Phone

I am trying out a new way to post. I am using a blogger app on my ( new to me) iPhone. 

I haven't blogged much lately, and I'm really missing it.

I wanted to share a few things Robert has been saying/doing lately that are so cute. 

The other night I made some Asian chicken thighs and steamed cabbage. Robert was so funny! His Daddy told him to eat his food. He replied " I don't like it" and pointed to his cabbage. He was so funny.

Now when he gets a spanking, which is actually becoming rare these days (yay!), he is saying "you hurt me". Which then makes me want to laugh. 

He is just growing so fast!!

He has learned to count to five with objects. He has been able to count to 10 for awhile... But now he lines up all his cars, animals, food, etc.. And counts it. It is so sweet. Now, just have to keep working on him with the alphabet.

His vocabulary is growing everyday!! It's always fun to hear what new thing he is going to say.

He's starting to grow out of nap time. He will usually go to sleep for a nap whenever I lay down with him. (Which is actually what I am doing as I type... He's just starting to snore and I'm hoping to sneak out and get some housework done). He always says, "mama lay down in this bed." 

Who can resist that??? The dirty house can wait a little longer. He is going to be grown soon and not want his Mama around.

I enjoy a clean house, but I have to remind myself that my children are growing too quickly. I want to cherish these years while they are still young and love me :) 

Robert is such a big helper. He is always helping me clean, and playing with Paul. 

I just love to catch them together playing

Well I think he is asleep enough for me to sneak out and get some cleaning done.

Until next time,

Me

In a long while

It's been awhile since I have blogged.
I believe I mentioned before that I was feeling like I was over-documenting life.
I've slowed down some.
I just haven't felt motivated to blog.
I need to blog, because I LOVE going back and reading these posts and seeing all my emotions as I was going through a particular season in life.

This season of our life is a little something I would like to call potty training.
We have been working on Robert.
I have to say that he is doing MUCH better than I expected.
He is going with very few accidents.

I hope it's going to continue to be easy.

I guess it's hard on me because it makes me realize how little patience I actually have....
In this past week I have spent much time in prayer asking for forgiveness for losing my patience and just as much telling how sorry I am to my family that my patience is worn thin.
I've also learned that I'm MUCH happier if I have a clean, organized house when taking on a new task.
I already knew this.
I just have to remind myself of that when I let the laundry fall behind or the dusting really pile up.
It's then that I start to feel overwhelmed.
I have been so blessed to be a wife/mother and homemaker.
I just have to remember to keep up with the daily responsibilities.

 Paul's first time playing in his car. He LOVED honking the horn on it.

 The Lord has blessed me so richly. We have enough money to live in a nice house, eat delicious food, and not have to worry if we are going to be able to eat our next meal. I think sometimes it's easy to take these things for granted in pursuit of more. We always want more. A nice new car, when ours runs fine and is paid off. New clothes that are up with the new trend, when ours don't have any holes or stains on them. A bigger house, when we already have too many things and feel overwhelmed with the amount of things we own. A fancy dinner in a restaurant, when we have ample food and time to prepare and eat a meal that is probably even better at home. I have to take a step back and realize how blessed I am. I thank the Lord everyday for my blessings, but it's easy to forget just how many blessings there are.

 Someone got into his Mama's fingernail polish. He managed to ruin his little brother's only baby quilt and the couch cushion. I will let you guess who that could be....

 Robert LOVES our vacuum. He plays with it pretty much on a daily basis... This is him actually vacuuming the floor. He loves it. I really want to find him a child-sized vacuum that actually works. He would love it! I would too, it would mean a mostly clean floor that I didn't have to vacuum myself.

 I found Paul playing with his tractor by Robert's barn. It is amazing how much this child plays by himself. It makes me a little sad sometimes. He is so independent. He doesn't need to be held anymore. He prefers to be playing on his own. He figures everything out so quickly. This Mama is having some withdrawal issues. He is still extremely cuddly when you get to hold him. He is just so busy and into everything. He loves playing with his brother. I can't believe how quickly he transformed from a little baby that needed to be held 24/7 to this chunky-face little boy that loves exploring the world around him. I just can't believe he will be one year old in a little over 2 months.... Where does the time go?!?!

 This was supposed to be a sneaky shot. I was trying to get them playing without seeing me... But Robert noticed. I just love that he is wanting to smile for the camera recently.

I was in my room folding laundry and I heard Robert naming off the people in our family. I came to the living room to find he had gotten Paul's project life baby book. It melted my heart to see him flipping through the pages and looking through the book. He loved it. It was a great reminder as to why I scrapbook. I want to leave a memory for my family. Yes,  mostly I want to have memories for myself. But I know that if the scrapbooks survive they will be great memories for my children. I am so thankful that I had a sweet cousin who introduced me to this type of scrap-booking that I am in love with. I believe my family will always benefit from this.

