craziness and coffee

I would be lying if I didn't say that most mornings are crazy here. This morning was no exception. I woke up to Anna yelling, Ryan screaming, then Anna knocking on my bedroom door (yes, I went back to bed this morning after Bill left. I've been so tired lately). She said she needed me to see what Ryan was doing. What was Ryan doing? Well, it seems Ryan decided to sneak down and get into the trick or treat candy. He had candy on Anna's bed and had already eaten a whole sucker.

After Ryan and I had a little chat about what happened, I told the kids to go back to their rooms and get dressed. I wanted to get in the shower real quick. I could hear them fighting the whole time I was in there. I got out, got everyone calmed down and started feeding them breakfast. Anna had made my coffee and breakfast (what a sweetie) so I poured myself a cup and sat down with them. I needed to get online before we started school to Chat with Bill a second, so did that on the laptop while I sipped my coffee. After about four sips, I noticed something in my coffee. I thought maybe it was a lump of creamer I had missed. So, I grabbed a spoon. To my horror I pulled out a CENTIPEDE!!!! Oh my word, I thought I was going to throw up. How in the world did I not notice a HUGE CENTIPEDE? My brain has turned to fluff...I never thought there would come a day that I would not notice a CENTIPEDE! Actually, I never thought there would come a day that I would have a CENTIPEDE in my coffee mug. If you know me, you know how much I hate those things! My feelings toward them come very close to fear. I'm not kidding. I used to pray that I would not find one, because I can't stand them...they give me the creeps. I know, it's pretty ridiculous. But seriously, what purpose do those things serve?

I left out a lot of details of this morning but, after the Centipede, I couldn't think of much else. I LOVE coffee...I am hoping that hasn't been ruined for me. :) I guess I will look in the mug next time before I pour. Well, at least I can say I am thankful that I noticed something was floating before the whole cup was gone.

So, this is pretty random. I have a few things I have written (and not finished) because my brain does not function as well these days. I feel like most days I'm just trying to make it through the morning. :) Hopefully tomorrow I can make it through the morning with a whole, good, Centipede free, cup of coffee! :)

Savoring Each Moment

To experience happiness we must train ourselves to live in this moment, to savor it for what it is, not running ahead in anticipation of some future date nor lagging behind in the paralysis of the past. With wholeness and sensitivity we must live in the here and now...Those special savored moments of fun, reflection, happiness, and pleasure give us a tiny taste of what eternity with Christ will one day be like. --Luci Swindoll (You bring the Confetti )

I have been praying that the Lord would fill me with Joy, and that I would really treasure this time I have with my little ones. I have struggled much over the summer with my role (I have a post on that soon to come), so this has been my prayer lately.

I really felt impressed the other day that I need to be spending more quality time with my kids. So, I whispered to Anna as she was finishing her math, "How about we play dress up when you are done." Oh the joy to see her face light up. I spent 2 hours truly enjoying my children. I pray that I will never take for granted the privilege it is to be at home...and to savor each and every moment!

Spiderman and the the Queen

The princess and SpiderMan, having tea

James enjoying a cup of tea

Family Time

Saturday was a beautiful day!! We decided to take the kiddos out for a little family adventure to the pumpkin farm. We had a blast, and were able to find our perfect pumpkin.

These are some of my favorite pictures. I couldn't get all three kids to look at me...oh well. I wanted to get that perfect shot but, I enjoy these ones. They make me smile. It represents our day pretty well! :)

toilet water, grease, bees, beavers, and ducks

Ok, so here is my funny story: it is very long, and it might be one of those stories that you had to be there to find funny, however I am recording it here, so that I don't forget.

About a week or two ago, I had one of those crazy mornings...well actually, those happen a lot around here. :) But this one was a doozy! It started out good. We got through our school work in good time. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. Janel called to see if we wanted to go to the park to feed the ducks, of course I said yes. She had to pick us up because that was when my car was broken. Anyway, after I fed the kids lunch I was running around trying to get ready to go. Janel called to say she was on her way, and I told her all I needed to do was finish packing the diaper bag....

