week in pictures

Monday

 we got the call that one of my best friends was 

headed to the hospital to deliver her baby girl....

we got to spend time with the soon-to-be big brother!

 

 What 2 and 3 year olds do for fun. 

Tuesday - Fix it day

fixed my make-up board. Re-hung. love. 

Spent 25 minutes and organized my bathroom drawer 

big change

                it went from this  --------------------------> to this!

magnetic strip in drawer for bobby pins. Yippee!

 

 Tip: tried magnetic strip before...

 but it worked this time thanks to Hot GLUE.

 

I hire M to come play with Clark

2 hrs of all-boy-play

Spent the evening fishing with Cousin Marcus! 

Caught 7 fish the size of your thumb....

From the eyes of a 3 year old - PERFECT way to end a good day. 

Wednesday: 

...Continued working on kid closets, a true challenge for this quick start mama.

 

Thursday

Good morning life.

My house had been like this for a few days....

....i was tired and had a happy yet high energy boy on my hands.

{insert deer in headlight look}

....I prayed and i felt like God reminded me to call my girlfriend Heidi who has an 8 year old boy, saying "I need help"!

I knew that if I didn't get help, i would soon cross the line of being a consistent voice in clark's life to somehow communicating to his 'lil heart that it is "not ok" to be a 3 year old high energy boy.

To the rescue!
Sigh!  8 year old helping 3 year old out of tree

His friend S. helped Clark with worm dig'n, tree climb'n, ant killing and most importantly helped him turn over every stone in the yard for rolly polly catch'n.

Two hours later, S. seemed thrilled with the donation to his toy fund. As we waved goodbye to his 8 year old friend, I found myself trying to memorize the cute features of my 'lil bright eyed jabbering, snotty nosed, dirty fingernailed, scrapped-up-knee 3 year old. I love my 'lil man.

Thankful for the Body of Christ and life in a caring community.

Friday

Swimsuit time!

Other highlights: Aunt Kristen, Amy, Lyndsey stayed with us for several nights.

We had a houseful of people here at random times over Sat and Sun to get some good time with the Mathews who were visiting from Co. Loved catching up with old friends. 

 We got to meet Emma Grace!

 Such a cute lil beauty.
Meeting her was a great way to end the week!
Thankful for life.

Hello May

This week has been full of wonderful people and lots of fun, random moments. 

Keeping up with my lil man:

1) I walk into the room to find Clark loudly talking about "tilling a FI".  Of course he does it sport'n his boxers. Sheesh.

2) We spent a lot of time outside since daddy and Jon were building a new deck.  Clark was pretty upset about the old stairs being taken away so daddy screwed them onto the fence. Random – yep. He loved it.

 

3) And just when you thought life couldn't get any better - Clark got to go to Grandma B's house and catch 14 fish! 

 Uncle Jake and Clark

While sitting outside in the sand box or on the trampoline chilling with my littles....i whittled away at these babies. Gift for my friend having a boy - handcrafted thank you cards for a busy mama. Though interrupted a zillion times times i have realized my crafty side doesn't have to die just because i am a mama. It just looks different.

As for me, life is full. Without depression I am loving it. I told a friend again last week, depression and exhaustion are hauntingly similar. Update: I thought a couple weeks ago I was slipping back into depression but after a doctor visit and refocusing on nutrition and think we are clear. I pulled out of the fog. Thankful.

I worked for the pregnancy center again this week. My mother-in-law took care of my kids. {insert applause here}.  I found the stack of evaluations today along with the still-needed-to-be-unpacked diaper bag that smelled of sour milk. Nasty. Yesssss....i forgot and left the diaper bag in the car all week! sigh. But you know sentences like....”I was raped when i was 7 & and now I know it wasn’t my fault” sadly is not that uncommon. These type of evaluations are one of the reasons I tossed the nasty soured bottle in the trash without a second thought.  The wounds are deep.

