Butterbees and Bumbleflies

Being Brave

I was recently approached by a friend who blogs, about being one of her “Thursday stories.” Called to the mission field in Madagascar, she has been sharing short stories from women there about how MOPS has made an impact in their lives, and led them to be brave.

When I asked her what she’d like for me focus on for this guest post, this is what she said: “The purpose of Thursday stories is to encourage others to be brave in Christ. Bravely trust Him for circumstances, bravely lean on Him for understanding, bravely trust that His ways are greater. Tell a story when God asked you to be brave for Him.

Here’s a link to my post on Aly’s blog.

Wacky Wednesday

“Ribbit ribbit ribbit. I’m pretending to be a frog. Are you a big frog? I’m gonna go ribbit for a minute, ok, Mommy? I’m on my wiwy pads.” I’ll miss her cute little “accent” when she can finally pronounce /L/.

“Mommy, you’re a girl. And I’m a girl. Daddy’s a boy, just like Brother is a boy. And George is, well.” Slight pause. “George is George.” Yes, yes he is. George is George. And we’re fairly certain that at this point he has attained Velveteen Rabbit status, and is now Real. Love that monkey. He’s like one of my own kids. Geez, if anyone had ever told me that my daughter at 2 1/2 would carry around a monkey she’d had since 6 months old and would take the thing EVERYWHERE with her, I would have told them they were crazy. But George is just… well, he is. He’s family. I must admit that I will miss him when he’s not part of our daily life. Sometimes on days of tantrums and drama, his little smile while being carried around by one hand and thrown over the couch to the floor… his little smile gets me through. He loves her unconditionally, just like I do, but he doesn’t have a voice to express his frustrations. He just smiles. All the time. I love that about him. George is George.

Cody: “So what did you do today?” Becca: “We went to Chicken fil a and we saw Evan and Ms. Amy. They’re my friends.” Well, Evan is your friend, and Amy is mine… but I’m glad you love her as much as you do Evan!

“Oh bless you Bubba! You just keep sneezin, Little Brother! You need to swow down!” Proceeds to sneeze several times herself. “Oh my goodness! Mommy now it’s your turn, k?”

“I’m jumping and dancing all about!”

Playing with her penguins: “They’re waiting for the sunset. The sun is gonna go down and then it’s gonna be nighttime.”

Hey you,

Lady in that beat-up tan minivan. You’re still on my mind at 9:15pm… 5 hours after you decided to step on the little bit of positive in my day.

You see, you didn’t know that I woke up with a cough at 5am to a coughing, wheezing baby with a stuffy nose who’s trying to cut his first tooth.

You didn’t know that I left the first load of clothes in the washer too long and had to re-wash them.

You didn’t know the plans I had for my day that got changed.

You didn’t know my slight excitement over being able to go to the bathroom by myself, unassisted by my toddler. It was one of the good things that happened today.

You didn’t know the stresses I dealt with.

You didn’t know why I was even at HEB in the first place. You see, I didn’t realize we were out of vegetable oil, and I finally was getting to bake the breads I’d planned to bake last week. Except we were out of oil.

The shopping trip itself was fairly uneventful. Our biggest excitement was Brother getting to sit in the shopping cart for the first time next to Sister, and she did a really good job of being patient with him. I forgot to bring him anything to chew on, but we survived because I found a package of placemats in the diaper bag that sufficed. She had been so patient, including when he knocked the cookie I had gotten for her out of her hand and onto the ground after only one bite. You see, what you didn’t know was that right before you pulled up to “vulch” for my parking spot, I was telling her what an awesome big sister she is and how I’d make it up to her and get her another cookie on our way home.

You saw me there, in the second spot from the front- one of God’s tiny little blessings I learned to appreciate today- with my cart of four bags and my two beautiful children, and you decided to wait. You had a handicapped tag, and there were three open handicap spots on the row closer to the door, but you decided to wait. Your perogative. I put my bags in the back and pushed the cart to Baby Grayson’s door- where you couldn’t see.

