Michelle Wegner

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

Some kids are intellectual.  Some kids retain every bit of information that comes their way.  Maddie, my oldest daughter had her ABC's down by 18 months old, as well as all her colors and a full vocabulary.  Whitney was a whiz with numbers, colors, and also had a huge vocabulary.  With both older girls, I hardly had to motivate them to learn anything...still don't.  I didn't try to potty train them, they did it themselves by 2 1/2.

God gave me Isabelle to realize I am not "Super-Mom".  She never crawled, never slept through the night, didn't potty train until 3 1/2, has no interest in counting, ABC's or learning her name.  She is 100% visual learner.  She also has a huge vocabulary, extraordinary people skills, incredible imagination, and serious creativity when it comes to coloring and outfit designs. 

So, at the end of Belle's preschool last year, I had a conference with Mrs. Derbin.  She said with tears in her eyes, "I love Isabelle.  She is one of the most affectionate kids I have ever known.  I can't wait to get to school every day to see what she is wearing."  On top of that, she said, "Belle has to learn her name by the time she gets in the 4/5 class.  They don't take much time to work on printing names in that class."

Since that meeting, it has been my driving force.  TEACH ISABELLE TO WRITE HER NAME.  In everything we have done this summer, I tried to get her to write her name.  We have been working on I-S-A-B-EL-L-E since last year, but realized this was way too much for her brain and hand to cooperate with.  As the summer has come to a close and the 4/5 class is about to begin, I have gotten sneakier.  I bought finger paint, chalk, let her color on the windows, walls, etc. (Only designated spots).

Finally, today of all days, it paid off.  The name is mastered.  If you're not a Mom or Dad or teacher, you might not understand how I can get teary over B-e-l-l-e.  5 simple letters.

Today was a great day.

What My Kids Have Taught Me

 

I've been a Mommy for 10 years.  Long enough to know

• My girls can easily divide and conquer me and their Dad if we let them. 
• Every day is a new challenge
• I will never cook like my Mom
• I could never put enough helmets, knee pads, elbow pads or safety glasses on my kids to keep them from being hurt
• My kids are awesome, but other people's kids are awesome too
• There are no easy answers
• It's never too early to teach them about character and integrity
• I often do the wrong thing.  Saying sorry to my kids is invaluable
• There are other Mom's and Dad's that are way smarter than me.  I try to learn all I can from great parents
• My parents did so many things right.  I hope I do too.

When Schools Go Green Update

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you help me figure out what is important and what I should keep?  I went to college and I can't.

100 pieces of paper after 5 days of school.  The girls are in 3rd and 4th grade.  How much money does it cost to print off 100 pieces of paper?  How many weeks of school are there?  Figure 100 pieces of paper times the weeks of school and I'm sure that's a small fortune, and that is for two children.  Just two.  There is something terribly wrong here.

Eager to Help

I am writing an article for an online parenting magazine.  I am writing about how your child can be a great house guest at a friends house.  I called Whitney over to me and said, "What are some things you do to be a great house guest at  your friends house?"  She said, "Well, if they have a garden, I would offer to help pull the weeds, and if they had a baby, I would offer to nurse the baby for them."

nuff said.

I have great kids, don't I?

Finally...

I mentioned in a previous post how our darling Isabelle has the amazing ability to talk non-stop for hours on end. Her favorite thing ever is when we are all in the car together. She's got 4 sets of ears that can't sneak away...pure delight for one who is super-charged by listening to herself speak. Sharing a room with her again this weekend proved my theory...she talks all day AND night...even in her sleep. After 4 hours in the car, We're 10 minutes from home and she finally gave in and fell asleep. I'm sure she'll have lots to say when she wakes up.

See that black line above her head?  She fell asleep with a marker in her hand.  She's a busy girl..awake or asleep. 

Vocal Amazement

Three and a half hours of our road trip to Indianapolis, and Isabelle has spoken incessantly without more than a 30 second break the entire time. I am amazed, and admire her vocal capabilities.

Sleepy Days Coming to an End

The house is quiet...everyone's busy doing something else.  I don't think this has happened the entire summer.  I realized this morning that there are only two more weeks until the girls head back to school.  This is going to be grueling for them.  Last night we let them stay up until 11pm, which is unheard of in our family.  Since Rob and I have had children, an early bed time for all has been the rule.  Since Maddie and Whitney are getting older, they can handle staying up a little late because they actually sleep in a bit in the morning.  Isabelle is our sleepless wonder.  She can go for days and nights with no sleep.  It is amazing. 

