Slowing down for happiness

Due to my four a.m. baking blitz yesterday and non-stop life the last few days, I was simply exhausted yesterday.  I moved in slow motion most of the day, but found blessings in that.
After I walked Claire to school yesterday, I kissed her bye in the hallway and just stopped to take a breath before heading back home.  I stayed in the hallway watching her walk away with pride.  Another girl was waiting on her to go down the hallway and hugged her good morning and then they held hands all the way down the hall.  This is a girl who Claire had problems with before.  She and I had talked extensively about it, brain-storming ways to fix the situation and eventually I began to send lunch notes to Claire and a separate one for the other girl.  To see the girl naturally hug Claire good morning and to see them giggling and holding hands down the hallway nearly made me cry.  Love does always win.
I took a few minutes with Paul to begin cleaning his room which looks like a tornado blew through it.  Of course, the entire house looks that way now, so I don't know why I am disappointed in his end.  This 15 minutes I spent with him on his room didn't end the problem, or even get it to a manageable clean yet, but it did allow him enough room to be able to play later in the day.  When we went to pick up Claire in the afternoon, he said, "Awww, man!  I didn't have enough time to play in my room!"  Hearing that made me smile.
After I took Paul to preschool, I was driving home thinking and praying and journaling at red lights.  A car in the left lane was driving ten miles below speed limit, but I was in no hurry, so I followed suit.  A few minutes later I realized a policeman had been right behind me for quite a while, but since I was going under the speed limit, I didn't have a chance of getting a ticket.  He was probably frustrated I was driving so slow and hit the gas to whip around me.
I registered Paul for kindergarten, which took much longer than I anticipated, but that allowed me to talk to each and every staff person involved, offering cookies and begging for placement in a particular class.  They aren't allowed to take requests, but I gave one anyway, and I am hopeful that it will be granted.  Watching the hustle and bustle of the school office and the anxiety and hope in all the new parents' faces filled me with pride and contentment.
I spent some time at Subway, and since I was the only customer buying lunch at 10:15 in the morning, I was able to chat with the employees and be particular about what went in my sandwich.  It was just another part of moving slowly and benefiting from that.
I had lunch with Claire and she sat in my lap for nearly the whole time.  She pointed out who her teacher will be next year and students who were good and bad.  She updated me on each lesson she had listened to that day and recounted all the details in a funny story the substitute shared about stepping on a frog.
When I picked up Paul, I told him we were going on a secret field trip, and walked him down the block to Curly's Custard, where he fished all the gummy bears out of the custard, licking each one off to perfection before showing it to me and then eating it.  I think he might  have eaten three bites of custard, but all the gummy bears.  He also pulled some race cars out of his backpack and showed me how to race them.  His tiny fire truck was placed in the decorative fountain where we discovered that it knew how to swim and didn't sink to the bottom.
There was more fun in the day....a nap, laundry, cooking dinner, and closing the evening with reading my book, but the best part of my day was that I wasn't in a hurry the entire day.  I was exhausted and knew I could only do one task at a time, so I did it merrily.  I wish, on days that I feel like I can solve all my problems before nightfall, that I could remember days like yesterday.  They are happier and I think, more productive in the end.

Winter Wonderland Thanks

It's about 35 degrees outside and we are warm inside.

Today I am thankful for:

1.  Fall colors
From my chair right now I can see a tree covered with green, another yellow, and another bright red.  I know I often write about being thankful for trees, but every day I walk down the street noticing their beauty.

2.  Cookie baking
Paul and I spent part of the morning baking snicker doodles together.  He looked so cute in his Christmas apron.  He can crack eggs all by himself without any eggshell residue in the bowl.  I'm so proud of him!

3.  Carols
I've been blasting out the Pandora Christmas station all day today.  Paul and I have been dancing and singing to all the tunes.

4.  Food for ducks
This morning I was trying to think of an activity Paul and I could do just for fun.  We decided to go to the duck park and feed the ducks.  We had a pile of stale bread and crackers, so we bundled up and took them to the park.  It was raining and cold, and the ducks were starving.  At least 100 ducks encircled us wanting food.  We have so much fun feeding ducks with aerodynamic pieces of bread.

5.  Our covers wagon
Since the weather has gotten colder, Paul has been taking more naps.  When it's time to pick up Claire from school, I just wrap him in a blanket and lay him in the wagon.  Today not a bit of his head peeked out from the covers.  I'm thankful I don't have to wake him up and that he can be transported from bed to wagon to couch without interrupting his sleep.

6.  Sentimental ornaments
On our tree right now are ornaments from my grandmother's tree in the 1960s, Adam and my family trees from the 1980s, and ornaments that represent our life together.  The crosses were handmade by Adam's 103 year old aunt and several of the ball ornaments have been painted by the kids.  It's nice to look at the tree and remember.

7.  Avoiding the mall
With the exception of a big trip to Toys 'R' Us, Adam and I are almost done with our holiday shopping.  We have successfully avoided the mall.  Claire is reading this and has pointed out that we did have our pictures made at the mall, but we didn't venture beyond the portrait studio.

8.  Cookies for the postal lady
Our postwoman is named Rhonda.  Claire just now ran out and gave her fresh cookies and received a hug.  We love Miss Rhonda.

9.  Barbie cake
I must conclude this post because I am being called to the kitchen.  While Paul is napping, Claire and I are going to make a Barbie cake.

10.  A working oven
Thank God our oven works, or else I couldn't be thankful for most of the items today.

Cooking Up Memories

Yesterday I decided to lead the kids in baking homemade cookies. I love cooking and want to impart that love to the children. Also, I want to make sure that when they graduate from high school, they can cook their way through college.
We had fun mixing the dough. Claire was using the electric mixer and every time she paused, Paul dipped his spoon in and ate some. I greased the cookie sheets and let them arrange the dough to their liking.
I opened the oven door while the cookies were baking and realized this recipe wasn't working. It came out of an old recipe book that Claire picked out at Half Price Books, so I wasn't surprised. The recipe is from the 1970s and maybe the ingredient list wasn't up to date.
So when I opened the oven I told the kids that the cookies weren't cooking right and Claire said, "Should we call the police and tell them we are cooking cookies?"
This was in reference to a recent incident when after baking a cake, I cleaned the oven and the neighbor thought his house was on fire. He called 9-1-1 and the firemen had to come inside my house and inspect it.
I assured Claire that the police did not need to be alerted that our cookies weren't baking correctly. When we pulled them from the oven they were hot and sticky and didn't look like cookies at all.
Undiscouraged, I waited until the pans cooled down and gave the kids a spoon. I told them to dig in. They each had a bite and were uninterested after that.
This morning in the kitchen we ran out of creamer. I buy it in bulk from Costco, so I was surprised. I was looking all over the place and then I remembered what happened.
Last week I made drums for the kids with coffee creamer cans. I had one empty can, but to have two, I emptied another into a ziploc bag.
I found the creamer and gave Adam his coffee. Then I realized that yesterday I used that same Ziploc bag to measure flour for the kids' cookies. That's why the recipe didn't work. We used a cup and a half of coffee creamer, not flour.
At least we made some memories.