Thankful Thursday

I have not been the best about Thankful Thursday lately, and tonight as I was about to put my tea mug in the sink and brush my teeth, I felt compelled to hammer out some gratitude.

Sophia has an ear infection, even only a couple of weeks post-operative.  It's lasted for five days now, so she has been uncomfortable and fussy and feverish, poor thing.  Today's only available appointment with the ENT was at 4:45 an hour away.  Well, we decided to make the most of it and headed out to the area early so the kids and I could spend a couple of hours at the children's museum first.  Zach met us at the appointment, and we found a little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria to eat dinner at before throwing the kids in their jammies and heading home.  It's been a long week of a fussy baby, lots of tylenol, runny noses (from all the kids!) and interrupted sleep.  The other night, when Sophia's fever first spiked, I felt so defeated.  Those voices in my head threatened to draw me into that dark place, "You must be doing something wrong.  Why are your children always sick?  Why does the staff at the pediatrician know your name?  Do you not clean your house enough?  Do you not feed your children healthy enough?  Do you not pray with enough faith?"  And I very temporarily felt discouraged and downcast.  But I tell you this to explain that I am thankful, thankful, thankful for God's whispered reminders of truth.  For some lessons from Lysa's Unglued.  I came to Jesus with my little problems..."Jesus, I am discouraged...help me.  Jesus, I am tired...help me.  Jesus, I am overwhelmed...help me."  And those simple words, those simple prayers, those simple shout-outs for help coupled with a reminder to focus on "...whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable..." (Philippians 4:8) brought my heart right back into perspective.  And then I rejoiced.  I rejoiced that I am learning, that I am taking baby steps towards imperfect progress.  So I am thankful for that today.

I am thankful for a most generous outpouring of provision and love of amazing homeschool materials and curriculum and books from a friend at church.  When I first started considering homeschooling, I questioned, "How could we afford the curriculum?"  God has provided for us again and again just this year alone!  I was so overwhelmed and blessed by the boxes that were loaded into my car and the hours (and years!) of learning and exploring that are ahead of us in these boxes for my children and me!

I am thankful that I always, always, always have a second chance and that tomorrow is always a new day.  (I know, I know, you've heard this before, but I continue to be thankful for it...)  My exhaustion from having a sick baby and staying up too late to squeeze in some "me time" is leading me to being impatient and snappy with my children.  At night, as I kiss their precious sleeping heads and pray for their little hearts and lives before I go to sleep, the kind of mama I want to be rises up fiercely in my mind and heart.  And although I often fail to live up to that during the daytime hours, I am thankful that I can keep trudging forward with a vision of who I want to be.  And in the meantime, I am humbled that God's grace covers it all.  What a freeing and life-giving blessing!

Thankful for other fun things in our life, like my in-laws visiting, a trip to the zoo, a night out with my best friend/sister-in-law and brother, a fun party for my nephews, a date out with my oldest son, the library with our dear friends, family over for a barbeque, my sister-in-law getting engaged, and a new show to enjoy when all the chores are done at night.

This is a good, good life.

What are you thankful for today?

From Mama to Mama

There is not much sweeter than having your mama present with you when you become a mama.  And for me, I have been blessed with this moment four times over.  Every time we have welcomed a baby into the world, a baby that has made my heart burst and stretch and overflow with the strongest, fiercest, most amazing kind of love, my mom has been there to experience it along with us.  This is no small gift.  So much of what I have learned about being a mom, and what a precious gift it is, has come from MY mom.  From watching her live and love and walk in grace and beauty as a mother.  And from the example she has set, the memories she has made, the values she has instilled, and the joy in which she has done it.  And to have her, my biggest fan, my encourager, my advocate, being there with me as I bring children into this world has been nothing short of joyous.  Knowing that I have her support and love on this mothering journey is a gift beyond description.  Watching her love my kiddos and enjoy being a nana is another gift in and of itself.

So today, I just want to say Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mom.  Thank you for loving ME and for encouraging me on this road that I am now on as a mama.  You have set such an amazing example, and I hope that I can be to my kids the kind of mom you have been to me.  I love you.

My mom with Micah, hours after his crazy birth

My mom, Micah, and me 

Us with Samuel right after his birth

Nana with Ella (Oh, I can hardly stand her bruising after her crazy-position delivery!)

My mom with Ella, Sammy, and me when Ella is 3 days old

Us with Sophia right after her birth, which happened only 15 minutes after arriving in my labor and delivery room!


Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  I am thankful for YOU!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday.

It's been a few weeks.

Not because there isn't much to be thankful for, but because our days are sometimes so full and I am sometimes too tired to open up the laptop and write it all down!

This week has been a week of blessing upon blessing from others around us.

As most of you know, Sophia had her ear tube surgery on Wednesday, and everything went beautifully.  There was so much peace around the whole experience that it could only be from our good God.  I was so blessed to have friends and family texting and calling to check on our sweet Soph.  And we had lots of Facebook love, too.  Thank you all!  My mom not only watched our children overnight and for the day of the surgery, but ended up having to take care of Ella who started with the stomach flu only hours after being dropped off.  My poor mom had to do the crazy bath/strip the crib/start the laundry/change the toddler act in the middle of the night...THREE times!  Thanks, Mom, for loving on my Ella and for not complaining about having to clean up her throw up!!!  Ahhhh!!!!  In addition to all of this, she made barbeque chicken in the crockpot to send home for our dinner.  (In case you are wondering, YES, she is super-mom.)  A friend from church brought us homemade fudge, with a note that said something about hard days deserving chocolate.  How sweet is that!?  (And soooo delicious!)

