One, two, three..IT!

I got tagged for an online quiz by my friend Erin, so here it goes...

List 3 joys in your life:

1. Studying the scriptures with my DH Ren. Not to be all self-righteous, it's just that Ren and I have been studying and discussing topics from the scriptures since he started teaching Sunday School at church and I just LOVE connecting with him, learning and feeling the joy that comes from learning about Christ.

2. Blogging. I have found so much food for my soul in writing down all the crazy experiences we have in this house. Call it therapy.

3. Hanging with the teenagers. Zach and Hannah are finally old enough that we all enjoy doing the same things, laughing, working out, putting ice down each other's backs, playing scrabble late at night, etc. It's especially nice to have them around if Ren is working late or I just need another big person to talk to and they both are amazing at helping with the "Littles".

List 3 fears you have:

1. I fear moths -- they're so fluttery and yucky and right in your face!

2. The summer heat in Arizona... I'm really worried about staying sane through it.

3. Myself when I have PMS! There are just those times when I have out-of-body experiences watching my irrational, PMS self FREAKING out for no reason and I can't stop me. Yikes!

List 3 Goals you have:

1. To lose 10 more pounds (Yay! Halfway there!)

2. To do ONE pull-up (It is incredible to me how HARD this is, but I have achieved bending of my arms and I can do a reverse pull-up from a standing position, so I'm getting there.)

3. To be a published humor columnist. I hope I don't jinx it by saying it, but I would LOVE to write a humor column that got picked up by someone BIG.

List 3 Obsessions/Collections you have:

1. I am currently obsessed with the Scramble game on Facebook. Just tell me: how on EARTH are people finding so many words?!!!

2. White shirts/blouses. I just can't resist buying them. I don't even think white is the best color/non-color on me, but I just LOVE white shirts.

3. I seem to have this odd collection of....things in my bathtub!!!! (see Gid's Many Talent Post for explanation).

List 3 Random Facts about you:

1. I am grossed out by hair on the floor touching me. (It's usually my hair, but it doesn't matter -- hair not connected to a head is just yucky.)

2. I have this recurring dream that I'm back in high school as a cheerleader, but I'm pregnant and I can't do a toe-touch anymore, so they laugh at me and won't let me come back for the Varsity squad my senior year. This nightmare HAUNTS me!

3. I love hammocks! My family got me a hammock for Mother's Day and I just love laying in it day and night (although, it tends to make me want to nap -- day or night, so I have to be careful when I indulge.) Even better would be a hammock on a tropical beach with Ren the cabana boy bringing me ice water and turning the pages of great book for me.

That's it...it was much harder than I thought. So I now tag Jenny J, Heather W. and Deborah P. Well, that was fun, but I'm off to play Wii sports with the boys!

Another Hannah Post

Today was a verklempt kind of day for me. It started when I got a graduation announcement in the mail from my nephew Kyle. This is the child I watched being born and played mom to while I was still single in college and my sister lived close by. My roommates and I played with him, stuffed his outfits full of toilet paper to see him be all chubby and made visual stimulation mobiles for him out of kitchen utensils we hung suspended on string between the walls of our apartment hallway. I sat in my car, reading my mail with tears brimming in my eyes and slipping out of the corners wondering, "When did I get old enough to have a nephew graduate?"

Tonight the emotions continued as we went to Hannah's 8th grade promotion. I went out shopping while she was at school and bought five dresses for her, hoping that one of them would fit and be cute. I hit paydirt and she loved one of them! After school she went to get her hair cut into layers and styled for tonight. She looks so great, especially as she's been eating really healthy and exercising and has lost 15 pounds in the last two months! Again, I'm just in a daze at where the time goes and how my cute little daughter (who used to look like "Gidena" from my earlier post) is now this tall, beautiful soon-to-be High School Fresh(wo)man. So, I just thought I'd share some photos of her tonight with her friends and a profile of her that shows off her new slim look! ENJOY! (and let her know how great she looks!)

Gid's Many Talents

Boy, there's a serious bloggy slump going on here in my house. I wish I could figure out what happened to my creative juices (also the cleaning and cooking juices!) So, I just thought I'd make a record of all the things that Gid has thrown into my bathtub. (How many people just stopped reading?) Gid apparently has a gene that compels him to throw things into bodies of water (or potential bodies of water). He's a nightmare around the pool because EVERYTHING goes in the pool (except him). We've taken to locking all the bathroom doors because he was filling the toilets with hot wheels cars, spare rolls of toilet paper and toilet brushes. So now, he's decided it is his mission to clean everything off my bedroom floor and throw it into my large bathtub. Then he turns on the water and leaves it running while he sets off to destroy another part of the house. I feel that these talents, if harnessed may be a potential source of energy for all of North America, but right now they are irritating beyond belief! Hence, my bathtub is currently home to: one set of scriptures in the case, two unmated flip-flops, a smattering of junk mail, someone's discarded homework, underwear, three used pull-ups (now filled with water to the about-ready-to-burst point), a sleeve of saltines, some actual tub toys, a head band, two hair scrunchies, a box of baby wipes, some sponge bob pajamas, one unmated sock and a stripey blue shirt with a dinosaur on it. I'm sure you're all wondering why I don't take these things out. I guess I've just been spending my time in some other part of the house picking up a mess he made two weeks ago and I can't keep up with the backlog! If anyone has a suggestion to cure Gid of this habit, I'm all ears! But for now, my tub will be the first place I look for lost items and we'll all wash up in the guest bathroom.

