Sunday Best

Scrubba-dub-dub

Josh was taking Zeke out for a meeting and band rehearsal so it was just us girls...and Micaiah. When we split up like this Areyna gets SO excited to do special "girl" stuff. I asked her what she wanted to do and she insisted on finishing a painting project she had been working on.

Next on the agenda? She wanted to clean the house.

Let me just tell you what this little girl did all by herself for me!

She washed all the dishes from dinner

She cleaned up all the toys around the house

She washed the windows in the living room

She cleaned the mirrors in her bathroom

She scrubbed both toilets

When she would finish a task she'd just stand there and think about what she wanted to do next. That's my girl;)

Lover Of The Guilty

Lover of the Guilty - June 13, 2010 from Journey Church on Vimeo.

This is Josh's new song we did this past Sunday at Journey. Enjoy!

Fun Facts For Friday

1 - Did you know that if you turn the lights off in the kitchen you are less likely to go in and grab a snack in the evening?

2 - Sometimes after I just want one bite of ice cream I'll put the spoon directly in the dishwasher because I know that if I set it on the counter I'm more likely to get "just one more bite".

3 - I am slowly changing my kid's palate. I've been drastically cutting down on "snack food" and buying different vegetables, fruits, dips and nuts. They may not like something the first time I offer it, but the more I offer it the more likely they are to start developing a taste for it.

4 - If I take a shower first thing in the morning my workout will never happen...not that it will happen if I don't get around to taking my shower until right before bed, I'm just sayin'.

5 - If I do get that workout in I am more likely to drink water the rest of the day, as opposed to more coffee or a soda.

Snorkeler

Nobody Likes A Know-It-All

I've told you how much I enjoy our small group before but let me tell you one of the special things about our group.

We truly live life together. Each week when we sit around the dinner table we dive into each other's lives and talk about our day, our struggles, our praises, our work, our families...

This, in and of itself, is very special, but Josh and I frequently talk about one thing, specifically, that stands out about our group.

When one person is struggling with something nobody chimes in to express their opinions on the matter or to share their own experiences. Nobody acts like a know-it-all. They actually listen. They actually pray with the individual about the issue and, if asked, give advice, but only if it is truly relevant.

Let's say I've had a rough day with Zeke. He has been throwing tantrums all day! I've been with the kids all day and I just need to talk it out sometimes, you know? Nothing is worse than someone saying, "Oh man, when my third one did that we had to ___________", or "You know what worked for us?" Sometimes it's just nice to have a listening ear, unless you really are seeking answers. You don't need people telling you that they've been through the exact same thing, you just need people to pray with you through it.

Here's another example. Imagine being 2 months pregnant and you are super sick, all day, every day. You are having a really "sick" day and everyone is asking how you are feeling. You are honest enough to say that you don't feel so good and then the other ladies go into the stories of each of their pregnancies and how sick they were and they had to have been worse off than you are. "So, don't worry, it will be over soon."

See, I'm working on this myself.

So, often I want to interject my "knowledge" on an issue, which is hardly God-given most of the time, just to feel like I've "helped", when sometimes I just need to shut up and listen. To be quiet. To sympathise.

The other cool thing about our group is that, because of this, I am more prone to ask questions...A LOT of questions.

We have the youngest kids in the group. We have parents of kids all the way up to seniors in high school and the things they come to group heart-broken over are things I am not looking forward to, in the least, much less have experience with. You better believe I spend lots of time with these moms asking specific questions on how they handle situations like attitudes, cussing, sexuality, boyfriends/girlfriends, makeup, etc.

So today, just try listening. Believe me, I know it's hard, but it can be more encouraging than you realize! Because, nobody likes a know-it-all.

Sometimes You Just Need A Change Of Scenery

I went in to get Zeke up from his nap the other day...

...and he wasn't in his bed.

He had fallen into a deep sleep UNDER his bed.

As you can tell he woke up a little disoriented.

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery to relax.

Nothing

I had no post for today.

No clever ideas.

No great insights.

No money saving tidbits.

No ah-ha moments.

No silly kid stories.

All I could hear was the pounding up above.

*******************************************

At 7:20am this morning we heard our doorbell ringing. We rolled over thinking it was just our imaginations, or maybe we were just hoping whoever it was would just go away.

Well, they didn't. They just kept ringing the doorbell.

Then we remembered that we were getting a new roof today! But really? 7:20am, after such a long weekend, on our day off? Doesn't everyone know that Monday's are our day of? Of course they don't...oh well.

So the pounding begun.

Cai slept until about 10 'til 8 and then Rainy and Zeke came sauntering out of their room, still half asleep, wandering what all the racket was.

It wasn't like when we got our roof redone in Charlotte. Which, by the way, is considered torture to anyone who has had to endure it 2 times in less than one year! That team only had about 4 guys and it took them several days. They worked on a section at a time so we could just move around the house to find a quiet place. The crew today had about a dozen men and they covered the whole roof. There was no escape.

We decided to take a field trip to see some cousins and hang out for a while.

By the time we got home at 6:30 they were packing up. They had completed our roof in under 12 hours! It looks great. We've got peace and quiet again.

And that was our Monday.

I Did NOT Have To...

...give my kids a bath this weekend.

...quiet my kids during a wedding ceremony on Friday night.

...share my chocolate covered strawberries at the wedding.

...share my cake at the wedding.

...share my punch at the wedding. (oh hush, you know you love wedding food too;)

...interrupt my kid's nap-time to get to our Saturday night service.

...pack dinners for my kids for church on Saturday night.

...try to explain why we could "only stay for a little bit" at the pig-pickin graduation party.

...lay out the kids meals and clothes for a long Sunday at church.

...get anyone else ready by 6:30am this morning except for myself.

...strategically figure out how to get real clothes on Zeke for church today.

...interrupt my kid's sleep, yet again, to make it to church this morning.

...leave band rehearsal early to feed Micaiah.

...jump off of stage to "correct" my children once this morning.

Why?

Because my parents did it all!

The kids loved having their Nonnie and G-Daddy here this weekend. We did too! Thank you SO much for all your help herding our family around!