Overwhelmed.

Life is insane right now.  And I'm losing my mind!  And right now I'm feeling like I CANNOT WAIT for the next phase of life when all the kids are 5-10yrs old.  No more naps to schedule around, less of the CONSTANT demands, less of the CONSTANT fighting, no more diaper bags to completely unload every time I'm trying to find something, kids are more independent, I can actually go shopping by myself sometimes, I can actually complete a simple task without being interrupted a thousand times, having TIME to actually keep a somewhat clean house, and having the FREEDOM to leave the kids and go do something FUN with my husband like tube down the Iowa River for an afternoon.  I try not to wish this time away because I know I'll miss it later.  But right now I'm having a hard time seeing WHY I would ever miss this so much.

I think a lot of what is causing me to feel so overwhelmed right now are the house projects.  When our home is not tidy I feel crazy.  Like I actually can't quite breathe right, and I'm no neat freak.  The dining room is now in our kitchen,. And we also got a new fridge lately and because it didn't quite fit we had to take out the surrounding cupboards and just put them in random spaces in the kitchen, so I barely I have room to move in there. I really want to help with the projects, but I can't.  The kids CONSUME ME.  And when we try to tag along on shopping days to Home Depot (1.5 hrs away), because I want to be involved, it ends up taking all day by the time we do feedings and bathroom stops and diaper changes and meals.  And another of Kevin's days off are "wasted".

Hannah had a blowout diaper yesterday and even after 3 or 4 tries with the carpet cleaner I CAN STILL SEE IT!  She's 2.  This shouldn't be happening.  Not now.

Carter's been having crappy naps.  Waking up after barely an hour.  And last night he somehow got to his tummy while being swaddled in his cradle and I heard him fussing around trying to hold his head up with his arms bundled down.  Scared the crap out of me and now I don't want to swaddle him anymore at all.  Which will not help at all for getting him to sleep longer during the day.

It's Easter this weekend.  But it doesn't feel like Easter because Kevin's working nights all weekend so we have no plans except for me trying to attempt the church breakfast "alone" with all the kids.  I know, church friends will help manage the kids, but still, my mind is scattered.

Praying for patience.  Praying for strength.  Praying for peace.  Praying for perspective.  God help me.

Kids Memory Verse Song

For all the memory verses I do with the kids I try to come up with a short song to help us remember. I guess that's me finally using something of my music ministry degree? We sing them in the car, throughout the day, and at bedtime. It's a lot more fun than just reciting verses. I posted a few HERE quite awhile ago and now we have a lot more to share, so be watching for them in the coming weeks.

We try to do the songs as closely to the verse as it is, but more importantly I'm trying to teach the message of the verse.

This is one of our shortest ones:

Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as Christ God forgave you."

(Tune: Mulberry Bush)
Ephesians four verse thirty two
Be kind to one another
Share God's love with everyone
Be kind to one another.

For the glory of God

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
1 Corinthians 10:31

Monday Meanderings

Bible Study
We've finished our Fruit of the Spirit Bible study with Beth Moore. This week I want to go back through the book and review a little bit.

Memory Verse
2 Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Husband Encouragement
Help with the dining room as much as I can. Make sure to offer him water breaks while he works. And work hard to keep the rest of the house tidy so it's refreshing when he comes back in from the "work zone".

Train Them Up
* focus on their fussing! I can't stand it anymore!
* no angry (me)
* memory verse: Philippians 2:3 "In humility, consider others better than yourselves."
* school - new commandment, Bible story

Personal Goals
* start getting up before kids so we can get up and going, especially with it going to be such AMAZING weather this week! >>DONE
* write thank you note >>DONE
* take kids to park
* go for a walk >>DONE
* order AdvoCare >>DONE

Absolutely MUST Do
* pay bills
* set up Dr. appointment for Eli for new eczema lotion >>DONE
* clean house

Zone - living room hutch

Menu - will get this posted later today.

Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday -
Thursday -
Friday -
Saturday -
Sunday -

FUN THINGS!
* working on house projects on Kevin's days off - new refrigerator, maybe a new grill?
* nice weather coming this week! (high 70s!!!)
* Dinner out with ladies from the church on Thursday (if I can figure out childcare for my three)

Things I'm thankful for today:
1. A weekend home visiting grandparents
2. Sunshine!!
3. My hubby getting up before me today and cleaning up the the living room and vacuuming! GREAT way to start the day!

Join me with your plans!! Blessings on your week!

Well if she said it, so can I!

I'm going to be an aunt!!!!!! My sister-in-law is pregnant!!! They just found out this morning, so she's due the end of November/early-December, and I couldn't be more thrilled!!! Read Holly's thoughts HERE. We are so thankful and will continue to pray for a smooth pregnancy! All I can say is Yay, Yay, Yay!!!

Sign of spring

Look at this bugger. Isn't it actually pretty cool looking? Looks like he's wearing a battle shield.

That's it. Just a random post.

Goodbye.

Monday Meanderings

Okay, I don't really feel like doing this today, but here we go anyway! It's going to be an exciting week! Because it's my birthday week! =) And go wish my friend "S Club Mama" a happy birthday tomorrow too, because we're birthday buddies! =)

Bible Study
It's our last week with the Beth Moore Fruit of the Spirit study. This week is on self-control.

Memory Verse
Romans 13:14 "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Husband Encouragement
With him working during the day and also working on the dining room when he's home, I'm going to try to work according to his schedule and needs and have a good attitude about taking care of the kids and house stuff extra.

Train Them Up
* have compassion. I admit that when they're rowdy and get hurt, I don't have much compassion on them and instead just get annoyed. When they're upset about some stupid little toddler thing I don't understand {AGAIN} I get annoyed. It's reeeally tiresome listening to crying all day long. BUT Instead I want to respond with love, gentleness, and compassion instead of always saying, "STOP FUSSING!"
* do little crafts with them. Nothing big. Nothing that takes much planning or supplies at all. Today we're monitoring the outside temperature every hour and making a chart to show how it changes throughout the day. Another day I want to have them do a do-a-dot rainbow. Other days I can have them sit at the table cutting and gluing stuff while I do dishes or something.

Personal Goals
* keep a food log
* clean house. I can see us starting to get lazy with it again!

Must Do
* get mail out! It's been sitting on our keys table for days now!
* organize kitchen
* put clothes away. I'm almost done getting the kids' clothes switched over for the season.

Zone
* the kitchen!!!! After the start of this big house project, all our dining room stuff got moved to the kitchen and now everything's everywhere, and I reeeaaally want to reclaim my kitchen this week!!

Menu - I'm so excited I really just have to plan ONE DAY this week!! Kevin's sister and her husband were going to come home for Easter weekend, but since Kevin works all that weekend we asked if they could come home the weekend before. So they are, and we'll head back to our parents' house for the weekend. Kevin's sister still hasn't met Carter yet, and we haven't seen them since Christmas, so we're really excited to see them!

Monday - mommy night out with friends from church
Tuesday - my birthday! going on a date with hubby! Thanks, Jaesi for asking to watch our kids so we could go out! Lunchtime is our MOPS potluck and playdate. I'm bringing lil' smokies. Also bringing jello cake for my birthday, a favorite that I think all the kids will really like.
Wednesday - meatballs, mashed potatoes, fruit (we already have all those things!)
Thursday - our last Bible study so we're eating snacks there. I'm bringing this fruit salsa and cinnamon tortillas. A friend of mine brought this to a game night at church awhile back and it was sooo good! I still haven't gotten the recipe from her but this one looks like it could be similar, so I'm gonna try it!
Friday - home
Saturday - home
Sunday - home

FUN THINGS!
* Mommy night out tonight!
* My birthday on Tuesday!
* Potluck and playdate for lunch on Tuesday
* Bible study on Thursday
* home for the weekend on Friday

Things I'm thankful for today:
1. Seeing family yesterday to celebrate my birthday
2. I get to go grocery shopping without the older two today!!
3. We started our dining room project! (see here)
4. The sun in shining!
5. I get to go out to dinner with friends tonight!

Join me with your plans! Blessings on your week!

