Mother's Day Part 1

Mother's Day celebrations abounded at ELCA today, as there were Mother's Day teas, Parent Appreciation programs, and luncheons celebrating mothers.  First grade had Parent Appreciation this afternoon.  We had worked so hard on gifts, decorations, and learning verses, poems, and songs, and we had such a nice time (and all but 2 went home early!).  But first, I had the distinct pleasure of attending Mrs. Allison's class' Mother's Day tea!

We were greeted by a sweet sentiment outside the classroom while we waited for them to get ready.

 And then my lovely escort presented me with a "t-sage"

After escorting us to our seats, they sang a few songs, said a few verses, recited a poem.

 She even served me my lunch--concentrating so hard on not spilling!

 And then in a truly embarassingly cute moment, she started showing all of the other parents her newly acquired "cartwheel."  I didn't take pictures in the classroom because, if your child is flip flopping around the room during a Mother's Day tea, the appropriate thing to do is to stop her, and not capture her rebellion for posterity.  But this is roughly what it looked like.  I use the term "cartwheel" loosely...can you see why?

 And now just for pure cuteness...my sweet Charlotte.  You know you take too many pictures when you get your camera out, and your child, smiles and says, "Cheese!" (which really comes out as "teeez!")

I love love love being a mother to these two sweet girls.

I thank God for giving me the chance to be their mommy!

On being a mom....

Since it's getting close to Mother's Day, and I have no cute pictures to share, I thought I'd steal a Mother's Day Meme from MaK!MeJ!

Name three things that you have learned as a mother.
1.  I am stronger than I ever thought possible.  When my heart was breaking and my world was crumbling, my love for my children kept me going.
2.  I only really need four hours of sleep a night.
3.  My mother was right more times than I want to admit.

Name three embarrassing moments as a mother.
1.  When at a little league game for my son, the police walked up with my daughter, and asked "Who are this girl's parents?"  Seems as if my sweet Sarah had been calling 911 from the pay phone...while the policeman sat in his car and watched her.
2.  When in a new church, a well meaning lady gave me a copy of The Strong Willed Child.  Unsolicited.
3.  Hannah likes to sit with us in the choir loft on some Sundays.  A few weeks ago, during our choir special, she crawls underneath the curtain and goes to the water fountain outside the auditorium and then comes back up and crawls back under the curtain. 

Name three things that your children said to you today.
1.  Hannah:  "Mommy, Jesus didn't want to be our king.  He wanted to be our Savior!"
2.  Josh:  "Did you know that you and Dad forgot to take Hannah to bed last night?"
3.  Maddy:  "Guess what I made on my math test.  It starts with a vowel."

Name three things that you wish for your children.
1.  That they each have a growing relationship with Jesus
2.  That they each have a marriage as happy as ours
3.  That they are healthy and happy

Name three gifts you want for Mother's Day.
1.  A clean (at least on the surface) house
2.  Absolutely no fighting or arguing
3.  An hour in the sun with a book and a diet coke

The 23rd Psalm--First Grade Style

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters 

He restores my soul. 

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. 

 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies 

You annoint my head with oil; my cup overflows 

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life 

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Plus...a little Hannah cuteness 

Ever the peacemaker...

the last 24 hours have been rough.  I like people to be happy.  I avoid conflict and confrontation at all costs. It bothers me way more than it should when people don't like me or are upset with me. 

And today, I had to make someone unhappy.  Had to confront someone.  Had to say and do something that would make someone upset with me.  The part of my job I hate.

Give me the little children any day.  They love you.  You say something they don't like, they let you know, you talk about it (or tell them to get over it-ha!), and it's over and they're hugging you and writing you love notes within fifteen minutes.  A hug cures anything.  And if it doesn't, a blow-pop does.

Give me their parents, and it's a different story.  They entrust their most precious possession to me.  They send a little bit of their heart into my classroom each and every day and trust that I will keep it safe.  And when they feel that safety is being threatened, whether real or imagined, the claws come out.

