I went to a wedding the other night.
The bride looked dashing in her floor length ball gown, with her shoulder length hair worn down. The groom was handsome in his navy blue jacket with a red and gray tie, and a simple black eyed susan taped to his jacket lapel. The bride carried matching black eyes susan’s picked fresh from her mother’s yard. 
As the ceremony began the bride’s cell phone rang. Her groom was most disturbed b/c, “brides don’t carry cell phones to weddings.” This bride was hearing none of that and took the call. She wanted to ask her mom over for casserole that night following the nuptials and had been waiting for her to call her back. After the phone call the groom planted a big wet one on his bride b/c, “they always kiss, dance, and eat cake in weddings… oh and the rings.” The bride was not so keen on the kiss, but did enjoy the dancing turned wwf wrestling on the living room ball room floor afterwards.
A strange thing has happened to me in my ripe, “old” age. Since turning thirty I have discovered my taste buds are changing quite a bit.
For years I have loved the smell of coffee. And while I do enjoy a cappuccino or especially a good frappuchino, an actual cup of coffee was too strong for my liking. However, I enjoyed the smell so much, I once begged my husband to drink it in the morning, just so we could fill our home with its rich aroma. He denied my request to become addicted to caffeine for no reason other than to please his wife’s olfactory nerves.
But recently, I have noticed that I have acquired a newfound liking to the cup of joe (with cream and sugar mind you). I bought a bag of coffee beans this week and hope to figure out how to use our coffee maker so I can start my day with the sweet smell of hazelnut coffee brewing in our kitchen. Funny, how I made it through 4 years of college, 3 years of teaching, and 3 newborn babies without it, but within weeks of hitting the big 3-0 I’ve turned to the dark side.
More startling than my appreciation for coffee, is my recent discovery of a 
diet soft drink that I have found acceptable to the palate. I am a coke snob. And I wouldn’t touch diet soda if it was the last soda on earth. But last week I went to visit Scott at work and asked him to bring me out a soda. All they had was a diet coke with lime and a cherry coke zero. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. No way was I touching the diet coke, but I left the cherry coke zero sitting on the picnic table. (see I told you I was a snob). I thought about it. My mouth was dry and so I figured, what the heck. I closed my eyes and took a sip, much like I was attempting to get down cough medicine. It wasn’t bad. I drank some more. Hmmm… can’t really tell much of a difference. I must confess it took me several more sips before I was willing to admit to Scott that it didn’t taste different to me than regular cherry coke. He was in shock! I have to confess I haven’t tried one since, b/c we still have regulars in our pantry. But, the next time I need to buy more coke, I intend to purchase a case of cherry coke zero.
I’ve been thirty for 2 weeks now and I’ve added diet soda and coffee to my grocery list… what’s next?
Yea… the older two never would have been allowed to lick the cake batter on their second birthday cakes… “The babies of the family always get away with more.”
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While walking to the car after church on Sunday, my son proudly showed me his Sunday School papers.
Upon seeing this picture, I assumed what his lesson was about that morning and decided to play a little game with him.
“I bet I can guess who this picture is of,” I say jokingly. Being confident in who it is, I decide to joke around with him and intentionally say wrong answers such as “Andrew, James, or Paul.” Of course he giggles and says, “no, no, and no.”
Finally, I finish teasing him and say, “I know… it’s Joseph!”
“No,” he answers.
“What?” “You didn’t learn about Joseph and his coat of many colors?”
Pause
“Nope.”
“Really?” “Who is it?”
Turns out the joke was on me.
“Jesus,” he answers me.
Totally thrown off, I look at his take home papers and discover he learned about Dorcas who according to his paper, “loved Jesus very much and served him by helping others. She did kind things for people in the church. She made clothes for the poor.” (based on Acts 9:36-42)
Guess that’s what I get for being cocky and presumptuous when checking out his Sunday School art work.
I love that I never know what to expect when I ask my kids about Sunday School. While this episode made me laugh, my favorite Sunday School recap is still my daughter and the poor little man on the side of the road.
About 7 months ago we received a phone call that we’d been hoping for, for several years now. My sister in law (Scott’s sister) was pregnant! And there was much rejoicing and squealing at the circus house. Later that same week, we learned that my other sister in law (my brother’s wife) was also expecting a baby! Their due dates were within 2 weeks of each other. And a few months later we found out that they were both expecting boys.
There was much rejoicing and dreaming of blue at the circus house as we anticipated our new nephews and cousins!
Well, 2 weeks ago we got the call from my brother that his wife’s water had broken and they were on the way to the hospital. The next morning the circus crew took a day trip to meet our new little nephew. The kids were so excited to see their little cousin, only hours old.
After watching everyone take turns holding him, my youngest went over to the sink to wash her hands. She then proclaimed, “my turn to hold the baby.” We had to explain that even though she washed her hands, she was not old enough to hold her baby cousin and would instead have to stick with watching while holding her baby doll. (given the gentle and loving way with which she was holding her doll, I don’t know why we didn’t just pass him off to her).
