"Time out" for Mom.

I am finding the more my job picks up the pace the more juggling work, motherhood, and a housewife is challenging my OCD. I am one who has specific laundry days and likes my house to look nice before I go to bed. So when things get busy, as they were this week, I usually try to go 90mph, and still accomplish it all. But this week I just let things go. My laundry is piled up next to the washing machine out side my bedroom door. And there are dishes in the sink. Last week I worked till midnight four days in a row and I was exhausted. But this week I worked very hard to set my OCD aside so I wouldn’t get so stressed that I decapitated one of my children for leaving a sock out. Today I even took some “me” time. Rather than cleaning like a mad woman, I sat and read a book. A book that was inspirational, encouraging and teaching me knew ways to look at the principles I am learning these days. It was great. Actually refreshing and reviving. After my little “time out” I cooked dinner and fed the kids. As usual things were chaotic and I had to break up a couple spats and deal with Bo, who wasn’t feeling the greatest tonight, but I was surprisingly calm. I didn’t run Kate through the ringer for tattling, and I wasn’t even tempted to put Bo on Ebay, even though he was extremely whiny. So I am thinking taking time for “me” in the middle of a busy week, was a good idea. Now if I can just remember to let go of my OCD more often. I encourage you to take some “me” time. And let it be something that encourages you and revives you. See if it makes a difference in your day like it did mine. And then back to the laundry tomorrow I go!

Cleaning the van...It has been awhile

So yesterday I cleaned out my van. To be totally honest I can’t believe I am going to disclose this information. But the following is what I found…
A McDonald’s cheeseburger wrapper with a dried up pickle inside
An empty pixie stick
An empty Wendy’s French Fries container
2 Empty water bottles
2 Full water bottles
A pair of socks
3 pairs of shoes
A few crayons
A paper plate
A few napkins
An old 6 inch roast beef sandwich with extremely dried roast beef, and the bread was as hard as a brick.
Stale French fries
Old school work
Old Sunday school pages
A hat
One glove
A coat
And the seat where Bo sits was covered in a combination of Graham crackers, cheese crackers, and peanuts.


It took me an hour to clean out and vacuum. But I did it and maybe, just maybe it will last a week. lol

What a beautiful day!

What a beautiful Day! I just loved feeling the sun hit my face as I enjoyed a walk outside today. I looked around at what still appeared to be a desolate land, but I know in a matter of weeks it will be bursting with life once again. It is in these first moments of Spring I am reminded that no hardship last forever. There are times in our lives when we feel like those trees out side our widow. Trees that have been withstanding the bitter cold winds, rain, sleet and snow. There are moments when we think we just can’t take anymore, and then just like the first warm sunny day of spring, we too get relief from our trials. These first warm days bring a renewing to the depths of my soul, reminding me there are always new beginnings, and even after the coldest of winters, in time the flowers bloom again. And so I soaked up the sun today, thanking God for his continued faithfulness in my life. I encourage you to allow this new season to refresh your soul and find some new beginning of your own.

A few screws are missing.

This past Saturday I went to a museum with Josh and the boy scouts. I didn’t want to carry my big clunky purse so I took out my license, both credit cards, and my debit card and put them in a smaller purse to carry for the day. That worked great for Saturday, but today when I was standing in the checkout of Sam’s Club, well not so great! There I was with my cart loaded to the max and checked out, and no way to pay. Suddenly I thought of my check book. Yay! This would work, the cashier said I only needed my license if the computer asked for it. Well, guess what? It did ask for it. At this point in time I was seriously wondering how I could accomplish identity theft. I didn’t want to steal someone else’s, just my own.

Sam’s agreed to keep my groceries in their cooler and I would come back to get them, this way I didn’t have to do the “shopping” part all over again. I was going to have just enough time to go home, get my cards, go back to get my groceries, and then make it back up to the school to pick up the kids. It would work out just perfect, until I heard Bo say, “Mom, I have to go potty.”

