Say It Enough, You'll Start to Believe It
|
*Seriously – You’ve got to check out their blog today. When docked at the marina last night, my mom and aunt got to swim with a couple of manatees! So cool…
My parents are on an adventure this week, taking their boat from Orlando, down the Atlantic coast of Florida and around the Keys, then back up the Gulf of Mexico to Clearwater. They’ve had a fun-filled first three days and you can keep up with their progress here. Check it out and leave them some words of encouragement!
Saturday night Lee and I hit the town for a rare and necessary date night. We hired a babysitter like big kids, got all dolled up (little black dress, rockin’ red high heels and a smokey eye completed my ensemble – I felt like a rock star!) and headed to the Central West End, where we reminded ourselves once again just how far removed we are from college.
After a quick dinner, we headed to the basement dance club, Club Viva! where we took an hour long Salsa lesson before they opened up the floor. It was nothing short of a blast.
I should preface this by telling you that I love to go dancing. It was one of my very favorite things to do in college and I would go dancing every weekend if we could. Lee, however, over the years has decided that he’s not crazy about going to dance clubs anymore. I’ve had to practically beg him to take me, and somehow, since we’ve been married, we’ve only made it out dancing twice.
And both experiences were, uh, not great. The first, when I was roughly 18 months pregnant with Sloan and I thought a little dancing might be good to get things kick-started, left Lee worried I’d have a baby on the dance floor, so he refused to dance with me and I spent an hour dancing with an adorable mentally challenged boy who kept trying to kiss me – I swear, I couldn’t make this stuff up.
The second time was spring break in Florida right after I found out I was pregnant with Tia. When the girls started licking shots off of one another’s bodies on stage, Lee and I quickly realized we were out of our league and left.
Thus, when he said he wanted to take me dancing – I was thrilled…and a little nervous.
So, we found ourselves in a line with a few other brave souls where a little Columbian man show us how to shimmy and shake our hips. And, I gotta say, Lee and I weren’t half bad. I mean, I’m no Shakira, but I got my hips swinging back and forth without completely falling all over myself – and considering I was in 3 inch heels, I’d say I deserve a medal.
At one point I did look over and see Lee doing the Electric Slide, which caused me to keel over in a peal of laughter, but otherwise, we were rockin’ the joint.
1, 2, 3 (pause) 5, 6, 7 (pause) These are the counts for the salsa. Apparently the numbers 4 and 8 are taboo – you just skip them. Now, stand up and step forward 1 on your left foot, then step back 2, on your right foot, then step back 3 on your left? Got it? Did you swing your hips? You’re set then!
After the lesson, the dance floor was opened up and the real dancers came out. Those girls knew how to swing their hips! Lee and I got out on the floor and with our limited knowledge let loose with the meanest beginner salsa you’ve ever seen. It was awe-inspiring.
Upon taking a break and letting my screaming feet rest, a young, adorable latin dancer named Vinnie asked me to dance. Lee laughed and pushed me toward the danced floor while I stammered, “Uh…I’m not…ya know…very good.”
“S’Ok,” Vinne shrugged, then started girating his hips back and forth and spinning me around. I felt like Baby in Dirty Dancing (“I carried a watermelon”). My arms flailed about, my feet tapped danced more than salsa’ed and, at one point, I threw in a rather impressive arabesque. But, through it all, my hips shook like a professional.
I think Vinnie liked it as he asked me to dance two more times. Either that or he felt sorry for me and was hoping to give me some pointers to keep me from making a total fool of myself. Actually, it’s been a long time since I danced with a strange college boy and I kept trying to tuck my hand into Lee’s arm to show that I was taken, but my darling husband refused to let me turn down an offer to dance.
Punk.
He stood on the sidelines and laughed as I danced with not only Vinnie, but the tiniest little Columbian man I’ve ever seen. He was adorable, sweet and about 65 years old. At one point, he grabbed my hips and moved them back and forth to the rhythm.
Aaaaaaawkwaaaard.
But so much fun. Lee and I partied like rock stars until we looked at his watch and realized it was going to cost a a small fortune to pay the babysitter for our night out.
And so, like the thirty-somethings that we are, we hobbled out of Club Viva! But, we both vowed that we would return, because it really was one of the most enjoyable evenings we’ve had in a long time.
