Well the miss is 6. We had a carnival birthday party yesterday and it was LOADS of fun!
This will most likely be lots of rambling...I'm not the best at being direct/getting to the point. Sara, says I'm verbose...it's true! But I have so many thoughts right now...stemming from the homeless man I saw this afternoon on the street corner..and I have to get them out.
It's cold outside...VERY cold. The weather channel says that it feels like 17 degrees right now. Despite the bitter chill in the air...and the THICK layer of ice I had to scrape off my windshield...I still ran an errand this afternoon.
But the cold isn't so bad when you blast the heat in your car...coffee helps too. I saw many drivers holding Starbucks cups. Thank goodness for cars, coffee and heat.
I sat in the left hand turn lane...headed home....and I saw him. He was across the way...at the other side of the intersection. I've seen him once or twice before, I think. He seems to hang out on this particular street corner a lot. He looks to be in his 50's...maybe older. He just stands, very still...holding a sign that says that he is homeless.
He doesn't get pushy...he never even directly looks at anyone...he doesn't go up to the cars and stare at the drivers, as I have seen others do in the past....He just looks straight ahead...holding his sign.
Seeing him today though, made me teary-eyed. It is just so cold outside. He had an old, worn baseball cap on...but that was definitely not enough to keep his head warm. He had nothing covering his ears. His coat was not very heavy. Thank goodness he did have some gloves on.
I couldn't stop watching him out of the corner of my eye. So badly I wanted to drive over to him..tell him to get in my car...take him to my house and give him a nice hot meal....but since this world is a scary place....since I have young children in my home...and since I don't know anything about him...I didn't.....I wouldn't....but oh how I wanted to.
Maybe he really is the sweetest man...maybe he served our country once....maybe he wouldn't hurt a fly...but of course...there is no way to know that.
I did wipe a tear from my eye...when I realized that I really couldn't help him. I did watch one lady roll down her window and hand him some cash. That was nice. If I had had a cup of coffee with me...I would have given it to him.
I know that many people say that the people who hang out on the street corners with their signs...are just trying to get some easy money...just trying to hit up a bar for a drink...or get some cigarettes. But, I don't know how much I believe that....not sure if that is true in all circumstances...BUT I do feel that anyone who is out there in THIS WEATHER...really has no other choice.
As I finished driving to my WARM home...I couldn't shake his image out of my head. Funny thing is, this morning when I woke up in my comfy bed.....ate breakfast....and played with my children in various rooms in our house...I never once thought about anybody else...about any homeless people dealing with the cold weather....never even crossed my mind.
I know I have a compassionate heart...I know I have helped people....I know that there are causes that I care about....but it seems like I do it in spurts....I'll really rally behind something for a bit...but then I get caught up in my life...my day to day.....and I find that some time goes by....before I REALLY help another person (outside of my family).
But then I see someone...like this man on the street corner....and it hits me. Why is it that we have TO SEE IT before our hearts break?
How different would it be...if all street corners were lined with young children from Northern Uganda with signs asking for help....or if street corners were lined with abused children....or children looking for someone to adopt them....or homeless families.
Is that what we need before we take action?
If you woke up tomorrow morning...and a mother from Africa was in your front yard with her babies.....would you help her then?
Just something to think about.
I prayed for the man on the street corner. I prayed that he would have somewhere warm to sleep tonight. And I'll continue to pray for him.
Yes, you all know that I love American Idol and also that I adore Brooke White. I was such a fan of hers during her season of Idol. I loved her personality, her vocal style and her clothes. I especially loved her butterfly dress.
I took Isaiah to see The Wiggles last week. He is a HUGE, HUGE fan of the foursome, and I mean HUGE. You should see Isaiah rock out to The Wiggles.
Funny thing is, when the concert started, Isaiah froze up. Perhaps he was in shock or very star-struck. Whatever it was, he sat on my lap and clung to me for almost the entire show. I tried to get him to dance around and play his new Wiggles guitar that I just HAD to buy him before the show started. But Isaiah would have nothing to do with dancing.
In fact, when Murray, his favorite Wiggle, came down the aisle, stood right next to us, and waved hello, Isaiah just stared at him, with his jaw to the ground. But you know if Brad Pitt came right next to me and said hi, I would most likely have the same response.
Before the very last song started, The Wiggles asked everyone in the audience to stand up and dance along. Finally, Isaiah jumped off my lap and boogied down, just like he does in our living room.
And, since our seats were just four rows from the stage, and on the aisle, Isaiah got to move around and get pretty close to the stage. (Side note: My tickets were only $33 a piece.)
