Last week I explained a bit about my plan to “Makeover My Monday“

Today, we went on a nature walk.

I already had the idea to do a walk around our neighborhood but then I found a fun website with the idea to make it more purposeful, talking about your 5 senses. This was by FAR the best Monday project yet. My kids LOVED it, no set up or clean up, completely free, provides some exercise (especially for the nature guide) and it was even educational :). Even Lou loved being in the stroller outside. We couldn’t have better custom ordered the weather and it was so pretty we stayed out and about for nearly 2 hours. So fun!

God gave us

EYES to SEE.

We saw fall colors (at least various shades of green and yellow) and looked for “wild animals” in the “forest”. We watched the splash that rocks make and the saw the bright light that comes from the sun.

God gave EARS to HEAR.

We listened to the sound of the moving water,

the songs of the birds, the chirping of the crickets,

the sounds of an airplane and a train and our favorite…

the sound of an echoing hammer

(bonus that someone was working on their fence).

God gave us NOSES to SMELL.

We got to smell the flowers (mostly dandelions).

God gave us FINGERS to TOUCH.

We felt the tops of wild rye, the smooth rocks from the creek,

the coolness of the mud (not Mommy’s idea)

and the different textures of the leaves on the ground.

We also did some “feeling” before we left.

We felt cotton balls, sandpaper and pennies and

tried to guess what we were feeling without peeking.

Lou did lots of “feeling” the wind on her face and the sun on her toes!

And God gave us MOUTHS to TASTE. We made our snacks at home before we left as the nature guide for this activity was VERY certain that we would not find anything on this walk that we should taste!! While I was making the bag of snacks, I would put one item in their mouths and let them guess what it was (goldfish, marshmallows and M&Ms). I think this was their favorite part (thank you, leftover Halloween treats).

Some bonus activities that this nature guide might try to avoid next time:

-The smell of a nice large pile of doggy poo on our path

– Feeling how wet pants can get running through tall wet grass to catch a nature-exploring-escapee.

-KJ feeling the joy of a soaking wet slide (check out his pants

– Realizing that the leaf you think your two-year-old is looking at(with his hands) is really a decaying banana peel.

–Hearing your 3-year-old announce to the playground that he poo-poos in the potty.

-Knowing that there is no way that your boys didn’t taste some of what they touched!

But even with all of that…I wouldn’t trade these moments for the world.

Thanks, Monday.

ABL

A challenge to a dual or a consipiracy to escape ANOTHER photo shoot?

Either way, this is one HAPPY princess!

We had fun being with the teenagers while they collected can goods. It sure was a work-0ut for me, pushing 3 babies in a double stroller. Wowzers. They all LOVED it, though. Can’t you tell?

(please ignore the fact that a certain country music singer forgot to have his momma wipe his face after enjoying his pizza!)

I sure love spontaneous (and free) fun!

ABL

*This post could alternatively be titled “preserving Monday’s sanity” (or Mommy’s sanity), but the abbreviation has a few too many connotations/inferences that I am not willing to admit to. I much prefer the ‘M’ alliteration, don’t you?

I work part-time outside of our home, Tuesday-Thursday. So I am home with the cherubs four days out of the week. But for some reason, it is always Mondays that get us. As previously mentioned, I’ve learned that if I don’t have a plan the boys come up with one (see picture to left…don’t be fooled into thinking that is a hug). It just seems like there are more battles, more messes, more tears, more tantrums, more TROUBLE on Mondays. Maybe it is because RRL has been home to help all weekend and we are missing him on Mondays. Maybe it is because I feel overwhelmed trying to get the house cleaned up after a busy weekend and get us all ready for the week of work/school/babysitters house. Maybe its because my kids just have the Monday blues. Whatever causes it, I’m definitely willing to take ownership for the fact that Mondays are rough (my attitude, my patience, my attention to what really matters) and I’ve decided to do something about it. Something small yet intentional.

