New York, New York

The girls are off for a fun filled weekend in New York. Daddy gets to handle the crew here at home, I am sure he will be fine! I am so excited to go see Mary Poppins on Broadway. The weather is supposed to be good so I will keep my fingers crossed that it holds. Maggie will have her first train ride and visit to the city. It should be a blast.



My big gratitude for the day:

Mr. G went to the grocery store for me on his way home from work. Thank you Dan! Sometimes it is the little things that mean so much. I was swamped today trying to get everything ready for this weekend and I was running out of time. He came to my rescue and I appreciate it so much!

Look at those sweet eyes, Little Miss MaggPie is the sweetest, most cuddly little babe. I am in love and am sniffing in that fresh baby smell every chance I get.

A month of Thanksgiving

Halloween is over and the Christmas decorations are already up????  Don't get me wrong I love Christmas, I am a planner and have been planning Christmassy things for weeks BUT what happened to Thanksgiving?   Zak was in such a mood because of all the Christmas hype already.  I love to start shopping and crafting early but to walk in a store the day after Halloween to hear Christmas music playing is a bit ridiculous. So we are going to try and focus on the here and now of this season.  The leaves are changing and starting to cover the yard, I have been working on putting the garden to bed and there is a definite chill in the air.  I am going to make a conscious effort to look for the beauty in the everday and feel the blessing of it.  The children and I will be looking for all those lovely things to be grateful for and add them to my gratitude list. We will open our eyes to see the blessings all around us and pray a prayer of gratitude

So I will start off with a heartfelt gratitude for sweet little blond girls in bright yellow tutus with ringlets I want to put my hands in.  Little miss Madi is such a sweet little bug who gets funnier everyday.

.. the end to a fun soccer season, played with cousins and friends(when we didn't get rained out:)

Maggie Mae

Exactly 4 weeks ago today little miss Maggie Mae graced us with her birth. How have 4 weeks passed us by so quickly? It seems that time slips so quickly through our fingers. So I try not to blink to often because in a blink the year flies by... Maggie is laying beside me watching me as I type, this is her awake time. All of the other littles are in bed, quiet and drifting off to dreamland. Maya is laying in bed beside me(I didn't specify which bed they were in). She is having issues going to her room by herself. They have all gone through this stage and though it can drive me absolutely crazy at the time I know it won't last long, nothing does. So I have spent the last 4 weeks trying to inhale every moment of newborness, the smell, the sounds, the way she curls up into a ball. I have loved watching every moment that her siblings have spent loving her up in their own special ways. Even Madi has to have her turns holding and kissing Maggie. It is so sweet to watch because I know in a short time they will be arguing over the silliest things like whose doll gets the bottle first. Ask me how I know???

But in the interest of keeping it real here's a little roundup of what else went on around here besides staring at the sweetest little new babe....

..we've had 6 doctors appointments in 4 weeks

.. 5 out of 6 children have been sick, totaling 8 missed school days and almost 2 weeks stuck at home.

..I fought off 2 cases of mastitis, Ouch!

.. Max and Maya have both had 2 soccer games and 1 that was cancelled due to rain.

.. Dan worked the Back to School gymnastics meet with Carli.

..We went camping for the weekend at Bucky's in Mansfield and the kids had a blast. (yes I took my infant camping for the weekend, but it is really RVing, no roughing it and real heat at night.)

.. Dan survived inventory at his store after hours of overtime.

..Max went on a field trip to a farm and had a blast, I wasn't asked to chaperon:(

.. Carli and Dan went on her field trip to a ropes course and had a good day.

. Zak had new strings put on his guitar and has been playing it every day since.

.. Madi has discovered the joy of play doh and now playing with that is part of everyday.

..I started 2 new knitting projects and a quilt, my focus is still a little scattered.

..I have cloroxed the house more times in the last 2 weeks than I'd like to count. Trying hard to prevent the spread of Mr. Ick.

