Counting "Buggies"

My older kids recently watched a Herbie movie and have now taken up an activity that my brothers and I practiced in our younger days - counting "buggies" more commonly known as Volkswagon Beetles. It is fun to see how excited they get when they spot one, and I love watching the younger kids copy the older ones and shout "Buggy!" from their car seat or stroller.

This week I realized something interesting. In spite of the fact that I haven't consciously counted Volkswagons in at least 20 years, suddenly I am noticing them again. Twice this week I while I was out without Josh and Annie I counted them and reported the total number and various colors to the children when I returned home. Today I saw 6 just on the way home from the gym. I had never noticed how many there were.

It was then that I began to wonder about how many other things I don't notice. Am I missing important things that I should be noticing? Do I notice when someone is lonely or sad or worried? Do I notice if a neighbor needs something? Do I notice when a friend hasn't been at church lately? Do I notice when my kids need a little extra time or attention from me? Do I notice when someone does something nice for me? Do I notice how God provides for my needs and supplies me with so many "wants" to boot? And, more importantly, what do I do when I notice?

I don't want to get so caught up in the "stuff" of mothering that I don't spend enough time just loving on my kids. I don't want to be too busy to help or too tired to say "Thank you." Maybe we need to look around at the people around us more carefully than the cars on the road. Maybe next time we're out counting buggies we'll start counting blessings.

Relay for Life - American Cancer Society

This past weekend Craig, Josh, Annie and I walked with my mom in the ACS Relay for Life in Almaden Valley. We walked as a part of a team from South Hills, the church where I was raised. This was such a neat experience for all of us. It felt so good to do something tangible - everyone has been touched by cancer in some way and this gave us a chance to help make a difference.

This spring my 92 year old grandma - Antoinette Petrov - went through 5 weeks of chemo and radiation treatments. Just tonight we learned the good news - they got it all! Craig's cousin Marina also recently went through chemo. We had the opportunity to purchase luminarias in their honor.

Relay is a 24 hour event but we weren't there the whole time (hence the name). We were there for the opening ceremonies and watched the "survivor lap" (survivor shirts are purple, supporters wore white, if you are looking at the pictures in the slideshow to the left) before walking our one hour shift. We returned at night for the luminaria ceremony - complete with a guest speaker and some bag pipe players who did a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace, and many other great songs - before walking some more. What a beautiful visual - a 1/4 mile track lined with luminarias - each representing someone's mother, father, sister, brother, grandma, grandpa or son or daughter. And then in the bleachers - more, spelling out the word "hope".

Together we can make a difference.

Things I'm Thankful for This Weekend

1. Antibiotics. I had a terrible case of strep throat...all 6 of us are on antibiotics. I feel so much better than I did a few days ago. I'm also particularly thankful for fruity flavored liquid antibiotics. Getting the kids to take medicine has never been so easy. (As long as I remember to consult the spreadsheet and get the right kid the right dosage at the right time.)

2. Waking up at 8am. This is nothing short of a miracle with 4 kids. Waking up at 8am on Saturday was definitely a highlight of the weekend.

3. Saturday breakfast. I love this tradition that Craig has of making fantastic breakfasts on the weekends. I love that Max calls Dutch pancakes "Pancake Muffin Mans" and that he calls raspberries "tiny grapes" as he picks them out of the fruit sauce.

4. Giggles. So many times this weekend I caught myself just smiling as I watched my kids play together and giggle about all sorts of goofy things. I also found myself trying to stifle my own giggles now and then, like when Max got out of bed and hid in the closet. He had only promised not to climb into bed with Josh or Annie anymore...I hadn't specifically said anything about not going in the closet.

5. Weddings. Even though I didn't go to the shoot this weekend, I'm thankful for the way God provides for us through our business. I thank God for my husband and his love of wedding videography, and the fun we have when we do work together.

6. Macaroni & Cheese. I don't actually like Kraft mac'n'cheese but it's a crowd pleaser and it works for dinner when Craig is gone.

7. Our yard. Our kids had so much fun playing outside this weekend. They made up obstacle courses and pulled each other in the wagon around the front yard. They played in their cardboard box playhouse on the back deck and spent hours in an inflatable pool that they bought themselves at Wal-Mart.

8. My kids. I love watching them play together. Even though there are many tough times, I can see the joy of the "buddy system" every day.

9. Brave friends, peach ice cream & traveling pants. I'm thankful that Sarah and Anna came over Saturday night to watch the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with me, in spite of the fact that we are all technically getting over strep. And I'm really thankful for Anna's homemade peach ice cream made with fresh-from-the-farmers-market-today peaches.

10. Craig. He's an amazing husband and a fantastic father. Even though we didn't have huge plans, I enjoyed spending Father's Day with him.

