time flies

This summer, our family took a quick weekend trip to a waterpark that had an indoor amusement park.  It was a very stressful trip for me, as the place was very crowded, and my husband and I are outnumbered 3-2.  And with the ages the boys are (8, 4 at the time, and 2), they need constant supervision.  We are fortunate to have a pool in our backyard, and so the boys are comfortable in the water.  But add several hundred strangers, and slides, and a wave pool, and Mom gets very uncomfortable letting anyone out of arm’s reach, let alone sight.   The vastness of the place did not seem to faze my boys.  They acted like they were at home in our pool, and each ran a different direction.  The oldest disappeared to the slides – hey, he was tall enough, what’s the big deal?  Then he convinced Jeff to go with him, leaving middle child standing waiting for them to come down.  I, meanwhile, was in the kiddie pool with youngest until somebody’s child created an unsanitary environment (read pooped) and they had to close the pool.  Middle child got tired of waiting for Jeff and big bro, so he went to the wave pool.  At least, that’s where we found him, having the time of his life as the life guards looked on.  STRESS!  Before our room was even ready, I was done. I gathered everyone together and told them that no one was going back in the water until they could listen.  So, we took a break.  Went to our room, changed, had a snack. 

We decided to check out the amusement park.  It was a big warehouse-type building with carnival rides inside.  And hardly anybody was there.  There were no lines for the rides.  In fact, sometimes we even had to wait for someone to come run the ride.  Now, of course they had height restrictions just like any carnival would, and there were some rides that the boys weren’t tall enough for, but there several they could ride.  I was surprised to find out that my oldest was tall enough for just about all of them.  When did he get so big?  How did I not notice?  I took the little one to a few of the kiddie rides while Jeff took the other two around.  But then, Jeff had to take middle one to the bathroom, and oldest really wanted to go on a specific ride.  So, toddler in tow, I followed him to the ride and watched as he stood next to the “you must be this tall” sign and was, indeed, tall enough.  “I don’t know,” I said.  “It looks kind of scary.”  “No, Mom, it’s okay.  I can do this!”  And my oldest child, the one who is still afraid to sleep in his own room, climbed onto the ride.

And what gets me, is, that he could do it.  He was the one who was reassuring me, showing me that he is grown up enough to do it.  Wasn’t it just yesterday that I had to reassure him that he was big enough to:  use the potty, dress himself, go to school, swing by himself, ride a bike,  insert your own experience here?  When did that change?  Or is it constantly changing?  And how do I know how much to let go?  I still get choked up when I think about the look on his face as he got on the ride.   So confident, so happy, so…grown up.

Enjoy every moment of this day with your children.  Rejoice in their short flights on little wings!

Ruth

Patience, patience

I love Super Wal-Mart!  No, I don’t work for them (and I probably wouldn’t say that if I did), but ever since one opened near my home, I’m a frequent shopper.  I mean, they have everything, right?  So I was there recently, shopping list in hand, coupons at the ready, looking for deodorant.   Now, I know deoderant isn’t a glamorous topic, but stay with me on this.  I have very sensitive skin, and for years I have worn only one brand of deodorant, their unscented version, otherwise I have an allergic reaction.   It so happened that I had a coupon for this brand that would expire soon, so even though it wasn’t an urgent need, I was going to buy some.   Except, Super Wal-Mart didn’t have it!!   How could this happen?  I mean, they have everything, right?  I checked.  I checked again.  Nope, they were out.  Oh, now what was I going to do?  Super Wal-Mart had failed me!  How could a store so huge not have exactly what I wanted? 

