Back in the Groove of the Blog

Wow I guess I've been away for a little while since my last post was in May and it is now November! Time does fly! I will try to recap a few events.  Mason played lil pro football this fall for the YMCA.  He was adorable.  He is very good at football, he was the fastest runner but much like Forest Gump - he did not know when to stop running.  He also didn't understand that he was only to take one of the flags off the opponent, not both of them as fast as he could.  It was hilarious! Abby is in Tumbling at In Motion and loves it.  She's getting very good at her cartwheels and round offs! Some funny and not so funny things Mason has said:

When I asked an employee at Menards where the bathroom was and she showed us, he said "thanks sweet cheeks."

We were at the park and he told a guy that he was "sort of fat."  The guy said "well I am sort of fat." I of course apologized profusely.

He is going through a phase right now where when pray he has to say after every prayer, "I didn't close my eyes."  Or "I was eating not praying."  I'm really hoping it is just a rebellious phase that will pass.  I either ignore it or address the disrespect.

His favorite song is "I love Rock and Roll" He sings it as "I love rock and roll so dah dah dah dah dah in the juuuooxx baby!" (Its quite funny!)

He loves remote controlled things and he calls them "Mote trolled."

He told me I need proactive so he won't be able to see the dots on my face.

He likes to pretend he is Linus from Charlie Brown and sucks his thumb and grabs a blankie. 

I'm sure more crazy things will be said along the way!! It is never a dull moment at our house!

Love, Feelings and Emotions!

I want to talk about Love today.  Real, grown up love is very hard to do.  Yes I said do.  Because in real grown up love, you have to love when you don't want to, when you feel it is not deserved, when you are getting nothing in return we are still called to love the unloveable.  I also want to talk about feelings...feelings cannot always be trusted.  We are taught to trust our feelings and heart, which can be good advice in some cases but our emotions can get the best of us sometimes and they change daily, hourly, secondly (is that a word?) sometimes.  We cannot get swept up in these emotions, we have to get swept up in God's truth because we know that we might feel differently tomorrow and we know that he sees the whole picture whereas we can only see what's right in front of us at that moment.  Whether you are dealing with a child being difficult, a spouse being difficult, a difficult friendship or work relationships it is best to "be wise" as it says in proverbs and hold our tongues at times.  Its especially important to remember this with the social media world the way it is now....don't put your fleeting emotions on facebook because most of the time you'll feel differently later and regret it, but its too late the damage has been done.  Its the same with these media and twitter wars with celebrities and their different opinions and digs at each other through the media. I just think, grow up and talk to each other face to face or don't talk about it at all.  ***My thoughts for today**** :)

Funnies

Time to catch up on some blogging.  I will start with some funny random kid things and then get on to more serious matters that I love to write about.  Mothers day I went to a "mothers day tea" at Mason's preschool and Mason told me "it is not akshee tea, it is punch from Hawaii." :)  It was so sweet.  Abby wrote me a poem that said "Roses are red violets are blue, the sun is hot and so are you." LOL!  Then, she wanted to write her grandma a poem that said "I don't like you I love you."  We stopped her on that one though.  Innocent hearts are sooo funny sometimes.  Abby is finishing up her soccer season playing for the Raiders, she's doing great! Mason will be beginning his first little pro t-ball team in June.  We are excited to watch that as he is really good at baseball! Ben has been working for Van Maanen for about a month now and seems to really be liking it.  It is better in many ways for our family.  We are so excited for summer and all the fun activiites it brings! :)

Nose No No and our creative princess!

So at bedtime last night the kids wanted a snack before bed so I had made them each a half of a peanut butter sandwhich and a glass of milk.  A little later Ben and I are laying in bed enjoying the fact that kids are in bed and its quiet when all of a sudden Mason comes into our bedroom and with his head down and scared he's going to get in trouble he says "I stuffed a piece of bread up my nose."  We were trying not to laugh, as this is definitely not the first thing that he's stuffed up his nose so we're kind of pros at this.  I looked up there and said I can't see anything Macy.  He said "I stuffed it up there real far, its way up there."  I plugged the other nostril and told him to blow and out it flew (thank God, no trip to the E.R. this time)!

On a different note, I received an email from Abby's teacher yesterday that went a little something like this:

Hi Jeri,
>
> I wanted to share with you how impressed I am with Abby! During our
> Daily 5 time this morning, she wrote an entire story "There Was an Old
> Lady..." It is super cute and very creative, with awesome spelling and
> grammar. Abby continues to work hard and grow so much each day. She is
> an absolute delight to have in class!
>
> Have a wonderful day! J

We are so very proud of her, she really is so creative and has a drive to do well! So after I picked her up from soccer practice last night I took her out for ice cream to celebrate her doing well in school.  She loved it!

