Sometimes Ups Outnumber the Downs! Or They Don't….Or They Do…Or They Don't ;)

You ever notice how some moments with your kids are so deeply theological, meaningful, insightful, life-affirming, or whatever, that they take your breath away?  Like the other day, we were on the way to visit a new church.  We got to the neighborhood it was in, and there were a lot of apartment buildings.  They weren't awful, but they weren't great.  However, they were built in a style Abbie had never seen before.  She suddenly started exclaiming in a tone of absolute wonder, "Wow!  I see a lot that I like!  Wow!  Oh…that can't be good.  The one with the black door.  But I like the other ones!"  Lol, it was hilarious in it's spontaneity and randomness, but somehow, it made me feel better.  Made me approach this new church with a sense of wonder.  Made me realize all over again that it's ok to "see a lot that I like", and still find things that don't quite jive for me.

We got inside the church and the service was progressing along while Abbie and Emma scribbled in notebooks.  All the sudden, Abbie's head shot up when she heard the pastor say "Jesus".  Instantly she leaned over to me and said, "Jesus is the good guy!  We love Him so much!"  It was awesome.  Even now I can feel my heart applauding all over the place.

Those moments are magic.

Then again, there's what happened the other day.  We were sitting at dinner and I kid you not, this is how the conversation went:

Abbie- "Mommy, I wish that I could have a REAL mommy."

Mommy- "I thought I was a real mommy!"

Abbie- "No way!!!"

Mommy- "What's a real mommy?"

Abbie, with a little sigh and some wistfulness in her voice, looking off into the distance a little- "I don't know.  But I wish I could have a real Mommy."

Mommy- "Thanks for that!"

Daddy- "Honey, Mommy IS a REAL mommy!"

Abbie, points at me while still looking at Cris, and I am seriously not kidding, says, "No!  That one has a costume on!"

LOLOLOLOLOL…just try analyzing that on a fragile Mommy-identity day!  Of course after that,

Emma, (chanting)- "I want a real Mommy! I want a real Mommy!"

For those of you who have been concerned about Emma being MIA, we found her standing on the railing of her toddler bed the other day.  The sides are as high as a crib because it's one of those beds that converts if you just take the side off and lower the mattress to the bottom position, so that was really something!  So never fear!  Keep reading because it just may be the quiet one that gets us in the end!  I'll keep you posted:)

Somee Saturday!

I have decided that this will either be Somee Saturday OR Somee Sunday….depending on, well, all the things that go into any Mommy-type decisions.  You know, things like when you go to the bathroom, or if you brush your teeth today:)

Growing Up Day: The Mommy Edition

The 30th of December was my birthday, and of course I was WAY to busy to write.  (Read this as evidence of how blessed I really am with people who love me, because it is!)  However, as we have the rest of the family's birthdays coming up, I thought I would start the new little tradition of "Growing Up Day" posts, featuring the birthday kid and a list of the top three things I have learned about them this year.  Today, it will be all about me:)

Top Three Things I Have Come To Accept About Myself and My Life As A Mom This Year

3.  My car will almost always look like some variation of this:

(I know that you are all, rightly, ready to chip in and get me a cleaning service, which by the way, is completely fine by me!  However, come over to my house and I promise it is not really covered in filth as a whole…the kid-centric areas, however, I will not vouch for!)

2.  Gel nails are the way to go!  Mommies everywhere have to know about this!  It is the only nail polish option that even remotely makes sense because it lasts more than hour after you have them done. My girls have done their worst, creating messes and the need to have my fingernails open tiny plastic things over and over and yet those gel nails hold on for at least a week or even more, without even a scratch or chip to show for it!  So if you're into doing something so silly and vain and selfish as getting your nails done, (as I am:)  give it the old college try.  The kind-of try that remembers you're worth splurging on every now and again on something that just makes you feel like you, whatever that may be:)

1.  When Abbie says, "Mommy, why is your butt so big?", as she did the day before my birthday, she needs me to answer with some variation of, "because that's how God made me!" and not with something like, "because Mommy isn't __________________", or "because Mommy is just too _______________".  Know why?  Because her next statement was, "when I grow up, I want to have a big butt like you!"

So Happy Birthday Me!!!!

See, it's not so bad in the WHOLE house!

 (And isn't that clever how I did that?!  Just HAPPENED to put a picture up that is of my awesome birthday streamers, but that also just HAPPENS to show my house looking awesome;)

Because This Made Me Smile…..

….and I thought you might need one too:)

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

― Mark Twain

Somee Saturday- Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and An Ode To The Circle of Life

Abbie- "Mommy, who is Gigi's (Great Grandma's) mom?"

Mommy- "Her mommy is Great-Great Grandma, but she died."

Abbie- "Why did she die?"

Mommy- "She died because she was old."

((Wrinkling up her nose, looking at me with knowing understanding and a shaking her head up and down as she says in a tone of voice that sounds like, 'yeah, that happens when they get old'))
Abbie says- "And she was icky?"

Mommy- "No! Great-Great Grandma wasn't icky, she was just old"

Abbie- "Oh."

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope your year stays funny always!!!!