Kiss Her Today Like It's Your Last Kiss

Some time ago, when I moved from the night shift to a normal office hour schedule, my wife and I started something that I hope never ends. Each morning as I leave, no matter how late I may be, she's getting a big wet kiss on the cheek. 

I hope she gets to wake up to that in the morning. She should wake up to my love. Sure sometime she wakes up to "I can't find my wallet" etc etc, or me dropping half our stuff in the bathroom fumbling around half dead at 5:30am. But I always hope she stays asleep just long enough so when I go to leave she wakes up to my kiss goodbye and me telling her I love her.

Last year, in the dead of winter, it was a risky driving morning. Thankfully I can usually get out on to the road and get going without a problem. But this was a glistening icy-coated morning. I went to rush out the door and get moving so I could get to work as less-late as possible. As I got about halfway down the stairs I remembered that I hadn't kissed her goodbye. And it occurred to me, what if my drive didn't go well and I were to have an accident? What if I never got the chance to kiss her goodbye again? I slowly walked up the stairs and leaned across the bed to give her a long sweet kiss. She smiled and I went on with the day.

"Tomorrow" is something we take so for granted. For those of us that believe in eternal life in Christ and expect to live forever with God, I think we even more so may be taking tomorrow for granted, since it is - granted. But tomorrow here on earth is something hoped for but not guaranteed.

"Next time" is something we often expect will happen. We are such frail and temporary creatures, and yet we live like we control destiny, chance, and circumstances. We don't. We have today. 

When the triplets were born they were so small. They were just in and around four pounds each. Thankfully, they were very above average in health, really problem-free. Thank God for answering ours and many other folks' prayers during the circumstances of life we experienced in those days. 

One thing the triplets did need was drops of vitamins every day - I think it was twice a day. If I remember correctly it was something to do with strengthening their lungs - which let me say - that stuff really worked. Especially for Eve. Wow. Definitely no long term problem for these girls with lung strength! 

Just a couple days after they were home we gave Prayer her vitamins from the little tiny eye-dropper thingy, and they went down the "wrong tube". She choked them up and coughed and coughed and gagged. I thought we had just drowned the kid. Then she just didn't breathe. Not freaking out or choking anymore, just seemed like she was sleeping and very lazy breathing. Very similar to how they were after they were born and the nurses would rub them to make them cry and breathe to dry out their lungs. Every once in a while she would take a gasp as she lay on her belly and slept. Then a few seconds. Then another breath. Scary for me. So scary, I couldn't sleep. That whole night I lay awake and I was Prayer's bed, as she slept, breathing awkwardly on my chest with her little fuzzy head just under my chin. I kissed her head and thought, "What if this is the last night I hold this baby?" 

I guess you know she turned out okay, other than the suspected brain damage thing. 

(Please excuse the nudity but this is a picture of that next morning)

Probably I was overreacting a little. I do that once in a while when it comes to potential dangers, germs, boys looking at my daughters, my daughters looking at boys, multiple instruments and conversations happening in the same room at high volume at the same time, slow drivers, and, of course, insects in my face. For more information on these and other of my flaws, please feel free to ask my teenage daughters. Expect eyes to roll before each corresponding response to the above list. 

I was at work a few weeks ago and one of my favourite workmates reminded me that he and his partner were expecting their first child in less than a month. I may be completely useless at most things, but when it comes to preparing to have babies, I've got a few pointers to pass along. Later that day, I heard him speaking about this conference, and that meeting, and a really busy work schedule for the coming month. I took him aside and I was very direct with him just one-on-one as I said, "Let me clock out for a minute and speak to you as a friend. I am very blessed to have had 9 children, and I hope you are blessed to have as many as you may decide. However, if circumstances dictate that this is your only child you ever have and you miss the first few weeks of your child's life for the slight difference it may mean at a company, you will hate yourself. That would be a tough decision when you realize how unimaginably fast each of those first and most delicate stages pass. If I were you, and when I was, I did put family ahead of work. There is always more work." 

We look at life as though all that we planned and prepared to do will happen, and nothing we expect to avoid would ever happen. But the truth of life is that you have absolutely no idea what may happen, so be who you should be, with who you should be, today. 

