A New Normal

It's been a long while! A short walk down memory lane reminds me that my new normal is nothing like my old ebb and flow. Babies, babies, babies! Wow, we had a string of little people for so many years! I miss those chubby little hands but I'm not sure I would trade it for the joy of having a house full of bigger children. If you are still in the throes of babyland, take courage! It doesn't last forever, and the hardest times will be forgotten due to sleep deprivation. ;-) Just kidding- if you have one or more babies in your house, I honor you for the valuable work you do in the everyday sacrifice of your time, your body, and your energy.

From now on this blog will be the continued story of our efforts to make a beautiful life out of imperfection. Life with a house full of children and a farm is messy. We love creating and producing and exploring, but none of that is neat and tidy (until blessing hour, when we clean it all up at 5pm). I am learning and growing as my children are doing the same, and it's an adventure every day...like it or not. 😅

So glad you dropped by!

coming and going

We're all about teeth here these days. Eleanor's are coming in like a flood, and I expect by her first birthday- in a month- she'll have four new ones on the top. You can just barely see them peeking out in perfect hillbilly fashion.

On the other end of the spectrum, this girl smiles a little bigger so as to show off the gaping (at least in her mind) hole in her mouth. One Morning in Maine declares her a big girl now that she's lost this first tooth. I'd have to agree.

how we get 'er done

I never said it was pretty, but it's how we get things done around here. Many hands make light work!

Keep/Drop

Since January 2nd I have contemplated a post about goals and my own resolutions for this year. I kept mulling it around in my mind, mostly waiting for the 30 spare minutes to appear so I could type it all out. Before I could wax eloquent on why I wasn't making any New Year's Resolutions, I read this post from the blog Small Notebook for a Simple Home. She described much of what I wanted to say, only better.

I think her "keep/drop" system really boils it all down. I am tempted to give you my own list of things I plan to keep and drop this year but she gives plenty of examples, and I think the whole idea behind her post is that we don't need to make our goals based on some other person's ideas of success. What I need to focus on this year may be exactly opposite from how you should spend your time.

A sense of peace and quietness, which I pray is felt among my children and husband, has been the greatest blessing from the dropped expectations and activities. Somehow our days are just as busy and I still don't find myself with a lot of quiet free time (but I have made reading more of a priority!), yet I know the busyness is purposeful. It is accomplishing some of my goals- and my husband's goals- for our family. Ultimately, it is creating more happiness. And you know what they say about Mama being happy...

Lately

Listening to the Jim Croce station on Pandora. Comforting a teething baby. Putting a nap-skipping two-year old to bed at 6:30pm. Preparing for a stamping class and covering all kinds of things with pretty paper. Making homemade tortilla chips for myself under the guise of making them for my husband. Hand-scrubbing floors with Borax- works like a charm. Not blogging much. That's what we've been doing around here.

Morning Post (from somewhere in the Pacific)

It's morning somewhere, right?

We've had an unusually busy 7 days or so, and after a particularly low point last night I decided the computer was not going to be looked at until nap time. The kids have been so mischievous lately, even Coop (which is not like him), and I'm wondering if one factor is my own busyness. Is this some sort of desperate plea for attention and love? I'm sure that's only a small part, but the computer lay dormant all morning and I didn't even open my reader. We read lots of books, tried to find the missing dollhouse people (two weeks later the family has shrunk to a mere two people), and did our work without the thought of worrying about doing it quickly so as to get to the next thing. I don't mind that life is full, and that as a mom of three small children I will always be busy, but I do mind the rushing about and having to tell the kids to do their own thing so I can finish my work. And that work is usually so I can be a blessing to someone else...I'm not sure if I will ever learn this lesson. This post is sounding very familiar.

So I either need to learn to be very busy in a calm way or we need to do less. The verdict is still out. Or (option #3) we may just be in a season of needing to pull back for a short time in order to reassess needs and address behavioral issues...or maybe just to rest and gear up for the future. I'm also praying about it a lot.

Tonight is book club...The Excellent Wife is our book to discuss. I'm thinking it might be better for me to stay here and be an excellent wife (haven't seen a lot of my husband this week) but I always come home from book club motivated to "do" and "be", and this is a great topic on which to be inspired.

I was looking for a picture that reminded me of how in love I am with my children, and found this. Coop was the only grandchild at the time...look how enamored we all are! That's how I want to be with all my children, even when they are past that adorable baby stage and on to the destructive, arguing stage. :) God is so patient to forgive us and lead us as we go through our stages, and I desperately want to be a picture of Him to my children.