Little Things {Husband Edition}

My husband's travel schedule has increased exponentially since the summer.  I'm not used to it.  It's hard when he is gone.  I'm short a set of hands in the evening.  I don't like it.  


I miss him when he is gone.  I should tell him this more often.  And I will.


I also miss the little things that he does day in and day out... the things he does to take care of his family.  To take care of me.  To make my life easier.  


I miss the little things that he does after he comes home, exhausted,  from a job that seems to get more stressful every day.  He's selfless with these little acts and I'm especially aware of a few of those little things tonight.


I should tell him that I appreciate these little things more often.  And I will.


The little things like...


~ Take out the trash, replace the trash bags, and prepare it for the trash pick up.
~ Feed our dog and give her her medication at night.
~ Give the kids a bath, lotion them up, and get them in their PJ's.
~ Bring me my nightly bottle of water from the basement before bed.
~ Start the dishwasher before bed.
~ Make sure the house is secured and the alarm is set.
~ Get up in the middle of the night when Molly wakes.
~ Wake Noah for school, make his lunch, and drive him to school.


Those are just a few of the little things that I take for granted each and every night.


I appreciate these little things.  


And I miss them him when he is gone.

I Want to Remember...

• Molly's nighttime routine.   I rock her before she goes down for nap or bedtime and after she drinks her bottle, she looks at me with big eyes, takes her right hand and points to her bed, and says "Be" (for bed).  I ask her if she wants to go to her bed and she nods her head affirmatively, while saying "Uh HUH!" with such spirited and empathic expression!

• The way Emily talks.  She mispronounces so many letters and has yet to master the proper use of pronouns; as in "her talks so silly"!  She puts an "ez" sound at the end of any plural word; as in "Bath-ez" for "Baths".  And her tone... it is so sweet, loud, and at times, just plain funny!

• Noah's sweet spirit and developing faith.  He asked me yesterday if we could start going to Mass everyday... as a family.  He sometimes prays his rosary in his bed.  And he dumped his entire piggy bank into a Dillons plastic bag several weeks ago to "donate" to church.

• The way it feels to have a baby kicking inside of me.  

And those are just a few things I wish 

I could bottle up and remember forever!

Not Cut Out for This

Today is one of those days when I feel like I'm not cut out for this.  And by this, I mean being a stay home mom to several small children.


I want to be cut out for it.  In fact, being a stay home mom has always been my desire.  I dreamed about it long before it ever became a reality.


In my dreams, though, it wasn't this hard!  


And I only have 3 kids!  Which, by the way, I am terrified of how I am going to handle adding another little one to the current chaos.  


I want a large family.  I want to be good at handling it all.  But like I said, today is one of those days that I feel like maybe I'm not cut out for this.  


There is nothing I would rather do.  I consider it a privilege and tremendous blessing to be able to spend all day, everyday, with my small children.  I realize that it is the time in their life thatI will have the most influence on developing their character.  It is a responsibility that I take very seriously.  And I want to be good at it.


And on most days, I think I do a decent job.  But then there are days, like today, when I feel like I'm just simply not cut out for this.


I lose my patience.
Cry over my lack of sleep.
Obsess over the crumbs and sticky spots in my kitchen.
Loathe the thought of making another meal for my family.
Beg my children to stop "dragging everything out".
Feel like I might lose my mind as I try to calmly deal with Emily's crying outbursts.
Cringe when I see the laundry baskets; piled to the rim... again.
Tell my children that I  am too busy to play.
Sigh as I wipe another bottom; change another diaper.
Wish that I had time for myself... to sit, relax, do something I want to do.


And ponder the idea that maybe I'm not cut out for this.


But I know in my heart that it's not true.  I am cut out for it because God believes that I am.  It is the vocation that He has charged me with.  And as hard as it is on some days, I know it is my path to holiness. 


About nine months ago, I thought I had it all figured out when I wrote this post.  All of those words were true; are true.   But keeping a Heavenly and Holy perspective throughout the day to day struggles and monotonous tasks is not something that comes naturally to me.  I have to work at it.  Constantly work at it.  


I have remember to constantly pray for grace.  


