A Few of My Favorite Things

The cast of the Sound of Music was on Oprah today.  I love The Sound of Music. Really. A lot.  I had the good fortune to study in Europe during my sophomore year in college and in my travels, I made sure to go to Salzburg to take the 4 hour Sound of Music tour.  Yep, 4 hours. I could have gone four more, but Wolfgang, our tour guide, said we were done.  At any rate, since I've had My Favorite Things in my head for most of today, I thought I'd list a few of my most recent favorite things.....

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephan James and David Thomas
        I generally don't like parenting books because I usually feel guilty about all the stuff I haven't done after I finish reading them, but this one is great and guilt free.

Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman
       WARNING. The author of this book is as Blue as I am Red. Despite our glaring political and, in some cases, moral differences, I found this collection of essays about motherhood really funny and insightful. Pay close attention to the one entitled "Rocketship." It's one of the most profoundly honest accounts of an abortion I've read from either side of the issue.

www.frugalfunfortune.com
        Super helpful site for saving money on groceries, especially if you shop at Publix.

Netflix
        This has revolutionized our TV viewing. We don't have cable, so getting a ton of cable shows and movies that we can all watch whenever we like for $8.99 a month is pretty much fabulous.

Tie T-Shirts For My Boys
         I got ours on ETSY.com, but I'm sure you could make them if you were crafty enough.

Body Shapers
        Wish I didn't need them, but thankfully they make them!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad. I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad!!

An Open Letter to Pixar

Dear Pixar,
Thank you for creating movies that my children are happy to watch more times than is probably healthy and do not make my brain melt by their shear stupidity.  As a result of your excellent animation, I have been able to clean the kitchen, have uninterrupted phone conversations, shower (possibly even shave my legs), and, occasionally, share a quiet moment with my husband. As a token of my appreciation, I will continue to purchase some of the endless stream of merchandise you produce. 

Most Sincerely,
the MOB

As You Go....

This fall has been ridiculously busy for us.  Much more so than normal.  As a result, I am finding it tough to fit in all the things I want and, more importantly, need to do to feel like a mildly successful mom.  Sure, laundry gets done (maybe not put away right away), kids are fed (Apple Jacks are ok for dinner, right?), and the house is picked up (so thankful for whoever invented the Swiffer!), but what about the spiritual lives of the three charges God has given me?  The idea of any kind of structured or even regular devotion times with the boys seems daunting at best and, on most days, impossible. On one of my commutes from Samuel's school last week, however, God impressed on me the practicality of His Word when it comes to the busyness of daily life.  In Deuteronomy 6, God sums up the importance of all the laws and commandments He has just laid out for the children of Israel, "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD you God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. (NLT)" Then, He tells them how they are to impress this upon their kids.  v. 7-8 "Repeat them [the commands] again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again."  That's what got me.  The Word of God can be impressed wherever you are. Singing in the van, giving baths, playing outside, reading at night, and bedtime lullabies are just some of the ways and places I've had the opportunity to impart God's Word to my boys.   I'm not sure how it started, but my oldest two have "their" bedtime songs that must be sung before the bedtime ritual can be completed.  Samuel's is "I Love You, Lord" and Micah's is "Jesus, Name Above All Names."  For as tired as I am when I come to that part of the night,  nothing is better than hearing my two year old say the names of God as he falls asleep. God was so gracious and gentle to remind me that day in my van that I didn't need to make the time to cultivate their hearts, I just needed to take advantage of the time I was given already.  It's not a revolutionary thought, but it was one I needed as I went....