Oh the insanity!

On Monday I decided to take James in to the Doctor to have his foot looked at. He has bad dry skin, and the patches on his foot had gotten WAY out of control (turns out he had an infection on the back of his foot because he keeps picking at it). Anyway...

I'm pretty sure that my least favorite thing to do right now is taking all 4 of my kids to the Doctor. :) Why is it that they always call you back to the smallest room possible, and make you wait for another 20-30 minutes? I start feeling claustrophobic, while all of my children decide to act like wild (should be caged) animals. James tries jumping off everything and tries puling things off the walls. We have a bus of a stroller that takes up 50% of the room, and the other 50% is taken up by the suitcase of a diaper bag, and the shoes that all of my sweet children decided to randomly place all over. Oh, and then there is the orange cracker crumbs everywhere, because while I was taking care of one child, James got the crackers out of the diaper bag and started gnawing through the package and then proceeded to spill it.

During the "waiting in the small room" period, we first see the nurse who asks me a billion questions. I am trying to remember the answers to her questions but it's hard to concentrate when my children start unrolling all the paper on the exam table, and I have to keep asking them to stop. I also had to practically wrestle one of my kids (apparently the scale seemed like a good place to practice new diving board skills) off the scale because the nurse wanted to weigh James (who wasn't too willing to get on the scale). At that point I was sure someone was going to call Super Nanny on me, and that was only the beginning!

Then, In walks a very sweet (Innocent looking) med student. Are you kidding me? I am totally ok with that normally, but this means that our appointment will take longer, and my children are already bouncing off the walls. She asks me a bunch of questions about James, then has him get up on the table. When she tries to look in his mouth, he just sits there growling at her (see I told you...wild animal :) ) Finally our Dr. enters the room. She begins to examine James. Just when I thought this visit couldn't get any worse it does....

Now normally James just speaks some form of Chinese, but today he decided to pronounce a very ugly English word...rhymes with truck...but only starts with an F...I'm sure you can get the picture....just out of nowhere. Both the Dr. and I said, "What?" at the same time. I was like, "Umm, I'm sure that wasn't what it sounded like. He has never heard that word. We don't use language like that." The Dr said, "Oh he was probably trying to say frog or something." Then I proceeded to babble because I was so embarrassed, making things worse for myself. This was not my most embarrassing moment by far, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

I wanted to ran out of there when the visit was over, but instead I calmly gathered my children (who had run off to get stickers), and walked to the nearest exit without looking back! I couldn't wait to get home and hopefully take a nap. What a crazy morning! But hey, I wouldn't have any funny stories to share if it had never happened. Good thing I love to laugh! :)

Please pray

If you notice on my sidebar I have a section titled "Pray for" One link is for the Lawrenson family (confessions of a CF Husband). If you haven't had a chance to check out their blog, I urge you to do so. Nate and Tricia are going through so much right now. Tricia has CF, had a double lung transplant (after giving birth to their daughter Gwyneth), and now is dealing with cancer. I have been following their journey for awhile now, and have been inspired and encouraged by their faith in God and the love they have for each other. I do not know them personally but my heart is so heavy for them. If you feel so lead, please keep them in your prayers, or even stop by their blog and leave them a word of encouragement. I guarantee that if you spend a few minutes on their blog you will be blessed.

I'm back

I am enjoying the moments I have found with my Savior, which isn't as much as I would like, but still so refreshing. He is doing a lot right now in my heart and in our lives. I cannot share everything at this moment, we are waiting until a few things are official. But know that things are good, because God is good and faithful to prove Himself so.

I want to share a few scriptures:

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God...

Psalm 4:4...search your hearts and be silent.

I have trying to listen for God's voice in the silence. I enjoy this Nooma video, and hope you will be encouraged by it.

By the way, the video goes black for a few seconds after the intro...it is then followed by words that are flashed across the screen, just so you know and aren't wondering what's wrong with the video. That's just that way it's supposed to be.

Absence

I'm just popping in here to let (the few people that read this blog) everyone know that I have been taking a small blogging break, hence the absence. This summer has turned out to be a lot busier then I thought. We are trying to enjoy the nice weather while it is here. This week and next we have swimming lessons. I am working hard to make this summer special for the kids.