You didn’t see his burp cloth fall on the ground, or how he twisted funny and hurt his arm when I got him out of the cart. You didn’t see me comfort him as I put him in his car seat, pick up the burp cloth, and adjust his seat belt. You didn’t see him then spit up everywhere. You didn’t hear my sweet little girl tell him “It’ll be ok, Brother. Mommy will clean you up.” You didn’t see me do just that. And honestly, I didn’t even know OR CARE that you were still there. Because, lady, my kids come first.

As I pulled my cart back around to the other side to put the world’s best big sister into the car, you didn’t give a single fleeting thought to any of what you don’t know about my life or my day or the moments on the other side of the car while you waited. Instead, you chose to gesture wildly and flip me AND MY 2 1/2 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER off. I simply replied to your open window, cigarette smoke puffing out at me, “I need to get my two kids in the car.” You proceeded to YELL back at me as you drove off in a huff, “Woman, I got five kids and two sets of twins and it never took me that long to load a car.”

Wow. Good for you. I’m sure you’re Speedy Gonzales (no that’s not a racial comment- she was as white as me) and you never once had to help one of your kids who spit up because I’m sure none of your five EVER did that… Seriously. I feel sad for you. And for your kids. If nothing else, it’s Christmas time. Show a little love. Show a little care. Show a little patience.

So thank you very little for the negative impact you had on my day, and thank you very much for reminding me to focus on what’s important in my life. Thank you for reminding me that I do the right thing every time I carefully load my precious cargo into our vehicle. Because even if it upsets you, I know that taking my time with each of my children is what I need to do to keep them safe. I don’t purposefully take my time to annoy anyone, but please- don’t judge when you don’t know, and be glad this mama bear didn’t do a whole lot more when you flipped off my baby girl.

And fyi- next time you are rude to a woman in the HEB parking lot, that woman might not be as nice as me. She might be someone just like you… Merry Christmas, Mrs Scrooge. May you learn to change your Christmas Present, or your Christmas Future might not be real bright.

Animal Habitat Sensory Play

The day after Thanksgiving, we got to spend a tiny little bit of time with my best friend and her family at their home, and I got an idea from her that has become one of Becca’s all-time-best-loved “actiperies” (she can totally say activities now, but she still calls them actiperies b/c she knows I think it’s cute. ha!). She has always had a big fascination with animals and their homes, but this takes it to a whole new level… so thank you, Rena, for the inspiration!!

Arctic Habitat

What you need:
Storage Container
Flour
Sugar
Powdered Sugar
Corn Starch
Safari Ltd Arctic TOOB (aff link – thank you!)

It’s super simple – use a little bit of each of the first four ingredients and stir it up in a container. Then add your Arctic TOOB animals, eskimos, and igloo, and you are ready to play!

An old toothbrush made a fun addition, and great fine motor practice – as she decided to brush the snow off of the animals and people.

Antarctic Habitat

What you need:
Storage Container
Rock Salt (I used Ice Cream Maker Salt… b/c it was on hand)
Kosher Salt
Table Salt
Safari Ltd Penguins TOOB

Same as above – add some salt and stir up in a container, add your penguins, and you’re ready to play!

We also added some play “snow” from our ornaments project because she really wanted to make it snow on the penguins. 🙂

If you’d like, you can print out the maps and titles I made to tape to your lids.
FREE PRINTABLE HERE!

Enjoy! And be prepared – the Arctic box’s “snow” might make dark clothes turn white. 😉

Dear, Sweet Girl,

I love you beyond belief. Three years ago, we were anxiously awaiting your arrival, and 2 1/2 years ago today, you arrived. You were all red and crinkly, and I was so very sick. But even through the haze of what was to become a massive surgery and agonizingly long eight weeks of recovery (and then months of figuring out how to live without a gallbladder), I remember the moment I first held you. I remember I sort of blacked out because the joy and the emotion was just so intense. I remember crying. And I remember feeling so in awe at this tiny little being that had grown and lived inside of me that was now out in the real world.

