A Week in my Life

Saturday- Saturday morning I am the first person up. I decide to indulge myself and have a cup of coffee with some baked oatmeal while I watch an episode from a dvd Erik and I are going through(Don't tell him I watched it without him, though!) Soon after I finish the episode, I hear Jack(my three year old) calling for me. It never ceases to amaze me that he knows which parent is up, even though he can't see who it is. As soon as he's up he makes a special request to go to "our woods", and then proceeds to count to fifty. I am always amazed by how much this child seems to absorb. Pretty soon, Erik, Anna(who's 2), and Lily(who's almost 9 months) are awake and fed. Since it's Saturday, we head out to our local state park to go on some trails-that was the woods Jack was referring to earlier. Ever since summer has ended we usually go out there once a week, and have so much fun! When we come home the kids and I take naps. The rest of our Saturday is fairly lazy, and we put the kids to bed at 7:30, which has become our Saturday night tradition since they seem to need the extra rest for church the next morning.

Sunday- Sunday morning I wake up at 6:30. I have to get up by then if I want to take a shower and eat breakfast before church. Sunday mornings are tough. Erik plays in the praise band so he has to be at church by 8:20, but since we have three little ones that need to be ready, he usually gets them dressed, while I get dressed and do my make up. All five of us usually head up to church together since taking the three of them by myself can be tricky, and I feed them breakfast once we arrive. By 9 everyone is in their Sunday school class, and I feel as if I've run a marathon. I told one of my friends that I usually can't concentrate on Sunday school until it's almost over, because my mind is running all over the place! After Sunday school I pick up Jack and Anna from their class, and we head into the service(I also peek in at Lily, but I have to be careful she doesn't see me!) I'm still on the fence with how I feel about small children being made to sit through an hour long service(I'm all for older children doing that though!) but for us the kids seem to do better being in church with us than being left in the nursery all morning. The kids dance during praise and worship time, which always melts me, and Anna gets so excited seeing her daddy up on stage. When Church is over, we go out to lunch with my in laws. Since Erik and I don't enjoy being tortured we rarely go out to eat with the kids after church, but my sis in law is in town so we make an exception. As per usual the kids are exhausted from a long morning, and we are reminded yet again why we don't eat out very often! After naps on Sunday afternoon, we decide to take a walk, and then we heat up left overs for dinner. Last Sunday night was a bit unusual because I got together with one of my closest friends. We are so close, but don't get to see each other much because we are both in busy seasons and have small children.

Monday- On week days Erik has to leave the house at 5:30 in the morning, so he's always the first one awake(unless I'm up with a little person!) Monday morning I'm able to sleep until 6:30, and then I start the last week in my Bible study, Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy. Mondays are suppose to be my errand and grocery shopping day, but for whatever reason I'm in project mode. I decide that I need to clean out the kids closet and go through their toys before we go anywhere. Let me tell you, it's not a wise idea to pull out all of your childrens toys while they are awake. And it's an even worse idea to tell your children not to touch the toys! Finally around eleven we decide to head out the grocery store. Shopping with three children three and under is always an adventure. We get stared at, people make comments to me about having my hands full, and inevitably at least one child gets cranky. Thankfully we make it out of the store alive and just a little frazzled. Erik got out of school early today, and gets to eat lunch while Jack tells him all about our day(Anna and Lily  were already in bed at this point.) For dinner we have turkey meatballs and broccoli with olive oil(yum!) The kids love the meatballs, so dinner is very pleasant tonight!

Tuesday- On Tuesdays it's my goal to get the whole house dusted and mopped. I can tell you I accomplished about 1/4 of that goal, but it's good to have goals! Tuesday was very nice. It was our only day at home this week, so we were able to stick to our schedule and make a pumpkin pie together. I also did several loads of laundry, but as usual I didn't get them put away until Wednesday. We enjoyed some beef enchiladas for dinner, and after the kids went to bed Erik and I watched some of the shows we have on dvd.

Wednesday- I had to go to the doctor for an hour, so my mother in law comes over to watch the kids. When I got home, a friend of mine called to see if we wanted to meet at the park. I agreed and was happy to get outside and enjoy the lovely fall day. When it was time to go home, one of my kids threw a little tantrum, but it was nipped in the bud pretty quick. Once home, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon. While the kids slept I put away clothes and straightened up the house. I also enjoyed a little bit of down time. At the last minute we decided to order a pizza for dinner, and while we waited for it we watched these videos.