Tonight, my wife and I will slip out before our church event and we will go alone for dinner and have some time to chat and focus on each other. We've always done that, at least once a month; a lot- a lot of dates, making memories together, in case they are someday soon only memories. 

You don't know if you'll have tomorrow. So kiss her today like it's your last kiss. And kiss her like that for the rest of your life.

Love is Not Romance

Love is the action of fulfilling a commitment to benefit someone else unselfishly because of the commitment. 

Love is not a feeling. 

Love causes feelings. Love leads to feelings. But love is the expression of a commitment. 

As I write this, I have been married to the love of my life for almost 17 years. I love her. I am attracted to her. I am addicted to her. I am magnetized to her. She is who I want to spend my time with. Jaclyn is my favourite person on earth. I would like to think we are a little romantic too. I am so glad I chose to commit to loving Jaclyn for life.

When we were young... younger... and our relationship was an exciting friendship, I was so secretly (or not-so-secretly) entranced by her. I couldn't spend enough time with her. I just loved to look at my picture of her. I thought about her all the time! Everything I planned was a plan to be fulfilled with Jaclyn. It was so exciting. I was (still am btw) crazy about her. 

C-R-A-Z-Y! 

Our relationship grew into that type of cute movie-like romantic relationship that makes young girls say "awwwww" and watch for a Prince Charming to have the same. I wouldn't change or rewrite anything. I eventually married my high school sweetheart. 

Somebody (an idiot) told me when I got married - "well, it only gets worse from here." I can't actually express with "G" rated family blog tone and vocabulary how incredibly infuriated that comment made me. 

Realistically, most people probably think that or something like that comparing their current relationship to the excited romance that led to their marriage. A lot of people don't want to get married, thinking that the commitment will remove the excitement of the romance. 

Some fools seek the romance outside of their commitment, risking all to have with someone else what they could have already if they returned to an understanding of true love.

Love is not a feeling. If you think you feel love, you're wrong. And if you think you "just don't feel like you love" anymore you are wrong. You probably never committed your love. Or if you did, you didn't understand the commitment. In fact, if you have stopped to think that you're not "happy" with how you're relationship has gone and you're not feeling loved, you're completely in love with yourself, and what you want, and not giving your love unselfishly. You can fix the lack of feeling by giving love unselfishly like you used to, and you'll find the relationship revival you're looking for. :) 

You choose to love, and your giving brings the fulfilling joy of a loving relationship.

Many in this world today have no grasp of love because we are so trained to live for ourselves. 

A lot of people think the closeness of a romantic encounter is love. It's not. That person who shares a time of closeness with you doesn't love you. Love isn't temporary - it's permanent. 

Some think that love is when you get that desirous feeling, a yearning, deep in your stomach when you think about someone. You just "feel like you're in love". But that's not love, it's a desirous yearning. 

Finding something "lovely" to look at isn't love. Though my wife is incredibly attractive, and I am so attracted to her, that doesn't mean I love her. That means I'm attracted to her. 

Love goes beyond attraction, desire, and closeness. Love is unselfish action by giving of yourself forever to another no matter the response from them.

Love is expressed through giving and enjoyed by the enjoyment of the other experiencing the goodness given by your love. Love given selfishly isn't love, it's manipulation. 

When you trust and enjoy being with a person, and you decide to commit to give your love to that person it's not something accidental, or temporary. 

So many relationships are struggling today because of this misunderstanding of what love is.

What if my love for Jaclyn was based on desire? It would fade. It would come and go.

What if my love for Jaclyn was based on closeness? Would I never be close to another? Would we always be close? And would that mean we don't love when we are not close? 

What if she were to become ill or hurt and she was in a coma or lost her beauty physically, or her stability of mind? Shouldn't love overcome the removal of a relationship or its benefits? 

I desire the one I love. I am close to her. I am attracted to the one I love. But I love her if not. Love is not based on what I get from the relationship. Love is a commitment, a choice, and that choice lasts as long as the person it's given to.

Be careful who you love, or don't. But understand that when you put yourself on that sacrificial altar to give yourself away for them, that is a commitment meant for forever. 

Decide to love, give to feel it, and forgive to keep it.

