What Little Boys Don't Understand

It is the 4th birthday of my first born child and also the end to 2013. I feel like I have grown so much this year and watched my babies grow even more but I am leaving this year in hopes of more. One thing I need more of is patience and understanding of BOYS. Believe me, two boys entering my life in less than 13 months, I got a crash course in them but the more they grow, the more I think "why do they do what they do??!?!?!". Which made me realize today that there is so much on the opposite end of that. Here are a few things little boys don't understand about us mamas... 1. Your destructiveness will never make sense to us. While we accept that anything nice we own will probably end up in pieces, we will never understand the need to throw, stomp and destroy whatever you can get your hands on. Not out of anger but out of sheer joy in watching things "come undone". I know, I have watched your faces light up as you shatter flower pots, throw rolls of toilet paper in the toilet water and pee on my new couch. 2. No girl will ever be good enough for our babies but we really fear those girls that have mothers making them so high maintenance by 3 years old that their wardrobe costs more than our family vehicle and a constant pout is plastered to their spoiled faces. Our prayers for you have many versions of "please Lord bring them humble, down to earth wives" in them. When you do finally decide to date at 30 years old, I have fantasies of earthy, talkative girls who come from families of 10 or more children that know what it was like to share rooms with multiple siblings and cooked and cleaned for their parents throughout their lives. Lord please! 3. Looking at you makes us fall more in love with daddy. My boys look just like me. When I look at their faces I see me through and through. But their mannerisms, their expressions, the way they breathe is so much my husband. And is it possible to watch these perfect beings doing what they do as children and not love their dad more because he made them half of who they are? 4. Your small acts of kindness fill us with such hope and pride. Opening a door, picking a flower for us, kissing our cheeks... Nothing swells our hearts or gives us hope that chivalry will continue in the future quite like these things. 5. Your bodily functions are just as bad as anyone else's. I remember the days when it didn't bother me because they were my sweet babies and it was just poop. But suddenly something changed and now I have as much fear sometimes of wiping your butt as I do of letting you do it on your own and the mess that entails. In other words, this is only going to get worse so please don't try to increase the gross-out factor on your mom the older you get. 6. Being a mom to multiple sons is a whole different world and we secretly hope you get this payback plus some someday. As my boys whipped circles around me at the grocery store today, one fell hard and hit his face on the dirty floor and the other was busy bunching up a loaf of bread on the shelf. I in no way downplay what being a mother to daughters is like... that is something I do not and may not ever know with the tears and drama that come along with it. But being a mother to more than one son is absolute insanity sometimes. I regret ever looking at moms in this position before I had my own and thinking "why are you letting them do that?!?!?!" because boy oh boy am I getting my payback. 7. No matter what you do or how hard the day is, you have taught me a love that exceeds any other type of love I know. I could stare at you forever. Every time I hear one of my friends is pregnant, I secretly hope it's a boy because there is nothing quite like the bond of a mother and her sons. Being a mother to you boys is such a blessing and what I have realized is that you get out what you put into it just like anything else in life. This is the most important job I have been given and I treat it as that and cringe when I see others treating it like a burden or a joke. I know my boys have no clue what it takes to be a parent but what I do hope is that someday they do and not for selfish reasons but so their children can be raised right.

Home is wherever we are together

It seems the perfect answer to us for wanting more is simply... less. I'm surrounded by a world of more: more square footage, more cosmetic beauty, more money, more travel, the list goes on and on. We pretend that we're not idolizing it, putting it above God, but at the end of the day sometimes I know my pinterest app was open a lot more than my Bible as I search for more things to want and desire.  When I put down the phone and snap into reality this is truth: we are rich.  We have more love, more fun and are making more memories daily than some do in a lifetime.  I am not that girl.. the shopper, the one who lets my belongings define me and spends more time in a mall than in the woods BUT I have found myself being influenced into it.

 

Another truth: Debt, in the form of student loans, is holding us back.  We have acquired a hefty old lump of them and they've caused more arguments, bitterness and low-down feelings in this marriage than I ever want to admit.  We tried to pretend they weren't going to pop up on us soon as we strived for the "American dream" and here we are a house, 2 kids and 2 cars in the drive later and those loans continue to haunt. 

 

Our dreams are simple when we don't let the world view of what's normal impact them.  A farm, a very self-sufficient life aka living off our land, homeschooling our children and basically living on love with the wonderful people we are surrounded with.  We recently found ourselves looking to buy this piece of land and new home and through our prayer and search we kept ending up in similar places.  Apartment parking lots and the like.  Once we opened our ears and realized what God was leading us towards it brought us to our current state and we had big decisions to make.

