feedback

Alright, I need some thoughts on band-aids. Yep, band-aids.

My children want them for everything. If they bump their arm on the car, i hear, "i NEED a band-aid".

I've explained a thousand times that band-aids don't make owies stop hurting, they stop blood from coming out. They didn't really care.

Now, whenever Eloise has red on her finger, she thinks it's blood.

I know what you're thinking, "just give the kids some band-aids". It costs money people! Even if I can get them for nearly free using coupons, I guarantee the one time a child really does need it, I'll be out.

When Eloise came to me the other day after hurting herself and requested a band-aid, I told her, "Is it squirting blood all over the place?". "No", she replied. "Then you can't have one".

Heartless, I know.

Give me some feedback, please. What's your rules for band-aids?

links

Wow! What a week!

I packed way too much into an already stressful week. Now, I might see the light at the end of the tunnel.

An example of my busy life is in the tabs running across the top of my computer. It's a list of all the things i've opened and have yet to read.

Here's what's waiting:

*the blessing of stewardship - it peaked my interest when they talked about the real reason we are afraid to de-clutter.

*We decided not to put Eloise in preschool next year. Financial being #1. Not wanting to run her back and forth 3 days a week buckling 3 kids into carseats each time, came in #2. I thought this might be fun to do next year.

*Thinking about food and local produce and other items. Local CSA's would be fun to join, but I wanted to look at the pros and cons.

*Kids get two games of bowling free everyday when you sign up for the coupon here. I looked at the locations and there is one semi-close.

*And I don't know why this one is open, How to set goals with your kids, but something must have caught me

That's it for now, but I have yet to look at my Reader. I'm sure I have 45 more posts there too.

If you want links during the week, I've been helping my friend Angela out with her site as her Facebook Editor. If you "like" her page, I post links there all week. Not always related to coupons. Mostly recipes, tips, and crafts.

binki fairy arrives again

As you may have noticed in a few pictures, Lily still has her binki. Until Friday. The binki fairy arrived.

This time around, it was a little more brutal.

First, Dave helped her get super excited about it. The binki fairy left a letter in the mail and Lily was so eager to put her binki's in and return it to the mail box.

She was walking around yelling, "I'm a big girl" and giving everyone high fives. She fell asleep like a champ, no crying.

2.5 hours later, it all hit the fan. She cried almost the entire night. She was in my bed until 2:30 a.m. and then I put her back in her bed. She continued to cry and then finally fell asleep at 5:30.

The next day while on our way into Safeway and she bursts into tears begging for her binki.

Once we recovered from that one it was onto another one every few hours or so. It kind of felt like withdrawals.

That night, she fought sleep like crazy. At one point she asked, again, for her bink's back and I told her that 3 year olds don't have binki's. She told me that she no longer wanted to be be 3 and wanted to be 2. She's smart and the girl knows what she wants -- a binki.

Last night, much better. Only a few cries.

Tonight, fell asleep great, or so Dave told me. I was grocery shopping.

I knew this would be hard and that to move her out of the habit would be tough. And I know there are many people who would say that they would never start the binki in the first place. I love the binki. Even with this one horrible week. It's given me 3 years of great sleep (which will still be great), quick escapes from crying fits, and comfort for an owie. It's my backup plan and I have LOVED my backup plan.

We're down to one kid with a binki and one kid in diapers. I see the light at the end.

linky loo

I'm really hoping for some sun around here. I need to tackle some organization outside. My children are starting to worry that I'm donating everything in the garage to the Goodwill. They thought I was giving away their bike helmets today. Needless to say, I need to get outside and dream of beautiful spaces.

*Making Pita's this week

*Cute, cute, cute, bumblebee party

*Birthday Cake Puzzle - so perfect for the girls. I'm going to try and make it out of felt.

*We've been having leftover rice from all our Asian meals lately, i think we're going to do this.

*I might be able to pull off this daffodil craft...Eloise would be beside herself with excitement.

*My love of Asian foods will be taken to another level with these. I love these and have always wanted to experiment making them. maybe I'll even be able to convince my kids to eat them.

gratitude

my house is completely quiet.

my children are all sleeping. It may only be for 1 hour, but for that 1 hour, it is simply, peaceful.

I don't even want to get up from the couch, for fear of breaking the silence. It is absolutely wonderful.

