Remeber my last few post?

Remember my post on Monday? It read, "Today is a good day." Well, today has not been a good day. It has been totally chaotic....to the point of laughter( is that spelled correct? These phonics lessons with Ella are totally screwing up my spelling ability). Anyhow, it started off with a trip to the grocery with four hungry kids. Can I get an Amen from all those Mama's with multiple kids who dare to venture to the store? My kids usually run around and get some energy out, snack on some cheese from the Deli (after listening to the Deli lady tell me how full my hands are and how I look like I need a break or some cheese), argue who gets to push the cart or sit in the cart, ask a million times if they can have a cookie from the bakery(why do bakery ladies do that to us Mom's?), and pretty much touch every piece of candy in the checkout. And can I ask why Meijer got rid of their penny horse rides? That was my saving grace. After I checked out I realized that I forgot diapers...darn-it. So, we left our cart and off we went to get diapers. All the kids wanted to help carry them so Ella and Darren carried one box and Graham helped me carry the other. Have I mentioned that Graham LOVES diaper boxes? He likes to sit on them and pretend that he is flying a DD (aka airplane) which is the other thing that he LOVES. Well he decided that he did not want any help from any one while carrying this box. He could carry it, but it was a bit heavy and it made him walk super slow. Graham is a ham but he is also strong willed. Oh, and he only has like five words which makes it all the more difficult. So here I am with four kids and wanting to get back to my cart of purchased groceries, all the while Graham is yelling MINE to everyone who walks by....even complete strangers. I am laughing just thinking about his little determined self. We finally made to the car and off we went. I forgot to mention that I left about ten loads of laundry for myself back at home, so I was a bit on edge at the store just thinking about the monsterous mountain I had to conqure at home. Remember that poop explosion of Eden's? Yep still haven't washed the clothes. Why you ask? Well, my laundry room is getting a makeover.
You can usually stick a fork in me after we go to the store. It just takes everything out of me. But today, I had to be strong because no one had clean underwear. I put the kids down for a nap, started my first load of laundry, did school with Ella, and then....I got to lay my head down. Wait....what is that sound? It sounds like water.....hmmmmm....I should check it out. What was it you ask? Remember my post about my sad little laundry room getting a makeover? Well, it has gotten more than a makeover. I opened my laundry room door and water gushes out!! Water is EVERYWHERE. It is going out the door and down the vent in the floor. All I could say was.....well I won't repeat it but I said it a lot of times and then had another school lesson with Ella on what words not to say. This was not the worst of it. I walked down into the basement to the storage area. I opened the door and it looked like it was raining. Water, again, was EVERYWHERE!! So much stuff got ruined. Pictures, old letters, some of Darren's old photography stuff...I won't say any more cause I will probably cry. Water was even coming out of the can lights in the finished area of our basement!! By this point I was just about...laughing. It was hard to believe that all of this was really happening.
I won't go on any more about the rest of the day, which believe me will be good for another post. But I must share one last thing. In the midst of this craziness, God was with me. I felt a calmness that I have never felt before. Normally I would be my pesimistic self and complain about the situation. This time, it was different. I felt the Lord telling me that He is here and all of this "stuff" that is soaking wet is just "stuff". I felt Him saying, "put down all of this stuff that you haven't looked at in years, get rid of this stuff that you have been carrying around for years. You don't need it! All you need is me." Wow...deep...and I'm not referring to the water I was standing in. Isn't our Lord awesome? Once again I am hearing the sweet whisper of my Savior in the midst of my daily, somewhat chaotic, life. I love you Lord.

Its a good day

I am reading through the book, "Blue like Jazz" by Donald Miller. If you haven't read it....you should. It is...pretty cool. I haven't read anything like it.
I thought I would share a quote with you on this Monday. I hope it gets you thinking:)

"What I believe is not what I say I believe, what I believe is what I do. We live for what we believe. Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something is the hard thing. If I live what I believe, then I don't believe very many noble things. My life testifies that the first thing I believe is that I am the most important person in the world. My life testifies to this because I care more about my food and shelter and happiness than about anybody else. I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, that fashion in not truth; rather, Jesus is the most important figure in history, and the gospel is the most powerful force in the universe. I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus likes people and even loves them."
We talked about this somewhat at church this Sunday. Making my behavior match my beliefs. Changing my "whens" into "nows." Putting my intentions into action and living for what I believe. Make this Monday a day to serve the Lord with all your heart. Start living for the Lord today, serving Him in all that you do. Share your passion for the Lord with those around you today. Let them know the amazing God that you Love and serve.

