Time marches on

I did something tonight that I've never done.

Tonight I packed away my babies burp cloths for the last time.

Oh, I've packed them away before. But tonight was different. Tonight I knew I would not take them out and use them again.

It seems a small thing, to pack away stained and dirty cloths. But as I began folding them a sadness I've never felt before rolled in. I took each one and smoothed out the wrinkles, my hands caressing the yellow stains. I brought them to my face and felt them & smelled them. Then one by one I put them in a box.

Is it weird that I feel so sentimental about some 9-year-old rags? Maybe. But as they went into the box I remembered. Four years. Four entire years of my life have been spent with one of those rags over my shoulder. A year for each of my children. Nursing. Wiping their faces. Patting and bouncing them on my shoulder. Morning, day, and night. Each child has added their stains to those icky old cloths. Each child has fallen asleep on those cloths, chewed on those cloths, and burped on those cloths.

A younger version of myself could not wait to pack them away and be done with them for a while. Mother of a one-year-old boy with so many better things to do than clean up baby spit up. Eager for the next phase. Eager for them to grow.

Perhaps I will pass them on and some new, young mother will use them to wipe her sweet newborn's face. Perhaps she will wrinkle her nose in disgust and throw them away. After all, who would want a dirty old rag?

But it was not some dirty old rags that I tucked away in some box.

Tonight, I tucked away my babes.

Eternal

"In about fifty years(give or take a couple of decades), no one will remember you. Everyone you know will be dead. Certainly no one will care what job you had, what car you drove, what school you attended, or what clothes you wore."...


                                                                                                                 ~Francis Chan
                                                                                                                   Crazy Love



"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."


                                                                                                                    ~God
                                                                                                                       Holy Bible
                                                                                                                       Deuteronomy 6:6-7


It is true. In 100 years or less, I will not be remembered. My life will vanish like a vapor. Even my children & grandchildren will be mostly dead. Anyone that I had direct contact with, will have passed on. Gone from this life. Most of my earthly possessions will have turned to dust with rot & decay.

And it's okay. It's not about me.

It's about Him. All of it. My worth, or lack thereof, is of little to no consequence. My only purpose is to know Him & glorify Him. To make Him known to my children and those I meet in this life. To share what He has shown us, given to us. To share what will be ours if we answer His calling.

I want these verses to penetrate our household. I want to live them out. To teach my children & grandchildren what it's all about. I don't want Him to be part of our lives, I want Him to be the source & reason for our lives. So that when I am gone, when I am forgotten, He isn't. It's okay if they forget who I was. As long as they never forget who He is.

hit me with your best shot...

FIRE AWAY-AY-AYYYY!

sorry. I couldn't help it.

So I want to know your best morning routines with the kiddos.
I know there are some things that are essential to me in the morning and I seem to have a hard time fitting it all in.

My big things:

~devotions
~walk/run
~getting kids up & dressed
~beds made
~kids chores done
~breakfast & cleanup
~devotions with the kids

Those are the things that throw our entire day off if they aren't done. But since my walk takes an hour and my run makes me sweat like a pig who needs a shower very badly, it's practically lunch time when we get it all done. Once school starts, I know I am going to have to run in the morning and walk(with all of the kids) later in the day. Right now I walk in the morning by myself and run when Rhett is napping. So I am thinking that I will get up at 5:00, run, shower, get ready for the day, and then get the kids up to do their stuff. Then maybe we could start school by 8:00 or 9:00.

Trouble is.... I don't wanna get up at 5:00! Is there a better way to do this in a timely manner?

So hit me! I need fresh minds and a different perspective.

ten on tuesday

1. how pathetic am I that I have been "completing" Avril's room for two years and the only thing I've accomplished is buying her a bed? there just seem to be too many other more important things to spend time & money on.

2. swim lessons are awesome. adam is becoming quite a little fish. I think that Avril is a little more comfortable in the water and rowan never says much about it. he is not fond of blowing out his nose under water. I know they are all having a blast, including me. it has been really good for us as I would most likely not take them to the lake very often without the lessons.

