Had to Share!

I am home alone right now, (WOO HOO! ) and as I’m walking through each room I am looking at all the broken items, the writing on the walls, and the empty shelves and containers (because we have to keep things up high). I went to the bathroom and what really got me goin was that we have a toothbrush holder, but we don’t keep our toothbrushes in it because we discovered that our children had been chewing on all of them, scrubbing the floor with them, dropping them in the trash can and best of all, dipping them in the toilet (yes we discovered this a good while AFTER the fact) The final straw was when one of my daycare kiddos flushed a toothbrush down the toilet recently, now we keep them all on the closet. I then look at the toilet paper roll and think how each on of my kids has profusely abused our toilet paper over the past few years, the young ones found joy in unwinding it completely and stuffing it all in the toilet, the older ones have a form of OCD where they just can’t seem to wipe their butts enough! This led me to look at the trash can, of which I remember little miss Hayden got into it and was chewing on an empty tampon container… yep, that’s right, go ahead and gag, I sure did! I turn to the bath, which I recall each one of my kids falling into it fully clothed on several occasions.

I then move onto the bedrooms, where each set of blinds is missing several rows because my kids all seem to go through the phase of ripping them off just for the heck of it. All three bedrooms have writing on the walls and on the hardwood floors, Kyleighs window is still broken from when she threw a book at it during a tantrum (brand new windows mind you).  I look up at Kyleigh’s pretty canopy bed where the bars are bent because my boys “mistook” it for a place to hang. Hayden’s crib has been through all four kids, and there are teeth marks all over the sides from teething babies. One of Kyleigh’s dresser drawers is missing the front piece because she pulled too hard and broke it off. My bed skirt is barely hanging on, completely ripped on the right side where my kids climb onto the bed and pull at it with their feet. I look up at the T.V. in my bedroom and think of the fact that we have been through two Wii remotes and are now on our third because our kids have butter fingers and tempers. Two VHS players have been broken and one DVD player. I go to the boys room, where there door has been missing a door knob for almost two months because the kids locked themselves in the room by slamming the door, thus busting the latch and we had to unscrew it to get them out. My boys mattresses are laying all over the floor because they believe they are meant for jumping rather than sleeping. I look at the fan and think about the fact that this is their third one because my boys treat them as step ladders and not fans.

Next is the living room, of which I have to walk through the hallway full of pen markings that I just can’t seem to get off, and chipped trimming along the walls. ( so hard to look at that when we spent DAYS painting this house before we moved in!) The pretty little collage of pictures I put together on the wall has a nice big empty space in the middle where my “Count your Blessings” picture used to be…Landon knocked it off the wall and shattered it. There is a whole in the wall where the door knob from the front door hits because one of my day care kids ripped the door stopper out of the wall (and broke the trim)  so the door knob gets smashed into the wall daily. My baby swing is sitting in the living room, and where some may look fondly at theirs thinking of the memories of their little ones sleeping so peacefully in it as babies, I recall that each one of my kids has climbed into it and sat on their infant sibling’s face and started swinging. I look at my rug where there are multiple burn holes from the fireplace and over to the lamp that is missing the ball topper that holds the lamp shade on.  My couch is the only thing that has with stood my kids so far…for now.

Then we move onto the kitchen, where my kitchen table is full of paint, hot glue, stickers and many, MANY nicks. The bench cushions are caked in Lord knows what, the walls are chipped and full of more drawings, juice and food. I look at my dishwasher and stove, both of which each child has opened and climbed onto and sat on the doors. I also discovered a plastic toy in the oven one day while heating it up…:P My laundry/computer room is next to the kitchen and my kids have all climbed into the dryer, Landon spilled almost an entire container of laundry detergent on the floor as well as bug spray, and I am staring at a computer screen full of highlighter markings.  And next to me sits a tower of books, half of which have been scribbled on or in, including my Bible.

I could write a book about the damage and craziness that have occurred since I became a mother! I was so unprepared for this part of parenthood, but I have learned to place no value on anything material and to put absolutely no money into our house until they are 10! LOL 

My 30 days of Thankfulness

I haven't been doing this all month, but I personally I have been writing things down as they come to me. I have so much to be thankful for, and I love taking the time to sit down and really think about all that God has blessed me with. I am so undeserving and yet He has and continues to provide abundantly! I thought I'd share like everyone else, sorry its so long!

(These are in no particular order!)

1.Thankful I have such a nurturing sweet-hearted little girl, who makes sure her sister is covered every night, hugs on her and loves her throughout the day, protects her siblings when others are being mean, kisses them and comforts them when they are sad or hurt, and is always ready to pray whenever there is a need.  Her heart breaks when someone is hurting, she is a fairy tale dreaming little mama and I am so blessed to be her mother.

2.Thankful for a natural born super hero for a son. His heart is gentle and his spirit is sweet, he is always ready to fight the bad guys and his little brain wheels are always turning and pouring out creative energy and ideas. He loves to figure out how things work and like his Pop Pop, is a natural Mr. fix it. He is a Mama’s boy and I am so thankful for my first born little boy, and the fact that he is clearly going to carry on his daddy’s good looks. ;)

3.Thankful for my fireball 2 year old. He is hard headed, strong- willed and incredibly intelligent… God has big plans for that boy. J He is full of energy and always analyzing and processing the world around him. Though my independent little man, he is my sweet cuddle bug in secret. I love watching his beautiful personality unfold!

4.Thankful for my sweet little bitty princess. She is such a fun, energetic and sassy little lady. She is my mini me, attached to my hip and yet an independent diva. She knows what she wants and she makes sure she gets it. I love that she, like her big sister, is so friendly and social, always flashing that big beautiful smile to everyone she sees.

5. Thankful for my incredible husband! I could not have asked God for a more perfect man to stand by my side for the rest of my life, to lead my family, to train my children, and to provide for us. He loves the Lord and is passionate, intelligent, strong, determined and above all, he is ready and willing to serve His Father wherever and whatever He leads. I fall more and more in love with him every day, I am so blessed! 

6. Thankful for my freedom! I am so incredibly grateful we live in a country where I am not only free to believe as I want but also free to share my faith openly. A country that allows us to work where and how we want, to purchase what we want, and to live as independent individuals.

7. thankful for God’s provision! Every day we wake up to a warm (or cool) home, with an ample amount of clothes for every season, and our cabinets and fridge are stocked with more than enough food to take care of my sweet family. Even more so, we are spiritually provided for in abundance, with free access to God’s word and any number of church families to fellowship and grow with in the Lord. God is so good!

8.So thankful we live in a country where there is an overflow of literature to help us grow in our faith and expand our knowledge and understanding of who the Lord is and what He expects from us.

9. Thankful that I serve a God who can turn all things into good for those who love him. Only a merciful God could take a situation that deserved nothing but his wrath and punishment, and bring so much GOOD out of it! We may struggle and yes we are facing the tough consequences of our disobedience towards the Lord, but He has blessed us beyond measure despite our sin.  I am reminded daily just how loving and merciful our Father is, and how incredibly undeserving I am!

