God's in the little things (like Legos)

"MOMMY! Sob, sob, sob, LEGO!!!"

Huh, what? It was like 3 am and there was a tear stained, disheveled little thing hovering over my bed, heaving.

"Mommy, I [indistinguishable] Lego!"

After four more attempts...
"Mommy I ATE a Lego!"

You did WHAT?

After plopping herself on the toilet trying to relieve herself of the black Lego (sorry for the graphics) she had apparently JUST eaten, my four-year-old starts to recount her harrowing experience. Apparently she was playing with her Legos (at 3 am?) and swallowed one. It was simple. (Gosh, Mommy, why is this complicated?)

I'm sitting on the side of the tub, holding my little girl's hand and just asking God to help me. I'm also smiling because, frankly, the whole scenario is ridiculous. My hubs is up by this time too and Little Miss is explaining to him what happened. She is CONVINCED it's not a dream. It's caught in her throat (can't I hear her coughing?) And yet she's trying to poop it out. My mind is going through the options of which ER to take her. Our hospital doesn't have a pediatric endoscopy unit, so that's out. Do I drive south to Duke or north to Lynchburg? Do I take her at all? Is this real? Maybe I'm dreaming.

My sleepy head was going in circles, not unlike the tornado, which my son dreamed, was trying to eat his brain. Just last week we had a four person ER visit thanks to some MEAN yellow jackets and a multitude of stings. If my baby has really swallowed a Lego and it's really stuck, I really need to take her somewhere. But I really don't have any money. I mean, we're eating Ramen everyday kind of broke.

"Ok God, I need you here," I whispered.

 I didn't hear a direct answer and I didn't hear any concise directions. What I got was a peace; that whatever happened from this ridiculous situation was happening to me AND God. I still wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I wasn't anxious about it anymore.

After she calmed down, we got her back in her room and asked her to go through exactly what happened. She showed us how she was playing with her Legos (which were stuffed in the bottom of a closed train case) and ate one.

"Honey, you said your light was off and your toys were all the way in the bottom of this case. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

"It WAS a dream!!!!! Night, Mommy. And can you turn off the light?"

Yeah, a tornado definitely ate my brain...

Ok, So We Had a Setback...

So my hubs is not completely on board with my new "healthy" lifestyle. He claims that because I lived in San Francisco for so long, it was a just a matter of time before my inner hippie came out.

Last night we went out to eat to celebrate a job well done. My twins were, of all things, GARDEN gnomes in a school play. I had chicken with a side of roasted veggies. I even ate mushrooms (something I normally abhor). The kids ate what I presumed was boxed mac and cheese and Dr. Pepper. And I did nothing to stop them. They all made good choices with their side items. My daughter got broccoli and my sons got orange wedges. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon.

One ingredient

I'm trying to change a whole lifetime of eating habits in one day. I'm making this decision for myself and it's not too bad, but this isn't something they're choosing. I guess if I train them to recognize what they eat and what they put in their body, that is a huge step in the right direction.

This morning we read the ingredients of the bread we sometimes use for sandwiches (too many to name). Then we read the ingredients from my homemade bread (water, yeast, butter, salt, flour. no butter if it's my French bread)  We read the ingredients of soda, raisins, organic maple syrup, and pancake syrup (which the hubs has instructed me to replenish today).

Can I? Can I in good conscience buy him something that is so full of artificial ingredients it's alarming? It's a dilemma. He's a grown man and has to make this choice for himself. But we also need to be good examples for our kids. I honestly don't know what to do.

So many ingredients. But as stone ground whole wheat is
the first ingredient, it's a better choice than
 some other breads
(But it doesn't compare to my homemade bread, hee hee)

Ahhh, the internet to the rescue. Who knew there were so many homemade pancake syrups out there? I'm going to try one and see what happens!! The hubs may not know what hit him. He may love it!! Then again, he may banish me from the kitchen then run to Target for nearest bottle of sticky fakeness. Note: I get my organic pure maple syrup from Target so it is our go to store for EVERYTHING.

Setbacks are going to happen on our journey to wellness. Acceptance is the key. I'm not going to beat myself over the little things (or little cups of soda) but I'm going to praise my family for the good choices they ARE making.

I am so new to this concept of food. What do you feed your kids to keep them whole and healthy?

Bye, bye junk food (for the most part)

Let me start by asking you a question: What is food? I mean in it's most basic, true form, what is FOOD?

I guess food is what we use to nourish our bodies, this glorious machine God gave us to help us with His work here on earth. But what are we actually putting IN our bodies?



Less chemistry and more veggies!!

