Our Weekend

What'd you do this weekend? Well we enjoyed our last weekend as a family of five.

We had friends over for dinner...

We went to the storage unit to get the baby stuff...

The children and Frank went to inspect the progress on the house...




Mary Frances and I finished her "super star" poster...


We went to church...

We made gorp...


We waited for snow...



Stay tuned...

Simple Pleasures

Today, I had it in my head that I would take the boys to the zoo. The sun was shining and the temperatures had warmed. I thought it was a perfect day to be outside and take advantage of a break from frigid temperatures! They had other plans...

They entertained themselves for the better part of an hour with the spray bottles I use when ironing.So, what did mom do while they were otherwise engaged. I worked on this basket...

I perpetually have an overflowing ironing basket. I'm embarrassed to tell you what you might find if you dig deep enough. Take for example, one night this week, I dumped the entire basket out to look for a lacy shirt for Walker to wear to have his two year old pictures taken. Sadly, by dumping the basket out, it looks more full than it did because it isn't packed down as well. Very discouraging for me!


If an article of clothing goes missing in our house, it is best to first check this basket. It doesn't matter how hard I try, I just can't stay on top of it. Yes, it drives me crazy and sends my cortisol levels up, but it is just how it is. I guess instead of going to bed, I should go iron a few articles of clothing, but my bed is calling my name. Maybe, no definitely, in the morning after I work on those thank you notes...

Our Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of time with family.


On the second day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of snow.

On the third day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of my mother being in town.

On the fourth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of a daddy coming home for the rest of the year!

On the fifth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of a birthday boy.

On the sixth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of one of the last fires of the year.

On the seventh day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of getting the Christmas decoration down and put away.On the eighth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of a rainy lazy day filled with football, thank you notes, and a yummy dinner.


On the ninth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of coming home.

On the tenth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of laundry and leftovers.

On the eleventh day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of getting back into a routine.

On the twelfth day of Christmas we were given the glorious gift of some quiet time with a bag of library books.

Oh to have that...

...and that is my son's imagination!

I love that my children have extremely vivid imaginations and can be wildly creative. Bear with me because this will not be one of my more concise posts.

As I've said before, one of the prevailing themes for Christmas was "construction." Walker received a tool belt from Pops. As is to be expected, Stephen has enjoyed the tools as much if not more so than Walker. We made a new friend while we were at the lake ~ there was a family next door with an 18 month old who also had a new tool belt. His particular set of tools included a pair of safety goggles that Stephen was taken with. We've heard a lot about those safety goggles...

Fast forward to today ~ Wednesday is trash day around here. We love pointing out the trash trucks and have been known to follow it around the block. We are fortunate {at least my boys think so} that they come by our house three times ~ once for household garbage, once for recycling {that's what I'm thankful for}, and once for the street trash {limbs and such}. Truly, I think it is my boys favorite day of the week. They have taken to helping me collect the trash and then play trash truck with the empty cans before returning them to their rightful locations. Today Stephen was helping me with the waste basket from the laundry room when some of the plastic packaging materials from Frank's new shirts fell to the floor. Stephen became so excited because he had found his safety goggles. Sure enough they do look like safety goggles and with a bit of ingenuity from mom they even act as safety goggles.

{One day he might hate me for that picture!} Not the best picture but we were already super late because I had indulged his creativity...

The following picture has nothing to do with the post, but Walker didn't want to be left out...don't worry he got his own pair of safety goggles this afternoon.

"I Trust You"

Two years ago just after Walker was born, my mother 'n law gave me what I consider a great little devotional. The title is Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. For a time after Walker's birth, it was all I had the time or energy to read by way of a quiet time. I found it peaceful, soothing, calming, simple yet enlightening...

As time went by, I was able to spend some time looking up the verses referenced at the bottom of each page. They elaborated on the text and were typically quite powerful and added to the meaning, but they are unnecessary to get the gist of the message.

As more time as gone by, I have fallen from looking up the referenced scripture, but still read the devotional most mornings. After a fitful night of rest, these words helped me this morning: I want you to learn a new habit. Try saying, "I trust You, Jesus" in response to whatever happens to you." No, I do not know the plan or all that is going on behind the scenes, but God does. He is in control. I truly believe that he will not give us more than we can handle and so I will continue to trust ~ no matter what comes, no matter how gray the day seems, no matter how anxious, overwhelmed or stressed I am, I will trust that God loves me and has a plan for me.

It Does My Heart Good

At one point this morning, the dishwasher was humming, the washing machine whizzing, the dryer whirling, and the vacuum cleaner buzzing. This was just what was going on inside... Outside there was hammering and sawing...

Later, this was the scene I found at the foot of my bed ~ I love that my children can entertain themselves without the aid of a television.


Here was the scene when when we arrived to check out the progress on our house ~ I love that the ball is rolling. Let's just keep up the progress!
The outline of the house was strung and most of the footings were poured.Here was the pre-bath scene ~ I'm so thankful my children love books. They love to be read to and to read to each other.

Here was the scene as we were making the final preparations for supper ~ I have two super sous chefs and one {not pictured} in training. I love that my children were having a taste of all of the veggies we cut to go in our salad.

Please remind me of these moments as I feel anxious, overwhelmed, and am beginning to lose my patience.

Happy New Year

We have spent the last few days in calm quietness {if you can use those words to describe a family with three children under 5 1/2}.

For as long as I have known Frank, we have typically spent New Year's Eve at the lake ~ usually with friends and family, sometimes just family. After our escapade to Birmingham Sunday evening, we bailed on our friends. I hated to cancel because I was really looking forward to spending the weekend with Anne, Chris, and her boys. We felt that we were just too much of a wild card! In reality, we had no idea if we would even be at the lake for New Years, and I wanted Anne and her own young family to be able to go ahead and make plans for their weekend. I told her to mark her calendar for next year and to find a week for the summer.
They were missed, but we have enjoyed lots of good family time. I think our children have loved being here for almost two weeks, and I know that I have. I have loved having Frank around during the day, and it has been nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of life ~ all three children have napped almost every day, we've stayed up late, and slept late {even me}. We've played outside and in, cooked good meals, baked goodies, completed some projects {most notably Mary Frances' Super Star Poster}, read countless books, and had lots of fires {until the temperatures rose}.

Tomorrow it is back to reality and that will be good too though I am already a bit anxious about all I need/want to accomplish before the children go back to school.

While we have been away the cement truck has been busy at our house, and I am looking forward to seeing the progress. I'm very thankful that the ball is rolling on the progress for our house. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit sad and nervous about bringing a baby into a home that is not our own. As the date gets closer, the reality sets in and I hope we can all handle it. Please say a little prayer for all of us! I am glad that school does not resume until Tuesday so that we have two days to get back into our normal routine. I think it will take every bit of that and then some.

I'll leave you with a picture of what proved to be a yummy new year's meal ~ a new take on the old tradition of pork, black eyed peas, and greens.