B-Mama's Picks for Summer

Reading all the wonderful book suggestions for Texas Mommy's last post, I am inspired to include a few of my latest summer addictions for everything ranging from food to footwear. Since we are all working hard and feeling like we need a break, why not treat ourselves to some wonderful creature comforts that don't break the bank, but add joy to our days? Here are my top seven picks for Summer '09:

1) I am in love with my new sneaker sandals, purchased from Lands End. The best part: their $28 price tag (I got them at 20% off with free shipping). You really can't beat such a great price for a durable shoe like this. They are light and airy, yet have a little more support like a sneaker. I have flat feet and need to wear orthotics in flats--BINGO. These shoes hide my inserts and I stroll around biomechanically blissful. They are a wonderful alternative to my wedge slides that I usually wear everywhere but are completely impractical.

2) The crayon rocks I mentioned in a recent post are AWESOME. No sooner had they made their appearance out of the box, but my boys were drawn to them and coloring away. The crayons' small shape encourage little fingers to have proper grip. I am so pleased! For $9, they already appear to be a good investment.

3) Avocados. Okay, this is rather random, but I could seriously swim in a large pool of smashed avocados, a little olive oil, and salt. Grab some tortilla chips and I'm a happy mama. I even love to wrap turkey around thin slices and indulge. There really is nothing better than a soft, buttery avocado. And they make wonderful baby food--our J loves them cut up and can manage them with only 2 teeth.

4) When I found out our local pool required Coast Guard-approved flotation devices for the kids, I didn't know how we'd find a solution. Step in Puddle Jumpers. With soft styrofoam around each arm and across their chests, my kiddos feel safe and float nicely. The nylon covering also appears durable and able to endure many hand-me-down summers. For $15 bucks (in the Wal-Mart boating section), these might do the trick for you too!

5) Gerard's Light Champagne salad dressing. Once again, I could swim in this stuff. It is SO good and has an amazing taste. You'll just have to try it to find out. Since discovering it, I've found it seems to have a fan following. Call me crazy, but a good salad dressing goes a long way to make me a happy camper.

6 & 7) Finally, for all of our country music-lovin' readers out there, Kenny Chesney's Don't Blink and Rascal Flatts Life is a Highway are favorites playing in our house these days. There's something about good country music that signals relaxation and summer revelry to me. These are a sure treat for any music lover to enjoy.

So there you have it, B-mama's summer picks. Go enjoy the sunshine and drink in the soon-to-be start of a delicious season!

Non Sequitur

Amongst all this high-brow children's literature discussion I would just like to share something.

This morning my 16-month-old son peed in a clean laundry basket. Standing up, without a diaper, peed in this sterling clean laundry basket and then smiled up at me proudly. I can honestly say that I never thought I would be cleaning two inches of light yellow pee out of the bottom of a clean laundry basket. It was kind of cute though, call me sick.

Librarian For a Day

I've taken on a new job. My husband saw it coming when I walked out the door to attend a meeting at our local library. When I returned the first thing he said was, "What did you agree to do?"

We live in a small town of 5,000 people where the very edge of suburbia melds into real farm land. Our community library is a shared endeavor at our local high school. It is a tiny little thing. Which is probably why it took us almost a year to actually visit it given the convenience of the exponentially larger libraries closer to the city which allow books to be placed on hold from the comfort of your own home and then picked up while the boys are strapped into the comfort of their own stroller.

Oh, and our local library has a 3 book limit. I almost passed out when they told me that. The librarian (sensing my disbelief) asked if that was a problem and I told her that we usually have at least 50 library books out at a time. Then she almost passed out.

After gathering a little more info, it became clear why there is a limit. There simply aren't very many books. And remember those little slips in the back where they physically write the due date (before those date-changing stamp things) that were around when I was in grade school?
That's the check-out system. It's kind of charming, except that it would take about 2 hours to check out 50 books. It still might be worth the trip to check out 12 books (if I got everyone, including the baby, a library account ) if there were great books. When I saw the entire Babysitters Club series and Spongebob early readers, my heart sank. Yikes. Maybe it would be a challenge for us each to pick out 3 books.

So I went to the open meeting of the Friends of the library a few weeks ago to see what, if anything, I could do to help our local library situation. I left the meeting treasurer of the organization and had the check book delivered to my door a few days later and was promised that I would be able to purchase some quality children's literature. Before you get carried away and remind me that I have very little free time to devote to something like this, let me give you a number. $800. This is the cash on hand to buy books and more shelving (which is desperately needed). I could spend a good chunk of that on children's books in my sleep (and probably have thanks to one-click). Every book the library purchases gets an entire article in our local newspaper.

