The Preacher's Wife

Happy Mother's Day to Me

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend celebration.  It started off with some chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite!) and a bound book of all of my blog entries printed out from my very first entry.  This in and of itself was enough. 

Then on Thursday, Steven and I left to go to the Creative Marriage Retreat in Dallas, Texas (put on by Ed and Lisa Young at Fellowship Church).  We had a wonderful time.  I got to meet lots of other pastor's wives, eat lots of great meals, get lots of sleep and I got my husband's undivided attention for 4 days.  We missed our kids but had a wonderful time.

When my day started at 6 this morning with little voices calling me, I was ready to start the day.  Now thats a great Mother's day present.

Happy Birthday to my mom.  She's an incredible lady with a huge heart for her family and for the Lord.  She has served the Lord since she was a little child and though she has been through many tough life circumstances, her faith has never wavered.  She is a great example to me and I love her.  We love you Dee Dee!

Technology

Recently I had to type out our daily routine as well as some general house information for an overnight sitter when Steven and I go to a conference.  Here is what I typed concerning the use of our television.  How complicated is technology I must ask????

• Using the TV
  • Turning on the TV:
    • Push power on the LG remote
    • Push power on the Yamaha remote (this is also volume)
    • Change channels with cable remote
    • Please make sure you turn the tv off at night and before leaving
  • Watching a DVD
    • Push input (very top right) on LG remote.  Scroll down to HD2, hit enter.
    • Push orange button on Yamaha remote that says DTV/CBL
    • Use white remote to navigate dvd menu on Xbox
  • To go from DVD to TV
    • Push input on LG remote, select up for HD1
    • Push orange button on Yamaha remote that says DVD
    • Use cable remote

Things that disappear

It is 7:30.  I have been up for about an hour, Graham has been up for about an hour and a half.  I have once again resisted the Baby Einstein urge to get some stuff done.  I am deliriously sleepy because it is Monday and I stood beside my husband for three services and a newcomers lunch yesterday, and because I have been too lazy to go an fix my tea.

I came down here to place my grocery order for the week (yes, I still online shop) but ended up catching up on my friend's blogs.  Graham has been crawling around, playing at my feet and leaving little piles of spit-up everywhere (note to self, make sure he wears a bib today, its going to be one of those days.)  I left a comment on my friends blog that looks like I do not know how to type or spell.  I guess I really need some tea.

Before I get to the point of my post, I have to tell you that I was awoken at 2:30 to Elijah screaming my name.  I went in his room to ask him what was wrong to which he replied "I pooped."  Ok, who poops in the middle of the night (this was not a sick poop)?  Apparently, Elijah does.  I changed him, then tucked him in and crawled back in bed.  Thankfully we both went back to sleep.  He is still sleeping and I am a little jealous.  I wonder what age Elijah will be when he can get up with Graham???

Ok, the purpose of this post.  Things that disappear.  I know people say that socks disappear.  We don't have that problem.  Although my mom does.  Her house is like a sock hole.  I have noticed however, that I can't keep up with baby spoons.  You know, the take and toss that I always take, rarely toss, but they never seem to make it back to my dishwasher.  Yesterday, I was changing purses for church and I found a spoon in both of the purses.  Those made it in the dishwasher last night.  I bet there are a bunch in Graham's bag?

Ok.  Tea time.  Happy Monday.

Home cooked meals

Last night I watched the first half of one of my favorite shows, Top Chef.  The task of the episode is for the chefs to make a meal for a family of four on ten dollars.  I can't wait to finish it because I am always looking for good meals that don't cost a lot or take a lot of time.

I think every woman gets frustrated with cooking dinner.  I want to provide a healthy meal for my family and I want to save money by eating at home but sometimes it gets frustrating.  I am definitely getting better at this.  Here are a few things I have learned...

