Sick days

Fevers, sore throats, aches and pains...

Snuggles and tired smiles.

Caroline bringing me "treasures" to help me feel better :-)

You're going to miss this

This post came up in my news feed today and really resonated with me. I get it! I love my kids so much, I love being married, I love my home, I love my job......I asked the Lord so many times for these things and can't thank Him enough for blessing me with what I asked. I never get upset with my kids, or want to run away, or act unreasonable, haha.

All that to say, the pat answers of, "You're going to miss this," or "You need to be content," are not always the right ones.They are simply not helpful at times. There are times when people just need encouragement, a hug, help, a freezer meal, etc. We don't know if the difficulty we see is the whole story or if there might be other problems, postpartum depression, marriage problems, difficult children, having a toddler, the list could go on. So next time before giving the usual answer, stop and think about whether that will actually be helpful.



Mary Arnold Kury

· 

Yesterday was such a hard day. I was angry and frustrated and disappointed. Nothing went quite according to plan. Every time I turned around something had been destroyed or demolished. I yelled. No one wanted to listen or obey. The boys were lunatics and the girls lied about finishing their school work. I yelled. Simple instructions were ignored. New plants I had purchased were broken, a bottle of essential oil poured out, keys lost. I yelled. Dinner was despised, my head was pounding, and my day ended in a pool of hopelessness... I cried.

I wanted so badly to reach out somewhere to someone who would listen and encourage me. But I didn't for fear of hearing those well intentioned, but excoriating words that seem to pour effortlessly from mouths:

"You're going to miss this. Enjoy these days. It only gets harder."

Could we please stop saying this? A reminder to be content, rely on the Lord's strength, and to try to find something positive in each day- those are all wonderful. But to tell a mom who has admitted to feeling like she's drowning in the chaos of motherhood to "enjoy this time and that it only gets worse?"

Folks, you haven't heard her. You haven't listened to what she's saying. She's asking for help. She needs a break. She wants you to validate that these moments are shredding her from the inside out. She doesn't need you to tell her it's going to get worse and harder. She needs to hear that you love her. And that you will help her. And that her children are amazing people who need constant guidance and she will fail them over and over but with God's loving grace and mercy, she won't screw them up too badly. That these days are exhausting and overwhelming and that's she's trying and it's temporary. That they will grow up and she will hopefully have more memories of the hilarious and loving moments than the chaotic angry moments. That you will come and sweep her floor and hold a crying child and fold part of a mountain of laundry... and just listen without saying things like "enjoy this".

Because we all know the fire isn't enjoyable. We know the refining process is painful. We wouldn't trade the end result for anything in the world. We love our kids so much it hurts. But these days are hard. Moms, these days are impossible at times. And guess what...!they get better. THEY GET BETTER!!! You get stronger and more capable of handling the challenges, learning your children's needs, helping them understand.

Today, mom, just know, it does get better. It does get easier. Praise Jesus, His mercies are new every morning. Forgive yourself from yesterday's failures. Ask your children to forgive you. Today is a new day.

And maybe, just maybe, today WILL be one that you will miss.

xoxo

Playing outside

We had a lovely warm day in the 40s so I took the kids out to play. This was Duke's reaction to being forced to wear shoes. poor child, I know they are pink, but I haven't bought him his own pair yet.

Shoveling snow.

Making a fort with sticks. Her idea!

Happiness is a boy with a stick!

Chalkboard sign

This is my first attempt at chalk lettering on the beautiful sign John made for us to hang in our entry. I think maybe it needs some embellishments in the 2 empty corners, but I'm not very good at this kind of thing so am open to suggestions!

Because laughter is good for the soul

And this is an example of the difference between men and women's brains! Haha.

Mrs. Gore's Diary

March 21 at 7:30am · 

An idea of our bedtime conversations:

Me, sighing: "I hate it here on earth. And I also love it here."

Mr. Gore: (sleepy blinks and a nod.)

Me: "Is that weird? Do you know that I think about this sort of stuff and I carry these crazy big feelings around inside of me all day long? Do *you* think about things like that, about how you hate and love it here? Like, do you carry these sorts of things around in *your* heart, or do you just wake up and go to work and pick up your pencil and go about your day?..."