A Day in My Life...

7:20 - drag myself out of bed since 3 kids are already downstairs with Craig; get dressed in workout clothes and pack bag for the gym

8:20 - make sure that Josh and Annie have had breakfast, brushed their teeth, packed their lunches and have their homework in their backpacks and are out the door in time to catch the school bus

play with Max and Noah and feed them breakfast

9:05 - leave for the gym

9:06 - call Craig to ask a quick question and find out the Josh and Annie's school is in lockdown because of a report of a student carrying a gun

9:07 - drive by the school to ease any fears that my imagination has been conjuring up; see that everything looks normal and head to the gym

9:40 - check kids into childcare and head upstairs to ride a bike; poop out after 5 miles, so some abs, and go take a shower.

11:30 - meet a Mary Kay consultant in the Kohl's parking lot to barter some products (found her on craigslist); leave with a couple lipsticks, a cleansing bar and my moisturizer that I traded for products that cost me nothing!

11:40 - head to Wal-Mart; decide against using the backpack/cart routine and put the boys in the double stroller and carry a hand cart; can't find the snacks I wanted for today's meeting...choose something else and get the rest of the items on the list, which now fill my entire hand cart and the whole bottom compartment of the stroller.

12:30 - get home, unload groceries, chat with neighbor who is gardening, feed kids and eat some leftover pizza

1:00 - put Noah down, play with Max on the computer

1:15 - put Max down, start preparing for this afternoon's meeting

1:40 - realize how tired I am and decide to take a short nap before the sitter comes

1:42 - get call from boss with more things to prep for today's meeting

1:43 - call sitter (good friend) and ask her to please get me a Dr Pepper on her way

2:20 - scramble to get out the door on time with everything I need, wave to neighbor who is still gardening

2:45 - arrive at meeting site to set up and realize I'm missing the papers my boss I asked me to bring

2:52 - locate someone in the building kind enough to receive a fax and call sitter

3:00 - 5:15 - long meeting...

5:15 - 5:30 - finish paperwork so I can finally get paid, head home, chat with neighbor who let Annie help her in her gardening

5:45 - greet kids, chat with sitter, try on shoes she brought me, start dinner; realize that dinner won't be done before Annie needs to leave for Girl Scouts so I make her a turkey sandwich

6:05 - Craig comes home - earlier than expected!

6:25 - take Annie to Girl Scouts (wave to neighbor with the beautiful garden)

6:35 - eat dinner with the boys

6:55 - leave for the park (as previously promised, before I knew Craig would be home early)

7:25 - leave the park to get Annie from Girl Scouts (leave Craig and Josh there because they had wandered off looking for frogs and lost track of time), go back to look for Craig and Josh

7:40 - return to house; get in Craig's car and leave for tutoring job

8:00 - 9:30 - work on a translation assignment for a Spanish 8 student

9:37 - pop into the "other" Wal-Mart to look for a particular article of clothing (mission unsuccessful)

10:01 - arrive home; check e-mail, MOPS website, craigslist job postings and Facebook updates; write this blog

10:45 - heading to bed

(Can't wait for tomorrow - minimum day for Josh and Annie, packing for the weekend, driving to San Jose...)

Copy Cats

I love watching my children play together. It is interesting to see what they do and say and how they interact with each other. I am fascinated as I see my younger kids learning from their older siblings and following their example. Most of them time this is a good thing! It is also eye opening to see my children exhibit traits of mine.

I remember one day when Annie was not even three...She had a purse on her shoulder and a toy phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder. "Bye! I'm going to MOPS!" she called as she marched down the hallway.

Just today I watched as Max (turning 3 in August) climbed up the ladder on the swing set and perched himself proudly at the top of the slide. "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah!" he sang out as he swayed back and forth before sliding down. I didn't have to wonder where he learned that (Josh - age 8). Later, I picked Noah up (18 months) and put him on the platform at the top of the slide. As I reached for his hand so I could help him slide down he said "Oh yeah!" and grinned proudly.

There are other times when I don't laugh at my little copy cats. Sometimes I see selfishness or rudeness or impatience in my children and I cringe knowing that I don't always model characteristics worthy of being imitated. I am reminded of the quote that says that we are ALL examples; some good examples and some bad examples. As I ponder what characteristics I want to pass on to my children I am reminded of Ephesians 5:1, Be imitators of God.

Yes, of course. All I have to do is copy God so my kids can copy me and then copy each other. Copy God? Where do I even try to start? I guess I can start with reading his word. So, for today, I'll start by looking at Ephesians 5:1 and the verses that come before and after it.

Ephesians 4:29 - 5:4

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

Lord, please help me each day to choose to copy you in these areas.