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Sunday, April 27, 2014

Where I've Been

Whoops! I kind of disappeared for a couple of weeks! It isn't that I don't have a million things that I want to write about...trust me...I do. But, I have been busy. Nothing specific, just lots of things. I will [hopefully] blog more about some of these things soon but for now, we've been...


Enjoying the nice days, doing dishes, homeschooling, being creative on the not so nice days, laundry, celebrating Easter, laundry, playing with friends, cleaning bathrooms, laundry, spending time as a family...oh...did I mention laundry? haha. Here are some pictures and hopefully I will update again more frequently....but know...that when you don't hear from me...I am just trying to be a mom :)

Survived my first BIG grocery shop ever with all four kids! And it went surprisingly well!!















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Thursday, April 10, 2014

What is "normal" life like?

As Tom's completion of his Bachelor's degree draws near, I have begun to realize how much life is going to change for us. These past few weeks and months have been especially crazy for us as a family. He works as a co-op full time during the day, Tuesdays and Thursdays he goes straight to school until almost or after the kids bedtime. Wednesday nights are crazy too as Keira takes an Irish dance class from 5-6pm before we head to church from 6:30-8:30 for various family activities. Then, usually one (if not both) of us stay after that time to rehearse for Sunday Worship.

So there you have it. We have the weekend together and MOST Monday nights we get to sit down as a family and eat dinner. Before children, I would have never imagined life this way. I see the importance of family dinner...at least most nights...for multiple purposes. Time for the family to put aside everything else and talk and also a time to teach our little ones Table manners. I would be lying if I said that when Tom is not home, dinner runs smoothly....most of the time, it is survival of the fittest....and I lose. haha.

I digress....in a few short weeks, life will change to something we haven't experienced in over five years. Time together. Now, I am not dumb. I realize that there will be other things that take our time, but oh how careful we will be when committing to anything other than our family.

My husband has worked hard, has maintained what I think of as at least a mostly healthy marriage, awesome relationships with all of our kiddos, full time work (other than about 8 months) all while working hard, first on an associates degree, then on to his Bachelors. He has gotten really good grades despite having a wife [me] who wants to talk his ear off sometimes while he is trying to do homework. (oops!).

So...in a few short weeks, this long journey that had a finish line that seemed so far away, will end. Just. Like. That.

And we will have a "normal" life. Like this...with more kids...haha



No really, I can't wait to see what God has for us in terms of a job for him among many other things but I know that He will not fail us...because He never has. His plans have been so much better than our all along and although right now, we don't know where Tom will work or exactly where we will be living, it is exciting and I know that God is holding us in His hands.

So....if you know of any entry level computer programming jobs...I know a great guy, full of integrity, committed, loyal and amazingly hard working :)

(Photo Credit)

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Friday, April 4, 2014

Five Minute Friday: I'm a Writer...huh?

I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo who gives a prompt every Friday. The deal is, write for 5 minutes on the prompt that she gives and then post. No editing or anything. So, this week's word is "Writer". Go.

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When I think of myself as a writer, I have to laugh. It is probably the last thing that I would consider myself although it has become something that I love.

I am reminded of the phone call my mother received at the end of my junior year of high school letting her know that I needed to repeat eleventh grade English. When I came home that day, she asked me if I was on drugs. haha. I was not. I was miss social, not wanting to miss any youth group or school activity if at all possible.

Now, the real reason that I failed that class was because I did not turn in my Research Paper. I will not make excuses for myself, because it was my fault but I had been sick and missed a week of school due to pneumonia and my teacher was not available to help me when I had free time....so I just didn't do it. I must also admit that it was partially due to the fact that public speaking scared the living daylights out of me and I would have had to present that paper to my class.

Because of that, I NEVER would have considered myself a writer. Looking back though, my love for writing started early. I loved to journal. I loved to fill notebooks. I just didn't want anyone else to read it.

Apparently that has changed, since everything I post could be read by the world.

Ok...my 5 minutes is up but for any wondering...I passed English 11 as well as my Senior English classes with flying colors the next year. haha.

Have a Blessed Weekend!

Just a side note. If  you would take a moment to comment below, or connect with me through facebook, twitter, email or RSS feed (top right hand side of this page), I would be so grateful!

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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

From Laziness to Servanthood

Up until recently, I really did live my life to be lazy. Now, when I say that, you must let me explain before you judge me! haha.

Most mornings, I would wake up and work really hard all morning to get all of my "chores" done and even get dinner going. I would literally try to accomplish all necessary tasks before lunch so that after lunch, when the girls (at the time, I only had 2) would take their nap, I could do whatever I wanted and not feel guilty. Most of the time, this is when I would sit and work on a craft, read a book for pure enjoyment or even occasionally watch a TV show while perusing Facebook. It was MY time to do whatever I wanted and it kind of gave me a restart.

Well...that has all changed...especially this year...and I didn't see it coming! Over the last 2 years, I have obviously added 2 more children to the family, the two oldest no longer nap, I am homeschooling and I have more house to clean and more people to feed.

For a big part of this school year, I was still trying to [unsuccessfully] attain this goal each day. I was getting a bit frustrated as I had grown accustomed to having "me" time each day. Even when Keira and Libby stopped napping and I had Janessa, I still managed to squeak in minutes of relaxing down time because of my girls awesome ability to play quietly together and my great sleeper of a baby.

So this year, having the goal to really work on this blog in the afternoons during "my" time, I was really getting frustrated.

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And than it hit me. I am a servant. I am called to be a servant of God and He has given me 4 beautiful little kiddos that need me to serve them.

When I wake up the morning, my time is theirs. None of them are really old enough to be completely self-sufficient though I know that time is coming. They need me...

...and it's wonderful.

Often, we don't even get around to doing Kindergarten until my two little ones are napping and that's ok. Often, I can't even get dinner started before Tom walks in the door, because I need to feed Levi right at that time. I spend time in the morning, afternoon and evening doing LOTS of dishes only to do it all again tomorrow. I can clean the Kitchen, the dining room, the playroom and the living room only to have to immediately start over again because the mess has reappeared

This is my job and I love it. This is what God called me to. Now I am trying to wake up each morning to whatever faces me with a new understanding that I am called to something higher than having "me" time. I get to spend my day being a servant of God, shaping the lives of my four little blessings!

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