Tuesday, September 3, 2013

It's Crazy-Great Around Here



The Cowboy was gone in the woods looking for Elk this weekend.

He usually makes a "special" breakfast on Saturday mornings. So when I rolled out of bed at 8am the four bigger treasures informed me that they were waiting patiently for something good. :)

I can cook some things... waffles and pancakes are not "some" of those things. I have no idea where I go wrong. I follow the directions to a T.

This morning, I tried to think optimistically but no such luck. When I pulled the first waffle out of the waffle maker it felt a little crisp. I tapped it against the counter... it was like tapping a rock against the counter. Where's the Cowboy when you need him?

Well... when all else fails, pull out the whipped cream. It works every time. A dollop on top of each crispy waffle and I had four happy, thankful treasures. :)

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Little Solomon Jude is doing great.

Until yesterday he seriously never cried. And yesterday, well, he seemed to have found his voice.

Yesterday, while holding Solomon, My Siah asked me how babies ask for help. I told him that they cry, to which he asked, "So Solomon has really needed much help since he got here?" I laughed.

Then last night when I was putting Siah to bed, he asked me why Solomon all of a sudden needed so much "help" today. I love listening to the way my older kiddos are processing having a new baby around. When Jed was born, everyone was five and under and they didn't really talk to me about Jed. So it's fun to hear all their thoughts.

My sweet friend Courtney took some newborn pictures this week of our newest gift. I love pictures.



And my sweet friend Tara made this awesome thank you card/ baby announcement for our family.


He had his first bath...



He has his nights and days slightly mixed up. He sleeps like a champ during the day, but has a hard time going back to sleep at night after I feed him. But the best part is, when I feel overwhelmed at how tired I am at night, this strange but lovely thing happens when I see his little round eyes look up at me in the dark... I take a deep breath and I find myself smiling and thanking the Lord for my little man. I pray over him, his heart, his life, in the wee hours. And although I am tired beyond belief, I am equally overflowing with giddy joy.


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In other news, I have an 8-year-old that has been finding potty talk quite humorous lately. This of course is not the Mama's favorite thing. This morning when he and his sisters were laughing their tales off at the kitchen table over these potty words (literally "potty" words, like poop and pee and potty), I asked him kindly to please find something else to laugh about. He got quiet for a second and then said in all seriousness, "gosh Mom, I have no idea what we're going to talk about now." LOL. As if the only thing worthy of laughter is the potty?? :) Oh, son of mine, how I love you. :)

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(circle time with the littles... and laundry. :)

School has been wonderful this year and this is why...

I'm so so tired...

But...

Tiredness breads grace... and grace breads joy. 

Whether I'm grouchy or gracious, I can still only get done what I can get done. I cannot accomplish more by being grouchy, so I might as well offer grace, to my treasures and to myself.

So although I aspired to start our day at 8am, we have not even one time done so. We start whenever I can get myself to the kitchen table in the morning. I had aspired to finish by 3 in the afternoon. We have not once finished by 3. We finish when we finish and that's the beauty of doing school at home... Because what happens under this farmhouse roof during the day is controlled chaos. I teach spelling, and the baby leaks through his diaper. I listen to a child read, and another child does a back flip off the swing in the yard and needs a bit of patching up on her knees.

STAYING IN THE MOMENT. It's the only place I can live joy-filled right now.

And finally after 4 years of home school, I feel like we have found the right curriculum for us. It's so hard to choose curriculum because there are literally thousands of choices out there.  But this year, so far so great!

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And that's what is happening at the farmhouse these days. As I type our littlest monkey is asleep in my lap.
The Cowboy has been keeping me grounded in what's important as I'm tired and hormonal and a tad bit weepy {smile}. And I'm endlessly grateful for this place, this time, and these six folks...