We rushed down to the restroom. I directed Bo to the family restroom door while I was working hard to unlock my purse from the child buckle. I buckled it there to keep anyone from snatching it, but apparently it was so secure even I couldn’t “snatch” it. As I am looking at the buckle trying to figure out the secret disabling code I heard Bo say, “This door mom.” I looked up just in time to see him pushing on the emergency exit. His eyes popped wide open and he ran toward me. As the lady came around the corner you could see how thrilled she was to see a 4 – year old had set it off. I have to admit. I was laughing under my breath. To be totally honest I was surprised Bo had never set one off yet.

By the time we went potty there was no longer time to make it back before the kids would need to be picked up. So we just went home, and I went back that evening kid free. I also stopped at Meijer where I believe I tried on every pair of women’s shoes there. It was very therapeutic.

So as most of you know my blog is about finding the “silver lining”. Today I am choosing to believe ya haven’t REALLY lived life until one of your kids sets off the emergency exit. Life is short- Laugh it up.

No more sick days, back to work!

Last week I was sick. While I was sick I found myself missing the “simple” things in life. Like being able to breath out both sides of my nose at the same time. Or being able to actually taste the pizza I burned in the oven. The kids, however, didn’t seem to mind so much that I was sick, cause as long as they babysat Bo, I really didn’t care what they did. So for them it was 3 days of TV, video games and things like pizza and cereal for dinner, how much better does it get for a kid. LOL But this week it is back to the routine of chores and limited TV time. Today I folded 8 baskets of laundry, four from the laundry I managed to get washed and dried on Thursday, and then another four loads from today, and hoping to catch up on all the sheets tomorrow. I also need to hang up the mountain of clothes I just laid across the stair railing next to the dryer. When we built this house we paid extra to have a beautiful stained oak stair railing on our upstairs landing, a railing that I now use as a hanging rack. Well at least we are getting our money’s worth.

And then there is the pile of socks on the floor at the foot of my bed. It is one and a half weeks worth of unmatched socks for a family of six!! I always put the socks in a pile and mate them after the laundry is folded. The problem is, I often will never get to them. I hate matching socks so I throw them in a basket to do “later” and soon everyone is digging through the basket at 7 AM looking for a pair of socks. Then I finally match them and start the whole cycle over.

Hopefully I will get caught up on everything tomorrow.

Surpise, surprise.

This evening the kids and I went to my sister’s house and cleaned it for her as a surprise while her and Jake were shopping in Jackson. She has been a bit overwhelmed these days and when I was overwhelmed with my babies she used to come over and do the same for me while I was out. It always feels good to help someone out, especially as a surprise. But the amazing thing about tonight is that I got to show my kids how great that feels. At first they weren’t so keen on the whole “cleaning” idea. Kate was quicker to join in than the boys. After she joined in I just started giving the boys odd jobs. At first they complained, but then when Michael pulled in the drive they thought it was Jake and Jess. They ran up the stairs yelling, “they are here, they are here!” After they realized it was their dad they began cleaning faster with more excitement now. So all of us scurried around putting the house together. It was so great to teach my kids the joy in helping someone else. When Jess got home she called, Kate was still out of bed and was grinning ear to ear when she heard how excited my sister was over the speaker phone. I remember my mom doing the same with us when we were kids. So I am glad I am passing it on. I would love to hear some of the things you would like to pass on to your kids if you want to share.

Been there, done that.

Been There, Done That…I can’t believe my kid ate that.

I want to hear from you. Share your similar experiences that unite us all…

I had taken my kids to McDonald’s one night for dessert and some time on the play land. The kids were up in the tunnels and I took a call on my cell phone. While talking with a friend of mine, my 3 three year old came and sat next to me. I looked at him and said, “Oh, are you finishing your nuggets” and then I was flooded with panic when I remembered we didn’t order nuggets, we only had dessert. Oh gross!

So now I want to here similar stories. Share your “ I can’t believe my kid ate that” story in the comments!!