We don't have cable or an antenna, so I watch a lot of Netflix; which means I watch documentaries that I normally wouldn't. There are a whole lot of them about food and America's obsession with food. Some of what I've taken out of these programs is that Americans are some of the most overfed, but undernourished people in the world. We have an overabundance of stuff we call food, but is it doing what God intended food to do? Is what we buy at the grocery store producing healthy bodies or sick ones? Let our doctor's bills answer that.

Now I am not a new age vegetarian, meat hating, all organic kind of gal (no disrespect to my sister who is) and frankly up until yesterday I didn't see a problem with stuffing my face with Dorritos while watching these documentaries on health and food until I thought about my kids.

Ugh, I feel awful just thinking about it. I am old enough to choose what poisons I put in my body. If I want to pump my body full aspartame and high fructose corn syrup, I am a grown woman and can make that choice. My babies eat what I give them and it's been, truthfully, a lot of junk. I sometimes read labels, and most of the time I can't pronounce half the stuff that's in my "food." We need less chemistry and more veggies!!



My boys made this smoothie. It's got apple,
carrot, pear, and spinach. And it's
 REALLY Good!

I may love chips and doughnuts and nuggets and some seemingly "healthy" stuff, but I love my kids too much to give them nothing but the best. And the best is NOT partially hydrogenated oils and lots of sugars. What have I been feeding my kids their whole lives? It's scary to think about. Are they getting the adequate nutrition? Probably not. Shame on me!!
I have to make changes and believe me it's not going to be easy. (My husband got pretty annoyed when he found out I threw the chips away). My kids (and me) are used to eating a certain way and, to be honest, there wasn't a lot of variety.

Come on, if we fuel our cars with the wrong stuff, it doesn't work right. So why do we expect our bodies to work right when they're fueled with chemicals that most of us can't pronounce? I don't believe we honor God when we destroy his creation with what we're putting in it. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Are we treating our bodies accordingly? Are we treating our bodies (and our children's bodies) as though they were "wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14) by God, or are we giving in to fleshly desires and filling these temples with trash?

"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord..." (Josh. 24:15)  and my family will serve Him by treating our bodies, God's glorious creation, with respect. I WILL start feeding my kids the way they deserve to be fed. With nutritious, NATURAL foods. Will they get cookies? Yes, I tend to make my own, so I know what goes in them. I'm not trying to deprive my kids. Rather, I'm allowing them to thrive!!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drink the carrot, apple, pear, spinach smoothie my 7-year-old twins just made for me. ;)

Life in the Trenches

This morning one of my six-year-olds lit a fire under me! No, seriously. The little bugger was playing with matches. And I thought he'd learned his lesson when he was four. Back then, I made the mistake of dozing off while the twins were watching TV. I came in to find them standing on the back of the couch, one of them stark naked, and charred matches scattered everywhere.  Thankfully nothing happened, then or now.  The last few days have been sharp reminders that I am outnumbered 4 to 1 by these little people. We are in the war of life and I am supposed to be their brave captain leading my troops into battle.

But you want to know the truth? I'm scared! I have my orders. I know what I should do. I pass the orders on to my platoon and they just look at me (and then light matches when I'm not in there). These are what I call "bad mommy days."  I'm not a bad mommy (at least I hope not). They're not bad kids, but I FEEL bad. My feelings and emotions bubble up over reason and I let fear and doubt take over. It's like a soldier sitting in the trenches with bombs bursting over head. If fear takes over, training takes second fiddle and that's a dangerous place to be. I know that I can't let emotions lead, but let's be honest. I'm a woman and emotions are a big part of who I am. But just like anything in my life I need to take control and not let the emotions control me. But, man, that's hard.

The battle against right and wrong is fought every day in this house and a lot of days I feel like I'm losing. I really try to teach respect and love and the Golden Rule. But the hitting and screaming and the pouring Nesquik on each other takes a toll on a mom. So what's a good soldier (mommy) to do? I guess all I CAN do is cherish the beauty of the peacetimes. Relish the laughter when they're being silly with each other. Take in the angelic faces as they lay sleeping. The quiet times are the times I remember why I joined this fight in the first place. I want to make an impact on this dark world by sending out four shining lights to make impacts of their own.

Wars are not won in a day and good productive kids take a lifetime to cultivate. There will be more stressful days (hopefully no more matches will be lit). There will be a ton of good days ahead. Life in the trenches is not easy and it's not pretty, but it's the life I've chosen. And it's a good one.

