Baby Fever, Dog Fever, Spring Fever…

I have had a severe case of baby fever for the last month.  WHY?  I don’t know, I can’t explain.  I try and remind myself about the hundreds of diapers, the nonstop feedings, waking at all hours of the night, having a baby attached to me at least most of its waking time.  Then I think about having three kids, three carseats, having to buy a van, not having my office/playroom because it would go to the baby.  Despite all this I still see a baby and just want to be pregnant again.  Ben wants NO, NO, NO more children.  He is completely happy with the two coolest boys we have.  So finally those feelings started tapering off.

Next, it was dog fever.  We currently have a 2 year old wheaten terrier, Jenna, who is AWESOME!  She is really the best dog ever, but I think she needs a friend.  We also have a cat, Sprinkles (yes, Colby named both the pets).  Sprinkles thinks she is the queen of this house and is very pushy.  She doesn’t need a friend, she needs an attitude adjustment.  I want a dog, Ben does NOT.  He is extremely opposed to a new dog.  I still want one and have been looking, just in case.  You never know what is out there.  Besides he is leaving for three weeks coming up and won’t be here to say no.  Guess we’ll see.

Spring Fever hit me like the smell of a ripe diaper last night around 9:45pm.  I started cleaning the living room.  I pulled everything apart, cleaned it and put it back together.  Cleaned out a bunch of crap and organized.  Today I pulled out all the rugs and swept, mopped and conditioned the floors of the house (they are all hardwood.  I am into cleaning and disinfecting so we can move into spring clean and healthy!

On a side note, Colby and I went to his kindergarten roundup today and I am so excited about his school.  He starts in August and goes all day!!!  WOOHOO!!!  Benji will continue to go to preschool three days a week and I will hopefully be working as a docent or teacher by then!  That is kind of up in the air.

So, after this super long post I will leave you with this thought:

I love being a mother.  It is my calling in life and the most important job I’ll ever have.  I am entrusted to grow two boys from babies into manhood.  I need to teach them manners, good habits and discipline them with love.  Being a stay at home mom is not a drudgery, but a joy.  I love teaching them and seeing that light in their eyes when they “get” it.  The most important thing I’ll ever teach them though, is that God is real and wants to be their Saviour.  I am trying to instill in them the importance of a relationship with God, fully trusting him and knowing he is always listening when we pray.  This alone will be the proof of my love for my boys.  If I love them I will do my best to lead them to God through words and actions.  Neither of these alone will have the impact of both together.  I hope you realize how important mothers are to their children.  No one can do your job better than you.  God equips us for whatever he gives us.

I Samuel 1:28 — “Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.”

I like to pray and remember that I gave both my boys to the Lord and I continue to pray they will belong to the Lord their entire life.

So this is love…

Today in church I was sitting quietly, trying to prepare to take communion.

First, let me preface this with the explanation that all morning had been great, Ben was cracking ridiculous jokes, the boys were acting well behaved and I was excited about spending the day hanging out with my boys.  I should have been paying attention more in church, but sad to say, my mind was wondering.

Back to communion, there I was trying to pray and pay attention.  I took the bread and the juice and passed the plate on when out of nowhere Ben leans over and says, “I like to touch all of the bread before I decide which one to eat.”  For some reason that was the funniest thing I had heard all day.  I snorted, faked a coughing fit and tried to compose myself.

This is not a rare thing.  Ben is equipped with some sort of humor that comes forth in the most inopportune moments.  Even though I could have slapped him, this sense of humor is part of the reason I can’t get enough of him.  His witty sarcasm and odd sense of humor endear me to him.  So when all else fails and he forgets to take out the trash or pick up his socks he can say one funny line and I gladly keep loving him despite all else.

And 1 was left…

A few days ago Jenna decided to stalk and murder the mouse who has been taunting her.  I happened to be outside with the boys and we saw her chasing it back and forth across the porch.  So we all got a good look at it and Jenna did too.  She chased towards the safety of its home and smacked her paw right on top of it.  He wiggled about 2 inches and died, right there on the lawn.

Benji quickly commented with, “Night-Night, Mousey! SHHHHH!  Sleeping.”

Well if it makes you feel better.

Colby went with the sleeping theory so we had a sleeping mouse in our yard.  Benji could not stop trying to touch it so I knew I had to do something with it.  I took a shovel, picked it and the surrounding dirt up and chunked it into the alley behind the yard.

So we are down to one.  I’ve seen Jenna chasing it around and actually saw it eating right in the middle of the back patio this morning.  I wonder if it knows how limited its life could be and to watch his back.

I did leave a chocolate Hershey’s kiss on the wood stack in place of flowers.  It was gone the next day, so either Jenna ate it or the mouse took the peace offering.

Our pet mouse…outside…in the wood stack

So, we have a pet mouse…ok, he/she is not really a pet, but it is there all the same. For a while now, Jenna has been pawing and digging under the wood stack. I decided about a week ago to stack more wood and before doing so I moved some of the wood on the stack. I found a mouse! It just sat there for a few seconds, stared me down and ran under the rest of the wood. So I stacked the rest and went on. Fast forward to yesterday. I saw Jenna pawing at some aluminum that Ben took off the side of the patio roof and went outside just in time to see our mouse running from Jenna back under the wood. I realize the mouse is picking up the bird seed droppings from the bird feeder hanging on the back porch. This morning I went outside to see what Jenna was up to because she was really going after something, digging deep holes and wagging her tail like crazy. Low and behold, the mouse was under there. Only this time it decided to stop and stare at me, look back at Jenna and then jog to the wood stack. Seems like we have a brave mouse. Now, more than once I have thought about letting the cat out to help Jenna in her quest to catch the mouse, but I have not, for a couple of reasons. First, the cat would run away and won’t keep her collar on, so I’d lose my cuddle buddy. Secondly, why spoil Jenna’s fun…on both ends? She loves chasing the cat, indoors and the mouse, outdoors. I cannot take away the exercise and intellectual stimulation she gets from the hunt. Besides, a mouse outside just seems rustic and natural…as long as it stays outside. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated on the ongoing saga of Jenna vs. The Mouse.

Hope

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. –Romans 5:5

I heard a great song on the Way 90.9 here in the Springs. Even Now, by Foolish Things. It said, “My Father’s worthy of our hope…children sing it when you don’t know how.” The word hope made me stop and think.

Some of the definitions in the dictionary read: to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire, or trust; to continue to hope, although the outlook does not warrant it.

We have hope not only for tomorrow, but forever! We have a hope that we will be forever with God, our Savior. We have more than reasonable confidence if we have accepted Jesus as our rescuer and asked him to live in us and guide us for our life. We can believe, desire and trust that he wants only the best for us. In our hard times we hope for better things, we hope for more, for something more fulfilling. Even though we hope for these things we can stop and thank God for what he has done and for the hope we have only through him. Our outlook is justified, we can know KNOW that we are given an eternal life with God because of simple faith in him.

I have met so many people who seem to have lost hope. They get caught up in the moment and the trials of today. Some are Christians, most are not. I always try to tell them that God is what gives me hope and confidence that trials are temporary. To those that are Christians I can say, “Remember who your father is! Know, beyond all doubt, that he loves you and has given you a hope that does not disappoint!”

Live in your hope today!