Life gets so busy sometimes, as we hustle and bustle through the routine of school, work, church, keeping house, running errands and caring for the family. And then, somewhere in the midst of all that, something happens to remind me to slow down and thank the Lord for the goodness in my life.
One month ago, I bought this rose, along with some others, for my sister in law's baby shower.
Most of them wilted within a few days. But not this one. It stayed beautiful for a full month. It finally began wilting yesterday after exactly one month. As it outlasted all the other flowers, I didn't think much of it at first. But the longer it stayed fresh and full, the more I had to take notice. It might just be a rose. It might just be a coincidence that it lasted so long. Or it might be a heavenly gift to remind me just how beautiful life is. And that is what I'm choosing to believe.
"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we live." ~ David A. Bednar
Is there any better way to spend a beautiful winter day, that feels every bit like a perfect Spring day, than on the front porch, relaxing in the porch swing?
If there is, I can't possibly imagine what it would be. (And after the yam incident from the previous post, there was also a problem with her shirt, and Paige ended up in just her undies. Ahhhh....to be so carefree....)
Love these kids to pieces. Love, love, love, love!
It was a nice enough day, that Ian even had a run in with the water hose. (Notice all those sparkling droplets in his hair. :))
Sassy-Frassy. :)
And that, my friends, is a little piece of Heaven on Earth.
Every so often, the pantry needs a good purging. No matter how careful we try to be, there is always some food that gets overlook and hangs around beyond its expiration date. What better use for it, than a recipe for the kids? Sunday afternoon the weather was beautiful, so the kids took the old food I had saved for them and got to cookin'.
This girl is just too cute for her own good. :)
America's next top chefs hard at work.
The girls take their food prep seriously. :)
It only took about two seconds into the food prep before this one had spilled yam juice on her pants and quickly stripped them off. It didn't slow her down one little bit.
I love kissing this little darlin's sweet cheeks. She's so used to it now, when I say I want to smooch her she just sticks her cheek on over my way. She knows its coming.
My Lisy adding "Lisy" brand seasoning. :) She thought that was cool.
Be forewarned. The following picture is the finished product. This one is not for the weak stomached. Consider yourself warned...
Ta-Da!!! Yum Yum!!! (Its the banana peppers that really throw me for a loop.)
And this is what happens when you dump the finished product in the front yard. Yes, some clean-up required. :)
With lots of little girls, you can be sure we have a tea set. Or three of them. And we love having tea parties. Or, more appropriately, hot chocolate parties. Sometimes we have lemonade, root beer or water, but hot chocolate is definitely our favorite, mainly because there are so many fun additives. At this particular tea party, the kids had marshmallows, M & M's, homemade whipped cream, sweet cream, chocolate chips and sugar.
Paige isn't the neatest party goer, but she know how to clean up after herself. :)
Apparently, she's just following in the footsteps of her big sister. :)
Even Ian will have a tea party, although he's mainly in it for the food. :)
Elise is usually the orchestrator of the tea parties and provides excellent service to those who attend. I'm usually the kitchen staff and the other kids are guests. As you can see, its fun and delicious! :)
But we enjoyed every bit of your sunshine and warm air yesterday.
I took the three younger kids to the park after school and before dinner, while Elise spend some time with Emmy. (Notwithstanding a million different facts, Ian and Merry Grace were devastated that she left, but the park did a lot to cheer them up.)
Paige loves swinging, but when the big kids got off, she was done too. :)
That boot didn't slow this cutie down one little bit.
Of course. Why bother sliding down the slide, when you can climb up it. :)
After we played on the playground, we went to the baseball field. Ian ran the bases a few times.
Paige played in the dirt. There were two little flag on the field to mark a hole that needed repairing. They were an endless temptation to the small fry, who wanted to play with the.
My little bench warmer. :) It won't be long before she's sitting here, waiting for her turn at bat.
Merry Grace made an awesome path in the dirt with a stick.
I love this picture! I caught Paige "mid-gallop", as she ran to Ian and Merry Grace. I love her cute little self. :)
Ian made a path with a stick and the little girls had to follow his trail.
Working together. :) I love it!
Paige was working really hard to make a little sand castle. I love how intently she was focusing on that hard work.
Just being cute. I know, I know. There are a ton of pictures. But it was so fun and the kids are so cute, I can only narrow it down so much. ;)
And quickly, Ian turned to throwing sand/dirt. That's a boy for you.
And the obvious next step is to build a sand castle on your head. Obviously.
Love that kid. :)
And that's the way it goes.
This weather has been so wonderful. We're getting spoiled. And I'm thinking we're not going to handle it too well if it gets all cold and yucky again. Take note, spring. You do NOT want to make us mad. :)
My friend's recent blog postreminded me of something I've been thinking about for a while. Its about finding joy in the journey. Way back in August, when I found out I was pregnant, it was definitely a surprise. And a shock. And while I certainly felt those things (along with nervousness, nausea, and worry) mostly what I felt was happiness. I even felt a little giddy about the whole thing. How could I have known, in that moment, that I would only have 20 short weeks with my little guy? But what I am so grateful for, is that I didn't spend even one minute feeling sad, one minute feeling angry or one minute upset about the fact that I was having a baby. That baby. My baby.
I know some people do feel that way or have felt that way and I don't in any way mean this to be a criticism of them. I feel that the experiences we have are here to teach us something, and those mothers had something entirely different to learn from their experiences than I did. And part of what I think I needed to learn, was to find joy in the journey. To find joy in the unexpected, joy in the hardships and joy even amidst the trials.
It's something I'm still learning, as a Mother. So much about motherhood is "lather, rinse, repeat." The same dishes have to be loaded, the same clothes have to be washed, the same rooms have to be cleaned, the same toys have to be picked up. Every day. Sometimes its hard to see forward progress when you're stuck on the repeat cycle. But there is joy to be found in those things. I don't always see it. But dishes to wash, rooms to clean--all mean that we are living. It means we are still here and we still have work to do. And I love that.
I think Sister Hinckley summed it up best: "I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
Our sweet little Merry Grace is a big 5 year old. She's so excited and so proud. And she should be. It takes a lot of work to be the sweetest and cutest 5-year old around.
It may have taken 5 tries to get all the candles blown out. But I'm pretty sure that means you get 5 wishes. :)
She had a cake with peace signs all over it (her request), Little Ceasar's Pizza (because that was the "right" kind--no homemade for her!), corn on the cob, strawberries and powdered sugar doughnuts. A perfect dinner for a perfect girl. We're so thankful for all the happiness this little girl brings into our home.
Yes, a broken foot. Poor little Merry Grace jumped off some furniture trying to catch a helium balloon that had floated to the ceiling...and broke her foot.
And now she has this cute little boot to wear for the next four weeks. It took her about 4 days after breaking it for it to feel well enough (and for her to get her courage up) to walk on it. Now she's getting around like nobody's business. She's been awesome about keeping it on and wearing it well. And sure enough, she's managed to make a cast look adorable.
After spending most of the day getting Merry Grace doctored and x-rayed and all the fun stuff that comes with that, I'd just barely gotten back home when I got a call from the school saying Ian had gotten a "gash" just above his eye and that he'd come into the office "gushing blood". By the time I got there, it had mostly stopped bleeding and we decided butterfly bandages would work just as well as stitches.
And at that point we decided we'd call it a day and try really hard not to move or do anything that could cause further injury! :)
I'm a wife to "the one" and mother of six, trying to hold down the homefront and keep my sanity while enjoying the little things in life that really matter.
