Major Mama

We just finished an extremely intense week - coupled with my iPhone out of space for new photos and my Hunger Games obsession - I don't have new pics of the boys. That being said, I'm having SO MUCH FUN with them - I just find that I pinch myself - they are so cute, and interesting, and funny, and interactive....  Promise pics and videos soon! 

As I mentioned, we just finished a pretty crazy week.  In Virginia, we ran a "hostel" in our home, with visitors staying with us very regularly.  I realize that I really miss that!  We have a 3.5 bedroom apartment, so it's not tiny - but we don't have a dedicated guest room.  Anna, our friend and babysitter, is living in Wellington (from UK) for 1 year of ministry training.  Her parents came to visit her and stayed with us for 1 week last week, so I fixed up the boys playroom with our queen-sized futon.  It wasn't fancy, but I think it worked, and we really enjoyed hosting again.  It was really great to get know Anna's parents and we are looking forward to planning a trip in their direction some day (they live near "The Hundred Acre Wood" from Winnie the Pooh!).  We have a few more visitors coming over the next few months, so we'll hopefully improve our hosting capabilities!    We also had a gathering of 30-40 people for our church small group dessert party.  It was great, and I feel so continually thankful for the community of friends God's given us here in Wellington - wow!  

On top of all of the happenings of the past week, Jason was SUPER busy with "bigwig" visitors (Kiwis don't use the term - is it an American thing?) to Wellington, and was working a lot.  I can tell I'm pretty spoiled because I can feel the weight of responsibility and work when he is not here.  I have friends that say they like when their husbands leave for a bit because the husbands can be like another child.  That's not my reality - Jason is so amazing and we are a really good team together.  I take it for granted, until he's not there.  On Sunday, Jason brought his guests to Wairarapa (Wine Country) while I braved church without him.  Liam takes a dedicated nap from 10am-noon so Sunday mornings are pretty challenging.   We made it, but it was EXHAUSTING...  In some ways, I'm looking forward to him dropping that morning nap. 

I went  to dinner with Jason's work visitors, and it was nice, but I realized how removed I am from his work.  We always worked together in the past, and although I'm working 4-6 hours a week, I'm doing different things from him, and I realize the chasm has grown between his professional life and me.  I'm dorky enough about his work, that I can carry on a conversation, but I'm not nearly as interested as I used to be.   That being said, I was recently promoted to Major in the Air Force Reserves.  This happens about once every 4 years that I get to out-rank Jason.  It's fun, I'm not going to lie, but perhaps not as cool as it sounds.  I find that I somewhat cling to my identity in the Air Force - made apparent by how I introduced myself to his co-workers by my job in the Air Force. 

At one point, Jason's boss asked me what I do during the day.  It was a harmless question, but I was really at a loss for words.  What do I do all day?  What do I do all day???  I'm not sure what I sputtered out (something about skyping and playing with the kids), but it did get me thinking - what exactly do I do?  Having thought about it some more, I basically perpetually do laundry, dishes, cook, wipe poopy bottoms, play with the boys, do puzzles, take them for walks and runs, go to museums, the library, parks, swimming lessons, grocery shopping, errand running, I do our finances, try to blog, skype, try to meet with friends where I can...  I don't know... I don't know how to concisely wrap that up into a nice sentence and make it sound a little sexier...

At the end of the day, I pinch myself that I get to be with these boys all day.   I'm thankful for the 4-6 hrs I work a week, but I think even without that, I really love being home.  I really hate to get wrapped into a stay at home vs working mama discussion.  Each mommy has specific circumstances and is wired in a specific way that may make the outcome different.   As mommies, we have enough "mom guilt" regardless of working or staying home, so we hardly need to heap criticism on fellow mommies.  It just makes me cling to God more as I realize my own frailty and weaknesses. I'll never be a perfect mom, but I love to run to God in my weaknesses and He gives the grace and strength to raise these boys. 

Here is a scanned copy of some important paperwork I needed to send back to DC for my promotion. Unfortunately we ran out of paper and all I had was the back of my Children's Church lesson...