Mr. Gore, peering at me through half-closed eyes: "I wake up, I go to work, I pick up my pencil, and then I put it back down because I remember that I have a keyboard."

I LOVE THIS MAN. The perfect antidote to my crazy. heart emoticon He helps me to laugh through this life that I hate and love.

Random nap time thoughts...

I just finished watching this latest Duggar episode (yay, for nap time, quiet, and hot tea, and no interruptions!). These past few Counting On episodes have really made me think......I think every Christian knows what I mean when I say that there are certain people, or sermons, or books that really inspire us. For me, I've been amazed and inspired by watching Anna Duggar (assuming what we are seeing is all real), just seeing her response to what has happened, seeing her draw closer to God, and the grace she is showing. I'm afraid in her situation I'd be falling apart, taking out my stress on the kids, etc frown emoticon
I liked the one quote she mentioned which reminds me of the Elisabeth Elliot one I say to myself when I am stressed,

"Do the next right thing, give the next right response."

Because sometimes that is all we can do, just focus on the next thing, and trust God with the rest.

At Home & Away

Jessa & Ben navigate life as a family of three with new baby, Spurgeon. Jill Derick settle into their home in Central America as Israel starts to hit new milestones. Later, Jessa enlists her sisters to help prepare a fall feast for the whole family.

TLC.COM

16 months old

Our Dukie is 16 months old! Where does the time go? And then there's the time that goes really slooooowww, like that last half hour before dinner, or Daddy get home, or bedtime, haha. Every mom knows what I'm talking about here. But Luke, since maybe someday you'll read this, (that is why I'm keeping it, for you kids someday!), we love you very much :-)
Really hardly anything has changed since last month's update. Mom was too lazy to take him for a 15 month check up (I mean why? I don't see the point in it), so we don't have updated size. Schedule is the same, skills are the same pretty much, though of course he is walking better. He is using more words now, but no sentences yet. That's our biggest frustration is the difficulty in communication. Frustrated screaming is not uncommon, sigh.

Luke is saying a lot more words, and even combining 2 words! He now says, all done, and let's go. He also says diaper, book, sock, drink, dog, cow, tractor, and more that I can't think of now. 

At family worship the kids always get asked their catechism questions. Luke's question is, Who made you? He's very proud to answer, God! When Caroline's first catechism question comes up, the last word in the answer is, forever. Luke knows and will answer, ever! It's so cute and funny. 

Ever since Luke was tiny his song I sing to him is,"If you have a chubby Dukie, stop and kiss him right away!" Sung to the Daniel tiger potty song tune. Now if I start singing he joins in and sings, "right away," with a big grin on his face.

Recently Luke has decided baths are terrifying and he must scream the whole time. Fun. So tub playing is over for now! 

Luke's baby book

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Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Choosing Jesus

I came across this post yesterday when I had a few quiet minutes to myself as John took the kids to pick up Hunter. It was something I needed to read so I'm saving it here to hopefully read again in the future.

"But take heart in knowing that His great work is still being accomplished in you. Things are happening you cannot see or understand. So let it be. Do the next thing, not out of the expectation to feel better - but because you are faithful to the One who has been faithful to you."

Oakland Avenue: Choosing Jesus In The Brokenness

OAKLANDAVENUEBLOG.COM

Free ice cream at Dairy Queen

Wedding dress necklace

My latest project! I used a tiny piece of lace from my wedding dress (from inside a seam, I didn't hurt the dress). It was fun to play with a little jewelry making again, and I love the sentimentality of the piece. Is that a word?! However I kind of wish I had put some white fabric or paper behind the lace, so I may redo that later, I'm not sure I want to leave the heart charm on, or perhaps trade out for a pearl charm, and I want to eventually get another chain for it since I don't like ball chains much. I freely admit I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when  it comes to craft projects! But it was easy and fun to make, I like it, and I'm going to enjoy wearing it for now until I feel motivated to possibly make it better :-)

New church hat

Caroline's new church hat that I found for her at Goodwill.

Alphabet magnets

Caroline's new project. Alphabet magnets, a free alphabet print out, and a cookie sheet from the dollar store.

First playing outside day this year

Saturday was such a beautiful day. The nicest weather by far that I have seen in Wisconsin in March! We had a wonderful time playing outside and enjoyed a yummy dinner cooked on the grill.