Being thankful

So, school shopping for my kids this year was less painful for me than any other year has been. Now, if you were to ask Brandon, he would tell you differently, but hey, isn't that every boy? I think if I could walk into a couple stores with unlimited funds and buy complete outfits without looking at price tags or wondering if the item I bought on clearance at Old Navy was going to go with the item on clearance at Target, then it would be easier and much more enjoyable. I find a certain satisfaction with finding deals. I have X amount of money to spend on 3 kids complete school shopping for supplies, shoes, clothing, and whatever else they deem crucial to their school year. How far can I make that amount of money stretch? Well, one thing that helped greatly is my Mom taking my two little boys so I could just concentrate on the three older kids. The only running we did was from one clearance or sale rack to another. If my little boys were with me though... there would be running to keep the clothes racks from falling over and my boys from pulling fire alarms, pushing the red alarm button in elevators, or going out of doors that are alarmed. (all of which have happened with one kid or another at previous shopping trips) You should see how quickly sales associates come over to glare at you when an entire clothing rack falls to the floor. And you should see how quickly I exit when they come running. (yes that did happen once to me when my 3 older kids were little and playing hide and seek in the clothing racks at JC Penny)

Anyway, my problem this year was that I knew that if I stretched my dollar enough that I could get my older three the necessities until winter. I don't go into malls or anything like that very often, but when I do, we inevitably pass some nice looking women's clothing store and I think how much I would love to buy myself a new outfit - especially a coordinating outfit. Not a clearance old navy polo that I know will match my one pair of blue jeans. Anyway, I am the mom and come last in the shopping pyramid (that was determined hundreds of years before I was even born) and so I am happy to sacrifice for my kids.

However, the wishing and coveting of the fancy clothes stayed with me longer than usual. And I found myself STILL pouting the next day - which happened to be Sunday. I had a sick kid (he actually fell over in his chair in primary before I thought of checking him to see if he was okay) and went home early from church. I checked my email and had two emails in my mailbox. One email was a request from a lady for a super cape to be made for her niece who had just been diagnosed with cancer and would be undergoing chemo. They wanted her to feel like the superhero she was during her treatment. Of course, I was happy to oblige, and I make all capes for kids who are sick free. I feel it is the least I can do. Plus, can you think of a better example of a superhero?

The other email was from a lady I gave a cape to last year. Her husband had emailed me saying she wore an old cape to each Chemo treatment she had since she was diagnosed with cancer and he wanted to get a new one personalized for her. He invited me to sign up for her blog on the Care pages network (an online support network for sick people and kids). It has been over a year and a half now and I still follow her progress. She is remarkably strong and I love reading each post to hear how her progress is coming. Her cancer trial is much harder than most. She found out she had cancer during her pregnancy at age 26. She had 3 tumors in her pelvis (the three amigos she calls them) and after delivery of her baby, they began treatment right away. The tumors were so large they tried to shrink them with high intensity treatments before surgery. She had surgery last spring and they had to remove part of her pelvis and replace it with part of the bone from her femur. She is not allowed to put any pressure on her leg since and wears a brace from her chest to her toes each day all day. Each day she gets to spend with her little boy is a blessing to her and she embraces him as often as she can be with him. I read her update and for the first time, emailed her and told her of my feelings of admiration I had for her.

Needless to say, by the time the rest of my family made it home from church, I had been humbled. I had been reminded that although I don't wear fancy clothing or the latest fashions I am blessed in different ways. I would not trade my situation for either of the people who had emailed me in a moment. To have a child with cancer or cancer myself and not be able to be with, hold, or take care of my children would be very hard. I didn't pout again. Funny how the Lord finds ways to humble your heart and teach you about being thankful.

Well, this is a much more serious post than I ever mean to write. But since my husband and son are at a scout camp, I have some peace and time to think. I will have to stop and find something else to do though... thinking philosophically is exhausting. I can think about cleaning the pee around the base of the toilet tomorrow, or all the projects that are looming in my home. (Our home is falling apart!). I can think about that chocolate I ate last night that ruined my healthy eating habits, or the best, most fulfilling way to destroy a scale. I can even think about the shock of my poor cousin who had a surprise pregnancy and just found out she was having twins and how grateful I am that I am not in that situation! (congrats to her though! :) )

Good night everyone! Peaceful dreams! And if you do have a kid who pushes that red button in an elevator, and sirens and lights start going off and the elevator stops... most buttons just pull back out and the alarms will go off again. (You never know when that piece of advice will be helpful!)

It's all fun and games...

I was trying to think of a good title to this blog and hey, you can end this phrase with about anything at our house.

It's all fun and games until....
You get your head jammed into a door.
You fall down the stairs holding a kid.
You find an under-aged kid holding open scissors alone in your room.
The dry erase marker doesn't come off the wall.
Your son licks your leg, feet, or face, because he thinks he is a dog.
You find 3 entire cereal boxes spilled on the floor.
You find wrappers and remnants of 12 boxes of fruit snacks in your daughters bed and a large package of oreos in her drawer, and 2 boxes of capri suns.
And a cube of butter under her pillow.
Your gerbils who are both boys have their second batch of babies in less than a month.
You have played I-Spy on the same route to and from school for 3 weeks.
Someone decides they "forgot" to do their homework at 10:00 pm.
and the list goes on....

I hear that I will miss these days, and I truthfully believe it. But I have never been a good journal writer. I have been thinking about starting a blog for awhile now and I suppose that finding humor in my days will help me appreciate this crazy time in my life. I have been so inspired by Dawn Meehan's ability to find humor in her kids. I find her fascinating. In case you may not know who she is, she is the Mom who posted a fantastic story about how Pokemon cards ended up in her shopping cart on eBay. She has been sprung into celebrity hood instantaneously - and for good reason. Here is a link to her blog...
http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/
and a link to a newspaper article written about her since her famous debut on eBay. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-bloggermom_03sep03,1,987830.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout .

Am I obsessive? Maybe. She writes how I feel and I am obviously not the only one who can connect with her. I am inspired by chaos. Especially if it isn't my chaos. :) I guess I like feeling like I am not the only one who was propelled into motherhood with false expectations of folded laundry, made beds, home cooked meals, and kids who adore you. I enjoy surrounding myself with less than perfect moms who maintain normal messy houses and have normal less-behaved kids.