...and He blessed them

mark 10:16 is a beautiful passage of scripture

"and he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them"

what a gift to be part of a church that practices the blessings of Christ

on Sunday, our pastors stood in the place of Jesus and laid their hands on sparkle, speaking goodness over and into her life as we promised to raise her up in the truth 

i can't tell you what a treasure it is to belong to a group of people that is committed to helping us grow these girls

how many of them have prayed for us?

how often have they rejoiced with us?

how many blessings have we received as a result of this family?

we'll never know.

but one thing we do know is that we need them

we rely on them

we cherish them

so, it is with great joy that we dedicate you, Sparkle Girl

to the Lord

and to His family

you are a beautiful part of His lovely Bride

one last hurrah

tonight is a happy/sad night in our home

happy because tomorrow we are all going back to things we love...

daycare

friendships

classrooms

co-workers

students

routines

sad because we're saying good-bye to a sweet, sweet summer

but we couldn't close the book on summer 2013 without one last hurrah

so we packed our snacks and swimsuits and hit the beach just down the road

nothing too special....

but nothing too ordinary, either

the lake was glittering like a million diamonds as the sun made its way down toward the horizon

 

and i had one of those moments when you step back and take a look at your life

it left me thinking lots of things...but mostly that i couldn't have written a better script

thank goodness i'm not in control, because if i was, i know i wouldn't have planned it this way

married to a teacher

living in rural-ish minesota

with three little ladies

if you would have asked me 10 years ago if this was the dream, i would have given you a whole different version of what i wanted my life to look like

but on our last night of summer, i am convinced that two teachers being married to each other is probably one of the most brilliant ideas in the world

and this place...these kids....

well, it isn't perfect

but it IS wonderful

thank you, Lord...i'll say it a million times and it still won't be enough

thank you that you are so committed to giving me your best

tonight marks the end of summer

the end of my maternity leave

the end of sparkle sleeping in our room

the end of a whole lot of togetherness

as i lay baby cakes down in her room upstairs, i'm having one of those happy/sad moments when everything is  so, so good

and it is all happening way too fast

ahhhhhh....it was a sweet summer

but all good things must come to an end

if only for the purpose of starting NEW good things

like loving new groups of kids

sleeping through the night (fingers crossed!)

and returning to playmates

on that note, i'll stop myself

enough reflecting for one night

my alarm is set for a stunningly early hour

and there's no guarantee that i won't be up a couple times in between now and then

but i'm not complaining :)

g'night and happy end of summer

farm girls

well, i suppose that after my last post, i should follow up by saying that i've gotten over my pity party and we've been having loads of fun savoring these last days of summer

i'm lucky to be married to a go-getter of a guy who just picks up the kids, tells me to pack a bag and loads it all in the car no matter how dog-tired we are

he's always got an adventure up his sleeve and we've been here, there and everywhere over the past week

one of our trips was to his parents' farm

i'm a country girl at heart and it makes me all kinds of happy to see my kiddos lovin' farm life

the dream is to have kittens and acres of our own someday....

but for now, this will do :)

wide open spaces and 75 degress...what could be better?

i'll take sanity with a side order of peace, please

most days, i'm over the moon about this mom gig...

but today?

oh, today....

i'm happy to share just about everything with these little people that walk around at half-height in my home

my time

my money

my hobbies

my energy

my bowl of ice cream

my last french fry

and sacrificing for them is, for the most part, pure joy

they've taken over my home

my body

my sleep

my conversations

but when they threaten to take my sanity....

well, that's where i draw the line

let me explain

yesterday was glorious

the weather was just perfect and we headed to the steele county fair, where we had a total blast!

 it was peach's idea for us all to wear MN Gopher shirts...too sweet!

the highlight of the day was dancing to the music coming from the polka wagon

but we also enjoyed walking around, feeding the animals at the petting zoo (including a giraffe!), riding the ferris wheel and taking in a bunch of other over-priced rides

the girls were wearing face-splitting smiles the whole time

then, we headed home

one of my little lovelies (who will remain nameless) screamed (and i mean SCREAMED) the entire 45 minute ride home...fun

upon arriving home, we tucked three exhausted girls into bed just KNOWING that after all that excitement, they'd sleep good and late

wrong.  sparkle was up three times during the night and the other two?

up with the sun.

three cups of coffee later i thought i was getting into my groove

but then one of my precious littles (who will also remain nameless) was caught breaking crayons (again)

and it just went downhill from there - one ugly infraction after the next...

