Give Me Warmth

Today, the first of February, it was an unseasonably 70 degrees outside. Typically, February is the coldest month of the year for all of us here in Virginia but given the warmth of the season, so far--it has been so much like spring that bees, snakes, and even daffodils have been sighted, all obviously confused by the warm weather--I'm not so sure that will hold true this year. While I do enjoy the loveliness of spring, I'm usually only prepared for it after a nice, chilly, snowy winter. Despite my disappointment in the lack of flurries I'm still holding out hope, after all it has been known to snow in April here, and I'd love a good snow day with the munchkins. In keeping with the recent warmth, I thought I'd share this fantastic excerpt from Hold Me Up A Little Longer, Lord by Marjorie Holmes. As the golden sun warmed my skin today, this prayer warmed my soul.

For All Warm Things
-A Winter Prayer-

For all warm things of this season I thank you, Lord.

For the warmth of my house as I come in cold from shopping.
For the Fragrant warmth of my kitchen as I turn on the oven and sift and measure and stire and bake. For the snug warmth of the bedrooms where (finally, after much commotion) my children sleep.

For the warmth of this cup of steaming coffee in my hand as I settle down (exhausted, and at last) before the fire that dances so warm and festive on the grate.

And for warm clothes, Lord. These slippers, this rob--all the untidy closets bursting. That car coat tossed across the chair. And the car itself, a warm car to take us places (once we get it started). And those warm places: the homes of neighbors, friends, a warm church to worship in.

And the warm people there. The warm smiles and greetings. The generosity and kindness of people everywhere.

I am full of this warmth, Lord. It comforts me, it calms me. It makes me feel a glow almost as rosy as the embers in the fireplace. I want all people to be warm and rested and at peace.

Thank you for this blessed season of warmth in the midst of so much that is chill and stormy. Let it draw all of us together against the coming cold.

Amen.

From Rags to Riches

It all began at the new church we visited on Sunday. I pulled the guest form from the bulletin, tearing along the perforated line, proceeding to fill it out. Closer to the bottom, the form inquired about our age range. As I scanned the options, my eyes fell on the bracket covering our ages, 30-45. 30-45? 30-45?! Sure, we just recently entered this age range, but Good King Winceslas, when in the world did we get to the point where we qualified for an age category shared with people in their 40's? No offense to all of you people in your 40's or beyond that even. I leaned over and tapped the hubs on the leg showing him the form where I had checked the doomed 'age' box. He looked up and said "Yeah, it's true." 30-45. Blech. What a nasty after taste.

My reason for bringing this up, aside from torturing myself, is that it got me thinking about the fact that although it's unfortunate that I'm now in my thirties, I feel like I've only just begun living. In my early twenties, I was an emotional wreck, silly, irresponsible, and probably a little too carefree. I wasn't serious about much other than college and I thought that I had all the time in the world. Now, I'm stable, practical, responsible, carefree without even the slightest hint of wrecklessness, serious when necessary, and carrying with me a healthy dose of reality in the fact that life is incredibly short and that every moment must be cherished. In all honesty, without taking into consideration my sheer disgust in qualifying for the age range of 30-45 and actually seeing it on paper, I breathe a sigh of relief in the comfort that I am where I am today and not, in fact, back in my twenties, lost and alone.


This brings me to the inspiration for this post. Last night, the hubs looked a little down. When I asked him what was wrong he said something to the effect of, "I wish I made more money and was able to do more for you guys." Us guys meaning me and the munchkins. I tried to explain to him that we don't need more money--we're happy. Yes, we are a single-income family with three kids, but we're happy. Sure, we can't be frivolous with our finances; we can't always go out to dinner or do expensive things and when I go grocery shopping it's only after mapping out the trip with meal plans and coupons in hand, but we're happy! I assured him that he could stop worrying because this happiness is all that we need.

In the transition from my twenties to my thirties, I feel as though I have gone from having the proverbial rags to sitting on top of riches. I am rich beyond belief with a phenomenal husband who makes me happier than I have ever been in my life who works hard each and every day so that I can be a stay-at-home mother to our three fantastic children. We enjoy doing things as a family, even simple things like taking a walk or just having dinner together. You've read our quotes and conversations--we laugh like crazy people when we're spending time together. We're happy. How many families, rich or poor, can truly say that?

I'll admit that we may not have a lot of extra money, but if you ask me, I'll tell you that I'm the richest woman alive.

Eat your heart out, Oprah.

