it's all fun and games: October 2012

dediction!

first thou, a snap shot of ellie loving her swing

mom,dad,quinn, charlie, jon and jess all joined us this wkend to celebrate ellie and attend her dedication (crystal and shawn are floating on the seas somewhere in the caribbean on a vacay)

after a bit of a rough night, the kids were amazing today. they were quiet until 8. sweet!

ellie and i in her awesome dedication dress

she doesn't look impressed but trust me she was!

ellie being prayed for

nate was tired after spending most of the time waving to everyone

i was trying to get him to stop but SOMEONE kept waving (papa and quinn!)

haha

jon and ellie

then we came home to a wicked supper, cooked by mom and dad! thanks guys!!!!

that was our busy wkend! now to get ready for another busy week! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 4:25 PM

catch up!

ellie boober boo

today is the day!

nate has been crossing off the days for saturday. they day that quinn, charlie, nana and papa arrive!

i gave nate a task and he quietly (very rare) and seriously worked away

giving me 10 mins of uninterrupted silence to catch up on emails

i stopped what i was doing just to watch him work away

he was lost in silent concentration!

so cute!

time to read

he didn't want to

i made him

yesterday nate had a pile of markers in his pocket

i asked him why did he have a pocket full of markers?

his reply? " they are not markers, they are missile(sp?) launchers and guns"

then i came down to find this

chris organising his organizer

sigh

yesterday we had our coop. such fun. we made snacks for the squirrels and birds
the plan was to take it home and string it in the back yard for the animals
but nate got hungry and ate most of it after playing in the park with the other kids

that's us in a nut shell this week
another week is gone 1 comments

Posted by mel at 10:43 AM

joy where are thou?

Often it seems we would rather have another life—any life—than our own. Somehow we think if we lived a different life, it would be easier for us to grow in faithfulness and spiritual character. Yet it is in accepting today with all of its issues, in accepting God’s will and training grounds that we learn the secret of joy in His presence. It is in being faithful to our own set of tests that we become mature and fitted for the ministry He has called each of us to accomplish.” ~Sally Clarkson

i am reading this book right now, so, so good! i read the above quote last night. it hit me, right to the heart. i find myself as of the late, looking around and seeing others, what they are doing, how they are living and see myself wishing i could be anywhere than where i am today

i am in the midst of a battle, taking turns and twists i did not expect. i think that if i change my circumstances then i would feel better or rather, i don't have to face or deal with my struggles. if only i had this or that or was doing this or that or even looking to next yr and the year after. then! i will be ok. it will be easier! life will be more enjoyable again! yes! that's the answer. change my circumstances to find peace and feel better!

but what happens when i simply can't? then i look to the left and right or up ahead. or even count the hours to bedtime, or to when i can sneak a nap in or when i can get a break or step out etc...

i've been shocked to discover that in the midst of having everything i want, doing what i thought i would end up doing, being a stay home mom, with my precious baby girl, homeschooling my kids...my life plan. i have discovered that my joy is gone. life is hard. the days are long and not gonna lie. it's lonely

where did my joy go? my smile? my silliness? what happened to me?

maybe if i change what is making me worry, stress or anxious. i will be ok then. my joy will pop back in and life will continue

or

maybe. being where I am (not where anyone else is, not her or him or he or she but me) is where i need to be to grow in my character, in my faithfulness in life

so how can i? in the midst of a struggling day, just to keep my head up, to breath and through the tears of fear, loneliness, frustration, anger, worry, clouded thinking, weariness. how can i find joy?

i am not sure of that, unfortunately. but i think the first step for me, is to realise that it's normal to feel like this. it's normal to go through the struggles that i am in. it's ok to cry.

so here, in the midst of it all. i am going to get my joy back

tears may come at night (or in the morning or afternoon haha) but there is always joy in the morning

look at the cover of the book. imagine living that way 3 comments

Posted by mel at 1:46 PM

delish!

kids say the best things, all day long
i feel bad that i forget the majority of it
but i had to blog this one!

tues i went grocery shopping tues at superstore and costco
i put everything away
sat down to feed eliana and nate comes in the kitchen and doing what a boy does he opens the fridge door, closes it and runs to me yelling

"MOM! MOM! i opened the fridge door and the fridge loos delicious!"

we have a delicious fridge ya'all

i have a new lap top and a working camera now, just gotta find time to put the pics on it! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 10:00 AM

i'm alive!

no laptop (chris sold it for a "better" one) + no camera (internal battery charger broke)= no blogging for mel!

i should be back and running later this week sometime

i think it's funny that i get texts/emails and phone calls from amazing friends just to check in and make sure we are ok!

life is busy, days are full and i go to bed exhausted. sleep is a god send. esp now that miss ellie pants is TEETHING! got back teeth, can't tell is they are her molars and looks like the front 2 are trying to pop through. making her routine wonky and sleep scattered. thank god, that she is (normally) awesome night sleeper. we can get a few hours of sleep....

