it's the little things :: quite time & my kids

it's the little things...

this is my week and the little things {clockwise}

{my garden...I spend quite time almost every morning weeding and watering my little plots of dirt..

{quite time with God... "He is my Rock; his work is perfect.
                                         Everything he does is just and fair.
                                   He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
                                          how just and upright He is!"
                                                 Deuteronomy 32:4   

{my kids...
        *they shared a room for almost 6 years and still want to be together...they get to sleep together one night a week during the summer...I cherish this because I'm pretty sure this won't last much longer!

       *7-11 day and free 7.11 oz slurpees...talk about little things

       *my posers...I heart these two!

beating the heat

Redding, California is HOT...

it's sort, kinda known for being HOT....

(although it's a dry heat...if Redding had humidity it would be inhospitable and would have a population of 2!)

I really don't mind the heat...

it's just a fact that you need to be willing to live with if you choose to live in Redding...

which we do!

This is the thing...everything in Redding has AC. 

blog note:  I say that, knowing that we lived almost 6 years in our fixer-upper sans AC...

we had a swap-cooler...

or an evaporative coolers, as those in denial call it...

which takes our lovely dry heat and in turns makes it humid...classy!

anyways...

most normal sane humans that live in Redding have AC...

no cars are sold in Redding without AC...

it's not an extra...

it just IS...cars have AC...

side note 2:  we bought a brand new car back in 2000 and while looking at the extra packages we said, 

"Oh, yeah make sure it has AC!" 

the sales guy looked at us and said, 

"Um, we can't sell cars in Redding without AC!  it's not considered an extra but a must have!"

okay...back to our regularly schedule blog...

about it being HOT and getting the HECK out of Hades!

the forecast for Monday was HOTx10...108+

which is pretty normal for July in Redding 

(as previously stated...

that is why/how Redding is known for being HOT)

so, to beat the heat, the kids, some friends and I packed up and headed for the snow!

yep...we went and played in the snow in July!

something that I've done a few times...but not nearly enough..

pack up the car...

pack lunch and plenty of water... 

and drive (usually...always...without the husband!)

have a minor goal in mind, but be flexible...

our goals...

1.  get out of the heat

2.  hopefully, possibly see/play in snow...

then go...

be spontaneous...

this is the fun part...

drive...see something pretty..

neat...

weird..

interesting...

stop the car...enjoy...

....look kids, it a Sound-of-Music mountain meadow....

trying to get a Sound of Music picture
look really really hard and see the teeny tiny pink spot to the right...
yeah, that's one of our kids!

our closest Sound of Music shot!

we spent about 30-40 minutes
(20 of that crossing the colder than ice creek to get to said Sound-of-Music mountain meadow)
enjoying the beautiful meadow

hey, kids...
look a patch of snow across the street from our meadow...
enjoy!

love the contrast of green field below the snow!

this snow is fun and all...but it's sort-of-kind-of a snow cliff...if the kids take a step or two back they will plunge to their deaths...or at least break a bone or two!

girl getting tagged by a snowball

seriously...
how many times have you had a snowball fight in July!

it's snowing in July...or maybe we just threw snow up in the air

okay, so this is great snow and all...but it's not fun/easy to play in...it's a snow cliff...so lets pack up and find what we set out to find...enough, safe, snow to play in!

hey, look it's a snow tunnel...so what if it's in a parking lot...
it's a SNOW TUNNEL...in JULY....
stop the car...get out and enjoy!

blog note #3...
try not to look too closely at the snow...it's snow in July...
so, this is not pristine white snow...
it's actually old dirty snow...
but, just don't think about it...
and make it VERY clear that there will be absolutely zero eating of any snow! 

okay, so this is fun and all...
but it's a parking lot...
so, lets pack up and find a better place to play!
eventually...
we reach our ultimate goal...
an area with enough snow...
that's not on the edge of a cliff...
or in a parking lot...
and let the kids play...

 midget July snowman!

