I LOVE Summer

I am LOVING my summer! It has been full and very busy, yet at the same time very relaxing.
I LOVE spending time with Archie and the kids. I LOVE sleeping in and the fact that my kids let me sleep in! I LOVE that I have not worn my watch . . . at all . . . since the week school was out. I LOVE the fact that many days we wake up and just decide on that morning what we are going to do that day. I LOVE that I had a garage sale, made some extra cash, AND cleaned out all the closets and rooms. I LOVE that Madison and I are doing devotions together and that I see her wanting to learn more about God. I LOVE that Back Yard Bible Club was a success . . . and that it is over now. I LOVE that I am ALMOST caught up on all my "People" magazines since I was months behind and I hope to start the 4th book in the Twilight series. I LOVE that I have been able to see/talk to some dear friends this summer and hang out with girlfriends. I LOVE my Growth Group from church. I LOVE that my family is so loving and willing to help with anything when asked . . . or not asked; I LOVE my Mom and sisters. I LOVE that I have been able to spend some time with my adorable new nephew, Aiden, this summer. I LOVE our firepit and 'smores. I LOVE having the extra time to watch my kids grow and learn . . . and to just BE with them. I LOVE that God answers prayer. I LOVE the feeling that I know that I am blessed and that God is truly good. I LOVE that I didn't teach summer school this year. I LOVE summer!

Yesterday

I am slowly getting things done at and for school and am also learning once again to not bring much home. Since January I have been so busy and overwhelmed with school and life, that I have been in "survival" mode. But now my stress level and feelings of being overwhelmed have lessened and I am trying to spend good quality time with the kids. I cannot believe that it is in the middle of February and I still have not brought the kids sledding. Every time we have had some good snow I have had so much school work to do and/or I am exhausted from teaching all day that I never took the kids out. Just the thought of bundling up 3 kids and having to watch them at the sled hill and possibly drag them up the hill exhausted me, so I never tried to tackle that feat. Until yesterday.

Yesterday after school I took the kids sledding. Well, my babysitter, Allison, and I took the kids sledding. I knew that it was going to snow and I wasn't sure if this was going to be the last snow of the year, so I made sure that I would take the kids. I even prayed the day before and asked God for just one more good snow so we could go sledding. Maybe I should start praying for a snow day! We had SO much fun sledding and stayed out for over an hour in the cold. Last year when we took the kids sledding, Caleb did not want anything to do with the sled and the hill. He actually walked around at the bottom of the hill and played in the snow on his own while Christian, Madison, Archie, and I went sledding. He was almost 2 then, but being almost 3 makes quite a difference this year. Caleb wanted his own sled yesterday and he LOVED going down the hill. Allison and I did go sledding, but the kids really enjoyed going down the hill on their own so we ended up sitting on the top of the hill watching them for some time.

Watching them get on the sled on their own and get ready to go down the hill, and then watching them get up at the bottom of the hill and then pulling the sled behind them as they hiked up to the top just to go down again saddened me a little. I realized that my two little almost 3 -year -olds were becoming so independent. It only saddened me for a moment, because in that realization I also find great joy in seeing how much they are growing and maturing. I love those sweet, sweet boys so much and I am so excited to see who they will become in the future. Just like Madison is still my little girl, those boys will always be my two little boys. I cannot put into words the joy and love that I get on a daily basis because of my three little blessings. Thank you God for my three beautiful children. Please help me to live in the moment and enjoy all the seasons of parenthood that you bless me with; the potty training, the disciplining, homework, etc.

I think that it is time to buy a few more sleds so the Coleman 5 can each have their own.

Yesterday we welcomed home one of our dear friends. He has served our country so many times throughout his life and this time he had been gone for a year. A year away from his wife, a year away from his 2 growing children, a year away from his friends and family. Now, he is going to pick right up where he left. His family is still there, his job is still there, and his family and friends are still there. I hope and pray that his transition from Afghanistan to home goes well. We are so blessed that our dear friend is home, but he reminded us that some did not make it. Some people that he loved and cared for did not make it home. He was not supposed to make it home; but he did. Listening to him say these words brought tears to my eyes. It made me feel embarrassed for my discontentness. But that's not how I feel now. Having Tom home reminds me how precious life is. How precious my family and friends are. How precious my relationship with God is.

Thank you God for keeping Tom safe and for being with him and strengthening his faith in you. Thank you for bringing Tom back to his family. It was so good to see Tom and Melissa with their girls. You truly are a good God. Be with Tom as he gets back to life here in America and let him transition well. Thank you that there are men out there to fight for our country. God, thank you for blessing the United States of America.

God, help me with my discontentness and desire for more. I don't feel this way all the time, but when it rears it's big ugly head, help me to remember your blessings. Lord, when I am overwhelmed with getting my papers graded for school or planning, when I want my house in order, or when I don't get the time to do what I think is needed to do, help me to remember your blessings and to also decipher between the urgent and the not so urgent. God, give me time to be with my kids where I play on the floor with them and love them and where I don't push them away because of my "to-do" list. Bless the time that I have with Archie; strengthen our marriage where it needs to be strengthened. You have made me and created me with a Type A personality, the type of personality that is driven and that likes to get things done. . . help me to learn to let things go when neeeded. Teach me how to trust you in all I do. Thank you God for all you do and have done in my life. I will forever praise you!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I am thankful for many things, but I am sad today and am wanting more. More things, more money, more time for me, more time with my kids, more time with Archie . . . . just more. I know that I'll feel happier and more thankful later, but right now I just want to feel the way that I feel. It's sad that I want more, but it's the truth. Learning how to be content with what we have is a hard lesson to learn and it's something that I struggle with.

