The Talking Spatula

We have a very chatty bunch in our house And never more-so then at the table.


Don't get me wrong, I love that my kids want to talk. But one will start and then another chimes in. Soon they are all talking over each other and in an effort to be heard...


They get louder & louder & louder until no one can even understand what is being said.

Enter...
The Talking Spatula


At our diner table (if you're a child) you are not allowed to talk unless you are holding it.


It has really helped our efforts to have enjoyable conversation around the table.


We have also added candles...


It just doesn't seem right to yell at a table with candles.


So...


The Talking Spatula works for me!

11 Years Later...

This is my guy and me 11 years ago...

I look at our faces and wonder what we really thought life would be like in a decade.


He probably wasn't thinking much past that night, but this is a "G" rated blog so we won't go there.


One thing is for sure...


I never would have put us here.


But I cannot imagine life any other way.


We married a little older...


Late twenties


And babies came soon after


And they came...


And they came...


And they came...


And 5 babies later, here we are.


People I talk to who "knew me back in the day" always say the same thing...


You're doing exactly what you always wanted to do.


I am always surprised by this because I wanted to have a guy who worked 9 - 5 Mon. - Fri. in a suit and have quiet, clean, sweet children who obeyed my every command.


But my guy doesn't work those hours. He works many more. And I love him for it. He works so I can have part of what I always wanted...


To stay home with my kids.


He sacrifices so much, from hours and hours away from us to a good part of his sanity to achieve this goal we set so many years ago.


Before we even had kids...


And my kids are never quiet...rarely clean...sometimes sweet and don't obey as many of my commands as I would like...


But they are happy, tremendously loved, healthy, little team members who LOVE their dad. They scream and cheer with delight when he comes home.


And inside...quietly...to myself...

I scream and cheer with delight too, because I love to have him home with us.

So my face now, 11 years later, is a little plumper, with darker circles and more wrinkles, but it's a face that looks on my guy with love and respect.

Love because of the husband and father he's become.

Respect because he wouldn't let me change him...

He let's God do that.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your...Hungry???

Our Kicker...

Well, I'm just not sure where to start with Kicker...


Clearly I've made some kind of error in not only nap time, but also dinner.


Seriously though


Lately, He has been having a tough time getting to dinner without falling asleep and/or pillaging the pantry for an unauthorized snack.


So what's a mom to do? For now I'm just going to move dinner up a little and see how it goes.


He is also very much a Star Wars fan. I mean EVERYONE is a Clone Trooper and we've had to have several talks about not shooting at the elderly people in the grocery store with the pen cap he's using for a blaster. And let me tell you we don't have any really toy blasters yet. But that doesn't seem to stop him. He will make one out of Lego's (see below) or a hanger or a pencil or a fork. And not just blasters...I have had to break up light saber (or to the common man, fork) duels at the dinner table. And if I knew a way to get the food I cook to resemble something they ate on Dagobah or Tatooine I would be in business.
He is also in that blissfully 4 year old stage where words are not always what they should be. For instance, did you know we have a Condor who visits our front yard regularly. Never mind that the bird is a beautiful red color and resembles a Cardinal. Or that Condors don't frequent these parts. Doesn't matter to him. He is right! And very excited when the Condor comes and sits on the front stoop.


But the thing that make my heart just melt is how much he loves QB. He asks every day, EVERY DAY, "Is today a stay at home day?" in other words...Does QB have to go to school today?

And whatever QB does...Kicker does. It is so fun to see them play together. Now lest anyone get the wrong idea... I hear many times a day, "Mom, Kickers messing up my ...interject whatever QB is working on that day" But QB is very tolerant of him.

I'm so thankful that he has a late birthday and I get to have him home with me for another year.

He needs it and so do I!!

Milking It

This is my baby drinking milk...
Clearly she's doesn't like it.



I've tried everything. And the only way she'll drink it is to warm it in a bottle.

Um...isn't part of the reason we are switching over to milk to get off the bottle?


So we keep trying. And trying. And trying.


And she still doesn't like it. Doesn't like it. Doesn't like it.

Would rather go hungry than drink it.


But she's still small for her age so I don't want to go that route. And honestly my will to win this battle is fading.


"She's only 13 months old", I say...


"I have 4 other kids who are drinking milk with no problem, so she'll turn around", I say...


"Just give a little more time", I say...


But how long?

Will I be one of "those moms" that I have seen in the Dr.'s office who's got their 3 year old who is still toting a bottle around with him...

Maybe it would serve me right for judging!

Maybe?!?