Mother's Day Thoughts 2008

I was up at 6:00 a.m. today with a baby/toddler boy who, despite going to bed at almost 10:00 last night, still feels that he should wake at the crack of dawn. I’m sure that on Mother’s Day you would think that my husband would get up with him, and he would if he weren’t in San Diego for some conference for work. (He did promise to track down the moron who planned a conference over Mother’s Day, but that is little consolation.) Of course, if he were here I’d still be getting up because he has the stomach flu. (Room service for toast, saltines and gingerale is $14!) Zach also has the flu which knocks out ½ of my selection of helpful children in one blow. I’m already on my second outfit of the morning because when I picked up Gid, his poopy diaper self-destructed on my front. “Happy Mother’s Day!” I think, “I am having the FULL mothering experience, it just can’t get any better than this!” I can’t speak for all mothers, but my experience with Mother’s Day is that it generates a nagging guilt that try as I might, I can’t shake off. It turns up when the kids ask me what I REALLY want for Mother’s Day and in my heart I know that just for one day I’d like to NOT be The Mom. “How could a real mother think such a thing?” I wonder sadly. I’ve been pondering that this morning and I’ve come up with an answer that works for me. If I were perfect I’d be able to do it all and do it happily. I’d maybe even be wearing pearls (can you say June Cleaver?) All the endless and varied tasks that are wrapped up in the package of Motherhood, would be possible to do (all day, every day for the next 25 years!) if I were perfectly patient, perfectly selfless, perfectly cheerful and had endless hours in the day and an unlimited supply of energy. Unfortunately, I’m not perfect and occasionally (like every 20 minutes) I need a break, so Mother’s Day always seems like as good an opportunity as any to ask for one. Today won’t be break day for me though, so I’m changing my attitude and trying to just appreciate what Mother’s Day is really about: honoring my own mother.

My mom has always felt very uncomfortable with Mother’s day – she feels the guilt even more strongly than I do. But as her child I see clearly why I want to honor her. I honor my mom, not because she was perfect, or even tried to be (which I think she did, much harder than I do); but because she stuck with the job to the end and beyond, discovering the joy that was to be found (if you looked hard enough) in the selfless acts of mothering. We all have to discover what that joy is from time to time, because the job is mercilessly hard and unrelenting in its demands. It is not for the wimpy, undetermined soul who lacks the vision to see it through decades of emotional investment with only small dividends through the years, until the big payoff in the distant future.

But my mom did it and did it well. I celebrate her for laughing at my funnies, consoling my sorrows, telling me my ideas are great and offering me the right amount of advice at the right times. All of this she did even when she was exhausted and cranky and it was the last thing she felt like doing. How do I know this? Because that’s what I do. I know from watching her that the true art of mothering involves selflessly forgetting oneself for a time to be there for your kids. I don’t feel like a failure when my house isn’t clean or when we eat cereal for dinner, but I do feel horrible when my kids want to tell me something they’re excited about and I don’t give them my full attention and enthusiasm. But I’m learning and one day I’ll have it down like she does.

My mom also deserves accolades for the unique things she taught me that help me fill my soul when it’s running on fumes. Lessons like:

Laugh at every opportunity…

My mom loves to laugh and she used to write funny poems about having fat knees or about gaining weight because of the poor starving children in China. One time she took us kids to picket a friend’s house because their strawberry plant was placed too close to the driveway and kept getting run over. We yelled “Equal Rights for Strawberries!” and got written up in the local paper.

If you must clean, move the furniture around…

I could only get excited about cleaning if my mom helped me rearrange my rooms in a totally new and different way or I got to redo my drawers or closets. My kids now are always asking me why the furniture is moved again, maybe someday they’ll understand that if something feels new and fun, it isn’t work at all.

You can pray about ANYTHING and God will answer…

I always knew that my mom had a red phone that God answered personally for her. When my best friend moved and I was so lonely in 8th grade, my mom went on a prayer campaign with me to pray for friends and by 9th grade I found them. I’m so blessed to have had that red phone passed on to me and I use it for my kids.

I guess what it boils down to is that to appreciate Mother’s Day, I just have to appreciate my mother. I have to follow the example she has always set, forget myself and focus on the good people around me. I can always set aside another day for myself (when my husband is in town!) but today I’m thinking of my mom. I’ve never been more grateful that she is still here with me and I love her more than ever. Mom, may your Mother’s Day be peaceful and simple, because that’s how you would want it.