Project 52: Date Nights - THE FIRST DATE

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to discover Project 52: Date Nights over at Simply Modern Mom.  Right away I knew it was just what Billy and I needed to purposefully make time for each other each week.  The keys are intentionality and simplicity.  You can check out more details here, but the gist is that you dedicate a regular time each week to spend on a "date" and take turns planning a month's worth of dates.  For us, the majority of these dates will be at home - we hate asking people to watch our kids because, well, we have 500 of them and anyone who babysits Baby A. has to have a clear background check on file.  (So, that pretty much eliminates all of our friends and family... ha ha just kidding!)  Anyway, on to the date!

I wanted to keep things exceptionally simple for our first date so that the bar wouldn't be set too high.  We chose Friday nights from 9:00-10:00 or whenever Baby A. falls asleep. We drank flavored coffee and ate chocolate chip pumpkin muffins while we discussed our Goals for 2010 using these questions.  (I know, I know, we were supposed to set these goals in January, but we're always, like, a month behind around here.)  We discussed our goals for our marriage, family, finances, and health.  Having the questions kept us focused.  That is, until I fell asleep.  Oops.  (But Billy's used to that because I used to fall asleep at the movies all the time when we were dating.)

Overall it was an undeniable success.  Taking the time for simple details (candlelight, music, the "no frumpy clothes" rule) set it apart as a date and not just another Friday night of watching TV by default. I can't wait to start planning Date #2!

500 Babies Go to the Rodeo

An outing to the rodeo is one of the best ways to spend an early February afternoon.  But it's not always easy.  This is the 500 Babies' Guide to Surviving the Rodeo:

Step 1:  Your mom will probably want to take a picture of you in your cute rodeo outfits before you leave. (By "cute rodeo outfits", we don't mean cowboy boots and cowboy hats.  "Cute rodeo outfits" in our house mean plaid shirts.)  Anyway, back to that photo.  Please make sure she doesn't force you to stand in the blinding light of the sun, like this:

Suggest the OTHER side of the house, in the shade, like this:

Much better! (You can still squint if you want too.  It makes you look cool and aloof.)

Step 2:  Once you get to the rodeo grounds, you will be assaulted by the tempting aromas of all sorts of rodeo food: Turkey Legs, Funnel Cakes, Chicken Fried Bacon, and Fried PB&J Sandwiches.  Unfortunately, to feed the 500 Babies at the rodeo would cost and entire week's worth of grocery money.  So tell your mom to make tuna sandwiches and you'll be fine.  Remember to pray before you eat:

Then dig in!

Step 3:  All that eatin' will surely make you thirsty.  Hopefully your mom packed juice bags as a treat.  Make sure you drink every last drop!

      

(Some of us just love juice so much, we get a little upset when it's all gone.)

Step 4:  Please wipe your hands and face when you are finished eating. 

                                       

Cleanliness is important.  Especially when you're sitting on a bench with a message from your friendly local government instructing you on how to sneeze! :)

Step 5:  Of course the main reason we're at the rodeo is to see the animals!  So have fun and don't stick your finger in the pens. 

                      

    

                              

And don't let your mom take a picture of you in front of a sign that says "TURKEYS".  (She thinks she's soooo funny.)

Finally, we all know the real reason some of us guys go to the rodeo is to meet CHICKS!

But if you want to look cool for the ladies, make sure your mom dresses you in pants that actually fit.  It doesn't look too smooth to be holding up your pants everywhere you go!

Naptime Readers

A few minutes after I put the kids down for afternoon naps, I usually sneak back upstairs to spy on them.  This is what I saw today:

Oh how I love it!

Even Mikea appeared to have been reading. (Not that she doesn't like books, it's just that lately she's been sneaking all kinds of toys into her bed during naptime.)

But then I noticed something curled up in her hand:

Not loving that.

Trouble

500 Babies Go to the Arcade

Is there even such thing as a video game arcade anymore??  Anyway, the kiddos had their first go at video games over the weekend, old-school style. My nephew "collects" and refurbishes old arcade games.  Pretty cool hobby, don't you think?

Joe tried out Frogger while Mikea and Daniel were happy to just keep putting quarter after quarter into the slots.  Unfortunately, this experience will give them a false impression of how arcade games work in the real world because usually you aren't given a bowl of quarters to use for unlimited playing!

