The Messy Ministry

The Messy Ministry is what my friend calls it when you refuse to clean your house up like crazy right before someone stops by for a visit or a playdate.

You probably know what I'm talking about. At my house, it means that I plop the kids in front of a video and quickly run around tidying up the house making it look like, well, like we don't live in our house, but rather have it photographed for magazines. Well, maybe it doesn't look quite that good, but you get the point.

However, I realized this frantic type of cleaning was accomplishing the following:

• Driving my husband crazy
• Stealing time away from my kids
• Sending my kids the message that a clean house is more important than many, many things
• Possibly making my friends feel inadequate as they looked around my house and thought to themselves that they never keep their houses that tidy

As I thought about that, I realized that none of those things are what I want to do. I want my kids to know that the things we have are blessings from God and we should take care of them. I also want them to know that a certain level of cleanliness is necessary to be hospitable. However, people are so much more important than an always tidy house. Show me a house that is always spotless in every nook and cranny and either the parents are forever sending the kids outside or are missing out on enjoying their children because they are always "picking up."

Now, I do believe in being a good steward of what we've been given and I also believe children can and should be a part of taking care of the house. It's a fine line to walk, but so is most of parenting.

The Messy Ministry works for me. If my friends want to see a spotless house, they are welcome to browse through the collection of magazines in the basket by the couch!

Be sure to stop by Kristin's for more Works for Me Wednesday Tips!

Double the Grandparent Love

I don't suppose children ever want their parents to divorce, yet that is what happened to both Tony and me when we were younger.

At that time, I didn't think much good could come of something like divorce. To this day, I still sometimes think about how things could have been different.

Yet, God is able to make good things come of less than desirable situations.

My children now have eight grandparents who shamelessly love on them.

This summer, all eight grandparents have come to visit us and by us, I mean the kids because Tony and I aren't nearly as cute or entertaining. (Well, Tony is pretty cute, but that's besides the point.)

Anyways, I love that it is next to impossible to tell which grandparents are related by blood and which are related through marriage. They all just love our kiddos so much and are so good to them.

Perhaps our family lives didn't end up the way we'd hoped, but I'd say the grandparent situation is very, very good. For that, I'm grateful.

Here is one of many pictures demonstrating that awesome grandparent situation.

My Dad with Chris

(Try to ignore the quality of the photo. It's what happens when you've got a dirty lens and a lazy photo editor!)

It Isn't Easy Taking Pictures of Three

If you have more than one child, you know how difficult it is to get a decent photo of all of them looking even remotely at the camera. Unless you've got some serious Photoshop skills, you're probably like me and the only time you get a good shot of your kiddos is when one is half-dressed, has a binky in her mouth, or is obviously in need of a bath.

The only point of the above paragraph is to relieve a bit of my guilt that my favorite picture of the summer contains only one of my children. She just happened to have the right amount of ice cream on her face and she smiled and shrugged her shoulder at precisely the right moment. Plus, that dimple on her upper left cheek is one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

So, let it be known that I deeply love all three of my children.* Jane just happened to be captured in this summer's favorite picture. Though, technically, I do suppose there are still a handful of weeks left in summer.

*That sentence was written for the benefit of my children for when they learn to read. (Only half joking.)

Okay, without further explanations...Summer at Its Best!

Saving Bath Toys Through "Surgery"

Bathrooms are, by nature, not the sweetest smelling places. Well, except for when I get to take a leisurely bubble bath and then they smell of yummy vanilla bubble bath and a scented candle. Except of course, I can never find a candle and I can't remember the last time I took a bath. Whatever, stick with me.

Besides the usual stinky challenges of a bathroom, there is also the odd collection of bath toys. Usually we have them hanging in a little mesh thing which is designed to look like a duck and sticks to the wall tiles. Sometimes the toys are left scattered on the floor of the bathtub. I suspect it is that location that causes the problem.

Every now and then I'll discover a toy or two looks like some mold might be growing inside of the rubber duck or mermaid or some other cute little bath toy. That is a bit concerning, but I usually pretend I don't see it. However, the stench that later accompanies this pleasantness is harder to ignore.

So, not long ago, when my mother-in-law walked in the bathroom while I was bathing the kids and said "I performed surgery on the ducks," I paid attention.

She had taken scissors or a knife to the bottom of the ducks. She cut out a smooth circle leaving the mold no place to grow. An added benefit was that the kids could no longer suck water into the little toys and then squirt them at each other, or me. (Is that just my kids?) Plus, if you're overly ambitious, you could actually clean the inside of the ducks since slicing open the belly leaves the entire inside of the duck exposed. (Yikes, that sounded a bit grotesque!)

Also, doing this just gives you a little warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you are being green and not wasteful. I can't tell you how many bath toys I've trashed because they stink. Finally, I had stopped keeping bath toys that were hollow inside. No more!

Performing "surgery" on bath toys definitely works for me!

Be sure to head on over to Kristin's at We Are That Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

A Great Way to Start the Day

Yesterday brought a gray sky and the storms that usually come with them. Last night, after the storms had cleared, the temperature was noticeably cooler and the humidity all but gone.

So, this morning as I looked outside at the beautiful day, I decided we'd go for walk. This is something I really like to do, but do mostly in the fall, my favorite season.

Our walk started out not quite the way I had pictured in my head. There was much whining on the part of two of my children and much taking of deep breaths by me. I knew that they would eventually like the walk so we pressed on. We were rewarded as soon as we turned the corner. There, less than ten feet in front of us was a brown rabbit. I told the children to stop, halted the stroller, and we watched and watched and watched.

My children stared at that rabbit with more attention than I thought was possible. I think they would have stayed there for quite a while if not for the car that drove by and scared the rabbit into his (her?) home under a large pine tree.

