Garden

One of our goals this year is to have a garden.  I'm scared but really excited too!  I have great visions of learning along with Caroline and Libby how to care for our little plants.  I also have realistic thoughts that I might kill them all!  I've gotten some advice from friends so we are going to give it a try.  

Yesterday we started working on clearing out a spot for our garden.  It's going to take some serious work to get it ready!  A good bit of our back yard/side yards are au natural.  :-)  

Mark and I worked together for a bit and then the girls needed some more supervision.  I love this picture of the girls having a little snack, while Mark is working hard in the back ground.  Before we had young ones, I use to love to work on projects with Mark!  I really miss being able to come up with a vision together and then doing the physical labor to make it happen.  Maybe one day soon we'll be able to put these girls to work with us.  :-)

Circus

We had the hardest time deciding what to buy Kelsey for Christmas this year!  She always has the best toys and Lindsay and Brad make sure she is a stylish little one.  We decided that instead of a present, we would take the girls to the circus.  They asked and asked when we were going to go and the day finally arrived.  I didn't get any real good pictures but we did have a lot of fun.  Just yesterday we were driving in the car (a full week past the circus) and Caroline randomly piped up with, "I had a lot of fun at the circus Mom."  She makes my heart melt on a daily basis.  

The circus was overload for 3 year olds and they sat in stunned silence through most of it!

Of course, the $20 spinning toys kept them occupied as well.

Valentine's Day!

Whew!  We made it through Valentine's Day again this year.  If you'll allow me to be completely honest I think this is the first year since we have been married that I have not had the slightest bit of frustration with the holiday and nothing was really different this year than any other year!  I've learned to make a big deal out of whatever I want to make a big deal and to let Mark do his thing.  Honestly, I thought I had learned that a few years ago but it's the constant bombardment from family, friends, media that makes me frustrated.  I get tired of answering the question, "What did Mark do for you?"  If you must know, he bought me a box of chocolates and while it's every girls dreams to be swept off her feet, I'm totally fine with a box of chocolates - dark chocolate at that!

Valentine's did take a bit of work this year because another mom and I were in charge of the preschool party.  The parties at school have gotten to be INSANE!!!  Just ask me for some pictures...completely ridiculous, pinterested (made that up) out!  So the other mom and I opted for a few cute, festive items but kept it super simple!!  I'm simply lowering the bar for the Easter party moms.  :-)

Reagan and Reese came over to visit that afternoon and I loved seeing the girls in all their pink and red!!  This is the best picture I could get with all 4.  

Mark arrived home right before dinner and came bearing gifts for the girls.  Caroline has a new monkey that she adores and Libby a new puppy.  They honestly don't have that many stuffed animals yet so it's sweet to see them have an attachment to a special stuffed animal that daddy gave them.

I made Mark's favorite dinner, salmon and bow tie pasta in alfredo sauce and we ate on china in the dining room.  It was a good day.

I admit, the picture below is not from Valentine's day but it shows the love in our home.  I've been playing pandora a lot as I'm in the kitchen cooking.  Mark and I started to dance the other night and Caroline snatched the camera off the counter top and took some pictures before we even knew what was going on.  :-)  Love her and my Markus Alexandria too!

Hope

After telling others that my cousin Samantha and her son Logan were living with us, my ears always perked up for the response.  There were two different responses.  First, the old, wise people would smirk and say, "How's that working out for you?"  The smirk and the know it all voice was so discouraging!  They were always the first to say that she should move out and learn on her own.  I value the advice of older, wiser people in my life so much so that I met with an older, wiser woman once a week for much of the time Samantha was with us simply to talk through the issues.  However, it seems that many have lost the hope that Christ can change hearts and lives!!

