Monday, September 30, 2013

Mondays just suck.

Well...mostly.  I would venture to say that I am waxing a bit pessimistic at the moment.  Having to replace the head of your oldest child's American Girl doll to the tune of FORTY dollars, plus shipping, because your middle child just has NO boundaries...
I did not yell.
I did not berate.
I did have to send said middle child to the spare room ALONE for about an hour so I wouldn't yell, berate or otherwise act like a really p*ssed off mama.
I did have to realize that this was probably my fault.  I was just stupid enough to believe that she would actually rest when I told her to and NOT get out of bed and wreak havoc on her older sister's room.  Mind you, she is in Eva's room because I can't let her & Max rest together anymore because THE WONDER TWINS just cannot SHUT UP during quiet time.  So separate them, I must.
Now, the optimist is just screaming that I must post the following...

We finished school today... for all 4 schooled children.  We painted, dot to dot marked, read, made letters, advertised a dog walking business, diagrammed sentences, parsed sentences, learned spelling rules, discussed peacemaking, laced beads, matched numbers, rhymed pictures, reviewed memory work,
My preschool child also made it to school on time, dressed, with a snack and with his picture form.  In the interim, I actually picked up and dropped off 2 MORE children to preschool, ON TIME.  (buy your lottery ticket now... this is a miracle moment...)
I sat in the grass and sucked down half a bottle of wine with my friends while my kids got filthy and my husband had some quiet time.
I wrapped up a fundraiser that raised a good chunk of change for our homeschool group.
My kids were ON TIME for all activities today.

Finally...I just woke up and realized I was in the TWILIGHT ZONE...

Seriously, when your pastor asks you to give him 2 day advance notice for when you plan to be on time for both life group and service, so as not to unduly surprise him during a busy sunday...I AM NOT KIDDING...you know you are epically late...

Well, maybe Mondays don't suck...

That is all.

clan mac mama




Saturday, September 28, 2013

Sam's soft little hand...

caresses the side of my face...
His sweet voice declares, "I love you too!"
His gentle little fingers run through my hair...
We rock, to and fro, to and fro...
And I cry.

Mercy's quiet whisper..."Mommy, I'm never ever gonna wipe your kisses off..."
A soft whimper as she cries that she never wants to grow up...
"Mommy, I want to stay with you forever..."
We rock, to and fro, to and fro...
And I cry.

Softly falling grains of sand, slipping through my fingers.
Every moment, every thought, I beg of it to linger.
The sweetness of the end of day,
to recall it all, I pray and pray.
Early morning sleepy boys,
Quietly playing with their toys.
Morning light surrounding each,
For my hand I wish they'd reach.
To feel their velvet baby skin,
And snuggle them gently once again.

"Mommy, you sing to me?"
"Mommy, you rock?"

Tick, tock, tick, tock speeds that clock.

Hold me tight and don't let go,
far too quick, too soon you'll grow.

Softly falling grains of sand, you are slipping through my fingers...
the imprints of my five sweet loves on my heart will linger.

And I cry.

love,
clan mac mama

 


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Homeschool Mondays are like a box of chocolates...

you just never know what you're gonna get.  (Picture me, half a bubble off, slowly drawling this out while sucking wine out of my sippy cup with a straw, shoveling in said chocolate and covered in dry erase marker...)

So, the day started innocently enough...  Up at 5 to work out, (mid workout, my little men decide to visit with me and question me EVERY FIVE SECONDS while I am STANDING ON A 14 INCH STEP HOLDING WEIGHTS...) devotions with the hubby & kids, off to pre-school with the little man, patting myself on the back as I pull into the church parking lot an entire FIVE MINUTES EARLY.   (And I haven't forgotten any of the kids today.)  Anyone who has known me for even 5 minutes is aware that FIVE MINUTES EARLY for me is the equivalent of some people achieving the goal of writing a dissertation and receiving a Ph.D.  Seriously.
The many mini Macs unbuckle and begin popping out of the rockin' mom van I drive...(just making sure you understand how NOT COOL I am...) to walk Sammy into school.  As he pops out and lands squarely in the parking lot, I am suddenly aware that he is wearing, *gasp,* FLIP FLOPS!  This is a serious pre-school NO NO.  In addition, I am fully aware that if he does not wear himself out on the playground during school, my big beans will not have math during nap time, as there will be no nap time...thereby causing a loss of essential math skills/mommy sanity, and exponentially increasing my wine intake for the later part of the day, which is NOT in the budget and for which I am NOT prepared.  (I've had a few too many napless days lately, so my wine stores are depleted and my kids are getting stupider.  Yep, that's a word.  I said so and I'm the teacher.)

LORI VINSKUS...are you dying from my ridiculously ranting run on sentence yet??????? bahahaha!