Movies and fun

Friday night was family fun movie night! The kids and I went to the library to pick up Toy Story 1 and Aunt Lori- actually, Uncle John, let us borrow Toy Story 2! Toy Story 3 will be coming out soon, and I would love to go as a family to see it. They love eating popcorn out of their popcorn containers.

Ahhhh! It was cute when Christian laid against Caleb.

Even Daddy got some popcorn! I love this picture.

Today Madison and the boys played "house." Madison wanted me to see how she changed Caleb into jammies and took care of him. Caleb LOVED playing house with his big sister! She even buckled him into his seat. It's hard to believe that we took him home from the hospital in this same seat. Oh, how time does fly! I LOVE the days when Madison and BOTH boys play well together- this was one of these days.

A few things

Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, we went to a pumpkin farm in the morning. We usually end up going to this farm to ride horses, pet animals, and jump around in those "jumpy things," in early or mid October, but we couldn't get there until the last day it was open. Oh well, at least we got there.

It was a very cold morning and nobody was there. We practically had the place to ourselves. The kids held baby chicks in which the boys kept repeating, "Ahhhhh, so cute!" in little high pitched voices. We went on the the choo choo ride and the hay ride a few times, and the kids just had a blast running around. The hot chocolate and apple cider donuts were much needed to end our afternoon.

Halloween was fun, but unfortunately I do not have any pictures, since it was easier to walk with the kids and let everyone else take pictures. I'll have to get them soon. Mom, Julie, Katie, Laura, John, and Robbie came with us and we all had a lot of fun. Robbie was a monkey, Madison was a flower girl/ White girl, Christian was a giraffe, and Caleb was a froggie. There were a few falls and a few tears, but the large amount of adults and having the wagon with us was great! We ended the night with pizza at our house.

Today, November 12, 2009, was an intense homework night. Since I had conferences earlier in the week and Madison had Awanna last night, her homework piled up until the day before it was due--oops! Have no fear- Madison did an amazing job! In the beginning of this feat together, I did not think that it was going to be amazing. To start off, Madison began stomping her feet and saying that she hated stupid homework over and over again. It took her a little time to calm down and become alright with doing it. The popcorn that I popped and the reassurance that I would be with her the whole time, was what she needed. We first had to decide on how to decorate a turkey, but not decorate it yet, since we had to write about how we decorated it. After Madison decided to use flowers, tissue paper, and marshmallows, we then wrote a rough draft about that. After revising and editing, Madison wrote her final draft. Madison had a nice break with going to church choir for an hour and then back home for more homework and dinner. What a trooper she was. While eating, Madison decorated her turkey and practiced reading her "baggy books." After all of that was finished, pajamas were put on, teeth brushed and spelling words studied. These spelling words were the "challenge" words and it was our first time even looking at them this week. Another oops! I was so proud of Madison getting all her words correct on her pre-test, but I will say that challenge words are definitely a challenge (for the child and the parent teaching them). I am happy to say that Madison was in bed by 8:10 with ALL of her homework completed and ALL of her spelling words learned . . . and 10 minutes of television. Yes! I am so glad that I did not bring any of my homework home tonight- I am all homeworked out. My little Maddie Mae was such a trooper tonight, but I do not plan on waiting until homework is piled up again.

A pleasant weekend

It's been hard this year going back to full-time teaching and trying to spend good quality time with my kids- and Archie- and the overall family. This weekend was wonderful and I am sad that it's ending. Even though I had a baby shower and a middle school dance to chaperone this weekend, it was an overall relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Dad and Marsha came over this past Friday night and babysat when Archie went to a worship team gathering and I chaperoned the dance at my school. It was good to catch up and see them. They brought Christopher too, so Madison got to spend some time with her cousin.

On Saturday, Laura, John, Robbie, Julie, and the Coleman 5 went to our annual apple orchard and pumpkin patch. We had such a nice time being together. Archie's parents came out and spent some time with us too! We all had a great time together going on the hayride, picking out pumpkins, and seeing the animals. After our excursion out, Archie and the boys went home to rest so Madison and I went over to spend some time with Grammy and Aunt Julie. It was nice to just sit there and be together.

Today, Sunday, we went to church together and had our family picture- we'll have to see how that turns out. I love going to church with Archie and the kids since it's such a special and important part of our lives. Later in the afternoon, I went to a baby shower and got to spend some time chattting with girlfriends. I ended my afternoon-evening shopping at Jewel and saving our family a lot of $$ by using coupons and watching for the "catalina" specials. This is all new to me, but I have done it two times now, and I feel really good knowing that I am shopping smart using coupons and etc. I don't know how much this will become my every day life, but I think that if I make some time out of the week to look at the BIG sales and coupons, a little will help. To end my wonderful weekend, I spent a little time with the boys tonight before bedtime, I read A Prince and His Horse (?- not sure of the title) by C.S. Lewis to Madison, spent some time with Archie talking about the carpet that we are putting in the basement, and then spent some time on Facebook. It was a great weekend and I will be looking forward for the next one to come!

Yes, our basement is coming along! I really do hope that it will be done before Christmas! I am so excited for extra room for the kids to play and for all their stuff--and for my new reading corner! Yes!