The second camp was full of the younger folks who would inevitably act like it was no big deal.  "How hard could it be to have someone living with you?"  There is no way to explain this...your in-laws (nothing against my in-laws - just the stereotype) staying in your home for 5 months maybe?  Never a moment that was your own, your entire family dynamics change.  I was thinking the other day about how hard marriage can be and you get to choose your spouse and their characteristics.  The comparison is not the same because we chose for her to live with us but without going through the year long dating process to find out if we actually liked each other!  Thankfully, we loved her but that didn't make it less hard!  We were trying to guide a child who had a child.

In some ways I feel more confused than ever about this whole situation.  I'm certainly no expert but I thought I should take a few minutes to write about the lessons that I learned the last five months that my sweet Samantha lived with us.  It's has been one of the most challenging seasons of my life and definitely of our marriage.

• Life is messy!  There are so many circumstances that could be detailed here but none of that will happen.  Family relationships and financial strain were two of the biggest complications.  I will never buy into the "american dream" of work hard and you will succeed.  The obstacles facing many people in our world today are beyond just hard work.  Thankfully, we were reminded in a sermon a couple of months in, that God is in the mess.  Jesus came to be in the mess, not sitting pretty with the white napkins.  We needed him desperately in our mess!  
• Parental impact is significant.  Duh.  My parents gave me a chance in life which is a huge reason that we took Samantha in.  Everyone deserves a chance to get out on the right foot.  Parents can give you that opportunity or take it away.  I'm talking financially but more importantly with values and life lessons/skills.  Am I teaching my children the values and skills that they will need to succeed in life?  Even the basics like saying thank you is huge!    
• Ask questions.  You must ask questions in order to learn and grow.  We grow up in little bubbles (good or bad) and you have to get out of it to realize that the world is a lot bigger than your bubble and that people may think a lot differently than you.  Just because something has always been a certain way does not mean that it is right.  Take the time to ask questions and do some research on your own.  Another lesson that I hope to pass on to the girls.
• 2 is harder than 3.  3 just takes a lot more time.  Going from 2 children to 3 children was not that bad.  Everything just takes soooo much longer and then there are a few things that just can't be done without help.  Getting dressed takes an additional 20 minutes, cleaning up after meals is the same deal.  Not because the actual dressing a child takes 20 minutes but because of the chasing you have to do in the middle of dressing or because of other children interrupting.  Totally doable...with lots of time and patience and lots more time and patience.
• Review your vision weekly or daily if needed.  Mark and I were always on the same page in our vision of how to love God and care for Samantha and Logan.  However, we had to recommit to that vision sometimes daily in order to make it.  When things got hard, we always went back to "why are we doing this?"  We always agreed but sometimes needed to remind each other when it got tough.  
• Giving your life to Jesus.  Being obedient to his call makes that happen in new ways.  For a little over half of my life now, I have called myself a Christian.  I have chosen to follow after Christ, to put myself in His word and to serve God the best I know how.  All of this took on a completely new meaning when we had to do this on a daily basis in front of someone new.  There were moments that I wanted to yell but was instead gently reminded by the Holy Spirit that maybe I should pray instead.  We have been blessed with so much that I never had to fully depend on Christ in my daily routine until we were obedient and stepped way outside our comfort zone.
• God is faithful!  This one has been the best lesson by far!!  Through stepping out of our comfort zone, reading Scripture and studying Genesis in BSF I've seen God's faithfulness in new ways.  Once again, I think I got stuck depending on myself and not seeing how God had been working in my life.  I was amazed time after time when God would make himself evident.  There are some great stories about Chick-fil-a, Fireproof and a new friend.  Not only these but the occasional "break through" conversations that accompanied chocolate desserts.  God's timing was amazing through it all.  I've been listening to the hymn "Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus ' lately and the chorus says, "I have proved him o'er and o'er" I feel like God proved himself over and over to be our peace, joy, hope and Savior!  

There are a billion more lessons that we learned along the way but I think those are the ones that have stuck out the most.  I feel incredibly grateful to God and to Mark and the girls for allowing our family to have this opportunity.  We all learned lessons that could not be replaced.  The night that Samantha left Mark even said that as hard as it was, he would do it again in a heartbeat.  I am also beyond grateful that we still have a relationship with Samantha that will continue to grow.  