We have been trying to be more hospitable this year.

We want to open our home to those we love so that we will be comfortable to open our home to those we don't know as well.

I'm off to go prepare dinner and my home for our next dinner guests.

Maybe I will blog again soon.

This was very therapeutic for me.

Until next time, I hope the Lord blesses you and that you are well.

Smitten

I have been blessed the last few days to get some "thinking" things accomplished.
It's difficult sometimes when I have a two year old and an 8 month old always needing something from me to keep my train of thought on what I'm working on.

The past few days have been so nice.
In the mornings the boys have been wandering all over the house together and just playing for hours.
I have caught Robert reading to Paul many times.
I see them sharing with each other.
It melts this Mama's heart to see them playing and getting along so well.
I hope they always want to play together and be around each other.

 I believe their favorite thing to do is make a mess together! You should see my house right now!

I am cherishing these moments.
I know my babies will grow up all too soon.
I'm going to continue to try to keep my schedule to a minimum and spend as much time nurturing my boys as I can.

First!

Yesterday my wonderful husband was able to make it home to us!
He had some snow chains to put on his truck and was able to drive home to us.
I've never felt more relieved for him to be here.
I didn't realize how tense I had been until he was home and my muscles were finally able to relax.
Unfortunately that didn't last long.
He was picked up this morning and traveled to work in this ice.
I am so nervous.
I thought I would share some pictures of taking Robert out to play in the snow and Paul's first time in the snow.
(We didn't even venture back out after Hubby got home. It was cold, and neither one liked it too much.)

 Trying to figure out the white stuff.

Put the camera on the mailbox to take this picture.

 He wanted to ride!

 Failed attempt to get them to both ride in the wagon.

 He got upset about the car not driving in the snow.

SO happy and relieved to see this truck in the driveway!!!

 Earlier in the day Robert had crawled into Paul's bed and was playing with his Scout toy. He's such a mess.

After the excitement of Daddy getting home we found them playing in Robert's room together.

We are so blessed to have such sweet boys.

Now we will pray for Hubby's safety as he is on his way to work, as he works, and Lord willing as he travels home this afternoon.

We sure are going to miss him!

Snowing

If you live around here, you know that there is snow today.
And LOTS of it.
It's so beautiful outside.
This would be wonderful if my husband was here at home with us.
He left his work 3 hours ago, and is still driving in this mess.
It's crazy everywhere with traffic.
He can't even come home, so he is going to try to make it to his parent's house.
I am not looking forward to being without him tonight.
It is pretty. And, I'm hoping he will look at my blog, so I'm going to post some pictures of here for him :) Love you!

 These were all taken about 2 hours ago (1:30PM or so) when I went outside. There is WAY more snow now.

 Neighbor kids sledding in our yard.

 I am so glad my father-in-law was here earlier today to turn on my fireplace. This house is FREEZING and I just can't seem to knock the chill off. Now I can sit in front of a nice fire.

This was taken about 15 minutes ago... The snow is still falling like CRAZY!

I would go outside and let Robert play in the snow... But he and Paul went down for a nap about 3 hours ago and they are both STILL ASLEEP.

I guess I will continue to sit here in the quiet and watch the winter storm brewing out of my window and pray about my husband making it to his parent's house safely.

**Update- Hubby made it safe and sound to his parent's house and spent the night there. We are hoping he can make the trip home today to be with us, but so far I haven't seen a single car pass by on the roads.
I feel awful for being so sad he isn't home. At least I know he is safe and sound. I know there are so many that didn't even make it home yesterday after spending many many hours in their vehicles attempting to travel. Many I'm sure spent the night away from their family and some I'm sure even in their cars trying to make it home.
I am just going to continue to pray and thank the Lord for watching over us and keeping us safe during this snow storm.

Vulnerable

I've been feeling a little exposed about my feelings since my last blog.
I'm not really sure who I am blogging for anymore.
I enjoy blogging for myself and being able to go back and read later.
I feel like I've been preserving memories a little too much.
Let me explain.
I started this year with Project Life. I have taken a picture every day for the year.
I intend to document this year in a scrapbook.
I will not allow myself to get discouraged or upset if I do not take a picture every single day.
I am just trying to do my best to preserve this precious time while my babies are so young.
I've also started a one-line-a-day journal.
I record special things I want to remember in my awesome planner that I use daily.
I just feel like I have been recording life in a good way, but I haven't any creative energy left for the blog as of now.
I will evaluate how I feel about it, and blog only when I get the creative urge.