No, wait.  How could a store, no matter how huge, have exactly what I and everyone else want all the time?  So maybe my deodorant was on a pallet in the back, or maybe someone had bought the last one minutes before I got there.  Or maybe they only order that brand once a month and it wasn’t time.  How could Super Wal-Mart know that my $.30 coupon was about to expire?  How could they know that I have to use only that kind of deodorant?  They couldn’t.  They can’t  take into account everyone’s wants and needs all the time.  I’m sure it would be a great business practice to please everyone all the time, but Super Wal-Mart just can’t make that happen.  Now here’s where it gets good…

I love God!  And, yes, I do work for Him.  And He always has what I’m looking for, and I don’t need a coupon.  But sometimes I do need patience.  Because even though I might think I need or want something right now, that may not be God’s plan.  I might have to wait for something.  Because even God is not in the practice of pleasing everyone all the time.   And sometimes things don’t work out exactly like we want them to, because that’s not a part of God’s plan.

Would you like to know what happened with Super Wal-Mart and the deodorant?  I really wanted to use the coupon, and it had been years since I had tried a different kind (with very painful results).  So, I bought the same brand, a scented version.  Just to save $.30.  Even though I was not out of it at home, I did it.  I was impatient.  I wanted things to work out my way, right away.  And I used it.  And low and behold, a rash that none of you would envy itched and burned me for several days.  

What did I get for my impatience?  A savings of $.30 on a wasted $3.00 and pain and discomfort.  And a reminder to be patient.    

Check out Romans 8:25-28.  And have a great week!

Tired

I am beginning to learn that I am not a very good mom when I am tired. I know – this seems like common sense. It also seems like something I should have figured out long before now. However, the reality of how true this is has been really hitting me lately. I am ALWAYS tired. This is no joke – I am 37 weeks pregnant and tend to suffer from insomnia towards the end of my pregnancy. I am not sure why it happens, but so far with both pregnancies the last few weeks become a nightmare of not being able to sleep. The result? A much crankier mom during the day. I hate to admit it but it is so true. I find that I just don’t have the patience that I normally have or the drive to do as much during the day. I suppose it is a phase and that all moms have been here at some point in time, but it is hard as you’re going through it. I look forward to feeling energized again someday. I just rejoice on days like today when it is rainy outside knowing that my little munchkins will take a longer nap – and that I will hopefully be a more pleasant mom to be around:)

Melissa

What would you do for beauty?

My cousin often blogs and had something interesting to me on her blog awhile ago – or perhaps something I thought of as plain absurd.  I found this odd enough that I though I would share to see if anyone else out there finds this as strange as I did.  Apparently one of the newer things in mascara brushes is to vibrate.  Vibrate?  Yes, vibrate.  I am not sure what makes them so great.  All I can say is that this sounds like a fantastic way to poke your eye out.  I am always amazed at some of the more unconventional things people do for beauty.  I guess it must be pretty amazing if you’re willing to use it but I find it just plain  strange.

Melissa

Fall Baking

I love baking.  I really do.  I can’t say that I am necessarily very good at it, but something about the art of doing it makes me feel very productive. I also love the fact that after I bake, there is usually a couple days worth of food to show for it (unlike cooking dinner which is consumed all too quickly!).  Besides loving baking, I also love Fall.  I could easily have Fall year around which makes Fall baking one of my favorite things to do during this time of year.  This past week I made pumpkin cake for the first time this season.  This is one of our favorite sweet treats to eat around this time of year (I can’t say it is overly healthy, but it sure is yummy!).  Here’s the recipe if anyone wants to give it a try:

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Courtesy of Paula Deen

How about you?  Do any of you have a favorite “Fall” recipe you would like to share?   If so, let me know.  I always like to try some new things:)

Melissa

new to this

I’d like to introduce myself.  I’m Ruth and I’ve been coming to Mother’s Heart for the past year.  I  have 3 boys and 1 husband (make that 4 boys!), and a cat.  We live in North Aurora and love it here.  Trisha invited me to submit to the blog, so here I am.  I’ll be posting from week to week about my trials and triumphs of motherhood and beyond.  I hope you’ll enjoy what you read, can identify with it, and maybe even take something out to hold in your heart.  Happy reading, and I’m looking forward to your comments!

A Little Introduction….

My name is Melissa and I will be contributing to the blog from time to time in the coming year.  I just want to start off by telling a little about myself so that you have some kind of connection to who I am as you hopefully read some of these post throughout the year.  My husband and I (Eric) have been attending Ginger Creek for four years now.  Ginger Creek was recommended to us by a friend and after attending a couple of times, we quickly felt that Ginger Creek could easily become our “church home.”

