True Story

I have a lot of things I'm juggling at the moment. So the other morning I thought I needed one more thing to do (in my postpartum hormonal stupor) and that it would be a good idea to fix the hooligans a big breakfast. (Well, big for me. French toast and eggs, and a cinnamon cluster Billy had brought home from CFA the night before.)  It went something like this: Get out the pan. Get out the eggs and bread. Pull Tirzah off Merrick and get her hands off his throat. Run into the living room and put Jericho's pacifier back in his mouth so he'll stop crying. Return to the kitchen.

Crack a couple of eggs and open the bread. Turn around and grit my teeth at the kids (who are currently fighting over a penguin they have two of) and tell them to be quiet for the 104th time so Jericho won't wake up. Jericho wakes up, run back into living room and put his pacifier back in his mouth. Twice. Return to kitchen...almost fall while you try not to trip over the kid who is out of her seat. Again.

Get toast and eggs in the pan. FINALLY. Get kids out of the cinnamon cluster that they aren't supposed to have until after the "nutritious" portion of breakfast. Hah. Take that stinkin penguin away and stuff it in the closet. Jericho wakes up, run into the living room and put pacifier back in his mouth and tell him if he'll give me five minutes of quiet I'll buy him a Ferrari when he gets his driver's license. Heck, when he starts walking. Return to kitchen.

I've almost burned the toast, AND the eggs. Get them out of the pan and onto the plates hoping the kids don't notice. They don't, because their back to wrestling on the table and fighting over who gets to be "MetroMan". (Huh?) Tell them if they don't be quiet, all while whispering as ferociously as possible, I'm going to eat the cinnamon cluster all by yourself. (Secretly hope someone makes more noise so you can eat it yourself.) Of course they don't. But Jericho smells a conspiracy, so run back in the living room but this time he's not having the pacifier deal at all. Finally just give up and take him into the kitchen, getting the kids out of the cinnamon cluster again, but this time one handed.

Go sit on the couch and swear I'm never cooking breakfast again. Eggo waffles and cereal until Jesus comes back.

The first shot is for This or That, and the second shot is for Show Off.

The last shot is for YouCapture

The Coveted Black Crayon

Didn't do too much yesterday. I'm kind of getting used to this three kiddos thing. I
mean, other than occasionally drooling on myself I'm so tired. But that's normal right? Just say yes.

I have kind of been treading water getting used to all this. So I felt bad for the older hooligans who have watched a lot of movies the last couple weeks. I felt like we needed to do something crafty. I'm not crafty. So we colored.

I also didn't want to clean up a big mess. I figured coloring was relatively safe. Merrick only broke 1/3 of the crayons. Thanks goodness it's a big box. But he broke the black crayon, sadly, which was the only one he wanted to use.

I'll maybe attempt a craftier craft soon. Something that doesn't take long though since Jericho wants to eat every 10 minutes. But for now I think finding another black crayon would win me mom of the year.

The first shot is for Tones on Tuesday, Communal Global, 

The second shot is for Happiness Project, Capturing Beauty, and Sweet Violet.

The last is for Sweet Shot.

In the Details

I read a quote recently that said: "It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." It made me think, as a mom of 3 now I spend most of my day taking care of little details. Take that to mean the little people or all the little things those little people need. Either way, I'm taking care of little things all day.

It can get monotonous, and sometimes I find myself dreading the starting of another day when all those same details need to be taken care of all over again. The same people need another cup of juice, and their hair and teeth brushed, and their fighting yelling selves put into time-out. I am not happy to admit that, but I know it's something a lot of other people can probably admit to thinking. (Whether you're a mom or not. Sometimes starting a new day is hard.)

But then I also read something on facebook the other day that kind of smacked me in the face. I spend too much time feeling sorry for myself about all the "details" that I have to take care of. Sighing over another mess to clean up, crying because I'm tired. I'm human, it's gonna happen I know. But the article I read said the problem isn't with those details, it's with my attitude. I can choose to thrive in this job I've been given, and let myself be used to bless the little people I spend the often monotonous days with.

They may be small, these kids and the details, but they are vital. And in pouring my life and time into them, it's given back to me multiplied when I get to watch them turn into something big.

The first shot is for Macro Monday. The Second shot is for And Then She Snapped

A Foot Person

I'm not a foot person. I don't freak out over feet or anything, but let's face it, some people's feet are pretty gross. These three sets of feet pictured above, however, don't gross me out. I'm very familiar with these 30 little toes, since they've all taken turns kicking me for 37, 40, and 38 weeks each. And who am I kidding, they are all still kicking me.

These 30 toes are leaving footprints all over my life (in a good way) and sock lint, dirt, and crumbs galore all over my house (not so good, but what do you do?). I am thrilled with how the older two are adjusting to Jericho being here, and hope that they keep looking out for their "baby bubba" as they call him.

Speaking of feet and footprints and all that stuff, I wouldn't mind if he follows in his older two siblings footsteps. (Not exactly the wild and crazy part, but they are sweethearts at their core and really care about each other and the people around them) These two have a big job, and they seem to be taking to it with gusto. (Seriously, they kiss Jericho 473 times a day, and inform me if he makes the slightest squeak that I need to address.) I'm hope that the big job I have ahead of me (raising 3 kiddos into civilized human beings) is something I savor and see as the blessing it is...sock lint and all.

My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not stumbled. / Psalm 17:5

The first is for Simple as That, third is for Sunday Snapshot. 

 The last shot is for The Paper Mama and Scripture & a Snapshot. 

Not So Bare

One of my Christmas presents was a gift voucher for canvases. I had been wanting to put some pictures up on the kids' wall since we finally finished painting it. The walls in their room are kind of bare, but part of that is because there always seem to be toys driving on the walls and grubby little fingers rubbing all over them. I have been scared to give them something else to put fingerprints on.

I finally bit the bullet though, when I saw a kid's room on Pinterest with large prints of the kids on the walls. So after Christmas we took some pictures and ordered the canvases. They took for-e-ver to get here. Partly because I was anxious to get them and partly because they seemed to have forgotten I ordered them. They finally got here Tuesday afternoon.

I love how they turned out. I am hoping they stay intact, seeing as I have placed them in the lion's den. I think they are far enough up on the walls that little dirty fingers can't reach them, but I'm just hoping those little dirty fingers don't throw heavy and/or pointed objects at them either. ;)

The first shot is for This or That, and the second shot is for Texture Thursday.