cards arrive in the mail. I did put together my very own skeleton website for my private practice. I did have my first culinary use of lavender this week in celebrating BestestHusband's birthday (lemon-lavender cake with lavender cream). We went to BestestHusband's company's summer picnic on Friday. And a Red Sox game Friday night. That's all exciting. And the girls and I did spend a very lovely morning at the beach this week. I realized that I need to prioritize fun activities at least one day/week to actually make them happen this summer. Right now, that day's Wednesday. We're hoping to make it to the lake this upcoming week. Keep your fingers crossed for the weather...
I don't want to jinx it, but we discovered a very interesting this about motivation, MeToo, and potty training. [WARNING: parent about to talk about her child's pooping habits] MeToo does great with using the potty if we let her run around the house naked. That's another story for another day. But we had some poop issues. She'd either go in her diaper or on the floor. We tried bribing her with peanut M&Ms. They worked for HeyMama. MeToo said she wanted them. But they weren't enough to get her to poop on the potty. This week we tried gummy bears. Delicious imported German gummy bears. They're magic. She's all about pooping on the potty now that there are gummies involved. So I was starting to get cranky about her going in the plastic potty that sits on the floor, because the cleanup is so annoying, and she can pee just fine on the big potty. So I offered her TWO gummies to poop on the big potty instead. And she got up, went to the big potty, and pooped, basically on command. (!!!!!) Talk about motivation! The funny thing is, the two gummies she got were bigger than the poop she was able to get out. But she was determined to produce something. And she did get her gummies. Keep your fingers crossed that this keeps working. But we're going to run out of gummies soon. Keep your fingers crossed that my 2 year old hasn't become a gummy bear snob that needs imported German gummies...
Food waste: I threw out about 4 cups of jicama salad. It was twice leftover and had travelled to church and back on a hot day. I have some fridge cleaning to do, so I think this will get worse soon...
Money: I shopped well, but still bought some expensive ingredients. Finding wild Alaskan sockeye salmon half-off is a great deal. But it's still the most expensive meat I'll buy. I bought for the church coffee hour, too. So my grocery bill was scary, but explainable.
Patience: We're not on vacation anymore. Back to reality. Gym time was scarce. Patience was adequate, considering this.
M&Ms: I was too busy eating chocolate zucchini cake to think about M&Ms.
Time: We crammed a lot into a week. Except housework. I did not find much time for that. But any week that involves as much family time as this week did is a week where we allocated our time well.
Busy week. I think I always say that. But it's always true. This was a week of catchup from vacation. But I didn't really catch up...
I did have my new business cards arrive in the mail. I did put together my very own skeleton website for my private practice. I did have my first culinary use of lavender this week in celebrating BestestHusband's birthday (lemon-lavender cake with lavender cream). We went to BestestHusband's company's summer picnic on Friday. And a Red Sox game Friday night. That's all exciting. And the girls and I did spend a very lovely morning at the beach this week. I realized that I need to prioritize fun activities at least one day/week to actually make them happen this summer. Right now, that day's Wednesday. We're hoping to make it to the lake this upcoming week. Keep your fingers crossed for the weather...
I don't want to jinx it, but we discovered a very interesting this about motivation, MeToo, and potty training. [WARNING: parent about to talk about her child's pooping habits] MeToo does great with using the potty if we let her run around the house naked. That's another story for another day. But we had some poop issues. She'd either go in her diaper or on the floor. We tried bribing her with peanut M&Ms. They worked for HeyMama. MeToo said she wanted them. But they weren't enough to get her to poop on the potty. This week we tried gummy bears. Delicious imported German gummy bears. They're magic. She's all about pooping on the potty now that there are gummies involved. So I was starting to get cranky about her going in the plastic potty that sits on the floor, because the cleanup is so annoying, and she can pee just fine on the big potty. So I offered her TWO gummies to poop on the big potty instead. And she got up, went to the big potty, and pooped, basically on command. (!!!!!) Talk about motivation! The funny thing is, the two gummies she got were bigger than the poop she was able to get out. But she was determined to produce something. And she did get her gummies. Keep your fingers crossed that this keeps working. But we're going to run out of gummies soon. Keep your fingers crossed that my 2 year old hasn't become a gummy bear snob that needs imported German gummies...
Food waste: I threw out about 4 cups of jicama salad. It was twice leftover and had travelled to church and back on a hot day. I have some fridge cleaning to do, so I think this will get worse soon...
Money: I shopped well, but still bought some expensive ingredients. Finding wild Alaskan sockeye salmon half-off is a great deal. But it's still the most expensive meat I'll buy. I bought for the church coffee hour, too. So my grocery bill was scary, but explainable.
Patience: We're not on vacation anymore. Back to reality. Gym time was scarce. Patience was adequate, considering this.
M&Ms: I was too busy eating chocolate zucchini cake to think about M&Ms.
Time: We crammed a lot into a week. Except housework. I did not find much time for that. But any week that involves as much family time as this week did is a week where we allocated our time well.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Stewardship Sunday on Monday Again
Wow, what a week. The whole week was a huge gift. The vacation was much-needed, and much enjoyed. It was worth every penny to hear HeyMama say, "I'm going to go outside and run around with my cousins." And since they live in St. Louis, MO and Fairbanks, AK, it takes a few pennies to gather them all together. Yet, still, it was totally worth it.
We returned home to find that our garden had exploded. The pole beans finally decided to climb their poles. The lettuce was trying to race it to the sky. The herbs were elbowing the tomato plants for space. The jalapeños were thick and plentiful. Hot sun and lots of rain will do that, I suppose...
We returned home to find that our garden had exploded. The pole beans finally decided to climb their poles. The lettuce was trying to race it to the sky. The herbs were elbowing the tomato plants for space. The jalapeños were thick and plentiful. Hot sun and lots of rain will do that, I suppose...
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| Garden bounty: basil, jalapeños, and zucchini cake |
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| It's a lot of basil! The pot's just there because it's pretty... |
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| BestestHusband uprooted the peppermint to make more room for the spearmint. We have a lot of mint... |
Food waste: We left some produce for Miss Ashley (our beloved daycare teacher/dogsitter/housesitter/babysitter) to eat. She did not eat the produce. MISS ASHLEY, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO EAT THE PRODUCE!!! So we had some fruit go bad. She did help eat some of the garden. So I give her credit for that. On vacation, we made a valiant effort to keep from wasting any leftovers from a week of 3 meals/day x 12 people. I think we deserve credit for that. And we're working very hard to use/preserve the crazy amounts of herbs we brought in from the garden. OH, and we composted at the lake house! Does that earn us bonus points?
Money: Vacation is not cheap. But we cooked most of our own meals (we went out one night with the whole family, and BestestHusband and I went out one night just by ourselves - with coupons), which helps with 12 people. We shopped all of the grocery sales in advance, thanks to my detail-oriented mother-in-law.
Patience: It's easy to be patient when you're on vacation.
M&Ms: There was a bag of plain M&Ms on vacation. I was too busy eating other yummy stuff to care much.
Time: We got family time, couple time, 1:1 kid time, and even lots of alone time. The whole week was time well spent, in my mind.
This week is proving already to be a tough reality check. Sigh. Back to reality. But it was definitely worth it!
How was your week?
Money: Vacation is not cheap. But we cooked most of our own meals (we went out one night with the whole family, and BestestHusband and I went out one night just by ourselves - with coupons), which helps with 12 people. We shopped all of the grocery sales in advance, thanks to my detail-oriented mother-in-law.
Patience: It's easy to be patient when you're on vacation.
M&Ms: There was a bag of plain M&Ms on vacation. I was too busy eating other yummy stuff to care much.
Time: We got family time, couple time, 1:1 kid time, and even lots of alone time. The whole week was time well spent, in my mind.