And my hips don’t lie…
I don’t have much to say today. Well, okay that’s not true…I have TONS to say, but I’m not really sure that any of you would really be interested in hearing me talk about my dirty kitchen, the organic macaroni and cheese I fed my kids today that tasted like smelly gym socks or my indignant objection to this recently announced new policy.
Nope – I really don’t have a lot to say today. So instead, I’ll let you read a few of the posts that have made me laugh out loud in recent days. I gotta tell ya – there are some funny, talented people out there. One of them is BooMama. Just read this post and you’ll see what I mean.
Then there’s Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer. This post about her daughter’s imaginery friend cracked me up, especially given the fact that I’ve had to scold Sloan’s transient imaginary pal, Cody, on occasion for his blatent disregard for the rules of our home.
This is an older post by Dana, but every time I think about it, I giggle again.
Those are but a few of the things that have made me laugh in recent days. And what am I laughing about right now, you ask? Wait, what? You actually didn’t ask anything? Oh…well, do you want to know what’s making me laugh anyway? Oh good!
Sloan has a little buddy over this afternoon. “C” got off the bus with him and they’ve been having a good old time acting like macho little men, high fiving, calling each other dude and playing war. Right now, they’re on the swingset and since it’s a gorgeous day, I’ve got the windows open and I can hear them playing. A few snippets:
“Dude! You are, like, so awesome at swinging.”
“I know, dude.”
“Dude, let’s play pirate – I’ll be the bad guy.”
“Okay! I’m the scallywag.”
“What’s a scallywag?”
“I dunno. It’s like a dirty, piratey kind of dude.”
“Huh. Dude!”
So I’m off to put in the oh-so-macho Star Wars whilst the scallywags nosh on brownies and I attempt to figure out why on earth my house smells like cigarette smoke – I’m attributing it to the open windows, but you know – it’s still a little perplexing.
Happy Weekend!
I’m tired. Not, gee-I-wish-I-could-catch-a-break-tired, since I, ahem, just had a break; but, I’m tired in a why-on-earth-do-I-not-get-my-duff-in-bed-earlier sort of way. In short, I’m fatigued.
In addition to going to bed way too late, about 4 nights per week, my sleep is interrupted by someone not feeling well, needing to go the bathroom, having a bad dream or any other sort of ailment you can imagine. And while I know this will happen, I still don’t manage to get myself to bed before 11:00 most nights.
Why do I do this to myself?
Part of the reason is that I’m just so happy to have alone, quiet time at nights that I relish in the quiet aloneness for much too long. Going to bed almost feels like defeat, like I’m surrendering. So instead, I power through, proving to whom, I’m not exactly sure, that I still have the independence to do what I want for how long I want.
Brilliant, I know.
On top of that, I’ve got a lot of work to do and I just can’t seem to get it done during the day – thus leaving the evenings. And I hate working in the evenings so it takes me twice as long to get anything done. My brain after 8:00 is like the egg in a frying pan – only I don’t need drugs to get there, just a prolonged period of short, interrupted sleep.
Then there’s the fact that I cannot sleep unless I’ve read for a little while. But again, I don’t get myself in bed until 10:00 or 10:30, which means the reading time pushes the sleep time back a little further (or a lot depending on the book).
So that leaves me in a jumbled mess of blah with circles under my eyes. Boo! Am I the only one who does this? Am I the only one who pushes herself to the limit simply because it’s the only time I really, truly have to myself in a day?
Tell me I’m not alone…
Ribbons and curls
Laces and twirls
These are the dreams
Of sweet little girls.
For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.
The proverbial “they” say that on average women speak roughly 20,000-25,000 words per day while men speak anywhere from 8,000-12,000 per day.
Thus the importance for women to have good girl friends. Our husbands – they’re great. But, you know, we ladies need to have time to talk incessantly without the recipient of our conversation glazing over and slipping into a coma.
Thus the reason I love “rendezvous” weekends with my college girlfriends. I am blessed beyond measure to have friendships with ladies who are likeminded, funny, fashionable (they helped me out with my wardrobe this weekend) and who, no matter how long or how far apart we’ve been, can always fall right back into the same fun, loving friendship that dominated our years at Baylor.
