Who are you inviting in?

This past weekend I attended our MOPS leadership retreat. And it was an awesome time of getting to know some amazing women. It also made me really begin to analyze & think of how lucky I am to be a mom and how much my children mean to me.

I am going to admit something - I fail every day at being a mom and I fail at being a good wife.
I get too consumed with how my house looks, if it's clean enough, too much time on the computer, on the phone, cooking the best healthy & tasty meals, how many calories I've eaten that day and other mindless things. And what suffers are my husband and children.

I do not spend enough time snuggling on the couch, reading to them, coloring with them and other fun things. And soon enough they are going to be older & I will wish I had this time back. I am going to wish they would snuggle with me or let me read them a story.

And when Bill calls home, he is not greeted with a sweet "hi honey, how is your day" he is often greeted with "When are you coming home?".

In analyzing my life I found a common thread - who am I inviting into our home daily?

I also recognize that I am trying to do be the BEST mom/wife and I am trying to do it alone. And I cannot do it alone, I need Jesus to help me. I need him each and every day! I notice our day is so much smoother when I have had some quiet time with the Lord. He is in our home daily, but when I take the time to invite him, prepare the way for him to come, our day is so much better.

Lord, be with me as I surrender my home, husband and children over to you. Please help me to see them through your eyes. Help me to be the peacemaker you've called me to be. Help me to focus more on them & less on me & my needs. Let me put my kingdom & my needs/wants behind me and focus on what you would have me to focus on.

Happy Birthday Addie

It's a little late and I'm sorry, it's not cause you're the 2nd child I promise!! It's because this weekend we got so busy buying.......our mini van..... that we weren't home much. But dont fret cause you are the only one of my childrens birth that I have ever blogged about & it took 4 posts... post 1, post 2, post 3 and post 4.

Christmas 2009

1st birthday cake

Adilynn you turned 2 on Sat and with it we were reminded how much you complete our family. You were our little surprise pregnancy but ooooh so worth it. Never mind that I cried for like 2 weeks straight when that test read positive, or that my pregnancy with you was emotionally the hardest or that you had colic till you were 6months old. You have been worth every single minute!! We cannot imagine our family without you.

You are such a delight. Every day your little voice lifts my spirits and makes me smile. Dressing up is one of your favorite things to do right now. You come up with some crazy outfits that just make me laugh. And make me take pictures.

You love and adore your big sister and are always wanting to be with her. And there is no question you love your little brother as you are always trying to make him laugh. "Bro Bro - Boo".

You can take a beating and keep on going. You are so strong & tough. You know what you want and you go after it, so determined. You are stubborn, probably our most stubborn child but that will do you good later in life, at least that's what I tell myself.

I love hearing you sing "Jesus wuvs me" or "ring around the posies"
And

When I get you out of your crib each morning it's the same thing ....

"Hi Mama, I wake up"


Dont even get me started at how cute you are when you run or when you do your "BBQ" dance....ooh my gosh, adorable.


You bring so much joy, laughter & fun into our home. I cannot imagine life without our little surprise...you were worth all those tears and more.

Happy Belated Birthday baby girl.....Mama loves you!

Happy Birthday Ellia

Tomorrow is Oct 1st and my sweet, baby girl turns 3years old. Three years ago I became a mommy for the first time and I haven't looked back.

On October 1st, 2007 at 4:12pm Miss Ellia Lorraine was born.

Ellia Lorraine you bring so much joy & excitement to our lives. Three years ago when labor started we knew you were on your way into our lives but we didn't know then how much of our heart you would fill up. You taught us how to be a mommy and daddy. When you were born we grew up & learned what real sacrifice means.

Your love of music & dance keeps us smiling and on our toes. Your ballet teacher says that you have a smile on your face the entire time and that she can tell you are excited to be there. You are always making up new songs & dancing around the house. Entertaining should have been your middle name.

You are always saying "I a big girl and I help you". You love to help me in the kitchen and always want to sit on the counter to help. And lets not even get started on how much you actually like to help sweep the floors or dust. You are always ready and willing to help out with a huge smile on your face.