I had no idea where these past 2 1/2 years would bring us, what you would look like, or how my heart you would capture completely. I knew there would be ups and downs, I just didn’t know how dramatic they would be. I didn’t know how much fun we would have together – working puzzles and collecting rocks and reading books. I didn’t know what an awesome big sister you would be, or how loving and gentle you would be with your kitty cat. I had no idea how intensely you would do everything you do, or how vast your mood swings would be.

I knew some things, though. I knew we were blessed beyond measure. I knew that God had a special plan for your life. I knew that no matter what you ever did or said, I would love you. And that knowledge has not changed.

Processed with Moldiv

On the days when you are silly and we laugh and giggle and snuggle, I love you. On the days when you refuse to eat and throw your food in the floor, I love you. On the days when you bring me book after book after book to read, I love you. On the days when you scream “NO!” and tell me to stop talking, I love you. Because my love is unconditional. I’ll never understand this love that God has placed in my heart, but I am so very, very thankful for it. At 2 1/2,you are sometimes the sweetest child I have ever known, and then 5 minutes later you can be a terror. It comes with the age, and I know in your heart that you WANT to do the right things. I see the love in your eyes. I see the sorrow and the tears when you mess up. I know you are learning. And even when my job is hard, even when I just want to give in and give up, I will stand strong. Because I know you are counting on me.

I love you even when I say “no.” I love you even whenI say “not right now.” I love you even when I say “that’s not safe.” I love you even when I say “stop.”

Because I love you, I say, “no.” Because I love you, I say, “not right now.” Because I love you, I say, “that’s not safe.” Because I love you, I say, “stop.”

My job isn’t an easy one. It seems some days you are determined to turn off your ears and just be a kid. And on those days, I do the learning. God is teaching me patience. He’s showing me how to love even when it’s not easy. He is teaching me that being a Mommy is a great job – that I can not do alone. He’s teaching me to rely on Him.

And He is teaching you – whether you seem like you are listening, or not. Teaching you to respect, to love, to be patient, to be gentle, to be kind. He’s teaching you how to one day be a Mommy. I pray I will always be a good example to you of how to be a good Mommy. But I know some days I will falter. And on those days, I pray that you will see me turn to Him for my strength.

These past 2 1/2 years have been amazing. And I know the next 2 1/2 will go even faster, and then faster, and faster, and one day, many years from now, you’ll be sitting down with a piece of paper in your hand. It’ll have an email address and a password on it. And you’ll begin to pour over the countless letters I will have by that point sent to you. And I pray in that moment, the moment when you read THIS letter, that you will feel my love. That you will sense the desperation that sometimes I feel. That you will know the stress. That you will feel the incredible weakness that I admit to owning. That you will know I am human. That you will know that your little 2 1/2 year old self has taken me through so many trials already that sometimes I wonder how on earth I’ll survive your teenage years.

And in all those feelings, I want you to know that LOVE overshadows them all. Because it doesn’t matter what you throw at me (literally or figuratively!). This ship refuses to sink against the waves and the storm. My sails won’t rip. I will stand strong. I will ALWAYS LOVE YOU. I will take tantrums in the floor standing strong. I will let you cry yourself to sleep, and watch you on the monitor to make sure you made it into the bed and got covered up so you won’t be cold. Because I LOVE YOU. No matter how stressed out. No matter how much coffee it takes to wake me up. No matter, no matter, no matter.

I LOVE YOU, Sweet Becca Boo. 2 1/2 years ago today, God placed you in my arms. I loved you then, I love you today, and I love you always – with a love that can only grow stronger throughout the years.

I LOVE YOU, baby girl.

Always,
Mommy