Happy Birthday, Baby!

It’s hard to believe it’s already been two months since we first met our newest addition.  Baby J has quickly gained quite the fan club.  His brothers and sister are enamored with him, as are Mamma and Dad.  Most days it’s a race to see who can give him his elephant pacifier first (even if he doesn’t need it).  He’s almost constantly smothered with snuggles and “moochies” (as Mr. M likes to say).  And now that he’s smiling, Big Boy N and Little Miss R run to tell me every time he opens his mouth in a grin or coos at them.

Selfie with the birthday boy

What a blessing to be a mamma of four.  Dear Lord, please remind me of this as I know I will often struggle in the days and years ahead.  Amen.

Sharing the Walk

And…I’m back.  It’s been almost 8 weeks since number four was born.  What a beautiful blessing he is to our family!  He’s starting to smile and be awake more.  And today he rolled over for the first time.  We can’t wait for many, many more milestones to come.

For me, personally, I am so thankful that God has spared me from another round of post-partum depression.  It’s nice to truly be able to enjoy my baby.

And since it’s summer, I will have even more time to do that.  It’s wonderful to have all my kiddos home with me, and even though we’re still busy (I’m teaching Science Camp for three weeks), we’ve had so much more family time.  I LOVE IT!

My two oldest both came home with lists of activities to keep them on track this summer.  As a good teacher/mom, I’ve set some goals for our summer, too.  We’re looking forward to a family camping trip in the mountains; I want to read a “long story” to my kids, a chapter each night (I’m thinking “Because of Winn-Dixie”); the oldest two are going to take swimming lessons; I’m going to keep up with piano lessons for them, too.

I’ve decided that I should set some personal goals as well.  And since I need to be held accountable, I’m going to share my goals with you.

                1)  Exercise 6 days a week.

                2)  Blog 2 days a week.

                3)  Lose 21 pounds by the time school starts again.  (This may sound like a lot, but

                it’s 10% of my body weight.)

I hope you all have a meaningful, busy and fun summer.  God bless!

February Snow Day Part 1

We had a snow day today.  We got about 10 inches of snow last night, followed by sleet during the day today, and it started snowing again at about 6:00 tonight.  For a homesick Minnesota girl, this is great!  Here are a few pictures of what we did this morning and this evening during the snow.

First breakfast this morning--while the muffins were in the oven.

My daughter retrieving her older brother's boots that got stuck in the snow.

Sitting on the drift on the front porch.

Sledding on the driveway because the snow is too deep.

Finally my oldest came back out.  We lost a liner, so he has bread bags in his boots.  He thought it was great!

Watching a movie while I made dinner.  The "fog" is the smoke from my cooking in the kitchen.

I hope you had a great day, too.  Hopefully tomorrow, I'll have some pics of what else we accomplished today (well almost accomplished--we need to finish it yet, and thankfully we have yet another snow day tomorrow).  Blessings!

Homesick

I live 1000 miles away from my parents.  Really.  It takes 24 hours of almost-continuous driving to get there.  Most of the time, I don't really think about it.  But today, I am really missing home.
I live in a rather mild climate in the mid-Atlantic.  We've had a really cold winter here, which means it's been below freezing more days than I can count on my hands and feet.  My parents live in Minnesota...where it's been below zero more days than they care to think about...almost the most on record.  So you might think that I'm a bit off my rocker to say I miss home.  But I do.  I would gladly suffer through the cold and snow (although I'd probably have a remote starter installed on my car) to have Minnesota traffic, Minnesota nice and my Minnesota family.
Living as close to our nation's capital as we do, I know many, many military families who are not only distant from their homes and families, but are also living daily without their spouse.  I feel blessed that I have Matt here with me.  But I am still homesick.
My kids would love to go visit their Grandma (especially my daughter).  The two oldest were trying to convince me that they could walk there by themselves.  I would love to have dinner with them every once in a while.  I'd love to surprise my Dad at work or have coffee with my Mom.  When we do visit, or they come here, I feel like we take advantage of them by leaving them with our kids so we can run an errand more efficiently.  (They tell me they really come to see the kids, so I guess it's not that bad.)
Right now, I know God wants us here.  And, most of the time, I'm excited to be a part of what he has planned for us while we're her.  But tonight I want to go have coffee with my Mom.  So do me a favor if you can.  Do something with your Mom or Dad and enjoy being close to them.

