mother's day, social media and other random things

good morning! did you all have a wonderful mother's day? i'm not sure about everyone else, but my only requirement on mother's day is NO cooking and NO cleaning. now that means i have a mess to deal with on monday, but it's totally worth it. the best part? i woke up sunday morning and my husband had already gotten himself ready and most of the kids for church. i only had to get myself ready. best mother's day gift ever.  i was already in a relaxed state of mind after spending part of thursday and friday out of town with my mom. she had to go to a training for work a few hours away. i went along to be her bellhop and spend time alone in a hotel. delightful!

i've been thinking a lot lately about boundaries concerning social media and blogging. i'm always wondering where the line is between what to share and what not to share. and we all know there are many on the internet that have no such qualms. i read a blogger recently who described in detail her five year old's sexual assault. she did so under the guise of wanting to raise awareness but the whole thing made me want to vomit. her daughter's only voice in the world is her mother and she violated that trust. i try to be careful and aware of what i post about my kids. i often wonder if they will grow up and resent it? or will it be normal because they grew up in an age of social media? i don't know. i don't think any of us do. there are struggles that my kids have that i never speak of here. there are experiences that may benefit another but are not my story to tell. it's a hard line and i'm sure i miss it at times. i commented to a friend the other day that hopefully our kids wouldn't all end up in therapy. she laughed and said "i don't have a single friend who hasn't been in therapy at one point or another so i suppose it's inevitable!" i hadn't thought of that before! LOL when it's all said and done, i hope they will grow up and read this blog and see that we laughed and we loved each other and i was blessed to be their mother. and they'll skip past the posts about romance.

a post fueled by PMS...

i am in a mood this week. i'm gonna blame it on hormones. i can do that because i have a uterus. deal with it. in no particular order...

do not give me unsolicited advice when i need to talk to you about a stressful situation i am dealing with. it will only make me want to turn on you.

do not try to sell me something on facebook, invite me to sales parties or try to get me to start selling stuff. i don't want to hear how much money you claim i can make, nor how your particular product is "recession proof". i don't believe that i'm suddenly going be rich and traveling nor do i care if the company is christian. i'm not interested. take it elsewhere.

if you and your significant other need to share your issues by changing your status from "in a relationship" to single and back again six times a month, you will not get sympathy.

my kids broke my new dustbuster today and smushed strawberries on my newly mopped kitchen floor. yes, they are all still alive.

do not pull out right and front of my and then go under the speed limit.

a mouse ran across my living room yesterday and i didn't even care.

my brother in law tore his ACL yesterday and has to have surgery. that really sucks. i don't honestly know what an ACL is but it sounds painful :(

tomorrow i'm heading to cincinnati for 24 hours with my mom to accompany her on a business trip. only 22 hours to go.... but who's counting?

10 things mom REALLY wants for mother's day...

mother's day is complicated. how do properly honor a woman who pushed your entire body out of hers? there's always the old standby; flowers, candy, etc.  but what does Mom really want? i'll clue you in!

10. a day of everyone picking up their own laundry. never underestimate the value of 24 hours of not touching anyone else's underwear.

9. to sleep in. disclaimer: this does not mean lying in bed while kids bang on the door crying for you. i know, shocking.

8. someone else to cook dinner and clean up from it. better yet, take out.

7. never underrate how much we still love those homemade cards from our kids. we're still mothers :)

6. a leisurely bath in a clean bathtub.

5. you can never go wrong with chocolate. unless your wife is losing weight, like i am.  then don't bring home chocolate... because she will eat it.

4. gifts are good. not a gym membership, stinky perfume or tickets to your favorite sporting event. diamonds are a girl's best friend.

3. speaking of gifts, every mother loves things that represent their children. a friend of mine recently made me this necklace. there is an egg in the nest for each of my children. it is my favorite thing ever.

2. interview your kids about mom, either on video or written down. the results will be hilarious and she will treasure it!

1.  appreciation and encouragement. motherhood is a hard job and we're not supposed to drink in the mornings. take a minute to tell your wife (and your own mother!) what she means to you. she needs to hear it. trust me.

Ten inconsistansies about me...

1. i'm female, but i don't like girly. i don't wear pink, i don't care about makeup much (other than a good mascara. that's crucial) but i love to shop.

2. unlike most women, i only like to shop alone. shopping with other women is only enjoyable to me if i'm not buying anything. if i am, i need to be alone.

3. i hate romantic chick flicks. as in, i fast forward the romantic parts. it makes me irritated.  yet i love romantic gestures from theMr. i just don't want to watch them.

4. while we're discussing movies,  i abhor watching violence.  but, vampires fighting werewolves, for love?  i'm in.

5. i am religious in the care of my nails and skin on my hands and feet. some might say it borders on OCD. however, i hate pedicures. i'm not a big fan of manicures either. i don't know why. they stress me out.

6. i spent my whole childhood dreaming of getting out of ohio. i now live blocks from where i was raised and all the money in the world could not get me to leave. even as i hear many others lamenting what a horrible place this is to live, i'm happy here. my family is here. my friends are here. i love living here. and i'm not ashamed to say it!