10. Thankful for my amazing parents! I have two of the most godly examples that I get to call my parents. They are the perfect example of how a marriage should look, and how Christ’s love should be shown to the world. They are always willing to help others and serve the Lord, no matter their situation. I would be lost without them and am beyond grateful that I get to call them Mom and Dad! J

11. Thankful for such incredible in-laws! Along with having my own parents be such awesome examples I married into another set of parents who demonstrate the Love of Christ towards each other and towards those around them continually. They are such amazing people and I love them  dearly! My children  have such amazing role models in their lives!

12. Thankful that I have always been able to find work that lets me stay home! I could not imagine having to leave my babies all day, and God has always provided a way to let me be home with them and still manage to help out financially. And now I am able to homeschool them and personally instill the Lord’s truth in them while I watch them grow and develop each day. SO SO blessed!


13. Thankful for my husband’s job!!! Thankful that though he started off working 60 hours a week he has progressively cut those hours down to 40 in the past 6 years. Thankful that where he used to have to work all holidays, he now HAS to stay home on all holidays. Thankful that he can now take time off without stressing about the loss of money. Thankful that though he is working less hours, he has now doubled his income in 6 years. Thankful that for 5 years now he has worked in such a godly environment, where it is the norm to have a relationship with the Lord, and where his co-workers and boss meet weekly for a time of devotion and worship with the Lord. God has provided abundantly in this area, and my sweet husband has patiently waited and worked so hard to get here!

14. Thankful for HEALTH! We are all strong and healthy and though this may be temporary, I am thankful that we can currently enjoy it!!

15. Thankful for a free college education for my husband and myself! OH what a blessing this has been and will be for our future bank account!

16. I never thought I’d say it, but I am thankful for Lynchburg! We really are our own little bubble from the rest of the world. It’s such a conservative environment and though the relationships with God may not all be authentic, He is the “norm” here.  People are pleasant and the morals are still in tact for the most part. I have met some of the most amazing friends here and am so grateful for the testimony they have been to me! I am thankful this is where we are currently raising our children.

17. Thankful for my sister! I love that we have grown so close over the years, she and my mom are my absolute best friends, and I know I can always count on her for anything! She is such a generous, loving, sweet big sister and amazing Aunt to my children, I am so lucky!! J

18. Thankful for my dishwasher!! I don’t care how silly this one may seem, if you saw how many dishes we went through on a daily basis, you would be thankful too!! LOL we have moved 5 times and I have only had a dishwasher in two of the houses…I realize just how thankful I am for it! LOL

19. Thankful for shout, magic erasers, and super glue! My kids live to destroy and these are the things that have salvaged some of those items along the way!

20. Thankful for COFFEE!!!! Oh where would I be without my coffee?? I not only need it but I thoroughly enjoy every cup! It has also been the source of many special “girl times” with my mom and sister, my friends, and now my little girl! Love me some coffee

21. Thankful for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God’s incredible mercy and grace, my life would be absolutely meaningless and empty without Him!!!!

22. Thankful for a woman’s ability to multi-task! Oh my word, where would we be without it??

23. Thankful my children get to grow up with both sets of their grandparents nearby, that is something I wished I could have had and we are so blessed to have our families right down the road!

24. Thankful for the internet! I love that I can stay connected with family and friends that are far away, I love the ample amount of resources available right at the click of a mouse, and I LOVE LOVE that whenever I am stumped on a scripture, I can just type in the key words and immediately find what I am looking for.  It is a luxury I am truly thankful for!

25. Thankful for restoration for both my mother and my father in law’s health! Both have fought cancer and both have won the battle thanks to God’s mercy! I am so grateful we are able to have them here with us even longer!

26. Thankful for the invention of glasses and contacts, I am so blind, I cannot imagine trying to get through life without being able to see clearly!

27. Thankful for cameras! I love that we can capture such precious moments throughout our lives and be able to vividly look back on all the years gone by, especially now that I am a parent. 

28. Thankful for all the times we are able to get together with our families. Being able to celebrate holidays and special occasions with everyone we love right there is such an incredible blessing, and I am so glad my kids get to experience it!

29. Thankful for the ability to read! I would be lost if I could not soak up all the information that is out there for us to know! 

30. Thankful for each and every day we are blessed with here on earth! Every day is a precious gift, we are not promised tomorrow and I am so grateful for every minute I have to spend here with my sweet family living and serving the Lord! GOD IS GOOD! 

We are Never Ever going back together! (T-Swift Style)

I hate shopping on the weekends and I never seem to have the energy to go in the "early morning" or "late evening" hours which is why I always make the venture with my kids. But I am quickly learning that just isn't an option anymore. Once again I attempted the "Big Shopping" day with my kiddos... My first mistake was going anywhere besides Walmart. I went to work and Sweet Pea's first, THEN started the shopping adventure. By that point Hayden was cooked. I bought the kids their candy before we got started, knowing full well candy at the beginning of the trip = psychotic kids during the trip, but what do you do? So about 20 minutes into it, the kids were acting like crack babies. Kyleigh and D.J. kept climbing on the cart, and off the cart, on the cart, and off the cart, in front of the cart, behind the cart...doci doe. At one point they actually started wrestling and fell over each other in the middle of the aisle. Landon was calmly eating his M n M's the whole time, Hayden however was having a meltdown. The M n M's were spilled twice, the teddy grahams were crushed on the bottom of the cart and all around Walmart. I got D.J. a pair of shoes and he asked me for them for the next hour and a half...over and over and over. Half way through, I decided we were NOT finishing the shopping trip this morning, and headed to the checkout line. All you know what broke loose. Kyleigh was halving a meltdown because she wanted out of the cart, but she was bouncing all over the place so I made her stay. Then Landon kept laying on her thus leading to an all out brawl in the cart. Hayden's still crying, and D.J. is over banging the money tower for the children with cancer donations. Moreover, the woman in front of me is one of those people that organizes her groceries when putting them on the conveyor belt, you know, bottles with bottles, bags with bags, frozen with frozen. She moved like a turtle on its deathbed. 15 minutes later, I was finally able to start putting my groceries up. The cashier was noticeably annoyed and short. Then, my debit card wouldn't work. Three tries and one wipe on my shorts later, it finally worked, PRAISE GOD. We were out the door and off to McDonald's. Then we went to meet daddy for lunch at his work. Stupid, I know. He and I were planning on Chick Fil A, but when we walked the 40 mile trek to get there (exaggerating, but seriously, they put it out in Tim Buck Too), the line of students was wrapped around the corner. So we walked another 40 miles to Kids Cove and ate there. Landon of course needed to use the bathroom, so I took him. 5 flushes later I walk to his stall, and lean over to pull his pants up. He then flushes the toilet and its sprays me all over my face... thankfully it was clear water, but still SO GROSS. We eventually left and my kids were like Zombies in the car. I then get a call from work asking if I can work tomorrow afternoon....SURE, ABSOLUTELY, I am so full of life this week, why not???? (said dripping with sarcasm) They are all now in bed, and I still have to put the groceries away, and clean what I think is still my house. Tonight I will go, ALONE, and finish my shopping making today my LAST day shopping with these sweet perfect little angels. ;)