Thursday- Thursday mornings I'm always torn between dread and excitement. Thursday mornings is when the ladies bible study I belong to meets. I always look forward to the fellowship, but I always have a sense of dread in me because there have been several times I've had to leave early because of a baby that doesn't like her mommy to leave or because of two toddlers who can get a little bored being stuck in the same room all morning. I know I need to get over this and realize that everyone with little kids has days these problems, but sometimes I can feel like I'm the worst mom! I'm able to make it most of the way through the study without anything major happening, that is until the very end. Why yes that is my three year old on the floor throwing a fit! Lovely. On that note I gather the kids and and try to get them out of the church as quickly as possible. By the time lunch is ready everything is fine, but everyone is need of a break! During nap time I make a chicken pot pie and brownies to take to a family from church who just had a baby. For dinner we have some cheese potato soup and rolls. Tonight Erik has praise band practice, so I spend the evening blog hopping and making a pumpkin dip for my mops meeting in the morning.

Friday- Friday morning I get the kids and myself ready to leave the house before nine. This isn't an easy task! Today, however, my sweet mother in law has offered to take the children so I can go MOPs alone. I am very thankful for this offer, especially after a day like Thursday! After a delightful morning of fellowship with other mothers, I pick up the children and we go home to get some lunch. Today my parents are coming down for a visit, and I am very much looking forward to the break! Once Erik gets home, my parents offer to send us out on a date so they can baby sit. We don't hesitate taking them up on their offer! We have a wonderful evening eating dinner and buying Anna some winter clothes(I think she's grown six inches in the last week!).

If you would like to see what other people's weeks have looked like, be sure to check out this blog!

Explosions and Blue Vans

Myra is hosting Friday fails again this week, and in the last week I've had my share of fails, so I thought I'd share two of mine from this last week!

My first fail was last Thursday. We had to go to a visitation about an hour away from our house. Right before we left, Jack decided to dump a container of formula into the diaper bag. We were in such a rush to get out the door that I didn't bother to repack it, and just grabbed the kids snacks and cups. Of course as soon as Erik scooped Lily out of her car seat, he noticed a strange smell. Sure enough Miss Lily had exploded all over her new dress, and I had no change of clothes or wipes with me(thankfully we had a diaper out in the van!) Poor Lily had to hang out at the funeral home with just her diaper on while Erik and I tried to find the nearest Wal Mart in an unfamiliar town!

The next fail I have had has kind of been an ongoing one in the last week. I keep trying to get into the wrong car! It's getting ridiculous, apparently I think every blue van belongs to me. Thankfully I have yet to actually get in any of these cars and try to drive off. I think motherhood is causing me to lose my mind...

For more fails check out Myra's blog!

The heart of the Matter

 

 "In building meaningful relationships with my children..I must learn to accept unconditionally the person God made each of them to be...mothers have the priviledge of instilling in children a deep experience of God by modeling his unconditional love and acceptance." Quote taken from Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

I have this little boy who is going through a phase of sorts. Whenever I leave him at Church or anywhere new, he gets very upset and someone usually has to come get me to take care of him.

For awhile I was getting very frustrated with him. Why was he throwing these fits? He knows better than that! 

Last Thursday, after another episode, I fell on my knees in sheer frustration and started praying. I asked God to give me some wisdom in dealing with Jack. Almost immediately I began feeling burdened that Jack might not be throwing tantrums because he's disobeying, but because he's scared. Perhaps he is feeling a little insecure and feels most secure with me. I also felt that before church or before we go anywhere that we'll be separated for awhile I should pray over him.

Tomorrow I'll get to put this into practice, I'll let you know how it goes.

My Curly Girl

 

Our little Anna is quite the character. She's still mischievous, but in the last few months she has turned into such a funny little girl. 

She's our child that mimics everything we do, especially what she sees me do! In the last few weeks she has started playing with baby dolls, and I'll often see her caring for her dolls the same way I care for Lily(except I'm not prone to drag a baby around by her head). She gets so excited about everything(I have no idea where she gets that from!) and will jump up and down when she sees her grandparents and applaud when Erik comes home.

For all her energy, though, Anna is usually perfectly content to sit and read. She is also an excellent sleeper. In fact, we just moved her and Lily into the same room, and there hasn't been any problems. 

Anna is this sweet combination of being a bit of tomboy and being very much a girly girl. She loves shoes and dresses, but is happy to chase and play a bit rougher with Jack. 

"A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot."

Just in case anyone cares...

Ever since our little family has gone from four to five, I've been feeling a little overwhelmed. My husband and I were discussing some things I could do to make things a little easier, and the one very obvious solution we had was to make a schedule. I've always been a routine person. My children have nap times and bedtimes, but as far as an actual schedule of things we do while they are awake? Not so much. That has all changed in the last week or two, and while it's not been perfect, it has helped me tremendously in trying to love on the children while also staying on top of housework. I don't know if it'll help anyone reading this or not, but just in case anyone is considering the same thing for their homes I thought I would show our schedule.