Calorie Counter

I need to lose weight. About 20 lbs. My friend Mel just recently went on a 1400 calories- a-day diet (or something like that) and lost a very noticeable amount of weight. So now I want to do that too. I really haven't found much time to do my 30-Day Shred workout like I was hoping (I'm not a morning person. don't want to get all sweaty and have to shower during the middle of the day. and I like to relax in the evening with Kevin), so now I'm going to start focusing more on my diet. Recognizing I am nursing and can't make drastic changes or it will affect my milk supply. So the plan is this: eat fairly normal and see how many calories I intake on a regular day, and then shoot for eating a few hundred less than that gradually decreasing my number to 1800-2200 (which was recommended for nursing moms here). I found this website that can help me count my calories and rate the quality of each food. Pretty interesting actually. I guess wheat crackers are graded a D+! Why's that?! So as I try to decrease my calorie intake I'll naturally be turning to foods that are healthier like carrots and apples for snack instead of granola bars or cookies. I'm also going to watch my beverages. I've gotten into the habit of having coffee most mornings, and I only drink it with a LOT of cream and a LOT of sugar. Plus we've been eating out a lot which for me means a lot of soda. So. Enough of that!

It's kind of easy to say today when it's snowy out and we're not going anywhere. But what happens when we eat out or I make something that's hard to calculate calories because it's got a bunch of different ingredients.

Who knows.

But this is what I'm going to try. Have you done this? What have your experiences been?

Monday Meanderings

Bible Study
Fruit of the Spirit with Beth Moore, gentleness this week

Memory Verse
1 Peter 3:1-4 "Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

Husband Encouragement
a gentle and quiet spirit

Train Them Up
* remaining gentle (noticing a theme yet??) with them this week no matter how angry and frustrated I may be feeling
* Bible verse: Philippians 2:3 "Consider others better than yourselves."

Personal Goals
* Write in prayer journal again this week. Several days last week I jotted down some verses or prayer lists, and that was very good for my soul.
* Go for a walk.

MUST Do
* Carter's 2-month pictures
* thank you notes

Zone - kitchen counter. starting to get cluttered down by he cookbooks again!

Menu - I'll get this finished before Tuesday but want to go ahead and post so others can link up.

Monday - Omaha
Tuesday - mom's bringing something for us
Wednesday - chicken alfredo (didn't get to this last week)
Thursday - pulled pork (from freezer)
Friday -
Saturday -
Sunday - birthday celebration in Omaha with family!

FUN THINGS!
* helping my brother and sister-in-law move Monday!
* Mom's coming to visit on Tuesday and she's going to watch the older two kids while I take Carter to his 2-month check and then again all the kids that night so I can go to Bible study
* Wednesday, while Mom is still here to watch my older two, I'm taking off to Lincoln with Carter to get Eli and Hannah stocked up on spring/summer shirts and dresses.
* next Sunday's birthday celebration with family!

3 Things I'm thankful for today:
1. I'm so thankful my husband doesn't give up on me, even when things get really ugly! (because oh boy, have I been ugly lately!!!)
2. I'm thankful my friend Erin and her little daughter (just younger than Hannah) came to visit yesterday afternoon!
3. I'm thankful that it's starting to dry up around here!

Join me with your plans! Blessings on your week!

I cleaned my room!

Well, my zone for this week was our bedroom. With the phasing out of maternity clothes and sharing a room with a sleeping baby, it quickly became a DISASTER. See for yourself! Carter sleeps in our bed with us, so the cradle became a pile zone when we picked everything off the floor to vacuum. Because Carter AND Kevin are usually asleep already when I come in from my late-night shower, I usually just end up setting my clothes on top of my dresser as I come into the quiet, dark room. Getting laundry actually put away is my LEAST favorite chore. And everything else, well, it just happened. So in order to help motivate myself to finally tackle this room and do it to full completion, I wanted to post some before and after pics (I almost just left the closet, but for the sake of the picture I finished) and to help anyone else who might also need a little kick in the hiney =) So here it is! I did it, and so can you!

