Open Mouth, Insert Foot

One of the things I love most about my job is working with teenagers and being a part of their energy and enthusiasm. I especially love it when they open their mouth and unintentionally put their foot in it. That happened a few days ago in my Junior Language Arts class.

We are currently reading The Catcher in the Rye and it is notorious for causing verbal gaffes. In this particular instance we were reading the infamous chapter 13 - the pimp and prostitute chapter. I think its important to read this one in class because Holden agrees to an arrangement that is against his principles but then realizes it and corrects his mistake.

J: Holden payed $5.00 for the prostitute right?
Me: Yes, that is what Maurice told him on the elevator.
J: So, in your experience, what is five dollars today?
Me: [shocked] In my experience?
A: Wait...did he just call you a hooker?
Me: Yes, I think he just did.
J: I didn't mean it that way. I just meant what is the equivalent today?
Me: Ok, moving on...

I know that I should have been more upset about this slip up, but it was just too funny and unintintentional to get mad.

Fostering Creativity

I have always believed that it is vital to teach children reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, it is also equally important to foster their creativity and allow them to create (even if it is not done all that well) and explore the world around them.

I have been extremely worried lately because Matt absolutely HATES to color or draw. While other children his age are already drawing clear pictures, he will barely scribble a line or two on the paper and then say he is done. I was terrified that this was a sign that he was not creative or not patient or not enough of something. I had been forgetting the things that he created on an almost daily basis that did not include coloring. For example he loves LEGOS and will spend hours rearranging the LEGO men and changing their helmets, beards, hats, and accessories. Recently this has developed into wanting to actually build things. He is still too young to be able to follow instructions that come with the sets; but never fear, his imagination is here. Grandma has a big plastic container of LEGOS. I came home from work to see that he had spent at least an hour planning, implementing and creating a space station - all from the vision he saw in his own mind. Once I got there we spent at least another 30 minutes putting the finishing touches on his creation.

This is what he had created before we left Grandma's house.

Matt proudly posing with his special space station.

Once we got home, he continued to work on the space station for hours at a time over the next two days (sorry I don't have another picture, I'll have to get on that). As the station changed and morphed I realized how much creativity and ingenuity it must have taken for a child who is only three and a half to catch the vision and create something as elaborate as this.

Creativity comes in all different activities, shapes, and sizes. I don't think Matt will ever be an artist, but he may be one amazing inventor, architect, or engineer. The most amazing thing I learned from all of this is that the world is wide open for him to discover. All I have to do is let him use his imagination and give him the tools he needs to create.

Goofy Guys

"Momma, come find me!" the soft, dulcet sounds of my sweet little three year old ring throughout the house. I can tell that he is somewhere in his room, but of course part of the game is looking for him silly places. I checked the closet, the trash can, the potty, all the while calling out where I was looking. Giggles erupted as he he thought of all the silly places momma was looking.  "That's icky. I not in the potty!"

When I "finally" found the little cutie, this is what I saw...

...Not one but two goofy boys giggling away.

I love my little boy and my handsome husband.

Happy Un-birthday

Ever since Christmas my 3 1/2 year old has been obsessed with opening presents. He equally loves to give presents but hasn't had many opportunities to participate in that part of the gift giving. It hasn't helped that he has been to several birthday parties and watched other kids open their presents.

His birthday is in July, five months away, but he has determined that now is the time to begin writing his birthday wish list. I shudder to think how long this list is going to become in the next five months. The list making turned into wanting to open presents of his own. This also including wrapping his presents, another joy he discovered during Christmas. He asked his Daddy to get wrapping paper and he picked leftover Santa paper from Christmas. We celebrated Matt's un-birthday by unwrapping all the presents he picked out from his current set of toys and watched me wrap. It was still a surprise.

All of his (poorly) wrapped presents in Santa paper.

There was a bit of a problem with getting tape stuck to his finger. He was not a happy boy.

Once the tape issue was resolved, he was all smiles.

The first present he opened, a plastic spider.

The blue alien and a big grin.

Looking at Daddy for approval.

Being a goofball.

This made Matt's day and allowed us at least a few more days without being pestered about his birthday. He loved the attention and unwrapping his presents. Happy un-birthday, Matt. Thanks for reminding me that we only have one birthday but we have 364 un-birthdays. Each day is a miracle and should be celebrated.

The Miracle of Life

I have come to the conclusion that the only good thing about having a high-risk pregnancy from start to finish is the plethora of ultra sounds the doctor orders (and more importantly, that insurance cover). So far I have had seven chances to look at the miracle that is this little girl. I only got pictures from the last five though because the baby was too small to see anything significant in the first two.

I am sharing these with you because I believe that the miracle of life is a wonderful blessing and it is fascinating to see the growth and development of the baby from the beginning. I am now 31 weeks along and I have thankfully not had to have an ultra sound in over 10 weeks.

