The kid's school, ICSV hosts an annual Mother's Day picnic.  First, each elementary class put on a little performance of sorts and then we headed to the park for a picnic lunch.

Brennan & Reegan's class went first, since they are primary (kindergarden).  They are both on the far left, next to their teacher.  Brennan insisted on wearing a tie because it was a special day!  Sweet boy! 


Both Karis' class (below) and primary read an "I love you because....." to each of their moms.  It was so sweet!!

We all have those days don't we?  An overly human moment.  A moment we're not proud of.

Tonight it was with my kids.  It seemed like not a single one of them was listening to me......not doing what I asked, showing little respect......lollygagging in the bath, not getting their toothbrush, and on, and on and on.  And I lost it.

I'm not proud of it, but I lost it!

I wrote a quick text to my friend Kristi sharing my outburst and exclaiming that I'm not winning any mother of the year award any time soon.  And she sent me an email she saved for such a time as this.  It was a blog post from Inspired to Action giving 8 verses to inspire us to be patient mothers.  It was just what I needed.  Definitely verses I need to plaster all over my house as a reminder.

As I got to the bottom of the email, it mentioned a post by Ann Voscamp, "Why is it so hard to be patient?"  Also some good content and things to remember as mothers.  Ann is a talented writer and has a way of sharing Christ with beautiful words.  I've heard so many wonderful things about her book, One Thousand Gifts.  I haven't read it myself, but I need to.  It's on the list!

I then decided to see what her most recent blog post was.  Today's post, "What to do when I feel like a loser?"   which inspired my blog title for today and spoke greatly to me.  Funny where a chain of reading can take you!!


In case you don't get a chance to read it, let me just quote a few lines that made me pause or spoke volumes after my very human moment.




That made me giggle just a bit.


Ugh, amen!


Probably my biggest fear! I don't want my kids to remember me as a tyrant, forever scarred by my words.  I want them to see Christ in me!!

"In one wild moment, my disordered desires can betray how quickly I can lose my God-orientation."


Amen, amen, amen!!


Amazing!  I love that!!

Have you had those moments you are not so proud of?  I hope you'll find encouragement in this today too!!

My sweet boy did go to bed telling me I am the best mom he's ever had!!  How sweet is that?!

Right before that, I did tell him he could wear his new Iron Man costume to school tomorrow for Spirit Week that he picked out to wear for his birthday (that is not until June!). 

Maybe a little making up for a bad attitude on my part!

I just had to take a minute and brag on my sweet daughter!
It is so amazing to see a child transform!  Karis has always been a very independent, strong-willed child.  It was always very trying for me because I was not that way as a child.  I never wanted to disobey or disappoint.
In the last year I have seen this girl grow and blossom.  I almost don't know who she is!  There's not as much arguing, pushing her point, pushing the limits, getting into things like baby powder or sneaking snacks to her bed.  And yes, she has done those things.  Well, the baby powder all over the bathroom was a long time ago, the sneaking sweets to her bed was in Spain.
What I've seen is a kind, young lady.  A girl who is willing to give up the window seat on the bus to her younger sister, jump at the chance to carry a grocery bag and give her brother a piece of her candy.
I've also been SO proud of her hard work and determination in school.
Because she was learning to read and write in Spanish last year, it put her behind in first grade in her current school.  The teacher doing the testing along with the principal felt that it would be beneficial for her to have some specialized, one on one reading.  They felt she would be caught up half way through the school year.  
After the first quarter, I was called in for a meeting to go over Karis' progress.  In that meeting (this would have been in October) I was told that Karis had already caught up.  Normally they phase out the one on one time, but felt that Karis was doing so well that they didn't even need to do that.
This girl started out in the lowest group of readers in her first grade class.  And before Christmas, just 4 months later, Karis is now in the second highest group of readers in her class!  Amazing!

She is also quite a little whiz at math!
The elementary part of the school does a color chart for behavior.  Every day each child starts out on green.  If they do something like talking out of turn, doing something to another student, etc. they will be moved down the color chart, after one warning.  If they do something exceptional, they could be moved up to the highest color of orange.  Karis has made it a goal to be on orange.  She's done it so many times now that she has gotten a few prizes.  If I remember correctly, that happens once they reach 7 oranges.
Somewhere along the way, maybe age.....maybe a bit of training and definitely growing in her knowledge of Jesus Christ, she is becoming selfless.

I thought I'd be a little cheesy and write up an acronym for Karis.
Kindness ~ One day she told me that when someone gets hurt on the playground she is quick to help.  She noticed that others just stop and stare, but she stops what she is doing to help and make sure they are ok.  That's my girl!!

Amusing ~ She is developing quite the sense of humor!  She makes me laugh!
Righteous ~  I mean it in the sense that doing the right thing is becoming important to her.  Take, for instance tattling.  Now, she comes in a very humble way to tell me they are doing something they shouldn't do.
Integrity ~ I see her becoming strong and bold in her knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.  There is nothing like seeing your child love Jesus and want to be more like him.  One morning I was fixing her hair, she told me that she was headed to her bedroom to pray before school started.
Strong-willed ~ She's still got this in her, but now I see her using it more in a positive way.  She's learning how to tame that will and use it for the glory of God.

And you can't forget about the fact that Vienna thinks she's pretty great since they have an u-bahn stop with her name on it!  Ha!
 I love you, sweet girl!  And I love seeing what God is doing in your life!

If you haven't heard me mention it before, my kids come home for a 2 hour lunch break.  On occasion they stay at school for lunch, but it gets pricey to have them stay every day.  We are practically next door to the school, so it is easy to have them come home.  Although it breaks up the day for me in getting things done, but it's just a season.
The kids had the idea yesterday to get our lunch and eat in the park, right by our house.  The weather is so beautiful right now and not too hot!  It's perfect!  I wasn't mentally prepared for it, but I figured we could do it the next day, which was today.

It didn't take much time for me to have everything ready when they got out of school.  I grabbed our handy dandy picnic blanket, which I love!
I put together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cucumber slices, Cheetos and some water and juice and we were set.  


There was no one there, except a teen couple having a make out session just a few feet away.   Luckily, the kids didn't seem to notice them.

I am sure they are going to being asking me every day now if we can go to the park for lunch!  I must say, it was a great idea!