My husband and I met while attending Judson College our freshman year.  We have now been married for six years years and we currently have twin girls that will turn two in another month.  Parts of the first two years with two babies have dragged by while others have flown by.  I must admit that through all the good and bad, I have found that I truly love being a parent – enough so that I am now expecting our third child due in seven weeks.

It is my hope that you will stop by and visit this blog from time to time. I don’t know that I will ever have anything very insightful to share, but hopefully some of you will be able to relate to some of my thoughts and feelings from time to time.  Feel free to read, comment and even disagree.  I look forward to getting to know some of you through this blog and A Mother’s Heart.

Melissa

An Evening With 5th Grade Boys

It was the last day of school.  First it was the after school bantering, good byes, hugs (well the hugs were not so much with the boys.)  Then we moved on picnic at the park along with a few other families.  Then taking four 5th grade boys to play golf.  Driving kids around listening is a great way to learn things!

Knowing it’s hard for them all to focus, I had them repeat after me, “Call Mrs. Sellers when we get done with golf.”  Then it was the phone call, “Uh Mom, we’ve done for awhile.  We kind of forgot to call with all the drama.”  Mmmmm, what was the drama?  I was certain it would be something funny.  Upon arriving at the golf course I asked about what they meant by drama.  The drama was just the way everyone played the last hole.

Upon arriving at our house, all four began playing basketball.  (Our toddler name for Steven was Mr. Perpetual Motion – guess it applies to most boys.)  Then it was cheeseburgers etc.  When I realized one boy had one 10 minutes left before he had to leave, I told them.  His response was, “Come on guys, let’s play shimmey!”  (Like hockey but on your knees.)  Perpetual motion again!

It was fun hearing the boys share about the last day of school – Things we never would have heard from our son even though he might have been thinking them.  One boy said the last day was kind of sad.  Sad to say goodbye to Mrs. Johnson, said to hear a fellow classmate answer the teachers question about what they learned about God this year.  This young boy had lost his mother as she passed away.  He shared that he learned that God did not cause his mom to die.  A couple of the boys said, “Yeah, I got tears in my eyes when he said that.”  I got teared up hearing them talk about it. 

I enjoy having my kids friends at our house.  It’s great getting to know their friends, it’s fun to see their interactions, and I learn things I never would have known!  I want our home to be a place where my kids want their friends to come.

Trisha

Girls, Fun, and Christ’s Truth

My daughters received an invitation today for five nights of fun and Christ centered learning from a friend.  This is so cool! 

One night is Spa Night were we’ll pamper ourselves and learn what “true beauty” is in God’s eyes.  The second time is Cooking/Baking Night when we’ll bake something yummy and learn a recipe for godly living.  The third gathering is a Sewing Night where we’ll do a small sewing craft and learn how we are God’s creative project for a purpose.  The fourth evening we’ll have some fun doing healthy activities and learn why it is important that we take care of our bodies so that we can serve Christ better.  The final evening is Campfire night where we’ll make Smore’s and worship God around our campfire and relect on a fun summer.

God bless the mom who thought this up and is inviting other girls and moms to join in the fun!

Trisha

Persuasive Letter

My son had an assignment to write a persuasive letter. The topic was to NOT let students choose their own seats. It was hilarious! I wondered how on earth he thought to write on this which I know he would NOT agree with.
The letter is addressed to his teacher. Some of what he wrote – “Have you ever felt like there is too much noise to concentrate on your work? Do you ever think your students aren’t focusing on their work either?”
“First of all, we won’t have much self-control and if we keep getting to choose where we sit we might never have self-control. I saw this because friends are usually hyper around each other. This causes more stress for you…Nobody can ever get a maximum of work done when people are yakkity-yakkin.” “If we don’t get serious about school then we might not get a good job or get into a good college. This could be very bad for our careers.”

I found out later the students were given the topic!

Trisha