Our little jelly bean - week 8.

I can't believe how much this little one changed in just four weeks! Week 12.

She's really moving around in there. Look how much bigger she is. Week 17.

Cute little profile. Week 18.

The tech had a hard time getting a good picture because she was moving around so much. That blur in the middle of the picture is her hand waving at the camera. Week 19.

At the last minute the tech got this great picture of her foot kicking Mama. Now I know why my ribs have been hurting so much. Week 19.

Male Bonding

Right before Christmas we went to the hobby shop as a family to pick up Daddy's present. While we were there, Matt was running around like a crazy person and generally wanted everything in the store. The apple didn't fall from that tree. Most everything was far too expensive and breakable to get an active 3 1/2 year old. One thing he did see that was reasonable was a bird house kit. He really wanted to build it with Daddy and it was not very expensive so we bought it. The two boys finally got around to building it together. Matt loved every minute of it and Daddy had fun bonding with his son.



The boys getting everything ready to build the house.



Daddy explaining how to glue safely.

Matt hammering the nails into the house. He did such a great job and didn't even hit Daddy's fingers once.

Thumbs up for good hammering.

Posing for the camera,"Mamma, take a picture of me."

Watching Daddy glue the bird house before hammering.

Now it is Matt's turn.

So proud of his good work.

Being silly again and posing.

Crazy boy and his great daddy.

 I love these two boys!



The Refiner's Fire

I have always fancied myself to be Wonder Woman. I am strong, stubborn, opinionated, independent, and pride myself on being able to take care of myself and my family. Being a teacher, a full time mom, a wife, daughter, sister, and friend can take its toll on me.

Up until recently I have been able to handle it all and even found a little bit of time each day to take care of myself (granted it has never been much time, but even a few minutes a day is manna from heaven). However, with this pregnancy I have found that I am no Wonder Woman. I don’t have super human strength after all; I can’t fly unless I am dreaming; and I wish that I had even an ounce of her super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. At one time, I felt like I matched up to my own ridiculously high self-imposed standards. That has all flown out the window the last 7 ½ months.

I don’t want to belabor the point or complain about my situation because I believe it doesn’t help me and only annoys the people who are listening, but I thought I’d briefly fill you in on what has been going on since I found out I was pregnant in late July. I have had morning sickness (aka all day sickness) the entire pregnancy that did not go away after the first trimester like “normal.” I have had pneumonia once, bronchitis twice, thrush caused by the antibiotics for the first two, and most recently I fractured a rib in my back. I have also been dealing with similar complications to my first pregnancy when Matt was a preemie. The running joke in my family is that I should name my daughter Reneesme and that drinking blood will help strength both the baby and me (Twilight fans will catch that reference). Needless to say, I have had a rough go this pregnancy. I am only 9 ½ weeks away from due date and 5 ½ weeks away from being able to safely deliver a full term baby.

I have wondered for some time what the Lord wants me to learn from all of this. I know that He does not give us anything that we can’t handle and He will help us through all of our trials. Several nights ago as I was praying and asking for guidance the Lord finally let me know what He wanted me to learn.

This is what I have learned:

1.       I am not Wonder Woman and am not expected to be. I am a real human being, not an artist’s rendition or a Hollywood actress who is filmed, airbrushed, and cut to perfection. I don’t need to have super abilities to be of value to Heavenly Father, my family, or friends. I just need to do the best I can do every day and become a little bit better each moment.

2.       I am currently going through the refiner’s fire (Isaiah 48:10). The Lord has fabulous adventures and missions for me to fulfill. Even though I am currently going through a tough time I am being made stronger. I have been reminded over and over again this week that those things that don’t kill me will only make me stronger. I know that there is something wonderful in store for me around the bend in the road; I just need to be patient and endure until I arrive there.  

3.       Most importantly I have learned that I need to ask for help. I have learned that sometimes it is impossible to do it all yourself. Nobody is capable of being everything to everybody and at times in our life that includes our family. I have always hated asking for help, seeing it as a sign of weakness. I know now that realizing my limitations and allowing others to help me is not a weakness, it is a sign of strength and trust. By depriving others of the ability to help, I am depriving them of blessings they might need in their own lives. I finally learned, after years of the Lord trying to teach me, that I need help. I feel like an incredible burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. I have amazing family and friends who have done so much to help me, lift me, cheer me up, and take care of some of the everyday chores around the house that I can’t do right now.

Believe it or not, I have finally come to the conclusion that I am actually grateful for this trial. It is helping me grow as a person and learn new things. In the end, that is exactly what this life is all about.

Oh, and by the way, I have learned that this is definitely our last child.

Yes, I've Been Neglectful

I have had it as my goal for a long to blog more. Unfortunately, after two posts I lost all my steam and became a blog slacker. I promise I will update the blog before this baby comes. Be patient with me while I get caught up.