I’ve started “Makeover my Monday” plans. Today, and for the previous two Mondays, I just tried to plan ahead for an activity or craft for the boys that is something we don’t usually do or haven’t done before. In the morning while we get our chores done, I talk to them about what we are going to do. This buys me a little time to get the laundry going, clean up the kitchen or tidy up around the house while they get excited. Then we do our “project” (as KJ likes to call it) when Lou goes down for a nap.

1) The first week we made our first ever (but definitely not last) couch/sheet fort to:

hide in,

read stories in

and play flashlight games in

…and as a bonus, invited a friend over to make and decorate cookies.

2) Last week we decorated pumpkins using things we could find around the house (construction paper, stickers, markers)

Note: I can neither confirm nor deny whether Cbug

colored on his face with brown marker during this

little project.

Aren’t the final results just the cutest things you have ever seen? KJ declares them to be “BEEEAUTIFUL pumpkins”. I concur.

3) This week we played with dried beans. We measured them, dug for buried treasure (which may or may not have been candy left from last Easter), and made roads for racecars. For the big finale we used the beans inside of paper plates as noise makers and had a dance party (see video below).

Thanks to Kendra V for the idea of digging for things in the beans. The funny thing about the “treasure dig” was that they were having so much fun, they found and re-buried the candy about 12 times before even thinking to ask if they could eat it. And we definitely covered our noise-makers in stickers. Mostly I like involving stickers in every project just to get to hear Cbug say “steeeeeeekers”

over and over. So cute!

This Monday “mission” is definitely still a work-in-process but has already been successful, I think, at giving the boys some time on Monday with my undivided attention (or at least a little less divided). Its been a learning process to figure out the timing to make it happen, what are reasonable expectations for their attention span, etc. It really hasn’t been so much about the what we do, as much as just that I have a plan and am intentional about spending some Monday time with them.

I would love to hear your ideas of things to do. I would prefer it to be something we can do in our home, with few supplies, and age appropriate for a nearly 2 year-old and a 3 1/2 year-old. Share your ideas, then when we try it I’ll share pictures and let everyone else know how it goes. I’ve also been posting a facebook status on Sundays saying what we’ll be doing on Monday so if anyone else needs “a plan” you can use ours or maybe get an idea of your own. Hope that helps if there is anyone else out there needing “An Extreme Monday Makeover”. Hopefully it will also hold me accountable to having a plan ahead of time.

Let me know your ideas!

ABL

Last week, I did an update on our oldest son, KJ.
Now, for a bit about Cbug.

Oh boy, oh boy. How do I even put into words how hilarious, busy, snuggley, charming, sneaky, loving and mischievous our middle child is? I guess you just have to know him to know the amazingness that is Cbug. He is a rule tester (unlike his rule-follower big brother) but is also quick to say “sorry” and give hugs. We’re realized in the last couple of months that our middle son is more keenly aware that he is being disobedient than we gave him credit for. We’re having to really crack down on obeying with him. It is definitelytough not to laugh sometimes, though! Here are some recent pictures and thoughts about our stinker.

I’ve referred to Cbug as a “bull in a china closet”. He is a daredevil, goes fast and furious, is busy constantly, and thinks about the consequences LATER (if ever). On one such occasion this summer (just a week before his sister’s arrival), he tried to climb up onto our bed. In the process, the bridge of his nose had an unfortunate meeting with the bed railing resulting in 3 stitches. Does this keep him from climbing now? Oh, no. I’ve found him on top of my desk, on the dining room table, in the bathtub (not during bathtime), in the window sill, on the bathroom counter,etc…and that is just at our house. He jumped off of diving boards this summer and we have to watch him like a HAWK around water. At the retreat this fall he just took off running toward the lake. I have no doubt that if he had gotten there first he would have been in the water.

Cbug is growing and growing and growing! Really, it is amazing to me to see how different he is just in the last few months.

These pictures were taken on his

and

LAST –>

days in the nursery at church with one of his favorite people to snuggle!

If you follow us on facebook where we post a lot of pictures, you’ll see lots of photos of KJ and baby sister together and lots of Cbug by himself. This is for two reasons.