You love your siblings and are very protective of them. In Sunday school you are known to put your arm around Addie when she is crying. Whenever you receive something you make sure that Addie gets one too. It is not unusual to hear you saying to Micah "it's okay buddy" when he is crying. Or help pat his back when he needs to be burped.

You are our most sensitive child and sometimes nurturing that is hard for me. But at the same time we know that this will serve you well later in life. Your ability to comfort others comes from your sensitivity and is truly a gift.

We love you sweet girl
Happy Birthday!!!

Parenting Conference rewind - post #1

This past weekend Bill and I attended a parenting conference hosted by our church Mars Hill. The speaker was Paul Trip and he was Aaaaamazing! I cannot say enough good things.

We didn't know what to expect and were blown away by this man. First, let me tell you he was a phenomenal speaker. So funny and entertaining. He kept us laughing but at the same time engaged to what he was saying. To put it better, he had us eating out of the palm of his hand.

Paul Tripp has written a ton of books on parenting, marriage, devotionals and many more. I encourage you to visit his site to see his books.

I am going to try to sum up some of the BEST parts of the conference. On Friday night he spoke just on parenting & getting to the "heart" of the matter. On Saturday he addressed specific age groups 0-5, 6-12 and teenagers. And let me tell you we learned things for all three age groups.

The first & most important thing we learned was:

Parenting is not about controlling & regulating behavior, it's about the Heart. The thoughts and motives of the heart shape the way a child responds.

- As a parent you are the "seer" - you were made to be the eyes for your child, what is it that God wants our children to see that he/she is not seeing? And how can I help them see it?

- God designed the family unit to be the primary learning community for our children and we mustn't be too busy to teach our children. Nor can we depend solely on the church to raise our children as the church wasn't designed to to replace us but to equip us.

Family is Designed to be:
1. Theological Community - teaching our children to live with an awareness of God. Our job is to point them towards God everyday. We need to root their identity in the character and existence of God.

"There is no knowing without knowing God" - John Calvin

2. Sociological Community - we were designed to love the Lord and to love our neighbor. The struggle to love exposes the real heart of a person. And you cannot teach it unless you understand & practice it yourself. Whether you realize it or not your family unit is teaching your children how to live within their community. What are you teaching them about their community?

"Teaching love, takes love and Teaching love takes sacrifice" - Paul Tripp

3. Redemptive Community - We need to live a life where grace, forgiveness, deliverance from sin, reconciliation and life in Christ are a central part of our family on a daily basis. Need to teach our children that we too are sinners and be honest with them. Let our faults be seen too.


- Life is about moments, lots and lots of moments. And it's in these moments that we shape our children's hearts. There will be lots of these moments but we must be willing to act on them.

"You cannot have $100 conversations in .10$moments" - Paul Tripp

We learned 5 questions to ask your child when they have disobeyed. These questions will lead them to Christ & talking them out will help our children to change their heart. (And in the moments it takes to ask these questions I will have the time to calm down)

1. What was going on?

2. What were you thinking & feeling as it happened? (This causes them to look at their heart)

3. What did you do in response? - the behavior is formed after the heart reacted

4. Why did you do it? What were you seeking to accomplish with this behavior? - this follows the motive

5. What was the result?

He said he started this line of questioning when disciplining when his youngest was 2yrs old. And the fact of the matter is that repetition is important and it's in these moments that you will be correcting/molding/shaping their heart.

We don't have the capacity to change but Jesus does. We need to expose our children to the redeemer who can change them. And how do we help our children change? We do this by changing our hearts FIRST!

4 things happen when you haven't dealt with your own heart:

1. Moments of ministry turn into moments of Anger

2. You personalize what is not Personal - you make it all about you & you miss the opportunity

3. You are adversarial in your response, becomes you against your child and you see your child as an obstacle in your way.