Anyway, I filmed Isaiah dancing and playing his guitar to the last song of the night. He's just so stinking cute.
I learned some valuable things this year at BlogHer 2009 -
1. I NEED a cell phone. It's true, I don't own a cell phone. I haven't owned one for over 4 years. Apparently that is a very rare thing these days. The car service people I talked to using the payphone at the airport, were in shock....so were the lovely reps at the T-Mobile booth, when I spun the prize wheel, hoping and praying to win a phone. I didn't win one by the way. But I did receive a container of mints...in the shape of a cell phone.
1.5 If I had had a cell phone, I would not have found it necessary to walk for miles and miles around the Sheraton, in horrible shoes, trying to locate Janice and Susan. And just so you know, those ladies can be HARD to find!
2. My favorite booth at the expo was the Hanes booth because it had cupcakes..tons and tons of little, delightful cupcakes. They were a smart bunch, those Hanes folks...and attracted many.....or maybe just many visits from me.
He's walking, so I HAD to make a little video!
Just promise me that you will ignore my messy house. It's easy to do, if you just focus on his cute little legs, instead of all of the toys strewn about. Deal????
Yep, I stole this idea from the BlogHer site, a couple other ladies did it, so in case you'd like to know a bit more about me, before bumping into me at BlogHer, here goes:
* Hi, Howdy, I'm Erica. Mommy of three little ones. I'm very sweet, sometimes pretty shy, and I can be loads of fun. I look MUCH younger than I really am, just so you know...in fact I am turning 30 this year. CRAZY!
* I work for 5 Minutes for Mom.
* In fact, I will probably spend most of my time at the side of Janice and Susan at their beck and call...I am their trusty assistant. :) We like to pretend I'm their little sister...once you see the three of us together, you'll understand.
* The girls will be doing tons of video interviews, so be sure to look for us if you'd like us to interview you and feature you on 5 Minutes for Mom.
* You will also find me singing my heart out during the karaoke party. At least that is the plan. :)
* I have a tendency to be pretty quiet around people I don't know, especially in large groups. But once I feel comfortable, you won't be able to get me to shut up.
* I love to people watch too, so sometimes I am off in my own world, just observing and taking it all in. Just hit me upside the head if you want to talk to me and I seem to be out of it. :)
* I will break out of my shell at the parties, I will...music and fun...I can't wait.
* At BowlHer, I will try to get pretty close to where Brooke White is performing, because I LOVE her, and I will try to convince Janice and Susan to interview her, so I can have a chance to let her know that I love her and that I loved the butterfly dress she wore on idol.
* I am horrible with names, so horrible...I'm sorry. :(
* I still have no idea what all I am going to wear....I have like no clothes, seriously...just tees and jeans with holes in the knees. I work from home and sometimes I stay in my pjs all day.
* I can't wait to meet all of you...and to put faces to all the lovely blogging ladies who I have gotten to know online.
* Oh, Oh.... I will be the one with the power strip. Yep, I plan on having mine with me at all times. So, if you have a low battery, look for me in the sessions, okay? I will happily let you plug in.
* I get to use my brand new Toshiba laptop at BlogHer! Oh, and while YOU are there, be sure to look around for three lovely ladies who will be wearing Toshiba buttons and carrying around Toshiba laptops and/or minis, because if you find one of them, you could LEAVE BlogHer with a new Toshiba laptop. SERIOUSLY!
* More about the Toshiba BlogHer hunt here.
* Oh, and again...I AM SOOOOOOOO EXCITED FOR BLOGHER!!!!
How quickly holiday weekends come and go. Did you all have a wonderful 4th? I hope that you get a chance to take part in the Hebrew National July 4th Virtual Backyard Barbecue over at 5 Minutes for Mom.
We had such fun during our 4th of July barbecue. The sun was shining, the kids were smiling and the food was divine!
Here's a fun little slideshow from my 4th of July barbecue sponsored by Hebrew National. ENJOY!
Audrey (5 1/2) has summer reading assignments for her new school. Have I told you that I am so excited that she will be entering kindergarten next year? There are 12 books that we are supposed to read together and a little assignment for her to complete at the end of each book.
But, I decided to take her reading assignments a step further and incorporate even more learning into the process. This summer, I am doing several units with all 3 kids, based on her summer reading assignments.
Three of her required books have to do with farms and farm animals. So, we are currently doing a farm theme. I have found such tremendous resources online.
Audrey will be learning a little more in depth about various farm animals. We will also work together on handwriting, spelling and phonics. Isaiah (2 1/2) and Christian (14 months) will be working on animal identification, colors, numbers and letters.