The grace
To not lose my patience.
To not cry over my lack of sleep, but be disciplined in going to bed when I can.
To let go of crumbs and stickiness.
To think about the good conversation that can result during family mealtime.
To allow my kids to be kids; but then teach them responsibility in cleaning up after themselves.
To grow in the virtue of patience as Emily navigates the hormones and emotions of being three.
To take it one basket at a time; one day at a time.
To stop focusing on the tasks of homemaking so much and nurture the relationships instead.
To remember that their needs are great now, but will diminish as they grow older.


And so even on days that I feel like I'm not cut out for this, I am encouraged to know that I really am... I just have to remember that it's okay to admit that it's hard.  Admit it to myself.  To my family.  To the Internet.  Even to God.  


It is hard.  Some days are harder than others.  Like today!


But I am grateful that I have this opportunity; this path to learn to become holy.  On days like today, I feel like I'm still at the very beginning of that path.  I have so far to go.  But at least I'm beginning to recognize that I'm on the path!  


So today was one of those days.  A day when I felt like I wasn't cut out for this.


But tomorrow...


Tomorrow I will pray for more grace.  


Because I am cut out for this!  


I am.

Imagination

Imagination at Play...

Umbrella "Shield"?  Check!

Bats & Balls?  Check!

Pinwheels?  Check!

Blow Up Shark?  Check!

Spray Water Bottles?  Check!

Rain Boots, Hat, and Mittens?  Check!

One more Giant Bat?  Check!

Apparently they have everything they need to...

"Hunt a Cat"!


Of course!

Happily Ever After...

A Bizarre, Funny, Surprising, Interesting Story to tell...


On January 21st of this year, I wrote this post about my single little brother... "Uncle Brycie".  I wrote it on a whim, without his knowledge, and linked it up to this "Singles Blog Party".  I remember staying up until 2 or 3 am writing the post; pondering just how mad he would be when/if he found out about it, and at the same time, entertaining the very slim possibility that he might actually meet someone as a result of my meddling.


About a week after posting, I called and asked him to come over for the evening.  He was immediately suspicious of my invitation and responded by saying... "What did you do?  Sign me up on Facebook or something?"  


"Not exactly" was my response!


He (reluctantly) came over.
I told him what I did.
He rolled his eyes and heavily sighed.


I asked him to at least look at the post.
He (begrudgingly) read what I wrote.
I told him he seemed to be quite popular based on the number of comments on his post.
He rolled his eyes again.


And then we spent nearly 2 hours, sitting at my kitchen island, looking through the blogs and comments of the girls who had commented as being interested in him.


There were several more eye rolls, a comment from him about this "being awkward", and a lot of encouraging on my part to at least follow up with a few of the girls.


He left my house with a single piece of paper in his hand; it was covered with email addresses and descriptions of interested girls.


But I had little to no hope that he would do anything with it!


After many years of being single, and enduring several broken hearts, I think he had come to a point in his life that he had little to no hope that he would ever meet the right person.  Dating, online matchmaking, set-ups... it all seemed hopeless and probably pointless to him.


But...


A few days later, he called to tell me....








He had lost the paper!


The paper we spent hours working on.  The one with the names, email addresses, and contact information... that paper!


While this didn't surprise me, I figured it was more than likely his way of putting this whole blog post thing to rest.  And so I left it alone and did nothing more. 


But...






He did make contact with a few of the girls...


On his own!


He figured out how to get into the comment section of my blog and found a few of the email addresses... on his own!


And pretty quickly, he and one of the girls began to email/text on a fairly regular basis.  My brother keeps his personal life pretty personal, but every once in a while, I would ask if he was "still talking with 'blog girl from Kansas City'".  He usually responded with a simple, one word answer...


Yes.


And then came March 3rd .  


It was the last KU home Basketball game of the season.  Vance and Noah drove to Lawrence for the game.  Bryce had declined Vance's invitation to join them "because he had to work."  So Vance invited a friend from Lawrence to join him in the extra seat.  When that friend arrived at the game, he casually mentioned to Vance that he had just seen "your brother-in-law."  Vance protested that it couldn't have been Bryce, but his friend said he was 99% sure it was him.  So Vance asked who he was with and the response was...