4. You settle for quick situational responses - these response's don't get to the heart of the matter.

Remember that as we walk out

Confession
Repentance

that our children are watching & learning. And we were designed to be their teachers.

Fall has arrived

Fall has arrived......WooooHooo!!

Time for schedules, ballet classes, MOPS, pre-school activities for Ellia, falling leaves, cozy fires in the fireplace, falling leaves and comfort foods. I love Fall!!

As I type this I am laid up in bed with my right leg propped up on pillows. This past weekend as I walked across a field to the bathroom at a family reunion I fell in a hole. Yep, a hole in the grass got the best of me and sent me crumbling to my knees. After a visit to the walk in clinic I was sent home with a sexy black boot & crutches. My boot & I have become fast friends and will be together for at least 2 weeks. I am hoping the crutches and I can part our separate ways tomorrow.

This has been a crazy month for Team D with injuries & sickness. If I didn't know better I'd think we had ticked off the injury Gods.

I am trying to take this all in stride but it's not easy being laid up. Not easy letting your in laws & friends do the cooking, laundry & sweep/mop the floors.....or is it?? No, really sitting there as they do these things is hard for me. Because I am normally the one doing them & the first to lend a helping hand.

So till the ankle is back to normal I will try to not be cranky, I said try. And think of all the fun Fall activities that I will have waiting for me very soon.

See ya later August Hello September

August is drawing to a close and I am so ready for it to be over. August was not nice to us this year and I am just plum done! And with the end of August means September is here, which means Fall is here, which is my MOST favorite time of year.

August came in like a player stealing 3rd base but is going out slower than a no hitter. I mean it when I say August hasn't been nice to us. The month itself hasn't been mean to us, but what has happened to us this month is enough to have me crying "Foul" or "Do over".

We've had to replace tires on Bill's truck because he ran over a socket wrench, not knowingly, cause who would run over a socket wrench? So after $1250 was paid out for those, then it was onto injuries.




On our way out of town for our belated anniversary overnight his truck overheated on the mountain pass. Come to find out the radiator cap wasn't on tight enough but it had us worried for a bit.


Next up was our 1st injury in a nut shell is this. Bill wanted to prove me wrong and didn't believe the saying "Mama is always right". Let's just say he does now. By trying to prove me wrong that a car cannot be put into reverse when parked & foot not on brake pedal. So he did it, with our kids in the car = car rolled down our driveway into the street with Bill and I chasing after it. Resulting in Bill hurting his knee getting the car stopped. We meet with the Orthopedic surgeon on Tues to discuss injuries. (looks like a torn meniscus & calf muscles)


Then as if Bill wasn't in enough pain his tooth started hurting. To the dentist he went to discover not 1 but 2 root canals are needed!


Next it was car issues up to bat again. This time the alternator on Bill's truck went out. $120 bucks later, a recharged battery and his truck is back up and running again.


This week we are headed out for our annual Labor Day camping trip with friends. As the end of the month draws near lets hope it takes pity on us and ends quietly.

Once we are back from camping it's time for schedules, swim lessons, ballet class, MOPS, comfort foods, Football and fall weather. I am so ready for fall to come and bring us some normalcy and routine. Bring it on baby, I'm ready!!!

Not Me Monday

Happy Monday Morning and welcome to another edition of Team D Not Me Monday's. Not Me Monday's were started by McMama. Check out her blog to see what everyone else did NOT do this past week.

This week Bill and I did NOT go away and stay overnight in a hotel, our first time since our honeymoon 4yrs ago. We went to Leavenworth and stayed in a small, cute, off the beaten path Motel. It was so quaint...just how I like them.

It was NOT so relaxing and enjoyable making us wish we had another day.

We did NOT order in pizza, watch movies and just lay around the hotel room. Leading Bill to say "You know we could've just done this at home" ........Ummm, yeah right like we would.

The motel room did NOT have the biggest jacuzzi jetted tub that I have ever seen. I did NOT take 2 bubble baths all by myself in a 24hr period.

I did NOT have Bill take a picture of me in one of my bubble baths and I did NOT just post it for everyone to see.

