Blessings abound

Here are some of the many blessings I have made note of in my gratitude journal lately. A gratitude journal is something that I had heard of for years and years, but finally started doing after reading Ann Voskamp's powerful, amazing book One Thousand Gifts. If you haven't read it, you should! And also, she has a new book out called The Broken Way. I have a copy of it on my nightstand, but life has been crazy and I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I am looking forward to it though, and know it will be wonderful. So, here go a few of my recent blessings (complete with photographic evidence of some of them). Enjoy!

5912. baby snuggles with Clay
5915. our pediatrician -- I love her!
5918. family trip to the apple orchard
5920. a complete God thing. an answer to a prayer we hadn't even thought to pray :: a tutor for one of our kids who is struggling in school
5922. glorious weather
5925. clothes on the line
5933. volunteering at school
5937. bonfire and dessert with friends
5944. friends who are like family
5950. a supportive, encouraging husband
5951. a girls weekend
5955. sunrise over the lake
5956. loon calls on the lake in the morning
5959. singing words of truth ::

Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me.
On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
I never ever have to be afraid
This one thing remains!

5960. deep, hard laughter with friends (I nearly needed my inhaler!)
5961. yard work done and ready for winter
5963. knowing friends are praying for me
5964. a bright moon in a dark sky
5965. family walk to the park in the dark -- looking at the moon and the stars and swinging and playing catch and climbing and enjoying time together
5972. walking the kids to school each morning
5975. an eagle overhead -- the majesty!

amazing for a November in MN

walking to school with these 3 is my favorite

sunrises are my favorite

amazing friends on an amazing fall day

Flashback Friday

My baby when she was actually still a baby ::

Sara Evelyn 4 months {February 2011}::

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago 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 (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2778. hope
2779. wrinkly baby foreheads peeking over shoulders :: I can hardly stand it!
2780. how the grain of wood looks after soaking up a bit of stain :: so beautiful
2781. the great energy in church on Sunday
2782. answered prayer
2783. Evelyn home again, after spending the week in the hospital
2784. seeing Clarence back at church on Sunday
2785. tear-inducing laughter with friends
2786. determination and dedication
2787. light at the end of the tunnel
2788. my hard-working, dedicated husband and his amazing {God-given} leadership skills
2789. encouragement and affirmation from others
2790. game night with girlfriends. Boxers or Briefs :: such and fun and funny game!
2791. a great 6.23K with Kirb and the 3 big kids. great way to start off a Saturday. {Jacob finished WAY quicker than I expected him to and Kirb -- who doesn't run and hasn't been training  and running for a year and was wearing JEANS for crying out loud! -- was ahead of me nearly the whole race, although I beat him in the end. My bitterness and jealousy get a bit of a break due to the fact that he is still ache-y 2 days later, whereas I feel just fine, and have since I stepped out of the shower. So extra proud of my boys! The girls had a great time too, and Lydia has declared her desire to run lots more 5Ks with me.}

2792. new, updated pictures of Melvin in the mailbox
2793. Sara Groves. Live!
2794. waking up to our first dusting of snow

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

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started years ago 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 (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2685. 2 years of life for Sara
2686. a good nights sleep for all 6 kiddos
2687. easier nights for Rebekah
2688. the amazing blue of the late-afternoon sky
2689. good swim practice for Joe
2690. pink cups at Dunn Bros.
2691. football players in pink socks ::

2692. double coupon day at the gas station :: $6.25 saved
2693. Joe's new glasses ::

2694. clean laundry
2695. the library
2696. Sara's mispronunciations that I love
2697. a little bit of rain for the thirsty ground
2698. protection on the football field
2699. looking forward to some company from out of town
2700. a new baby born to a friend on 10.11.12 :: how fun is that?
2701. lots and lots of creating
2702. a good end to Jacob's 8th grade football season ::

2703. an attentive sister and divine protection for Sara when she choked on a pistachio shell while we were in the van :: thank you, God, that Rebekah noticed her choking and for Kirb's lightning quick response and throat sweep that took care of what could have been a completely different situation with a terrible, terrible outcome. Praise God! We are so very thankful!
2704. some much-needed rain
2705. the sound of rain on the roof :: it had been so long, I'd nearly forgotten
2706. enjoying a good movie with my love after the kids were in bed
2707. Jacob's fabulous football coach :: encouraging, positive and kind. Jacob loved him!