• Don't try to make every meal a 4 course culinary creation.  Pinto beans, rice and cornbread is a great meal that takes little time, is cheap, healthy and filling.  Sometimes making a big meal, and having a huge clean up adds stress to the evening.
• Don't feel like you have to cook 7 meals a week.  I usually try to plan for 3-4 meals a week, and depend on leftovers and sandwich meats for lunches and the other 2 dinners. 
• Plan, plan, plan.  Part of the frustration is when 4 o'clock rolls around and I have no idea or inspiration for dinner.  When I make my grocery list I plan for the 3-4 meals I want to cook.  That way at 4pm, the decision has already been made and the ingredients are already there.  There are a lot of easy soups and beans that don't take a lot of time but they do take some prior planning because you have to pre-soak, or cook for a longer time period.
• Try to keep the ingredients for a few simple meals in case you get in a bind.  Like chili, or spaghetti.  I almost always have ground beef, chicken breasts and talapia in my freezer (I buy in bulk from Sam's).
• When you plan your meals, try to plan to recook your leftovers.  For instance, if I make meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I will try to buy extra ground beef and make extra potatoes then I can make a shepherd's pie a few days later.  Or if I make a chicken dish, I will use leftover chicken for a soup or chicken salad.

One of my goals as a wife and mother it to eliminate all the stress and drama that I possible can.  Because I don't work, I feel that I can eliminate the stress of "what are we going to do for dinner???"  Most weeks, I even plan what nights we are going to go out to eat.  This helps with the budget too!  I desperately try to make our home a place my husband looks forward to coming home to after work.  Food is important to everyone.  I think my husband can be more relaxed because he knows I am going to have something for everyone to eat, eventually.  It may be after the baby is asleep before I start cooking, but we always have something!

Tonight is date night.  Elijah will get Campbell's Cars and chicken soup.  Graham will get baby food and formula.  Steven and I will get PF Chang's!  Yum.

The artist

Yesterday I walked in to the room to find Graham's head covered in yellow highlighter.  I called Elijah into the room and asked him what he did and he answered matter of factly, "I cuwwerd on him."  I couldn't help but laugh.  The picture does give a great representation of Elijah's work since most of the markings were on the back of Graham's little head.  Secretly I was just glad he had not hit Graham. 

It doesn't get easier

Friday night Steven and I had the opportunity to eat dinner with Ed and Lisa Young.  We had a wonderful time.  No two people could have been nicer to us.  I as comfortable talking with them as if I had known them for years.

As church planters, you can imagine that we were eager to pick their brains.  Talk about church and how they manage the day to day toll on their lives and family.  So what did I learn?  No matter what stage of life you are in, it never gets easier, it just gets different.

Lisa said that she thinks they are in the most stressful period of ministry ever.  Really?  More stressful than when you were making pennies?  More stressful than when you were wondering if people were going to show up each Sunday?  More stressful than when you were in the middle of a growing church and you had two young kids, and twin baby girls???  I almost couldn't believe my ears.

I think no matter what stage we are in life we tend to think it will be easier when I graduate from college, or get married, or have a baby and stay home, or when our church has a building or our children are older or when we are making more money.  The fact of the matter is it doesn't get easier, it just gets different.

Yes, having two children in diapers is physically straining.  But having teenagers can give you an ulcer from the emotional stress.  Or having a young church that barely makes payroll is stressful, but keeping a big church current, growing and healthy can certainly be straining also.

Stress is stress no matter what stage of life you are in.  The key is to not live in the perpetual state of "when I... then I will not be stressed."  But to embrace each stage of life as a gift from God.  To trust Him with the stress and use it to draw you closer to Him.  My prayer is that I will be content and enjoy life each day and each stage because later does not equal better.

Waked Up

Graham has decided to become a little early bird.  I think he got switched at the hospital and someone else has my real baby who likes to sleep in (ha ha, he looks too much like his daddy to even suggest this). 

This is the second morning this week that Graham has been awake at 5:15.  If you know me at all, you know this is a great tragedy.  I hate mornings.  I know, I shouldn't.  I keep trying to tell my self that I should embrace this season of life.  Get up, shower, study my bible, clean house.  But all I can think about is my warm bed and soft pillow.  I need some tea right now.

Ironically, I wrote a post on Monday when we were downstairs this early.  I guess I was to out of it to remember to actually post it and it got deleted at some point during that day.

Whenever we are in the car and I ask Elijah, "Is Graham awake of asleep?"  If he is awake Elijah always says, "Waked up."  So here we are at 6:36, waked up!  I know when my kids are in school we will be up this early.  But that is not in the near future and usually, my kids are not up until about 7 am.

Today I am not going to fight it.  I resisted the urge to put Graham in the swing, put on a Baby Einstein and sleep some more.  I am going to fix myself some tea and do my Bible study.

