I know many of you already know this, but I'm terribly clumsy. It really is a wonder that I made it through my childhood and part of my adult life without anything breaking, fracturing or spraining. However, I have seen my fair share of bruises . . . and today is no exception. Well, actually, it happened a few days ago, but it took me this long to meander to my basement to tell you about it. On Tuesday night, I took Caleb upstairs to his room to get ready for bed. On my way back down to get his bottle, my foot slipped on the top stair and down we went. Only a few stairs mind you, and on carpet (thank goodness!), but oh the pain! Poor little Caleb didn't know what was going on. He was just holding on to mommy like "okay, now what?". He didn't start crying until I yelled for Gabe to come get him - I think my yelling scared him more than taking a bumpy ride down our stairs. Needless to say, I have a very large bruise in a very unmentionable place, along with many other bruises on my arms from trying to stop myself from going further. And I am so sore!
This is all well and good, except that this was not the first time. A few years ago on Thanksgiving, I did the exact same thing holding Sophie. I was at my Grandma's and was headed downstairs to go get Amy and Andy, when my foot slipped and I went down. That was far worse though. Wooden stairs and I went down about a half of a flight. I seriously thought I broke something - there were tears. That bruise caused me to sleep on the right side of my body for a week!
Moral of the story: my husband doesn't allow me to walk around in socks anymore - it's shoes or non-slip slippers for me (ironic that they're called slippers, huh?)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Shout Out to J&B
Just giving a shout out to Janeice and Brad! Thanks for coming to visit us this weekend. We loved having you here. Thank you for our belated birthday dinner, for pretending my pudding cookies weren't too salty, for having a fabulous Farkel Party and for being such good friends. We reflected on the weekend a lot after you had left and agreed that it is our turn to come down (Brad, don't worry, we won't have a Farkel Party at your house). Haha!
Friday, October 24, 2008
First Word?
I've been debating with myself if I was going to post this or not. Some of you might think I'm crazy. I think Caleb said his first word last weekend! The only thing that made me decide to post this is that my mom heard it too. So Gabe and I aren't just self-assuring each other that it happened. In fact, my mom heard it first. And then later this week I got an email from BabyCenter.com that gives me weekly updates on what my baby should be doing this week. And the topic this week was "first words". So I'm not crazy, right? Are you dying to know what he said?...................
Or "ock" if you could hear Caleb say it. But he points to it and says "ock", or sometimes "lock". And really, clock is not a normal baby babbling word. At least that's what I'm telling myself. If I can catch it on video, I'll post it. He's not one for on-demand performances, but I'll try!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Lots of Pumpkins
Sorry I've been MIA for the past week. We had a very exciting, fun-filled weekend, and it's taken me this long to recover. But as always, I usually have pictures to make up for it. Here are some highlights:
We went to the Pumpkin Patch to pick up our pumpkin family
A bucket of corn is always fun to play in!
Haircut anyone? We decided it was time for a trim. This is the "before". Yikes!
Two things happening here - absolute terror and another example of why we need a new camera for Christmas. I have no idea why it's flipping our pictures and leaving a dark line at the top. Argh!
The Silders came to visit for Columbus Day. Here we are at church. Caleb (10 mos), Katharine (9 mos) and Grace (almost 9 mos).
They could be twins!
Friday, October 10, 2008
A Tooth!
I forgot to mention that Caleb finally has his first tooth - his bottom right. It finally came through a few weeks ago and I've been terrible about posting about it. I don't have a good picture though. He doesn't like to keep his mouth open long enough for me to snap one, but I'll send one along if I can. Just thought you might want to know!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Invisible Mother
A wonderful friend passed this along to me via email and thought it was too good not to share. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did:
The Invisible Mother……
It all began to make sense; the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands, or even a human being. I’m a clock to ask “What time is it?” or a satellite guide to answer “What number is the Disney Channel?”
One night a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janet had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all “put together” so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janet turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said “I brought you this.” It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: “To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I would pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’re sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the anecdote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my daughter to tell the friend she’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, she’d add “you’re gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Great job MOM!
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know….I just did.
Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.
The Invisible Mother……
It all began to make sense; the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands, or even a human being. I’m a clock to ask “What time is it?” or a satellite guide to answer “What number is the Disney Channel?”
One night a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janet had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all “put together” so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janet turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said “I brought you this.” It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: “To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I would pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’re sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the anecdote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my daughter to tell the friend she’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, she’d add “you’re gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Great job MOM!
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know….I just did.
Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Cows, Cake and Cubs
On Saturday morning we hit the Fall Harvest Festival out at the Interstate Center. If for nothing else, it was free - you can't beat that! And it was an absolutely beautiful fall day to be out enjoying the weather. I think Caleb enjoyed his time outside too. He got to pet a cow, a goat and some sheep, listen to a Dixie Land Band, watch the balloon animal guy and just people watch (which he loves). So it was a success!
Then on Saturday night, we decided that we needed to get out of the house. So after perusing our gift certificate/coupon drawer, we decided that a Krispy Kreme donut would probably make our evening better. Someday Caleb is going to realize that we're crazy - but for now, he still thinks we're funny.
And then it was 9pm, and it was time for Gabe to watch the Cubbies. I had lamented all afternoon that I had wished the time of the Cubs game and the time of the Illini game has been switched, because I wanted to take a nap in the afternoon (which would have been perfect for sleeping through a NLDS game including the Cubbies). Oh well.
I went to bed at 11:15 and had just about fallen into a blissful sleep, when I heard our neighbor's front door open and someone yell what I thought was something about the cops. Apparently I need to get my ears checked, because he was in fact, yelling about the Cubs. They had lost (are we surprised, really?). Then shortly after the yelling.... out on the roof there rose such a clatter, I sprung from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash....Actually, I very groggily flipped open the blinds to make sure the noise wasn't something hitting our car. Apparently, being a Cubs fan can cause a bit of rage. Our neighbor, in his distress about the Cubs' loss, kicked one of the pillars completely down that is holding the porch roof up. As if the stupidity hadn't already hit climax, I then hear one of his friends say "no big deal, dude, all you need is a car jack and a two by four". Clearly.
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