"A girl with brown hair."


With a quick text, Vance confirmed that Bryce was, in fact, at the game....


"On a date." (that was the extent of his texted response!)


His efforts to keep this meeting private (so as to avoid questions from me and my mom!) proved futile... he was caught!  And that game marked the 1st official date between "Uncle Brycie" and the "Blog Girl from Kansas City."


The next morning, I couldn't help myself.  I had to call him and ask for details.  As expected, he didn't offer much; but he did offer that he had had a great time and that "she is really sweet."


From that point forward, he casually mentioned her upon occasion...  She had sent him cookies in the mail.  He liked that she was low maintenance.  She likes to cook.  She likes to fish.  She is really sweet.


So without him sharing too much, it started to become more obvious that he and "blog girl from kansas City" were spending more and more time together.  At one point, I recall him telling me that he thought he "had gotten really lucky this time."


I didn't get an opportunity to meet the mystery "blog girl from Kansas City" until the end of May.  But when I did, I could tell that she and my brother had some kind of a special connection.  And I learned that she does, in fact, have a name!  It is Toi.  


Fast forward to Sunday, November 13th...








They got engaged!


For once, my meddling paid off and and my entire family could not be more thrilled!


It is my opinion, though, that all of this was part of a plan orchestrated by the One who is bigger than myself.  The blog, my written words, the Singles Party... all of these were simply tools used to bring that plan to fruition.  


This plan that has now unfolded is, quite simply,  an answer to many heartfelt prayers! 


And Toi is wonderful...


~ She makes my kids play dough - from scratch!


~ She saved me from having to cook and bring food to a picnic - she did it for me!


~ She bought me a beautiful birthday gift.


~ She is the influence and the reason our family now occupies two additional seats in our pew on Sunday mornings.


~ She made the kids the cutest Halloween treats!


~ She adores my kids - and they adore her!


~ She bought my kids special plates and silverware to eat with when they come to her house.


~ She has embraced my entire family.


~ She babysits for me when I need help... and offers to do so even when I don't!


~ She knows how to take good pictures... and has offered to help me!


But even if she did none of those things, she would still be wonderful!  Because the very best part about her is that she loves my brother.  She makes him happy!


And that makes me happy!  Very happy!


To bring this surprising and unexpected story to a close, I'll end by telling you that Toi relocated to Wichita from Kansas City and started a new job here in late summer.  She and Bryce have joined our church and plan to get married at St. Catherine of Siena in the Fall of 2012.  And after that...


Well, they will both get the Happily Ever Afterthey have dreamed about!


(And hopefully they will give my kids some cousins to play with - wink!)

Congratulations to "Uncle Brycie" and 

"Blog Girl from Kansas City" 

(soon to be "Aunt Toi")

  

Little Things {Fall 2011}

After a long few months of pregnancy misery, my hormones have started to partially regulate and I'm finally starting to feel a tad bit normal again.  Big and out of breath; but more like myself!  So I thought I'd take some time to share a few "little things" that have given me reason to smile this Fall, despite being big and out of breath!


{A Completed Project}
After a year of sitting in boxes, I finally got our family pictures from last year framed and hung on the walls!  Just in time for me to have to do them again with a newly added family member... sweet!

{Sweet Big Brother}
Sprinkled in among the normal day-to-day bickering and antagonizing that goes on between siblings, Noah often shows his sweet spot and an endearing thoughtfulness towards his little sisters.  And when it happens, it makes my heart smile... big!

{Sharing an Afternoon Snack with Molly}

{He circles books for Emily on his school book order form}

{Her Eyes}
I adore Molly's eyes... they are big, blue, almond shaped, beautiful!  They can be serious or sparkly.  They are, to me, what make her her.  And I am absolutely smitten with her and those big baby blues!  (The tiny turned fingers are pretty darn cute too!)

{She Loves Braids}
Emily's hair has grown long enough that she can now wear braids.  Or "braid-ez" as she calls them.  It's nice to be able to twist her hair into these fun creations; but I have to admit that I miss her sweet little bob (which might be making a return today)!  

