clean up, clean up

Tonight, I found myself cleaning up the dinner meal mess by myself, AGAIN.

The kids were ransacking the house. Juan Pablo was at work. And I wondered how come I was the only one cleaning up. My good intention of creating, or heck, even copying, a workable chore chart just hasn't materialized.

Well, I was going to put my foot down, whether they liked it or not.

As I was rinsing off dishes, I yelled for the two oldest to come into the kitchen...they ran in, maybe expecting a treat or something.

I calmly said, "I need you two to help me clean up the dishes," fully expecting a barrage of protests on why they couldn't and shouldn't have to help.

Instead, they immediately started handing me dishes and putting them in the dishwasher! What?? I was shocked and awed. Maybe this was their plan.

But quickly the dishes were almost done, and I wondered how much more I could get away with. I offered the spray bottle to Joaquin to wipe down the table. Isabela immediately countered with, "But I want to do that!" What?? Were they actually fighting over cleaning up?

So I responded with, "Well, I have another bottle in the bathroom. You can wipe down the sink in there." And off she went.

Now you will absolutely not believe what happened next.

Joaquin runs to me asking if it's alright to clean the toilet! And Isabela is right behind him with, "But I wanted to clean the toilet!" Well, OK. We have two toilets. Go right ahead and clean them.

And I have to add, the fun didn't stop there. The night ended with a very clean shower as well, thanks to these two.

Now I'm not sure what was in the dinner tonight, but we are definitely having this meal again.

moment

There is a moment. Every day. That stops time.

This moment during my day that I cherish, that I'm sure about, and that I wait for with anticipation...through all the busyness of the day that clutters my mind and fills my schedule...this moment fills my soul and satisfies my longing for peace. Not peace as in an absence of fighting, but peace as in
a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity (dictionary.com)

It's not the morning sunrise. I'm not up that early.
It's not when the kids head off to school. We're just kicking into high gear.
It's not when the baby takes a nap. Time to get stuff done around the house.
It's not when I head off to the gym on my own. Radio's blaring.
It's not when I sneak a bowl of ice cream after everyone is asleep. Who likes eating alone?
And it's not when my head hits the pillow at night. Someone's snoring.

My precious moment is when I hear a little voice say, "Ma?" from behind a closed door.
Diego is just waking up from his nap.

I race to the room. I've missed him. This is my moment. He's standing in his crib waiting for me...with his blankie, his paci, and some huge stuffed animal overflowing in his arms.

You'd think he might be geared up after his long rest, ready to take on the world in all the ways his almost-two-year-old mind can think of. But he's not. He's quiet.

And I ask him, "Do you want to lie down with mommy?" And do you know what he says? What he always says?

He says, "Yes."

So I scoop him up and we fall to the bed, and we snuggle... cheek to cheek, or nose to nose, and we enjoy the moment. I breathe in his baby-ness, stare at the precious features of his face, and wonder how I could ever be filled with sorrow when I have such joy.

And while my to-do list is never-ending, I know that this will not be.

So, right now, I soak it up. This is my moment.

"Mo!"

"Mo!" said while stomping his foot. An almost two-year-old's version of defiance. It cracks me up every time.

I'm sure it won't be funny to me forever, but for now I'm enjoying it. The fact that it starts with an "M" instead of an "N" makes all the difference.

And somehow, "hue" (which stood for 'jugo' or juice in Spanish) has now become 'foof'. I feel like Anne Sullivan when Helen Keller discovered that 'water' meant water. Diego has discovered words and is spitting them out left and right. And it's so CUTE.

Some things are cute only on little people though. Like he had a huge booger on his cheek yesterday in the bathtub....yep, still cute.

seeking

My loss for words carries over into the new year. And when that happens, sometimes a simple quote will help me organize my thoughts.

So I found this, and it was for me. And maybe for you:

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

Maybe it's because our family's on the verge of a giant trip...and I have lists of to do's and to get's. Maybe it's because my birthday lurks around the corner.

But I don't want to look for flaws this year. This year, I'm seeking potential, and goodness, and joy, and kindness. As I write that, it sounds like I may just be seeking the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) But that's a mouthful.

So I think I'm going to focus on KINDNESS and JOY.

I saw them in my children today, my great teachers of what's important in this life.

KINDNESS in self-less sharing of an ICEE, unprompted from Mom. It was beautiful and I was inspired.


And JOY...in three siblings that can fight like the rest of them...but deep down, there's JOY and I hope to find it.


But how will I do this this year? I hope it's with heavenly help. There's a manual.... if I'll only read it.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8


But if all else fails, I'm comforted in knowing:

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

Blessings to you this new year in all you're searching for.

early risers

Sometimes, as a consequence for something the kids have done wrong, I have them write. I know it doesn't always fit the crime, but maybe they'll get neat handwriting out of it.

So the other morning, they both got up early and for some reason came barging into our room...waking up Diego, which then meant I had to wake up. I was NOT happy about it. So I sent them both to their separate rooms to write sentences about not waking us up (unless it's an emergency, of course).

This is what they wrote:



I had to laugh.

"I will not wack mom and the rest of the family."
"I will not wack the family."

Well, I'm glad I won't be wacked anytime soon.

hair

Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all.
James Brown

The hair is real - it's the head that's a fake.
Steve Allen

A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.
William Hazlitt

I love the feeling of the fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair.
Evel Knievel

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matthew 10:30

it's time that I make time for that

This vivid blue sky called us to the park on Sunday. There were a million things I could have gotten done, but I decided to put those out of my mind and let the day happen as it would.


Our walk along the path was full of nature.

The geese came to see if we'd offer them any scraps.


If you enlarge this picture, you may spot the snake that we nearly stepped on.


The butterflies were still out and flitting around.


And the squirrels were busy gathering and munching.


There was even a sloth....


...and a monkey!


My camera refused to capture the beauty of the autumn leaves that surrounded us...


...but I was forced to do this several times along the path out of sheer happiness!


And the real magic happened on the drive home. I was staring out across the shimmering water as we crossed the reservoir, and I saw two birds flying low. I saw their white heads for just a second, but I said, "I think those are bald eagles! Turn the car around!" Juan Pablo obliged and pulled over into the rocky parking area.

A man had a camera on a tripod aimed in the direction of the birds, so I asked him, "Are those two bald eagles?"

And he said, "Yes. They're diving after those coots" (which I took to mean the birds swimming in the water. I do like to use context!)

Then he says, "If you have a minute, I'll pull out my 'scope and you can take a better look at them." It turned out, he was an avid bird watcher and tracker! He filled us in on all kinds of trivia about the eagles and let us look through his amazing telescope to get a close-up view of the birds.

By this point, my camera battery had died. But I took it out and put it back in to squeeze every ounce of juice out of it...and this is the shot I got of the eagles. Those two black spots on the branches are them...but the curve of their sharp golden beak, piercing eyes, and glistening white feathers I saw through the telescope will stay with me in my mind.


We were all so happy to have let the day happen as it did, without a plan, a time constraint, or expectations. It was the definition of a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

And it was also funny....because when we got home, we realized we had lost Diego's taggie, his most prized possession of all. So I went looking for it and got to revisit all the places we'd been....Subway, the Park, the eagle stop... I felt like that little boy in the Family Circle cartoon with the dotted path of all the places he'd been in one day.
Then I decided to get my oil changed. No kids with me...the car had been beeping about it's oil for a couple weeks...and I had the time. Then I went to Hallmark to see about buying a new taggie. But God is good, and the ones they had were too girly for me. I thought I would just head home, empty handed, when I remembered I hadn't driven through the church parking lot.

I pulled into the giant empty rows and pulled up to where we had parked. There was nothing.

But I know how Diego walks...up, down and all around.... and I thought he might have dropped it in the grass somewhere. Across the lot, I saw something... it looked like a water bottle from where I was...but I thought I'd take a closer look....

...and sure enough, there was his taggie!!

I really felt inside me, the whole time I was driving around, that I would eventually find it. It was just a matter of time.

