Meek Speak

God has given me a Precious one who likes to be outside of the box. He has created her for great purposes, I am sure. What those purposes are, right now I do not know, but I do know that she is strong, passionate, determined, bigger than life.

Because she can be challenging, the temptation to become harsher and more controlling begins to unfold. My natural emotions want to speak a little louder, scold a little harsher, and inevitably hurt a little deeper. But I know from experience that a gentle word, with a little back tickle to go along with it, can send a much clearer message than a frustrated growl.

Today was filled with too many irritable tones - both from myself and my precious one. What a challenge to have a gentle voice through good times and bad. This is definitely an area in my life that is a constant struggle, and I wonder if I will ever exhibit that true meek and quiet spirit that I long for. I know that this spirit is not something that comes naturally, it is only something that can exist as God continues to shape me from within.

Thank you ...

for the canopy of trees and bushes made ideal for a ready-made fort.

for the river to explore and the ducks to get excited about as they dip and dive and dawdle.

for the road ways that are flat like a plain and ready to race on with a two-wheeler or with training wheels.

for the neighbours who delight in their "little beauties".

for the beach that changes with the seasons and is just a pedal away.

for childhood playmates who are thrilled to see each other every single day.

Santa's Not Coming to Town

Growing up, Santa Claus was a faithful annual visitor. I was always ready for him because I knew that little invisible elves were watching me throughout the seasons to make sure that I was not being naughty - only nice. On Christmas Eve my sisters and I would diligently leave cookies and milk for Santa and Rudolph, and without fail the snacks were nibbled upon by Christmas morning. There were always gifts under the tree signed "Love, Santa" and before we knew it Christmas morning would come and go for another year.

Christmas was so exciting for me as a child. I loved the idea of Santa and like every other kid, I was convinced that he really was real.

I remember the day when my mom revealed the "truth" about Santa to me and my sisters. I was disappointed. Not traumatically disappointed, just quietly and sincerely disappointed. Santa was an important part of Christmas. Without him Christmas would never be the same...

Fast forward 25 years.

I have a five year old who has never received a gift from Santa. But of course she knows who Santa is since he is virtually unavoidable. Recently, her cousins informed her that they wrote a letter to Santa with their complete wish list. Because of this, I have now been informed that Santa is really real. He has to be if he's receiving letters from children!

The whole Santa issue has left me a little frazzled this year. I have come across several writings from individuals depicting their own thoughts on the inclusion of Santa - none of which coincide. As for me and my house, we continue to not have Santa as a celebrated part of our family's Christmas. This does not mean that we don't celebrate! I am a huge fan of making memories, so our home is chocked full of festive moments during the month of December - just few of these moments include the man in the red suit!

I would love to share this particular blog entry with you since it put some of my own rambling thoughts into an eloquent sequence:The Shepherd Press Blog.

Be blessed this holiday season - whether Santa is making an "appearance" at your house or not!

Giggling Girls

G says g
G says g
Giggling girls
Giggling girls
g,g,g.
~ from The Alphabet Book

Mother's humour may try to convince you that a mother's favourite sound is silence. The silence that falls upon the home after a rigorous bedtime routine of:
teeth brushing,
teeth flossing,
a drink of water,
a story,
a hug and a kiss,
a prayer,
a hug and a kiss from daddy,
a prayer from daddy,
another drink of water,
a "Sleep tight",
and a "Can you put lullaby music on?".

Yes, the sound of silence is wonderful.

But I have recently discovered another delightful sound that has started to fill my home. It's the sound of giggling girls. Can you relate? Do you have a couple of gigglers in your home? I used to be one, but I haven't giggled - really giggled - for a very long time. You know that type of giggle that comes from the depths of your belly that eventually begins to make your tummy muscles feel like they've been through a strenuous work out? The type that is somewhat unstoppable because every giggle tends to lead to another giggle which leads to even more giggles...? These are the kinds of giggles that I love to hear bounce off the walls of my home. Who could long for silence when they've got giggles? Who knows, next time a giggle fit erupts within my home, I may just have to giggle right along. My tummy (and my heart) could use a workout!

Late night thinking . . .

Sometimes things in life need to be put on hold to allow for other things in life to become abundant.

Lately I have been living abundantly through the lives of my children.

Abundance comes from relationship.

And relationship brings acceptance.

Acceptance creates a sense of being loved.

