Author: Mommakisses

The Doghouse

| Mommakisses

If you haven’t seen it…

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/

It’s a pretty funny video JC Penney‘s marketing team put together to express the way many women feel: Most men are funny practical people… Most women are not. At least not when it comes matters of the heart. When a man wants to say, “I love you,” he wants to lighten his woman’s load, make the things she needs to do easier. In order to hear “I love you,” a woman wants to know that her man finds her desirable and beautiful.

It’s pretty crazy how different each of us says the same thing. And how trying to tell someone anything in a manner they find offensive will get you into trouble so fast it will make your head spin. Personally, I like dates to be recognized: Valentines Day, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries. T likes to make a big deal over people when it strikes him… not because the calendar says it’s time to do so. Translation? When we first got married, he went shopping for my Christmas gift on December 24th. What did he come home with… well, I’ll give him credit, it was not a vacuum cleaner… it was a pair of red and white, fussy, soccer ball slippers, and a promise to go shopping after Christmas.

A couple years ago he came home with a gift for me… a sapphire and diamond ring… and it was not a holiday, he just wanted to do it. So very sweet. However, this is an area I need to work on… I under react. I am working on making sure to do gifts for him all through out the year, as gifts is one of his Love Languages.

Now, he has learned to do much better. Last year for Valentines Day he took me to the jewelry store and together we picked out a beautiful set. He amazes me, and for the most part, keeps himself out of the doghouse. No, it does not always need to be jewelry (but that’s nice!)… just some way to whisper to a woman how beautiful she is to you.

How do I love thee?

| Mommakisses

Love is a funny thing… one of those very hard to pin down kind of things – like Jell-O. What really says, “I love you” to you? What do you need to feel like you are taken care of? If you’ve read the books, what is your “Love Language“?

Companionship is big for T. This means several things to us… rock climbing, laughing together and watching B Sci-fi movies or TV shows. When we have not had enough time together (we did just have our 5th child, and the holidays, and so much going on at his office… you know, life) he’ll say things like “I don’t feel married any more.” Ugh… that’s a tough one to swallow.

For my kids, they are still developing and learning their own needs, so they really need some of each. However, I can tell my girls are feeling they are not getting enough of Mommy’s time… also a tough one to swallow. Two year old K has been greeting me each morning with “Mommy, I need you.” Her little heart does not understand that EVERYONE needs Mommy, all she knows is that Mommy has not been as available as she once was.

There is a balance somewhere… there has to be. One of my goals for this year is to find it… not just for me, but for my whole family. I need to speak personally, deeply to each of these God given gifts, of my love for them. Not just as a group, but as the individual they are… T, J, G, S, K and A… That is a deep river I must swim. One I dare not swim alone.

See, they are God given. Without seeking God first, I will NEVER be able to love them in a way that will speak to their hearts… there is not enough of me to go around. But God can multiply in ways we can not understand, and with Him, with Him only, I will be able to truly love all those He has placed in my life.

And this book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman,  is a good way to begin to understand all they are asking of me.

YIKES

| Mommakisses

November 17th? I last wrote on November 17??? Really??? Wow…

Welcome to 2010. A Space Odyssey… or not. I actually just learned it was 2001 A Space Odyssey, and 2010 was the sequel… this an issue of being 14 and not really liking either movie when the sequel was released. The two movies ran together and freaked me out, and in my head it was always 2010.

And now you know how tired I really am… not sleeping messes with your head and your ability to think clearly… So I will tell you our sweet little A has joined our family, or as K calls her “MY BABY!” I promise I will get myself together and the conversation will continue… soon? For now, I am off to sleep while Baby A sleeps.

The Blind Side

| Mommakisses

I got to do something tonight I don’t get to do much… I got to take my Mom to a movie… and one that isn’t out yet at that! We got to screen “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. I had read about the family several years ago and was excited to see the movie.

When the review is up, I will post the link. Until then let me say this is a wonderful movie… I highly recommend it.

Besides being a good movie, I got to enjoy sharing with my Mom a small taste of the great things I have been able to do the last 17 years I have lived in Nashville… and that was worth more than I can begin to tell you. Many thanks to Grace Hill Media for making that possible!

Check out the review at Christian Activities.com.

Shark Bites?

| Mommakisses

As a mom of four kids, I want things to be easy. I was introduced to the Shark Steam Mops by my Mom. They are a great way to be able to clean your floors and not worry about what is on the floor as your kids (or pets) crawl/walk/run over said floor. You fill them with water, it heats it, and then you use it much like a regular mop.

Sometime before we moved, I caught an infomercial for the new Shark Steam Mop. Oh, it was beautiful… and it had a two-sided head to mop with… clean with one side, turn the mop over and keep going with a clean mop. AND they showed it cleaning hardwood floors, which we have several in the new house. The desire began…

Once we were safely in our new place, I ventured out (with gift card and coupon in hand) to Bed Bath & Beyond and purchased the object of my desire. Once home I couldn’t wait to mop my new floors. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I wanted to play with my new toy… and my dinning room floor needed cleaning. Once done, it looked good. I went off to do what ever was the task for the moment and came back through my newly cleaned dinning room… and really didn’t like what I heard…

Yes, heard. My floor sounded like something very sticky was all over it. And it was more hazy then it had been. I was not happy. I began to wonder why. I reread the instructions – wondered if there was an issue with my water and purchased a jug of distilled water. Then mopped the floor again.

Again it dried sticky. I read up on the web. One thing I ran across was where some people were complaining about the finish or damage caused by cleaning products with wax in them, and how to remove the wax build-up. My best guess is the previous owners used one of these cleaners, and as I steamed my floor, it was just enough to soften the wax.

