Life and Times of the Sharp Family

At my bridal shower for Dharia, my pastor's wife and good friend gave me a very wise piece of advice that I will never forget.  She told me to pray with my children, not just for them.  In the past couple of weeks, I have been trying to do this with both of the older two kids.  Before bed, I have been asking Breslin what he is thankful for.  When he gives me his answer, he prays a short, simple prayer thanking Jesus for whatever it is that he has decided to be thankful for that day.  Then, I pray with him, re-thanking my Father for this as well, thanking him for my Breslin, and whatever else is on my heart at the moment.  It's really a lovely way to end the day with my son.  Actually, it would be a lot lovelier if he actually went to bed after this.  Lately, he seems to think this means he is entitled to get up and walk downstairs about five times before it's really bed time.  Very predictable, mildly annoying. Anyway, tonight, Bresli...

I hate being sick.  And I am sick, let me tell you.  I have a fever and the chills, among other unpleasant symptoms I won't burden you/gross you out with.  I have been in bed all day, with the exception of two half- hour stints to the downstairs.  The highlight of the day for me was during one of those periods when I got to take a scalding hot shower.  The hot water felt miraculous on my sore body and the chills momentarily subsided.  Since I have been awake less than two hours total today, this short period of bliss definitely made me feel blessed. Thank God for a hot shower! Lord, thank you for giving me a chance to feel better today during my shower.  Thank you for the opportunity my body had today to rest and heal.  Thank you for my husband, who took care of the kids so that I could sleep.  I pray that you would help me to feel better very soon.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Being gone for a large chunk of a Saturday really stinks, for the most part, as Saturdays tend to be our chance to reconnect with one another as a family.  But, today, I'm thankful that because I was gone judging for the better part of the day in Tecumseh, I got to experience that feeling of being missed. When I walked through the door at about 3:00 pm I was greeted by each of my family members in such a sweet and sincere way that I knew they had been thinking about me while I was gone, wishing that I had been there with them.  Colby grabbed me and gave me a huge hug and a delicate kiss on the forehead.  Dharia sprinted from across the room and proceeded to inundate me with questions, only a few of which I understood enough to answer.  Breslin gave me a big hug, crawled on my lap, and told me all about the game he had been playing throughout the morning.  AJ army-crawled to me and then used my leg to stand up and wave her arms about, as if saying "Pick me up!...

I am so thankful for Burt's Bees lip balm today.  It is smooth and tastes delicious.  Most importantly, it feels great on my sore, dry lips, which I always have a bit of a problem with in these cold winter months.  I have a couple of different tubes laying around the house in strategic locations, some at school, and some in my purse.  I honestly get anxious if I'm out and about and don't have any on me (which is why I now have one on my key chain).  I'm not really proud of that.  I even share some with Dharia Lou sometimes.  She seems to be a fan as well.  It's weird, but smearing some of Burt's Bees lip balm on always manages to give me a little lift.  I love lip balm in general, but Burt's Bees is definitely the best, in my expert opinion.  Plus, it's all natural and the company is "good people" -- that is, committed to the environment, their workforce, and philanthropy.  What's not to love about that?  So, I s...

Tonight, my son kept me amused and amazed by the things he said. At dinner, he was shovelling down forkful after forkful of rotini noodles when he must have bit his tongue, because he stopped eating and with a teary voice said, "Mom, teeth are not for biting tongues!"  I tried not to laugh as I consoled him and his hurt tongue.  After a few minutes, I asked him, "Teeth aren't for biting tongues, huh?"  His response: "No.  Just for smiling." Later in the evening while we were relaxing in the living room, he sprinted around the corner, leapt into my lap and said, "Mom, you're my hero!"  Tell me that's not enough to make your heart melt.  Then, right before bedtime, we were talking about letters (what else), when he started making the sign for a letter with his fingers and then giving it a voice and saying lines that started with the same letter.  He made the sign for the letter q and then made it wag up and down like it was talkin...

I really, really, really, really, really, really , REALLY hate grocery shopping. Really. Okay, I'm done now. But, it's true.  I don't do the grocery shopping at our house.  I leave that to my husband, who does so without complaint on a weekly basis.  But between the snow and ice storms and my intense hatred for grocery shopping we have had next to nothing for food in our house the past few days. That is, I refuse to ruin a perfectly good day off by one of us having to go grocery shopping even if it means we are a little lean on our food selection (i.e. croutons become a snack food and we eat lots of Cheese Thingys -- see day 52 ).  Can AJ wear Dharia's diapers?  Sure!  They are a little big, but they still do their job.  Can Breslin eat a PB and J even if we have no peanut butter?  Absolutely!  In fact, I think he's starting to like them better that way. The older kids had their first gymnastics class after school, so it was...

For about a half an hour today, AJ and I found ourselves the only ones who were awake in the Sharp household.  It was strangely quiet, and almost unsettling.  I realized that it is very rare for me to be alone with just one child, especially the baby.  It took me back to the days of my maternity leave, when the older two went to daycare and all AJ and I had planned for the day was to relax and stare at one another.  I didn't realize how much I missed that quality time with my daughter until this afternoon. Of course, our time was much more eventful today than it was during maternity leave.  Back then, she was just kind of a lump.  Today, she babbled continuously as she crawled around the living room, pulled herself up on anything that she could, and managed to pull everything off of the shelves her level and below.  But, it was really nice to focus just on her, watch just her, be with just her.  There was nothing and no one else vying f...