Seasons change!

Oh my!!! Has it really been April since my last post?

It's amazing the directions your life can go in 7 months. 

My babies are nearly 1 1/2 

 *dies a little inside*

I no longer nurse them to sleep.

*dies again*

Isabella is thriving beautifully in homeschool. We have made some wonderful new friendships, she LOVES our new co-op, and we love that peaceful easy feeling of home learning. 

We finally placed membership at our sweet church that we have attended for a few years now. We love it so. We have a warm and welcoming church family that we feel so blessed by!

Our not-so-little-anymore family is going in some really exciting directions! God has placed so many opportunities in our path lately. Some we have been intimidated by, but we trust Him and He never disappoints.

All of this being said...I'm moving blogs. Again. 

 I want to shift focus...those darned winds of change :) 

This blog was originally created to promote my shop, and my projects, and for me to post tutorials...My NEW blog won't even be mine at all. It will be ours. Meaning, everyone in the family will be contributing. Isabella is old enough to contribute now, and believe you me, she has lots of stories to tell! And David wants to do a little divulging as well. I've always loved being able to write and share, and I REALLY love that my family wants to join in the fun. 

We will chronicle our little travels, creations, recipes, adventures, triumphs, giggles and sweet moments...and certainly a few trials, (hopefully very few)

I'm working on having all of my previous posts combined and made into a book so that we can keep them to look back on. I consider these my virtual scrap books, it's also therapeutic for this mama :)

Life is beautiful! The beauty is everywhere...if you squint real hard.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Oh, these days!

These past few days my attitude has been bad. 

BAD.

I have complained about my home's open floor plan and lack of decorating potential, my hair that I'm trying to grow out, my schedule, how hard it is to go anywhere, the drawer on my stove that hangs crooked, my kids, my husband...

Bad. 

Ever have days like that?

Yesterday and today were no exceptions!

I have been alone with all three kids for a couple of days, so I'm pooped, (but that's no excuse) It's hard not to feel a wee bit of resentment when your hubby is sleeping uninterrupted in a hotel, eating uninterrupted dinners in a restaurant, and enjoying adult interaction...it's business and work, but still, I'm going to the bathroom with an audience, hoping nobody dies while I'm in the shower, and eating half of a banana while driving one kid to Karate.

But this is the life! I know this. I attitude check myself regularly. But still, I am  human after all. 

This morning, I was hoping I would wake up and feel peace and a new perspective. 

I did not.

I bickered with my husband over something stupid, didn't get my kiss and hug before he left for work, the twins screamed blood-curdling-wake-the-neighbors-screams while I stood at the stove making their Cream of Wheat, and quite frankly...I just wasn't Mary Poppins today. 

I've been in a spiritual rut lately. Going to church is no longer enjoyable for me because I just sit in the nursery for 2 hours, basically it's just a scenery change for the twins to play somewhere new.

I have no desire to read my bible. No desire to LISTEN even if an earth shattering message were to smack me in the face. Stubborn.

I just feel yucky. 

Ever have seasons like that?

The temptation to pile my children in the van and head to Target for some good old fashioned retail therapy is overwhelming me.
But is blowing our budget on cute shirts and nick knacks really going to solve my attitude?
Probably not.

It sure would be fun though.

I might still do it.

 I was rocking Nora Jane to sleep for her nap, and delighting in her pudgy softness snuggled against me, and it eased into my mind as subtle as a whisper...gratitude.
I've been reading this book called Mindset For Moms, it's written by Jamie Martin, and I recommend it so whole heartedly.
I think it is starting to resonate in me.

I rocked my sweet girl, taking note of every dimple in her elbows and hands, their baby-hood is flying by, I feel an urgent need to savor. She emitted one of those heavenly baby sighs and wished I could rock her as long as she would allow, but remembered I had two other kids waiting on me...so I smooched her fat cheeks, rubbed my cheek across her hair, sniffed her sweet scent...heard some loud crashes coming from the living room, and reluctantly laid her down in her crib.

When I came out of the nursery I was greeted by Isabella, happily sweeping the living room, and Beckett grinning his gap-toothed grin and clutching his favorite ball which he immediately dropped as he crawled warp speed to greet me.
These kiddos were happy to see ME...grouchy, ungrateful, unappreciative me. My oldest was "helping" me. My middle couldn't get to me fast enough, and my youngest had only wanted me to snuggle her to sleep.

Humbled.

Grateful. That's what I am. Grateful that I've been alone while my hubby is on business, because it means he is working hard so that I can stay home with my kids and homeschool.
Grateful for my busy schedule because it means my kiddos are well adjusted and making friends.
Grateful for my cluttered open floor plan home because it houses my family and allows me to keep an eye on my busy crawlers at all times.

Now instead of feeling annoyed, I feel guilty for being so ungrateful. It's amazing how counting your blessings can so quickly adjust your attitude!

A day in the life.

I get a lot of "How do you do it?!" whenever I tell people that I homeschool...well, I don't really ever know how to answer that on any given day. 

I go into a day with a set plan, but with twins, you really just have to be open and willing to go with the flow...and some days that flow is easier than others. 

But for the most part, a typical day of homeschooling with infant twins goes something like this.

Wake-up, ice cold diet coke and a few minutes of blessed silence (and maybe a shower if I'm lucky, but usually no shower) before my kids all awake. OR I sleep in while Hubby gets ready for work, and I wake up in the midst of mayhem. Either way, diet coke IS involved.

