Listening to God's Call

Hey y'all,

It's funny how there are periods in your life when you will go through long seasons and it seems like you're not growing at all; and then within the space of a day you could be a whole new person with eyes opened. And it's not like you can force your eyes to open to some of these insights; you can only attribute it to the timing of God.

The last 48 hours of my life have been nearly overwhelming with their "rubber meets the road" feel.
And the funniest part is, hardly any of the events that occurred actually impacted my physical life directly. Still, God used them to absolutely grab my attention, the way He does sometimes.

It all started with Saturday night. Jacob and I were watching Monty Python. I tapped open my Facebook app on my phone to keep myself awake; and in the middle of scrolling, I saw a post that sent me reeling: One of Jacob's first "dad-friends" had drowned in a diving accident that afternoon. The post went on to describe the accident, how paramedics successfully shocked him back to life and medivaced him to Jackson where he was then in critical care and having cardiac complications.
We had not talked to these friends in over 18 months, since we had moved away from that area. But immediately I wasn't sitting on the couch in front of my tv anymore; I was, instead, sitting next to that man's wife in the hospital, feeling every emotion she might have been going through. My heart shot 120 miles West to be with that young wife and their soon to be 2yo daughter. There was a brief moment of helplessness as my own heart cried out, and suddenly I realized that I wasn't helpless at all: I could pray.
I have always been a timid pray-er. But suddenly, I became the kind of prayer warrior I had always dreamt of becoming. And I had no idea why this particular situation was different.
Suddenly, it wasn't enough to me that I was just praying for them. I had every ounce of faith that their entire church body and then some were praying that night for Cody; but I knew that there were more warriors I could call to battle with me.
I have always been a timid prayer request sharer. Like, it's never anybody's business. I'll get by. But then a question flashed clearly in my mind:
Do you believe in the power of prayer?
Um, of course I d--
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER? 
I suddenly realized that I knew a group of warriors that would fervently pray for Cody, and he needed it. So I shared about the accident in my MOPS Facebook group. Immediately, several women assured me they were calling out to the Healer on Cody's behalf. And I was confident they were doing just that. I shared with my mom and also my grandmother, who I know are both Christians, but I've rarely included them in my own spiritual life.

Jacob and I ended up turning off the movie halfway through and climbing into bed because we were too distracted with what had happened in the lives of our friends. He was able to fall asleep after a brief talk of how lucky we are, how life can change in the blink of an eye, how sorry we both were for the circumstances. However, I found that I could not sleep at all. I sat up for two hours praying and scrolling Facebook, and thinking about -- nothing at all. Even though I knew she must be getting an overwhelming number of messages, I sent a brief "we're praying for you" message to the wife -- something I never do. I also shot off a message to her best friend whom I had also become friends with, letting her know that we were planning to be in Jackson all day the next day and to let me know if they needed anything from home that we could bring with us. Much to my surprise, she responded immediately and let me know that they had just received positive news from the doctors.
I thanked the Lord over and over and soon saw Cody's wife post an update on Facebook -- no major injuries, he was doing very well, he was on a vent due to the water in his lungs. His kidneys weren't functioning properly and that was the next worry; but my eyes finally closed peacefully as I rejoiced that my God is a miracle-worker.


The next morning Jacob woke me, restlessly waking up at 6:30 on a Sunday. My eyes hadn't even opened before I heard a command flash in my mind just as clearly as the question of prayer the night before:
Go to church. 
I had hardly formed an excuse before it resounded again.
Take your children and go to church.
Jacob had already risen and gone to the kitchen to start coffee and turn on the Sunday morning news. I, however, went straight to the shower in my first steps of hesitant obedience. Somewhere, I was thinking that even if we didn't go to church, at least I would have already had my shower for the day. I needed one before heading to Jackson to visit Jacob's housebound grandparents, anyway. But in the shower, the note of resolve didn't let up.
Why haven't you gone? What is your excuse?
Immediately my brain fired off a list of them: Church messes up my kids' Sunday routine. I feel rusty at community worship. My kids come away with illness whenever we go. What will my husband say/think?
In the face of my excuses, I suddenly was filled with a strong knowledge that none of them actually mattered.
Invite your husband, take your kids and go to church. That other mom in your MOPS group does it. Women everywhere take that important stand. Why won't you?

