today

There was nothing very special about today.  Nothing to make this day stand out in my mind years from now.  In fact, I'd guess that the entire contents of this day will be completely forgotten in less than a year's time.  It just seems so sad to think that all of the laughs and growing up that took place today will vanish into the vault of time so soon. 

I'm listening to piano music so of course I'm feeling nostalgic and sentimental.  Is it even possible to listen to piano without a lump in your throat??  Not in my experience....

So I want to preserve a few little moments from the day.  Because I don't want to forget how Scout put his pajamas on inside out and fell over from laughing so hard.  Or Flora's intent expression as she make a perfect bed for Olga and tucked her in to sleep.  I definitely don't want to forget the perfect kiss -- kissy noise and all -- that Timber planted on my cheek before bedtime.  I want to remember Scout crawling into bed with me this morning and gently stroking my cheek when he thought I was asleep.  And the BIG hug Flora gave me tonight -- her perfectly pudgy little arms wrapped tight around my neck.  I don't want to forget the way Timber ran and threw himself into my arms when I sat in the hallway and held my arms out to him.  I want to remember that I had the opportunity to carry all three of my babies at some point today.

There were a lot of not-so-lovely moments today too......a LOT.   But I don't mind forgetting those.    

better than swan lake

I walked by Flora and Scout's room one night after they had gone to bed.  They always play for a while before they fall asleep and I've always wished I had a hidden camera in their room to catch their silliness.  On this particular night I overheard Flora tell Scout that she wanted to do more ballet.  "C'mon, Scout, let's do our ballet again!"  Well, THIS I had to see!  I opened their door and found them both down to their underwear on Scout's queen-size bed.  Scout stood behind Flora holding her by the waist while she hopped around on one foot with her little hands flourishing.  I'm not sure if this is funny to read but it was hilarious to watch.  It still would have been funny if they were clothed but the fact that they were both in their underwear with their pudgy little bellies and Scout's little bird legs really made it great. 

it wasn't great, but....

UPDATE:  Scout, Timber, and I all got the stomach bug too.  In retrospect, it DID suck.  The timing couldn't have been better though.  We were able to stay home all week without missing any Christmas festivities.

Top Ten Reasons Why Flora Having the Stomach Flu Didn't Suck:

10.  We probably saved a little bit of grocery money this week since she didn't eat anything for two days.
9.  The lack of food thinned out her face just a tad -- making her eyes look especially HUGE.
8.  No food = no poo-poos for to wipe.
7.  She was too weak and sick to use her whiney voice.
6.  Puke is gross so I may have lost a pound or two this week too.  Who wants to eat when there's a good chance you'll be cleaning up puke in the near future?
5.  Flora was super cuddly and a Mommy's girl while she was sick.
4.  She watched tv on the couch ALL DAY and I didn't feel one ounce of guilt or shame.  You're SUPPOSED to veg and watch tv when you're sick, right???
3.  I've been looking for a good excuse to clean and disinfect the entire house!  (*sarcasm*)
2.  Flora actually napped during the two days that she was sick.  That's a rare occurrence these days.
1.  PAJAMA DAYS!!  Flora, Scout, and Timber have been in the same clothes (pajamas) for the past two and a half days.  Maybe I've been too.....no, I haven't.  This sickness has drastically reduced our dirty laundry -- I might declare Monday through Wednesday pajama days every week!

nothing they say surprises me anymore

Some funny and just plain weird stories:

I was explaining to Flora and Scout why they shouldn't play with the outlets.  I talked about electricity and how it would shock them and feel like a big poke (what they call a shot).  So when I was done with my lecture, Flora nodded and nonchalantly said, "It's too bad we can't just put some poop in it" as she walked away.  Baffled, I asked for clarification but didn't understand her response any more after she'd explained it.  "Yeah," she said, "it would be better if we could just put some poop in it and it wouldn't hurt us."  I'm still confused about this.....

The kids video chat with Chris' parents a lot on his iPad using Facetime (like Skype).  Today I was watching a youtube video about the Denver Broncos.  Scout walked up to the computer just as they were interviewing Tim Tebow and watched for a minute before waving and saying, "Hi!" to Tebow.  A few seconds passed and then Scout leaned over to me and whispered, "Why isn't he saying hi to me?"  Haha.....apparently he thought we were chatting. 