Wise Words From an Old Farmer

Some days I have a hard time focusing on school. This is the view out the window right beside my chair. 

I've been thinking a lot about the homeschooling post. I realized that we've been homeschooling for 11 years... Eleven. Next year, my daughter will graduate from high school. What?!

Anyhow, I definitely don't feel like a pro at the whole homeschooling thing. I look back every year and wonder what in the world I was thinking the year before. But I do know where I stand with my view points on it now. I do know what I believe about it and how to best serve my children with it. So I want to do the post justice. I want it to be able to encourage moms starting out, strengthen moms going through it, and maybe just shine a little light on what it is that we actually do everyday. I am working on it. I've started the first post and I honestly think it will be several more before I'm done. 

Taking pictures of the birds...

And here's the view out of one of the other home school room windows...

We had quite the snow/rain/sleet/ice storm last night. This morning everything is encased in ice. It's beautiful. Our power went out for several hours last night and we sat around colouring, playing instruments, eating cereal for dinner, and just enjoying eachother's company without any electronics. It was really nice. Scott suggested that we do it once a week. I'm all for it.

That's also why I failed at my Wordless Wednesday yesterday. I had a photo all planned out, but then I had no light and no power, and no internet on my laptop... So instead of the breathtaking shot I had planned... here's what you get.

We have way too much fun with the snapchat filters around here!

So I finished "Girl on the Train". I was disappointed. I didn't figure it out before the end and I can't really pinpoint why other than the fact that the book felt like it had no hope. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may read it- but I like a clear cut good guy/bad guy story. I like for there to be a defined line. This book definitely didn't have that. I don't think there was any "good" at all. Just my opinion... but I wouldn't be recommending it. 

I'm on to the book that Keona is recommending for me by one of her favourite authors- James Dashner. I'm not big on sci-fi but I figure I can probably get through one book. Even if I don't read the two sequels.

I've exercised three times this week so far and I'm feeling great. I always feel like I have more energy when I force myself to get up and moving. I added weights to my routine and I'm definitely feeling the change in a bad good way. I have never been a dieter. I don't think I've ever gone on a diet in my life. I tried a fruit/veggie cleanse once and didn't even make it a full day! 

This girly likes to workout with me and then show off her muscles. ;)

I'm not exercising to lose weight per se... Actually, I don't even weigh myself. However, I do have an outfit or two that are still a little bit snug and I'd like to fit into all of my clothing. :) I could get discouraged about that but then I think about all that my body has been through- and I can't complain! 

It has served me well through 9 pregnancies, 7 c-sections, a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy. It has nursed babies for over 100 months and counting. It's pretty amazing. I saw a quote the other day that went something like, "For every woman complaining about her stretch marks, there is another woman who would give anything to have them." That goes for an extra inch or pound too. 

Though I'd still like to be able to wear all of my clothes! 

Cause she's not a baby anymore. She's a walking & talking toddler. And I was looking through old photos...

Though I did have this lightbulb moment...  I sat in bed this morning and Scott handed me a muffin before he left for work. Two minutes later Lily came running in and hopped up in bed beside me. She looked at me and smiled. I broke my muffin in half and handed her a piece. Then I realized, that's probably the answer! Just say, "Yes" every time a kid asks me for some of my food! They ask without fail, anytime I'm eating anything. 

I would instantly cut my calories in half. 

I may just go with that. 

Or I'll just continue to keep the good stuff in my purse and eat it when I'm driving somewhere without them. 

One or the other. 

Also the result of looking through old photos... Courtesy of Eve. 

The other day Lily leaned into the homeschool room while I was checking work and said, 

"Can I have some of this yogurt with lunch?"

I said, "Um.. no. That's mine for the week."

She says, "Ok! I'm still thankful I have food! Bye!" As she ran back into the kitchen.

She may have gotten a few thankful lectures recently. 

Lastly, I ran out the other day when our driveway was a skating rink to grab some salt. I picked up the bag and went into the store to pay. There was a very old man in line in front of me. He turned around to look at me and insisted that I go ahead of him. I thanked him and set my bag down on the counter. After I paid he offered to carry it out to my car for me. He was incredibly sweet but I'm pretty sure he would have fallen over if he tried to pick up the bag. I told him I'd be ok and then he told me I had to let him get the door. So I waited as he (slowly) walked ahead of me and opened the first door... and then the second one. 