So my question to you all is this: If you had to buy one book for the children's section of your local library, what would it be? It would need to be engaging and beautiful and thought-provoking, to inpsire all the senses and make the child (and adult) want to come back for more....

I guess this is good...

Me: Wow, C, those are some really neat Lego creations that you've built. I like the cross that you made...Are those men lined up because they're praying in front of the cross?

C: No, mommy

Me: Oh, are you thinking of Good Friday when we all lined up to kiss the cross at church?

C: No, mom, it's not like at our house where we're praying ALL of the time...

I guess that's a good thing, right? :)

Catholic New Media Awards!

We are thrilled to have been nominated for the Catholic New Media Awards! We were nominated in three categories:

Best New Blog
Best Group Blog
Most Entertaining Blog

Nominations took place during the month of May, and voting will take place during the month of June. So go on over and vote! You must register with the site to place your vote, but registration is easy and free.

A special thank you to all of our readers who nominated us for these awards!

God doesn't give grace in advance

As Juris Mater and MaryAlice discussed in their recent posts, many of us Builders have been dealing with adversity lately. Personally, I have been feeling pretty down and overwhelmed and my emotional state has a strong physical componenet. Back in early February, I began the marathon of pregnancy in sprint mode--horrible nausea, hospital IV and anti-nausea meds, and even bedrest due to a large cyst. When Easter rolled around, the fog lifted briefly, I was removed from bedrest, and I started to feel a bit better. But soon other health issues began to plague me-- anemia, hip problems, and general circulation issues in my leg (to name a few!), and I'm only 21 weeks! Having started the marathon sprinting, I'm now dead tired and the distance to the finish line is downright depressing.

I spend my free moments wondering how I will survive the hot summer. What will it be like in August when the heat really kicks in and I'm huge and even more uncomfortable? How can I possibly go through another labor and delivery when my body is already falling apart? What about future pregnancies? How will I ever have another baby? Should I ever have another baby? What about my health? Will my circulation issues ever resolve? As these questions have come to dominate my thoughts, my emotional state continued to spiral downward.

I was sharing all my worries, physical complaints, and general concerns with B-Mama the other day and she gave some great advice. She said, "I have a rule. I don't talk about future pregnancies at all when I am currently pregnant." Great point.

And then I began to realize that I have been spending an awful lot of time worrying about future events, rather than just living in the present.

When I suffer, I tend to look toward the future, toward the light at the end of the tunnel. My forward thinking allows me to see that the suffering is only temporary, as the future usually looks brighter than the present. But this isn't always the case. There are times when our suffering is so intense primarily because there isn't an obvious light at the end of the tunnel (or else that light is so far away we can't even get a faint glimpse of its presence).

6 years ago, I was pregnant with my daugther Therese. Therese had been diagnosed with anencephaly (a fatal neural tube defect), and I knew that the day we said hello to Therese would also be the day we said goodbye. The days, weeks, and months of my pregnancy passed very slowly, and I experienced great anxiety thinking about how I could possibly watch my daughter die. The final days of my pregnancy were spent in a sleepless state, waiting for Therese to arrive, and worrying about how I could ever say goodbye.

And yet, when the time came, the grace was there. When Therese was born and died I experienced the most profound sense of peace I have ever felt in my entire life. I didn't feel one ounce of sadness, fear, or worry. Those moments were perfect and I can honestly say that I have never felt such peace before or since. But the grace didn't arrive in advance. It was there when I needed it, and not a moment sooner.

And this brings me back to my present difficulties. Once again, my sufferings have propelled me into worry and anxiety about the future. But through the guidance of some great friends (thanks B-Mama!), I realized that I don't have the grace to deal with a future pregnancy because I'm not yet there. I don't even have the grace to deal with the hot month of August in my huge, pregnant and malfunctioning body ;-) because it isn't August. But I do have the grace for today. And when the going gets tough, I need to pray harder than ever for the grace to live in the present moment. I need to run the marathon of pregnancy--and motherhood--not one race at a time or one mile at a time, but one stride at a time.

As the late, great Rich Mullins put it: "Step by step you lead me, and I will follow you all of my days."

First Fruits