Count Your Blessings

We are always telling our kids to be grateful for what they have. When they complain about having to make their beds, we tell them to be grateful they have a bed to make because some kids have to sleep on the floor. When they complain about having to pick up their toys, we remind them that there are a lot of kids who would love to have lots of toys to pick up, because they don't have any. When they complain about the food, we tell them that the food they are wasting on their plate is more food than some kids have all day. I want to cultivate a spirit of gratitude in them, because I feel like so many people (especially kids) take for granted what they have and feel like they are entitled to certain things.

Sometimes they will ask me why people don't have food, or why they don't have a house to live in, and we have a discussion about that. I know these reminders and discussions have sunk in to a degree, because sometimes at night when they are saying their prayers they will pray for "the people that don't have any beds" or "the kids that don't have any food."

When we went to Mexico, Big J was affected by things he saw. When we first came over the bridge at the border, there were people on the sides of the road begging. One lady was in the median and she was crippled. Big J asked me what she was doing and so I told him that she was asking people to give her money because she didn't have any. He asked why she didn't have any and I told him that I didn't know, but that since her legs didn't work I bet it was hard for her to get a job and so this was the only way she knew to get money so she could buy some food. He became pensive. A little while later he goes, "You know that lady whose legs were sick and she was asking people for money? I would have given her my dollar with a 5 on it ($5 bill) if I had it with me."

Last night we watched Idol Gives Back and I decided to keep the recording of it so I could show the kids the clips from Africa. I wanted them to see that what we were telling them all this time was true. So we showed them the kids that lived in the trash dumps and the shacks. We showed them the people who were sick and had to lay on rags on the floor. We showed them the kids who didn't have parents and who happily ate whatever food they were given. My sweet Big J said, as he blinked back tears, "This makes me feel like I want to cry." I told him that was good, because it showed he had a caring heart. I hope that they grow up realizing how blessed they are, and having a compassionate concern for those who are less fortunate.

On Motherhood

I want to preface this post by saying that I never really dreamed of being a mom. I knew I would be a mom and I wanted that, but I wasn't one of those girls that sat around and thought about their picket fence house with little munchkins running around it. I never answered "a mom" when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I never made a list of baby names I wanted to use. And I never spent any time oooing and aahhing over kids that weren't related to me or that I wasn't getting paid to watch. I don't know why - I just had other things I wanted to do first.

I never had a strong passion about motherhood, or womanhood for that matter, until after I had my first child. And as all of you who have children know - they change everything. They change who you are from the innermost, deepest core of you. I can remember looking at my baby and being overwhelmed with what a sacred responsibility I had in caring for that child. I remember being overcome with how much trust this tiny person had in me. They counted on me for everything, and I wasn't going to let them down. I am continually taken back by the unconditional love a child has for their far-from-perfect mother. I can understand a love deep enough to give your life for someone.

Sometimes when things are noisy and messy and hectic, a brief glimpse of what my life would be like without my kids flashes into my mind. Quiet. Clean. Totally wrapped up in myself. And it stops my breath. There is nothing I would rather have than what I have now.

Day of Reckoning

As mentioned earlier in my blog, I set a goal to lose some weight. It was quite a lot of weight, especially considering this is beyond the 40 pounds I gained during my last pregnancy. This was already-at-your-pre-pregnancy-weight weight loss. So today is the day of reckoning. I did not meet my goal of losing 25 pounds. I lost 23. Maybe I should have fasted all day and then ran around the block dressed in lots of heavy clothes so I could sweat those last 2 pounds out before weighing, but I didn't.

To celebrate, I went and bought me some jeans I've really liked and have always felt too guilty to get because they are kind of expensive...I got two pair....

What I am most happy about is that I didn't lose this weight on some weird diet or anything like that. I changed bad habits I had and practiced good portion control and lost the weight steadily. Believe it or not, to get back to the weight I want to be at, I need to lose at least 15 more pounds. Considering that I have been a TOTAL SLACKER in the exercise department, I think this is doable. Besides, I do not want to be squishy. I'm so squishy right now!

So now I am recommitting to a new goal: by July 19th I will be another 15 pounds lighter and not squishy! I will have muscle tone! I will have abs!

Please Go Away

Ok, yes, I'm overly concerned with this. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GO AWAY SANJAYA. All of you who are out there voting for him - the joke is not funny anymore. You suck. Go home.

My vote is for Jordin. I've liked her since the beginning. There are other people who have good voices, but she is the only one I think I would enjoy listening to an entire CD of.

I am going to be so ticked tomorrow when one of the legitimate contestants gets voted off and Sucky Boy stays.

My First Meme (even though I don't even know what that word means)

I was tagged by my lovely sister Tori to do a Triple Meme, so here goes...


Three Things That Scare Me:
1. Child molesters
2. The ocean
3. Small spaces

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. Tori
2. My kids
3. My husband

Three Things I Love:
1. My family
2. My church
3. Reading

Three Things I Hate:
1. Hate is such a strong word…
2. People who hurt children
3. People who don’t do what they say they are going to do

Three Things I Don’t Understand:
1. I’m with you on the gay thing. Why? There aren’t gay animals running around…
2. Why crackhead unfit mothers have like 10 kids while I know so many good people who want children and can’t have any.
3. What my husband does for a living

Three Things On My Desk:
1. Mary Kay receipts
2. Paper (piles of junk, basically)
3. Kid’s computer games

Three Things I’m Doing Right Now:
1. Trying to sound interesting
2. Listening for kids that are suppose to be asleep
3. Thinking about what I want to eat because I’m hungry

Three Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
1. Go to Italy
2. Publish a book
3. Finish my master’s degree

Three Things I Can Do:
1. Speak and/or teach in front of people
2. Be a good listener
3. Be dependable

Three Things I Can’t Do:
1. Tolerate whining (from anyone)
2. Just be a slacker
3. Whatever I want when I want for as long as I want

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. Your heart
2. Your gut instinct
3. People who are where you want to be, who have done what you want to do, or who are like you want to be

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. What the media says
2. Foul language
3. Negative people

Three Things I’d Like To Learn:
1. To speak Spanish fluently
2. To be outgoing
3. How to sing well

Three Favorite Foods:
1. Mexican food
2. Italian food
3. Pizza

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1. The same ones Tori listed, except I would add 21 Jumpstreet.
2. Sesame Street
3. Those after school shows which were different every day. They included The Bugaloos, H.R. Puffinstuff, Land of the Lost, Dynowoman and Wondergirl, Dr. Shrinkadoo (or something like that), and one with a jeep that went by itself but I don’t remember the name.

Three Things I Regret:
1. Thankfully, not a lot - and the ones I do truly regret are too personal to list here.
2. Getting out of shape
3. Wearing ugly 80s clothes, hair and makeup

Three people I tag:
1. Gretchen
2. Maddy
3. Noel

Martha Stewart Doesn't Live Here

I'm helping with Little J's preschool Easter party tomorrow, so I made (what I thought were) these really cute bunny rabbit cupcakes. I gave the boys each one to "test" and then realized that maybe they weren't so cute when I heard Little J (playing with his food as usual) say, "Watch out! Watch out! My mouse is going to get you!"

Anatomy Lesson

Conversation today when I was giving the boys a bath:

Big J points to his nipple and asks, "Are these called breastles?"

Little J answers, "No, they're called nudes!"