Grateful to Be Mama

Dearest Grace,

    When you were born four years ago, I latched onto the song by Darius Rucker titled "It Won't Be Like This For Long".  I knew the sleepless nights would end.  Thankfully, you only made us zombies for a little over a month.  I knew the things I once cherished when you were itty-bitty would soon be gone as you grew into each stage.  I knew things would change. 

   As Mother's Day rolls around tomorrow, I want you to know that I love everything, every single thing about you.  I love that you still call me Mama, even when you yell for me in a creepy horror flick whisper.  I love that you still call me to get you each and every morning instead of getting out of bed yourself because then I'd know you'd saddle up to my side of the bed and probably scare the daylights out of me.  I love that you stall at bedtime.  Sometimes, for a drink, sometimes to go to the bathroom, but mostly when you call me back upstairs just to tell me you love me one more time.  I love our nightly story time that sometimes becomes the rosary.  I love how you still ask me to sing you bedtime songs.  Your favorites right now are "You are my sunshine", "Father, I Adore You", and "Refiner's Fire".  I love how you still wake me up in the middle of the night if you have to go to the bathroom.  You can do it yourself, but you told me you don't want to be alone.  I love making crafts with you.  I love your kindness, your laughter, your kisses, your snuggles, your hugs.  I love our lunch picnics in the front yard.  I love your sneaky little mind.  I love your gracisms.  I really do love everything.

    And I will continue to find that things won't last like this for long, but until then I'm going to keep on waking up every morning being grateful that she hasn't completely grown up just yet.

funny book

So my little break with a book and a comforter included a cup of coffee too.  It's seven o'clock at night and I'm cup two - I'm turning into my mother.  But I digress.

The book...


is HILARIOUS and TRUE and JUST WHAT I NEEDED BEFORE I START MY WEEK WITH 7TH GRADERS WHO ARE ALREADY COUNTING DOWN UNTIL THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.

My favorite section = The Road Trip. 

Waiting

I should be tackling an item on the never ending to-do list of my life.

Instead, I'm just sitting here doing nothing.  Just because I can.  Matt is at a meeting, and Grace is bumming around town with Grandma and Papa.  I keep getting calls from her updating me on what she is doing.  They have gone something like this:

Grace:  Mama, can Grandma and Papa take me to the dog store?
Me:  Did you ask them?
Grace:  I will.

or

Grace:  Mama, can I eat over here (I learned later meant the Chili's at the mall.)
Me:  Did you ask Grandma and Papa?
Grace:  uh huh

Next on my list...curling up on the couch with a comforter and one of new books I just checked out from the public library.

Two Things

1.  Are you open to the gifts from God?  Are you willing to accept what he has in store for you?  God calls on the ordinary.  Are you ready?  Lent begins in three days.  Am I ready?  Just a few snippets taken from today's homily that resonated with me.

2. This summer I attended the funeral for my friend's dad.  I'll never forget what her brother said during his eulogy.  "My dad always had time for us.  Even after a long day at work, he never said no when we asked him to do something."  Wow!  Years from now, I want to make sure I've said YES!  All that other stuff can wait.  It can wait until Grace is grown and on her own.  So tonight when she asked to walk to the park for the second time today, I said

Welcome 2013

We will open the book.

It's pages are blank.

We're going to put

words on them ourselves.

The book is called

Opportunity

and its first chapter is

New Year's Day.

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

What's in store for you?

We are Blessed

This year we stayed put.  No flights with the possibilities of weather cancellations or getting half way home and then hopping on a bus for a drive that would only get us four hours closer to our destination only to wait for my parents to drive those four hours to get us.  Yes, we stayed put.  It was hard.  It was weird. No, snow on Christmas.  Even Grace didn't understand that there wouldn't be snow.  It was her first without snow too.  

But,

We are blessed.  We had a truly wonderful Christmas.  Candlelight dinner with the "fancy plates and cups" as Grace puts it.  (Note:  We've been using the fancy cups daily now.)  I brought a little of home to Virginia - homemade gnoochi on Christmas Eve.  (With the amount of cooking I did, I felt like my mother.)  Mass at St. Marks's.  Getting our three year old up on Christmas morning.  (Yes, you read that right.  We heard her in the monitor for 20 minutes.  I finally just had to go in.  I couldn't take it any longer.  Her response as to why, "Mama, I was just resting.") Dinner with Matt's parents, Skype with my family, and lots and lots of playing dolls and Headbandz and watching Cinderella.

It Has Been Too Long...

Seriously, where has the time gone?  I've let half the year go by without writing a single post.  My apologies. I have no excuses.  Well, maybe a few...like getting sucked into the world of Pinterest.  At least I can say that I have made quite a few of the "pins" I liked.  Honestly though I've just been overwhelmed with everyday life.

However, I'm back to blogging and starting off on positive notes.  It was Thanksgiving yesterday.  A day to give thanks and be grateful.  And boy am I grateful for...
1.  Grace  - How did I ever live without this child?  I love how sweet and caring she is and her Gracisms and her sense of humor and her obsession with Christmas (It's a year round thing in this house.) and her sweet tooth and her craftiness and our nightly bedtime routine and singing "Father, I adore you" and every.single. thing.
2.  Matt - I sure lucked out marrying this man.  He pushes me when I need to be pushed and supports me and lets me put up an obscene number of Christmas trees and is a fantastic dad and works hard and loves us both.
3.  Christmas music - year round.  But I'm really thankful for the fact that Grace has moved beyond singing ONLY track number 2 on the Glee Christmas CD (Deck the Halls), that she calls  Fa La La La.  We now listen to tracks 4, 6, and 7.  And if I'm really lucky she lets me turn on the Christmas radio station only in the hopes that Jingle Bell Rock will be playing.  If it isn't, then back to the cd we go.
4.  A great group of students at school.  It doesn't make all the other stuff go away, but it is soooo much easier when the kids aren't adding to the stress.
5.  Staring at the Christmas tree all lit up.
6.  Skype - Missing family on the holidays, so we were able to get to video chat for almost an hour.
7.  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
8.  An extra comforter on the bed to get super cozy and warm.
9.  free shipping
10.  Knowing that I can buy the rest of my Christmas presents without leaving my house....thank you online shopping.