The Sun Shining on This Gift

Late afternoon sun shining on my new (used) couch. It's pale pink. ☺️

Planning Party

A certain little brother is turning 2 very soon and so we had a planning meeting to organize ALL THE IDEAS his siblings have to celebrate him!

Reading List

Reading (again) today with this boy. He brought me these books to me one right after another. He's got great taste!

Woke Up on the Right Side of the Bed

Well good morning little fella. Aren't you a cute way to start the day?!

I’m Sorry, B Part II

We had the first installment of this unplanned series over a year ago.

Today I give you part II.

The first one goes way back. But it’s a good one. I quickly popped him in a security box at the airport while I opened the stroller or put my shoes on or some such thing. I promise it was safe and that he didn’t go through the scanner like that.

I am fairly certain the a first or second child never got treatment like this from his/her mother. This def seems like a fourth child thing, ha!

Anyway, he obviously wasn’t a fan. Sorry, B.

Buried by his siblings. Sorry, B!

A real live doll baby put in a doll stroller. Sorry, B!

Hair salon time. Sorry, B.

Buried again. Sorry, B!

But all this attention is a sign that YOU ARE LOVED!!! You really are so much fun to play with.

Vocabulary Lesson from Lil’ A

This (hankie) is a “coughing blanket”.

And a quote to go along with that…

“It’s my lucky day ‘cause I have a lot of snot.” –Lil’ A

????

These (apricots) are “apple-cots”.

A loves to eat boiled eggs. So she asks me “Is this a spilling egg?” to find out if it is boiled or not. So cute.

We did a cutting project one day with these  “maganees”.

Here is is holding her “password”.

This is what she called pomegranates (of which we have a lot these days)… “pomagrammans”. And so of course that’s what I call them too…

Lastly, another quote…

“Mommy, I’m hot!!! Can you put on a song?”

As if  a song is the cure to her temperature problem. Ha!

Stuffies at the Mall

Stuffies trip to the mall this morning.

One of These is Not Like the Others

One of these things is not like the others... Lil A wanted to try karate tonight. Why not?! I've actually thought for awhile that it would suit her well. Day 1 was a success according to her, me, and her captain.

Head Count!

They lined themselves up in the stairwell this morning as they were leaving for school and yelled "head count!" They're so fun. And B very happily goes along for the drop-off ride so this Mama can do her workout!

Missing Tie at Carmina Burana

REALLY enjoyed this show at Cairo Opera House. And glad they had a tie for Mike to borrow at the ticket booth so that he was allowed to enter, ha!

It’s Supposed to be Simple (What is The Point, Part II)

So where am I headed with all this “What’s the point?” talk?

There is so much that I could say here. But I’m going to keep it focused.

Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Jesus said it Himself. What is written above is THE POINT. The first commandment. The greatest commandment. This is what matters MOST.

It’s love.

Just love.

Only LOVE.

Love God. and love others.

It’s supposed to be simple. What God asks of us is this: just to love.

When I feel distracted by this world, bombarded by many messages and confused about my purpose in each season? I only need to remember love. For the calling and purpose to love is central. IT DOES NOT CHANGE. It is first. It is greatest.

How do I love God? I love him by acknowledging Him in my daily life, as my constant companion. I love Him by enjoying Him. I love Him by eagerly seeking to learn more about Him. I love Him by purifying my heart so that it is a place where He can easily dwell. I love God by understanding that all the work I put my hands to, whether it’s dishes and laundry or anything else. There is no secular work here. All can be made sacred if done unto the Lord.

But this worshipping with my hands and my life is not separated into tiers of “Better worship” or “Worship, but-not-quite-as-good-as-someone-who-does-more”. Sometimes when we look at the lives of others, I think we start to think in this way without realizing it. That one category is more worthwhile than another? Because it’s not.  This is why filtering is no necessary! We are always hearing messages of more, more, more. We can want more, have more, do more, be more. Ugh I’m sick of it. Give me less, please. I’ll take less of what this world has and more of what God has, if you don’t mind.

How do I love others? I serve them with joy. JOY in God despite life circumstances is so key here, and is basically in and of itself, an entire life project. I teach my children all that I know and give them tools to continue their own learning. I meet my husband’s needs and respect and support him. How to love my friends, family, and even the strangers in my life? By being a good friend, by praying, by serving, by giving, by being present in their lives, and by speaking of God’s truth and love as often as I can. I do it all because of LOVE.

That is our life calling as followers of Jesus.

That is THE POINT.

LOVE is the point.

It is that simple.

That is what God asks of us.

Love is first and foremost. Everything we do should happen through that.

Sometimes we make it so very complicated. We load a lot more ‘shoulds' into that simple calling.  I want to fight to keep my eyes on the main thing. I want my filter of what I put into my life, what I put my hands to and how I spend my time to be done through the filter of LOVE.

