To our Kayla
How can 5 years have gone so fast?
I vividly remember sitting in the parking lot of a mexican food restaruant in Blacksburg after going on a 'valentines date' the night before we had you, still deciding what you would be named.
And we decided to name you 'Kaitlyn Amelia' Kaitlyn because it was the one name we agreed on and Amelia for for father's grandmother who meant alot to him.
And after you were born, the name Kaitlyn became Kayla.
I remember how your bother and sister would sing the abc song to you everytime you cried.
your first year.
And once you started walking how much your personality became apparent. You had the world on a string. You'd do almost anything to make your brother and sister laugh.
And so often I'd see a mischievous grin on your face.
The world has been your friend, strangers are simply people you haven't met yet. You strike conversation with anyone and have picked up the 'I like your necklace (or whatever else you notice)' version of flattery to make friends quickly.
Fear is a stranger to you. Roller coasters that make me think twice have you cheering to go again. With a wave you tell me 'bye mommy' to new things but still love to find time to snuggle.
You've found a way to bring out your little brother, coaching him how to talk, walk, play and make friends. I see him becoming more like you every week.
You find the joy, the laughter and the playfulness in life. I have learned many things watching you float through life.
You make the world better for being here. I hope to watch you influence the world for good and for Christ
We love you
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Today is the first day of the rest of my life...
Going to make my own self-motivational speeches here.
We're still just plugging along and I'm still having nagging thoughts of 'this is IT?!! This is life?!' as I feel like I'm chasing my tail spinning in circles daily. With everything, really. As soon as I get one fire put out, there are 3 others I'm racing at attend to.
For example- yesterday.
It was my turn to bring desert to growth group. I planned ahead. I bought 2 of those fancy-schmancy box mixes for bars, had enough eggs and butter to make them and had them made and cooling on the stove.
AND to be fair, I made a cake for the kids, too, so they'd also have a desert.
And we were working on teaching chores- Joey's being to take the recycling to the recycling can. (which, btw, I like a whole lot more than the recycling bins since it's actually big enough for all the recycling AND it's an enclosed bin so the papers and cardboard don't blow out and get wet if it rains)
BUT.. Joey put it in the wrong can. Which is a wrong can for anything. Because Larry thought he was buying approved trash cans, but in reality the only trash can you can have has to be provided but the trash company.
So.. as I go out with Joey to show him the correct can and put the recycling from wrong can to right one..
Kayla and JM were in the kitchen.
Unsupervised.
With Cake and brownie-bar things.
And because "their" cake was hotter than the brownie bars, they stuck their fingers into the brownie bars and pulled a chunk out to eat.
ARGH!!!!!
Out of eggs, box mix and anything remotely able to replace desert.
So I cut out the parts that had fingers in them and put the rest cut into squares on a serving plate. Pretty sneaky, huh?
And while doing that and making dinner, out of the corner of my eye I see JM walking down the wall with scissors, confiscating those I think the fires are out.
Until I hear a crashing breaking sound of the soap dish in the bathroom.
Enter the bathroom and find the better part of a roll of toilet paper in shreds on the floor in addition to the shattered soap dish and soap.
And one would ask...
Why did I have a breakable soap dish in the kid's bathroom?
Because it's our only bathroom right now.
And their plastic dish went AWOL in our move (along with the cord to my electric blanket, which I am not at all happy about)
So I put our ceramic-matching toothbrush and soap dish in the bathroom.
So now we're down 2 soap dishes.
And I have a new appreciation for having more than 1 bathroom.
So today I decide we're going to have a fire-free day.
lol.
from my mouth to God's ears. Because I already hear JM in the bathroom.
We're still just plugging along and I'm still having nagging thoughts of 'this is IT?!! This is life?!' as I feel like I'm chasing my tail spinning in circles daily. With everything, really. As soon as I get one fire put out, there are 3 others I'm racing at attend to.
For example- yesterday.
It was my turn to bring desert to growth group. I planned ahead. I bought 2 of those fancy-schmancy box mixes for bars, had enough eggs and butter to make them and had them made and cooling on the stove.
AND to be fair, I made a cake for the kids, too, so they'd also have a desert.
And we were working on teaching chores- Joey's being to take the recycling to the recycling can. (which, btw, I like a whole lot more than the recycling bins since it's actually big enough for all the recycling AND it's an enclosed bin so the papers and cardboard don't blow out and get wet if it rains)
BUT.. Joey put it in the wrong can. Which is a wrong can for anything. Because Larry thought he was buying approved trash cans, but in reality the only trash can you can have has to be provided but the trash company.
So.. as I go out with Joey to show him the correct can and put the recycling from wrong can to right one..
Kayla and JM were in the kitchen.
Unsupervised.
With Cake and brownie-bar things.
And because "their" cake was hotter than the brownie bars, they stuck their fingers into the brownie bars and pulled a chunk out to eat.
ARGH!!!!!
Out of eggs, box mix and anything remotely able to replace desert.
So I cut out the parts that had fingers in them and put the rest cut into squares on a serving plate. Pretty sneaky, huh?
