What's Going On...In Words and Pictures

 In this plate-spinning life I lead (and I admit, I'm not as busy as some other moms I know) it's easy for me to let months go by without updating what is going on. Well it's time for a check-in!

This (above) is how I spend most mornings after the boys have gone to school (I should post my routine sometime--that's always a scintillating read! Ha!). Eden and I have what we call Eden and Mommy Time. Original and clever, I know. This is time that is largely spent doing what Eden wants to do, whether that is building with blocks, playing with play-doh, coloring, painting with watercolors (my favorite!), baking a dessert, going to the park, or whatnot. She enjoys the undivided attention immensely. 

So many things to say about the simple picture above: My kids go through phases and are into forts these days. Specifically, pillow forts. They frequently summon up all the pillows from every corner of the house and make divided forts in the living room. It's great fun for them, and the only time I really minded was when Eden poured cat food all over the floor of her fort. WHY? *scratches head* This photo also shows the first time all three were getting along and playing nicely together in...I couldn't tell you how long. My kids fight. Like, a lot. So much so, that I recently bought a book from Amazon called Peacemaking for Families; a Biblical Guide to Managing Conflict in Your Home. Now if I could just find time to read it...

Side note: I find this to be one of the greatest ironies in life: I have all this conflict in my life and, thus, things I need to be reading about, praying about, and learning, and no time to do any of said reading because of all the time I spend with conflict in my life. And around we go. I have to keep remembering to look up and keep trusting God!

Seth paid a quarter to one of those trinket machines in a restaurant, cranked the handle, and got...a fuzzy gray mustache! Much funnier than a bouncy ball or a stick-on tattoo, don't you think?

Noah was able to play soccer for Harvest this season. Their team went undefeated and then won the championship! More exciting to me than that was the time he was able to spend with the other kids on his team, and his really great coaches. We are so thankful the Lord has allowed Noah to attend Harvest this year! It has been a blessing in so many ways.

This book is one of my favorites for kids and, after checking it out from the library for Eden last week, I decided I'd try letting Seth read it all by himself. He's been really trying to read all the road signs and junk mail we receive, and his teachers have been saying that he's making really good progress learning to read. On Friday after school I sat down with him and... HE READ THE WHOLE THING MOSTLY BY HIMSELF!!! This is such a big answer to prayer for me! There were a few words he couldn't get, like "pretty," "somebody," and "finish," and a few times he said "the" when he should have read "she", but he did it! I was shocked and thrilled! I have been praying for this day! He'll be 8 next month and what a gift! Thank you, Lord!

This picture above I'd like to call, "God's Refining Fire." Maybe someday I will write the thousand words that this photo is worth, but not today. For now, this photo to me is proof that God is still working on me, that I'm not sanctified yet, and that God forgives! 

And now, I have a hungry family to feed so I will go try to rustle something up. 





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