Plus the normal cleaning, 4 loads of laundry a day and cooking to feed my always hungry brood. I am a little exhausted looking at the list.

written 10/22

Thank you Jesus

I'll be honest, some days after everyone is in bed I am saying "Thank you Jesus we made it through today!" It feels like everything is a struggle, there is arguing and bickering at every turn. I am mediating between siblings constantly and I can't help but wonder where I am going wrong. Those days I pray I make it through without any real injuries, physical or emotional, among my little tribe. yesterday was one of those days. Nothing specific, just an overall chaos that seemed to settle in for the day. We had things to do at home but it was perfect weather and they could be outside to run amok but that didn't seem to help. I was supposed to be leaving this morning for the beach but I finally decided we needed to leave last night, maybe they were all just wound up to go. I packed the car, everyone gave Daddy loving and we headed off. Three hours later we arrived at nanna & poppa's beach house and the air cleared a little. It was close to bed time when we got here so everyone unloaded the car, put on p.j.'s and had a snack. I put everyone to bed, called my love to say goodnight and headed into bed myself. After a good nights sleep I am even more thankful we drove last night. I am thinking positively, today is a new day and with it will be new attitudes from the kiddos. At least I am praying, "Please Jesus, let there be new attitudes all around, including mine!" It will be a better day!

photo: Madi bug dripping milk on herself and giggling as we drove to the beach

quiet evening

I am sitting on my screened in porch as the air starts to cool. It was a hot and humid day but now the air is blowing and it has cooled off nicely. Baby girl is in bed. Daddy took the 4 biggers to a special treat of a drive in movie. The first Friday of summer deserved a special outing. There aren't many drive in theaters around here anymore and they had to drive 40 minutes to get to the one closest, I know it will be worth it. It is so quiet here now. The birds are saying their goodnights and the crickets are starting to sing. The leaves are rustling in the breeze and it is so peaceful. I am watching the field awaiting the arrival of the lightning bugs. We haven't seen any yet this year and my littles are anxious for them to return. Sometimes when you look out over the field it looks like a million little fairy lights flickering. It is a magical sight. The little one growing inside me is kicking up a storm tonight. I saw the midwife this morning and everything is moving along as it should. I can't believe I am already 6 months along. Everyone is excited to have another little one in the house but for now I will sit here and enjoy the quiet.

To be blessed to see...

Outside my office window is a small topiary tree, a round ball on a brown trunk. Last week we noticed a small bird had made her nest in the front part of the tree. I watched as she came and went continually throughout the day. Bringing items back for the nest and soon we began to hear the tiny chirping of a new baby bird. Ever so carefully I peered into the tree to see tiny beading eyes looking out at me as momma stared at me from a nearby perch. The baby was so tiny but could call for his momma quite loudly. We've been checking on baby everyday, watching as feathers filled in all over the tiny body. Then this morning the most amazing thing happened. I was walking Mr. G out to his car and we stopped to look at the baby bird. Momma was sitting on the fence close by watching our every move. Baby was sitting up on the edge of the nest. We both thought he looked like he was ready to take off at any moment, but already?? We moved away from the nest and in a minute there he went, flapping hard trying to stay afloat. Momma followed him down to where he landed and looked to give him a treat and some encouragement. A few seconds later he tried to get off the ground and made more of a hop than a flight. It was amazing to watch his early morning flying lessons. I have never seen anything like it and in that moment I felt I was blessed to witness the event. Momma stood back and watched her little one try to take flight. Was God whispering to me this morning??

Early morning...

It's early, still dark outside when I rise this morning to start our daily routine. Across the hall to the laundry to start the first load (of the many that will get done today), picking up dropped articles of clothing as I make my rounds through the bedrooms checking on the little people still sleeping there. I find my way to Bird's room who pleads for a few more minutes under the warmth of her quilts. Still gathering I find a stray cup here, a shoe there, all left randomly around the house; evidence of the family that calls this place home. In the breaking early light I feel the temptation to play the martyr, I am not the maid, why do they just leave things lay and think I will pick them up? but then I stop and breathe, it is becoming more of a habit now, I am trying to see these things, the stuff I gather every morning as evidence. Evidence of the many blessings I have been given, still asleep in their beds. The blessings I am so grateful for my heart might burst and so I pray... A little prayer for the bandit who left the socks lay or for the princess who left her pink heels in the hallway. And in those prayers the bitterness starts to leave my mouth, I know the purpose I have been given and I am grateful. And even though it is still annoying, honestly some days more so than others, I try to put it into perspective. There will come a day all too soon when there won't be anything left lying around, when there will be only one load of a laundry a day and the dishes won't multiply in the sink. What will I feel? Will my short time with my children home be well spent? How will they look at me? Did I spend my precious time moaning and complaining? I pray not. And so every morning I ask for a strength that is not my own to do the best that I can for the people I love so dearly and I pray that my best is enough.