Be an Encourager.

What does it mean to be an Encourager?

For some reason I can't stop thinking about this tonight. Perhaps it's because the last few months have been tough for me, and with Christmas just around the corner, our lives are in hyper-drive.

Or maybe it's all the mashed potatoes I ate for dinner talking...

I digress.

Anyway...An Encourager.

Tonight I was remembering the words of a fellow mom. Not someone I know well at all. Barely an acquaintance really. I think it was about a year ago when she stopped me in the hall at Annie's preschool. I had just dropped off Annie, and Ellie and Austin were already at school, so I was alone as I hurried out of the building. This woman called out my name, and I turned around with my "always a friendly face" smile on and greeted her. She smiled sweetly and seemed a little nervous as she said, "I just want to tell you something..."

You are a wonderful mother. I watch you, and I just really felt like today I was supposed to tell you that. I've been meaning to say it for awhile. You really are. You are doing a great job.

I thanked her, gave her a hug, told her how sweet she was, and thanked her again. That day I walked a little taller, and had a little more patience.

She was an Encourager.

And today as I remember that, tears fill my eyes, because...Wow, it still touches me that she told me that.

So many times as a mother of some really great, but sometimes really difficult kids, it's the negative stuff that gets my attention.

The nasty look from a stranger at the grocery store, the loudly spoken comment from a shopper at Target, the direct condemnation from an old lady at McDonald's, the glances and whispers from acquaintances at the pool, the disappointed face of a once loved teacher...When you add that all up, it's crushing.

But she was an Encourager.

She's not the only one. There was the kind old lady at Bass Pro who told me she'd survived, and I would too. The man at Wal-Mart who reminded me to be thankful even in the midst of a tantrum. And of course, there are the kind, uplifting words of my family and friends. Without them I don't know how I would survive sometimes.

I guess what I'm trying to say is Be an Encourager. Make someones day. Smile at the exhausted mother, hold the door open for the older man, or even tell someone how great they are. Speak kind words, and watch someones face light up.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."
2 Corinthians 13:10-12

Happy New Year!

Well, it's January 1st, Twenty Ten!

That feels weird, and exciting to say that. A new decade, wow.

And I am beginning this year completely exhausted! December was quite a month. I feel like I need a month to recover before starting January! But alas, that will not be, so I need to pick myself up and get moving!

December held a LOT for us. We hosted several holiday celebrations. We went to Las Vegas for 5 days to celebrate our 10th Anniversary! We shopped, we wrapped, we decorated, we cooked, we painted, we didn't sleep much! We had school class parties, Christmas shows, and dance recitals. We watched parades and went to Silver Dollar City. We played on the new land. We celebrated friends and family birthdays. We adopted two families to buy gifts for, one with some friends, and one with Austin's class, which did my heart good. We visited Santa! We had 4 big Christmas celebrations with different parts of our family. I went to Kansas City for 2 days for a girls only shopping trip. And finally we had a little New Year's Eve party! In the end, as I look back, it was all good. The kids were well behaved, relaxed, and happy for the most part. The only thing I would change would be to cut back a little. I am wiped out from all the fun! And I need to plan ahead better. I was so last minute this year, and that was not good. Next year the Internet shall be my friend, and I WILL get done MUCH earlier with the shopping and wrapping!

So again, Happy New Year! I pray that this year is our best yet!

I have quite a bit of catching up to do on my little blog, so there will be another post coming soon!

For Lauren.

So, I was just talking to my cousin Lauren, who kindly asked me when the heck I was going to put something new up on the ole blog. She nicely pointed out that it's been WEEKS since Ellie turned seven.

So...What to blog about.

........?

And that's why I haven't been blogging!

I guess I have bloggy block or something.

The only thing I can come up with is randomness...

Like...Here I sit, in my car, in the parking lot of my daughter's swimming lessons place, with Austin strapped in his car seat (that's always a good thing) drinking a coke, and watching the clock so I'm not late to pick them up. I was thrilled when I discovered this place had free WIFI!

