Running a Little Behind

Ever feel like you are running a little behind in life?  This happens to me quite a bit with three little ones.  I sometimes forget who has what on the schedule for the upcoming week.  I will never forget that we had one of those rushed mornings where we all woke up late and were making a mad dash out the door to make it to school and work on time.  I received an e-mail from Elijah's kindergarten teacher later that day to tell me how surprised Elijah was to open his sandwich container to find nothing inside!  Yes, I packed everything for his lunch BUT the sandwich!  Thankfully he still had lunch money in his account and could buy some lunch that day.  

Back to the subject of running behind.  I realized that time has flown and I have not posted pictures of Abigail's and Elijah's birthday parties!  Both had parties in January so below is a sneak peek.  Elijah's birthday is December 27 so we pushed his party to January when the kids went back to school.  Abigail's birthday was January 10.  Needless to say January was a very busy month for us.  Will do my best to get more pictures posted this week.  Enjoy!

Elijah's Superhero Party

Abigail's All Fired Up Party

Home Goals

I have been reading a lot of home decor and organization blogs lately and they have me thinking about things I want to do and change for the home this year.  Everyone has inspiring ideas on what they would like to accomplish so I thought I would share some of my home goals with you.

1. Declutter, Declutter, Declutter

Number One on my list is to declutter.  Being the mom of three kiddos, I have been so busy chasing after them that it has left little time for anything else.  Now that they are getting older, I am finding the freedom to get a few things done and I really, really want to declutter.  I have already started baby steps by decluttering the floor of my master bedroom and the pantry in my kitchen, but I plan to declutter and organize room by room this year.  

2. Dining Room

I have found that our dining room has become a catch-all this past year and I want that to change:-)  It is also one of the few rooms that has not been re-painted since we first moved in and I would love to paint it a new color.  My family room and kitchen are painted in Sherwin Williams Golden Fleece and my Foyer is painted in Ralph Lauren Balmoral Red so I am thinking of going with a blue/gray color for the Dining Room.  We have a brushed nickel light fixture with black shades so I think that color would go well.  I also plan to re-cover the dining room seats in new fabric to coordinate. 

3. Paper
I have tried many methods over the years to corral all the paperwork and plan to try a new approach to simplify things this year.  I am planning to go paperless with as many bills as I can to help with that.  Also, I plan to organize the remaining paperwork that I must keep in a decorative file box to help keep me motivated.      Lastly, I need to shred, shred, shred:-)

4. Kitchen
Big on my list is my kitchen cabinets.  I am praying that God will make a way for these to be re-painted.  We have white painted custom built cabinets but with the wear and tear from three little ones, they are looking shabby.  They have started to peel in several places and I am hoping to be able to have them re-done this year.  This is big on my list but I have listed it as one of the last items since it may be a big ticket item that we have to put off another year.

5. Carpet
Lastly, I really, really need to have the carpet in our family room replaced.  When we built the house, which is our first home, we had one 6 month old baby girl.  We did not envision staying here more than 5 years and we certainly didn't envision having 2 more kiddos here so we picked out a light neutral carpet.  However, God had different plans and were are still here almost 10 years later.  Needless to say that carpet has run out of steam.  This is another possible big ticket item so we will just see what God has in store for us this year.

On a final note, I am learning to be content with imperfection. This is a biggie on my list but I am finding as I let go of perfectionism, that I am become more free.  

What are your home goals for this year?

New Goal for 2011

In my devotion I was reading about Psalm 1:3 "he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."  This got me thinking about some things. Just as a tree requires water in order to thrive, we need the Word in order to flourish and thrive as Christians.  Also, as busy moms, we have certain requirements we need too in order to thrive such as taking care of ourselves.  When either the tree or ourselves are deprived of our needs, both wither, wilt, their branches become bare, with no shade to provide for the weary and no fruit to share with others.  I started to think about this and apply it to my own life but relating it to my role as wife and mother.  I am learning that I must nourish myself first or else I will not have anything to provide to my husband and children. As busy moms, we need to take care of ourselves by eating healthy, finding time to fit in exercise, finding quite time for ourselves to renew our strength and spend time with the Lord.  One of my goals for this year is to strive to be a better wife and mother.  By taking a new perspective on things and taking a moment to not neglect myself, I hope to be able to reach my goal.

