Snow days

I love snow days. Really, really love them. I have a child-like faith for snow days. I believe if it's 33 degrees there is still a chance the snow will stick. I have all the weather apps and study them faithfully. I always think the roads are just too slick for school to be in session. I always stock up at the grocery store (not during the madness-I plan well ahead.) One day there was a slight chance of snow and I filled my car up with gas. I had Kyle buy sleds in November will no looming threat of snow.

I. Love. Snow. Days.

I have passed my love of snow days onto my kids. I know kids love snow days anyway, but my kids live for them. When they know there is a chance of snow they sprint to the window the next morning to check. They have all snow gear laid out when there is a chance of snow. And I love it. And I love to see their child like faith shining thru on simple things like snow. 

We had our first snow (ice) days this week and were so excited! The best part was it hit on Kyle's day off, so he got to sled with the boys! Everyone knows Kyle is way more fun than me, so it was a major win. We had two days off and it was hard to go back to the reality of a routine. Plus, my road was still a solid sheet of ice and that scares me to death. I do not like driving on ice! Luckily we had another snow day on Friday and fingers crossed for tomorrow!

We have two more chances of snow (hoping for a pretty snow, not just ice) in the next week and then winter will be ending soon. I will be sad to leave our season of winter weather, but ready for the spring. After all, life is all about seasons. Luckily, each season brings joy to our lives and gives us something to look forward to. Most people don't like winter and cold. I don't enjoy useless cold that doesn't give us snow, but when I think of winter I just think of the joy snow days bring. And I can only hope my kids always have their child like faith about snow days and cherish the memories we make on snow days now. 

Top 10 bullet point style

1. The posts that I link to my facebook page since December have somehow disappeared from my Facebook page. Hmm.

2. Why is checking the mail in December so fun and full of Christmas cards, and by January it is such a chore and full of tax documents?

3. Krews had a terrible allergic reaction Thursday and we are not sure what caused it. When he was younger he was allergies to milk, eggs, and peanuts. He outgrew these allergies when he was 3 and hasn't had a problem since he was young. When I was younger I had terrible reactions and had to go to the emergency room several times because my lips and tounge would swell. We NEVER found the cause. I haven't had an issue in years, so I guess I outgrew the allergy. Luckily Krews has not experienced lip or tounge swelling, but I still want to figure this out.

4. Kole thinks the biggest insult is to call someone a baby. When he is being silly and trying to get a rise out of me he will say "Hey baby mommyyyyy." He then giggles hysterically. I will say "Hey I'm not a baby, but you are MY baby." He says "yeah, I'm your baby, but not A baby." Can my kids stay little forever??

5. I'm devestated we haven't seen any snow this winter. It was supposed to be the worst winter we have had in a long time, but so far nothing. Every kid deserves a snow day....unless you live in California or Florida and you just live in constant beautiful sunshine.

6. The McDonald drive thru STRESSES ME OUT. People cheat and cut into the second line early. I never know who ordered first and who gets to cut into the line to pick up first. Maybe I could solve my issue by avoiding McDonalds...

7. I love leggings. And love how leggings are in style. You can dress them up or down, and still be comfy. There was recently a post about a woman who decided not to wear leggings because her husband admitted to looking at women in leggings and yoga pants. Listen, I never expose myself in leggings. I clearly wear long tunics with them and I dress modestly. I loved the follow up blog post on the bigger issues we face than leggings! I also don't like calling women out on attire. I remember being so self conscious in high school because I was sent home for wearing a skirt. A skirt that came down to my knees. On my way into school, a completely inappropriate boy said something innapropriate out loud about my skirt (that was cute and again modest.) Our high school principal called me out of the lunch room and sent me home to change because I drew attention from a boy and a teacher heard him. I was embarrassed and made to feel completely uncomfortable. And the boy was not in trouble AT ALL for harassment. Here's the deal. HE was the problem, not my skirt and he could have harassed me in any outfit. I don't believe women should try to temp men or get attention from clothing, but at the same time do NOT punish women for man's bad behavior. What kind of message does that send young girls? Rant over.

8. Back to point 7, I always feel bad for teenage girl because it is just hard. I think it's especially hard for girls who rise above typical teenager activities. I pray for these girls often and know they need as much encouragement as they can get at this stage of life.

9. Bruce Jenner. No comments needed.

10. I just put out all of my spring decorations. That is a sure sign winter will be back and snow will finally come!

Those Kind of People

One of my grandmother's most commonly used phrases was "Those kind of people."

She also referred to breakfast as "brakfast," diabetes as "di-a-BBB-tees," and salsa as "SAL-sa." But "those kind of people" was the top catchphrase.

"Those kind of people" just don't know any better. "Those kind of people" just never learn. "Those kind of people" just don't have anyone to help. "Those kind of people" must have not have been nurtured as children. "Those kind of people" clearly didn't have as good of grandmother as you. (My sister's personal favorite grandmother quote.)

It makes me laugh just thinking about it! She always made excuses for people or made another persons situation out to be better than it really was. She was the queen of sweeping things under the rug. It would at times make me roll my eyes, but was one of her greatest traits. The thing about grandmother is she was a magnet for people to tell their life drama. They would tell her all of their problems, issues, and life drama. It was always confusing to me because she was always dressed up and fancy, yet was still approachable to any of her "clingers."

For example, one lady, who was the director at my great-grandmothers nursing home, always had a drama and was wrapped up in the nursing home drama. And she would ALWAYS tell grandmother all about it. People would consume her with their drama and she would listen and hear ALL about it no matter who they were. And then she would tell us all about it and I would say, "Grandmother, why on earth do you get involved???"

She would say that she was just trying to help them and be the voice of reason.