Home Schooling Week One - OVERLOAD

Well, it's the fourth day of our first week with Home Schooling, and its been a rough start to say the least! I have been able to plan and keep a nice schedule with the work itself ,though that's time consuming in itself. But actually getting the work done each morning, in the midst of 2-4 kids under 2, that has been a challenge. Mix that with this week being my first week waking up at 5:30 again, Kyleigh's unwillingness to do anything hard, (which for Kyleigh means anything that she doesn't catch onto immediately) and D.J.'s severe case of A.D.D., my head is spinning today. I can't say I have ever craved coffee as often as I have been this week.

Today's venture started early, because we were trying to finish school before Isaiah got here. I set up a desk for Landon again, hoping his excitement with being involved would last longer than 5 minutes, but that just wouldn't be Landon. He kept taking the legs off of his desk, then in a fit of rage towards his sister, he threw it. After that, I just turned on Elmo in the other room. That got his attention for the time being. Meanwhile, Gabe and Hayden were fighting, crying and screaming every 5 minutes over their snack. We had only gotten through our "stretching" segment when D.J. asks, "how much longer do we have to do school?" Really? we haven't done anything of value yet, at least let me hand you a worksheet or something first. Once we finally got the first lesson started, Hayden started venturing up the stairs and spilled my coffee. While cleaning that up, Gabe picked up a crayon and started coloring on our American Flag ( the one we made for the 4th of July with the hand and footprints). Next thing I know, a glue stick is being thrown at my head. Why? Because D.J. was angry over a piece of paper. It took about 40 minutes to complete the first lesson, which was the 4th day of Creation...consisting of coloring and gluing the number 4, the sun and the moon to a piece of paper. Not sure how they managed to turn that into such a long process, but then again, they are MY children.  Gabe then walks over to our side of the room again and we are all made fully aware that he needed a diaper change. Break number 506 is taken. Then Hayden is tearing up one of the books, and 2 minutes later we hear a shatter... one of the babies had dropped a candle and it shattered everywhere. D.J. then asks again, "are we done yet?" That's when I decided we were moving our "class" outdoors.

We got everyone outside, and set up Alphabet Bingo. All was well for about 5 minutes, but then Landon came to join us. We were using cheerios to mark our letters, and Landon refused to believe they were for anything other than eating. I kept running out of markers because he kept eating them. When I told him to stop, you would have thought I told him to cut off his right arm. Then Hayden fell...again... and I picked her up and continued playing with the kids. Another minute goes by and Hayden's fascination with the bingo cards resulted in them being spilled all over the ground. After Landon's 900th all out screaming and throwing tantrum, we finished up the second round of bingo, and D.J. asks yet again, "are we done YET?"  Yes son, yes we are done. PRAISE GOD we are done for the day! Lets add too that I just found an opened permanent marker on the floor, 2 Popsicles were left on my computer desk and the kitchen chair, and there is pee on my computer chair thanks to Landon who apparently didn't want to take the time out to go to the bathroom.

Some day, SOME HOW, I will find a way to make this work!! Until then... let the adventure continue. ;)

Children - The Ultimate Test

I have been wanting to write more frequently, but between the horrible week I had last week and the negative mindset I was in, I just didn't feel it was a good time to post anything. Can I just say that parenthood is MUCH harder than I ever expected? I mean, I knew it was going to be tough, but tough just doesn't begin to express how difficult this journey really is. Given, the fact that we popped out four little ones back to back has made the whole experience that much harder. We no sooner move on from a stage only to have the next child enter it, and then the next one, and the next one....meanwhile, we are always beginning a new trying stage with our oldest. Its exhausting, to say the least. I struggle daily to keep a positive mindset, to remember to be thankful and appreciate the good in my life, and even more so, the good in my kids. My Mom reminds me now and then that when it gets really tough to just think of the worst case scenario, which would be if we were to ever lose one of our babies. All around me, this continues to happen to different families, and I am humbled and beyond grateful that God has given Dave and I four healthy, active, intelligent and strong minded children. They are a challenge, but they are so beautiful. I tend to always focus on the negative when I think of them most days because lets face it, as children we candidly show the ugliness that is the human nature. We are selfish, ungrateful, defiant, and just down right mean most days. Nothing humbles one more than to see our true selves through the lives of our children. Its like seeing the human race through God's eyes. We grow up and learn social politeness and discretion, but that doesn't mean in our hearts and minds we aren't thinking the very same things our children our doing and saying. It's a great reminder of just how small we are and how great our God is. I keep telling Dave the kids are incredible tools for shaping the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, think how often we are forced to show, " love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control". ( Galatians 5:22-23) Originally, I had this whole blog planned last week of the things I did not expect to encounter as a parent, it was basically a very negative rant. But thankfully God forced me to wait until my mind and heart were in a better place. So now I will share those things, but while also sharing the ways they challenge us to demonstrate the fruits of the spirit, the characteristics that should be constantly growing within believers and becoming more evident in our lives to those watching us. So here goes, my list of things I did not expect to encounter as a parent, (let alone so frequently), and the ways they each challenge me spiritually:

1: A continually messy/dirty house - I did not expect my house to always look like it has been hit by a tornado. Crumbs of every kind of food always on the floors, stubbing toes on toys all day long, the puzzle pieces, games, blocks, and millions of tiny pieces found all throughout the house, rooms in shambles, the bathroom covered in...well everything, the sink overflowing, and so on. This is by far a great test of my "patience" and "joy". Patience in knowing that one day, I will be able to keep up on my home, but until then I just need to accept what is and do the best that I can. And to be joyful despite my circumstances, because a dirty home means happy healthy kids are at work.

2: Everything, and I mean everything, will be broken - a day does not go by that something in my home isn't broken. Whether it is a toy, a picture frame, a glass, or even as simple as a straw, something will be broken. Whenever you think your house is child proof, it is never child proof enough to endure 4 small children, and especially never enough to endure a Landon. This definitely strengthens my patience, but even more so, my self-control.

3: The smothering - to be constantly touched, smothered and needed all day long by 4 dependent children, it becomes very overwhelming and VERY annoying. But then I'm reminded they want to be with me because they love me, and when I think of how much I "love" them, it doesn't matter that they are interrupting whatever I am doing, or that I am not getting my "me" time, because its not about me, its about my kids. God thinks of His children and their needs every minute of every day, why should we be any different?

