Coffee pot kisses.

My day began with the sudden awareness of urgent little feet running up the stairs, and the quick heavy breathing of an excited little boy.  Harrison.  I knew it was him simply by the familiar sound of his footsteps, and the sound of his breathing.  I thought to myself, "Oh, here we go!"  As the bedroom door flew open, he yelled "Angelina Ballerina was on today!"  My sweet husband bolted upright from his sound sleep, as if he had just heard a gunshot go off.  Now that our dear son had  thoroughly dashed any hope of a casual awakening on this fine Sunday morning, Harrison turned and ran right back downstairs to watch his favorite show.  My handsome husband laid back down on his warm pillow and muttered, "Let the noise begin." 
I'm not sure how Sunday mornings go at your house, but at MY house, it is a delicate balance of trying to enjoy the last day of the weekend, and trying to get a bunch of boys cleaned, fed, and ready for Church.  And let me say, Church for us is not something we do, it is who we are.  Friday night's are for date night, and Sunday's are for Church.  Saturdays are open for interpretation.  So, my beloved and I groggily pulled ourselves out of bed, to begin the list of tasks that needed to happen in order to get us to our usual Sunday destination.  We operate as a silent, but efficient team.  One of us pulled out the breakfast food, and milk, as the other one retrieved the baby, who was by now awakened by the sounds of his older brothers singing and dancing loudly to Angelina Ballerina on the floor just below his room.  One of us gathered clothes for the shorties to wear to Church, as the other one packed up the diaper bag.  It's always a blur as to who does what.  But somehow, someone, ALWAYS puts on the coffee to brew.  It's as if, it is our magical task that gets done, without asking, without thinking, without recognition, but without a doubt, is the most important task that gets done in the midst of our busy mornings.  And I don't know if it's the intoxicating smell of freshly brewed coffee that draws us to the kitchen, or just by chance, but my beloved and I always finding ourselves standing face to face, in front of the coffee pot.  I can't tell you how comforting it is to know, that in the midst of our morning chaos of missing shoes, and answering the goofy questions like, "Will I get sunburned at church?  Should I wear sunscreen?", I can always find peace in the fact that my best friend will be waiting for me in front of that coffee pot.  No matter what is going on, I know that I will always get a kiss and strong hug in front of the coffee pot.  It's as if, it is our "romantic destination" for the day.  Just as I know the sound of each of my childrens footsteps coming up the stairs, I know that the smell of fresh coffee brewing will bring me to the coffee pot, to meet my beloved, and I will get my morning kiss. 
And these, are the moments that I cherish in life. 

OK....I suck at blogging

My name is Kristin, and I SUCK at blogging.  This was a great idea, in theory, by a friend who is just an amazing Mother, Wife, Christian, Worker, Dish Washer, and Laundry folder, and she showers and puts on makeup EVERY day.  She is HOT, and her hubby is a lucky guy.   I say this in all honesty, she really is.  Yae....good for her.  Well, let me just say, that I not only suck at blogging, but I have PILES of laundry in my room in random baskets, just yearning to be folded, and I usually run my dishes from the previous nights dinner, while I am making my morning coffee.  You have done it too, so don't be all "Oh my goodness!"  Plus, I work nights, so my nights tend to run over into the next day.  I DO shower everyday, but I rarely wear makeup, and "hot" is probably the least descriptive adjuctive there is for me.  There.  You have the dish.  I try my best to get to this dang blog, but let me say, that there are usually 428 things that hit me all at once during the course of any given day, like a battering ram against my head, that usually interfere with me actually sitting down to type it all out.  That's why I love Facebook.  You say it....your done....at the end of the day, you see what your "friends" have to say about it.  Why does blogging have to be so "interactive" anyway?  When are they going to invent some sort of contraption that will just read my thoughts, then put them down to print?  Oh....did they already do that?  Sorry, I don't even text, so I'm a bit behind.  I will once again blame it on "the others" who so lovingly occupy my time. 
I DO love to write.  And I DO love people.  Especially the ones that God put me directly in charge of on this earth.  Let me say, that I have SO many people who say "write that book!" and I am writing.  Maybe not as speedily as I need to.  (again, I blame "the others" because they can be SO distracting!) 
So here is my challenge to myself.  1. I challenge myself to POST on this stupid thing (the blog) at least 3-4 times a week.   2. I challenge myself to post without going through 600 proof reads because I fear you all will judge my grammer and punctuation.  "JUST POST IT WOMAN!" (said by my 18 y/o "other")  3.  I will apply my favorite scripture, "Don't be afraid, just believe" Mark 5:36  Because fear, is Satan's way of stopping us from doing what God has called us to do in the first place. 
There you go.  I just rambled, and I won't proof read it. 
Kristin
a.k.a. Kiki

The questions of a 3 yr old.

