The Early Years

A couple of days ago I struck up a conversation with one of my blogger friends about how to cope in the early years. I have to confess that every once in a while I feel a bit overwhelmed when I think about the responsibilities that come with this blessing called motherhood. Day in and day out, I am responsible for the well fare of these five small children. There is a long list of things that I must do to care for them, not to mention the lessons in life that I must teach them. That's why I enlisted the help of my friend over at http://raisingfive.blogspot.com/ . I must say that the response has been incredible! I have been very encouraged!

Katherine said: (Her comments in bold, followed by my own thoughts.)
1. Get up on time.
I am so bad at this. I get up when I hear the first footsteps hit the floor in the morning. I have to admit that I am NOT a morning person! I am only up early because I am forced to be. One thing that I will be working on (and will ask friends to hold me accountable to) is to get up earlier than my children so that I can have a few quiet minutes to myself to prepare for the day. That means time to pray, read a devotion, and of course, have a cup of coffee!
2. Shower, dress, and put on makeup before the kids wake up.
This might have to be done while the kids are distracted with breakfast. I have a hard time showering before they get up because when I do, it wakes them up. But if I can get in a routine where their breakfast is waiting for them at the table, then it might work out.
3. Have a plan.
I am the queen of lists. The problem is, when my list gets too long, I get overwhelmed. But I'm working on that! I do a load of laundry a day, and I tend to the "basics" (dishes, meals, cleaning) done out of routine. One thing I really need to work on is how I react to interruptions. I don't do well with interruptions in my routine. When I get in the "zone", it's hard for me to put down everything and turn my attention to kids.
4. Structure for little ones.
Yep. I believe in it. It's just hard to stick to it. My kids go along with it for a while, but then one day they just wake up and it isn't what they want/need anymore. They just grow! And when they grow, sometimes you have to change things up a bit. The problem is, where one has outgrown a particular routine, I have one smaller that hasn't. It's hard to have 3 or 4 different routines going.

I am so thankful for all of the advise and feedback that I've been getting from this conversation. It has really given me my motivation back. It has also helped me to remember who I am doing this for. As someone over at Raising Five said, I am going to "make the commitment to give the area of motherhood over to God as a sacrifice of worship to Him." I know that He will honor that and when I feel overwhelmed, He brings me women like all of you who have been through it or are in it now to encourage me to keep pressing on in faith!

Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."

This is it, I promise!

Swinging...
Fun and games... LOTS of eating...
Just plain silly!
Can't wait to do it again next year! : )

The Grand "Tent City" Finale

This will be my last post about "Tent City." There were over 200 pictures taken between four cameras, then combined on a CD for everyone. It would take me forever to share all of those photos so I'll just post a few more of my favorites and then be done. I may have to divide it into two posts because I don't know how many I can post at once.

My pictures didn't really turn out from our fireworks show on the fourth, but here we are in the driveway the next day watching a mini-show with some of the smaller fireworks that were left over. We were outside of city limits, so we had more room to play and have fun. Actually, the neighbor's show on Saturday night was quite impressive.

Also on Saturday, we celebrated the many birthdays that fall in July by having mud cake! Yum, yum! Everyone lined up for a big slice of that. Even CD got in on it with a little help from his dad! : )This one's BC hanging out in the treehouse that his PAPA built for the grandkids.Here's CD chillin' with his dad and uncle. : )

Keeping Cool in the Sun

Today I decided to post some pictures of the gang swimming. It was right around 100 degrees the day we arrived, so of course, the first thing we did after unloading the van was invade the neighbor's pool. That pool was a life saver over the weekend. Not only did it keep us cool, but it also tired the kids out! It was a lot of fun.


All of my kids love swimming. This year they were brave enough to try the diving board. Hopefully next year we can start swimming lessons with the older kids.



Their Aunt had fun swimming around the pool with them "train style."

One of the cousins made a card that everyone signed and then all the kids took it over to the neighbors to say thank you for the use of the pool.

Haircuts

While we were in Walla Walla, I decided to get my girls' haircuts in at a friend of my MIL's.