1) Cbug marches to his own drum. While he loves playing with his big brother, he often prefers to just wander around by himself. For example, to the left, he was at the splash park. There were definitely other kids (and adults) there, but he was just enjoying the water, dancing, splashing and having a big time by himself.

2) Cbug gets cropped out of a lot of sibling pictures. TERRIBLE…I KNOW. But usually he puts a toy on his head, makes a funny face, dives out of the shot, etc. For example…last week I was taking pics of the kiddos on the front porch. KJ was holding Lou so it was a super fast “photo shoot”. These are the faces of Cbug in that VERY short period of time. In the end, I got a really cute (cropped) picture of KJ with his sister…and these faces of Cbug.

Just like KJ, Cbug LOVES his siblings! He adores his big brother (especially when they are wrestling) and these days is quite a shadow of him. He also loves being a BIG brother. His carseat is right beside his sister’s in the van and because she faces the back they can see each other. I’ll often hear him get so excited and yell “SMILE” because he is pleased he made her smile at him. In the picture to the right he was reading to her and telling her the sounds the animals make. This kid has some AMAZING animal sounds. Monkey, sheep, crocodile, cow, horse, pig, rooster and cat are some of my favorites!

Cbug does everything BIG. Best of all he LAUGHS big….about everything. I love to hear his deep hearty laugh. What a JOY our Cbug is! He brings new adventures everyday and lots and lots of FUN!

And finally…a video. This video amazes me for a couple of reasons. First, because this is one of the only things C will sit still to do. There are a couple of others (loves crafts and stories) but they are few and far between. And second because this puzzle is HARD (i mean, for a toddler…i won’t talk about whether it is hard for mom). The pieces are only slightly different shapes and there is nothing to designate which order they go in. The first time I saw him do this I was truly amazed. But then again, I’m the mom!! As an added bonus, you get to hear his adorable deep voice and his 3-year-old brothers not-so-adorable tantrum!

Oh how I love this little boy!!

ABL

When you haven’t blogged in months and your first post back was heavier than the norm for this spot on the www, you gotta follow it up with something fun and light, right? Here’s a quick post to get the ball rolling because, lets be real, this ball is gonna have to roll pretty stinkin’ far if I’m ever going to get all the pictures and updates up that I would like to (doubtful). In the meantime…

Its been more than 3 months. My poor neglected blog has sure gotten backseat these days to well…LIFE. I sincerely hope that someday I’ll get back to writing about the hilarious things KJ says or tell stories about our “bull-in-the-china-closet” of a middle child, or maybe fill you in on our diva of a daughter. I really do want to get some of their current goings on down on cyber-paper soon so that I can remember details of these days. I know if I don’t try to document some of it, I’ll remember it only for what it seems at a glance…a BLUR.

Today, though, I just needed to stop and take a moment to use this blog as a spot for perspective. When things are crazy and time-consuming and just plain BUSY (like life is when the oldest of your three kids is 3) sometimes I feel like…in the words of my wise friend Tara…I WANT OFF THE CRAZY TRAIN! But as soon as those words are out of my mouth, I also feel a strong pull to live in the moment, remember details, absorb the joy of my children and remember to stop and Praise the Maker of the Universe!

Today, my heart is turning easily to PRAISE. I’m particularly praising Him as healer. He’s been reminding me this week that He is the one who holds our health in his hands. As of this week, I have been blessed with 5 years (and 3 babies) of living pain-free and medication-free. WOW! When I had surgery for Crohn’s disease during this week in 2004, the doctors HOPED for a few years of relief. But God has been so good to not only provide relief, but to provide COMPLETE relief even without medication and even through 3 pregnancies. I just didn’t want this week to pass without taking time to thank HIM for that. CAN I GET AN AMEN?

