Joy Groblebe

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…barbies, dress-up, and the “bieb”…

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To be six years old again.  What do you remember from when you were six?  My memories include being in first grade with Sister Theresa Lampkin at Christ the King Catholic school near Portland, Oregon. Making up dances and playing on dirt hills in my friend Tarah’s backyard. Playing with Barbie’s and Cabbage Patch Kids while listening to Wham! at Katy’s house.

Playing dress-up with Shannon and cooking food with my friend Amy and her mom.  Joey was this kid a few years older than me and he always “bugged” me on the bus.  And my Aunt Ellie lived down the street.  We’d play house under her deck and make mud pies with filberts in them.  And of course, that’s right about the time I got my first “tape” and had my first celebrity music crush – Michael Jackson, Thriller (compliments of my very hip and cool Aunt Melanie).

Good times…

Fast forward to today, I have my own six year old.  She’s a first grader in Mrs. Jacob’s class who loves reading and is a great helper.  Delaney takes ballet, enjoys being outside and likes to play on our rock pile.  Barbie’s and baby dolls reign supreme in our playroom. We have a ton of dress-up clothes and Laney dresses up her little sister Sara almost everyday.  She loves to help me make dinner and is an excellent egg-cracker.

The big news of late, she just discovered her first “music crush”…his name is Justin Bieber.

Oh Lord…help us.  The Bieb has invaded the Groblebe house.  What Michael Jackson and Wham! were to me, Justin Bieber is to Delaney.

We downloaded “Never Say Never” onto my iphone. (While I don’t think all of his songs are six year old appropriate, this one is really fun.)  I was the coolest mom ever.  We bought a Justin Bieber book at the book fair at school.  Again, coolest mom ever.  She got invited to a Justin Bieber birthday party complete with dance-off and disco ball.

I found this picture she drew of her and Justin…

You’ll notice, when she writes his name it’s Justin “Bever”.  So cute.

Brings back memories.

I told some friends last night, now that I have kids in elementary school, I finally feel like a “real” mom.  Now that they are experiencing things that I can remember experiencing as a kid it feels like things are beginning to come full circle.  Makes me think about how my mom feels, seeing her “little girls” become moms themselves.

It’s scary sometimes (ok a lot of the time) to have daughters.  There are so many things, people, products, etc. out there trying to get control of our little girls.  Mindy at The Domestic Executive did a great job a few weeks ago talking about this very subject (including the Bieb) and how we as parents can protect them from the crazy stuff society is throwing at them.  If you are a mom or dad of little girls I encourage you to read it.

In a few weeks we leave for our first road trip to Texas since having four kids.  (What are we thinking?)  I know that Justin Bieber, his music, his book and who knows what else, will be accompanying us on the journey and keeping the kids entertained. He’s definitely no Michael Jackson but that’s ok, because things have come full circle…and my Delaney will be thrilled.

…why you don’t need a button down shirt to worship God…

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There is a certain stress that affects many christian mothers.  A topic that causes fear and strikes panic in the heart of even the strongest among us.  The simple question, “Has old was your child when they accepted Christ into their life?”

I admit, this has really freaked me out.  Who wants to be the only mom at MOPS without a story about “how little Johnny asked Jesus into his heart when he was four”.  And of course, we all have the friend whose son asked Jesus into his heart when he was three or whose daughter not only asked Christ into her life at age 2 1/2 but also witnessed to a family of four who lived next door and brought all of them to faith as well.

Once, when Jacob was four, we were sitting on the couch and he said to me, “Mom, I want to be a christian.”  My heart started to race.  I had no idea what to say.  My mind went blank – BLANK I tell you.  This was it, the moment I’d been waiting for and I didn’t have a clue what to say or where to start.  I finally managed to squeak out, “Jacob, do you want to pray with me to ask Jesus into your heart?”  He looked at me, with his big eyes wide and his long eyelashes fluttering and said, “No, I think I’ll just have a sandwich.”  And just like that, the moment was gone.

After that, I started doing my research.  I bought some books about how to witness to your kids and did online research.  I prayed that God would give me the right words and provide a time and place where I could lead my little ones to Christ.  Strangely enough, the more I looked for the opportunity, the less I saw one.  I finally had to realize – this is not about me.  (Shocker, I know.)  This is not about me “making” my little kiddo come to the Lord.  What God really wanted from me was for me to be a good example of what it means to live an authentic, real life with Jesus.

Fast forward to this last Sunday morning.  I laid Jacob’s clothes out and included a black and grey button down shirt.  He came in my room and said, “Mom, why do I always have to wear shirts like this to church?”  I told him that we love God so much we want to look our best when we visit His house.  Jacob said, “Mom, God doesn’t care what you wear when you go to worship him. He just cares that he lives in your heart.”  He then went on to explain to me that God does live in his heart, because he invited him to live there at the end of last year.  And because of this, he didn’t need to wear a button down shirt to church…

I teared up and felt so proud of my little guy.  He’s always been the “spiritual” one of our little brood.  Always wanting to know more about the bible, prayer and Jesus – even when he was just a little tiny guy.   In typical Jacob fashion, he found God on his own time, in his own space, and quietly went about the business of asking him to “live in his heart”.

