Thankful Thursday

It is 11:57, and my daughters will be up in 5 - 6 hours.  I have a full day of plans tomorrow, too, so this is Thankful Thursday in fast motion.

There is much to be thankful for this week.  Such a full social life.  Friends and family have filled my days, and I am so blessed.  My best friend from Michigan is here with my nephews, and I loooved spending the day together, walking to the park, salads for lunch, warm cookies out of the oven, sitting in the sun in the afternoon, and watching the boys dig in the dirt (which left a giant hole in our grass, by the way...).  The weather was exquisite.  Tonight was Girls Night Out with my besties, and it is always a blast sharing chips and salsa and margaritas together.  We can talk for hours like nobody's business.  We swap recipes, talk about silly things, talk about big things, and talk about our roles as mothers and wives and homemakers and friends.  For ALL of these things, I am thankful.

What are you thankful for today?

In other news, I came across this amazing website this week, The Orange Rhino Challenge.  She writes about her process of stopping yelling at her kids.  I am inspired.  I am joining this challenge of no yelling.  Day One??  Success!!  Care to join me on this journey?  I'd love it!  Let me know so we can encourage one another!

Humble Confidence

Micah's good bud from Minnesota recently sent him a Lego Ninjago book in the mail with a cute note.

I decided Micah should write him a thank you, and I figured it would be a perfect time to do a letter-writing review.  Little did I know that this would turn into a three day, hours long, four-draft process.  Oh, but it did.

The first attempt was a handful of words.  I suggested he add some more.

The second attempt went like this...
Dear H,
Thank you for the book.
I like it.
I am doing second grade math and read at third to fourth grade reading level.
From,
Micah

Soooo...I had a small discussion with Micah about the fact that although I know (and truly believe) that he has no intention of bragging (about his academic standings), it could be perceived as bragging.  And I decided that this would be a good moment to teach my son about how to be a good friend and not brag to our friends and that they could feel badly, etc.  So I suggested that we start over.  "Think of it as good letter writing practice," I attempted.  Not so effective.  My six-year old was M.A.D.  He threw the note in the garbage and had some snarky remarks for me in his frustration.  He was quite distracted for awhile with the next attempt, and when I finally saw him immersed in his writing, I was thrilled!

And then he brought me this...

 

Completely speechless, I found an excuse for him to go in the other room for a minute so I could quickly dial my husband and say, "What do I DO?  This has already taken so much time??  Do we just send it?  Do I push the issue more??"  My wise hubby said to just leave it be, as long as Micah was sure that's what he wanted to say to his buddy.

Well, what do you know??  A few hours later at bedtime, after the negative emotions had been replaced with a fun dinner together, some snuggling and book reading, and a more calm spirit, Micah said to me, "Could I write a new letter to H tomorrow?  That one is kinda weird..."  I laughed and agreed with him and inwardly celebrated this little victory of him coming to his own conclusion without my prompting.  And the final letter was written with a good attitude today...

As minor of a situation as this may seem, it was a big deal to me.  It raised the question I have frequently asked myself, how do I teach my son to be confident, yet humble, at the same time?

I have thought about this many times before.  I want my children to think they are the best thing since sliced bread.  I want them to know how incredibly gifted and talented and brilliant they each are.  I want them to know that I am their biggest fan.  And I want them to have a healthy, strong sense of identity and self worth in Christ.  So how do I both build them up and affirm all of their brilliance and giftings without them becoming arrogant?

Is it just in the modeling?  Do we keep guiding them along verbally?  Only through prayer?
This is the question I have yet to answer.

As in most things, I turn to prayer.  I have prayed over my son at night countless nights, "Lord, help Micah to be confident in who he is, but humble, too."  And maybe this is sufficient.  Maybe God's grace will cover this request of mine and maybe discernment will come in the moment on how to train and teach and guide.  But what if there's something more?

What do you think?
Have you figured out how to teach your children a humble confidence?
Do share!

Easter Honesty

In an effort to maintain honesty (see No More Perfect Moms), I would like to share that it was an imperfect Easter.  Lovely, but imperfect.  The night before, I was in the kitchen longer than I expected, and my hubby was trying hard to keep things running with the kiddos.  We started to dye eggs while I was making dinner, and the kids asked after two eggs if they could be done...(What??  Who doesn't love to dye Easter eggs?)  Our baby was feverish and sick, the kids were overtired, and there was a tornado that blew through our kitchen as I made things for Easter and also tried to mash cauliflower in an attempt to have a new, healthy side for dinner.  Weeeellll, thankfully, the kids got a second wind with the Easter eggs, although  many eggs ended up cracked and many fingers ended up stained.  They didn't like the cauliflower (but Zach and I did!) and they were all a mess by bedtime.  Zach fell asleep early, exhausted from the day, and I was left to fill and hide baskets myself.

Sunday morning came, and I was thinking that surely, the morning would be perfect.  It was Resurrection Sunday, for goodness sake!  But Sophia continued to be sick and needed someone to hold her the whole morning, Zach and I were arguing...(I know, silly, silly).  And Ella didn't want to wear her Easter dress.  We left the messy house in a hurry and in crabby moods, but thankfully, Zach and I apologized and connected on our way into church and during the service.  Phew.

