Carabiners and Grown-Up Girlfriends

| Mommakisses

I am reading this great book called Grown-Up Girlfriends by Erin Smalley and Carrie Oliver. Basically it is about finding and keeping real friends in the real world. Why, you might ask… because I have seen this from both sides… both the having and the not having. I have seen what great friends can be for one another, and I have seen how destructive bad friendships can be.

One of the things they talk about is how “women crave relationships innately and are driven to be in relationships” — good or bad — and how during stressful times women tend to congregate together. Like God, we desire to be in relationships, and like Moses, sometimes we need someone to hold our arms up.

I have been in those times… and had those there to help me. I have watched others go through such times with very few around them, and it cripples them. Isolation is not a good thing.

I am blessed with friends who have stuck by me for 18-20 years now, others who I have known a short time, but feel like I’ve known forever. They have walked some dark paths with me. They have laughed, cried, prayed for and with me. They have helped me grow up. I would not be who I am with out them. Any of them.

I talked to some of my friends about their role in my life and how it is something like a carabiner. The carabiner’s significance is its use to fasten the climber’s line to their belayer, or anchor person, on the ground. When the climber loses footing, the belayer steadies them while they regain their hold on the mountain. My friends have held me to the Rock while I fought off insecurity, fear, frustration and anger. They provided assistance, encouragement, sound judgment, prayer and “held the ropes” for me.

If you find yourself isolated, with very little human contact (and I don’t mean through your computer… that’s NOT human contact) pick up this book, find out what you are missing, and find some real friends. They are out there… and they are looking for what you bring to the table!

And to my friends (CA, KC, JG, CH, RH, JR, GR, JS, LT, MV, KW and I am sure there are others I am not thinking of right now, but will come to me soon, so consider yourself here) there are not enough words to truly say thank you for playing the role of a carabiner in my life!

Top Knot and Bad Hair Days

| Mommakisses

One of the fun things about having little girls, all be it time consuming, is when their hair is long enough to put bows and the like in it. While feeding K some little, round cereal this weekend I noticed her hair is getting longer… (You’ll notice the new two hand technique to eating said cereal.)

Since her hair was in her eyes this weekend, I decided I would try and see what I could do…

K was not thrilled with the idea… However, S happily wanted in on the action…

The whole ordeal wore K out (not to mention all the running around we did yesterday.) Notice the hair stayed in all day…

Then there’s the aftermath, when your big sister decides you are done with your new look…

Wall E thoughts

| Mommakisses

I have to admit I went into this movie expecting another hysterical environmental scar tactic. What I did not expect was a love story… the sheer joy of holding a hand, the spark of that first kiss… OK, it’s two robots, but there was serious character development here!

I also didn’t expect the we-are-headed-into-fat-lazy-people (not sure headed is the right term) aspect of the movie. I know what you are thinking… “What??? There’s a moral in this story???” This is a Disney movie, people! That used to be the norm with them.

If you are looking for a sweet movie with some good points to talk to your kids about… this is a movie worth seeing.

Old dog learns new tricks

| Mommakisses

My DH never fails to impress me. See, not only is T a car guy, he’s also a gamer. Video games, computer games, I don’t think he’s meet one he didn’t like… well, maybe one 😉

He has, over the last four or five years, started thinking about all the time he has put into games. Sort of a what-if-I-had-done-something-else-with-my-time- where-would-I-be-now kinda thinking… Now he’s watching those two sweet boys start that path of I-want-to-play-games-right-now, and he’s seeing a different road, one much less traveled these days. One where balance is learned at an early age. One where God given talents are honed rather than left idle. One where a father says do what I didn’t know I could do. And he’s guiding them down that road.

He’s even seen the need to spend one on one time with each child over the weekends (ok, maybe K is too young, but the other three). He seems to be less overwhelmed by it, and more determined to do it.

Forget the village idiots, it takes a FATHER to raise a child.

Look Ma… No Hands

| Mommakisses

K did something amazing today… she sat unassisted for more than 10 seconds!

She was like a webble wobble though… bobbing and rocking, but not falling for about 10 minutes… she hardly sat still, not to mention those hands and feet moving, too. She was very pleased with herself… until I left the room… such a sad cry! Then when I came back, just as happy as she could be!

It’s very tough to shoot a moving target with a cell phone!

The greatest things ever

| Mommakisses

For those of you with little ones, let me tell you of some of the best things I have found for them:

1) Bumbo Chair… from the time a little one can hold their own head up, the can sit in this chair. This is very helpful… it gives you a place to put them when they are tired of the swing, not strong enough for the exersaucer and don’t like the bouncers. K can actually sit and watch her siblings, which she loves! She can sit to eat or just play with the tray attachment.