So long story short…I now have my story for MOPS.  But it is a little different in that he was 8, not 4 and it really had very little to do with me.

And yes, he still had to wear the button down shirt…

…perfect or nothing…

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OK….so here’s one thing I’ve got to relax on.  I’ve got 10 blog posts half written but nothing “finished”.  So, I didn’t post anything at all.  If it wasn’t “perfect”, I didn’t want to post it.  And, I’ve gone two weeks with nothing!  So, note to self, it doesn’t need to be perfect.  Just write it and post it.  Thus, imperfect posts coming soon, stay tuned…

…the invasion of 2009…

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For a long time, Travis and I decided NO video games in our home.  Why?  Not because we think they are evil or morally wrong, nothing like that. (Let’s be honest people, just like a gun isn’t inherently evil, neither is a video game system…it’s how you choose to use it.  Ok, off the soapbox.) I think it was more that we have very little interest ourselves in that type of thing.

So, we were plodding along fine in our video-game-less world until Christmas, 2009…

My Amma (the kids great-grandma) knew they wanted a Wii more than anything in the world and asked, if she gave us $150 would we pay for the rest and get the kids one as a Christmas present? Well, let’s just say it’s near impossible to say no to Amma plus we knew how over the moon Jacob and Delaney would be when they opened up a Wii on Christmas morning.

I remembered when Amma (yes, she’s been at this for 20+ years now) bought my sisters and I our first Nintendo.  It was the Christmas when I was in 6th grade.  Literally, for at least 8 days after Christmas, we played Super Mario Brothers all day every day trying to get to world 8 (I think) and save the princess.  Good times….

So, after careful consideration (and not wanting to disappoint Amma) we decided to take the plunge…and into video game land we went.

For the most part, the Wii has been a good addition to our home.  It was joined by a Ninteno Dsi a few months ago and really, they are both pretty fun.  Delaney has for the most part lost interest. I got a Wii Fit game last year and I’m going to start doing it…tomorrow.  🙂  When it comes to Jacob though, he LOVES his Wii, his Nintendo DSi, playing on my iphone…any kind of game that involves a screen.  His Aunt Sacha is one of his heroes – she works for Nintendo.

We watch the amount of time he spends and definitely censor the games he plays (rated “E” only). He doesn’t play before school and usually only for about 30 minutes in the afternoons.  Sometimes though, when we have days off school or other special occasions we have an “all day Wii day”.  (Remember, I work at home.  I can admit it.  I have been known to use TV, movies, Wii, etc. as a babysitter.  There, I said it. I’m not ashamed.)

Right now, our favorite games are Sonic and the Black Knight and Mario Galaxy…still trying to figure out Epic Mickey. Do you have video games in your house?  How do you fit them in with everything else?

And here’s what I really want to know…what was your favorite game growing up?  I’m going to go with Pitfall…hands down, Pitfall.

…knocking over tables, at church…

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Sunday we went to church as a family.  (Yay for us!)  We were late…again.   (Boo for us!)

Monday through Friday we are up and at ’em early every day.  Travis is out the door by 6:45, Jacob and Delaney by 7:30. Fed, dressed, teeth brushed – even time for a little TV.  But for some reason, trying to do the same thing on a Sunday morning is next to impossible – and we don’t have to leave until 8:45.

This weekend we were doing really pretty good.  We were in the car by 9:00 which will put us there about 9:35 or so.  All was going according to plan until we started the car…and saw the gas light was on.  Nice.

So, a fresh tank of gas later, we are now 30 minutes from church and it’s 9:15.  Hmmmm…..

In any case, we got to church about 9:45, got Jacob, Delaney and Sara to their classes and sat down just as the sermon was starting.  Even though we were sooo late, it was sooo worth it – an incredible message.

Our pastor, Eric, talked about how church and business can get intertwined…and it’s not always a good thing.  He used as his text John 2:13-17 when Jesus goes into the temple and starts knocking over tables.  (In fact, as a dramatization, Eric actually came out yelling and screaming at the band and knocked a table off the stage.  Awesome.  I wish I had a video to share with you.)

I love thinking about Jesus like this.  So much of our perception of him is a nice quiet guy with long hair and a lamb around his neck.  In this passage, he was HOT…ticked off…fired up.  He wasn’t meek and mild, he was bold and in your face.

This speaks to me.  It makes Jesus real to me.  I like that….

How do you picture Jesus?  What makes him real to you?

…made with love (and lots of glitter)…

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Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone….whew!  I’m exhausted.  Yes, it’s a holiday and yes, I went a bit overboard.

Shocker…I know.

It’s not that I particularly love Valentine’s Day, it’s just that it’s SO MUCH FUN for kids!  I love making it a special day for them.

