The Days are Long, but the Years are Short

1st grade, 4th grade, 7th grade, and 10th grade
I blinked and I went from blogging about keeping a toddler busy while I homeschooled the older girls to no longer having a toddler but 2 kids in elementary, 1 in middle school, and 1 in high school. We're looking into options for college and trying to keep our head above water as we navigate credits, and GPAs, and when to take the ACT. Maybe one day I'll get back to blogging our school days. The busy seems to never end and the babies won't stop growing. #babiesdontkeep

Happy 7th Birthday, Joslyn!

I Will Carry You

(Selah)

There were photographs I wanted to take

Things I wanted to show you

Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes

Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave but I'm not

Truth is I'm barely hanging on

But there's a greater story

Written long before me

Because He loves you like this

I will carry you

While your heart beats here

Long beyond the empty cradle

Through the coming years

I will carry you

All my life

And I will praise the One Who's chosen me

To carry you

Such a short time

Such a long road

All this madness

But I know

That the silence

Has brought me to His voice

And He says ...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning

Walked her through the parted seas

Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes

Who could love her like this?

I will carry you

While your heart beats here

Long beyond the empty cradle

Through the coming years

I will carry you

All my life

And I will praise the One Who's chosen me

To carry you

Dirty Laundry

This started as a Facebook post and then I remembered I have a blog!

So, I have a laundry question.... how do you keep up? Would it be bad to wash everyone's clothes from that day every night? Is that a crazy thought? Because I cannot keep up.

 

Once, like a month and a half ago, I was all caught up because an amazing friend came over and helped me fold all of my laundry but the next day I was behind AGAIN! It never ends. 

The sheets. 

The towels. 

The clothes. 

The clothes that aren't even dirty but ended up in the laundry.

The sheets again (bc pull-ups don't hold nothin').

More towels.

More clothes.

I have been trying to tackle this thing for years. Last year I thought the key was everyone having their own hamper and clean clothes basket. That way the girls' clothes weren't all jumbled together, my clothes didn't get washed with Adam's smelly work socks, etc. It worked for about a second. The clothes get washed, get dried, get piled. And when we need the space where the pile is it gets piled somewhere else. 

So what do you do? Do you have a day set aside for nothing but laundry? Do you assign different days to different categories of laundry? 

Catching Up

Quite a lot has happened in the three years that have passed since I abandoned the ol blog.

Two big things: 

First, Adam started working at a local university! It has been a great job and he loves it! He's been there exactly two years this week! 

Second, we added a new member to our family! Mr. Levi joined us in March 2013. He is one of the happiest little people I've ever met. And he has some serious ball skills for the young age of 17 months! 

       

    

Obviously more has transpired, life has a funny way of not slowing down. Kennedy is in 5th grade this year and Aubrey is in second. Haden is an official preschooler. I was scrolling back through the blog and reading over my post about keeping a toddler busy during school time. Whew, anyone have any advice on keeping a 4 year old quiet and busy?? Oh, and a toddler? Because I can't figure it out and it's making school realllllllly difficult right now. 

And not fun. 

Did I just say that out loud?

Well it's really not. It's hard. And I keep telling myself it's just a "season" but really it feels like Elsa has set off an eternal winter. 

              

                                        

I want to stuff some chocolate in my face.....

 

It's not always not fun but this first week back has been hard. Praying it will get easier and that the kids will learn much! 

 

   

See, we do have fun and I am so thankful for these four precious kiddos!

I'm baaaaccckkkkk

I'm going to try to be back! Back with lots of updating because a lot can happen in three years! 

 Check back for more!

Chicken Chili

Yum!! I am making this for our small group tomorrow! My sweet sister-in-law, Vanessa, shared the recipe with me and said I could share it here! It is very easy to make and so very delicious. It is called White Chicken Chili but since it is technically not white, I'll just refer to it as chicken chili =)

Chicken Chili

3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, cooked & cut up
3 cans great northern beans
1 jar salsa
1 carton chicken stock (I use a little less than the whole carton)
2 heaping teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
16 oz pepperjack cheese

Combine all ingredients except for the pepperjack cheese in a large pot. Boil 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in cheese. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips.