But then, someone left the bathroom door open...

I thought I heard something coming from the bathroom so I peeked in and saw James (aka "Curious George") splashing in the toilet. YUCK! He had toilet water everywhere, and he had thrown Anna's loofah in there (thankfully he doesn't know how to flush). I promptly washed James off, set him outside the bathroom door and proceeded to mop and disinfect the bathroom. All of the sudden I hear James screaming. I run out to the porch to find him COVERED in grease up to his knees!! What in the world? I was in the bathroom cleaning for maybe 2 minutes tops! In that time he had managed to find the coffee can (I pour all my grease into) that I have tucked behind some stuff on the back porch. It was dumped everywhere. And James was just standing there screaming, like he was terrified of what he had all over him. He had apparently found the can, decided to stand on top of it, and then fell in. I grabbed him, pulled off his pants (which I had to soak in dawn dish soap), and then bathed him off. I had to remove everything on one side of the room (and throw out my broom and dust pan...I wasn't even going to attempt to clean that), and then figure out how to get it cleaned. I was in the middle of all this when Janel came to the door. I was one the verge of tears. Poor Janel, to have to walk in on all of that! She was so sweet and patient though and helped me finish getting the kids together so we could leave. Once in the car I breathed a sigh of relief.

Janel and I started chatting as we pulled out of the driveway. We had gotten maybe a mile down the road when I felt something on my foot. I shook it a little, and looked down. there was a bee crawling on me.

"AHHH." I yelled. "There's a bee on me." I shook it off my foot.

"where?' Janel screamed.

Then we both started screaming as the bee flew around. Janel puled over and and rolled down the windows. It flew out.

Meanwhile, the 5 kids in the car (who probably think their moms are crazy) are observing all this. Ella, Janel's 4 year old starts yelling, "Mommy where is the beaver?" "Why is there a beaver in the car?" Over and over.

It was just one of those moments...we both burst out laughing. Neither one of us could stop. I don't know if it was really that funny, or we both just really need to laugh. We laughed until we cried and until we both hurt. The kids just sat there. I'm sure we had just confirmed to them how crazy we really are! :)

The rest of the day was fine and light hearted. We enjoyed our time feeding the ducks and playing at the park.

Sometimes it just feels so good to laugh! Thank you God for friends and for bringing laughter in the midst of it all. :)

The pictures of the kids in the car, were snapped right after the bee or "beaver" incident. None of them knew what to think.

James

I took these a week or so ago, when a friend and I took the kids to the park. I have a funny story to share about that later, but for tonight a few pictures that make my heart melt. My little ones are growing up so fast. These are treasured times.

Being Disciplined

...Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning. Psalm 59:16

Lately, I haven't been so good about getting up early and staying up. I do get up with Bill in the morning, but then the past few weeks, I have been going back to bed for a little while. Yesterday I was so tired that I couldn't even have my quiet time in the morning after he left, I just had to lay down. And then sadly, I totally overslept. This throw off my whole morning. We started school an hour late, which is fine, but we do have a schedule and it's nice to follow that.

My tiredness lately could be due in part to pregnancy, could be due to the fact that I still get up at least once a night with one of our children. But, the main reason I am so tired is because I have not been getting to bed at a decent time. After Bill and I put the kids to bed, we love to just sit around and do the things we both enjoy, reading, watching something together (although we only do that once or twice a week), go on the computer, work on projects, etc. Lately though, I have been caught up a little too much in what I enjoy doing, and end up in bed WAY too late. I have definitely been lacking in self discipline.

I have been reading through 1 Peter in my study time. Oh I LOVE it!!! What a rich book. It has been very convicting to my spirit. I love how His Word is so alive! The Lord is showing me some areas of my life that need some refining. As painful as that often is, I am excited about what He is teaching me. I am not going to go too deep into it right now, but I do want to share one area that He is working on...self discipline.