Yesterday, I did NOT find a newborn diaper next to my side of the bed. Micah is 4months old and I couldn't have possibly forgotten about a newborn diaper for 4months, could I have???

This morning I did NOT spill hot coffee on myself while I was sitting on the couch. I did NOT fall asleep and forget I had coffee in my hand. I did NOT wake up suddenly and have to change my pjs and clean up the couch. I do NOT have red marks on my legs from the hot coffee.

I have NOT eaten so much Zucchini this week that I am re-thinking planting a Zucchini plant next year. Who knew that a single zucchini plant could produce so many of these suckers!!

Cloth Diapering 101 - post #2

So today I am going to blog about the diapers I am making for Micah. His diapers aren't all made at this point. But between all the test one's I bought & my friend made he is in cloth diapers about half time. (this results in more washing than normal, but I am just so excited to have him in cloth that I am willing to do a load of diapers every day)

So I am making Micah diapers using a "Trimsy" pocket pattern. It is an average rise but fits skinnier in the legs and the snaps are a bit different. The snaps are located on the wings instead of the waistband like most other diapers.

Diapers are made out of waterproof "PUL" (Polyurethane Laminate) and is a soft, polyester knit fabric laminated with waterproof polyurethane on the back. Then the inside of the diaper is made with Suede cloth material, which wicks moisture away from baby's bottom.

We start the process by cutting out the pattern for each diaper.

All of the diapers cut out & ready for snapping. He will have blue, red, brown, green, and some cute giraffe print ones.

Then we start attaching the snaps to the PUL using a special set of "snapper" tools. Which is kinda of like a hole punch. First, you poke a hole with the very sharp poker tool. Then you poke the snap through the hole with the "snapper" tool. It is a bit awkward at the beginning but you get the hang of it. I messed up and snapped two diapers completely wrong and we had to throw them into the scrap bucket. Once the snaps are on the PUL they are very, very hard to remove. Trust me! I snapped 1 snap wrong & had to cut it off using toe nail clippers.

Some of the diaper covers with snaps on. The green ones are so cute, they have turtle snaps!

This picture does no justice to the cuteness of the turtle snaps

Next post I will show how you make the pocket for the insert & the sewing of the PUL & suede cloth together.

Cloth Diapering 101

This will be my 1st post of many on cloth diapering. Most of my friends have never done it and lately I have been getting a lot of questions about it. So in an effort to share my knowledge & explain the whys of cloth diapering I am going to do several posts on the subject.

My only experience with cloth diapers wasn't a pleasant one. My mom, back in the day used them with my brother. (23+ years ago) I remember the horrible smells, stains & pins...I get chills thinking about them. I cannot remember the number of times I got poked with them.

So the mere thought of using cloth diapers was nothing I had ever dreamed of doing when I had my own children. That is until I got re-acquainted with my friend Stacy. (long story on what happened there) and I saw the cute diaper butts on her girls. I was hooked from that moment on!! And then when I discovered the cost savings it was all over. We were going to do cloth diapers with our next baby, which we all know as Micah.

Bill's first thoughts were "What, you want to do what?" and to say he was thrilled would be an understatement. Even when I explained the cost savings and I showed him how cute the diapers were. He still thought I was crazy. I think I remember he even saying something along the lines of "Sure now that we've polluted the landfills with hundreds of diapers now you want to go green?"

The great thing about Bill is he will let me do my homework, investigate, explore and most times I talk myself out of whatever wild idea I have. Unfortunately, not this time. My homework, investigating and exploring only made me want to do them more. I am sure Bill got tired of hearing about Prefolds, fitted, pockets, Hybrids etc....

After much research & many calls/meetings with Stacy I decided to go her route and make my own. Yes, you are reading that right. Make my own, as in sew them. She had 2 different patterns that she has used with her girls and we settled on a "Trimsy" pattern. Which basically is a smaller diaper in the rise & narrower in the legs for my long & skinny baby boy.

