Happy Valentine's Day!

Whoso loves, believes the impossible.

May you love with all your heart, believe the impossible, and laugh super hard at least once each day! 

This too shall pass....

Sometimes as a wife and mom, I get tired. I get weary of doing the same things over and over, and not ever feeling like I get ahead. I spend the first half of my day schooling, and the second half cleaning, only to wake up the next morning to what looks like a small tornado touched down somewhere in our house. In its path must have been the jar of homemade jelly. For it is now spread all over my newly mopped floor. As I lean down to do a quick mop of this area, I remind myself, "This too shall pass".

The laundry room did not bypass its path either, for it looks like a years worth of dirty clothes were "deposited" there, as well as stray kitty litter, dirty shoes and craft supplies. This looks like I will have to spend the afternoon in here putting it all back together. I don't really have a free afternoon. So, I cram it all in the hamper. Do a quick sweep with my sock covered feet to push all the litter to at least one side of the room. And remind myself, "This too shall pass".

A morning wake up call to three separate girls rooms should have been done with my eyes closed. "Girls! Didn't I just fold all that laundry yesterday?? Why oh why did you feel the need to make little tents for your stuffed up animals with it??"...."This too shall pass...This too shall pass...This too shall pass.

Night time rolls around where I get to spend a little bit of one on one time with each girl, as I tuck them in. They tell me their most favorite parts of the day. They give me homemade love letters and pictures they made for me during their free time, and they shower me with hugs and kisses. When they are all snuggled in bed I turn to leave their room and gently close their door, and it hits me. Oh No....this too shall pass!!

There are many seasons in a mothers life. They go by so quickly. I am praying that this season does not, for it is one that I love and cherish. Help me Lord to not get caught up in the weariness of it. Help me to not focus on the things that don't really matter. Help to remember the joy on that little one's face as she made her own sandwich, instead of focusing on the floor that "captured" most of it! And Lord....help me to remember that cat mess next time I see a precious little kitten that I think I  MUST have. ;-)

The importance of label reading ;-)

By now I think we have all heard how important it is to read the labels on our food. There are so many things we are supposed to be avoiding, that it really limits what we should be buying. It shouldn't have High Fructose Corn Syrup. It should be low in calories, sugar, fat and of course sodium. If it does have fat it needs to be the good kind, not the trans fat stuff....well that leaves lettuce. ;-)

Not only is it important to read the labels before you buy them, I am beginning to see the importance of labeling them after as well. Take yesterday for an example. Before I go to the store I like to do a clean out the fridge meal. I try to use up whatever ingredients I have left before I add new ones. I found some tomato soup leftover from earlier in the week. Hmm...that would be perfect with grilled cheese. So, I made the grilled cheese and re-heated the "soup". When the girls were called in for lunch and told what was on the menu, they were thrilled. EVERYONE likes this meal. Only something seemed weird with the soup. Oh dear....that's not soup, that is spaghetti sauce!! Pizza sandwiches anyone??

At dinner time one of the princesses disappeared right as it was time to sit down. She returned shortly after with these little food labels to use for the meal time. One for drinks, one for foods, and one for vitamins. 

Guess she wanted to be sure she knew what she was eating this time. ;-)

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Day!

I am not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. It's not that I think there is anything wrong with them...I just don't normally make one. But this year there are a few things that I have promised myself that I would try better at doing.

I want to to treasure EVERY day, and look forward to what it might bring. I don't want to always be worrying about tomorrow, and end up missing out on the blessings that might come with the "right now".  I want to take the day for what it might bring, and make the best of it.  So, we started today. What better time than today, to just "roll" with it and try to turn it into an adventure? Yes, we did school first. But it is amazing how motivated those three students can be sometimes. ;-)

I have heard so many people say that they would like to start eating better. I feel like we eat pretty good around here, but there is always room for improvement. 

Nice warm chocolate chip cookies after playing in the snow.

Hmm...not sure that will go with our "trying to eat better" desire. Oh, I know...

Mmmmm. Peppermint Hot chocolate to accompany the cookies.

There. That's "better"!

Christmas 2011. The perfect Christmas??

Okay, we did have a "rough" start to the Christmas weekend, but despite all of that, it turned out really nice.

 The girls were thrilled to watch the process of the septic tank being pumped out. After I got over the fact that we had to dish out cash that I really didn't want to, I couldn't help but get a case of the giggles. The girls complained about how gross it was...but yet they chose to sit right there and watch/smell it all. I was content to watch from a distance. ;-)

 We spent Christmas Eve with Sweet Man's sweet family, and enjoyed an afternoon of food and fellowship.