Is It Summer Yet?

Shame on ME? Really?

There's a post making the rounds on Facebook these days that begins "SHAME ON YOU AMERICA!!! ".  It goes on to decry the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon and criticize Americans for sending aid to Haiti when in our own country children are going to bed without food, elderly are going without meds, and mentally ill are going without treatment.  I haven't commented on any of these posts yet, but here's my response: (and since my blog now feeds into my Facebook account, anyone who wants to can read it)

My first reaction is to wonder what are YOU doing specifically to help the needy in America?  What percentage of YOUR income are you donating to charity? 10%? 5%? 1%?  Less than 1%?  None of my business?  Fair enough.  But neither is it your business to lecture me on what I coose to do with my own money. How much of your time are you volunteering to assist the homeless, the hungry, the destitute?  I'd be willing to bet that the individuals who give to Haiti probably also give to causes here in America.  It's possible to do both. 

Have you not seen the collapsed orphanages with crying toddlers and wailing babies lying on the ground, babies dying because they have no formula?  Are you that heartless that you will refuse to help them because "we need to take care of our own first"?  I'm pretty sure there are no orphanages in America where kids are dying because of a lack of food.

Does every single person in America need to have a roof over their heads, clothing on their backs, and food in their bellies before you would even consider giving to someone else?  It's NEVER going to happen.  Sadly, there will always be people in need in every nation on the planet.  We live in a broken world.

There are resources available for the needy in America.  Kids going to bed hungry?  As a foster parent, I know a thing or two about assistance for needy kids, at least here in Texas.  Babies get formula, baby food, and juice.  Kids up to age 5 receive milk, eggs, juice, cereal, bread/tortillas/rice, peanut butter/beans, cheese, and fruits/vegetables.  No gourmet meals, but certainly enough healthy basics to supplement what parents can provide on their own.  Not to mention kids can get free breakfast and lunch at school, even in the summer.

If you don't want to give to the people of Haiti, fine.  That's your CHOICE.  But please don't heap "shame" on those of us who have made our CHOICE to give.

Someone made the comment that the Haitians should help themselves.  Really?  Do you realize Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere?  You can honestly look at those suffering people and not feel any compassion?   Look, I consider several of you individuals who have made these comments to be friends.  And I know for a fact that you are kind, loving, generous individuals.  And of course I still love you.  I just feel so strongly that we need to reach out during this horrific disaster and help the hurting people of Haiti and it grieves my heart to see people making callous remarks about the situation.

On the other side, over the past two weeks I've been so encouraged to see many, many generous bloggers who are making donations based on the number of comments on their blogs.  One of them is Jamie who's taking comments through Friday at noon.  Go check it out.  She also has links to a few other bloggers who are doing the same.

With that, I'll just end with a Scripture that really sums it up for me:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 
The the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' and the King will answer them, 'Truly I say to you , as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' " - Matthew 25:34-40.

Glitter

Today we used glitter for the first time.  Today we used glitter for the last time.

Afterwards I swept the floor for 20 minutes and it still sparkles.

News from Baby A.

Baby A. has bronchitis again.  Poor little dude is getting nebulizer treatments 4 times a day, steriods, and a decongestant.  A lot of meds for a guy only 6 months old!  But he's still his happy, content little self, dragging himself around the house with his army crawl and getting into anything that's left on the floor.  His favorite thing to do is move the dog food bowl back and forth across the tile in the kitchen to hear the scraping sound.  That's NOT my favorite sound!

As far as his "case", for us the best case scenario would have been moving forward with the adoption now that 6 months have passed.  But in December his birthmom and grandmother began contacting CPS so now birthmom has to be given a chance to work to get him back.  But it doesn't sound like right now she's making much of an attempt other than a phone call to CPS now and then. Baby A.'s CPS worker seems to think birthmom won't follow through and has been vocal about wanting A. to stay with us. So we'll see. 

Cheap Fun

3 cardboard boxes + 3 egg cartons + 6 cardboard tubes + 3 fuzzy pom poms = 3 restless kids entertained and 1 mom's sanity regained, if only for an hour.