BEFORE

AFTER

And even after these pictures I brought the cradle downstairs to the office in hopes of transitioning Carter to actually laying down for a nap instead of always sleeping in the bouncy seat during the day. I tried it this afternoon (now still actually) and although he didn't go down as smoothly, even with his ocean sound playing as usual, he did fall asleep on his own. Yippee! I don't think he's sleeping as soundly, he's fussed around a few times and gone back to sleep. But it's only the first day, and I'll call this a success!

It feels sooo good to actually accomplish a big tackle such as our bedroom! The rest of our house is mostly fine and just everyday clutter that gets picked up at the end of the day (most of the time). And I'm happy to say I got caught up on laundry this week too AND it's put away!!

Monday Meanderings

Bible Study
Fruit of the Spirit with Beth Moore

Memory Verse
Psalm 19:14 "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Husband Encouragement
I was bitter and unthankful last week and said a lot of hurtful things. This week I'm really going to bite my tongue.

Train Them Up
* I'd noticed the kids were starting to ask for TV every day, and I don't like when it gets like that so I successfully avoided TV for most of all last week. And I really liked that! There were times when I'd feel tempted and instead chose that opportunity to read books instead. It was great, and I want to try that again this week!
* After disciplines I want to start doing little prayers with the kids. If the child was having trouble sharing something (imagine that!), after their time out or whatever lead them in a simple prayer like "Dear God, help me to be kind and think of others first. Help me to share my toys and not get angry. Amen." or "Dear God, help me to be patient. Amen."

Personal Goals
* Work out 3x this week. I did NOTHING last week! A lot of my thoughts were geared toward this week's MOPS meeting and getting things planned for that.
* Write in my prayer journal. I'm struggling with some things right now, and it's been quite awhile since I've really sat down and prayed.

MUST Do
* bills
* schedule Dr. appointments (ah! I meant to do this last week!)
* Finish MOPS prep - purchase snack, make animal cards, finalize and print lesson plan, print song sheet, wrap surprise box, cut out white circles for craft
* prepare MOPS newsletter info

Zone - master bedroom. Maybe I can get some before and after pics on this one, just to hold me accountable to getting it done!

Menu - make sure to buy things for lunches b/c a lot of times we don't have leftovers or anything and end up getting drive-through somewhere

Monday - sloppy joes, oven roasted potatoes, orange
Tuesday - taco pizza, pineapple
Wednesday - Caesar chicken wraps, apple, carrots
Thursday - chicken alfredo, broccoli, peaches
Friday - hamburgers, veggie chips, orange
Saturday - stuffed pasta shells
Sunday - TBD, not sure what the schedule is for that day yet

FUN THINGS!
* MOPS on Tuesday
* A friend visiting next Sunday afternoon!!

3 Things I'm thankful for today:
1. Spring is coming!! Flocks and flocks of birds flew in yesterday afternoon!
2. Our amazing church family who helped me corral my crazy kids yesterday after church when my hands were FULL juggling the three kids (one was crying and two were running around!) and Kevin wasn't with me!
3. Binkies. Carter is perhaps the worst binky sucker ever but he does well enough with it for it to help, especially when we're out and about and he's tired.

Join me with your plans! Blessings on your week!

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 33:1-11

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song'
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the seat into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
Fore he spoke, and it came to be,
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But he plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Fun pics of the day

Did you see me??

Answer Me This: Pampers Wipes

Okay, can someone PLEASE fill me in here?! WHY do some Pampers refill wipes packages have the sticky top so you can use the refill package as your actual travel wipes, and other times they don't have the sticky top and you have to actually cut open the package and place the refill into a plastic wipes container? Did that even make sense? Has anyone noticed this same problem??

Things I'm loving this week

1. Tropical Trail Mix
2. Curried Rice
3. Creamy Potato Soup
4. This snuggle bug5. Hannah's hair in big pigtails6. My camera memory card being completely cleaned off! I've had the same 500-or-so pictures in there since September-ish!
7. Buying another laundry basket
8. This handy dandy workbook storage solution.

beforeafter

9. Our tax refund.

10. The sun, warmer temps, and the snow melting!!
11. Sleep.
12. First baby smiles.13. The kids going without TV all week!
14. A close friend of mine's preggers with their first baby!
15. I finally got to catch up on the phone with my best friend Angie!
16. My brother's moving back next week!

