A few moments...

Here are a few moments of the week that I hope to remember for a while:

Natalie noticing thinking there were two lions at church on Sunday. There was really only one King Leo, but she saw him in two different places, so she thought there were two. She kept holding up two fingers (which she has never done before) and saying "two lions".

Natalie loves the song "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns. At the end a little girl sings "Be careful little eyes what you see...". We heard it before we went into Kroger yesterday and she sung it as she rode in the cart around the store. She actually was singing it all through the day. Super sweet!




Karis read Word Bird Builds a City with very little help. She has really been working hard at sounding out letters and has come a long way in the last month or so. She does so much better when Ethan is not around to distract her!



















Levi has been sitting up for longer periods of time. He also tried applesauce for the first time yesterday. He gave me some looks of utter disgust before he finally just gagged on it!

During trick or treat one neighbor offered Ethan double treats thinking he hadn't gotten any yet...he refused to take any, saying he already got some. Mark was surprised. We were both sort of proud that he was honest and didn't feel the need to be a "glutton" on a pretty gluttoness holiday.

It Continues...

I got to go out to dinner with Sue Loesch last night. She is kind of taking on a mentoring relationship with me and it was so great to talk with her. It just came at the most perfect time considering the conversation that I had with Mark on Sunday. Talking through everything with her helped me focus on what I need to do. She reassured me of some things that I already know, but rarely put into practice. I need to stop comparing myself to other moms and I need to allow myself to take breaks. I need to enjoy this season of my life because it is going to be gone all to soon.

So, my goals for the week are to not worry about the laundry...which is super hard when it is strewn across the living room for days at a time. And to enjoy the time I spend feeding Levi. I will not be spending that time in front of the computer grading papers. It is a chance for me to put my feet up and enjoy my baby. I am hoping these little steps will help me make our home more fun to live in.

Working through some things

On Sunday night Mark and I had a good, although a bit heated (at least for us), conversation about my inability to...how shall I say it...relax. This has been a problem for me for quite a while. I just got into a funk over the summer when I was taking classes, teaching classes, and caring for a family of six. Even with Mark home, it seemed that I could never accomplish enough. Things got better for a bit once my classes were over, but then MOPS, soccer, pre-k, kindergarten, cross country, and a ton of students happened. I had days where I think I was moments away from a nervous breakdown - no joke!

I just have such a hard time when I'm surrounded by chaos. If that's the case, why in the world did I have four kids!?!?! Chaos just happens. Piles of laundry a mile high, piles of clutter on the counter, toys EVERYWHERE, disorganized closets, emails that need answered, phone calls that need made...it never ends! That was Mark's point. It never ends. In my head I know it...but it is so hard for me to put it into action. I know this is what I signed up for when I asked God for this life...these kids. So I'm learning to deal with it rather than stress about it.

We had a good laugh tonight...

We all had a pretty good laugh at something Natalie did tonight. She had a really horribly stinky diaper that Mark graciously changed...with his nose inside his shirt. About ten minutes later I walked into the other room to find Natalie with a wipe and a strawberry shortcake doll...and her nose inside her shirt pretending to change the dolls diaper! We all had a good laugh at that one! And of course, the clown that she is, she ate up the attention!

Giving Blogging a try...

I've been checking out the blogs of some friends and pondering the idea of starting my own. There are a couple reasons I'm deciding to dive into the blogging world.

One reason is so friends and family that we don't talk to often enough will know what's going on in our lives.

Another reason is that I feel like a lot of moments that I want to treasure are getting lost in the muddled mess of my mind. There are things that happen every day that I think to myself "I'll remember that forever", but by the next day it's gone.

The third reason is that at the end of a 17 hour day where I've tried to accomplish 4,000 things, I often feel like I've gotten so little done. I know I don't need one more thing on my to do list, but I do need a moment or two to focus my thoughts and reflect on my day and what God would like to teach me...it makes it so much easier to sleep at night!

So, if you're wondering about the title of my blog, it's basically what you're going to find here...tidbits about our day, moments I'd like to treasure, and the toils I'm going through and learning from in my life as a wife, mom, and daughter of the King.