Christmas Memory

Remembering some of my favorite Christmas memories this morning.  I only have to think back to last year, to have a good laugh.  
Mariah and I took our kids, ( her two, my three ) to  the Art Museum in Corpus Christi to walk through the Christmas Around the World exhibit.  I was reluctant, as sometimes I would rather pull nose hairs out than drag my kids through crowds all the while just dying to get to the end because the event is free and way to chaotic for my taste.  I said yes, this time though, and I'm so glad I did.

It was rainy and cold and we had to walk a long way to get from the car to the museum itself. At first I started to get a little grouchy about getting wet and having wet kids and then I looked ahead and saw our two daughters arm in arm ( BFFs) laughing their heads off as they rain through the rain and dodged puddles.  I realized  this could be fun, or it could be miserable. Mariah would always choose fun, and this is why I love her.  
Once inside the exhibit was surprisingly fantastic.  Each tree was decorated by a specific school in the area and represented a specific country.  There was a lovely, intelligent, impeccably put together lady at each tree that explained that country's Christmas traditions with wonderful animation.  Upon leaving I noticed the event was sponsored by the Jr. League and that explained the women!  
Mariah and I knew this was most likely our last Christmas to live in the same city.  This made the outing more memorable and we did everything possible to make the most of it , both for us and the kids.  We sat on Santa's lap and let the kids take our picture, and then before leaving the museum let the kids giggle at some of the more provocative art hanging around.  We sat on a bench away from them and laughed as we observed parents giving our kids disapproving glances.  Our kids weren't exactly shy about what they thought about the art. My oldest said rather loudly, " People pay to look at this?, Why don't they just look in the mirror after a shower, that's free!"  Over on the bench , Maria and I wondered out loud, " Whose kids are those?"  
We also paraded all the kids through a very small  coffee shop in the museum, because, the Mamas wanted/needed wanted coffee.  What would usually be a very frustrating experience became hilarious. The kids asked for every single treat in sight and then when we said "NO" we found all five of them gathered around the sugar/cream stand pouring sugar packets in their mouth while impatient grownups waited behind them to doctor their coffee.  
This year I am several hundred miles away from Mariah and I miss her companionship during this busy sometimes hectic time of year.  An outing like the one described is a great memory.  I'm so glad it was rainy, that we we let the kids be kids and that we chose fun over frustration.  

"It is when we stop actively loving Him, that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment."  - Fancis Chan,   Crazy Love.

It is easy for me to say I love Jesus.  I feel honest when I say " His is my everything."  I have grown up on the principal that He is everything and without Him everything else is meaningless.  So, I know this. Just like my tween daughter would say with confidence that her dad and I love her,  but in a split second one might also hear her telling her best friend that we are ruining her life.  What she knows in her heart doesn't always come out in her actions. What I know in my heart about Jesus isn't actively lived out either.  My humanity seeks fulfilment from outside sources, ALL THE TIME.  I want  friends who like me and make me feel good about myself, a clean car, a cup of coffee, a hot bath, a few minutes alone, great highlights, a little shopping trip, white teeth, a clean diet, a piece of dark chocolate, a girls' night, a quick nap, a long walk, a manicure, a new shirt, a compliment from my husband, a few pita chips, a new pair of tennis shoes, a glass of wine and on and on and on.  Not one of these things are bad in and of themselves. But so much of the time I seek them out before I seek out Jesus.  If I believe He is the bread of life, the giver of all good things, the Prince of peace, why do I let my humanity win 99% of the time?  Not one of those things can touch what Jesus can and wants to give me.

That being said I committed on Monday morning to let Him and Him alone fill me up this week.   To just see what happens when I go to Him only to satisfy.  I was doing a pretty good job but just as Francis Chan said, as soon as I stopped actively pursing Him, I wanted something.  I was not surprised when my husband ask me Tues morning if I wanted to fast.  We needed God's wisdom on a few issues and this is my husbands' regular practice when He really needs to hear God.  I, on the other hand do not regularly practice anything as awful as not eating.  I don't regularly practice anything that I don't enjoy.  I knew this was Gods' way of showing me how He really could give me all I need and more.
Well, it's 2:30 Tuesday afternoon and I have one answer and would really like about three more.  Mostly though, I am clear headed.  I feel God's presence much stronger than normal, especially when my stomach rumbles.  I don't expect any big miracles from today, but I feel great knowing I'm obeying God.  My heart is at peace which as any overly self reflective person knows is quite miraculous.  It is freeing to know that all I need I already have.  Lunch and coffee sound good but I know after I consumed them I would be right back to wanting something else in a matter of hours maybe minutes.  No more , more. Today He is it.  He is freeing me.

running uphill

I went jogging with my husband yesterday.  As I sit here, my feet hurt and my back is sore. The run was not fun at the time and my attitude was not up to par.  I really wanted to be with Kirby and we have enjoyed exercising together as of late.  Normally I exercise alone.  My head clears and I do almost the same thing every day.  Knowing that your routine should be shook up time to time , I began asking my husband to jog with me on some days knowing nothing would be normal about my routine when I was with him.  Several times he has surprised me and wanted to jog my normal route. However, he likes to talk while we jog and give helpful advice about the science of say running uphill verses downhill.  I won't give much verbage  to that except to say, that I do not prefer to have to think about science while I'm running up a steep hill and I certainly don't want to talk back.