RL has been wanting to cut hers again to give to Locks for Love, so she ended up cutting off about nine inches! Her hair is so cute in a short bob though. I'm so proud of her for wanting to contribute to a good cause.

LR just got a trim. Her very first one, actually! She has very thin hair that grows pretty slow. It was a little sad to see her baby curls go bye bye, but her shoulder length hair is very cute too. Just right for headbands. : )

It was a fun outing with my two princesses. I love mommy daughter time!

Well, that's all for now. I need to get back to work.

Tent City

We're back from vacation. Tent city is what we called it. This year for the 4th of July weekend, a total of 10 adults, 8 children and 6 dogs gathered together in Walla Walla to camp in my MIL's back yard. They have a soccer sized field on their property and plenty of room to set up camp and romp around playing games and having fun. We also had use of the next door neighbor's pool, which was wonderful in the scorching heat. What a fun way to gather siblings, spouses, and children together for one big family reunion. Thanks mom and Doug, for hosting it! : )

We returned home a little tired, but have recovered from all of the excitement and are trying to get back on routine. I have a lot of news and photos to share so for this post, I'll stick to the group photo. More to come later, since I have limited time to spend on the computer.

Presription for Rest

"She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness." Proverbs 31:27

It's 4:30am here. For some reason I can't sleep. I don't know. Maybe, just maybe it was that iced latte I had with a friend before bedtime? Or it could be a combination of that, and the 100 degree heat wave that we are having this weekend. Whatever the reason, I have been tossing and turning all night.

When I can't sleep at night I am in the habit of praying. It always brings me comfort to talk to God about what's happening in my life and the middle of the night just happens to be pretty quiet around here. On this early Sunday morning though, I felt led to get up and write. The above verse kept running through my thoughts. So I got up and revisited Proverbs 31, and here I am.

I don't consider myself to be one that "eats the bread of idleness." After all, I do have 5 small children! Their day to day routine alone keeps me busy! I would say that at least half of my waking hours are spent giving my attention to them in one way or another, from breakfast in the morning, to jammie time at night. I consider myself blessed to be able to be an at home mom. I can't imagine a better occupation at this point in my life.

It's the other 50% of my waking hours that I am considering this morning. I have to confess that lately, I have felt like I deserve to partake of the for mentioned bread. That "I need a vacation" attitude has been creeping up on me for quite some time now. It's when that feeling comes over me that all I want to do in my spare time is sit and veg in front of the tv, or computer.

So, what do I do about this feeling? Well, usually I start with a list. It involves asking myself a few questions. How much time am I spending doing the things that I really love? (i.e. devotional time, reading books, writing in my journal, blogging) What are a few things around the house that I have been meaning to get done but just haven't "had the time?" (Maybe finishing that project in the master bathroom I've been working on?) What kind of creative new games and projects can I come up with to spend time just hanging out with my kids? Finally, I absolutely can't forget my husband. (Although I must admit that sadly, he often comes last when he should rank at the top of my list.) How much time have I spent focusing on my marriage, and love of my life?

All of these questions come down to one thing. What are the priorities in my life? How do I balance each of these areas in the 16 hours or so of my day that I am usually awake? The only thing I can do is work at it. When I feel off balance in one area or another it's usually time for a change in routine. Maybe it's a date night with my spouse. Perhaps I need to have coffee with a friend. (Though not late at night!) Or maybe I just need to get up, read my Bible and pray.

We all need a little down time. Jesus often withdrew to the lonely places for it in Luke 5:16. Mary sat at the Lord's feet for it in Luke 10:38-42. Even God rested after creating the world in Genesis 2:2.

There is a distinct difference between rest and "eating the bread of idleness." The Hebrew translation for "idleness" is "atsluwth" (pronounced ats-looth), meaning sluggishness, or laziness. Matthew 28:11 says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." The Greek translation of "rest" in this verse is "anapauo" (pronounced an-ap-ow-o), meaning to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labour in order to recover and collect his strength.

Today I am taking Matthew 28:11 to heart. I am choosing to rest in Him and lay my burdens down. After I take time to recover and collect my strength, everything else will fall into place. And on that thought, I am going to rest my tired eyes before my little ones wake up to begin a new day!