Time was the lesson of our day. There's time for everything when time is not important.

balance

Finding life's balance is always hard. It takes concentration and observation or...before long...you realize you're leaning too far in one direction...and oops!

It's happened to us before. Trying to do everything...and be everywhere...for everyone is not balance. It's stressful. Some people can do it and make it look easy. That's what the pros do. Swing that bat and hit it out of the park...making us think we could, too. Or spinning and leaping on stage with amazing grace. But that grace came with great sacrifice...not the same grace that God generously gives us each and every day.

I'm definitely not a pro at juggling life. For our family, school takes up most of our week. The kids have a late schedule. We enjoy a leisurely breakfast, but that also means they come home late...tumbling off the bus around 4:20pm with disheveled hair and heavy backpacks dragging them down. Dinner, homework, practices, bed time rituals, have to be squeezed in to the remaining three, sometimes four, hours of the evening.

I observe.

Crying, whining, and general unhappiness means something's out of balance. So...I tip the scales. A hot dinner is waiting on the table instead of a snack when they bust through the door from school starving. Or sometimes we miss a soccer practice because they are too exhausted from their day. Or sometimes, they don't do their homework because we DID go to practice and there just wasn't enough time to copy spelling words or fill in a worksheet. Hopefully, the teachers are understanding.

But for me it's more. I see the calm return. I see the smiles and hear the conversations around the table.

The balance of our life returns...and it's okay.

I took pictures of the kids playing soccer a couple of weeks ago. And the ones that stand out are not the ones of the kids in the pack, sweaty and fighting for the ball...but the ones on the sidelines. Talking to friends. Taking a break. That is the balance. And that is what I'm seeking.

free time

Free time is so precious these days. We've only signed the kids up for one activity this fall...soccer...and I'm already feeling the pressure on our schedule. It means two evenings of practices and a Saturday full of games.

But I do enjoy the outdoor time on these amazing fields they are playing on. The most beautiful grass you've ever seen and not a mosquito in sight. Blue skies with white puffy clouds. The occasional bird chirping by overhead. Butterflies still flitting around. It's relaxing when I'm not keeping Diego out of the goals.

But back to free time. I love it. It feeds my soul. If I have a meeting one day, I'm constantly thinking about it, looking at the clock, counting back time to see how much is left and what I can do in that short amount. And usually, I'm still late. But a day with nothing on the books just gives me the room I need to breathe and enjoy life around me.

That's what Diego and I had last Friday. We did try a free little baby sign language class that was offered...to which I am happily saying no (although we are learning signs at home and it's amazing how they pick it up). But after that we had nothing! For several hours.


So we went to lunch together. Just me and him. We ate at Noodle and Company and were the first ones there. You always get treated well when you're the only ones in the joint. They recommended the pesto cavatappi with chicken. Divine.

Or maybe I was just really hungry. But it was hard to share with Diego. Luckily, he wasn't that into it and spent his time playing drums on the table with the wooden chopsticks.

When we left the restaurant, a little courtyard caught my eye. I don't think I'd ever seen it before. Right in the parking lot, there was a grassy area, surrounded by benches and enough of a stone wall that I wouldn't have to chase Diego into any nonexistent traffic. So we played. Which meant climbing on benches. Running across the grass. Falling down. And doing it all over again.


Then the rustling of leaves in a corner caught Diego's attention. So we watched them dance around in the wind and flutter up over the wall. And how 'bout that hair? It was a wonderful breeze blowing.


We do love our free time. And this year I'm going to search it out. And cherish it. Because in a second, it's gone.

a big boy

Who gave my baby a spoon?


Now he wants to do it himself.


I don't remember my other kids doing that.


I mean... Joaquin still uses his hands to eat.


And, I think I probably put a spoon of food in Isabela's mouth just last week to get her to clean her plate.


But just look at this sweet boy doing it all by himself.


He's quite good at it to. He can use his right or his left hand. But we better tie his right hand behind his back, or he won't fit in with the rest of us. We're all lefties.


The sideways spoon...good thing yogurt sticks.


Wait! One more bite!