At the end of their unit, I will be taking them to a park in a neighboring city, that has a small child's farm.
The other night after dinner, since the kiddos were due for a bath, I had them do a fun activity. We used chocolate pudding to finger paint pigs, giving them a mud bath.
Audrey slopped the pudding all over, she is good at making a mess. :)
Isaiah made tiny blobs of pudding all over his pig.
Christian thought I was nuts, wanting him to paint with the pudding. He was the smart one, knowing that pudding is much more fun to eat!!!! Once he finished devouring his pudding, he decided to try to eat his picture. That boy loves to eat.
So far we have learned about sheep and pigs. We have made several crafts, sung songs, reviewed various vocabulary words and letters and watched several educational videos online, including one that showed a sheep shearing. They have been having lots of fun.
At the end of the unit, Audrey will complete a Farm Lapbook.
Here are just a few of the sites and activities that I have been using for our farm unit.
I HAVE to tell you that I am so excited, so very excited about the outcome of the RESCUE event that took place on Saturday, April, 25th, for Invisible Children. You may recall that over at 5 Minutes for Mom, I recently told you about the event and why it was so important.
Invisible Children is an organization determined to help the thousands and thousands of abducted children in Northern Uganda and The Congo, who are taken from their homes at young ages, desensitized to violence by witnessing horrendous beatings and killings, and then forced to fight as child soldiers for a terrorist, Joseph Kony.
Invisible Children decided that it is time that Joseph Kony is captured and arrested and his child soldiers are freed. So they organized an event called The RESCUE, where thousands and thousands of people gathered in over 90 cities all over the world to abduct themselves to bring media, political and cultural attention to the longest running war in Africa and to the situation affecting the 30,000 abducted child soldiers.
On April 25, 2009, I was a part of this incredible event in Denver.
We gathered at the state capitol and then walked for a couple of miles in a single file line, holding a rope, just as the abducted children are forced to do. Finally arriving at a nearby park, we set up our sleeping bags and blankets, wrote letters to our senators asking them to rescue the child soldiers in Africa, and waited for a political or cultural figure to come out and rescue us by pledging their support to do something about the situation in Northern Uganda and The Congo.
Here is a little video montage I made of the event in Denver. 1500 people showed up in Denver, for the RESCUE! 1500!!!!
The boys share a room. Christian's crib is on one end, while Isaiah's toddler bed is on the other.
Some nights we wait for one of the boys to fall into a deep sleep before putting the other to bed. Other nights they go to bed at the same time, usually staying up for a good 40 minutes or so just yapping away at each other.
Isaiah usually repeats Christian's ha-dah's and yi yi yi's. Sometimes there is laughter. It can be quite cute.
What really makes me melt though, is when late at night, before heading to bed myself, I quietly tip toe into their room to find Isaiah's bed empty.
And there, resting on his quilt on the floor, is Isaiah. He lays himself under the crib with his head barely peeking out......positioning himself almost directly under his brother. It is so cute.
I guess they won't have any problems when it comes time for bunk beds. I have a sneaking suspicion that Isaiah will choose the bottom bunk.
Well, The Cardinals put up quite a fight. It was such a good game...so very intense. But they didn't win! So sad.
The commercials weren't as thrilling either.
But these two, were my favorite ones:
I have many memories from my childhood, up to about age 9, of my mom. Those were the years before Multiple Sclerosis, so I know that that person I remember, truly was "my mom".
She had spunk, and I mean SPUNK!!! She was strong-willed and determined. She cherished time with her girlfriends, always having a game night with them. She loved to socialize!!!
I remember always doing fun things, going fun places. We would take walks a lot, even walking to the library at least once a week. My mom did a lot for me. She drove me from dance practice to play practice, recitals and performances. I was one of those children that could never sit still, so I know that I kept my mom busy!
She cared about my education. She made sure I went to church. She was even involved in Sunday School. You know, my mom was a lot of fun. ...a hoot. We played cards often. It was my mom who got me hooked on games, especially Rummy, Boggle and Scrabble. I have memories of her breaking out her Flashdance records, helping me get dressed in my leotard and leg warmers, and then joining me in crazy dancing all over the family room. The more I look back on those years, the more I see that I am a lot like my mom.
In 1989, we moved from our small town in Connecticut to a big city in Arizona. Things drastically changed for all of us. I was no longer the popular girl with many friends. Instead, I was the weird girl that didn't quite fit in. I was bullied a lot. That year, my mom was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and it slowly began to eat away at and change her.
She was very fatigued. She constantly had painful tingling sensations throughout her body. There were even mornings when she would wake up unable to see out of one of her eyes. Putting myself in her shoes, she must have been so terrified. She too moved away from her closest friends and family, she was diagnosed with a life changing disease and she had a ten year old and five year old to take care of.
