I have a pedometer...

and it's possible that this could be my new obsession haha.

Turns out that right in line with my goal to start exercising the annual conference of the denomination I'm part of started  health initiative of their own. They invited all the pastors in our geographic area to get a pedometer, track our steps and exercise, and get money if we meet our goals.

Sign me up!! Today is my first day with the pedometer and apparently I'm suppose to get 7,000 steps, but since several thousands of my steps come from running and other exercise I get bonus points for those.

I'm pretty excited for the cash incentive to keep exercising, plus I'm down 3 lbs from where I was a week ago when I stopped drinking soda and started moving.

It might interest you to know that pastors are among the most unhealthy group of people in a profession. Our average age is really high (like in the 50 or 60s) I'm trying to help lower that average, and so much of our work involves sitting. Sitting, while reading, writing sermons, leading prayer, leading bible studies etc.

Add the stress and the bizarre hours and it's a recipe for a health disaster (plus it doesn't really inspire insurance companies to want to insure us a group). Hence pedometers for the pastors.

Right now I'm at 6326 steps for the day (over 3000 came from my run). I've been debating trying to read a book while walking around my backyard. I could gain a new reputation as the quirky pastor who wanders aimlessly trying to read and not fall down.

Marcus also started running last week and he's already lost 5 lbs it's kind of unfair that it seems so much easier for guys to lose weight. Here's to health (and some cash incentives) haha.

Total Steps for the day = 10,023

My children are thieves & other musings...

My children are thieves... or maybe they just like to borrow things.

It started with our camera. We haven't seen it since October. We've had to resort to using our super old digital camera from 2005, when 5 megapixels was super awesome.

In the last few weeks the following items have gone missing:

1. My make-up, all of it. I searched and searched and finally found it in our hamper.
2. My glasses, again I searched to no avail, I was forced to read an entire novel and write a sermon without them. It was tragic. Those turned up a couple of days ago in Eli and Emerson's hamper.
3. Marcus' ipod. Marcus got a new on in the meantime and then one day Emmy found the other one and ran out excitedly yelling "I find ipod".
4. An entire manilla envelope full of church bulletins. I like to pull out old bulletin's from time to time for inspiration. Alas, they are no where to be found (not even in any hampers).

They also take spoons with regularly to dig holes in the backyard or something. Plus Eli has figured out how to open the fridge so he's decided he should eat yogurt non-stop throughout the day.

:::

In other news Emerson knows that the store with the big red bull's-eye is Target. We dropped Marcus off early for work today so I could go to my Mom's group book club. Marcus got out at Target so he could wander around a little before walking over to his work. As Marcus got out Emerson said, "I want to go to Target."

It's weird the things they pick up on. We didn't teach her that.

:::
After my mom's book club we had an hour to kill before Marcus was off work (we stayed at the host's house for about 4 hours). I for some reason decided that I should take my 2.5 year old twins, without a stroller, by myself into the mall.

I knew having two unrestrained children was going to be a nightmare but I thought maybe, just maybe it would be ok.

They had moments when they both contently held my hands. Brief interludes of behaving but they are too curious for their own good. They would touch everything and say, "what's that, what's that, what's that..."

Eli did not want to hold my hand, Emmy wanted me to hold her, they would both take off in opposite directions, it was not good.

They did have a really cute moment when we arrived to the spot where they saw Santa, both of them asked, "Where Santa go"

I told them Santa went home and then Emerson recalled their entire visit with Santa, "I see Santa, I crying, Santa candy, markers, paper." I guess that was a pretty memorable experience for them.

The other new game they invented was yelling "Daddy" to any random man who passed by and then laughing hysterical. It was pretty awkward. They yelled "Daddy" to a man who was probably 70, the cashier who had been watching us, had a really horrified look on her face.

:::

About a week ago I went to go check on Eli and Emerson and saw that Eli's bed was totally empty. No blankets, no pillows, no Eli.

Then I discovered he had moved everything over to Emmy's bed and there they slept. One on each side (Please excuse the random amount of blankets they insist on using every blanket they can find). I also love that Eli sleeps with both hands behind his head. These are my favorite moments. I can just picture the random conversation they had that led to Eli moving everything he owned into Emerson's bed. 

 

Artists...

On Saturday I needed to make a banner for my church and it involved painting. I knew the only way to protect my banner from my children was to set them up with their own painting supplies and so the three of us had a wonderful saturday painting in our backyard.

They painted themselves too.

And their table

Isn't it beautiful

I was doing my own work. Every time they walked towards me with their hands totally covered with paint. I urged them to retreat back to their own work. Scary times, scary times, 4 little paint colored hands wanting to help mama. 

He also painted his face. 

They were both a huge mess, but this is progress for Eli. There was a time when this mess on his hands would have totally sent him over the edge. Although it didn't take long for him to request, "Wash hands, wash hands." 

Emmy could happily paint all day everyday if we would let her. 

To get Emmy to put on the paint shirt I told her it was her special "painting dress" I don't know if I've mentioned but lately she only wants to wear dresses. Every second of every day. So to get her to take off the Christmas dress she was wearing I told her about her very special pink painting dress.