Get some posed pictures at the ice cold Lake Helen....

Pack up and head home!

*special note...

when heading to the snow...even if it's July...

it would be wise to pack snow/rain boots...

your kids may or may not suggest this to you before you leave for said snow trip, and you may or may not think, "it's JULY and we don't need that"...

it would also be wise to bring mittens...

possibly also something that your kids may or may not have suggested that you bring...

and you may or may not think it's necessary because it's JULY...

trust me, bring the mittens!

so, your kids may or may not have the chance to say, "Told you so, mom!"

also good things to pack for a snow trip in July:
*flip flops 

*towel

*bug spray...snow and mosquitoes don't compute in my head, but swampy muddy areas around melting snow drifts and 75 degrees is the perfect environment for mosquitoes...and since there are little to no humans in these areas you will be eaten alive by them!

Go out and embrace the spontaneous trips!  Pack up the kids, invite some friends...and pack all the things that your kids may think you'll need!

and take pictures!

These are memories that you and your kids will cherish...

so don't NOT go because your husband/wife might not want to go or have to work

don't NOT go because friends can't come

don't NOT go because you have laundry to fold

this was an amazing day...it was in the high 70...when back in Redding it was 108+
the kids, our friends and I all had a great time!

just go...and embrace the spontaneous trip...

don't have any mountain snow anywhere nearby (we drove an hour and half to reach snow), drive to the lake, a waterfall, the beach, a local pick-your-own produce farm...etc...

what are some spontaneous trips that you've taken...or wanted to take?

Public Service Announcement

your July PSA...brought to you by music...

yep, this "DUH-moment' PSA is brought to you by music....

blog side note...
I'm NOT a music person.  It's not that I don't like music...
or don't appreciate music...
or don't enjoy music...I do enjoy my share of music...
I even have a favorite band or 2...
it's just...I'm not a music person.

I know weird...

random fact...I owned zero (0) cd's (that's the way we listened to music in the 90's) when Beau and I started dating...still had zero when we got married...and today...I have zero cd's....

in 21st century vocab...it's like not having an itunes account...which...I do not have!
.....

okay...
end blog side note!

This PSA is about music!
I feel it's my duty to inform you all that working out with music is WAY better...
but guess what...you already knew that!

99% of the time I run without music...
1.  I just don't think about it
2.  running is my quiet time...just have silence...nothing...and I love it....
3.  I just don't think about it...because as noted earlier...I'm not a music person....


well...I'm also not a great runner...
I'm a fair-weather runner...
what does that mean...
well, I don't like to run in the cold and really not in the wet & cold (so Nov-March is out) 
and I don't like to run in the heat (so June-Sep is out)...
and I don't like to run on a treadmill...
so I get my running in from April-May...and October....


anyways...today I decided to run while the kids were at swim team
(I'm at the Y...I should be doing something RIGHT!)...
I have been trying to do something while I'm there...
but I do hate the treadmill...
and not so in love with the stationary bike...
and yes, I know...I'm a whiner!

anyways...I borrowed the girl child's pink headphones...
and asked Beau how am supposed to get music to come out of my smart phone...
and then...this crazy thing happened...
I ran better...the treadmill wasn't so stupid today...
I ran my first 11 min mile in over a year!... 
     (told you I was a not-so-great runner)
all because I was listening to some tunes while I was running...
crazy...

look how happy she is...it's because of the music!

music makes running easier....
and I'm the last one to figure this out...
because while I was running and thinking,
     "wow, this is like magic or something, I feel great!"
...I looked around the room...and everyone...
I MEAN EVERYONE had head phones on!...
even the 70+ lady reading her Kindle had headphones on!

I think I may have been the ONLY one in the world not running with music...
but just in case there is one other person out there...
and they happen to be reading my blog...
FYI music makes it better!!!!

How Clorox Wipes Ruined my Kids

back story for my not-so-short story about ruining my children!

