Thursday, January 20, 2011

Loving the Little Year

Just before the new year my mom gave me the most amazing book, Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic. She is a mom of 5 kids 5 and under. She know what she is talking about because she is living it each an everyday, not remembering through rose colored lenses what it was like to have little ones. Time has not faded her memory.

I read this wonderful, short (100 pg) book over a weekend. It was inspiring, funny, and truly spoke to my heart. I am learning that the state of my house and my children is directly tied to my heart attitude. If I am not focused on Christ, in control, organized, prepared to love and discipline, my day will be difficult. That doesn't mean that it needs to remain that way. I can re-focus on God and be deliberate in showing grace. Oh how wonderful grace truly is. We are shown it over and over again, day in and day out. Not only by God but by our spouses, children and even strangers. Does it every amaze you that we are much more able to show grace to those we don't know than the ones we are with always? I wonder why that is. She gives great examples of how to deal with everyday issues when you have little ones.

She reminds us that we are still being sanctified daily, especially when we have children. We need to remember that they are not just children, who perhaps bother us at times but that they are eternal souls that need guidance. We need to be the example of what repentance and forgiveness looks like. We need to show them how to be kind. We need to be patient with them as we are continually telling them to be patient and wait!  I have become increasingly aware of the impatient tone in my voice when I am telling them to be patient and wait. We are the example by which they live and learn.

She also reminds us to look at our children as individuals and deal with them accordingly. Just because the day might not be going as smoothly as we would like and its a little loud and crazy and one(or many) of your children is disobeying, you must deal with the sin on all levels. Perhaps this means dealing with your sin first so that you don't fly of the handle over a minor infraction. Nope, I would never over-react, not me! Ok, so maybe I would and maybe I do more often than I would care to admit. But lets remember we are sinners, not yet perfected, nor will we be until we are with Christ. We are continually being sanctified and worked on.

I don't think that I can recommend this book enough. It has already been a blessing to me and I am sure to re-read it many times. Lets face it, I want to love the little years and they are tough.

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the trenches Go buy it!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Snuggly Brothers

Today I am thankful that my boys love each other. They enjoy being together. They watch out for each other. They comfort one another.

They all wanted to be in bed together the other night and thankfully I had my camera handy. I try to keep it close so I can capture fun moments. But let me tell you, it is hard to get a good picture with three squirmy little boys.












But eventually you get there and get very sweet pictures.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Today I am.....

3 months old.






Wow. I can hardly believe that Roland is already 3 months old. I keep forgetting how fast time goes until I really look at my children. Each day seems to take forever to get through(sometimes) but it has gone much to fast. I am already missing the very early newborn stage. I didn't mind the middle of the night feedings so much, until I was completely exhausted during the day with the others. I enjoyed the quiet moments holding my sweet sweet boy. And now, he is three months old. He is more alert, he smiles all the time, and is just starting to laugh. I am loving it. But I miss the new baby stretch, you moms know what I am talking about, they way the pull their legs up and arch their back. That might be my favorite part.  Boy, oh boy, do I love him!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Sausage, Lots of Sausage

Casey decided to take up bow hunting this year, and he actually got a deer(I've heard that with bow hunting you only have a 12% chance of actually getting a deer). Yea! But now, what am I supposed to do with all the meat?

There are lots of things you can do with the meat, but one thing we decided to do was make venison summer sausage. Ok, so I didn't make it but I had it processed. Its been a few years since I've made sausage so I thought I'd leave it to the full-time professionals. And, we love our butcher , they always have the best meats(and hamloaf).

Here is our summer sausage




And for a little perspective






Yep, that's 30 pounds of venison sausage. How in the world am I supposed to get that in my refrigerator or freezer??? Maybe next year we'll remember to ask for it in smaller packaging. By the way, it tastes amazing.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Not Quite A Miracle

It has been a long and tiring journey at our house, these sleepless nights. I finally realized that it started when I was on bedrest, and yet the sleepless nights had nothing to do with pregnancy or even a new baby. It was my sweet 2 year old.

 Every night, many many times every night, he would wander down the hallway and climb into our bed and snuggle right between us. And every night, we would bring him back to his bed. Only to be awoken moments later to the sound of his little feet on the way back to our room. Thankfully for me, he would start going to Casey's side of the bed and leave me alone. This wasn't working out so well for Casey though, he was exhausted every day at work. To make matters worse, Corbin would scream and cry if I tried to bring him back to bed.

Finally, after 6 long months, he stayed in bed. The entire night! And to top it off, he had a completely dry diaper this morning! I feel like we are finally making progress on this long road. I am praying that it continues and wasn't just a one night deal. But even so, one night of sleep helps. It gives hope and rest.

So, even though it feels like a miracle(and if you've been there you know what I mean), its not quite a miracle. But I'll take it anyway.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Do Children Really Listen

As a mom, I often wonder if my children really listen to me?

If you are like me, or most parents, you find that you repeat yourself, A LOT.  Atleast, I don't think it's just me. Somedays I can say the same thing 1000 times, such as:  you need to sit at the table when you eat, please don't take the nuk from your brother, don't play with the blinds. These are not just said over and over in one day, it is everyday. At times I wonder if they even hear my voice, but I know they are not hard of hearing, just sinners like all of us. I wonder how God feels when we don't listen to him??(Question for another day)

The thing is, they do actually listen to us. Let me give a few examples.

1. If Corbin is asked what the rule in our house is, he will respond "listen and obey"

2. When asked after a timeout, "why did I put you in timeout?", his response is "I did something naughty" and then he is able to tell us what it was.

3. When we are playing and he asks us to stop doing something and we don't, we hear "I have told you many times, please stop!". Does that one sound familiar to you? It sure does to me.

4. He is able to repeat our directions back to us.

So, do they really listen? Absolutely, especially when don't realize it. Then the issue is not so much about them hearing us, it is about obedience. It is about their heart.

Another one of my goals this year is to parent toward heart-change not just external obedience. I want my boys to obey, not with a heart of anger or resentment but with a heart of joy.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A Quick Update

I wanted to let you all know that I made the choice to become an Amazon Associate. For those of you who shop on Amazon.com, and I know many of you do, please help us out by using either of the links on the blog. At this time I don't plan on monetizing the blog in any other way.

I want to thank you in advance for helping out by using the amazon links and for spreading the word!!

Monday, January 3, 2011

A Year of Thanksgiving

Let this be a year of renewed attitudes. Attitudes of thankfulness, cheerfulness, self-control. A new year will hopefully bring new habits.

Today I am thankful for:
3.Three runny little noses! Why? Because I am thankful for and blessed to have three little boys.

A day of travel

Today I am thankful for:
My husband who let's me sleep when we make a long drive home from his parents house.

I am so thankful that I didn't have to make the drive by myself, as I often do. The kids were in good moods most of the trip, which is rare but was wonderful.

Thankful For.....

One of my goals this year is to be more thankful. Be it little or big, I want to be aware. I will try to post atleast one thing each day that I am grateful for.

January 1
Today I am thankful for:
A husband that is involved with the raising of our boys.

Today was a "no-nap" day. Which can get very stressful by dinner time. I am beyond thankful that Casey was there to tag-team the boys with me. I failed myself at parenting today, as I do many days. But, Gods grace will cover my sins. I repented and asked for forgiveness. I am a flawed person, spouse, and parent - I am also a child of God and a work in progress.

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