{Fun Tights}
I have always dreamed about having a girl... especially a girly one.  And Emily is, without a doubt, beyond "girly"!  She deplores jeans and prefers to wear a dress whenever she can.  In fact, one day when I made her wear jeans to preschool, she dramatically protested by saying that "everyone in my class will think I'm a boy!"  So she (and me too) loves that the cooler Fall temperatures have allowed her to start wearing some fun and funky tights with her dresses!  Whew... now no one will make the mistake of thinking she is a boy!

{Father/Son Bond}
Noah adores his Daddy.  He is his best buddy.  He wants to be just like him and it is so special and sweet to witness.  He craves spending alone time with Vance.  So whenever they can, Vance and Noah have special "boy time".  They go to all the KU games together, spend time on the golf or tennis court together, and on some special nights, Noah gets to stay up late and watch sporting events on TV with his Dad.  He watches games that last 2-3 hours; enjoying every second of it!  

{Watching the World Series}

{9 Holes on a Sunday...

the first time Noah counted all his own strokes}

{Furniture Dreaming}
We might be getting new furniture.  I've been saving money and dreaming of what my house might look like with a few new pieces of furniture... free of kid stains and spills!  The stain/spill problem is why I'm considering black fabrics for the future! 

{New Island Countertop}
Looking at these pictures makes me want to do a happy dance!  Or sing "Alleluia"!  I didn't think to take a "before" picture of our old island countertop, but let me assure you, this is a dramatic improvement!  Not only does it make our room look bigger and brighter, we added a tiny bit of additional countertop space by adding the rounded edge and I think I will be able to get 3 barstools at the counter now!  But what makes me really happy is that I no longer have to look at the wood trim that had food embedded in every single ridge and had absolutely no stain left from the years of me scrubbing it!  That and the fact that the faucet that periodically decided to spray from the base all over the kitchen has also been replaced!  Oh, and the new sink doesn't scratch when I hand wash the dishes!  Now if only I could do the rest of the countertops too!  

{Home Planning Solutions}
I am really trying hard to grow up and act like a grown up when it comes to managing my household!  Schedules have always overwhelmed me and I have a mental block about meal planning and grocery shopping.  But thanks to a wonderful Bible Study this Fall, I'm really learning to implement better home management.  I am so grateful for the group of mom's with whom I share this study; they have given me lots of encouragement (especially as it relates to cooking) and some great, practical ideas on how to make my home life more productive and peaceful.  I have planned two weeks worth of meals.  That's big for me.  And I made my first-ever crock pot roast.  I have even started to use a list when I go to the grocery store... probably just because I found a cute pad I could put on the refrigerator :)  But we haven't run out of toilet paper or diapers since I implemented the earth-shattering idea of a list!  And I might even ask for a bread maker for Christmas (since I sold mine in the last garage sale after using it 1-2 times in 12 years).  But let's not get too carried away!

{Sister Friends}
With Noah being gone at school during the day and Molly maturing every day, my two girlies are becoming sweet little sister friends!  Each day, they are playing more and more together.  Today I saw them walking through the living room, holding hands as Emily said "Come on Mol!"  I love watching their relationship blossom and hope and pray they will be the best of friends always!

{Sweet Sissy Play}

{She crawls in Molly's crib every morning; and fills it up with toys and stuffed animals}

{They are ornery together too...

using the "squeakers" from Molly's shoes like blow horns}

{They actually LOVE to dress the same...

Emily requests to wear clothes to "match Molly}

{Kid Art}
Emily and Noah love to do "art"... color, paint, use scissors and glue.  And they love to make artistic creations for us!  Our refridgerator door has becoming a revolving door of artwork!  I would have never thought that Noah would enjoy coloring/drawing as much as he does; but nearly everyday, they both sit at the countertop while I prepare dinner and  work on their "workbooks" and make pictures!  Molly wants to join them, but she is still in the stage of eating crayons, so she stays on the ground during "art time"!

{He loves to draw sports pictures...