....

so my children are responsible for cleaning their bathroom once a week...

Monday's to be exact...

and they clean the bathroom with non-other than Clorox or Lysol Wipes...you all know you use them...

I tried about 3 years ago to go all green in this area and stop using the cleaning wipes...yeah, that wasn't happening...

anyways, the kids clean every surface of their bathroom minus the inside of the toilet bowl, with the wipes, it works, they get it done, end of story...this is all they have ever used to clean the bathroom...the cleaning wipes and the toilet bowl brush...

summer is in full swing...and that means I have the kids 24/7...

like some home-school mom or something...

and so, things like errands...not happening!  

because taking the kids across town to WalMart to buy things like cleaning wipes and paper towels, when we could actually live without them 

(because in the history of the world we have lived without them), 

is not on my list of things I like to torture myself with...

end of back story...

so, first Monday of summer hits...

kids clean bathroom...all is well...

minus the fact that they used the very last cleaning wipe and failed to inform me...

second Monday of summer hits...

kids go into bathroom to start the cleaning process when they both realize the world has come crashing down around them! 

THERE.ARE.NO.CLEANING.WIPES!

boy child instantly sees this as a miracle releasing them from bathroom cleaning duties...

but girl child knows...

she's old enough to remember back...

back to that black time in history...

when mom went all green and there were no cleaning wipes in the house....

there is some discussing going on in the bathroom...

slight arguing...

boy child is elected to tell me the news about the cleaning wipes, 

probably because he's younger and I would never think to make him clean his own bathroom without the aid of cleaning wipes...

FAIL...I tell them to use...paper towels and cleaning spray...

back to the trenches they go...

then some more arguing...discussing...

girl child emerges now...

..."um...Mom...but there are NO paper towels left...none!"...

confidence has soared...they are golden...

NO cleaning wipes

NO paper towels

that can only mean one thing...NO cleaning the bathroom...

FAIL..apparently I have never introduced them to the wash rag!

what had I done as a mother?  

my children had no idea that they could clean surfaces, other than themselves with a wash rag...

AND that I actually had a stack of wash rags, in a long forgotten cupboard in the garage....

kids clean the bathroom...all goes well...

third Monday of summer hits...

paper towels have been purchased by the husband...

cleaning wipes have yet to be purchased...

because I have not come to the point of running that horrible errand mission...

but kids now know...

they have been educated on the old school ways of cleaning...

they are smart kids...

so, the smart kids that they are...and slightly lazy...

    they know they don't need cleaning wipes...

so, they start thinking outside the box....

do we really need wash rags?...

     all the way out in the garage...

or the paper towels?...

     all the way to the kitchen...

no, we can think outside the 'cleaning wipe' box that our mother held us in for so long...

and look, there is this roll of paper that we use to clean our bums...

why would that paper not work to clean the rest of the bathroom?

oh, and that cleaning spray...

     it's all the way under the bathroom sink...

     we'd have to like, open the cupboard door to get that...

but look, there is soap right here sitting nicely on the counter...

     nice soap...foamy Bath-&-Body Works soap...

     that's good enough to clean our hands...

     must be good enough to clean the entire bathroom...

     ...including the mirror...

yes...you read that right...

my children 'cleaned' their bathroom with toilet paper and not-so-cheap Bath-&-Body Works foamy soap!...their entire bathroom...

yes...Clorox Wipes have ruined my children...

and now I'm off to buy stock in them!

the one that rubs

...yeah...
there's this Bible story that rubs me the wrong way, one that Jesus Himself taught...
I just don't like it..never have...

it's the prodigal son...
yep, not a fan....

because guess what...I'm the good brother (or sister in this case)...
the 'good one'...the one that makes all 'right choices' the one that 'deserves' everything the father lavishes on the 'bad son' at the end of the story...

not only am I not a fan, it's a story that I've always hated...
yes...HATED!
I'm a justice seeking...stand in line...speed limit...kinda girl!
(although when my kids utter those horrible words,
'that's not fair' my skin crawls!)
but it's true...this story IS NOT FAIR!