And in related news, every time I watch a Broncos game or read Broncos news I start calling Timber "Tebow."  It's the T and the middle B that confuse me, I think.  Timber blows his nose now!  It's the cutest thing -- I need to try to get it on video.  He'll put the tissue up to his nose and blow air out of his nose.  Then he runs the tissue to me with a big smile and claps enthusiastically for himself after I take it from him.  Seriously.the.cutest.thing.EVER.   

A funny story that is not kid-related -- We have a light-sensitive timer for our outdoor Christmas lights that is supposed to kick on at dusk and off at dawn.  Totally cracked me up to come home the first night our lights were up to the lights blinking on and off.  Apparently our timer was placed too close to the lights themselves so they kicked ON and then the light they produced prompted the timer to turn OFF which then caused them to turn back ON and so forth.

Scout wanted to ask me a secret today.  I leaned over and he whispered, "Do you like panties?" in my ear.  "Uh, well, I like to wear panties," I answered.  Then he wanted to ask another secret.  "Mommy, are you wearing panties?" he whispered.  Seriously?  Haha.....I can totally embarrass him with this story someday!      

And a final funny story -- Chris just walked by and read over my shoulder briefly.  He saw the word "Tebow" and asked why I was writing such a long blog about Tim Tebow.  Then I got the giggles thinking about how funny that would be for me to write a whole post on Tim Tebow.  Chris egged me on by providing some opening sentences like, "I'd like to share about someone very special in my life right now....." etc. 

Hm....this was probably a "you had to be here" moment.  It doesn't really translate well to text.  And now it appears that I have written most of this post about Tim Tebow.  Oh well.  Woohoo!  Go Broncos!   

fifteen minutes

Tonight after I put the kids to bed I set the timer and lay down on the living room floor and accepted myself.  For fifteen minutes my house was clean enough, my kids didn't watch too much tv, I was crafty, and I wasn't a pound over my ideal weight.  I probably had perfect hair too.  No tv, no computer, no phone, and no music. 
Even when the kids are sleeping -- especially when the kids are sleeping -- I never stop to be.  There's too much to DO to just BE.  Every spare moment is filled with things I need to do or things I want to do or things I should do.  Or things I don't need to do or want to do or should do but that someone has asked me to do. 
And so for fifteen minutes tonight, I stopped to be.

I thought about our house.  I wondered how many families had lived under our roof.  What joys and sorrow had these walls witnessed?  Surely we were one of the lucky ones.  Life is pretty easy for us. 

I thought about how sad it will be to leave this house someday.  All of our kids were brought home from the hospital to this house.  They have colored the walls with giggles, wonder, and, well, crayons. 

I thought about Christmas and family and how thankful I am that my idea of home isn't linked to a specific house but to the warm feeling I get when I'm with my awesome family.  I thought about how these are really the best years of our lives.

I thought about Lois.  I humbly realized how blessed I am to have these fifteen minutes and wondered how she would have spent them.  I thought about all the conversations we had at the library when I was pregnant with Scout.  She asked so many questions about what it was like to be pregnant.  I never thought to warn her that being pregnant could take her life.  I cried a little.  I started humming the tune to "The Sharp Knife of a Short Life."

I thought about God's faithfulness.  I tried to find an adjective to put before faithfulness and couldn't think of anything that could really describe the extent of His faithfulness to my family.  I thought about His awesome, humbling Grace and His loving Wisdom.  I wondered how Jesus would have mothered three small children.  I decided his house always would have been clean....but then I decided maybe not.  I thought about Heaven and how nice it will be to live in God's house.

I thought about the popcorn ceiling.  A lot.  It's not ideal but I really don't think they're as bad as people make them out to be.  It's kind of like hair on the head of our room.  A buzz cut maybe.   

I thought about how I wanted to blog more often and decided I would blog about my fifteen minutes.  I wanted to jump up and start writing right away but I forced myself to stay on the floor until the timer beeps. 

I thought about each of my kids and how awesome they all are.  Flora, Scout, and Timber all have their little quirks, both good and bad.  I'm so thankful that I get to be the Mommy who knows each of those quirks by heart.

And then I heard the timer beep and I thought, "What am I baking?" 

deep thoughts with scout borkert

Scout:  Why do we give each other hugs before bed?
Shane:  Because we love each other.
Scout:  That's right!  Because Jesus fixed us!

****

Mommy:  Scout, what do you want to thank God for?
Scout:  The truth.

