Nanofied

The other night the hubs and I went out for our date night. We headed to the big city for dinner b/c there was something that he wanted to do in that area afterwords. Turns out that he wanted to get me a new ipod to replace the one I was given for free as a hand-me-down...b/c it went kaput:( Very sweet of the hubs, and quite a surprise to me.

So we walk into the Apple store and he informs me that he thinks that I would want to get the nano....he explains the benefits, etc...then tells me that I need to simply pick out the color I want.

Hold the phone. I have to make a decision here? Ugh!

Now, it's not that I can't make decisions....I'm actually quite decisive when I want to be. But we had just spent the better part of our dinner talking through a bunch of decisions...like where to spend the holidays, what to do with investments, and yes....where we might live. And now I was going to be forced to pick out a color on my ipod. Oh boy! I was immediately under-the-pile.

There they all were...shiny, useful, beautiful little delights...and somehow I had to decide which color might best represent me, might be exciting to select, and yet classic enough that I would not get tired of it. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, silver, black, and pink.

I began the rationalization filtering process and would have it down to one or two. Then I would come up with some asinine reason to bring that color back into the mix. "It looks to0 flashy", "It is too boring", "I just had a phone that color", "It reminds me of such and such a football team", or "It looks like a pack of gum". What???????? Ahhhh???????

It was at about this point I asked the hubs, "Can I phone a friend?"

He says, "No, goofball. Just pick what you like and go with it."

I'm all, "Uhhh, okay." And with that he, being fed up with my reasoning and utter panic, walks away to look at Macs. So, I excuse myself to the restroom and come out phone in hand desperately trying to get my sister on the phone. But much to my dismay this is the ONE time she opts to not take my call b/c she is feeding her family, nursing her baby, blah...blah...blah. Doesn't she know that I have an important decision to make? AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So, the hubs is shaking his head at me from across the store and I return to my position front and center in front of the nanos who are now beginning to taunt me to the rhythm of the clock ticking towards store closing time.

Okay, I'm pulling the trigger and going with green, no red, no blue. Yes, blue. And BLUE it is. I figure it's a fun color, not a typical choice for me (I'm a green girl), but it's classic. Phew! That is behind me. Well, I do hesitate several times between the nanos and the counter, but somehow I make it without fully changing my mind.

Then, as we get back in the car to head home the hubs points out that this is similar to our decision on where to live. That they are all great options. We know so much about each area that it is easy to identify the pros and cons. And, we aren't being forced by someone else's hand and so it's truly up to us. And ultimately, though it's important to put ourselves in the process, we are going to end up with a choice that will make us happy. Someday we might wonder, "What if I had chosen green", but most of the time we'll be able to remember why blue was the better choice for us.

So, I guess I was supposed to feel comforted by this analogy. However, instead I was left thinking....ummmm, did you see me struggle in there? I AM NOT capable of making this choice, CLEARLY! It feels arbitrary, and at times I was tempted to do "Eeeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo" just to get it over with. Oh boy! What in the world! Pray for us! Ha!

Funnies for your Friday

You know how it is...kids say the cutest things, right. Well, here are a few of our recent quips...

• As I was dropping off eWe at school the other morning she asked, "Mom, why does my brother sleep all the time? He's still asleep when I leave for school and he's taking a nap when I get home! I never get to see him any more. All we do is eat dinner together." I thought this was just precious and priceless....she was really missing him. See, he IS such a sleeper. Especially lately. My Mom would say it's a growth spurt:) Maybe it is. Anyway, the hubs works from home so I can just leave him sleeping while I run her to school. Nice perk for all of us. Maybe they'll be friends again after all. I was beginning to think otherwise by the end of summer!

• As you know we're at a crossroad in our life regarding "where to live". We actually don't talk about it all that much except on dates, etc. But out of nowhere the other night at dinner Lil C' says, "So guys, what do you think about where we should live?" Too funny coming from a not-quite-4 year old!
  

• After having seen the broadway production of Wicked earlier this year, my friend bought me the CD. After playing it in the car with my kiddos, they quickly became fond of #7, "Popular". Hilarious! So, one day after school eWe comes home and says,

"Mom, guess what I told my teacher today. I told her she was popular!"

Through controlled giggles I said, "you did? And what did Mrs. Robbins think of that?"