Also nightgowns are "sleeping dresses". I'm not sure where her love of dresses came from not her mother. She's pretty much never seen me in a dress. On Sunday's when I put on my robe in church she gets really excited that "mama put on a dress too". 

She's so cute. 

And their painting pants were old christmas pajamas. 

It was a really fun afternoon and their bath was all kinds of interesting colors.

My banner turned out well too, free of toddler assistance (except for a little area that Eli got with a pair of scissors). 

My Kids...

Are super cute!

My mother-in-law took these pictures last weekend when they were visiting. 

In a totally unrelated note, Marcus did Zumba with me today on the xbox. It was one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen. His strategy was to just move around a lot. I finally found an xbox game I can beat him at.

This is day 3 without soda or chocolate and I've worked out 2 of the last 3 days. Pretty good so far on the lenten goals. 

Parenting differences...

Marcus and I parent in different ways.

Neither way is better than the other but we just have very different styles. (And Marcus' is probably often more fun for the kids).

I think, because Marcus was a stay at home dad this has influenced their behavior in interesting ways. Have you all noticed that guys play different.

With my youth group last year I had 10 teenage boys and 3 teenage girls. For some reason the boys could not get enough of wrestling and playing physical high intensity games. I hadn't ever really be around large quantities of teenage boys (I have 1 brother and 4 sisters) and this was an interesting discovery for me, and at times perplexing.

Anyways, I believe that a direct result of Marcus being a stay at home dad is evident in how they play. For example, both my kids love to wrestle. From the time they could move Marcus taught them that if a person lays on the floor then their fair game.

This is fun for him, not so much for me.

Another thing that cracks me up is that Eli and Emerson have a ton of balls and they are encouraged to throw them (this was put in place because Eli struggles with a tendency to throw everything).

So from the time they were young they've know what catch is and that you throw balls back and forth. When their cousin of the same age was here in November they tried to play catch with her and the balls just kept hitting her in the face. My sister explained that she had never played catch before haha.

Another example, Marcus has literally worn holes in the knees of several pairs of pants. Once again since our children have been mobile Marcus has been on his hands and knees chasing them, playing puppy, and all sorts of other things.

I on the other hand have not worn holes in the knees of any of my pants.

Today, was another clear example of our differences.

I came home at 4:30 from a meeting and the house was quiet, no one ran to greet me at the door (which is unusual). I found Eli and Emerson in the bathtub.

When I asked why the were taking a bath at such a random time of day, Marcus casually mentioned that they had been running through the sprinklers. In February...

Marcus was messing with our sprinkler system earlier today to try and get the timers right and I guess while I was gone they turned on and the three of them decided February 23rd was as good of time as any to play in the water.

It's a good thing we live in CA, haha.

Pastor & Mom: The Follow Up...

Turns out Marcus wasn't able to leave work early so I was on my own with Eli and Emerson for the Ash Wednesday Service this evening.

It started out mostly okay. We went over to the church an hour early so I could do some set-up and prep. Eli & Emmy love the church and they had a great time running all over.

Of course for some reason they decided to revert to babyhood and played with the potting soil in a plant. They know better. I have no idea what they were doing. I swept and of course their response to that was, "See, all better mama." (Well in fairness that was Emerson's response, Eli said "Sorry mama".

The service was interesting. It was a one woman show tonight.

Marcus wasn't there to do my audiovisual stuff, not the mention he wasn't there to handle the children.

My music person wasn't there either.

So it was all on me.

The powerpoint and music would have been enough without Eli and Emerson...

Eli wandered around up by the pulpit, took my keys and was swinging them around loudly, and he also may have turned my microphone up... and Emerson just wanted me to hold her the whole time.

THE ENTIRE TIME

Eli eventually went to sit with his sunday school teacher and once he stopped moving he ended up like this:

Notice he got his ashes, but my sweet boy needs his sleep and the service started at 7pm which is his bedtime.

One less child to worry about. 

Which brings me back to Emerson. Did I mention I held her the entire time.

Through my sermon, during the ashes, during communion, during all of it. 

You have no idea how incredibly exhausting and distracting this is.

Remember, she's not an infant. She's almost three years old, and she can talk, and intentionally grab things, she asks me questions in the middle of sermons and prayers, she wants up and down, and down and up.

I somehow managed to get through the service. I heard good things but maybe my congregation is just being kind haha. My back is in pain, but I did it.

As an aside Emerson had her first communion tonight.

Since I was holding her as a I served she saw everyone else getting bread and grape juice and she wanted some too.

And since in my tradition we have an open communion table and all are invited, including children she had communion.

They grow so fast haha I didn't have my first communion until 7th grade.

Pastor & Mom...

Tonight at 7 I have my ash wednesday service.

Marcus is scheduled to work until 8.

Right now Eli and Emmy are coming to the church with me for the service.

I'm thinking of about 3 million ways this could be a nightmare.

Not to mention Marcus does the audiovisual stuff on sundays. Since it's a wednesday I have no idea who to expect, this could be very interesting.

Here's hoping Marcus can get off early and save...er I mean help me.