This week is proving already to be a tough reality check. Sigh. Back to reality. But it was definitely worth it!
How was your week?
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Stewardship Sunday - Weekend Getaway Edition
Whew, Sunday again. How did that happen?
We returned from a quick weekend getaway, and are gearing up for the real summer vacation - a week with extended family at a lake house in the upper Midwest. It's late. So I'll try to do a quick week overview and leave the details for tomorrow.
Monday: Gym, led preschool music time, had relaxing afternoon at home. And a visit from the plumber. I think. It feels so long ago...
Tuesday: Worked an extra long day in Boston. Had a delayed train. BestestHusband cooked sandwiches for dinner.
Wednesday: Went to Children's Museum with college roomie and her two boys. Ran errands and did laundry to prep for the camping trip. Then was exhausted.
Thursday: Worked in Boston, then had dentist appointment in evening. BestestHusband cooked takeout for dinner.
Friday: Spent the morning packing for the camping trip. BestestHusband came home early from work, and we headed west. In lots of traffic. We set up camp, roasted hot dogs and s'mores, and crashed (like sardines who like to lay on Mama) in our small tent.
Saturday: BestestHusband (who actually slept through the night) let me sleep in. The girls enjoyed the playground. He enjoyed the newspaper. We went swimming in a lake. We showered and got ready for Tanglewood. We spent an evening under the stars, listening to world-class music in a world-class outdoor music venue, drinking sparkling wine and eating a 5-star picnic. They topped it off with fireworks. We got back to the campsite after 1am.
Sunday: We straggled out of our tent not too long before checkout time. We hurried to pack up and check out. We drove a lot. We went to an outlet mall on the way home. That was so painful on so many fronts, but most of our anniversary shopping is now done. We came home. We greeted the dogs. We discovered they acquired fleas at the dog sitter's house. We rushed to get the girls fed, bathed, and in bed. We tried to clean up from the trip and de-flea the dogs and the downstairs.
Food waste: It was a hectic week. A perfectly-nice batch of spinach got composted. Some perfectly nice lettuce met the same fate.
Money: Camping + Tanglewood + outlet mall = ouch. But 2 out of the 3 are what we hope the girls' memories are made of. And 1 out of 3 are what much of their food will be made WITH.
Patience: We were trying to accomplish a lot this week, which always puts a strain on everyone. We had a lot of fun, but had a few trying moments, as well. I'd rate this week a "fair" to average out the ups and downs.
M&Ms: MeToo started pooping on the potty this week. And the floor. But she did earn M&Ms for the potty poops. I earned M&Ms for cleaning up the floor poops.
Time: We did a lot of great memory-making stuff this week. I think our time use was pretty good. I'd just like to have more of it...
More info to come on camping, Tanglewood, and out outlet trip. Hope you had a great week, and are looking forward to another one!
We returned from a quick weekend getaway, and are gearing up for the real summer vacation - a week with extended family at a lake house in the upper Midwest. It's late. So I'll try to do a quick week overview and leave the details for tomorrow.
Monday: Gym, led preschool music time, had relaxing afternoon at home. And a visit from the plumber. I think. It feels so long ago...
Tuesday: Worked an extra long day in Boston. Had a delayed train. BestestHusband cooked sandwiches for dinner.
Wednesday: Went to Children's Museum with college roomie and her two boys. Ran errands and did laundry to prep for the camping trip. Then was exhausted.
Thursday: Worked in Boston, then had dentist appointment in evening. BestestHusband cooked takeout for dinner.
Friday: Spent the morning packing for the camping trip. BestestHusband came home early from work, and we headed west. In lots of traffic. We set up camp, roasted hot dogs and s'mores, and crashed (like sardines who like to lay on Mama) in our small tent.
Saturday: BestestHusband (who actually slept through the night) let me sleep in. The girls enjoyed the playground. He enjoyed the newspaper. We went swimming in a lake. We showered and got ready for Tanglewood. We spent an evening under the stars, listening to world-class music in a world-class outdoor music venue, drinking sparkling wine and eating a 5-star picnic. They topped it off with fireworks. We got back to the campsite after 1am.
Sunday: We straggled out of our tent not too long before checkout time. We hurried to pack up and check out. We drove a lot. We went to an outlet mall on the way home. That was so painful on so many fronts, but most of our anniversary shopping is now done. We came home. We greeted the dogs. We discovered they acquired fleas at the dog sitter's house. We rushed to get the girls fed, bathed, and in bed. We tried to clean up from the trip and de-flea the dogs and the downstairs.
Food waste: It was a hectic week. A perfectly-nice batch of spinach got composted. Some perfectly nice lettuce met the same fate.
Money: Camping + Tanglewood + outlet mall = ouch. But 2 out of the 3 are what we hope the girls' memories are made of. And 1 out of 3 are what much of their food will be made WITH.
Patience: We were trying to accomplish a lot this week, which always puts a strain on everyone. We had a lot of fun, but had a few trying moments, as well. I'd rate this week a "fair" to average out the ups and downs.
M&Ms: MeToo started pooping on the potty this week. And the floor. But she did earn M&Ms for the potty poops. I earned M&Ms for cleaning up the floor poops.
Time: We did a lot of great memory-making stuff this week. I think our time use was pretty good. I'd just like to have more of it...
More info to come on camping, Tanglewood, and out outlet trip. Hope you had a great week, and are looking forward to another one!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
Whew, what a week. It was a week of fireworks. Literally. I live in one of the most patriotic neighborhoods in the US. They don't even let state laws slow them down. Why shoot off illegal fireworks just one day a year when you can shoot them off every night that it's not freezing? And yes, I was the crazy lady out barefoot in pajamas, yelling up the hill to the revelers, "Knock it off! I called the cops! It's 1:30am!" And I was the therapist with glazed eyes the next morning siting at the wrong desk, annoying the full-time therapists.
I had an interesting experience with a neighbor at 1:30am. One of my neighbors is almost always shirtless. He's in his 50's. Balding with a comb-over. Paunchy. Never stepped foot in a gym. He's the baby of 9 kids, and was always coddled a bit. Still living rent-free in his (now-deceased) Mama's house. Kinda creepy. Well, Creepy Shirtless Neighbor was out at 1:30am. He apologized for being shirtless, blaming it on getting soaked during the fireworks on the Esplanade. No, he's shirtless because he's Creepy Shirtless Neighbor. And now he's seen my in my pajamas. I shudder just thinking about it...
We had a super-fun week. We were busy enjoying the summer, outdoors. We saw the tall ships on Wednesday. We played with friends. I went to the gym. We had a workday at our friends' house, immediately followed by a birthday party. We took naps. It was a great week.
And now I'm tired. So I'm going to report on my resource management for the week and take a shower.
Food waste: Last week was bad. I didn't post about it, but trust me on this one. This past week, not so much. The fresh lettuce and greens in the backyard are helping me quite a bit.
Money: Ouch again. A trip to TJMaxx for preschooler undies resulted in finding more sandbox toys and fun stuff to do on our upcoming vacation. Good deals, but still, ouch. Oh, and I went out for a girls' night out. Tasty sangria and tasty desserts aren't free.
Patience: Fair. I was having a rough week for other reasons, but the gym time did help.
M&Ms: I finished off my container of Mama's Magic Beans (Trader Joe's Mint Chocolate covered espresso beans), but did share them with others. The M&Ms are down in the basement, safely out of my consciousness. The dark chocolate frozen yogurt, unfortunately, was not.
Time: We did a lot of play dates and play time with friends this week. We went out for a family outing on the 4th. We were outside a lot. This is what we SHOULD be doing in our short Boston summer. We used our time well, as far as I'm concerned. The cleanliness of our house definitely suffered. Oh well.
Time to get ready for a new busy week. How was your week?