I mean if it's one thing I have learned as a mom, it's NEVER say never.

But then I think of all the milestones we've hit over the years...

Pacifier tossing

Potty training

Veggie eating

Closing the door when they go to the bathroom

Making it through a Sunday morning worship service without being called by the nursery

Buckling themselves in their car seat

Drinking out of a big cup

Cutting up their own food

I could go on and on, but the point is...

Do I really need to be worried about this???

Not today.

Not today.

Easter Sunday Babetz Style...

Most people put there best foot forward for Easter Sunday in the area of appearance. It's not a part of the literal Easter celebration, but it is the American way.


However, we don't always walk that American way, and today was no different.


We are not much on "fluffy" Easter outfits. So we usually are just in normal Sunday duds. The boys don't care that much, which is ironic considering they did get something new. Just a new shirt for each of them. The girls wore sweet little dresses from my niece. But all of that aside. This is still a day to put a little more effort into it.


Apparently, not at our house.


I woke up an hour late. Seems one of the team was playing with the alarm clock when I wasn't looking and my usual "set the alarm" routine didn't work. I knew they were up to something in there the other day. So we started late. But that's OK, we got everyone out the door on time.

We had crooked ponytails...

Pants that were too short...

Shoes that still had mud on them from last week...

No starch, so Head Coach's wasn't as pressed as he would have liked...

My shoes didn't go with my pants...

Our Mascot left the house with food stuck to her face...

And I was hoping that no one could see the Canadian Mountie t-shirt under Kickers real shirt...


But we made it on time and had a wonderful morning of worship...Thanking God for His power over death.


Then it was on to Grammy's for lunch...


Then back home for the annual Team Babetz Easter egg hunt. This year was a little different, I had plenty of candy filled eggs, but I also filled a few eggs with clues to the place hiding a gift for the family. A book and CD for the teammates and a book for the Head Coach and the Trainer.



And then it was off to bed early because school starts back tomorrow.


Sigh...


I am not ready for that...I love having them home this past week.


So while we look with gratitude to the cross and an empty tomb...we also had a fun day...Team Babetz style.

The only way I like it.

Easter

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Luke 16: 6

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?
John 11: 25 &26

He has risen...
He has risen indeed!!!

Good Friday

The Look

I saw one hanging on a tree
In agony and blood
Who fixed His loving eyes on me
As near His cross I stood
And never till my dying breath
Will I forget that look
It seemed to charge me with His death
Though not a word he spoke

My conscience felt and owned the guilt
And plunged me in despair
I saw my sins His blood had spilt
And helped to nail Him there
But with a second look He said
"I freely all forgive
This blood is for your ransom paid
I died that you might live"

Forever etched upon my mind
Is the look of Him who died
The Lamb I crucified
And now my life will sing the praise
Of pure atoning grace
That looked on me and gladly took my place

Thus while His death my sin displays
For all the world to view
Such is the mystery of grace
It seals my pardon too
With pleasing grief and mournful joy
My spirit now is filled
That I should such a life destroy
Yet live by Him I killed.

Original lyrics by John Newton
New and alternated lyrics by Bob Kauflin
Music by Bob Kauflin
2001 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

Isaiah 53:4 & 5

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

QB Listening

We were on the way to school last week and it was Receiver's turn to pray...

In the middle of her prayer QB starts telling her to close her eyes.

I shoot him "the look" in the rear view mirror and he stops.

When we have all had our turn I say, "OK QB, go ahead."

And this is how the conversation goes:

QB: You should not have your eyes open when you pray.

(Now I didn't go into the whole "if you saw her eyes open then your eyes were open too" thing)

Me: Do you think I close my eyes when I just prayed?

QB: No, you couldn't or we would have crashed. But we are supposed to close our eyes when we pray if we aren't driving.

Me: Why?

QB: Because, it helps us block out all the things going on around us. And ya know, like the birds and cars and stuff.

Me: You mean distractions?

QB: Ya, those distractions.

Me: Who told you this?

QB: Pastor said it...you know when he preached last week.

Me: Silent smile - long pause... good job Buddy for listening in big church. I'm very proud of you.

I should not have been surprised, but I was. To look at them in "big church" one would never know they are listening. We get bulletins with notes printed on them and ya know...as we go along we fill in the blanks. They put all the words on the overhead so people can follow along and we make QB and Receiver take notes in an effort to get them to at least pay attention. But it's really hard to tell if they are really listening. But at least that Sunday QB was.

I am so thankful for the little glimpses that God gives us as parents to show us that they are growing...even a little bit. Because honestly, sometimes it's hard to tell.