Yesterday was a rough day.

I want this blog to be a real reflection of our lives.  We are a normal family with normal struggles.  Yesterday was not very fun.  Monday was not very fun.  We had a wonderful, fun family weekend, which resulted in very tired children, which has resulted in a LOT of discipline problems.  Sleep deprivation rears its ugly head differently in each one of my children.  Monday and Tuesday, I saw all sides of it!  My own sleep deprivation has only made matters worse.

Being a mom is not easy!  It’s constant.  It’s hard.  It’s constant.  It’s exhausting.  It’s constant.  It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me (besides Brad).  It’s constant.

I pray that I can train my children in the way they should go, and I pray that I will love and teach them in the way that they as individuals will be most receptive to my guidance and instruction.  However, I am realizing more and more, as I deal with my 7 year old maniac, that I can talk and talk and discipline, but HE ultimately has to make the choice to be sinful or obedient.  He has to decide.  It’s his heart, not mine.  I can not make him have a good attitude.  I can not make him have fun.  I can not make him be joyful.  I can not make him love.  I can point him in the right direction and try to channel his personality characteristics for the good, but the decisions are not mine…they are his.

At the same time, I have also realized that my maniacs will most likely have a positive attitude if their mother isn’t screaming!  These last few days I have seen an ugly side of myself.  There have been several instances where I could see this awful woman screaming at her children, and though I knew I shouldn’t be, I couldn’t stop it.  I wanted to suck the words back in my mouth, but at that point I was too wound up to settle down and admit my own fault.

I don’t want to be a screaming mother.  I want to talk to my kids, reason with them, work things out like mother and child, not monster and maniac.

I know I need to be in prayer for my kids and myself.  It’s amazing what prayer does for me as a mother.  Why is it that I tend to forget that on days like Monday and Tuesday?

Today is another day.  Today will be a better day.  I will have a good attitude!

I WILL have a good attitude!

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When I started this post yesterday, it was about the Race for the Cure.  The rant above was added at 1:00 am as I was thinking about my day.

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Komen Race for the Cure…Breast Cancer Awareness

Saturday I peeled myself out of bed at the crack of dawn (ok, it was 6:45, but that’s ear-ly for me) for the Komen Race for the Cure.  Our whole family “ran” the 5k…as in, 3 of us jogged and 2 snacked on homemade granola bars and goldfish in a double jogger. Rough life!

(Quick side note.  I have added just a little to the Goin’ Granola-Granola Bar Recipe.  I noticed that it was a little dry the last time I made it, so now I throw in a little peanut butter and/or apple sauce…just for moisture.)

Back to Saturday…

Preston has been talking about running in the Race for the Cure since last fall when Brad and I ran in our first half marathon.  He’s been wanting to “train” with us and run with us, and he’s been very proudly and excitedly telling people for months that he was going to run in a 5k in May.

Well, in typical Kate fashion, May and the race snuck up on me.  (Is snuck not a word?  my spell check doesn’t like it.  Oh well, snuck is a word in East Texas.)  Anyway, it would help if I kept a calendar, but I’m not so good at things like that.  I found out Monday that the race was 5 days away.  Preston and I “trained” one time the Wednesday before the race.  My maniac had never run that far.  He’s 7 years old, and I just hated to throw him out there if he couldn’t do it, so I told him we would walk if he got too tired.

We arrived at the race late, of course.  As we were running towards the starting line, we heard the countdown and the starting fog horn, so we just jumped in with all the other runners that were coming towards us.  However, we had a double jogger and a 7 year old, so we were trying not to get trampled.  Yes, Preston was stressing out.  I think his heart was beating 400 beats per minute.  He was so excited and so nervous.

I was worried about Preston finishing…HA!  He was a ball of energy.  He was ahead of us the whole time.  I couldn’t get him to slow down, nor could I keep up with him.  He would sprint ahead 100 yards, and turn around and wait for us.  As soon as we caught up, he was off again.  He zoomed past everyone.  He ran extra fast if he saw a kid close to his age…chest bowed, and legs pumping (along with a little testosterone pumping). :)  He was so cute.

These pictures are blurry because they are with my little camera, and I was running as I took them.

Preston running ahead.

Preston waiting for us. :)

Quick pic during a water break.

Preston spotted the pink balloons over the finish line and he was OFF!  He’s in the middle of the picture, and he sped ahead so quickly that this was as close as I got to him…despite my end of the race sprinting effort.

FINISH LINE!  He did it!

We finished, and like Forest Gump, Preston wanted to keep running and running…

There was a kid’s 50 yard dash right after we finished running, so with red cheeks and a pounding chest, Preston jumped in line.

On your mark…

Get set…

GO!…

He was running so fast, that this is the only pic I could snap.

He came in SECOND!  YAY PRESTON!!!  (Preston with his friend, George)

Preston wanted to run in the 1 mile fun run after that, but I decided he had run enough for one little boy.

And what were the girls doing while P was running?  Eating chocolate yogurt and chocolate puddin’ for breakfast of course!  Mama’s girls!

We stayed at the park and played and enjoyed the PERFECT weather.

Preston, hug your sisters, so it looks like you love each other.

(As he squeezes their heads together)  NO, child!  Not like that!

And what do 3 kids need after a long day running and playing…a GIANT cup of sweet tea of course.

This was a HUGE treat!  I drink sweet tea like water.  It’s probably pumping through my veins.  I’m from Mississippi, and I was raised with sweet tea in my bottle! :)  My kids don’t get to drink caffeine (for very obvious reasons) so this was a HUGE treat!  They loved it!

It was a fun family day, it was beautiful outside, and it was great to support such a worthy cause.  Thank you McAlister’s Deli for the tea, and thank you to all the hard working men and women who put the annual Komen Race for the Cure together!

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