2) Happy Heinie… a home made diaper rash cream mixed with equal parts Desitin, Lotrimin and Neosporin (I use the + Pain relief) with a splash of Maalox (just enough to make it creamy and not stiff). I have dealt with some very rough diaper area issues, and this mixture is the best at helping heal the area.

3) If you are dealing with a colicky baby, Gripe Water works wonder. Here in Nashville I have found it at Wild Oats and the Super Target. (Cheaper at Target!)

4) Thumb… a solution to paint on thumbs or fingers to help kids stop sucking them. I’ve had all four of mine suck their thumbs, and this is the fastest way to help them stop.

That’s what comes to mind right now. Hope it helps!

A momma in good standing

| Mommakisses

I know where I stand… somewhere between the new computer games and the new car parts!

T got a new game system for Father’s Day and G got one for his birthday… J will get one when he can pay for part of it… the goal of all of this is keeping them busy on long drives… like the 10-12 hrs (depending on how the baby does) to grandma’s coming soon.

All I have heard from the boys today is “Can we play?” No, you played too much this weekend… Ten minutes later, “Can we play now?” I feel like I’m in a phone commercial…

T has ordered new parts for his car… his goal to make it stronger, faster, sound better, more horseys under the hood…(insert your own Tim Allen sound here). All I hear from him is “Did I get a package today?” So when one does come, I text him to let him know… Happy, happy boy!

Now comes the panic… I had a meeting tonight and needed to hit the store first. Rather than taking four kids, I thought I would meet T at work and go with just K. His answer? “NO! I want my car.” He knows he can’t get 4 kids in the back of his car, and did NOT want to take the van. Relax Honey… I’m taking K, you only have three… you CAN keep your car. I came home to find him painting the inside of his grill, to make it look “mean.”

The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys, for sure!

Boys gaming, sitting together in my rocker.

T working on his grill.

Rainy Days and Birthdays

| Mommakisses

Something about adding the fourth child has thrown me for a loop… maybe it was the blood loss (another story another time), maybe it was the holidays so close to her birthday, or maybe it’s having four under the age of 10… whatever it is, I’ve got it. And I have yet to recover from it – it seems to have effected my ability to put together a timely, planned party for the child of the moment.

I threw a party at a place where a kid can be a kid for S together in a week. That means I booked it on a Wednesday, handed out invitations the next day, and had the party on Monday. All things considered, it went well. J’s birthday is 13 days after S… I was not up to getting a party together, and had heard eight is were less kids show up… too many other things going on. T had tix to a soccer game that day with a bunch of guys from work and got stuck in traffic. So for J it was me, his siblings and his aunt. I told him we would try to do one the next month… that never came together either. (Bad Mommy, I know.)

So last Saturday I said I have GOT to call about booking a party at the local bounce house place… and T got a wild hair… Let’s rent a couple bounce houses and have it out back. We have the big play area, we could set up wade pools… it would be FUN…

Monday I made some calls, and booked the bounce houses, set the time, ordered the cake, and sent out the emails. By Friday I was trying to find the right goody bags (Kung Fu Panda — I bought everyone I could find in Nashville), and trying to make sure I would have enough food. See this party at home for my now five-year-old turned into 42 people coming to my house.

About 30 minutes before the guest were to arrive today, I heard a noise. J did too… what was that? he asked… I hope it was Daddy I answered, knowing it was not… Then again… no not Daddy… that was thunder… I turned on the weather channel… yes, we were expecting thunder storms this after noon. UGH!

Just after people started arriving, it started pouring… Now, we had to turn our outside party to an inside party. T did a GREAT job of keeping kids entertained upstairs while it rained. Fortunately, it only rained about 30 minutes… then we dried things off, and everyone was back outside. Also fortunately, the rain scared some off, and we ended up with about half of the people I thought were coming.

The rest of the afternoon went well… until S couldn’t wait any longer for cake… right before Aunt GG cut it, she licked it (big brother J was acting like he would, and she had to try)… her piece was spoken for! Notice the little bit of frosting just below her lip…

Funny Ball

| Mommakisses

I am… or was before four kids, an athlete… I don’t play enough of anything to be called such anymore. I would be a lot closer to a weekend warrior than an true athlete… though getting back into shape is one of my goals for 2008… anyway, bunny trail aside, I can appreciate a good game… football, soccer, tennis, racquetball… I enjoy competition.

I’ve played soccer since I was in the 3rd grade. I’ve watched my brother play, some boyfriends, my DH, and my boys play. I can honestly say I’ve never seen the game played this way. I’ve seen guys get competitive over cars… never seen ’em work it out this way. I don’t know what to call this… bumper cars on steroids? Soccer with protection? Maybe just funny ball?

For some reason, clicking on the video is saying it’s no longer avaliable… not true… so if it’s not working for you either… try using this url: