What to do...

My weekend began Friday afternoon, dropping Bug off at church for confirmation camp.  We were excited and sure she'd have a blast.  Friday evening, Hubby arrived home from his week long TDY.  Saturday was just a lazy day.  We watched movies and played with Baby Pie.  I even was given the most awesome gift of a 3 hour nap!

Sunday was different. Hubby had virtually no internet access where he was on the TDY so needed to go into work to clear email and get things taken care of. I took Baby Pie to our church for Sunday School, because I was the substitute teacher. Then she and I went to the Baptist church where our MOPS meetings are held. Baby Pie got to spend some time playing in the nursery and I was able to sit with a friend and fully immerse myself in worship. It was a most welcome experience. 
 
 Later Sunday afternoon we picked up Bug, sure we'd hear lots of stories of the fun adventures she had.  But she was very quiet.  We were a few minutes late and figured she was upset with us.  After a few more questions got monosyllable answers we dropped  asking for a while. 

We found a local walking trail, that I'm looking forward to using.  We walked about half of it and Bug began to open up about her camp experience.  It was definitely not the fun bonding with her confirmand cohorts that it was supposed to be.  She related stories of being picked on and bullied by a pair of boys that she's in Sunday School with.  They didn't respect her personal space or belongings.  They made fun of the little viral bumps that she has on her neck.  They used her duffel bag on rollers as a toy and refused to stop giving each other rides until an adult asked them several times.  They also managed to find a bag of condoms by a trash can behind a building...(this is a church camp) and showed them to the girls.  Apparently one was tangerine flavored.  Bug is only ten years old.  She just had sex ed in school that covered anatomy and physiology of the menstrual cycle, pads and tampons.  I am angered and saddened that at the age of ten I had to explain to her what a condom was, what it was used for and why there are flavored ones.  I am more angry that this happened because she was at church camp.  I would have fully figured something like that would have happened at school or on the school bus.  Silly me.  Anyway, we let the conversation drift and ended up having a decent afternoon.

Looking at Buttermilk Falls

Hubby and Bug at the top of the falls.

We found another state park, then visited Buttermilk Falls.  I really enjoyed the hike into the falls area.  It wasn't far or very steep.  Baby Pie had an awesome time collecting sticks.   Hubby and Bug walked around to the other side of the falls to see them more closely.

Baby Pie collecting sticks.

I thoroughly enjoyed the drive around and through the Laurel Highlands.  I love to drive.  I have often thought that a career as a semi-truck driver would have been very appropriate for me.

My sweet girls!

It wasn't until Sunday evening and all day today that I really began to digest what Bug told us, how I feel about it and what needs to be done.  We've called the pastor and Hubby will be speaking with her tomorrow.  She needs to be made aware of the condom incident, but moreover, she needs to know about the boys.  I just don't know if I'm comfortable with Bug being in class with them every Sunday.  I sure don't want Sunday School and going to worship to become a dreaded experience for her.

As I'm thinking along those lines, the churches here do a lot together with their youth, so even if we went to a different church in our denomination, she'd still be running into these boys at different events.

We are probably only going to be here for another year.  Should we stick it out at this church?  Should we find another in the same denomination? (I think that would be kind of pointless) Should we switch denominations all together?  What message would that send to Bug?  I realize that I cannot shield her from bullying at school, but church is entirely a different matter.  If we went to another church, would it be better for the whole family? 

  Needing wisdom and discernment.  I've been thinking and praying all day.

Whatever

We had a freak snowstorm today. We made it all winter without any snow days. And today, the beginning of the 4th week in April we had one. I was super happy to hang out here in the house and not step outside at all. Thus, only Bug went out to play in the snow. Probably not a great parenting moment, but definitely not my worst of the day either. It's still snowing, so I'll probably get a do over tomorrow, if I so choose.




"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9

In many situations I really feel like saying "whatever".  Not the whatever that Paul is speaking of in Philippians, but the whatever of the modern culture that says, I don't care - do what you want.  That is not the attitude I should be projecting in front of my daughters.  I'm afraid that I did a lot of "whatever-ing" today.  The second full day of hubby's TDY and Bug had her first snow day of the year, so the 2 day weekend turned into a 3 day weekend and I was on edge.  I was snippy and raised my voice at both girls - like Baby Pie has any idea why momma was yelling at her.  Yes, I yelled at Baby Pie and the look of confusion and pain that I got from her hurts in my heart.  Yet, it made me feel guilty, which added to the snippiness and resulted in even more raised voices and misunderstanding.  Looking back, yes, I should have just walked away for 2 minutes, closed my eyes, said a prayer, looked for an appropriate quote and calmed and centered myself.  I've seen the quote that children are not an inconvenience - unfortunately today - I admit - I felt that my girls were. 

That takes me back to Paul's "whatever".  True.  Honorable. Just. Pure. Pleasing. Commendable. Excellent.  Worthy of Praise.  What better words to describe what it means to be a mother.  Or maybe I should say what better words to describe the goals of being a good mother.  To be a mother that my girls will remember, not for always yelling, but for being there, playing, supporting and listening.  A mother that provides consistency.  Thankfully - we have forgiveness and tomorrow.  I know Bug has forgiven me - we talked and seem to be on the same page.  Baby Pie is another story.  I can only assume that she's either forgiven me or forgotten because she was her happy normal self before bed.  At a few days short of 18 months, she has yet to say mama. I am dada.  She has words for a few object and our cat and dog.  But she knows what we're saying and can follow pretty complex directions.  Yes, that was off topic. 

The other thing I've done these last few days was a lot of stippling on Aria's quilt.  A lot of stippling.  Let me see.  Quilting night on Thursday was 3 hours - ok, make that 2 1/2 giving time for set up and tear down.  Then 2 hours on Saturday, 2 hours on Sunday and 3 hours today.  So that's 7 1/2 hours stippling.  Phew.  I love how it looks.  Love.  Love.  Love.  I need to decide if I'm going to do a traditional binding or a quicker machine sewn binding.  Then I need to trim the sides and bind it.  I also need to work on getting Pipers quilt done.

So - whatever - Paul's "whatever" - ". . .think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9

Peace Be With You

After a really bad fight with hubby on Friday afternoon, we made up.  While he was finishing his homework and mowing the lawn, I planned an fun evening activity for us.  I packed the cooler with ice and sprite and got us a bag of white cheddar popcorn and some candy to enjoy.  We packed all kinds of pillows, quilts and blankets into the back of the van and actually enjoyed snuggling while watching The Lorax.  I knew there was a reason we didn't see it when it first came out.

We went to the opening of a local drive-in theater.  Forgive the horribly fuzzy picture -  but I believe you can not only make out the screen, and the glorious sunset, but the mountain back drop to it all.  Wow what an absolutely gorgeous part of this county we live in.  It blows my mind that  we could have 6-12 inches of snow bury us in the next 48 hours.

The fight with hubby really threw me for a loop.  We haven't had a true yelling at each other fight for what seems like years.  Actually it was him yelling and me listening and crying.  At least I know he's also feeling the stress and dissatisfaction that his job and schoolwork are bringing into our home.   I think blowing off the steam released some pressure from both of us and we were able to find peace by the evening.

Saturday was a lazy day here.   Hubby packed for the TDY that he left for today.  He fixxed Baby Pie oatmeal for breakfast and she actually ate a good bit of it.  Mind you oatmeal is an awesome beauty treatment, so she just got cuter the more she ate.

I've been working on finishing a couple of baby quilts that need to be done by early May.  Here's a quick peek at one of them.  I did manage to finish the micro-stippling in the white of the pinwheels.  Now I need to quilt the borders, trim and bind.  I really and truly dislike binding by hand, but it looks soooo very much better than anything I've done that's bound with the machine, so by hand it is.