4: The selfishness - I did not expect all children to be so selfish at such a young age, but it is the true nature of everyone, kids just haven't learned the beauty of sacrifice and selflessness yet. Each time they express their selfish nature its an opportunity for me to show them "kindness" and "goodness" in return. Nothing can change the heart completely until a person has given their lives to the Lord, but in the mean time we are training them and instilling His ways in them, preparing them for God's work.

5: The deliberate defiance and disobedience: I expected this, but not at such young ages and not so consistently. We have three strong minded children so far, one that is the extreme case  of a strong-willed child, so our battles are endless. They test the waters daily, pushing buttons and going toe-to-toe with us to see how far they can get before they break mom and dad. Sound familiar? That's what we do to the Lord daily! These situations provide us the opportunity to grow in gentleness, patience, self-control...among other things.

The list could go on forever, such as the continuous pile up of laundry, the excessive use of toilet paper, the repeated questions and continuous chatter, the fighting, the tiresome routine of loading and unloading them in the car whenever you need to go somewhere and then attempting to accomplish that task while trying to maintain control over your kids, the hour long task of trying to get them to go to bed at night, the disposal of bodily fluids all around the house, the weekly overflow of the toilet, the flooding of the bathroom floor after a bath, the daily spilled drinks and meals, the crumbs I find in my bed at night, the headcounts every 5 minutes whenever you go anywhere, the constant need for entertainment, and most of all, NO BREAKS. I am with these kids from the moment I wake up to the moment my head hits the pillow each night. They all nap but Hayden is not on the same schedule, and even when she is, that is my only time to accomplish anything around the house. There are so many things I did not expect to endure as a parent, and it is draining, mentally, physically and spiritually. But I have said it before and I will say it again, they are the perfect tools to help form us into the people of God we were meant to be. Now, remembering this in the midst of it all is not easy, but it's the perfect test to our "faithfulness" when it comes to spending time in God's word and on our knees before Him. We need Him, in any situation we need Him, but even more so when it comes to being the shepherds and stewards of other lives. I am humbled daily at how small and incapable I am, and am so thankful for the ever present help, guidance and comfort of my heavenly Father. So, here's to another start of a week, another attempt at taking on the world of parenting...The kids have been up since before 6, I found Landon in bed with a bag of cereal, and since I started writing this blog I have already been asked a hundred questions, been screamed at, had a cup thrown at me, started laundry, dealt with the kids fighting, fed them all breakfast, changed two diaper, dressed Landon as Spider Man only to be punched shortly after (because apparently I'm the bad guy), and now he is currently playing with a ball in dirty mop water. Yes... today the fruits of the Spirit will be tested and shaped in my life yet again, and I know the same will be true for you guys! Have a great day everyone, praying for you, your growth and of course, your sanity. ;)

And so it continued...

So, the day did in fact NOT get better after naps yesterday. When the kids woke up, Landon and Hayden were so grumpy I decided to just skip the gym and let the kids stay home and play outside. After dinner, I started the kid's baths, and while grabbing a towel I noticed there was more of the green goo from earlier on the closet floor. Thinking I missed a spot, I wiped it up again and continued on with baths. Landon was second to be bathed, and his big sister joined him midway through. As I was taking Landon out of the tub to dry off, Kyleigh yells, "EW, someone farted!! ugh, it stinks! who farted?!" and she just continued to repeat herself for a few minutes as I got Landon dressed. When I came back to the bathroom to get Kyleigh out, D.J. says, "There's poop in the bathtub!" Sure enough, Kyleigh and I look over and the water is a new shade of green and there are chunks of....well you know, floating around. Landon had left Kyleigh a nice present before he got out of the tub, hence the "fart" smell from earlier. All I can say is...EW. I snatched Kyleigh out of the tub and had her wait to be bathed all over again. Dave said he would clean the tub, but of course my squeamish hubby came in and says ,"I've got it, I've....<insert gagging sound>" covers his mouth, and leaves the room. So I clean up bodily fluids once again, because what would my life be like if I didn't have to do that at least twice a week. ;) I re-bathe Kyleigh, then D.J. and send them off to watch their movie from the library before bed. But, I noticed when I grabbed another towel, that green goo was back again. After further "investigation", I discovered that it was not from the tiny little bottle of shampoo I had originally assumed, but an entire bottle of dog shampoo had spilled all over the shelf above the floor and was still leaking through. There was green shampoo all over everything on the shelf. Grrr.... that explains why it was such a weird smell, at least now I know the shampoo from the hotel was not that crappy after all! LOL

Well, we got everyone in bed and the rest of the night went smoothly. This morning started off a little better, minus the fact that Landon was walking around the house before 6:00. I anticipated seeing him come into the room with a kitchen knife or some scissors one of us forgot to put away or to find more markings all over the house from a pen or marker left on the counter. But when I finally rolled out of bed, I walk out of my room and find Landon sitting in his bed with a bowl of animal crackers he had helped himself to. I was in shock, I'll take it! If that's all he got into and he didn't just take the bag but put them in a bowl, that's a good morning for Landon! LOL Of course after that, as i was making Dave's breakfast and lunch, Landon was going a mile a minute, he didn't stop "talking" for the entire 20 minutes it took for me to get the food ready. He was acting like he was on speed, he kept handing me things and walking around in circles trying to find something else to hand me, talking the entire time. It was actually pretty funny....though I'm wondering if he got into something else before the animal crackers that made him so "awake". LOL I took a picture to capture the moment, though I found him in his bedroom, not the living room. :)

Now, the kids are all watching Blue's Clues and I am going to get in my devotions and prepare for the day. I think its a park day, get everyone outside and away from the house for a bit. Not to mention, its Jonas' last day here, and I'm really having a hard time with that. :( It's definitely going to be an emotional day. With that said, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!! Two days to the weekend, woot woot!

Oh yeah! I also walked downstairs after nap time yesterday to discover this:

Needless to say, we spent a good half hour cleaning the playroom last night... how on earth do kids play and create THAT?! I would go NUTS! at least its in the basement where no one else can see it LOL

The Library...

What a morning! Landon has been NON-STOP since the moment he woke up. Into everything, disobeying, throwing tantrums (and household items like the scale). It was a risk to take the kids to the library this morning, but there was no way we were staying home with the way things were going. So, off we went to story time. Landon actually did REALLY well while the big kids were in story time. We played puzzles, looked at books and played on the computer...we looked like such a loving pair (haha). However, once the kids were let out, the three big kids sit at the computers to play games and Landon was off. I tried to coax him to come with me to pick out a movie, which he did. He got his movie and proceeded to toss several more from the shelf onto the ground, or place them in a completely different section. Then he had a 10 minute obsession with trying to get into the bathroom with his brother and Jonas. After that he made his way to the books and continued his toss and scatter game. I tried to round up the kids as we headed to check out our books, all the while losing Landon every few seconds. We make it to the desk and I turn to find Landon pressing the handicap button on the door and leaving the library. Once I retrieved my wandering monster, I finally gave the lady my library card and hear in return, "Ok, you have a $12 fine". Um, what? I brought the books back two weeks early, where the heck is the fine coming from? When I ask her she replies, " there was green marker throughout three of the books... we actually had to charge you completely for the first one, but you get to take it home with you." Are you kidding me? When did this happen?! Sure enough, she brings me one of the books, and there it is...green highlighter, all over miss Fancy Nancy.