And being loved is what we all seek.

Myself and my children are no exceptions.

5 Little Milestones

Precious turned five, two weeks ago today. I'm a little late in commemorating the occasion but as my wonderful husband always says ... "Better late than never!".

Precious's 5 favourite things as announced by herself on her 5th birthday:
1. Scandia
2. Zoos
3. Flowers
4. Circuses
5. Parades

5 favourite things that I love about Precious:
1. Her hearty laugh
2. Her big words like "actually", "familiar" and "beautiful"
3. Her love for animals - "When I'm five I get to have a dog." - (oops did mama say that sometime when five seemed very far away?)
4. Her good morning kisses
5. Her excitement when explaining something like how she's going to choose the big teddy bear to be the mama bear and the little blue bear to be the newborn bear and the...

5 of Precious's favourite things:
1. Her green skirt with the colourful flowers
2. Princesses
3. The song "Upside Down"
4. Birthday cake candles
5. Stories on the couch

5 favourite moments with Precious:
1. Eating grapes together fresh from the vine when she was four
2. Swimming lessons when she was 9 months
3. Our date night: ice cream, photo booth and manicures
4. Sleeping together when daddy was overseas
5. Cookies and spilled milk

5 things that Precious can do:
1. Swim
2. Beat me at "X's and O's
3. Memorize scripture
4. Hold baby Sprinkles like a grown-up
5. Do bum wars on the trampoline

5 things that Precious doesn't like:
1. Potatoes
2. Getting her hair curled
3. Too much of Dora
4. Clothes that aren't pretty (pretty much anything that isn't a dress or is a boy colour like black, brown, green or orange)
5. Counting past 28

What my girls are doing now . . .

This last week I have been very blessed. Baby Sprinkles is sleeping through the night! She is 4 and a half months old and decided to sleep through the night for the past 4 eves. Bless you child.

Sweetness has also been showing some progress in life. She is mastering the pedalling of her tricycle. Sweetness is a wee petite so reaching those pedals has truly been a challenge. She is no longer just pedalling backwards but has got the forward motion happening too.

Precious ... hmmm ... she has recently learned how to tie a knot. That's an important life skill!

But more importantly she has been memorizing scripture. She has Psalm 119:11, Proverbs 3:5,6, 1 Peter 5:7 and Philippians 4:13 hidden in her heart. She is presently working on Genesis 1:1. There is nothing sweeter (or convicting) than listening to a 4 year old tell you to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all you ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.".

Wow! What Cute Kids I Have!

Yes I know, I'm biased. But I'm allowed to be, I'm their mother!

Here's some cute things they've been doing lately:

Precious (4.5 yrs) ~ You know how sometimes adults will use their fingers to count off their points when they're really trying to drive a verbal message home? They'll say, "First of all... and, second of all... and lastly,..." all the while holding down their pinky, ring man and middle man. Well, Precious has started to drive her points home this way too. It is truly hilarious seeing a 4 year old mimic her (cough) mother in such an accurate manner.

Sweetness (almost 3 yrs) ~ This crazy kid loves putting her shoes on. When she puts her first shoe on she asks, "Is this the right foot mama?". I answer with a "yes" or a "no" and she puts the shoe on the correct foot. She then picks up the second shoe and starts to put it on THE ONLY OTHER FOOT SHE HAS and asks again, "Is this the right foot mama?". Aaaaahhhh yes honey. You don't have too many choices there!

Sprinkles (11 weeks)~ She's only 11 weeks old so basically everything she does is super cute. Most recently she has started to smile a lot, especially under her mobile, and she has started to respond to her big sisters tactics by giving a little laugh. Super cute!

Moments to Treasure

I am only in my early 30s, but I grew up on old timers music. I feel right at home with a bouncy bluegrass or heartfelt southern gospel tune. The infamous Gaithers are part of my comfort repertoire and today I am reminded of one of their good ole gospel numbers.

You see, today at 6 weeks old, Sprinkles held her head up high as I burped her over my shoulder. This was the first time that she has shown such strength.

And today my terrific two year old, Sweetness, actually bruised her little behind by repeatedly landing on it at the bottom of a slide. This is a glimpse of her determined nature.

And today my Precious One asked me with a silly chuckle, "Have you ever seen a diamond ring turn into grass?" while listening to "Hush Little Baby". This is just another analytical question coming from the mouth of a babe.

