Like Rubber

Children are like rubber, no matter what happens to them they bounce back to the same shape.....that is an amazing feature.  And that is a really great thing considering I have done a few things, well maybe more then a few that would probably really leave some decent marks on most adults.  Yet my children forgive me unconditionally, no grudges, no making me walk the line of forgiveness, just pure and simple love and trust.  What a glorious thing to be loved like that.  That we as adults would be able to accept and love in the same manner.  Amazing what my children teach me, even though I most often think that I am teaching them,  haha, what was I thinking?     

Not only do they love me and forgive me and trust me...........they put up with me and all my crazy, hair brained ways.   You know they still think you are the cats meow even when you brake out in a dance that would make most people's draw drop and not in a good way.  Or when you totally forget to feed them breakfast and realize that is the reason they are beginning to faint.  Or you knock them down and then instead of picking them up like they think you are going to, you kick them in the rear and shove their face into the rocks, all in one fatal swoop.  ( and yes, I really did do that to poor little Miah)  And the list goes on, and yet they think that you are the most wonderful thing and love you and kiss you and smear you with their sticky little fingers, pouring their heart out in the artwork that they so generously give to you. Yes, they are like rubber and I love them and am thankful for the love they show me, no matter what.

The NOW

Moments……..they are what make up my life. I do not live life in days or weeks, but in individual moments of time. I have been noticing how fast time seems to slip by and each moment has become precious to me. It seems that as if it was just yesterday that Jeremiah asked me to be his wife and I was dreaming of the future and then I blinked and here I am a mother of three children, my oldest is six……..how ? Time is a funny thing, when in it it seems to take forever at times, such as two deployments, in those times, it was forever and the end was not in sight, and now he is out of the marines and on to other things. And when I am up at night cleaning up peed in beds and puked on floors. Those never seem to fly, but they also pass. And then there are my kids, people tell me to treasure this time, because before I know it they will be out of the house and with their own families. And sure I used to agree, but still I was living for then and when and after, but it is finally hitting home as I look at my youngest and realize she really is not a baby anymore and my oldest who is fast approaching young girlhood. What ever happened, will I be able to remember all these precious times with my children? I am afraid I won’t if I am always living for the future. This is my time, this is the moment to live for, these are the days of joy and growth and this is what will make my future worth living for. These are the moments with my children and I aim to live in them to the fullest.

Echoing Bathrooms

May I please have a show of hands to all those blessed people who have children................
Now may I have a show of hands of all the people who have been embarrassed by those blessed children.....
My guess is that the same number of hands went up for both questions.  Lets face, they are wonderful little people who bring much joy to our lives, but there are also moments, many of them, where they also bring much embarrassment.  Like for instance in echoing bathrooms. 
Gorgeous day with family and friends, checking out the beautiful landscapes of Yosemite park.  Ethan suddenly makes it known to all, and I mean all that a bathroom is needed.  Now most of the time I can hand that one off to Jeremiah, men do men things together is my theory, but I also needed to make a trip to the  outhouse.  Have you ever been in a park outhouse?  They have this great feature that echoes everything you say and do, with an added bonus of super thin walls and vents up at the top.  So we get our business done, now I usually do not go with my son in the same room, if I can help it, but here we were and so I just try and be discreet.  Now another show of hands.....are there any moments in history that a child has been discreet?   If so, I would love to know of it and how it was accomplished.  Cause it seems to me that the more that I try the worse it gets.  So in trying to be discreet, my wonderful little guy blurts out............"how come you have hair on your bottom?"  ( just a  side note we have not breached the wide and dangerous chasm of actual scientific names yet, so the whole area is a bottom and that is good by me)
So in my motherly trying to avoid the subject type way I try to lead him onto other things, but as flighty as their attention span may be, it never is when you want it to be, so a little louder it is commented on again and this time I just resort to ssshshhhhing.  Task accomplished we head out of out echoing, paper thin walled bathroom and lo and behold there is a man standing with the biggest grin you ever saw........

Sacred Showers

A shower  is not just taking  a shower............nope, it is no longer just the norm, or part of my everyday routine, or even expected.  It is an adventure that turns out slightly different every time, with hopefully the same outcome.  They  start with a check to make sure that everyone is occupied and Rinnah is watching Miah, yep, good to go.............quick take the leap into the shower, but alas, they are not as occupied as I thought and so the adventure begins.  Did you know that it is not possible for my children to go even a few minutes without badgering  checking up on me?  So a nice hot shower, peaceful is beyond even reaching for, is just not always easy to achieve.  So next time I decide to break down and use a movie as entertainment and jump in with hopes that the hollering, banging and pounding is just the next door neighbors and pray that everyone is still alive when I get out.  As soon though as I decide to lock the bathroom door one can hear a bellowing of mass proportions and the sounds of someone dieing, for some unknown reason when told just a minute before that mommy is getting into the shower, they did not have to go to the bathroom at that instant, but no sooner is my hair wet and soapy then they are going to die if the door is not unlocked  right at that instant, finally relieved and back to a "safe" occupation, one believes that one will get a peaceful moment.........the phone rings and some youngsters voice is politely informing someone that " no Mommy can not come to the phone, she has locked herself in the bathroom and I am not sure when she will be getting out or if ever, but is there anything else I can help you with?"  Peaceful, sacred, hot showers are things dreams are made of.

Taking the plunge!

So I finally did it...I took the blogger plunge.  Why?  Not really sure, I am not even sure that anyone will want to read the ramblings of a very ordinary person.  I am not good at story telling, not that I am short of stories to tell( i have three kids) but words and flow and combining them do not come from these fingers. But here I am.  Time to sit at a computer to blog is going to be interesting, cause right at this moment, my three children are in the other room, doing, well, not sure, and I am supposed to be out washing my car.  But to be honest, I am doing this mostly for the fact that I do not want to forget those moments in my life that you think you will always remember, and to give an outlet to my self.  If you do not read and if I bore the daylights out of you with my every day life then I am sorry, but here I sit and here I will try and share and recapture the gross, the gooey and the glorious parts of my life