Trinity's Date Night

Every month we take one of the three kiddos out on a "Mom, Dad & Kid" date night. This month was Trinity's turn and we took her out to dinner at her favorite sit-down restaurant (Applebee's) and then to the mall to Libby Lu.

At first I will admit that when I first encountered Libby Lu, I was very against the thought of my daughter running around trying to look like Britney Spears. It seems like every girl that ever walked out of that place was covered in glitter, dressed in faux fur and wearing a headset microphone.

So how did it come that my little girl would be sporting that same glitter? Well, as much as I hate the thought of some psycho cele-Brittany being her role model... I do enjoy the thought of my daughter feeling beautiful.

You see Trinity wears glasses (which she already hates) and she is obsessed with the fact that she is an anomaly compared to the usual Dutch girl around town. Blond and blue eyes she is not! Instead of beating her down with the words from my mouth that speak to the contrary, I thought I would raise her up in her own eyes.

It is impossible to describe in one word. She's torn between being a tomboy and a girlie girl. She the middle child who doesn't get enough attention already. But for one night she was a pretty princess and while she was too shy to do the "Dance" she did get a tutu skirt to dance around in the privacy of her own home for her parents who think she is the most beautiful six year old in the whole world!

November already?

I am, as always, beyond amazed to realize that the end of the calendar year has come up again.

While this year has been the hardest yet, I still find myself with a certain amount of peace that I can only credit God with. Because I know that without Him, I would just be a puddle of gunk that seems to collect from nowhere.

I lost my daddy, a nephew, my stay-at-home status, among other things...

But still I managed to handle it all when I swore that I would have to depend on my husband to drug me up while I slept walked through all the motions.

I'm sacrificing, taking on more responsibilities and dealing with all the stuff that life brings every day. EVERY DAY!!! And I am dealing with stuff that doesn't happen everyday... like taking care of my dad's arrangements.

People have told me that they don't know how I do it... Well, that makes two of us. I can only describe it as the "Mom" in me. When you have little ones that need you, you take care of them... even when it is the last thing in the world that you want to do. You get yourself out of bed, go through the motions, pray you are one step ahead... and you just do it.

Life is getting so busy for our family. I don't manage to get everything done in time, but I do my best. I don't raise my children as much as I just keep them alive.

But out of the blue, sometimes I remember minutes before bed, that I still haven't gotten a hug or kiss from my kids. So I slow down and sit them in my lap and try to suck all the good feelings I can out of them. Thankfully they still let me.

That's worth getting up every morning isn't it?

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Daddy. I miss you!

Planning

You know... I am a big fan of knowing what is going on. I blame my parents for being soo spontaneous. I think it started when my parents would drive to NY. At the last minute when dad would come home from work on friday night, he would be like "Let's go to NY", so we would quickly pack and jump in the car and get there in about 13 hours.

Just ask my mom to tell you the "My Pampers.. My Pampers" story about me reminding them to pack my diapers on one of the million trips we took to NY from Michigan.

So when I got old enough to have my own voice... I would make them give me a time of when we would be going and they would say 7am. So imagine my surprise when they woke me up at 4am to get in the car for my 7am car trip. I would be so mad!

Anyways, I try to plan but am unable to stick to a schedule because I have to make room for the very spontaneous people in my life. My mom, my children... my husband (who probably isn't spontaneous as much as he doesn't communicate his plans to me so I am always surprised.)

This week I'm going to try to plan and stick to it. Wish me luck!

America

Today is election day. It is amazing to think that what we take for granted... people in other countries RISK their lives to do.

I imagine that this might be easier for me if I were a typical "Party" person. But I am not. I have never voted straight ticket and don't imagine that I ever will.

Even as a Christian, I don't allow my "label" to dictate who I am supposed to vote for. I like to think I am still pretty liberal... but the reality is that the conservative side of me seems to be growing. I blame the fact that I am a parent. Either way, I voted for who I thought would be the best in that position.

As a daughter of two immigrants. I know that this country is awesome. My parents were lucky enough to not have to risk life and limb to get here, but many others just like them did. I also know first hand that we are BLESSED to be here as opposed to other countries.

We may be affected by 9/11/01... but in Peru, they had terrorists for decades. The police carry machine guns and the government is so crooked, that no one trusts them.

Yes, we have doubts about our government as well, but for the most part we do not fear them for our personal safety.

So please take the next step, now that the voting is done. Support whoever OUR country has elected and set a good example for the next generation. Respect the process.

So really it is a mystery as to who I voted for. Yes I did vote and whether my vote is one of the ones that voted in the new president or kept him from taking THAT big of a majority... I'll support and pray for whoever wins.

You see, my kids are old enough to have their pics.... and we are a multi-party family. While John McCain owns pets galore (like us), he is liked because Republican sounds like the Republic Army from Star Wars.

Barack Obama is liked because his name sounds so darn cute coming out of a three year-olds mouth.

God Bless America.