7. i can't eat meat that still looks like an animal.  like chicken wings? i can't even stand to watch other people eat them. slurping meat off of bones... ick. interestingly, chicken is my favorite meat. as long as it's boneless skinless.

8. i'm not a kid person. yet i have five kids.  how does that work?

9. i have a love/hate relationship with blogging.  i love to express myself, share my life, connect with others on a personal level.  i hate feeling pressured to do it though.  and i hate being censored in it. there are just always going to be things i'm not allowed to discuss on such a public forum. which is hard for me. i'm not a censored person. i like to just be honest and raw. sometimes on here i can't.

10. i can't think of a number ten because i took my sleeping pill too early and i'm all woozy now. oops!

what's cookin?

i know it's been awhile... things have been super hectic around here. spring is when business starts picking up for theMr and i become a single parent.  many times a week i think of things to talk about here and never find the time to do it! (this is why i could never be a professional blogger!) but i just had to share with you a story.

you know the saying "when it rains, it pours"? well that sentiment could not be more true in this household. two weeks ago our dishwasher died. this may not seem like a big deal but in a house of seven people it is catastrophic. i'm not gonna lie, i was in a panic.  theMr spent several days trying to fix it, to no avail. we ended up having to replace it. i tried really hard to have the attitude of thankfulness that we had a few dollars in savings that would cover it, as opposed to be bummed that we'd have to spend our savings.  within two days of that my phone stopped functioning. my six week old, very expensive phone.  thankfully, it was insured and replaced quickly and for free. then last week, our oven died. seriously. it almost started a fire while i had a house full of kids. it's only four years old.  once again, theMr spent days trying to fix it with no luck. we are on week two of no oven.  we knew it would be a minimum of two to three weeks before we could get together enough for a new stove.  again, with a family our size this is a major hassle. i don't generally cook boxed or microwave foods for the kids. i'm a homemade meals kinda girl. so this has been stressing me out. by sunday morning, i was over it. just in time to leave for church. as we were getting in the car, i set theMr's Ipad on the passenger seat. when he opened the door, it fell out and shattered. it is four weeks old. for real. WHAT IS HAPPENING OVER HERE??!  thankfully, it also is insured and was replaced immediately. and he was very calm and kind about the fact that his wife just broke his most treasured possession. his response? "it's just stuff."  i love that guy.

now i'm not telling you all of these woes for a pity party. i'm not battling cancer or homelessness. these problems are drops in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. but i have a point. by sunday evening, i was really having a battle in my mind. i've shared before that we don't believe in the use of credit cards or financing in general.  these recent situations are where the rubber meets the road. it would be so much more convenient to just charge a new stove and pay it off over the next few months. this is what was going through my head that evening.

why can't we just finance this one thing?

everybody else does it?

what's the big deal? we have to have a stove!

in the midst of this mental storm, a still small voice reminded me of something:  the Lord is my provider. not Visa. not Lowes. not even theMr.   the God of all creation is more than able to take care of my tiny needs.  He created the heavens and the Earth. surely He can handle a measly appliance!  i went to bed telling him i trust Him while confessing my lack of trust.

i got up monday morning and took my kids to school. i returned home and sat down to check my email and drink some coffee before heading out to price stoves and determine how much we'd need to come up with.  i opened an email from one of our pastors. it read that someone had dropped off an anonymous check for us at the church.  a large anonymous check. way more than a stove would cost. i sat there in shock. it will not only pay for a stove, but some tools theMr desperately needs for his business.  for the first time in my entire adult life, i will be able to pick out a nice appliance as opposed to the cheapest one they have. holy moly. 

friends, this story is not about the money. this story is about a God who is big enough to create the oceans and the stars yet is loving enough to provide a stove to a family who needs it.  He didn't do it because i'm a "good christian" or i earned it in any way. trust me when i tell you that i am a sinner to rival all sinners. i am selfish and rude and judgmental and prideful and moody. i'm a terrible person. i have done nothing to deserve the love of the King of the universe. therein lies the point of this post.  nothing i could ever do would earn His love and He loves me anyway.  He has the same love for you.  He sees into my wicked heart and loves me. He doesn't see all of my inadequacies and sin. He sees me.  and i'm His.  He desires to meet all of your needs just the same as He meets mine.

thank you Jesus!

10 rules i try to live by

10. never go to bed out of coffee... or mad at your husband. both will ensure a crappy start to the next day.

9. a credit card is not a necessity.. not even for "emergencies". after seven years of being credit card free, i can attest that it is FREEDOM.

8. if you can't manage to think before you speak, learn to be a really good apologist. i'm an expert at saying i'm sorry. i get a lot of practice.

7. people that constantly gossip to you about other people, are talking about you when you aren't there. avoid them.

6. life is too short to clean the windows on a regular basis.

5. everyday look for ways to help someone else. it's good for the soul.

4. five minutes of peace and quiet are not worth trying to get sharpie off the walls. choose wisely.

3. kids who have a mom who yells, become yellers. i'm working on it.

2. the secret to a happy marriage is patience, self sacrifice and separate comforters.

1. offer grace where it is not earned. you never know when you'll need some yourself.

what rules do you live by??