Ten Commandment Tea Party #1

Every week the family has a tea party. I started this as a means to create a tradition that my children would cherish. We learn Bible verses (and table manners). Sometimes we play games or tell riddles. The whole family looks forward to it

We're starting to memorize the Ten Commandments. Every week we'll memorize one and talk about it's meaning. This is week one of our 10 week series. The Bible says, "These commandments that I give today are to be on you hearts. Impress them on your children...bind them on your foreheads" (Deut 6:6-8, NIV)

So, this week, we "binded" the First Commandment to our foreheads.

The kids had a blast with this. And, yes, even mom and dad were wearing ours too!

Stay tuned to see how we get creative with the other nine commandments!

What are some ways you share the Word?

Breast Isn't Always Best

There has been a lot of controversy lately about bottle vs. breast due to the ban on formula in hospitals in some parts of the country. I have breastfed all of my children and loved it...until recently.

I nursed my twins until they were 10-months-old. I nursed my daughter until she was 10-months-old. They all weaned themselves and it was a very natural process. I nursed #4 until, well, today. He's 9 1/2-months-old. Truth be told, I should have weaned him a long time ago. See, he's a biter. Where my others may have bit once or twice. He bites all the time. I'm talking every nursing session. I'm in pain doing something that is supposed to be natural and beautiful, but it has become a thing of blood and tears. Not cool.

I've held off weaning him because I know how precious nursing can be. He's my last baby and I knew I'd never experience that special time again. But lately it just wasn't worth it. I was dealing with the guilt of giving him something other than my milk; tonight, I just couldn't handle it anymore.

As we snuggled together before his bedtime with a bottle contentedly hanging from his lips. I felt such a calm and peace that I knew I'd made the right decision. Feeding time isn't going to be laced with fear anymore. I looked into his gorgeous little faced, touched by the hand of God Himself and knew I'd made the right choice.

I hate that it had to go down like this. I wish it could have been like his big brothers where one day I truly forgot to nurse them and we never looked back. I wish that I didn't have to make this decision amongst tears. But it is what it is. Right now, for me and my son, breast isn't best.

Cleaning up a Sticky Situation

"There's jelly in my hair!"

This is something I'd expect to hear from my three-year-old, so hearing it come out of MY mouth was a little surreal. In fact, I'm not even sure how the jelly got in my hair. I mean, I did make my hubs a PB&J that morning, but our jelly is the squeeze type; not something I'd even get near my locks. But there it was. A sticky, gooey, mess of strawberry jelly tangling up my hair.

For ease, I'm going to pretend this happened to my daughter. 'Cause, you know, it's kind of embarrassing for a 33-year-old-woman to walk around with head full of jelly. Any way...So if my daughter comes to me with a tangled mess of stickiness in her golden tresses, the first thing we do is try to brush it out. She screams and fights and wiggles until we realize we need help.

Out comes the handy dandy detangler I spray the affected area and attempt to brush some more. It doesn't take the jelly out, but it makes it presentable enough to rush her off to pre-school. (because we're late...since someone got jelly in her hair.)

By the time she gets home, the hair is a rat's nest again and the only recourse is to wash it out. Slowly I can see the shampoo doing it's job and cleansing her hair of the offending sticky stuff. Once she's washed clean, her hair is like new.



A shower is the ONLY way
to get jelly out of these locks

Sometimes our life is like jelly in the hair. We have sticky situations we're not proud of, but there they are, tangling things up and making a big ole' mess. We try to take care of it ourselves and spot treat it with a little help (alcohol, shopping, food. Whatever makes the pain go away and whatever makes us look presentable)

My sticky situation was the decision to exercise the "right to choose" when I was 18. I cleaned myself up and looked presentable to the outside world, but on the inside I was still all messy. After fighting and attempting to do it on my own, I finally accepted help through my local crisis pregnancy center. I went through a program called HEART (Healing the Effects of Abortion Related Trauma). But it was only when I was showered by the blood of Jesus and accepted God's forgiveness for what I had done did I become truly clean. He washed me clean of my sin and has made me like new. I can't change what's been done but I don't have to go back to the rat's nest in which I'd been.

Are you in need of a good shower? Is there any "jelly" that you've been hiding for too long? Take it to your Father for a good scrub down.

When I rush my daughter to school with sticky stuff in her hair, I, as her parent, know it's there. I know she's a little less than clean, and I love her anyway. But I know she has to have a bath. In his book Just Like Jesus,  Max Lucado writes, "God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way..." God knows what mess you're hiding. He's always known, but He refuses to leave you a mess. It doesn't mean He loves you any less or judges you any more. He wants to cleanse you of the stickiness and gooeyness. He wants to make you shining and new.

Will you let Him?


(Are you in need of post-abortion counseling? The Rachel Project is a good place to start)