Or...I turn 32 on Thursday. I'm totally fine with that age, there's actually been times lately that I've thought I was already 32, which in itself shows acceptance I think. HOWEVER, I think I have a problem with my birthday in general. I'm not sure why, but the last few years, I get really cranky right around my birthday. I think it might have something to do with feeling like everything should be all about me, and then it's not, and then I get all whiny in my head. Sad, but true. This year I get to work the book fair for Ellie's school on my bday, and take Austin to the ENT. Yay. Okay, pitty party over.

Facebook...has sucked the bloggy life right out of me. It's just so EASY to come up with a line or two or three about the crazy happenings in my daily life. Much easier than a whole blog post!

I have 7 minutes left.

Seriously, I am sorry Lauren, but that's about all I've got right now. Larry the Cucumber is singing about a great big squash that sat upon his hat, and that's all that my brain can comprehend right now!

I'll leave you with my facebook update for the day...

Shelley is on a beach, somewhere sunny and warm, with just my husband, and a good book, and a nice drink...at least in my dreams!

Oh, and I already lost those 30 pounds.

Just bloggin...

A day at home.

It can go either way. It can be a great day, with fun projects and happy kids. Or it can be awful. With battles and whines and grumpy kids. Today has been somewhere in the middle. So far I've...

Been up with Annie since 7:30am. On a Saturday.
Fixed breakfast for three kids.
Spent twice as long cleaning up after breakfast, than I did making it.
Listened to sisters playing sweetly.
Broken up a screaming match between sisters.
Rescued sisters from a broom wielding brother.
Sent the broom wielding brother outside.
Listened to sisters playing sweetly.
Sent Annie outside after Ellie was mean.
Had a heart-to-heart with Ellie.
Helped the girls make paper flowers.
Made lunch.

There's been a few more things sprinkled throughout all that. Laundry, dishes, cleaning up as we go, but you get the picture.

A day at home isn't relaxing for me, but it is good. For all of us. It gives us time to reconnect. It helps me get to know my kids better.

Annie needs to work on her skills with scissors. Ellie needs to have some downtime. Austin needs...well, he just needs room to run! And we all need some extra PJ time!

So it hasn't been relaxing, or even a wonderfully happy day. Just a good day at home. One we needed.

Now I need to find two girls that have built a pillow fort in my living room, but have since deserted said pillow fort, and seem to have forgotten to put all my pillows back where they came from.

Oh look! Annie just found my missing measuring cup! It was under a cabinet in the office. I'm guessing Austin might have had something to do with that. Now if only we could find Ellie's missing library book.

Fun times!

Happy Saturday everyone. I hope you have a good day.

I never was a morning person.

I am one tired lady!

This week Ellie has gone to vacation bible school. I love VBS, I loved going as a kid, working it as a teenager, and taking Ellie now.

HOWEVER, I had no idea how actually having to wake up at a decent hour, and get out the door, for the first time since school let out, would essentially kick my tail!

It's not like it started at 6am or anything. No, it didn't start until 9:00. Still, I had to drag my sleepy self out of bed every morning, and wake up Ellie from a sound slumber at the early hour of 8:15. (Yes, I pushed it as far as I could!)

I'm not sure what happened to our fantastic sleep schedule this summer! I guess the kids slowly started sleeping in, and then staying up later. I got used to staying up quite late, because nobody was waking me up before 9 or 10.

I have to say, for the most part, I love this schedule. It's just me. It was the schedule I had all through college. Except the one semester I had to take an 8:00 class.

I failed that class.

Anyway, I've been reminded this week that this schedule doesn't work so well with kids. Kids who wake you up in the middle of the night. Kids who need to be taken to VBS. Kids who have crazy demands like breakfast.

So I will be trying to get to sleep before midnight now. Trying to retrain my body to wake up earlier.

It's hard though, because at midnight I don't have to fight anyone for the remote!

One of THOSE days.

I just realized it's Monday.

That makes sense.

We've been having one of those days today.

A day when my children don't want to listen.

A day my son breaks something at Papa and Nana's.

A day I had to take all three kids to the grocery store.

A day when the laundry pile overwhelms me with it's size.

A day when I'm tired of being on the big "D".

