Our mornings start before the sun comes up. Pirate has to get up at 5AM to get ready for school! I usually make us both coffee. Then showers and breakfast. Packing her lunch. Putting her shoes on. Making sure she hasn't forgotten anything, and out the door we go. And a big fat yes, my 6 year old drinks coffee. Did I mention how early she gets up?



Usually, this is when I get to snuggle up with Tootsie Roll and go back to bed. However, this morning she had an appointment with her pediatrician. Wake the baby. Feed the baby. Dress the baby. Find my wallet. Rush through the gas station. Sign in at the doctor's office. And...... wait.

By the way, whoever invented these toys (below) for the little ones was a G E N I U S! Tootsie Roll thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Then again, she only discovered sliced bread a few days ago!

My Busy Town Wooden Activity Cube Click HERE to see it on Amazon! Her fun was cut short, though. Shots! Tears! Bandaids! This girl was having none of it. Her healthy little lungs made her point clear. It was barely after 9am, and Monday had been a beast!

Why did it have to stay that way? There's no rule saying that just because there are sticks in the road that you have to run off into the ditch? Life happens.

That's what this was. A stick. But we were going to make the best of the day we had been given. We were going to enjoy things we loved; not wallow. A happy bucket list for our Monday emerged.

I was in desperate need of caffeine. Desperate. Need. I ran through McDonald's and got myself a chocolate chip frappe. With an exaggerated ten pounds of sugar per ounce, I no longer worried that I'd fall asleep driving. Also, because chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate.


We got home and binge watched the Wiggles. Kicking and screaming turn to bouncing and laughing. Say what you will about The Wiggles; they bring Tootsie Roll immense joy. And joy was what we were seizing!

You know you need to check the Wiggles out!  Click here to find this on Amazon.

Tootsie Roll devoured some cereal and snacks, I had some lox and bagels. Because yum. And all was right about our Monday.

Pirate's snowman melting under a palm tree. It was a sunny day.

My snowman melted on a beach.

Pirate playing in the first sprinkling of snow.

Pirate and her coffee snow slushy.

“When an action doesn’t come naturally to you, it is a greater expression of love. Ultimately, comfort is not the issue. We are talking about love, and love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself. Love is a choice.” — Gary Chapman (The 5 Love Languages)

Snowballs. Snow angels. Snow coffee slushies. Frozen toes. Chattering teeth. Time with my children and filling their little love tanks. That was just the beginning to our snow day!

I thought I'd take a picture of my wall today. Right now, I have this verse {1 Corinthians 15:58} written in big, bright "look-at-me!!" colors and hanging in our kitchen. 

Every so often, the only nice word I can think of to describe my days is "flustering". Yes, that's the word I chose; it seems most accurate. I find myself just falling short, and losing a Godly perspective on things often.
   

Thank you, Baby Blues!

I'm a wife and a mom. Messes and chaos are a part of life. I'll clean, only to find Little Bit dumping something out onto the floor like she's a two year old. (She is a two year old!) The dishes pile up and wait for me in the sink. And I can't find my toothbrush. That's life. Sometimes though it can feel so unending, and my efforts fruitless and futile.

I usually {always.} find that I adopt the worst attitude and get quickly overwhelmed and flustered when I have put my priorities in a blender and hit puree.  

How quickly I forget that what I'm doing here in my home, as a wife and mom, has more value than the immediate. My family and our home were gifted to me by God - and what a blessing they are! My taking care of my family is my act of obedience to the Lord; I'm ultimately working for Him. And, thank God, He says it's not in vain!! If I'm only mopping my floor for the sake of it being shiny, I'll gladly throw the mop away now because I know someone will walk on it before it's dried!

It comes as no shock to me that when I'm not in the bible, and dependent on God to smother me in His grace and mercies daily, that my world turns into complete bedlam. {In the end, it's okay.} It's usually not nearly the chaotic household apocalypse that I think it is once I get a grip, have some coffee, read my bible, and regroup. I wipe up the floor, often with a little girl's help. I find my toothbrush, usually in Elmo's mouth, and I play never-ending hide-and-seek with a crazy munchkin. Smothered in grace and mercy... it's not a bad thing!

In the spring, I "stumbled upon" a blog by the name of  Women Living Well. It is written by a Christian lady by the name of Courtney. She is a wife, a mom, a homeschooler, a bible study leader, a blogger and I'm sure much more. 

When I say I stumbled upon this blog, I want to make it very clear that I don't actually believe my seemingly random internet searches really deserve the credit; I'm a firm believer that God is Sovereign over the biggest and smallest things - including Google searches.

Where am I going with this? You'll see.

The Lord's timing is quite perfect. Quite often I unwind by sitting in front of the computer and looking up whatever pops in my head: potty training, bread recipes, mom hairstyles, bible studies, GPS trackers for toddlers, sewing pattern, etc. You get the point! So there I was Google-ing and blog-hopping, and I found this Proverbs 31 Bible Study through another blogger I follow. It started that Monday. (I blogged about it when I first started it.) It was nearly 3 months long, and really such a blessing to me and hopefully that spreads to my family. I have so much to say about the study, but I will wait for a future post to elaborate much more!