That's why today the Gaither's song, "We Have This Moment", is hitting home. Because today, treasured moments almost went unnoticed.

We have this moment to hold in our hands.
And to touch and to feel as it slips through our fingers like sand.
Yesterday is gone,
And tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.

A Quiet Friday Evening

Well, it's almost quiet. The dishwasher is still plunging through the obnoxious wash and rinse cycles, but all three kids have laid down their pretty heads and have fallen into dreamland. Quiet moments like this are rare and must be taken advantage of. And so I sit at the computer and type . . .

This past week the craziness of mommyhood seemed even more insane and the feelings of impossibility seemed even more attainable. There were moments where I felt like I couldn't keep up and the whole concept of mommyhood started to look rather unappealing. There was the hole in the vinyl computer chair on Wednesday. The pee that remained on the basement floor for hours on Monday. And the 5:30 wake up call that happened just this morning - "Can me have breakfast now?". Yes, there were definitely moments when I wanted to escape from the whirlwind of demands and hide in a secluded cottage where no one could reach me until . . . well, until tomorrow. Let's face it, too long in a secluded cottage would be a little boring after a while. I know that I would be longing to hear wee voices asking me to make them a snack or to put bubbles in their bath or to put lullaby music on. Okay,so maybe my week wasn't that crazy . . .

Both my husband and I were reminded this week that our family is part of our dream. We are living our dream as we live in our two-storey house,raise 3 kids and drive a mini-van. Sometimes we joke about "the good ole days", but we both know that we are living in the "good ole days". We wouldn't miss the chap stick on the windows, or the muddy clothes and caked-on shoes, or another peepee underwear for anything!

Three's a Crowd?

Since becoming a mother of three, I've noticed that a few strange phenomenons have started to emerge. Phenomenons that I hadn't read about in any parenting book. I guess some parenting experiences are just that - experiences - and possibly not worthy of being written in some bestsellers text, but definitely worthy of being written in my blog.

I have ventured out of the house on my own with all three kids three times so far. I have concluded that I must stick out like a sore thumb. Perfect strangers seem to feel obligated to engage in a conversation with me and my girls. Their conversations usually begin with "Are all three of them yours?" and are quickly followed by a comment like "You're going to be a busy mama" (which I already was/am). Is it that unusual to see a mama of 3 out in public? Maybe it is.

I know every mama has too much laundry to do, but add a little munchkin who spits up after every feeding and has explosive #2s, and the laundry starts to look insurmountable. Thank goodness I have a husband who has consented to doing his own laundry!

Time has become a valuable commodity. Not that it wasn't before, but now it is even more so. Hence, the hiring of a cleaning lady. I know that everyone says "to just let it go". But you know what? I can't. I like having a clean house. A dirty house makes my stress antennas start flashing and that's scary for everyone.

Oh by the way . . .

A Sprinkle's milestone: During this past week, Sprinkles graduated from newborn sleepers to full-on 3 month size! Size number 1 diapers have also started to make their presence in her life.

Thoughts from another Mama

If you believe that God places people in your life for a purpose, then that would mean that every encounter, friendship, and relationship potentially contains divine influence. It is easy to recognize divinity in the Big episodes of life, but sometimes the divine little things get overlooked, taken for granted, ignored.

The other day I sent an email to a friend. Earlier we were talking about being moms who cry . . . easily. I had to share this little story with her:

I just wanted to tell you that I totally understand your "crying episodes". I'm sure that I am going to cry at all my kids's rites of passages. At Precious's last set of swimming lessons, the lifeguard had the kids swim with life preservers from one end of the pool to the other end. As Precious got close to finishing the 25 m, she swallowed some water, started coughing, but kept on paddling with such determination. This was the first time I had seen her swim so far - I had to wipe a quiet tear from my eye at that moment too. Not because of her fabulous swimming, but because she kept trying so hard in spite of swallowing half the pool.

In response to my email my dear friend with an older daughter responded:

You will cry, trust me. It's just in us. I absolutely love seeing my kids accomplish new things and you are happy for them and at the same time worry for them. You want to do everything you can to protect them. It is the relationships with my kids that gives me the tiniest glimpse into God's love for us.

Hmmm. Makes me not want to take for granted the "little things" (which end up being the Big things) like my kids's everyday accomplishments, a blessed friendship, God's love.