And while doing that and making dinner, out of the corner of my eye I see JM walking down the wall with scissors, confiscating those I think the fires are out.
Until I hear a crashing breaking sound of the soap dish in the bathroom.
Enter the bathroom and find the better part of a roll of toilet paper in shreds on the floor in addition to the shattered soap dish and soap.
And one would ask...
Why did I have a breakable soap dish in the kid's bathroom?
Because it's our only bathroom right now.
And their plastic dish went AWOL in our move (along with the cord to my electric blanket, which I am not at all happy about)
So I put our ceramic-matching toothbrush and soap dish in the bathroom.
So now we're down 2 soap dishes.
And I have a new appreciation for having more than 1 bathroom.
So today I decide we're going to have a fire-free day.
lol.
from my mouth to God's ears. Because I already hear JM in the bathroom.
Friday, February 5, 2010
In search of simplicity
I am searching for simplicity.Turns out you can't keep juggling everything in the air without a few things crashing down on you.
So I have cut down on as much as I can- including blog time, leg-shaving time and folding laundry time. And it hasn't made much of a difference as far as I can tell. Well.. the mountain of laundry has gotten pretty big- that I noticed. It'd be hard to miss.
We did spend a few intense days of potty training to get requests for a diaper and only have to mop the bathroom floor. twice. In about 3 hours.
And moving 'out here' has had some other consequences. like traffic. Ugh how I hate traffic. And there is 1- yes- 1 road you can take to get here. it's 10-15 mph for 7 miles from 4:30-7pm everyweek day night and most weekends. it's awful. Friday and Sat it's east bound that's heavy and slow and then Sun it's west bound. I still haven't figured where all these people are going for the weekend. So it turns out if I mis-manage my time and have to go somewhere and are coming home after 4pm, it will take me about 45 minute to drive what would otherwise take me 10. Unfortunately it's the same road Larry has to take home from work.
But out here has a few advantages. I can walk to our post office, for example. Which is faster and safer than trying to drive it when the traffic is heavy and you can't pull out onto the road. The kids love our daily walks to the post office and the post office said they were in danger of being closed, but our shipping volume will help keep it open. At least for now. I've been doing alot of soul-searching about finding simplicity in my life and how this business which has largely taken over my life fits into it. I'm finding it ironic that something we started so that I could stay home with the kids and not work full time has turned into a close to full time job which distracts me from the kids I wanted to stay home with.
And soul searching about school. I like the flexibility of homeschooling. But I'd like the "normality" of sending our kids to school. Not to mention lifting the burden of schooling them and trying to keep one particular child on task or at least in the same room as the task at hand. But again.. not sure school would be a help or hindrance in that area. I foresee alot of notes about behavior being send home.
Well.. that's about all the time I have to mis-manage online this morning. We have a date with the library this afternoon and our walk to the post office. And I guess I'll have to feed them at least 2 more times and I guess today we'll tackle the laundry mountain, or at least the foot hills of said mountain.
What a life of adventure, I tell ya.
So I have cut down on as much as I can- including blog time, leg-shaving time and folding laundry time. And it hasn't made much of a difference as far as I can tell. Well.. the mountain of laundry has gotten pretty big- that I noticed. It'd be hard to miss.
We did spend a few intense days of potty training to get requests for a diaper and only have to mop the bathroom floor. twice. In about 3 hours.
And moving 'out here' has had some other consequences. like traffic. Ugh how I hate traffic. And there is 1- yes- 1 road you can take to get here. it's 10-15 mph for 7 miles from 4:30-7pm everyweek day night and most weekends. it's awful. Friday and Sat it's east bound that's heavy and slow and then Sun it's west bound. I still haven't figured where all these people are going for the weekend. So it turns out if I mis-manage my time and have to go somewhere and are coming home after 4pm, it will take me about 45 minute to drive what would otherwise take me 10. Unfortunately it's the same road Larry has to take home from work.
But out here has a few advantages. I can walk to our post office, for example. Which is faster and safer than trying to drive it when the traffic is heavy and you can't pull out onto the road. The kids love our daily walks to the post office and the post office said they were in danger of being closed, but our shipping volume will help keep it open. At least for now. I've been doing alot of soul-searching about finding simplicity in my life and how this business which has largely taken over my life fits into it. I'm finding it ironic that something we started so that I could stay home with the kids and not work full time has turned into a close to full time job which distracts me from the kids I wanted to stay home with.
And soul searching about school. I like the flexibility of homeschooling. But I'd like the "normality" of sending our kids to school. Not to mention lifting the burden of schooling them and trying to keep one particular child on task or at least in the same room as the task at hand. But again.. not sure school would be a help or hindrance in that area. I foresee alot of notes about behavior being send home.
Well.. that's about all the time I have to mis-manage online this morning. We have a date with the library this afternoon and our walk to the post office. And I guess I'll have to feed them at least 2 more times and I guess today we'll tackle the laundry mountain, or at least the foot hills of said mountain.
What a life of adventure, I tell ya.
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