Weekend Update

We had such a great weekend. Beautiful weather, family, friends, Oktoberfest. What more could a family ask for?

Friday night J.R. and I volunteered at the Lee's Summit Chamber of Commerce beer and brat tent. This is the second year we have done this and we couldn't have picked a better night. We all had a great time making nachos, pretzels, drinks and of course the brats. Although after working the stand, none of that appealed to me at all.






Saturday we started the day with errands. Ella got a new bike, I almost talked J.R. into adopting a rescue dog because we don't have enough of a zoo going on around here these days and well our fish died this week so naturally a dog would be a great replacement. After many tears, because I was sure J.R. was going to give in and so the girls got excited(the tears were not mine however), we left beautiful Redman at Petco. I hope he found a good home with kids because he was just like the most awesome dog EVER! BTW he was an Australian Cattle dog who looked part Huskie but with this beautiful red hair. LOVED HIM!

All melancholy we headed over to the Kansas side to visit our cousin's new business, Franchise Mart. What a neat idea for a business. I am very excited for him. If you are in the market for a franchise business(and let me tell you he has everything you could ever imagine and more), call him. His name is Brad Johnson and here is a link to his new business:
http://www.franchisemart-overlandpark.com/our_staff.htm
I even got excited about some of the possibilities and may be contacting him soon.

The afternoon was spent preparing for our friend, Mollie's wedding. Mollie worked with J.R. for awhile and then gave Ella and even me some horseback riding lessons. They had a stunning wedding in a wonderful country, outdoor setting. It was probably one of the funnest ceremonies ever, as they laughed and really enjoyed themselves throughout the service. After they were pronounced hubby and wife they walked down the aisle with their dog. So sweet!





J.R. has a golf tournament today and I am going to take the girls to a walking trail that I just discovered by a lake while he is gone. The perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

My Epiphany

I am reading an amazing, life changing book. I am sharing this book with some pretty spectacular ladies who have life views that I love hearing. I feel like my cup is filled everytime we meet. It is almost like a drug for me. I can't wait to be filled again with their presence and with our discussions.

The book we are reading is Shame off You by Alan D Wright. Our discussion this week was on the chapter The Agony of Victory. What? I saw that title and it immediately intrigued me. The Agony of Victory? I don't get it. But as I read on I found myself marking up my book and making HUGE revelations about my own life.

I can't tell you how many times in my life I have had a major accomplishment, and the only thing I have felt is "So,What's next?" or "Why me?" or "I don't deserve this". This is a pattern in my life. I was unaware of it until Wednesday.

A discussion that has been present in my marriage since I started staying home 11 years ago has been my feelings of inadequacy. I mean somebody in the great beyond(Thank you God and I mean GOD!) chose me to parent these three amazing children. And instead of reveling in that fact and savoring the moments, I complained. I never saw accomplishments anymore in my life. I did laundry, I cleaned, I organized only to have it all thrown away 10 minutes later. WHY? When I worked, I set out to do a project only to see it completed and neatly filed away or graded since my job was teacher. On Wednesday I FINALLY(did I mention 11 YEARS????)figured it out. Life IS a journey. It is not about the destination so I have to live this life and by LIVING this life I mean being present in each and every moment. Showing my children how to live lives based on Christ like principles. I need to fill their cups and mine. Yes there will still be laundry and schedules and activities and outside demands but all of those become less important when looking at the big picture. The ACCOMPLISHMENT is in the day to day. How I live my life is a reflection into my children's lives and ultimately THEIR journey.

I know I have mentioned this book to several of you and I am serious when I say that EVERYONE that I know and love should read it. It has been life changing and wonderful. I wish I could personally thank Alan Wright for this gift to me.

Yoga 101

I started taking a yoga class awhile back. It is my escape three times a week. The very first time I did it, I walked away feeling as if I had just had an hour massage. I cannot praise my yoga instructor enough. She was born to do this. She is a soft spoken, calming, and compassionate person, who after just a few visits, knew my name. I don't know why that was important to me, but it was.

As I said it is my escape. I am pretty much unaware of anyone else in that class and assume that most people are unaware of me.