This year Jacob and Delaney decided they wanted to make their valentines for school.  They each designed their own, we copied them on the copier and then came the exciting part – GLITTER!!!  Lots and lots of glitter.  My house is going to be coated in glitter for quite some time.  I keep cleaning and I keep finding more.  Oh well, it was worth it.  They LOVED it and they were a big hit at school today.  Here’s a peek at the process and the final product:

 

 

…keeping it all straight…

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I used to hate nights where I had nothing going on.  Just being at home with the TV or a good book was a fate worse than death.  (Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but you get the picture.)  I would do anything to be going somewhere, doing something or having someone over.  My 20-something self got absolutely no pleasure from “alone time”.

Fast forward to today – my 20-something self would be thrilled.  Here’s what our evenings looks like this week:

Sunday – Superbowl party at my brothers (PACKERS WIN!!!!  YAHOO!!!)

Monday – Basketball for Jacob

Tuesday – Ballet for Delaney

Wednesday – Bible study for Travis and I (just started Dave Ramsey’s study…very excited!)

Thursday – Basketball for Jacob, business dinner for me

Friday – Date night, dinner out with friends

Saturday – Business dinner for me

Whew!  That’s a lot of activity.  It’s not usually that bad, but for the most part, Wednesday nights are usually our only weeknight of nothingness.  My 30-something self LOVES a weeknight of nothingness.  After dinner, homework, and baths, the kids are tucked in bed by 8pm and Travis and I get 2-3 hours of nothing-to-do-togetherness….bliss.

About a year ago I spent the best $6.99 of my life.  I invested in a whiteboard calendar for our refrigerator.  I keep everything on there that pertains to our family.  It’s in a central place where everyone can see it.  The kids read it, visitors check it out and most importantly, Travis pays attention to it.  It’s really made it easier for everyone to know what to expect and when we have to be somewhere.  And yes, that picture is of my actual calendar for February, 2011.  🙂

I use a computerized calendar on my laptop and my blackberry to keep track the rest of my life.  Everything from the refrigerator calendar goes digital as well as all of my work appointments, conference calls and tasks.  The digital calendar is also great for what’s coming up next month and in the future as my refrigerator calendar is just one month at a time.

This has worked FANTASTIC for our family…what works for you?  How do you keep track of your family’s crazy busy life?

…quiet snowy morning…

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Well, at least it’s quiet now.  Getting the kids up this morning wasn’t easy.  They were tired and expecting a snow day.  Didn’t happen.  The bus was 20 minutes late but it made it and the “big kids” were out the door.  So, I’m sitting here working on my blog.  I should be doing my morning routine but it can wait, right?

We had a good storm last night – really strong wind and snow.  Not sure how many inches we got as it’s blown all over the place, but it looks beautiful.

Speaking of my morning routine, I’ve spent the last 30 days trying to develop better habits as far as keeping my house clean and organized goes.  If you know me at all, you know that a clean house is not one of my strong points.  I can whip up a dinner party for 12 at the last minute without batting an eyelash but keeping my floors mopped and the laundry done, that’s another story.

So I re-discovered an old favorite website I had forgotten about, The Fly Lady.  She’s amazing in that she breaks everything down into little tiny baby steps.  By doing this, I’ve discovered that very few chores take more than five minutes.

For example, unloading the dishwasher.  I despise this chore.  But it you time it, it literally takes under 3 minutes.

Sweeping my kitchen, ugh.  We live somewhat out in the country and between the wind, the dog and four kids, the kitchen floor is a mess.  Got out the broom and the timer – 4 minutes and 30 seconds, done.

Here’s my favorite take-away so far, “swish and swipe”.  The idea is, instead of cleaning your bathrooms once a week or once every two weeks (dare I admit sometimes I’ve gone longer?) Flylady encourages you to “swish and swipe” everyday.  It literally takes two minutes.  You swish out the toilet bowl with the brush, swipe it off and then swipe off the counter and the sink.  Wa-la!  My bathroom is now always ready for company and my husband is one happy guy that there isn’t toothpaste in the sink.

So, for all of you who are like me – too busy – check out Flylady…you will love it!

…since I have so much free time…

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I recently decided I need a blog.  Why?  Maybe it’s because I’ve spent way too much time lately reading blogs.  Maybe it’s because I like to talk and want to share what’s in my head. It might just be because my kids say and do the cutest, craziest, funniest things and I’m forever thinking wow, I should really write that down.  In any case, I’m going to do it.

I’m going to blog.

In my free time.  (LOL)  Free time….who really has free time anyway?

Here’s the thing, in my job I am forever preaching to prospective clients that they need to “build a tribe” (thanks Seth Godin).  They need to put themselves out there and start sharing what God put in their hearts with the world.  Many people think that they have nothing to say or that no one will listen, read or care because no one knows who they are.  Well, I think I’ll use this blog to prove my point because trust me, NO ONE knows who I am.

So here we go, I’m going to share my life on this blog, build my tribe and count it ALL joy!