 

Living in this debt is not only uncomfortable, I believe it is sinful.  Don't get me wrong, WE ARE NOT SPENDERS! This is simply student loans we have acquired as we continue to live an anti-credit card life and we live far within our budget.  After much praying we have decided to not only sell our home like we had planned, but instead of that farm we want now, we are choosing to put it off for three years as we live renting someplace very small, simple and cheap.  We have a goal of 3 years maximum as we will take every extra bit of money we save through this process and watch our debt eliminate into nothing. Oh, the feeling that the final zero dollar fee will bring us is unimagineable.

 

Now, I know this post sounds completely positive but don't get me wrong... I love my house, I love my yard, I love my stuff.  I want nothing less than to see it all go into boxes or be sold as I move into a place where a hide-a-bed sofa may be my sleeping arrangements.  But isn't that the problem with us people?!?! We want want want more and we love our stuff so much that it places a higher priority on us than Jesus, than living life, than so much more???

 

So, here we go, sign is in the front yard and if what we are doing is honoring God's plan for us, hopefully we'll see our home turn into someone else's quickly.  We plan to keep everyone up to date on this because we want this to be inspiring to people who feel theyre swimming in a sea of money issues that they can't escape.  We ask for prayers and support for us and hope that we can exemplify what Jesus wants us to and that's loving people and using our lives in a way that is not evolving around belongings but instead around the beauty of people and this Earth God has given us.   

 

2012

2012 has been one of the very best years of my life! So, as a reminder, I am going to roundup some of my favorite moments over the past 365 days!

My beautiful babies turned 1 and 2 and changed so much this year! Rocklyn finished his first year of pre-k and in August both boys went to Immanuel Baptist for the WEE program! This has been the year of both of them really beginning to speak, pottytraining and breaking off into more independent little men : ( !

 

 

HEALTH: I had some big changes in my health this year! I had my tonsils removed (worst experience of my life!!!) and dropped 30 pounds.  I am continuing to strive to lose more in the New Year but am pretty darn proud of my progress so far! Below is a before and after!

 

 

JOBS: Cory got hired on with Mid-Cumberland as a Crisis Counselor and has also been substituting for LSSD and teaching bible at the preschool.  I am continuing to work for VIP bring drunk driving awareness to offenders.  I also began teaching at Immanuel in the WEE program with the cutest group of kids and best of all in the same hallway as both of my boys classrooms! I recently started working at Lulu's clothing boutique on the square and am loving it! Between the two of us are six positions but we are soooooo grateful in this crazy economy to have work and six jobs that we love!

 

FUN: The boys were put in a country music video for Cathy Louvin and it was such an amazing experience!  We also had some other fun times including a trip to Missouri, two weeks spent back home in Illinois, multiple zoo and waterpark trips, football games, hikes, movies and more! I am loving the ages they are at and being able to do so many new things whether it is a simple hike in the woods or them now understanding concepts like trick-or-treating and Santa Clause.

  Some more big things in 2013: Our dog Rex became a part of the family and he is so loved and has made our family even more complete.  I had some trials and some hard decisions to make this year but in the end, I am so much more happy because of them and have continued to walk closer and closer to God through them all.  I have made some big decisions about what exactly I want to be doing as far as future career plans and am excited to see Cory begin doing what he loves, teaching, after he is done with his education.  God has been so good to us and I am so grateful for everything.  Ready to welcome 2013 and see where it takes us!

 

 

 

 



