Be Here

One of my personal goals is to be more real, to show my true self. It is one of our goals as leadership in MOPS this year, to be real and authentic in order to encourage our moms to get to know one another and develop meaningful relationships. My intent for this blog was to enable family and friends that live far away to keep up with my ever growing, ever changing kids. And I'm sure that is the motivation for you to check the blog on a regular, or not so regular basis -- to see what cute pictures are posted and to hear about funny things the kids did or said or see their accomplishments big and small. Well, now you will occasionally have to suffer through my thoughts . . . sorry! I am also trying to be more purposeful in the interactions and time I spend with my kids. Rather than trying to keep them busy while I clean, cook, organize, etc. I am simply trying to "be here" with them while I have them at home.

As I watched the girls this morning while they were waiting for the bus, I thought how great it is to just be a kid. They were cold waiting outside in the wind, and so took cover in the garage. This immediately turned into a ballet class. Now, neither of my girls has ever taken ballet, and from the looks of things their friend Reese hasn't either! It was fun to watch them take turns giving instructions -- the steps and moves they created were, well, let's say inventive (as opposed to graceful, which I think ballet is supposed to be). Then the bus rounded the corner and they scrambled to get their backpacks on and race the bus to the corner, giggling all the way. And I thought, wow, I wish my days were like that -- filled with anticipation, fun, laughter, friends, security . . .

Yesterday -

- On the way to swimming lessons, Delaney informed me that "mom, when I'm older, I'll likely settle around these parts." Around these parts??? Where in the world did she pick up that phrase?

- I was actually excited when Elliott ate an entire chicken mcnugget at McDonald's for dinner last night. Does that make me a bad mom? Those of you that know him well, know that Big E doesn't eat much more than fruit and breakfast food (yogurt, cereal, pancakes, bagels). So I was thrilled when he ate something that resembled meat and might have had a trace amount of protein. Lord help me, but Delaney, Jillian and I all celebrated his "sucess" with cheers and applause!