Wash It Away

I decided that I would give myself a hot oil treatment this morning after my workout.  Bad. idea.  I used way too much oil and may hair is a hot mess right now!  Thank goodness it’s long enough for a pony tail.  After shampooing and rinsing my hair as many times as I could, I had to stop so that Cub 4 wouldn’t end up late for class.  While waiting for Cub 4’s class to be over, I searched on the internet for ways to get the oil out of my hair.  There are all types of possibilities out there.  I could try baking soda, dish detergent, dry shampoo, or a clarifying shampoo. Everything seemed too messy except for the clarifying shampoo.  So, I enhanced my research even further by looking up different types of clarifying shampoos.  Here’s how one internet site describes it:

Stuff builds up on your hair, all kinds of stuff. Hairsprays, mousses, and gels; hard water and mineral deposits; chlorine and chemicals from swimming pools; even the waxes and moisturizers in some shampoos and conditioners can leave build up on your hair over time. This build up can cause hair to appear dull, heavy, greasy, and limp. A clarifying shampoo can help remove those deposits, give your hair a fresh start, and restore shine.

I sure could use a clarifying shampoo in other areas of my life that need to be cleaned up other than my hair!  We pile stuff on top of stuff on top of stuff on us until we just become dull, lifeless, heavy, and weighed down.  We have to figure out a way to clear out what’s holding us down so that we can be restored and have a fresh start.  Think about the areas in your life that need to be clarified.  It may be better eating habits, a cluttered house, or a bad relationship.  You don’t have time to be weighed down with unnecessary stuff causing you to feel heavy or weighed down.  It’s time to wash it all away!

Off and Running Shampooing!

Uneven Shoe Laces

Waking up without an alarm clock buzzing in my ear this morning was wonderful and for a brief moment, I felt like I was on vacation.  Just a brief moment, though, because in no time at all I was arguing with Cub 4 about why she couldn’t have mac n cheese for breakfast, and discovering that Cub 3 left a huge mess of (now hard) Play Doh all over the floor and table in the basement.  Nevertheless, the reality of parenting has me up and making plans for our day.

Cub 1 has been with my MB since Wednesday.  They are in Hampton this weekend for the Virginia United Methodist Annual Conference.  The rest of the Party enjoyed Vacation Bible School at FBC this week.  Our goal today is to get in a little bit of summer clothes shopping for Cub 2 and tennis shoes for Cub 3.  Cub 3 doesn’t want just any tennis shoes.  She wants tennis shoes with shoe laces because she wants to learn how to tie them this summer.  We’ve already checked a few places, and it’s difficult to find shoes for little people with shoe laces.  There’s plenty of velcro, sandals, and flip flops though!  Shoe laces are such a pain, but my girl is determined to learn a new skill this summer, so we will search until we find the perfect pair.

My boy cubs struggle with shoe laces.  Cub 1 doesn’t really tie his shoes most of the time.  He just tightens them and tucks the ends down into his shoes.  Cub 2 always manages to mess up his laces when tightening or loosening them also.  They just turn into a confusing, unbalanced ordeal.  Finally, he asks for help, and I have to take the time to adjust them to get them nice and even again.  Recently while fixing one of his shoes, I noticed that they looked pretty good and were able to be tied, but Cub 2 didn’t tighten all of the laces.  A few of them (closer to the base) were loose.  The loose laces at the bottom was what kept the strings from being even at the top.  I had to stop and thank God for the lesson through the laces!

Life events can be messed up laces.  Eight years ago, PB and I made a decision without God that we’ve been paying for ever since (a loose lace).  We didn’t deal with our “loose lace” appropriately, but we kept trying to keep the other laces in neat order.  It may have looked decent and neat, but we just let that loose lace stay there and eventually that loose lace affected everything else we did.  It never got better…only worse…until we had to hand over our uneven shoe laces to God so that He could fix what we could not.  We were frustrated and tired of trying to fix it on our own.

