A long, but very good day

I dread this day every track season...the day of the Elgin Relays. Mark leaves at 7am and is lucky to be home by 11pm. That's a long day for 1 mama and 4 kids! Thankfully, though, they are 4 amazing kids and we had a good day!

We went to the park for a couple hours. Natalie loved all the big slides, but was scared of a teeny tiny bug! Ethan was all over his big brother responsibilities and took Levi down some slides. Karis was very helpful with our friends little girl, who follows Karis around like a shadow!

We enjoyed a big cookie treat when we got home and all the kids had some quiet/nap time for a bit. Ethan and Karis played outside all afternoon building a zoo for dinosaurs and animals with blocks and rocks...and cooling themselves down with the hose every so often.

After Natalie woke up from her nap we headed out to Target to get some warm weather attire...goodness gracious buying clothes and shoes for 4 kids is expensive!! Even when you are just buying a couple outfits for each of them! Karis and Ethan were excited to have a bit of a say in what they could pick out...of course Ethan picked out a Star Wars t-shirt (his new obsession) and Karis picked out a Hello Kitty t-shirt. I was glad to find some crocs that fit Levi's chubby feet. I stuffed his feet in a pair of Ethan's old sandals today and left marks! Natalie carried her new disney princess nighty all around the store and as I was helping Ethan try on a pair of sandals, she started taking her shirt off so she could put it on! Yep, my two year old was stripping down in the middle of Target.

We came home for a waffle/pancake dinner and bubble baths. It is fun to split them up boys and girls lately. Ethan and Levi are so cute sitting next to each other on the couch watching a Baby Praise movie. And Karis jumped right in to show Natalie how to wash her hair while I put away some laundry. And then they all 4 went to bed at the same time with no hassle (Levi surprised me cuz he's been fighting bed time lately, but I just laid him down and he stayed quiet!). Natalie and Levi played peek-a-boo for a couple minutes, but I didn't even have to make a single trip back upstairs!!! Thank you, sweet Jesus!

I'm off to fold some laundry, pick up a few toys, grade a paper or two, and then reward myself with a piece of turtle cheesecake...

Grab a tissue

Every once in a while I read Lysa TerKeurst's blog. She is part of Proverbs 31 Ministries. I had to share her post from yesterday. Go ahead, click and cry...

http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2009/04/less-little.html

Here's where I'm at

It starts with just a glance…and then I’m deep in it again. This trap of comparing myself to other women. I read a (complete stranger's) blog post or see someone's Facebook status or catch a glimpse of a mom friend's neat and orderly home.

Satan uses the world to start whispering in my ear..."You are inadequate. The things that you do and have are not enough. You must strive to be more and do more. You should have more kids like so-and-so...surely they are trusting God to provide all that they need. Or maybe you should have had fewer kids like so-and-so...then you'd be able to give your kids more attention. You should be working like so-and-so...then you wouldn't be wasting your college degree, and, really, is daycare that harmful? You should be homeschooling like so-and-so...she's growing her kids' character and mind, while balancing the rest of her busy life. I could go on..."

God is using his Word, my husband, and two special friends, to show me not only am I not alone in this struggle, but that I can have victory over it. Bad habits are slow to die, but the Lord has encouraged me with this in recent days. I just keep reading it over and over.

He says to me..."I beamed with satisfaction the day I knit you together. I smiled with joy as I laid out your days before you. I handpicked your husband, your children - and their number. I traced your path through life with my fingertip. With great care I chose your strengths, your weaknesses, your habits - good and bad - and created a vessel only I could fill. I have designed you for the everyday tasks of this season in your life - even the laundry, the diapers, and the schooling choices. Stop striving and submit to me as God of your life. Fix your eyes on me and know that I can set you free from this feeling that you are not enough. Rest in me. Make me your motivation. Be whole, be fulfilled in me, and me alone." (Psalm 25:15, 46:10, 139, 100:3, Eph 2:10)

I gave up my MOPS steering team position partly because of this issue. Not only will I have more free time, but I believe God is calling me to find my worth in Him…to keep my eyes on Him…not to be so tangled in what I can do, who I will impress doing it, and how it will make look compared to other moms around me. It has been hard. I love being on this team. I have a great group of really strong Christian women I work with who are passionate about serving God and meeting real emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of moms. At this point, I’m hoping to go back in a year. I need the time to train myself to keep my eyes on God…to train myself to make Him my motivation for all that I do…not anyone or anything else…just Him.

