A Nice Weekend

It has been a nice weekend at our house. Seth, Uncle Clint and my boys went to the Rangers game last night. They had a wonderful time!

My Aunt Jan sent Kennedy a couple of cute new outfits and bibs that she made this week. Handmade clothes are so special. I wish I had the talent to do what she does.

And here is Emma in her Matilda Jane shirt that Aunt Lauren got for her. We have a few more Matilda Jane items for Emma and Kennedy coming our way, selected by Aunt Lauren. That stuff is so cute and really well-made! I can't wait until our package gets here!

Unfortunately, we are on the hunt for a new church. Our little Methodist Murchison church is nearing extinction, which has become a common thing for tiny hometown churches. Our kids will be going to Vacation Bible School at a large neighboring church this week, but I just cannot bring myself to attend a big church every Sunday. There is a something about a little church that I like, but as it is now, our children are the only children at our current church. That's a little too small! I also have a hard time convincing myself to drive to another town to go to church. There are many options either in Chandler or Athens, neither of which are terribly far away, but there is something special about going to a church just a couple of miles away from home, in your own community. I will definitely have to be in prayer about this important decision for our family! 

Summer, Slow Down

It is funny how my days start out with good intentions regarding my diet, and then things quickly go downhill! I ate some nice wheat toast this morning with eggs and romaine lettuce....then a few hours later I find myself in a home-cooking restaurant called Big Mac's scarfing down my husband's leftover biscuits and gravy...then a few hours after that I am eating Mann's leftover McDonald's cheeseburger. I guess the key word there is "leftover." No one is forcing me to eat their food, but something in me tells me not to let their food go to waste! Oh well, I guess tomorrow is another day!


The boys finished up basketball camp today. Both had fun and Mann brought home several awards to hang on his wall. Tonight they have their last regular season baseball game, but their team has already won their place for the district tournament, so we still have a few more weeks of baseball yet to play!

Somehow, the entire month of June has almost passed us by! Summer, please slow down!

Taking My Time

I quit blogging because I said I didn't have time to keep up with it. But truly, if something is important to you, you make the time for it. I mean, do I have time to sit out in 100 degree heat and watch my boys play baseball? Well, of course! I make time for that! Do I have time to do the laundry? I would love to say no, but yeah, I make time for that, too. Do I have time to shower daily? Well, it would smell pretty gross around here if I didn't make time for that!

I have been paying more attention to how I spend my time this summer. Last summer, I did a lot of sleeping. In my defense, I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy and I was exhausted, but I really did not make the best use of my time. School came back into session, and I found myself really wishing I had planned more when my co-teacher flew the coop (never to return!) and I ended up responsible for every 8th grader's history lesson (while I was pregnant...and diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes..but I digress....)

I have deactivated from every social media outlet, except for the blogging world. I have done this before, but I feel like this time might be for good. Social media is a huge time waster, and I find that I judge others and have some negative thoughts when surfing through those feeds. So goodbye Facebook, Instagram and sadly, even Pinterest. Oh, the time I can waste on Pinterest!

I have been trying to wake up at 5 am, which may sound insane, but that is usually about the time Kennedy is wanting a bottle. After feeding her and putting her back to sleep, I have my quiet time and prayer. Then at 6 am, I take Kennedy and we go on a walk before it gets too hot outside. After that, I am back in time to make breakfast for my other three children as they are just waking up and Seth is getting off to work. Getting up early seems to put me in a better frame of mind for the entire day. On days when it doesn't happen, my mood is definitely affected!

It is funny how people brag or complain about being so busy when time is what life is made of! Like we should get a medal for how busy we are. I say it ALL THE TIME. "I have 4 kids, of course I am busy." Or "like I have time for that!" But that's just my point. I should make the time to sit and enjoy time with my kids, or with nature or with God. I shouldn't be so preoccupied with keeping myself and the kids busy all of the time, because the best time is down time.

This picture was taken about 7 years ago. My boys and their cousins, playing in the mud. There was no agenda. I didn't plan on this mud party. It just happened. And the best memories are made that way.

And then there was this, just the other day in the hay field with my oldest and youngest. Does it get any sweeter?!

Hopefully, I will continue to make time to blog. I enjoy it, even if no one reads a word I say, it's a great way to document our journey as a family.