Alrighty, that's it's for this week. 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"::

2599. the early-morning sound of the paper guy backing out of the driveway
2600. the way Anna calls the newspaper "the news" :: i.e. "The news is here mom."
2601. our annual neighborhood block party/potluck
2602. meeting the newest neighbors {a new couple who moved in down the block and a 10-day old baby from across the street that I hadn't met in person, only in pictures
2603. a visit from Kirby's brother
2604. bike day at preschool
2605. 45 kidless hours to celebrate our anniversary
2606. sleeping in
2607. 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep
2608. 16 years of marriage
2609. watching Jacob's football game :: coffee in hand, Kirb by my side and no kiddos to keep an eye on
2610. shopping at i like you
2611. massage
2612. long-standing, meaningless-to-the-rest-of-the-world traditions between me and Kirbs that make us both smile
2613. dinner at Chatterbox
2614. my sacrificial parents and their willingness to stay with our lively brood!
2615. coming home to our half dozen
2616. transferring birthdays and special dates into my new 2013 calendar {that I almost paid full-price for, but then saw the exact one I wanted in the clearance section for 70% off :: someone had written on about 3 pages of it and then returned it, so it was "used" . . . hey, I've got white-out!}
2617. checking things off "the list" that have been on there for MONTHS
2618. Sara singing Toby Mac
2619. great finds on a trip to Goodwill
2620. re-affirmation that the book is always better than the movie
2621. "Step into Africa" with the 4 bigs. a fabulous experience. SO glad we went!
2622. writing a letter to Melvin
2623. new babies
2624. 5K coming up this weekend for me, Rebekah, Lydia and Joe
2625. "for all your goodness I will keep on singing. ten thousand reasons for my heart to find" :: love it!


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

you might want to grab a kleenex {or maybe that's just me}

In early 1999 -- January. Maybe February -- we started. Crib shopping, that is. Our first little bundle was scheduled to arrive right around April Fool's Day and he or she would need a place to sleep, right? So the two of us "kids" {me not even a quarter century old and Kirb just barely ahead of me} went crib shopping. We found one we liked after much discussion {drop side? sleigh? dark wood? light? painted? one that converts to a toddler bed? -- so many options} and took it home and painstakingly set it up. Then we took some pictures of the finished, bug-themed nursery and waited for the baby. That baby arrived a little earlier than we expected, but we were ready. Beginning the night of March 25th, 1999 -- the day we came home from the hospital with little Jacob -- our crib went to work. That was nearly 5,000 nights ago. Most every night since then {with the exception of times we were away from home} a Stoll baby has slept in that crib. First Jacob. Then Rebekah {who got kicked out at 14-months to make way for her new sister}. Then Lydia. Then Joe {who had the longest run in the crib -- nearly 3 years}. Then Anna. Then Sara. It has served us very well and has been more than worth whatever it was we paid for it.

But last night that crib was empty. We weren't out of town. No vacations or anything. We were here. We were here and it was empty.

Last night Sara slept in her big girl bed. A twin bed. She looked so big under those covers!

She went to sleep without problem and didn't even try to get out {she was, however, extremely tired!} About 4:30 I heard some little footsteps. She doesn't usually sleep all night, so it didn't surprise me that she would wake up, but I was curious as to what she would do when she was awake and able to escape. No longer a prisoner in that crib, she plodded along in the dark and ended up in our room. She came to my side of the bed and announced :: "I dit out. I sleep a Daddy's bed." So I gave her a little boost and she crawled up, snuggled in and joined us for a couple hours.

I'm not sure how tonight will go. If she'll sleep in the big bed again, or if she'll be in her crib. We're not committed to totally going cold turkey {like we did with the nuks a month or two ago} or anything. We're just at that transition point. Maybe two steps forward and one step back. Who knows. We'll see. But it certainly is the end of something. I'm not quite ready to take the crib down and live in a crib-less house, but that time is fast approaching. Weird! I've always had a baby, it seems, and now I don't any more. I'm certainly a bit sad, but it feels ok too. You can't keep them little forever!

Dreams

I had an especially weird and crazy dream early this morning, right before I got up {maybe even during the 10-minute "snooze" after our alarm went off the first time}. All day yesterday and all day today our house has been extra full as we're hanging out with 3 extra kiddos. My friend Allie's little man, Sam, and Vince and G-Rae, the 2 kids from the family that I've done daycare for the past few years have been here. Sam is here for 48 hours straight {since he lives on the other end of the world and coming to get him at night isn't so smart}. The other 2 go home at night. When you have a teacher for a parent, childcare gets a little extra tricky the week before school starts, since you need to "go to school" and your kids don't. So what is any good teacher to do? Call us! Thus we've been a 9-kid house.