At 10:45, my husband was sitting next to me in the row of chairs and both my kids were excited to "attend church class", aka nursery. Katie has been asking me to read her Bible stories every night. She's asking a lot of questions. I know she needs to be here.
But what if it's the wrong church? What if the worship is wrong? What if the teaching isn't sound?
So many fears.
The worship was definitely different than any church I've been in before.
But isn't this exactly how you worship at home?
Yes, but I'm out of practice letting others see.
That's not what matters. What matters is what I deserve. 
Turns out, there was no regular sermon prepared for that morning. Instead, two women were giving a testimony of a missions trip that the church had sent them on. As soon as the pastor announced the agenda for the morning, my heart sank. We're not even getting an actual sermon, I thought. We hadn't attended church in over 18 months; of course we would hit it on an off-Sunday.
But as I listened, Jesus was speaking to me through their testimony of service to His call.

You see, this week our new MOPS season kicks off. MOPS stands for "Moms of Preschoolers" and it is a women's ministry I found earlier this year and began attending, at first because Jacob insisted, and now because it stole my heart. Ever since finding Jesus in my motherhood journey, a passion of mine has been to encourage and serve other moms. He recognized this in me when, after only attending meetings for a few months, He brought the leadership team to my inbox asking me if I would consider joining as a Discussion Group Leader (DGL). I knew my answer was yes! even as I tried to come up with reasons why I should be "pious" and "pray about it first". See, I had prayed about this decision already, even though I had no idea this is what I had been praying for at the time.
Last year, when we moved to this wonderful house and small town, I told the Lord that I recognized His blessings in my life, and I wanted Him to reveal to me any opportunities that I could give them back to Him.
As kickoff day approaches, my fears only amplify: What if I can't do this? I'm having a baby halfway through the year, after all. What kinds of moms will He bring to my table? What if I don't know what to say to some of them? I'm one of the youngest people on the team and I live further away -- what if I can't be effective? So many fears.
But both of those ladies Sunday morning looked directly at me and told me that God did not give me a Spirit of fear, that my job was simply to serve where called.

After the service, Jacob could only talk about how much he was glad we went to church. He asked me if a missions trip was something I wanted to do? I shook my head and expressed my 1000% confidence that I already knew where I had been called to serve.

And this morning I read Acts 1:8 at random while waiting for Katie to fall asleep during naptime; and Jesus reminded me that I have the Power to do what I have been called to do. That my fears don't matter at all in the face of such Power. That I can be obedient in anything because I have the Power of Jesus in me.

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."


An urgent prayer request was just posted in our MOPS group. One of our moms just moved to Texas today and was expecting her furniture to arrive this afternoon. Her youngest son (approximately 3 or 4 years old) was in some sort of an accident earlier this afternoon, and we are told that he is in critical condition. My heart breaks. But I do believe in the Power of prayer,
because, for some reason, the Lord decided to show me a whole lot this past weekend. My faith is strengthened. Thank You, Abba.

A Final Tribute to the Mustang

Hey y'all,

Today we took the new Mom Car on it's first grocery run. All I can say is: Great things come to those who wait.

But first, a little backstory:

When I met and then married my husband, he had a new 2013 Ford Mustang. Mustangs never fail to catch my eye, and I still joke that it's the reason we're together. When we met, I had another interested suitor that I was *ahem* trying to discourage; and I'll never forget that Jacob told me to tell the other guy that I was dating a man with a Mustang; and just like that, I was.
Our first date (that my parents didn't come to) we had planned to go hiking on a popular 5 mile trail. 2.5 miles into the woods a major storm system surprised us and we ended up hiking the last 2.5 miles uphill in the storm. We finally reached our vehicles, and we talked about what to do from there since we were soaked. He invited me into his nice new car, and though I sat, I was a nervous wreck about ruining the leather seats. He just kept telling me not to worry about it. (I had no idea then how filthy he really was when he drove it home after work every day. Ew.)
Later that same evening, we were having so much fun together that we didn't realize the lateness of the hour, and when we finally returned to the park to retrieve my car, we found the gates had already been locked. So Jacob drove me home in his nice car. I was freaking out about how my parents were going to handle my getting home right at curfew without my car. I'll never forget this guy I didn't even know reaching across the lit up console and holding my hand, telling me everything was going to be alright. He was grinning in the face of danger. But then, he had yet to see my folks freak out.

