Should be

I should be doing my exercise DVD.
I should be loading the dishwasher and wiping down the counters.
I should be calling my OB's office (no, I'm not pregnant, but they have overcharged me).
I should be folding laundry.
I should be planning dinner.
I should be answering some emails.
I should be figuring out why the toilet keeps running.
I should be taking my cell phone away from the baby.
I should be downloading pictures from my camera.
I should be.....but I'm not.

Instead, I'm sitting...and listening to my little girls giggle....and drinking coffee...and eating chocolate cake. My list can wait.

This is bliss.

What should you be doing but you're not? I hope your list is waiting too. :)



No reason for this photo, other than the fact that I like it!

April and Easter Photos

If you have not viewed these on facebook yet, check them out!

April pictures and Easter too!

Frantic Faith

I'm no good at chaos. One of my biggest pet peeves is being late, so I feel like I'm constantly rushing to get myself and the girls out the door on time. The kids hear the words "hurry," "quick," and "COME ON" so much that they have started saying the words to each other. Currently I feel like we have a lot going on. My to-do list continues to grow as daily I cross off a few items but add ten more. Today, I was putting out fires, pushing swings, standing up for our family, cutting up fruit, demanding results, changing diapers, and making silly faces, all the while tucking in my cape so my superhero status would not be revealed. After being "frantic" all morning, I sat down and sighed. In my devotions yesterday was the verse "Be still and know that I am God." It's that darn "Be Still" that I am not so good at yet. Isn't it just that way in our faith though? There's so much to learn; so much unknown; so many things we 'should' be doing, or wish we could be doing for others. People to serve. Songs to sing. Things to teach our children. Sharing our faith. Yet, all He wants from us is to Be Still.

Today, I chose to quiet the monkeys in my head that keep shouting about what I "should" be doing, and just sit (albeit for only 5 minutes), and breathe. I stared out the window while my children played and quietly thanked the Lord for them. And breathed.
Then the dog barked, the phone rang, the baby woke up, and my stomach growled. But I was 'still'....even if just for a moment.

AMAZING!

Indubitably Blessed! That's me! First, I have these AMAZING girls that challenge, inspire, and motivate me to be the best mom and person that I can be. THEN, I have this AMAZING friend that offered to take photos of my three precious blessings. Um, can you just say "AMAZING PHOTOS?"!!

Here's my shameless plug for her if you would like her to photograph your blessings too! (Love ya Jaimie!)



These are their Easter dresses, by the way.









Blessed beyond measure! Thank you Jaimie for sharing your "gift" with us! These are a TREASURE!!

Toys and Tympanograms

A few years back (no one is quite sure how many), B purchased a camera for my birthday. It has served us well, but lately it seems to be "acting up." I tried putting it in time out, but that didn't work. :) So, rather than buy a new one, B brought his "work" camera home. I'm in LOVE! I'm still trying to figure out the whole "focus" thing. But I am looking forward to learning more about it.

Whatchyathink? It helps to have such cute subjects to photograph!






In other news, the last few days have been especially frustrating with Reagan as she seemed to be blatantly ignoring us. Today, she turned the television WAY up and said she still couldn't hear it. That was a clue for me to take her in to the dr. They used a "tympanogram" meter and found out that her eardrums were registering at zero. ZERO! No wonder she hasn't been "listening" to us lately. She couldn't hear us!! Now I feel like a heel. She has a double ear infection so she is now on antibiotics to clear it up and we are just praying that as the fluid behind her eardrums clears, her hearing will return. In the meantime, I am off to buy her some ice cream before she starts calling me Mommy Dearest. :D

Ironic Monkeys

I don't know why, but all three of my girls have been nicknamed "monkey" at some point. No, I take that back. I do know why. It's because they INSIST on climbing on anything and everything from the minute they learn to pull themselves to a standing position. I was hoping (seriously praying) that Baby Bay would be our calm, docile, mellow, baby. No such luck. At 12 months old, she can climb onto the sofa, over the ottoman (that used to keep her safely in the family room), and last week tried to climb OUT of her crib! She has one of those cute little "push" toys that help babies learn to walk. Does she push it? NOPE. She climbs ONTO it and uses it like a scooter. In the same fashion, she kneels in the baby doll stroller and uses her other foot to push herself around the room. You would think that by the third child I would be used to all the daredevil ways. Somehow they still manage to freak me out with their stunts, but in my defense, I am much calmer when they hurt themselves. :D

With irony at it's best, I was in the midst of writing the above paragraph when Baby climbed onto the couch and then promptly fell off. All the while, Skylar was running through the house with the dogs and attempting to "hurdle" them when she tripped and fell face first onto the hardwood floors. Chipped tooth, fat lip, and a black eye later, she seems to be ok. Oy vey!

Who needs boys when you have monkeys for kids?

An Answered Prayer! And a happy dance!

One of our MAJOR prayers in the last couple weeks has been the offer that we made on the house in Murrieta. After the initial offer was rejected and countered, we felt defeated, to say the least. But we didn't feel like we were supposed to walk away just yet. We re-countered and just found out yesterday that our offer was accepted! After all the jumping up and down and screeching, I still don't think it has set in that we are going to have a home of our own again. We still have a few hurdles to jump over, but the hardest part is over (so we're told).
We will post tons of pictures after we close, but for now, here's one of the outside!



Aint it cute!?
Praise God for answered prayers! Now excuse me while I go do more happy dancing!!