I had an interesting experience with a neighbor at 1:30am. One of my neighbors is almost always shirtless. He's in his 50's. Balding with a comb-over. Paunchy. Never stepped foot in a gym. He's the baby of 9 kids, and was always coddled a bit. Still living rent-free in his (now-deceased) Mama's house. Kinda creepy. Well, Creepy Shirtless Neighbor was out at 1:30am. He apologized for being shirtless, blaming it on getting soaked during the fireworks on the Esplanade. No, he's shirtless because he's Creepy Shirtless Neighbor. And now he's seen my in my pajamas. I shudder just thinking about it...
We had a super-fun week. We were busy enjoying the summer, outdoors. We saw the tall ships on Wednesday. We played with friends. I went to the gym. We had a workday at our friends' house, immediately followed by a birthday party. We took naps. It was a great week.
And now I'm tired. So I'm going to report on my resource management for the week and take a shower.
Food waste: Last week was bad. I didn't post about it, but trust me on this one. This past week, not so much. The fresh lettuce and greens in the backyard are helping me quite a bit.
Money: Ouch again. A trip to TJMaxx for preschooler undies resulted in finding more sandbox toys and fun stuff to do on our upcoming vacation. Good deals, but still, ouch. Oh, and I went out for a girls' night out. Tasty sangria and tasty desserts aren't free.
Patience: Fair. I was having a rough week for other reasons, but the gym time did help.
M&Ms: I finished off my container of Mama's Magic Beans (Trader Joe's Mint Chocolate covered espresso beans), but did share them with others. The M&Ms are down in the basement, safely out of my consciousness. The dark chocolate frozen yogurt, unfortunately, was not.
Time: We did a lot of play dates and play time with friends this week. We went out for a family outing on the 4th. We were outside a lot. This is what we SHOULD be doing in our short Boston summer. We used our time well, as far as I'm concerned. The cleanliness of our house definitely suffered. Oh well.
Time to get ready for a new busy week. How was your week?
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Stewardship Sunday: VBS Edition
So today was the last day of VBS, or Vacation Bible School. It's like Sunday School on steroids, with great decorations, games, new fun music, and of course Bible lessons. Growing up, my large suburban church did this during a week. We had enough stay-at-home moms and retirees to make it work. It was always a blast. For some reason, we always had shoestring potato chips and grapes for snack. I can't see a shoestring potato chip without thinking about VBS...
Anyway, my medium-sized urban church does not have many retirees, the stay-at-home moms we do have are staying home with small children, and our congregation is too spread out to make VBS work during the week. So we do it on Sundays in June. As I mentioned previously, I agreed to help out with music. Now, if you know me from childhood, you might say something along the lines of, "Joy, you're not a singer. You were in the band." And you would be right. And you would be right to suspect there was a reason I played an instrument instead of going into choir. To be fair, I did grow up in a Lutheran church, singing from a very early age. So I can carry a tune if you give me a bucket. And I grew up with a deep well of kids church music to draw from. So, in my church, if you're willing to stand up in front of a bunch of kids, jump around a bit, and try to sing some songs you grew up with, you're qualified to teach children's music.
The kids learned the music, had a great time, and sang their hearts out to the parents this morning in front of the WHOLE congregation! All-in-all, things were a success. I had fun, I had great musicians that actually made the whole thing sound good. Let me tell you about the musicians in our congregation. Because I'm 10th string talent.
The real musicians in my congregation:
But I had a blast singing myself hoarse, and am thankful for the chance to step up to the plate.
So our VBS and Sunday School starts with kids 2 years old. When I was first asked to help with a 2 year old class, I was a little skeptical. Can 2 year olds REALLY learn much from Sunday School? As I soon learned, OH YES THEY CAN! Of course we keep the lessons simple, with felt figures to tell the stories, and lots of singing and play. But they absorb the information, and even if they don't sing at church, they sing the songs non-stop at home. I hear this constantly from parents, both at church and from parents at the girls' preschool where I help with music. The kids love the music, and love to sing it to their parents. This is common knowledge in our education program, but we were all still pleasantly surprised to see this:
This is MeToo after VBS is over a few weeks ago. While everyone else was milling around eating cookies, she went back into the room where the Bible lessons were held, and started re-creating the story she had heard that morning with the felt "people". Now, in her version, the Disciples were all taking a nap. But she remembered the story. It's so fun to see her learning!
Ok, so I guess it's time to report in on my resource use for the week:
Food waste: I was the leafy-green executioner again this week. A container of baby kale went bad before I could use it, as did a bunch of cilantro. But the garden lettuce is helping me if I only pick what I need that day.
Money: Ouch again. Birthday gifts, things like backseat organizers for the car, Trader Joes, etc. Ouch.
Patience: Fair. But without enough gym time, my nerves were jangling by the evening.
M&Ms: I was given a baggie of dark chocolate peanut M&Ms (thanks Joy!). They did not make it home. I picked up some Mama's Magic Beans (Trader Joe's chocolate covered espresso beans), and have so far showed restraint. But with BestestHusband out of the country for a few days, the chances are good that they'll disappear quickly...
Time: We did a lot of play dates and play time with friends this week. We had a blast. This negatively impacted my gym time, but we were outside and moving around. And it's the summer. We should be outside having fun instead of cleaning. I think we used our time very wisely this week.
How was your week?
PS. Thanks Mary Reuning for the pictures! I love the action blur of my hands. I suppose that's typical in any action shot, even if I'm not singing to kids...
Anyway, my medium-sized urban church does not have many retirees, the stay-at-home moms we do have are staying home with small children, and our congregation is too spread out to make VBS work during the week. So we do it on Sundays in June. As I mentioned previously, I agreed to help out with music. Now, if you know me from childhood, you might say something along the lines of, "Joy, you're not a singer. You were in the band." And you would be right. And you would be right to suspect there was a reason I played an instrument instead of going into choir. To be fair, I did grow up in a Lutheran church, singing from a very early age. So I can carry a tune if you give me a bucket. And I grew up with a deep well of kids church music to draw from. So, in my church, if you're willing to stand up in front of a bunch of kids, jump around a bit, and try to sing some songs you grew up with, you're qualified to teach children's music.
 |
| Here I am, jumping around and waving my hands while the real musicians play music. |
The kids learned the music, had a great time, and sang their hearts out to the parents this morning in front of the WHOLE congregation! All-in-all, things were a success. I had fun, I had great musicians that actually made the whole thing sound good. Let me tell you about the musicians in our congregation. Because I'm 10th string talent.
The real musicians in my congregation:
- An internationally-acclaimed Hungarian organist who wins competitions all over the world and can make an organ sing. Listening to him, you can understand what Bach meant his music to sound like, and how music is truly one of God's gifts. He also understands that music can be a key to opening people's hearts to hear God. This is a great combination in a church musician. Oh, and he composes modern organ works.
- A professor at Berklee College of Music who is an amazing jazz pianist. His musical skills defy description. He is humble and generous and a blessing to our church.
- His wife, another musician with a lovely voice. Together, the two of them compose new music to teach the children. It is insanely fun to sing, and the words are straight from scripture. Yes, I said COMPOSE. They typically lead VBS music, and their songs are complex, yet the kids soak them in. Amazing.
- A young woman with an MFA in writing, who works in finance by day, and plays piano for theater groups by night. We went through a period of time between organists, and she played piano for our services. She also has a very lovely voice. She is truly talented.
- A woman who also works in an office by day, but sings in and leads choral groups during evenings and on Sundays at our church. She's another example of professional-grade talent disguised as a hobbyist.
- A woman who is blind, but can play anything she hears on the piano. I sang a verse of a new song for her, and she just started playing along with beautiful harmonies and flourishes. Songs come to life at her fingertips. Our VBS music would not have happened without her.