Before I keep going let me explain a few things:

The Rise = the top front of diaper or cover to the top of the back of the cover or diaper is the rise

Prefold = these are like what our mom's used, only they are used inside a diaper cover. And they can be made of cotton, hemp, microfiber or a combination of these fabrics.

AIO (All in one) = they are a cloth diaper and diaper cover all in one piece. Example of an AIO are bumGenius

Hybrids = In a Hybrid Diaper, a reusable, outer cover wraps a disposable soaker pad in the same way diaper covers wrap around cloth diapers, except of course, the internal soaker pad is not reusable. An examples of a Hybrid are Grovia or gDiapers,

Pocket = Pocket Diapers are most similar to the AIO's but instead of the inner absorbent soaker sewn in, pocket diapers have a pocket to 'house' a removable insert. Examples of a pocket diaper is a Fuzzibunz.

Fitted = fitted diapers do not require folding and will typically secure in the front or side with snap or velcro closures. These diapers can grow with your child and usually will fit a child until 35lbs! Most of the major cloth diapering companies sell a fitted diaper.

Research sites:
http://www.diaperjunction.com/
http://www.swaddlebees.com/
http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/
http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/
**and most of the major brands have great websites with lots of information on their specific diaper**

So I am making pocket diapers and buying my inserts. I have tried the microfiber inserts from Bumgenious and like them. But the "trimsy" pattern I am using will not fit them. I am going to most likely use Swaddlebee's hemp inserts.

We have been using Fuzzibunz (fitted large diaper) on Addie and loving them. These inserts are also made out of microfiber and are working great on her.

My next post I will talk about Micah's diapers, how I am making them and post some pictures of them. Stay tuned.

Not Me Monday - camping style

It's Monday and so that means Not Me Monday over at MckMama's. And it's been awhile since I've done one, so here we go.....

This weekend we did NOT go camping for 24hrs with our friends.

It was NOT my idea to go camping for 24hrs. I mean seriously would I suggest camping with 3 small children for only 24hrs? Didn't we already do this once? What sane mother would do this again?

When we arrived at the campsite & began setting up I did NOT have a little melt down with my hubby in front of our friends.

There was so much dirt that and the girls did NOT get dirty within 5Min's of arriving. And I did NOT spend almost the entire time fretting about all this said dirt.

I did NOT pack 5 outfits for the girls, thinking it was over kill. They did NOT go through every outfit and I did NOT tell Bill "I should've packed more" on our way home.

It did NOT start raining shortly after we arrived & we did NOT set up blue tarps between the trucks to try to combat the rain.

This was NOT the conversation I heard Bill having with the girls yesterday morning as we tried to keep them quiet at 6am.

Bill - "Girls do you know what a clam is?"

Girls - "no"

Bill - "A clam lives in the water and does clammy things while keeping it's mouth shut and is quiet"

Girls - "why?"

Bill - "Because that's what they do"

Bill - "Can you guys do this?" and he demonstrates keeping his mouth shut tightly.

I did NOT give him a hard time for the rest of the day about clams doing "clammy things". Does anyone else know what "clammy things" means? ha,ha ;o)

I did NOT eat waay to much this weekend and am NOT feeling it today.

Seen, Heard, Said Wednesday

Seen: A loving family saying goodbye to their Father, Husband, Brother and Grandfather. It was the most moving memorial service I have ever been too. The worship at the beginning of the service was so beautiful!! Words can describe the honor I felt just being in the room & celebrating this man's life.

Heard: My friend's daughter telling Addie tonight "Don't play with that basket Addie, it's a decoration" - so her mother's daughter.

Ellia to me "But Mama, you don't take naps, you just drink coffee" - when I told her it was nap time.

Said: Ellia heard me reading to Bill out loud a FB friends comment to another friend, and the comment was "Be nice Asian" so Ellia says "Be nice Asian" Bill and I cracked up cause she has no idea what she is saying....it was so funny. (maybe you had to be there, but trust me it was funny)

Seen, Heard, Said

Seen:
A woman breast feeding in public - the baby - a Toddler boy who was running around playing & then ran over for a little snack. He had to be at least 3yrs old. She let him crawl on her lap and lifted up her shirt. I was surprised to say the least.