Kids all wake up and it's diaper changes then breakfast time for all. This can take anywhere from an hour to an 1.5 hours when you count in clean-up.

Then Nora takes a 30-45 minute cat nap and then wakes up. This is like clock-work for her Every. Day.

Right now we're beginning our mornings by reading out of our new book. This is a great book for kids. It's an adaption of Pilgrims Progress. It's a sweet little story about a mouse traveling to the Evergreen Wood. I explain the symbolisms to Isabella as we read. 

Babies play while Isabella and I set the timer and do a 15 minute clean-up of the house, these are very productive, WAY more productive than any other cleaning regimen I have tried. I usually put in a load of laundry and assign Isabella a few little age appropriate chores. I always involve her with this because I think it's important for kids to take a roll in caring for the home. 

Plus it allows me to dole off the tasks I don't want to do. Just kidding. Kinda...

Time to clean up the table for school! I left a mess during my crafting time last night. I have Bella sort my little pieces into empty baby food containers. I knew I saved those things for a reason!

Beckett needs to nurse and lets me know he is READY for his morning nap, unfortunately, my twins do not nap at the same time, I have pretty much tried every trick in the book. 

So I get him asleep. Then...

...Nora lets me know that she has a surprise for me.

It's a doo-doo explosion.

The brown smear you see by her arm is totally poop. It was everywhere.

Time to hit the books! Isabella and I begin doing language arts

 

 

 Meanwhile...Nora rolls all around the room.

By now they're both hungry. So It's play time for those two while I make some lunch. 

Now Nora lets me know (quite loudly) that SHE is indeed, now ready for her "big nap" She is very easy to get to sleep...

 

But now guess who's awake? 

 

 

 Isabella and I do our math lesson, and I leave her at the table to begin her work sheets so that I can stuff the diapers and put a load of dirties in.

This here's my wet bag. It's full of dirty diapers. Unzip it and take a whiff, I dare you. 

 

I fill one of these puppies up about every two days. Then I just dump the whole kit-n-kaboodle into the washer and they come out looking like...

...this!

This here's my pile of clean diapers. They smell lovely and fresh.

There's always a pile of clean un-stuffed diapers somewhere in my house. I wonder what it feels like to have it all together and have organized cloth diapers? 

I'll let you know what that feels like if it ever happens. 

Hubby and I text back and forth sporadically...he's patient. And loving. And I love him. He sends me texts like,

 I love you, how is your morning?

And I text back stuff like,

HEY look at this picture of poop on Nora's back, it kinda looks like Elvis! Oh yeah I love you too. 

Or, 

I have spit up crusted on my shirt collar. Coming home for lunch?

  Isn't technology grand?

Time for another one of these.

And then I decide that it's time to dip into my chocolate reserves...only, some little scallywag got into my chocolate and there's only two pieces left. 

So I do what every loving mother would do...I hide from my kids and I eat them myself.

I like how the bag says "Easy to eat!" As if I've ever been in the middle of stuffing my gob and thought to myself,

you know I'm really having a hard time eating this entire bag of chocolate...

 

I also would like to point out that I always keep a perfect manicure. My nails are never chipped.

Sike!

 

So there you have it, throw in some meltdowns, maybe another poop or two, a few arguments with my 6-year-old and if I'm feeling feisty, a shower! 

WHOA! Lets not get too hasty here...ok, probably not a shower, but maybe a tooth-brushing?

 

Hubby gets home, somehow dinner gets cooked, and congratulations! You have survived another day. Please enjoy this moment of elevator music before you start the bedtime routine.

 

I love this life. Passes by like a minute. Soak it up, take pictures, document it...it shocks me how fast my weeks fly by these days. These little mongers have me wrapped around their fingers, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 

Except maybe less poop.

Sent hubby off to work this morning without a flake in the air...but by mid morning an inch had already collected on the roads as he came shuffling through the front door. Yay! A snow day :)

Feeling very grateful for his schedule, even though I know he is stressing about make-up work and panicked e-mails from students. 

The selfish me is greedily excited that he's here and not there.

I carried on as usual, homeschooling Isabella, tending to the needs of the twins, hubby was afforded a front row seat to the day in the life of homeschooling, with Nora right in the middle of things :) We nearly always have a baby on the table with us.

Homeschooling an eager six-year-old, while flakes are violently swirling through the air outside, and two babies who need you, does not do much for attention spans ;-)

 Then both babies pooped up their backs and ruined their outfits and needed naps, so we took an extended break, ate lunch,then thankfully David stepped in and finished lessons with Isabella.

It's awfully convenient being married to a math professor :)

 

 

 Notice a baby in the middle? And a quite happy little chap I might add.

 

 

 

Isabella played outside with the neighborhood children until dusk, then came barreling in, rosy cheeked and chilled.

There's nothing more cozy than a warm house and rosy cheeked child just coming in from the snow. 

 

 

 

David gave us all a lesson in making snow cream, I was a little skeezed out. I ate a bite or two, but worried about snow collecting all of the pollution in the air. I might be a little paranoid.

 

 

 

After all of the littles were in bed asleep, I was finally able to snuggle up next to my man and watch the state of the union address. After about 20 minutes, one of the twins woke up, and then we were three.

but What a lovely, ordinary day. My most favorite kind. 

 

 

They're calling for snow all night, Isabella's pediatrician already called and cancelled her appointment for tomorrow, and David's work has already called off classes, I'm gearing up for potato soup and a crock pot full of hot cocoa. 

 

I am thankful for days at home with my favorite people. 

I'm also thankful for ruffled baby bottoms.