So today, I had a retention meeting.  And I knew in advance that my words would hurt.  I had put it off as long as I could.  But it was time.

I didn't sleep last night, my brain working and my heart hurting.  I imagined the worst.  I hoped for better. I prayed.  I thought.  I cried.  I panicked.  With two hours of troubled sleep behind me, I faced the day.

I walked into my pre-meeting conference with the principal, the curriculum director, the special needs teacher, the remediation teacher.  And I expressed my concerns.  We made a plan.  We prayed.  I cried.

And then from my right, a note slipped into my lap.  A simple message.  A simple truth.  Comfort.

God is bigger than all of this.  It will be OK.

And it was.  I came.  I confronted and held my ground.  I said all that needed to be said.  And I prayed with the parents.  And in the end?  It was OK.   Better than OK.  There were hugs and smiles and though it wasn't the same as before, it was alright.  Because God is able to do what we ourselves are not.  He is bigger than my fears.  Bigger than my insecurities.  Bigger than my insomnia and panic attacks.  And even if I can't be the peacemaker all the time, or the bearer of good news, or even if I have to break some parent's heart, it will indeed be OK.

Chris Tomlin puts it best.....

.Our God is greater, our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other

Our God is Healer, awesome in power

Now why can't I seem to remember this?

So this weekend was super busy, but I find myself at the end of the weekend with nary a picture or blog post in my head.  So, because I have NOTHING to say, I'm linking up with Keely from Mannland5. 

1. did you watch the royal wedding?
By accident.  I got up on Friday and as usual, after Daryl's alarm had gone off twice and he had assumed the position of one leg crossed over the other (this indicates his "getting ready to get up" stage and it is OK to make noise), I turned on the news.  Kate was just walking down the aisle.  I watched it for about 5 minutes. 



2. tea and crumpets or coffee and a scone?
Not a tea lover, so coffee definitely.  And a scone...it's like a cookie, right? In my weight watching state of mind, I'll have a cookie please.  Please, please, please!


3 who's cuter..prince william or prince harry?
Neither of them really does it for me, but if I had to choose, it'd be Harry.  He looks like he'd make you laugh.


4. can you speak in a english accent?
Oh, but yes I can.  In fact, my brother and I used to, for fun and I'm sure at my urging, speak in different accents and made up languages in the grocery store.  Like in a small town in Alabama, where everyone knew everyone, people wouldn't know if someone from England, Japan, or Hungary came to shop at the SuperValue.  Yes, I was that much of a geek!


5. do you own a fancy hat?
I own a Cat in the Hat hat.  Does that count?  Probably not.  Not really a hat person because you cannot be a hat person and wear hairspray.  and if I've never mentioned it before...hairspray is a must.


6. would you rather live in a castle or an english cottage?
A cottage, for sure.  Especially if it is like the one in that Christmas movie with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet in it.


7. how old were you when prince charles and princess diana got married? were you even born?
It was 2 days after my 15th birthday.  I got up early to watch it and became obsessed with everything Diana.  My grandmother had a coffee table book about her, and I spent hours looking at it whenever we went to visit.  Of course there wasn't much else to do there.  She kept a basket full of toys for us there, which included a squeaky sailor, part of an old tea set, and a ball/basket game.  So extreme boredom might have fueled the obsession.


8. have you found your prince?
I have indeed.  And after 10 years together, he makes me laugh every day and I still smile every time I think of him.  I do believe that God totally sent him to me, exactly when I needed him, and when I was ready, and I thank Him for that each and every day. 

Sharing, Sound of Music, and 'me' time

I love that my children are active.  I love that they are involved in just about every aspect of the school and church.  But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish we had just one weekend where we didn't have to go go go.  I know the chances of that with five children are slim to none, but a girl can dream, right?

Anyways, these past few days have been filled with the Sound of Music.  It's involved a lot of driving around, picking up and dropping off, and so little time for anything else.

I did have a window of about 45 minutes at home yesterday and I did get this cute picture of Charlotte enjoying Hannah's birthday present.  Every time she sees it, she cries to get on it--and we, like the good parents/siblings we are, give in to her and put her on it and push her around the circle that has been made with the new addition.