Bug played piano for the opening prelude at church this morning and did a wonderful job.  Now after lunch, she and Baby Pie are chillin' watching Toy Story 3.  I wonder how long this will last?  Probably not as long as it takes me to write and post this entry.

I guess I'll get to pick up toys this afternoon and do laundry.  Aren't those some of the things that moms do best?  Honestly I'd much rather sit down at the sewing machine and tackle the remainder of the borders, but I don't think that Allie will be up for a nap any time soon.

"Peace be with you" was the theme in Sunday School this morning.  Jesus was giving peace to the disciples and to us. Do we accept the peace?  What does that kind of peace feel like?  What kinds of things do we need to give up or hand over to feel the peace?  Hmmm - lots of good questions to ponder for the afternoon. 

Magical Days

No, I've not gone on a trip to the "Magic Kingdom".  Our budget just won't allow it.

It's just that these last few days with my girls, my mom and my hubby have been really great.  All in their own special way. 



If you look carefully in the lower right
corner - you'll see my foot.  It's the
closest I'll be to the beach for a few months.

We've played in the sand and water table.

We've swung on the swing set and gone down the slide.  Well, the girls have - not the grown-ups.


Today my mom and I  danced the Hokey Pokey with Baby Pie.

On Sunday my mom and I made beautiful butterfly creations with Bug to hang on her canopy, which we did today.

The violets are in full bloom.  Our
backyard is  carpeted with beautiful
purply blue blossoms.

I had a day of creative bliss today.  This morning I helped with the craft at our MOPS meeting - we did the tie-dye with a sharpie and alcohol.  It seemed to go over really well.  When I came home, mom had threatened to force (guilt me) me into sorting through the stack of three weeks worth of mail, but instead we had lunch and played 2 games of canasta before Bug got home from school.  We then taped fishing line to the butterflies so they can hang under her canopy.  This evening I went to the local quilt shop and sewed from 6-9:30 - bliss.  I have two baby quilts ready to be quilted.  I will start on them on the Thursday work night at the quilt shop, or maybe tomorrow if I have time.

This morning, I was trying to get out the door a bit earlier ie. faster than usual...everything just seemed to be falling into place to slow me down.  I finally had to really take a breather when I dumped my compact on the floor and all my makeup went everywhere and the blush shattered.  UGH.  It had to be cleaned up, so I had to slow down.   I made a conscious decision to not get flustered and crabby - that would have been really easy to do.  I thought to myself, this is God telling me that when you push too hard and too fast things go awry.  I thanked God for slowing me down and asked him to help me be positive and pleasant today.

Galatians 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." 

This was part of the devotion today at MOPS.  Let us not become weary in doing good.  Being a good mother is wearisome.  It takes hard work and decision making.  Some are easy decisions - no Baby Pie you are not allowed to play in the street.  Some decisions are harder - do I suffer through the crabbies or allow the television to help distract and calm (zone out) the toddler?  Coming up with nutritious and varied meals is a challenge that is wearisome.  But knowing that at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up is a promise that I cannot refute!  Some of the reapings are small - little ones using manners correctly without prompting.  Some of the reapings we may not see until our little ones aren't so little anymore and have to make more "grown up" decisions and some may not be seen until our babies are grown ups.  I have to keep in mind that my actions, attitude, decisions and "goodness" are all part of helping my little humans become grown up, God-fearing productive humans.  Often I get to the end of a day and wonder if I have done enough.  I, the great procrastinator, always say to myself, I can always do better tomorrow.  But I have to also remind myself that I only have a finite number of tomorrows with my little humans before they're grown and gone.

So much to think about and ponder and thank God for as I go to bed tonight.

"Do not fear . . . you are Mine!"

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God." Isaiah 43:1b-3a


Wow - these verses say alot! 

Our house on the day we arrived in December 2010.  We had
to shovel so we could get in the door.

As a military family we spend a lot of time getting pulled up by our roots and re-planted elsewhere. 

It can be difficult and overwhelming.   Grieving the friendships you leave behind, knowing that there will be more where you're going to and to find the strength to unpack not only your household goods but open your heart to people and new experiences in your new "hometown". 