The days of Elijah

Yesterday, we ate lunch with a friend of mine from Shelby.  She has a daughter named Kensley.  When I told Elijah we would be eating with Kensley he said "Ken-sa-wee, thats wike McKenzie."  McKenzie is one of our favorite babysitters.  Even though I corrected him, he called Kensley, McKenzie.

Later that afternoon Elijah ventured away from his toys and decided to play in my room while I was working in my closet.  I came out to find him shirtless, holding an empty water glass (I take a glass of water to bed every night and Elijah knows he is not suppose to play with it since it almost always has water in it.)  He had a look on his face like he was caught.  I went to his bedroom to find he was already trying to cover up.  He had spilled the water on his shirt and the floor.  So he removed his shirt and got a towel out of the linen closet to dry up the carpet.  This was the first time Elijah ever tried to fix something he had messed up.

That night at dinner we had a random conversation that went something like this.

E: Mommy, are you a women?

Me: Yes.

E: Is Nana (Nicole) a women?

Me:  Yes.

E:  Is McKenzie a women?

Me: Yes

E: Who else is a women?

We named some other women.  Then I asked, what is daddy?

E: (long thinking pause) umm a daddy.

When I put him to bed I found my pillow in the place of his.  I guess he swiped that around the time when he stole the glass of water.

The days are never dull around here!

Not Again

I feel like I may need a prescription to calm my nerves before the day is over.  I did something against my better judgment... I took both of my children to the Dr at the same time.  You may not think this is a big deal but it is when you have two boys, it is.  Sometimes Elijah gets in this mood where it is like he took some kind of hyper pill and he cannot to save his life sit still for more than 2 seconds.  This was the case today.  Graham on the other hand is a wiggly worm.  He has started crawling and wants constantly to be into things. 

Currently my mind is in a fog.  I think I am in the process of blocking some of the following memories:

The Waiting Room:

• Did Elijah really hang upside down in the chair?
• Did he really get out a handful of brochures, and make a mess as he "read" the story of Jonah?
• Did he really hit Graham in the stomach and then turn around and head butt him?

The Exam Room:

• Graham ate the paper that covers the table
• Elijah managed to spread the books and toys all over the floor (those toys seem so dirty too!)

I don't know how either one of them held still long enough to even be examined.  I also don't know how the Dr was able to talk over the chaos or how I was able to listen.  I think I came out with the diagnosis of a cold for Elijah and bronchitis for Graham.  I kept having to repeat the Dr to make sure I understood everything.  Its not that I am stupid but who can think when you are in a small room with wild children.

When we got in car I just needed to sit for a minute while everyone was strapped in.  God bless car seat laws!

I am so thankful for such a patient staff.  I love my Dr's office.  The receptionists treat me so well and so do all the nurses.  They really love my kids and that makes me fell good.

Everybody is going to bed early tonight.  Including me.

For the birds

I am going to preface this post with a disclaimer... please do not comment to me about how I am an inhumane animal hater.  Feel sorry for me because I am afraid of animals.  Now the post...

Ok so it is no secret that I am a girlie girl.  I don't like the outdoors and I don't care for animals.  I had a chihuahua, Yo-yo, for a while before we had kids.  I loved her but will probably never have another pet.  I just don't care for animals.

So for the past couple weeks I noticed a bird flying around my front porch any time I opened the door (we don't use our front door as a main entry to our home but do use to let guests out at night after we have closed our garage).  Each time I opened the door, I was scared that the bird would fly in my house.  I began to think that it was nesting in my flower arrangement hanging on the front door.  Now that I think back, I even remember hearing birds chirping when I walked past the door and I thought it was the TV.

Well, yesterday morning I opened the door to find a tiny baby bird dead on my welcome mat.  (Please understand that a fear of birds runs deep in the women of my family.  I think because my mom is afraid of them, we are too.  My mom had a traumatizing childhood experience where she was "chased" by a chicken with its head cut off.  Literally.  See my sisters post today to read her take.)  I was so grossed out.  I asked Steven to take care of it because I couldn't.

About an hour later he called me.  His words were "I took care of your birds."  Birds?  He proceeded to tell me that I was right.  There was a nest in my flowers (silk) full of baby birds.  He said he removed the flowers, without touching the nest, and placed it on the side of the house.

I told him I felt sad because I am fairly certain the mother will not return to the babies.  To which my soul mate replied "Well, there are enough birds in the world."