{ Surprise Party :: 1930s Style }

This past Friday night I attended a surprise party for a very sweet friend, Tessa. She turned 30 yesterday, and to celebrate a couple of her friends planned a 1930s Hollywood Glamor party to welcome her to the new decade.

A lot of us know her through church, but she is also very involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) so there were a lot of ladies who knew her from there, including our very gracious hostess.

It was SO. MUCH. FUN. Seriously it was the funnest evening I have spent in a very long time. I'm not trying to imply that my life is dull and void of fun, but I am also not exaggerating when I say how much fun it was. It was due in part, I'm sure, to the fact that we all got to dress up and go out for an entire evening for girl-time, kid free. I counted 14 ladies at one point, and from what I could tell, we were all having an equally fabulous time. It was so much fun finding out about the 1930s, a time period I have never thought much about before. The hairstyles and clothes are so feminine and charmingly elegant. Other than the Great Depression, I think I would have loved living back then! Well, and heels. As pretty as they are, living in a time when women wore them all the time, even to clean house doesn't really sound appealing. We had all kicked off our shoes about an hour into the evening. The co-hostess of the evening brought her grandmother's jewels from the 1930s to decorate with. So many pearls, furs and sparkly things! The decor was white, pink and soft silver. So airy and feminine. There was plenty of delicious chocolate to eat and fun time spent learning to dance the Charleston, accompanied by music from the decade.

But enough said, here are some pictures to give you a feel for the evening. How I wished I'd brought along a better camera, but thankfully I had my phone and was able to capture a little of the elegance of the evening.

{ Busy Mamas CAN Study the Bible }

It was one of those dry times, when I was feeling discouraged about my quiet times with God, struggling to find time in the day amidst juggling all of my responsibilities.

Then a friend at church came up, out of the blue, and handed me a Bible study book.

I was standing there, talking to another friend, holding my baby and diaper bag, keeping an eye on our busy 18 month old, trying to admire the 2 year old's Sunday School project and to get him to stop playing with my skirt in an embarrassing way, when she handed it to me. She said she thought of me when she saw it, and when I glanced at the title, I was immediately blessed. Thirty Days of Bible Study for Busy Mamas: Inspiring, in-depth Bible Study, five minutes at a time

Here is a nice little picture of the cover. And let me just say, it has been SUCH a blessing to go through. I am still working on it, but I just had to take a moment and let all of you other busy mamas out there that it might be worth looking into.

 If you're anything like me, I need a program or Bible study just feels daunting. This little book has given me a taste for manageable study techniques and I'm already looking forward to tackling other chapters and books in the future. This particular book covers only chapter 3 of Colossians, but it is amazing how much there is in one chapter.

I encourage you to take a look at this book, and when you're done pass it on. That is what I plan to do.

{ Miss Katy Grace :: 18 Months }

Our little miss is 18 months old. *sniff* It blows me away. 

She is so full of life. 

A little mommy.  She loves to carry her baby with her. Dress her. Burp her. Change her.  She takes it all very seriously. 

She is such a snuggler

and

a daddy's girl .

We've been threw so much with our precious little girl in this short time she's been in our family.  

There is not a day that goes by that we don't praise God for protecting her and giving us the blessing of watching her grow into a happy and healthy little girl.

Having a daughter has been such an unexpectedly wonderful experience.  I always knew I'd love having a daughter, but until Katy Grace came along I never knew just how much!  I can't wait to see how our relationship will develop as the months and years go by.  She is already a very special little friend to me.

{ A Day with Friends }

My kids went to sleep very unusually early tonight, which is the only reason I'm blogging about what we did today, the very day that it happened.  They were tuckered out after a very fun, full day of hanging out with some very special friends. 

My dear childhood friend came down for the day to keep us company as Tim has been away all week on a business trip.  Between us there are seven children!  The fact that we packed them off to the park after lunch, then walked to town and bought ice cream and walked back still amazes me.  Wowza!  So tired tonight, but such fun we all had.

 The Girls 2 yrs, 7 yrs and 18 months

 And Boys 4 years and 2.5 years

 The Babies 9 months and 3 months

 Couldn't get over Ruby's bows!

 The Troop Snacking

They were soooo dirty and hungry after playing at the park

{ Stretched }

As you can imagine, my life at present doesn't boast a lot of routine. 
It is boasting a lot of emotions!
I like routine, but I'm getting better about letting go of it.  Better, but not great.
Yesterday I reached a boiling point and I stomped by little foot (figuratively) and let God know how frustrated I am about it.  Especially about finding a consistent quiet time.
Life has been really hard for... about a year now.
A lot of positive and negative stress.
The usual: finances, health, work, raising kids.  A colicky baby.  An overhauled diet. You know.
I faced a lack of faith yesterday and fear than everything might not turn out right.
I faced not knowing what God wants from me, which is really fear I'm not meeting up to His expectations.  Which makes me wonder are they His or are they mine?  It makes a difference.
Faced feelings of guilt about not being the mom I want to be.
The wife.
The Christian.
I didn't feel like I was "good" at any of my roles.
Yesterday afternoon and evening with the colicky baby who cried pretty much non-stop had left me in that spent state.
Tim told me he loved me.  Told me I'm a good mom.  Told me to go to sleep when I was frustrated after being up multiple times in the night with both boys.
I fumed... and (eventually) took his advice.
I finally drifted back to sleep with a prayer that God would give me time to spend with Him.
It was one of those desperate, heart-to-heart talks that He so well understands.
I left it there and clung to His promise that He is gracious and slow to anger.  I felt like He had a lot of reason to be upset with me.
Was it all my fault my quiet time isn't consistent?
What about all the times I snap at my kids?  My husband?
But... I reminded myself that  He doesn't give us more than we can handle and His strength is made perfect in weakness.  Even when I don't see how either of those promises can be true in my situation.
Morning came and the rest of today and I want to give God praise that He met my needs and provided time with Him in a very sweet way.
I am always humbled when I find Him so patient and loving when my heart and emotions have been so yucky.
Even when this evening came and those emotions surfaced again.  My pride surfaced.  The challenges mounted.
Still He is loving.  Still He is patient.
Below is what God used to speak to my heart the past few days.
Take some (or all of it) in, if you can.  I hope it blesses you as well. 