****

Scout:  Mommy, I'm at work.
Mommy:  Ok, what are you doing at work today?
Scout:  I'm at the church fixing the people that are broken. 

****

Haha.....I don't know where he gets this stuff!!  I don't recall ever telling him any of those things or even using those phrases around him.  I certainly don't tell him that Daddy is fixing broken people at work....silly kid.

I'm flyyyyyyyyying!

Hey, I've got a great idea!  Let's pack a whole bunch of people into a skinny metal tube with a pointed end and hurl it javelin-style across the country.  Or across the world.  Shoot, we'll hurl it anywhere the group of people collectively decide to go (as long as they pay us for the ride). 

Seriously, air travel is absolutely amazing and completely insane.  It was ludicrous for man to dream he could fly and ridiculous that he actually accomplished that dream.  Flying -- FLYING -- is now a mundane event for many people.  We say things like, "Oh, I'm FLYING to Dallas tomorrow" and fail to grasp what an astounding feat we are describing.  That we are able to soar over cities and mountains and rivers and farmlands boggles my mind.  We peacefully float over a picturesque world as we are transported from one place to another.  Is this a dream??  Have you ever dreamed you could fly?  Not like "I Have A Dream" dreaming, but a real dream where you are really able to fly?  Flying dreams are so cool.  I haven't had many but I remember two flying dreams very vividly -- it was awesome to fly.   

Today I flew for the 9th and 10th times and my face was plastered to the window the entire time.  It's a good thing we had to change flights and switch which side of the plane we were sitting on, otherwise I would have ended up with a serious pain in my neck.  I don't seek out opportunities to fly and I'm never excited about upcoming air travel but once I'm actually in the airplane I'm totally a fan.  Take-off is my favorite.  It's such a rush!  You zoom, zoom, zoom faster and faster and then you're up, up, up and away!  I have a goofy grin on my face during take-off.  Watching the houses turn into neighborhoods, then cities, and then disappear under a blanket of clouds feels more like a dream than reality..... 

Speaking of clouds -- I have to give major props to our pilots today.  When we landed in Dallas the fog was so thick that I only saw the runway seconds before we landed on it.  I thought we were in a cloud and would soon drop out over the city before landing, but no.  I said, "Oh!  That's the runway!" and then our wheels were touching down.  Of course, they probably had a better view from the cockpit but I was still impressed that pilots with all their technology can basically land a plane blindfolded.  I'm glad I didn't know how foggy it was -- I probably would have been nervous.  As it was, I only had about two seconds to be nervous about landing in such foggy conditions. 

I could go on......but I won't.  I'll simply summarize by stating that I am completely in awe of air travel.  And acapella.  Have you watched The Sing-Off????  These people make MUSIC with their VOICES.  Drums, guitars, cellos, violins, crickets (yep, there were cricket noises on tonight's show) -- blows my mind!!  People are so talented!  Hm.....must have been a very creative Creator to create such creative creators.  Just sayin'.    

I'll stop now.  Silly rambling blog post.  The kids are with my parents all week so I don't have my usual material to work with.  Today's blog was brought to you by the letter A -- air travel and acapella.  We'll see what tomorrow b-b-brings.

Ok, now I'll really stop. 

today and yesterday and a few days ago

So the kids and I ran some errands this morning.  First of all, let me say that it could have gone a LOT worse.  All three kiddos were in good moods and that makes a HUGE difference.  First we went to Babies R Us.  Timber rode in the cart while Scout and Flora walked.  They didn't have what I was looking for but we stayed for a while to look at the toys.  Flora was very good about staying with me but Scout would get caught up in "toy mode" and not keep up with us or disappear around a corner.  Once I caught sight of him dashing around a lady in the center aisle saying, "I have to go this way to my Mommy!"  He was all the way in the back of the store before I finally caught up to him.  Two ladies were asking him where his mommy was -- haha -- uh, that would be me.  So then we left (but not before we rode the coin operated car in the entry) but when we got to the car Scout realized that he had left his sunglasses inside.  Awesome.  Turn our little caravan around and head back inside.  Flora and I searched the toy aisles for Scout's glasses while he continued to get distracted by the toys.  Eventually we found them in the book aisle wedged in between Goodnight Moon and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