True Mom Confessions

There's a regular column in Good Housekeeping magazine titled "Blogger," where the editors find a different blog post to feature each month by women who are wives and/or mothers. Personally, I love these blogs because they are raw and true, many times relating to my own life. I was cleaning out my magazine stash, going through last year's issues tearing out recipe's and reading any interesting articles that I may have missed. Here is the "Blogger" feature from May of 2011 by Kyran Pittman who released a book last year titled Planting Dandelions: Field Notes from a Semi-Domesticated Life. I think we can all relate some of these...

True Mom Confessions
I don't make my kids eat things they don't like--and other lapses of a "good enough" mom

I've always loved that quote from the Earl of Rochester: "Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children and no theories." I didn't have any theories about parenting before I actually became a parent myself; I had rigid, non-negotiable certainties. Mercifully, I'm a quick study--it took only three children to kick me off my high horse regarding the kind of mother I set out to be. That is, a perfect one. A few of the innumerable ways in which I've (happily) fallen short:

- Sometimes I nod and make noises like I'm listening to my kids when I am not. Especially before 9am.

- I gave up on giving daily baths--or getting them--after the second baby was born.

- I don't have a one-bite rule; a peanut butter sandwich is always on the menu; and I could never send a child to bed hungry.

- I like to be near my kids when they're playing or doing homework, but I don't really want to join in (unless they need me).

- I'm not a "baby" person. I couldn't wait for them to be old enough to have conversations and play board games.

- On more than one occasion, I've forgotten to pick up a child on time. My youngest still brings up "that day you forgot about me."

- I readily admit: playgoup was really for the mommies.

- I am neither organized enough nor solvent enough to pay a regular allowance, but sometimes I resort to bribery. I am full prepared to negotiate with terrorists.

- At one time or another, I've fallen back on tactics I swore I would never use on my children, including guilt, yelling, and threats to call the North Pole.

- In 12 years or parenting, I've never spanked, but I do remind them it's strictly a "one day at a time" abstinence program.

- Our toothfairy is notoriously unreliable.

- Sometimes I just vacuum up the LEGO's.

Glad that's off my chest. May I have my breakfast in bed now?

P.S. I can actually add to this list--is that terrible?? I'm also guilty of putting Ryleigh--because she's younger and doesn't know any better yet--to bed as early as 7pm just to get some extra peace and quiet. The extra sleep couldn't hurt her either. I'm also guilty of taking every opportunity available and twisting it to my advantage. This sounds like a horrid act, but hear me out. For example, recently Ryleigh had a Dr.'s appointment an hour away on a day that the kids only had half a day in school. The evening before, the hubs and I decided that we weren't going to send them to school just so the morning wouldn't be quite as hectic because they would already be home. I made my way to the second floor to tell the kids that if they cleaned their rooms REALLY good then they could stay home from school, but if not, they would have to go. They were so excited, they cleaned the rooms--in record time, mind you--and then even begged me to come look at them afterwards! Sure, we were going to let them stay home regardless, but they didn't know that. And hey, we got the cleanest rooms out of them that we'd ever seen. Everybody won :)

Around The Dinner Table

We're a family that eats together. Even if we've all had a bad day and are collectively giving each other the silent treatment, we always sit down at the table and have dinner together. These are special times for us. Times to share, to laugh, to enjoy good food, and to be together. Some of the greatest moments that occur in our home, quotes and chats included, happen while we're sitting around the table...






This week the hubs starts evening shift. Now, only two days out of the week, when Lewis is off, will we be able to have dinner around the table as a family. While I will certainly miss this nightly routine, this will make those two dinners during the week that we do get together that much more special. Here's to many more cherished memories to come...

A Matter of Life or Death

Allow me to put myself out there. I'm afraid of death. It's a fear that I've had since I was a kid. I'm not sure where it originated because nothing ever happened to me during my childhood that sparked the fear, it has just always been inside of me, organically. As a kid, I remember waking up in the middle of the night crying that I didn't want to die. I also remember my mom pulling me into her lap, hugging me, and telling me that I was going to live a long time, probably well into my 80's. I'm 31 now.