So now we are the proud owners of Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes...actually I am based on the label. Of course, I paid the dues...after all, I have been stressing that Landon learns only to color on PAPER...he didn't technically disobey. :P As I'm paying for the books, I hear another librarian scold my kids for running around. I didn't even say a thing, they will listen better to her anyways. So, we finally leave...praise God. After finally arriving at the house, the kids head to the backyard while I go in and start lunch.

I walk into the bathroom at one point, and notice the same smell from last night was still really strong in the bathroom. It smelled like some type of cleaner or something, which I had assumed Dave used in there after cutting his hair. But no, of course it couldn't be something that simple, not in this house. ;) I look in the closet and find green goo all over the floor, toilet paper and some clothes that were in there. Someone had managed to get ahold of a tiny little bottle of shampoo and make a masterpiece. They could have at least picked something that smelled better, that stuff STUNK.

Lunch was distributed, and the kids are now napping...well, all but my boys because day three of Landon in his big boy bed is still proving to be a pain in the rear. I have been in there about 6 times since I started writing this blog. The last of which I walked in to find Landon had removed a poopy diaper, and had poop all over his chest, legs, butt, feet and hands as well as D.J.'s sheets. There is just no end with that child. I truly believe I am being punished for something, I have to be. That or God thinks my patience is in need of some serious work. So, now that I made it through the morning, I am going to finish up my lunch and start to clean this house, for the 50th time this week. At least its therapeutic...mindless effort while working in silence, I'm ok with that. I was going to skip the gym today, but I believe I will need it. LOL Praying for a good afternoon, and realizing my devotion on being thankful for God's many blessings in my life was without a doubt given to me this morning so I could focus on the greatness of God in the midst of all this chaos. :) I am thankful for healthy kids who daily remind me what an amazing sense of humor our Father has...as well as the incredible patience He shows us daily!! Have a wonderful day everyone! :)

Transitions - cribs, careers, and more

If I NEVER have to put together or dis-assemble another crib again I will be ecstatic! We have had to do both 13 times since we have been married...13 TIMES!! I always leave the seen with my nerves shot and my head pounding. Hence why the last section of the crib is sitting in my living room waiting to be dis-assmbled...I refuse to do it right now because I may throw it threw the window. Whoever designed those things needs a good kick in the rear...that or I need to hire someone to do it next time. :P

Now that Landon is officially in his big boy bed, I have already been in his room for disciplinary reasons about 7 times since I put him down for nap time today, and I am currently listening to him jump on his new bed. It's going to be a fun adjustment period...

Despite that, we are having an awesome time with the behavior chart! the kids are on their third day of no time-out or spankings, they REALLY want those toys LOL I'm trying to teach them that their reasoning to behave should be to please God and show His love to others, but you know...that will come in time. For now, the behavior is under control and the mood in the house has been MUCH more peaceful, praise the Lord!

However, once again, as things are starting to run smoothly, something has come up to create a change in the Freyre household. No, we are not pregnant, surprisingly this time it is actually the "loss" of a child...I was informed today this will be Jonas Ba-bonas' last week with us. We have all really grown attached to him so this is going to be a tough one for us! :( I will be watching my best friends little one come October, so I need to find something to fill the time in between...and I am leaning towards trying to pick up a part-time job (If I can talk my hubby into it). I haven't worked in over 4 years so it should be interesting but I am actually pretty excited about it...not the best case scenario but we can still make it work. :)

I always thought the 20's were going to be a fun time in life, but I have heard on several occasions that they are looked back on as some of the hardest years, and I truly believe that is what we will end up doing. I look forward to the years where we are more established and past the "pushing through" stage, when school is finished and the official career begins. I am thankful for the many ways God has blessed us so far, and I know we have grown so much because of the different struggles we have faced. God will continue to provide the strength and perseverance needed to get through these years, that I am sure of! So for now, let the new transition begin! :)

Peanut butter, puke and spilled soda

I forget what it was like to sleep in, those days where you could just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling until your body and mind were both equally awake enough to get out of bed. Today, like any other day, we were "pleasantly" woken up by our heavy footed Landon carrying a big box of blocks and hitting every wall and doorway along the way. This was after we had already put him back in his bed at least three times, starting around 5:30. He managed to wake all of his siblings up by walking in their rooms and playing with toys, talking or yelling, and turning off their fans. A few minutes later we hear, "MOM! Landon's in the bathroom!!" That was our cue to officially get out of bed. Dave's typical response to anything Landon does is, "No more kids...." LOL I can't blame him, Landon is enough birth control for even the most patient parent. Which leads me to our experience with Texas Roadhouse last night...We decided to go out to dinner last night with Dave's parents, so as we were all getting ready, Landon comes into the bathroom like this...

That would be peanut butter all over his face and hands, apparently he couldn't wait until dinner to eat. ;) We arrive at Texas Roadhouse to a 30 minute wait, but thankfully ti was gorgeous out last night so we hung out outside and let the kids play in the rocks. Of course it starts off with them throwing the rocks, including Landon throwing one in the middle of a group of people. Once we stopped that, Landon started filling Grandpa's hoodie with rocks while D.J. was decorating the tree with them. He attempted to throw one into the tree branches only to start running because it was coming back down towards his head. (LOL) Then D.J. finds what looked like an old broken gum ball, and Kyleigh decides to put it in her mouth, it only took a second for her to reveal it was disgusting as she spit it out of her mouth. All I could think was, why and ew!? Then they all snuck behind the bushes to play...a few minutes later Kyleigh comes out with what looks like a cover for some wires and D.J. walks out looking like his pants had just been adjusted...after peeing...He never admitted it, but we are pretty sure he peed behind the bushes at Texas Roadhouse... Ahem...at least the 30 + people outside didn't seem to notice anything, as far as we know. Once we managed to get seated, we made it through dinner fairly smoothly, minus Landon's few tantrums resulting in spouts of screaming and chunks of rolls being thrown all over the floor. As we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, Hayden manages to knock a full glass of soda all over the table, herself and her poor Daddy. Her arms shot up and she started crying, and poor Dave's pants were soaked. With that, we left the building, loaded up and went home! That was a pretty mild experience compared to most though, so I can't say too much. LOL The rest of the night went fairly well, minus the 1:00 A.M. wake up to Kyleigh puking. I walk in to start cleaning up the first round, only for her to start throwing up all over my feet. Not sure why, but God really has it out for me when it comes to children and their bodily fluids. ;)

On the upside, my two big kids earned a full days worth of stickers on their behavior chart yesterday, woo hoo! One day, no time outs and pleasant kiddos! (with the exception of Landon of course) Now its time to go make some breakfast and hold my breath as I wait for the kids to show us what they have in store for the world today! Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday! :)

An Official Blogger

Alright you guys, I have been asked and told on numerous occasions to write a book or get a show for my kids, so this is my realistic attempt to share my crazy life with the world! If you enjoy the updates about my kids, with all the crazy things they say and do, then please follow our blog! :) Everything will now be on here rather than facebook...at least that's the goal, if I can get all of you to follow us on here instead. LOL This way if you have any other friends who might enjoy hearing about the chaos that is the Freyre household, they can follow too! So please join and share this blog with others so we can let others have fun waiting to see what these monkeys will do next! :)

Behavior Management 101 - Let's Begin!

