Phew!
I'm glad it's almost 9 and all is quiet in my kids' rooms. Today was a day. Yes, I've had worse, but my venting today is too long for a facebook status so I came here :)
My husband had to go to CA for a meeting today, meaning he flew out at 7:30 this morning and was scheduled to fly back home at 8:05 tonight (which means he should be in the air right now). Definitely a long and tiring day for him! I am incredibly thankful for how hard he works to provide for our family as the only wage earner.
This morning, after the kids woke up, I had them grab several books and we all crawled into my bed where we read stories. In my mind we were going to have a blissful morning spent cuddling and reading books. The reality is the kids got ansty after 3 books and we moved onto the next activity. My son's preschool class is planting flowers in the school flower bed and the students will be tending to the flowers for the remainder of the school year (about 6 weeks). My son's teachers asked each student to bring in a flower this week to plant in the flower bed. Because of Good Friday my son doesn't have preschool Friday and tomorrow is the last day he'll attend this week so I knew we had to go buy his flower today.
We have been having problems with our dishwasher and the repairman was scheduled to come install a new motor today between 12-5. I finally was able to get the kids fed, dressed, and out the door around 10 when my husband called saying he just received a phone call from the repairman asking if it was ok if he was early because he could be there in about 30 minutes. I said, "Yes" and figured we could go buy my son's flower after rest.
After the kids had lunch and rested I tried getting them out the door, but again they were dragging their feet and we didn't actually leave for Home Depot until about 4pm. The three of us fought the evening congestion around an industrial park to head to Home Depot--the closest store with a nursery. Once at Home Depot my son picked out a marigold and we headed to our next few errands---Costco to get gas and then to the grocery store. We got to the grocery store around 5pm and it was pretty crazy. I managed to survive with some of my sanity in tact, considering at 5 and 3 my kids are too old to ride in the cart, but too young to not get distracted by all the interesting things in the grocery store.
The kids and I got home around 5:30 and I began to unload the groceries from the car while the kids ran inside. Before I finished unloading the groceries I noticed my son had broken the flower off his marigold. I had kept the potted plant in the front seat during our errands and I carried it inside once we got home telling him not to touch it, so I was a little frustrated knowing time was running out before he needed to deliver it to school. I considered telling him, "I'm sorry. You didn't listen to me and you broke it. That's the plant you're going to take to school. I'm sorry you won't have a pretty flower in the garden", but in the end I decided to load the kids back up and head back to the store. Home Depot is only about 3 miles from the house, but the errand took us 45 minutes because of traffic.
I had been hoping to get the kids in bed early, but I didn't. I did manage to feed them and get them in bed at their normal bed time (in part because we skipped baths tonight. Shhh . . .don't tell anyone), but I was pretty emotionally drained from our hectic afternoon. To top it off, when I picked up the mail I saw that I have been summonsed to serve jury duty with the City in May. I guess I should be thankful I don't have to serve on my birthday, which is that same month :)
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Holy Week traditions
According to the Christian calendar yesterday was Palm Sunday, the day Christians remember Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he was greeted by crowds praising him with cries of "Hosanna". By the end of the week Jesus would be dead and buried a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
I often imagine that Saturday as one of the darkest days in human history as Satan thought he had won by killing Jesus, not realizing the ultimate victory would come on Sunday!
My kids are now 5 and 3 and I love watching their faith grow and hearing them speak the Truth. Last night at the dinner table we were discussing Easter and even my 3 year old was able to tell me we celebrate Easter because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. This morning I was in our spare room/office when my daughter came in, out of the blue, and said "Mommy! Jesus is the Truth!"
I want to take time this week and help my kids focus on the meaning of Easter. For the past few days I have been trying to think of different ways to prepare their young hearts and minds for the commemoration of the most important day in all of human history. I would also like to establish some traditions for our family as we mark this monumental week.
One friend and her husband participated in a reverse Lent project that they completed over the weekend. I love this idea so much that I'm going to discuss with my husband the possibility of doing it in our home next year.
Last week a friend posted a picture of this Easter garden and I immediately went to the store to get the necessary items. The kids and I made our own on Thursday and we'll remove the stone on Sunday morning. My son was quite concerned we were waiting so long (over a week) to roll the stone away because, "Mom! Jesus rose from the dead on the third day! Why are we waiting so long?"
Each night we read to our kids out of their children's Bible as their bedtime story. Generally my husband reads to our son, while I read to our daughter. We made sure last night to read them the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and will continue to read the events of this important week each night.
Though we will not be having a Seder dinner I am thinking about making a special dinner on Thursday night to remember the Last Supper.
Because we go to a large church they hold Easter services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Our family will attend church on Saturday night, leaving Sunday for our family celebration.
Sunday morning we will hunt for Resurrection Eggs and discuss the story of Easter as we open the eggs.
As I look forward to the week I'm left wondering about what other traditions we can establish and activities we can do to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made on the cross and the incredible victory of Jesus conquering death.
What are some activities your family does to mark Easter?
I often imagine that Saturday as one of the darkest days in human history as Satan thought he had won by killing Jesus, not realizing the ultimate victory would come on Sunday!
My kids are now 5 and 3 and I love watching their faith grow and hearing them speak the Truth. Last night at the dinner table we were discussing Easter and even my 3 year old was able to tell me we celebrate Easter because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. This morning I was in our spare room/office when my daughter came in, out of the blue, and said "Mommy! Jesus is the Truth!"
I want to take time this week and help my kids focus on the meaning of Easter. For the past few days I have been trying to think of different ways to prepare their young hearts and minds for the commemoration of the most important day in all of human history. I would also like to establish some traditions for our family as we mark this monumental week.
One friend and her husband participated in a reverse Lent project that they completed over the weekend. I love this idea so much that I'm going to discuss with my husband the possibility of doing it in our home next year.
Last week a friend posted a picture of this Easter garden and I immediately went to the store to get the necessary items. The kids and I made our own on Thursday and we'll remove the stone on Sunday morning. My son was quite concerned we were waiting so long (over a week) to roll the stone away because, "Mom! Jesus rose from the dead on the third day! Why are we waiting so long?"
Each night we read to our kids out of their children's Bible as their bedtime story. Generally my husband reads to our son, while I read to our daughter. We made sure last night to read them the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and will continue to read the events of this important week each night.
Though we will not be having a Seder dinner I am thinking about making a special dinner on Thursday night to remember the Last Supper.
Because we go to a large church they hold Easter services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Our family will attend church on Saturday night, leaving Sunday for our family celebration.
Sunday morning we will hunt for Resurrection Eggs and discuss the story of Easter as we open the eggs.
As I look forward to the week I'm left wondering about what other traditions we can establish and activities we can do to remind us of the ultimate sacrifice made on the cross and the incredible victory of Jesus conquering death.
What are some activities your family does to mark Easter?
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