They've Figured Me Out

Uh-Oh.
Evidently my kids know me better than I thought.

Overheard:

Isaac: Emma Grace, why is Mommy letting us watch a movie right now?
Emma Grace: Probably because she's tired of us bugging her while she tries to make the cake.

Apparently my "Hey, since Emma Grace got out of school early and it's so cold outside today, would you guys like to curl up on the couch and watch a movie together?" line didn't work because she heard what I was really thinking......which was........"you guys are cute and all but this job would go so much faster if you weren't in here spilling all the ingredients and asking me every 1.3 seconds to lick the beaters."

Dang.
I guess now I'll have to wait and get my Mother of the Year Award another day.

Oh My!

Eat your heart out, ladies....

I didn't even know he was nominated.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Partially because I love to eat and partially because it means Christmas is right around the corner, and I love Christmas even more than I love to eat. This year was different, but for a good reason....we stayed home instead of visiting family because our house sold and we need to get some stuff done before the inspection and do some house hunting. Yay. So anyway.....did I mention that I love Christmas? No seriously - I try to wait until after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music and put up decorations but it's terrible. It's like giving a dog a bone but telling him not to eat it. (Yes, I realize I just compared myself to a dog.....I don't know why.) So, since we were here, and since my daughter shares my passion for all things Christmas, we she and I decided to go ahead and decorate the house.

I know it looks like they're being sweet and working together to hang ornaments, but looks can be deceiving. Really the worker bee is making sure her brother doesn't screw up Christmas by hanging an ornament in a spot that she has not ordained. It's tough to be the boss around here.

Taking a break to break the no sitting on the coffee table rule and watch the parade.

Taking another break to look cute playing on the stairs.

After the decorations were hung, and I finished my 6 mile Thanksgiving day run (so I could burn 600 hundred calories to make room to consume 4,000 more) and baths were had, we headed out to a friend's house to get our eat on.....

Turkey Time

We headed across town to spend the evening with friends who are more like family.

The kids did some dressing up and giggling.

The adults spent hours having deep and meaningful conversations about the many things we're thankful for relaxing and reading about upcoming Black Friday sales

and ordering things off the internet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Notes

I am so thankful to have a daughter who loves to write

because she leaves me little notes around the house.

And I LOVE finding them.

They always brighten my day.

The End.

Cause and Effect

If your littlest is really not feeling well and you think a walk outside will help,

Then your arms will get sore because you end up carrying him the whole time.
(Apparently the view is better from up here...)

If you would do anything for thirty minutes of peace while cooking dinner so you ignore the children who have locked themselves in the bathroom,

Then they you will have a big mess to clean up.

If you always think it would be a great idea to carry around a spare set of clothes for each child in your car but never actually put the spare clothes in the car,

Then your daughter will have to wear home a large Chuck-E-Cheese shirt when she has gone down a slide that a different child just puked all over.

(I know. Gross, right? She was pretty excited about the free shirt though.)

If you blog about the tough parts of life sometimes,

Then you realize that you're not alone in the trenches and it makes you feel a little bit better.

Thanks friends.

For Realz

In bible study the other night we talked about being real. We talked about not pretending that we have it all together. We talked about admitting when we're weak and when we need help. And I think that this concept of "being real" is hard for some women. Sometimes we like to sit back and judge other women and moms who don't seem to have it all together and ignore the many ways that we ourselves fall short. And we all fall short. And I think I always want to seem like I have it all together even though I definitely don't.

So in the interest of being real, I'll confess that I'm in the trenches right now. My son is definitely in the trenches right now. We are spending a lot of our days at doctor appointments and therapy. We are hearing things that are scary to us. And I'm not trying to be secretive or dramatic or drum up sympathy, I'm just trying to be honest. I don't like being in the trenches. And I definitely don't like watching my son there. And in the interest of admitting that I don't have it all together, I'll admit that the past few weeks have been a slow, free-falling I can't do this breakdown that culminated in one phone call yesterday that put me in my place. There is nothing better than friends who climb down into the trenches with you, see you in your ugly place, and put you in the place you so need to be.

And these words were sent to me by that same friend. And they are exactly what I needed to hear. And I keep reading them over and over because right now I just can't hear them enough.

"...but I truly believe that if we allow ourselves to admit we are weak, admit that we just don't understand, admit that we are so freaking tired of how things are at the moment, then and only then can God work in us, and use our situations to grow us. These moments that we dread, hate, run the other direction from - these are the very moments when God wants us to lean on Him - lean on Him hard."

So there you have it.
I admit it: I'm weak and I'm struggling.
And you know what? Sometimes I'm even a little bit angry at God.
But I'm still leaning on Him....
for him:

This sweet little boy who is still a baby in my eyes.

And anytime I seem like I have it all together or anytime it seems like I'm "handling it all with grace," it is only because of Him. It is only because He is the foundation underneath the trench. It is only because He can hear and see me at my worst, when I'm literally cursing Him, and still give me peace in my heart that things are going to be okay. And His love doesn't get more real than that.

And that is for realz.