Icy Mess

As I sit here in front of my computer trying to find the words to say, I hear the drip, drip, drip of melting ice which lets me know that better days are coming.

However, if you've lived in these parts, or really anywhere across these blessed United States, you've experienced a colder then normal couple of days. Like in Baltimore, Maryland where it was 4 degrees this morning, they hit their coldest day EVER on record for March 4th. Or like here in my own home town of Little Rock where the high temperature of 27 degrees today at Little Rock Adams Field is now the coldest high temperature ever recorded for the month of March. (The previous coldest high temperature for March was 30 degrees set back on March 19, 1965.) You've gotta love stats like these…information courtesy of wunderground.com.


Seriously, I do not know how my good friends deal with this type of weather day in and day out whether in Laramie, Wyoming or Fredrick, MD. You ladies amaze me at how you can deal with this type of stuff so frequently. It is pretty at first and it's always a nice reprieve to have a forced day (or two) to stay home. It's idyllic to have a fire going, hot cocoa to sip on and precious children to watch as they play.



They did have fun playing in it.


But really, after the first few hours, it starts to grate on me. I'm trying to figure out how to say all this without sounding like I'm complaining. I love my children and I genuinely love my life, but I have to stop and remember those things in the middle of the tirades and sibling rivalry, with the constant whining and bemoaning. Like this morning, I made pancakes, the boys were quick to run to the table to eat their tasty breakfast and even quicker to jump up from the table leaving sticky fingerprints and pancake remains behind. I did call them back to ask, "What did you forget?" To which they picked up their plates and forks and brought them to the counter. Score one for Mom, right? Wrong! I have to regularly remind them to help me in this area. So I proceeded to clean up the mess in the kitchen while the kids played upstairs. When I finished I started two loads of laundry and folded and hung up another. I interrupted the boys as they were playing the Wii and said "five more minutes, then you'll have to get dressed and make your beds" to which I got a resounding, "Awww, why Mom? I don't want to do that!" And that was when I pretty much lost it. I definitely had their attention as I rehashed with great articulation and firm gesturing, all that I'd done for them this morning, without being asked, thanked, or helped one bit. I proceeded to ask them if they thought they could do two small things: make their bed and get themselves dressed? If they couldn't then all TV and Wii privileges would be taken away. They were quick to change their tunes and helped pull a little weight.

Then there was the moment Emerson decided he wanted some Cheerios. But he couldn't wait for me to help him. I was changing Ava Jane, and couldn't get his snack right then so he did it himself. He "opened" (hacked open would probably be a better way to describe it) a brand new box of cereal and proceeded to dump its entire contents out onto and into the highchair in such a way that cheerios puddles on the floor below. Just marvelous…it was a grand moment. I wish this picture did the situation justice.


Then there was this other fabulous moment while I was giving Ava Jane medicine for her 102 fever as well as changing her diaper, when I heard the oh so lovely splashing of toilet water. Come to find out Emerson decided to submerge the Wii nunchuck and wanted to see if it still worked. Oh.my.word! Thankfully the spanking spoon was in the kitchen so I had a few seconds to breath deeply before consequences were administered.


There have been a lot of those kind of moments the past 48 hours but thankfully there have been a few precious moments too, like this one pictured below. I love these three people and am so thankful for a husband who helps and truly wants to serve alongside me (even if it's in the trenches and even when I'm a mad woman (literally) with a very stern under bite).


There's the brotherly love moments when, during nap time, they decide they'd like to look like lions. (Please take notice of their "whisker spots" and how they even drew around their eyes with black marker.) Why is body art so fun?


The good thing is that "SPRING IS COMING!" It's just around the corner. Warmer days are sure to come and these crazy moments will pass. The stress and frustration of young children will subside and new problems will arise, which is both good and bad news. But the great part is, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies do not come to an end; they are new every morning; great is His faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23. So as my blog header readers, "joy in the journey"…it's my life long mantra and I'll keep chanting it and choosing it (most of the time)!