A Time to Reflect

I must say that I learned quite a bit about myself in 2010.  Our family faced many challenges this past year and with God's help made it through.  I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of those this past year.  Mark was unemployed at the beginning of 2010 and had been for over a year due to economic crisis in the automotive industry.  The first of the year I found out that my company was undergoing a reduction in force.  I was nervous about everything but the good Lord knew what He was doing.  I kept my job and then Mark was blessed with a job in March 2010. Things were looking up!  Then in April 2010, it was confirmed that our middle son has Hypomelanosis of Ito which is a very rare genetic condition.  We were informed by a specialist that he would be labeled a "special needs" child.  Mark and I got in the car after our appointment and just cried like babies. Since then things have seem liked a roller coaster.  Mark was able to go back to school (thanks to benefits from his layoff) and has been working full-time and been a full-time student. That was a blessing in that Mark has always wanted to go back to school.  We rarely get to see him but this is just temporary and I have a new found appreciation for single mothers.  Ladies, I don't know how you do it!  We held our son back a grade and it was the best decision we ever made.  Asher has made great strides the first of this school year and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for him next.  We had a crazy Thanksgiving where Mark broke his hand and I broke my finger playing our annual Pinner football game.  Mark got his cast off in December and I am hoping to get my splint off later this month. The good parts of life are that no one was sick last year, we all have warm beds to sleep in, a roof over our head, and not once have we been without food.  Abigail is blossoming into a beautiful young lady and she has such a servant's heart!  She really keeps me going.  Elijah is as silly as ever and keeps the much needed laughter in my life.  He was my surprise child and boy did God know what He was up to when He planted Elijah in my life.  I don't claim to understand why things happen like they do in life but I do know that no matter what God is always in control.  We are certainly a stronger family because of life's storms this past year and I am looking forward to great things for our family in 2011.

Back to School

We finally made it through the first week back to school. The kids all did very well the first day.  Abigail started the 4th grade, Asher is in the 1st grade and my baby Elijah started Kindergarten!  Asher had some trouble adjusting to change this week (which he gets from his momma) so it was quite an emotional roller coaster for me. Elijah was so excited about school every day and could not wait to share something new with me when he got home.  Abigail is changing classes this year and has a lot to keep up with. By the end of the week, Abigail was a little stressed about having tests everyday.  I will brag on her though and let you know that she was 1 of 2 students out of 24 students in the class that passed the social studies quiz.  The other 22 kids failed the test and have to retake it.  Go Abigail!!!  She is so smart (and she gets that from her momma too!!! LOL) 

Here are pictures from the morning of their first big day.  They are growing up so fast and every year I get a little teary eyed thinking about how fast the time is flying.  I love them all very much and cannot wait to see what God has in store for them this school year!

Cinderella Scholarship Pageant

Abigail competed this past Saturday on the local level for the Cindrella Scholarship Pageant.  She won Photogenic Girl and was runner up to Talent so she is eligible to compete at the state level.  If she wins at Alabama state level, she can go on to compete at the International level.  We are so very proud of her especially since she has not competed before.  We are working to save money for her college fund and look forward to many more great experiences in the scholarship pageant world.

Abigail's Art Show

Abigail participated in her first art show.  She attends Target school for gifted children and was very excited about her big night.  She designed her own artwork and proudly displayed it at a silent auction.  We are big Bama fans so she decided to make something with that theme in mind. She had a great night browsing at artwork by other creative children and eating finger foods.  We are very proud of her and look forward to many more creative projects.

Abigail proudly displays her art.