I hope my excitement is more contagious than just plain weird. :) There are two things that are coming up soon that I wanted to share with you:

First, there is a new bible study starting September 17th on Colossians. You can find it RIGHT HERE!! on the sister site, Good Morning Girls.

Second, I couldn't sleep last night so browsing that Women Living Well site, I came across a series starting this Monday on marriage. I've always cringed at the thought of marriage seminars or marital counseling because, in my mind, I've always linked that with couples who are crashing, burning and throwing their fine china across the room. But I don't think that is the case! Courtney is teaming up with a few other Christian-wife bloggers and it looks like it will be very good. You can find more info on this RIGHT HERE!!

And before I forget, ALL of these resources are FREE. I don't know about you, but that was a big deal to me! :)

OK, I am done with my bible study show-and-tell. I just really wanted to share these with everyone!

Parenting:  someone should really write a book about it!
I'm going to sound cliche for a moment, forgive me. I've learned more things in the last 22 months than I have in my entire life. I'm not talking about quantity of new facts - though I could probably make a decent argument for that as well - but I mean real, hearty, and significant details that are necessary for daily life. It's amazing the extra compartment that God has given my mind to store all the random Pirate-related items.

1. Don't leave the coffee cup unattended or within Pirate's reach. Also, Pirate's reach is ALWAYS much higher than you think it is.


2. Messes are easier to clean up than hurt feelings. Even when it's flour. 
3. Other people will have opinions and they will outnumber you. At times, it will be overwhelming and frustrating. I've learned the hard way that I should handle their well-intentioned concerns and opinions with more grace and tact then oozing wrath and adrenaline.   

 4. Sometimes you have to just cry it out. Things will get better.
 6. "Welcome to parenthood, children will scare the crap out of you" - my mom. I think that's a mostly accurate quote, I did just have a c-section. I don't know if you can tell, but Pirate is a fearless froggie at the top of the stairs.



7. IF YOU WAKE HER, YOU WILL NOT PASS GO OR COLLECT $200. Yes, that's her big-girl car seat strapped into a high chair.


8. The park is not called a park. It's called "WEEEEEEEEE!!!"



9. I'm not Pirate's favorite parent if Daddy's home, and I can't take that personally. It's really a beautiful thing.


10. Let her help! It makes her feel special and big. She loves it.


11. Give her big smooches, it helps prepare her for the embarrassing teenage years when I give her hugs and kisses in front of her friends!


12. Sinful nature is not a myth. I have little teeth marks in my arm to prove it.

13. Don't fall asleep on the couch when she has crayons and a blank wall.

14. I have to stick up for Pirate - sometimes I'll come off as crazy and overprotective. Even people who love her immensely won't necessarily see things the same way that I do, and that's OK. But I have to be ready, should the situation arise, to give my daughter what she needs - whether that's a nap, some quiet time away from the chaos, or something completely different.

15. She grows WAY TOO QUICKLY! She'll be two in October. That's craziness.

Last week sometime I came across something very exciting - to me, anyway!
On one of the blogs I follow, Confessions of a Homeschooler, a post caught my attention about a bible study - online, printable, and free! All words I like.  (Go here to see it!). And what was the icing on the cake? It's on Proverbs 31.

I was telling my Mr. Incredible last night, (as we were driving the baby around town at 1am trying to get her to sleep), that I love Mrs. Proverbs 31. 
What am I talking about? Proverbs 31 is about a "wife of noble character", and what makes her noble and good, how she blesses her family and husband, and why she the bible says she is to be praised.
 Let me give a quote from the first day of reading in the bible study:

"Once upon a time there was a prince who would one day be a King. While he was young his mother wisely trained her son on how to find a virtuous wife. She went through the alphabet one letter at a time giving him attributes that he was to seek out in his future wife. Using the alphabet in this manner made it easier for her son to remember and even perhaps memorize what he was looking for in his dream wife. And thus, we have the writings of Proverbs 31 – except this is not a fairy tale!"   taken from the e-book: Proverbs 31: One Virtue at a Time, pg. 5

I know some women who find her overwhelming, and even feel inadequate reading about her. But to me, it's different.  I find such encouragement in this chapter. It gives me hope and it gives me instruction of what in the world I'm supposed to be striving for. And since it's scriptural, I believe that it is possible and it is what is required of us. And I re-learn everyday that being this kind of wife is not something to be done in my strength, but in Christ's.

As a young wife and mother, I am bombarded with different ideas about what is important. I am surrounded with different methods for parenting and ways to make my marriage more significant. Not to mention, all the different theories of what will make my life as a woman in 2012 more significant and meaningful. And none of these items, in and of themselves, are a bad thing. But I find that it is far too easy to lose sight of what God's word has to say about the subject. 

I pray that rather than 'conforming to the pattern [of the wives and mothers] of this world', that I would learn what the bible says a wife is to be. I want to be THAT for my husband, and THAT for my daughter.

So, I ramble when I get going..

I really look forward to this bible study. If you feel so lead, please check it out! You don't have to be a part of the online group to do this, (we just finished week 1) but it's really cool. 


Melly
p.s. These ladies also offer wonderful and helpful things on their site about homemaking, recipes, homeschooling, and all sorts of good stuff. :)