Like I said before I have a lot of thoughts I want to write down, but for now they will have to wait untill life slows a bit. I am also feeling the need to spend any extra time (and these days, extra isn't very often) I have with my Savior. I am struggling right now with some attitudes I am getting from my kids. I feel like I am doing something wrong as a mom. There have been some hard days, today being one of them. I am discouraged. I know that when I feel this way I just need to lay at the Father's feet. I need wisdom. I truly enjoy my little ones. I LOVE being a mom. I just need to figure a few things out. So, for a time (could be a day, could be another week) my blog will be "quiet" as I seek God and try to absorb what He wants me to learn.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. I will be back soon, and hopefully with renewed strength and insight!

Busy days

This has turned out to be quite the busy week for us. I have a lot of thoughts roaming around my mind but no time to write them down. I actually have so much going on in my head that I haven't been able to sleep the last 2 nights. I just need some time to think through things and process, and since I haven't had the time to do that the way I need to, it keeps me awake.

Just a few things from this week so far:

~I did end up going for a run on Tuesday night. My toe still hurts and is probably fractured but I was able to run despite. I'm glad I did. I a hoping to be able to go again tomorrow or Sat evening.

~Doing a rummage sale this week at a friends house (started today). My friend did so much work getting this all together, and then today we got hit with a sudden rain storm. Tomorrow morning I need to run over there and see what things were ruined from the storm. I am thinking I should have just hauled it all to Good Will to begin with. Rummage sales have never worked out so well for me. In my experience they aren't usually worth the work.

~Worked on our unit study with Anna this week...have been having a blast with that. Tonight we got together with the other mom and daughter from church (that we are doing the unit study with) and had a tea party. That was a lot of fun!

~I scrubbed my kitchen floor this afternoon...I know interesting! But it looks so nice now! :)

~We got a new kitchen table this week that can fit our whole family!!! Yea! Thanks Amy! (Click on the picture if you want to see a closer look. We pull the table away from the wall for supper and use both benches.)

~I took the kids to a movie this morning (Horton Hears a Who). Our local theater has kids movies every Wednesday and Thursday mornings really cheap (and a free bag of popcorn). The kids did so good. James sat the whole way through it. I was so proud of him, he was such a big boy. And of course I had to take a few pictures before the movie started...This was James' first movie...and come to think of it, it was Claire's first too! :)

I am having a lot of fun with the kids this summer; truly enjoying these days.

Maybe soon I can write more then just our daily happenings. Until then here are a few pictures from today.

At the movies!

Miner glitch

Ok, so I am so pumped about running and getting fit, and starting some more healthy habits. I also found a running partner (thank you Shauna), and I am very excited about it. I am motivated, but to have a friend to help keep accountable with is so great. We are supposed to have our first run together tomorrow evening. Well...last night I tripped over Claire's little chair (she was not in it at the time) in the living room and stubbed my toe. Now, this isn't any little toe stubbing, I am talking the mother of all toe stubbingness (I'm not sure that's a real word! :) ) It was kind of funny when it happened, and Bill and I were laughing, but oh my word did it hurt!! I took 2 Advil last night before bed. The pain woke me a few times throughout the night. This morning my toe looked swollen and purple, and still painful. And it's kind of touching my other toe in a way that it never did before. I am hoping that is just from the swelling. :) Sorry if that's too much information. :)

I am praying (yes might sound silly) that I can get my running shoes on tomorrow night. But, I am starting to have my doubts. I wonder if it might be broken? I guess I'll find out tomorrow, if it's feeling better.

It's just a miner glitch in my system.

A new race

Tonight I went for my first run since I was pregnant with Claire. Yeah I know, it's been a long time. I only went out for 15 minutes, then came home and did 100 butt lifts, 25 crunches, stretches, and 16 push ups. I know that really isn't a whole lot, but I have not felt that wonderful in a long time. I have been feeling this need to get out and exercise now that it's nice out. Claire is 4 months old and sleeping through the night, so my mind and body feel ready for this.

My goal for the next couple of weeks is to get out and run 2 nights a week. I'm starting slow, and will build on that. I am starting a routine of hand weights and other exercises every evening after the kids go to bed. I am really motivated right now to get healthy...not just skinny. :)

I have prayed about how I can help my family get healthier, so there are more changes to come in the area of food. I want to be a good steward of everything God has given us, including taking care of our bodies. Bill has been saying lately that he is starting to put on some weight, so I think now is the perfect time to start implement changes.

Dream big

I LOVE this picture of Ryan. He just recently became interested in baseball. I love that you can see, even with his back turned what he is thinking....he is watching and learning and thinking that someday...I love seeing my kids dream. I pray that I can encourage them in their dreams, encourage them to grow in the areas where they are gifted.

Dream big little man. God has so much for you...