Creating Cohesiveness

As the end of the school year is approaching, I am beginning to look at ideas for this summer. I have already planned several things, but there are 10 weeks to fill! I really want to take this time to establish cohesiveness in my family unit. In the craziness of our routine; work, school, extracurricular activities, we have lost the simplicity of just spending time with one another. Quality time. I want to be intentional about regaining this precious gift of time with my husband and daughters. I want to enjoy my family this summer. I don't want to over-schedule our time off, but I do want to create the opportunities to spend quality time together. My hope is that we can find local activities that will pique all of our interests. My mind is swirling with ideas and I can't wait to start brainstorming with Brandon and the girls!

A bit of a better day

Today was better. Easier. I am sure a lot of this has to do with the fact that the girls had school today. I still missed the mark though. I lost patience. I yelled. I recoiled and reminded myself to value the character of the girls more than the misbehavior. It is so hard to change bad habits. I never thought that I would sit here today and reflect on the fact that I yell at my kids. I vowed growing up that I was going to be different. I would be calm. And yet, here I am. Struggling.

It is amazing how much perspective brings to the table. I appreciate my childhood so much more now that I am a mom. I can understand why things happened; why responses seemed harsh. I am living and breathing the challenge of parenting and I am making many of the same mistakes. One thing is for sure, God has softened my heart and brought me compassion I never dreamed I would have.

Tomorrow is a new day. I am so thankful for fresh beginnings. Maybe, just maybe, I can find a little bit more of the patience and calmness I desire...

Not fun being a mommy!

Being a mom sucks sometimes. I never know if I am totally screwing up the girls or if they will turn out okay. I hate discipline and second guessing myself. Am I being to harsh? Should I have handled that differently? Do they need less consequences and more love? UGH! I don't know what to do about Claire's back talk and sassy-ness. She is constantly trying to steer the conversation, get the final word in, and cause me to second guess myself. On more than one occasion she has expressed that she feels like I love Hannah more than I love her. I really believe that she believes this and that she isn't just trying to get a reaction out of me. I don't know how to change her view on this, other than to just love on her. However she is definitely the more hard headed out of the two, and she needs more discipline than Hannah. Hannah cracks easier and seems to learn her lessons after a time out. Claire on the other hand just loves to continue to push the envelope and that brings about more discipline. Why couldn't kiddos come with instructions? I really hope that I can show Claire just how much I love her and that she doesn't grow up needing years of therapy!

Catching Up

Wow! October already! I can't believe it is Fall! I love this time of year; it is so busy but also so good! We have a full schedule and life is filled with ups and downs.

Time for updates!

Hannah banana broke her right arm on September 21st. It was so scary for both Brandon and I. We both lost it! She was getting ready to go down the slide and somehow slipped. She rolled down on her arm and it was visibly broken. It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it! She was a trooper through the whole event and is now the proud owner of a bright pink cast. It has been challenging with this change though; she can't do gymnastics right now, bathing is a pain, and she has to have help dressing. Oh well, it is short lived. The cast comes off on November 4th.

Being that her right arm is broken, school has been a bit of a challenge too. She is right handed. I am blown away by her perseverance- Hannah has learned to write and color with her LEFT hand! It is sometimes a bit sloppy (or sloppier than her regular writing-Ha!) but it is usually quite impressive! She is doing great in school and adjusting well!

On to my Claire bear! Claire is fantastic! She is doing great academically! I can't believe how smart she is! She loves to learn and is constantly asking questions (which can drive me batty at times). She is continuing Ballet and is doing well. She is so athletic and constantly on the move. At home, she is teaching herself how to do cartwheels and handstands. I hope this doesn't lead to injury! LOL! She is attending a God and Me class to earn a patch for Girl Scouts. This year she is a 2nd year Daisy (it is a 2 year program) in Girl Scouts. She is just so adorable! I am so proud of my girl and how well she is doing in life!

Brandon is busy with work. He recently moved departments and is now the supervisor in the Deli. This change has been filled with it's challenges. His schedule has changed completely, and the responsibilities are so different from his previous position. The change has been good though, and we are hoping that it will prepare him for a promotion in the future.

I am good. Busy as always. I love to volunteer- at church, the girl's school- and it keeps me quite busy. I am also working part time at church and this has been fun and a huge blessing financially! I am so grateful for where I am at right now.

Well that's it for now. I will have to post a funny story about the girl's later! :-)

School Days

Last week the girls began school. I now am a mom of a Kindergartner and a 1st grader. I can't believe it! The week started off great- lots of excitement from both girls. They were too cute on the first day of school. We took LOTS of pictures and both girls left us smiling and happy. Tuesday and Wednesday held the same eagerness and I was thinking that this was an easy transition. Then came pick up on Wednesday afternoon. They had hit a wall. More accurately Hannah had hit a wall! She was exhausted and grumpy! She begged me to let her stay home on Thursday so that she could have a "day off". I reminded her that her days off were now Saturday and Sunday. Tear flowed. Daddy dropped her off that morning and it was a sad goodbye. School had lost it's charm. Friday brought the same. Now it is Sunday night and tomorrow begins a new week of school. I wonder what kind of week it will be?

Jesus broke bread

Today I told the girls that we would be spending the day cleaning and organizing. They weren't too thrilled with the idea, but obliged and began to clean up the play room. As they were working, I told them that they could make a pile of toys to give away if they wanted to. They liked that idea and I reminded them that it was a kind and caring thing to do. They began to go through the play kitchen food, discussing each item to decide if they should keep it or give it away. A few minutes later, Hannah comes to me with a loaf of plastic bread. She announced, "We are going to keep this bread. I already gave away the cross cookie cutter so other kids will have something about Jesus. Jesus broke bread and this will remind me about Him." Priceless. I loved that moment. It made me realize that they are "getting" the life of Jesus. They are remembering it and processing through what it means. They are understanding that their generosity and loving actions can teach others about the character of Christ. I was humbled and reminded myself that I am the hands and feet of Jesus too.

9 weeks

Tomorrow is the last day of kindergarten for Claire. I can hardly believe how fast this school year has flown by! She is going to be a first grader. That seems so big. And to top it off, Hannah is going to be a kindergartner. Both girls in elementary school. WOW! I am racking my brain trying to figure out how they have grown so quickly. I feel like time is racing by and I need to slow down and savor my kiddos because they are quickly moving into new phases and stages. I remember growing up it seemed as is time stood still. Summer vacations seemed SO long. Christmas took forever to come around. Each birthday felt a million years away. As an adult, this is simply not the case. Time has not only sped up, it seems to be going 3x's as fast as it should. I feel like I barely have time to recover let alone keep up.

Summer break is 9 weeks. Claire is anxious about what those 9 weeks are going to entail; what routine will be kept. I keep reassuring her that we have plenty to do in these 9 short weeks, but she insists that it is a LONG time and we will run out of things to fill our time. It will be interesting to see my perspective at the end of the summer; if the 9 weeks seemed to whiz by or if time slowed down a bit. I am betting on the first; while 9 weeks is a good chunk of time, we have alot planned for our summer. I am buckling in because I am prepared for a busy and crazy ride!