future best mom

Maegan is on a tirade. It started with Doug asking her to wash her hands before dinner, to which she responded "You aren't the expert on everything!" When I asked her to wash her hands she said, "You aren't smart enough for this house!" The pleasantries continued during dinner. We were trying to make her try one noodle. She said that we don't offer her food and drinks when she needs them. So, I guess we don't provide for her needs. After a dinner full of fighting Maegan announced that one day she is going to be the best mom ever. I asked her what being the best mom meant. She said, "I will be the funest. I will give my kids lots of candy, even if I don't have a coupon. I will buy lots of stuff, everything in the world. We will go to fun places all the time; like the museum, to farms, everything fun! I will buy toys, shells, backpacks, paper towels, everything." Then it got better. She said, "Mom, when I become a mom you can be the housekeeper. I will do all the fun stuff and you will keep everything clean." Can you read between the lines?
Whenever we go to the store and Maegan asks for something I say, "it's not on my list. Maybe we'll get it next time if I have a coupon." And, yesterday I had my own tirade when I exclaimed to my dear children, "Do you think that all my life I dreamed of cleaning the house constantly! Do you think this is fun for me? Maybe I want to play!"
Ah, is it almost bedtime?!
p.s. this picture is after "horrible hair" day at school, painting, and lots of candy eating.

Vote Early

Just wanted to let you know that you can vote early and avoid lines on Election day. Just go to www.govote.org and type in your zip to find your nearest location. I'm going Saturday if anyone wants to drive downtown with me.
Now a little perspective challenge. I think many people think politics is the one area where we can say hateful things and belittle others. It is never all right to hate someone. However, some believers have taken exception to name call and get angry with each other over different political views.
God is our King. He is in control. Don't worry, don't fret, put your worries at His feet.
Romans 13:6-7 "This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor." Honor others, live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on you. Above all else put on love.
Just a friendly reminder :)

beautiful season

This is my favorite season, and I think it's the most beautiful time of year. We tried a few new fall activities this year. We went to Holliday Park for their "Hauntless Halloween".....boring. I would have rather gone to the park by ourselves and hiked. We went to Oktoberfest at Trader's Point Creamery. It was a nice afternoon with Doug's parents, but the festivities weren't that fun. Again, I would have rather gone and done the same thing a different day and not paid.
We went to Stoney Creek Farms, in Noblesville, last year and it was awesome. We weren't able to go this year and we are sad.
Other news,Doug put in windows and painted the house over the last two weeks. I watched. I'm not the worker I used to be. When I was overseas I helped lay brick, tile roofs, dig foundations, load food trucks, etc. We were there helping to rebuild homes and lives. I guess when it's your own house and you have an extremely skilled husband, you just lose the edge. But Doug kindly tells people "we painted the house, we remodeled the kitchen, we tiled the floor, etc."

running the show

Spencer has turned a corner from being an 'easy as pie' child to a strong willed child. He is stubborn and trying to be way too independent. Maegan has always let me make choices for her (except last winter when she would only wear dresses). She is five and I don't think she has ever uttered the phrase "me do it". I've had to insist that she learns to do things herself. Then came Spencer. He has to do everything and if I do anything that he would like to do (like zip, buckle, open doors, toss trash...anything)then it's melt down city. I find myself unzipping, unbuckling, closing doors and retrieving trash just so he can do it. It's official, a 2 1/2 year old is running our house. Oh, I used to judge people who said their kids just had to pick out their clothes, put on their shoes, etc. I thought, who is running this show? At first I didn't see any defiance in it, just him going through a learning phase. I mean, having an independent 2 1/2 year old can be nice. He is almost ready to live out on his own ;)
But, I can see defiance welling up and he is refusing to do a lot of what I ask. So, I need to pull out a good parenting book and refresh.
(p.s. thanks to Emily who helped me deal with my defiant child after school today :) I told Spencer I was about to beat him, so she mercifully came to my rescue!!)

Save Darfur Meeting Tonight

I want to invite you to join us tonight at Moe and Johnny's (54th/College Ave) at 6:00pm. We are meeting to talk about bringing the "Exhibit Darfur" here to Indianapolis. Tonight we are gauging if we have enough passion to raise $5000 in sponsorship money and enough manpower to make it a great exhibit.
If you can't make it tonight let me know if you are interested in helping. Go to Exhibit Darfur to get more information about the exhibit.

a season for everything

I love change. Doug does not like change. I anticipate the changing of the seasons with excitement at what is to come; Doug has a different outlook. Like, he gives me a regular update of how each day is losing more and more sun light. He says stuff like, can you believe summer is over and in a matter of time Christmas will be here (but not in an exciting 'can you believe it's almost Christmas!') Or, he says things like, can you believe we've been out of college for over 20 years, before you know it the kids will be gone and off to college. And to top it off he reminds me frequently that we are indeed going to die. I guess we all have our way of taking in life. I think it's just the way he processes, in his analytical, matter of fact way.
I'm the opposite, and I think we are a good balance. I love every changing season, especially Fall. I don't mind when it gets cold and even a little dreary. That means we can light a bunch of candles, drink hot tea, and have a reason to lay around a be lazy. There is a bright side to everything.
Along with the love of change I moved around the entire living room yesterday, with all it's furniture. I didn't bother to warn Doug because he would have stressed. Of course, he didn't like it and he said we could keep it that way for a few days. We'll see, I think he'll start to like it. :)
Ah, but I love him and even with his interesting perspectives he brings me lots of laughs and good times!