3. I am still working on my couch to 5k program. I am currently on week 5. I now run 5 days a week instead of 3. Still trying to walk each day as well.

4. Went to town and ran errands with all 4 tired & hungry children after swim lessons today. My, what an experience. I always picture these things going very well. Like a fuzzy dream. Walking calmly down the isles in the store. gazing at my sweet, smiling children as they politely hand me things I need off of the shelves. a chubby baby contentedly cooing in the grocery cart as it rolls along. but after I go & real life happens, I think I'd be content with just remembering everything on the list and not contemplating the murder of people. It's not always my children. sometimes it's the construction workers that always flip the sign around to STOP when I drive up. sometimes it's the cashier who checks the groceries slower than molasses in January as my children are wrestling in the isle and my baby is screaming his lungs out because I actually have to scan the thing he is playing with. sometimes it's the mother with only two children who is looking at the freak show that is our family as we troop in & out of the store. and it's almost always the person who says, "wow. you've got your hands full." they might as well say, "wow, nut-job, you must have been completely off your rocker when you had those last two."

5. getting excited about the upcoming school year. thought I'm not ready to start yet, I am really looking forward to this new program we're trying. I get to order the books and curriculum on Friday. It's sort of like Christmas for me. Books are a great love of mine. I just love looking through a new book.

6. my kids. my poor, poor kids. they need a routine so badly right now. Rhett has been waking everybody up really early and we seem to sort of just survive the blows of the day. I have been a poor planner and we are all feeling it. the kids have random meal times(with too much dairy), random naps, random bedtimes, & random time with Mommy. it's taking it's toll and something needs to be done.

7. I am going on a computer fast for a couple days.
     see number 6.
    So tomorrow & Thursday are no computer days. they are going to be fully devoted to the care of my children & husband. who knows, maybe I'll even get some cleaning done.

8. know a good/inexpensive place to get flattering & modest swimwear for women? I am a little bit panicky about the whole thing. summer's coming to an end. must find something before my cruise!

9. summer's coming to an end! I am sad but glad. fall is my favorite time of year but this summer has been pretty fun so I'm sad to see it end.

10. if I ever complete Avril's room, the boys' gets to be next. it's in need of updating. and by the time I get to it, Rhett will be ready to move to a big boy bed. sniffle. they get big so fast.

Little Lady

Having a daughter has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Right up there with having a husband and sons. Since I have only one daughter I am trying to soak up as much of the girly as I can. Thankfully, Avril likes to soak it up too.

This last spring we went to a mother/daughter tea at the church. we had a ball getting ready. Sadly I didn't take any pictures of the actual tea but I did snap some of us getting ready.

 

 

We had a great time.

I think getting ready was nearly the most enjoyable part of the whole evening.

 

Isn't she lovely?

Soccer

Rowan's first soccer game was sometime in May. It is the only game of his season that I photographed. But I'm so glad I did. Keep your eye on number 2 with the red socks. That's our boy and we're pretty proud of him.

 

Here's Coach Brady.

We love Coach Brady.

He did an excellent job with the kids & Rowan learned a lot. 

Adam's goal is to be taller than Brady someday.

Rowan says, "Ummmm, I think I'll just be taller than Daddy."

Those are my boys, the optimist & the realist.

 

Anyway, the team started with stretches.

You guys ready to practice?

 



This is the look I got when I cheered,

"Go Number 2!"



I have no idea what is going on in this picture. Rowan loves to be the class clown so I'm sure it had something to do with that.

 



 

 

If they had played with a goalie, Rowan would have been their guy.

He hovered near the opposing team's net during most of the games,

determined not to let them score.

Go Doritos!

 

Good job, guys.

 

 

It was a really fun season for all of us. Rowan is very disappointed that he can't play this fall but we promised his brother basketball and I don't think I can do both. Next year I might be able to do a little more but we have a full schedule already this year with the new co-op/curriculum, vacation, toddler, basketball, and normal everyday stuff.

 

I think the Doritos won two games the whole season. I didn't get to see Rowan score a goal until the very last game. It was so exciting! He had scored one the game before but I had missed that game.