On a lighter note: We loved getting to spend time with Rachel and Titus. My Sister-in-law and I prepped crockpot meals in gallon freezer bags and froze them for next week as she plans on trying to settle in her new house. Will post links to the recipes in a couple weeks once Rachel tries them...I'm a fan. 

-          Crockpot Garlic pesto Chicken with Pasta tomato Cream Sauce

-          Easy Crockpot Mongolian beef

-          Crockpot Applesauce BBQ chicken

-          Cilantro Lime Chicken

-          Crockpot beef tips and Gravy 

Sam and Nicole also came. I love our friends. I tried to not work on anything but it didn’t work. N and I tackled the bathroom shelf Allyn had put up for me. Guest supplies easy to grab - check.

                                              :: before and after ::

Oh, and Allyn spent 2 days in Chicago. Yes those are A10 warthog fighter jets at the manhattan airport.

This is the room I am continuing to work on (pic from last week). Asking the Father to give me the strength to keep going at it and not get discouraged. We made a lot of progress this week but don't have a picture of that yet. 

 ...and it's mother's day (note it is 12:15 a.m). This pic was the only one of me and both my kids this week. Not the greatest but man, I love my kiddos. 

Mother's Day -  Yesterday while running errands it hit me again how painful this holiday can be for so many. Death, infertility, illness, abandonment, separation... Father be near as we honor our mothers and yet stop long enough to see the harsh reality many face, especially on a day like today.

That's all. Night folks!

Beauty in chaos

...the short story is "I'm back"

It hasn't been a short journey though...

The month Clark turned 2 (my last post) was the month I finally pulled all.the.way OUT of depression. Most people including myself had no idea I was struggling through what I see now as a 17 month long depression.The few that saw the signs, didn't tell me. Afterall, how do you tell someone they are depressed? (that's a whole blog post for itself)

In summary...I see beauty again. I can laugh.I can let comments roll off my back. I don't take the bounce in my step for granted. 

Caring for two kids is easier than raising one and having depression.

My family was very kind through it all. My mom who I talk to every day was someone I always looked forward to calling, just for a few minutes of adult conversation. My mother-in-law kindly (and sister-in-loves) would kidnap my little tornado for an entire morning one day a week. I am forever grateful that they pursued me and would call to say "i'm on my way to pick up Clark". Thank you Jesus for Godly family that love you through the sweet and sour times.

My husband, weathered the good, bad, and ugly with unbelievable amounts of generosity and kindness. God knew what he was doing when He gave me a patient man how has more common sense than most men I know combined. Love him.

Memories can look more beautiful as time passes... or as in my case...time has helped me see the beauty woven throughout those 17 chaotic months, of which I will write more later.

0p...my little one just started screaming. Gotta go.

The lil' Farmer turns 2!

 too many pictures! 

"Don't mess with me"

...errr...maybe it should be 

"don't mess with my coffee table" 

Even Farmers....

need their naps!

addition

fast snack

Sunflower seed + goji berries + walnuts + pecans 

+ sesame seed sticks + almonds + banana chips 

+ dried mango + cranberries = diabetic snack!

cut the mango chips 

bag in mini ziplocks

1/4 c. portions 

throw in freezer

1 explaination!

...this is how i get everything done, everyday! - clark

Vacation with a Twist

2 carry-on bags + 2 back packs +  1 child = family vacation

Few things can be a refreshing as the wonder and excitement of a child. Vacation highlights take a different twist when viewed from the eyes of a 1 year old. Here are six high points thanks to our son, Clark Allyn.

1. Sitting for hours in the airport - a DREAM come true!

2. Having to walk around construction and remodeling projects within the airport - HUGE bonus!

3. Long distances between terminals - who said that's a pain? 

4. Hours of free entertainment - thank you Tractor House

5. No car seats in the shuttle bus - SWEET!

 

6. Fire alarms in the middle of the night - what a DELIGHTFUL idea! 

The END

...of our delightfully twisted vacation!