It Must Be Love, Right?

Just the other day, I was going through my 13 year olds text messages on her phone like I do periodically.  We have an open door policy when it comes to cell phones, ipads, internet, their rooms, backpacks etc. :)

My girls argue a lot of the time.  And it's always about trivial things - who ate the last strawberry oatmeal packet, who used my ponytail holder.  I mean, seriously, it's almost enough to drive someone to drink.  Good thing I don't like the taste of alcohol.  I guess I'm lucky that they don't actually fight, it's mostly petty arguing, but it's still annoying.  So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I found texts from my oldest to my youngest telling her to make sure she wears warm clothes for school so she doesn't get cold waiting for the bus.  My 13 year old leaves for school almost an hour before my 10 year old.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing?  It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling.  And it wasn't just one text - it was several texts over several days.   She's looking out for her little sister.  And now we can all let out a collective - AWWWWW

It almost makes me forget about all the unnecessary arguing - ALMOST

What are some sweet things your kids have done for each other without telling you, or without you knowing about it?

See you soon

-M

It's Ok To Be Scared

Something new is stirring in me.  A desire to be more, to do more, to maximize my full potential.  I told my husband a couple of weeks ago that I feel like something is coming.  So I've been doing some dreaming, planning, mind mapping - you know, all the fun stuff.  My husband is my biggest supporter.  When I lack the self confidence, he builds me up and gives me 100 reasons why I CAN do it.  But he also encourages me in the areas that he really believes I can excel in, rather than just giving me the - "Sure babe, do whatever you want".

Needless to say I am working on the whole self confidence thing.  I struggle with the whole - why would anyone want to know what I have to say?  What's my experience?  But you know what, I'm learning to move past that, to embrace who God is calling me to be.  I DO have things to say, I DO have experiences to share.  I feel like I am entering a new season of my life, and while it's a little scary, it's also exciting.  I used to dread change, but now I almost long for it.  Life is too short to not take some risks right?  I read this the other day - "If all we have to lose is some time, money and energy, then the risk is worth it." And I couldn't agree more.  If you never take the risk, never go for the ask - the answer will always be no.  And so what if you get some no's along the way or some funny looks.  I'd rather look back and say that I did it, or I tried it, than looking back and wondering what would've happened if I had.

See you soon 

-M

Your Parenting Questions Answered - Part 1

Ya right - wouldn't that be nice if all the answers to parenting were neatly compiled in a nice little blog post??  While I do think we have insight to share, I in no way claim to have all the answers.  But hopefully I can share some things that have worked for us, and you guys can share some things that have worked for you.  We are all in different parenting stages, and should be building eachother up, not tearing eachother down.  We are starting a whole new phase with our girls - read on...

We now have an occasionally overdramatic 13 year old daughter - whose most recent meltdown was the result of someone eating a very specific piece of her halloween candy.  And we have a mostly moody 10 year old daughter, who gives you attitude for everything and fights you every step of the way.  Needless to say, some days I feel like tying them both to a chair and locking them in a closet giving them all the extra love and attention they need.  :)

One thing I know is key - and that is consistency in our parenting.  Just because someone may have eaten a piece of their candy doesn't give them permission to act poorly.  There are always consequences for their actions.  Are we perfect in that disciplinary area?  Absolutely not - And the fact that we have 2 very different daughters doesn't make that any easier.  What works for one rarely works for the other.  And as they get older it gets harder to come up with creative, appropriate forms of discipline.  Sometimes I wish there was a magic manual - just say what the problem is and out pops an answer.  I wonder if SIRI has any experience with pre-teen/teen discipline? :)

In the end, I know it will all be worth it.  We are doing our very best to raise our daughters to be responsible, contributing members of society.  We try to work hard at whatever we are doing, whether its our jobs, church, housework etc.  We want our kids to see that hard work pays off and that it is important to do your best.  And we are starting to reap the benefits of sowing those seeds.  Both of our daughters volunteer at our church every weekend.  They enjoy it and give their very best.  It's not something we forced on them.  It makes my heart happy when other adults tell me how much they love my girls and what great helpers they are.  We believe in training our girls everyday and preparing them for their eventual departure from us - which when you stop to think about it, isn't really all that far away.  Which is bittersweet - but that is another blogpost altogether.

Now if I could just figure out the secret formula to get them to clean their rooms - on their own...  oh well, you win some, you lose some - right?

I would like to do a series of parenting posts.  Something that has actually been on my heart and mind for quite some time.  Not because I am the world's best parent, but because I'm not.  And I'm learning everyday how to do right by my girls.  Would love to hear about your parenting wins and losses - leave me a message below...

See you soon

-M

It's Not That Hard

Why do we always seem to make things so difficult?  Sometimes we overthink something - a process, a task, a chore, whatever.  Instead of just sucking it up and doing it, we complain or try to think of 1000 other ways to do it so it won't be so unenjoyable. There is a learning and growing process to everything we do.  If we are complaining through the "whatevers" we are missing the point.  How much different would the "chore" turn out to be, if we just said - This has to get done, so I'm gonna do it to the best of my ability and learn from it in the process.  We can learn how to do it better next time, what didn't work that we thought might have.  There are always going to be things that we will have to do that we may not want to, or will be uncomfortable for us.  But those are times that we should attack the situation head on, because those are the moments that bring the most personal growth.

I can speak from personal experience - Over the last 10 years, I have been put in situations that are out of my comfort zone again and again.  I could've just said - No, I'm not doing that.  But where would that have gotten me?  Instead I chose to look at each situation as a learning process.  I may not see the growth right away, but I can tell you that I am a completely different person than I was 10 years ago - for the better.  I have had great leaders and mentors that taught me that it's ok to get out of your comfort zone.  You actually NEED to do it.  I still don't always like being in a situation that is out of my comfort zone, but I know that there is a growing season that will result from it. And I hope that most of us can say that we want to be a better person tomorrow than we are today.  So the next time, you are in a situation at work, church, home, wherever - maybe your boss is wanting you to do something you don't think you can do.  Maybe there is a reason he is asking you to do it - he seems something in you that you don't.  Do it to the best of your ability - learn from your mistakes - do it better next time - and be a better person for it.

Just my 2 cents this Sunday morning.  Have a great day

See you soon

M

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.'

Ok, so that's a really long title, but its exactly how I've felt about this past year... I'm thinking of getting that tattooed on me.  Just kidding - kind of.  :)

The last year has completely flown by.  We've been in NY for almost a year (next week).  So much has happened and this year has been a complete whirlwind.  We've only made one other major move as a family and that was when we moved from MA to TX 8 years ago.  It took me a full year to adjust then and it took me a year now.  I am finally beginning to feel settled here.  I love the Northeast and have never felt for a minute that we made a mistake by moving here.  But that is a huge life change.  Anyway, things are starting to even out for us.  We are part of a good church, have steady jobs, kids are in a good school district, moved into our house in July, finally registered the cars in NY.  Like I said, starting to feel settled.

I've also been having the desire to start blogging again more consistently.  I've kind of focused this blog on projects that I've done, and I'm not really sure the direction I want to take just yet.  I'm always working on some sort of project and I'm sure I will still share the ones I really love.  But I think taking the direction of a daily life blog.  Which means there may be some randomness, but that's me, that's my family.  We've learned to go with the flow - or at least are trying to learn that every day, and I feel like I want this blog to reflect that.

So with that being said - I'll see you soon
-M