A Good Day

Just like the rest of the world, you have good days as a mother and bad days as a mother. For me, a good day as a mother means that I remember the gift of getting to be a mother: to teach and to train and to enjoy the journey of life from a different perspective. Yesterday was a good day. Caroline was out of school for the day and we all headed to the museum. My husband and I have long thought of ourselves as "museum-geeks" and I think we are quickly passing it along as the museum on a day off was my daughter's request for the day. There were several moments where I just loved watching the four of them together. Caroline wanted to push the stroller and show Hannah around. Henry surprised us all remembering odd facts from our last trip. John Mac showed his usual exuberance at all the little things. Small glimpses of goodness shining through. It was a day where it was easy to remember that sharing all of this with them is a real gift.

"MoonSon"

Here is another interesting conversation with John Mac:

JMac: I'm not your sun.

Me: You are my son.

JMac: The sun is in the sky. I'm not your sun.

Me: I am the Mommy and you are my boy; you are my son. It sounds like sun in the sky, but it is a different word spelled with different letters.

JMac: Ok, then I'm the MoonSun.

A few pictures

A few pictures from recent days.

~Below is Hannah with her Daddy. She is becoming quite the crawler. She speeds through the house daily, mostly trying to crawl into the coveted room of her older sister. It has become special as she has quickly realized it is the one place I am afraid for her to be in our home. The danger of small beads and Polly Pockets is no laughing matter....

~And here is a picture of me making a recent dinner....Veggie Surprise, also known as Breakfast Scramble. I keep reading books about food, nutrition and health, so I keep thinking more about what we are putting in our bodies....and trying new recipes. You would think for someone with a medical degree that this type of reading would be redundant and unnecessary. Unfortunately, I feel like I keep needing to learn more. When Mom was diagnosed with cancer recently, it sent me back to the books with yet another learning perspective. Recently I finished the book The China Study and I am still overwhelmed by the amount of information in it. So tonight's dinner was another attempt to eat more meatless meals, save the environment, save our wallets, save our bodies....I am not sure I can ever be a big fan of tofu, but you can sure use a lot of spices and vegetables with it!

~Over the weekend, we were able to spend two evenings in a row with friends and their children. A great evening with friends and good food is wonderful. A four year old napping out of utter exhaustion from the fun is even better. He is asleep on top of his favorite book, the classic Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

Schooling

January has become the month to agonize about school decisions for me. I was gleefully unaware of this reality until my oldest child hit preschool age. Suddenly my peers had all registered their children for preschool when I had not even realized I missed a deadline. Once again, I find the dates approaching to enroll, reenroll, choose to do neither....It feels daunting to me. I like to tell myself that I over-contemplate the issues because it affects the life of my children; it's a big decision. Today I spent time with several homeschooling moms that I really enjoy. All of them are wonderful wise Moms. I found myself just hoping that someone would flat out tell me what to do, how to live my life. But that is not the point. I'm the mommy. I need to make the choice. The truth is that this choice, just like the many I make every day, will affect my children. But this choice, like the many I make every day, does not alone have the power to determine their lives, who they are to become. God is graciously upholding me, upholding them. In all things may He be preeminent.

BIRTHDAY!

Yesterday was my birthday! I love the chance to celebrate birthdays. For me a birthday celebration is a great statement of the goodness of life and the uniqueness of a person. In a world that rewards productivity, riches, moving fast and wearing skinny jeans, it feels good and counter-cultural to stop and just be glad for the person God made someone to be. I had a great birthday. My morning started with a surprise morning off...a babysitter arrived at 9am by my wonderful husband's arrangement. I spent the whole morning by myself! I realize this can sound sad and lonely, but to a mother of four solitude is like a swimming pool in August in the South, much needed and almost too good to be true. I ate breakfast at Art Cafe, my favorite local place, and enjoyed reading the newspaper. The lovely owner there knew it was my birthday (how else did I get to quietly sit and read the paper while drinking a wonderful cup of coffee?) and serenaded me with a decadent chocolate dessert and a candle. Picture elegant but simple, not large clapping restaurant singing. That was enough right there....the day would have been more than I deserved at this point...

I celebrated with my husband and kids over dinner. While I made the dinner they made "party hats" and hung streamers. This was in addition to the "birthday poster" on the front door they decorated for me. It was so good to celebrate together. As my four year old said, "Mommy this is going to be a really good party. You have party hats and decorations!". The simplicity of a good party is really something we adults should have held on to. Finally, my husband had to go to a meeting, so I put the kids to bed and was folding laundry when I received a great birthday surprise. Four dear friends snuck in with champagne and goodies and we had a "Mom Party"...a short period of time to talk and laugh without kids that we are oh so grateful for these days. It all felt like more goodness than I deserve, and I am so glad that the rich company of friends means so much. How blessed I feel to celebrate another year!

Happy Birthday to me! Such a fun day!

faith of a child

This is Henry at his grandmother's birthday party, blowing out a candle.

He is our dreamer, our constant child of imagination.

This past fall Henry prayed every night for his dear friend Brogan's father, who was deployed to Iraq until April of 2010. We explained to Henry when Brogan's father left in August that he would be home in April. Despite this, Henry prayed daily for Brogan's father to come home before Christmas. Several times we corrected Henry; the prayers for Brogan's father would be for him to come home safely in April, not for Christmas....Finally, we relented. God knows when he is coming home from Iraq; he'll know what Henry means.

Last week Brogan's daddy came home for Christmas. There were extenuating circumstances; it was only for a week....But I couldn't help but realize that Henry's specific prayer - the one, by the way, that his mother would have been afraid to even hope to pray for - was answered. Our God is so good and does so much more "than all we ask or imagine". Perhaps it is because we do not have the imagination of our youth.

Conversation with John Mac

Today in the car John Mac and I had a conversation. It went like this...

John Mac: Hannah is happy.

Me: Yes, John Mac, Hannah is happy.

John Mac: God is happy with Hannah.

Me: Yes, John Mac.

John Mac: God is happy with John Mac.

Me: Yes, John Mac.

John Mac: God lets me climb into his lap.

To have the faith of a little child.

Come into our hearts Lord Jesus.