Here I am . . .
For tonight . . .
* the garden is looking neater after an hour's hard work
* children went to bed clean and without drama (really big deal after Shan's paci went bye-bye 10 days ago and Forest decided when we came home from vacation that I should just hang out with him all night)
* dishes and counters are washed
* potting soil is in pots awaiting new life
* picture frames spray painted a cheery yellow
* kitchen floor scrubbed clean from the "apple juice incident"
* bathroom floor scrubbed clean (a second time) to remove the urine stench (who used my bathroom I want to know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I feel good. This has been a long, long week of staff training. Good week but hard on everyone, especially the kids; who aren't used to being with a babysitter every day! But we all made it out on the other side, relatively unscathed. Can you believe I didn't take ONE picture all week? Yeah, pretty busy around here!
And I think I'm ready for a new year! We have 2 boys returning to our cottage and 2 moving up from the youngest house. And getting one or two new boys . Guess what the majority age is? TEN! Yup, our cottage is slowly migrating from 12-13ish boys to young 10 & 11s! We're thrilled because we'd much rather deal with hyper-playful boys (who have ZERO self-control I might add) than 13 year old boys who have a chip on their shoulder and are "too cool for school." Or something like that . . . It will be a fun challenge to "tone down" our devotions and expectations a bit but we're excited about it. Please remind me of this blog post in about two months.
So there you have it, life in a nutshell I guess. You know, I sure am glad God doesn't stop being our parent when we misbehave or drive us nuts! It's been a good reminder of what kind of parent I need to be. Shannon turns nasty when she doesn't sleep . . . which has happened a lot the last 10 days of transition from paci to no-paci. And really, a week later, the big lesson learned is . . . thank you God for not abandoning us when we are so, so sinful and turn our backs like disobedient children, time and time again!
(And since I have no pictures from this week, here are some from our summer. I have over 600 so it was kind of hard to chose . . . but here are the first few I found!)
One of the things Jer & I enjoyed the most, was getting out on my dad's tandem bike and biking down the old railroad bed (ties removed) and through the countryside.
We also had tea parties with my china, in the yard! And swam in the kiddie pool :)
A highlight of the trip? Getting to meet the neatest friend, who I met on Xanga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our firstborns are just a month apart and our babies are just a month apart. So, so precious to meet Melissa in person!
(and even though we knew that there was no way all four kids would cooperate, we took a group picture for fun)
Finally, a trip to the beach when we got home!
* the garden is looking neater after an hour's hard work
* children went to bed clean and without drama (really big deal after Shan's paci went bye-bye 10 days ago and Forest decided when we came home from vacation that I should just hang out with him all night)
* dishes and counters are washed
* potting soil is in pots awaiting new life
* picture frames spray painted a cheery yellow
* kitchen floor scrubbed clean from the "apple juice incident"
* bathroom floor scrubbed clean (a second time) to remove the urine stench (who used my bathroom I want to know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
I feel good. This has been a long, long week of staff training. Good week but hard on everyone, especially the kids; who aren't used to being with a babysitter every day! But we all made it out on the other side, relatively unscathed. Can you believe I didn't take ONE picture all week? Yeah, pretty busy around here!
And I think I'm ready for a new year! We have 2 boys returning to our cottage and 2 moving up from the youngest house. And getting one or two new boys . Guess what the majority age is? TEN! Yup, our cottage is slowly migrating from 12-13ish boys to young 10 & 11s! We're thrilled because we'd much rather deal with hyper-playful boys (who have ZERO self-control I might add) than 13 year old boys who have a chip on their shoulder and are "too cool for school." Or something like that . . . It will be a fun challenge to "tone down" our devotions and expectations a bit but we're excited about it. Please remind me of this blog post in about two months.
So there you have it, life in a nutshell I guess. You know, I sure am glad God doesn't stop being our parent when we misbehave or drive us nuts! It's been a good reminder of what kind of parent I need to be. Shannon turns nasty when she doesn't sleep . . . which has happened a lot the last 10 days of transition from paci to no-paci. And really, a week later, the big lesson learned is . . . thank you God for not abandoning us when we are so, so sinful and turn our backs like disobedient children, time and time again!
(And since I have no pictures from this week, here are some from our summer. I have over 600 so it was kind of hard to chose . . . but here are the first few I found!)
One of the things Jer & I enjoyed the most, was getting out on my dad's tandem bike and biking down the old railroad bed (ties removed) and through the countryside.
We also had tea parties with my china, in the yard! And swam in the kiddie pool :)
A highlight of the trip? Getting to meet the neatest friend, who I met on Xanga!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our firstborns are just a month apart and our babies are just a month apart. So, so precious to meet Melissa in person!
(and even though we knew that there was no way all four kids would cooperate, we took a group picture for fun)
Finally, a trip to the beach when we got home!
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