I thanked him and then he said, 

"My grandpa always said there's no such thing as bad weather - just improperly dressed people! And if the only thing you have to complain about is the weather- you should thank the good Lord!"

 

I smiled and agreed. 

Thanking the Lord for the beautiful weather we have up here today, dressing properly for the newspaper route today, and leaving you with that bit of advice from an old farmer in Home Hardware. 

This Week's Recap

So as I posted on Wednesday, we have a few extra family members for the week and our kids are having a blast! Last Sunday before they arrived Elijah said, "I'm excited to have an extra brother for the week, but that also means I'm going to have TEN sisters for the week!" 

   The boys have been busy tobogganing outside, stealing food from the kitchen, playing Catan, Minecraft (of course!)...

...and making everything from lie detectors to radios with an electronics curriculum that just arrived.

The older girls have kept the younger ones busy as well. Lots of Barbies, tea parties, colouring, braiding hair, and playing outside. 

Having thirteen kids here doing school during the day has been a little bit busy. We only had two breakdowns from kindergartners that wanted to go play and a few boys trying to skip out on classes that they didn't think I'd notice. :)

We plan to bake some special Valentine's Day cookies tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Now for an update about our reading challenge! I finished my biography book "Unbroken" and it was an amazing story. I can't wait to watch the movie! At some points it was almost unfathomable what Louis went through. What so many soldiers went through. It was an eye opening book for me. Keona's going to read it for her biography as well.

I started reading "The 5th Wave" series to screen it for the girls but then I got really into it and had to know what happened next... Scott bought me the next one in series and I plan to read the final book when it comes out in May. Like I said... I like teen books. :)

I started "The Girl on the Train" last week and am about a third of the way through. I'm reading this for my "a book I've been meaning to read." So far I'm enjoying it. I have no idea what's going on yet- so that's always fun. 

Keona is reading "Alex Ryder: Eagle Strike" for a book she's been meaning to read. Actually, Elijah has been bothering her to read it for a long time now! So that's what's going on there.

Addy enjoys reading the dictionary...

I'm pretty excited for Family Day! It's always nice to have Scott home for an extra day. We're planning a little surprise outing with the kids and then relaxing. Ah... Relaxing.

 Did I mention that we ran out of fruit on Wednesday? Cause yeah, thirteen kids go through a lot of fruit. Thankfully Scott was kind enough to stop on his way home from work with Keona to grab some apples that were on sale for 99 cents a pound. So he bought 20lbs worth... That should last a few days. Oh, and Keona started her first job! She's working part time in the office with Scott. Mostly just filing and data entry, but it's exciting for her. 

What else?...

Rain is getting bigger by the second. There was a day last week when I wondered what we were thinking getting a puppy. Justus is pretty much middle age now- for a dog. He just sleeps, eats, plays with the kids for an hour and then sleeps again. I had forgotten what having a puppy is like! Not to mention, we got Justus when he was 13 weeks and already trained to go outside. It never dawned on us that at 8 weeks... They couldn't be trained yet! *kicking myself* But she makes up for it all in cuteness! The kids have been a big help. The girls take turns getting up with her first thing in the morning and taking care of her. Even Prayer. Who has decided that she is not an animal person and her children will never have pets... 

And for everyone who has expressed concern about Justus... 

He is doing just fine! He's been spoiled with extra treats and attention. He spends lots of time running around outside with the kids. Only occasionally roaming off the property and getting into trouble. He even let Rain hide in his bed with him when a loud noise scared her. 

He even tried to protect us from the Bell guy by keeping him from getting out of his truck in the driveway. Poor guy...

I guess that's about it! Hopefully I'll have time for more than one post next week.

The Cast...

15 years old

She is the oldest and has a personality to match. She is incredibly determined, driven, and knows what she wants. She always (like seriously, always) has her nose in a book. Sometimes she's reading,

lately it has been a lot of writing. She is a people person- an extrovert to the extreme- and she wants nothing more than to make a difference in the world. She's turning 16 in a few months and then only one more year of high school. 

