This is beauty to me: my sweet ten-year-old in his new arm cast. I’m not saying that I’m happy my son broke his arm, but you have to admire his all-in-spirit. It reminds me of that quote from Finding Nemo: Dori tells Marlin, the helicopter dad, “Well, you don’t want nothing to EVER happen to him, because then nothing would EVER happen to him.” Never underestimate the power of beauty. Beauty! “Joy is a net of love by which you […]
» Read moreThis is the big week, the BIG BIG week. The boys are going to Vacation Bible School, at our very own church. So yes, that means I am going to help. It’s an embarrassingly minimal amount of helping, really. I basically signed up to help lead around 2nd and 3rd graders and listen to them say Bible verses. I haven’t decorated or contributed in any other way. So why is this a big deal? Because we have the only two […]
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San Diego Day 1: I have never been so badly in need of a vacation as I was this Spring Break. Actually, I’ve lived in need of a vacation since June 2013. I promise I wasn’t always this tired and whiny. There were actually lots of years where I felt relaxed and happy. I was busy, but it was a healthy level of busy. I want to get back to that healthy level of busy, but happy again!!! Forget […]
» Read moreTomorrow we have family arriving, and it makes me feel like “Ahhhh, peace.” I know things will be crazy around here, as the kids will be all excited, and there will be 8 people in the house, but the thing is that I am seriously in need of reinforcements! Some days I’m all about the home schooling. “Oh, sure. I think it’s great! I love it.” Then there are days like today, where I’m more like, “Home school is ruining […]
» Read moreBOOM!! bounce bounce bounce The school day is done, and I was answering blog comments, and I heard this loud noise. Don’t worry. All is well. I ran to check it out. I scanned the front yard. No one there, but it sounded like someone had hit our house with a basketball! Weird! Just then, Joshua barged in the back door and proudly proclaimed, “I just kicked a soccer ball OVER the roof! I’ll go get it!” Big boys. I […]
» Read moreI’ve been struggling lately. It’s been a year of lots of change, it’s overwhelming, and Alan is so busy with his engineering classes. Some days I have been a borderline bitter/icky person. I didn’t realize just how gloomy I’d gotten until I was at Bible study Thursday night with some gals in my neighborhood, and I just HEARD MYSELF. Woah. I need to get it together! This week I really hit a low point, and I just sat on my […]
» Read moreToday I came down with some sort of sinus-y whoozy head problem. I kept feeling like I would faint, and the only cure was to lie down. I spent the afternoon, lying down, mad that I was lying down when I have so much to do. If dark clouds could really hang over your head when your glum, I would have had several. Then I read this blog post, from a blogger I’d never read before. Here’s the link: http://leftwithlouie.com/2014/09/08/what-oscar-said-rings-oh-so-true/ […]
» Read moreAs I’ve mentioned before, I have been a highly stressed and impatient version of myself lately. Last night I made a resolution for myself: Today I am going to be calm. I don’t care what happens. I am going to be calm, cool, and collected. I don’t care what the kids do. I will not freak out, panic, do the eyebrow thing, yell, or act irrationally. This is my goal for today. This morning, when I gathered the boys together […]
» Read moreI have had so little rest and even less actual sleep the past…5 or 6 days that it’s affecting my ability to function. Remember my attitude adjustment that I mentioned in a previous post? (Just click on those words for a reminder.) Well, I haven’t forgotten my lesson yet. I haven’t lost my thankful heart. Once again, my problems are direct results of my blessings: 1. 4 little boys 2. a very very very very busy weekend of fun activities with […]
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