Mama Loves: Kate Winslet??

Hi friends! There were a few great ideas shared this past week. I hope you'll take a moment to check them out!

• Krista adapted a popular toddler activity to make it easy to take on the go. 
• Mandy has found a great alternative to crumbly play-doh! If you strongly dislike the play-doh mess, you're gonna want to check this out!

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A couple days ago, Mandy shared this "fabulous-ness" (in quotes because blogger won't acknowledge this as a real word---come on, blogger!) on her facebook page. 

Mama love, Love, LOVES this!

It's true. Our bodies are pretty incredible. They were carefully and uniquely knit together in our mama's womb, and they do many things. Maybe:

• your body carried and nourished your child(ren)
• your strong legs carry you miles towards a finish line
• your capable arms swing your little ones over your head and hug them tight
• your sparkling eyes look on others with love
• your hands serve others by cooking meals, folding laundry, cleaning
• your voice reads the same story a million times putting the same enthusiasm into every.single.word. the same way every time
• your smile lights up a room
• your mind creates beautiful things
• your heart loves unceasingly and unconditionally (and will go on and on--ha!)
• your hips shut drawers when your hands are full and know how to keep rhythm
• your feet take you and your child(ren) on grand adventures

So, tell me. What do you love about your body? Do you talk about this with your children, or with your friends or family? What does this look like? 

Can't wait to see what you're loving! Oh, and you're welcome for putting Celine Dion in your head on this fine fall afternoon.

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The one where I overreact

So. My husband has recently taught our girls to say "Mama coffee, YUCK!" The "yuck" comes out in this incredibly guttural, almost alien-type voice---think Gollum in Lord of the Rings, or something. Whatever it's creepy. But. They think it's hilarious and Brad is pretty proud of himself for teaching them something so useful.

As the three of them utter their "yucks" though, I am silently praying for their souls, because I'm pretty sure that if God had had more space on that tablet he gave Moses, commandment #11 would have been Thou shalt not defile coffee. 

I think God even wrote this in the Bible somewhere:



Anyway, the other day I was sitting on the floor Indian-style criss-cross applesauce and Brynne was sitting in my lap.

So, you know that bulge of leg right above the inside of the knee that pops out when you're sitting with your legs folded?

As Brynne is sitting on my lap, she starts grabbing at that bulge on my leg, and saying her creepy-Gollum-sounding-coffee-defiling "Yucks"!

I sit there reeling. My inner dialogue is something like this:

How could she know to dislike this part of the body?

Where on earth did she hear this from? 

I tell her:

It's skin, and muscle, Love. Your mama has strong legs, so that I can run and play and pick you up!

As I say this I'm thinking of all her little friends, wondering which one informed her to dislike part of her body or at least my body. And I'm fuming.

At 28 months she already has body image issues, or at least issues with her mama's body!?!? I thought I'd at least have a couple more years before tackling that! How could this happen!?!?

Then I get all upset with myself.

Did I give some hint of disapproval with my own body? 

The "yucks"  and the grabbing at my leg continue, and I desperately calmly, reiterate the importance of having a strong, healthy body, and that, yes, even that bulge, is part of the way God made us.

Just when I was running out of things to say. Brynne hands me a speck of dirt that was apparently stuck to my skin, on that bulge.

Yuck, Mama! she says. 

 Whew! And I proceeded to refill my cup of coffee.

Healthy Mama!

Friday morning the girls were in the bathroom with me while I was getting ready for the day. I don't always do this, but I believe it's important for them to see me taking care of myself. (And it warms my heart a little bit to see them mimic the motions I use to wash my face, put on lotion, etc.).

Something they love to do, while they wait for me to get ready, is to weigh themselves on our digital scale. They know to press on the scale, wait till it reads "0.0" and then to stand on it and wait for their weight to be registered.

Even though the girls have no idea what the numbers mean, they take delight in me telling them what the scales says. I always answer,  

30.5 pounds (or whatever the numbers read)---a healthy, growing girl!

Then, I see their faces explode into a big grin with that news.

On Friday, after the girls weighed themselves, they told me they wanted me to get on the scale.

I took a deep breath.

I realized in that moment, as I was waiting for the "0.0", that my reaction was important. The way I view myself, the way they see me viewing myself is important. My reaction to my numbers on the scale will influence the way they react their numbers on the scale, now, and for years to come.

They would mimic my reaction, just as they mimic me putting on lotion and washing my face.

So, as my numbers registered on the scale, with a big smile, I said,

145.5 pounds---a healthy mama!

Smiles all around.

I want to give my daughters the gift of having a mama who can demonstrate what it looks like to love and care for the body God gave me. A mama who truly believes that my worth and value is greater than what I look like, or what the scale says.

That's a tall order in this culture, but I think it's oh so important. I'm reminded of just how important each time I see my girls pretend to dust their faces with my make-up brush.

Ugly

Yesterday, Marcia posted the question:

What's your word for sassy kids?

Apparently this answer is, in part, regional. I love words, and enjoy learning different words and expressions for things, even though we're all speaking English.  There you have it---a peek at my inner geek.

Anyway. My answer to Marcia was initially just disobedient, which is exactly what they're being.

I thought on it some more, and caught myself---my word for disobedience is ugly.

