10 Things...

I'm joining the "10 things on Friday" club. Click here and here to see some others. This was harder than I thought it would be. I guess I don't KNOW that much!

Ten things I'm sure of...

1. Being forgiven is one of the best feelings in the world.
2. Baking soda cannot replace baking powder in a recipe.
3. There are many occupations I would like to try, but I could NEVER be a nurse.
4. God really does answer prayer (I'll spare you the 20 page story for now...).
5. Love of an adopted child really is the same as love of a biological child.
6. Ninety-five percent of fire calls that happen between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. are false alarms (although the firefighters don't know that until they are up, dressed, at the station, in full gear, and on the way to the "fire"...).
7. True friendship can withstand the tests of time and distance.
8. Kids are born with a radar device that makes them instantly yell, cry, or fight as soon as mother says "hello" into the telephone.
9. There is no such thing as "completely" potty trained.
10. Walking the cancer journey with a parent was much harder than I ever thought it would be.

Happy Friday! Who knows what next week's list will be...

ZZZzzzzz.......

3:03 a.m. - I am awakened by the sound of my 16 month old's cry. I lay there for half a minute trying to decide if this is the "I have to do something about this" cry or if it's the "He'll go back to sleep soon" cry.

3:03 and 30 seconds - I decide I have to get up. I walk 45 feet across the house. When I am 2 feet from the door, the cry stops. I turn around and walk the 45 feet back to bed. I'm smiling as I crawl back into bed, "whew, he's going back to sleep."

3:03 and 45 seconds - As soon as my head hits the pillow, the cry starts again. It's like my pillow set off an alarm or something. How do they know how to do that??

So, at this point I procede to get up and deal with the crying child. As soon as I enter the room, the aroma hits me and I know exactly why this poor child is awake at this ungodly hour. Of course, I take him out of his crib and begin the process of changing his diaper. At this point, he is wet, dirty and tired, and therefore continues to cry uncontrollably while I'm fumbling for the wipes and new diaper. Since this is not enough fun on its own, I now hear my four year old from his room, "Mama!"

"It's okay, buddy, I'm just changing his diaper."

(Obviously can't hear me) "Maammaa!"

"I'm coming, but I'm changing his diaper!!" (16 month old still crying.)

(Still can't hear me...) "MMaaaammmmmaaaa!"

Thankfully at this point the other adult living in the house enters the scene. Daddy goes to talk to the four year old, who of course wants mommy. Daddy returns to the crying diaper scene and thankfully this crying child says, "Daaadddddddyyy" in his most pathetic voice. Score one for me! I hand him off and walk to the 4 year old's bedroom.

Hmmm...daddy had shut the door. What do I do? Maybe he already fell back asleep. Do I risk going away and hearing "Mama!" as soon as I hit the pillow? Nope, I'm going in.

"Hi honey, did you need me?"

"Nope, daddy shut the door for me." (because he couldn't get up and do this himself?)

"Okay, goodnight." I leave and shut the door.

"Mama?" (Now what?)

I open the door. "Yes?"

"Since you are the closest one to my fan switch, could you turn on my fan?" It's so good to know that someone in this house can think logically in the middle of the night.

"Sure honey, good night."

I'm heading back for bed when I realize that daddy still has the little one in our bedroom. I can't risk walking back in there and starting the whole thing over again. So, I comfortably lay down on the couch with no pillow and no blanket and wait for the bedroom to clear out.

In all actuality, this whole experience didn't take that long. I happily crawled back into bed at 3:28 a.m., where I proceded to lay wide awake for the next hour thinking I would probably be blogging about this at some point today.

Finally, sleep overtook me somewhere around 5:00 a.m., where I rested comfortably until 6:20 when the alarm went off so I could go outside and pick beans in the garden in two feet of mud.

I don't know about all of you, but I'm signing off to go take a nap.

Fighting the Big, Green Monster...

I've been noticing that I have had a lot of trouble lately being thankful for the many blessings in my life. I have probably spent more time focusing on friends and family members who have employers that provide vehicles for the family, the fuel that goes into those vehicles, free hotel from travel, frequent flyer miles to use anywhere they want, and on and on. Or, I get overly focused on the fact that I'm not able to shop whenever I want to or even go out to eat on a whim. I know if I look at the big picture that there may be disadvantages to these things, but sometimes I still get caught in the grasp of the monster of envy. So, I am dedicating today to focusing on the many things I am so very thankful for, because ultimately I know I have been blessed beyond measure.

Thanksgiving for...

~A wonderful husband who truly is my best friend.

~Two beautiful children (pictured above) who call me mommy (or mmmooooommmmmmm [add much volume and the tone of your choice]...depending on what they want...)

~Our God who is in control of this crazy universe we live in.

~A house that would meet our needs even if the size of our family would double (please God, don't have THAT much of a sense of humor...)

~Two sets of parents who would lay down their lives for us and who spoil the grandchildren - not rotten, but just right.

~Friends who surround me with love and laughter.

~A church home and family to call our own.

~The four seasons of the year so we never get bored.

~Long walks, bike rides, camping at the lake, playing in the park, movie and pizza picnics in the living room, family dinners at grandmas, swimming, and building snowmen (not all on the same day...).

I'm sure there are many more, but the laundry is calling my name. Do I have to be thankful about that??

Old McDonald Had A Farm...

Growing up, every little girl dreams of the man she is going to marry someday. Amidst those fairy tale dreams also lie a few "I will never marry..." statements. One of mine was "I will never marry a farmer." I had several very good reasons for this proclamation -

• A farmer's life revolves around the weather.
• A farmer ALWAYS has something he needs to be doing.
• There is no such thing as a steady income in farming.
• A farmer is never home.
• A farmer's wife should be able to (and like to) cook.
• Marrying a farmer means a house in the country away from civilization.
• Dirty clothes, dirty showers, dirty footprints on the kitchen floor...
• DUST, DUST, DUST...
• Did I mention this thing called HARVEST?

We all know God has a sense of humor. Of course, he sent me the man of my dreams...who just happened to help his dad in his spare time...farming. In all reality, it hasn't been too bad; in fact there have moments that I've even been thankful for this thing I swore I'd never do. Over the years I have learned many things about farming. The first is that every item in the list above is 100% true. The other ten I have listed below.

~A combine does not fair well when it tries to harvest a raccoon.

~The raccoon doesn't fair well either.

~It only takes the people at the grain elevator two truckloads to know they have already given you a lollipop.

~Playing in a truck full of wheat is more entertaining than a day at Worlds of Fun.

~A one-seater combine can actually hold two adults and four kids.

~If you unload the wheat truck too quickly, the entire truck will flip backwards.

~There should be a state law against wearing contacts while harvesting a wheat field.

~A child will do ANYTHING you ask if you bribe him with a tractor or combine ride.

~A skunk can run very fast when it is being chased by a combine.

~Don't get out of the van as the skunk is trying to get away from the combine...

HAPPY HARVESTING!!