How do I gear up for this early fall?  I have no idea.  I function best going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 8am.  I am not sure why the 6:30am thing is so difficult.  I strongly dislike having to wake my girls up, feed them, make sure they are clean, have their homework, library books, lunches, water bottles, gym shoes, snow boots and pants, hats, gloves, mittens, pencils, kleenex and erasers by 7am.  It's no fun really.  How do we make this a fun and happy time?  Anyone have any ideas?  Has anyone truly had success in this area?  I would love ideas...and no, controlled substances do not count!

Life Lessons in the Month of July (part 2)

   

Don't ever sit down on an escalator on a whim.  It will eat you, and it will hurt very badly.

Life Lessons in the month of July (part 1)

This is the face of a truly sad girl.  Maddie and Whitney have been working very hard all summer dog-sitting our neighbor's dogs.  It really has been hard work, and I am proud of them for sticking with it even when it comes to cleaning up puppy poop.  More than once I have caught them gagging cleaning it up...it's pretty funny really.

We decided to take them to Michigan City today to let them spend a bit of their money on school clothes.  After about an hour at Limited Too, and after trying on about 10 different things, Maddie decided on one necklace that she really liked.  It was her own money, and she was very proud of it. 

After shopping, we decided to hang out on the beach for a while.  We changed in the public bathroom, trying not to touch or be touched by anything, then went out to hit the waves.  After a few minutes, I remembered Maddie had her necklace on and called her in from the waves.  As she was coming toward me, I realized she didn't have it on.  I was sure it was floating somewhere in the lake.  When I asked her about it, her face got very sad.  She said she left it on the hook in the bathroom.  Rob took her back to the bathroom to check, and sure enough it was gone.  Drama unfolds....

She came back to our towel with the above scowl on her face.  Not only did she get her necklace stolen, but she got stung by a bee on her ear on the way  back from the bathroom.  Double ouch.

She was done swimming and wanted to go change her clothes.  As we were walking back to the car, I noticed a suspicious man standing next to our car.  He kind of wandered into the parking lot when I walked up to the car.  When we walked over to the bathroom, he walked back to the van.  I stared him down, and he quickly realized I was watching him and walked away again.

I went back to the car, and grabbed all our "valuable" stuff the guy might be interested in and walked back by Rob and the girls. 

As we were walking back, I started to talk to Maddie about the situation.  I said, "You know Maddie, the Bible says that God works all things for the good of those who love Him....even getting your necklace stolen."  She looked at me kinda funny.  "If it hadn't been stolen, you would be in the water playing and we wouldn't have noticed that guy trying to break into our car.  Maybe my purse, credit cards, your purse, and all our new clothes would have been stolen.  Maybe God thought the necklace would be the easiest thing to replace, so He let it happen the way it did." 

It didn't make her feel any better, but I think the truth of it sunk in.  

Not A Normal Life

We put on a lot of miles today and got a lot done.  We pulled more weeds at the ball field in Englewood for Pastor Bone and his little league team.  Read the amazing story of how we got the same dirt as the Chicago White Sox on Rob's blog.  It is on days like this that I shake my head in wonder at God.  Two phone calls, and these boys from one of the worst neighborhoods in America will be playing on the best dirt in America.  God is awesome.

As I was pulling weeds and getting blisters from raking mud, I could not help but pray for those boys.  Pastor Glenn and Carla don't look at themselves as coaches to 30 9-11 year old boys.  They see themselves as the only hope these boys have to stay out of the gang/drug scene which leads 99% of the time to jail or death.  That was my motivation to push through the heat and the blisters.

As we were cleaning up the field, the neighborhood drug dealers stood on their corner watching us.  I was within hearing distance to them, and I heard one say to the other with a smile "They are cleaning up this field!  Can you believe that?"  He couldn't believe it.  One of them let us use his hose to rinse the kids off after they waded in the mud all day.  An old man walked up and down the road shaking his head and talking to a few of the adult leaders.  I  asked one of them what he said, and she said the man told her that when he was a young man, he had a vision for saving the lives of the boys in the neighborhood just like Pastor Bone.  He had a team and they played on the very field we were working on.  He said his heart has been broken to see the field destroyed by lack of care.  He was so excited to see us fixing it up for the neighborhood.