And in case you need reminding that there is much, much good in the world, there is a final blessing from Sophia's surgery experience that I want to share.  Earlier in the week, I met a brand-new friend and her three kiddos at the park.  We had been emailing each other for months (because we both homeschool and we live in the same, small town!) and had attempted to get together numerous times, but something kept happening!  So we finally met in person, and I liked her immediately.  I knew we would be fast friends.  Well, the next day, after only meeting in person for one hour at the park, this amazing, new friend dropped off a card, a plate of brownies, and a gift card to Culvers so we would have one less thing to worry about for Sophia's surgery!  I was choked up at the amazing blessing and act of love that this was for me and for our family.  Who does that???  So so blessed by this new friend and her generous, thoughtful spirit.  And wanted to share how thankful I was for that sweet blessing this week!

Ella still has the stomach flu, we had to cancel our trip to Minnesota for my sister-in-law's college graduation,  Sophia had a midday diaper fiasco (which required a bath and some laundry and some major disinfecting!) and we have oodles of laundry to do, but we are taking it a thing at a time, and it is working.  Like I have said before, some days go smoothly and some days do not, but I want to remain in a spirit of joy no matter what is surrounding me.  Thankful today for moments of joy amidst the sickness and the crazy...Ella's cuddles and sweet requests for water and blankets, Sammy's infectious laugh at his and Daddy's silly jokes, Sophia's giggles while being tickled, and Micah and Sammy's after-dinner performances for us that made us all laugh.  Oh, there are so many sweet, sweet moments with these littles all around me every single day.  May I never, ever become blind to them.

What are you thankful for today?

Choo Choo!

I know I have said it before, but I will say it again.

I am so thankful for a homeschooling buddy who likes to do adventures with me.

I am all about adventures.  I'd rather risk things going wrong or getting crazy or getting off on naps than staying at home all of the time.  So we are always ready for the next journey.

My dear friend, Jen, and I do monthly field trips with our kiddos.

This month, we decided to take the train to Des Plaines to the huge library and to the Choo Choo restaurant for lunch, where a train literally delivers the food.  The kids all loved it!  We had so much fun!

Thankful, thankful...

The five big kids on the train...Ella, Sammy, Micah, Luke, and Lydia

Sophia LOVES Miss Jen

Watching the train leaving on the rainy beginning to the day

A new library to explore!

Choo Choo restaurant!

Everybody say, "Choo Choo!!!" 

Me and my loveys

 Amazing fourth child...she fell asleep in the stroller and slept in Jen's arms the whole train ride back

Easter Honesty

In an effort to maintain honesty (see No More Perfect Moms), I would like to share that it was an imperfect Easter.  Lovely, but imperfect.  The night before, I was in the kitchen longer than I expected, and my hubby was trying hard to keep things running with the kiddos.  We started to dye eggs while I was making dinner, and the kids asked after two eggs if they could be done...(What??  Who doesn't love to dye Easter eggs?)  Our baby was feverish and sick, the kids were overtired, and there was a tornado that blew through our kitchen as I made things for Easter and also tried to mash cauliflower in an attempt to have a new, healthy side for dinner.  Weeeellll, thankfully, the kids got a second wind with the Easter eggs, although  many eggs ended up cracked and many fingers ended up stained.  They didn't like the cauliflower (but Zach and I did!) and they were all a mess by bedtime.  Zach fell asleep early, exhausted from the day, and I was left to fill and hide baskets myself.

Sunday morning came, and I was thinking that surely, the morning would be perfect.  It was Resurrection Sunday, for goodness sake!  But Sophia continued to be sick and needed someone to hold her the whole morning, Zach and I were arguing...(I know, silly, silly).  And Ella didn't want to wear her Easter dress.  We left the messy house in a hurry and in crabby moods, but thankfully, Zach and I apologized and connected on our way into church and during the service.  Phew.

My heart was burdened for a friend who was struggling, there were points in the day when I didn't think I could stay awake, and we had to put Sophia in a tepid bath following Easter dinner (when her fever reached 104.6!) and put a call into the pediatrician.  But you know what??  On the way home, I told Zach, it was a nice day.  The children had a blast at Nana and Papa's, we got to go outside for the Easter egg hunt, and I loved spending time with my parents and my sister and her family.  Micah and Sammy initiated "The Question Game" during dinner, having everyone come up with a question (i.e., "What's your favorite dessert?" and going around the table answering.  Precious how they facilitated the discussion.  And Ella insisted on only having purple and pink eggs in her basket.  During the Easter egg hunt, she would notice an orange egg and walk right on by.  Or, she would pick up an egg, look at it and realize it was green, and put it into her cousin's basket instead.  We laughed so hard as we finally realized why she was giving her eggs away.  So cute.  So girly.

The day was messy at points, but it was lovely.  We had celebratory worship at church, sweet time with family, delicious food, and [mostly] happy kids.  But, most importantly, we knew that we were celebrating the freedom and joy of the truth that Jesus is ALIVE!  And that carried us through our day with peace.

Death, where is your sting?  

Grave, where is your victory?  

He's ALIVE!  He's ALIVE!  

He is RISEN!

(a song we sang on Sunday)

Happy Easter!

SPRING!

In my books, today goes down as the first day of spring.

It was a blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, jump rope, take-a-walk kinda day.

And it was lovely.

Sammy's chalk drawing of the stable with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus.  Then on the sides are angels and a wise man.   Love.

Micah's first time jump roping!  He loved it!

I don't know that I have jump roped for over 15 years, but it was so fun today!  I even jumped in with my hubby and we had the two-jumping-in-one-rope thing going on.  Laughter is so good. 

My beautiful sis-in-law, whom Ella adores.

Today was a reminder that sunshine and beautiful weather really are good for the soul.  So refreshing.  Soaked up the day with family and loved it all!  So happy it is SPRING!