- A woman from Brazil who can do the same thing on the guitar. She's not blind, but doesn't read sheet music to play. Again, I'd start singing, and she'd just pick up the tune and sing along. She has a better voice than mine, and I'm glad she agreed to do music with me. Again, VBS music would not have happened without her.
- We have countless other spectacular voices and musicians, including a group of almost-grown siblings who were conscripted by their mother to play for a Christmas service. They just showed up with their string instruments and PLAYED. It was just as simple as that. And lovely, as I understand (I'm still sorry I missed it!)
But I had a blast singing myself hoarse, and am thankful for the chance to step up to the plate.
So our VBS and Sunday School starts with kids 2 years old. When I was first asked to help with a 2 year old class, I was a little skeptical. Can 2 year olds REALLY learn much from Sunday School? As I soon learned, OH YES THEY CAN! Of course we keep the lessons simple, with felt figures to tell the stories, and lots of singing and play. But they absorb the information, and even if they don't sing at church, they sing the songs non-stop at home. I hear this constantly from parents, both at church and from parents at the girls' preschool where I help with music. The kids love the music, and love to sing it to their parents. This is common knowledge in our education program, but we were all still pleasantly surprised to see this:
This is MeToo after VBS is over a few weeks ago. While everyone else was milling around eating cookies, she went back into the room where the Bible lessons were held, and started re-creating the story she had heard that morning with the felt "people". Now, in her version, the Disciples were all taking a nap. But she remembered the story. It's so fun to see her learning!
Ok, so I guess it's time to report in on my resource use for the week:
Food waste: I was the leafy-green executioner again this week. A container of baby kale went bad before I could use it, as did a bunch of cilantro. But the garden lettuce is helping me if I only pick what I need that day.
Money: Ouch again. Birthday gifts, things like backseat organizers for the car, Trader Joes, etc. Ouch.
Patience: Fair. But without enough gym time, my nerves were jangling by the evening.
M&Ms: I was given a baggie of dark chocolate peanut M&Ms (thanks Joy!). They did not make it home. I picked up some Mama's Magic Beans (Trader Joe's chocolate covered espresso beans), and have so far showed restraint. But with BestestHusband out of the country for a few days, the chances are good that they'll disappear quickly...
Time: We did a lot of play dates and play time with friends this week. We had a blast. This negatively impacted my gym time, but we were outside and moving around. And it's the summer. We should be outside having fun instead of cleaning. I think we used our time very wisely this week.
How was your week?
PS. Thanks Mary Reuning for the pictures! I love the action blur of my hands. I suppose that's typical in any action shot, even if I'm not singing to kids...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
Wow, it's been a while since I posted. But certain things are still the same. There is clean laundry on my spare bed, waiting to be folded. There are tumbleweeds of dog fur roaming the house, even though I recently swept. And I have a ToDo list longer than any week can reasonably manage. We like to be predictable and reliable around here.
Here's some of the fun NEW things for this week...
Did I mention that I'm excited about downsizing our double stroller for a single? In my mind, this opens up the possibility of taking public transportation this summer. Look out world! No parking worries + 2 girls who like to skip naps = lots of fun summer adventures!!!
Ok, it's crazy late, and the red wine I had with dinner isn't helping me be more alert...
Food waste: I was a green leafy executioner again this week. I killed half a head of lettuce and half a bunch of mint. I think I also killed a bit of cucumber. OH!!! I almost forgot to mention my YOGURT FAILURE! I tried making a gallon of yogurt. I instead got a gallon of warm milk. I tried using a different culture, and I don't think the milk was warm enough to start culturing. If it weren't for the red wine still in my system, I'd be much crankier about the milk and effort wasted. I'm still deluding myself that I can do something with the yogurt-scented milk... I sent out the question to my local mommy network, and have hope that someone will come back with good ideas...
M&Ms: not too bad this week. But ice cream was my drug of choice.
Money: I bought a Sodastream. New in the box from a local mom, so half price. But it wasn't a necessity...
Patience: We did a lot of playing this week. A lot of it was inside, but it was with friends. Friends help with patience. A LOT!!!
Exercise: I went to the gym only twice this week. My goal is to prioritize this more in the upcoming week.
Ok, time for bed. Hope you had a great week!
Here's some of the fun NEW things for this week...
- We got a Sodastream. It's fun.
- We had fun at two big of play dates. It rained a lot this week, so the play dates were a Godsend...
- The girls came to my Physical Therapy appointment with me. They actually were angels.
- HeyMama has starting sleeping without a pull-up. And last night I didn't have to change the sheets!
- MeToo transitioned from "barnacle" to "fish" at swimming lessons. The bruises on my neck from her death grip are finally fading...
- HeyMama tried paddling without the kick board, pool noodle, or barbell floaties. She still has the flotation belt on, but doggie-paddled across the pool like a champ!
- We're selling our double stroller tomorrow and getting a single with a standing board. I stripped the stroller to the frame and washed the fabric. That was an interesting experience.
- In one day, I took the girls to swim lessons, helped host a church meeting/cookout at our house, and went to work in the afternoon. Then deployed praying mantis egg sacks into our garden after dinner. Swimming, God, making money, and eco-friendly pest management, all in one Saturday. We're not usually so ambitious or productive.
- I jumped around and made myself hoarse in front of a bunch of kids singing some of my favorite childhood Sunday School songs.
- I held a few newborn babies. I concluded that I do like them still. But am still content to hand them back to their mothers.
- I wore one of my great consignment store dresses from the previous week's conquests, and again appreciated NOT wearing maternity or nursing clothes or holding my own newborn.
Did I mention that I'm excited about downsizing our double stroller for a single? In my mind, this opens up the possibility of taking public transportation this summer. Look out world! No parking worries + 2 girls who like to skip naps = lots of fun summer adventures!!!
 |
| My naked double stroller. |
Ok, it's crazy late, and the red wine I had with dinner isn't helping me be more alert...
Food waste: I was a green leafy executioner again this week. I killed half a head of lettuce and half a bunch of mint. I think I also killed a bit of cucumber. OH!!! I almost forgot to mention my YOGURT FAILURE! I tried making a gallon of yogurt. I instead got a gallon of warm milk. I tried using a different culture, and I don't think the milk was warm enough to start culturing. If it weren't for the red wine still in my system, I'd be much crankier about the milk and effort wasted. I'm still deluding myself that I can do something with the yogurt-scented milk... I sent out the question to my local mommy network, and have hope that someone will come back with good ideas...
M&Ms: not too bad this week. But ice cream was my drug of choice.
Money: I bought a Sodastream. New in the box from a local mom, so half price. But it wasn't a necessity...
Patience: We did a lot of playing this week. A lot of it was inside, but it was with friends. Friends help with patience. A LOT!!!
Exercise: I went to the gym only twice this week. My goal is to prioritize this more in the upcoming week.
Ok, time for bed. Hope you had a great week!
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Stewardship Sunday: Vocal Rest Edition
Happy Sunday!
It was nice to have a weekend at home, not working. It feels like it's been a while...
It was a rainy dreary weekend, and it helped me feel better about not getting out and DOING stuff. Of course, we did actually get out and DO a lot of stuff. But I didn't feel the constant urge to take advantage of the sunshine and comfortable temps we've had lately. I love the calm quiet feeling in the air on drizzly days. And a few times this weekend, I was actually able to pause and enjoy it!
So this week involved working a holiday, having a workday afternoon off, two mornings in the swimming pool with the girls, a massage, a PT appointment (the massage was NOT just for relaxation!), playmates, errands, a trip to the library, preparations for Vacation Bible School, and research on which voracious insects would be best for our garden pests. We came home from Allandale Farms today with a container of Praying Mantis egg sacks. All of the literature on them says they make great pets. I'm content to just let them run wild in our yard. I have no need to domesticate insects in this household...