I recently even had a conversation with my mother about this despised story...
about me being the 'good one' and talking about the prodigal one...
and how I dislike that Jesus had to put this in the Bible at all...

and then guess what...
God flipped the tables...
I had a dream (and yes, I know that most dreams are just dreams...but I also know that God used dreams in the OT and it worked...so yes, I believe 100% that God gave me this dream to understand His love just a little bit more)

In this dream I was no longer the 'good sister'...
I was the mother...OUCH
I was no longer the do-gooder sister, I was the parent of the prodigal son...
In my dream my sweet, kind, cuddly, loving, tenderhearted 6 year old boy was all grown up and 19...
And he was no longer any of those things.
He was living in the world, making stupid, horrible, scary life choices...
His sister stayed home and was being the good one...making all the right choices...
But as the mother...my heart was breaking for my son...my son had turned his back on everything I had taught him, everything he knew, squandered all I had given him.

Yes, I was proud of my daughter, I was filled with hope and joy at all her choices.
But at the same time my heart was literally torn in half by the choices my sweet baby boy had grown up and made...
Just typing this out and remembering my pain, makes the lump return to my throat.

I woke up in tears, sobbing over my lost son, the son that I would do anything to have back in my arms, safe and sound...the son that I would throw a huge party for if he would only turn around repent and seek my forgiveness....
I knew without a shadow of a doubt I would throw this lost-and-now-found son of mine the biggest party I could.  I would celebrate him coming home!

so now this story rubs a different way...I now 'get it'...
I now understand the celebration for the lost son...
...and now my heart breaks for all the prodigal son's...
I now have a small window into the pain that God feels for all those that have turned and are doing it their way opposed to His way.

I also see that the father/parent hasn't turned himself away from the good child...he loves that child just as much as the other one.  And that maybe the good one has some sin in his/her life...the sin of pride...
He believes that his actions can earn the love of his father/parent.  As a parent I know my child can do nothing to earn my love or take away my love...I love them no-matter what.  And God's grace and love is the same, my actions, my good behavior, my deeds, works, etc...will never 'earn' my father's love!  I do all of those things because I love HIM, not so He will love me!

And I pray that in the future rather than being the sullen, it's-not-fair 'good sister', I can be the heartbroken mother that seeks out the lost son.

to the dads

in honor of Father's Day I wrote a post over on my husbands blog www.reddingfirstfamilies.blogspot.com ...
go check it out...
to all the dads doing it right!

the swim test

back story to the story.....
we have 2 different swimmers in our family...
the girl child is a fish...
     has always had confidence in the water
     even when she didn't have form she had confidence,
     she just knew...she had FAITH she wasn't going to drown
     and she loves the water
    as a some-what-shy toddler and preschooler she had no problem taking a swim class,
          in fact she loved taking them

the boy child...he's been a totally different animal
     and not a water one
     has never believed he could swim, even when he can
     swim lessons have always been a fight
     one year he even refused to 'dress' for lessons and wore his jeans, I still made him get in the water with his jeans (not a happy little boy)
     he likes to swim....sometimes...half the time he'll chose to stay home with dad!
   
okay...the swim test!

last week of school (2 weeks ago) boy child's 1st grade class is going on a swim party field trip to the YMCA (the pool that we swim at most of the time).

