Frozen in time

While on a walk last night I noticed a leaf stuck in a spider web. If I had not looked closer it would have looked like this leaf, in all its perfect golden orange color was frozen on its fall towards the ground. It got me thinking about what I would see in my world if everything was frozen right where it was, how it was, in all of its messy chaotic beautifulness. I would see my daughter sitting on her bedroom floor putting together puzzles. I would see that she is concentrating hard on this one puzzle piece that could fit two different places but this piece has part of a bow on it that will match perfectly with Minnie's outfit. I'll see that she is wearing a pair of my old high heels. Her hair is in a high pony tail. and she is chewing gum... what I would hope that I wouldn't have in focus is that her room is an absolute mess - there are toys and dress up clothes and barbies strewn all about. I would hope that I wouldn't focus on the fact that one of the shoes she has on is missing the bow. I would hope that I would not focus on the bumbps in her high pony tail or that she really needs her bangs cut. I would see my house, the beautiful landscaping, the warm and inviting livingroom that we spend so much time in. The patio door that I love so much that the Mister put in last year and all the wonderful sunlight it lets into the kitchen. I would hope my focus wouldn't be on the dirt and dog hair that I missed while sweeping, the dishes in the sink needing to be loaded into the dishwasher, the landscaping that is unfinished or not up to what I want it to be or the back yard that has wood in it from the tree we cut down this last spring. I would hope that if my world were frozen in time I would see all the glorious things that I am surrounded by. I would hope that the mess that creates these glorious things wouldn't cloud my view from the beauty. I have always been a believer in having a positive perception on the world. I believe that with this perception a person would be able to prosper and be triumphant in times of struggle and hardship. My challenge to you today is to take stock in what your world would look like frozen. Would you see the beauty or would you see the mess... I hope we can all find the beauty within the mess.

The creepy crawly L word...

About a month ago Lexi and I had to deal with the L word... nope, not love... LICE! I have no idea where she got it as all of our friends kiddos were free and clear of the little buggers, but sure enough, she had them... and then gave them to me! She was scratching her head for a couple of days and kept complaining that her head itched... Its summer so I'm gonna be honest here, sometimes baths are the same as playing in the sprinkler or playing in the pool! So, off to the bath I sent her to scrub her down, thinking that maybe she just had a build up of chlorine... Still itchy? YEP! I put her head in my lap and pull her hair up and Woah, bugs!! I had visions of that little comb and wrestling with Lexi to have her sit still long enough for me to comb every single piece of her hair, lets just say there was crying and screaming and some bad words in these visions. Off to Pinterest I went to find another alternative to getting rid of these things. I really didn't want to do much chemicals on miss Lexi's head and honestly, my head was itching and I figured I should find something we could use that we already had around the house. I found a couple of different solutions, Mayo on the head, Vinegar on the head, mouthwash on the head, coconut oil on the head. Some of these sounded like they had some potential! Cheap, things I already had on hand and from what I was reading, not a lot of combing!! I did a combination of a couple of the things I found online. Coconut oil and Listerine. The coconut oil is supposed to suffocate the bugs and break down the outer shell of the eggs. The Listerine is suppose to kill both the bugs and the eggs since the coconut oil broke down the outer shell. First, I put coconut oil all over the hair and scalp, like really doused it and rubbed it in, I then put on a shower cap and let that sit for half a day. Word of warning though, the coconut oil goes from solid to liquid with body heat, so make sure to tuck some papertowels under the shower cap to keep all the oil from dripping down necks and foreheads (the husbands reclining chair wishes I would have thought about that before). After letting the oil sit for a good 4 hours, I ran the comb through her hair and was able to get bugs and nits out of her hair, it was pretty easy because the oil made it slick. Then, we washed her hair with dawn soap. It feels weird and almost gritty trying to get the oil out, but do the best you can. Then, I put Listerine in her hair, I soaked her hair in it, left it pretty drippy and then put the shower cap back on. Again, use the paper towels to catch the drippyness that can happen. I let that sit on her hair for another 4 hours, combed and washed with dawn and then regular shampoo and conditioner. With the conditioner in her hair I combed again, let me just say that my combing was not intricate or very detailed, not section by section like you are supposed to. I didn't get anything out with that last combing! I did the whole regimen again two days later with no bugs or nits to report and I can gladly say that they didn't come back! I'm pretty sure this was the easiest way to get rid of Lice I have ever heard of. I can guarantee you, if our house is ever infested with them again, this is the way we are going! And now I have to stop writing about them, because my head itches!!

To be honest...

To be honest, I had no idea what TBH was on Facebook. I would look at some of my friends kids Facebook walls and there would be all of these things that said TBH this and TBH that. I thought it might be kind of interesting to do my own TBH... here it goes. TBH - -I'm a hoarder of things that trigger memories. -I still have most every letter that was ever written to me and when I'm feeling I don't belong in this crazy world of mine, I read those and know that I'm right where God meant for me to be. Plus, they make me smile. (see item 1) -I think having life long relationships shows a lot about the type of person you are -I have crazy unrealistic fears when it comes to my loved ones, lets just say my imagination goes wild when I can't get in touch with someone. -I am an eternal optimist - there is no cloud too big that you can't see the silver lining. -I don't have a favorite color. -I do not make decisions well. -I over-analyze absolutely everything. -I think that I'm pretty much an open book, but when the going gets tough I tend to internalize the problems and work them out myself... -I think that being a mommy is one of the hardest, mind blowing jobs that one can have - and I'm grateful that I get to experience it. -Sometimes, the things worth having are hard Whats your TBH??

This girl

This girl of mine - she has my heart. She is beyond silly and makes me laugh every single day! Some of her favorite things right now is telling me no (big shocker) Making silly faces at the phone while I take pictures of her, Writing notes to others (score, mommy got a note!)  Showing off and being the center of attention - as long as she knows the people around her. She wants to be tickled, but tells you to stop. Sneaking in our bed for some midnight snuggles.

Reminder of the day - be thankful for the moments you have with those you love. Those moments are fleeting and are not often able to be repeated. Make memories while you can.

Moss

There is this moss in the concrete that I step over every day on my way into the office where I work. I love this moss. Its lush and deep green and healthy. One might even venture to say that this moss is thriving. its a daily reminder to me as I walk in the building every morning - still tired from the lack of sleep that I'm sure every parent has.. From the overwhelming self pressures of my house isn't clean, I have a pile of laundry that I need to do, I don't talk to my family enough, I haven't made enough time for my friends and loved ones, I know that I'm lacking in the mommy-ing department as well as the wife department - need I go on? But this reminder is that no matter how hard things get, no matter how stuck you feel in this crevace, no matter how many times you've been stepped on, no matter how many times icky dirty water has been splashed on you, that you can still grow. This moss gives me hope. Hope, that no matter what life throws at me that I'll continue to grow. That i won't let the hard things in life hold me back. The moss grew in the cracks of a sidewalk - lush healthy, thriving beautiful moss growing with nothing but hard non forgiving concrete all around it. I've got a lot of concrete in my life, I think we all do. Those hard things that no matter how many times or how many ways you've thought or tried to, the hard stuff just won't move. Why not take a different approach, the moss approach? Grow around the hard stuff. Grow in between the cracks of that hard stuff. I bet, one day looking back, we'll be able to see that maybe, just maybe that hard stuff gave us stability instead of making us weaker, maybe it gave us the ability to hold up to other hard things. So, tomorrow, when the hard stuff seems unmoveable and the pressures from the world feel like they are about to crush you, try to find the cracks that you can grow in. Find the areas that you can thrive in. Know that the hard stuff has a purpose.

Heather