SO.  I determine that I am going to run home to get his shoes and drop them at school.  Meanwhile, I've somehow blamed Eva for the fact that Sam is wearing the wrong shoes, so she is ticked and pouting, I'm fuming and muttering, the littles are in the back YELLING at full volume, and Charley is attempting to discuss her playdate with the other Charlie and is asking me every bloody question under the sun in relation to said playdate.  ARGH!
Ah, but ding, ding!!!!!!  I realize that Sam actually has shoes in his backpack because his GENIUS MOTHER put them there last thursday in case his new shoes were too big.   Wow, I am just so awesome.  NOT.  If I had stopped being a terd to Eva long enough to take a breath, I might have realized this BEFORE I made my oldest feel like poo.    SO, needless to say, I called the school and informed them he actually did have shoes, they just had to switch them out.  Should be smooth sailing from here, huh?
Not.
Wondering what could possibly make my day go awry now???????
Well, just let me tell you.
NAPTIME.  Stupid NAPTIME.  Stupid, stupid, stupid naptime.
Actually, it's really my fault naptime is stupid.
I had the audacity to think that my youngest child should move into a toddler bed because he FINALLY uses the TOY-let and, well, he IS 3.  
This was a really stupid thought.  (No thesaurus used here.  Stupid is just the perfect word for this tale...)
It took all of about 3 days for him to figure out that he didn't HAVE to stay in the bloody bed when I put him down.  This has resulted in the now removed crib side being firmly BUNGEE corded to the toddler bed, thereby preventing the little terd from escaping.  Thereby also keeping me from going insane.
Well, the bungee process did not go well today.  I snapped the stupid cord, scratched the bed and couldn't remember for the life of me how to get the stinking thing done.  Once I finally did jury rig it, I got the other 2 laid down.  WELL, Miss Mercy doesn't really DO nap time.  She just tortures the crap out of me by getting up every 10 minutes or so, which is the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me...
Finally, little people decided to rest.  Ahhhh, this MUST be what heaven feels like!  Math gets *almost* done, so off we go to dance.
I have sent Charles to the commissary...so in the midst of all this, my phone is BLOWING UP with texts that query the location of the weird food items I must now eat on my annoying and weird diet of gluten and dairy free food...(this is NOT a choice, I mean, seriously, who chooses to NOT eat fried mushrooms or ice cream?????)
Dance goes well, I pick up Eva and we motor back home to have some outdoor play.  The littles commence fighting over the blue jeep, Charley checks out and starts riding her bike and Eva hops on her scooter....
Fast forward approximately 5 minutes...one scooter mishap later, my oldest bean is whimpering on the grass, holding her wrist, exclaiming, "Mommy, it hurts, it hurts!"
Mind you, my children scream at EVERYTHING.  It doesn't matter if it's a paper cut or a bat over the head (NERF BAT...,)  they are screamers.  Just a few days ago I had given the typical Mom lecture, you know the one.  It's when you tell them that one of these days they'll really be hurt and you won't be sure if you buy it...Well, I'm here to tell ya, when they are really hurt, you just know it.  My screamer was whimpering and I just knew that little wrist of hers had sustained some damage.
A flurry of phone calls to my fantastic friend and pediatrician later and we had come to the conclusion it was most likely broken.  Since we live in the midst of a huge marine base with an overabundance of people who use the ER as regular medical care *ugh,* we conclude that we are splinting and waiting for morning for x-rays and an ortho visit.
One set of x-rays, one buckle fracture, and one Carolina blue cast later....


 SO.  Like I said, homeschooling mondays are like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get!

love,
me (yep, stuffing my face with chocolate and sippin' my wine...)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

A Beautiful Legacy...

3 weeks ago today, on what I though was just an ordinary day, I stood in Cathy's driveway.  Shaken to my core.  Shocked. Sick. Heartbroken.  The unthinkable had happened.  2 of my oldest friends, people who knew me "when...," one of whom stood with Charles and I as we swore our love forever, had just lost their sweet son.  Inexplicably, without warning.  The shockwave that tore through our tiny community was palpable and heavy.

Although the funeral weekend that followed was a blur, one thing stood out in my memory as I prayed for the Hansill family in the ensuing weeks...a video of Kyle teaching a class full of our SBA students about the Salvation we can find ONLY in the sacrifice that Christ made for us.   He had educated the kiddos in the most simple of terms, using stick people, a bridge and the cross.  That was the beauty of it.  Salvation in Christ is just, well, SO SIMPLE.  It doesn't require anything more than faith and acceptance of the ultimate sacrifice that was made so long ago.  

Today, on what I thought again was yet another completely normal, simply ordinary day... I sat in Eva's homeschool co-op class, absentmindedly watching presentations & whispering with the other moms.  As Jacob Caldwell was up for his turn at presentation, Kerry & I stopped chatting to watch.  My heart skipped a beat and we stared at one other in astonishment as it dawned upon us both what Jacob had chosen to share.




He was standing at the board, giving the lesson he had learned from Kyle.  He remembered it, word for word, picture for picture.  His sweet voice was clear, strong, and convicted.  When he finished, he turned, pointed to the 3 people (one fleeing God, one who knows God but doesn't pursue His love and one who accepts His gift of salvation) above the bridge that signifies Christ and said, "I only have one question for you? 
Which one are you?"  



Once Kerry had picked her jaw up off the floor and dried her tears...she exclaimed, "That was NOT what he had practiced!  It was not the story he was going to tell.  I had NO IDEA he was going to get up there and do that!"  (I think she repeated this at least 3 times...)  I was too busy sniffling and staring to even respond...

Today, that boy that loved the Lord with every ounce of his heart spoke through the heart of another boy.  His inspired actions proving once again, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the love of Our Lord is forever, eternal, and omnipotent.

That, my friends, is more than a beautiful legacy.  It's divine.


            love,
            me.