I'd like to say that seeing the rabbit excited the children enough to stop the complaints about going for a walk, but sadly it didn't.

There were a few more deep breaths on my part as well as a bit of moderating the older kids' turns riding behind the one-year-old in the double stroller.

Then, about halfway through our walk, we literally stopped to smell the roses. Not much later the children stumbled upon a treasure...acorns! They gathered the tiny acorns in their little hands. There was talk of making them grow, pretending they were pets and feeding them rocks, and of the naughty squirrels they were afraid might come and steal away their treasure.

As we neared the end of our walk, Ann spotted a butterfly. I recounted all the things we'd seen on our walk and told her I thought it had been fun and almost like a trip to the zoo. She agreed, but then said it was "even better!"

I chuckled to myself as I recalled that this was the child who was most against taking a walk. She ran the rest of the way home and her brother joined her. Yet, that was not before we observed a bulldozer near the busy street. That was truly the icing on the cake, or rather the walk.

There are better ways to begin the day than over a cup of coffee. The joy of sharing nature with my children was well worth skipping my morning cup of coffee and enduring a bit of grumbling from children who thought they wanted to start the day with Scooby-Doo. I'd like to think they were shown a bit of how much more special God's creation is than anything man can create, or you know, animate.

Have you learned or been reminded of anything this week? Please stop by Musings of a Housewife to see what others have discovered as they report in the What I Learned This Week Carnival.

The Baby Burrito

I often think about family traditions. Sometimes I read about them and sometimes I simply discuss them with friends and family.

As my children grow, I think about the types of traditions I want to have in our family. Of course, like most people, I think about traditions most often around the holidays. It struck me as a bit odd that I realized I was thinking about traditions as I pulled my youngest out of the bath tonight.

After I got her out of the tub, I wrapped her in a towel. I then proceeded to ask Tony if he'd like a bite of the baby burrito. He made a chomping sound and pretended to bite Jane. She giggled. Our four-year-old asked for a "bite" and did the same thing. So did our three-year-old. By the time I was finished making the rounds, Jane was belly laughing. It was then I realized that we do have traditions outside of the holidays.

We began making baby burritos when our oldest child was a toddler. We've done it ever since. I suppose we'll continue until Jane is too big to swaddle in a bath towel or she asks us to stop.

As far as I'm concerned, this is as good as a family tradition gets. We all enjoy it and it makes us smile and laugh together. I'm sure one day that Tony and I will enjoy reminding them of this silly little tradition.

Our traditions may not always be traditional. After all, how many parents do you know who have children that request that Jingle Bells be sung every. single. night? Yet, that's more than okay with me. If it makes us closer as a family, then I'm all about being non-traditional.

Be sure and stop by Musings of a Housewife to see what others learned this week!

The Little Kids

In our family, we refer to Chris (3) and Jane (17 months) as the "little kids." The "big kids" are Ann (4) and Chris (still 3). Lucky Chris gets to be a part of both groups. Needless to say, he prefers it when any reference to him is prefaced by "big" and not "little" or even worse "baby."


This weekend, I've had the little kids all to myself. Tony and Ann took off on Friday morning for a wedding in Kentucky. (More on that later, but I should take a moment to say that my kids have the best daddy. He chose to take a 500-mile-one-way road trip with Ann. He looked forward to it just as much as she did maybe more.)


I'll admit, I was dreading this weekend just a bit. I knew I wouldn't get my somewhat regular Saturday-morning break. Also, since it is the weekend, I knew most of my friends would be having family time and any play dates would be unlikely.


It turns out my dread was unfounded as we've had a wonderful weekend. In fact, I'm coming away from this weekend loving and liking my little kids more than ever.


We filled Friday with a trip to the children's museum, lunch out with friends and a trip to the zoo to meet Spider-man and see the lions. We also ran an errand.


On Saturday, we went to the gym, a birthday party, Chick-fil-A and even ran by Walgreens to snag a few deals to satisfy my little coupon addiction.

Today, we started the day both early and slowly. I attempted to snuggle with both kids in my bed. However, after only a few minutes I was having to cover my face as Jane began diving all over the bed while laughing. She doesn't have much regard for safety or personal space, you know?

Now, I sit at the computer while Chris finishes up a much-needed nap. Jane is happily destroying anything she can get in her hands. I'm having a bit of coffee because though it was a good weekend, it was also a bit tiring. I'm not sure how those with husbands who regularly travel get enough sleep at night. I have the hardest time sleeping without Tony at home. I'm so glad his business travel isn't frequent.

As I finish my not-so-good coffee, I want to be sure I document a couple of more things.


That little man of mine showed a different side this weekend. He actually slowed down to show that he is actually quite full of compassion.

The first thing he did was while we were at the zoo waiting for the tram to pick us up. I accidentally dropped a sippy cup on their great aunt's toe. Chris saw what happened and immediately stopped what he was doing and gave Aunt J a hug.


The sweetest part of it was that I could tell it was his first response. He wasn't trying to get anything and he wasn't particularly tired. (Both reasons he usually gets cuddly.) It may sound silly, but I think that may have been the most proud I've been of him yet.


The other thing my little man did that melted my heart was in the care he showed toward his little sister. After lunch today, Jane was screaming in her high chair. She wanted out! Chris walked over to help her. As he assisted her, he talked to her in the sweetest voice. He assured her that he was helping her and it wouldn't be that much longer. In that short minute or two, I could almost picture him grown-up. I liked what I saw!

Getting to know my kids as individuals is one of my favorite parts of being a parent. Weekends like these make getting to know them just a bit easier. I'm so happy to have a big, a big/little and a little kids to get to know!