Ragtag Mama

I am telling you that I could live this life as a stay at home mom. I am loving being with the kids and keeping my house clean however I will mourn the loss of the pay check. Hopefully tomorrow night I will go in as scheduled. However I am hoping that tomorrow that it will be warm enough to take the kids outside to play. I really don’t want to see any more of this:

If you can’t tell what that is… it is snow that fell in our yard yesterday. I wanted to post the picture then but got wrapped up in preparing for our next family night that I didn’t get a chance. However the weather is suppose to be Mostly Sunny High 62° F that is according www.weather.com  That would be great weather for the kids to go outside and run in. Hoping maybe even warm enough before lunch to take them out. I would really like to see them sleep longer then an hour tomorrow. I don’t think that Kendra took a nap at all but Ephriam only slept for an hour but was happy playing quitely in his room.

I did enjoy tonight visiting with my in laws. That seems like such and ugly word for such wonderful people. Really I mean it. I could have asked for better ones. Can’t think of any other words to explain it.

Chris and I have started reading Ephesians, I haven’t had any major things that have come across for me but check out Chris’ post from today. I thought he really broke it down well.

Hmmm… Not really sure what else to say. Guess that is it for today. Hoping to have more pictures of the kids and I playing outside for you tomorrow. Oh yeah please check out the pictures of them coloring egg on their blog.

FW

Today was a good day. I enjoyed being the kid since they were so good. I hope that tomorrow we have the same type of day. Kendra has a special project that she will like to do tomorrow. Actually she had a complete melt down till we decided what we were going to do tomorrow. Ephriam enjoyed playing with his cars today. Not that that is unusal but it is unusal for him to do this for hours on end. The two of them played well together most of the day too. Running back and forth, sweeping my floor (I have 2 brooms), or just playing hide and seek under the new 6′ foot bunny.

I was able to get Kendra’s room picked up while some of this was going on. You see some days when the kids don’t want to nap but I need to they are allowed to play in their room. Kendra had all sorts of babies, barbies, and stuffed animals all over her room. Not to mention on occasion she thinks that she can use her clothes to dress her dolls. So I got everything picked up and put in a home. I showed her where this places where and hope that after she is done playing that she will put them back. I don’t think that this will happen but it will take less time now that everything has a home.

I need to get in Ephriam’s room and do the same thing. His deal is mostly books. He doesn’t have a lot of toys out but he has 5 shelfs worth of books that he can get to. Right now about half of the shelves are missing books. He also has his lucky duck game all over. If he plays with them while we are napping he never makes them go around in their pond. I think he just likes the ducks to play with. He has really been into animals lately and I can’t wait to take him to the zoo to see them live and in person.  We didn’t go at all last year because we thought that we would eventually be able to afford a pass but never were able to. This year however we will save some money to get one. It is all worth are money when we have one because we can go often.

The next couple of nights I am suppose to work. Not sure if I am looking forward to it or not since I have been home for so many nights but know that we need the money to play off debt. We have a long way to go before we have all that needs to be paid off but it is nice to see the progress in the money line.

Well it is really late and I have rambled enough.  Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post on my picky eater. Chris and I are still coming up with a solution that works for us. I will let you know what we decide.

FW

This cute little face here is my anti dinner eater. Yep she eats me out of house and home all day till dinner time. Then she sings, makes ‘art’ out of her food, or plain never touches it.  Lets take today for example for breakfast she had 2 scrambled eggs, toast, 1 and half medium size bananas, and a glass of milk. Lunch 4 chicken nuggets, half an orange and raisins. While Ephriam was doing speech therapy she had 2 handfuls of animal crackers. She had water to drink through lunch and therapy. After her “nap” she had a George snack (or one package of fruit snacks shaped liked Curious George). Then we hit dinner and she ate 4 skinny celery sticks and 3 small bits of her cheesesteak sandwich. Yep, this is a typical day other then usually at around 11 she gets to have pretezels rods so that we can avoid a MASSIVE meltdown. She is then up at 7 am wanting to eat.

I hate to have to cook something different just because she doesn’t like what we are having. However tonight I felt sorry for her grumbling tummy and gave in to more celery, apples, string cheese, and of course peanut butter for her to dip both her celery and apples in. She ate most everything, left a few apples so that she could just use her fingers to eat the peanut butter. I have been trying for a long time now to not feed her anything else but most nights she is crabby and some nights down right unbearable till bed time. The morning is the same unless I jump right up out of bed and fix her something to eat. She is like a totally different kid after breakfast.

So I guess the question is what do you do? Do I feed her something even if she doesn’t eat what I have already made? Or do I let her continue to go hungry? My heart says to feed her but how to I do that with out cooking a different meal?  Should I just go ahead and make a PB and J sandwich for her? I know that she likes to eat fruits and veggies but really lacks in eating meat. Not that I am too concerned because she eats her weight in peanut butter every day.

So mom’s out there what do you do about your child not eating what you cook?

So this is our first run at doing Family Night. Over all I think that things went well, minus one incident. I wish that it hadn’t started raining while we were eating dinner so that we could have gone back outside and played more ball but we ended up watching Field of Dream and eating more popcorn. So I hope that you are wanting to see pictures because here they are:

Kendra being a little slugger. She can really hit the ball.

Ephriam hitting the ball. He did a great job.

