Slow End of the Learning Curve

Over the next few days, our front door will open and close multiple times. Family and friends will come and go, children will play, conversations will be had, and massive amounts of food will be consumed. We will catch up with each other, play games, laugh until we cry, and seriously enjoy each other. We will stop and take time to be thankful. It is one of my absolute favorite times of the year.

I have learned so much this year about being grateful--I feel like I am on the slow end of the learning curve. Things I have known for years in my head are finally making imprints on my heart. It has been a particularly rough year, in so many ways, yet I am still here, still surrounded by people who love and encourage me onward. In church on Sunday, our youth pastor reminded us that sometimes God takes us back to a place of remembering so that we can find true gratefulness. My friends, this is true. I've been there this year; I am traveling that road, and I have never been more grateful for the things I have and the life I experience. God is still God, and God is still good.

I am so incredibly grateful for my kiddos. They are my sanctifiers--more so than anything else. It is often that the house is chaotic--the laundry is in piles, the dishwasher is begging to be emptied, and the toys are scattered. I am still learning to be okay with it all--to enjoy them while I can...John does such a good job with this, and I, well, not so much really. They are getting older, and I spend so much time teaching relationship skills, explaining behavior, trying to get them to wrap their little brains around what is good and what is pure and what is right. I am learning to expose more of myself in the process, and though I am not always happy about it, I am learning to be thankful for these moments.

I am so incredibly thankful for John. He has extended more grace and love to me this year than one can even imagine. He has held my hand and walked with me, he has played his guitar for me (which he hasn't done in years), and he has gently guided me and the kiddos. He has made me laugh when I felt like crying and made me fall more and more in love with him daily...he picks up the pieces I drop and never, ever complains about it.

I am so incredibly grateful for the friendships I have been given this year--friends that have reached out and encouraged me when I didn't even know I needed it. Friends who have helped me re-define my "normal" and pushed me forward. I am such an onion--layers and layers--and I am so grateful for the friends who have taken the time to truly get to know me. Friends who have ventured into the hard places with me...I might not have dared to venture there at all without them.

Mostly, I am grateful for where I am this year. I am not in an easy place. But God is still God, and God is still good. And I am thankful to be here.

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Crafting with the girlies.

I am grateful that Maggie has a handful of friends that have been her friends for a long, long time. Today, Maggie had two of these buddies over (their mommies and daddies are at work), and we made some scarves. We made the same scarves at Ladies Night Out last week with our church, and while I am certainly not much of a scarf wearer, I knew that Maggie and her buddies would LOVE them. I was right--they are so proud of them, and immediately they wanted to go outside wearing them. Ellie jumped right in on the action, so she now has one as well. It is so sweet to get to spend time with these girlies!

When You are Six

When you are six, you play a lot and laugh often. You build things, amazing creations, with legos. You play in the backyard for hours, and your imagination is limitless. The trees are the forest, the trampoline is your spaceship, and the swing set is your hideout. You can ride your bike without training wheels, and you can climb just about any tree in our yard.

When you are six, you bother your sisters in the most incredible ways. You just HAVE.TO.BE.A.PART of whatever Maggie is doing, and on most days, she is gracious and lets you tag along with her. Ellie gets into your toys, and it drives you insane. You like things to be a certain way, and well, Ellie just does her own thing. And on most days, you are gracious with her, and you let her have her way. You love both of your sisters dearly, and that love shows itself daily.

When you are six, your Daddy is your hero. I hope it stays this way, because I happen to think your Daddy is pretty incredible myself. You love for him to walk in the door and play with you. You like to sit beside him when he is working on something, and you have set up a spot for yourself in the garage right next to his work spot. When he runs an errand, you like to tag along, and I am willing to bet you could find your way around Home Depot better than I could.

When you are six, you can read. You enjoy your timed tests in math (unlike your sister), and school work comes easy for you. You are always cracking a joke and making us laugh. You seriously brighten my day.

Happy 6th Birthday, Bent! We love you!

Remember this. (edited)

Dear Bentley,

When you are sixteen and too cool to be seen with me, please remember the year you turned six and your mommy handmade you a Stars Wars pinata.

Love,

Mommy

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By request:

You really must be a fan to recognize this training ball. Luke Skywalker learns some Jedi skills while hitting this training ball with his light saber. There are no training ball pinatas to be had, and considering John told me this was a need of his, say Thursday, I was a little hard-pressed to come up with something even similar. So here it is, my training ball pinata full of goodies to be knocked out by light saber-wielding kiddos. Much fun. It involved some light weight cardboard, some packaging tape, rubber cement, and tissue paper. Oh, and a lot of vision and creativity (not!).

And some of the fellow dads knew exactly what it was, so that made me feel a little better.

Hiking

Now that cross country is over, we want to make good use of our weekends. Saturday, I was in Athens and John was on parent duty, so Sunday we went hiking after church. Ellie stayed home with Grannis for some napping, and the rest of us hopped in the car and drove about 10 minutes up the interstate to this beautiful area:

We had a great afternoon. The kiddos hiked a good distance without complaining, and Maggie took her sketch book and added some pictures of things that she found. Bentley and John both enjoyed the boulders and fun things to look at and play on along the way. I enjoyed a quiet afternoon with some of the people I love the very most!

A Family That Runs Together...

Saturday was The Warrior Way...a 5k race that was hosted by the Cross Country team at John's high school. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a race, and the kiddos ran the 1k fun run.

{Ellie: watching from the stroller}

{John and Bent}

{Maggie}

{Bent and one of his best buddies, Zachary}

Taskmaster.

So Bentley is currently writing a list...a list of things he'd like to do and get done today.

It has things on it such as:

play outside

wii

snack

clean up {he knows he has to do that at the end of the day}

I just watched him add:

school work

Then, I watched him cross it out because he's already finished with that.

It's good to know I'm not the only one who likes to add things to a list just so I can cross them out...

Fun Hair Clippies...

I have been "crafting" on Wednesdays with some new, fun craft friends. Today, we worked some hair bows. These are just a few of the fun bows I've made this week.

We love this season!