Dear February…you do it to me every. single. year.  Each year as the busyness of the Christmas season passes I long to savor the cozy, cold winter months. You included. I wish for snowflakes and fires. Pots of wholesome soup bubbling on the stove and friends gathered around…making the most of the frigid time.  It’s all fun and games until the last of the Christmas glitter reluctantly makes it’s way into the vacuum cleaner and the gym has emptied out from those who have dropped the new years resolutions and given up on the losing of pounds. Many of your days are gloomy February, but then to make matters more complicated, you tempt us with sunshine, that from the inside makes the outside look welcoming. But then there is your wind, and your chill, and your unpredictability. Oh yes, and the flu. Contrasted with the daffodil shoots brand new. We grow antsy for Spring.  There’s this inner conflict. The reluctancy (this isn’t really a word but roll with it) to let go of the cozy, hibernation for the sanity! I choose sanity! These little boys need to run and play and this momma needs a normal day. So February, as you finish your thing please, please give us something. Give us some sunshine and some warmth, give us some healthy days and give us March!

And to you my lovely readers, aren’t you just so ready for Spring? I mean, maybe it’s just me. I’m ready for the winter blues to fly out the window and for Spring fever to hit. This week we have been hit with the second round of the stomach bug. First was Jackson last week and just when we thought Owen had dodged the bullet Owen started up last night. I know on pintrest some are marketing dooms day kits but I am angling to market stomach bug kits. Speaking of stomach bug survival kids, I had just packed our stack of towels, trash bags and clorox wipes away YESTERDAY. And after 4 days of having Owen’s comforter pulled back just in case I had made his bed up again and tucked him in all snug as a bug in a rug….just before it all went south! The bads news is I have cleaned the house top to bottom twice in 5 days, the good news is I have cleaned the house twice in 5 days!

I’ve decided that this wacky weather will take the hint when I gather up my winter decor. Certainly the sled on the front door step is giving mixed signals. And the print of cozy boys in snowy gear. And the evergreen on the mantel. Out with you winter. Bring on Spring!  Tulips and lemons and garden planning and walks outside and boys that smell of fresh air at bath time. It’s coming! I can feel it. I just have to be patient.  Until then I will attempt to savor this season.

sorry for those of you who won’t be so interested in this….it’s probably funny for everyone but especially for moms in this competitive age of mothering! Someone read it at our Mothers of Preschoolers meeting last Friday and I thought it was great. I often tell Seth about the pressures related to feeding our kids and preschool choice, etc but this sums it up much better than I do! Enjoy!

Excerpt from Out Of The Spin Cycle: Devotions to Lighten Your Mother Load: A (Fairly Lame) Ode to Mothers

An ode to the marvelous woman called “Mother”
Though not one of us is exactly like another.
From the second we’re born to the minute we die
Our preferences are as limitless as stars in the sky.

We might have been perfectly gracious before
But childbirth entered us in the Mommy War.
Rather than letting everyone else be
We criticize parenting that isn’t exactly like . . . me.

So once and for all let me put this to rest
None of us owns the title of “best.”
Natural childbirth does not make you a hippy
Epidurals are not just for women who want to feel trippy.

In a bathtub with a doula or in a hospital bed
We all got a baby with limbs and a head.
Nursing is great if nothing goes wrong
But some nipples turn inward and refuse to play along.

This is a choice for each mom–it’s her route
So it’s just A + B and everyone else can C their way out.
Schedules and timers do not make you cruel
Feeding on demand does not make you a fool.

In the nursery with a monitor or in the family bed
Every chick gets to pick where her baby lays his head.
If I see one more mom roll her eyes at “organic . . .”
“Partially hydrogenated” throws some of us into panic.

But neither judge Sonic burgers and fries
Some of us just want to enjoy food before we die.
Preschool, home school, public, or Montessori
Listen, my friends, and I’ll tell you a story:

Two moms differed on favorite school trends
Their kids turned out pretty much the same. The end.
If a girl gets the title of “mom” accidentally
The worst thing we can do is treat her judgmentally.

How about some love, some help, some advice?
She needs our love and we shouldn’t think twice.
Discipline through various methods will prevail
Look, we’re all just trying to keep our kids out of jail.

These things are just preferences, not right or wrong
What matters more is teaching our kids to get along–
To love and to share, to speak gently and kind,
To obey so that mom won’t go out of her mind.

Showing them Jesus is our common ground
Teaching them how he can always be found.
He’s present in public school and Waldorf (so trendy)
He’s over at Whole Foods but also at Wendy’s.

Jesus never cared about these sorts of things
It’s our hearts that he wants and the worship we bring.
It’s time for us moms to declare a truce
Regardless if we buy Capri Sun or 100 percent juice.