Aren’t you thankful that we serve a God of second (and 3rd, 4th, or 5th) chances?  We are all capable of making mistakes with lacing our shoes.  A wrong choice can change the course of your life, and one day you stop and ask yourself – How did I ever get to this place?!  I guarantee you that there’s a loose shoe lace somewhere that you’ve been ignoring.  Here’s the reality – even though you’ve ignored it, it’s not going away until you deal with it.  It will affect every other decision you make.  Stop trying to handle it on your own, and give it to God to fix.  Give.it.up.

Off and Running!

My Multiple Meaning Moment

We made it to Spring Break!!  I love that our Spring Break is squished in between two very busy weekends at the church.  It means that we can take long naps!!

Yesterday, all of the cubs had to be at church for rehearsals.  Cubs 2, 3 and 4 were finished in about an hour, but Cub 1 had to be there pretty much all day.  PB was in and out and all about yesterday, but eventually ended up back at the church to pick up Cubs 1 and 2.  We had already anticipated a crazy day so we had planned ahead to drive separately for the day.  The girl cubs and I had to run a few errands before heading home.  First, we had lunch at McDonald’s.  Then, we stopped for a few items at Target.  Before starting our venture through Target, we took a bathroom break.  Cub 4 is in the Pull-Ups stage, so it’s always a priority to be proactive in getting her to the bathroom BEFORE she asks to go (because it’s usually too late!).

When we walked into the bathroom there was a line because out of the four stalls, only one had toilet paper.  So that I don’t bore you to death with the drama of having no toilet paper, I’ll fast forward to us actually making it into a stall successfully.  This sweet lady who had just finished ahead of us left out and brought me a huge wad of toilet paper from somewhere for me and the girls to use.  So, we gratefully marched into the handicapped-accessible stall.  Right when I got Cub 4 situated on the toilet, I heard the complaining begin…

I don’t know why she had to use this stall!

I can’t sit down and get up on my own!

I need to hold on to something!

This is ridiculous!

After having it register in my brain that this “stall stalker” was actually talking about me, I reacted very sympathetically by rushing Cub 4 to hurry so that we could get out quicker.  We didn’t do our normal “big girl” dance for Cub 4, and I was trying to get Cub 3’s jeans unbuttoned and ready to jump on right after Cub 4.  In the stressful process, my sympathy turned to annoyance – I had the right to use that stall just as much as she did, and I had planned on telling her exactly what I thought about her comments when we were through!  If you’ve ever had to go into a public bathroom with a 2- and 3- year old at the same time, then you know it’s near impossible to fit into one cramped little stall.  Being handicapped doesn’t just mean that you must have a physical disability.  It has multiple meanings and the one that applied to my using the handicapped accessible stall was that I had two toddlers who needed my help with using the bathroom.  Unfortunately, by the time we were finished in the stall, the lady was gone.  In fact, everyone was gone!  I think God planned for her to be out of the bathroom because I was not preparing to apologize for using the bathroom and causing her to wait, but I did want to explain MY interpretation of “handicap”.  I wanted her to know that I understood her reasons for needing the stall, but I needed her to understand my reasons also.

Has that ever happened to you?  No, not a fight over a bathroom stall!  I’m talking about having your words or actions interpreted in a way that was totally different from what you had planned!  When it happens, how do you handle it?  Do you defend yourself?  Do you let it go?  I have to admit that I couldn’t let it go (obviously, I’m writing about it).  I didn’t have the opportunity to explain to the stall stalker my reasons for using the handicapped-accessible stall.  It bothers me that I was interpreted wrong and I can’t do anything about it.

After we left Target, we made a stop at Payless and spent at least 30 minutes trying out the purses, shades, necklaces, headbands, and other items on the kids’ accessories wall.  It was tough for Cubs 3 and 4 to choose just one item each, but Cub 3 found sunglasses and Cub 4 chose a necklace.  Here they are this morning before church with their new items which they traded for the picture!

I love my girl cubs!!

Peace and Blessings!