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!