Two months later, I packed up my Pontiac and I left home in a tizzy. I called my new boyfriend, sobbing, and he just told me to bring my stuff over. When I arrived, still crying, he engulfed me in a hug, sat me on his couch, handed me an entire one of his favorite pies, and watched me stuff my face and continue to ugly cry all while explaining my situation. When I had finished the pie and took a breath, he smiled and grabbed a duffel bag he had already packed, and he took me out to the Mustang. Then he drove me to the beach for the weekend. He just told me everything was going to be ok. And it was.

That Mustang took us on many beach excursions. It took us to New Orleans spur-of-the-moment for Valentines Day after we both had a long day at work and no plans. When I told Jacob that I wanted something different for my life, he drove through the night in that Mustang to give me a ride to where I thought my life might be -- Cincinnati, Ohio. We rode away from our wedding in that Mustang and brought our second child home in it. It was our dependable backup when every other vehicle we tried to own failed. It was the cause of many frustrating budget meetings -- things were more than tight some months because, after kids came, we were still making big payments on a car that we couldn't really drive. Jacob had no attachment, it seemed, but somehow I did. It symbolized healing for me for a long time; and now, looking back, it proves my husband's generosity and love toward me. From the moment I met him, Jacob was urging me to drive it because he wanted to share it with me. He was almost ecstatic when my little Dodge Neon finally kicked the bucket and I had to start driving the Mustang to work.

This past weekend, after 4 years of slaving away to pay it off and enjoying every single ride we got in it, Jacob drove me down to Louisiana and traded in his special ride and got a newer SUV just for me and for our kids. I have never driven anything newer than my '02 Volvo station wagon that decided it was done last week. I was literally driving on a prayer making my grocery runs with the kids each week. Praying it would last another 6 months until Baby was born and we were forced to figure something else out. By then, we would have the Mustang completely paid off and we would be making mortgage payments on a house. I had a plan, but the finicky Volvo that Jacob had already poured so much effort into decided to derail that plan.

I love my new car: A massive, 2013 white Honda Pilot. It has working A/C, a working radio, a third row seat for all the kids, and even a rear camera. Jacob made me drive it home after he signed over his own car, and all he kept telling me, with a smile, was that it was all mine.
And I cried like a baby. Because I'm five months pregnant. Because we were leaving the Fun Car with all of the memories behind and it felt like my dog was dying all over again. Because I was shown, once again, in such a massive way how much this young man cares for me. How insanely lucky I am to have met and married my husband.

I cried, because God is so good, y'all.

Ramblings From Someone Who Just Needs to Post More Consistently

Hey y'all,

I've been urged to write a blog post -- by the voices within as much as the voices without (your voices). To the fans: thanks for encouraging me in this creative endeavor of mine.

Once again, too much has happened since my last entry here on the blog and I'm having a hard time condensing what I want to say. My mom used to be a blogger when she was raising us 7 and she recently stumbled across her old URL. I still hear from fans of her blog from way back when, and it was more widely read than you would think. However, the majority of posts were hardly longer than a paragraph or two, sometimes including a few pictures (because that was much harder to do then) because that's really all you have time for when you're moving and having a baby every other year and raising and homeschooling seven children single-handedly. Snippets of life.
But reading back over her old blog, it occurred to me that we were so ecstatic to even rediscover those "snippets"; and that a brief, consistent entry was almost better than the long soliloquies that I sometimes fool myself into thinking is desirable.
Longer entries about the deeper, philosophical happenings in my mind as a mother and a wife have their place, no doubt. However, I wish I would just make myself sit down more often even just to type out a paragraph or two, updating my later self on what life was like as a young 20-something raising three kids under the age of four on my funny farm in my small town.