Blow Out!

This weekend we have been doing some stuff around the house. Paint touch ups, painting the laundry room, and other painting that I will post about later. The house has been a total mess all day so why not throw in a totally disgusting and messy baby. While we are making our own messes with paint and...what ever that stuff is that you use to patch holes in your wall, Eden desides to add one more mess. My sweet little girl has been waiting to poop for the past two days. Finally she decided it was time. She had some force behind this blow...poop was everywhere.

Box

My parents gave me a box of goodies for the kiddos. I told the kids that they couldn't open it until there was at least a foot or so of snow outside. Well, I guess they gave us the box just in time because we got a big snow storm soon after. It has kept the kids crafting all week. If you know my kids they will do crafts all 24/7. Oh, and it had one of those cool old fashion gum ball machines inside too. Graham saw it first. So, like all kids who see something first, he claimed it as his own. Thanks Mom and Dad. It was like Christmas all over again last week. You are so creative and thoughtful. I thought I might be able to hold out until February, but not with all the snow and ice that kept us inside.

Eden can write!

Ella so badly wants Eden to grow up and play with her. The other day I caught her trying to teach Eden how to use the doodle thingy.

Ella had her first sleepover last weekend. We started off her birthday celebration early in the morning with the table decorated Ella style in pink with fresh flowers just for her. She turned 6 this year and wanted to have her best friends, Lydia, Anna, and Elise, sleep over. We had a blast. Girls are so much fun. They dressed up a lot, painted wooden boxes, made necklaces, decorated cup cakes, dressed up some more, ran from the two little boys in the house, and stayed up for hours giggling when they should have been sleeping. Oh, and did I mention that they got out the boys marshmallow guns and had a marshmallow fight? Yeah and they did it in dress up dresses and high heel shoes!! I love my little girl so much and her sweet little friends have such a special place in my heart. I pray that they will be BFF's! And if you Mamas need baby sitters in a few years these four little girls will be ready for you. It seemed like one of them was holding Eden at least the entire day. These girls sure like babies!

Going to the island for snack

Since the weather has gotten cold we have had to get pretty creative with how we spend our days inside. Lately the kids have been enjoying their snack on the bottom of our kitchen island. Sometimes we eat lunch there too. Good times!

Help

All of our kids love to help. It used to be a free for all when I would get home from the store. Three kids, a ton of bags, and soon there would be groceries all over the kitchen floor. That was until I used my noggin and gave the older two their own area of responsibility. Ella is responsible for keeping the pantry organized at all times as well as putting away all the pantry items when we get home from the store. She refers to the pantry as "my pantry." And if you need something she knows just where it is. Little Darren is responsible for a few things. First he must use his strong muscles to carry the bags inside. Boys, no matter what the age, love to hear that they are strong and have big muscles. I convince Darren...well both Darren's (my husbands name is Darren also) to do a lot of things this way. Anywho, After little Darren carries the groceries in his responsiblity is to unload the cold stuff and put it away. It is also his job to teach Graham, his younger brother, but we are still working on that one. Here are just a few pictures of them doing their jobs. Sorry for the not so good photography:)

Birthday dinner

Thanks to all you who have wished me a happy birthday. It sure does mean a lot. No matter how old I get I still love it when someone wishes me a happy birthday!
Last night me and the family went out to dinner. I have the best husband and kids in the world. They are so much fun to hang out with. Never a dull moment and there is always a bunch of laughter. So, little Darren brought the laughs last night. He is such a funny kid. Finally we are out of that weird fit throwing lots of whining stage. I am so enjoying watching this little boy grow into a little man. He is just so cute. Well, last night we are sitting in the restaurant and of course we are the loudest table in the place. We get lots of stares and just about everyone comments on the fact that we have four kids. Anyhow, our food arrives. There is always that short silence when the food comes. Everyone is hungry and you can't help but stop and just look at it. Well, during this short silence little Darren looks at his Dad and says (quite loudly) "Dad...pause...remember when I used to drink Budweiser?" Gasp....more silence...stares from everyone.....lots of laughter but only from our table. Big Darren responded, "Budweiser? what do you mean?" Little Darren: "You know Buuuudweiser!" So funny. But really he has never had Budweiser.