I really have no one to blame besides myself. I over scheduled us the last several days. My kids haven't gone to bed before 11pm in 4 nights. It's summertime craziness at it's best. This week looks much calmer, and for that I'm grateful. I'm planning on lots of pool time for my kiddos, and bedtimes around 8pm.

Maybe the lady that sat in front of us at the baseball game last night was having one of those days.

Y'all should have seen her.

Alana did.

Austin was a little active, and bumped the lady and her husband a few times with his foot/hand/hat. After I received several looks from them, I tried to reign him in a little.

And he screamed.

Loudly.

You'd have thought by the lady's reaction that someone blew a train whistle in her ear.

I have never seen anything like it.

Until he screamed again.

I thought she was going to have a heart attack.

I'm sure she had perfect children.

Who never screamed.

Or like I said, maybe she was just having one of those days.

:)

Well, what do you think?

I think I like it!

I love customizing stuff! I had so much fun playing with colors and fonts...I guess it's kind of like scrapbooking...which has been sorely neglected lately! I can't wait to add my elements back in. I think I'll stick with this look for awhile, so I'm excited to add some new and fun things! But all that will have to wait for awhile. I'm pretty sure Austin has an ear infection, so we're off to the Doctor...again.

Seriously, I'm starting to feel like I should just go to medical school.

I'm pretty sure by the time I'm done raising my kids, it would be cheaper.

See ya!

Some things just can't be explained...

Wow, I'm blogging!

Why does this surprise me?

Well, for one thing, we have 5 kids here today.

For another, we're having a party at 4:30 today.

What happened to me? I used to stress over the birthday parties to the point of mental and emotional breakdown! Today, I am calm, collected, and relaxed! I think in my 5 years of party planning, I have mellowed a bit. I also contribute my oddly relaxed state to better organizational skills.

I'm excited about the party. Austin turned one year old on Friday, and I've been looking forward to celebrating that! I can't wait to help him open his presents and place his "Tire" cake in front of him! I love first birthdays! It is bittersweet though. My last 1st birthday. Well, at least until I'm a grammie!

OK, so seriously, it is oddly calm here.

Baron and Ellie are watching Charlotte's Web.

Tessa and Annie are playing quietly.

Austin is asleep.

The cakes are made.

We're ordering pizza.

The house is clean.

The laundry is caught up.

The dishes are caught up.

I look pretty good.

All on the day of MY CHILD'S birthday party.

With hours to go.

This is a weird, weird feeling.

Maybe I oughtta go knock on some wood.

bloggin' on

Ok, I'm running out of time because I've been reading everybody elses wonderful posts from the last couple of days.

Oh, and Ellie has interrupted me about 216 times!

Anyway, I have lots to say, and not much time, soooo. . .Here's the world's longest run-on sentence!

I'm tired, we've had late nights and early mornings for a few days now and we are all tired, well except for annie, 'cause she's napping now, and austin 'cause he can sleep anywhere, but me, i'm tired!

(oops, new sentence!)

we went car shopping yesterday, i'm not sure how many dealerships we actually visited, but it felt like 269 or so, and did we buy a car, after hours of looking and haggling and driving and haggling some more. . .nope, we didn't buy squat, except of course for the tank of gas we burned through, and some really not-so-good chicken for lunch, and some pretty good Chinese for dinner! Ok, enough with the run-on sentence thing, i just can't keep it up.

Did i mention that yesterday was my darling hubbie's 30th b-day? Yep, it sure was, the big 3-0! He's not so happy about this one, and that's an understatement! I think his friends are planning a little "guy time" and I think that that is a VERY good thing. He needs it! And lest you fear that I might be spoiling a surprise by posting this, don't worry, He rarely reads my Blog. Only when I ask/beg him to do so, which I won't this week so he won't see this!
Annnyway, So we went fruitlessly shopping for a car on hubbies birthday, had a terrible lunch and a pretty good dinner, and then went to a birthday party.

But, not for him.

For Richie! Our dear, sweet, 6 year old friend! And to tell you the totally honest, true-as-can-be, truth of the matter, Hubby had more fun at Richie's party than he would have at one of his own! He played Jedi Smackdown with the little boys and the big boys, and had a BLAST!

So, our day ended well after all. I love happy endings!