april mops craft

this month was our annual mother's tea and this year we were honoring the women who influence us as mothers by having them as our guests.  it is typically our largest meeting of the year and we had a great turn out last night - around 40.  

the craft for the meeting was a painted interior conversation jar filled with questions, statements and Bible verses for family conversation.  i did a little googling to come up with what went in the jars and then added a few of my own.  to make the topic slips a little sturdier, we glued them to strips of card stock.  now here was my first underestimation, cutting the card stock.  i cut all of the paper into 1x3 inch rectangles, but i didn't really do the math on how many i actually needed until two days ago - oops.  photographed are 2000 strips of paper that i cut!  i did have a rotary tool and did a few pages at a time but a lot of it was easier to hand cut.

the next obstacle was getting everything to the meeting.  i had 50 glass jars, at least 30 bottles of paint, paint brushes, scissors, etc for the craft, a huge gift bag to collect washcloths for the pregnancy crisis center (our april service project - also organized by me), several other bags with miscellaneous items i needed for the meeting and all four kids - in the rain!  but we made it.  i gave the kids little jobs to help unpack everything and get it set up.

oh and then just to make preparations a little more interesting for me, i volunteered to do the devotional too!  here is what i shared:

women were created by God to 'help' (gen 2:18).  it is so a part of our God given nature that it isn't always celebrated or even noticed!  i know that i have missed helpers in my own life until many years later - by letting me do things on my own, they were helping me.  

tonight we are celebrating the women who have come along beside us to help - whether in our role as "mom" or to help us not forget that we are more than just a mom.  whether directly or indirectly the women in our lives help shape our children and who they will become.  2 timothy 1:5 - "i have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother lois and in your mother eunice and i am persuaded, now lives in you also."

there is no 'wading' into motherhood - you are all in, 24-7 from the start!  God did have mercy on us by babies only requiring basic need fulfillment - feeding, sleeping and cleaning.  baby steps.

i am so thankful that i don't have to do it alone.  i find it comforting to think that women came before me and dealt with some of the same issues - i am not the first and i won't be the last.  

you have all left a legacy by being an influence, a helper, to the moms here tonight.

ecclesiastics 4:9-10 - two are better than one, because they have a good return on their work: if one falls down, his friend can help him up!

short and sweet.  i was a little frazzled from all the preparations so i pretty much read it word for word more than i would have but i think it worked.

i didn't realize i was doing so much for the meeting (i also wrote up a few short things for the newsletter (end of year teacher gift ideas and the next service project), but it all got done. not that the boys helped. the two bigs were having quite a day and there was a lot - a lot - of crying.  and there was a lot of poop where it wasn't supposed to be from the two little boys.

i don't document this for praise.  what i do is not normal.  i do it because i never do anything the easy way and it is often comical.  plus, someday when my kids don't understand why my brain has given up (like we did to my mom), i can point back and show them.  love.

tuesday tip - shower at the gym

so apparently, calling it "tuesday tip" is not helping me remember to post on tuesdays...

today's tip is actually one i got from a friend - shower at the gym.  my post workout showers have become the highlight of my week in many ways.  the water aerobic workouts have been fantastic as well and i am always glad that i went even though i really don't have the time.  but the shower, oh the shower.  it is the only shower where i am guaranteed not to have an interruption, the water is hot, the pressure is great and i am pretty relaxed from my time in the pool.

my friend said that her friends who shower at the gym get to shave their legs, wash their hair and be all set for their day when they go to pick their kids up from preschool.  genius.

i can tell you that it has made a big difference for me.  so if you are going to the gym and skipping the shower in favor of using your shower at home, give it another thought.  love.

"amen"

when we picked up manning from the nursery after church this morning they said that he clearly said, "amen" after their prayer.  i believed them too.  he often says words clearly but this was a new one.  and one we are quite happy that he has picked up!  love.

madelyn and daddy's first game

so i talked matt in to coaching madelyn's soccer team this spring.  first (and the winning point), we don't have to pay if one of us is the head coach.  second, the only difference is that he stands on the field during games instead of in a chair on the side.  the kindergarten league is pretty low pressure.

today was their first practice.  matt wasn't quite as prepared as he should have been.  i think he understood that there would be more group instruction than there was and he didn't really have a game plan for keeping the kids going.  there was a lot of coaching from the sidelines.  i was proud of myself for holding my tongue from coaching the coach!

the kids all had a good time and he did make sure they all knew each other's name (which we have found to be important after the first few seasons where they didn't).  madelyn was in super hyper/excited mode because in addition to "daddy" being her coach, one of her friends from school is on her team too!

looks like we could be in for an exciting season!  love.

daddy warming up with our three bigs.

manning update

this is one happy kid - at least now that his ear seems to be under control (the claritin did the trick and we go next week for a follow-up to confirm with the doctor).  and he is on the go!  he still isn't all that interested in pulling to stand, but he is crawling everywhere!  the kids marvel at how fast he is and how he just checks everything out.  he pulls up to his knees a lot and that give him enough height to reach what he wants on chairs and the couch and that has been good enough for him.

he is very loud and very chatty.  even when he eats he makes an almost constant "mmmmm" sound.  there is rarely a moment of quiet when he is awake.  i don't even notice the noise any more except for the dramatic contrast of how quiet it is when he takes a short break.  in fact, i find myself often telling the kids that they have to "be louder than manning" when we are in the car and they are talking to me.  i just cant hear them over his chatting.

he is very into faces right now and madelyn loves how he sticks his pointer finger in the missing teeth hole in her mouth when she smiles at him.

his main interest in books is eating them.  it is very difficult to read a book to him for that reason and just that he won't sit still.  he really, really likes that he can get around on his own.

this week he has eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.  i love when they can finally handle eating one.  it makes it a lot easier for me to eat some lunch too.  he has almost no patience when he is eating and 'yells' about it if you try and take a bite of your own meal while his mouth is empty between spoonfuls.  he isn't very interested in spoonfeeding right now and i am having to take more time coming up with semi-neat finger foods for him because while he refuses the spoon, he is still very hungry.  although there is almost nothing he can eat neatly with his hands - he has a skill.  funny enough he doesn't even need a bib when eating from a spoon because he is so neat.  go figure.  he also has a talent for getting any dropped food under his bottom in the high chair.  you pick him up and there is stuff all over his bottom!  i am not really sure how he does it - and i have tried to watch.

i didn't really notice until these pictures but he has a gap between his front teeth like mason did.

manning is really growing too!  he is wearing 12 and 18 month clothes now and is starting to thin out.  he is built more 'solid' like mason than wiry like maddux.

just loving this little boy.  love.

fashion sense

all three bigs dress themselves head to toe each day - which i love.  the boys seem to have picked up on madelyn's general sense of style too.  they were both wearing some noteworthy spring looks today and i had to take some pictures.

i love how they are obviously trying to pick the same colors for the top and bottom.  i am not sure how much they help each other (they close the closet door when selecting and sometimes all three of them are in there) but i sure do love the results!  love.

tuesday tip - link it up

i have seen this before and thought, 'wow, that's neat,' but i have never done anything with it.  until last month.  manning cannot keep a toy in his seat and then goes after his socks and/or shoes.  it has been a long winter of bare feet because they are warmer without the soaked socks.  enter the 'links'...

i took a chain of 'links' and wrapped it around the handle near the top of the door and then clipped on a toy.  even when he drops the toy it never gets too far from the seat and he can either reach it or the chain - perfect!  the other three are even jealous.  they have been asking for chains of their own to clip toys too but i had to explain that it wouldn't work for most of their books.

i simple solution that has kept many socks dry.  love.