Making Messes

Today is a blah day for us.  Kids are cranky and I'm having some difficulty getting motivated.  Sometimes the daily routines of tiding and cleaning and playing and disciplining feels so monotonous.  Boring, making it easy to wallow and feel like it isn't important.  That everything that "needs" to be done can simply be put off until tomorrow.  And it always feels like these are the days that the tears flow, that the diapers dirty faster and the attitude kicks up a notch.

And so I'm distracting myself during quiet time with a coffee and a blog post.  Looking through pictures of another home day.  And reminding myself that it IS important.  That the importance in the routine is sitting down for lunch and doing devotions with kids, even when it seems like they are not listening.  Of letting them fill the table with colouring and play-doh and puzzles.  Listening to them chatter, and fight over who's turn it is with the blue pen, while I work around the kitchen.  In our home these are some of the best teaching moments.  The best conversations. 

Jacob's more of a play-doh man, he makes spiders using toothpicks, he "buries" his cars in a ball and then uses his rescue truck to save them.  I've made him a sensory bin using a bucket with a lid, some old peas and old rice.  He spends hours with this, using his tractors to pile up the "construction sand".  Yes, it sometimes makes a mess.  But for me, this is apart of the whole raising kids, kids make messes.  Thankfully the clean-up is becoming easier as these little hands are getting better at helping. I let them practice sweeping and hand them the vacuum.  I've discovered the more I relax with the messes they make the happier they play.

This one will scramble up the stairs as fast as she can when she thinks I'm not looking.  She scoots into her room and throws blankets around.  I hear her giggling.

Then when she sees me she tries to run away. 

And then starts yammering to me.  And then we tidy up and go downstairs and it happens again.  For me it can feel monotonous, for her each time is thrilling and exciting.  And I'm thankful for these pictures to remind myself that a "boring" day at home isn't so bad!

Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas Time Misc.

This little one had a good birthday, a rather low-key birthday but still full of balloons and family.  And from her birthday we swung straight into Christmas.

Our house at the moment is showing the signs of a busy holiday.  Bags and clothes and toys scattered in random places, the effects of going from one place to another and carrying in sleeping kids late at night.  It was wonderful.  Time spent with both our families.  And today is a catch-up day, an "us" day.  To finish the half done puzzle on the kitchen table, to play with new toys and sort through old toys and donate them.

I laugh at all my pictures that hold all three.  They remind me of how crazy our life is at the moment.  Sporadic, busy, laughing one moment and crying the next.  Constant.  Household duties are accomplished only by grabbing the small moments here and there and working on it as time allows.  Never am I able to complete all my laundry at once, or clean an entire bedroom or write a blog entry without being interrupted.  And yet, slowly, these things that used to frustrate me so much have somehow become normal.

We were spoiled this Christmas, in health, in family and in church.

In gifts and in time spent together.

In siblings getting along (mostly).  In Jacob not throwing a tantrum.  At least nowhere near what those tantrums used to be like.

In Drew having time home and spending it with the kids.  Patiently opening their gifts and showing them how they work and playing games with them.

And to all you moms - I hope that your days following the holidays are quiet and full of kids napping and recovering from the festivities.  And that slowly your houses get back in order!

My Baby is ONE!

Maddie officially enters the toddler years today.  It never ceases to amaze me how much they change in this first year.  From baby snuggled against you, learning to focus and hold up their heads to a chubby little girl crawling and climbing and chattering.  The smell of newborn has long faded.  The eyesight has become sharp and curiosity beats the desire to snuggle.  We no longer wonder if her eyes will be brown or blue.  The smiles are quick to appear and the clapping at everything is so exciting.  The exhaustion of the first newborn months have become a fuzzy and happy memory, the fear and dread of a c-section seems so long ago.

She is busy waving and walking around tables.  Sturdy little legs learning to take their first step.  She is such a happy little girl.  Beaming and copying everything her siblings do.  She has this idea that she can outrun us.  She has another idea that open mouth kisses cures all and when someone is upset she scrambles up beside them to offer comfort in the way she knows best, a big wet kiss.

She is a joy during the day and a bit of a terror at night.  I wish I had the same ability, to awake in the morning from a night of wake-ups and chatter and sing throughout the day.  She does.  And yet, the wake-ups seem not so bad the next morning for the zest of life overcomes.  This little girl has brought so much joy into this house, I'm excited to see what the next year will bring!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

Life Moves On

My thoughts are scattered at the moment.  Torn between thoughts of funerals and birthdays.  Christmas and family, schedules and commitments.  There are so many needs that I feel like I am being pulled in a million different directions.

And sometimes it means that it is time to step back from the blogging world, to read more and write less. I'm at a time that the needs of the family require a bit more than what they are getting and I need to refocus.

I'm not sure how long of a break I will take, a week, perhaps a month.  But I will be back at some point, and until then I wish you all a wonderful Christmas season!

Thanks Steff for these wonderful pictures of me and Jacob!  I LOVE them!