HappyMama

#4778 - I was blessed recently with a visit from a friend and her kiddos.  Between us there were 6 of ‘em, ages 5,4,3,2,1, & an infant!  (I think she’d agree with me that after a couple days with all 6 together in the house, 3 doesn’t seem so chaotic!)  Anyway, her last evening here, hubby offered to watch the older 5 kids for 2 hours so we could sneak out to a coffee shop.  Five years ago, he’d have rather had a root canal than do this.  To see how much he’s changed is another reason I love him. 

#4779 - Hubby talks a lot in his sleep.  I know, because I’m awake a lot at night!  Like all of us, there are a lot of random thoughts that go through his sleeping head, but he often talks about or to our children.  He’s a daddy, even in his sleep.  It’s another reason I love him.

Our 5yo saying to our 3yo:

“Mom is a fire-breathing dragon.  Everytime we see her, we have to yell…”

Some sociologists suggest that one of the biggest changes in family life over the past century is the movement of the father’s workplace away from the family home.  Think of the child Jesus watching Joseph work, beginning in His earliest years, probably in a building attached to the home.  Children learn so many life-lessons from this frequent contact with their fathers.  Personally, I got to spend many Saturdays working at my parent’s business.  Watching my dad (a pharmacist) interact with his customers so patiently and generously made a lasting impression on me.  (And mom taught me how to count change and gift-wrap a present perfectly!)

For this reason, I don’t mind that “finishing our basement” has taken so much longer than we anticipated.  My sons have tagged along every step of the way.  Maybe they’ve learned a few words I’d rather they not know, but the good things they take away more than make up for it.  Yes, they get in the way and underfoot sometimes, and they ask an endless stream of questions, but I hope hubby is growing in patience from it all!

Come to think of it, my husband has a captive audience pretty much all the time that he’s at home!  Here I caught the boys watching him through the window as he cut a door to size - one of 7 to be put into our basement.  4 are in already!

SarahC. shared with me the link to Wei’s blog - several of you know who he is.  His latest big news is in the most recent post.  I’ll add the link to my blogroll, also.

 *Wei’s mother passed away.  Eternal Rest grant upon her, O Lord.

• today the boys were playing outside, and the 5yo came running in to go to the bathroom.  He’s sitting on the toilet, doing his daily business, when in comes a running 3yo, who urgently needs to go, drops his pants, and yes, starts to go all over his petrified brother as well as the rest of the bathroom.  He starts to cry and says, “You should not have been sitting there!”

Keeping the boy’s bathroom clean is a constant challenge to my home-making abilities.  It would be easier if we permitted them to go in the yard, but somehow I think that’d be against the HomeOwnersAssociation code of conduct.

• Also recently when requesting a snack, my 5yo has been quite specific about what he wants:  “Mom, it’s snack time.  I don’t want anything with protein or fiber in it, just sugar.  Nothing nutritious.”
• And this from the 3yo recently: “Mom, dragons and cookie monsters are the scariest things in the whole world.”

I’ve joined the growing ranks of moms making home made yogurt. 

We buy a lot of it, everyone likes it and it’s good for you.  It’s one dairy food that doesn’t bother my one lactose-sensitive son.  I often serve it as “dessert” to the kids who eat their dinners - with frozen blueberries, and maybe something like a Kashi granola.  (Kudos to McDonald’s for the Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait idea!)  I don’t buy organic yogurt (too expensive) or the cheap Walmart kind that’s got artificial sweeteners and coloring in it.  I keep a quart of plain yogurt on hand for baking, it’s a good substitute for many things.

Making our own - which is insanely easy - will only save us about $100/year (a figure that I’m sure will climb each year, as the boys and the family grow), but here are the other advantages:

• It will always be fresh
• I will always know exactly what’s in it
• I won’t have to dispose or recycle about 80 of those plastic cartons each year, although I will have to purchase more milk, which also comes in plastic.

If anyone out there wants more info., feel free to ask away!

Three Cheers to my hubby, who last night assembled the beautiful bunk bed he made for our boys!

It looks especially great with the mattresses, bedding, and 3 sleeping angels on it!  Thanks for all your hard work, dear.

Whenever I find myself getting too absorbed in my own little life, it certainly helps to read and pray about global issues.  I have heard about 2 small corners of the world lately that have been most inspiring.

First was the story of a Catholic priest named Zakaria Botros,who is regularly on Egyptian television explaining the teachings of Islam.  He deeply researches each topic, and after thoroughly explaining it to the audience, he invites Islamic spiritual leaders to call into the show and tell him if he is right or wrong.  What is interesting is that he picks embarrassing or little-known teachings of Islam, for example, an ancient teaching that women are required to breast-feed adult men if asked to do so.  (!)  And get this, the spiritual leaders admitted that this was indeed a teaching.  Father Botros ends his program by comparing these teachings to those found in the Bible, resulting in a huge surge of interest in Christianity by all reasonable listeners.  This priest will most certainly be martyred for his work, there is already a $5 million bounty on his head.  Yet he continues his successful work.

Secondly, I’ve read about the work of the Catholic church in the Ukraine, which survived decades of being underground under communism.  Finally, there is a Catholic University in the Ukraine.  It has been a huge leap of faith to start this school, because of the poverty of the people.  Because of outstanding leadership, it appears that the school is doing a lot of good work already.  You can read about it here. 

CNEWA is a charity that we like to support.  They publish a beautiful little magazine called One that explains social problems of the Middle East from a Christian perspective.