Meet Swimmy

Last month Tara read 100 books at school and earned a Betta fish. She brought the permission slip home on a Wednesday for us to sign and Friday was the date he was scheduled to come home. See, we have NO pets in our home so this was a big deal. Lily and I went to PetSmart (I have never been in a PetSmart before, oh my gosh) to get everything we would need for Tara's fish. We loaded our cart with a one gallon bowl, decorative rocks, trees, a scuba diver, etc. Probably $50.00 worth of product. I asked a sales attendant a question about food and she looked at our cart and asked what kind of fish we were getting. I told her a Betta fish. She started laughing and said what we were buying was overkill. She took me to an endcap where they have an entire Betta fish collection. Apparently, these fish can live in small vases (even with flowers in the vases). So we ended up with a kit for $15.00 that included everything. Yeah!

I asked Tara what she was going to name her fish. She said she wanted to see her fish first.

Well, it was Friday. You would have thought we were bringing a new baby home from the hospital. I called a friend of mine who already has a Betta fish and got some last minute pointers about feeding the fish. I was so nervous we were going to kill this fish. Lily and I got the fish bowl already and cleaned Tara's room. We picked Tara up from school. Tara came out of her classroom with a tiny fish in a little baggie and said "Mom, I watched her all day and all she does is swim. So I named her Swimmy."

We love Swimmy. I enjoy watching my girls be responsible. Tara feeds her twice a day. They even take turns feeding her (most of the time). We all say hello to Swimmy when we go into Tara's room. Lily helps me clean the bowl every Saturday morning. She is good at scooping her out with the little net. Swimmy has been a fun addition to our family.

Crystals in the Air

When I read other blogs it seems like they have a theme. When Janette was staying with us during Spring Break she taught me how to create a blog but I did not have time to think about a theme. I knew I would be be blogging about my Terrific Little family (T for Tara and L for Lily); however, I wanted a theme.

For Lily's baby shower I received a book from a friend titled A Joyful Mother of Children: The Magic and Mayhem of Motherhood by Linda J. Eyre. The author is a mother of 9 children. Wow! Who could not learn from her experiences? The book inspired me; she motivated me, I felt empowered when I finished the book. I was almost a thirty four years old when I delivered my beautiful Tara. I had many years to dream of motherhood; to dream of the perfect children I would have and the perfect mother I would be. What I did not dream about was the reality of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, frustrated, sleepless nights and how far from perfect I would be as a mother. So what did I do? Twenty three months later I was holding another baby in my arms; my sweet Lily. All the realities of motherhood were now doubled before me.

In the epilogue of Linda's book she writes about Harry Potter and his magical world. She describes Harry as "a poor, nerdy, mistreated little boy who has a magic secret inside - in reality he is a magnificent wizard, full of wisdom and strength and honor. Although he had had glimpses of his magic powers, he didn't realize who he was until he was tested. Most mothers are the same way. We sort of think we have the ability to be extraordinary mothers, but what trials we have to go through to find out!" This was exactly how I felt after reading her book and how I still feel today.

Linda goes on in her epilogue to describe the magic of Harry Potter and comparing the magic to motherhood. She describes magical moments of motherhood like "crystals in the air." I have been using her example ever since. Many times Michael will come home from work and I will ask him if he wants to hear about my "crystals in the air" from the day. Tara and Lily make me laugh, they amaze me, they make me proud, and they inspire me to be a good mother. They produce "crystals in the air" that keep me going and make me stop in my tracks and appreciate motherhood.

So with all that said the theme of my blog will be about "crystals in the air." It will give me the opportunity to share those "crystals" with my family and friends.