"Well", eWe replied, "she just laughed and gave me a hug."

"Oh", I said, "well eWe, do you even know what that means?"

"Yes, Mom", she said with complete exasperation, "it means well-liked! And she is popular with me!"

(take that Mom! she may only be 5, but she KNOWS!)

• While eWe was talking on the phone with Nana the other day she asked to talk to Pa. Nana quickly told her Pa was traveling on business in Texas. Well, to that eWe asked, "Nana, what language do they speak in Texas?" Ha!
  

• While eWe was talking on the phone with Nana today to wish her a happy birthday, she asked Nana how old she was going to be. Little did she know the inappropriateness of such a question:) Nana told her and eWe's response was, "Wow, that's almost one hundred!" Poor Nana!
  

Change is in the hair....I mean, air!

So, many of you know that I have become a bit of a fitness junkie this past year or so. It all began with a Y membership that we purchased so that our kiddos could be exposed to different activities and decide what they liked best. I also had a goal to lose a bunch of weight (about 61 lbs...in honor of each year that my Mom lived...which I wrote about in a previous post). I am still on my weight loss journey. I'm over half way there, but still have a long way to go. I've had several setbacks...leg injury, shingles, foot injury, travel, travel, and more travel! Not excuses, but a meager explanation.

Anyway, I decided, with some encouragement from my Y instructor to get certified to teach. So, after 3 months of preparation and studying, I took my exam...this past Friday. I feel like I was prepared and wasn't surprised by anything. And I felt totally encouraged and prayed for by those around me.

My sweet friends and family texted me all day, sent me off with notes of encouragement, and even bought me a step to practice on in the future! This is a picture of Les' card (the one who got me the step) and sweet Nicole's notes.....she actually cut out hearts (from a Target baby registry she printed off for a shower) and wrote encouraging things on the back....PRECIOUS!


But what was hilarious was my arrival back home. I am gone for 9 hours and as I walk through the door I was shocked to find that my husband had dyed his hair (in order to lighten it...picture copperish), and my Dad shaved his mustache. WHAT???? The hubs won't allow me to show you his beauty venture, but here's Dad's...

Balancing act

So eWe is into her second week of dance. She's taking ballet, tap, and tumbling all wrapped up into one, one hour class. We held off for so long b/c we just didn't know how we felt about the balance of spending time as a family & not running around every night vs. giving our kiddos opportunities to learn and to do fun things.

Five years old seemed a reasonable time to start, as it had given her one year of school (preschool) to get adjusted to that as a portion of her schedule. Too, it really gave her time to consider what one thing she'd really like to do. She thought through options of soccer, gymnastics, dance, etc. She even tried a free class here or there at the Y to get a taste (which was the entire reason we originally joined....who knew I'd become a fitness junkie and test for my certification as an instructor?!?). But in the end, eWe consistenly asked us if and when she could take "ballet". So, we are officially enrolled and are paying what we consider to be a ridiculous amount of money for her to take dance.

But, to hear her excitement...to see her dressed and ready hours before class each week....and to have her cry in the car when leaving b/c waiting a whole other week seems so cruel...is priceless. She LOVES it!

It will be interesting to see if this is what she sticks with, what part of her class she likes best, and whatnot. The other night she was showing us what she was learning....crab walks, backwards rolls, cartwheels, bridges, etc. She demonstrated to the best of her ability, and before you could say "boo" we were all on the ground (yes, the hubs, poppy, lil' C, and I) attempting to do bridges to see if we still could. We weren't sure if they required flexibility or arm strength or both? But, I have to proudly announce...I still got it. The menfolk, were a sight. None of them could push up into positition. It was hilarious! I can't wait to see what we'll all be trying next week! Ha!

Seriously?

So a few weeks ago we visited a new church. It's not one we actually consider going to because it's so very far away, but on that particular day we had some errands to take care of in that area and thus opted to do something different.