Anyway, back to the "Vocal Rest Edition" part of the title. I helped lead the music for Vacation Bible School this morning. Across 4 groups of kids, my voice was going strong for 2+ hours. I am not a singer. I do not have a professionally trained voice. I just have a lifetime repertoire of Sunday School songs and the guts to belt out songs in front of saucer-eyed kids all morning long. In other words, I don't know how to use my voice well in endurance situations. But as an SLP, I do know that this is an abnormally significant workout of my vocal cords, one that could lead to phonotrauma if not managed appropriately. So I'm trying to drink a lot. Let me rephrase that. I'm trying to drink a lot of water and herbal tea. The other kind of drinking would be more fun, but would not improve the health of my larynx. Now, if I were my own SLP, I would prescribe myself a bit of vocal rest. My advice would be to try not to talk so much, keep my volume down, and nod and gesture whenever possible. My advice would be ludicrous considering that I have 2 preschoolers...
Anyway, I want to go to bed before midnight, so let's get this stewardship accounting done!
Money: OUCH. We went to the craft store. I got a massage. And sand toys for the girls. And 2 dresses at the consignment store. (They were a steal! And I need new summer dresses. But still, ouch.)
Exercise: This week wasn't so great. I think I got in one good workout all week. Sigh.
M&Ms: Not the worst week for Peanut M&Ms, but less exercise = more self-medicating with chocolate. I finished off a jar of Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond spread. Really dangerous stuff!!! But oh, so good!!!
Patience: Middle-of the road this week. Again, by the grace of God, I have moments of patience that are beyond what comes from me. I'm thankful that I have awareness in these moments. It makes me feel better to know that God really is there in the mundane moments of life. Especially the ones that I suck at handling on my own...
Time: Since thinking about it weeks ago, I really think I"m doing better at not frittering away so much time on the computer. That's perhaps helped by the fact that we don't spend so much time at home now that the weather's better.
Food waste: I threw out half a bunch of basil, and have half a head of lettuce waiting for me in the fridge. I really am bad about letting greens die. I'm like a leafy-green executioner. I'm happy that we have lettuce in the garden that I can pick a little at a time. Because buying it to use for the week just leads to a lot of food waste. Thanks again to BestestHusband for helping to eat some of the more questionable items in the fridge. He is my household savior for food waste.
It was nice to have a weekend at home, not working. It feels like it's been a while...
It was a rainy dreary weekend, and it helped me feel better about not getting out and DOING stuff. Of course, we did actually get out and DO a lot of stuff. But I didn't feel the constant urge to take advantage of the sunshine and comfortable temps we've had lately. I love the calm quiet feeling in the air on drizzly days. And a few times this weekend, I was actually able to pause and enjoy it!
So this week involved working a holiday, having a workday afternoon off, two mornings in the swimming pool with the girls, a massage, a PT appointment (the massage was NOT just for relaxation!), playmates, errands, a trip to the library, preparations for Vacation Bible School, and research on which voracious insects would be best for our garden pests. We came home from Allandale Farms today with a container of Praying Mantis egg sacks. All of the literature on them says they make great pets. I'm content to just let them run wild in our yard. I have no need to domesticate insects in this household...
Anyway, back to the "Vocal Rest Edition" part of the title. I helped lead the music for Vacation Bible School this morning. Across 4 groups of kids, my voice was going strong for 2+ hours. I am not a singer. I do not have a professionally trained voice. I just have a lifetime repertoire of Sunday School songs and the guts to belt out songs in front of saucer-eyed kids all morning long. In other words, I don't know how to use my voice well in endurance situations. But as an SLP, I do know that this is an abnormally significant workout of my vocal cords, one that could lead to phonotrauma if not managed appropriately. So I'm trying to drink a lot. Let me rephrase that. I'm trying to drink a lot of water and herbal tea. The other kind of drinking would be more fun, but would not improve the health of my larynx. Now, if I were my own SLP, I would prescribe myself a bit of vocal rest. My advice would be to try not to talk so much, keep my volume down, and nod and gesture whenever possible. My advice would be ludicrous considering that I have 2 preschoolers...
Anyway, I want to go to bed before midnight, so let's get this stewardship accounting done!
Money: OUCH. We went to the craft store. I got a massage. And sand toys for the girls. And 2 dresses at the consignment store. (They were a steal! And I need new summer dresses. But still, ouch.)
Exercise: This week wasn't so great. I think I got in one good workout all week. Sigh.
M&Ms: Not the worst week for Peanut M&Ms, but less exercise = more self-medicating with chocolate. I finished off a jar of Trader Joe's Cocoa Almond spread. Really dangerous stuff!!! But oh, so good!!!
Patience: Middle-of the road this week. Again, by the grace of God, I have moments of patience that are beyond what comes from me. I'm thankful that I have awareness in these moments. It makes me feel better to know that God really is there in the mundane moments of life. Especially the ones that I suck at handling on my own...
Time: Since thinking about it weeks ago, I really think I"m doing better at not frittering away so much time on the computer. That's perhaps helped by the fact that we don't spend so much time at home now that the weather's better.
Food waste: I threw out half a bunch of basil, and have half a head of lettuce waiting for me in the fridge. I really am bad about letting greens die. I'm like a leafy-green executioner. I'm happy that we have lettuce in the garden that I can pick a little at a time. Because buying it to use for the week just leads to a lot of food waste. Thanks again to BestestHusband for helping to eat some of the more questionable items in the fridge. He is my household savior for food waste.
 |
| HeyMama saw these made on a video, and told me what we needed to buy at the craft store. |
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| She did it ALL BY HERSELF! Just from watching it done once. I mean, it's a simple craft, but she's 3! And all I had to do was fetch the googley eyes from the closet and unclog the glue! |
Hope you have a great week!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
It's Sunday again. I'm not sure where the day went... well, actually, I do. Much of it was spent at church, thanks to an afternoon Voter's Meeting. And yesterday was spent at work. So I don't feel like I had much of a weekend. I'm starting this post to procrastinate from finishing the dishes. With little perceived weekend, doing dishes just doesn't sound like much fun...
We had more fun this past week than the week before it. Well, I did... HeyMama had an allergic reaction to her amoxicillin, and had a nasty rash. It's almost gone now. Poor kid looked like a leper. But we did more fun stuff. We had lots of play dates. We went places. We bought glittery nail polish and have glittery toes. BestestHusband battled a boulder. It was a great week.
The laundry monster is still stalking me from the spare bedroom. I must conquer him tonight, so I'll be brief.
Exercise: I only made it to the gym once. I plan to remedy that this week.
Patience: It's closely tied to how often I make it to the gym, but having fun and being outside in glorious weather helped a bit.
M&Ms: Less gym time = more M&Ms consumed. It's an unfair relationship.
Money: We did shoe shopping this week. Ouch. Our trip to CVS resulted in the purchasing of multiple headbands and hair appliances. And nail polish. It's expensive to be a girl.
Food Waste: We threw out half of a bunch of mint, and will likely toss half a can of tomatoes. I'm trying not to waste the whipped cream I made earlier in the week. I think somehow I'll manage to consume that and not the container of salad greens that are trying to go bad in my fridge...
Hope you have a great week! Now, off to slay the dread laundry monster...
We had more fun this past week than the week before it. Well, I did... HeyMama had an allergic reaction to her amoxicillin, and had a nasty rash. It's almost gone now. Poor kid looked like a leper. But we did more fun stuff. We had lots of play dates. We went places. We bought glittery nail polish and have glittery toes. BestestHusband battled a boulder. It was a great week.
The laundry monster is still stalking me from the spare bedroom. I must conquer him tonight, so I'll be brief.
Exercise: I only made it to the gym once. I plan to remedy that this week.
Patience: It's closely tied to how often I make it to the gym, but having fun and being outside in glorious weather helped a bit.