As we were driving in the car today, I said to my girls, "you realize you do not have a normal life."  They nodded their heads and smiled.  Instead of the usual "What I did this Summer" essays, Maddie and Whitney's will read something like this:

   

"This summer I went to middle school camp and helped kids pick up trash.  All of the kids loved Jesus, and loved me.  Then I went to the worst neighborhood in Chicago where the drug dealers like to hang out.  Right across from their watchful eyes I pulled weeds and swept a puddle the size of a lake away so inner-city boys will not join gangs and end up in jail or dead."

Not a normal life. 

Tomorrow we hit the American Girl Cafe for a celebration dinner.  My girls deserve it.  They have been amazing troopers this summer.

Special

Whitney found a four leaf clover at camp.  I could not believe it.  She told me she was going out to look for one and I said something very mother-like such as "ok, have fun."  knowing it would keep her busy for a few minutes, but also knowing there was no way on earth she would ever find one.  Five minutes later she came back with a four-leaf clover.  I did not think they actually existed...until Whitney found one.

Looking at this picture, I can not help but think that the four leaf clover is so symbolic of my Whitney.  She is so special, so unique. It is hard to find another like her.

This was the first year at camp that all 3 girls actually had the attention span to sit through all of the morning worship session without having to leave.  I used to stick it out with them till they were too fidgety or noisy and then we would leave.  I was so excited to be able to sit through the entire sessions with them.  One of the goals all of the speakers gave the campers was to share Jesus with 2 of their friends when they got home.  They challenged them to imagine the impact of Jesus on their friends' lives.  Both Maddie and Whitney wrote down 2 friends names right away. 

We got home from camp Saturday.  The phone was ringing when I walked in the door.  It was Whitney's friend...one of the two that Whitney had written down.

Whitney played at her house all day.  Whitney invited the friend to church.  While we were in the car, Whitney said, "Mom!  She has been reading the Bible we gave her, and today I asked her if she wanted to pray to Jesus and give her life to him, and she said YES!  We prayed right there in her room!"

I am so proud of Whitney.  The uniqueness God has blessed her with is drawing so many to Jesus already, and she is only 8 years old.  I am amazed.

For The Glory of It All

We just had our final morning worship session with the entire camp.  The presence of God came in a unique and powerful way.  What middle-schoolers do you know that want more and more worship time?   They get it.  They know what the presence of God feels like, and they want more.  My hope and prayer for them is that their entire lives, they remember what it was like to sit in the presence of God for a week.  My prayer is that they will never settle for anything less than living every day alive in His presence. 

I have seen campers and counselors for 16 years "re-enter" their regular lives.  Many have made commitments to God here that have "stuck."  They are the ones who are changing their worlds for Jesus. They are missionaries, pastors, doctors, moms and dads.... I have also seen campers and counselors make tragic mistakes.  Not all at once, but little by little, take steps away from Jesus until they end up in places they never imagined they would be.  I can think of two who are in jail.  I am remembering two girls who had babies just at the end of their 8th grade years.  So many stories.

As we sang together this morning, I could not help but weeping.  So much is riding on the decisions these kids make.  I just prayed and prayed for them that they would continue to make their next right decision.

I think Isabelle caught on to the moment and felt the presence of God as well.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, do you think we can go back to Disney World?"  I said, "I don't know.  We have to ask Jesus."  She closed her eyes and folded her hands.  Then she said, MOM!  He said YES!"  Funny girl. 

Bragging Rights

Maddie and Whitney talk about the rock wall all year long. It is a 40ft. High tower that appears to be insurmountable. It was a huge goal of theirs to climb the wall this year. I was so proud of both of them today. They both made it to the top! It is an amazing thing as a parent to see my kids accomplish such a huge goal.
Accomplishments like these build so much self esteem in not only my kids, but in all the campers. This gives them serious bragging rights for the rest of the year.

The Light of Life

 

This is my Maddie.  These few photos capture the essence of her so well.  This photo in particular captures her.  Her eyes are so seeing.  She sees in insightful ways that a lot of adults don't.  Her perception of the way things are is incredibly mature for a 9 year old.

