multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2278. safe travels for Kirb
2279. fun week at day camp for Rebekah, Lydia and Joe
2280. book club :: fabulous book, yummy treats, favorite friends and a break from single-parenting
2281. soccer games
2282. TONS of rain and still a completely dry basement :: praise God it's all doing what it is supposed to do
2283. continued basement progress
2284. new windows
2285. paint on the walls
2286. 70 year of grandpa Roger {my father-in-law}
2287. Kirb and Beka going up to surprise him for his birthday
2288. friends
2289. a beautiful night and a long walk with Rebekah and Sara
2290. kids, waterballoons and a trampoline {a really fun combination!}
2291. making it, problem-free, through our week without our dad/husband
2292. Kirb getting to enjoy dinner with some good friends {who now live in Canada} while he was traveling for work
2293. another meeting with an old friend while Kirb was in his part of the world -- unplanned, Kirb walked into the building where he works and guess who was standing right inside the door, took a long look, smiled and opened his arms for a big hug? What a blessing that Keith had some free, un-scheduled time when Kirb happened to be in his "neighborhood".
2294. antibiotics for Sara's month-long, really nasty diaper rash :: finally a bit of relief!
2295. a good 7-year check up for Joe
2296. flowers
2297. beautiful summer days :: glorious, sunny days and cool evenings
2298. Father's Day and all the wonderful father's in my life :: my dad, my husband, my brother . . .
2299. being reminded of a fun piece of trivia that I knew, but had forgotten :: Charles Schultz {of Peanuts comics fame} was baptized in our church as a teenager, as the nearby church he attended didn't have a baptismal. How cool is that?
2300. resolution to Joe's t-ball team being cancelled for the summer due to low registration :: he's going to do archery at the Y and is super excited! {we will not be putting his name in for the Hunger Games, however, so never fear}
2301. a good old-fashioned thunderstorm to lay awake listening to and watching {fabulous thunder and lightning!}

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2251. kids rolling down grassy hills
2252. a great dinnertime discussion following by the kids praying for each other
2253. field day :: potato sack races and tug-o-fun
2254. the escape found in reading a good book
2255. the closing of a really great chapter of life :: 3 years of watching Vince :: what a blessing!
2256. Joe washing dishes
2257. Sara's ever-expanding vocabulary :: I can barely keep up with her new words
2258. waking up to birds singing a beautiful song {loudly!} outside my window
2259. a full decade of Lydia :: Happy Birthday LJ!
2260. Anna asking me :: "Mom, how do you spell 'I love Lydia and I love everyone in our whole family except the mean people.'?" :: silly girl
2261. Sara telling me "dress off!" when I was changing her clothes
2262. an amazing beautiful double rainbow :: possibly the most beautiful, clearest, sharpest rainbow I have ever seen
2263. post-rain sunset
2264. a great first game of the season for Rebekah's soccer team
2265. last day of school
2266. a tangible, almost immediate answer to the sincere prayer of an 11-year-old :: thank you Lord!
2267. great, wonderful, fabulous, caring, excellent, passionate teachers
2268. having Luis {our basement contractor/carpenter} join us for our last-day-of-school BBQ
2269. four kids with check-ups at the dentist and zero cavities!
2270. Rebekah's first shift at the library
2271. a Saturday morning family walk {before it got unbearably hot}
2272. a freshly mowed lawn
2273. much-needed rain
2274. stopping in time to not hit any of the 3 deer that tried to cross the road right in front of our van. in the dark. in the pouring rain!
2275. a good run, despite the heat
2276. kids literally COVERED -- head to toe -- in dirt!
2277. godly, encouraging parenting commiseration

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

I ran away

For weary mothers outnumbered by children.

To be played by squeaky, nails-on-the-chalkboard beginning violinists

A Lament

A Psalm of Shana

I could not take it one more second.

Will they never get to sleep?

With no shoes and no bra – in my jammies – I left

Straight out the door, without thought.

Walked down the road in the dark;

In the dark of night.

I cried out to the Lord, “I don’t even know what to say.