M&Ms: Less gym time = more M&Ms consumed. It's an unfair relationship.
Money: We did shoe shopping this week. Ouch. Our trip to CVS resulted in the purchasing of multiple headbands and hair appliances. And nail polish. It's expensive to be a girl.
Food Waste: We threw out half of a bunch of mint, and will likely toss half a can of tomatoes. I'm trying not to waste the whipped cream I made earlier in the week. I think somehow I'll manage to consume that and not the container of salad greens that are trying to go bad in my fridge...
Hope you have a great week! Now, off to slay the dread laundry monster...
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Stewardship Sunday: Mothers Day Edition
Happy Mother's Day! And Happy Sunday!
It's that day where I look back at the gifts I was given during the past week. There was one I really wanted to return: strep throat. The girls and I both had it. I do have to say that amoxicillin and penicillin are great gifts. As is a large urban healthcare practice that can schedule 3 people to be seen, last-minute, with almost-back-to-back appointments. With a pharmacy downstairs. It truly is a great gift.
I spent most of the week grumbling about my fate. The girls did not seem to feel as bad as I did, and certainly didn't think they needed to sleep as much as I did. Thursday, I took the day off from work and sent the girls to preschool. I caught up on sleep and housework. The week got a little better. Pastor was a last-minute late-night houseguest. Life felt a little more normal. (Don't ask me why Pastor dropping by made me feel more normal, but it did. It really isn't a normal thing at all. Whatever.) I had a PT eval for my gimpy back on Friday. BestestHusband started to put in the garden. And ran out of space. So ordered more soil to be delivered to make it bigger. And tried to move a giant rock. (The rock deserves its own blog post.) HeyMama and I made bread. She made her own loaf, and it turned out quite well! Preschool had a Mother's Day Tea for all of the moms. It was lovely. And then the weekend came along, and we were all feeling a little better, and the weather is fantastic. BestestHusband took the dogs for a vet checkup and ran errands yesterday, and the girls and I spent the morning hanging out at a friend's yardsale down the street. And scored a large swimming pool to use as our new sandbox!!! BestestHusband ran more errands with the girls, and I sorted through too-small and too-big clothes in the basement to piece together a Spring/Summer wardrobe for the girls. And today we put aside the ToDo list and had a lovely Mother's Day.
We avoided the chaos of Lilac Sunday and had a picnic on the quiet side of the Arboretum with great friends (and our goddaughter!) We sorted through baby clothes to find a Spring/Summer wardrobe for our chubby-thighed little darling of a goddaughter. We were reminded of how much we'll miss them when they move in a few months. (Sigh.) BestestHusband organized the whole thing. I just dug out the picnic quilts. Did I mention that the weather was perfect?
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| My Mother's Day gifts. |
Ok, so let's talk about what I did with my gifts this week.
Patience: Total fail all around. The next time the girls and I both get sick at the same time, we need to find someone else to take care of them. It is necessary to have more patience than a 2 yr old to take care of a 2 yr old. And I did not.
M&Ms: We have peanut M&Ms in the house. Bad stuff. My self control was as weak as my patience.
Money: I'm shopping for summer shoes for all of us right now. It's necessary, but painful. I picked up some of the clothes I took to the seamstress to get altered. Not cheap, but I have 2 more garments in my closet that I WANT to wear. I'm trying to ignore the price tag on BestestHusband's trip to BJ's yesterday. It was record setting. But not my fault.
Food waste: I did relatively well, because I didn't want to cook, and therefore didn't make too many leftovers or try ambitious recipes. We did throw out 2 full giant pitas. The mold was white. I missed it until the last minute. But before eating them, thankfully...
This week, I need to amp up the patience and fun to try to balance out the misery of the past week. The process of looking for life's small joys never ends, and I'm ready to step up to the plate for another week.
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| HeyMama made the little loaf in the middle! |
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Stewardship Sunday, Febrile Edition
I think the Ibuprofen's starting to work. I feel like doing something other than lying on the couch. Well, I'm typing while lying on the couch. But it's still an upgrade. I can't remember the last time I had a fever. But I now remember why I don't like them.
MeToo has swollen tonsils. And she's been sucking on her Paci like I take to Junior Mints. Poor kid.
So let's make this quick.
Food waste: I need to toss half a can of hummus. (yes, a can. I get it at the Lebanese market.) I tossed a few Tbsp of salad dressing because I needed the measuring cup I mixed it in. I have a batch of yogurt dill sauce that needs to be tossed.
Patience: I didn't exercise as much this week, and was wiped out from my body fighting this bug. This definitely affected my patience.
M&Ms: In a moment of weakness, I bought peanut M&Ms to replenish the potty treat container. There were many more weak moments after that.
Money: We went to both Trader Joes and Target. Yikes.
Hope you have a great week. With healthy tonsils.
MeToo has swollen tonsils. And she's been sucking on her Paci like I take to Junior Mints. Poor kid.
So let's make this quick.
Food waste: I need to toss half a can of hummus. (yes, a can. I get it at the Lebanese market.) I tossed a few Tbsp of salad dressing because I needed the measuring cup I mixed it in. I have a batch of yogurt dill sauce that needs to be tossed.
Patience: I didn't exercise as much this week, and was wiped out from my body fighting this bug. This definitely affected my patience.
M&Ms: In a moment of weakness, I bought peanut M&Ms to replenish the potty treat container. There were many more weak moments after that.
Money: We went to both Trader Joes and Target. Yikes.
Hope you have a great week. With healthy tonsils.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Stewardship Sunday
Thank goodness for frozen meals. Those leftovers saved our evening. I set a goal of regular 5pm Sunday Dinners. Well, the girls and I were still napping at 5pm. Then we took a walk to see the lilacs in the Arboretum. So we got home a bit before 8pm. And didn't have too many leftovers in the fridge. It's been a busy week. A not-many-leftovers kind of week.
Monday: We went to the children's museum, then later to the gym.
Tuesday: I had a migraine and was pretty much incapacitated. Did manage to have a meeting at daycare in late afternoon.
Wednesday: Baked biscotti, ran a ton of errands, many on foot, and I'm sure we did some other fun stuff, but I don't remember... probably including the gym...
Thursday: Worked, then saw Alvin Ailey at night.
Friday: cooked for a friend, had another friend over for lunch, visited first friend for a playdate, then had a date evening with the girls at daycare babysitting night. (whew)
Saturday: worked, then had a home movie night.
Sunday: HeyMama stayed home with BestestHusband to nurse a sore throat. MeToo and I went to Sunday School. Then Trader Joes on the way home. Then lunch and a long nap. 4 hours long. We're all fighting off a sore throat.
Ok, so for some people, this is normal. This is not normal for us. Well, reading old posts, maybe it is becoming normal for us. But it still doesn't feel normal. We're homebodies. We like to be at home. It's a cozy place. It was a busy enough week that I didn't have the time to blog. I don't like feeling this busy. I feel out of control. I don't like that. I work only part-time to make our lives simpler and saner. Not let them get crazy busy and out of control!
Ok, so let's just report on the week so I can get to bed. I'm still tired after my 4 hour nap, and tomorrow is another long day...
Food waste: We chucked a few fuzzy strawberries because we didn't eat them soon enough. Shameful in my book. I love strawberries. Especially the more expensive fresh ones.
Time: We managed to shoehorn a lot of stuff into one week. We had a lot of fun. I'm realizing that I have to focus on it to make sure we have fun. Otherwise I let the ToDos get in the way. Life at home with small children is supposed to allow me to have fun. I was doing it all wrong for too long. This past week, we definitely had more fun.
Patience: More fun = more patience. I'm never perfect. But more fun helped. And MeToo's tantrums at church and Trader Joe's today were more tolerable.