Psalm 115 (emphasis mine)

¹ Not to us, Lord, not to us
    but to your name be the glory,
    because of your love and faithfulness.

² Why do the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
³ Our God is in heaven;
    he does whatever pleases him.
⁴ But their idols are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
⁶ They have ears, but cannot hear,
    noses, but cannot smell.
⁷ They have hands, but cannot feel,
    feet, but cannot walk,
    nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.

⁹ All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.
¹⁰ House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.
¹¹ You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
    he is their help and shield.

¹² The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
    He will bless his people Israel,
    he will bless the house of Aaron,
¹³ he will bless those who fear the Lord—
    small and great alike.

¹⁴ May the Lord cause you to flourish,
    both you and your children.
¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
    but the earth he has given to mankind.
¹⁷ It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
    those who go down to the place of silence;
¹⁸ it is we who extol the Lord,
    both now and forevermore.

Praise the Lord.

 ~~~~~~

Exodus 34:6-7

What God said about Himself:

 ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,  

⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

  ~~~~~~

This blog post spoke so strongly to my heart.

from here

 "Keeping our cool isn't always easy, but every time we let go and let God we are exercising that muscle of self control.

I’m saying “self control” here because we need to bring our flesh under the subjection of our Spirit. Our flesh wants nothing more than to stomp our feet and have our own way, but our Spirit calls us to be tender-hearted and controlled. That’s where our true strength lies.

When the Spirit is in control we see the fruit of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness and goodness. But when the flesh is out of control we get angry, short-tempered, abrupt, and stressed out."

  ~~~~~~

and from Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovich 

"We tell our girls that their feelings are like horses--beautiful, spirited horses.  But they are the riders.  We tell them that God gave them this horse when they were born, and they will ride it their whole life....
When our emotions act up, it is like the horse trying to jump the fence and run down into a yucky place full of spiders to get lost in the dark.  A good rider knows what to do when the horse tries to bolt--you pull on the reins!...."

 ~~~~~~

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
³³ When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

Lord Jesus, this is my desire, that when I have spent time with you, your presence so rubs off on me that You are unmistakable.  Please strip away my desire to be "good" and make me instead radiant with Your love, Your grace.
Amen

{ Summer Begins }

It is a beautiful warm and sunny morning as I sit here by myself with a cup of coffee overlooking a lake, nestled in the forest.  The two youngest are napping and Tim and Oliver are off visiting. 

Vacation!

Yesterday we trekked seven hours across the state, our entire little tribe of three under three to join Tim's family for a niece's wedding and family reunion.  We are very glad to be here and so thankful that his mom is finally able to meet our two youngest.  We saw them last night and it was so sweet to hear Oliver calling them Grandpa and Grammie right away, even though we've spent very little time with them in his life, being significantly separated geographically.

The kids have done very well on our trip so far, but let me assure you it has not been completely blissful.  As traveling with little children always is, it has been a lesson in adjusted expectations, making decisions on the fly and trying not to sit down in a heap and cry!  There are always those moments when Tim and I look at each other and ask, "Is it worth it?" But the answer is always yes.
 

We both love to travel and spending time with family is worth sacrificing for.  I really think it is good for the kids to adjust to new surroundings.  We have actually done a surprising amount of traveling since we've had kids.   Thankfully they all do well in the car.  We definitely have those hours of crying to be let out of the carseat, but for the most part we are very blessed in their cooperation.

We are staying at Tim's sister's neighbor's house.  We are very thankful for this gracious accommodation.  It is a challenge to keep track of our kids in an un-childproofed home, which has made it difficult to relax, but I am so thankful that our kids are doing as well as they are.  Whenever we come to a completely new environment I am much more able to see how obedient they are and the areas of training we're doing well in and the ones that still needs improvement.

The weather is supposed to be gorgeous all weekend and into next week, which is just perfect for the vacationing still ahead of us.  This is our "big" trip of the summer so we're planning to make the most of it.  We have friends to visit, a trip to the zoo, a ferry ride and perhaps a stop in Leavenworth planned before we head home. 

It is the beginning of summer!  When we get home Tim's job will transition to summer hours.  We are hopeful that this summer will be lazy, with not much more excitement than a little painting on our house and yard work.  This is the first summer since we've known each other, which is almost five years, that we are not tackling a HUGE home-improvement project.

So here's to summer!  May it be lazy!

{ Little Mama }

{ We're spending a lot of time caring for our babies.  

It is so sweet to see what a good little mama she is. }