I can’t do it anymore. They are making me crazy.

I am quite possibly already crazy!”

I returned home and sat in a lawn chair

It was dark.

It was quiet and still.

I was cold.

Not ready, yet, to go back in,

I got in the van, reclined the seat and covered up with a size 6/7 raincoat I found strewn on the van floor.

It was surprisingly warm and comforting.

Finally someone came looking for me.

It was late.

I went inside, brushed my teeth and headed for bed.

The baby cried.

I ignored her.

I want to sleep.

When I lay down in my bed, one is there.

When I try the couch, one is there.

Oh when will they stay in their own beds?

How long, oh Lord, until they sleep through the night?

Sleep finally comes.

I wake and see an adorable, dirty, peaceful, sleeping face ringed with curls and remember the depth of my love.

Thankful that Your faithfulness is new with each morning.

Today is full to bursting. So much to juggle!
Lord, have mercy!
But then, really! harmonicas at 6:38?
Do they not understand some are still asleep and need to stay that way?

Let me remember the Mother's Day of just days ago,
Full of love and (relative) peace and blessings.
Return to me those children, oh Lord.
Return to me those children.

Multitude Monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2166. spending the evening at the library as a family
2167. jigsaw puzzles
2168. 3 years since Grandma joined Papa in heaven
2169. 19 months of Sara::
2170. a bunch of retired guys (I assume they are retired) playing a serious game of softball at 9:30 on a Thursday morning
2171. naps in the sun :: soaking up vitamin D
2172. garage sale bargains
2173. basement progress::

fun discovery :: the year our house was built etched in the foundation

2174. an older man (grandpa, I'm assuming) and 2 preschool-aged kiddos carrying fishing poles and walking down the sidewalk toward the lake
2175. chats with friends
2176. a fun 5th grade concert
2177. friends willing to let us peek in every nook and cranny of their basement and talk "basement remodel" with us
2178. celebrating 40 years of life for a dear, dear friend {Happy Birthday, Karin!!}
2179. a glorious weekend
2180. a dry run of next weeks 5K (my first ever!) :: running while Rebekah kept me company on her scooter
2181. the privilege of being a mother
2182. my 6 crazy, adorable kiddos::
2183. all my amazing mom friends and how they help me to be a better mom
2184. my fabulous, beautiful {inside and out!} mother!
2185. a family trip to the park on a beautiful evening
2186. celebrating Mother's Day with my mother and her mother

my adorable grandma and me

2187. family
2188. watching squirrels frolic in the yard
2189. warmest day of 2012 so far :: 85 degrees


Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

The joys of motherhood

A diaperless Anna pooped on the floor this morning {the floor I mopped just yesterday, I might add!!} proceeded to step in the pile of nastiness and then walk throughout the house!

I'm not exactly sure what it was in her diet the past few days that made this particular mess exceptionally gross, but let me assure you: IT WAS GROSS! The entire main floor stunk and the big kids held their noses as they proceeded outside until the incident was all taken care of!

So, I stuck Anna {and Joe, since he wanted to join her} in the tub to soak and self-clean and began the battle against the poop. The big stuff was picked up and tossed, what remained was wiped up, rugs {smallish ones, thankfully!} were picked up {some thrown right in the wash and some spot cleaned, hosed down and hung outside to dry}, floors were swept and then attacked with a mop. I was almost there . . .

Shortly after the freshly cleaned floor was dry and shiny {ok, 30 year-old linoleum never really gets "shiny", but you get the point} Lydia proceeded to spill lemonade on it. A pretty decent amount of lemonade. And, I should mention, before spilling it on the floor it also spilled in the fridge! Super! So I got the mop out again! Hopefully this time it will stay clean for more than 23 minutes.

So, the rugs are all clean {most are even dry and back in their proper places in the house}:

Some, however are still basking in the sun:

The baby is clean {and so is her brother}:

The floor is clean.

This all started at 11 o'clock, right before we were planning a fun visit to the library. It is now 3 and, instead, we're off to the park in hopes that the house can stay clean for just a little while and we can enjoy this amazingly glorious day!