Like I said, I really enjoy staying up late. I have always considered myself to be a "night owl". I really do function better at night. I love the quiet time. My mind feels more alert and awake. I really don't mind getting up early, but if I had to pick night would be my favorite.

A few months ago I came across this quote by Martha Peace,

I have heard of women who pride themselves on being *night* people. That means they have trouble getting up in the mornings because they come alive at night. They may stay up till all hours reading, watching TV, or pursuing some sort of interest. The next morning they are too tired to get up and care for their family...These women are not night people. They are lazy and selfish. Who would not rather stay up late and do whatever they please and sleep late the next day?
Once a young wife begins getting up earlier than her children and husband, she will cease to be a night person. She will be tired at night and go to bed at a reasonable hour so she will be there to serve her family the next morning.

I read that and felt totally offended. I didn't think it was lazy or selfish at ALL to stay up late. I thought that was the most absurd thing I have read. I tucked the quote in the back of my mind and dismissed it. I don't like being called lazy and selfish just because I don't go to bed as early as some.

For some reason though, I haven't been able to get that quote out of my mind.

Maybe just maybe there might be some truth to it. I don't know. I'm still mulling it over.

Amused

I have been LOVING my new washing machine. It is so nice to have a machine that works, and gets the job done. We had a family party in the basement the night we first got it. Everyone stood around watching as the new machine....needless to say, the kids were quite amused.

Wonderful man

Bill's new job has been going pretty good. The only thing bad I would say about it, is that he gets home pretty late. I am not complaining about this. I know many families are used to the dad not coming home until 6:30 or 7:00. This has just been an adjustment for us. Some days get really long...for all of us. Bill doesn't get as much time with the kids during the week as he used to. But, we do try to enjoy the evenings together.

One thing I LOVE about my Hubby is that he plays with our little ones. The kids all look forward to him coming home at night. After dinner he usually spends some time wrestling with them. Never was there a home so full of laughter and happy noises!!! Last night being no exception. I just sat there and enjoyed watching his time with our kids.

I am so thankful for the man God has blessed me with. For the hard worker he is, the loving husband who takes care of me, and the fun dad who always makes time to play! What a wonderful man he is!

Naming Rights

Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. Gen. 2:19

The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man." Gen 2:23

The kids and I have been reading through Genesis. The other day the details of the creation account just struck me in a different light. God gave naming rights to Adam, it says clearly in Gen, 2:19. God told Adam to name all the animals, and whatever name Adam gave them, that was what they were to be called. He was also given the right to name Eve. God very well could have done all that Himself, but instead He choose to let Adam be a part in this aspect of creation. Interesting...

Now that we know what we are having, the search for a name begins. I have been praying for this little one since we found out that she would be joining our family. We knew that this baby was a gift, a promise of the Lord's provision. I have been praying that the Lord would impress upon us what this baby's name should be. Something full of meaning, something that will show the goodness of God and His love for us during a trying time. I want, when people hear and know what the name means, that they will not be able to help thinking about the faithfulness of God. I feel like the name is like an offering. He is giving us this child, and I want to give her a name that will reflect Him and bring glory to Him.

Naming our children has always been special. Each of our children's names have meaning to us. They each fit their names perfectly. I think it hit me more as we were going though Genesis, what a gift the Lord has given us in allowing us to choose. Just as Adam was given naming rights, the same is true of our children. A name is something that is so important and special, and we have been blessed with the privilege. Maybe it sounds silly, but I was just so struck by what a beautiful thing that is that God allows us to participate in. Not only do I get to participate in the miracle of a growing baby inside me, but we have the honor of naming something that rightfully belongs to God. Wow! Thinking of it that way, just makes it seem so sacred.

I don't feel stressed or pressured to find the perfect name because I know that God already knows what it is. This baby's days have been recorded even before she came to be. I know that in His timing He will make it clear to us. While we are given the right and the privilege to call our baby what we want, we are looking to Him for wisdom. I am so excited about it! Isn't it so amazing to just sit back and watch God reveal His plan? He just amazes me!