Target dollar bin

I'm such a sucker for Target's dollar bins! We're over an hour from the city, so we don't go to Target much, but when I do I always find great things! Take a look at a lot of what's there right now, all for $1 each: 3 Precious Moments books, 2 journals, Easter/Spring stickers, Go Fish cards, oh and a Curious George puzzle I forgot to throw in this picture! Fun stuff!

Monday Meanderings

Okay well, we all know how well I did last week after not laying out a plan for the week! It's time to GET ORGANIZED! And I'm happy to say we're off to a great start today. One load of laundry left to go in, the dining room is freshly vaucumed and wiped down, "things" are starting to get picked up, and an errands list is prepared for tomorrow in town. Kevin's off 'til Friday so with his help we can definitely get life back in order! The temps have been above freezing this week so I actually sent Eli (and Hannah too but she didn't last as long) outside to play on their own. I've never done that before but it was great! Our big drift of snow is right out our back door, so the kids didn't go far, and of course I peeked out at them every couple minutes. Eli was happy as could be and just played for about an hour both yesterday and today! If we can do this in spring some, that'll be great! Okay, so on with the week...

Bible Study
this week we're on gentleness with our Beth Moore fruit of the spirit Bible study.

Memory Verse
"For he himself is our peace." Ephesians 2:14

Husband Encouragement
How about preparing some real meals this week! Particularly one I know he really likes but we haven't had in quite a long time!

Train Them Up
* the power of praise - a pocket full of pennies (thanks, Crystal!)
* more quality time with Eli - I took him on his own day out with me (and Carter) last week and it was so fun seeing him just be him. No fighting with little sister. He was so pleasant! And then following that day I've been sitting down playing cards with him (it's been sooo long since I've done this) and reading lots of books and doing puzzles and he was just gleaming! So I realize I really need to do more of this! And that, my friends, is another reason my house has been so neglected! How to find the balance!
* Carter still naps downstairs all day, either in the bouncy seat or on the couch. But I should start putting him upstairs in his bed for at least one nap a day, to start getting him used to that.
* Memory verse: "Do everything without complaining or arguing." Philippians 2:14

Personal Goals
* drink lots of water! maybe this will help me not feel so hungry all the time
* do some exercise every day. I'm trying to get into the 30-Day Shred but I do not have time to do it every day. I can, however, do a couple of the exercises from it on my own. Even if I only do 5 crunches, at least it's something!

MUST DO
* schedule Dr. appointments for Hannah's 2 year and Carter's 2 month shots
* get mail out
* plan a menu!
* write thank you notes
* plan MOPS activities
* mail out MOPS postcards

Zone(s)
Guest room (get laundry put away!). I'm trying a new system to avoid this now. Clothes NEVER fully get put away when I fold them in there. So now I'm going to try folding one load at a time on the living room couch. Fold, gently stack them into laundry basket, carry it upstairs, and... get this... put it ALL AWAY!

Master bedroom. I've been tossing out maternity clothes from the closet into a pile on the floor. Plus I come in after my shower at night and baby's already asleep in our room and it's dark, so I usually just lay clothes on top of my dresser. In general, we just have a lot of things that need put away.

Menu

Monday - potato soup
Tuesday - tacos on our leftover Fritos, pinepple
Wednesday - chicken kiev, curried rice, cooked carrots, rolls
Thursday = Kids Nite - blast off burritos (I have this kids cookbook my mom passed on to me but have never used it. So I want to start trying more of those recipes.)
Friday - meatballs, veggies
Saturday - spinach pizza
Sunday - TBD

Dessert of the week: grasshopper pie

Fun Things
* gearing up for our next MOPS meeting
* hopefully getting to catch up with one of my best friends this week!

3 Things I'm thankful for today:
1. This sweet little baby sleeping next to me on the couch right now. Man, he's cute! =)
2. Warmer weather. Spring is ALMOST here!
3. Kevin's days off. Love them.

Whew! Seemed to take forever today! There's a lot on my plate for this week, house-wise! Have a great week, friends! And of course join me if you'd like...