Pictured-November

November was full to the brim!  So much fun with these crazy kids!

October 2016

One of these days I won't start a blog post by stating my heartfelt apologies for not posting in...well...forever. 

But, not today.  

Sorry.

God is in our Mess

A good friend of ours likes to remind us that family life can be messy and that we will find God in our mess.  Boy, am I ever glad for that!  Yesterday was one of those days.  You know the kind.  No one was being nice to each other, nothing was really going very well, and I found myself hiding in the car (in the garage) eating the chocolate that I knew I had left in there from the day before.  True story, and an all time low for sure.

As I get older I now realize why I felt so close to good ole "Anne Shirley" from Anne of Green Gables.  Why couldn't have I been born without red hair?!?!  Now, if you know me in real life you know that my hair is not truly "carrot top" red, but there is apparently enough red in there to give me a great temper.  I have great passion for many things, and I've learned that with that comes a little drama (no, you don't say!).  I'm a slow learner.

I'm grateful, however, that every moment we get a new chance.  It's never good when the morning starts out with the mom apologizing to a roomful of kids for being a big meanie the day before, but it's better than pretending the day never happened and that all was peaceful and lovely.

The thing is.  All of these little (and not-so-little) people look to me to keep this place going.  Some days (yesterday!) that all seems so overwhelming!  So many needs and only one of me.  Yesterday was a day where I wanted to quit "adulting".  Just for a moment I wanted no one to need me, no one to argue with a sibling, no one needing to go anywhere, no one needing to be fed, no one needing clean clothes, no one needing to talk to me, no one needing me at all!

And then the day ended.  We were in town late, got home, got every one settled to bed and the house was quiet.  Ah, the blissful quiet!  I retreated to my room, settled the baby into our bed, grabbed a book, and sat there and thought.

It was true that the day was crummy, but in those quiet moments I could think clearly.  How sad my life would be without these lovely people in it.  Some day they won't "need" me in the ways they do now.  I know from experience how quickly the years go.  Knowing this doesn't make the hard days any easier, but it does bring some perspective.

I think it's important to be honest about these things.  Social media tells us all the time that everyone else's families are perfect.  They eat perfect food, at perfectly decorated tables, in perfect outfits, with perfect hair, right before they do a perfect reveal of their perfect surprise family vacation.

Perfect moments happen of course and it's fun and important to celebrate them.  But, not-so-perfect moments happen too.  And it's okay to occasionally share those too.

I've learned (slowly) to cut myself a little slack.  If I mess up I try to move on.  I send a quick "save-me-from-myself" text to a friend, take a deep breath and try again.  God finds me in my mess and pulls me out, even if I am kicking and screaming.  I'm not perfect and I don't love the days and moments when I'm reminded of my imperfection, but it is important to acknowledge the messy days, to learn from them, and to look forward.

Today is a new day!  My kids still need me, I'm still not perfect, but we are moving forward.  We are loving better today, smiling more today, and making much less of a mess all around!  I'll count that as a win for sure.

Toad Wins

Summer Recap

In short, we had fun!  

 At the end of last semester we all felt a great need to take a break.  We needed family time, we needed margin, we needed to get outside, to play hard, to find ourselves with more time than things to do.  Although our summer wasn't perfect in all of those, I think we came as close as we could with this many people and circumstances that are sometimes out of our control.

 We headed to South Dakota for our annual summer vacation.  It wasn't as long of a trip as we usually take (except the car ride...that never seems to change).  We spent some great time in the Black Hills and great time with extended family.

I think Aidan is doing an exceptionally good job pretending that he's concerned that the lawnmower didn't start.  In the end it did start, and he did have to mow.  Bummer for him. 

 We had a handful of visitors and got to play "tourist" a little bit too.  We live in such a great place and love getting to explore!

 We had a lot of rain this summer so our garden is maybe not quite as good as it was last year, but we're still getting plenty of produce to spend a few evenings canning.  Always a learning curve there, and always a great way to remind us that this good food comes from somewhere and it takes work to be able to enjoy it year round.

 The kids have soaked up a lot of sunshine this summer and it seems like they have grown in leaps and bounds because of it.  Lately they have been spending their days outside, running around barefoot, making a mud kitchen, hanging pretend laundry on a pretend clothesline (this was necessary after they tried "washing" clean clothes from the house and hanging it up on the real clothesline), reading, climbing trees, etc.  I had a great childhood, no complaints here, but is it okay to admit that I'm a bit jealous of theirs?

And so our summer ends.  School is right around the corner.  While I'm never fully ready to tackle all that will come my way during the school year I find solace in knowing that it doesn't all come at once (usually!).  The baby, who is growing faster than any baby we've ever had, is 100% mobile, the almost 3-year-old has been "3" for awhile and always has some adventure up her sleeve, and on top of that we have a Kindergartener, 2nd grader, 5/6th grader (I can never really remember), an 8th grader and a High Schooler!!!!  Let's do this thing!