13 years old

Our oldest triplet. Charity is known as a "tomboy" but she's also a "daddy's girl". She would gladly spend her time playing basketball and skateboarding over doing her nails, hair, and makeup any day. She's extremely competitive, but has such a compassionate heart. Outside of sports...  She is always putting others first (unless it's her brothers) and forgives people without a second thought. She loves cooking and baking and pretty much anything to do with being in the kitchen. When nobody else wants to help with something, you can always depend on Charity.

13 years old

Eve is known for being a bit on the bossy side. And a little on the loud side. Now she's usually right, and she usually knows what she's trying to accomplish, she can just be a little... Harsh. When she was little we had to teach her not to say, "I know" all. The. Time. That said, she can do pretty much anything she puts her mind to. She plays at least 5 instruments and wants to learn the flute next. When I want things organized and delegated... Eve's my girl. 

13 years old

What can I say about Prayer? She is the artsy one. She has an incredibly quirky personality. She can make anyone and everyone laugh. She has a habit of making fun of me when I'm angry so that I forget what I was saying and why I was angry. She loves children. Toddlers adore her. She could keep them entertained for hours. She is everyone's go-to for outfit advice. She's just fun. She's also incredibly smart. You wouldn't know it from talking to her- as she can seem a little... dense. I think it's just because she says things that other people may only think. But her grades and ability to remember things long term are amazing. She doesn't know what she wants to do yet, but it could be just about anything.

12 years old

Everyone thinks Elijah is quiet but his siblings would beg to differ. He is incredibly competitive. He likes playing video games, figuring out puzzles, and getting better grades than his older sisters in algebra. He's a thinker. He's funny too. Not a class clown type of funny, but a witty- it-takes-me-a-minute-to-realize-he-made-fun-of-me funny.  He doesn't like taking orders from his older sisters (which means that Eve is generally fuming around him) and I kinda like that about him. He is also incredibly thoughtful when he isn't trying to drive me crazy.

9 years old

Jeddy is the charmer. From the cute dimples, to his outgoing and sweet personality, all of the girls' friends love Jed. His heart is huge. He loves animals and can't just observe. He is hands on with everything. From kissing toads as a toddler to making sure the birds and stray cats have enough food in the winter... He's a big teddy bear. Although he claims that he's never getting married and that he's going to live at home with me forever... I have a feeling that may change down the road.

7 years old

Our Ella-boo. She is Keona's mini-me. She follows Keona around and wants to do everything that Keona does. Ella is dressed up like a princess one minute and then in the mud catching frogs the next. She loves shopping and owns more pairs of shoes than I do. She designs her own outfits and likes to give Lily "makeovers". This girl could run for days. We nicknamed her the energizer bunny when she was little because she didn't stop moving. She still doesn't. She is always on the go and always up to something...

4 years old

She tells everyone that her name is "Lily-Beth". We call her out sour-patch kid because she is incredibly sweet and cuddly sometimes, but she can also be the spiciest little spitfire. It just depends on the day. She wants to do everything that her siblings do and gets upset when she can't. She is known for her hair. If people only knew what goes on behind the scenes of that hair... Let's just say that somedays we both want to chop it off. She was my first child to need stitches. She definitely keeps me on my toes and has humbled me as a parent on numerous occasions. Life is never dull with Lily!

                                                                      

1.5 years old

Addy, as we call her, is such a blessing to our family. She wasn't expected but couldn't be more welcomed and loved. She loves to eat. There isn't much that she turns away. Unless she's teething... And then she only wants pizza. Her first word was "Ella" and still to this day she calls Ella when she wakes up in the morning. Her new favourite word is "no". Usually followed up by a "thank you" because she wants to be polite while disobeying. She loves apple juice,  ninjas, and dinosaurs. (Of all things!) She's the baby. 

