A Day Like Today

On a day like today, when my stores of patience are at a monthly low, when I am feeling slightly defeated about the child who conned me into staying home from school because she had a stomachache (and then later threw such a hairy fit about going in late that I eventually gave in and just let her stay), when I am questioning my motherly kindness after a different child's hour-long crying session about having to pare down her stuffed animal collection to a paltry 30 items, when it took me almost all day to get to the remainder of dirty dishes leftover from a large family party, when my hair is in the same sloppy ponytail I threw it into the first thing this morning, when I am coming to understand why on earth I grind my teeth so badly in my sleep that I get to wear an incredibly attractive night guard to bed, when I fed the kids instant oatmeal for dinner because I didn't have it in me to make anything else, I need to remember messages like this:

"Let the sunshine into your [life]. Don't be hard on yourself, and don't let other people be hard on you, either. Give yoursel[f] credit for the good things you do. If you make a mistake, give yourself credit for trying. Laugh a lot. Catch yourself singing...If you only do half of what you wanted to do, or only do it half as well as you'd like, pat yourself on half your back. But lighten up!"
                                                                                               
                                                                                                       ~Cheiko N. Okazaki

Somehow it's so much easier for me to focus on my failures rather than my successes, so it's time to reprogram my brain, and focus on the fact that I did not lose my temper once during the multiple-child fit-having today. That I washed and dried five loads of laundry today. That I averaged just under ten minutes a mile on my 3.1 mile run today. That I uploaded new pictures onto the computer, blogged, swept, showered, vacuumed, took the trash out, did two puzzles with Alexa, and loved on Spencer, and brushed my teeth after every meal. That I can recognize all of the wonderful things in my life.

Here's to small victories. Consider half my back patted.

Joy Amidst the Grumbling

Given our incredibly early spring this year, I am finding myself already grumbling about the warmer weather and the impending summer in which I will be relegated to elevated electric bills, sweat-stained shirts, and 6 long months spent trying to avoid stepping foot outside. (Yes, Friends Who Used to Live in Phoenix, insert chuckle here as your nice weather is about to start just as ours is ending.) 

But, in the meantime, I promise to get all of the joy that I possibly can from our deliciously cool mornings, our beautiful, breezy evenings, and the gorgeous sunsets to be seen and savored on our family walks. 

It's not all bad, right?

Some Days I Feel More Brave Than Others

I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes the thought of going to the grocery store with my kids is enough to give me anxiety. I mean, generally speaking, my two youngest ones are actually really good shoppers, but the requisite multi-tasking involved--shopping for what I need whilst feeding Spencer snacks and making sure he doesn't eat my grocery list (yes, this has happened on more than one occasion), whilst directing Lexa where to go and simultaneously trying to not run her over with the shopping cart, all the while trying to fit hundreds of items into that cart without breaking any eggs or smashing whole loaves of bread--is sometimes just a tad more than I actually want to deal with. 

Whew. Puts me out of breath just thinking about it.

The sun shone down on Lexa this week, though, on a day when I happened to feel like I could conquer the world (or at least the local Fry's), and I offered to let her bring her own little shopping cart along for our trip to the store. (I had a relatively short list that day, so I figured it would be a good day to put some miles on that bad boy without having to be at the store for two hours.) Lex was a total champ, staying right by me and filling the cart to her heart's content with all of our produce and then pushing it around the store like she owned the place. It took more time than it would have otherwise, obviously, but her little smile and her willingness to help (not to mention the cute confidence with which she emptied the contents of her very own cart onto the conveyor belt) made it totally worth it. 

up for the task

This photo brought to you by Tostitos brand tortilla chips. And Post cereal.
And your local 4-year-old.

Mr. Ham didn't help but he sure is cute

Mommy, why? Why can't I eat your grocery list? Why?

I'm so glad I felt brave this week. Just long as Alexa comes out of the experience knowing that this is a sometimey thing that isn't going to happen on every single trip to the store...

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Remember that time I had an adorable baby boy? You know the one--fuzzy hair, squinty eyes, plump thighs, irresistible smile. Well, remember that time that that adorable baby turned 11 months old?

That's right, I said 11, and I want to panic just thinking about it. 9 months was already getting too close to one year, but this 11 nonsense has got to stop. (Which is why I have expressly forbid him from getting any older. I'm crossing my fingers that it will work.)

At 11 months, Spencer continues to be the resident baby-doll of the house, over which the girls are continually arguing. (I don't blame them, though. I want a turn to hold him, too.) I honestly thought that the novelty of him would have worn off by now, but, at this point it seems that the novelty just might live on in perpetuity. And another youngest child is born, folks.

Some of Spencer's interests of late include: knocking over trash cans, playing in toilets, being so darn squirmy as to render himself nearly impossible to change, taking long baths, eating food off the floor, jabbering, and generally keeping in motion at a constant clip. He crawls fast, he eats fast, he grabs fast, and he is also quick to smile and to be comforted, though slow to laugh; so far the only things we can do to get him to laugh involve blowing raspberries and swinging him really fast back and forth. (But watch out--he just might puke after that second one.) He has such a happy personality and is a champion at being picked up, squeezed, and lugged all over the house by at least three females in this household, but more likely four.

A sweeter, more healthy, active, kissable baby I could never have asked for.

We love you Spencer, but please please please don't get any older.

P.S. Would you look at how old his new haircut makes him look? I'm dying a little bit inside, I tell you!

SUCCESS!

I wrote in mid-January about wanting to be able to run 5k (3.1 miles) without stopping. (I didn't mention this then, but I was also concerned about being able to do it without dying.) I didn't work myself up to signing up for an official 5k race until the end of January when I talked to my sister and some friends that were also looking for something like this to work towards. Pretty soon after I registered, I started having some knee pain (that incidentally made me feel a good 20 years older than I am), and I wasn't sure if I'd actually be able to participate. Some rest, lots of prayer, and consistent strengthening exercises, however, all worked together to make me feel like this was something that I could actually accomplish. 

And guess what?? I did! 

I know it may not seem like a big deal to any of you seasoned runners out there, but I have to say that this was SUCH a big deal for me. I started running in early December and worked my way up to 3.1 miles in a little over three months. Not too bad for a girl who is a professed hater of running who hadn't actually run since Sophomore year in high school. (And let me tell you folks, that was a looong time ago.) My official time was 37:15, which works out to be about 12 minutes a mile. (I seriously don't know how those marathon folks can do it in almost half that time!) I would have liked to have gone a little faster, but hey, I didn't die, and that is absolutely something worth celebrating.

my sister Laura and I kept each other company even though the rest of our group got separated

 She's alive!

And check out this cool medal I got. Now I see why people are serial 5k runners

I was SO glad that Craig brought the kids and they all met me at the finish line.

They cheered their little hearts out and it was so awesome to see them so excited about 

something that I was doing that didn't involve making dessert or letting them watch tv.

Laura, me, Wendy

me, Karen, Wendy, Joni, and little cheerleader Daniela

It was such a good experience to do something like this with the support of some awesome friends whose confidence in me often exceeded my own. 

My plan is to continue running and to work my way up to a 10k if I can. All that's left now is to figure out how on earth people run in the summer here.