Pictures

I am hoping to get better at posting pictures with my blog posts and I had recently gotten this fancy schmancy new smart phone that was going to help me do that.  However, life happened and my phone took a swim along with my canon digital camera....so I might not be on top of the picture portion of this blog for a little while yet! The short version of the story is we were at a birthday party at a hotel and Mason was swimming in the pool with a few other preschoolers and he had his life jacket on and he was in the shallow end but he still could not touch.  I was standing by the side of the pool in my clothes taking pictures.  All of a sudden his life jacket failed him and he started going under he was panicking and without thinking I jumped in and pulled him up (he is totally fine, thank God!) But when I came up out of the water, pants soaking wet, I realized I had my digital camera in one pocket and the phone in the other.  Both were toast! But I have my Mason...so all is good! :) 

Where do you turn in stressful times?

When life just does not make sense and you really don't know the correct next step....open your bible and let God direct you through his word.  Pray over the word and your struggles. It is the place where life makes sense, we have an instruction manual for this crazy life, fears and anxieties are calmed, worry and despair can be turned into peace and joy, apprehensions turn to clarity, anger turns into forgiveness, self loathing turns to self love, the prideful turn humble,  we learn how to love unconditionally and how to accept God's unfailing and unconditional love for us!  Its a book that tells us of us past history that occured, how to live in the present and a peek into our future! There is no other book like it! So embrace it, we are beyond blessed to have it!

Land of the Lost!

Things I have lost just in the last week or so:

My workout shoes - eventually found in a gym bag in the trunk of my car
A fundraiser packet for Mason's preschool
My book for Sunday school class - found in a drawer, forgot that I had "organized" my books
My instruction manual for my new "smart" phone, if it were really smart it would have an app that helps me find things that I lose.
My debit card, found inside my huge purse
My keys - but that doesn't count because that's an everyday thing, Ben would worry about me if I started knowing where my keys were when I go to leave the house. 
My hairbrush

That's just a few of the material things, I've also lost my patience, my energy, my motivation - don't worry I haven't lost any weight though! There are a few select things that ALWAYS somehow seem to get lost and some of the stuff I constantly end up buying new: hairties, tweezers, fingernail clippers, pens, pencils.... One day I will be organized....one day!

My Favorite Things

I saw this on another blog that I follow and thought it was a great idea to have this list to look at when I'm in a bad mood or just need reminded about the good things in life! In no particluar order, these are some of my favorite things:

Lists

Gods grace and love for me

God’s miracles

Chocolate

Warm chocolate chip cookies with cold skim milk

Getting a brand new book in the mail

Journaling

Quiet time reading the bible

A clean house

Sunshine on my skin

Shopping by myself

Shopping with a girlfriend or family

Date night with my husband

Getting all made up/dressed up for date night

My husbands hugs

Mason asking how my day was

My job

Blogs

Devotional books

Planning a vacation

Easter

Reading

Pampering myself – massage, nails, hair done

Laughing

Making a difference in someones life

Real people

Comfy clothes

Extreme weather unless I’m driving in it

Hanging out at Mom’s house with the whole family

Pink

Teal

Bookstores

Holding hands while praying with people

Getting hugs, I’m not good at giving them but love receiving them

Chocolate frosted brownie

Having tan skin, blonde hair and a pink shirt on

A drive to nowhere on a sunny day

Compassionate people

Baking

Exercising

Free time

Organizing

cherry coke

The smell of clean laundry

Cocoa wheats made by Mom

Friday night movie nights at home cuddling

My wedding ring

a glass of wine with fancy cheeses and grapes

A song that describes my life exactly

Peace of mind – I’m always chasing this!

Making people laugh

Make your own list - its good to get to know yourself! :)

Mommy Madness! Follow me Not!

Do you ever feel like you are being followed every where you go in your own house?  No? Lucky! Of course I adore my kids...but I cannot take a step without them following every move I make.  If I'm going to the kitchen thats where they go, if I go to the bathroom, they try to go with me, if I sit in my made for one person recliner, it suddenly becomes a three person recliner, and sometimes a three person and a 90 lb dog recliner.  As you can imagine....its not in very good shape...furniture shopping yes please! They don't really do this to Ben so I don't understand why they do it to me.  And if I try to lock myself in the bedroom to read, its not really relaxing as I either get notes slipped under the door saying "Mommy do you still love me?" "Can you come out yet?" Or I hear crying and knocking and fighting on the other side of the door.  I'm told that one day I will wish I had these times back.  Yes, I'm sure someday when I'm relaxing in my nice comfortable in great condition recliner reading my book enjoying the quiet and sparkling clean house I will look back remember those times fondly!  Until then, I shall try to enjoy the following me everywhere before they really want nothing to do with me and think I'm the most boring person ever! 

