Is Thank You enough?

I truly believe that I am one of the most fortunate working moms in the world...

For the last 11 years I have been driving to "Laurie's House" before I head to work to drop off some combination of one to three kids. My car has changed, our house has changed, my job has changed (4 times!!!) - but "Laurie's House" has been a constant. It is a place that Paige, Carter and Taryn have felt safe, have felt loved, and have always had fun!

This week I walked up the front steps of "Laurie's House" for the last time to pick up a child after work. I started to get very emotional as I opened her front door and thought about how I would never have a little one run down her hall to greet me with open arms and an affectionate "Mommyyyyyyy".

What do you say to someone who has had such a positive impact on the life of your family.

The following is a letter I wrote to Laurie in an attempt to thank her for the last 11 years:

Dear Laurie,

Thank you!

We do not take for granted the significant role that you have played in the life of our family.

For the last 11 years, you have essentially partnered with us as we have raised our children, and we could not have asked for anyone better than you!

Thank you for the countless meals fed, prayers prayed, crafts created, books read, walks taken, games played, swings pushed, fights refereed, noses wiped, tears dried, hugs given and love shared.

Our children will always have fond memories of “Laurie’s House”. We know that we will still see you often, but we will miss you all the same. I personally will miss stopping by your house -- I always enjoyed our talks and the parenting wisdom you shared so freely.

You have had such a positive impact on Paige, Carter and Taryn -- and we are forever grateful!


We thank God for you.

Milestones

This is a week of milestones in our life -- two graduations and our final day of daycare (after 11 years with the same caretaker.)

This morning we watched our beautiful daughter, Paige, graduate from elementary school and officially become a middle schooler. (How exactly did she (and we) get that old?) I have the mixed emotions of pride at the young lady she is becoming and sadness at the fact that she no longer sees herself as a child. I pray that she continues to hold onto the uninhibited joy and excitement she has so freely demonstrated all of her life.

We went right from Paige's graduation to watch our youngest beautiful daughter, Taryn, graduate from pre-school. What a delight to watch pre-schoolers sing and dance with gusto. In fact, Taryn was dancing so hard she took a nose dive off of the first level of risers and did a sort of belly glide on the floor. One minute she was standing there singing, the next she was gone. I held my breath for a moment, but when she got up smiling and got right back into it, I started to giggle. In fact, Paige, my mom and I began a serious case of the church giggles -- you know the kind that you try to stifle but can't quite contain. I worked hard to think of something else so I would stop laughing, but then either Paige would start up again or I would picture Taryn on her belly and I would start up again.

Taryn was a great sport about it. In fact, she had the best quote of the day "I was just boogieing down so much that...oops!"

So my days as a mother of a pre-schooler have officially ended. An entire segment of my life as a mom has come to a close...oh how I have enjoyed the pre-school years with all my kids. I am sad to see them go, but at the same time, I am looking forward to all the new adventures yet to come.

Perspective

I wrote the following entry the day before my computer crashed. I saved it as a draft because I thought I sounded like whiner. Little did I know the next day I would be challenged by a broken computer as well. Now I just think it is funny -- so I share it:

April 16

• Today the dishwasher leaked and left a lake in my kitchen.


• Yesterday all the fire-alarms were going off and I couldn't find a fire.


• The day before that my bathroom sink was clogged which my husband "fixed".


• Now my bathroom sink leaks and the towels I store beneath are soaked.


• A week ago a stone hit Cal's windshield leaving a beautiful crack.


• And my driver's side rear view mirror cracked on the Suburban (I swear the garage got smaller as I was backing out).

Will there ever be a day when everything is fixed?

Oh well -- how does the saying go? -- Don't complain, at least you have a dishwasher and a sink and a car and a garage....I guess.

Immediately after writing the above I took time to reflect on my whining and wrote the following:

While it is frustrating that there is always a never ending list of things to "fix" -- they can all be fixed -- and for that I am grateful.

In fact, I do find humor in my laundry list of broken things. Because that's just what they are "things".

This has been a year of great perspective building for me. Our good friends have a 5 year-old son who was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia a year ago and who received a bone marrow transplant just over 100 days ago -- it has been a long and hard battle with many ups and downs. As I write this today they are experiencing another down. I know how badly they just want to "fix" Isaiah. However, we know that for that little boy -- God is the only one who can fix him. So through continual prayer -- we place Isaiah in God's loving hands.

Praise God for our health and our family. As far as broken dishwashers....bring them on!

The next day my computer breaks...thankfully my perspective had already been checked.

Date with my Little Man

It is never just Carter and I.

Since we are a family of one boy and two girls, I tend to run around with the girls and Cal runs around with the boy. I am with Carter a lot, but never just the two of us -- the sisters are always around.

So I decided I wanted to go on a date...just me and my son. He thought that sounded kind of funny, a "date", but was anxious to take me up on my offer.

We went to The Diner for supper.(A family favorite because of the fantastic old-fashioned shakes that make us so full we can hardly eat a bite of our meal.) He held my hand as we walked into the restaurant and I cherished the fact that he still loves to be with me and to show affection.

We talked about goofy 8-year-old boy things, "stole" a working candle off the neighboring table so that we could eat by candlelight (He felt a little mischievous), laughed about a picture we saw, and had a great time.

At the end of our meal I asked him if he liked our date or if we should take his sisters along next time. He said, "I liked it this way, otherwise, you know..." He rolled his eyes and he gestured with his hand in a talking mouth motion to the one side of his head and then the other.

How true it is...when we are all together, no one gets a word in edgewise. It's just a bunch of gabbing!

Quality time...how sweet (and rare) it is!

Photo Shoot

I decided I needed to finally upload some photos to my blog...

It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and the grass is green -- perfect photo opportunities. I tell my kids to come outside so I can take some pictures of them for my blog. They are all more than willing because they love to see themselves -- (especially on a website -- albeit only viewed by family)

However, even this simple little picture taking session can't go smoothly...It begins with Carter walking right through our screen door and getting a bloody nose. (I couldn't help but laugh, it looked so funny, and there was no permanent damage done to son or door. However, Carter didn't appreciate my laughter.)

Soon after the door incident and in the process of taking this beautiful picture...

...Carter landed on top of Paige who was leaning on Taryn which resulted in another set of tears...

Taryn won't stop crying over her little bump, and I resort to the ever wise use of sarcasm..."Fine then, I'll just take pictures of Carter and Paige."

I am beginning to wonder if it is wise to capture the chaos of my life in a blog. If I don't document it, the moment just passes and I don't take the time to realize how every little situation presents such mahem. Or perhaps every situation presents such an opportunity for me to exhibit grace rather than frustration.

Oh well, maybe the best lesson learned from documenting all of our commotion is that even though nothing ever goes smoothly -- we are usually laughing in the end.

By the conclusion of our photo shoot, I had captured the image that shows my kids just as I see them -- full of life, love, and laughter.