Possibly that fact had something to do with fueling my dream -- a dream in which I "gave birth" {not in the normal way though . . . you know how dreams are!} to triplet boys! It also might have to do with the fact that we just got home from a WONDERFUL, FABULOUS, favorite-week-of-the-year week at family camp {which, hopefully, I will get a chance to blog about later} and there were 2 ladies at camp who were about 37 weeks, plus there was an adorable 4-week old boy there with his family, and a few other not-quite-as-far-along pregnant ladies there too. Also, I have a thing for babies! {in case you didn't know!} And, also, I have to add that there was a family at camp with 7 kids. Their oldest was a few months younger than Jacob and their youngest was a few months younger than Sara, so basically we had kids the same ages, they just squeezed one more in there than we did. I told them we had 4 girls and 2 boys and the mom answered, "So did we until we had the seventh one." I love being around other big families! They "get it" so much better than most people.

So, back to the dream :: In my dream I was sitting in a chair in a room with another woman {OB? Nurse? Produce manager? I'm not sure of her exact role in the whole thing}. Appearing, seemingly, out of nowhere {wouldn't it be nice if that's how birth really was?} into this woman's hands one at a time came these three little spheres which she then peeled, kind of like you would peel an orange, and then she handed me my baby -- which had emerged from the little sphere. None of the boys cried or anything when she peeled/delivered them, but that didn't seem any weirder to me than the fact that she was peeling them in the first place. As I held the boys one at a time, my thoughts went immediately to the fact that I would have to name them. Being that they came together, I wanted their names to kind of "go together" too.

My first thought was "John, Paul and Ringo", even though I'm not a major Beattles fan or anything. But I shot that brainstorm down quickly when I imagined introducing my kids :: "These are our kids, Jacob, Rebekah, Lydia, Joseph, Anna, Sara, John, Paul and RINGO." It just didn't work for me. Plus, there is also the fact that I'm bothered by rhyming names. Contrary to what many people think, our last name is pronounced "stall", as in the place in the garage where you park your car, or where you pee in a public bathroom, or when your car stops going . . . not like "stole" as if you think we take things that don't belong to us. So, anyway, Paul Stoll is not a good choice in my book. {On a related note, some of you know that my father-in-law is one of 17 kids in his family. Now I fully understand that if you give 17 kids a first AND middle name that you have used up 34 names, which is quite a few, and by the end there you could possibly run out of names you really like. But, guess what they named their firstborn boy? You guessed it. Paul Stoll. He was a wonderful, godly man, but I've always thought it funny that, when they had all the boy names in the whole world to choose from, they chose to name their first boy a name that rhymed.} I also considered naming the triplets "Alvin, Simon and Theodore" but decided that wasn't the right three-some either. Finally we settled on Peter, James and John, in the spirit of the catchy Sunday school song that many of you might know. So, I finally got a Peter, which is a name I've wanted to throw in the hat each time I was pregnant, but Kirb always shot it down.

Maybe I should get Joseph from the Old Testament to come and interpret it for me. Or maybe my Joe could do it. Or maybe I don't want to know!

Anyway, that was how I started my day!

And for you long-time blog readers, in the spirit of 'Thankful Thursday' I will add that we are not expecting any number of babies . . . just in case you were wondering. {And I know some of you were!}

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

1296. the sounds, sights and smells of spring
1297. another wonderful book
1298. dinner with friends . . . a FULL house!
1299. sunshine and a nearly snow-free yard {all the snow melts, then it snows again. all the snow melts, then it snows again . . . the life of a Minnesotan in the "spring"!}
1300. my kids and the joy they bring to my life
1301. starting the week with an empty dishwasher and sink and all the clean dishes put away {thanks to my fabulous husband}
1302. live video feed of an eagles nest . . . riveting, I tell you!
1303. sitting outside with my mom and Sara, enjoying the sunshine and warmth
1304. hearing my grandma play one of my very, very favorite songs on the piano at church yesterday, accompanying our choir {great job, Grandma!}
1305. crossing things off my to-do list
1306. discussing an important book with my 10-year-old {wasn't she just a baby? how'd this happen?}
1307. a warm home and cup of tea on a blustery April day
1308. good friends
1309. bike riding, rollerblading, scooter-ing, trampoline jumping, basketball . . . kids playing OUTside for long periods of time!