It was such a joy to be able to hold him and welcome him into the family.
Now, we are very eagerly awaiting the phone call from El Paso, letting us know when our next nephew is making his debut! I am hoping it is soon as I can’t wait to meet him and I am sure my dear SIL is tired of being 9 months pregnant in the 105 degree Texas heat.
And yes, these beautiful bundles of blue, sure make it hard on the circus Mommy as her baby has outgrown her need for a crib and now changing table! With all 3 walking, talking and wearing underwear, I officially don’t have a baby or even a toddler anymore at the circus!
You know your family is a techno family when your 5 year old requests that you add a song to your ipod so he can listen to it. Today, my son did just that and I was more than happy to oblige him with this choice. The “theme song” for our Vacation Bible School this year was “Today is the Day” by Lincoln Brewster. They sang it every morning at the start of VBS. It had the kids jumping and praising. Can’t think of a better start to the day. 2 weeks later and it is still in my son’s head and he wanted me to download it so we could sing along at home with frequency.
I have many playlists on my ipod. One for running, one for kids songs, one for worship music, one with love songs, and one I entitled “upbeat fun” specifically designed to get us moving and grooving during those difficult 4-6pm hours of the day.
In addition to my ipod, I have a little gadget called the nike+ipod. I plug one part into my nano and one part slips into my shoe. I use it while running and it has many great features (tracks my distance, rate, over all time…just to name a few). One of my favorite features is called the “power song” which you can play when you need instant motivation. It’s nice to be able to program in “the one song that always gets you through the home stretch.”
After my son requested his song, I got to thinking we could put that “power song” principal into effect at our house. When we’ve got a case of the grumpies (myself included) or we’re fighting, or short tempered…I can play our “power song” to get us through the home stretch. To redirect our thoughts and attitudes and get them in the right perspective. The song needs to be upbeat and fun, so we can let loose and dance a little. But, it can’t just be a silly song. Silly songs are great, but for our power song, I want it to direct us back to God. I think our power song will change from time to time. We’ll find new songs that resonate with us in a particular way and I can change it up a bit. But, for now I am going to give this new song a try. I’ll have it in my ipod on a playlist called “power song” and when I feel we need instant motivation, I will go and turn it on and see if it helps give all of us an attitude adjustment.
I know personally, this week as I was focused on my to do list, I found myself a bit uptight from time to time. I snapped more than I should have. There were definite moments where I could have used a step back to gain some perspective (enter the power song).
I like the lyrics of the song, “Today is the day you have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Originally penned by the psalmist David). I want to rejoice in each day the Lord has made. Not just the days where I get everything done that I wanted. Not just the days that the kids got along beautifully. Not just the days where we relaxed and had fun together. I want to teach myself and my kids to rejoice in each day. To see each day as a gift from God, and no matter the circumstances we can rejoice in that day.
Crank it up and rejoice with us today!!
What are you thinking about this week? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average Momblog fair? I’d love to read your thoughts. Please feel free to write and link up a “thoughtful” post below. You can write a new post or link up one you wrote earlier in the week.
The other day the kids and I were hanging around the house cleaning the house like crazy and listening to music. “The Sharing Song” by Jack Johnson came on and he sang, “It’s always more fun to share with everyone.” My three year old got a funny look on her face and exclaimed, “Hey, he said it’s more fun to share! It is NOT more fun to share!”
The way she said it and the look on her face was if she was saying, What is this propaganda your spewing at me mom? We all know it is no fun sharing.
While I would contest that is definitely good to share and something we strive to teach here at the circus, I guess I can concede that is isn’t always more fun to share. But then again, we don’t share b/c it’s more fun, we share because it is kind and being kind towards others is one way we can glorify our Lord. Sometimes the fun is a great byproduct, sometimes it isn’t fun at all.
How about you? Do you agree with Jack that it is always more fun to share or are you in agreement with my daughter?
Something strange must be in the air here at the circus,b/c this week I’ve been cleaning like I haven’t cleaned since I was nesting. Seriously, last night at 9:00 Scott came home from sailing to find me scrubbing the baseboards of our bathroom with a toothbrush. If he hadn’t heard the kids screaming for him from their bedroom, I am sure he’d have thought he went into the wrong house!
I know I have been negligent on the blog front, but let me tell you on the home front I have scrubbed the walls and baseboards, cleaned the bathroom top to bottom (including the itty bitty corner behind the potty), washed the dog, stayed on top of laundry, cleaned and organized the toy room, cleaned (and dusted) my bedroom, gone grocery shopping, grated a zucchini, and baked some zucchini bread and muffins. Still on today’s to do list is to mop the entry way and kitchen floors, finish my dad’s father’s day gift (ya know since it’ll be August next week and all), order some pics to be printed to update my frames, and finish putting away laundry. Tonight we have a double date with some friends to see the new Transformers movie. Then tomorrow I just gotta scrub my sink and stove, clean off my counter top, and bake and decorate my daughter’s birthday cake… oh and buy the last minute food for her party on Sat.