My way is not your way, and your way isn’t mine
But both of our kids will turn out just fine.
Rather than judging and looking down our noses
Let’s enjoy the common ground motherhood poses.

As believers, we all love the same good Lord
We all have children who tell us “I’m bored.”
We all need more sleep than these tiny five hours
Most of us struggle to find time for a shower.

We haven’t been to the bathroom alone in an age
Our mothers have all told us, “Relax, this is just a stage.”
We all love our babies so much we could die
We’d take a bullet for each one without batting an eye.

Though we are different, we’re in the same tribe
Motherhood requires a similar vibe–
Love and affection, sacrifice and grace
Laughter, which keeps the whole mechanism in place.

Though different, by the grace of God, I suspect:
ALL our children will rise up and call us … collect.

She looks well to how things go in her household… Her children rise up and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:27-28

For those of you that have been faithfully checking for an update following my recent mountain climb, thank you so much for checking on me and most of all thank you for praying me through that trial. Some of you may have seen the post that followed about the worst day ever, if you missed it no worries, it is worth forgetting about! Honestly when I decided to take my test it was enough to swallow me and it felt so UNFAIR (to use my 3 yr olds favorite word) seeing as how I am already certified and have work experience, was licensed in TX, etc. But by the time I took the test I was aware that the test was not the giant of the week by far. I will spare you all of the details but it was a really tough week on all fronts.

I took the exam and miraculously I passed it! Yipeeee! Hallelujah! Seriously, it was good to refresh on everything and it was also good to be reminded why I chose the field and even much easier to apply this time around because I have practiced and have had patients to apply the questions to.

So that part is behind us. We still don’t know what will happen with Seth’s work but at this point we are just taking it one day at a time.

Many of you know I am taking my Speech Pathology exams this coming Friday. Tough stuff. But soon to be over. I hope.

When I decided to take it short notice a sweet friend in Texas popped her study guide in the mail and it was due to arrive last Friday! Great timing for this once in a lifetime freshen up!

Only Friday when I opened the box that was delivered it was not the trusty book it was a cell phone and scarf. Hmmmm. Maybe my friend had mailed two packages and one (this one) was meant for the other friend?! Not so much. The UPS store confused stickers and mailed our book to a different recipient. Today UPS came by the pick up the cell phone box and says my book should arrive by Wed evening. The test is Friday. On Friday I went ahead and bought a new study guide. At the time of this silly incident I said to Seth “what are the odds?”. Pretty good.

I pushed through the weekend studying like I haven’t in years. Seth planned to telework today knowing that Owen is entertaining himself if he is set up with toys, etc so he was going to attempt it so that I could leave and study. (fully prepared to take the day off it things went south). This morning I spent 3 hours at La Madeline. I was proud of graduating from studying at starbucks yesterday and enjoyed the peaceful place by the fire. I wrapped up my time and miraculously felt good about all that I had covered. I attempted to call Seth but honestly my brain was so jumbled that I just told him I would stop at the store and be home.

I filled a cart in 20 mins or less (which you all know is humanly possible when you are on your own after having been trained to shop with kids). I breezed up to the checkout and grabbed my wallet…..

nope. wasn’t there. But I knew I had seen it in my purse when I bought tea a few hours earlier.

I rushed back to La Madeline and walked in as my cell phone rang and Seth informed me that someone had already spent $4,000 at the Apple Store and $2000 at Target. Stolen. Stink.

So I broke into tears (I couldn’t help it. I was too tired to even think about holding back) as I explained to the manager that I had been there, amongst the business meetings and coffee dates all morning and that the only people hanging out were employees that kept getting in trouble for sitting around being lazy. who knows who took it but whoever it was was good. My purse was tucked by the all under my coat.  Any other time I would feel  dumb for being distracted but this time I don’t feel one bit dumb. For once in my life I needed to be totally focused and of course that was when it happened.  I would have expected it wrangling two kids and such but alone in a peaceful cafe. Ugh.

I made my way home and begged Seth to go to Trader Joe’s to rescue the cart that I had them save while I began my practice test. He was able to go on his lunch break which worked out well. When he got home I noticed a baguette sticking out of the bag. My first thought was “hmm, that’s kind of nice that he grabbed a baguette to go along with our dinner.” then it hit me, he was carrying someone else’s groceries. Not only had I filled a cart and had to leave it like a crazy woman but I had never told Seth what I had in the cart. It turns out there are other crazy cart-leaving people like me. Trader Joe’s was awesome and told us to bring it all back….but then Seth got stuck having to re-shop for the whole list. TJ’s gave us free flowers to make up for our bad day. There are still nice people in the world.  And now I keep remembering things from my wallet and my grocery cart that I had once in my possession and somehow are no longer.

And that is the end of the story.

Tomorrow has got to be better.