The swim party is taking place at the outdoor pool that looks like this

the kids need to pass the 'swim test' to get the green wrist band and swim just on the other side of the rope from the shallow pool into the first swim lane
(a place where the kids can actually stand up in...but since the depth gradually increases to a point where they can't touch they need to take the test).

the swim test starts at the deep end and the kids must swim the length of the pool

the lifeguards were great,
one of them has been Wilson's swim teacher a few times,
Mr. Steve, he's a great guy that is amazing with kids, builds confidence in the water and has just an amazing heart for kids.
they had the kids jump in and swim... if/when they got a little tired they could grab onto the wall for a short break and then continue swimming.
by the time Wilson has decided he wants to take the swim test about 15 kids have already taken the test and passed...these 'green wrist band' kids are not swimming in the deep end they are all playing and splashing and stuff down in the shallow area

Wilson does great...
He jumps in, and he is swimming without stopping, he's closer to the swim lane (rope) and not the wall, not stopping to rest because he's too far away to grab on the wall.
He makes it down to the 'shallow' area...where he can actually touch...
and he hits a wall of inner-tubes, swim noodles, beach balls and kids...

he freezes...he doesn't move...
at this point he can actually touch, but he doesn't...
he doesn't swim under any of the things in the water
he doesn't move any of the water toys, he won't even touch them

boy child panics...and even though he can touch he almost drowns right here because he's stuck in the doggy paddle and is TIRED because he's just swam the entire length of the pool without resting....

the lifeguard has to throw him the lifeguard flotation thingy
(it's not the ol' round life preserver thingy that we all think about, but those long red foamy things...)
anyways, once Wilson sees the lifeguard throw that towards him his panic doubles...
"I'm getting rescued...that mean's I'm drowning!"
...he panics and doesn't grab it...lifeguard throws it again...
Wilson grabs it this time and is pulled to safety...10 feet away!

So, Wilson FAILED the swim test...
even though he swam so far, he panicked and had no idea how to swim or get to safety...not good...

kids that failed the swim test received a red-wrist band so the life guards knew what kids could be where.
Mr. Steve talks Wilson into re-taking the swim test...talking to him about how to get thru the 'water-hazard' at the end...

and guess what...same thing happens...
and now...
Wilson has FAILED the swim test twice...

What Wilson didn't see...won't see...can't see...
is that he SWAM almost the entire length of the pool...TWICE...
he SWAM in the deep end...
he never needed to grab the wall to rest...
TWICE...he swam twice the length and never reached out to rest on the wall!
HE CAN SWIM....
he only sees a failed red wrist band

fast-forward to the next week...first week of summer vacation...
and...
da.da.dum...
swim team...yep, I have boy child (both actually) signed up for swim team...

same pool...what happens...
Wilson doesn't swim...
the boy gets in the water....strokes twice...grabs the wall...
'monkey-arms' it about 20 feet...strokes twice...grabs the wall....
repeat...
all the way to the end...
and repeat for the entire 1 hour swim practice!
!

ARGH...
why?
He knows in his head that he FAILED the swim test...
he "can't" swim!

I convince swim coach that my son can in fact swim so please don't kick him off swim team...
(yep, I was that mom!  SHEESH)
and then sign him up for swim lessons...

fast-forward 2 weeks...
Wilson has now been on swim team 2 weeks...and taken 2 weeks of swim lessons...
and he has yet to swim the same distance he did for the 'failed' swim test...
his coach knows he can swim and has let him remain on the swim team...he's done amazing at his lessons...
but still he 'knows' he can't swim because he failed the swim test...

as a parent I can tell him over and over and over again that
He Can Swim...
all he can see is that red wrist band that told him he couldn't...
...
I have wondered ever since that fateful 'swim test'...

God, 
Do I have a failed swim test in my life?  Do I see the 'flotation devices' in my life as water hazards?
Have You told me over and over and over again that I can do something...
Yet, I keep pointing to my failures and telling you that I can't do it?  
Showing you where I failed, how I failed, how I'm not equipped to do what you've asked of me...pointing to my failed red wrist band and saying GOD, you have no idea what I can't do, but I know I can't do it!

Ouch...
I am grateful for the spiritual lessons my children teach me!

God, 
Remind me that I can swim...that I'm not swimming alone, and that you are always my lifeguard even when I can touch the bottom...and that my failed red wrist bands are ones that I have put on myself or the world has...not ones that you put there!