I Forgot How Much Fun Little Ones Are...

So my niece Bree is off to another race, this time in St. Croix. She is an awesome athlete and mom...she was however NOT a very good babysitter... Back in the days of her teens she babysat for me once! (Notice once...) I arrived home to find my bathroom door shut with towels all piled up in front of it. (so as to keep out the smell...) My son Hayden was learning to use the "kid's potty" at that time and Bree would have nothing to do with it! I won't elaborate, but I will let you know that my walls were never white again...just a nice shade of beige! It's kindof been the on-going joke between Bree and I over the years... So today I had the honors of keeping an eye on her little boy Kainoa. I documented my beautiful 2 hours with this wonderful little boy and asked him to tell his mommy all about it. (I don't believe in paybacks!!!! :) :) :)



Hey Mom Look at me I got a haircut!

Aunt Cricket cutting my hair... I did pretty good...it's mostly even...

I kept moving around and around- but she could handle it!

Aunt Cricket said I was a "big boy" and did a great job...

She fed me pretty good- and I ate everything!

I even was her "big helper" and walked Phoebe all by myself! We took a long walk

out to the celery fields and I handled Phoebe all by myself!

Hello...do you hear me? I'm talking to you.

Remember talking? Remember using the voice God gave us to communicate with others? That beautiful voice that you can hear laughter in...sorrow in....truth in...sarcasm in..strength in...love in...people can hear you in....

It’s happening more and more. You look around in a crowded coffee shop, or in the airport security line, or at a sporting event. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is on their cell phone, or sending a text message, or checking their emails. There is now a term for this state of mind: “continuous partial attention.”*

Granted it can be a great thing- I love sending "I love you's" to my children, I love staying in touch with old friends but...

I find it sad. There is a time and a place for that. I feel we're missing out on conversations with strangers at the table next to us or in line with us; all because we're looking at our dumb phones.
To surf the wave of information comin at ya’ everyday, you can only be somewhat accessible and somewhat inaccessible. For if you dive too deep into any one email, your inbox will fill up faster than you can say, “I’m going crazy!” You know you suffer from continuous partial attention if:-You don’t have time to stop and listen to a random street musician playing beautiful music, because who the heck has time for that when you have 13 text messages to reply to and 43 emails in your inbox?-You dare to read your text messages while you’re driving.-Hello???? You can no longer sit through a 2-hour movie at the cinema because you're too busy. (Watched the man in front of me surf- (the net) at the last movie I was at.) He was with his children too:-(
The answer to continuous partial attention is learning to ward off distraction and be present in the moment. By taking the time to turn off the cellphone before important meetings, by having the respect to be fully present when around your children (and for all you "children" be present when around your parents), and by daring to take 2 hours to set your mind free at the movies, or on a walk, you naturally become more present.

It doesn’t feel good when you’re at lunch and the person across from you is multitasking. It doesn't feel good when you're riding in the car with someone who is focused on their phone. You are trying to get their attention, but they keep checking their BlackBerry. How annoying! According to Tim Sanders and his book "The Likeability Factor," the way you make people feel is more important than how good you are at your job.
It feels nice to be in a meeting or out to dinner with someone who looks you in the eye and takes a deep interest in the subject at hand. As Maya Angelou said, “People never remember what you say, and they never remember what you do, but they always remember how you make them feel.”

One who is more present is a better parent. We best teach our children that information overload is not a positive thing. A wise one said, “Children don’t need your presents. They need your presence.” I have a mantra that I believe is a good example to set for children: Everyday of your life (no matter how busy you are), enjoy one beautiful moment, one delicious moment, and one funny moment.

God Bless You Everyone- & Remember Your Presence is your Present... make it whole. No one wants half of anything-

Can You Feel HIS Love?

Me and my music man...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ssRKcNaiU&feature=email

Click and listen & read...

I've been spending a lot of time looking for piano music for Hayden. I was listening to a Garth Brooks CD and liked this song. I kept saying to myself, "This could be a Christian Song." Sounds like God is singing to me...to the world... I came home and found it on YouTube... and guess what? Someone else thought the same as me and made this video- It's awesome!

My New Goal...

Michigan Sand Dunes...

Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming away better and happier.-- Mother Teresa

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Life's not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."~Vivian Greene

Burn Baby Burn...

So Friday the property 1/4 of a mile from my home caught on fire. If you know anything about Florida this is quite normal during this season. We are dry! Very dry this year due to very little rain and an abnormally cold/ freezing winter. Often these fires are started by lightning or a cigarette that has been tossed. Either way it makes for an enormous amount of smoke and flames. The winds can cause them to spread very quickly and become very dangerous. Once they are done burning the area is black and charred . Then within a few days fresh green, bright green sprigs of grass start to emerge. Within a matter of weeks the area is greener and far more lush than it was before.
As I watched the firemen finish rolling up their hoses it made me think. Wow, this is kind of like life. My life anyway. Some of my trials and tribulations are self inflicted, some caused by others (like the toss of a cigarette) and some just natural occurrences (like lightening). Whatever I go through and when I'm going through it, it is a blaze. It's all I think about, it's all I can see, and all I can feel. Then when it's over.... I bloom again, stronger, and better than before.

Photos courtesy of ABC News 40 Channel 7

We Are All Children...Even Though Most Of Us Have Forgotten!

I Love My Kids! I sometimes question my actions as a mother. Doesn't every parent? I've always been a "tell it like it is" type person. I've made no exceptions with that trait when it comes to mothering.
I know my children are wise... I know my children are loving... I know my children have morals... I know my children are beautiful and unique. My prayer is to continue to inspire them and remind them that in this life- They were were not made to "fit in", they were "Born to Stand Out!"

A child learns, by wiggling skills through their fingers and their toes, into themselves. By soaking up habits and attitudes of those around them, by pushing and pulling their own world. A child learns more through trial than error, more through pleasure than pain, more through experience than suggestion and telling, and more through suggestion than direction. A child learns through affection, through love, through patience, through understanding, through belonging, through doing and through being. Day by day the child comes to know a little bit of what you know, a little bit more of what you think they understand. That which you dream and believe are in truth what is becoming that child. As you perceive dully or clearly, as you think fuzzily or sharply, as you believe foolishly or wisely, as you dream drably or goldenly, as you bear false witness or tell the truth, thus a child learns.

We need to tell our children they have a choice to become either lovers or losers. For to miss love is to miss life.

Thornton Wilder says, "There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love. The only survival and the only meaning."

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God is love