We don't know yet what kind of fruit this seed will bear but I do know that I will forever trust in the ability of Christ to change lives.  I will not forget the look in her eyes as we loved her with God's love.  I would also encourage others to take a leap of faith and put yourself in a place where you have to depend on Christ.  I look forward to the next adventure with our family!!

Women's Retreat

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to go on our churches women's retreat.  I had never been on the retreat before because it is mucho dinero and we had itty bitty babies at home.  However, I solved the problem of those silly excuses by serving on the planning committee this year.  It was a blessing to get to know a new group of ladies at the church.  I was also very thankful to get away for the weekend and especially thankful because this sweet lady went with me!

I really just wrote this post so that I could post this picture.  Madre is the greatest and I'm so thankful for the many ways that you she loves me and our whole family!

Honestly, I get a little nervous when I think about spending time with groups of ladies.  There is always something about the confidence that I may lack and the chatter.  I just always feel nervous like I won't fit in or that I will open my big mouth and say something that I shouldn't.  However, every time I leave a women's gathering I feel blessed by the women that God has placed in my life.

Sewing Again!

Lindsay and I have gotten together the past two Thursdays while the big girls are at school and done some sewing.  It's been so peaceful, relaxing and fun.  Lindsay doesn't use patterns...just like me.   We like to wing it, much to our professional sewing madres chagrin!  Libby toddles around and sometimes tries to play with Macie while we sew.  She was swinging her as high as the swing would allow!  Aunt Lindsay is so sweet to let Libby help!

Libby was pretty excited about her new outfit.  It's a little big but she still has some time to grow before summer.  :-)  I think madre is going to add a finishing touch of a monogram on the top.

Weekend Fun

This past Saturday we had our Sunday School friends over for a little "music class."  The choir director where I work (who also does music for the daycare) came over and did a baby class and a preschool age class.  It was so nice to see so many of the mamas and babies that we normally miss on weekday get togethers.  I think we all decided that next time its going to be Daddy's and Donuts!  

Jack and Joanna - sweet little ones!

Music class put little Macie to sleep!

After music class, Prem and Jenna came over and had a "soccer lesson" with Caroline and Kelsey.  I feel like everything needs to be in quotes because how serious can you be about music class or soccer lessons with 3 year olds?!  Prem was as sweet and patient as could be.  He brought cones, taught them how to trap the ball, pass and dribble.  Caroline loved it and paid attention so well.  I was really proud of her.  Maybe we will have a little soccer player!

Caroline was super fascinated with trapping the ball.  She would hold this pose for several seconds every time she got the ball.  Don't tell her but I think she looks like a cute circus elephant!

Libby was sweet as could be all morning.  She takes the crowds and chaos at our home all in stride.  She watches everything and jumps in when she sees fit.  Thankfully, she chose to watch the lesson.

Coach Prem and Coach Jenna!

Pancake Day

Both our husbands were out of town so we decided to take the whole crew to IHOP for free pancakes last week.  Whew...it was crazy!!  The kids were all really well behaved but the restaurant was beyond crowded.  We had a good time though.

Dentist

Caroline had her first trip to the dentist last week.  Little did we know that Libby would be roped into her first dentist visit too!  I could not have been happier with the pediatric dentist that we visited.  They were wonderful through the whole visit and the girls both got good teeth reports.  :-)

Here are a few pictures of the exciting morning...

Before the exam, they checked out all the toys in the office.

Caroline had been to the dentist with us twice so she thought she was big stuff and laid down in the chair like she knew exactly what to do.  She was SUPER through the whole cleaning!

Poor Libby on the other hand, had to be held down.  :-(  However, we asked her to lay down the other night  at home to have her teeth brushed and she did excellent so she must not be too traumatized.

So thankful for another milestone down with relative ease!