The morning began a little rocky, though. I woke up feeling a dark cloud hovering over my head. It must have been obvious to my sweet hubs, because he made it clear that he wanted me to perch on the barstool, read my email and blogs (or whatever it is I do), and he would serve me coffee and breakfast. Very sweet. However, in his attempt at ministering he may have taken it a little too far. I asked him what time we would need to leave to get there on time. He said 9:45 a.m. That meant I had about 15 minutes until "go-time". Now this man knows that I despise being rushed, and I equally despise being tardy so while I recognized he'd sacrificed one on the alter of my foul mood, I took him at his word on the other. So, we were all loaded up and pulling out and I plugged the address for the church into the GPS....and "Garmina" slowly calculated me further into my funk. Yes, we would NOT be arriving on time. We would be arriving to this new church promptly 5 minutes+ after it began, and would have to find the kid's classrooms and whatnot. Oh, brother.

So, as you can imagine I was a bit testy. As such, the kiddos kept getting louder, and louder,and louder (at least it seemed so to me). See we have two talkers (they come by it honestly from their mamacita), and so the incessently also asked questions, made music requests, etc. I finally turned around and said, "Please, no more talking until we arrive!" eWe, in typical fashion, proceeded with boldness to ask yet another question to which I did not reply. Then I hear soft whimpering followed by her wailing, "You won't talk to me!!!!!!!!" This is a dreaded thing in our family. I have to say that I get it. I cannot stand "non-responders". Just ask my parents, my old roommate/dear friend KB, and my hubs. So I DO get it. But I had nothing left in the tank. So I calmly said to eWe, "Honey, no. I'm not going to talk. Sorry." Ha...it sounds so hilarious now!

Anywho, we arrive at our destination and the hubs as apologized profusely, poor fella. He even tells me to go on and find a seat and he'll take care of the kiddos and meet me in there. So precious.

Then the icing on the cake.....we go to pick the kids up from one of the coolest children's ministry places I've ever seen, by the way, and eWe hands me a piece of paper that she was working on while sitting next to the volunteer (this will pack a punch in a moment, promise...just wait for it) She also had a beamingly proud face, I might add. So, I took the sheet and looked at it and just CRACKED UP! (and then wished there was a corner to hide in, mind you).
Here is what she drew and wrote:

In case you can't interpret her NOT-AT-ALL abstract art....that is her and I (she's the one who is 5, as you can note, and I am the one who looks like a crazy person). And her writing says it all, "My Mommy made me mad!" Well, at least I can be thankful for a few things:






1. That church isn't close enough to go to again and no one from there will likely cross my path again.
2. eWe is not an emotional bottler. She may not have been able to talk to me in the car with her words, but you can be sure she'll be heard. I'll never have to guess what's going on in that head and heart of hers.
3. And, well, she's a good speller for just having turned 5....that's gotta count for something, right?

I could just kiss her brain

So, as you know, sweet eWe started Kindergarten. She's such a bright little one that I worry she might be bored. Her teachers are great, though, and I'm so thankful she ended up in the class that she did. I certainly poured my heart out to the Lord over the summer...that He would place her exactly where she needed to be. So, I take great rest in that. eWe told me that her teacher, "kisses her brain" (kisses her own two fingers and then put them on eWe's forehead)....I think that is so cute! I've had that "emotion" so often as I've watched eWe take on new information, but have never known how to communicate what I was feeling....now I do!

Here she is as she was leaving the first morning...I can't believe how big she looks and yet her backpack seems to swallow her!

When I picked her up and peppered her with questions, like any Mom would do (right?), she took a deep breath with eyes glazed over and said, "Mom, please don't ask me any more questions. I don't feel like talking. I've had a long day." Ha! As my friend, Les said, "She went in as a Kindergartner and came out a high school student!" Oh my!

After we got her home, fed her the rest of the lunch she'd been unable to finish (perhaps b/c I sent her with enough food to feed all the hungry children she'd encounter), she was ready to call her extended family and share about her first day. The way she talks on the phone is so teenager-like too, and is also so much like her Daddy. She paces, walks through the house, and then lounges. Too funny! Here is where she landed during her conversation with Pa.
So, I will continue to pray that she will be challenged and yet not be forced to grow up too quickly. I never knew how delicate of a balance this was. It makes sense to me now why so many kids either end up feeling pushed too hard by the parents and perhaps like they could never be good enough, and still others feel like their parents didn't care. Lord, help us to be balanced parents. I pray that eWe would know that what matters most to us is her heart. I pray that she would know that her value is not in how she behaves, what she knows, etc....but rather in who she is as a daughter of the King of kings. Amen!