Bedtime Rituals

We took some selfies to document part of our regular bedtime routine...sittin with mommy watching a little tv every night :)

Hives UGH

Any home remedies for these awful things to go away?!?

Girls Night Out

 

While the boys were off fishing, we were out funning! Took Baby Jake on his first ChuckeCheese adventure. Fun night had by all:)

New Do

Out with the old, slick up the new!

Another Eye Change

F's teacher indicated that she was struggling to see a bit lately. Back to the eye dr we went. She did need new glasses mainly because of her severe astigmatism. New glasses should arrive in about a week!

Fabulous Fisherman

 

 

The boys went out with a catfish guide this weekend. Looks like some fun had by all!

20 YEARS Ago

I can clearly recall the page (yes, remember the pagers we had back then before cell phones) I received twenty years ago.  My dad and I were headed off to the lake in the boat when the beeper went off.  Immediately, we pulled over to get to a pay phone as quickly as possible (yes, remember those too-lol).  I called the number and was told "Welcome to MaxTech, you got the job!"

 

I was SO very excited!  I had scored my first office job and was going to make the big bucks, $5.75 per hour.  I was still going to college at night, but I was currently unemployed.  Who knew that 20 years later, I would still be blessed with the same job?!?!   Fortunately, I do make a little more than my starting pay now though ;) 

 

Of course this job has had plenty of ups and downs over the past two decades, but I wouldn't be the person I am today without them.  SO very blessed to have a job where I can still be a dedicated mom AND have a successful career!!  Hoping for 20 more :)

My Art Teacher

S is determined to become an art teacher when she grows up. Here is her official entry for a tshirt idea contest at her school. I think it is awesome, And her school did too!! She was picked as a finalist today. I am so proud of my little loohoo :)

Yes She Can

 

She never ceases to amaze me :). Every princess must have perfectly polished toe nails ya know!

Shared Dark Feelings

Why can’t I love her?
Why was I so compelled to go to China for this child, only to have it end like this?
Jesus willingly laid down his life for us. We are called to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to Him. And yet the thought of laying down my life for Eliza nearly paralyzes me.
And that is what it would take for me to bring her home.
I cannot be her mother.
She drives me absolutely crazy. When I think of her standing outside my bedroom door, sitting at our table, hanging on me, reaching for my hand every thirty seconds, endlessly needing me so beyond what I can give, I feel as though my mind will explode.
I have rocked her every single day, yet the thought makes me bristle. I do not enjoy holding her. I long for the time to pass.
And how can I be so heartless?

Read the entire post here:  http://mylifeingodsgarden.com/2014/08/14/the-day-i-let-her-go/

I have personally felt many of the feelings she describes in this post.  Feelings that no one understands, until you've lived them...

PS: She has actually done a whole series on her "dark days" here.  Very worth the read if you find yourself in a similar situation

One Human at a Time

She's Gone Country

 

As you can see, she's got some help from her brothers lately in her fashion sense ;)

Surprise Selfies

 

Look who I found in my pics this am:)

Crumbs and More Crumbs

Sometimes I feel like I’m living in the bottom of an old cracker box—full of crumbs and cracker dust. Seriously, everywhere I look is a preponderance of dust and crumbs all over.

Yuck.

Recently I’ve had so much to do and so little time. It isn’t like that is unusual for me, but this time I’ve got deadlines and homework and housework and work work and children’s activities and stuff to do. I really want to do it all well, too—not just my usual fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, gitterdone way of doing things.

But I’m wondering if it is physically possible to do it all. Right now I’m in my sleep-a-little, work-a-lot mode. And unfortunately, as I’m working on stuff, my house gets dustier and dustier and dustier. The dishes get done, the laundry gets done and done and done, and meals get made and eaten.

I’m wanting a mental break not mental breakdown. All the thinking I need to do is making it difficult to actually think about things. I feel frazzled and a bit hopeless in my outlook which tends to make me either sad or fussy depending on the situation or day. All that mental and emotional baggage makes my bed lumpy, so I don’t tend to sleep well. I have some silly health issues which make sleep imperative, so if I don’t get sleep I worry about my health and then I feel worse. Know what I mean? Mind games … and not fun ones.

Thankfully, I feel like I’m climbing out of my cracker box. And it isn’t because things have necessarily gotten better, but I believe I’ve gotten better at dealing with things—especially those things that want to steal my peace, overwhelm me, and make my house dusty.

And getting better hasn’t been a measure of my great mental aptitude or strength, it is because God reminds me daily that He is trustworthy. I see how He is using all this to strengthen me. And amazingly, He is using it all for good in my life. He has given me so much encouragement through friends who speak kind words, and also a few “brush away the crumbs and get busy” words to me as well. He has given me beautiful children who give me strength simply because I love them so dearly and I want to give them the best. They don’t need a whiny, fussy, overwhelmed mommy!

I’m determined to brush away the crumbs in my cracker box because I want to focus on the hope God gives me. Hope that even in all the dust of my life, He is faithful to love me, provide for me, and even dump me out of the box occasionally!

 

*Well no, I didn't actually write the above.  However, I can SO relate!!  Focusing more now on the fact that my God is my strength.  I can do all things through Him.

And Their Off

 

 

Kindergarten.
First Grade.
Third Grade.
Sixth Grade.
High School!!!!

Birthday Baby

 

Five years old today already...sigh. My baby girl is SO SO precious to watch with all her excitement today. She truly is the picture of JOY!! Happy Birthday sweet girl :)