 We came home and prepared the "sleepover" spot, and read the Christmas story.

 All tucked in and ready to watch Miracle on 34th street.

 We didn't get snow this year for Christmas, but we pretended. See our snowflakes?

Christmas morning we had a lovely breakfast with too much food, with my parents and my Dad's sister. Wait. Did I say too much food? Not really sure if that's possible. ;-)

 Sweet little hats for sweet little girls, given to them by my Sweet Aunt.

Every cowgirl needs a pony in the house. This is where Sweet Man pipes up and says, "FOR REAL!!??"..."No, Sweet Man not for real...FuRreal!" Thanks Mom and Dad. This gift was a hit for sure!

 This pony has been letting the girls practice all kinds of things: riding backwards, lassoing, shooting "wild dogs" with their pop guns, and with the help of Junior Mints and a pitch fork...stall maintenance. ;-)

 Princess #1 was able to play a few Christmas Carols for us.

 Probably should have fixed the girls hair that morning...:-o

 And mine. ;-)

 Sweet Man giving cart rides through the house with Princess #1's big surprise. Sweet Man got this for her to help in her barn chores. I must say I was a little envious. It's a dump cart! I just might have to borrow this from time to time. 

 I received the most darling tea cup and plate from my mom. 

After a fun filled morning with my family, we spent the afternoon setting up train tracks, playing board games,

Trying out all of the new arts and crafts,

 And doing pony rides.

I realized something two days before Christmas, right after my little meltdown, I was trying too hard to make this the perfect Christmas. I was wearing myself out, and it seemed like my attempts were failing. I decided to just sit back and let the peace and joy of the day happen. Did I say peace? Well, there were still sibling fights, stinky dogs, dirty windows, a broken furnace, mud surrounding the house that you could not only loose a boot in, but perhaps even a small dog or child, and a to do list that was a little too long. But you know what? It turned out just fine. We had a wonderful day and made some wonderful memories. We were able to flush the potty without fear of "it" showing up somewhere that "it" shouldn't. That was pretty awesome!

 One of the things that surprised me the most was how sweet the girls were with their gifts to each other. They loved them, even though they couldn't figure out what they were half of the time. They were so sweet to each other and kept saying thank you and that they loved this "little piece of fabric", or that hand drawn picture of ??. It really did bring tears to my eyes, and made me realize where all my craft supplies have been going...LOL  Was it a "perfect" day....not really, but it was lovely and I am beginning to realize that perfect does not always mean lovely.

Too high of expectations?

Perhaps my expectations were to high. I get that. I often am let down by a situation just for the mere fact that I expected too much out of it. But wow....this week has been rough. We have been a little too busy on homemade things.

We had a set of braces put on. Have you ever had braces? Do you remember how painful that is? Well, I have been reminded....several times. :-(

We have lost a vehicle, only temporarily, and I am thankful it wasn't much worse. Sweet Man was driving through town when his brake line busted. He came super close to being hit by an ambulance on it's way to the hospital. Had to drive straight through the light. He joked that if he was going to be hit by anything, an ambulance was probably the best choice. We signed up for life insurance a couple of days later....

One little princess has decided that she doesn't like a single thing that I make in the kitchen. It has been an all out war every meal time. I did not expect this. I have worked super hard on their eating habits. I do not have the patience for this at all. Lord HELP ME!!!!!

One of the other little princesses decided to throw a fit during school this week. She didn't want to do work, she wanted to just play and listen to Christmas music. She doesn't realize that I start night shift in 13 days, and I am starting to freak out wondering if I perhaps have bitten off more than I can chew. Breathe...Breathe....it'll be okay...Right??

Oh yeah...Sweet Man and I decided to give our presents to each other early this year. We just couldn't wait any longer. LITERALLY! A backed up septic system 2 days before Christmas. Are you serious?? "Let's spend the holiday digging it up and having it pumped out."...:-( You better believe that wasn't budgeted for..

As I scroll through the posts on Face book, yes I am on Face book again, I can't help but feeling a little sad by all the joy filled posts. Families playing games together, or baking.  That is what this time of year should be about. JOY. Instead I have one child out in the barn crying, because I expected her to eat spaghetti and meatballs, one hubby digging out in the cold on his much needed day off, and a whole lists of stuff I am supposed to get done for other people. I am plum wore out. I think my expectations were indeed too high for this day.