Heard:
The girls splashing in the tub and laughing. How wonderful that was to hear. They are truly becoming such good little buddies.



Said:
‎"Hey mommy I just put on some chapicick" - Where did you get the chapstick from Ellia. "in my craft bucket" - her chapicick = a glue stick

Shannon Woodward, the pastor's wife that married us & has dedicated our 3 children wrote a beautiful post about our wedding 4yrs ago. Her description of our wedding is just so special & beautitful. So on the eve of our 4yr wedding anniversary I am posting it here. Click on the link & go read it. It brought tears & smiles tonight as I re-read it.

http://windscraps.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_windscraps_archive.html

You know you're a mom of MSC.....part 2

Had so much fun coming up with these and talking about them with others that I am doing it again.......here we go

You know you're a mom of Many Small Children (MSC) when...........................

...You know what time of day it is by what cartoon show is on.

...Or when you've seen every episode of Yo Gabba Gabba and Caiou

...You've traded your favorite radio station in the car for the Little People CD and you listen to it over and over

...You have decided you've polluted the landfills enough and are now using cloth diapers

...You think cloth diapers are so cute and love seeing your daughter running around in them.

...You know you're a mom of MSC when you let your children sleep in their clothes from the day and then when they wake up the next morning look them over and yep, their clean enough for another day.

...I can carry the baby & a full laundry basket upstairs

...you sound like you have Tourette’s when you talk on the phone. “So, Sabrina, do you and the kids want to meet up for–GET DOWN FROM THE COUCH RIGHT NOW–do you guys want to meet us at McDonald’s for–NO, YOU CAN’T!–for lunch at 11:30 as soon as we–DO NOT PUSH YOUR SISTER DOWN OFF THE COUCH, OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER-get finished up here?”

...You and your hubby decide to get intimate & you discover you are leaking breast milk all over him & the bed...now that's a fun time....talk about mood spoiler ;o) Guess that means there wont be any more Team D members running around.

...Your pantry is filled with more snacks for the kids than it is for you. Graham crackers or fishy's anyone?

...You get the kids all put to bed finally, sit on the front porch, he smokes his pipe & you drink an adult beverage and you call it a "date night"

...You don't have any flowers in your flower boxes on the front porch because your child (shall remain anonymous - okay it's the middle child) has picked them all off the stems. But you do have lovely green stems & leaves.

...By 8am in the morning you have had at least 2 cups of coffee and that's a good morning.

...Before your 3rd child the laundry seemed to be manageable but now it is out of control and there are days where all you do is laundry. How can 3 small children create so much laundry??

...Before children you used to think that kids light up shoes weren't cute & said "I will never put my children in those shoes" - you rethink that statement when your child picks out some cute shoes and they are light up. She instantly falls in love with them & will not leave the store without those shoes.

...You find yourself turning into your own mother more and more each day and you wonder how you're mom survived. But surely if she can survive than so can I.

...You have discovered how to turn a double stroller into a stroller that can accommodate 3 children, a diaper bag, lunch bag, folding chair, dog on his leash and your latte. And you successfully make it to the park & back without loosing any of the children.

...While grocery shopping at Costco you find each & every sample lady and manage to feed yourself & the kids lunch and get the groceries bought. Now that is a good shopping trip!!

...You have perfected the garage sale Friday technique....lots of snacks, books & water bottles for the kiddos. And I am happy to report that I now have the ability to get out of the car, dash to the GSale, scan the items & decide if it's worth the browse in less than 5seconds. All before the kids start screaming for me. And let me tell ya, I am a quick garage sale customer now...get in and get out is the motto.

How does our garden grow?

This Spring Ellia kept talking about picking strawberries. So I asked her if she'd like to plant our own so we could pick them. Of course she was all excited. And those strawberries got me to thinking of having our own garden. Last year we grew tomato's and they were so yummy.

