Today, I double dog dare you to take a good look at those people around you. Not the people on the TV, but the people you live with, live beside or are in the line-up with.
You will be amazed at what you will see.
Here was my view from the “sick” couch a few days ago. I may have to spend more time on the couch.
Two boys, a new game, talking, laughing, playing… BeAutiFUL!
My eldest son went down with the flu mid-October. Our “never-sick” middle one went down next, then baby OC was the last to get the flu. By the flu I am talking fevers, vomiting, in bed wanting Mama.
This flu, otherwise know as our first “Kindergarten Bug” has now affected me, Papa and Nana.
I think I told you earlier that I don’t do well when I am sick. Sickness brings in all sorts of issues that I don’t really want to deal with my “trying” to control things, my “perfectionism” and not wanting to have to ask for help. Sickness, for me, also brings into a time to go deeper into myself by having lots of time to lie around on the couch (sometimes in a fever-induced fog, but most times there are moments of sanity)
First, I wanted to let you know that I am still here. These are the “whites of my eyes” as my mom and dad would often say when they would try to wake me up in the morning. 
Second, here is a photo of the current concoction of medicines that our family is currently taking. And I am a naturopathic-loving, mid-wife birthing, nature hugging woman who is pretty careful at what she puts into her body.
Third, what am I learning this sickness: slow down, don’t do too much, enjoy the faces of my family and bring in those people around me who encourage/enrich my life, pray often and out loud and trust God. He is the author of all things!
And again, Be a human being, not a human doing! Just be enough Joanna!
My dad is the best!
He really tries to help and empathizes completely with me trying to do errands with three young boys. He will stop over and say, “Do you have anything you need to get done? Why don’t you pop out for awhile and I will hangout with the boys?” I don’t even hesitate I grab my wallet and I am off to do 18 things in the next 60 minutes!
Yesterday I came home from an afternoon of marathon errand running and I found the house completely silent with 3 boys napping and perhaps even one Papa napping!
He will always just say, “I was just resting my eyes!”.
Love you Papa and Nana.
P.S. This week he even changed a few dirty diapers and cleaned up some vomit. More on that tomorrow!
When you have 3 boys aged 5, 3 and 1, you need to come up with creative strategies to deal with the physical “combative” behavior that sometimes often comes out. My boys love to climb, build, run, bike, ski… they love to move!
We have recently moved into a stage when our one year old, OC, can get into everything. The big boys do their best to “move” him to safer areas, but sometimes it turns into a wrestling match. Let me rewrite that sentence: The big boys see their younger brother moving into their space and they try to wrestle/tackle him.
Last Sunday night, Sexy Neck and I decided that we needed to institute a formal wrestling time. Here is how it works:
Every night after dinner, each of the big boys gets to wrestle with daddy on the carpeted hardwood floor. Each person can wrestle for 2 minutes for 2 rounds. The person not wrestling must wait on the “bench” (bed). They can no longer wrestle each other or their baby brother during the day – whew! I LOVE THIS!
Two nights later I was at bible study, and my favourite DVD bible teacher, Beth Moore, talked about wrestling (isn’t God wild!). My understanding of what she said is the wrestling that Jacob did in the book of Genesis (check it out in the bible) involved a physical intimacy between Jacob and the angel. Jacob was getting the Holy Spirit all over him! I felt that God was giving us confirmation that we are on track with our evening wrestling time with the boys!
Everyone loves it! Look at that smile!
I do not like being sick! When I was a paid professional, I rarely took a sick day when I had the sniffles, a cough or even a fever. I felt that I had to troop on through for the sake of my job! Even now as a full time mom, I rarely take a day to rest when I am sick.
We are now onto day 3 of our biggest boy being sick with a raging fever and a few other symptoms (I won’t give you the gory details!) . According to the nurse at 811, children can go up to one week with a fever without any “affects”! Poor guy.
They said that kindergarten would bring on the sickness, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. JC has not been off our couch or out of the bed since Friday! For our normal tree climbing, monkey bar climbing, bed flipping little boy this is a strange occurrence!
What do I take from this? Well, if you are sick or your child is sick, do everyone in a school or at work at favour, take a sick day or two! Allow your body to heal and give yourself some space to be well. If we don’t have our health we don’t have anything.
We all put our “faith” into something. We have faith that our husbands will honour their marriage vows. We have faith that the furnace will come on the first cold day of fall. We have faith that our children will be safe in the care that we place them.
Faith according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/ is putting your complete trust into something and a sincerity of intentions, just to name a few definitions.
On May 16, 1993, as a University student, sitting in my childhood bedroom, I put my faith in Jesus. I asked the God of the Universe to show me he was present and he did.
Now I see my “faith” being lived out in the lives of my children. Each morning I have a quiet time to journal and read. I enjoy hanging out with Jesus and seeing what he wants to teach me. Most Tuesday nights I join an incredible group of ladies for a bible study/cry/laugh session. (You know women!)
Here are my boys one night before bath time, they decided to start their own bible study…
I have an incredible mentor in my life who believes that you should try and say “yes” as much as possible. She was a leader of an incredibly difficult school with a 30% turnover rate in students every year and a staff that sometimes had difficulty embracing change! She won all the children, parents and staff hearts by being a “yes” woman. She initiated incredible change in people.
Today my baby boy, CC, wanted to go up and down and up and down the hill at the end of our street. I kept saying “yes” until he wanted to stop.
A friend of my went to the hot springs we were at on the weekend. Her children are 6 and 9. She and her husband decided to allow them to stay in the hot springs until they wanted to go. They stayed in for over four hours. They only got out because they were starving.
Today, I slowed down, let go of my own agenda and allowed myself to be a “Yes” woman. Thanks Linda Lou for guiding the way!
One of our baby boys, OC, loves to eat! I mean he LOVES to eat. If we don’t have food on his tray when he is eating, he starts to squawk and scream.
He is the youngest, but we are predicting that he will be the biggest. He eats more than his brothers! Does this perhaps explain his 102 percentile head circumference?
Here is his latest meal for breakfast:
1 whole piece of spelt toast with PB and Nana’s jam
1 piece of bacon
Scrambled eggs
3 Strawberries
Some apple
Note: Notice his oldest’s brother’s breakfast in the background.
"Be" ENOUGH 