The List

Mow lawn: Check.

Clean bathrooms: Check

Change sheets: Check

Cook special dinner: Check

Prepare perfect outfit: Check

Re-organize and clean garage: Check

Make sure his car still starts: Check

Create welcome-home signs: Check

 

That’s right, my Soldier is coming home! It won’t be long now till he’s in my arms again. I can’t wait. And neither can the boys; they insisted we find their “Merican” flags to wave when we see him.

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll tell you it’s true: these long separations are always so hard, but the homecomings are always so sweet. Thank you, Lord, for joyful anticipation to carry us through the struggle of being apart.

Just a Barrel Full of Laughs

Life is just a barrel full of laughs around here. Mostly. The boys are as carefree as ever, and their cheerfulness and childishness keeps me young. I hope we never forget these golden days of summer and afternoon “swims” like this one!!

Yes, these golden days of summer, and these imaginative playful little boys of mine. Oh my, they keep me busy and they fill my soul with sunshine.

I’ve really needed that sunshine lately too. We’re well into Day #15 and I’m suffering a major case of the dreary weary’s. (if you haven’t heard of the dreary weary’s, you should check this fun children’s book out from the library. Fun book.) Anyway, I’m pushing past them as best I can, praying and trusting in God for help, but I’m feeling pretty wiped out.

It’s hard to know how to handle the wiped out feeling. Stay busy so I don’t sit around and mope. Or sit around and mope… and drink Starbucks. So far, it’s been the former. And truth be told, I haven’t really had a choice. The whole staying busy bit doesn’t take any effort. This whole week we’ve had non-stop all day scheduled events/happenings.

Part of me just wishes I could just sit around and mope. But I’ve discovered that even my attempts at downtime in this single parenting/house running household of mine are nigh impossible. I opted out of our weekly play date, (which is typically considered downtime itself—time at the park with friends, lunch out, happy kids etc) so that I could just stay home for once this week… and sit around… doing another hour of school time with the boys, mowing the lawn, changing furnace filters, cleaning the kitchen, and making FRG phone calls. You know, sitting around type stuff. Noah knows all about it, don’t you, Honey?

But in my failed attempts at relaxation and my overwhelming dreary weariness, I’ve found myself meditating on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

I have felt lately that I’m outwardly wasting away, that my body is weak and tired (despite getting good sleep and exercise), and that my troubles are anything but “light and momentary.” But this verse helps put things so wisely into perspective. An eternal perspective. This life is HARD. There are tests and trials on every corner. Keeping up with all the busy-ness of life and trying to do it all for God’s glory. It’s not easy, Baby! Even if the smiles on my kids faces might tell you otherwise. It’s draining. It takes a lot out of you.

But… it’s temporary. It’s but for a moment. And it’s achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs the trials, the work, the trouble, the effort. That far outweighs them all. What a beautiful promise and hope to those who are weary.

It’s such an encouragement, I might just go find a big blue bucket full of water and jump in myself.

 

*If you don’t hear from me for a while, it means I’m stuck in the bucket. Please help.

Long and Busy

As we readied for bed last night, my husband and I discussed our long busy day. Meetings. Errands. Paperwork. Phone calls. Soccer Tryouts. Bible Study. Most of our days lately have been just that:

Long and Busy.

Though long and busy, it's still been a good long and busy. (At least my schedule has been. Nick's... not so much). But even days packed with wonderful things are physically draining by nightfall, aren't they?

So when my husband asked, "What does your day look like tomorrow, Dear?" I was so pleasantly surprised by my own answer.

I envisioned the family room calendar. In my minds eye, I saw it filled with events and sidebar notes, pencil markings and scribblings in different colors. I saw book club and babysitting co-op. I saw 1st day of school and soccer practice. I saw dinner parties and play dates. Dentist appointments and swim lessons. And then, I saw Tuesday, August 9th.

And it was empty. Completely empty. A beautiful blank nothingness stared me in the face. Really? Could it be? A schedule free day in the midst of all the hustle and bustle?

In a voice of awe and delight, I told my husband about my empty schedule.



And oh boy, it's been beautiful. We've stayed home all day. Not a single errand, appointment, or meeting.

I played with the boys. I laughed and tickled and chased.
I cleaned. Oh, I cleaned so much and so efficiently-- it was amazing! I cleaned the hard to reach places that I usually avoid. I washed behind toilets and under cabinets. I Windexed mirrors. I dusted!!
And I cooked. And oh my goodness I cooked all the homemade wonders that I haven't had the time to cook in forever. I made granola! Hummus! Pesto!
And I planned. I pulled out all the schooling books and got busy for August 22nd (1st day of school). I organized events, and emailed participants. The ironic part is that a lot of my planning, was scheduling!! but oh well. It still felt so good.

I needed this day so very badly.

Now if only my husband could get a day like this from time to time--for now he has to live vicariously through me. And since we're two hearts that beat as one, it just might work.

Judge me, if you must

I was doing a little car cleaning in prep for our upcoming trip.

I always keep my car clean, (cause I can’t stand a disaster) so this was just one of those quick tidy-up, empty the trash, dump out the crumbs, kind of car cleaning.

But after making 8 trips from the car to the kitchen with my hands full…


I discovered that this was more than a little problem. And required more than just a little car cleaning too.
Sigh.

I’m guessing that we eat a few too many snacks on the go. And that I give into the “Mom, can I bring a toy with me?” request a little too often.



Because somehow one toy attracts another… and another and another. And then those others toys invite their friends and Al-a-ca-ZAM!! One toy so very quickly leads to a few hundred.

Or at least it felt that way while unloading today.



And the rocks, you ask? How did those get in the car?