Ephriam running the bases. At first he hit the ball and ran the bases backwards but we were glad that he at least understood he need to run them in an order. I got him all straightened out and he did great after that. He really enjoys running and playing outside so I am not surprised that he like the running the bases part the best.

Here is Kendra running the bases. She was fun to watch her slam her foot on everybase. At first she tried running with the bat but made it to first with out it. From then on out she was a super star.

Until I hit a line drive and wacked her in the face. I was really trying to pop it over up her head but missed the correct angle.  She has a big circle where the wiffle ball hit her face. Of course I told her I was sorry and even got her a ‘big’ boo boo band aide to make it better. Then she was right back at it but went all the way back to the fence when I batted.

Here is the table all set for us to eat. The green sheet table cloth for the grass. White paper plates for bases and of course Cincinnati Reds cups.

Here is the dinning room before dinner was ready to go but the table was set.

Here is the ceiling fan. Yes I made eat ball and bat. When I do a scrapbook page of the night I will be able to use them in the book. It was the kids’ favorite decoration. I think they might stay up tomorrow for a little while.

Here is what we had to eat. Ballpark food of course. Kendra loved the peanuts while Ephriam was happy to eat his hot dog. I am the only one who put condiments on their hot dog. We also had Root Beer to drink. A sure treat for my kids because they next to never get to have pop (soda or a coke for those of you in the south).

Here is desert! I got this idea from Family Fun.  Instead of using whip licorice I used Twizzler pull and peels. I found that if I made the laces longer instead of smaller that they stayed on better. Think that they turned out pretty good and the kids enjoyed them.

This is the mess that is waiting for me to clean up. Peanuts were meant to be eaten outside for less clean up.

Now it is your turn. What did you do for your family night? Post a comment with the link to your post so I can see.
FW

Okay I can’t stand it! I am posting pictures. I was going to wait till tomorrow because I wanted to be in bed 2 hours ago but I just can’t resist. If you would like to see other pictures check out the kid’s blog.

Kendra in the swing at the park on a REALLY nice day. Ephriam was at school and I didn’t work the night before.

Here is Ephriam finger painting. I know that it was posted on the kid’s blog but I don’t like to post a picture of one kid and not the other.

Remember to look on late Sunday night or on Monday for pictures of Family Night!

Why Ragtag?

I pulled the word out of our church’s vision statement:

“Imagine a ragtag collection of surrendered and transformed people who love God and others. They are mesmerized by the idea that this is not about them, but all about Jesus. They are transfixed by His story and His heart for their city.

They are seedthrowers and firestarters, hope peddlers and grace-givers, risktakers and dreamers, young and old. They link arms with anyone who tells the story of Jesus. They empower the poor, strengthen the weak, embrace the outcast, seek the lost. They serve together, play together, worship together, live life together. Their city will change because God sent them.

They are us.

We believe that small things done with great love will change the world.”

Being a follower of Jesus is the hardest thing I have done in my life. Because we are all sinners it means that everyday I fail. I am beaten, torn, and holey. However, everyday I try my best to be like Jesus.  And even if I am a rag by the time I go home, I know that Jesus loves me and wants me to keep trying. I even know that Jesus likes me.

How about the Mama?

I believe this is the second hardest thing I have done. To be a Mom. How do I as a sinner raise other sinners? Some days are good and some days are bad but I love doing it. I love hearing them laugh or seeing them smile. I don’t like them to cry or be sad. The added challenge of having a child with some special needs has added a new appreciation to thing. He tries so hard yet his brain just doesn’t know how to tell his muscles to move. Luckily at this point we think that he will one day be a ‘normal’ kid. On the other hand I have a child who is advanced for her age. She is more of a challenge because she can do more. She also gives me joy because she takes care of her brother. She always makes things fair for him. She too wants to see him excel.

So that is why I chose this domain. I am a Ragtag Mama.

Hey ya’ll I just wanted to let you know that if you are still using http://faith.churchpunk.com that I have now bought my own domain so you can update your bookmark to

www.ragtagmama.com

This way you won’t miss out on anything going on with me. Also be sure to check back here on Monday for pictures from our first Family Night. The kid’s blog will stay the same thought.

Thanks

FW

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. I got to spend 3 nights with out being a mom or a wife and enjoying the company of my mom, aunts, and grandma. We rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere where we watched movies, played games, drank wine, enjoyed the hot tub, and shopped a little in Louisville. 

My Aunt Martie made us all nice shirts that say Estrofest 2009 on it. We decided that each year we will have to add another number to the list. My mom brought us mugs to invite us to Easter service at her church. We won’t be able to make it this year but maybe next year.

I don’t think I have laughed that much in a long time. It makes me really miss my family and being as close as we were when I was growing up. Not to say that we aren’t close now just that we used to live closer. I can’t wait till we can all be together again. Not sure where we are going for Estrofest 2010 but I am sure that it will be great.

Thank you to the wonderful women that I am able to learn from. I feel very special getting to spend time with you all. Thank you to my aunts and my mom for making me feel like a sister instead of a niece. You will never know how much it means to me. Each one of you has a special place in my heart where it is filled with love, laughter, and only good  tears. I can’t wait to see what other adventures are before in the coming years. God as  truly blessed me with such a blessed family. Love you all to pieces.

FW