N/A

Saying that I'm thankful to be married to my best friend sounds so cliche. I met Scott when I was 12 years old and it didn't take long for us to become friends. There were months that we spent hours on the phone every Saturday night. Then we started hanging out in person more often, as friends, for about a year. He became one of my best friends. I realized it when I was in Jamaica with my family and just wished he could be there to see everything with me. He was the one person that I couldn't wait to share things with. Then one day in 1998 he gave me a pack of lifesavers with a note wrapped up in them asking me to be his girlfriend and we've been sharing everything ever since. We disagree at times, we yell, we may even stop talking for an hour or two. But ultimately, neither of us can go longer than that without sharing something about our day with each other. 

He is my person. 

If you're feeling nostalgic, check out the last About Us post from 2012!

Making Fun of Mom and Such

I don’t know what I’d do without my girls. Seriously. Last weekend was Thanksgiving, but my sister had to work so we decided to change the date so that she could be here. After a weekend away, and then a long weekend, we were a few lessons behind on the school work, house work, groceries, laundry… Yep, just about everything. Then our washer decided to die. Like, sounded as if it were about to explode, sent-little-kids-screaming-and-running-down-the-stairs kind of died. Lily explained to me that it was saying, “Fix me! Fix me!” Sadly, it’s just not worth the price of fixing this time. So, I got up early today and took Eve, Ella, and Addy grocery shopping for our late Thanksgiving dinner. Two stores and a few hundred dollars later we came home to a clean house. Now let me clarify that this is NOT the norm. I have had my fair share of “Mom, so and so is doing such and such!” phone calls. Followed by denial in the background and me threatening to lock them all in their rooms when I get home if they don’t get along and let Scott sleep. (Just kidding about the locking them in their rooms part. Kinda.) But the odd time, they decide to do all of the Thursday chores while I’m out (Thursday is our big clean up day) and surprise me. I like that kind of surprise.

Even if it was only because they wanted me to take them to the library after I got back from shopping for a new washer and dryer with Scott…

Last weekend we were able to get out and do our family pictures for the Christmas card. I don’t want to share many yet, because… well, because I like keeping them a surprise for the card! But I posted this one of my kids on Instagram…

The glare from the sun was so strong that I couldn’t really make out much on my display at the time, but when we got home and I saw Ella… it gave me a good laugh. Apparently she thought that everyone was posing. That same, sweet little Ella told me how much she likes to cuddle with me the other night. In her words, “I love to cuddle on your shoulder. It’s so comfy. It has lots of chub!” As she snuggled in.

Um… thanks?

She really did mean it as a compliment though. Haha!

I have to share one more picture from the shoot. I wouldn’t have even thought to take this, but Keona requested a picture with her Dad.

She loves him. And it doesn’t get much sweeter than watching my husband with his girls.

Ok… one more… I can’t resist!

I decided to do one of Scott with his 7 daughters, but everyone was getting really cold and annoyed. I begged them to co-operate for just a few more frames and Scott cracked some joke about me. NOTHING makes my kids laugh harder than Scott making fun of me for some reason.

It runs in the family…

And then we left and got McDonald’s ice cream on the way home, because everyone wants to eat ice cream when they’re freezing cold!

 

My birthday necklace came in the mail this week! It says each of my babies’ names, and has each of their birthstones. Well, actually it’s currently missing one birthstone, but The Vintage Pearl was great about correcting it and has already mailed it out!

Eve has become my go-to photographer when I’m in a shot. She has been taking Addy’s monthly pics and has shown a real interest in photography.

 

I love that she takes in-between shots. They’re usually my faves…

She’s currently practicing using my camera in manual mode.

Lily was not very co-operative for pictures. She’s not very co-operative for much lately. I put her to bed the other night and she kept insisting that she “doesn’t know how to sleep”…

I told her she may have to go see the doctor and she says, “Noooo! I don’t want to go to the doctor!” Seeing as she’s never had a bad experience, I asked her why not. Her reply, “Because I want to go to the vet!”

She can be sweet too though. (See… Sour Patch Kid) She hugged Scott the other morning and asked if she could sing him a song. He said, “Sure. I love when you sing!” She then proceeded to sing the song “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living…” and then she changed the last line to, “I’ll love you da-ddy!”

Really wish I had that on video.