Well, let me tell you: I HAVE. NO. IDEA.

What I do know, is that boys love rocks, and I love boys, and so I’m sure I’ve been given a few hundred rocks as precious gifts from my boys. If I had girls, I’d probably receive flowers or stickers, as a token of appreciation. But boys, yep, boys love rocks. And really? So does their mom. So I keep them.

I guess that makes the rock pile in the car my fault.



Oh well. What can I say?

Judge me if you must.

But love me, if you will. It happens to be the best of us.

Fail

 

For some months now, we’ve been hanging out our laundry.

Not our dirty laundry, (we still try to keep that to ourselves), but our wet, just washed, laundry. The sun has been out and hot since February, making it perfect weather for clothes drying.

And it’s been great. Not only does our dryer get a break, but our utility bill is actually pleasant to look at.

So, it being a bright sun shiny day today, and me, being a mom of outdoorsmen (meaning I always have laundry to do), I hung out a load of laundry before we headed out the door. I love when I remember to do that. Somehow I feel like I’m multi-tasking if I have laundry drying, while also running errands and eating lunch. You know what I mean? It’s like a double whammy, with twice as much happening in the same amount of time. SCORE!!

Or… UN-SCORE!!!

Because… if you’re me, you don’t watch television and you don’t check the weather, so OF COURSE, it starts to rain while you are out. And so, you come home to find that the clothes had had just enough time to dry in order to help sop up the torrential downpour that came their way.

Fail.

Oh well, at least the clothes were multi-tasking this morning. Wet. Dry. Wet. Dry. And the weather too for that matter. Nice job, guys.

Sandy sand sand

My men and I were able to get away for a short vacation to the beach this past week. Nick had a 4 day weekend courtesy of the US Army, so we took the opportunity to leave town and enjoy some much needed R&R.

Have you ever done that? Ignore the budget and the busyness, and force yourself to book a night or two at some quiet beachy place, just to just get away?

We’ve been doing more and more of that lately. Some would probably frown, or question how busy we really are if we still manage to take these trips to the beach, but strangely enough… the busier we are, the more these little get-a-way’s are necessary.

I think we’ve always been a fairly busy family, filling our days with adventures of every kind—but I’ll tell you, Nick’s Company Command has earned the “busiest most stressful time in our life” title. We’re doing our best to roll with the punches, praising God for the opportunities to witness and bear testimony of our faith and trust in Him… but also doing all we can to take more breaks so burnout doesn’t hit.

I admit, sometimes I wonder if burn out has hit already, but again, we are trusting God and using our resources to add some downtime to our busy schedules.

As you can see, even Noah has been on the verge of burn out. So glad he was able to catch up on his sleep during our vacation.

So… as I said, we went to the beach. The beautiful glorious beach. I found a smackingly good deal for a 2 night stay at a golf course beach resort, and booked it before I could think twice. Our stay included free breakfast at the resorts restaurant and free bike rentals. Not to mention a one bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the beautiful pools and lazy river. It was lovely.

And you know, the resort was marvelous, and I think we’ll stay there again, but the real highlight of the trip?

The beach. The beautiful sandy beach.

As we made the short walk down the board walk to the ocean side,  the smell of salt, sand, and sunscreen (yes! sunscreen!!) filled the air. It was heavenly. Coconut, pineapple, and every other sunscreen scent you can imagine. It wasn’t a crowded beach, by any stretch, but still I could smell it’s fragrance.

And crazy as it sounds, I stopped and breathed it in to make a memory. Then we slathered the boys down with sunscreen of our own, and then let them hit the beach running.

Within moments, diggers and dumpers, backhoes and plows were set to work by 6 little boy hands (and 4 adult helpful guiding adult hands too).

Oh sandy sand sand. How I love you!

We were all covered, head to toe, by the time we left.

As you can see, I literally mean, “head to toe.”

But still…it was such a pleasant vacation get-a-way, that every speck of sand we brought home with us seemed worth it.

Praise God for the much needed reprieve before returning home for another draining and busy week.

So sorry

So sorry for my absence of blogging genius this week. 

Has another week gone by already? Is it really Friday? This week has been packed, start to finish. Jam packed day followed by maj dekcap yad.

Wait. Reverse that. I did have coffee this morning, yet I'm still not thinking straight.

As I was saying, it's been a busy busy week. I enjoy being busy and having my days full,  but I think we've eaten  too many bags of Cheerios in the car (i.e. been out the door and on the road before breakfast) and had too few family dinners together this week.

Doctor appointments. Immunizations. Ladies' Bible Study (times 2). FRG meetings. Taxes. Grocery trips. Baking treats. Schooling kids. Phone calls. Play dates. Emails. Story time. Orthodontist consultations.

*Yes, I did say orthodontist consult. Sigh. Let me just say that I hope you all had braces when you were children because getting braces as an adult is going to be twice as traumatizing, I'm sure. Can't wait to be the only Commander's wife with 3 children, who actually looks like the Commander's children's babysitter. And to add insult to injury, of course, braces for adults cost TWICE AS MUCH as they do for the young. Good Bye, Summer Vacation. You're being swapped out for a mouth full of metal...I think.*

That just about sums up the week. I'd bore you to mention that each trip out the door involves endless finding, zipping, wiping, and feeding all before we actually get in the car. I know it will not always be this much work, but I'll tell you, I had no idea that three little ones would be so busy. I even remember as a full time career woman single gal, saying "I wonder what that mother of three does all day?"

Cringe.

Despite the work, busyness, and fatigue, I keep having dreams about pregnancy tests and twins.

Not that that is any prediction for the future. Or that we're even trying. I'm just star crazy after a roller coaster week.

So sorry.