Being a Mother

I would love to tell you that I'm such a great mom everyday.  That I can't WAIT to go get my children after school, take them home, cuddle them, and just give them attention for the whole 4-5 hours that I see them a day.  

But, I'm a real mom.   
And that doesn't happen everyday.

Not sure if it's because I'm a teacher, and I'm surrounded by kids.

All.  Day. Long.
As in- from the moment I wake up, drive to school, teach the whole day long, drive to pick up my other kids at daycare, and go home- there is a kid with me.

Or, if it's just because I'm pooped at the end of the day, and because I like my alone time, I choose to do dishes and listen to them play rather than take part in the actual playing.  


Don't get me wrong, I am Supermom in many ways.  
Let me even go as far as to brag about my husband calling me Wife/Mother of the Year in the CHRISTMAS LETTER this time last year.  


But, who am I kidding?  I'm a real woman.
I have needs.
And tonight, those needs included ALONE time.


So, this blog post serves as an encouragement to other moms out there who feel guilty about not spending complete nurturing/loving/no fighting/cuddling time with their kids- when all you really want to do is go push a grocery cart around Dillons for 30 minutes so you can get away!  


Will I feel this relaxed about how I spent my time this evening, tomorrow?  You bet I won't.  
But, for tonight... it's what I needed. 


And dang it- I'm worth it!

Trimming the Tree

(narrated entirely by Gracie)

"Can we decorate the tree now?"

"Now can we decorate the tree?"

"How many more minutes until we decorate the tree?"

Until, at last... it was time.

We went downstairs and got the 

Christmas stuff after we put the tree

 up with Mimi and Papa.

After supper we put the Christmas stuff

up and the ornaments on the tree.

Some of the Christmas ornaments

were mine from Nana. 

One was for Jada from Addison.

One was for Trey from Addison.

Trey has lots of KU ones.

There were a couple that had the

same things on them- 

kind of like twins.

I found my nativity set from Nana, 

but quickly put it away because 

I didn't want Trey to break it.

Trey also had one and he broke 

Jesus's hands off.  

Jada also has one, but she keeps it

on our dresser.

Now we have a pretty Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

T~om and Hannah came Wednesday night.

H~annah had bronchitis. It hurt to hear her cough.
A~Hanchett Thanksgiving in Salina.  Childs, in Hutch.
N~o one could believe how big Trey has gotten.
K~ids (our's in particular) ate more sugar than on Halloween.
S~ome of us were at Target by 3 a.m. on Black Friday!
G~racie got the stomach flu Friday night. blah.

I~had to talk in the third person during a game of Quelf.

V~ery thankful for time spent with so much family!

I~n-laws decided to stay one more night!  YEAH!

N~ap.  A 2 1/2 hour one, complete with drool on my pillow.

G~luttony.  Period.

There was also:
a few games of Trouble
block building
playing with trains
men fixing the fan in the bathroom
football/basketball games on tv
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
dancing to songs on Youtube
braiding hair
cookies taken to Great Grandpa Hanchett
time-outs (mostly Trey)
the movie, Elf


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Mommy/Gracie Day

No School.

Jada and Trey to Jessi's.

Gracie and I to Wichita.

Beauty First for a kid's cut.

Toys R Us for Jada's Christmas present.

Ci Ci's Pizza for lunch.

Sugar Sisters for dessert.

Wichita Humane Society to pet cats

and look at dogs.

Great day out- just the two of us.

sweet sisters

I don't know what time is was,

but it was still dark when I heard Jada 

give out a small cry.  

I started to get up to go see what was wrong,

when I heard Gracie say, "Jada, what's wrong?"

 So, I laid back down and went back to sleep.

Big sis had taken care of it.

In the morning, Gracie came in 

and told me all about it.  

It went something like this:

Jada woke up.  She had a bad dream.

Gracie asked her what was wrong,

so Jada told her.  Gracie asked if Jada wanted

to come lay in bed with her.  Jada did.

So, they laid there for a while.

Then, Jada went back to her bed.

Gracie asked her if she (Jada) wanted

Gracie to come to her bed.  Jada did.

So, Gracie got into Jada's bed, and

rubbed her back for a while.

So sweet.  This is one reason I love

that they still share a room.

They have the opportunity to show

compassion toward each other. 

To show God's love.

Randomness

1.  Just for "fun" one day I decided to log every little thing I did that day- just at school.  I think I mostly did it because a friend's husband was giving her a hard time about how easy teaching is.  I'm pretty sure there were other "thoughts" I could have included in my log, but it was incredible that I had three pages of notes typed in size 12, New Times Roman (or whatever it's called) font.  I might share it sometime.  And then, maybe teachers will get the respect they deserve!

2.  There is nothing more annoying in this world than sibling rivalry.  I was taken back to my childhood this last weekend with something that happened with someone and myself.  I remember not liking my brother very well during that hateful time. I'm so thankful we're not like that anymore.

3.  Jada has a "program" on Tuesday that I can't wait to go to.  I just love seeing my girls on stage- and for some reason when it's just them and their class,  it melts my heart.  