I am positive that we fulfilled our daily talking quotient this weekend and we likely banked a few hundred thousand words. We talked from morning to the wee hours of the night, fully enjoying one another’s company. It felt as if time hadn’t passed by at all.
Never mind that between the five of us, we have 14 children. FOURTEEN. That actually gives us more to talk about! Yeah! I’ve known these women since I was 18. We shared so many dreams and hopes back in our college days and it’s so fun to see many of those dreams and hopes being realized and lived out daily. These relationships are unique and special and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
Jillian, we missed you so much. There was a piece of our group noticably missing. Hopefully it will work out next year...
Upon returning home from my lovely weekend of movies, pedicures, massages, shopping and talking, I had a minor panic attack at all that needed to be accomplished in my sweet little home. First off, apparently the house threw up while I was gone. So, you know, I’ve got to deal with that.
Secondly, Tia started preschool yesterday and since I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t leave everything until the last minute, I was up half the night Sunday night searching for all the forms and information that I needed to give the school so she could officially start.
But doesn’t she look precious?
I’m finally able to sit down and do a bit of writing today and that’s a good thing because I am behind on several projects.
So today I will be hunkering down, trying to piece the house back together and tap, tap, tapping away on my trusty computer in the hopes of making a dent in the long To-Do list sitting on my desk.
Put up a post on my blog? Check!
Yesterday, I looked out the window and caught Tia like this:
So today, I took her here:
To do stuff like this:
I spent many years coaching gymnastics at the competitive level in a gym that has produced two Olympians. I don’t have high aspirations for my child to become an Olympic gymnast, primarily because I’m pretty she’ll outgrow most Olympians by the time she’s in 4th grade.
But for now? Gymnastics is a great outlet for her unending energy and her constant desire to climb up, flip over and jump off of anything she sees. I’d sign her up everyday if I could afford it. She had a blast.
I’m off for a few days dear internets. I’m headed to Texas for a little R & R with some dear friends. Enjoy your weekends. Hug your babies tomorrow and if you see someone in the armed forces, let them know that you appreciate them for their service to our country.
We have not forgotten!
I don’t usually post twice in one day, and I certainly don’t have time to be doing this right now, but I can’t resist. Sloan accepted Jesus as his Savior today. And my heart is filled with all measure of joy.
When Sloan got off the school bus this morning, I could immediately tell we were in for a rough afternoon. He was just grouchy. And it took no time at all for him to end up in his room where he proceeded to throw a lovely little tantrum.
By the time lunch was over and the little kids were in bed, I was fried. I was completely done and fed up and I still had to discipline my very angry boy. After Sloan and I both calmed down, we sat to talk about his behavior. Sloan told me he was sorry and that he wished he would act better and he didn’t know why he did that.
“I know I shouldn’t yell and scream. Why do I do that?”
So we talked a little about sin and how our sin separates us from God. Then I explained to him that God gave us all forgiveness through his death on the cross, and when we acknowledge Jesus as our Savior and believe that He rose again and accepts us as we are, we can have eternal life.
We also talked about how we can pray and ask God to help us behave in a way that honors Him and in the way that we know is right.
After all this, Sloan asked me how he could ask Jesus into his heart, and he and I prayed together. And, I mean to tell you, the heavens themselves cracked open and splayed forth a song of praise within my heart.
I’ve prayed for a long time that my children would know God and that they would desire to grow in faith. I’ve also prayed that either Lee or I would be the ones to lead them to salvation. I wanted to be the one to rejoice with my child in that moment. I’m so grateful for this experience today.
Now, I realize that he’s only six and that there will be plenty more tantrums and discipline issues to come. I don’t expect him to fully understand this decision. But, I do believe that this is the start of his walk in his Christian faith. This is the moment when he grasped it with the faith of a child. As he matures, he will have to learn to make the faith that Lee and I impart to him his own.
But for now, I rejoice in the knowledge that my deepest longing for my child has come to fruition. It’s a beautiful moment.
A couple of weeks ago, I told you about our desire to better teach our children how to handle money. Last night we had the opportunity to reward Sloan for his patience and great attitude in working and saving his money.
For two weeks now, Sloan has done little chores around the house to earn extra dollars. He’s cleaned baseboards, taken out the trash, watered the flowers, cleaned the bathroom and a whole host of other household tasks.