 

It is so fun moving into the next phase of life with these kiddos. We are doing a juggling act now with having little ones & bigger ones but it is so amazing to be in this stage of life. Soon we will be out of the baby stage completely so I am trying to soak up every moment of that but still really enjoy where the older kids are at. It is a challenge at times but we wouldn't have it any other way.

typical

I know that I said Rowan's first game pictures were next but I'm nothing if not random & unreliable. Huh. Guess I should probably work on that. Good thing I'm not creating a resume. I don't think random & unreliable are in very high demand.

Anyway,

I have hit, yet another roadblock in the completion of my daughter's room. I decided that I need money in the end. Who knew? Things actually cost money. Fortunately I did find some things around the house that I can repurpose so that helps some. And I do intend on making a few things as well. But I also decided that I should get some input from the girl herself since it's, you know, her room. She was very confident in her choices. Pink walls, a blue nightstand, a blue closet, and a red treasure chest. Hmmmm. Besides the obvious question of, how in the heck do you give a kid a blue closet?, we have one tiny major problem. Her mama, she's an old-fashioned, neutral sort of girl. Like, uncompromisingly so. (Who needs English?) And I pretty much detest super bright rooms and I pretty much want the whole house to flow together with touches of individuality.(Mostly mine. HA!)


So this is what I'm thinking:
It's bead board wallpaper. Cheaper than actual bead board & we wouldn't have to redo the baseboards. If we did this on the bottom of the walls then we could do the upper portion a very light pink. Pink walls. Check.


Avril has my old nightstand that my grandpa made for me when I was a little girl. It is white but currently needs a facelift. I am thinking this color of blue would be acceptable & possibly look good with a pale pink. Hers only has one drawer but I'm thinking a crystal handle is in order! Blue nightstand. Check.


This is a coin bank that I could paint a cheery red. Red so does not go with her stuff but it's just a tiny bit. I wish she'd want this:


but she is her own person. And she might get one of these anyway!
Red treasure chest. Check.

Blue Closet. Blue closet. Blue closet?

So I'm thinking I can paint the interior walls of her closet the same color as her nightstand or I can use something to this effect:


to store things inside of her closet.
Ugh. The lover of white inside of me feels nauseous already.

Maybe I could get these and use the nightstand paint on them as well?
 

or these?



Any ideas on a blue closet are welcome. I may be negotiating this one with her. The terrorist!

I really want to do this on one wall above the "bead board".

We could paint it pink or we could leave it the same color as the bottom half. It might also be pretty on the ceiling in white. Jay may kill me if I suggest it. And honestly, I'm not entirely sure that wall paper will work at all with our textured drywall. In which case I will do this:


It actually looks really simple. Especially since Jay will have to do all but the painting part!
Of course this won't look quite as good with the textured walls either but I am thinking that it won't be that noticeable.

And I think I'm going to make it taller, chair rail height. That way her pink bed will be against the white & not the pink wall.

I had plans of white lace curtains but I am wondering if it will make it too "busy" looking. If I do the textured wall paper on the wall it might be but if it's on the ceiling it may not matter. Not sure about that.

Her bedding is white with pink & blue floral print. Very Pretty. With the colors that she's wanting it actually goes really well but I am wondering if we should switch to all white bedding to keep a bit of neutral/farmhouse/simple to her room.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how we can make all of this work in her room & still keep both of us satisfied.

I would love tips, suggestions, or ideas.

If I did it all my way it would something like this:







I guess she keeps it from being dull!

Other areas I need help on are:

Her bed is pink, her nightstand will be blue, but the rest of her furniture is white. Should I paint them as well, or leave them white?

Are lace curtains too much? Should I go with simple white panels?

Her room is tiny and there is a lot of furniture in there. Should I put her kitchen set in our basement school room or leave it in her room?

I really want her to have a chandelier. Know any inexpensive places to find one?

What are your ideas/methods of storing hair supplies? They need to stay in her room, our bathroom is also tiny.

How on earth do I give her a blue closet & a colorful room without gagging every time I see it?