A Snapshot

First, I want to say that I typed up a snapshot and Blogger somehow failed me and I lost it (Why isn't there an autosave function??!!). One of my least favorite things to do is to recapture thoughts that I painstakingly wrote down, at length. That is not fun. I usually have to get up and move on to something else when that happens. I did that on October 13th and never came back. *Sigh*

How do I balance it? My living of life with the reflecting on it? I get so much joy out of sharing myself with others like I do in this blog. I just find sometimes that there are so many things I need to do and they all overwhelm every pocket of my multidimensional thoughts! I don't have a lot of "spare" time. Mary still dominates me. I realized lately that she does not go off and "play". She clings to me and follows me around all day. I don't mind the following...because that at least allows me to function at something. Sometimes, however, she dominates. Which means, when I sit, she climbs into my lap and demands attention, or keeps me from focusing on anything else but her. She'll jump all over me, climb on my back, pull my hair. I know what she is doing and I know it is manipulative and sometimes I just want some FRESH AIR! I also know, it is a stage and it too, shall pass. I can type this right now because she is napping. The naptimes become very valuable and I squeeze whatever I can into those short time-frames. So Stacey, because you spoke up, here is a snapshot!

What's at the top of my to-do list?
--Halloween costumes. I mix buying them with making them. Ben and Mary are using hand-me-down m&m's and McDonald's french fry costumes. Sam is going to be some sort of Viking and Abby will be a dog. For Sam, I bought a really cool sheild for $10 and a pick ax for $3. I'm making his cape and helmet and boots. Abby started with a little puppy dog headpeice that gives her ears and a nose and I have to fill in the rest with some sort of homemade jumpsuit and I don't have a pattern!
--Getting ready for Mary's birthday party on Sunday!
--Enjoying me time

What have I accomplished?
--MY CRHP RETREAT!!! I want to yell it from the mountain tops! I gave my talk and led music. It all went really well. Our meetings for 6 months are over. I thought I would feel a huge sense of relief, but I'm surprised by a bit of sadness on the fringes of that relief.
--Planned and executed Sam's birthday party (10 years old now) with the Domino's 5-5-5 deal. We did 6 pizzas and 3 orders of chicken kickers! It was great but added up. I made apple crisp and bought a cookie cake from the local grocer. It worked out great!
--Planned and held Sam's overnighter. He invited over his cousin and three classmates. We had a tournament of games with the winner winning an EB games gift card. We had the following games --Hoops Shoot-- Best of 7 baskets from 7 locations. --Closest to the Pin--Our front yard made the fairway and a broom stick as our flag pole. They each got three shots. Then we broke for pizza (yes, more pizza, Sam's favorite food). We came back to the tournament with a competition for the fastest speed on GranTourismo, a PS2 game. After that, we followed with Connect Four, Lego building contest and Dominos. It was a blast!!! I would do it all over again.
--Led my first Children's Liturgy. This sounds simple, but leading up to it I typed up all the Children's songs and added chords for guitar. I also typed up lyric sheets and made 18X24 inch enlargements to be hung on the wall. I wrote my reflection on the Gospel and came up with a visual. I showed how when you only think of yourself and do things only for yourself, it's like building a big tower. It's lonely, a weak structure, and there's no room for God to dwell there. I demonstrated this with Megabloks. I used a square block and added to my tower whenever they gave me ideas of how they can put themselves first. Then I showed them a building. I added a block for every idea they had for serving others. I showed how this structure is stronger and I showed them how it gives room for God to dwell. I then gave them each a block with a label that said, "I'm building God's kingdom by helping others". Whew. Yes, I get into this stuff 100%. But this idea came to me when I couldn't sleep. I don't expect this creativity to hit me every time. In fact, next week, Jesus cures the blind man. I have nothing coming to mind. Oh well. It will come.

Can you see why I haven't blogged in a while? I've been busy!

What's bugging me?
--Ben still pooping in the underpants. But I don't give him grief. I accept that he's not ready. I've heard one day they just make the decision they want to do it. It can't be forced.

What's my latest obsession?
--eBay shopping for Christmas. I've gotten most of my presents on ebay. I'm almost done shopping for my family.

What's been making me happy?
--Everything. My life is so rich. I feel so grateful. I'm having more fun with Ben and Mary now they are getting just that little bit older. Sam and Abby are helping me with Children's Liturgy and it makes me feel so good to know that this may influence them when they are older...just knowing the joys of volunteering. I feel like I'm sharing myself with others now. Of course, my first priority is my family...but there is so much joy in branching outside of my home. Last night, we spontaneously invited my sister Becky and her husband and baby, my mom and dad and Ted's mom and dad over for the first World Series game. We ordered carry out wings, and everyone else brought over chips, dips, cookies, drinks...and we had so much fun! It was capitilized by the Cards winning!! Now I need to start working on costumes....BYE!