Today, the sermon at church was focused on Matthew 19:13-15 and the topic of children.  I was so excited for this message because the focus of so much of my time, is in fact, children. A brief overview of the main points of today included Jesus' love for and focus on the importance of children and how we need to be aware to not lessen the value of these humble, wide-eyed, pride-less beings.  We are all born sinful and need the love of Jesus and children are no exception.  From catechism to family worship nights to bible studies with our children; these things are of so much more value than television shows and sports games. We have such a small amount of time with our children and it is gone in the blink of an eye. I for one, do not want to be one who regrets the faith I have instilled in them.  That being said, I left feeling very proud of the job Cory and I are doing as parents. Even the resources our pastor mentioned are ones we have in the home and I know at the end of every day that even though I am far from a perfect parent, they are in a home where they are praying often, learning about Jesus and learning what love is all the time.  Cory has done an amazing job being a spiritual leader in our home and we both know there is always more ways to improve and improve in this area. 
But then it hit me... yes, my children hear bible stories on the regular, yes we pray before bedtime and meals and in between, yes we do devotionals every night and worship nights often and yes they live in a home where they see two parents who love eachother and their kids and work daily at making this all happen but they also have a mother who has put so much focus on these things along with their meals, daily activities, art projects and all the chaos of motherhood that she has forgotten to nourish her own soul more often than not.  Most days I am running so hard and fast to keep up with my family that by the time bedtime comes, I am dozed off before the boys are even into a rem cycle yet. Naptimes consist of laundry, dishes, couponing and the like that the Bible or even time for prayer is nowhere near my mind.
In my attempt to become the exemplary mother, I have become the opposite, even a fake if you will.  Yes, I can talk all day long and read bible stories until my voice is gone but what I am doing with my life is going to speak volumes and volumes louder than any of this! How I treat people, how I speak of people behind closed doors, the television shows I watch, the books I chose to read and every other area of my life is what is going to have major impact, especially if it doesn't coincide with what I am teaching them daily.  When my children enter Heaven's gates at the end of their lives, I want to be there waiting for them.  I want my husband and I to be open-armed and full of joy at their arrival and in order for this to happen we need to be putting God at the focus of every area of our lives, even as tough as it is for us moms who want to make everyone else's life great and tend to forget ourselves. 
Today's message was an eye-opener for me in a completely different way than maybe our pastor intended, but exactly in the way that God has intended for it to be.  Let us not forget what we are here on this earth for and what a blessing these children are even in the most difficult of times.

ART!

We recently redecorated our master bedroom and I could not find any art for the wall we face when in bed. Everything seemed to have either quotes I find tacky or was just plain boring and ugly. I decided there is nothing more I would like to look at than family art! Above are the boys small canvases they painted. Cory and I have yet to paint ours but I have great ideas! Rocklyn's painting is the left canvas and Ryder's the right. I was super impressed at both of them but especially at Ryder's ability at 1 year old.
After we finished the canvases we let them finger paint on cardstock paper with paints and karo syrup. It was so messy but they loved it. Ryder ended up picking up his paper and licking the paint syrup mixture up because, well, it's Ryder and if he can eat it he will lol.

Here is Rocklyn painting who is always so precise and not one for messiness. He prefers the paintbrushes over his hands by far!

It was so fun and the canvases are something that brightens me up whenever I look at them!

More Paula Please

I was walking around a local bookstore recently and was browsing as the boys continued to pull books off the shelves and send the cashier into a mild panic attack and before I headed to the cash register with some Yo GabbaGabba coloring books I kept being drawn back to Paula Deen's Memoir "It Ain't All About the Cookin'". I was almost embarassed to even check out the back of it because, having never watched the show, I had this opinion of the woman formed in my head.
So, I put it back on the shelf for the fourth time and headed towards the register and as the man scanned my last book I made him wait and ran back to grab this book. I swear it was as if I did not have control over it, I just had to have this book for some reason.

I now must say, this woman is like a soulmate I have never met! You know those very few people who come into your life and you just know they are meant to be a part of you forever? That is how I felt after getting to know Miss Paula in this book. I actually took such a long time reading this book because I never wanted it to end.

I am amazed to learn how she suffered from agoraphobia for more than 20 years and yet became this cooking superstar with more personality than most. She was tired of where she found herself in life and gave it her all and made her dreams come true. Not only her dreams, but beyond anything she could imagine. Miss Paula's book came into my life in a time when I needed this most and her honesty in this book is appaling and much appreciated as she reveals family fights, sex advice and more.

All this being said, I got a big slap in the face to never judge a book by its cover because this woman I once assumed to be an annoying, loudmouth slob is now a woman to admire and I hope Cory will bring me down to visit her restaurant the Lady and Sons this year and maybe get a chance to meet the Lady herself! Highly recommend this woman's story as I now feel she has a place in my heart forever.

STORY BOARDS

A quick and easy learning tool I have been putting together for my kids

is finally complete!

Cookie sheet learning story boards!

A very simple use is to learn counting and alphabet with magnets without having to be at the fridge with a distracted child!

Rocklyn is up to counting to five now and we are working on letters!

Another great activity for the cookie sheet learning boards is laminated photos with magnets on the back!

We use these to learn animals by their names or by the sounds they make to identify.

We live far from all of our family and so these laminated photos are great to learn and remember the names of people and we use people we know as characters in stories we make up!


I found background photos in magazines, such as a window in a kitchen or a beach. I put the boys or people they know into a story such as Great Grandma visited us and surprised us at the kitchen window with her dog and cat! I also have photos of knights and footballs and more to let my kids use their own imagination and to provide visuals to our make believe stories!

When I was young, I had a great imagination and I want my children to develop (and maintain!!!) this too and I think story boards are an excellent way to do this!