Today I walked into yoga and there in my spot is a man talking on his cell phone. First rule of yoga 1. Leave the outside world outside the door. So get off your cell phone. He talked up until it was time to start while others around him are obviously starting to unwind in the quiet bird chirping environment. Did I mention he was in my spot? Not that he knew this, but the creature of habit that I am REALLY had struggles with this.

Rule #2 The breathing is through the nose!!! I could not be more serious about this one. We are not lifting weights dude. If you really are having that much trouble doing the poses, perhaps yoga is not your thing. Your breathing like you were birthing a hippo was DISTRACTING.

Rule #3 Personal Space- and this applies in all areas of life. Please do not park your mat right up my ass. I really don't appreciate it. I also don't appreciate you moving it closer EVERY SINGLE TIME we change poses. If you get kicked in the head, it is not my fault. Or maybe it is since you were so annoying.

Rule #4 What's with the straps? OK so I realize that this is a question, but still it was distracting. You brought what looked like luggage straps and then proceeded to tie them to your ankles or wrap them or something. Not quite sure, but then they kept slipping off and you would fall creating quite the scene. There was a point when I wished I had my video camera with me because I thought a video might just be more proof of your idiocy.

The only thing I can humbly thank you for was that you did not ruin my meditation time. Actually I believe you must have started breathing through your nose because I didn't hear you at all. So maybe you are figuring the breathing out after all.

The lesson I have learned from this all is that maybe it is time for me to move up from the back row. Or at least avoid "John" next time.

Ring Ring Ring, We are home!

Our home phone has rung many times today and I am sure that it has something to do with the fact that it is J.R.'s birthday. Small problem though, I can't find a phone. We have three of them, and they are all missing. None of them are ringing either, which means the ringers are turned off OR they are dead! So paging them is going to be ineffective.

I am however able to hear the answering machine go off when someone starts to leave a message, so if you need to call us, call my cell phone or leave a message.

I might not answer though because I am going on a big scavenger hunt, apparently, today.

Or I might be at Wal-Mart looking for a wall phone. Do they even still make those

*BTW The base in the kitchen still rings, hence how I know the phone keeps ringing.

Help!

I need parenting advice in a really bad way.

Ella would have been the perfect only child. She thrives on having us all to herself. The problem is she isn't an only child and it is draining trying to fulfill her only child needs constantly. In comes Tara. Ella has had a hard time accepting her little sister since she first came on the scene. It has always been manageable until now. NOW they both are bigger, more vocal, one of them is a bit hormonal, and the other is, without hormones raging, a perfect drama queen.

The fighting is ridiculous-
*she wears my clothes all the time
*she sat in the middle last time
*she always has a friend over
*she never cleans up
*she kicked, hit, tripped me
*she looked at me
*you like her more
*MOM!!!!!!!

And the problem is when they are getting along, they are usually doing something that will get someone hurt, like wrestling, jumping off our brick wall, playing crash course derby with their bikes, which then ends up with one of the aforementioned statements being shouted at me.

I am not the calm peaceful "yes dear" type. In fact when they come at me with one of the LINES, I immediately put my guard up. They know this, but continue in vain anyway and then we all end up on the losing end. So I need help.

How do I get them to love each other? Respect each other? Stick up for each other? I understand that sisters will be sisters but sometimes I think they seriously hate each other. And it makes me sad. What have I done wrong? HELP!

Happy Birthday Pokie

Guess who is THREE today? Our little Pokie! We have had a fabulous birthday day so far complete with a screening by Miss Kristi from Parents as Teachers, a trip to childcare at the gym where she got to pick out of the birthday box, a gift opening with her friend Gabby in the lobby of the gym(she got paints and a fabulous book on colors), a big nap with mom and the making of a pink cake of which she really wants to share with her daddy. Bummer, I guess we have to wait for him to get home. Tonight our plans are a trip to McDonalds(her choice not mine) cake and icecream and the opening of a few gifts.

Yesterday she got to be the birthday girl at school. She is my first kid to get to celebrate during the school year, so it was actually fun for me. She got a nice book from her teachers also that we read last night together.

I love the simplicity of a third birthday. There are no expectations just joy for every moment. I have actually caught her a couple of different times singing the birthday song to herself. There is just something about this age, the awareness of the birthday by the three year old, but not being corrupted yet by what a birthday might be or what anyone else thinks it should be, it all makes for perfection. She is just so precious. Happy Birthday little one! You are and will always be my baby.