Watching my Boy Get Situated in Bed

This evening after I nursed Bridger, I went to lay him down in his crib. He wasn’t happy… crying and out of sorts. So I laid him gently in his crib and sat down next to the crib to wait while he settled. Sometimes I’d leave him. Tonight I didn’t want to.

He settled in a few moments and I kept watching from outside the slats.

My boy sat up, and started searching through the various comfy things in his bed for something in particular. He grabbed his little pillow with the special case Grammi sewed him this summer. The pillow he put behind him, where his head would be when he laid down.

Then he looked around again.

He picked up his stuffed puppy, that Grandma and Grandpa bought for him at Build-A-Bear. The puppy went next to him.

Then he pulled out his soft fleecy blanket and attempted to place it over his legs and up to his chest.

Then came a drink from his water cup and then it was set aside.

He leaned back and laid down on his pillow next to his puppy.

Then he pulled up his taggy blanket. With his two fingers already in his mouth, he managed to search out his favorite orange ribbon and stroke it while he tucked the blankie under his arm.

And then he was all situated and I was just amazed. The boy turns 2 in a couple weeks, and I had no idea he could have so many ideas about how to get settled in his bed in the nighttime.  Sometimes when I lay him down I situate him like that myself. But I never would have guessed that he would do it on his own if I didn’t do it for him!

It was such a precious moment. And then I went in to take a picture and he thought that was pretty funny.  How I love him.

A Gifted Tray in my 'Shelfie"

My latest #shelfie addition. (The tray). @pilgrimzoe it couldn't be more perfect.

Pegboard Joy

I cannot, for the life of me, explain to you why I have never purchased a pegboard in the past. We are basically meant for each other.

A Quick Trip to the Beach

One serious perk about living here is that the beach is only 1.5 hours away. So just before school started for my big kids, we made a quick trip of it.

We loved what this hotel had to offer outdoors! There were four pools. One tiny baby pool, which we all enjoyed. A bigger kid pool with slides just the perfect size for B and A. The big kids would help B up and down the little ladders and he’s go down the slides all by himself, go underwater at the end and then bob back up (because of his arm floaties), grin, and do it all over again. it was so stinkin’ fun.

There were also two larger deeper pools. One of them had four short but VERY fast slides for big kids and adults too. Mike and I had fun trying them out. A was brave and she did them too. But they were so fast and pretty brutal at the end. Also, there was no lifeguard supervision and there were lots of kids, so you can imagine that some collisions happened at the bottom, oh my! My kids took it all in stride…

My kids love these paddle boats, so we usually pay a little extra so they can enjoy them. The whole time they are having fun with them, I just keep thinking how good it is for learning steering…

The frog slide in the above picture is one that B loved and did over and over and over again.

After we tried all the pools and got a little chilly, we took a break to eat lunch.

While we waited for our food, the kids enjoyed the huge pile of bean bags.

And Mister B threw a fit. This is nothing new. I think he was tired. Poor buddy.  When he gets like that, there is literally nothing that can be done to calm him down. It’s just gotta be waited out. Which means we get some interesting looks from people around us…

Partial recovery.

After lunch we went to check out the beachfront.

It was beautiful. Tide was low and the conditions were perfect for building.

This one loves to search for shells and other treasures.

When the sun was going down, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. After dinner we relaxed in the bean bag chairs again.

We all slept well and on the way down to breakfast the next morning, out tiny elevator got stuck between floors. Oh the adventure! We were banging on the door and I called the front desk after I googled the number on my phone. It didn’t take long for them to pry the doors open and help our family climb down to the hallway. Memories!

Overall, the trip was so full of joy for our family. We had SO MUCH FUN together. I am so thankful.

And we loved the pools and the beach but the accommodations, food and service were disappointing and frustrating. We were denied entry at the security gate, the food was sub-par at best, there was A MOUSE IN OUR ROOM, and we got stuck in an elevator, oh my. So as we checked out, I made a complaint and insisted on speaking with the manager. He heard my complaints and we spent a little while bargaining. In the end I received a partial refund and a voucher for a free night in the future. So I’m pleased about that!

And so we pulled out with that satisfied-and-tired-from-so-much-sun-feeling. We felt joyful, pink, refreshed and just so blessed.

Bedtime Snuggles

Sometimes he climbs in to snuggle with her.

Beds Pushed Together (Problem Solved)

A certain little lady has been needing some extra help feeling safe at night. We pray a lot and hope that it's a short stage. Big sister was willing when I suggested that we push their beds side by side to bring A extra comfort by having her sis so close, even though she's not the easiest to share a bed with. It's helping and I'm so thankful.

Keepin’ Busy at the Sink