that's us! how are you? 1 comments

Posted by mel at 4:14 PM

books and bird feeder!

discovered christian book.com last sat night, my wish list turned into my order list

oops

haha

gonna be a good winter. all those books with ship and tax under 60 bucks!

happy birthday to meeeee!

yesterday we had our nature coop

what fun!

first nate cut out his thankful leaf

he made 2 this time

he was thankful for apples and apple pie!

then we took the class outside

nate's friend micah

ha!

passing the discovery bag around, its like show and tell but with nature and in a bag

it was nates turn to take the bag home and fill it with something that was special to him, nature related

but his only focus was to trick ppl so he put a rock in the bag that he picked up on a walk in the woods i took him on a few wks ago and leafs from the apple,peach and cherry trees in our back yard

story time

then we made bird feeders from pine cones and ice cream cones

messy and fun!

working away!

it was SO nice out that we stayed after the class to play in the park with the kids and i sat and had coffee and chatted with friends

it was a delightful afternoon!

the bird feeder made its way home and has already had birds pecking away at the feeders! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 10:56 AM

another silly day

check it out penny, she fits it. its an adorable onsie that says "my mom doesn't want your advise"

hehe

my little girl

sigh

we discovered today that little miss eliana does not like 2 pc outfits!

seriously! she won't nap in them

funny hu!

love her face

the pic is blurry cause i clicked while walking
missy is drooling like a drool fool! nate kept wiping it up. he takes such great care of her!
i think some teeth are coming in soon!
man, time is just flying by. she's 13 wks already! 2 comments

Posted by mel at 5:59 PM

miss silly pants

if you come to my house when ellie is awake (by the way she is slept trained! i LOVE it!)

this is how you will find me

i hold her 99% of the time

she loves it

i think the look on her face is saying "why are you interrupting me?"

now that she's getting great sleep she is happy from the min i get her to when i put her to bed

laughing

she finds me amusing

hahahaha

oooooooooooooo

hee hee

love her! such a peaceful, gentle baby. exactly what we prayed for 1 comments

Posted by mel at 4:39 PM

it's working!!!

the playroom is clean! the organization is working!

i snapped these pics last night and didn't change a thing

nate asked to keep the blocks out because he is building a palace for the king

but when hes done playing he puts his stuff away!

the house doesn't look like toys r are up threw up everywhere!

reading couch

ellie sat in on a class

his desk! it's cleaned!
and the reward system with the balls is working, esp bec nate gets to pick his prizes out. the cost was 5.00 for almost 3 wks and i noticed that his school work as improved

i am just happy that all the time that i spent was worth it! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 12:58 PM

the dress!

my kids this morning

ellie is wearing the dress!

see!

ok. this is a huge deal to me. why? bec after we lost ben, my sister (whom i am ubber close to) was also pregnant, a few wks behind (3 i think?) anyways. i was with her while she did a lot of baby clothes shopping for charlie. i picked out some of the dresses (ok a lot) ok's all of the purchases (yes i am bossy with what charlie can wear) and now, 3 yrs later MY miracle daughter is wearing some of them. full circle!

i can't wait for ellie to wear the coat that I picked out from the rain forest, the leopard one. haha. seriously, i remember that day. it was a rough one. i cried when dad took the coat to the register. then i hugged nate. ha

ok, on a funny note. i now have ONE pair on nonmat pants that fit. and they were given to me (thanks v!) i was trying to get into a pair of my old jeans the other day when chris came in the room, he asked what i was going, the jeans were at my thighs and i said trying to put on a pair of pants but i can't get them past the thigh. chris then reaches over, picked me up by the jean belt loop, wedgie style and dropped me into them

i got them on!!!!
but i couldn't move
but they were on!
haha

it was funny 1 comments

Posted by mel at 3:09 PM

bro&sis

before school this am i left the room and came back to this

nate was taking care of her

i am waiting for the ellie novelty to wear off but i don't think it's going to happen

nate really cares for her

how i spend as much time as i can

if i could freeze this moment forever

there is nothing like a snuggle bug who just wants to stay with her mom

but doesn't cry when i out her down :)

oh daddy. i love you
hee hee 0 comments

Posted by mel at 9:03 PM

play/school room!

i gutted the play room a few wks ago

got rid of they unused toys

then reorganised it all

each box has a pic showing what goes in there

easy to follow AND nate does it!

blocks are with blocks!

trucks with trucks!

if they are NOT put away, i take em forever (insert evil laugh)

toys are on the left side

school is on the right!

the top 2 shelves are off limits mostly school manuals or books that i read to him that i want taken care of

middle shelf is school related 'toys' or small toys like lego, marbles etc that could cause choking. this shelf is OFF limits unless i give it to nate and when he's done it goes back

we do most of our reading on the couch

a school couch

the bottom 2 shelves are nate's books

and NO it is not 'exessive" to have that many books

when you read 10+ books a DAY I get bored real fast. ha

it also encourages reading and the love of books

speaking of...