So then we left again and headed to Hobby Lobby.  I remembered Hobby Lobby's carts were very small but in my mind they were still big enough for all three of my kids to ride.  Not exactly.  I put the two most destructive Borkerts (Scout and Timber) in the cart while Flora obediently walked next to the cart and didn't touch anything.  I don't know how many times I repeated, "Don't touch ANYTHING" while we were in there but it worked.  We got in, found what we needed, and got out with no broken glass or toppled displays.  Whew!  Target was our last stop.  I had purchased some chocolate covered pretzels at Hobby Lobby to ward off any hungry monsters so I was planning on a trouble-free trip.  We went inside and I had Timber and Flora buckled into a big cart before realizing one of Scout's buckles was broken, SO we switched everyone over to a different cart.  Then we went to the photo area to get some pictures printed and I discovered that I had left my camera in the van.  We turned our semi-truck/limo cart around and headed back out to the car to get my camera.  Thankfully the rest of our Target shopping went smoothly and we got home just in time for lunch and naps.  And I'm exhausted.  Remember what it was like to run errands without kids?  It was so simple.....but not as much fun!

Okay.....some other stories ---

I had to take Flora and Timber with me to get Scout's flu shot.  He bravely got his shot with no tears whatsoever.  Flora kept bragging on how brave he was.  She got her flu shot a couple weeks later....it was a totally different scenario.  She screamed and thrashed on the table before the nurse was able to give her the shot and wailed afterward.  I know I probably seemed like Bad Mommy but I couldn't help laughing at her theatrics.  I didn't tell Scout that Flora had cried because I thought she would be embarrassed and she didn't mention it to him when we got home either.
Today (three days later) we drove past our doctor's office and Flora said, "Hey!  That's the doctor's office where I got my poke!" with a smile that slowly faded as she seemed to be remembering the ordeal (Poke = Shot).  Then she made the following confession to Scout in hushed tones:
Flora:  Scout.....
Scout:  What?
Flora:  I cried when I got my poke.
Scout:  Oh....was it a big poke?
Flora:  No.....just a little poke but I still cried.  But YOU didn't cry when you got your poke.  You were so brave.
Scout:  Oh....yeah.
I don't know why but I just thought this little conversation was SO cute!  She was confessing that she had cried but was still proud of Scout for not crying.  They are just TOO adorable!!

And one more story of how sweet they can be to each other.  Yesterday morning Scout said, "Flora, we can watch your princess show if you want."  And Flora replied, "No, I think I want to watch the Stuck Truck Dora show." (Scout's favorite).  Granted, this was a rare occurrence (thus earning a spot on the blog) -- most mornings consist of them fighting over which show to watch and me ultimately picking the show because they can't agree.  Yes, that's right, we start each morning with a tv show.  I really need that half hour or so to finish waking up..... 

Now a funny story -- the kids were playing in Flora and Scout's room yesterday while I was busy setting my fantasy football lineup.  When I finished I went to see what they were doing (it sure SOUNDED like a good time!!).  I entered the room to find Scout in his underwear, Flora in a swimsuit, and both of them wearing snow boots -- "Superhero Boots" according to them.  Flora's not mad in the pic on the right....this is her Superhero pose! 

my kind of prince

Flora and Scout were princesses tonight.  They dressed up in their fancy princess dresses and sunglasses (because apparently it's very sunny at The Ball) and packed lunches in their pumpkin trick-or-treat buckets (because apparently The Ball is not providing hors d'oeuvres).  Timber is trying to escape the whole princess scene.  He doesn't get it yet.



Flora was in a hurry to get to The Ball.  "Hurry, Mommy," she said, "I have to get to The Ball to meet the prince!"
Curious, I asked, "Why do you want to meet the prince?" 
"Becaaaaase," she very patiently explained to me, "princesses NEED princes."

"Well," I pried, "WHY do you need a prince, Princess Flora?"
I was very happy when she replied, "Because I can't make my OWN dinner!"
That's my girl!

yeah....maybe

Our tv remote (the 'mote) is missing.  We've searched everywhere for it (well, everywhere except the place it is, obviously).  Flora and Scout came up with some creative ideas about where the remote might be while we were searching:

Flora:  "Maybe it had to go potty and it fell in the toilet."

Scout:  "Maybe the 'mote monster took it!"

Flora:  "Maybe it saw a squirrel and ran outside to chase it and it got lost."

Scout:  "Maybe I'M the 'mote!"

Hmmmm.......yeah, maybe.......