I purchased some ammonia and began cleaning my floor on my hands and knees. It took me two days (I am pregnant, you know… I just can’t do that kind of work for very long). The stickiness was gone. When I use the steam mop now, things are not nearly as bad… it’s going to take me a while to get the floor totally rid of whatever they used. Fun.

But I am excited to know I should be able to use my steam mop soon… easy is so much better!

The Words a Momma Doesn’t Want to Hear

| Mommakisses

This week has been a bit rough for our family… mostly with illness, but there have been other added “surprises” too. One of the things T LOVES about our new house is his “man-cave.” That’s the area just behind the garage (if you pull into the garage, there are stairs up to the house, as the garage is under the master bedroom. Behind the stairs is a big area… he’s got a newly acquired set of woodworking tools on one side of the room, and area to set up 5 PS2s, three home theater seats, a projector for movies and the biggest gaming screen possible. It’s guy’s night heaven.

After last Friday’s big gaming night, T’s been sick and at home all week. Well, on and off all week… he has tried a couple of times to go into the office… and those days have kicked his tail each time. He finally went to the dr. yesterday because he could feel the junk settling in his lungs… yes, secondary infection from flu… the dr. said this is what kills people when they get the flu… oh, joy. Not that he was close, just not something you want to mess around with.

J has been having some stomach/head issues… mostly just pain, no actual signs… hopefully he’ll avoid anything stronger. However, we did keep him home from school. G seems fine… hope he stays that way!

Both girls seem to have some diarrhea… K had some this morning and S waited until she got home from school… I guess it was a HUGE mess upstairs as she tried to make it to the toilet but could not… T had the joy of being there and he cleaned it up… I worked with the laundry to be able to clean the clothes (she had her panties off trying to get there, so it was all over everything else) and he just threw her shoes out. K has not been sleeping that well… I don’t know how many more of these sleeping 2-3 hours and then up for the next two hour nights I can take…

Now, my head hurts… my lungs feel heavy… I really don’t want to get sick… sigh… T slept all morning, and then got up at 11 and I slept from 11:30 to 2:15…

So to top it all off tonight, the boys were ALONE in the man-cave playing games, while T was putting the girls to bed, and letting me rest. He was rocking K, who was finally settling down, when J yells from the man-cave the words I don’t ever want to hear again… “DADDY… A SNAKE!” Oh, yes there was… a baby King Snake had found it’s way into the garage. I later learned (when the boys were all upstairs and trying to find pictures on the internet) that J almost stepped on it… UGH!

They trapped it, identified it, asked to keep it, and turned it loose in the woods behind our house. And now they are all three back to playing games. As for me and the girls… it will be a while before we have a girls night in the man-cave…

kingsnake The one the boys found was not this big… it was maybe 10 inches long, but they didn’t take any pictures.

Wow…

| Mommakisses

It’s been over a month since my last post… wow!  I knew it had been a while, but I really had no idea. I think I’ve been a bit distracted by this whole move. Now things are starting to slow down and be more “normal” – whatever that is! I’m hoping in a couple more weeks we’ll actually have the build-ins in the closets done, and kids clothes out of boxes!

Honestly, there’s so much that’s been done and said, I can remember very little of it… I call it pregnancy brain… Did you know that pregnancy kills brain cells? I’m a firm believer, and I’ve been pregnant 10 times now… I have very few left!!!

So, that being said, here is the one thing that really stands out to me this week: S was in her pre-k class… she’s been having some issues with NOT following directions from her teacher. She’s so very independent… I have to keep telling myself this IS a good thing. Case in point: while the class was all busy drawing pictures of their houses. S got up, and headed toward the door. Mrs. D asked her where she was going. “I’ll be right back, I’ve just got to run into Franklin for a bit.” Mrs. D told her she needed to sit down. “I said I’ll be right back, I promise. I’ve just got to go look at my house for a minute.” She’s four, how do you argue with that?

S eating frosting while decorating a cake.
S eating frosting while decorating a cake.

Man’s rules

| Mommakisses

Have you learned yet that people don’t like it when you do things differently then they do? That if you don’t play by man’s rules, they make the game much harder on you?

Where money is concerned, we don’t play by man’s rules. We live debt free… this means we don’t use a credit card… we don’t have any store cards. We no longer have a house payment… though that will change when this house buying process is over. (But we will not keep it the full 15 years…)

Have you ever thought about the control of your life you give someone when you take money from them? Have you ever noticed someones reaction to giving you money? Suddenly they have a say in the things you do with your life. Especially if it’s a family member who loaned you money. Then suddenly they have all kinds of things to say about what you are doing… or at the very least you feel like they are.

Do you know what God says about borrowing money? If you take money from someone, you basically become their slave (Proverbs 22:7). I would much prefer to be a slave to no one. Maybe that’s my independent, WY, maverick spirit, but I really don’t like anyone telling me what I can or can’t do. There are a few people I choose to put myself under, but that is my CHOICE… There is a HUGE difference between having guidance and being a slave.

What choice are you making?

Everyone needs a laugh

| Mommakisses

I was taking some time to read through some blogs last night and found one written by a college friend. Let me highly recommend the You Suck At eBay blog. I laughed until I cried. Seriously.

It made me miss my friend. Cat was ALWAYS good for making us laugh. Oh, the stories she could tell. It didn’t always happen to her… it was the way she viewed what happened around her. Her observations are so funny. She carries that into this blog… I don’t even want to guess how much time she is spending on eBay… but the things she finds are priceless… Not that you would WANT to BUY them… but they will make your sides hurt!

Take a few minutes and enjoy Cat’s view… and laugh a while!