I do have a Facebook (friend me if you haven't) where I sometimes post funny things my kids say, or snapshots of our day-to-day life. But the blog somehow has a more personal touch to it that I long to get back to.

I want to write tributes to seasons that change and things and people that mean the most to me.
I want to write about lessons I'm learning, bad days I am having, and days that turned out pretty great.
I need a space where I can purposely slow down and methodically type out what is actually on my mind.

Did you know my dog of 8 years died suddenly last month?
Did you know that my husband traded in his cool car to get me a new mom car?
Did you know that my local MOPS group approached me about taking on a small leadership role even though I've only been attending (some) meetings for six months?
Did you know that I'm studying joy and learning so many lessons in the process that impact my parenting and my mental health?
Did you know that I planned my expectations for this third baby around having another boy -- and suddenly we found out we are, in fact, having another daughter?

Some of these things you might know if you have friended me on Facebook. Some of them are still pinging around in my mind and they need a place to land -- a place like my blog.

Just ramblings for today. But feel free to drop a comment telling me what you think of the blog, what kinds of things you might like me to post about, maybe even an idea that's pinging around your mind that needs a safe place to land -- tell me about it.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Hey y'all,

This week has been hard. My schedule (from the second my early alarm goes off to the time my eyes close as soon as I get the kids bedded down) revolves around keeping five small personalities (furry and not furry) alive and happy. Then on top of that I have a 6th one we have yet to meet taking up more and more space and energy from my body with each passing day. Also over the last six months my horse has decided that he has dietary and weight problems, so he has a strict feeding schedule now that takes preparation hours in advance.

Yes, I brought this all upon myself; however, that doesn't make it less exhausting. And honestly, taking care of other people day in and day out can get monotonous.

So today I decided to consider what are the things that make me happy? Because even just to remind myself that, "Hey, I enjoy listening to this particular song" or "You know what? My kids have been difficult today, but that smile they both flashed me makes me feel all the good vibes" can go a looooonng way in helping me to cope with this giving season of my life. It's about the little things, folks (and fellow mommies who may have forgotten).

So here are 10 Things That Make Me Happy (in no particular order):

1. Framed pictures of my loved ones
2. Bodies of water; the bigger the better
3. Really good fiction books
4. The perfect song
5. Mountains
6. Flowers
7. My weighted blanket
8. Clouds (especially rainy ones)
9. A clean house (preferably my own)
10. Sunrises

How about you? What are some things that make you happy?

A Peek Inside My Journal

Friday, April 6, 2019
Today is a day for rain boots and mud puddles. The farrier came this morning. The kids sploshed around in all of the good puddles in the driveway while we worked on the horses. Now we're walking around the peaceful, cloudy backyard with grape suckers from the bank. The birds' songs are fewer and softer today; very nice soundtrack. I'm sitting on the porch journaling while Katie and Mason tromp around aimlessly, surveying the sky, inspecting the paper-bark on the cedar tree. Katie is completely lost in her own thoughts, Mason simply following and watching and licking his sucker. 30 and 18 months old, respectively. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being really irresponsible and a bad mom, letting them have minor adult interaction and instruction and interference while outside. Is it lazy? Honestly, I just really enjoy watching their uninterrupted selves. Sure, I bring things like laundry outside to do; but they rarely get done because I just like to watch my kids play and interact with each other and the world around them. I have mostly good and mature kids. Usually if they're being naughty outside of the realm of having an unmet need, it's when we're inside.They don't like being cooped up.

My two sisters with their handsomest nephew.