Back to yesterday.  Kirby decided we should run to the green belt, then through it and back to our house.  I was excited about running on a trail rather than cement and the first half hour was great.  After around 30min I realized he didn't really know where we were. . Mind you, we are new to our neighborhood.  At one point after already jogging for 30 or so minutes ( usually my limit) there was a HUGE hill we had to go up.  I  knew he would want to jog up it.  I dislike being weak more than I dislike running up monster hills.  I lumbered behind him praying we were close to our house.  We popped out on a main road with no sidewalk. Now we had to jog on a median with thick grass on a slight hill.  I was done.  I hated how the grass felt under my shoes, I hated the cars passing by and the lack of shade on this particular road. Finally, I said " I don't feel like even picking up my feet!"  My husband continued to wait patiently for me, encouraging me , talking about how fun it was to both explore a new place and exercise at the the same time. " That's the problem."  I said.  " I don't like to do two things at once!"  Mostly I could tell I was having such a bad attitude because I didn't have a clear picture of what was next.  Would there be another hill or two?  Is the sidewalk going to appear or am I going to be jogging on this lumpy median for ever?

As we crested the second big hill I told my husband.  " You are enjoying this because by nature you  love adventure and enjoy a challenge.  By nature I am fearful and enjoy doing things I am already good at. " After I said it, the weight and reality of what I had said hit me.  It's true.  I feel I am hardwired this way and sometimes I don't like myself for this reason.  But, instead of wallowing in the fact that for some reason God made me reluctant to try new things, I focused on how lucky I am to have a partner who isn't !  Later in the day I thought back to Kirby coaching me up the hill.  I shouted things like " this is the reason you don't see me doing exercise videos, I HATE to be told what to do!"  I admit I would not have jogged the hills, I would have walked them instead and given myself an excuse for it.  Now looking back , I'm glad I did it and did not wimp out.
I am happy to have him in my life to push me,I hope in some other way I push him.

The REED Way

Every family has their way of doing life.  I love it when I learn something from another family.  My good friend Daphne says our family "has a culture all it's own".  She says this with a big ol smile so I know it's a compliment.  I also know at times we can be "THAT NEIGHBOR." Like when we had a pet pig that walked out to the bus stop and kinda scared all the kids, because he was a baby wild hog. 
That said, I thought it would be fun to do a few post about our family and the way we do things.

Our Little Blue Car

We are all about not spending money we don't have to. So buying used cars from private sellers is our way to go.  We have saved thousands upon thousands sticking with this philosophy and making sure our cars are not gas guzzlers.   Right now we kinda share a small blue hatchback and our truck has basically sat in the driveway since we moved from the beach to Austin.

 I will admit sometimes in the carpool line or at a school function I notice how we look different.  A family of five piling out of a little car just isn't the normal.  The kids are oblivious.  Yes, they are sitting pretty close together, but they do fine and when they fight about touching one another I remember back to when we had a minivan and they would lean half way across the van to poke each other. This car just makes it more convenient.

 The other fun thing we do in our little blue car is rarely use the AC.  At first, I was not an advocate of this. But now because there is an obnoxious rattle when the AC is turned on, I have crossed over to the kids' and Daddy's way.  The FUN WAY they call it. Like dogs, they let the breeze take over and relish the wind in their hair.

 The most funny part about driving this car is when we have other kids with us.  Whenever the kids friends' see that we are driving the blue car they squeal  "Yay!  I love the blue car. It's soooo fun!"  They love their hair blowing around and the feel of the wind too.

 "Aren't they hot?" you may be thinking. Not unless you ask them if they are.    I realize the blowing around of the hair might not be so fun when they are teenagers but I think we will have established that a car doesn't have to have a DVD player or tons of room, to be a fun car.   I am hoping this among other practices we Reeds hold true to, will help my kids be low maintenance and enjoy life without having to make their environment a certain kind of comfy before they can relax in it. 

Next time, I'll share how we keep in shape.  It's not a strict diet or fancy gym membership I promise you that! 

Education Nation

After watching Mit Romney on Education Nation , I feel validated in my efforts between 4-6pm.  I already knew I should be involved in the education of my children however doing homework with three kids and trying not to let it completely take over the evening is a huge task.

