One Weekend...

It was a weekend.

Just a weekend.

But, oh boy, what a weekend!

Time with our three munchkins.

All to ourselves.

No distractions, worries or responsibilities.

Just time. 

In a cool mountain town away from it all.

For two and a half days. 

Just time. 

Just us. 

Linking up with Galit and Alison this month for Memories Captured!

Yes, It's Goldfish For Breakfast...

Dear Boys,


Yes, it's goldfish for breakfast today.

Goldfish of the cheddar variety.


I woke up this morning and found this house a mess.

Practically every room filled with clutter and junk and strewn clothes.

And it's messing with my mind.

And a Mommy with a messed up mind is not a very good Mommy.


So forget the eggs and bacon I usually make you.

Or the cereal I pour you - because we've run out of it.

(You boys inhale a box a day and I can't keep up.)


It's goldfish this morning.

Quick. Easy. Simple. Good.

I need all of the above so that I can at least get some cleaning done.

Get the rooms back into some decent order.

Sweep the rooms of the cheerio crumbs and toy/paper clutter so they won't be so messy anymore.

My mind needs to be a little more at ease...

...so the body isn't stepping on sticky goo or kicking her toe on some random toy left on the floor.


So I can at least feel like the unexpected visitor can come in and I don't have to cringe inside at sticky fingerprints that are left on almost every door of this house.

And the visitor's bathroom...let's not even go there.

Or worry that I'm a bad mother because my kids are running through a house that looks like it's been hit by a fierce tornado.


Goldfish it is, then.

Enjoy.


Yes,  yes, you can have a cup of milk with them.

But that's it.

And please, please try not to get any on the floor!


Love,
Mommy

Pouring my heart out with Shell at Things I Can't Say. 

The Sweetness of Toddlerhood...

"Wook, Mommy!  I walk across grass with my shoes," he states proudly.

I look down at my two year old and my heart melts for that innocence that he is.

This is his world, pure and simple.

Getting to walk across grass in his shoes...

Getting to have food from the food trucks that are in our neighborhood today...

Getting a bag of Pirate Booty for a treat after spending 3 hours in the rec center while his brothers do gymnastics...


He wakes up happy and cheerful, loving the fact that he gets to go in the car with his brothers on our way to wherever we need to go that morning.


"Mommy, my garbage truck!" He grins, happy to have it - all his own.

"Mommy!  You have your juice like I have my juice!" He points out, happy that we get to share in the same thing.


The sweetness of toddlerhood.


As life becomes more complicated physically, mentally and emotionally for my older boys, I love, love the place my two year old brings me back to.

A simple, pure world.

One full of happy.

Where the simple things are enjoyed.


I need that world.

To punch back at the days of stress and complicatedness.

To bring me back to that...

Joy.

A Cool Weekend...

It's been a cool summer so far even though last week felt a little bit like a busy week in the school year with the 7 year old having soccer camp every day.  

So I insisted we wind down and take off for a weekend of doing absolutely nothing or whatever we wanted to do.  

Though that Saturday was the husband's and I's eleventh wedding anniversary, we decided to spend a special weekend with the kids.

We'll have our night alone soon, thanks to a friend who offered to watch them. 

So we headed two hours west into the mountains and had our weekend in Breckenridge, CO.

When we walked into the condo we rented we found this coat hanger of the moose variety...

The next morning at around nine I found this moon in the sky...

and this outside our balcony...

And this bridge too....

When I dipped my head back inside, 

I found three boys playing checkers...

Then we went into town and on our way they found this....

Peak 9  

And a mini waterfall...

all three boys and the husband paused to look...

and further in town we found another bridge over a river...

And the boys decided they liked being by the river...

even the oldest took time to sit and just watch the water flowing by...

Then back to the condo for a little yogurt snack....

and some R& R.

Can you tell we had a full day?

The next morning I found three brothers hugging and wrestling, 

the youngest getting the best of the older two...

And after lunch and before we left town, I found this...

a view of Breckenridge from up high

All in all a good weekend of doing nothing or whatever we wanted to do...

Handle Your Worry

I am quite a bit emotional this morning.  

It started when I read the political news sites.  Why do I do this?  Now I'm feeling down, and coupled with another important incident that happened this morning, I'm feeling worried as well.  

Worried brings on a whole host of emotion.  I'm worried in the grand scheme of things.  What does God want for our lives now?  What if we jump into something and it's the wrong decision?  I truly believe that God can make things clear, there's always the worry that it won't match up to what we (I) want.  Even though God's decision is good for me, I worry I'm going to be unhappy.  

Which is ludicrous because I believe God always has our best interests at heart and being with Him means there's good all around.  It can be a tough life with him and a disciplined life but the results yield good stuff.

This I have a conviction about. 

And yet I worry still.  

Forgive me, Lord.

I'm now going to go make a cup of coffee (sprinkled with lots of cinnamon), maybe step outside and definitely pray some more through these emotions.

A cup of coffee is always good (especially when sprinkled with cinnamon).

Praying to God, infinitely better. 

How do you handle your worry?