Each time he got paid, he raced to his wallet and carefully counted out his earnings. The coveted toy cost $25.00, so he had to do quite a bit of work.
During this time, Sloan had a great attitude. He didn’t complain, he didn’t whine and beg for more money faster. He was brilliant. So Lee and I decided to help him out in his goal.
When he reached $20.00, we told him to take out three dollars and set it aside for savings. Then we had him give us two dollars to give to the church. We then gave him the last ten dollars he needed and we packed up last night and headed to the store where he got his beloved Star Wars doodad.
(He says it’s called a Nancho Fighter. I’m pretty sure that’s not right, but whatever it is, he’s very proud.)
Not to be left out, Tia has been saving money herself. Because she tends to, ahem, lose focus in just about any task she’s given, she didn’t earn quite the same amount as Sloan. But she did have ten dollars to spend, so after taking out a dollar for the church and two dollars for savings, we gave her enough to buy a princess jewelry set, of which she is equally proud.
This was a very fun way to help the kids learn money management. It also gave us a chance to teach them of God’s blessings on those who are good stewards of their finances. It was a good lesson for both kids and for Lee and I as well.
It was also good for my house as I now have clean baseboards for the first time in, well, a really long time. So, you know…Mama got a bonus too.
I just ran downstairs after hearing my daughter screech, “MOOOOOOOMMMMMYYYYYY!” only to find her dangling from the top of the door jam in the basement.
How did she get up there? I couldn’t tell you. But however she managed to get up, she couldn’t figure out how to come back down. And there she dangled, like a wild little monkey, screaming for help.
So I’m taking her in today to sign her up for gymnastics. I’ve thought about it for awhile, but this solidified for me the need to channel her energy, bravery and athleticism in a more productive way.
Or I will most definately die young of heart failure…
___________________________________________________________
Sloan went to bed with a rash all over his legs last night. It was little red dots all up his legs. I assume he is having a reaction to something, though I can’t imagine what it would be.
This morning when he was getting dressed, I noticed the rash was still there. “I wonder what that’s from?” I said.
“It’s because I’m allergic to racoons,” Sloan replied.
“Really? How do you know?” I asked.
Sloan shrugged. “These are just things I know, mom. I’m just that smart.”
So, you know – he’s having an allergic reaction to racoons. Why didn’t I think of that?
__________________________________________________________
While driving down to Arkansas, Lee turned into man-driver extraordinaire. Normally Lee is a fairly calm man-driver. Like any self respecting male, he does like to get to his destination without the hassle of those pesky pit stops, but he handles the occasional need for a bathroom break with great aplomb, patiently pulling over and waiting.
Unless, of course, we decide at the last minute to leave at 5:30 pm for a five and a half hour drive. It is then, and only then, that Lee turns into man-driver extraordinaire. The stops are few and far between. He does not deny anyone a bathroom break, of course, but he actually clapped his hands this trip.
As in, “Okay Tia, you gotta go fast baby. Go, go, go!” clap, clap, clap.
It was a race against the clock and you know what? Lee beat the clock. He won. We made excellent time. All because we powered through and did not stop unless the need was dire.
What a man!
________________________________________________________
At one of the (very short) stops we made there were a group of Army soldiers, all decked out in their fatigues. This fascinated Sloan and he immeditaely proclaimed, in that fantastically boisterous voice of his, “Mom, look! Army guys! Hey Army guys!”
One of the men turned and waved back at Sloan who then gave him two thumbs up and said, “Don’t worry – I’m being good.”
___________________________________________________________
Finally, as I type this post, Tia and Landon are in the other room tormenting each other. I hear them. I know it’s happening. But I’m ignoring it. The screams aren’t blood curdling…yet.
_________________________________________________________
On the way home from our trip yesterday, Lee and I were discussing our dreams for our family. Places we want to go, things we want to do with the kids, etc…And we realized that it’s going to go by fast. This phase really doesn’t last long.
So although I may feel like I am the ringmaster in the three ring circus, I’m trying not to rush this motherhood thing. Ten years will go by fast. And when it does, I will no longer have a chubby little baby, slobbering on my hair as he hangs on my neck while I try and do some work.
The house will be quiet all day long. It sounds glorious…but it also sounds a little boring.
And now I’m off because the volume has escalated. It sounds like they are beating each other.
Let the show begin!!!
|
Recent Comments