If I'm really being honest with myself, being afraid of death is not so much a fear of mine but rather a severe phobia. I can force myself into the throws of a panic attack anywhere, anytime at the mere thought of it. Typically, what happens is that someone mentions something about death or I hear a song on the radio that alludes in some way to it and my mind begins torturing me, "When you die, you're dead forever...and ever...and ever...and ever," you get the idea. I explained my fear to a guidance counselor in school once. She told me that whenever I start to think about death, I should try to squeeze it out of my mind with a thought of something that made me happy. Back then, it was roller skating. To this day, whenever those bad thoughts creep in--which is pretty rare now that I'm old enough to control it--I still picture myself roller skating as a child. It's all those "forever's" that have always freaked me out because if you think about it, you could say "forever" forever and it still wouldn't be even close to the amount of time that will pass once we're gone.

My life is full, chaotic most days. With three kids, I'm on the go from sun up until sun down cleaning, chauffeuring, babysitting, cooking, doing laundry, playing tutor, and doing a million other odd jobs around the house. By the end of the day--which usually doesn't begin until almost 9pm most nights--while I would really love to take a long soak in the tub with a good book--I'm instead happy to spend the last few minutes of the evening with the hubs of whom I haven't seen all day before I finally collapse into bed. Don't get me wrong, I love my crazy life despite the exhaustion it brings me. I was telling the hubs the other day that at the end of my life this exhaustion will have me welcoming death, ready for that good, long nap.

Perhaps a crazy life is just the remedy I need for my phobia of death. I started thinking more about this on Christmas Eve. We spent the evening with the hubs' family, attending a children's service at their church before heading back to the house to open presents and have dessert. His great-grandmother was there. She is in her 90's. I can only hope that one day I will be able to say that I have had the privilege of enjoying 90+ Christmases. As we were leaving the production and walking to the car she began crying. Although I didn't catch everything that she said, I was able to make out, "I'm so blessed." I realized that she was crying bittersweet tears. Happy in that she has been given the blessing of so many years with her family. Sad in not knowing whether or not she will get another Christmas with us. I also realized from now on whenever my fear of death starts creeping into my mind that instead of roller skating I want to think of that moment. Of how I want to focus on making my life so rich with the people I love and making memories with them that when the time comes--and let's face it, the time will come--that instead of being afraid of death I will embrace it, satisfied with how I have lived my life and the abundance of blessings that have been bestowed upon me. So for that, thanks Grannie.

Our Christmas Newsletter

Dear Loved Ones,

Well everyone, we finally managed to get all under the same roof this year! We’re currently residing in a quaint little townhouse in the middle of no where. From the chaos of shuffling to get the kids ready for school in the mornings all while balancing the baby on our hips and having the dogs under our feet, the change in our lives has been drastic, but amazing:

Lewis is still working as a police officer. This year, he was honored with an Officer of the Year award for the entire state and also received an Officer Intervention award. We are all incredibly proud of him! When he isn’t working hard, he is helping around the house and spending time with the family.

Christy is “working” as a stay-at-home mom and loving every minute of it! When time permits, she is still creating jewelry and selling it in her Etsy shop. In addition, this month she finished the last of the course requirements for her Masters degree and has only the student teaching internship left which is scheduled to begin January of 2013.

Caleb turned 12 years old this year! He is enrolled in public school for the very first time and is doing fantastic! He has made a good friend named Ben in his class who conveniently lives in our new neighborhood! Caleb has also joined two clubs in school: the Cooking Club and also Battle of the Books, where they read a list of selected books and then have meets to discuss and debate them. A few of his favorite things are Star Wars, reading, playing video games, and any subject other than Math.

Ryleigh turned 6 years old this month! She is loving kindergarten where they are in the beginning stages of reading, identifying sight words. She gets so excited when she can spot these and read them; her favorites are “the” and “see.” Ryleigh also became a Girl Scout this year, a Daisy to be exact, and loves making crafts and hanging out with her new friends during meetings. A few of her favorite things are Sebastian (her classmate boyfriend of whom she was recently caught holding hands with during lunch one day), being read to, her Daddy, and Transformers.

Wyatt turned 9 months this month! He received his two front teeth for Christmas this year! He is currently standing up, even walking along the couch, and he also invented the concept of speed-crawling, keeping us on our toes as we try to keep up with him. A few of his favorite things are opening cabinets, musical instruments, pulling clean clothes out of the dryer and onto the floor, and standing at the back door while the dogs are outside (sometimes licking the glass along with them).

We hope you enjoyed reading about our chaotic but fabulous year! We hope yours was just as wonderful! Making up an annual Clements family newsletter was a last-minute idea that we came up with. In future letters, we also plan to include a current family photo. As for this year, well, we’re all just as cute as you remember us! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,
Lewis, Christy, Caleb, Ryleigh, and Wyatt

A Week in the Life...