As I hit my tween/teen years, I became an emotional mess, of course. My mom and I fought like crazy, we were both very stubborn. We both HAD to have the last word. And man, did we hurt each other gravely with our looks and our words. You know that saying, if looks could kill?
We threw such daggers at each other. I was already fragile. Being the rejected kid in town did a number on my self-esteem. The words, the hateful words we would shout at each other during our disagreements, just made the wounds worse.
I soon began to distance myself from my mother.
I wish that I could go back in time and smack my adolescent self upside the head. Here was my mom, away from the part of the country she had lived in her entire life, faced with a disease that many didn't know THAT much about. Her body constantly ached. She was horribly fatigued. Some mornings she would wake up unable to move one of her legs. She worked full time and would spend 45 minutes driving home in rush hour traffic, only to be greeted by my every demand, as soon as she walked through the door. She would quickly scarf down dinner and then get back in the car to take me shopping or to choir practice or wherever I just HAD to go at that VERY SECOND.
She sacrificed so much and I was VERY unappreciative. But I know we all are at that age. What I wish the most though, is that I had cherished those years with my mom. The Multiple Sclerosis hadn't completely destroyed her memory yet.
I wish I would have had long, bonding chats with my mom, where I could hear stories of her teen years. I want to know what high school was like for her. I want to know about all the crazy things that she did in her twenties. 
I want to know what it was like when I was first born. I want to know the silly things that I did as a toddler. I want to know what it was like for her raising a five year old and a newborn baby.
I want to know about all of the guys she dated and the first time her heart was broken. I guess, I just want to know who my mom was.
My mom and I are still distant, but it is no longer by choice. Once I had children, I realized just how much my mom did for me. You really can not fully appreciate the sacrifices your mom made, until you become a mother yourself.
That longing to know more about my mom's past has grown even stronger since having children. You know all those crazy moments as a young mother when you just don't know what to do, but thankfully your mom is a phone call away? Well, I don't have that luxury.
My mom has had Multiple Sclerosis for twenty years and I have watched it completely change her. I have watched her deteriorate before my eyes. Watching something like that, is not easy!
I will say, for having had MS for twenty years, my mom is doing GREAT! She can move around, although she does need assistance from a walker or scooter. She has lost her bladder control and quite a bit of weight. I think she is at a frail 89 pounds. She has to have a caregiver with her during the day while my dad works, but I think it's wonderful, because my mom is a social person, and if she was in the house all day long by herself, I know that she would lose her mind.
My mom is still a firecracker and she still says things that make you drop your jaw. She always will.
But the myelin in my mom's body is being ravaged by the disease and this does affect her memory and thought processes. My mom's short term memory is pretty much shot. She will go to a movie with my dad and will of course enjoy it, but once the credits start rolling, she has already forgotten what movie she saw or what it was even about.
Sometimes she forgets that I have children.
While my mom does still have a pretty good long term memory, it is scattered. She has forgotten many things. It must be so hard for her. I couldn't imagine. I am so thankful that I took up blogging, and that if I wanted to, I could print out every memory that I have on my blog. My mom didn't keep journals, I so wish she had.
I would love to get in touch with the women who were the closest to my mom when she was in her twenties and thirties. It would be great to just meet for lunch and hear the crazy stories, that I know my mom would have shared with me by now.
This May, I am finally taking part in the MS Walk. I have wanted to for several years now, but have always been either pregnant or with a young baby to take care of. This spring, I am finally getting out to the walk. I am walking for all the family members who have been affected by MS and who watch their loved ones try their best to battle a debilitating disease. I am walking for the daughters who will never truly know their mothers, because of this disease. I am walking for all of the courageous men and women who have been diagnosed with MS.
But mainly, I am walking for my mom....for my BRAVE, STRONG, BEAUTIFUL MOM!!!
Please visit my donation page, if you would like to help.
Thanks!
Back in 2006/2007, I was introduced to an organization, Invisible Children. I was deeply moved by their cause and became very passionate about spreading the word. My heart intensely ached for the children of Uganda. I wanted to go to Uganda SOOOOOO badly, to minister to those children. I signed up for a mission trip, but sadly didn't get enough funding to be able to go.
My loverly friend, Faerylandmom, watched my two older kids for a few hours twice last week. On one of those days, she caught the mister getting "boogie" with it. So she recorded it and I am so thankful that she did. I HAD to post the video here for grandma, because I don't think she has gotten to see it yet.
  |
Posts
All Comments
