Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I'm taking up permanent residence at the E.R.

I knew it would happen eventually. Kids and E.R.'s just go hand in hand. When you have a child, you're always aware of the closest E.R. I don't do well with poop. Or vomit. Or blood for that matter. Come to think of it, I now realize why God gave me girls. And ONLY two of them. In fact, sometimes I see it as a miracle of all miracles that He gave me children at all, seeing as how I don't do well with poop. Or vomit. Or blood. But today at swimming lessons, Lexi was getting out of the water and while climbing up the steps and holding onto the metal rails, she lost her footing and fell and hit her chin on the concrete. The result was yet ANOTHER trip to the E.R....our 2nd in a week! The first trip was when Nanny fell. I said to someone, I'm probably going to be investigated soon. My grandmother comes in with broken ribs and my child with a big open gash on her chin! Lexi's chin was cut so deep, the bone was exposed. I was pretty weak in the knees just looking at it. She ended up with FIVE stitches! She handled it like a pro! Not a single tear! Me, on the other hand, I had spaghetti legs the whole time and the nurse kept coming in checking on ME, not her! Thank God daddy arrived in the knick of time! He's good at that kind of stuff. So no more swimming for a while! $100 bucks and 5 stitches later, we headed out to Dairy Queen for some lunch and ice cream! What a week!

Monday, July 13, 2009

What to do when your kids don't want to go to church and your husband is the children's pastor...hmmm...

I'm going to be a bit transparent here and don't act like you can't identify with what I'm talkin about! I think every mom, at some point, feels some pressure of living up to other mothers' standards or expectations. Because women can be brutal. Really. We can! Not me. But you know. ;-) But can I just be honest for a minute and tell you there's not any pressure in child rearing quite like having a husband who is a CHILDREN'S pastor of all things? Aren't my children supposed to be perfect? And quote scripture as freely as a 12 yr old girl sings Hannah Montana songs??? Aren't my kids supposed to be "issue free" if you know what I'm sayin? Don't our family nights consist of memorizing scriptures and singing Kum-Bi-Yah around the fire? Aren't I supposed to have all the answers when it comes to child rearing, because I must, after all, have the entire Bible memorized. Isn't that a prerequisite to marry a pastor? (I'm sorry, that one makes me laugh!) Let me amuse you by blowing all stereotypes OUT of the water right this second.

But what does the Children's Pastor do when his own kids don't want to attend church??? My children have never really enjoyed church since we moved here to FL. And I know it's in large part just due to their ages. And personalities. But I, like every other mom, have wracked my brain trying to figure out WHY they don't like to go. And I don't think there's any one particular reason, other than that stinky ol devil tries REALLY hard to mess with pastors' families in a multitude of ways! This being one of them.

But this past Sunday during the weekly, ritualistic, ugly, outright WAR of getting the girls ready for church, (I'm telling you, they REALLY don't want to go!) I approached things from a different perspective. Rather than saying my usual, "You know you don't have a choice, it's where daddy works for Heaven's sake!" I changed my tune. And some of you are going to be thinking, "Duh...Heather...this would be the common sense thing to do" Well, I'm a little slow! I explained to the girls that church really isn't about having fun or seeing friends or eating a yummy snack or playing outside on the playground. It's about worshipping God. God tells us in His word to reserve this day as our Holy day. And church is not about US, it's about HIM. We don't go to get something for US or to make US happy, we do this to honor God and to show Him of our love for Him. It's a sacrifice. And we don't always FEEL like going, but we have to do things in life we don't FEEL like doing.

I wish I could say they were all smiles and frolicked like gazelles happily into the bathtub singing How Great Thou Art. It wasn't THAT magical of a transformation. But I could see that FINALLY I had given them a reason they understood for WHY we go to church every week. Not to say I won't have to have the same exact conversation with them next Sunday morning. But eventually one day, maybe all this head knowledge I keep pumping into them will really be a heart decision.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

The Texas Aggie is BACK

Okay, really, I promise, no more bloggity breaks. I'm jumping back into this blogging thing, starting NOW! I don't really care if I only have one faithful follower these days. It's therapuetic!

So now that I'm back, what can we talk about? Well, my grandmother, who is 87 and has diabetes, COPD, and osteoperosis came to visit this past week and to help babysit so I could work. Her first night here, she fell and fractured 7 ribs and spent the next 4 days in the hospital. She's home now, in a lot of pain still, but home and doing remarkably well. So instead of babysitting, the girls have been doctoring her. I think she's still sort of enjoying her visit with us, despite the accident.

And in just 4 short days, I'll be headed to the Lone Star State! Me and the girls and Nanny. Cary is staying home with the animals and to work, and he's going to Peru for a week while we're gone. The girls have always been VERY excited about going to Texas until this trip. Lexi has been crying about it for 2 weeks ever since we told her. She's sad about leaving Daddy. :-( I guess she considers Florida her home now. Understandably. But I certainly won't let her forget her Texas roots! Aggie football starts in just a few short weeks!!!! That will definitely re-acclimate her to Texas culture! Dontcha think??? I'm hoping to make it back to a few games this year. Especially the Texas game and the Arkansas game which will be held in the new Cowboys stadium. Super excited about that one!

Well, time for family movie night...Kung Fu Panda! HI YAH!