life through the lens of my iPod

PANCAKES!


a sad horse-rider...she wanted to ride by elizabeth ;)


ROAR!!!

little dinos

she eventually decided she liked the horse-ride...after a bit of crying


she loves her turban head :)

irresistible



orange leaf and swimming at the Y with our sweet friends :)




jilly's cut :)

kate's cut


elizabeth's new do


night night! :)


homemade pizza night

its a petshop village...hand-me-downs :)

playing cars means "eating" cars

elizabeth's nifty knitter scarf

model magic!

tidbits...

BANANAS! he IS bananas for bananas...and a bit sticky too! :)


lettuce wraps and creamy ginger salad...a put the kids in bed early quiet dinner date :)

happy siblings :)

hair cuts :)

we are blessed to have a friend who does hair on the side...she is fabulous...and she makes housecalls, which include not only haircuts but also a mini-playdate, since her daughter is one of elizabeth and kate's sweet friends. :)

this was jilly's first haircut...hence the pictures...and then i just couldn't stop, apparently.

elizabeth wanted hers bobbed...and i'll admit, i resisted at first. i liked finally being able to pull it back, braid it, etc., but i decided to go with it. it is, after all, her hair...and a fairly minor battle (as long as she doesn't want bangs...i'm an anti-band kinda girl...too much to keep up with!).

okay...i totally thought i had "after" pics...they are on my iPod...and i'm too lazy to do that right now...so i'll add them later!

unseasonal...

this "winter" has been rather strange...actually, it has been far more like spring quite often. i'm not complaining! we've been able to go to the park in january and now, on the first day of february...considering last year i was so pregnant i didn't want to move and the end of january and pretty much entire month of february was one ice storm after another, i'd say this has been unseasonal and fabulous!

in january...literally a week after playing in the snow!...i took the big girls to meet some of our favorite friends at a park on a friday afternoon (while daddy was home with the nap-pers...). what fun!






my friend kim is not only fabulous but wise....and her suggestion that we hit happy hour at steak-n-shake was a good one.

would you believe that this was the first time elizabeth and kate have ever been to steak-n-shake?! they were fans...especially of the hats...and, yes, elizabeth wore hers for the next three days straight and was disappointed i wouldn't let her wear it to church. :)


here they are...we actually have 8 kids between us....6 girls and 2 boys...but jilly was napping and missed this girlie party. :)


and these are from today...at our favorite park here in town. lots of fun!




i love that kate is the one pushing him...she loves her luke soooo much...it is precious!

he loved every second of the swinging too!


two little matching hair color heads. :)

love this one! :)

hard.

i had a revelation one day a few weeks back. it might or might not have been followed by tears...i'll let you guess.

this season of life has been hard. H.A.R.D.

it hasn't necessarily been tragic or filled with major events...it has just been wearing...the kid of days that run together in monotony and begin to become a blur of people needing me, a house that builds clutter and mess more quickly than i ever imagined could happen, laundry piles that beg to be folded (or baskets of folded laundry that beg to be put away), papers in need of grading (thoughtful grading...not just check an answer off...because that would be delightfully mindless), a husband and wife who are both tired...exhausted tired. i have had daydreams of the day when i might once again awaken and find that the first number on my clock is not a 5 or 6. it is the kind of season where once the kids are in bed, mike and i drop onto the couch unable to move until we drag ourselves up to bed a couple hours later.

please don't read this as a complaint.

i don't intend it to be one.

i just want to be real.

it is easy...oh so easy...to post a bunch of fun pictures...to tell you all the happy stuff we've been doing...because truthfully, there is a lot of that in our days too....and those are the moments i want to hold tightly to...the moments to recognize and savor and enjoy.

but the truth is that this is not an easy gig. motherhood is not for the faint of heart.

i've spent the vast majority of the past 6 years pregnant or caring for a new baby.

is it any wonder that i would be tired? that i would feel a bit unraveled? that my house would be a mess?

i spend a lot of my minutes struggling with the many parts of motherhood i don't do well.

the patience i lack in those moments--you know the ones i mean.

my lack of domestic skills--and by domestic i mean keeping my house tidy and cheerful and organized and well decorated...some of you are gifted in that area...i, on the other hand, am not. cleaning is hard for me...i struggle to endure it, much less enjoy it.

the longing for people to just stop touching me for ten seconds--i know that if you have little people you know what i mean....don't judge. ;)

my lack of creative and effective ideas for dealing with the umpteenth dramatic fit of emotions (or stubborn, defiant behavior)...and my own "losing my cool" rather than graciously sheperding my little people.

and it spirals...and spirals...and spirals.

monday i had one of those days...a friend...actually an acquaintance, as i don't really know her all that well...asked me if i was okay. you see, she had noticed my general lack of joy and enthusiasm.

truthfully, the fact that she had noticed brought about mixed emotions.

on one hand i was so thankful that someone SAW...that she knew and understood...that she would draw me out...that the Lord had put me on her heart...that she was praying for me.

however, i must admit, on the other hand i was a bit distraught....because who wants to be the struggling person, the one who can't quite get her stuff together--or figure out how to "wear the mask" (i know, i know...i hate mask wearing...i'm more of a "wear my feelings on my sleeve" kinda girl.

that conversation combined with an e-mail that evening...from a sweet friend...wanting to have some mutual accountability in getting up early, getting into the word, being consistent in making the CHOICE to draw near to Jesus...it wasn't coincidence. it was Jesus...because He sees...He knows.

and so, this is a long rambling post to simply sum it up as this...this season has been hard. but His grace is BIG, my friends....as the Lord has so graciously reminded me in the past 48 hours as i have literally drank in ephesians 1...and as i have seen those five letters over and over...grace...glorious grace....given freely....given abundantly.

oh that i would let his grace mercifully cover the hard...mercifully cover my shortcomings...mercifully draw me to his feet. that i would soak it in and let it seep through me, pouring out onto my sweet children, my dear husband...flowing from me as from Him.

and that, my friends, is where my heart is.

finally...

i haven't posted since december...

wow.

take that as a sign that it has been crazy around here.

not anything unusual...just the normal, living day to day, crazy.

grocery shopping.
working out.
doing school.
changing diapers.
teaching on Mondays.
grading papers.
waking up early with our early bird.
settling disagreements (i know, i know...you are beyond surprised that my cherubs ever disagree, right?!)...lol
enjoying some evenings out...both with the hubby and with girl friends...some of those evenings might have even been the type where my hubby called one of my friends to make the plans because he knew just how close to the "edge" i was...you know--that edge--i know you've been there!

anyway...here i am.

i almost couldn't login.

i changed my password so my sweet friend jackie could update my pics, etc...and i completely forgot my password.

oops.

so, finally i'm getting around to doing some posting.

it is good to back, little blog.