I Like Your Shape...

Eliza is the baby of the family. At age 9, she's not so much of a baby anymore -- a little sad for me. She's also a self-proclaimed tomboy... much to my chagrin because I love pink, dresses and jewelry... none of which Eliza will don these days.

While I feel like the tomboy stage is a passing phase, it always comes as a sweet surprise when Eliza says or does something feminine... reminding me that she does like being a girl :>)

The other night, Eliza was in my bathroom while I was getting ready for bed. She was chatting with me about her day, and then she looked up and said, "Mom, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you." Wow, I thought. That's the greatest compliment in the world (plus, I'm a girly girl, so maybe she'll end up liking to shop for pink with me :>).

I asked Eliza what she liked about me that would make her want to grow up to be just like me. She said, "Well, you're nice, you're pretty, you always do kind things, and you have a really nice shape." OMG... I wouldn't have dreamed she would mention my "shape." I said, "Eliza, you just made my day. Those were the sweetest words anyone could have ever said to me." She grinned, gave me a kiss, and said, "I love you." I love you too, Eliza!

While I know that Eliza was speaking about the external when she said "I like your shape." I began to think that there was more to the phrase "your shape" especially when considering the other points that Eliza made. She mentioned kindness...

Kindness is a shape from the heart. What kind of "shape" am I in when it relates to how I treat others? How I treat my family? In Eliza's mind, the shape looks pretty good right now, and I'm grateful for her unconditional love. I know, though, that I'm not always exhibiting my best shape everyday.

Eliza is 9. She's still in the "my mommy can do no wrong" phase. I know there is a day that's coming when I'll be wishing that's how she felt. There will be a day when I can hardly do or say anything right in her eyes... when my "shape" may not look as nice as it once did.

However, I have this 9-year-old-moment to treasure and to remind her of one day. Eliza is a beautiful daughter regardless of her dislike for pink, purple, dresses or anything girly. She's the shape she's supposed to be right now... the girl that God has designed her to be both inside and out. She's a blessing...

"Eliza, I like your shape too!"

"Ruh, Roh, Raggy!"

This morning was CRAZY. I know that I should expect "crazy" with four kids, but for some reason, there are times that the crazy catches up with me and knocks me over the head. This morning there was a lot of head banging going.

I woke at 6am to find the remnants of Baker's brand new, Under Armor football gloves scattered on the floor and couch. Toby, our Boxer "puppy" ate them last night -- both of them. All that was left were the wrist cuffs. I'm not sure where the fingers and palms are... I haven't ventured into the yard to look. Of course, they may not be in the yard at all. Toby has a tendency to swallow things whole.

Cara joined me downstairs at about 6:15 for breakfast. She saw the glove pieces and gasped knowing the seriousness of Baker losing his new gloves to the dog.

When Baker came down at about 6:25, I had to tell him about the gloves. While I could see the tears welling up in his eyes, he tried hard not to show much more than the obvious disappointment. I promised to replace the gloves today. After all, they are his lucky gloves and his school colors.

At 6:30am, I began to get anxious that Brennan was not yet down for breakfast. The bus arrives at 6:40am; so I ran upstairs to see what the holdup was... Brennan was asleep! His alarm was humming a morning melody, and he was snoozing. He scrambled to get up and make it downstairs in time for a quick bite of breakfast.

Unfortunately, for Brennan, he has a tendency to misplace most everything. This morning, he could not find his shoes. With the bus passing and having not had any breakfast, we were at a loss to where his shoes could be. He ended up with flip flops on, 2 peanut butter crackers and a piece of toast in hand and climbed on the bus with tears in his eyes.

Uggghh... two of my four left boarded the yellow school bus with sadness, disappointment and tears.

Not the morning I'd hoped for...

As I sat down to my computer to catch up on emails before Eliza came down, my cell phone gave it's customized "chirping cricket" ring. It was Cara. She had left her agenda at home.

Agendas these days are BIG deals. You are required to carry your agenda at all times in middle school. It's your hall pass, your homework schedule, your key for staying out of trouble.

