A meal out....

Last Thursday, we made plans to meet Reagan for dinner since we had several commitments that evening and Mom really didn't want to come home and prepare dinner at 8 o'clock in the evening. After many suggestions, we decided to eat at Chick-Fil-A (which is one of our favorite restaurants). Our meal was good and conversation was full of fun, honest banter. Later, as we were leaving, I drove past a nice, sit down restaurant full of couples and families enjoying their meals and a small part of me wished for a time when we would eat at places that didn't have a playground for the kids. You know those kind of places where you sit down at a table to place your order rather than stand in a line at a counter???


Don't get me wrong, we do eat at those kind of places, but it isn't very often. Why is that? Well, part of the reason is that we now have two growing boys that eat A LOT and it is cheaper to feed them at fast food establishments. Another part of the reason is that fast food restaurants are more accommodating, at times, to families and their needs-an indoor playground is such a treat especially in this hot Texas heat. I also figure that if you are eating at Wendy's, McDonalds, CFA, and etc... you are not planning to have a nice, quiet, romantic dinner- in fact, if you eat at these places you expect a certain amount of chaos and noise.


This is what I realized.... this is my life right now. (Isn't that a deep, complicated thought for your day?!?!) This time of my life full of hungry boys which is often a little chaotic and loud is fleeting. It will not last. There will be a time when the house stays clean, laundry doesn't pile up in mounds, and I will cook for two instead of an army. I will enjoy that time, but it will have shades of sadness because it will mean that my boys have grown and are living individual lives. I am choosing to appreciate the noise of my boys playing in the next room and cooking for an army as well as laundry that seems to never end. I am choosing to cherish this time of my life knowing that it will change all too quickly. Quiet, sit down dinners (with just Reagan) will come and our montage of fast food establishments may fade........ truthfully, I may need another CFA sandwich just to watch a young mother with her precious crew.... and let the memories flood me of my own chaotic season of life- the part of my life that I am living now.

A Stinky Situation

I know it has been awhile since I have written, but the past few weeks have flown by in the midst of many hectic, summer activities. In the past few weeks we were blessed to go on a vacation to New Mexico which was a great memory making event. Yet, it was not a totally restful event as Kendall was a little off his schedule and found it necessary to eat in the middle of the night again. Plus, have you ever been camping where the bathroom was a distance away? Without fail, in those situations I always need to go to the restroom in the middle of the night- I might never need to go at 2 am when I am home, but make it across the campground and 40 degrees outside and then I have to go! In addition, we had seven of us sleeping in our pop-up camper on two of the nights and five of us on the other nights. So, I often had to climb over children just to get out the door to make the cold hike to the bathroom..... and do it quietly without waking everyone else up.

This wouldn't have been that bad except the bathroom (and notice that I said bathroom, not bathrooms- there was only one for the WHOLE campground) was not that grand. It was a converted shipping box with warped wooden floors. It also rarely had toliet paper, and so you were wise to grab a roll to tuck under your arm when you made this journey. In addition, this facility was only cleaned by throwing a bucket of water in it to splash around the dirt, germs and grime. Isn't this where you would want to spend your time for daily grooming? Thankfully, our family let us use their personal restrooms in their campers.... at least, my boys won't need counseling after this experience! So, what did we learn from this experience? We learned that it may be time to upgrade from our awesome pop-up camper to one with a bathroom.... a clean bathroom, with a shower, potty and sink.... that would be ours... all ours.... and one that would not be so far away!

Honestly, our vacation was great! We made many fun memories.... the only thing that stunk was the bathroom situation.... literally!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Happy Anniversary Reagan!

Thanks for being my best friend and life partner- you are a precious gift!

Finding Comfort

I guess each child finds his or her own thing that brings comfort- pacifier, thumb sucking, stuffed animal, or blanket.

Caleb found comfort in having any stuffed animal with him when he went to bed because he would rub it's tag until he fell asleep.

Carson, however, has always wanted one particular "baby" and his blanket; which happened to be a blanket that Caleb had as a baby. He has always wanted his special baby which is a horse stuffed animal and this baseball blanket. Each night he curls up with them both and rubs the blanket against his cheek. In the past, I tried to offer him a different blanket if we ever forgot it, but he would know the difference as soon as he touched it! The texture of the blanket was part of the comfort that it gave him. Sadly, now the blanket looks a lot more like swiss cheese than a blanket, but it still is his prize possession.

The funny thing is, it is his comfort item, but it has become mine too. Now when I touch or hold this fragile blanket, I am immediately taken back to the little toddler that fell in love with it. It makes me feel closer to him as I recall so many priceless memories.....

I guess we do all have our comfort items.

Baking Cookies

YUMMO!!!!

Music to My Ears

Caleb and Carson have spent the past ten days visiting grandparents and attending VBS at each of their churches. We drove to Kerrville last Friday to attend a family wedding as well as pick up the boys and take them to Dublin to start the second VBS. As we made the drive to Dublin, Carson wanted to listen to the VBS music cd and he sang every song- word for word! He loves music and it is one of his passions- in fact, not a day goes by that he doesn't sing or "play" his own music. He cracks us up with some of his original songs! They are often about doing his chores, playing with his brothers, and just his life in general, but they all come from a natural, genuine talent. Hearing him sing and share his heart is music to my ears....

However, I have realized that music takes many forms. When Caleb shares his creative, original stories or tells one of his corny jokes; it, too, is music to my ears. When Kendall coos, "talks" or laughs I hear a symphony in my heart. I cherish each of their "songs" equally....I guess music can come in many different forms.....

Procrastinating.....

Recently, one of my Facebook friends posted as her status, "Why can't I get all this stuff done? Oh, that's right, I procrastinate!" That made me laugh out loud!! Sometimes I can identify with that statement. I think I tend to wait and then I work like a mad woman getting everything done. Actually, I have improved as I have had more children because I need to plan ahead out of necessity now. For example, when we have company coming to stay with us, I used to wait until the day they would arrive; and then I would work like crazy cleaning all day to make sure that the house was spotless and ready for company. Now, when company is coming, I start cleaning and preparing all the week before because cleaning the entire house in one day is not an option with three kids to care for.

Over the past ten days, both of our oldest boys have been visiting grandparents in order to attend their churches' VBS programs. So, you would think that I would have accomplished a great deal while they were gone- reorganizing closets, cleaning out clothes, scrubbing floors, cleaning the inch of dust off my ceiling fans, or finally getting to those baseboards....... yeah, right! All I have done is spend time with Kendall- just savoring every smile, laugh and coo as well as resting; that's right resting! I think parenting can be one of the most exhausting things anyone can do and I have really been able to recharge my "parenting batteries". So, I may be procrastinating by not doing all these other jobs, but I have created wonderful memories with Kendall that cannot be replaced. Maybe it isn't procrastination after all; maybe it is just proper priorities!!