So Bill and his dad built me a corner above ground garden in the side yard. They got 2 truckloads of dirt & filled it up and put a little fence up to help keep the dog & kids out of it.

Those strawberries turned into spinach, romaine lettuce, green bell peppers, snap peas, orange bell peppers, peas, tomato's (5 different kinds), zucchini, basil, sage, mint, jalapenos, potato's and pumpkins.

I was worried that our little garden wouldn't grow because we had so much rain and not a lot of sun. But the Lord heard my little garden prayers and brought us sun. Lots and lots of sun the last 2 weeks. And our little garden has started to grow. Today, we picked snap peas, lettuce & spinach. And with dinner we happily ate a salad with some of our garden goodness.

our snap peas are HUGE!


The girls munching away on a snap pea

Our romaine lettuce

Not Me Monday

It's Monday morning and therefore time to report via Not Me Monday.

**I did NOT buy a ticket to see the new movie Eclipse as well as the first two in the movie series. This would've resulted in a 6hr movie marathon with all my girlfriends.

**At the last minute I did NOT decide to attend only the 2ND and the 3rd movie.



**As the night wore on I did NOT find myself in a very serious and painful situation in regards to pumping. I did NOT forget a hand pump at home. I did NOT miss 2 of Micah's feedings during this time. And this did NOT result in me having to go the bathroom and relieve my very sore "milkmaids"



**I did NOT try to aim the stream into the toilet and this did NOT result in spray going everywhere in the stall. It did NOT look like a little boy had gone to the bathroom in the stall when I was done.



**I did NOT still leak all over my shirt by the end of the final movie and have to ride home with a wet shirt. Good thing everyone was tired at 2:30am and didn't notice my wet shirt!



**Yesterday, at the parade I did NOT pull this out of my jean pocket. Ahhh, the life of a mom.







**I am totally against sparklers for little kids, they burn so hot and are very dangerous. I did NOT relent & let the girls do sparklers with daddy yesterday.



**They did NOT have a blast & want to do more....great!

Love and Marriage

Love and marriage,

love and marriage

Go together like a horse and carriage

Dad was told by mother

You can't have one without the other

Bill and I had the song Love and Marriage by Frank Sinatra played as we left the church at our wedding. In 27 short days we will be married for Four years. Wow! It actually seems longer than that. I guess 3 kids in that time will do it to you. Ha!

But I found myself thinking about Love and Marriage today. They truly do go together and you cannot have one without the other. Love is what got us to that altar on July 28Th, 2006. Along with lots of coffee, concerts, sickness, birthdays, holidays, cards and home made Cd's. (Bill used to make me Cd's with special music) The truth is Love isn't always easy. It takes work.

However, Love has kept us going. Love for each other, our family & for the Lord.

In the last 4yrs I have learned that Love is hard. There are days where I feel like I have nothing left to give. I have been sneezed on, slobbered on & touched one too many times by the kids and I have nothing left to give to Bill when he walks through the door. And that kiss he wants when he walks through the door is not as meaningful as it was on July 28Th. Love is hard.

There are days when Bill frustrates me and I just want to scream at him. (sometimes I do) When he forgets his wallet at home. So the girls and I load up in the car, drive downtown and deliver it to him at work. Love is hard.

Or days when we have that argument and one of us walks out of the room. Love is hard.

When the car breaks down on the day you have a dr appointment, your husband wont answer his phone and your kids are screaming - Love is hard.

Love is hard but it goes with Marriage.

And as we approach our anniversary I wouldn't have it any other way.

Not Me Monday

So this past week was busy but there were a few embarrassing things to report via Not Me Monday.

I most certainly did NOT nurse Micah while sitting outside in our side yard while the girls played. Did I mention the neighbors window looks directly down on our yard and could see if they were to look out the window. Did I mention that I did NOT use a cover up and just let it all hang out?