Alright, today my mother took me out to shop in preparation for implementing a few new methods in our home to help get my children under control. I have failed to stay consistent with anything and it shows in the attitudes and constant disobedience from my kiddos. It also shows in my own nasty attitude. I no longer want this home to look and feel like a war zone. I want to actually enjoy playing with my kids, you know, and not have to tear them off each other while trying to play a game, or listen to them argue back and forth over who gets to turn the page of the book we are reading. Enough is enough! None of us are happy with the way things are right now and it's time I "man-up" and do something about it. So, I will invite you all to join me on the journey to "taming" the Freyre kids. Don't laugh... for those of you that know my children well enough, this does sound like an impossible job, but God can do anything right? ;) OK...I'm not expecting them to stop being the crazy characters they are, what fun would that be? But some obedience and respect would sure be nice! So, with that said, here is a glimpse into my new approach...

First of all, I am not a huge advocate for the time-out method. I have rarely seen it work, in fact, my kids always seemed to look relieved when I chose this method of punishment...which seriously annoyed me. However, I have tried it for the past few days, and remained consistent, and it is actually proving to be effective! Imagine that. Even when it comes to Landon, that is the kicker for me. Nothing else works on that child, and I mean NOTHING, but do 2 minutes in time-out, bring him back to the situation he was in trouble for, explain it is a "no-no" and he walks right away from it, never to return (at least for that day). My big kids seem to be responding positively as well.

Second, a behavior chart.  They will receive stickers for the "morning shift" and the "evening shift". Doing a sticker for an entire day would just be an impossible time frame, so I am breaking the day up. If they can get through the morning without getting in trouble, they get a sticker, and the same goes for the evening. By getting in trouble, I mean I shouldn't have to move beyond any warnings to the point of time-out or spankings. They get one warning, that's it! No more of this 50 million warnings and get mom so worked up she is screaming, THEN receive the punishment. No, it should take one warning, and after that its time-out and no sticker. If they get 7 stickers in a row (well, 14 for the morning and evening) then they get to pick a prize out of the treasure box. When I ask or tell a child to do something, they get one chance, if they refuse to do it when asked and another sibling does the work, then the 2nd child will get the 1st child's sticker for that shift. Talk about incentive right?? That's using sibling rivalry to my advantage. LOL

I also have a few smaller things I am going to try doing in between, one being what to do with the all the name calling. I read in my Focus on the Family magazine a technique one author used and I love it. For every mean word the kids say to each other, they will have to come up with three "nice" things to say about that person before anyone can move on.

Another author discussed teaching the kids to take ownership for their behavior. I don't know about you, but my kids sure do LOVE the blame game. "But he said...!!" "But she hit me!!" "But...But...But..." you get the idea, Adam and Eve played the same game. This author suggested explaining that "losers" blame other people while "winners" accept the responsibility for their actions and apologize. He said every time one of the kids would go to blame the other, he would hold his fingers up in the shape of an "L" to express "loser". The kids got a kick out of it, but also began to catch themselves in the act of blaming. Anytime one would take responsibility for their actions, they would hold up a "W" for winner. I know for me, this sounds perfect for my kids. It will lighten the mood, yet at the same time make them aware of their behavior and help them learn to end the blame game at a young age.

These are some of the methods I am going to try and implement, and I need all of you to hold me accountable! I know for me, with having so many little ones, I truly struggle to remain consistent because its so overwhelming. But I really desire to raise my children to be loving and respectful, towards their parents and siblings, but also towards the rest of the world around them. So with that said, let the newest journey begin!

The Truth Behind Mother's of Multiples

I have had some fun discussions with my mommy friends lately. Those conversations where you are like, "Thank you Lord that I am not the only crazy one!" :) I thought I'd share some of the highlights with you other Mama's who live the same "Relaxed" lifestyle and need some affirmation. So here we go:

Topic One: A clean house

We all agreed, who has time to keep their house immaculate? When you have more than one young child, keeping a clean house is nearly impossible if you intend to have quality time with your little ones and hubby. I know some women are able to do this, and I am in awe of them! But most of us fail to keep our houses in "proper" order. We are lucky if our homes get picked up regularly, the dishes are done and there are clean clothes to wear. if those three things are accomplished, we are satisfied! the group of Mommies I was talking to all agreed, we generally either wear socks or shoes in the house for fear of what may be on our floors... don't worry, before you get all freaked out and think we are disgusting slobs, it only takes one meal or one trip outside to produce filthy floors in a house full of little ones. If you were to step foot in my own kitchen after one of our meals, you would be amazed at the small feast that covers the floor surrounding my kitchen table. We all agreed however, its worth living in the mess if it means more time with the family! :)

Topic Two: Our children's appearances

Clean children, matching clothes, styled hair... if you were to look at any of our kids, you would assume they were "free spirited" children based on their appearances. My one friend and I agreed, we are lucky our daughters get their hair brushed most days, styling it? my version of styling is slapping Kyleigh's hair in a pony tail. Matching clothes? ok, maybe for church, but most days, they dress themselves so we are lucky the clothes they choose match the season or size, if the colors match it is by Divine intervention. Most days D.J. is wearing size 2T basketball shorts... he is a size 6. But he loves those shorts, and of all the battles I choose to fight, that is the least of them so out he goes in his short shorts! Besides, you have way more fun seeing the reactions of outsiders when they see our goofy looking clans with their dirt and jelly smeared faces, nappy hair, and leopard print pants and polka dot shirts out in public. Judge away, because you can't deny they are all happy as can be! :) Which leads into topic number 3....

