over here {real life wednesday}

it has been three weeks since i posted last.  time really does fly by it seems!  i'm not quite sure what has been happening here in our neck of the woods for the past three weeks, but i'll try to catch y'all up...

it feels like my life right now revolves around baseball for out oldest son.  in reality, it's only three times a week...but place that on top of an already busy schedule and it feels at times like it's just too much for one person to do.  the Mr. tries to make it to part of one game during the week, and of course he is there on Saturday though...so it's not all me, all of the time, thankfully!  as far as baseball goes, The Tigers are doing well.  they have made much improvement since the season started.  they are also really enjoying it, and that really is all that matters, especially at this age. 

two weeks ago Jason came down with ear infections, again.  we have an appointment next month for a consultation with a specialist to talk about tubes for his ears.  it seems that his Eustachian tubes just aren't draining properly.  this is ear infection round three in less than two months.  this last one was painful, which they are not always.  i am open to hearing from the specialist about tubes as i feel like that might be really helpful at this point.

that weekend my mom took all four kiddos for the night, so we went out on a date.  this was the first time that Little A spent the night anywhere away from us.  i will admit that i was nervous for her, so funny because i really am not that type of mom most of the time.  she did great and only cried for a few minutes when it was her bedtime...awesome!  the Mr. and i went out for barbecue and wouldn't you know we were so wild and crazy that night that we were in bed before 10pm...woo-hoo!

last week i was flying solo as my husband had to go to Washington DC for work.  he was only gone for four days, but those were long days.  we were all so happy to have him back home!  he kept taking pictures of himself at monuments and restaurants during the week and sending them our way.  it was really fun to follow what he was doing and to actually see the places as well.  here is a picture of him in front of the Washington Monument.

it was nice to get back to our normal crazy family life when he returned, so thankful for that!

Sunday was a beautiful, warm day here.  we were chatting with some friends after church on Sunday when my husband took this adorable picture of our girls.  i just have to add it to this post.

so, that brings us to today.  Jason has had the stomach flu since Monday night and it doesn't seem like he is getting any better.  well, maybe a tiny bit, but really not that much...poor guy.  he doesn't even want to stand or walk around the house because his stomach feels so bad.  on a happier note, i am making a new recipe for dinner tonight.  yay, i love trying new recipes!  this looked so good when i got everything into the crock pot that i had to snap a picture.  so here you go.  i will add a link to the recipe as well.

Chicken Enchilada Slow Cooker Soup

(my attempt at a Pioneer Woman-ish type of food photo)

okay, that's it.  happy real life wednesday to ya!

moms need to be flexible

the title of this post...nothing new, right?  as moms we know this and we are reminded of it more often than we realize probably. 

my monday was going great.  dropped the boys back off at school in the morning, the girls and i did the grocery and household shopping, washed a few loads of laundry, etc.  then i call our doctors office to get an appointment for my son sometime this week, in hopes that there was an opening either with our primary doctor or his pa, hoping to avoid the after hours urgent care...really trying to avoid the after hours urgent care with all four children right at dinner time really.  anyways, the pa had an appointment at 9:50, perfect.  perfect, until i realized that was when i have my once-a-week women's small group bible study. 

{insert flexibility here}

 i was envisioning a tuesday morning going something like this.  getting everyone up, everyone ready for school and the day, dropping the boys off, driving over to church with the girls, enjoying the short time with the ladies in my small group, coming home for lunch, playing with the girls, picking up the boys, and so on.  well that 9:50 appointment fell right in the middle of my bible study, there goes the tuesday i had envisioned.

i am not at all complaining, but just reiterating that fact that as moms we have to adjust to what our day hold, right?  sometimes they go as we planned, or darn near close.  then other days they don't.  so off we went to school this morning for one son, then to the doctors, then back to school to drop off son number two who had the appointment, then off to the pharmacy for antibiotics.  the rest of the afternoon has been pretty much routine.

there have been plenty of days when i would have gotten all upset about having to detour from the "plans" that i had set out.  wow, that sounds bad after writing just above here that moms need to be flexible.  maybe i'm slowly getting better at this mom thing, four children later.

i'm sure everyone can relate to this post.  just thought that it was a great reminder today of the constant reality that we face as we care for our children.

here is our Jason.  the end result of our appointment today was double ear infections and probably a sinus infection. 

today i am thankful for medical insurance, doctors that i trust, antibiotics for my little guy, and just for this precious son of mine.  he has a heart of gold, he loves people, always smiles, wants to constantly have fun {i'm hoping some of that rubs off on me}.

real life wednesday

we went to target today.  have i mentioned that i love target?!?!  i just can't do the walmart thing.  there are times when i need to go to walmart for something, but i do really try to avoid it.  another reason i love target, i really like their brand.  i buy a lot of target brand items and they are just as good, and often times better than a brand name item...and not to mention a whole heck of a lot cheaper. 