I did NOT help Ellia to pee at the local park behind some tree's b/c there was no bathroom and didn't want to load all the kids into the car to drive down the street to a bathroom. Who would teach their daughter to pee outside? She did NOT later that night take off her pants and pee in the yard & then did NOT proceed to squat and grunt b/c she had to poop too.

This past week I did NOT wear my pj's every day until at least noon and then I did NOT just shower and put them back on at least 2x.

While changing Addie's diaper, I did NOT drop one of the hard poops on the floor when I tried to push the diaper out of the way. I did NOT realize that some had fallen onto the floor until hours later when the girls were playing with a round, hard, brown ball.

I did NOT work out for the first time since having the baby & only make it 5Min's on the elliptical. And my legs were NOT sooo sore for the next 24hrs from only 5Min's. There is no way that I am that out of shape.

This post is NOT full of poop!

We did it!!

We did it, as in the kids and I made it to church today! Three cheers for us...WooHoo!

I had the diaper bag packed last night. I did NOT lay out their clothes but will do that next time.

Bill and I worked great together today in getting the kids and ourselves ready. We even had time to go out to breakfast as a family.

Then Bill helped me get the girls into their Sunday school class. Then he immediately had to tear out of the parking lot to get to work. He might have been 5 Min's late. But isn't he the BEST for helping me get to church & get the girls into class??

Then Micah and I settled into a seat in the very back and worship started. It was sooo wonderful to worship today! I cannot express how much my spirit enjoyed the worship service today. And the band played some really good songs today.

Right before the sermon I had to leave to go and feed Micah. In the nursing mothers room there were at one point 4 moms and all of us had boys! Luckily, our church has a live feed into the mothers room and so we were able to still be part of the service, even though the room is in another building.

I was able to make it back into the service for the rest of it & use the bathroom before picking up the girls. Which I did okay with on my own. I put the diaper bag & car seat into the car and just carried Micah to pick up the girls.

All in all it was a good Sunday service experience for me and mostly done all by myself. I think this can be done, I think it can, I think it can.

You know you're a mom of MSC.....

MckMama did a post this morning titled "You know you're a mom of MSC (many small children) when" And I laughed & laughed. Go read her post but first read my own list:

You know you're a mom of MSC when:

...You are still sleeping with at least 7 pillows from your pregnancy & your baby is 2months old

... When your child comes into your room at 6am and you just pretend she isn't there, hoping she will go back to her room. But she doesn't of course.

... Everywhere you go you hear "Wow, you've got your hands full"

... You often go 2days without a shower & baby powder is your newest hair accessory

... Baby spits up on you & you just leave it there, not paying attention to it till you realize hours later when you are in the grocery store.

... You run out of milk when you are pouring cereal for your kids and you add some water to the bowls.....after all it's non-fat, what's a little more water?

... Peanut Butter & jelly sandwiches are suddenly your favorite and you crave them even at night

... You say "Because I said so" at least 5x an hour

... Your favorite part of the day is nap time and you find yourself watching the clock

... Your wardrobe consists of sweatpants, tee shirts & more sweatpants

... When you recently got ready for a wedding you almost forgot what you looked like in a dress, hair all done up & make up. And were quite surprised at how nice you did look!

... You tell your husband you want to spend some "quality" time with him, you head upstairs, and you promptly fall asleep while he is taking a shower.

... You are often still in your pajamas at 11am and so are the kids

... You let the baby sleep in his clothes from the day before, the next morning assess if there is any spit up on them, find none & leave him in them for the 2ND day in a row.

... Coffee is your drink of choice - all day long

... You suddenly have a new appreciation for wine, since you were pregnant for the last 3 years and forgot how good wine really was.

... You have an ever growing pile of UN-matched socks. They go into washer together but do not come out together. Where do they go??

... You said you'd never allow your MSC to wear crocks. However, that changes when your child gets a pair from Nana & Grandma and they suddenly are all she will wear. And she can put them on herself - a plus!

... You eat the left overs off your children's plates and consider it your lunch