I Love This Kid

He is such a fun and clever boy. He really does make me smile everyday. He is helpful and silly. And I super duper love him.

Valentine's 2012

So you know the tradition right? Fancy fancy fancy fancy. Well this year was the same :) Dating our kids on Valentine's Day is something we all look forward to as a family.

Handsome 4 yr old

Pretty (and slightly toothless) 6 yr old

So cute 8yr old

Dad who is NOT 30 yet

Mom who is 30! (sigh) and who doesn't know how to act like a grown up in front of the camera .... proof below

Me and my valentine. :)

And the following shot is what usually happens at some point when we are trying to do family pictures...

It was, yet again, a great night. Going around the dinner table taking turns naming things we love about each other and God. This year it made me cry.. probably for womanly hormone reasons, but it was still sweet and memorable. :)

These little people will only be under our roof for a short time. They are on loan from God. I hope they feel treasured and loved.

Kitchen Helpers

I love to have my children with me in the kitchen (well pretty much everywhere.. I'm weird like that). The kitchen especially though. I feel like we talk so much, and they learn so much. As long as their intentions are good, the messes don't bother me. I love to watch them feel empowered as they accomplish something. It is one of the coolest feelings to see them growing before your eyes.

Many times in the past I would say No to requests to help out. I felt like I was in a hurry or couldn't find anything child friendly for them to do. But a friend reminded me, I'm in no hurry. I am home with these little people all day long, everyday. Why not let them help?

Best advice ever. It is quality bonding time. Not just with me but with each other. Friday night was Pizza night - and we decided to bake cookies. I hung out and supervised, they did the rest! And we ALL had fun!

The Cookies:

Teamwork

The Pizza:

Look at the concentration in that face :)

This is the good stuff in life people!

Imagination

Sometimes I think my oldest son was born without one. He is smart. Rather than play pretend he would rather do school work. He's always been that way. My youngest can play for hours by himself without a care. His thumbs become people, his socks mountains, and he is off in his own little world. But the big one.. not so much. He's different than me in that respect. Legos have been helping cultivate that in him though. He builds and creates, and then plays. Not for long, the building is more fun for him than the playing. When I see the imagination I try to encourage it subtly. I love that he is a boy who likes to learn and analyze. He so different from me, but he is mine and he brings me joy.

My Humbling Moment

So at our house - there has been sickness for a few days. High fevers, coughs and runny noses. Just when I thought the fevers were gone, they would spike again. One time reaching 106.8 - well that one time being last night. So I loaded up the two little sickies and took them to the ER. J and M both got nose swabs for the flu and chest x-rays.

The doc came back and said, "Well neither one has the flu. BUT.. both have pneumonia." So they were prescribed antibiotics and sent home. I knew they must have been miserable because they put themselves down for naps yesterday AND they were so well-behaved at the hospital. I got lots of compliments. I knew the lethargy and fevers were the cause of their quiet and sweet manner, but I just graciously accepted the compliments. Hey - I enjoyed my moment of looking like a great mom :D.

Anyway.. these are the faces of my sickly children.

And this one below, he is the one that did a work on my heart this morning.

I sent all the children upstairs to do their morning chores. J cried (which I understand, she had a fever of 102). Her chores were simple, get her clothes on, make her bed, brush her teeth. It wasn't going to kill her - even though she acted like it was.

So after she came down and threw herself to the floor I told her she need to go to the corner and collect herself. L came down to check on her. I sent him back upstairs, very frustrated that he was still in his pajamas and none of his chores done. It had been like 15 minutes. I could feel my chest tighten with frustration. Sometimes dealing with sick kids overwhelms me. Why can't the healthy one just do what he is told and make my life easier? I spouted off some comments about my disappointment. He didn't respond, but just went about his chores.

When J was let off of time-out she went upstairs to find that her brother had made her bed and cleaned her room first. Here I was fuming at the fact that he was disobeying - when in reality he was serving. I was humbled and proud. What a sweet boy with a sweet heart.

"A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. " Proverbs 15:1
L had every right to defend himself against my accusations of being disobedient. He could have come back with a defense, but he was silent. He was respectful and he was creating peace in our home because he knew I was not.

I am humbled. He has been so good picking up the slack of the other kids' chores. Helping without complaint but swift "Yes Ma'ams" and a joyful willingness to help his brother and sister and I just expected it of him. I took those moments for granted instead of praising him. I very easily could have broken his helpful little spirit this morning. I offered my humbled apology and enthusiastic praise and recognition of his wonderful heart. Not but a few minutes later he was helping his sister and hugging his brother.

I am one proud mama.. and thankful the Lord uses my children to teach me, grow me, and cause me to search my heart. Why didn't I think to clean her room for her out of love? Why was I so quick to anger? Why do I ALWAYS justify myself when wrongfully (or rightly for that matter) accused of something instead of being silent?

Time to pray about some things! And praise God for the work He is doing in my son.

Early Morning Fun

Behind our house kids ride quads, and leave tracks in the mud, and rain fills the tracks.
And life grows.

Since we have moved here it has become an obsession of my sweet boy to watch the tadpoles grow. He will be out there from morning until night. We researched the life cycle of frogs on the internet. He is passionate about it. Everyone who comes to visit he takes back there to show the kingdom of life he studies.

