July Happenings

So last week Bodie and Brylee went to stay with Nana and Papa for a week. While the cats were away Brooke and I played! We went to Kidzsport for an open gym day. She had a lot of fun, although it took her almost the entire time to really start exploring without older siblings to lead the way. We had some fun in the bathtub too! She was not so sure about this messy stuff getting on her skin.

 Here she is trying to keep her feet out of the paint.

 Yuck! This stuff won't get off me!





I am excited about one thing that I did get finished while they were away!

Changed this.........

To This......


So excited to get this done. Plus, I was able to go through both of their rooms while they were gone and get rid of trash and broken toys!! It's the little things.....

And I should probably mention that I enjoyed the chance to curl up and read a book in peace too!

Flash forward to this week, we have been getting rain like crazy. I'm not complaining. We need it and it means cooler weather. But it also means a little more creativeness when it comes to keeping the kids busy. 

 It's nice when their are no storms and they can play in it!

But, for the times that aren't:

Toys frozen in the ice are lots of fun and take some time. This did not keep my three year olds attention the whole time, but she worked at it for a while. My six year old stuck with it until he had everything un-iced!

 Getting closer!

And finally......












It doesn't show in the pictures, but I gave them hammers, butter knifes, and brushes to do the work. Nobody got smashed fingers and since we did it in the tub the mess just went right down the drain!

We've been hearing some strange noises under our bathtub. Since we did have a baby opposum under our sink, it was safe to assume their might be more under our house. Last night we set a live trap and this morning.... we got a big un! Yuck! 
So I loaded the nasty thing in my van with all my kids and we took it far far away and let it go. While we were driving we saw a grey fox and her kit. It was so cute. I wish I gotten a picture, but they took off before I could get my camera ready. On that road I have also seen a bobcat. It's pretty secluded so Mr. or Mrs. O should fit right in! 

One last thing: I made sundried tomatoes this week! We've been getting tomatoes out of our garden, but it's not enough at one time to mess with canning. I've been making recipes with tomatoes, but still have little bits left over that I don't want to waste. I found a recipe for a vegetable dip that uses sundried tomatoes! I'm all over that.

They last in the freezer up to a year, but I'm pretty sure I won't be waiting that long to try try out that dip! The best part is I won't have to buy those expensive sundried tomatoes at the store!

Loving Your Kids

I am reading a book called Loving The Little Ones and I wanted to share a little bit. The author is a mother of five ages five and under. Because she is still in the moment and not recalling, so much of what she says hits home. Each chapter feels like it is made for me. One of the things that spoke to me is her thoughts on organizing. She says, " It is easy to fall into this kind of lifestyle (talking about oganizing) because cleaning and sorting makes you look and even feel like you have your act together, even if you really don't. What you are doing is finding a way to contain your children, control them, and keep them from making you look bad. But you are not actually dealing with anything. Christian childbearing is a pastoral pusuit, not an organizational challenge. The more children you have the more you need to be pastoral minded, looking to their souls and needs." 
 Ouch! This one me hard. She goes into more detail, but the more kids you have the more chaotic it feels. I'm not a big change person so I am doing exactly what she says. I am running around trying to make things feel"normal." I think in my mind I think if I am just more organized here, X will go more smoothly. That does work sometimes but when it doesn't it leads to frustration with my kids. Over and over God has been working on my heart, reminding me to relax. There are so many ways that I have been holding on and never realized.
 Another example that rang true was her example of her relationship with God. When she was single she did her devotions every day. Her walk with God was like a rock being refined by the river. With kids it becomes like being in a rock tumbler. Now its not so easy to be Godly because the days are spent crashing into each other. There is less time for reflection and more on the job training and failure. True! Its so easy to read about how you should act, but putting that into practice in the midst of chaos is another level.
 Another example that I really get is when she says we are responsible to see our kids as individuals. Sounds easy, but it's not. An example that I understand all to well is when you are cooking. When you have one child and they want to help you are enthusiastic. When you get a whole bunch of kids all wanting to help it becomes overwhelming and in my experience so much more work. It's so easy to say no because it would be faster to do it yourself. That is when you need to see them as individuals and not mass. She says, " Most of the time kids do not know they are overwhelming. That's because they never forget they are individuals."
 I have to remind myself how different this picture will look in a mere ten years. In the moment sometimes it is hard to see that. Dishes  and sticky floors aren't for the rest of my life. They are for a season. God is working on me, teaching me to let go and let him run the ship. I am so busy trying to be the pilot. I think I am beginning to realize where my daughter got her stubborness.