Random Remembering

I often have random thoughts and experiences I want to share. Then life happens and I forget to share. Even worse are the times I forget what it is that I wanted to share in the first place! Either way I know that I want to be better at remembering things, chronicling the events of our lives as they come and go.

"Moms seem wired to be Remember-ers.....All this remembering is for good, in God's purposes. As moms, we can be Remember-ers and Reminders for our families. From their infancy, we begin to catch glimpses of who our children are, especially their unique strengths." (Carol Kuyendall, Five-Star Families)

The desire to remember seems much deeper when I take seriously the role of being a reminder. That's what I want to be. I have some great examples of remember-ers around me.  I have friends who scrapbook.  Friends who write and journal regularly about funny things their kids said or the entertaining activities of the day.  I even have one friend who writes a letter to her children every month.  Now that is impressive.  Me? I know there are random slips of papers lying around my house that have something written down. The girls baby books are barely touched. There are pictures of most, but not all, major events.  I even have blog posts here that act to jog my memories of days gone by. Mostly, my style is random.  As such, I am going to embrace my random remembrances and take the opportunity every so often to dump a bunch of random into this space. If you like, feel free to laugh along, learn something new and be part of our family's stories.

Hoppy - still not as smart as God apparently

A recent lunch conversation between Lydia and Emma.
Lydia: "Well, if Mommy doesn't know how we can always as Daddy."
Emma: "Yeah. And if he doesn't know we can ask Granddad."
Lydia: "Then we could ask Hoppy."
Emma: "And if he doesn't know, God does, cause God knows everything."

So, there you go.  The lineage of knowledge according to the girls.

The girls discovered a worm outside and quickly named her "Tickles".

Emma got this balloon animal in school a few weeks ago.  At one time is was a giraffe and you can tell that in the time since, it has become quite deflated.  The tenderness of her heart though just can't let go of it.  I want to always remember her tenderness and empathetic ways. (Even if it means keeping a deflated balloon animal around way past it's prime!)

Not every moment bring about such fun and friendship between these two.  I know that every relationship experiences ups and downs, struggles and hardships.  This photo of a game of Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum, is a random reminder that sisters should be friends. (Dear Lord, I pray that Lydia and Emma would nourish and care for their friendship and that You would draw their hearts to one another always.)

That's enough randomness for today. Be blessed!

Farm Days

4 Week old calf

Milking a cow

Milking a Goat

Little bit of pig fun

My very own "Rooster" (Emma's nickname) with her rooster

Love how Emma takes such great delight in things.  Watch the following video to see why

Loved our time at WVU Farm Kids Days.  It was a bittersweet thing as this is the last year I will make it there with my kids.  Gonna miss them when they are both in school.

Imperfections Revealed

I thought you could all use a laugh and so I am inviting you into my life. This is a glimpse into my real life, you know, the stuff I don't always show on here!  It is easy to think highly of someone else when we don't see their imperfections on a daily basis.  We (or is it just me? Nah!) may even think their life is easier or better because we have put them on a pedestal.  Here are just a few examples of how imperfect my life is and how grateful I am that parenting and living is not meant to be done perfectly but by the grace of God.

This is a video in which BOTH of my children show a great deal of selfishness and well, correction never does seem to stop on this issue.  Even in my own adult life.

Next is a picture I captured on my phone while in the checkout at Walmart.  Now I know Walmart can make just about anybody grumpy but once again learning to use self-control is important in this world.

Instigation and rebuttal.

Now to tell on myself, I am a menu planner and had a crockpot chicken on the menu for Monday night.  I had a play date with a great friend and we hand an impromptu shopping trip and I totally forgot about getting the crockpot started so I had to make a quick menu change.  I was a bit upset with myself but the other meal turned out quite tasty and no harm was done.  I had the chicken ready for Tuesday night but got caught up in a bunch of other things throughout the day and forgot again and the chicken was not done by dinner.  I was completely upset with myself because there were no other choices than to go out to eat.  I haven't been shopping since vacation last week and was trying to make it the whole week without getting anything from the store.  It was completely possible IF I followed the menu which I didn't.  Ugh!  We went out to Cracker Barrel and even had some problems there.  Nothing more than a few miscommunications between my flustered self and the waiter but Justin and I had a good laugh about it. 

Sometimes life is like that.  We either laugh or cry.  Of course becoming anxious, upset, angry or withdrawn are all in my arsenal of nasty reactions too.  I am sure you can relate to the dailiness of life.  More than anything I pray that you find hope for your weary soul that we all go through things that are far from perfect but in the midst of that we have a God who is with us every step of the way.  Blessings!