We are not what people think of when they think of a "traditional" military family.  Since 2003 we've only lived on an Army post for 1 year.  My husband is active duty, but stationed at reserve centers.  We live amongst civilians - most of whom have no real experience with a military lifestyle. 


I do my best to bloom where I'm planted.  I love that God has called me by name.  He'll be with me no matter where we go.  Even when in the midst of finding my place in a new hometown, He has a plan for my life.  I'll not drown in the sorrow of leaving friends or be overcome in the tides of boxes to open, empty and put away.  I'll not be scorched by the walking into a room of new women who've know each other for years, or have grown up with similar experiences.  The flames of difficult times and experiences won't burn me.  He's always there to protect me.


I've been told over and over "I don't know how you do it."  Yes, I think sometimes it would be much easier to have long deep roots that only occur by staying in one spot for a lifetime.  However, I can't imagine living life any differently.  I have so many more friends than I would have had if we hadn't gone full time into the Army.  I have been able to experience living in a few different places.  My daughters will have much more exposure to different people, states, cultures and attitudes than I ever did.  They will be developing resiliency.  The ability to go with the flow and make the best of whatever situation we land in.  For my oldest it's included 3 schools in 3 years moving at Christmastime.  I went to the same schools all my life - I can't imagine having to make new friends in a new environment like that over and over, but Bug is really good at it.  Baby Pie was only 6 weeks old when we got here, so she hasn't had to deal with the social aspect yet, but by the time we'll be moving again (probably next summer) she'll know things have changed.


"Do not fear. . . I have called you by name, you are Mine!"


Thank you Lord for calling me and insuring I am Yours!

Spring and Crafts Time

Holy cow - it seems like just a month ago we had temperatures in the 80's and today it was in the low 30's and snowing. 

How ridiculous is that?  If it were late November or early December we'd be so psyched to see all the snow, but now.  I've come to the conclusion that Mother Nature needs some meds because she's become bi-polar.

I had the greatest day today.  I helped with the Creative Arts Committee  for our MOPs chapter - I showed them a new craft!  We'll be making tie-dyed shirts using sharpies and rubbing alcohol at our last meeting in April.

This is a sample that I made a while back.  We actually did the tie-dye technique on shirts we can wear.

I'm blessed that I have Baby Pie.  Without her presence in the world I would not be meeting or getting to know all the amazing women I have this past year.

Tomorrow, I get to hang out with my "oldest" friends here.  Haha.  I met them at my first MOP's meeting in January 2010.  We've been getting together weekly since this fall for Crochet and Play. We crochet (I've been knitting lately) and our girls play.

My mom is here.  She watched Baby Pie today and will have the day to herself tomorrow.

Hubby is again on TDY.  He's in South Dakota for 5 days this time.  I guess I need to find something to do with a 10 year old and almost 18 month old and my mom this weekend.  Hmmm.

God has blessed my life.

Fiber Play

Today was a weekly Crochet and Play date.  My friends and I get together on Thursdays and crochet while our toddler girls play.  It's quite fun, to have adult conversation, and accomplish something with your hands at the same time.  Sometimes we don't even have to be speaking - mutual silence is also enjoyable. Though with three girls under 2 it isn't ever really silent. 

We call our play date, Crochet and Play, though I've cut out patterns for sewing and tackled a knitting project today.  So I guess for me it's more of a Crafty Stuff and Play date, but that doesn't rhyme nearly as well.

I have continued my walking and my feet aren't nearly as sore, but my hip flexors are feeling it. That's ok, hip flexors don't blister and bleed!

I'm so blessed.  Hubby came home early from work so I got to go to the store all by myself.  Not only that, but he also fixxed dinner this evening.  Nothing huge, hamburger helper, but it was treat to not have to think about what to make then create it.  He also gave me the treat of having a quick nap!  Coping with a crabby Baby Pie isn't so difficult this evening!