 I agree with Mit that it is not the amount of money we give a school but the kind of teachers that teach there and more importantly the amount of parent involvement.  As much as I would prefer some days, ( just because it's so much easier) separating my children's school life with our home life is not possible. Not possible if my husband and I want them to be successful.  I have smart kids. Although, at the ages of 10, 8 and 5 , if I don't put emphasis on home work and studying for test they will naturally do other things.  When I have let things play out on their own and decided to step away from the homework battle, it has involved tutoring (more money), and a child who feels unsuccessful and behind.  All could have been avoided had I had control of the situation and made studying and homework a priority.

 I do believe there is too much homework, I wish it could be different. But, it's not and if I sit on my ideas about just letting them "be kids" when they get home from school, they end up loosing.
Not loosing on every level of course. Feeling like you belong in a family ranks higher than being successful at school.
I once tried Homeschooling for  this very reason, to be done with homework.  It works wonderfully for many.  For me, not so much.  To put it plainly, I like people and being part of my community and honestly I like school.  So, I have decided to put my kids in the best schools I can, and support wholeheartedly the teachers.  Hearing out my kids complaints but not feeding them.  Homework like testing ( which no one likes) is simply part of life. It is the best way the teachers have found to make successful students.  I will do my part at home to partner with them.  This may mean that between the hours of 4-6pm or 7pm and sometimes into the  night is not always fun, but doable.  I will try to be light hearted and fun but stay consistent with routines and stay on top of subjects each child is struggling with.

Going back to Mit.  Several times he was ask " How are you going to change public school?"  He has ideas, but what he kept going back to is parent involvement.  At the end of the day which ever President sits at the White house is not essentially responsible for the education of my child,  I am.  I own that.  Mit encourages America to own their responsibility, and their success.  I support that.

Michelle

Michelle is a good mother, a supportive wife , and a health advocate.  I truly believe she has a desire for a better America. I believe she loves her family and  feels responsible to make America better.
 Michelle was brought up in a  different world  than me. She had obstacles I didn't , yet she made better grades and pushed herself further academically than I .  Michelle took 2 buses across town to attend a magnet high school and graduated at the top of her class.
 Michelle's ambitious spirit helped push her through the status qua.  Once educated on issues most Americans wouldn't even attempt to pursue she used  her knowledge to help the less fortunate.
Election season always brings light to the wives of Political figures. I am always curious about these women. I like to find out how they are the same and different. I enjoy knowing their passions and convictions.

  I watch Michelle, mother of two , wife of the Commander and Chief live out her life with drive and enthusiasm. You can see in her girls that she is a wonderful mother and this speaks volumes to me about her character.
I am happy to find so many reasons to like her.

In a biography about Michelle, a colleague of hers, at the Legal Aide Bureau at Princeton, says she did not give out compliments freely.  " When I thought I was working really hard, she was like " Isn't that what you are suppose to be doing?"  I like this.  I like Michelle.

Trash Days

Trash days are my favorite day to jog in my neighborhood.  Not because of the big trash cans I must maneuver around but because of the plastic green containers that sit beside the trash cans.  In my neighborhood our recycle containers are just big bins that are lidless, and I love this.  Open containers , on a neighbors curb are almost like if  were a fly on the inside of their house.  I have a fascination about how other people live their normal lives inside their house and these green containers feed and satisfy my desire to know people a little more, even if I don't know their face. 

One can learn a lot from a quick look at a recycle container.

Cereal Preferences ( morning routines always say a lot about a person )

Coffee drinkers? 

Healthy or Not

The amount of alcohol regularly consumed ( assuming they recycle it all) 

If they just got a new T.V or if someone just had a birthday

Are they the organized type where everything is divided up in different bins.  This makes my cursory look much faster so thank you neighbors who have this gift. 

 

Die hard Green Households are my Favorite because there is so much to look at.  I will admit if  a neighbor has three or four sitting out, this is too much temptation and I will slow my jog down to walk, or maybe even need to retie my shoe in front of their house. 

 

While empty boxes and bottles might be boring to some , to me it's a peak into the lives of the people I live with.   I guess you could call me nosy. I think it's fun to know these facts about a household. But not nosy in a gossipy way. Nosy in an interested in people kind of way.  I get a kick out of a quick look in a recycle bin like someone else might get a kick out of doing  sudoku.  Don't worry fellow neighbors, your extra bottle of wine or secret love for little Debbie's wont go any further than this neighbor. I am satisfied to know and won't go blabbing that "house such and such eats a bunch of frozen meals." 

 

So what's in my Recycle Bin? Well, that's for me to know and you to jog by and found out.  After all  one houses'  trash might be another joggers morning refresher!