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

babies, babies, babies

I'm going to a baby shower in a couple weeks. It's for a new mom who is pregnant with her first precious little bundle {that they have waited a VERY long time for . . . the better part of a decade}. They are anxiously awaiting a day a couple months off when they will meet their new little one. One might imagine that since I've had so many babies, I'd know right away what the perfect shower gift would be. But, as it turns out, the more babies I have, the more I discover that babies really don't need much at all. A few simple pieces of clothing to keep them warm when it's cold, a big set of burp cloths {although any towel, old t-shirt or, often, your own shirt sleeve will work too}, stuff to eat {which, miraculously, can usually just come with the mom}, a place to sleep {which I discovered over the weekend doesn't always mean you need a crib, even}, some diapers and lots of love. Many retailers would have you believe there are long lists of other necessities, but I really don't think so. At this point in my parenting the only thing that I think I couldn't live without is a baby carrier {or two or three}. Oh, and a nuk! {but that has not been true with all my kids. A couple were quite attached to their thumbs, which can't fall out of your crib at night or get lost, but consequently is a little harder habit to break when the time comes!}

My kids do have toys and books and other "stuff", but with each baby I've gotten rid of more and more of the well-marketed baby "necessities" and have been happier, I think, with less of a collection of various baby paraphernalia. I do, however, currently have 5 different types/styles/models of baby carriers. And, although I'm not sure I need to have 5, I would be in big trouble without at least one. My favorite {at the moment} is a fleece sling that I use at least once a day {and so does Kirb despite the fact that it's rather girly looking -- he's cool like that}. I once had a dream that it got stolen out of my van. Really, I did. It was a terrible dream and in the dream I could hardly wait for the store to open up so I could replace it right away the next morning. But if I'm going to be wearing Sara for hours at a time, it really helps to have her weight distributed on both shoulders, so I also have a Moby wrap {basically an obscenely long piece of -- in my case, brown -- material that you wrap around your body and stick the baby in}. It's great, but a little more time consuming to put on and get loaded. I also have another non-fleece sling, that unfortunately is fitted and was purchased a few pounds {babies} ago and doesn't fit quite as well as it once did . . . I'm hopeful though that when the weather is warmer and the cozy fleece isn't quite as welcome, I will be down a few pounds and it will fit better. Then we have an Ergo baby carrier that I LOVE, although it's not my favorite way to carry teeny tiny babies. Ours is currently just home from Korea where it went with a family to pick up their new little daughter. Almost all babies in Korea are carried {from a really young age} on the backs of their caregivers, so they are used to that. This family didn't have a carrier with a back-carry option, so they borrowed ours. It should be back here soon and Sara will be riding along it in on many a walk to the park as quick as the last of the snow disappears and the rain stops. We also have a Kelty backpack that Kirb got me for my 26th birthday {which happened to be the same day we found out we were pregnant with Rebekah}. It's not my favorite any more, but it also comes in handy at times, and has escorted us on many a day at the state fair! {you can see so much more from up there then from in a stroller!}

Rebekah with Sara in the wrap {it fits ALL sizes, you see!}::

Me with Anna in the {currently ill-fitting} sling::

Anna watches field day at school on my back in the Ergo {while I enjoy a warm latte on a chilly day}::

Sara, exactly two weeks old, at the top of Barn Bluff in Red Wing. Oh, you don't see her there? Well, she's in the girly sling, of course::

Ok, thus ends my baby-wearing rambling for today. Find yourself a baby. Strap 'em on and go for a walk! Happy Spring!

If you're local, a great place to get a baby carrier is Peapods {one of my very favorite stores}. They will help you find which one is right for you and teach you how to use it/put it on and will let you try them all out in the store with your own baby or a really heavy doll that is about the size and weight of a baby about Sara's age {they also have a great website as well}. If you aren't local, I recently discovered a great mom-owned website that specializes in baby carriers. Heavenly Hold is another great resource if you're in the market for a carrier. Check them out!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

1232. baby thighs
1233. a pregnant friend {which leads to a new baby . . . with cute baby thighs -- what a delightful cycle}
1234. coffee cake with friends
1235. dry roads
1236. sunshine
1237. a rousing game of farkle
1238. fabulous teachers
1239. an occupied guest bed
1240. clean laundry
1241. a little bit of crafting time

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

my very favorite baby clothes

without a doubt my very favorite things to see a baby in are

this::

and this:

there's just something about a baby in a plain white onesie that gets me every time, and i love a naked little bundle in a cute cloth diaper just about as much.

no offense to anyone who had spent their hard-earned money on actual clothes for miss sara; we appreciate them lots. especially since it's not socially acceptable {nor warm enough} to leave the house in either of my favorite "outfits". so for the times we must venture out . . . we thank you!