The other day I was walking into work and two guys asked me if I tip at a restaurant as much if the waitress is "tattooed up." I was really taken aback by this question. It made me angry. I simply answered and said, "I tip no matter what people look like and you NEVER know what someone's else's circumstances happen to be."

I remember my Gee (my mom's mother who NEVER had an ugly word to say) getting SO upset one day because one of us referred to another woman as crazy. She immediately started talking about how you never know what someone else's life is like and how we have no right to make judgement. I can still hear the words and remember how truly upset she was by it. After she passed away, the entire town shut down for her funeral. The people who weren't in cars driving to the cemetery lined the streets standing in respect as she took her last ride through town. You could tell from the outpouring of support and respect she clearly never judged anyone and always took care of her neighbors.

Last night we were watching a show on TV about how the human brain work. If people walking down the street saw a well dressed woman fall on the street, they would immediately help her up. However, if these people saw a woman who appeared dirty or maybe on drugs fall down they walked right by. It was pretty scary. It made me thing what would I do? Would I stop and help both or just the one who appeared "safe." That led to me thinking do I serve Jesus like I really should or do I serve him in "safe" ways. Am I helping the people I am comfortable with and not worrying about "those kind of people" like I should be?

It is difficult to step out of your comfort zone. My junior auxiliary group sponsors a family with special needs by taking them meals and groceries every other week. During the summertime, we deliver the food to their house. I happily signed up to deliver the food one day when Krews was very young. I was immediately scared because it was not a safe neighborhood. I vowed not to take my baby back there. The next time I signed up and made my friend, Marcy, go with me. She is my friend most likely to throw punches if someone messed with me so she was the obvious choice. (She will love reading this!) We went and made it just fine. This past summer, I signed up to deliver the food and decided I would go alone. I went and when I showed up the mother immediately invited me inside. Typically I just dropped the food at the door and left, but this time was different. She was so happy to have me in her home and receive the food for her family. Her house was very small and did not have much inside of it. Just a couch and an old TV. The kitchen didn't have anything except the food I brought in. When I have someone come inside my house, I immediately apologize if I feel like there is any kind of mess. She was so happy to have me inside though, even with her having nothing. It was a huge step out of my comfort zone, but ended up being such a blessing.

It is hard because I want to protect my children, but also want them to have a heart for all people and be able to serve them.  For their age, I try to find appropriate ways for them to safely help. As for me, I need to do a better job of serving "those kind of people" by stepping out of my comfort zone. Maybe I could be just the voice of reason and help someone needs in their life. And more importantly I hope to always give people the benefit of the doubt because you truly never know what is going on in someone else's life.

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be

This post is all about recent strange events...

1. Event #1 is the fact that Jennifer Lawrence is now a singing sensation from her singing "The Hanging Tree" in the Hunger Games. It is stuck in my head now....hence the title.

2. Saturday I decided I would take the boys to lunch. Kyle was at work, so it was just me solo. A year ago this would have been crazy of me, but I feel like we are at manageable ages now. What was not manageable was the people who were seated next to us. The table consisted of two women, who appeared to be in their late 40s. Either that or they were 32 and lived a hard life. Either scenario would work in this situation. I looked to the side and notice Lady A staring at me and giggling. Awkward, yes, so I decided to just look away. That is until Lady B started giggling too. By this point, I was uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as I would become during our lunch. They kept being giggly until Lady A wrote a note and folded it up. She proceeded to walk away from her table and deliver it to a man sitting in a booth with a friend. She said NOTHING, but busted out laughing. He never even reacted or read the note. I assume the note was giving her number out, but I cannot be sure. It was clear they didn't know each other. You would think I was in a bar surrounded by drunks, but NO I was eating LUNCH in a Mexican restaurant with my kids. To top it off they forgot my meal....I think it was a sign to stop eating so much. They were really doing me a favor considering how many chips I had consumed. 

3. This week I got a text message from my neighbor informing me that there were two men going from house to house knocking on doors. PANIC set in. I am deathly afraid of my doorbell ringing unless I know someone is coming over, or I know its UPS time and my Amazon order is on its way. I have rubbed off on my kids because we hear a doorbell and everyone immediately turns into ninjas ducking, hiding, and crawling to peak out of a window. It is quite embarrassing. I was also panicking because of my experience last year with door to door salesmen. I was at my neighbors house and the salemen knocked on her door. I realized at that point that my garage door was open, so I left my kids with her, snuck out the back, and raced to close my garage door. As I hit my driveway, they were walking towards my open garage door which immediately scared me. Then, I kid you not, one of them looked at me and said, "Hi, are your mom and dad home?"

Shocked, I just said umm no. They proceeded to tell me (me who they thought was a CHILD) how they had just been released from prison and were enrolled in a program for second chances where they go door to door to give sales pitches and gain confidence. I was absolutely TERRIFIED and quickly told them I wasnt the one in my house allowed to talk to people (clever I know.) They said they would be back and I locked my house up quickly. WELL, this morning in Sunday School, I hear its people with the same story going door to door in town. I am all for second chances, but not under these circumstances that make me and my family feel threatened. Sadly, we live in a world where doors must be locked and alarms set at all times. 

4. After discussing this in Sunday School, Kyle leaned over to me during our worship service and said, "Last Sunday I left the keys in the car with your PURSE in there, but hey nothing happened."

Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be. If we LOCKED THE CAR.

5. When I was pregnant with Krews, my dad announced he wanted to be called C. Diddy...short for Cat Daddy. We all kind of rolled our eyes, and my grandmother informed him he sounded like a "pimp." He announced last night he would like a "cooler" name. Because it's not strange at all to change your grandparent name after 5 years. He demanded C. Diddy and C. Diddy he will be.