But, it seems when the Lord is showing me something he sometimes has to emphasize it over and over to get me on my knees. As another reminder of His faithfulness in healing, He has been so good to our Cbug this week. What started as a “cold” took a scary turn on Tuesday night when Cbug woke up unable to get a breath. RRL and I heard a gasping sound from the boys room and ran to him. He was panicking and in respiratory distress. Thankfully, we still had an inhaler from when he had RSV nearly a year ago and thankfully RRL had the strength of mind to find it and administer it while I called 911. RRL was able to get him breathing better before the ambulance arrived so we took him in ourselves. A shot of steroids, some antibiotics, tamaflu and several days of rest later he’s running around like his crazy self again today. As a mom, it doesn’t take much to send me down the “what if” path. What if we hadn’t been sitting in the living room so close to his room to hear him, what if we hadn’t had the inhaler, what if, what if, what if. But praise HIM who is able to take care of all of the “what ifs” and the ones we can’t even imagine. I’m so thankful that it wasn’t any worse. As I lay beside him everynight this week, just watching him breathe, I’ve definitely been mindful of so many others who are struggling through health issues with their babies. PERSECTIVE.

I typed the above earier today. At the time, I was pretty proud of myself for the “perspective” lesson that I had gleaned from this. Oh silly pride of mine. Here are tonight’s thoughts…

I spent a couple of hours visiting this afternoon with one of my dearest friends and I realized that the Lord has indeed being speaking to me this week about healing. But maybe that wasn’t the only lesson. It is about so much more. He’s been showing me about relinquishing control. As Mel and I talked this afternoon, it was one of those “AH HAH” moments…OH NOW I GET IT…or at least I’m beginning to. You actually want me to LET GO of EVERYTHING? Oh. EVERYTHING- right down to even the things that are most precious- the health and well-being of myself, my husband, my children. Oh. And not just in a big way, but in all the little ways, too. In every moment, every decision, ever life-stressor (and there’s been a lot of them lately)…EVERYTHING. Oh. Gonna have to go ahead and admit, this is tough for me. These days I’m pretty much drowning in my own need to control things and inability to do so. So while this is a very freeing thought for me, I’m gonna have to update you later on how its going in reality!

Boy, I sure liked it earlier this afternoon when I could tie this post up with a pretty bow and move on with a warm and cozy vibe. Should have known better. In the meantime, on that topic of healing, lots of others have been on my heart for prayers for healing (maritally, physically, emotionally, spiritually). Some close to my heart, some complete strangers. I’d love to make a list of the stories, but they are not really my stories to tell. Just wanted to throw out there that its interesting to me that when I started thinking and praying about relinquishing control my first thoughts were of others. Perspective.

You’ve been doing a lot of growing since that moment…I can tell!

For inquiring minds- our little one is due in ONE WEEK! We never dreamed we would make it this far, scrambled to get ready for an early arrival, and find ourselves now completely ready and waiting. There is an amazing peace at our house because so many details have already been settled- the Lord was so sweet in his timing to know how much I needed that. So far, baby sister does not seem to be in any hurry to arrive. In typical girl fashion, she is going to use every minute she can get to prepare for her big debut. That’s just fine with us…the waiting will make the meeting all that much sweeter. Thank you for your prayers for her and for us.

ABL

While I have always appreciated my mom, I really did not fully grasp all that she sacrificed for me until I was a mom myself. I now realize that I could never say “thank you” or “I’m so sorry” enough times for all that she endured!

I have a new appreciation for the amazing humility she showed as she spent years of selfless service raising 3 children. She never let on that her job was tough and although she claims there were moments she lost her temper, needed a break, or said things she regretted none of those moments are what I remember. They must have been significantly outweighed by the fact that she came to every single sporting event the three of us participated in (rain or shine), cooked countless dinners and knew each of our favorites, spent money she could have used for her dream house or wardrobe on braces, college and a little Ford Probe, and that she always made our home a place I always wanted to bring my friends to.

Over the years our relationship has continued to grow and change. Now she encourages me to be a better Mom to my own boys (and soon to our baby girl). She is a confidant and friend and no one understands me better. She has blazed a little trail, despite the miles, between my house and hers still making it a priority to be so invested in my life. Mom, I’m so thankful you are always only a phone call away and I’m so thankful for the relationship you have with KJ and C-bug. Can’t wait for baby sister to meet you, too!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, Momma!!