Not because it's quiet, but because it's refreshing. It's Wednesday and the day is long and the week is only at the middle. I need this. I need a moment to breathe, to focus, for just a moment, on being a mama. On what life will look like when they wake up and the noise returns. How I will love them? How I will play with them? And how I will handle the crazy moments that make me want to pull my hair out.

i know sweet moments like this will be fleeting. They are all with me. They are not in school, they are nestled safely in their beds dreaming of crafts, snacks, and playtime. It is such a simple yet, chaotic time.

I want to savor it in this moment. Before I get too stressed, before I get overwhelmed with someone's disobedience.

I give thanks to the Lord for He is GOOD. Thank you for giving me these three that you knew we needed. Thank you.

food and self-image

In the recent months I've thought alot about food. Not just making it but how I respond to it (sounds strange, I know).

A few months back, Dave was gone all day and I had the kids. Any mom knows that on those days you are just a few steps away from going over the edge.

It was dinner time and I was frantically eating. The kids were out of control (usual for 6 o'clock) and I was anxious to make it to bedtime. I started SHOVING food in my mouth and I wasn't even hungry. In that moment, I heard the Lord say, Gluttony makes you irritable with your kids. What?!? (as food is spilling out of my mouth).

I wrote it down b/c I knew this was something I needed to remember. So I examined if this was really true. Sure enough, when I was anxious, I was eating. And then I would eat too much, feel like junk, and take it out on my kids. There were no happy moments surrounded the end of meals.

I began to pray that the Lord would give me control over my hands and mouth. That I wouldn't put anything my body unless I needed it. It didn't matter what it was, just that if I wasn't in NEED of it, I wouldn't eat it. Seems simple, right? Do you know how much I'm NOT hungry? And I'm nursing!

Okay, step away from food for a minute. Let's move onto the ever-present topic of body image. It's a certain thing for women to look at the figures of others around them. There are very few women who feel okay with every part of themselves. If you're one of them, tell me your secret.

I had an Ah-Ha moment a few weeks back while reflecting on this whole body image stuff combined with food stuff. Very few women I know who are thin, worked hard to get there. Most are genetically predisposed to having that body. Yay for them! But for the rest of us, we spend our energies working towards that goal of thinness. We all want to rebuke the notion that we equate thinness with beauty, but we all have that desire ingrained in us somewhere. I did. I thought being thin meant that you somehow won the victory over food. But you know what, most of those people who are thin, usually don't exercise and eat whatever they want. BECAUSE, they come by it naturally. (I loved this woman's answer to being thin)

Now I will say that this isn't the gold standard. There are those who have worked their fannies off to be thin and reached their goal. But they have to work HARD and watch what they eat ALL the time. And it's no coincidence that we see women in Hollywood desperate to be thin, get thin, and then gain it all back. We certainly don't see Jennifer Aniston with a weight problem. And that's b/c she is designed to look that way. She has great thin-genes.

Whatever my view of beauty is will be passed onto my children. Specifically, my girls. I don't want terms like fat or skinny in my house. I want healthy. I don't know what type of body my girls will have. Right now, they are both thin and on the tall side, but if it's not like that forever, fine. I just want them to listen to their bodies, feel comfortable in their figure, and know that God designed them perfectly.

So where am I going with all this?

I struggle with believing that I need to eat right to be thin. Not the case. I need to eat right b/c my body needs it, I need energy, and I want to feel great. I also want to remove the stumbling block of anxious eating which leads to gluttony and irritability with my kids. My kids do not need to suffer for my sin.

a few guidelines I've set for myself.

1. Do I need it? Am I hungry?
2. Is it good for me? Have I had the things today that are good for me first? (I ask my kids this all the time)
3. How much do I need to feel satisfied?

I'm also adding in working out so that I can feel good. Dave has been working out for 6 days a week over the last month and although he's only lost 2 lbs, he is always commenting on how great he feels. I want to feel great and have lots of energy (not that I need more).

So now you can see why the pregnant comment fell on the heels of some BIG self-image stuff in my life.

Can anyone relate? Does anyone else have this struggle?

amazing

I read this story tonight and almost cried, so for most people they will cry. Inspiring, raw, and so incredibly beautiful. Simply, amazing.