Monday- Clean out refrigerator, make menu, grocery shop, errands and start on laundry.

Tuesday- Dust entire house, vacuum, mop wood floor areas, and laundry(of course).

Wednesday- Clean both bathrooms, wash bedding, and bath rugs. Mop bathrooms and kitchen floor.

Thursday- Ladies Bible study. Minimal housework is done, but we usually need milk and bread by Thursday, but I wait until Erik is home so I can go alone.

Friday- Projects/ fun day. Also MOPS is every couple of Fridays, so we go there as well.

Monday-Wednesday schedule for kids

8:15- Kids wake up

8:30-Dressed, breakfast. Sometimes we sing a song or work on a memory verse. Other times we just talk while I gather dirty clothes and unload the dishwasher.

9-9:15- Free time

9:15-945- Read books with kids, sing songs, rock with Lily.

9:45-10:00- Free time.

10:00- Bible time/practice sitting quietly. We either read Psalm 103 or Genesis 1. Sometimes we go through  My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts, by Susan Hunt. The stories are a little above my three year old's head, but he can get the verses within five minutes.

10:15- Snack time(Lily goes down for nap about this time)

10:30- Color/ art

10:45- play outside if weather is nice, have art time go on for awhile if it's not nice out. We might watch a video around this time as well.

11:30- Lily wakes up, and it's more free time until lunch.(Free time just means they can play whatever they want, or I'll read to one of them, or we might go back outside, etc)

12:00- Lunch

12:30 Pick up toy room, go potty for those who are potty training, and change diapers. Then it's upstairs for naps!

Late afternoons and evenings are pretty free, since that's when Erik is home.

It's a pretty simple schedule, but it helps to keep me on task. I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks, but so far it has been a blessing to me!

Dear Jack,

You have truly become such a sweetheart in the last few weeks. You adore Anna and Lily, and they love the attention they get from you. Whenever we go somewhere, you always hold the door open for the girls(mommy included), most of the time without being asked. As soon as you shut the door behind us, you usually take Anna by the hand and lead her to wherever we are going. You like to play games with Lily, such as peek-a-boo, and are one of the first ones to ask her what's wrong when she starts crying.

But the most recent thing that has melted your mommy was at church this past Sunday. You wanted to watch Daddy play his base in big church, so after Sunday school I took you into big church with me. For the first few songs, you danced in place, seeming to enjoy yourself. But when the slower songs started, and people were raising their hands in worship, you decided to join them. I glanced down and you had your hands raised, eyes closed, singing,"Amazing Love." Well technically you weren't singing the lyrics, but you like to move your mouth along to songs you don't know the words to. It was so sweet! I couldn't help but laugh a little, and I'm fairly certain you melted the people behind us. It made me pray once again that you would grow into a man who would learn to worship Jesus unashamedly.

I love you, bubby!

Mommy

Circumstances

While in a Bible study meeting last week the question came up, "How do you respond to God in difficult circumstances?"

We all have an old nature that we tend to fall back in when the going gets tough, but if we are Christians, we need to learn to rely on God to meet all our needs.

Today started out decent. I didn't even get too frustrated when my kids woke up earlier than I would've liked. There was one situation that needed to be taken care of today, but I thought I had a handle on it. God is Sovereign in all things, He would take care of the need we had.

But then I received a disappointing phone call. Things weren't going to work out quite the way I had thought, but I still wasn't too upset because I thought we had other options of taking care of the problem.

About an hour later, I received an even more upsetting phone call. All the options I had thought we had were gone. Now I was upset. I was overwhelmed, and beginning to wonder if we hadn't made a huge mistake. I sat on my kitchen floor, trying to think of ways to escape the mess we are in. But then in my kitchen, I began to feel convicted. Was I really trusting God earlier today, or was I just trusting the options I thought we had? Do I truly believe God is good and that He takes care of His children?

Thankfully, God gave me grace to repent. I didn't know how things were going to turn out, but I knew that no matter what God would supply our needs somehow.

And wouldn't you know, about five minutes after I got up from the kitchen floor, there was a knock on the door. And it was someone who wanted to help us out. I continue to be blown away by the way God answers our prayers. Most of the time it seems to be at the last minute, when our hearts are being tested to see what we truly believe.

I don't write any of this to give anyone the impression that I believe in a "name it claim it" theology. This was a real need, and God promises to meet every need His children have.

"Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said," I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say,"The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6