Small steps

I almost did not post this.  I almost gave up on blogging AGAIN. . . but I was reading a friend's blog and saw the link to my blog with the caption "Welcome 2011" . . . how embarrassing. . . . I really didn't want to have to look at that every time I got on her blog.  So, I'm not promising this won't be my last post, but at least it won't be titled "Welcome 2011".

This has been a hectic year.  We're expecting baby #5 and I'm overwhelmed to say the least.  I have a seemingly endless "to do" list right now.  Just a few things on the list are -- taking the passy away from Jude, potty training Jude, moving Jude to Lenna's room, fixing the baby room, organizing the study,  getting rid of some of my homeschooling supplies, selling our van, eventually unloading an attic's worth of unused baby clothing and the list goes on...   It  seems that I wake up every day with this list in the forefront of my mind.  Before I work myself into a panic, I try to remember to take small steps each day and it will all eventually get done.

So, in keeping with that theme, I will not give up completely on my blog (YET), but I will be taking small steps with it. . . so that means I'm going to have to live with the Christmas wallpaper and picture for now. . . but at least I have a new post :)

Welcome 2011

What a  way to welcome the new year.   Two birthdays and three snow days  so far. 

                                                                      She's saying "cheese"

Jude turned 2

                                                               Lenna turned 4



Palmer sledding




Isaiah





Hello Kitty!!!



Why I don't blog anymore (ha ha)

I was putting away dishes and noticed that Jude wasn't in the kitchen anymore.  I heard water running in the bathroom and found Jude had used the kids' step stool to hoist himself up into the sink where he turned the water on started to give himself a bath fully clothed.  Needless to say, he is keeping me very busy!

Add to that, in the past month, Lenna has cut her own hair and Jude's hair; scraped white insulation foam off of the storage door and pretended it was snowing;  used her toy box as a bathtub; and  smeared the contents of  2 large containers of Vaseline into the carpet.

Thankfully,  I can laugh at all of this (now).

A Summer's Worth of Pictures

What Remains

I have had this poem taped to my fridge for years now.  It's from a Focus on the Family publication.
Every now and then I need to read it again!

What Remains

by Joanne Heim

If I spend my days building skyscrapers with LEGOs and creating relationships with other moms at Starbucks, but have not love, I am only the siren of of the kids' ride-on fire truck.

If I have the gift of knowing which child attempted to flush the Hot Wheels down the toilet and which one pushed her sister, and if I have faith that somehow we'll survive life's emergencies, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I save all my box tops for school and give outgrown clothing to the local shelter, and if I surrender my body to stretch marks and under-eye circles, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient when someone isn't ready to use the big-girl potty.  It is kind when my husband has a hard day.  It doesn't envy my neighbor who drives the new sport-utility vehicle I can't afford.

It is not rude, snapping at my spouse or children when things don't go my way.  It is not easily angered at perceived or real injustices.

It always protects the smallest, sweetest family confindences; always trusts God to provide for my children's needs; always hopes in the freshness of tomorrow and the bright future of family; always perseveres amid hardship and doubt.

Where there are sleepless nights, they shall end.  Where there are diapers, Little League, and dioramas built from shoe boxes, they will cease.  Where there is knowledge of baby-care trends, discipline strategies, and boy-girl problems, it will pass away.

Now these three remain: faith, lived out in my daily circumstances and instilled in my children; hope, of one day rejoicing with my family in heaven; and love, which covers a multitude of less-than-perfect moments.

But the greatest of these is love.  It is what remains. . . . long after I am gone.

Pictures from the zoo

typos

It seems that I'm always in a hurry when I'm posting on my blog . . . usually because it's during nap time. . . the time where my kids are resting and I am cooking supper, folding laundry, checking e-mails, paying bills, talking on the phone to the insurance company or the doctor's office, cleaning bathrooms, mopping floors, OR writing on my blog.  Anyway, I HATE making typos and it never fails, after I type the post, re-read it, and then post it, I read it again and find a typo.  I always go in and edit it.  Sometimes, I'll read a post that I wrote the day before, see a typo and go in and edit for the people who haven't read it yet.  (As if they care) Anyway, all this to say that I was looking at some old pictures on my blog today and reading through some of the posts when I discovered a typo from like 3 weeks ago and NOW I have to go edit it.  I really don't know what the point is.  Most people who are going to read the post have already done so, but it just bugs me that it's wrong.  So I'm off to edit my blog. . .