In my ever-present quest to provide a picture of true beauty to my daughters, I want them to understand that beauty is not just physical, as advertisers would have us believe.

Beauty is a heart issue.

I want this to seep into my daughters' souls. My desire is for them to see and be beauty with their hearts.  

When my daughter doesn't share a toy or pushes her sister---she is being ugly.

And that's exactly what I say,

Hadley, that is an ugly way to act! We love our sister by sharing our toys.

Brynne, pushing is an ugly thing to do! We love our sister by sharing space on Mama's lap.

 In my parenting, as with my relationship with God, four things must happen:

1. Stop
2. Consider
3. Repent
4. Restore 

Stop. Simply, stop the ugly behavior.

Consider. Consider other ways to handle to approach the situation. 

Repent. Literally means "to change your mind"---to see what you did was wrong.

Restore. Restore the relationship that was broken by ugly behavior. 

Example: Brynne pushes Hadley off my lap:

I tell her that what she did was ugly, and we love our sister by sharing Mama's lap (Stop). I offer to move her over a little bit, so that everyone has enough room, and ask her if she'd still like to join me on my lap (Consider). Before we can continue on with reading the story, Brynne needs to look at Hadley and tell her she's sorry for pushing her---they have just learned to say the word "sorry" they typically sign or say it (sometimes both) (Repent). Then, Brynne needs to give Hadley a hug or a pat on the back (Restore).

Sometimes I feel like we go through those steps a million times a day. And sometimes more discipline is needed, depending on the situation.

I'm so thankful for moments like these:

That make the ugly just a bit more bearable.

Mama Loves: Duplo Legos

Welcome to another week of Mama Loves! I'm so thrilled that you stopped by!

Not sure what Mama Loves is? Check out the Mama Loves page for the scoop on what Mama Love is all about.

Also---to see all the amazing ideas that have been shared here, check out the Mama Loves Pinterest page. So many crazy-good ideas there!
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Sorry I'm a day late with this. I decided to leave my husband and babies for a quick trip home Friday night.

I meant to get a post done and ready before I left, but it just didn't happen. I spent way too long trying to get my nails to look like this:



For the record, it really does work (and it looks awesome!) if you're patient enough to let the polish dry all the way, which I didn't. One of the stylists that did my hair for the hair show had her nails done like that, and I LOVED it. Then I saw it on Pinterest. So fun!

Anyway, that's what I was doing when I should have been packing, and getting the house ready for my 26 hours away.

So. Here I am today. The girls and Brad are in the basement, so that I can write this. Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is?!?
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My girls' Masa and Masi (what they call my sister and her husband) got them the Duplo Lego Large Brick Box set for Christmas this year.



Best.Gift.Ever.

Apparently, Legos has created lots of pink and purple girl-themed Legos sets. I was a little taken back when I went to the website to find a picture of the set my girls have. So--if you must have, or just prefer, pink (or purple)--Legos can still work for you!

I'm thrilled that my sister knows me well enough to know that we would much rather enjoy the plain ole regular, gender-neutral Legos, complete with Hadley's favorite color, green.

My girls love these so much! Hadley loves to build tall towers, and the three of us have created many beautiful structures together.

Definitely a great toddler toy! It works on hand/eye coordination, as well as encourages creativity and imagination.

And, it has a little Lego car, and a flower. My girls love cars and flowers---perfect!

Can't wait to see what you're loving!

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I Am Beautiful. Just Thought You Should Know

True Beauty Conversations have been quiet for two weeks now. 110% my fault.

We'd talked about getting some guest writers. Melissa got one, and then I dropped the ball. In my own lame defense, I did send out a couple emails, but people are busy. So--I've got nothin'.

Still, the issue of beauty, and what "beauty" means, and how to do a good job of raising two little girls in a world that focuses on what we look like, rather than what is on the inside, presents itself to me over and over again (how's that for a run-on sentence?). In short, I find myself reeling with the task of raising two little girls.

Lisa Bloom wrote this amazing article about how to talk to little girls (I can't wait to read her book, Think: Strait Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World) . Mandy wrote a beautiful post about what makes her feel beautiful.

It's all around me, and I feel it necessary to be constantly vigilant to the cultural influences that my daughters will inevitably be exposed to at some point. I want them to know that they don't need to be a princess to be beautiful.

Ms. Bloom is so right, telling little girls they are beautiful doesn't boost their self-esteem. I can tell you first hand, praising Hadley for completing a puzzle goes much further. Mandy is right too, reading a story to Brynne certainly makes me feel beautiful, and I know she loves to read and make connections.

So, reading all this good writing and all my thoughts swirling--it inspires me to write.

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This morning's boot camp was yoga.

For once, the St. Louis humidity took it's swampyness to Louisiana, or some other state where they actually have swamps.

It was the perfect morning.  As we yogaed, the rising sun warmed my face and the cool breeze caressed my skin. Body strong, arms stretched to the sky, breathing in God.

In that moment, I felt beautiful. I was beautiful.

That's pretty bold, you might say. It is. My toes are twitching with uncomfortableness to tell you, I'm beautiful.

I am beautiful, because I am strong. I can hold both my daughters in my arms...at the same time.

I am beautiful, because I breathe in God every day.

I am beautiful, because I love and am loved.

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. ~David Viscott

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Sharing this here.