Today I felt at home again.
I was able to make some homemade bread.
There is just nothing in the world like a loaf of fresh, hot homemade bread.
I am enjoying the cleanliness and organization of the house.

I have a few more areas of our house that need some extra special attention.
Basically, I just need to find an organizational system for these areas that works.
I've finally been able to implement some organizing systems lately using things I had on hand, and it's very helpful in my day-to-day tasks.
I just need to get all the family in on using my systems so they will operate properly.

In the next few months, these are my organizing goals for our home:

• R's closet
• P's dresser and closet
• Master bedroom closet
• Desk (I really want to set up a home command center, but I just haven't figured out where is best yet)
• Garage (When it warms up outside I would like to take every thing out of our garage, and set up an organizational system that works. I've seen a lot of garage organization that uses peg board and I really think it would suit our needs on one wall of the garage to have that installed. I also just need hubby to go through and help me weed out what is good in there, and where to put it so that he can find it easily)

• Crafts/Scrapbook (I really want to set up a scrapbook/crafting area and get it organized so that it will be easier to make crafts and complete my scrapbook) 

***Update- I have a new home command center that doubles as a crafting/scrapbook area. I LOVE IT.

I have a lot of goals for the house this year.
It's getting easier to accomplish them because I have actually been staying home more.
I love making a peaceful haven from the world for my family.
I love the time spent here and the memories being made.
I hope and pray that my family is happy and healthy and they enjoy being in our home as well.

Until next time..... :)

Self

***WARNING***
This is a very personal blog I am writing for myself. If you do not wish to read it, proceed no further.
If so, I will see you at the bottom of the page.

I read a blog towards the end of the year that really helped me. (here)

I feel like a major hypocrite.
A hypocrite that is way hard on myself.
I have allowed myself to become a victim of the media and the idea they portray of what makes a woman beautiful.
I have never in my life been "skinny."
Maybe I was skinny as a young child, but since I hit puberty I have been heavier than my peers.
It was hard as a young girl to be heavy and to deal with the pressures of everyone around me. It was hard to deal with being made fun of.
We as a society of women are constantly bombarded with images of supermodel-type women.
You know the type.
It makes everyone feel bad about themselves.
I personally beat myself up for not being skinny.
Yes, I need to lose weight and to be healthy. (But that isn't my point here)

I got to thinking a few months ago about what it would be like to have a little girl. (Thanks to my Hubby wanting one...)
I was thinking about how I would want to teach her to be comfortable in her own skin.
How it didn't matter what she weighed, but as long as she was active and healthy and doing the Lord's work it wasn't relevant what the scale told her.
I would want her to feel beautiful ALL the time.
I would want her to know that she doesn't have to have the trendiest clothes to be beautiful.
I would want to her know that a woman who is confident and comfortable in their own skin is the most beautiful woman there could be.

Thinking about these things, I realized that if she existed now she would probably never believe those things.
We get our self-confidence from our parents, especially as children. (Yes, our peers play a huge role as well.)
But as children we watch how our parents talk about themselves.
If as a mother I was always talking about how ugly and how fat I am, what would that tell my daughter?
If she believes I am superwoman (as I would hope she does) and that she wants to one day grow up to be just like me, what would that tell her about herself?
If I talk about how ugly and fat I am, how would that make her feel?
I am so guilty of this.
My husband would tell me all the time how beautiful and pretty I am. (and still does.)
My initial response as soon as he says it, "You're lying.", or "No I'm not, I'm so fat and ugly."
How does that make him feel?
If he believes I am beautiful, can I not just reply with a "Thank you."
No, because I truly didn't believe that I was beautiful.
I didn't realize my worth.

I am a CHILD of GOD.
 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;" -1Peter 2:9

I got so caught up in wanting to look as the world would have every woman look, and I felt ugly and looked it too.
I was sour and depressed on the inside.
It truly shows on our outside how we feel about ourselves inside.

I have made it a personal goal to try to not "fat talk" or "ugly talk" myself.
I want to tell myself (Yes, even in my head) that I am beautiful.
I am worth something to someone.
I am confident.
I am positive.
I am loving.
I am kind.
I am an encourager.
I am happy.

I've read before that if you aren't confident about something, you "fake it till you make it."
I'm going to fake it till I make it and am all these things.

I can't be a positive light in the world for Christ if I am negative and ugly toward myself.
If I were to follow the command of "....Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself..." -Mark 12:31, I would be hateful to my neighbor.
I would say ugly things about them and be a huge discouragement.
I am doing these things to myself.

I MUST start loving myself so that I can have the ability to love those around me and all that I come in contact with.

I am challenging myself to say positive things to ME.
Will you join me in saying positive things to you?