Topic Three: Bathing

One kid is easy to bathe daily...but beyond that, most of us will admit we HATE bathing them and postpone it as long as we can! Spring and summer are hard, they get pretty filthy... but even then, it just depends on how filthy. I will leave this one with my favorite quote of the year thus far by my friend, " When i realize their hair is kind of crusty, I think, it's probably time for a bath." LOL

These were the three highlights of our conversations recently, and they make me smile even writing them. I would have never dreamed I would let so many things go when I became a mother, but you also are never taught how little time you have to do the overwhelming number of tasks that come with being a wife and mother. So, it all comes down to priorities, and it's comforting to know that those around me share the same sentiments when it comes to the number one priority in their lives, and that is quality time with our kiddos! The rest can wait another 6 years or so... :)

Love

I don't know about the rest of you, but I really struggle to know how much is too much when it comes to sharing God's Truth. I wish he gave us more specific “directions” when it comes to this area. So often i hear people say, " its not worth arguing, you won't get anywhere. just live it and show them love, and most of all pray for them." Where there is definitely truth to this, I feel more often than not it is just a cop out. It's the easy way to go. I once heard the analogy that if a man was standing in a burning building, would you just walk away and pray he gets out alive? Or would you go in and do whatever it took to help him find the way out? Or lets say you saw someone driving full speed towards the edge of a cliff… would you pray they realize it before the drive over? Or would you do anything and everything to get their attention before it’s too late?

If our God hates sin so much that He had to sacrifice His only Son so we could enter His presence, than we need to hate it just as much. This doesn't mean we hate the people... because if we hate anyone based on the fact that they are living in disobedience to the Word of God, then we should also hate ourselves.  As Christians, we too are sinners, simply redeemed by the blood and not by anything we ourselves have done to earn it.  The two commandments Christ left us with were "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself." We tend to overlook the words used to describe love in the famous passage 1 Corinthians 13, but I recently read that one of the best ways to truly grasp this piece of scripture is to put your name in place of the word love: "Corinna is patient, Corinna is kind. She does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud. She is not rude, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, she keeps no record of wrongs. Corinna does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. She always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Corinna never fails." Anyone else feel like total garbage after doing that? I sure DO NOT fit that description!!! read it again, reread it, and again... let the words sink in. We can share God's truth openly and honestly, we just need to do it in LOVE. Share it in kindness, in patience, in humility... we don't need to be rude or get upset when someone attacks us, we are to PERSEVERE, and protect the people of God and the billions of souls at stake, by offering them the only thing  any of us truly needs. 

This applies in all circumstances...clearly there are some subjects that cause a greater "uproar" than others, (ie: abortion, money/greed, homosexuality, etc.). But just because they are "hot topics" does that mean we keep quiet? I can't imagine the great men of God throughout history, the very authors of the Word of God, remaining silent on any of these topics. In fact they were pretty direct when it came to disobedience in general. Given, they were writing to those who already claimed to know the Lord, but even for those who don't, you can still share the Truth without "shoving it down their throats". In those cases, wait on the leading of the Holy Spirit, and of course, always speak IN LOVE. Which to clarify, does not mean we don't talk about sin like the church is teaching anymore. This is where i didn't agree with the late Jerry Falwell... I felt he used the word "You" too much and came across very judgmental when he spoke...I remember a common analogy of his that compared gays to what went on in the barnyard, and even I was turned off by it. I don't mean to discredit him as a person or the amazing things God accomplished through him, but i do believe his approach wasn't the most loving. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." 1 Corinthians 1:18 They won't understand, but that doesn't mean we sit still and keep silent, it just means we pray find another approach. 

We are all so scared of controversy, of offending and losing "friends" that we refrain from speaking the truth, hence the birth of the "seeker friendly" movement. We are more scared of upsetting people than we are for their eternal well-being. Believe me, i hate controversy as much as anyone else, it never feels good to have people upset with you, even to the point of hatred. To wake up and realize yet another person has "deleted" you sucks. I don't care who you are, being torn up and spit out verbally hurts, but do we care more about our feelings being hurt or about the security of God's creation? When I face God, will the amount of friends I had on facebook matter more than the souls I could have reached had I allowed myself to fully surrender to God and His will? I agree, there is a point when we should keep our mouths shut...when a  conversation has turned sour and our words are hitting the ceiling. I also believe we should absolutely be personally living what we preach and praying for the lost, especially those in our realm of influence. But God gave us hands and feet, a brain, his Word, resources, and most of all, he gave us grace and mercy, not so we could live a life of peace and  comfort for ourselves, but so He could use us to "Go and make disciples of all nations." Yes, PRAY, but don't pray and just sit on the incredible gift God has given us. PRAY God will use us in a mighty way for His glory, PRAY God will give us wisdom and discernment for when and how to speak His truth, and PRAY God will open the hearts of our listeners to receive it, and Lord willing, to accept His precious gift of salvation.

This week's highlights

I had a few fun quotes to share, so rather than make several statuses i put them on here :)

D.J.: "Mama, I'm sorry Hayden was sick and we had to take her to the doctor's" Me: "Aww its ok, shes not sick, they just wanted to give her a check-up." D.J.: "Well, I'm sorry she had a lot of snots."

Kyleigh: "Mommy, my tummy doesn't feel very good." Me: "I know sweetie, I think you have a stomach bug." Kyleigh: (pause) "No....I dont think there is a bug in my tummy, I just think I'm sick."

D.J.: "Kyleigh, why are you getting the cars for me?" Kyleigh: "Because I want someone to bring them back so we can do it again." D.J. "Cause you are being nice?" Kyleigh: "Ummm....yeah....sure." D.J."And you want to play with me?" Kyleigh :"uh huh" D.J.: "And not Landon?" Kyleigh: "Yup." D.J.: "Wow, that's great."

Kyleigh (picking up her toys in the living room after I asked them to) "Mama, we are 'serving one another in love' right?" - that was their memory verse a few weeks ago :)

And my personal favorite is the fact that Kyleigh voluntarily folded the laundry for me (which most of  you knew) and today as I was putting clothes away in the boys room, I discovered that D.J. had taken his jeans off after we got home today, folded them, and put them in his drawer.... man, thank you Lord for those small moments where you feel like you may actually be doing SOMETHING right! :) love my sweet babies

A taste of humility

I came to the realization recently, that apart from the first 5 months of Kyleigh's life, I have never had JUST my children nor have I ever gone a time without at least two kids being the same age. Here is a break down of the past 5 years:

1: two babies under 1, a 4 year old and a 6 year old.
2: two babies under 1 and two 1 year olds.
3: one baby under 1, two 1 year olds, and two 2 year olds.
4: three babies under 1, two 2 year olds, and one 3 year old.
5: two babies under 1, one 1 year old, 3 two year olds, and a 4 year old.
6. one baby under 1, one 2 year old, two 3 year olds, and a 4 year old.