After we discuss beer for a while with our four year old he begins to eat his traditional meal that he gets at every restaurant, chicken and fries. A few bits into his meal he looks over at me and Darren to see what yummy food we are eating. First a look of curiosity and then a look of disgust, then he hit us with this, "Mom why did you chew your steak up and then spit it out?" Now I want to loose weight, but chewing and spiting out my food is not how I am loosing weight these days. I actually ordered the blue cheese fillet....mmmmm it was good. It did look a bit interesting with all the goodies on top(or a bit regurgitated from a four year olds perspective) but I for the record I did not chew and spit.

Funny things

My kids are hilarious. This weekend was Ella's six year old birthday sleepover so they are still coming down from their social high. I will post pics and stories about that later. Anyhow, they are playing with some of Ella's new presents...one of them being a toy cell phone...a pink one that seems to be attached to Ella's ear. Ella was using it to call the doctor for her 4 year old brother. What was the reason for her call? These are Ella's words, "Yes, Doctor...um Bubby is sick. He is obnoxious and his belly hurts." So funny! Soon after they were again running up and down the stairs playing and Darren blurts out, "ELLA!! You're too loud to ignore!"
Kids crack me up!

Hanging by a thread

My sweet girl is officially growing up. Her two bottom teeth are loose and are just about ready to fall out.....or get pulled out by her Daddy. I tried to pull one of her teeth out for her, however, rather than her tooth getting pulled out, I got pulled back in time to when I was her age and loosing my first tooth. I remembered the anxiety I felt about loosing one of my teeth and suddenly felt such compassion for my little crying and concerned girl. Needless to say, I have not tried pulling on her tooth again. Here is a video of her expressing her concern about her tooth. After watching the video of Ella, I noticed that the thing in her hair is actually one of those toe separators for painting your toe nails. She used ribbon from her craft box and tied it to a head band. She thought the toe thing looked better as a crown.

Graham being a ham

Kids say the funniest things

My kids have been on a roll lately with saying the funniest things. A week or so ago I was in the car with the kids and Eden was crying. I sometimes let Ella get out of her seat to give Eden her paci. This particular day it was raining and I didn't feel safe having her get out of her seat. Here's how the conversation went:
Me: Ella I don't really want you getting out of your seat while it is raining out.
Ella: But Mama Eden is sad and crying.
Me: I know. But, she has to learn that someone isn't always going to be there to put her paci in her mouth when she wants it. She has to learn to comfort herself.
Ella: When I am a Mama I am not going to let my children cry at all.
Little Darren has been getting up in the middle night with strange request. Two nights in a row he woke us up with crying. He usually doesn't wake up crying so we were concerned. The first night it was because his pants were too tight around his waist. Seriously, my 4 year old son is waking me up at 1am because his pants are tight. I think he was dreaming because none of his pants have ever fit him the least bit snug. And since when did he know the word waist. He usually refers to it as his belly. The second night he woke us up crying because he was scared. He couldn't explain why or really say much of anything. After talking with him for a bit his Daddy told him to get back in bed. Little Darren responded over and over and over again in a crying voice, "I am just a kid Daddy, I am just a kid." Yes just a kid waking me up the third night in a row at 1 in the morning.
Graham doesn't say much but he sure is funny. Being the third child he tends to follow the two older ones around all day and do what they do. He doesn't talk much and hasn't really gotten into using his imagination much yet. Well, until the other day. He really likes helicopters and airplanes. He calls them DD's. Sunday I bought what it seems like these days my daily box of diapers. The older kids love playing with the box and using it for things but Graham has never been interested. This particular day I found him putting the box up on its side and climbing on the top to sit. I didn't think much of it. I look over a bit later and he had gotten an empty cardboard ribbon roll and was holding it in his hand like a steering wheel. He could tell I was curious as to what he was doing and replied, "DD, DD, DD" and acted like he was flying an airplane.
Kids are so fun.