Life happens

I am lacking in spare time right now. And some things take the back seat when you have less time. Like a frivolous blog. One of these days I'll get back to posting on a regular basis. Right now I am just happy if everyone is fed, dressed in clean clothes and within sight. Somedays I'm happy if they are within yelling distance. But most of the time they stay where I can spot them.


Life has settled into a nice normal once again. It will be switched up soon with Judah starting school and me teaching Shane but all the same it will be a nice routine. I love summer but I start longing for more routine and structure that comes with school. My children have started getting slightly cantankerous lately and it makes a mother begin to wonder what insanity looks like. I look in the mirror and wonder........


Most of our days have lots of laughter but seems like equal amounts of yelling, hitting, punching, biting, etc. I hold onto the hope that they will not be biting and punching when they are 30. At least I don't think any of my siblings still act that way.


Heidi has turned into a completely different child over the past month. She has become a champion napper, Happy to just lay on the floor and watch the mayhem unfold around her. Smiley all the time. Rarely cries! Just all around sweet. In fact her nickname is sugar!! I do not ever remember feeling the depth of love so early for any of my children. I think it happened quicker with each child. But my feelings have caught me off guard. She has herself a case of pink eye right now but it is clearing up beautifully with the eyedrops.


Eden is high energy, high volume, high speed.....all day long! We are continuing to work with her on her demanding little self. She has been responding beautifully to us through this process. She is learning how to make a good choice when given the chance and we are watching her behaviour change. Now....it doesn't work all the time but we are seeing enough change to be very happy. She brings so much joy to our house and also brings lots of yelling. Tristan and Judah seem to fall for her antagonistic ways very quickly which brings her much delight. Example: first thing in the morning at the breakfast table. She will be eating some cereal and Judah will come to the table to get some food. She will say to him, "Not lots Judah. Not lots." To which he graciously responds, "Eden. You can't tell me how much food I can have."


Tristan just had his 3 year check up this week. He weighed in at 30 pounds which is 5 pounds lighter than either of his brothers at the same age. He is a little guy and takes after my side of the family more. Exceedingly sweet! We had a little success this week with the whole realm of going on the potty. M & M's and matchbox cars are a good incentive for a little boy. We are making progress. Conversation between Tristan and his dad this week: While at a playground Mark noticed a piece of broken playground equipment. He said, "Oh no Tristan. It's broken. What should we do?" Tristan responded, "We need to fix it." Mark said, "I don't have the tools to fix that, buddy." Tristan said, "We need to get a new one." Mark: "Where will we get a new one?" Tristan: "At the yard sale." And then Tristan stood, looked around and said, "I don't see the yard sale."

Shane has been more than abundant on the energy front. He just seems to roll, tumble and wrestle his way from outside to inside, upstairs to downstairs, from one side of the living room to the other side...you get the idea. After being crabby those three weeks while on medicine he seems to be back to his endearing little self. My favorite conversation with Shane lately was this: I was telling him that he is going to be an amazing father someday (premature possibly but he is so caring with the little ones). I told him that it would be best if he found a good woman first. I then started talking to him and Judah about what I want to see in the woman they marry - kind hearted, caring, love Jesus, love them tons, etc. etc. I told Shane that if he needs help finding a girl that I'm sure his daddy and I can find a good one when he gets older. He said, "Maybe you can find her at a restaurant." Huh? Mark said maybe he remembers having a waitress that he thought was pretty. I think it has to do with his love of food and he just figures that if he finds a girl at a restaurant he will get to eat chicken fingers and fries for the rest of his life.

Judah is getting both excited and a bit apprehensive about school. Mostly excited though. We had a picnic this past week with his teacher and both third grade classes. We met some parents and he met some new friends. His teacher is amazing and is very high energy! I think he will thrive in school especially with his friend Luke by his side. Judah told me today that he thinks one of the gifts God gave him is creativity. I think he may be right. He then said he thinks Tristan's gift is whining. Uh, that isn't really a gift but yes. He does tend to whine a bit too much.

I am trying to enjoy my days and not think so much about the future. I can get excited thinking about what life will be like in a year or two and miss the fun moments now. Somehow the demands and screaming of little children don't equate as fun for me. But this time is fleeting and I don't want to miss the snippets of joy in my children's eyes even on the long days. I want them to see joy in my eyes, hear love in my voice and feel a peace in our home.