When I sat down and really processed that information, my eyes started filling up with tears. No wonder I'm exhausted and my nerves are shot. For the past 5 years I have done nothing but change numerous diapers, clean up bodily fluids of all sorts, wipe snotty noses and care for sick kids, pick up hundreds of toys, bathe, clothe, feed, discipline, correct and teach X 4 + kids at a time. There were times where I remember changing 4 to 5 stinky diapers at once, feeding two babies at the same time, breaking up fights while holding a screaming baby, and grabbing an "off limits" item from another's hand. On top of that, through it all I have always been pregnant or nursing. The continuous attention needed throughout a day with that many dependent little ones is, for lack of a better word, exhausting.  I think back over it all and am so incredibly humbled because there is without a doubt, NO way I would have made it through these years without the amazing grace and strength of my loving Father. He knew what we needed financially, and allowed a way for me to stay home with my babies and still bring in an income, but without His constant hand in my life I would have never made it this far! I've had my share of mental breakdowns along the way, which goes to show I would have been placed in padded room by now had it not been for the Lord! I am also convinced that He used this time to help me grow spiritually, because as I have said before, nothing shapes one to be more like Christ than children!! :) I am thankful for the past 5 years and the realization of my inability to endure without complete dependence upon my God. I am weak, and you are strong oh Lord. Without you I can do nothing, but with you I can do all things! Thank you Lord for this time of growth and maturity, as well as the nice slap in the face to my pride... With a very independent and "dominant" personanlity, I am thankful for the opportunities God provides to show me I am no longer independent but 100% dependent on the grace and mercy of my Father in heaven!

Typical Tuesday

So....this week is a reminder of how my life normally is...incredibly chaotic LOL I've been having a nice few weeks so I had forgotten how crazy these kids can be! The day started off some what ok... the usual craziness of everyone waking up, changing diapers, making breakfast, and of course in the midst of bickering and yelling,along with the added task of giving Hayden a breathing treatment. Then my poor mom called and needed me to come help because she locked her keys in the van, so thanks to my oh so wonderful friend Glory who came and watched the kids for me, i was able to go help her. When i get back from that, it was about 10:15 and I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, so I started making my food and Jonas comes into the kitchen and says in his extra whiney voice, "what are you dooooooing?!" Me: "im making my breakfast, I havent eaten yet." Jonas: "BUT I ALREADY AAAAAATE!" Me: "Yes i know honey, this is mine." Jonas: "But I waaaaaant sooooome." LOL this is a glimpse of his mood today, hes just coming back from being sick all last week so hes of course not himself, i can relate for sure!! ;) We then ATTEMPT to move onto pre-school... HA...HA... I sit them down and try to review a few things from the past two weeks... I got a blank stare from D.J. who has this amazing ability to zone out and fall into a daze whenever I am talking...Jonas started whining saying he didnt want to do any school, and Kyleigh kept trying to feed Maxwell his snack (because Kyleigh thinks she is in fact the mother in this house). An attempt at reading our Bible story led to me telling Kyleigh and Jonas to stop laying down, and D.J. was scooting around the room while Maxwell attempted to hit him with his snack container, and then Jonas decides to dig into his little nose and wipes it on the rug. Gotta love their hospitality at this age, right? LOL  Then comes in my other sick child, Landon, who has now picked up a nice cold himself. He drags his little feet across the floor, crying the whole way ( sounding like a seal every time he Letters for the boys, and words for kyleigh. This didn't last long, once they started getting to the ones they didnt know, and the marsh-mellows stopped coming, they were done showing any kind of effort. Then all of a sudden, Landon finds a water bottle, opens it, takes a sip, and poors the rest of it all over the rug. Pre-school was then over. I cleaned it up, then went to make lunch. They all of course came in the kitchen before i was finished getting their food ready but i let them have what was ready and said, " im not done yet so dont start asking me for anything." as soon as the words leave my mouth, D.J. "Can i have some juice please?" Jonas " I need a fork" Landon: "uuuuuuh uuuuuuuh!!" (translation - "JUICE!") <sigh> Onward we go.  Then its time to clean up before nap... it only took me telling them about 10 times, but eventually the rooms were cleaned up. During that time, i took Maxwell downstairs to put him to sleep, lay him in the bed, go to get the fan and come back to find he had screamed so hard he thew up. So i cleaned that up, went back upstairs, and spent the next 20 minutes trying to get the VERY WIRED kiddos to go to sleep. D.J. "I need to go potty." Then "I need a drink" Then"I need my pillow and blanket from downstairs." Then Kyleigh asks if she can make her bed on the floor with Jonas, I said not today which led to her crying hysterically. The kids finally went down, (so i thought), only for Hayden to then wake up. So, fed her, changed her, did her breathing treatment, cleaned out her nose and put her back in bed ( shes still very sick :( ) only to have Maxwell start screaming bloody murder downstairs again. Then i go to start on the laundry, open up the washer and find that one of the things i washed had ripped open and their was stuffing all over the washer and every piece of clothing in it. (its gonna be fun to clean that up! :) ) So, here i sit...drinking my much needed cup of coffee, listening to my boys jumping up and down in their beds ( because they never went to sleep) Maxwells making his way around the house and doing what he and Landon do best, touching whatever they shouldnt LOL and I'm preparing for the second half of the day... Hope everyone is having a wonderful day so far, i'm going to block out the fact that its only Tuesday!! lol

Failure by choice

I have been in such a slump since I had Hayden. For the life of me I cannot seem to get a consistent routine down that allows me to accomplish all that needs to be done. I have so many ideas, so many chores, and so many kids that I just can't seem to get it all in no matter what I do! I had a friend ask recently how some of us fit it all in, and i responded with "I gave up and accepted that I never will until my kids are independent!" Its so frustrating though, because i look at the house and think "YUCK" and "FAIL", I see the kids and know that this time is precious and I need to utilize it so they will be trained "right" in the Lord. I want routine, I want to have devotion time with them, I want chore charts, I want quality time with each one, etc..etc...etc... but before I know it, the day is always over and I'm rushing to get them to bed so i can hit the sheets myself! I have friends whose homes are immaculate, and i think "how?? how do you do this?? what is wrong with me!" Or when my parents tell me about families at their church with stair step children who will sit quietly through an entire church service...seriously? my kids? yeah, that would last about 5 minutes. Its exhausting... and with a very disciplined type A personality, its nearly impossible for me to accept defeat in anything. If i want something done, I do it, its how I've always been. But these past few months I've found myself doing one of the things that frustrates me the most, making plans and failing to follow through with them. Its exhausting trying to get it all in, to be the "perfect" parent and wife, to keep the "perfect" home, to be the "best" friend to everyone... not only is that impossible no matter your situation or who you are, but I feel like Solomon's analogy applies in that its like "chasing after the wind." Its just NOT going to happen. So today...I surrender God. I'm pretty sure that's all you've wanted me to to do anyways isn't it? I, especially out of my own power, will not accomplish all i want and need to do today, or tomorrow, or ever. For you Mama's out there who seem to have it all together... I admire you, but I cannot compete. I give this day, and those that follow to God, and whatever He will have me accomplish with each breath He allows me to breathe, that will be sufficient for me. I'm throwing in the towel... so when you come to my house and see my piles of laundry, or dishes, or the dust one my ceiling fans, or better yet, if my children are pulling each other's hair out, screaming, throwing tantrums or breaking something...know that I am admittedly a failure...and I have no shame. ;)