(L) Noah & Daddy on the Tennis Court

(R) Win or Lose... he is a true KU fan!}

{Bracelet gifts for people}

(L) Playing Basketball by Noah

(R) ? with colored fringe cut by Emily

{A Taste of Something New}
The kids got the cutest Halloween S'more packages from Uncle Brycie and his girlfriend.  They had pumpkin and ghost marshmallows in them!  Neither one of them had ever experienced a S'more and they were super enamored with the gooey concept of them... especially watching the marshmallows stretch!  In true "Noah fashion" though, I had to hold his S'more because he couldn't stand how messy it was making his fingers!  I love their faces as they react to the new taste!

{One for the Record Books - A Happy Plate}
Emily and eating just simply don't go together.  It's not that she doesn't like food; she just doesn't like to sit and eat.  It takes her forever to ingest an acceptable amount of calories.  She would much rather sit and visit at the dinner table than eat.  Most meals involve lots of time and me prodding, reminding, and giving "number of bites" instructions just to get her to eat enough to not pass out!  So it was a picture-worthy moment when I heard her little voice say "I ate everything on my plate" last night!  And the rest of us were still eating!  She has never had a "happy plate" before; especially one in which I didn't have to ask her or remind her to take a single bite!  And as an added bonus she and Noah both agreed that my scrambled eggs and pancakes are "better than McDonalds"!

{Fall Color}
Fall is my most favorite season!  I love the cooler temperatures.  I love the outdoor activities.  And I love watching the leaves change colors.  We don't live in an area where there are lots of tall trees, but the entrance into our neighborhood is full of gorgeous Fall color.  And I have so enjoyed seeing it every time I drive home.  And we have a little color in our front yard too!

{His Mind}
Noah fascinates me.  I can't believe how much he has learned in a few short months of first grade.  He actually has a very inquiring mind and enjoys learning.  He seems to have a mind for math... just like his Daddy!  For entertainment, he loves to do BrainQuest workbooks and has even started creating his own worksheets to replicate the things they do in school. He has made his own versions of the learning games they play at school and tries to teach them to Emily.  I just marvel at the things he finds entertaining and inwardly smile at his little developing mind!

{Math Worksheets he made... 

Nonny is the student and he "graded" her work!}

{He wanted to write all of the Big 12 and NFL teams}

{A school Math game recreated}

(L) School worksheet

(R) Noah's homemade version

{He writes books... and illustrates them}

{Tiny Dancers}
Emily loves to dance!  She stared a few new dance classes this Fall and she absolutely enjoys every minute of them.  I think I enjoy it just as much as she does... she looks so sweet and dainty in her dance clothes.  I love how graceful she is becoming... she prances and flits around the house all the time wearing her dance shoes.  Molly tries to follow suit and even stomps around the house wearing Emily's old tap shoes.  The most adorable thing (that I cannot get on video!), though, is when Molly dances to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song... it is too precious and absolutely cracks me up!  

 

{Girl Shoes}
I love new shoes for myself.  But little girl shoes are even more fun!  I ordered the girls a bunch of new shoes (as both of their little feet have grown) online and they all came in the mail in one day.  I wish I could get away with wearing some of this preciousness!

{He has BFFs}
It cracks me up that Noah is only 6 years old and he is using the terminology "BFF".  Actually, his friend introduced the term to him; but he has readily taken it up!  He loves to talk about who his "best friends" are at school.  I found this drawing in the car (he keeps a pad and pen near his seat so he can write/draw in the car) and when I asked him about it, he told me those were his "BFFs"!

{One on One Time}
I cherish the special one on one time I get to have with each of my kids.  It rarely happens though; especially for me and Emmie Kate.  She loves do anything girly and is a great shopping buddy.  So the "Fancy Nancy" Tea Party that our church hosted was right up her alley!  Not only did she get to dress up in full dress up regalia, she and I got to spend a really fun afternoon together... just the two of us!  I'm pretty sure she was the fanciest "Nancy" at the party!

 

I'm sure there are hundreds more "little things" that I could post if I lived each day with the deliberate intention of being grateful and present for all of life's "little things".  It's a good reminder to myself to slow down, observe my life, and take the time to see the extraordinary in the ordinary of life!