A funny mom video

This has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Raising 4 children

I got this in an email today, very fitting for my life lately! :)

My husband and I had been happily (most of the time) married for

five years but hadn't been blessed with a baby. I decided to do some

serious praying and promised God that if he would give us a child, I

would be a perfect mother, love it with all my heart and raise it

with his word as my guide.

God answered my prayers and blessed us with a son. The next year God

blessed us with another son. The following year, he blessed us with

yet another son. The year after that we were blessed with a

daughter.

My husband thought we'd been blessed right into poverty. We now had

four children, and the oldest was only four years old. I learned

never to ask God for anything unless I meant it. As a minister once

told me, "If you pray for rain, make sure you carry an umbrella."

I began reading a few verses of the Bible to the children each day

as they lay in their cribs. I was off to a good start. God had

entrusted me with four children and I didn't want to disappoint him.

I tried to be patient the day the children smashed two dozen eggs on

the kitchen floor searching for baby chicks.

I tried to be under standing when they started a hotel for homeless

frogs in the spare bedroom, although it took me nearly two hours to

catch all twenty-three frogs.

When my daughter poured ketchup all over herself and rolled up in a

blanket to see how it felt to be a hot dog, I tried to see the humor

rather than the mess. In spite of changing over twenty-five thousand

diapers, never eating a hot meal and never sleeping for more than

thirty minutes at a time, I still thank God daily for my children.

While I couldn't keep my promise to be a perfect mother - I didn't

even come close - I did keep my promise to raise them in the Word of

God.

I knew I was missing the mark just a little when I told my

daughter we were going to church to worship God, and she wanted to

bring a bar of soap along to "wash up" Jesus, too.

Something was lost in the translation when I explained that God gave

us everlasting life, and my son thought it was generous of God to

give us his "last wife."

My proudest moment came during the children's Christmas pageant. My

daughter was playing Mary, two of my sons were shepherds and my

youngest son was a wise man. This was their moment to shine.

My five-year-old shepherd had practiced his line, "We found the babe

wrapped in swaddling clothes." But he was nervous and said, "The

baby was wrapped in wrinkled clothes." My four-year-old "Mary" said,

"That's not 'wrinkled clothes,' silly. That's dirty, rotten

clothes."

A wrestling match broke out between Mary and the shepherd and was

stopped by an angel, who bent her halo and lost her left wing. I

slouched a little lower in my seat when Mary dropped the doll

representing Baby Jesus, and it bounced down the aisle crying,

"Mama-mama." Mary grabbed the doll, wrapped it back up and held it

tightly as the wise men arrived.

My other son stepped forward wearing a bathrobe and a paper crown,

knelt at the manger and announced, "We are the three wise men, and

we are bringing gifts of gold, common sense and fur."

The congregation dissolved into laughter, and the pageant got a

standing ovation. "I've never enjoyed a Christmas program as much as

this one," laughed the pastor, wiping tears from his eyes. "For the

rest of my life, I'll never hear the Christmas story without

thinking of gold, common sense and fur."

"My children are my pride and my joy and my greatest blessing," I

said as I dug through my purse for an aspirin.

Humility

I am constantly being showed that nothing I have is truly mine. As some of you know, I started a diet last week on my journey to lose some major weight. And everyday since then Madison and Leah want my slimfast shakes and bars. I try to explain to them as they eat their delicious meals that mine aren't as good. But they just don't get it.

So this morning, I go down to start a load of laundry. Only to come back and find Leah drinking my shake. "I drink your chocolate milk!" Of course you do.

Our eventful afternoon

Yesterday we were getting ready to go get Mackenzie from King's and I was changing diapers next to the kitchen. I have no changing table, we just use wherever. Anyway, I was changing Leah's diaper and Vivian and Madison were in the kitchen. I am CONSTANTLY telling Madison to not pick Vivian up or don't pull on her or whatever, and all of sudden Vivian lets out this blood-curdling scream and blood goes everywhere. I leave Leah on the floor with no diaper and run for Vivian. She's bleeding pretty bad from the mouth. So I am trying to keep pressure on her mouth while she's flailing around and call Tim at the same time because someone has to get Mackenzie. I call him 17 times with no answer. By this time it has been 10 min and her mouth is still bleeding, so I call my mother-in-law who lives right by the school to pick up Mackenzie. I then try to nurse Vivian and give her a bottle to calm her down to see if I can look at her mouth. It's been about 25 min at this point and it's not gushing anymore. Then Madison says, "Mama, Leah pee peed on the the floor!" Now wouldn't this have been a perfect opportunity for the child to use her potty skills? Apparently not. Vivian's mouth finally stopped bleeding and I saw that she cut her gum but also cut that frenulum on the top which can cause you to have a space between your teeth. Bonus! Maybe we wont have to have braces for her.

Poor Vivian though. She had a fat lip and it's still swollen today. That was her first bleeding boo boo. Let the games begin!

The Invisible Woman

I have had two different friends send this to me and I really think it's a true picture of a mom.

Perspective: The Invisible Woman

By Nicole Johnson

It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?" "Nobody," he shrugged. "Nobody?" The crossing guard and I laughed. My son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness, nobody?" I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen. Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept right on talking. That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me. I'm invisible.It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not! No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see; me at all. I'm invisible.Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please." I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going she's going she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with; admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees." In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. * These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees." I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become." At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there." As mothers we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

4:45 AM!!

..... is an unacceptable time for all three of the little ones to wake up. :(

Sad moment

Vivian is now 9 months old going on 25. She no longer requires the services of her excersaucer, jumperoo, bumbo seat or anything else that even comes close to holding her in one spot for more than half a second. So this weekend we started putting all that stuff up. As we walking, Tim looked really sad. I asked him what was wrong and he said nothing. And then I said, "Are you sad?" And he said, "Yes, are you?" My answer ASTONISHED me!!! My answer was yes. It was a little bit sad to put these things away thinking we will probably not use them again. Someone just slap me!! :)