Reading their mail from great-grandma Rhonda

Monday, April 8, 2019
I can't believe it's April 9 already.
Today has been less than great. I got some important stuff done; but mostly I'm unmotivated and moody. Being moody brings on the guilt -- I've been bipolar for days now. I'm just really overwhelmed. Especially by guilt over not accomplishing my Bible reading.
Then I got my (belated) MOPS packet today. Included was a 20-day devotional. I went ahead and read the first one and was immediately floored by God's love for me. Isaiah 40:11 says that "He will gently lead the nursing ewes." I want to break down and cry at such a reminder; but I'm parenting two boisterous toddlers, hoping my husband walks through the door at any second.
"There is nothing you can do in the course of a day to ruin, squander, or fracture God's love for you. And there is also nothing you can do to get more." -devo
Isaiah 43:18-19 is also helpful: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."
"The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made." Psalm 145:9

During the plague we dealt with this weekend. High fevers, cranky attitudes, and nasty poops.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Seeing God at work puts a song in our hearts. How have I seen God at work today?

• I have received wonderful words of encouragement -- both direct and indirect -- from people who have no idea of the struggle the last few days has been for me.
• My husband gives me patient grace. Always.
• I miraculously got all of my homework accomplished by the deadline!!! And I did 100% work!!
• He gave us a beautiful day and the ability and willingness to be outside and be refreshed by nature.

Four generations: My dad's dad, my dad, my brother, and my son

Friday, April 12, 2019

Baby Thomas #3 is officially in the oven! Making this a Christmas baby; and due while my parents are in Europe. Whoops.

We had a fantastic message at MOPS yesterday about "parenting right when our kids are wrong." ie. identifying our triggers and making a plan to parent in maturity when our kids are acting like kids. And I was thinking how enough two kids can be for me right now. At an earlier time this week, I was contemplating truly resting in the Lord's timing for our third baby. Now, boom! -- we have a baby on the way! 

Three things I'm grateful for today:

• Definitely this new baby. Thank You for having faith in me as a mom, Lord. Teach me to run to and lean on You.
• MOPS has become such a refuge for me; a place of encouragement and sound teaching for momming in the Lord's strength.
• This past Spring semester to finish my Associates during the single year I did not have a new baby!

"I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17

8 weeks and 10 weeks

Saturday, April 13, 2019

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine." Psalm 33:18-19

We took the kids to their first rodeo last night. We got rained out, but everybody had a blast! Katie keeps telling us her favorite part was the "cow chasing", or bulldogging. She kept shouting, "Do it again!"Mason was mesmerized by the longhorns that were pastured behind the bleachers. 

Three things I'm grateful for today:

• My garden. I put together and planted the peppers, tomatoes, and herb bed today. I love growing things!
• A daughter who loves to be outside just as much as I do (if not more!)
• A husband who was willing to drive us out for a late night at the rodeo even though he got a work call at 3am. I truly don't deserve Jacob.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Ok, lots to report:

Within the space of 5 days I adopted 17,000 rescue plants from Jacob's uncle (not an accurate number, but definitely close), a shop kitten Jacob brought home, and we began fostering/training my best friend's new Belgian Malinois puppy. And roughly 2.5 weeks ago we adopted a kitten from the shelter to keep Milly company. Little did we know what the rest of this month would hold... *facepalm*

I'm entering my second trimester, my house is a disaster, I'm in over my head -- but I'm surviving and trying to focus on the little things. 

And I desperately need deodorant and to brush my teeth...

Minnie, Katie's shelter kitten

Helping me repot our hundreds of plants

Jacob's shop kitty rescue. I named her Pickles because I'm craving pickle chips this week. lol

A 30 Day Update

Hey y'all,

It is raining today, so you get my almost undivided attention now. (Or, at least as undivided as it can be with two toddlers and a house that looks like a tornado went through it and I have a psych paper due next week and a world religions test tonight...) I thought I'd give you all a quick update on what's been going on for us in the exactly one month since I last posted on here.

With no more sunshine to aid in procrastination, it's time to face the music. sigh.

