Do you ever just get overwhelmed with the mothering thing?

And I don't mean the upteenth try at finding the perfect schedule or routine. I mean, seeing all the things you want your children to know or to be when they leave your home?

I want my girls to be better seamstresses than I am by the time they leave the house. I want them to know more about cooking and meal planning than I did. (And how to pick out good meats, which I still don't know too well.) I want them to have a fire in their heart for God and a true desire to know Him and serve Him, not just be obsessed with the latest celebrity or boys. I want them to realize that while being God's child carries many blessings with it, the greatest blessing is that you have the enormous priviledge of getting to know God in an intimate way. I also have so many things to list for my boys, not the least of which is how on earth do I teach them to be men of God who guard their eyes and thoughts, when I do not truly understand their struggles or how they think? And those are only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many things practical, spiritual, and otherwise, that I want them to learn.

I just sit down sometimes and think, "Oh, today I wanted to do x,y, and z, and I didn't even get close! How will I fit all these life lessons in?"

It all comes to living life with a purpose each day, living life intentionally. Would it be crazy to list those goals and post it somewhere in my house? My first thought is, what if company sees that list? And my hubby would most surely mock the list. (He is just a teaser that way - nothing is sacred. *wink*) But if I don't post it, I won't see it. And if I don't see it regularly, I will get caught up in the day-to-day of laundry, dishes, and diapers.

Thoughts?

Goings on

Squeaker (who lately has earned the name of "Screamer" instead) had a wonderful night of sleep last night, and consequently, so did I. The first stretch was almost 6.5 hours!!!!! So far this morning, he seems to think he can only nap in my arms. Silly boy. Yet, I love it!

I'm in the midst of the reorganizing of the kids' clothes. Not my favorite chore, but it sure does feel good to see it all slowly come together. Once that undertaking is finished, we'll get back into the swing of things, meaning we'll get into a routine again that includes school.

Hubby is gone for a good stretch. He wants to take some time off in July so we can all just enjoy each other again. Poor Shortcake asks every morning, "Daddy home?"

I still have a few thank you notes to finish. Oh, and must have the children write a couple - they've been given presents lately by friends and family. One of which was a child's Schwinn bicycle! We certainly are blessed over here!

Also, planning to go visit some online friends in the southern part of the state this weekend. Hopefully the price of gas will not cancel the trip for us. I'm super excited, and the children don't know yet. They will be giddy when they do know. It's to be a picnic in a park with other families, some of whom I know already and some of whom I do not.

Well, that is us for now. Hope you are doing well!

Can you believe it?

I've done the usual precautions with bringing germs into the house, what with the new baby and all. We been around no one who is sick to our knowledge, and yet...

I have a sore throat, I'm sneezing, and I just feel all over yucky. Nice, eh?

Go figure...? The blessing in this right now is that tomorrow we are having a meal brought to us for dinner, so I can just relax tomorrow. I'm going to rest, rest, rest on the couch, and I'm not going to fret over the sty my house will quickly become while I do nothing to keep up with the kids and their messes. *smile*

Oh, and can you please pray that our little Squeaker does not get what I'm coming down with? Thank you!

Oh dear me - please forgive me!

I cannot believe I've been MIA for so long!!

I seriously thought it had only been at most a month since I posted. GULP.

As an olive branch, may I offer the news of our baby's birth???

We had another BOY! He weighed in at 8 lbs, 10 oz and 20.5 inches long. Labor was fast and and furious at the end, going from 7 cms to birth in just 15 minutes. I ended up going all natural without pain meds, which was not in my plan, lol.

The other children are very happy and pleased to have another boy in the family. They love his squeaks and tiny baby parts. They all love to hold him and give lots of kisses. Watching my children joy in another sibling is such a wonderful thing!

Hugs to you all!

Comedy from our house

~ My favorite memory from Christmas this year: Sweetheart was opening a present, which was toys in the store's packaging. Even though he could see the toys in the box, he jumped up and down shrieking, "A BOX! A BOX!" He was so giddy over a box. Too cute.

~ Sunshine said of her daddy when he was goofing around with a lampshade on his head: "Look, Mom! Daddy's lightbulb is burned out!"

~ And when Sunshine was asked why she was picking at her food, didn't she like it, she replied with, "Not excessively."

Whew, dodged a bullet this year

My shopping was done about a week ago. Got it all done in a couple hours.

Now before you turn green with envy, let me say that I only had to buy for my kids this year. Hubby and I are not exchanging gifts, nor are we giving gifts to extended family. It's just a rough year financially, so we are keeping it simple.

And may I confess a guilty secret? I am relieved that I don't have to buy a gift for hubby. Okay, do you think I'm totally awful?

It just that the man is horrible to buy for. Horrible. The only things he would be thrilled with would be waaaaaay outta our price range - expensive man toys, you know. Like firearms. Seriously. Even my sisters and parents struggle with buying for him.

One year I just said straight out for him to tell me what he wanted for Christmas that we could actually afford. So he picked an electronic gadget that he said he would get lots of use out of. Perfect. Only he never used it. Not once. It has long-since disappeared.

I used to get super stressed over his gifts, planning even sometimes a few months ahead to find the gift he would surely like. Other years I procrastinated in dread of the whole thing. Either way, it has turned out the same. He is neither impressed nor depressed over his gifts. It's just something he opens and then simply says, "thank you." That's it. And then he never uses them. LOL

So the last year or two I gave up. I started just walking through a store and if I see something that seems decent and might get used, I get it. I think the most successful gift I've given him is an insulated coffee mug. LOL

So does this make me a horrible person? I hope not. Because we're still young, and I have lot of Christmases and birthdays to shop for!

"When I was your age"

We all heard lots of those sorts of things from our parents and grandparents when we were growing up, right?

Well, in my house, you get to hear it from your older sister, who is a mere 6 years old. LOL