My heart was burdened for a friend who was struggling, there were points in the day when I didn't think I could stay awake, and we had to put Sophia in a tepid bath following Easter dinner (when her fever reached 104.6!) and put a call into the pediatrician.  But you know what??  On the way home, I told Zach, it was a nice day.  The children had a blast at Nana and Papa's, we got to go outside for the Easter egg hunt, and I loved spending time with my parents and my sister and her family.  Micah and Sammy initiated "The Question Game" during dinner, having everyone come up with a question (i.e., "What's your favorite dessert?" and going around the table answering.  Precious how they facilitated the discussion.  And Ella insisted on only having purple and pink eggs in her basket.  During the Easter egg hunt, she would notice an orange egg and walk right on by.  Or, she would pick up an egg, look at it and realize it was green, and put it into her cousin's basket instead.  We laughed so hard as we finally realized why she was giving her eggs away.  So cute.  So girly.

The day was messy at points, but it was lovely.  We had celebratory worship at church, sweet time with family, delicious food, and [mostly] happy kids.  But, most importantly, we knew that we were celebrating the freedom and joy of the truth that Jesus is ALIVE!  And that carried us through our day with peace.

Death, where is your sting?  

Grave, where is your victory?  

He's ALIVE!  He's ALIVE!  

He is RISEN!

(a song we sang on Sunday)

Happy Easter!

Thankful Thursday

So I unintentionally have been on a break from blogging this past week...too busy living, I guess.

Nothing incredibly new or different, but lots of full days of activities and relationships and such.  And I am happy.

Last week, I had my kids participate in Thankful Thursday and tell me all their gifts for that day, and then I never got to posting my own gifts!  So here are their thankfuls from last week...

Sammy's Gifts...
I'm thankful for Daddy, Mommy, Sophia, Sammy, pretzels, that I'm four now!, Micah, God, Ella, Lydia and Luke, Chuck, that I get to play Mario, that I play with the castle and I get to save someone new, that we have a bunch of Legos, that we have a lot of Matt Christopher books and Magic Treehouse books, that I'm Big Boy Hulk.

Ella's Gifts...
I'm thankful for Daddy, Ella, Sammy, Micah, Princess, my friend Teddy, Sophia, Mommy, and dancing.

Micah's Gifts...
I'm thankful for a heart, that I got lots of tickets at Chuck E. Cheese, that I can't do a backflip because it's kind of dangerous, family, friends, Sammy's toy castle, that Sammy and Ella love to play together, Mario,  Matt Christopher books and Magic Treehouse books, that Sammy likes the knight game and wants to play it with me, that Daddy's cool, that we're going to Michigan tomorrow, that we're not homeless and helpless, and that we have lots of Bibles.

I love hearing what they come up with and love watching their little minds think.


Today, I am thankful for all of the people in our lives.  Our lives are rich and full.  And I'm thankful that we've had some sweet times with lots of these folks in our lives lately.

Celebrating good news of a new job and a successful exam with our small group...

Being completely spoiled by having a dear, family friend, Arden, over for the day as a "mother's helper."  It was SO fun.  We did a craft and she helped me in getting things done and playing with the children while I had some writing time.  She even found my broom and started sweeping the floor after lunch!!!!  Amazing, right?  What a blessing.

Arden's family came over for dinner last week, and it was such a fun time!  Here is a pic of all TEN children around the table eating dinner together.  SO fun!

My amazing sister starred as the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  We brought our three big kids and we all LOVED it.  My sister is incredibly talented AND gorgeous!  Way to go, Anj!

The kids and I got to have lunch with two of my girlfriends from college, who I traveled abroad with one semester, and it was so good to see them after several years!!!  What a treat!

Today we had a playdate with our homeschooling buddies.  I don't know what I would do without my friend, Jen.  We do monthly field trips together, our kids get along great, and we are in a book study together, too, where we have grown closer and deeper in our friendship over the years.  Today, I left feeling so blessed to have a friend that I am so comfortable with, who lets my baby go through her cupboards, who feeds us all lunch, and who I can talk with for hours and still have more to say.  The kids made a cute Easter craft of Jesus's empty tomb, and I loved that they put their hands to making something that had to do with the meaning of Easter, each of them writing, HE IS RISEN on the bottom!  Beautiful!

I am thankful for daffodils on my kitchen table, a gift from a generous woman in our small group.  They literally bloomed overnight, and I literally feel happy looking at them.  What a beautiful sign of spring and life and new beginnings.

I am thankful for having a break this week from school, leaving time to play with dear friends and snuggle up together on the couch for movies and reading books.  

I am thankful for all of Sophia's new words...she is in the most precious stage, copying everything we say and do, clapping, dancing, smiling, giggling, delighting in life as only a baby can.  

I am thankful for Ella's sweet voice that rings with JOY all throughout my day.  I could never tire of hearing that girl's voice.

I am thankful for Sammy's smile and his sweet spirit.  Turning four seemed to give him a fresh boost of energy and love for life.  He seems to be enjoying himself more and more these days.  What a gift!

I am thankful for Micah's mind developing and growing each day, constantly mulling over new thoughts and words and ideas, and I am thankful for the thoughts he lets me into.  His thoughts are refreshing and powerful.

I am excited about the holiday weekend, and I am hoping that as you are reading this, you are knowing that Easter encompasses everything that we live and breathe and believe.  Jesus willingly died for the shortcomings of you and me, and through his redemption on the cross, through his blood and sacrifice, we can have life overflowing in the here and now, and life eternal one day in heaven.  This is the exact truth that gives us purpose and meaning and hope.  The joy and the life and love that we can embrace and experience are all from this moment on the cross.  I pray you will know this truth today...for the truth will set you free!

Happy Easter!