4.  Trying to decide if I want to go shopping on Black Friday.  Hmm... there's a few things I'd like to get for way cheaper than full price.  We'll see if I get my elbows ready in time.


5.  Trey poo-ed in the bathtub for the first time the other day.  He picked it up, said, "Uh Oh!" to Jada, and handed it to her.  It was one of the most disgusting things I've had to clean up.  Ever.

6.  Maintain- No Gain starts tomorrow at school.  I've lost 8 pounds since I started my new way of eating in October.  I've sort of plateaued.  Frustrating.  I need will-power these next few weeks to "maintain." And "not gain."


Pretty random today.  A lot on my mind.  Life seems really busy.  But, I usually like it that way.  Looking forward to bedtime though. Didn't get to bed until after 1:15 a.m. last night (this morning?) because of all the things I'm thinking about.  Bedtime should be earlier tonight.  Yawn.

Monkeying Around

I'm so proud of Gracie.

She has been working so hard this

school year on being able to do

the monkey bars.  

She's gotten so good that now she can

skip every other bar.

She's so psyched about it!

"Watch me, Mommy!"

"Time me to see how fast I am!"

 

Trey's Early Christmas Gift

I'll give you THREE guesses as to what this guy...

is getting got for Christmas (early)  If you don't guess correctly,  I'll turn you into a GOON!

Clue numero uno:

climbing up his crib

Clue B:

 car wheel

Clue #3:

  front view

You guessed it~ Trey got a big boy bed today! Here is the first shot of him running into his room as he saw the bed.  

We know what you're all thinking:  Good luck getting him to STAY in that bed!  We'll pick our battles... but, for now... he's pretty happy!

 As for turning you into a GOON~  I might not have gotten you this time... but, I got HER-->

 Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

Puppy

We got a new puppy.
He's super cute.
He sticks his tongue out a lot.
He'll follow you around panting until you acknowledge he's there.  

But.... this puppy also likes to chew on our pillows, and his toys.  He might become Naughty Puppy.  But, for now, he's pretty adorable.

 

Monster

We call him, "Monster,"

for several reasons.

He destroys things:

He takes our stuff and sometimes

wants to wear it:

Trey even bit me tonight on the leg

and had to go to time-out.

(no picture)

But.... he can be so sweet.

Right now he's really into books.

"Book? Book?..."

And he'll laugh at funny parts.

He'll even answer questions that

are in the books.

It's one of my favorite things to do:

read books to my kids.

One thing is for sure- 

this little monster is all boy!

Comedian

I think Jada could be comedian when she's older.  She says the funniest things.  After I asked her to come to the bathroom, she got up and said to Chad, "What does THAT lady want?"  Then, walked down the hall, turned around and went to whisper something to him- something that included calling me a Cheeseball.  


She cracks me up.

Jada Anne

Jada Anne

I love you because...

*you give great big hugs and have to tell us

"Goodbye!"

over and over again when we leave

*you love be tickled- "Tickle me again!"

*you're extremely girly

* you're happy most of the time-

always have been

*for the most part, you will try 

almost any food I put in front of you

*you're a really fast runner

*you are a REALLY good big sister

*even though you and Gracie have your

fair share of arguments, 

you adore your big sister

*you sing when you're happy

*you could stay in the bathtub for

an hour, if I would only let you!

*you're the best mommy to 

Bunnybear, Ashley, and Ducky.

Happy 5th Birthday, Jada!

This morning, Jada woke up to her 

birthday present from Chad and I-  

Hello Kitty big girl bike!

strained smile, with eyes closed!

checking out the brakes

She's already determined to take off the training wheels and ride it how Gracie rides her bike.  Let's hope the weather holds out so she can learn- quickly!

 

Spirit, Move Me

Seems like just when I post something worldly, God speaks to me and says, "Wait, I have something better."

Do I WANT that picture for my wall that I posted earlier this week?  Yes, I do.  So, I'm caught in the middle...  I'd like to update my living room differently, but, how much of it is me wanting worldly pleasures?  

Christmas is coming up.  6 more weekends, in fact.  Today in church, Pastor Brad talked about Christmas Conspiracy.  Giving more time to build loving relationships (taking the kids sledding, baking Christmas cookies), Loving all- the poor, the sick, the lost, the needy.  Worshiping fully- lifting a song to God.  Spending less- even one less gift this Christmas season. 

As Christmas approaches, we're going to have a family meeting.  We'll see how the kids react.  I'm pretty sure Trey will be ok with it.  He doesn't know any better.  After a talk about how just $50 could give a family in the Dominican Republic clean water in their home, I'm hoping praying they will be convinced that they can give up one present under the Christmas tree.  

What challenge can you give YOUR family?  One less present? ONLY one present? Let's get back to the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas.  "God created us to live within sound of his voice!"  (Great quote I heard today.)  What is God calling your family to do?

All I Want for Christmas is...

This.

 

...which of course means I will need new curtains.

That's why I'm so thankful this season for thoughtful friends like, Amy, who saved her Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons for me.  Yeah, Amy!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

Now, to convince Mr. Childs... 

 

Happy Fall