How to Survive a Sleepover Without Really Trying

It was Belated Birthday Party Time for Nephew Nicholas this weekend. We picked out the cake he wanted: Strawberry cake with red icing ("So it will still look like a boy cake.") And the dinner menu was planned: quesadillas without beans (he doesn't like that I put refried beans in the flat burritos I often make and since it's his birthday, he called the shots) and a watermelon that Nick insisted we buy.

The fun started after Sunday Afternoon's nap with a movie of Nick's choosing and then we all trekked down to the pool for a swim. (This was key in the plan of success!)

It was quickly followed by dinner (picnic style) and cupcakes ("tup-takes" as Nick calls them) and the announcement that we would be SLEEPING DOWNSTAIRS!! There was much rejoicing. And then a photo shoot of epic proportion....



And from this photo shoot, an even MORE epic photo shoot commenced (how is that is even possible?!)



The evening ended with kids slowly and surely rolling over and falling asleep. We only had 2 wake ups in the middle of the night (not counting the one where Nate got up and woke up Daddy instead of me) and I was pleased to call the event a success when this morning Nick walked over to the computer to see the pictures and smiled at me when he said, "That was so much fun last night."

Ahhhhhh.

The Final Word.

I heard a wise speaker challenge a roomful of Christian women about their speaking habits. These are women. They TALK. (We do.) We "chat," we "catch up," we "share prayer requests," and we even out and out gossip. But for the things that are really tugging at our hearts-the things we need to lay at the feet of our Lord-she issued the following challenge:

Talk about your problems with GOD

MORE

than you talk about it with everyone else.

Say what?
Read it again. I'll wait.

This means EXACTLY what it says. There is no hidden meaning or way of "interpreting" it.
I could write pages and pages about how this can effect us every day in every word we say but for today, I am applying it to the Jon and Kate Gosselin issue.

I am neck deep in divorce. It surrounds me on both sides of the family and in the lives of some dear friends. It is an issue I will never hesitate to speak about from the perspective of a child of divorced parents. I couldn't even watch the Jon and Kate episode tonight talking about their decision to divorce, I just can't listen to it.

Instead, I am tonight choosing to talk about it less and pray about them more. I know I have spent over an hour of my life in the last 3 weeks discussing them when instead I could be lifting them up in prayer. Praying for their kids.

I am done. I am off to pray.
And that is my final word about that.

And Then I Told Him Superman Was Dead

The song "Rainbow Connection" plays and the singer pauses to converse with some over sized puppets about how we ALL can find the Rainbow Connection, not just him. The singer and the band reflectively tag the end of the song and continue to play when Nathan turns to me and dreamily says, "Mommy, will we EVER find the Rainbow Connection?"

I turn to him and reply................
"No Nathan, the Rainbow Connection is not a real place. Now go upstairs and get dressed."




Mommy: Keeper of Dreams and Encourager of Imagination

Because I'm All About the New Math

Dear Water Rationing People,

Hi. I'm a mother of 3 kids (plus an extra one on the weekends,) I work part time, and I have VERY full life on Facebook and I wanted to talk to you about this whole 5 minute shower concept.

I am very conscious when it comes to conservation. I recycle. I don't waste food. I don't leave the faucet running when brushing my teeth or shaving. (Burt and Ernie taught me that.) I make my kids turn out the lights all the time and I always run my appliances after 7pm. In fact, most of the time they are running at 3am since that's the only time I have to even attempt to do laundry. (Wait a minute, what are we saving again? Oh yes, water.)

Lets talk about water. I wanted to know if we could reach some sort of deal on this 5 minute shower concept. I call it a concept because I am a little doubtful that you guys really put enough thought into it. Did you factor in the time it takes to wrestle open a slippery, wet shampoo bottle? Or is there any grace if you drop your washcloth and have to pick it up? Or how about if you are shampoo-ing (ohh that made me giggle) and a kid comes in to tell you that another kid took her crayons and then the crayon culprit comes in to defend himself and you are left with shampoo-d (ha! there it is again!) but unrinsed hair and holding a full court session in your bathroom? (And the defense is extremely long-winded.)

I have a deal for you. So try to keep up, Shower People.

I am thankful if I get to take a shower every other day. So, applying your math of 5 minute showers, that means I can take a 10 minute shower every other day. I would also like you to provide a credit line for those people with kids and the extra sweat they go through each day. Let's say 1 minute each kid. Now I am up to a 16 minute shower. That gets me probably washed and my hair clean (I won't make another joke about shampoo-ing....giggle) but people! I still have to exfoliate! I have to condition! I have to attempt to BE ALONE!

16 minutes so far.
Here's my next equation.

What if I bathe the kids extra quickly? Can I have their unused minutes? I mean, the baby, I could probably keep her clean with baby wipes alone, would I then get her 5 minutes? How about if I get some of that dry shampoo Heidi had and use that on Lucy's hair? And in the summer when we go swimming, that's totally a bath right there!

If my figures are correct, it looks like I am up to about 30 minutes of showering every other day.
And that equals the kind of math I can really get behind.

I hope you consider my request, Water Rationing Board and 5 Minute Showering People. And if you need to investigate my theory a little closer, I believe that the Crayon Culprit can hold his closing arguments in YOUR bathroom tomorrow morning.

Sincerely,

Bethany Zabrosky