Wednesday, May 27, 2015

May's Milestones


Milestone #1
SCHOOL IS FINISHED!!!!!! We officially finished school about 2 weeks ago and I tell you what --- I feel like I'm on vacation! Despite the fact that I'm still caring for five children full-time, this has seriously eliminated SO much stress. And that leads me to.....

Milestone #2
Completion of several major house projects. With all this extra time on my hands, I have gone into major "get things done around the house" mode. This has also put my dear husband in said mode, though probably not of his choosing. He's such a great guy! Some of our projects have included -
     *Boxing up 9 plastic tubs FULL of baby gear from 0-12 months, plus strollers, car seats, baby bath, and toys.
     *Laying plywood floors, installing a light, and moving all this gear and more into our attic.
     *Doing some major garage organization and clean up, including painting, installing wall systems and bike lifts, and assembling a storage cabinet.
     *Tilling, raking, and over-seeding much of our yard - though, the record setting rainfall may have put us back to square one. We'll see....



Milestone #3
In all this new-found "me" time (literally like 2 hours a day, during the babies nap time), I have written and arranged a new song and caught up on about 6 months of scrapbooking projects. YEAH!!!

Milestone #4
Rhys lost his first TWO teeth this week. He was pretty excited! He even asked Rob if he could announce it to everyone at church on Sunday. :)


Milestone #5
Rob and I celebrated 13 years of marriage on May 25. What an enjoyable evening we had together when a sweet church family offered to come over and babysit. WHAT A BLESSING!!! Seriously, walking out the front door without children would have been relaxing enough, but we also enjoyed a delicious dinner, some shopping (for the kids), a "luxury massage" at the mall :), and a frozen yogurt treat. I am so thankful for my godly man and the wonderful life we have together!




*Random Facts - I commented to Rob one day that I felt like I was always doing baby laundry. So, this past week, I counted it. These totals are from one normal 7 day period of time. Babies laundry only. And you should see Rhys' pile.... And honestly, I was surprised how low the numbers were, as I was expecting them to be higher.
     Shirts/Onesies - 37
     Pants/Shorts - 17
     Pajamas - 13
     Bedding Sets (sheets, blankets, mattress pads)  - 8
     ***Also washed were high chair covers, bibs, paci clips, changing table cover, towels and gobs of little socks.

*Just for fun - 

Baby girl curls, following one of the 12 baby baths I give each week.


Occasionally I will put babies together at nap time, if ones bedding is being washed


 WHO LEFT THE GATE OPEN, AGAIN???
(This used to be cute when it was just one kid.)

And this is just always cute.


Monday, May 11, 2015

Mother's Day 2015


"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." (Isaiah 30:18)

It was exactly one year ago, that we brought our last little buddy home from the hospital. Here we were Mother's Day 2014. 


The truth is - there are many days like this -


Seriously.....MANY days like this, thanks to my red-headed little love.

And days like this - 


Yup, it's what you think. And the picture doesn't show all the spots he sat down around the room before we caught him. I hate to mention names, you know, but he was that last little buddy to come home from the hospital. Optimum skill sets are needed for bathing and dressing 3 babies by yourself. Trust me on this.

And there are plenty of days like this - 



But Mother's Day is the perfect opportunity to stop and reflect on God's GOODNESS! 

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox." (Proverbs 14:4)

(Seriously, this is my new life verse.)