Any day it is above 50 and sunny outside, we have been out nearly all day long. Seriously. And the difference in the attitudes of Winter 2yo vs Spring 2yo is outstanding. Seriously. Heck, the difference in my attitude is outstanding. We put on our sunscreen, make sure everybody has a cup of water, and then I turn them loose to do as they please in the yard while I sit on a picnic blanket with my homework or a chunk of the mountain of laundry that needs folding. As Solomon so wisely said so many years ago: “Light is sweet, and it is pleasing to the eyes to see the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 11:7

#stylin

Along those same lines, I have a book recommendation:

The statistics in this book concerning a child's outdoor playtime are alarming, to say the least. It's time to make a change. I highly recommend this book to all parents and/or teachers. The revised edition even has lists of activities you can do with your children outdoors, books to get them excited about and connected with nature, and even things you can do in your community to promote the message that children need to be outside -- adults, too.

As long as we're recommending books, here's that one about the square-foot gardening method I put into play this year in my own garden.

I'm loving it so far! Our spinach is beginning to look like real spinach, our pea plants are demanding I finally build them a trellis, and the design is really so so easy and really does make the job of gardening so so much more enjoyable and less time-consuming. I never knew I could have so much produce gleaned from such a tiny little space! With this method, the needs for weeding and thinning are virtually nonexistent. Also, I have so many seeds left to store for next year's or subsequent plantings because I only planted what I knew I needed. Because I plotted out how much space each single plant will need for growing and producing, there's no "battle for the nutrients" going on with my little seedlings, therefore my little seedlings get an unhindered start to their growing year! Definitely check out this method of square-foot gardening. You won't be sorry!

In a final attempt to keep the dogs from laying in and digging up my garden,
we threw wagonloads of pine cones down. Checkmate.

My spinach (foreground) and a square of pea plants (back square). *squee!*

Random Ruby Leaf Lettuce sprouts. We must have dropped some seeds. Whoops.

Buttercrunch lettuce sprouts. 

My biggest pea plant. I'm very proud.

Look closely.
Closer.
The tops of little carrots!

Some more pea plants. I planted many squares because I always remembered that my mother could never grow enough to feed everyone. Now I'm recalling that her family was twice the size of my own...

Look at all the green peeping through!

Blueberry plants that we ordered from Starkbros. We also ordered (and planted) six fruit trees in the backyard!
(2 apples, 2 pears, 2 peaches) I potted these bad boys to buy myself some time to finalize their resting place.

*Also not pictured (along with the fruit trees we planted) are our two everbearing strawberry plants. They are doing well, so far, and we're excited to reap the produce in times to come!

I also put together some containers to hopefully entice the fauna this summer.

Don't even ask. It's obvious this was not potted to attract. 

Random small updates include:

• The kids and I are trying to bring back our library trips into the agenda. It's tough; and, until Monday, we honestly hadn't been since before the holidays. Whoops.
• I'm an essential oils girl; and recently I got a roll-on Magnolia oil to try as my new "signature scent". It was... different; but I really love it's calming effects. Swipe some on my neck and I immediately feel the tension leaving my body. Also, knowing that my signature scent is Magnolia in the South just makes me feel that much more at home here. hehe

• We paid down half of our debt recently and are on track to be completely debt-free by the end of the summer! That's such a great feeling!!
• Jacob is currently working on getting his CDL. The only condition was that he's not allowed to become a trucker and drive off and leave me. We are definitely teaming that gig. #nowifeleftbehind
• While I am totally kicking butt at this school thing, April will be my most packed month yet, homework-wise. Thus, I apologize in advance if it's another month before I get to be back on the blog. 

My youngest brother (10) with his nephew. He loves being an uncle.

Stuffing our face with cake from Jacob's birthday.

The very handsome birthday boy. 

Keeping Toddler Hands (and Minds) Busy

Hey y'all,

A few entries ago, I discussed the importance of the first few minutes in your child's day, and how you can utilize those moments to set the tone of their day and relationships with those around them. I mentioned that I had begun seizing these moments to read to Katie Jo first thing in her morning. We were seeing positive effects on her mood with this effort. However, it is unrealistic to expect these positive effects to last all day on a two-year-old. Thus, in the afternoons, we were still struggling to maintain emotional control. Of course, I eventually found myself on the phone with my mom venting about such frustrations; and she reminded me of something she had discovered when my third brother was small.

