that one time we matched
We were both getting dressed to go on our date (and my brother’s senior recital later) when noticed we were pretty much wearing the same thing. Ben told me to change and I told him to change, but we both didn’t want to change, so I said, “Whatever.” And then so we matched. I thought it was kinda funny.
Date nights are rare, but thankfully we have a great babysitter and she came to watch the girls, so Friday afternoon (before my brother’s recital) was the perfect time to sneak in a date. We went to Native Foods Cafe, which I had been dying to take Ben to because I had a feeling he would love it. Well, turns out I was right! All the combinations sounded completely interesting to him and he ended up ordering the Moroccan Bowl and I got the Scorpion Burger. He was quite impressed with how loaded his dish was with veggies. I was totally impressed with the buffalo wings, which were the best tasting wings I ever had, even if it wasn’t even really made out of chicken. I’m getting hungry just thinking about how yummy it all was. We both agreed to plan another date night there again soon.
It’s nice to get a meal in without interruption. I think we mostly talked about the food. Ha! Oh and summer. We have vacation plans underway and we are very, very excited. And I’m pretty sure I was giving Ben googly eyes all afternoon. I love that man. I really do.
When was the last time you went on a date night? We go about once every other month. We’d love to go weekly, but it isn’t realistic for us.
learning to be eco-warriors
When I was a kid, I remember ordering the book 50 Ways to Save the Planet from the monthly book orders at school. I remember being so convicted by it as I read it from beginning to end. I remember one tip that stood out to me at the time was to cut up all the plastic thingies that canned drinks came in so that sea animals wouldn’t get trapped in it. After I read that, I remember constantly making sure my parents cut those things up.
Okay, so only 1 out of 50 things stuck with me, but it was a step. Ben and I try to be as eco-consciuos as we can, though we’re hardly models for being eco-warriors, but we try our best to take care of certain things to help the environment. For sure though, we can definitely do better. I wanted to get the girls to at least start thinking about it, I started checking to see if the book I read as a kid was still around. I distinctly remember the cover being blue and having a picture of the Earth on it. I didn’t find that exact thing, but did find this one on Amazon and thought that might be a good start and should be similar.
True, Brave, and I have been reading through it and I’m almost sure it is an updated version of the book I read as a child. In fact, the tip on cutting up the can plastic thingie was there too! As we’ve been going through it, I’ve been feeling all sorts of guilty for things we don’t think about doing to help save the environment. I can’t say we’re ready to go radical and apply everything just yet, but we will start small with what’s feasible and best for our family. I want my girls to learn that small changes can make a difference. We planted about 25 trees in our yard already, so that’s a start right?!
our dinner
Our dinner was mostly courtesy of our veggie garden and the weather has been so great lately, unlike the 100 degree weather we had over the weekend, that we wanted to make sure and take advantage of eating dinner outdoors. We rarely do it, but we’re trying to do it more. True and Brave are slowly taking up more responsibility during meal times. They set up the dinner table (with folded napkins too!), and it’s so cute to see them taking initiative to do so.
This week has felt calmer and I feel like I’ve had a little more clarity when it comes to dealing with the kids. I think it’s because I’ve been praying more about it and trying to trust God with it. I’m thankful for all that I get to do with these girls. Lately, I’ve been focusing on how hard mothering is that I have been failing to see how great it is. It’s a privilege that I get to spend time with my children. It’s a privilege to be able to feed their bellies and their minds with good things. It’s a privilege to laugh and just be a silly goose with these girls. The hard moments will come and go, but even with the hard parts, this whole mama deal is kinda great. I know I’m a crazy mama, but I’m their crazy mama and they’re my crazy kids.
A dinner post turned into a mothering post, and I guess I’m just strange like that. Thanks for always coming in to check my ramblings!
and the crazy woman came out again
Yesterday was one of those days. The crazy woman in me came out again. The day went mostly well, we were done with homeschooling by lunch time, then the girls spent the afternoon playing and I was cleaning. We were all excited because we were going to hang out with church family that night and have a bonfire (with s’mores of course!). Well then by 4:30 our plans (well, the ones I had in my mind) started unravelling. I had planned to leave at 4:45 pm, so I told them to get dress at 4:30 (yeah, we were still in our pajamas at that point), well, 15 minutes later they still weren’t dressed, and another 15 minutes passed and they still weren’t done (and just playing), so now I’m kinda frustrated at this point and was yelling like a mad woman that we weren’t going anymore. Ugh! I was so frustrated with myself! Brave was crying because she really wanted to see her friends and I was feeling bad because maybe I was too drastic about it. But I had already told them we weren’t going and as much as I wanted to just take them because they were so excited, I knew I had to stick with what I said.
Eventually, the girls calmed down and we went about our evening like normal (we didn’t go), but man I was feeling crummy for reacting so badly. Ben was working late so it had been an especially long day for me, but even still, it was no excuse and I was so mad at myself for being such a crazy mama. It definitely put me in no mood to blog because what was I was going to do? Come to this place and be all sunshines and rainbows. Yeah right! I was definitely not feeling any sunshines and rainbows. At the end of the day, I just wanted to crawl under a shell and hide forever. I was exhausted.
Thankfully, a new day came this morning and I had a talk with my girls about how I behaved badly and I was able to ask for their forgiveness. We all talked about good and bad choices, Christ and forgiveness, then we prayed together. I’m thankful for their forgiving spirits and their continuous showering of affection towards their sometimes crazy mama. And if you feel like a crazy mama from time to time, I’m here to tell you, you’re not alone! As difficult as these crazy and overwhelming moments are, it’s all part of the parenting package and as my mom tried to remind me today, “Soak this time in, it goes fast.” So through all the frustrating and happy chaos, I’ll keep trying to do just that.
soulie’s many faces
I took a picture of Soulie as she was playing outside, and after she said, “I wanna see!” Then, she wanted me to take another, which was followed with another, “I wanna see!” And then it kept going and going, and going…
I’ve been noticing lately that her usually, “No!” along with a grunt, have slowly been turning into, “Okay, mommy.” And she’s been going to bed without a diaper now (she’s been doing undies during the day for awhile). Three girls out of diapers and one more to go…
Thank you for your little tips on the f-bombing post. Reading your suggestions and encouragements are really helpful. We do give the kids jobs and they get paid to do them, but we aren’t always consistent about it, so maybe consistency will motivate them to clean their rooms more often. Also, though they do clean it (on occasion), it just isn’t clean clean, if you know what I mean. It’s kid clean, but not mommy clean! Still working on relaxing the control freak in me. Our rule here is, “Everything has a place, and if it isn’t in its place that probably means you don’t care about it and it will go in the trash.” I’m pretty ruthless about throwing stuff away. They cry about it, I feel bad a little bit, but it helps eliminate the junk, though we still have tons. What other tips do you have in your house to help manage the mess? I love hearing about what you do to keep sane.
