68 Degrees and Holding

So. . for many of you living in the midwest or east cost, this might seem silly to you, but it is currently 68 degrees in my house!! All the windows are open, it is cloudy and windy, praise GOD!! I know this might seem foolish to some of you, but we have already this spring/summer (depending on where you live) had temps over 100 degrees. And if you know anything about AZ, if it is this hot already it will be a very, very, very long and extremely HOT summer. So today is very abnormal and it is WONDERFUL. I love this weather and it is a much needed break from our very hot days. I need to soak it up now because next week I hear it is back to 100 degrees again. Oh well, some things can't last forever. :)

One Blustery Morning

Well, the winds have been CRAZY today, gusting to almost 34 miles an hour combined with a warm 94 degrees. My goodness we are in for a LONG summer. Anyway I thought I'd share what the kids and I did this morning all before noon. Needless to say I am going to have to find some more activities to keep my cherubs busy this summer. I documented some of the activities with photos that I will also share. :)

So, as I was up with Sean last night, Jeff was kind enough to get up with Lauren at 6 am this morning. He made Lauren breakfast and I got up around 7 and made Sean's breakfast and something else for Lauren as she was still hungry, made coffee, fed the dogs, etc.
After Jeff left I started some laundry (for those of you with kids you know that you feel you are ALWAYS doing laundry) and let the kids watch Super Why and Dragon Tales on PBS. Yes, I know. I let my kids watch TV. Believe me I was much better about this when I only had one child. I had strict rules about TV watching (it rarely happened). That soon flew out the window with 2 kids at home, but at least it is PBS. So the kids were watching TV, I was folding laundry that I didn't get out of the dryer last night and cleaning up breakfast dishes.

Then after the shows we did finger painting. Lauren loves to finger paint, this was Sean's first time. I don't know if his high chair is like the bell for Pavlov's dog, but he ate the finger paint. . here are some pictures of that adventure.

After the finger painting in pjs, we went outside to play in the wind and the blow up pool that I only wanted to fill up a bit as not to waste water, and because ultimately I am lazy mommy who doesn't want to tell my son one hundred and two times to put the hose back in the pool. Here is that adventure. .

We soon after entered back into the house all wet and got dressed to attend a local library toddler story time. If you have never attended one of these. Think of a chicken coop with chickens running all over, throw some food (mini bean bags & music toys) at them, then try to catch them, tell them to sit and lay an egg (listen to a story or two). Pretty crazy. . . here are two of my chickens outside the library playing on the statues (once again in the wind). :)


After getting 2 kids books, a book for me and a Veggie Tales Bible Heroes DVD we were on our way home for lunch. But, being the fun (and remember lazy) mommy I am, we stopped at McDonald's and had chicken nuggets for lunch.
All this before noon! Whew. . .

Endings

So today is our last day of Lauren's first year in preschool. This is her "last day" picture.

I always thought it was a tad bit silly when parents became sentimental about these things. I mean, come on, it is just preschool and she is only 3! But I think that was BEFORE I had kids. Now as I tie ribbons on the cookie plates for her teachers (all her idea I must say), and write in fun cards, I have this strange feeling that I can't really explain. Maybe it is fear and trepidation about keeping my 3 year busy for the whole summer at temperatures that will be over 100 degrees. Or, maybe it is just a reality that all parents face that their kids do get older. They change, grow, and develop.

I can't help but feeling teary and joyful at the same time. It is wonderful to see her grow and change and develop her sense of self and her sense of humor. But she is not tiny any more. She runs, jumps and gets in her own car seat. It does go by in a flash, after all I can't believe that she is 3 years old! I find myself wanting to go in her room at night and hold her and kiss her forehead like I did when she was little. Pretty much like the I'll Love You Forever book. I am guessing that these feelings I have don't ever go away and I will probably still want to hold her at night and kiss her forehead when she is 23. Oh, by the way the second picture is her first day of preschool this year. :)

I've got a long way to go. . .

So, there are times in life when I finally feel a bit "grown up" if you will. Then, there are times like today when something blows up and it puts me right back to having a long way to go before I have actually grown up. The problem being that I can't just accept God's validation, that I have to receive it from others I think puts me not quite at grown up. To me grown ups, are able to be confident in who they are and who the Lord has made them to be. They don't need to seek approval from parents, spouses, siblings, friends, etc. They feel content and are joyful about their situation. Let me tell you I have a long way to go and today put me back on my path. Thank goodness for God's grace.

Guilt

Okay this title was inspired by this blog and actually many other things. I have not written in forever, granted Jeff was gone, my wonderful mother in law became hospitalized and had to have 2 different surgeries, and the daily aspects of living all have happened.

I have discovered that there are so many things I can feel guilty about in a day. That I have not sent family pics of my kids, that I have not called to check up on my mother in law, that my laundry is not done, that I need to send notes to some friends, the bathrooms need a good scrubbing, that I don't play with my kids enough, that I lost patience with my children this morning. All of it. . ridden with that word GUILT!!! I also feel guilty for writing this blog when there is laundry to do and dishes to clean, but then feel guilty that I have not written in my blog! Oh my goodness, I am so silly (as my daughter would say)! She is right. She is only 3 and she is right! I am silly.

So today I am going to write this blog, and not feel guilty. I might even sit down and have a cup of coffee and read while my little angels are asleep. Then I will try to discuss with another mom friend how they lost their patience with their children to help me absolve my own "mother guilt". And maybe I will ignore the laundry until the kids go to bed and play blocks and color and run in the backyard all afternoon. After all that sounds like much more fun. . .yes I will do that and maybe in my next blog, I will let you know how it went. :)

PS. . Jeff is safely back from Tel Aviv, he worked hard, but did get to tour some. He will go back again before the summer is over. He said it was wonderful and not at all what the media portrays it to be.