Notes n stuff

So my oldest has had quite the funny week. Turns out she's been getting sick, so maybe that's made her more hilarious than normal. Here is a highlight reel of her week:

"Don't tell Mom, but I think I'm turning into a mermaid." [Yes. Don't tell Mom. She'll never figure that one out- not even when you grow fins or refuse to get out of the bathtub. Also? I have NO idea what she meant.]

She was playing 'orphanage' with her sisters. Which I know sounds weird, unless like us, you know a dozen or so adopting families, and then my guess is playing 'orphanage' is a way to show how you want to help. That's my theory. They also play 'Oksana', where they specifically adopt HER, but that's another story.

So, anyway, they were playing 'orphanage' and I guess my youngest daughter stopped playing along with the 'rules', and J said, "You better behave, or I'll send you back to the orphanage." Um, yeah, not how that works. And please never say that again or we'll end up on the news. Or Dr. Phil.

She has also realized this week that not only can she READ things, but she can....wait for it....WRITE. She is writing EVERYTHING. She wants to send cards to everyone she knows. She also wrote her first story called (this is her own spelling) "Helow. This is my storey." Then she wrote Gabe a silly note that said, "I think yr her loox wared." Which is of course "I think your hair looks weird."

But to top off the week, she wrote a note for Hadley and then stuck in under her pillow so that we found it at bedtime. She wrote, "From Jadyn to my chnookooms Hadley". I had to Google how to spell 'snookums', and we all say 'shnookums' anyway, so I think for a 6 year old, she did really well with that word. And her littlest sister was thrilled and it made my heart a big wad of goop to see one daughter go out of her way to show love to another.

Great ending to a mediocre week, in my opinion!

Dear Snow

Dear Snow,

I think I will miss you. I like my sweaters. I like how you make everything look. I like how you make it so much easier to see the birds and squirrels in the woods behind my house. I like seeing paw prints of various animals in the snow. I liked watching the squirrels dig down to the ground and then stand back up to eat. Why? Because all you could see was it's head; it looked like a prairie dog instead of a squirrel. I love checking for new icicles every morning. Also? Sledding ROCKS and totally wears my kids out is great exercise.

I do not like being stuck at home due to the ice you turn into, or the layering involved for sledding. It takes me AGES to get 3 kids bundled up enough to play. And it's Georgia, so we don't ever BUY snow boots. I have to wrap each foot with plastic grocery bags and multiple socks and then cram their feet into shoes. I also do not like all the laundry it creates. And when you melt it's oh, so muddy.

But I cannot help but feel a little sad today as I walk past the sled and have to look harder into the woods to see all the birds and rodents. So feel free to come back; just give us a few weeks to recover from this visit.

Muah,

Southern Momma

Daniel Fast

Every year for the past 3 or 4 years (I think) our church does a church wide "Daniel Fast". To read more on that, click HERE. That's my pastor's blog. He pretty much explains it and links other articles, so I'm not going to do all that here.

The point is for 21 days, those participating in this fast, will give up something. Sweets, television, meat, one meal, all meals, etc. for the purpose of setting aside time to read the Bible, pray, and seek God. What we give up is between us and God. But there is something really neat about knowing that so many of our friends are giving something up too and are praying for each other in the process.

Up until our church started doing this, all I knew of fasting was giving up food. And that it was forced. Several mission trips I went on thru a certain home school organization had 'mandatory' fasting. And I HATED it. It totally turned me off to fasting. Lesson #1- unless fasting comes from your heart, it's just skipping a meal. So when our pastor (Mike) brought this up to the church thru a sermon series, I rolled my eyes. Willing myself to listen, I paid attention and had all my misconceptions blown.

I thought fasting was about food, but it's not. It's about giving something up to spend time with God. To show Him He is a priority (like He should be everyday). The first year I gave up Internet after 6 pm (and it was AMAZING ow much time that freed up!) and from that fast, we decided to host a sweet, sweet girl named Oksana. The next year I gave up breakfast and lunch. With small kids, I still have to prepare all the meals anyway, and other than being hungry, it didn't give me any extra time to focus on God.

So this year, I am back to no Internet after 6pm. Last night was the first night and it nearly drove me nuts. I thought of about 5 things I wanted to do or look at on line and hadn't done before six. My goals for this 21 days are to (finish) reading 'Crazy Love ', and to start and finish 'Radical' and 'Forgotten God'. I'm halfway thru 'Crazy Love' and it's mind bending. I highly recommend it. I keep having to reread chapters to try and absorb it all.

One of the things about fasting is that it's a private thing. In other words, don't brag or boast about it or make a big deal about it. So other than this blog, I won't way anything else.

 This post has 2 purposes. One is to let you know I won't be on here after 6pm (so if I don't respond to your FB post, please don't be offended) and the second is to encourage you to do something similar. It's a great time to refocus and pray. And if I have nothing else, maybe I have at least been able to recommend a few good books and do some myth bashing regarding typical fasting.

Question of the Day

Here's what I want to know: How do you as a mom recharge yourself? And how often? Once a week for a couple of hours running errands? A once a month bubble bath?

It has taken me several years, but I finally realized that a couple of hours alone every couple of weeks is NOT going to end the world or get me on the prayer lists for neglecting my family! It's wonderful to have a chance to be alone, or be with other adults talking WITHOUT kids needing something and interrupting every couple of minutes.

Playdates with other moms are also my bread and butter. Even if we get constantly interrupted, it's an adult connection that after several days of bottles, spit up and whining, are MUCH needed to maintain my sanity. Even now that my kids are past the bottles and spit up, they are NOT past the whining or fighting, so my need for other adult conversation is still there.

The guilt factor, however? Loooong gone.