I'm not in the habit of bringing left items to school, but since it was only the fourth day EVER of middle school for Cara and Brennan, I wanted to help. Thinking I could catch the bus down the hill at this point, I grabbed her agenda and jumped into the car.

I don't know the middle school bus route and didn't have time to look it up. I drove in circles with Cara calling and texting me all the while. Cara, being new to the bus route, didn't know where they were exactly and didn't know the names of any of the streets... she's crying now. I'm angry.

I never found the bus. Instead, I headed to school, waited in the car rider line and met Cara in the parking lot in the pouring rain. However, she was happy. She did mention, though, that Brennan had left his book that he needed at home. Arrgh! Bringing the book to him was not an option at this point.

Arriving home at 7:30am, I was just in time to get Eliza's jelly toast and frog-in-the-hole made, go over her spelling words, unload the dishwasher and get her on the bus.

Thankfully, Eliza left happy and tearless.

Sending 3/4 of my kids to school with tears is not my idea of a good start. However, I am glad that I have 4 kids to send to school. They are my joy (even when I'm angry).

A friend of mine posted on my Face Book page when she saw that Baker's gloves had been eaten by the dog.

She commented "Ruh, Roh, Raggy!" Her comment made me smile and seemed to put things in perspective. Thanks, Charlotte.

Funny how a little Scooby Doo humor put me back in my place... I certainly could have found a Bible verse to regain perspective, but today God used a cartoon dog to make me laugh. He's funny.

In the grand scheme of things, bus chasing is a minor issue and optional. Gloves can be replaced. Agendas, shoes and books can be retrieved later, and tears will dry.

Luckily, the breakfast was portable.

Remembering

I was remembering a story this morning, one that brought a smile to my face and thankfulness to my heart. With the children back in school now, it's a lot quieter around here. Things don't get messed up as many times a day, and I have more time to do what I need to do without interruption.

Be that as it may, my children are a dear blessing to me. I love summer and having the kids home. I love fall and sending them back to school. I can't wait for there to be a day off from school, and holidays get me just as excited as when I was a kid. Having a break from any routine is a good thing -- a reminder of our blessings.

My children are certainly that -- blessings. I love each one of them dearly, and I love that each one of them is uniquely and divinely made.

My sweet Brennan has a special knack with words and with saying the right things at the right time. He's great with stories, imitations, impersonations, and he carries loads of joy around with him. In fact, Don calls him "joy boy."

At any rate, on to the remembering... In December of '07, my "joy boy" was sitting on the vanity stool in my bathroom while I was getting ready for a date with Don. Below is what I discovered recently that I had written about the experience:

Simple joys abide that are often overlooked or missed as the gifts
that they were intended to be -- gifts of the season...... I would
like to share one of these gifts with each of you.

As you know Brennan (my opera singer) has a special way with words,
and he has an uncanny ability to emit joy with his very presence. I
want to share a simple story with you -- one to bring you a smile .

Last night, I was getting ready for a Christmas party, and just as I
had finished dressing, Brennan came into my bathroom. He sat down on
my vanity stool and looked up at me with those sparkly blues. I turned
to him and said, "Brennan, how do I look?" Brennan, in his own
charming and humorous way, gave me the "once over." He then looked up
at me, held out his little hands and said, "I think you need to tone
down the beautiful -- just a little bit!" Now -- don't you think that
made my night..... nothing mattered after that. God's gifts are so good.

May we all shine as brightly as I did that night because of God's gift to me through the words of my child. He's everywhere!

Short Order Cook

I guess most days I am a short order cook, but summer seems to demand more diversity in dietary selections from my children than any other season. Today I've fixed everything from PBJ's to enchiladas to ham sandwiches to pasta salad, fruit salad and mac-n-cheese -- and that was just LUNCH!