Jedi Masters and April Showers

We got a kick out of this the other night. Levi picked up a "light sabre" Ethan made a couple months ago at a friend's birthday party and started sword fighting with Ethan. He's obviously been very observant of his big brother and sister playing lately!

I also had to post these pictures of the girls with their new umbrellas. They got them in their Easter baskets and spent a few rainy minutes waiting for Ethan to get off the bus the other day.

We're Lookin' Good...

This post is for mom and dad, who have so kindly taken on the tradition of buying the kids their Easter outfits. Easter Sunday was a beautiful end to Spring Break...a little cold, but still beautiful. I had a hard time putting Ethan on the bus this morning after having him home all last week. Actually, I almost didn't send him to school becuase I thought he had today off, too. Thankfully Mark called and said he saw the buses on his way to school! Since Karis doesn't go back till Wednesday I was thinking he had Monday off, too...I'm such an airhead sometimes!

Anyway, here are some pictures of us Sunday after church:

This is why I run...

Hunters Love Jesus

I feel like God is meeting some of the expectations I have for our family this year. I have been praying that our family will continue grow closer to each other and to God, and that we make time together and time with God a top priority.

One fun thing that has come along, in addition to our usual devotion time, is something through our church called Family Time. The children's pastor holds monthly meetings and gives us some tools to do a couple hands on Bible lessons, then gives us access to a website so we can do a couple lessons on our own. We've done two of them so far and Ethan and Karis love them.

One of the suggestions in the training was to choose a family song that you play each night you have Family Time. We had a hard time coming up with one song, so we are now accumulating a "play list". I love the choices the kids are making... songs like "Awesome God" by Rich Mullins and "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman and my contribution is "Shine" by the Newsboys.

We also decided to come up with a family "cheer". Remember when you played sports in high school and everyone put their hands in and yelled "Go Team" (or whatever)? We all put a hand in and yell "Hunters Love Jesus!" The cutest thing about it is that now, whenever Natalie hears someone say "Hunters"...or "love" and "Jesus" in the same sentence...she'll put her hand out and say "Hunters Love Jesus".

Yes, girl, yes we do...

My Sweet Baby is One!

Could he really have been this little only 365 days ago? I am having a really difficult time with this milestone. I thank the Lord for four beautiful, healthy babies and know that we are so blessed to have been given these lives to shepherd...I'm not sure I could ask for more. But I'm so not ready to believe that I'll never be pregnant again or ever hold my own tiny baby in my arms again. And it's really hitting me hard as we celebrate Levi's birthday.

Okay...wiping away the tears to celebrate this little guy's first year...


His most frequent facial expression is raising his eyebrows in curious sort of way. I love his chubby little thumbs...especially when they are pinching a cheerio. It's funny to watch him try new foods...he's a gagger...he even gagged on his cupcake tonight! In the moment it was hard, but I'm actually glad he wasn't the greatest sleeper for a while there...I got to spend a lot of quiet moments with him that I was afraid my fourth born wouldn't get. I call him my baby koala because he loves to hug around the neck and just hang out on my hip. He's really learning how to stand up for himself. He's a fast little stinker and he has a grip of steel...especially when he wants a wii control. I love hearing him laugh while being entertained by his brother and sisters. He toddles around the house like he's just one of the gang. I love his "car noise". I love that he is a bundle of sweetness wrapped in a boyish package.