Worth it

I was downstairs tonight when I heard the garage door open. I figured that it was either the boogie man or Patrick - my money was on Patrick since he had called from DIA about 2 hours prior to said door opening. Neither Michael or Meredith heard it, so I said to both of them "Could you run upstairs and check on something for me?" Being the obedient children that they are (!!!) they ran right up. Meredith's daily goal is to out-do Michael in all things, so she beat him in the race up the stairs. When she got upstairs she yelled "DADDY!!!" and then turned to her pokey brother and announced Patrick's arrival. I then heard Michael say, "Oh Daddy! I'm so excited that you're home!" Now THAT is worth being gone for a few days.

A confession or two

Yesterday I hit a wall. The "I'm tired of being the mom" wall. I hit it hard. The whining, the messes, the fighting. I just didn't want to do it one more day. First confession, I was tired of my kids. That's hard to say, but it was the truth. On top of that, the house was so dirty. Months of busyness had taken it's toll on every surface and catching up seemed like an impossibility. Patrick is traveling all week, and I could see an eternal week stretching out in front of me if I didn't get some help... some relief. So I called the best reinforcement I have - my daytime babysitter, Lisa. She agreed to help me out by taking BOTH of the little ones for the day. They were SO excited to go play and I was so thankful that I fell asleep last night with a huge smile. Because my house was such a disaster, I had been contemplating hiring someone to clean it. Instead, this morning I decided that this was how I was going to spend my day. Rather than paying someone else to clean, I was going to do it! It was so much fun - REALLY!!! I put on the radio, LOUD, and cleaned like I was the maid, cleaning someone else's house. I cleaned EVERYTHING!!! Here comes confession #2 - I love bleach. I know I am not supposed to enjoy it so much, but I do. I know that the times call for me to love something organic and natural, but I can't give it up. When I purchase it at the store, I feel like I have to sneak out so that no one sees me. It just works so well!!! And it SMELLS so clean!!! I certainly got my fill of it today. Don't hate me or judge me for my confessions. It's just how some days are - you feel overwhelmed and at wits end, then God uses something small - a few hours alone - to bring you back to how good life really is. It turned out to be quite a wonderful day. The best thing was when I picked up my little ones and the big girls came home I was back to being a happy mom. I was grateful for the time away from them, the time to take care of our home, and the time to get us all back where we belong.

Chairs

I found these chairs this winter for an INCREDIBLE price. I have always wanted to have a set of adirondack chairs in my yard, but wasn't willing to give up the arm and leg that they cost. YET - I believe that the Lord knows my heart's desires, and He lead me to find these chairs this winter. They were in need of some TLC, which I had a lot of, so they have gone from sad to spectacular over the past few months. I LOVE them so much. These are the chairs that I'm going to sit still in over the summer. That really is what I want to do. And I'm going to. Stop laughing, Lara. :)

BEFORE



AFTER