She is free spirited and funny at the same time.  She adores her little sister. 

I love the lighthouse photo.  Since Maddie was about 4, her favorite Bible verse has been, "Jesus said I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness but have the light of life."  John 8:12

Maddie is light and life.  She brings both to everyone she touches

~photos by Rob

Things the Wegner's take to Camp Adventure

I am overwhelmed at the thought of it.  I love camp....once we get there.  The worst part of the year for me is the 3 days leading up to camp.  This year is even a bit tougher because whenever I walk anywhere it feels like shards of glass are poking my foot bones.  This should be fun.  Here is what I need to get together and pack for the week at camp.

• 5 toothbrushes
• 21 pairs of panties
• 21 pairs of socks
• 13 pairs of jeans
• 13pairs of jammies
• 5 flashlights
• 12 bathing suits
• 36 shirts
• 10 sweatshirts
• sunscreen
• bug spray
• 3 fans
• 2 power cords
• 10 Barbies w/accesories
• 10 Polly Pockets w/accessories
• 5 coloring books
• 100 crayons
• 10 pens
• 3 notebooks
• 5 sleeping bags
• 5 sets of sheets
• 2 Leapsters
• 2 laptops
• 2 cell phones
• 1 Zune
• 3 ipods
• 9 stuffed animals
• 6 pillows
• 5 pairs of crocs
• 5 pairs of gymshoes
• 5 pairs of flip flops
• 15 towels
• wet wipes
• bandaids
• 3 cosmetic bags full of beauty products
• coffee pot (this is essential)
• refrigerator
• 3 storage bins
• 5 Bibles
• batteries
• Books to read while girls are sleeping/napping...Any ideas?

This is the "off the top of my head" list.  I'm sure we will think of many more things in the next 3 days.  Anyone want to come over and help fold laundry?  I'll be your best friend!  I promise!

Maddie is in Deep Water

Third World Summer

How I would love to say, "Now that we've settled into our summer routine..."  There is no routine!  It is driving me seriously crazy.  I have realized more and more that I am a routine person.  I do not do well in the realm of the unexpected.  What is odd about that is how well I can adapt in a third-world setting.  I  can fly into India and be perfectly at home in minutes.  I think maybe because the unexpected in places like India is the expected. 

These summer days are killing me.  I never know what's happening or what is going to be happening next.  One week is different from the next, and in the midst of it all I am getting nothing whatsoever done.  I think the fact that my girls are more independent makes it harder too.  I trust them to walk down to the neighbors or play at a friends all day.  I used to be the one making up the routine.  They liked to be with me.  We'd go on walks, play play-dough, etc.  Now I play to their routines.  I guess it will take some getting used to.  I'll probably be used to it by the end of summer when it's time to get into the school routine again.  So, I guess I will be adapting to the third-world culture of summer for the next few weeks.  Pardon my jet-lagged eyes.

Belle's Impromptu Photo Shoot

 

 

 

If I Ever Write a Book About Raising Girls...

This will be the front cover.  I love it!

Theology of Thunderstorms

Last night before Rob and I went on our wild and crazy date to the Amish Acres Red Barn Theater, there was a humongous thunder storm.    Not just a little thunder-boomer, but a tornado siren blowing, hide in your basement away from all windows storm.  Isabelle gets terrified in these storms.  The girls were in the basement for the worst of the storm, but I needed to get ready to go, so I brought Isabelle up to my room with me. 

She was sitting on my bed literally trembling.  She was saying, "Why does it have to be so loud?"  and "Why does God have to do this to us?"  In my profound wisdom and theologically sound thinking, I said, "Well, he is just watering the flowers for us so we don't have to."  Just then the thunder boomed so loud the house shook.  I tried to downplay her fear, and make light of the situation by saying, "See, that is just God laughing.  I think he is playing a trick on us."  Just as I said that, it thundered even louder, and Belle started crying.  She said, "Why is he being so mean to us?  THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

How does a Mommy recover from that one?  I just made God look like a practical joke playing prankster that likes to scare little kids and hides behind clouds in the sky!

I am trying God, really, I am.  Maybe you can in your infinite wisdom reach down into Belle's little brain and correct the skewed image I have made of you.