at breakfast

dragged through the house

floppy neck from many hugs

sharing the bed

too big for the car

soft

named Fancy

Christmas present

horsey-love

almost!

I started at 8:30 this morning...one tree and several drapery panels later...we're nearly finished!

Stay tuned for the Big Reveal!!

just talking again...

i feel flat, uncertain, lonely

desperately wanting to feel something other than this

caught up in the tumble crash of stress and work

too much noise prevents me from hearing my Jesus

all i hear now are things i don't want to,

telling me

i'm not good at teaching my kids

i'm not doing enough for them, spending enough time with them

i'm not working hard enough or fast enough- look at all the things piling up that need my immediate attention

i had such peace after my tiny babe went to be with Jesus

peace like a river washing over me

words of encouragement about freedom from my mind as a battleground

uplifting prayer for my heart

now something's changed

I've lost focus, 

trying to see but the view is cloudy, distorted

i feel alone

there is no one to share this

everyone around me is caught up in their own busyness

Jesus is the only one and He is enough

but right now i can't hear Him because my life is too noisy

not sure what to do to pull the plug

i have to cook, clean, teach, minister grace and care to my family

take the kids to their activities that they love

tend to my husband's needs

be a friend, a listening ear and compassionate shoulder

stopping {life} would be self-serving

not accomplishing the goal

the noise would rise instead of diminish

something has to change inside of me

the tears need to come and wash away the clutter in my mind and heart

i need to be still and know

that i am where i need to be

and that Jesus is enough.

some of us

are resting today...

the rest of us are 

painting, 

painting, painting

fingers stiff

caked with grey

eyes bleary from seeing the same color for hours

mind churning with ideas

can't wait to be finished

Wordless Wednesday

{one of the reasons i do what i do}

Wordless Wednesday

{time out}

after all the hurry hurry of the weekend, we desperately needed a whole family {time out}

we peeled ourselves away from the painting on Sunday night
and took a drive to one of our favorite local parks

dinner cost $16 for the 5 of us and was easy clean up off of the picnic table

the kids were happy

{really} happy!

we took a walk to the water's edge

saw tiny beauty on the way

and amused ourselves till the sunset came

this is the best sort of {time out} possible, right?

don't you forget to take a {time out} this week with your little ones...

Keeping them busy...

We used to do home improvement projects in shifts...one of us would mind the baby, one of us would paint, sand, etc.

This is the first time we've done a project that didn't have to be stealthily completed during naptime or worked on solo while the other parent pulled baby duty.

It's kind of nice!

We do, however, still need to make sure the kids are occupied with something CONSTRUCTIVE, otherwise we're liable to find missing kitchen utensils and an empty box of baking soda on the front porch.

Last week we tried to work on the room just an hour per night, and this was our activity of choice for the kids.

They didn't mind one bit. 

In fact, sadly, we have actually never had them experience the joys of shaving cream on a table at all! 

Not sure why, except...

when we went to clean them up, we realized exactly how messy it could be!  

They all smelled like an adolescent out to woo some ladies, their fingers were pruny...

I wondered if we should ever eat cookies baked on these trays again and...

some of the finish was completely worn off the table! 

Yikes!

Over all, a fun time was had, and our table is really none the worse for wear.  

The room is coming along nicely, but at a snail's pace...this is a very busy time of year for us and we normally do NOT take on a project in the fall. 

We're at the painting stage now, whew! so all should go smoothly from here on out...

more pictures of it this week {hopefully!}