Not Me Monday

Wouldn't that be somethin' if I went to the bathtub to run some warm water for the nightly give-Jude-a-bath-instead-of-attempting-to-wipe-or-hose-him-down-after-dinner ritual, only to find yellow puddles in the bathtub?

Yup.
That would be somethin'.

And after further "investigation" find out that those yellow puddles were, in fact, pee.

Yup.
That would be somethin'.

And then walk over to the dinner table and politely ask who in the WORLD peed in the bathtub...instead of the TOILET that is located right next to the bathtub?

Yup.
That would be somethin'.

And then were sweetly informed by the pee-er that the pee incident was out of dire necessity to keep a hiding spot secure during a very intense game of hide-and-seek.

Yup.
That would be somethin'.

#JoysOfBoys    #ZekeLogic    #ColonyLife

Friday Free-For-All

Josh and I have been sitting on our front porch, sipping coffee for well over an hour.
The girls have pulled up chairs beside us to read.
The boys are creating comic books with stickers and markers in the living room.
Jude is sleeping quietly in the back room.

Today has been such a much-needed family day.

Our hearts and bodies are recharging from a whirlwind of a month.
We are finally able to process everything with words and comfortable silence.

Even though Rainy and Zeke are still tracked out we finally have a semblance of normalcy and routine.


So today there is...
no plan
no agenda
just being together as a family.

Today I am thankful for so very much!

Happy Friday ya'll!

The View From Here

Is It Nap Time Yet?

Sometimes there are days when I am literally counting down the hours until bed time.

I just need a second to catch my breathe.  I need a restart.

Those days just happen.
That's just part of being a mom.

But sometimes there are other days when I am so self-absorbed that I want nap time or bed time to be here already so I can do my own thing.  (Why is it that my kids seem so easy to love while they are asleep;). I'm tired of sharing myself. My body. My words. EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING.  I want to be in my own little world with no distractions.

I'm tired and I want ME time, darn it!

These are the days where motherhood has become a chore.
These are the days where I've lost sight of the importance of my full-time job.
These are the days when I think that I DESERVE my own space.

I don't want to just "get through" my day waiting for the next nap time or bed time so I can have "me" time.  I don't want to waste the precious days I have with the kids I have been entrusted to guide through life.

I've found that if I try to embrace the times that they are awake, instead of resentfully biding my time until the next sleep, I gain back my perspective and am able to actually ENJOY that time with them.

Today I am choosing to embrace my life as mom.
These days WILL NOT last forever!

Because I'm Still Gathering My Thoughts

We returned from vacation late Sunday afternoon.

We have completely unpacked, but I am having a hard time getting my mind and body back into reality again.

So, because I haven't blogged in a record number of days and because I did take at least a couple of pictures...here's a sneak peak of the happenings of our week or wonderfull(ness)...

The View From Here ~ Watermelon Baby

Photo courtesy of our awesome babysitter, Randa

You Know It's Time For Track Out When...

...you can't bring yourself to get out of your cozy quiet time chair to get the kids out of bed

...you think it's acceptable to write the teacher a note stating that homework didn't get done, but not to worry, "we'll work on it this weekend".

...you stand in the kitchen staring at the empty lunch boxes and realize your time is better spent scrounging under the couch cushions and inside the guinea pig feeding fund to gather lunch money

...you zone out when the incoming paper bomb of parent release forms is exploding all around

...you no longer enforce the rule that the children have to wear different outfits during the week (at least we know Zeke changes his undies every day!)

...just hearing the word "vacation" sends you into a fog-like dream with ocean waves crashing on the shore in the distance

We only have one more school day until we track out and head to vacation.

I.think.I.can.I.think.I.can...

When Life Gives You Lemons

I've sat down to write a post several times, and then life interrupts.

No motivation.

No inspiration.

Nothin.

But this afternoon, oh this afternoon, all three littles decided that a nap was a good idea, and I got some much-needed alone time.

So I crawled into my cozy little yellow chair in my bedroom, opened a bottle of... (haha, just kidding ya'll!) window, turned on some relaxing music and just sat.

To tell you that the past two weeks of my life have been a blur of raw emotion and energy would be an understatement.

But today has actually felt somewhat normal"ish".  I have managed to bring order to my entire house, clean laundry is piled high in a heap on my bedroom floor (just as it should be...right?!), and school was completed by the littles.

By the time I got to actually sit in silence that is all I could do...sit in silence.

I sat and thought about all those lemons.

Those sour lemons that add flavor to life.

When life gives you lemons sometimes you just need to see those lemons for what they really are, a little flavor to make life a little better:-)

Embrace the lemons God has given you today, for tomorrow wouldn't be what it needs to be without them.

From The Safety Of My Back Porch

Josh and I spend a lot of time on our back porch.

We love the fresh air.
The sounds.
The solitude.

It's one of our favorite places to go.

We'll spend evenings talking through life.
We'll spend mornings sipping coffee and spending time with the God who created it all.

But the view from our back porch tells a story.
Our home holds safety.
Our home holds life.
But as soon as we walk out those doors we enter into the world God has placed us in.

From the safety of our back porch we have seen and heard the cries of the lost that are all around us.

Just this morning we saw two cars pull off the road behind our house.
The guy got out of his truck.
Stomping up to the car in front of him.
Yelling.
Punching.
Wait, that is a woman in that other car!
Josh jumped up and started making his way toward them.
She starts honking the car horn while he beats on her.
Screaming.
More yelling.
More hitting.
Then she got away.
He drove off the other way in rage.

We've heard domestic disputes.
We've heard gun shots.
We've seen the hurt.

We have no doubt in our minds that we are exactly where God wants us to be.

In fact, Josh has been referred to as "the Pastor of Rolesville" more than once.  A title I am so proud of him for bearing.  We've had people come to us needing a ride, or help getting their car out of ditches in the middle of the night, or even shelter with nowhere else to go.

We can take these things as interruptions and inconveniences OR we can embrace where God has planted us and give the love of Christ to the hurting world that literally comes knocking on our door.

You don't have to sell all you have and move across the globe to be missionaries to the lost (unless you are called to do so, of course), but you do have to be willing to hold loosely what you have been given in order to put yourself out there.  The lost are right here in our backyard.