The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain

.....The RAAAAIN...the RAAAAIN....

The forecast for the next 200 days: rain, with a chance of showers and snow. :)

My munchkins last spring... in our back yard

One of my favorite pictures of Talia

 So, it's fall now. I'm discovering things I needed to do that I haven't yet done before the rain came. I did get one last lawn mowing in, a bunch of canning done and Pampered Chef Shows accomplished. (I'm a consultant).

Also, we did quite a bit of family stuff but it just feels like, I should have done MORE projects. With the 'help' of 3 small home-schooled children and being a Mom who likes to do lots of homemaking things/projects, it's hard to keep your house straightened.

Aren't we thankful for modern conveniences?

I really wanted to FINISH my fall cleaning and get rid of excess. So, now with the rain, hopefully I will become more energetic about getting the other things done too.

  How do Mom's do it?

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall... at other's houses during their day?

It encourages me to see other mom's houses not "perfect"....Clean, but not perfect, I should say.

This is one of the days I let the boys play
with the hose in the garden. What fun for boys!

I keep thinking I should pretend like we're moving out and into a new house and get rid of a ton of stuff. Why? Because I LOVE the feeling of moving INTO a big space and just having what you need. No, we won't start sleeping on only matresses. We'll save the things that are precious to us but really... the more we have, the more we have to put away! (I heard that somewhere.) So, because I'm a 'list' kind of girl, I'm going to make one for some of these needful things to do.

Don't you just feel less stressed out when everything is in order anyway? I do! I have a wonderful husband who helps me but I want to work harder than I have been!

As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that God wants me to do MY best. If it's about raising the kids to be kind-hearted, disciplined and followers of Christ, do my best. If it's about being a faithful, supportive, loving wife- do my best. (ha ha...that sounds funny; almost like an exageration but REALLY my best!!) If it's about making sure the laundry is done everyday- my best. This doesn't mean I'll be THE best! I will not ever be perfect. But I do need to use the time God has given me, wisely.



Aidan loves watermelon



These are the things that I think about often- that need doing and they are so hard for me to get done. Maybe I'll add them to my list this week:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ write letters to our grandma's (long distance) so they remember how much we do love them and think about them

My Great Grandma with my kids. I love her so.

My husband's grandma holding our youngest

~visit with my friends more



Some of my best friends that I rarely see...

~be there for others more even if it's not convenient for me

~have more patience with my children and sit with them and hug them more (I find myself sitting in church doing this every Sunday and dream of taking more time to do this at home.)

Our baby girl.

Our Cowboys.

~do things for people that are encouraging and do it annonymously. (My best friend and I did this so much when we were young.)

~say 'no' more often. :)

~Be honest about how I really feel TO the person who's asking. (Why, o why is that SO hard?)

~Forgive more and let things go that need to be let go of.

Gosh, I think I could go on longer but it's kind of getting to me. I really, really want to be worthy of my existance on this earth. God has my purpose planned and I soooo, do not want to dissapoint Him.

Tomorrow is not even Monday. It's Thursday. And actually I won't even start this tomorrow. I will start it tonight. At 12:30AM I will write a letter to my Great-Grandma and...

tell her how much I love her and appreciate her.

My great grandma with her great-great granddaughter

She's going to be 91 or 92 next week. And she is one of my favorites!