Not only do a myriad of food requests come from my children during the summer, but, unfortunately, so do the comments of "I'm bored," "There's nothing to do," "Where can we go today?" Normally, I just hand someone a broom and say, "how bored do you feel now?" Today, however, we made a trek to the mall to suppress the boredom. Along with my four, we also brought 2 friends for a total of 6 kiddos.

Somehow we managed to walk the mall without any purchases except and Auntie Anne's pretzel for which we had coupons. The trip was worth the trouble, and really, it wasn't all that much trouble to pile 6 kids in the car. In the grand scheme of things, it was truly a blessing to be ABLE to fit 6 kids in my car, have enough gas to get to the mall and to be close enough to a mall to go for a walk.

Sometimes I have to brush the cobwebs from my eyes. They seem to collect when I think that there is more to being blessed than what I have already been blessed with :>) How could I ask for or want more? Remembering the blessings that surround me, reminds me to be content.

I'm glad to be a mom. I'm glad to fill my days doing "mom things." I'll be the short order cook, the entertainment director, the taxi driver, the housekeeper, etc. I thank God that I have the ability and the opportunity to do it all.

I'm not a good blogger

I'm not a good blogger... I can't remember to do it. I guess it's more than I need to do in a day.

Thursdays are just the day before Friday...

Today is another Thursday. When I wake up on Thursdays, I'm excited because the next day is Friday. I love Fridays. I've always loved Fridays... I guess most people do. Fridays signify the beginning of the weekend, obviously, but for me there's a sense of excitement -- even if it just means that my husband is home and not going to work. For me this is one of life's simple pleasures.

In today's ever sinking economy, stress and struggles, it's imperative to look at what's right in front of you and find some joy -- even if it's just the fact that today is Thursday and tomorrow is Friday. Live your Thursday in the same excitement as you live your Friday. Find the joy in each day of the week, one day at a time. Don't live in tomorrow. It's when we live in tomorrow that we lose so much time and miss what we were given for today. This isn't profound. I haven't stumbled upon some lost truth, but it is good to be reminded. If you're like me, you forget. It's easy to forget.

Remember to tell someone how much you appreciate him or her. Give someone a hug. Write someone an old fashioned letter or just sent an email. Bring joy to someone else, and joy will be returned to you in the most unexpected circumstances. Find something to be thankful for -- your health, your family, your ability to smile. Allow time to be grateful. It'll be good for you... and me.

Happy Thursday.

We Will, We Will, Rock You (huuh), Rock You, (huuh)

This morning, I'm listening to one of my twins, pound the couch to the beat of Queen's anthem We Will, We Will, Rock You! Brennan is my kid with rhythm and then some. So far this morning, I've grooved to the beat of Queen and listened to repeated renditions of Ode to Joy on the recorder. The recorder, mind you, is not a flute. I think if it were, it would be much more enjoyable to listen to. As it is, it's a little high pitched for me, especially in the morning while opening email.

Waking up to my email, tweets and FB, I was especially interested in what Seth Godin had to say about Amazon's Kindle. While I don't own a Kindle myself, I would echo his sentiments on that regard (www.sethgodin.typepad.com). If Amazon tackled this fantastic marketing strategies, I would own a Kindle myself. Seth's suggestions seem to focus on not just the reader/consumer but also on the publisher/author, etc. If Amazon keeps the publisher/author in the loop, neither stands to lose as much as artists/songwriters did when music went digital. Let's face it -- we are a digital world, a digital community, and we like things that we can get fast and free... but at what expense? The music business has suffered for years. Perhaps, rightly so in some respects, but in others, it's been way too much -- way too much stealing, etc. Putting the digital book together in a way that respects and furthers a love for reading without sacrificing those who labored to put the work together, is only fair and right and sets a course for the digital movement to move in a better direction. Kudos, Seth. I hope Amazon is listening. Perhaps, there is still hope for music. We can learn from our mistakes.

Speaking of music, we are now on to the beat of distant showers running upstairs, dogs wrestling in the den and little girls chatting about how cute each looks this morning... there's no price for music like that. Time to make more breakfast...