More Kid happenings in the Smith household!

The best part of my day - when we come home at night and in the chaos of coats, boots, backpacks flying everywhere, papersorting, and planning the evening, Mason's little voice says "So, how's yours day Mommy?"  "So how's yours day Daddy?"  It's a great reminder to stop all the "busy work" that I think is SOOOOO important and just "take in" the moment of chatting with our family after being apart all day.  I hope he NEVER stops wanting to hear about our days! The kids are getting very excited for Valentines day.  I am going to go to Mason's preschool party that morning and then hoping to go to Abby's school party in the afternoon.  Abby's going to go to a softball clinic next week to see if playing softball is something she wants to do this year.  She's also excited for this weekend she will be dancing with the NHS pacesetters at their winter show! Maybe by then I will have figured out how to post pictures the proper way on here.  Probably not, but a girl can hope!

Mason's Happenings

This post is dedicated to Mason's little quirks he does right now that make me smile.  First, every morning when I wake him up the first thing out of his mouth is "I want a Pawtart!" (Poptart) Every. Single. Morning.  So we start the day with sugar, this could answer many questions I have regarding Mason....anyway then I get him dressed, which he then takes his shirt off and puts it on backwards! He demands to wear his shirt backwards to preschool every.single. morning.  Most of the time I say no but sometimes when I'm in a hurry its really the least of my worries! He's become very sneaky with trying to sneak cars, foot nacks (fruit snacks and gum in his jean pockets and take them to school.  One day he snuck a toy gun without my knowing it and the teachers were very unhappy as there is a "no gun" policy at preschool! Who knew?! :) He also will only wear jeans to preschool.  I try to put sweatpants on him and its a huge problem he wants jeans!  He's still at the age where he says he's going to marry his Mommy! Yay! All his friends are his "dudes".  They get together and yell "Hi Dude!"  Really cute! The other funny thing is if Abby is jumping on furniture he will say "Abby the couch is not a trampoline!"  But then 5 minutes later its suddenly a trampoline when he wants to jump!

Readers are Leaders! My favs!

In this post I will be listing my favorite books read in 2011.  Reading is one of my favorite hobbies and I'm always open to new book recommendations!

Heaven Is For Real - Todd Burpo
The Shack
Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers
Crazy Love - Francis Chan
Made to Crave - Lysa Terkhuerst
This Present Darkness - Frank Peretti
Laughing in the Dark - Chonda Pierce
I Really Want to Change So Help Me God
The Firm

I have a huge "want to read" list too:

Not a Fan
The Hunger Games
A.W. Tozer books

And many more!! My awesome husband got me a kindle for Christmas this year so I'm having fun with that!

LoTs Of LaUgHs with the kiddos!!

As I type this on January 31 it is going to be 57 degrees today! Yesterday was like 60! Its such a tease because I know this state and I know we've got a few more storms and many more cold days before we actually get Spring.  I realized my last post talked about the kids' Christmas Program at church.  Well I have to share a funny story about that.  Mason was on stage singing with all the kids and all of a sudden he marches out in front of all the kids to the edge of the stage and takes his "halo crown" off of his head and tosses it out into the audience like a rock star.  (We caught it on video tape!) Then later he was sitting with us listening to the sermon and Pastor Cory was preaching and said something about "the birth of our savior Jesus Christ." and Mason yells "Amen!"  Had everyone around us rolling!  He is one of a kind! He brings us so much joy and laughter I just can't imagine life without him! Speaking of funny my little niece Mackenzie has become so funny and has such a little personality now.  Its so neat because for so long she didn't really say many words and they've all caught up with her now.  Abby and I were over at Alisha's playing waitress with Mackenzie and she would only respond to us if we said "excuse me maam"  Or as she says "cuse me maam" Or if she accidentally does something she'll say "so sorry"(she says toe towwy) And if you mention Strawberry Shortcake (cawbewwy cortcake as she says) you better be putting that DVD in! Abby is so much fun as well, she is very creative and smart! She's at the age where she just talks and talks and talks some more.  Sometimes you just know the story has a point but you have to wait it out to find out what it is...and don't just nod and say mmm hmmm because she'll bust you for not paying attention! :)