This morning, as I tried to drink my first, precious sips of coffee to get my day started, I could not help but notice that my 3 y/o son, Harrison, standing next to me in his frog pajamas, already had a few questions for me. Now, anyone who has lived with a 3 y/o knows that on any given day, they ask about 783 questions, usually in rapid succession, most of which make no sense, and have absolutely no answer at all.  For the most part, I am able to  muttle thru them with a quick Yes or No, and move to the next task at hand.  There are those questions that require more attention, and time to explain, and occasionally will leave me a bit amazed at their level of understanding of some pretty deep things.  But for the most part, their questions are an odd concoction of thoughts and ideas, mixed in with things they hear from friends or on T.V., and are usually somehow tainted with what their immediate needs are, such as what they are about to eat, what they are about to do, or if they need to go to the bathroom.   I decided to jot down some of the random questions one day as they were being shot in my direction, and let me say, the results were rather interesting.  Here is a sampling, of the peculiar thought process of a 3 y/o boy.  

Do I have lungs?  Do cats drive?  Is the Easter bunny coming today for New Years?  Who's bringing us dinner?  Do my drums make me cough?  If I take a shower will I melt?  Did you know green, smells better than red?   Do germs make music?  If I stick my finger in my ear, will I pop my brain?  Can I be in charge?  Can I go to Texas today?  What comes out of my belly button?  Do dogs have mom's?  Where does dark come from?    Do you allow monsters in the house?   What happens if you punch yourself?   Why do you have white speckles in your hair?  (white "speckles" at my scalp, indicate a touch up is needed)  Does our house run out of batteries?   Do you know anything about bats?   Do you know anything about chocolate?   Do you know anything about worms?   Do you know anything about aliens?   Do my muscles smell good?   Do bugs poop?   Are you going to grow little someday?    Does Jesus live in me?  Is he all squished inside of me?   Does he want to get out?   Where did I come from...Costco?   Did you have a coupon to get me out of your tummy?   When I grow up, can I marry you?   Can it be my birthday today?   Can it be my birthday tomorrow?   Can it be my birthday on Saturday?   Why do my fingers always stick to my hands?    Why does it get dark when I close my eyes?   Mommy, are you a girl?   Does Daddy know you are a girl?   Do cowboys know how to dance?   Do cowboys like to eat popcicles?   If bugs are lost, do they cry?   Can I have a gorilla?   Can you put the refrigerator in the mailbox?   Does my feet need to potty?   Why do my feet like shoes so much?   Do you think my poop is pretty?   Do you think YOUR poop is pretty?   Do trees get mad?   If I play baseball, will my head hurt?    Why can't I fly?   Why do you like to wash dishes so much?   Can I drive?   Does our fish have a cell phone?   Why doesn't our fish have friends?   Can we go to Disneyworld after dinner?   Why does Daddy kiss you so much?   Do you love Daddy or something?  (the answer to that is YES!!!) 

After writing these down thru the course of the day, and reading back over them, I had to laugh at myself, remembering an incident earlier in the day, when I had actually tried to reason with him about why he needed to eat something for lunch, other than his favorite, peanut butter banana.  My question to him about what he might want to eat, other than his favorite peanut butter banana, must have been as bizarre to him, as some of his questions were for me.  Clearly, reasoning was not something I should have attempted with a 3 y/o.  The direction that their little brains go, at any given moment, can be excited, entertaining, and frightening, all at the same time.  It's always a reminder to me, that they absorb EVERYTHING happening around them, and I must mind my actions and words, because they will always mirror it, and usually have more than a few questions about it.  And those questions....ALL of them.... require answers.  There are the questions that they ask every single day, such as Harrison's daily question, "Who's bringing us dinner?", that you have to answer every single day, even though you  have absolutely NO idea why they keep asking such an odd question, but you can place a bet on the fact that tomorrow morning, they will ask it again.  Then there are those seemingly random questions that they ask, that give you a brief glimpse into what their minds are trying to digest and process at that particular moment in time.  The trick for me as a parent, is knowing which questions can be answered with a Yes or No, or the questions that I had better invest a bit more attention, and time.