We had begun homeschooling that year and my mom had five children and a husband that was deployed. She was brand new to the world of educating her own children; and one could say she was biting off more than she could chew in keeping five young children stimulated and entertained for all hours of every day from then on.
Because she was busy handing out, over-seeing, and grading school lessons for four of those children, my youngest brother, who was a toddler at the time, found himself strapped in his highchair with small, stimulating tasks, throughout the weekdays.

She discussed this with me and the effects she believed such time had on my brother (who is graduating high school this year).
Because I was unsure what else to try, I took her advice, and we immediately began implementing an "activity time" into our morning routine.

We are on Day 3 of this method today and it has had even more of a positive impact on my kids than spending that time in the morning (though I do still do that*). We started with 15 minutes of coloring while I did my homework, all three of us seated at the table. We stressed quietly sitting -- and they didn't ask me to get down for nearly 30 solid minutes! They didn't fight, they didn't so much as speak a single word! Just concentrated on their coloring pages.
The next day we cycled between coloring and playdough.
Today we added some puzzles.
The fighting has been extremely minimal, Mason's patience for sitting still is growing by leaps and bounds, and Katie has been such a joy to be around! Wow! Who knew all it would take was some intentional stimulation on my part? And I'm finally getting my homework done consistently instead of cramming. Double win!

*However, we came up with a slight problem in our early-morning routine: Katie didn't really desire to read first thing in the morning anymore and I grew frustrated. Now her behavior was excellent in the afternoon, but not so great again in the mornings. Oi.
Then I got an idea: how about bringing some of that intentional stimulation into our early-morning time? The next morning, I tried it: we read a book with animals, and then looked up each animal on youtube, watching short clips of each one. She had such a ball and talked about it all weekend! So this morning we read another book, and then we drew and identified some shapes (I noticed her favorite show on the Baby Channel is called "Shapes School".) She astounded me with what she already knew and she was so joyful learning first thing in the morning! It took ten minutes out of my morning while the oatmeal cooked for breakfast.



Today is a slow and easy morning. My house is basically a complete wreck from the weekend. Jacob got 3 calls within 10 minutes around 3:15am; and after he left I only had nightmares about somebody assaulting me and my dog(???), so I'm tired.

Yesterday I bathed the dogs, which turned them into fluffy, nice-smelling clouds of fur. Even after all the rain and mud yesterday, and even though she is Bloodhound and therefore a terrible roller, Lexi still is fluffy and smells nice today. Thus, they each have gotten all the hugs and pets from myself; and I remembered what an aesthetic loving on the animals is for me. Sometimes that can get lost in the day-to-day busyness of caring for two toddlers and being a wife.

Also, my kids slept in today; and it's cold and yucky out. So, even though I could make a list of a million things that I need to do, I've decided to chill out and enjoy a slow morning. I got my shower, read my Bible, fed the farm, made some handsoap, and brewed a cup of good coffee -- because I already needed the pick-me-up; because my hands were cold after working outside; because there's nothing I enjoy more than starting my day with a warm mug of something. (Yesterday it was soup while I tucked into a dining chair to study and the morning was misty-grey outside.)

I also found myself expressing a long prayer of gratitude for things like fluffy dogs, warm mugs of coffee, the talent to express myself through writing in my journal, the ability to let myself have a slow morning, the strength and courage He sends to uphold me on days when I'm utterly exhausted but still have to parent the terrible-twos. Heart-felt gratitude in the mornings can go a long way toward improving our day, no matter the circumstances.

My point here is that even though it is a Monday with plenty that needs to be done, I am choosing to breathe; and so set my intentions for my day -- and my week.


And my biggest overall point is: be intentional always.

Working on getting soil in the garden beds prepped these days.

2/4 ready for planting!

That look of determination...

Proud

This week we added tomatoes to the indoor-planting sill.

The grandparents' well sprung a leak on our way out to a party together.

Good thing Mason was there to fix it (aka shout instructions from where he was
confined in the truck).

We were out shopping on Sunday and I would just like to applaud whoever ended up
making this decision for themselves. I'm so proud of you! Life-changing moment right here. lol