Money: I've made a goal of eating through our freezer stockpiles. This doesn't prevent me from needing to buy groceries, but hopefully it will prevent the wasting of food already in the freezer. And eating more frozen leftovers = needing to spend less money on new food.
Ok, so another busy week looms ahead. Hope it's a good one for you!
Monday: We went to the children's museum, then later to the gym.
Tuesday: I had a migraine and was pretty much incapacitated. Did manage to have a meeting at daycare in late afternoon.
Wednesday: Baked biscotti, ran a ton of errands, many on foot, and I'm sure we did some other fun stuff, but I don't remember... probably including the gym...
Thursday: Worked, then saw Alvin Ailey at night.
Friday: cooked for a friend, had another friend over for lunch, visited first friend for a playdate, then had a date evening with the girls at daycare babysitting night. (whew)
Saturday: worked, then had a home movie night.
Sunday: HeyMama stayed home with BestestHusband to nurse a sore throat. MeToo and I went to Sunday School. Then Trader Joes on the way home. Then lunch and a long nap. 4 hours long. We're all fighting off a sore throat.
Ok, so for some people, this is normal. This is not normal for us. Well, reading old posts, maybe it is becoming normal for us. But it still doesn't feel normal. We're homebodies. We like to be at home. It's a cozy place. It was a busy enough week that I didn't have the time to blog. I don't like feeling this busy. I feel out of control. I don't like that. I work only part-time to make our lives simpler and saner. Not let them get crazy busy and out of control!
Ok, so let's just report on the week so I can get to bed. I'm still tired after my 4 hour nap, and tomorrow is another long day...
Food waste: We chucked a few fuzzy strawberries because we didn't eat them soon enough. Shameful in my book. I love strawberries. Especially the more expensive fresh ones.
Time: We managed to shoehorn a lot of stuff into one week. We had a lot of fun. I'm realizing that I have to focus on it to make sure we have fun. Otherwise I let the ToDos get in the way. Life at home with small children is supposed to allow me to have fun. I was doing it all wrong for too long. This past week, we definitely had more fun.
Patience: More fun = more patience. I'm never perfect. But more fun helped. And MeToo's tantrums at church and Trader Joe's today were more tolerable.
Money: I've made a goal of eating through our freezer stockpiles. This doesn't prevent me from needing to buy groceries, but hopefully it will prevent the wasting of food already in the freezer. And eating more frozen leftovers = needing to spend less money on new food.
Ok, so another busy week looms ahead. Hope it's a good one for you!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Stewardship Sunday on a Tuesday. It's a first.
This week was a mix of enjoying and prepping. We tried to enjoy the glorious weather as much as possible. We took care of little details that have been niggling - shoes that needed repairing, and clothes that needed altering to be wearable again. I discovered that I'm no fun. But that's a post for another day.
I still find myself ruminating a fair amount on the balance of have-to's vs. want-to's. With all of the toddler drama that a two year old can bring, I still second guess a lot of my decisions. Am I providing enough structure and consistency? Too much? Being consistent? Too rigid? Even if I'm doing things right, can there still be this much conflict?
I've been experimenting with changing our schedule around to suit our natural rhythms in our days. I've been trying to be more flexible with our plans and try to take advantage of any great weather, surprise visits, or opportunities that might come along. And I'm looking for opportunities to just make them run. Cesar Milan swears by this approach when dealing with canine behavior. It seems to work pretty well with toddlers, too. The days have been pretty good. Just not very productive. Throw in working a Saturday, and napping away a rainy Sunday, and my floors are disgusting.
Sigh.
So I'm quite behind in my blogging in general. I'm just tired, and I'm spending less time at home in front of a computer. So this blog post is 2 days late, and I'll just try to report on last week before it becomes halfway through this week.
Food Waste: the pork fat got thrown out. Shockingly enough, I didn't get around to making sausage this past week. Go figure. We also tossed some sketchy greens. But other than that, we've been good this week.
Patience: I got a lot of exercise this week, and tried to take advantage of the gym's evening babysitting hours to combat those dangerous "arsenic hours" before BestestHusband gets home and we eat dinner. Both of these help the patience a lot.
Money: I gulped hard when I looked at how much it would cost to alter 4 garments. But 3 of them I wasn't wearing at all, and 1 just made me look preggo every time I wear it (I'm NOT pregnant, by the way). But the cost of repairing 3 pairs of shoes was so low that I'm letting myself combine the two amounts. The grand total is not bad to get 3 new pairs of shoes I couldn't wear and 3 new skirts I wasn't wearing. And one shirt that will look much better when I wear it now. I do own a sewing machine. And I do know how to use it. But I've been wanting to alter those skirts since HeyMama was born, and it just hasn't happened.
Time: I'm really taking a hard look at how I spend my time, especially how to best use it for fun and happy days. I can't help but think that there's got to be a better way...
Hope your week is off to a good start!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Sunday Procrastination Again
I should be writing a blog entry. But instead I'm watching back episodes of GCB and giving a doll a new hairstyle. Actually, I'm trying to make the doll look like she has hair again instead of a nasty frizz puff on her head. I promise to try to write more tomorrow....
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Stewardship Sunday, Marathon Edition
Tomorrow is Patriots Day. In Boston, that means its Marathon Monday. The weather is supposed to be so warm that they're offering runners the chance to defer until next year. They're training the runners and bystanders to do CPR on each other. One official described it as a potential "mass casualty event". They're encouraging the charity runners (who didn't need to complete stringent qualifying times in other races) to not do it. What a tough choice to make. Glad I'm not the one making the decision.
I actually did run a marathon once, years ago. Melissa talked me in to it (Happy Birthday Melissa!) I was moping about relationship woes, and she convinced me it would be good for me. And she was right. I wasn't fast. I like to think of myself as a completer, not a competer. But I did it. And used it to convince myself that I could do other crazy things. Like natural childbirth.
Anyway, I ran around Cape Cod in chilly Fall weather. I wore gloves. There were coastal snow flurries. Not an early Summer heat wave, and I was sweating anyway. Tough athletes will be falling down tomorrow. And I feel bad for them already.
What a whirlwind of activity these last few weeks have been. This week was no exception. I'm looking forward to getting back to a more normal schedule.
This past week was spent trying to recover from the prior weeks and prep for the yard work event. I went to the gym more than usual, which I think was a good thing. My mood definitely benefits. And that benefits the girls, of course. And I worked at the rehab hospital down the street instead of taking an early train ride into Boston. This benefits BestestHusband. And the girls, of course.
This weekend was full of work and fun. We had great friends over to help us rearrange the dirt in our backyard. Yes, BestestHusband is motivated to make at least part of our yard flat. And put in a veggie garden. So he had 7 cubic yards of compost and a tiller delivered. To go with the 20 cubic yards of wood chips that the tree company delivered a few weeks back. And he and our friends dug up the yard, pulled out the boulders, mixed the pitiful sandy rocky soil with compost, and smoothed it all back down again. The seeding for grass is supposed to happen next weekend. (This week's weather is not great for grass seed, and we just plain ran out of time.) Our combined 5 girls between the ages of 2 and 5 all ran around together and had a blast. We ate some food, drank some beer, then went home and collapsed. Except for BestestHusband. He went back out to spend some quality time with the tiller. We all cleaned up in time to welcome the babysitter and go out to Christine's birthday party. (Happy Birthday Christine!) It was at a shishi bar in Boston. Lots of people there didn't have kids. There were yummy cocktails. Lots of them. And we had a designated driver. (Thanks Anne!) It was a fun night. Getting up for church this morning was rough.
Food waste:
I really cleaned out the fridge tonight. And I found a lot of nasty stuff. I few a few random things I need to use this week. Including pork fat. Long story. But yes, I bought pork fat last week. And veal. We ate the veal already. But not the pork fat.