It Takes a Village

I've read a few other blogs and articles recently that have spoken to raising children.  These articles reinforced my belief that I am personally responsible for raising my children.  But I have also seen in my life lately that I can't do it all on my own.
I'm sure some of you have heard me say, "Feel free to discipline my children when they need it" (or something similar).  As a teacher I often felt uncomfortable witnessing my students' behavior toward their parents.  I would often talk to these students privately later on, since I was dealing with teenagers.  However, as a mom of preschool-and-younger-aged children, I realize that it's nice to have someone else on my side.
It's not just the discipline side of parenting, although, I really do feel that if you see my child misbehaving and I don't you should feel comfortable stopping that behavior.  Lately it's been all the extra help I've needed to make all the doctor appointments for the baby.  (And, they're just going to get more frequent!)  And also the parents who volunteer to stay by my van as I run my daughter into preschool so I don't have to unbuckle two extra little ones and juggle them up and down steps.  It's even the parents who've babysat for my husband and me so we can have a date night.  Trust me, I know that adding three kids to anyone's house is CRAZY!
Here's where I really appreciate my village.  I have so many wonderful Christian friends surrounding me.  What a blessing!  Many of the women who've helped out are in a similar circumstance--children of their own, appointments needing time, and family that lives far away.  And they unselfishly have offered to help me out.  Thank you!
What I truly appreciate is that these people have the same faith as me.  They are my back up to help me teach my kids to follow Jesus in all they do.  And I am so thankful that they let their lights shine as they help in whatever way they can.  It is comforting to know there are other parents in my church praying for me and my family, helping me raise children who know and love God.
This past Sunday, our pastor reminded us that when we come together as a church, God promises to bless what we do.  He spoke on Matthew 18:19, 20 and he told us that God promises that when we agree on what we ask (pray) for, God will bless us.  So tonight, I ask that we come together and ask God to help us work as a village to support each other as we raise Godly children.  And I pray that when the time comes I can be a part of your village, too!

Snow Day!

Our first week back to school after Christmas was quite interesting.  It was in the 40’s on Monday, but school was cancelled on Tuesday because of the cold (6⁰ in the morning with wind chills in the -15⁰ range).  Wednesday was a late start for the county, which meant my daughter didn’t have preschool; but the principal at my son’s school realized that none of our students wait for busses, and so school started on time at Grace.  Thursday was “normal.”  But Friday we had a late start because of freezing rain in the morning.  Such is the life of families with school-age children in northern Virginia.

Of course, way back in December, we had an actual snow day. I thought my two oldest were going to put their snow pants on over their pajamas they were in such a hurry to get out and play in the snow.  They had lots of fun playing in the snow until their mittens got too soggy and they came in with cold, wet hands.

Then we set about decorating cookies for Christmas.  Since I couldn’t   But they actually made it through the whole pile of cookies before losing interest.

find my food coloring, I let them pile the candy decorations on the cookies—pretty crunchy for Christmas cutouts!

We got out dress up clothes next and the Christmas train.  Here’s where the youngest got in on the game.  He wanted his costume on, too.  All three had fun chasing each other around our living room.

As for me, I sat back and enjoyed watching my children enjoy each other’s company.  Now that my oldest is at school every day, his younger siblings really love the days he’s home to direct their play.  What a blessing a snow day is!

Blessings

The devil is at it again.  He’s got me worrying.  I’m reading all your posts of how thankful you all are this month.  (What a blessing, by the way!)  And I think of all the things I am thankful for—our family is healthy, we haven’t had any major struggles or sufferings.

Then I read blogs and news articles about other people who really are struggling and suffering.  People who are very sick; children who have cancer or leukemia; cities wiped out by natural disasters.  And that’s where the devil gets me.  I feel guilty for all the blessings God has given to me and my family.  And I wonder when struggles will come into my life.  And I worry what those struggles will be and whether our family will be able to smile under those circumstances.

My husband just reassured me that God tells us that we will encounter struggles in our life.  But God also gives us some very wonderful comfort, too, about those struggles.  He tells us in John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  We know that whatever we face, God has given us our eternal victory of heaven.  In Hebrews, we are also reminded that Jesus knows what we are going through.  “For this reason, he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  (Hebrews 2:17-18)

Reading these passages I am reminded of a saying I see occasionally in people’s houses:  “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.”  I pray tonight that God helps me leave the future to him.  I can focus on all the blessings we have right now.  And I can thank him for all of you.  Your blessings and struggles truly help me see God's gracious hand at work.