Snapshots

I keep thinking I will find time to sit here and write in this space, but somehow night comes before it happens, and the only thing I want to do is go to sleep!  It has been a busy fall, filled with lots of good things, but I don't think it could get much more full without me going crazy.  I get a little panicky when we have lots going on.

Here are unrelated and unorganized pictures of what we've been doing:

 

Grayson celebrated another birthday last week.  I can hardly believe my sweet, chubby, sleepy baby is a sweet, skinny, busy 7 year old!  He runs circles around me, but every time I catch him I can't resist stealing a snuggle.  He is the sweetest thing ever. (Pardon Addie's face--I think she was mid-cough?)

Addie spends most of her days wearing her ballerina costume.  She has a current obsession with Angelina Ballerina, and she twirls pretty much everywhere she goes.  It's adorable!

Grayson joined Scouts this fall.  So far his impression is that the meetings aren't fun but that his uniform makes it worth it.  He loves dressing up, and the more items a costume has, the better.  I think he'll like earning belt loops just so he can add to his uniform!  His little snaggle-toothed grin makes me happy.

He and Addie are in the same class at our weekly co-op, and I love seeing what they are making each week in their Dr. Seuss reading class.  

Give her scissors, and she's in heaven.  She loves making little snips everywhere.

Notice the ballerina swimsuit.  I'm serious about the ballet clothes being a constant uniform!
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I discovered last week that if I'll let Addie and Gray fill up the sink with water, they'll spend two hours playing!  Sure, the kitchen gets moderately wet, but they will happily wash all the dishes I give them, and they even share their chair relatively nicely.
 

Obie is our daily pupil.  Around an hour after we start school, he joins us upstairs and plays on the drawing table with all the markers.  Today he found a bin and spent the entire morning snoozing.  He's such a chilled out cat and lets the kids drag him all over the place.  We love him!  (Notice the peeling table--I discovered the hard way that chalkboard paint peels off plastic tables :(

In the last 20 hours, we have been visited by a large rat snake by my bedroom window (outside), a hawk attack (lost two chicks), Caiden stumbled upon a coyote right behind our garden in broad daylight, we spied an armadillo digging up the backyard this morning, and this little possum was found taking a nap inside the chickens' nest box!  I told my husband that we live in a zoo!  That's a lot of wildlife in two days, especially since we live inside city limits!  I kind of prefer one quiet golden retriever and one sweet cat, but nobody seems to give any weight to my animal preferences!! (Addie renamed Shadow and Saint, our two naughty dogs, "Precious" and "Pumpkin," because she says if they have sweet names, maybe they'll act better.)

So that's what's been going on around here.  I'm trying desperately to stay on top of meals and laundry, in addition to juggling allergy shots, physical therapy appointments, Scouts, church, and co op.  We've had multiple house maintenance issues, and all of that on top of school each day has me treading water very fast!  But God is good and gives me grace every day for it, even if some days nobody has clean socks.  Fortunately, with a house of mostly boys, nobody seems to notice.  

Everybody is growing up so fast that it makes my heart sad, and I don't want to hurry these days by, just so I can have a quiet and clean house.  I know I'll look back someday and wish I could have these years again, but I don't want to look back and wish I'd done them differently.  So I'm savoring each day, each mess, each moment of neediness, taking little snapshots in my mind so they don't disappear.  

Comments

[Bev]

You are doing fabulously! Really! xooxox

[Polly]

I love this! The photos and the sentiment. I spend a lot of time thinking about the fact that I can have a clean house in 20 years--for now I will enjoy te sweet messes of my very sweet children, & just savor our family life!!! Time doesn't stand still....

[Theresa]

I love the pictures. Your children are growing up so fast. Their very different personalities show up so well in these particular pictures.

[kelly]

I love the way you phrase it...knowing you will want to do these years again, but hope you won't wish to do them differently.

[Toni]

A coyote ran into our friend's yard (suburban development) in broad daylight two weeks ago, grabbed their small breed dog and ran off. Her husband and teen son were on the porch and were powerless to stop it. It made local news and now cats are disappearing in their neighborhood as well. Keep guard over your small pets. :(

[Karen]

It's always good to hear from you! Man, your life is crazy busy....my girls are so spread apart in age (10 years and then 15 years) I don't even know how I could have handled everyone's needs all at once. God's grace is always perfect! Have a blessed week!