 she proceeded to soak the couch in urine (nice), eat some potentially toxic berries from the tree in our neighbors' yard (after being specifically instructed not to) and then came in the house to boldly rip a page out of a library book, proudly announcing that it could be fixed with "jus' a lil' tape"

bath time was grand - little mischief herself dumped half the tub's water over the edge while i was trying to locate a washcloth

and then we have our third lovely in the background bossing the whole family around, telling everyone what to do, when to speak, who did what and why she is right about it all

one violator pulled another's hair

someone left their underwear in the middle of the hallway

three puzzle pieces made their way into the toilet

and there is questionable stickiness all over the kitchen floor

j and i are just looking at each other, shaking out heads and wondering what in the WORLD we've gotten ourselves into

i feel like i spent the ENTIRE day correcting, rebuking, disciplining and redirecting

oh, wait...there was that call to poison control about the berries...so i guess not the WHOLE day, but darn near

not to mention that Sparkle has decided she wants nothing to do with anyone other than me, so she screamed so loud during my 90 second shower that J had to lay her down and leave the room

right now the littlest is sleeping and the other two are watching Tom and Jerry while eating fruit snacks

i know, i know...

in a former life (one without children) i would have frowned upon rewarding bad behavior with television and sugar

BUT, upon having children i realized that movies and fruit snacks are not a reward for disobedient children

they are a reward for parents who made it through a day like this one without placing them in the yard with a FREE sign on their backs

i feel like hiding and letting the neighbors put them to bed
the kind man from poison control just called back to see if tulip was "acting like herself"
i said "yes" but i thought "yes, a little too much like herself....anything non-toxic you could recommend to help us out with that?"

ugh. not gonna' win any awards for my attitude today

whew - good thing tomorrow is a new chance for us all :)

8 years

a lot can happen in 8 years

2 jobs,

1 house,

three new little people....

8 years ago, J and i vowed to spend the rest of our lives together

so far, it's been quite the adventure

we set out last night to celebrate all that the Lord has done since the magic of 8 years ago

 the big girls enjoyed a babysitter while sparkle tagged along with us to the Cheesecake Factory 

we don't often get to spend time together without the kids, but we had two reasons for bringing baby girl along:

#1 - this little stinker refuses to take the bottle, so she and i are pretty inseparable right now

#2 - we don't really ever get to be alone with her, so we made it a date for three

she got loved up extra special and we ate some amazing food

eggplant sandwich and bang bang chicken and shrimp

we topped it off with dessert and back-to-school shopping for J

and spent the ride home talking about what we want our family to look like 8 years from now....15 years from now....50 years from now

we wrote down some dreams and goals and i went to bed happy, happy, happy to be spending my crazy life with this great guy

thirty one

today a phenomenal guy in my life turned 31 years young

he had the option of playing in a golf tournament or taking his four special ladies out for a spin.

he chose the latter, which is just one of the many reasons i dig him.

we started the day with candles and singing and a few gifts

then spent the rest of the day in northfield, checking out the farmer's market and art fair

he treated peach and tulip to face painting and lunch at the hideaway

we came home for naps and he snuck in some special time with peach, taking her out golfing with him

i made his favorite for supper: tacos

at the end of the day, peach wondered why there was "only one decoration" up for daddy's birthday

i had hung our birthday banner over the bay window and apparently, that just wasn't enough :)

i tried to explain that birthdays aren't such a big deal when we get older

to which she scrunched up her face and told me that was "stinky!"

i suppose she's right - turning 31 should be just as big of a deal as turning 5 will be for her this fall

why is it that we begin to downplay the beauty of turning another year?  should it not be celebrated MORE with each additional year that we are given?

nevertheless, a relaxing day of loving him was all that he wanted

in the end, even though his birthday was quiet, i hope he knows that our love for him is loud :)

july extras

i'll admit it....picture taking this month was sparse

i've learned pretty quickly that most days, i can only carry what is absolutely essential:  the kids, the diapers, the sunscreen, the water bottles, the money....

and although i hate to say it, since the camera isn't a necessity, it often gets left behind :(

but, i do have a few extra pics that need a home, so here they are

grandma and grandpa surprised us with a tire swing at their house that darn near the whole family can fit on!

we spent time at their house and met auntie H and uncle L at the sioux falls zoo

finally, sparkle got sweeter by the day this month

she's thinking about rolling :)

not a whole lot to feast your eyes on, but i'll leave you with one last pic that i snapped while j was singing on the deck one night

despite the fact that my beloved camera is not getting the attention it deserves, i can't deny that this family of five thing just keeps getting better and better all the time