Around Here: Week 14

Starting & ending... Spring break.  We squeezed a ton of fun into one short week.  I'm exhausted! We road tripped to see both sets of grandparents, as well as aunts & cousins; visited my grandparents at the beach; hiked to Pool of the Winds with my dad; celebrated my sweet baby cousins' gender reveal (it's a BOY!); snuck in lunch with my soul sister Brittany; shopped till we dropped with my mom & Carly; then road tripped back home where I've been dealing with sick kids, visiting our new grocery store, and doing load after ever-living load of laundry from our trip (even though I did laundry while we stayed with my mom).  Today I washed, folded and put away seven loads. I also vacuumed the van (what a satisfying job that was!) and took the best nap of my life while Carly slept this afternoon.  All in all, I'd say a lovely spring break!

Wanting... to slow down. To spend less time on social media or other goals, and really just spend time "being" and have that be enough. I played around with the idea today, and I spent so much more time delighting in my children, enjoying the moment I was in, and not rushing. I can't wait to give it a go again tomorrow.

Feeling inspired... after reading this from Glennon:
"One day is today.  Don't wait.  A woman doesn't actually need a room of her own, but she does need an hour of her own.  An hour during which she steps outside of her roles so she can remember her soul.  An hour in which she's serving nobody but her own potential."  Even though I'm desiring (very much) to slow down and quit "keeping up with the Joneses", I still want to be me. Part of being a mom, I fear, is the risk of losing myself.  So I want to make a conscious effort to spend some time reading, blogging & journaling in an effort to discover myself again.

Laughing... at these mom jokes.
1) "Mothers are basically part of a scientific experiment to prove that sleep is not a crucial part of human life."

2)

I was telling Logan that I was tired cause last night with Carly was brutal and he stopped in his tracks, turned to me and said, "Aren't they all?"

Watching... as Josh and his brother and our nephew erect a new (to us) play set in the backyard. The boys are overjoyed, perhaps Wyatt most of all, that we're going to have a new place to play.  So am I!

Reading... The Gift of an Ordinary Day, which is having a very positive effect on my parenting and my patience.  I can see from reading her words how quickly this time with all four of my beautiful kids under my roof flies by, and I don't want to miss a moment.
I also started both Present over Perfect (on kindle on my phone) and Uninvited, which, so far, seem to be along the same themes.  God is good that way-- when he wants to reach me with a message, He doesn't go with subtlety.
In April I really want to finish The Lies We Believe and read Women, Food and God again, as well as dive into the Dave Ramsey book we have and get our finances exactly where I want them.

Enjoying... Carly as she is suddenly talking and signing more.
She says:
Bark Bark (at any dogs she sees)
Meow (when she hears our cats meow)
More
Bubba (what we call stuffed animals)
All Done
Thank You

She signs:
all done
more
mommy
water
please
bye
thank you
fish
kitty
ball
shoes
eat

Listening... to Hello and Stay with Me with the boys in the car, and laughing as they sing their hearts out and make up dance moves. Mostly, there's a lot of dabbing.

Taking... Logan in for his MRI. I'll be blogging more about it later, but he did an amazing job (he's so brave) and made me so proud of him, yet again.  It'll be a while before we hear the results, but I'm glad to have had it done.
In other Logan news, his side effects from his medications seem to be fading. He hasn't complained once all spring break about feeling dizzy or headachy, so my hope is that his body has adjusted and when he heads back to school we will have zero issues. Thank you so much for your prayers on this.

Meditating on...

 "A mother's part in sustaining the life of her children and making it pleasant and comfortable is no triviality.  It calls for self-sacrifice and humility, but it is the route, as was the humiliation of Jesus, to glory." -Elisabeth Elliot

(Seriously, follow old.paths on instagram. so much inspiration)

And also... this from Ann Voskamp's post:

"How did you give thanks today?

And how did you live given?"

Just reading those questions makes me want to die to self a little more. 

Especially in my mothering.

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