okay, so back to my real life wednesday post.  we went to target today.  "we" being all four kiddos and i.  now, i have three children who are capable of walking in the store, and only one who is not.  but to make the trip a little easier on everyone i opted for the "family" sized cart.  you know, the shopping cart that is about the length of my minivan.  yep, and i didn't even feel bad about it.  sure it may look a little funny to see a six year old riding in the cart, but at least the eight year old was walking and no one, not one child was causing a problem. 

i pick my battles, and that just wasn't one i was going to choose today.

a new year, day, & goal

we decided to get out of the house today and go do something outdoors.  the temps were a little cool, but the weather was great.  scattered clouds allowed for the sun to warm us up on and off.  we had a great afternoon together.  here are a lot, and i really do mean a lot of pictures to give you a feel of what our day was like.

 



 

 

 

last night as a family we wrote down some ways in which we felt blessed and thankful to the Lord during 2012.  everyone had a few things to put on the list, with the exception of Little A of course.  our oldest decided to get out his mini spiral notebook and copy down some of the things that we were adding to the list.  i loved how he got it when it came to writing these things down.  then as we drove in the driveway this afternoon from the park he had added another item to his own list and shared it with everyone before we got out of the car. 

this just melted my heart.  it was one of those moments when you sit back and think to yourself "okay, we are doing something right when it comes to this parenting thing."  then he helped his little sister by getting her baby doll out of the car and bringing it to her, without being asked to help out.  mark said something to me like "can you believe how sweet that was?"  we have moments like that more than i realize i'm sure, but lately it seems like the kids have been in this funk, arguing often, etc.  this was just such a sweet way to end an already great afternoon.

as this new year kicks off i'm starting something new, a goal for 2013 that i want to keep up.  two years ago i participated in the ssmt put on by Living Proof Ministries.  i had every intention in the world of memorizing the twenty-four verses of scripture and even trying to fly to Houston for the celebration at the end of the year.  well, the Lord had a different plan.  i found out that i was pregnant with Little A in june of 2011.  shortly afterwards i was hit so hard with morning sickness that mostly everything fell on the back burner, including my memorizing verses for the ssmt.  well, here i am starting again this year.  i will try to post all twenty-four verses here, the 1st and 15th of each month.  let me know if you are doing this as well, will you?!  here is my first verse for 2013, do you remember it from my previous post?  i loved it so much that i thought it was a great way to the start out the new year.  it's not too late to join in on the memorization team.  just follow the link above and join!

i pray that you had a great first day to the new year, and that in some small way you were encouraged as well.  i'd love to hear how you spent the day or about some new way that you have been encouraged lately.

the end of 2012

well, here we are at the end of another year.  i'm not much for new years resolutions or anything like that, and maybe that's because i'm horrible at actually sticking to them...but at the end of this year i do feel the need to look back at the things that the Lord has blessed my family and i with in 2012.  i'm not going to list them here, but i'm just saying that in my opinion it's good to look back and think about ways in which we have been blessed.

 

"how can i repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?" -psalm 116:12

 

this year in particular has probably been the hardest year of my life so far.  we were blessed with child number four back in january, and it really does seem like from the day we brought her home that our lives have been forever changed.  changed in many more good ways than we will ever know, but at the same time changed in ways that have been so hard.  it's hard for me to even put into words most of the time.  the best way i can explain it is that this year has just been hard.

 

in the midst of this past year we have also received many more blessings than i will ever know.  the Lord has been good to us and especially to me.  seeing me through day after day after day of feeling like i just can't do this, and to be honest, feeling like i just plain don't want to do this. 

 

i am looking to this new year as just that, a new year.  the baby is almost a year old, not as fussy and not as needy (although there hasn't been one night, not one, where she isn't crying as i get her dressed and ready for bed at night).  the boys don't need as much physically from me anymore.  number three is hopefully going to potty train soon.  and i won't need to buy formula or wash bottles anymore pretty soon as well.  those things may seem small, but to me things are looking up in many tangible ways.  maybe you have some small ways that things are looking up for you this next year.  if so, i'd love to hear about them.  i do believe that seeing the blessings in the small things can help with how you go about your day.  really, it's not always easy, but it is helpful.

 

"how can i repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?" -psalm 116:12

 

the verse above has been in my mind this week after i received it in an email.  the Lord has been good to me, to my family.  i will never know to what extent, because in reality His goodness is unfathomable to humans, but i do know that His goodness overflows.

 

so, as i look at the picture below of Miss L, our number three, i can't help but smile.  i also wish that i could bottle up that happiness that exudes from her daily.  oh to be a child again.  this year i want to be a happier wife and a happier momma to those four precious ones that i care for daily.  i don't want to get in the poor me rut.  i want to seek out the daily joy in this house that we call home.

 

happy new year.

 

 

real life

the boys are home today, Christmas break has started.  we ate breakfast a little late, watched a morning cartoon, still in our pajamas, and legos/toys are all over the place.  this is my real life.