 We missed Sarah's opening night because it was Hannah's birthday, but Daryl and I took in the show last night, and it was truly worth all of the hard work and practice.  Great show.  Here is my little Frau Schmidt in costume on stage.

 And this one is way blurry (Daryl chose this time to experiment with the camera settings), but this was her costume change.  They called it her "sexy housekeeper outfit."  It was a dress that I had bought for her thinking it was cute a few years ago.  It hung in her closet until she needed a "really ugly dress" for this scene.  Guess her idea of cute and mine are now in the vastly different category! Ha!  She does have on my shoes too--which we both agree are fab-u-lous--gray and black 1940's style pumps.

 After the show.  She did such a good job, but it really was a shame that she has such a beautiful voice and didn't get to sing one note in the play.  The part she had wanted had gone to someone else, and to be kind, her singing ability left much to be desired.  Sarah would have done such a better job, in my totally unbiased opinion!

and where does the "me" time come into all of this?  Well, that came for a measly (but very much appreciated) hour this morning.  I was driving to my weigh-in this morning (down another pound, thank you very much!), and thinking I would just weigh in and leave and not stay for the meeting part.  Maddy had been less than enthused at being woken to watch the girls this morning when I left, and I had laundry and cleaning and baths and schoolwork to do out the wazoo.  But when I got there, and the meeting topic was "making time for you!" I knew that I had to stay.  I spend all day every day taking care of, teaching, nurturing, meeting the needs of others.  Doing what needs to be done when no one else will.  Putting my needs last.  It high time to have a little time where I came first.

So I stayed.  And for 45 minutes, I got to talk to other adults about something other than children.  I got to sit with nothing in my lap, nothing to do in my hands.  I got to learn and laugh.  It was chaos as soon as I left as I rushed to get everyone the much promised breakfast and arrange drop offs, pick ups, and meetings.  But just having that time to myself made me feel a little less stressed and a little more equipped to deal with it.  After all, they (whoever they may be) say that when I'm older and grayer and I have no one to take care of but myself, I will miss this.  And you know what?  I think they might be right!

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

 It is so hard to believe that my miracle baby, the child that I prayed so long and hard for, is five years old today.  It seems like only yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital, all 9 pounds 7 ounces of her.  That we were walking the floor, bouncing on the bed, swaddling, singing, shushing, ANYTHING to make her stop crying.  And now she is such a big girl.  A sweet, spunky preschooler with a huge heart, a quick temper, and a love of life.

She started her day the way all big five year olds do (not)--naked and in our bed. 

 The birthday girl-as she referred to herself all day-ready for school

 Opening one present from Grandma and Grandpa

 A Sing-A-Ma-Jig--a huge hit with her, her sisters, her classmates (yes, I sent it to school with her--ha!)

 When we got to school, her classroom was ready for the birthday celebration!

 And her teacher marked her chair with a special cupcake--I love it that her teacher tried to make her feel special all day!

 Her birthday crown

 After school, we rushed home, making it home by 4:00.  We haven't been home that early in months, if at all this year.  Daryl had to teach tonight, and Josh had to be at work at 5:00, so we did presents early.

Her big present from us was her nifty new Barbie bike

 This is when I love having the big kids and the little kids--she must have had the biggest posse on the street to watch her ride her big girl bike for the first time!

 After Daryl and Josh had gone, we had her favorite meal of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, followed by this delicious chocolate cake (a la Walmart).  I had originally gotten all the ingredients to make it myself, but was stressing myself out yesterday wondering how I was going to get everything done, so I picked one up when I was birthday shopping.  Maybe next year...

 blowing out the candles

 The cake was mmmm....mmmmm.....good!

 Forgot to mention that Sarah was gone as well.  It was opening night for The Sound of Music, and so she was at school.  It was so weird not being there for her tonight and she hated missing the festivities, but such is the life of an actress.  This is her head shot/bio that was posted in the lobby.

Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!

I love you!