Here's what I threw out tonight:
2 blueberry yogurt smoothies. They were fermenting.
Half a head of lettuce. I just forgot about it. Sigh.
Leftover salad. The dressing on it kinda did it in.
Mint. It's been in there a long time. The paper towel helped, but it still went bad.
About half a cup of half and half. I got it for a recipe. I served some to a friend in coffee. But I don't really use half and half. Must try harder next time to find a recipe for it.
All and all, it's pretty shameful.
I actually did run a marathon once, years ago. Melissa talked me in to it (Happy Birthday Melissa!) I was moping about relationship woes, and she convinced me it would be good for me. And she was right. I wasn't fast. I like to think of myself as a completer, not a competer. But I did it. And used it to convince myself that I could do other crazy things. Like natural childbirth.
Anyway, I ran around Cape Cod in chilly Fall weather. I wore gloves. There were coastal snow flurries. Not an early Summer heat wave, and I was sweating anyway. Tough athletes will be falling down tomorrow. And I feel bad for them already.
What a whirlwind of activity these last few weeks have been. This week was no exception. I'm looking forward to getting back to a more normal schedule.
This past week was spent trying to recover from the prior weeks and prep for the yard work event. I went to the gym more than usual, which I think was a good thing. My mood definitely benefits. And that benefits the girls, of course. And I worked at the rehab hospital down the street instead of taking an early train ride into Boston. This benefits BestestHusband. And the girls, of course.
This weekend was full of work and fun. We had great friends over to help us rearrange the dirt in our backyard. Yes, BestestHusband is motivated to make at least part of our yard flat. And put in a veggie garden. So he had 7 cubic yards of compost and a tiller delivered. To go with the 20 cubic yards of wood chips that the tree company delivered a few weeks back. And he and our friends dug up the yard, pulled out the boulders, mixed the pitiful sandy rocky soil with compost, and smoothed it all back down again. The seeding for grass is supposed to happen next weekend. (This week's weather is not great for grass seed, and we just plain ran out of time.) Our combined 5 girls between the ages of 2 and 5 all ran around together and had a blast. We ate some food, drank some beer, then went home and collapsed. Except for BestestHusband. He went back out to spend some quality time with the tiller. We all cleaned up in time to welcome the babysitter and go out to Christine's birthday party. (Happy Birthday Christine!) It was at a shishi bar in Boston. Lots of people there didn't have kids. There were yummy cocktails. Lots of them. And we had a designated driver. (Thanks Anne!) It was a fun night. Getting up for church this morning was rough.
Food waste:
I really cleaned out the fridge tonight. And I found a lot of nasty stuff. I few a few random things I need to use this week. Including pork fat. Long story. But yes, I bought pork fat last week. And veal. We ate the veal already. But not the pork fat.
Here's what I threw out tonight:
2 blueberry yogurt smoothies. They were fermenting.
Half a head of lettuce. I just forgot about it. Sigh.
Leftover salad. The dressing on it kinda did it in.
Mint. It's been in there a long time. The paper towel helped, but it still went bad.
About half a cup of half and half. I got it for a recipe. I served some to a friend in coffee. But I don't really use half and half. Must try harder next time to find a recipe for it.
All and all, it's pretty shameful.
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| I'll spare you the closeups. |
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| The fridge is starting out the week clean and full of leftovers (all of the second shelf from the top). |
Patience: See mention of extra gym time. It helped a lot. Really a lot. I was actually fun on occasion.
M&Ms: One week of the month, even Plain M&Ms are tempting. This was that week. Tonight was all about chocolate chips, because I'm running low on M&Ms, and MeToo's started pooping on the potty more, which requires more M&Ms.
Money: I'm finally returning the bathing suits that didn't make the cut. I'll post a picture of the final winner at some point. I've never spent much time and effort on a bathing suit before. But I don't think I've ever spent as much time in one as I think I will this summer. The refunds will be coming back in. So this makes it feel a little better to have spent so much money ordering the bathing suits.
So I'm looking forward to the fun that this week will bring. Anyone up for frozen margaritas on the patio?
Monday, April 9, 2012
Stewardship Sunday: Easter Edition
Happy Easter!
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Holy Week is a reminder that I will have to admit failure every week. No matter what I do. No matter how hard I try. I will never live up to Jesus' example of patience. I will never live up to Jesus' example of service. I will never be righteous, no matter how hard I try. I can focus on doing better every week of my life, but the struggle will never end while I walk this Earth.
But then Easter happened. A Savior was willing to take the punishment for our imperfection. Our weakness. Our inability to achieve our own righteousness. Easter is about Grace. Easter is about Joy (the emotion, not my friend who just had a baby boy 2 days ago - congrats Joy!) Easter technically makes this blog unnecessary.
I don't NEED to be better. I mean, I would like to be. But I don't need to be. I WANT to be. Grace and Joy are powerful motivators.
So I'm ditching the stewardship check-in for this week. I'll just report on the Joy from this week.
Joy the friend had a baby boy. He's doing well. She's doing well. What joy!
The other joys of this week:
The week was full of joys, small and large. There was a great deal of preparation that led up to this weekend. But in the quiet moments, we think of a little boy that we hoped could be born this week. But was instead buried many weeks ago. And we look forward to a promised joyful reunion. And remember that this is what Easter is really all about.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Holy Week is a reminder that I will have to admit failure every week. No matter what I do. No matter how hard I try. I will never live up to Jesus' example of patience. I will never live up to Jesus' example of service. I will never be righteous, no matter how hard I try. I can focus on doing better every week of my life, but the struggle will never end while I walk this Earth.
But then Easter happened. A Savior was willing to take the punishment for our imperfection. Our weakness. Our inability to achieve our own righteousness. Easter is about Grace. Easter is about Joy (the emotion, not my friend who just had a baby boy 2 days ago - congrats Joy!) Easter technically makes this blog unnecessary.
I don't NEED to be better. I mean, I would like to be. But I don't need to be. I WANT to be. Grace and Joy are powerful motivators.
So I'm ditching the stewardship check-in for this week. I'll just report on the Joy from this week.
Joy the friend had a baby boy. He's doing well. She's doing well. What joy!
The other joys of this week:
- I got a massage that helped my back pain.
- I rearranged the girls' room and put their beds together. It's pretty cute.
- Flat Stanley came to visit, went to Amsterdam with BestestHusband, had great adventures, then headed to the Middle East to fly planes with other extended family members.
- BestestHusband came back from Amsterdam safely and a little early. My mother-in-law met him there and came home with him to join us for Easter.
- I had my father-in-law around for the entire week to help out.
- We took two family naps that helped even non-napping HeyMama take much-needed naps.
- I spent an hour sleeping with MeToo while she sucked her paci in my face and twisted her fingers in my hair. Priceless.
- Our family enjoyed a joy-filled Easter service with incredible music.
- Our family and church family enjoyed a delicious brunch feast together.
- Our family and friends enjoyed an unparalleled Easter lunch/dinner/all-day feast with lots of wine and revelry. And a crazy-potent cocktail.
- Our family and friends got to spend several happy hours together chatting and watching the kids play together.
- During all of the revelry, only one kid peed on the rug and only one kid had a poop explosion that required borrowing clean clothes.
- Only one of those kids is related to me.
- And tonight has back-to-back episodes of GCB!
The week was full of joys, small and large. There was a great deal of preparation that led up to this weekend. But in the quiet moments, we think of a little boy that we hoped could be born this week. But was instead buried many weeks ago. And we look forward to a promised joyful reunion. And remember that this is what Easter is really all about.
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| A cross that church-goers covered in flowers as they walked into Easter services. |
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| The girls can now sleep together under their coordinated quilts. (Thanks Miss Bev!) |
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| Jet-setting Flat Stanley in his brief Boston layover. |
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