I am going to make this in the crockpot for the first time tomorrow. I plan to put all but the cheese into the crockpot before church and let it cook on high until we get home. I'll stir in the cheese before we head up to small groups. My kids really like this. I usually reserve a little chili without the cheese for them but they always want seconds of the spicier version.

And because I LOVE to bake I will be making these cookies for tomorrow as well.

I'm FALLing Behind

Aren't I funny? My husband just said no. =)

I have all these posts in my head that I am sure someone is just dying to read but I hardly turn my computer on anymore! I got an iPod about a month ago thanks to Swagbucks! Do you use Swagbucks? You should. I saved up $100 in Amazon credit (just since January of this year) thanks to Swagbucks so I used it towards the purchase of my iPod.



I take most pictures with the iPod now. Not quite the quality of my Nikon but very convenient.

A few updates.

First, the pumpkin patch. It's October. We're waiting on the Great Pumpkin but I'm pretty sure we must have been bad this year because our pumpkin patch is bare. Completely. Gone. Not even a vine is left. I don't know what happened. Maybe the driest summer ever combined with the wettest day ever. We'll try again next year.

Second, I am so close to the weight loss goal I set at the beginning of the year! I have lost almost 20 lbs since January and am 11.8 lbs from my goal weight. The goal date (31 lbs by my 31st birthday) is Nov 16, less than 4 weeks away! I've got to stay focused! I am competing in Shrinkvivor right now over at Shrinking Jeans! It is such a fun competition and it is really keeping me on target! We are currently in week 4 and thankfully I have avoided exile thus far! I would love to make it to the end!

Third, school. It's going. It was going really well but I think I am trying to do too much at once. I love history and science. I want to do them both. I am struggling with getting it all done though. I'm also trying to teach writing skills and handwriting and grammar all at the same time. And the Prairie Primer which more than likely requires more organization than I care for. And of course reading and math. And Bible. And all the fun holidays coming along. And music. And clearly, since I can't keep up with it all I'm trying to do to much but I want to get it all in and I want to enjoy it and more importantly, I want the girls to enjoy it all without feeling totally overwhelmed. And I feel like I am failing teaching reading to Kennedy. I wish it wasn't so hard for her. I want so much for her to be able to read the books I was reading in second grade. She is doing so much better and she longs to be able to read well. I wish it wasn't such a struggle for her. Now I'm crying. Moving on ...

Floors. We pulled the carpet up in our living room this last weekend. The guy we bought the house from who was remodeling it for his own family promised me the floors underneath the carpet were just as good as those throughout the rest of the house. Only he neglected to tell me that he didn't throw down any drop cloths when painting and that the beautiful floors were under a layer of paint.

 I'm not exactly sure how it has happened but my wrist is literally black and blue (and still swollen) from 3 days of scraping paint off the floor. We are kind of stuck at this point. There are still specks of paint all over the floor and there are 2 pretty bad places. The floor is pretty dull and definitely needs a new coat of polyurethane. I don't want to have to strip them completely because they aren't that bad but I'm afraid to try to redo them ourselves. However, the quotes we are getting are all in the neighborhood of $1,000. Way more than we have or were planning to spend on the floors. If anyone has redone floors and has any advice PLEASE share!

Lastly, it's fall. And cold. =( I miss summer. It is going to be a long winter! But that means yummy food like white chicken chili! I will post my sister-in-law's recipe tomorrow!

And one more thing. The new Casting Crowns cd, Come To The Well -- AMAZING!!! Love it! Love it! Love it! I bought Adam The Well by Mark Hall a few weeks ago as an "I'm thinking about you" gift. I recommend it strongly, too!