Our Ordinary Life

I am one tired Mama. I wonder if i'm going to make it through this parenting thing. It is hard and it takes lots of work. I think it keeps getting harder the older they get. When they were really young, all I had to do was keep them alive, teaching them some basic survival skills, like how to eat, how to sleep when its night time, how to walk and talk, and of course you throw in some other skills like good habits, brushing teeth, going potty, manners (which I feel like I'm always reminding them of). Don't get me wrong, those are long, tiring days too, and you wonder if they are ever going to learn to put on their own shoes and coat. They do :) Be encouraged moms of babies and toddlers. The reason for this post is because I am past the toddler stage, we are full-blown into school age kids. Granted, they are only 5 (Kindergarten) and soon to be 7 (1st grade), so still young, but old enough to be more assertive and independent. This year seems to be a tough year for us. I...

If you have been following me at all, I try to pick a theme for the year. Interestingly enough the theme I wanted to focus on this year was being IN CHRIST. It has been my greatest struggle, to find my identity in Christ, more so this year! I want to give myself a timeline for when I look back on this year and blog. It is summer (August) of 2014, Bryan is working from 8 in the morning to 11-12 at night, Danny is going into first grade and Aaron into kindergarten, I'm babysitting Elijah and Grant Michael, I'm starting to train for a half marathon. I am going to be so real and honest with what my struggle and heart are working thru. And trust me, IT IS WORKING IT THRU! (No judgement here, right) For all my life I would find 20 (just throwing out a number) people who were better than me (in my estimation), compare them to the 20 different areas in my life, wish I were them, and then become jealous of them. So in my struggle of comparing myself with others, putting myself in that...

I have been thinking a lot about what our life is like right now. A lot of people use the word BUSY to describe our life. I would like to define it as STRETCHING for the purpose of GROWTH. I can be so analytical sometimes. There is lots of things that come to mind to say to you, tho you know i'm not good at writing them down, there are a few things I would like to mention. You have been working crazy hours since March, and we find ourselves in the trenches of these summer months. Those close to us know how we have struggled and how tired we are, but yet I find myself, for the first time, comforted and loved by those around me and at peace and not worrying about the future. My desire with this letter is to encourage you. So often, I bring you down with my negativity and my worrying, my "constructive criticism" and my non reality/negative perspective. So we start fresh, everyday, allowing God to work in our lives. God always has a bigger picture for our life than we c...

I know this is after the fact and if you follow me on Facebook and Instagram, you are sick of me by now but this is one of those moments in my life and in my kids lives that I don't want to forget. I want to remember, treasure, and document it to the fullest! While I'm dwelling on this, I just don't want to forget! I will do it again next year about this time when my youngest goes thru this! My oldest son just graduated from Kindergarten!!! AAAHHHHHH! Can this really be happening? Have I already made it to this time in their lives? It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was trying to get him to roll over! This whole week was a flood of emotions for me. I started to really watch Danny, noticing his facial expressions, listening to how he talks and observing how his brain is working. It was a new boy standing in front of me. There are no words to describe my love for this kid. There are a couple things I want to remember. I was not able to be as involved with Danie...

Daniel will be turning six on Weds!! That is crazy to me! Tho I understand this is normal and this is what happens but, like I'm sure most parents figure out, you don't really notice time passing when your a kid or in high school or sometimes college, your kind of wishing those years would go by fast, until you become a parent! Then you want time to slow down, time to freeze. I SO enjoy being Daniel and Aaron's Mom! They have showed me more about who I really am, that I am a worse sinner than I thought, that I can Love more than I though, how much I need God's grace and forgiveness, and how to laugh and be little. I think the older they get the more nostalgic I become and the more I struggle with the change. I could literally go on and on about Daniel, who he is, how his character is developing, what he is learning, how much he loves Kindergarten, his smarts, his heart, and his spiritual understanding. But I struggle when I come to sit down and write to say the things I...

This is my first year in review with pictures. I don't think I can stick to just one picture a month but I will try. I think this is a really good way for me to look back thru the year and remind myself of all the good, bad, fun, stressful, and really how good God has been to us. If you remember last year at this time, I wrote a blog about a word I was going to focus on- GRACE. You can read that blog  here . And truly it was. I'm continuing to learn how much Grace is woven into my life and I'm sure I will never have a complete understanding of it, that is just how awesome it is. And even as I'm constantly reminded of it, this is a new year and a new focus.   January Our whole family was involved in a friend's wedding. Bryan was one of the people who gave the charge at the wedding, I was the Matron of Honor, Daniel was the ring bearer, and Aaron was the junior groom. The boys did so well, and it was a fun day. Tho the boys didn't last the entire day, it wa...