By the way, the picture taken of me above, was taken by Anna. We did some photography for art class today. She wanted to take pictures of me and the baby. I think they turned out pretty good. I am not all that fond of my picture being taken, but it was a fun project for us. I was going to post all the pictures that we worked on today, but I felt kind of funny about it. If you really want to see them, you can go here to the baby's blog.

A Fall Day

Before the weather decided to be more like summer, we did have a day that gave us a taste of fall to come. Anna, Ryan and I enjoyed some time in the backyard jumping in leaves, while James napped. It's moments like this that make the hard days so worth it!

A baby blog

I decided to start a blog to journal about my pregnancy. It is mostly for my pleasure, but I thought I'd share it. If you want to read it, it is here Mommy Diaries. I am still writing on this blog for everything. I just wanted a place to write about the details of my pregnancy. Besides, I love doing blog design, and this gives me an excuse to use my creativity to design a new blog! :)

Pink or blue?

I had my 20 week ultrasound this morning. The Dr. said everything looked good. Baby is healthy and everything is right on schedule for my due date (feb. 21). We decided that we wanted to find out the gender of the baby today, if possible. He said he is 95% sure that it's a...GIRL! He is going to check again in 4 weeks to make sure. But, he really felt that is is most likely a girl. I am a little hesitant to count on his 95%...but I feel in my gut that it probably is.

Here are a few ultrasound pictures. The first one is of the face and hand. It's not real clear. The second is the 3D, which is a little freaky if you ask me :). The Dr. said it is a little blurry because baby was moving her (should I say her?) head.

Thank you Lord for this sweet little miracle. We praise you that she is fearfully and wonderfully made! Thank you for this blessing!

Gazing upward

Turn your gaze
To Heaven and raise
A joyous noise
Oh the sound of salvation come
The sound of rescued ones
And all this for a king
Angels join to sing
'All for Christ our King!'

Ohh praise Him!
Ohh praise Him!
He is Holy!
He is Holy!
(O Praise Him-All this for a King)

He whispered to my soul:

Let your gaze shift upward, as you fix your eyes on the author and perfecter of your faith. keep running the race with endurance; and when you become weary do not give up...lean on the One who has given you everything you need to live a life of godliness. Let the background fade as seek to praise Him. What an awesome mighty King you serve!

Thank you Lord for the beauty captured, and the sweet reminder to keep my eyes on you!

A little bit of life

I am so excited! on Wednesday my new washing machine should be arriving. The past 2 weeks have been crazy. My car and my washer died both on the same day. Then the following day Bill's car died. Yeah, that's a lot of big stuff to go at once, but what are you going to do? :)

Bill's car was fixed after 3 days, but in the meantime we had help from family and friends. It is such a weird feeling to be stuck at home with absolutely no way to get anywhere. God has always, always been so good to us. He has always provided just what we need when we need it. It is so humbling to see how God has worked in our lives. I can't tell you the number of times Bill and I have received unexpected money just when we weren't sure what we were going to do. I feel so unworthy of how blessed we are.

Bill's mom has been such a blessing to me especially lately. She has been doing our laundry for the past two weeks. And let me say, our family generates a lot of laundry! She has insisted on folding everything too, so all I have had to do is put it away. She has no idea how much of a help she has been to me. Laundry is often a struggle, so to have someone helping me with it has been awesome. I didn't ask for the help, but what a blessing!

Hopefully within the next week I will have my car fixed. It really hasn't been that bad going without it. I don't do much running during the day when I do have a working car. (Although I wouldn't mind having it back so that I can go to moms group again. I desperately need the fellowship with other woman.) I keep so busy at home without the running. I haven't had the chance to get on here and write, just from lack of time. Well, and also from being tired maybe. And I feel like I have pregnancy brain. I want to write....really write, but my brain has not been working right. Hopefully soon?! :)

So this is pretty random, but it's life around here these days. It's never boring...although this post may be. :)