Mema bought him a habitat for tadpoles and frogs. This morning, when we were the only two awake I asked him if he wanted to go catch tadpoles to put in his aquarium. He ran to get ready. We walked out into the quiet morning and I let him do his work.

Of course the littles woke up eventually and had to come and see. It was a fun morning. Hopefully a few of the 4 he caught will live.

She spoke MY heart

Our car ride home tonight turned out to be an amazing time of conversation. My kids (well not little M he was half asleep) were asking all kinds of deep questions about God. It was exciting. Moments like these you can't force. We talked about how God loves us. How he sent His Son for our sins. How our sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus. How we get to spend forever with God. How our life's purpose is to glorify God and share His love with others.

L quoted scripture he learned at church that applied to the conversation (how cool he knows when to apply it).

And then a little voice comes from the back, soft, and concerned,

"Mommy?" J says. I look back and there are tears in her eyes.

"Mommy I believe in Jesus and I love Him, but sometimes... I just don't listen."

Wow.. the sincerity and truth of that statement. I live that. Daily.

I assured her, we are forgiven if we are truly sorry and ask to be forgiven. If we try to make the right choice the next time and try to avoid the same mistakes.

She smiled. Her heart was relieved. As is mine :)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Valentine's Day 2011

Today is a day we LOVE at our house. Valentine's night means we have a date night with the kiddos. The children picked the menu this year. They requested roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and cornbread. Daddy requested a cheesecake (which I have always been leery to attempt, but it turned out fantastic!). But our night did not go as planned.

What did go as planned: We got all dressed up, we had dinner together, we went around the table and everyone said why they loved each member of the family - finishing with God and why we love Him.

J dressed up and having her fancy dinner .. (what? you noticed it is a peanut butter and honey sandwich?).

L looking like a little chipmunk with his mouth full of dinner.

M was exhausted and passed out and couldn't be woken up. All our children have been battling colds for over a week - and today it got the best of him. But he is dressed up. :(

Auntie Heather is visiting!!! She and my brother (who will be down later this month) and their family are moving to JAPAN! Sniffle, sniffle. I will miss them so much! But praise God for the Internet.

This handsome little man is my nephew! I am in love with him! He is so stinkin' adorable.

So why did our fancy dinner turn out to be this hearty and delicious (meh) PB and Honey? Because...

The inside of the roasted chicken I prepared was GREEN!! when I cut it open! Seriously... bluck!

And this is love right here. After a failed meal and a wife who was trying not to be grumpy (oh but I was when my chicken was green in the center), this good man did all the dishes and cleaned up. :)

This is my VALENTINE! The love of my life. The father of my children. The spiritual leader of my home. The man who loves me like Christ loved the church. And the man I look forward to growing old with. :0) - mushy mushy - I know but it had to be said!

A Quiet Afternoon

On Thursdays the mobile library comes to base. It is an excellent resource that I am trying to make the best use of. Of course the kids may choose books and I have items I have put on hold delivered. This one... this one was the mother of excitement for me. :)

Ok.. so it might seem as though my life revolves around sewing right now.. but it doesn't. I have a passion to learn it, but I spend very little time doing anything pertaining to it.

Instead we have been focusing on family time, schooling, reestablishing good routines and praising the Lord in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES!

Now, for how I came upon a quiet afternoon. A friend of mine with a large family keeps a gorgeous and tidy home. She has 5 children, 3 of which are 1 year old triplets! - but you can be welcomed into her home at anytime and her home is just beautiful and welcoming. So I asked her share her secrets with me and she did! To which I am very grateful. Her cleaning routine suits our family very well. And because of this, I found myself yesterday afternoon with all of my chores done, children schooled, house tidy, and a new library book.

J's nightgown

As I mentioned in the previous post - I REALLY!! want to learn how to sew better. I am so eager to make things! With some extra fabric I had from pajama pants I made last year, I decided to make J a nightgown. (I just got the materials for making her an Easter dress and NEED to practice my skills before attempting her dress). It is not the cutest material (I LOATHE character stuff), but she thinks it is wonderful and I am pleased with progress.

This was taken from a pattern that was supposed to be used for a pillow case night gown. I got it here. I don't have any cute pillow cases so I made do with the Princess fabric.

Learning to Sew

I am eager to learn how to sew better. When I was a young girl, maybe 6, my mom would take me to sewing lessons. I learned on a machine pretty young. I didn't do it for very long and then never tried to pick it up again until a couple of years ago.

Sewing is also a skill I would love to be able to pass on to my little girl. Overly ambitious, I handed J a large needle, thread, a fold piece of fabric and gave her instruction. That was WAY too complicated for my poor girl. She was very frustrated and gave up. Not what I wanted. I want her to learn to love it the way I do. So a new approach was needed.

This time I started much simpler. I took foam board, cut it into a heart, and poked holes around it. I handed her yarn and showed her how to weave it in the front and bring it around from the back. She was THRILLED. She sat content on the sofa next me, in her dress up clothes and a huge grin on her face, working steadily. She kept repeating, "I can sew now!" and giggling. That was what I wanted.

I need to remind myself.. little steps, little hands, little hearts. I don't want to overwhelm and discourage. I want to guide and encourage.