Well, it’s late and I’m getting up early to finish decorations for Thanksgiving with the girls. Until next week…

Babies, Breakfasts, & Bats

Every single week I tell myself that I’m going to start blogging again, and (obviously) I don’t. Sometimes it’s late and I’d rather have a tea and read a book. Lately, Keona has me reading her teenager books. But yeah, now that I have kids in the house up as late (or later) than me…  I don’t necessarily feel like using my half an hour of alone time to blog. Then I read an old story from when Ella was a baby. Or look at my 365 from when she was a toddler… and it makes me want to blog again. It reminds me that I don’t have to write about something inspiring or ground breaking. Just a journal. And if it happens to make you smile or encourage someone else along the way- great!

Little Addy is going to be 4 months old this weekend. The last four months of pregnancy went so SLOWLY and yet the first 4 months of her life have flown by. She can now roll from tummy to back (she’s a tummy sleeper), she giggles when you poke her belly, she weighs over 12lbs, and she sleeps about 6-7 hours straight every night.

She is a happy baby for the most part. Though that could be because she is always in someone’s arms. She likes her routine. We recently spent the weekend in North Bay and she was absolutely miserable! She missed her crib and didn’t sleep as well in bed with me. She pretty much just punched me over and over again all night long. No crying. No whining. She just hits.

Lily is turning 3 soon. She reminds us that her birthday is next and she wants “a yellow cake, a Tiana, and a Belle!” She says, “willn’t” instead of won’t and spends her mornings playing with her Little People and watching “Super Why”. At least it’s educational. Right? The highlight of her day, is eating Scott’s breakfast with him. Every afternoon when Scott comes downstairs, Charity makes him a breakfast sandwich. And every afternoon Lily asks him to save her some. So he always saves the last quarter of his sandwich for her. It’s pretty cute.

 

She also likes me to “save her some tea.”

 

I am really working on slowing down this year. Being present every day, and not rushing the kids. We’re making time for nature walks during the fall, trips to the library during the school day, art tutorials, sewing lessons, kids helping me grocery shop each week, and cook dinner every night…

It is not always easy for me to go at their pace. My natural urge is to want to get things done quickly and properly. (Confession: I’m a perfectionist!) So letting Ella grate the cheese, or Jeddy help cut up veggies, or Lily roll out pitas… Well, it can try my patience and urge to takeover. However, the more that I do it, and see that it’s ok if dinner is 20 minutes later than planned, or none of the pitas are round, or we didn’t get to science today… because my girls learned how to make another meal, Lily was so proud of helping mom make the pitas, and Jeddy is finally enjoying books… the more I see that it’s a good trade off. A good investment of time.

Almost every time I go out alone with the kids I have someone ask me, “How do you do it?” Or if we talk about homeschooling or my photography, “How do you have time for everything?”

The truth is… I don’t.

 

I wish there were more hours in the day -most days. If we get extra school work done, I didn’t get to spend time with Scott that afternoon. If my business is doing well, the housework is piling up. If we went to the library and park, we’re eating pizza for dinner. If the house is spotless, we probably didn’t spend as much time on our devotions. If the laundry is caught up, I haven’t slept… ha! But seriously… It’s a constant juggling act of priorities. There is never a day when I don’t have to decide what I’m going to sacrifice for something that’s more important at the moment.

I think it’s that way for everyone.

You decide what’s most important to you, and you make time for it.

On a lighter note, I was leaving a store with the kids when a man pulled up beside the van after I had gotten everyone in and motioned for me to roll down the window. He just wanted to ask if they were all my kids… but as he left one of the kids asked, “Why did he do that thing with his hand?” Referring to the “roll down the window” motion. Apparently, my kids have never had to *roll* down a window.

One more quick story for the books… as we were on a walk through a ravine Elijah shouted, “Look! There’s a bat!”

It was still light out and we were in a pretty open area, so I was questioned, “Are you sure it isn’t just a bird?”

Still staring into the trees, he said, “Um.. not unless it’s hanging upside down sleeping!”

I walked over and looked about 10 feet away to see a little black bag stuck in the tree. I laughed and said, “Hun, that’s a bag!”

Not joking at all- he says, “What? But it’s furry!”

I’m thinking that it’s a good thing we have eye appointments booked for next week…

I asked each of the kids to name something that they were thankful for and Elijah said, “I’m thankful that I have at least one brother.”