I am not sure the exact motivation for this deep clean, but I am taking full advantage of it while the mood is here. My son asked me yesterday why I cleaned the dog for his sister’s party and never for his birthday. I tried to explain that all this cleaning isn’t just b/c of her party. Her party is my deadline b/c I need self-induced deadlines. I have a whole list of stuff to accomplish in August so I can feel like my entire house is spic and span and organized so I can home school in the fall. Yea, b/c somewhere in the state requirements for homeschooling it says you must start the year with a clean and organized home…(note rare use of sarcasm by the circus mom)
Whatever the reason, I am happy with the result and hopeful we can maintain the new state of cleanliness here at the circus! (I’ve always been an optimist)!
PS: Have no fear, for those of you that have missed my regularity in blogging and commenting, I have plans for getting back on top of that soon… already know what I want to write about for Fri and my weekend thought for Saturday. Incase you were wondering!
Last week we took the kids to the local zoo. We have tried to go once a year for the past several years. We go in part b/c we want to give the kids a chance to see the exotic animals up close. It’s so fun to watch their reactions. But, I’ll be honest, we also go b/c I love to see the animals up close! It is amazing and awe inspiring and I don’t think I could ever tire of it! (And I am not even an animal person).
Three preschool kids at the zoo in Maryland in the heat of summer. Why, you might ask? Well, that I’ve already answered that, it’s fun. How? We have a strategy that has worked really well for for us. We don’t attempt to see it all. We don’t make it a day long affair. We pick the few select animals we want to see, we take our time and enjoy them, and we leave happy. I don’t try to “get my money’s worth” and see every single animal in the zoo. I feel I get more than my money’s worth by enjoying the select ones we do see. One year I’d like to get a zoo membership and try to go back often and gradually see them all. The past two years we’ve been pretty fascinated by the same select few.
The polar bears.
The giraffe
The elephant
And the leopard.
This year, we had a few exciting moments as we got to feed the giraffe, watch the elephants drink water from their trunk, and watch and listen to the leopard pace and growl. Because we saw only a few we spent a good deal of time observing them. We saw more than just these 4 animals, but these were by far the highlight for the circus crew.
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My son is quite the little entrepreneur. The other night after dinner my husband was reading the girls a book and I sat on the couch to read a little myself. I looked over to see what my son was up to and discovered he had put all the dishes in the sink, and was scrubbing the dining room table. He even asked where the sandwich bags where so he could bag up the leftovers and put them in the fridge. Needless to say, I praised him for his hard work and the big help he was to me. As I sat down reading my book, I thought to myself how I could really get used to this. Then my son piped up, “Mom, I’m doing this b/c I want to make some money.” So much for being motivated to serve out of his love and devotion to dear old mom. I promised him that this week Dad and I would talk about allowances and chores.
Of course the next day when I asked him to clean the table up after breakfast, he complained that he wished he had never told me it was fun and he didn’t want this to be his job anymore. He then wanted to know if he could “take my flute and a hat and go play for money so he could pay someone else to clean the table.”
Looks like Dad and I definitely have to sit down this week and talk about chores and allowances. We gotta set some rules and standards here soon. He’s obviously old enough to work and I think he’s old enough to have some money of his own as well. We just gotta decide how the two relate to one another. 
Those of you that have been part of the circus for awhile, know that I seriously lack a green thumb.
I guess you could call me naive, but this spring I decided to try again. Much like peach picking, my goal in gardening is to teach my kids. So, I didn’t go for huge garden with hopes of providing a summer’s worth of produce. Instead, I opted for a few plants that we could watch grow and hopefully taste the fruits of our labor.
Last night I took a look at the garden. Now I know a seasoned gardener would have been checking up on her plants all along. But you all know I am not a seasoned gardener.
We’ve got some tomatoes and peppers that should be ripe soon!
But we don’t have to wait any longer to enjoy one of our sweet successes!
Check this bad boy out!
I was delightfully surprised when I uncovered this zucchini!
The kids and I will be baking some home made zucchini bread tomorrow using my mom’s recipe. Every time I make it, I laugh. In high school, my good friend Jami came over and we devoured an entire loaf of bread. At that time, my mom used to make tons of low fat recipes from weight watchers, and I assumed that this one was low fat as well. I told my friend it was fat free so we could just keep eating and eating. Years later when I made it myself, I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Not exactly low fat, but it is delicious!!
Mom’s Zucchini Bread
makes 2 loaves
Ingredients:
3 eggs 1 cup oil
2 cups sugar 3 tsp vanilla
2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini
3 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (technically optional) But, I say they are a must!
Beat eggs slightly; add oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in zucchini. Add dry ingredients. Mix well and pour into two greased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until bread test done in center with a toothpick.
Makes a very moist bread!!
