Blessed by the Kindness of Others

I have been blessed today by the kindness of others. So much that it has brought me to tears more than once. You see this morning is my son M. (aka Hoss) last day of pre school. So it's a fun day with pizza and bounce houses and snow cones. You get the idea. He has been looking forward to this for weeks. This morning I went to drive him to school and couldn't get out of the garage. Our spring had broken and we were stuck. I couldn't call my husband since he was in Finland. I checked to see if any neighbors were home who could help me get him to his school. But no one was around. So my very excited little boy took off his backpack and went back inside. He was so upset he asked me if he could go and kick the garage door. My poor baby, little did he know, I really wanted to kick the door also.

So I called the repairman who promised to be here in two hours. Then I called the school to see when the festivities began. When the director realized my situation she offered to come and pick him up for me so he wouldn't miss any of the fun. Which she promptly did, leaving all the activities to be managed by the other women there. She also offered to bring him home if I am unable to get him. Later, one of my neighbors did get home and realized my situation, he brought me his car keys so I wouldn't be home without a vehicle while I waited for the repairman. He then left in his truck for the rest of the day. Truly today, on a day when I needed it, I have been blessed by the kindness of others.

A Week Without Dad

I woke up this morning thinking it was going to be just like any other day. I made it until about 9 a.m. before I realized otherwise. It was at this time that my husband called and asked me to pack him a suitcase. They needed to put him on the plane to Finland before the end of the day. When I asked the dreaded question of how long I was given the answer "just until Thursday". It wasn't until I was counting socks that I realized that meant he would be gone a week. Man is he lucky the laundry is caught up. I explained it to my youngest kids and they immediately went to work making a map for daddy to take in case he gets lost. My oldest son Z, will not be happy to hear about this when he gets home from school. But he is always such a big help when dad is gone that I know I can count on him.

So for the next week it's just mom. I get to deal with all the regular stuff I do everyday, without the hope of relief in the evenings. It's always a struggle at first but somehow God gets me through these times with more patience then I realized that I possess. These trips make me realize how much I do depend on my husband and how much I do depend on God. As they say, God will never give me more than I can handle.

My life of addiction

I have addiction in my life. First thing in the morning if I don't get my coffee then you better watch out. I just don't function without it. I am trying to cut it down. I have gone from 4-5 cups to about 2 or 3. My poor children really know that mommy is nicer after her first cup has been consumed. This is a recent addition that has only been acquired within the last 6 years or so. I'm not the only one with this addiction. I know many other moms who suffer in silence along with me.

My other addictive vice is caffeine free Diet Cokes or diet Dr Pepper. I dream about these drinks. The sweet flavor they have and how if they are so much better when they are ice cold. I refuse to dilute the flavor of these drinks by adding ice cubes. Give it to me plain in a glass where I can watch the bubbles float up. Gosh, how sad do I sound. Yes I know I have a problem. I have shared this addictive problem with my husband only he is not the purist I am and will still add ice to his drinks.

I have also inadvertently shared my addiction with my almost three year old daughter, K. Now please don't think I am one of those mom's who put coke in their baby's bottles because I don't, at least not technically. But for K, she is just like her mama. She sees the way I watch my drink as I pour it and she does the same. Her lips literally quiver in excitement as she ask if she can have some. And bad mom that I am, I give her a sip so that she will go away and leave me and my coke alone. It has gotten so bad that I now have to hide in another room or turn on the faucet, just to open a coke and pour it in a glass without K. hearing it.

I guess the responsible thing for a mom to do would be to stop letting her drink it. And I know if will be agony for both her and I if she sees that I am getting what she so desperately wants. So it looks like now I will have to give up my caffeine free diet drinks along with cutting back on coffee.

Sigh...what else can I do. I truly am sad about this. How sad is that?

Momumentous task

I have tackled a momumentous task this weekend. I have finally gotten every snap shot that has been taken for the last five years into albums. Well most of them anyway, the good ones. I was finally pushed into doing this when my son's pre school requested a baby picture. I couldn't find one and had to dig into a huge tub where all the photos had been placed by my husband. I finally located one for his school. But in the process came across all these other photos of all the kids that really were cute but were hidden away. So now instead of only having baby pictures of my oldest son in an album, we now have all four of the kids from their first pictures to now. Granted some of them may be a bit out of order here and there, but for the most part they aren't to bad and they are labeled. As for the kids, they are excitedly looking at all these neat pictures of themselves from when they were babies and are thrilled.

And it came at a great time for me since I received a new digital camera and am desperately trying to figure it out. Then I can get more pictures to put in the albums. But the one thing I noticed when putting the albums together, I'm hardly ever in any pictures. I am always the one taking the pictures. And of course I feel silly telling my husband to take a picture of me, please. I guess I really should since the kids will one day want to see the pictures with me in them. Then again, maybe I will just start using the timer on my new camera and then I can be in all the pictures. Anyways, I am just so relieved to have finally gotten them all organized and put into albums. That's a huge thing for me.