Wednesday, August 24, 2011

B is for Busy

Wow...It seems that is has been forever since I had a moment to blog.  I actually don't "have" a moment right now but I'm going to take it anyway.
Tomorrow we will have been in school for two weeks. (TWO weeks) My thoughts are all over the place.  I LOVE teaching.  I am both energized and exhausted by and from it.  My head and heart are full.....all of the time.  I can't even seem to remember that I was at home with my sweet girls three weeks ago. I miss them. The hours flash by. The days are marked off on my desk calendar.  I feel as if I struggle to keep my head above water.  120 new names to learn. I really want to call them by their name....they are worth remembering.  I pray that I'm making a difference in someone's life.  Did I make enough copies?  Will I ever convince them to listen to the directions?  How MANY times do I really need to say the same thing?  Does each individual need a written invitation to sit down?  I gaze at the couch full of laundry.  I am trying to perfect the packing "everything except the kitchen sink" routine.  I have almost figured out everyone's daily schedule.  The twins don't cry when I rush out of the room in the morning. The time when we first walk through the door from school/work is priceless.  The house is not spotless but it feels good to be here...together.
Holton is settling into his senior year.  He is at home more now than he was during the summer and it is nice to have him here.  Haigan has reconnected with old friends.  He is enjoying praising God through his music and serenades anyone who passes by during his practice time at night.  Lana Grace is as sweet as ever. She wakes up and wants to play hide and seek with her daddy at 6 am.  She "needs a friend" and mommy and daddy are the best ones.  Let us cling to that with all that we are!  Amelia is finally walking.  She is a cuddler and such a beauty.  She is getting curls just like big sister.  Annabeth is a firecracker.  She doesn't just walk...she runs.  She is smart and funny and full of energy!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Too Crowded

The twins climbed into the basket and it was fun for a minute  nanosecond.  No captions are needed. :)





Thursday, July 21, 2011

Thursday's God Winks

I recently heard little sightings of sweetness called "God winks." Here are a few that we saw around here today.  I am sure we missed a lot!  Happy Thursday!
I was putting Lana Grace's tops back on her paints and look at that - a PERFECT heart in the yellow!
Someone at the pear factory has read too much Very Hungry Caterpillar - isn't that weird?  What a reminder- Read to your kids!

It started with an egg

No, this is not a post about infertility.  Goodness gracious, I don't know anything about that.  This post is about my meltdown caused by an egg....a dozen of them to be exact.
Here is a little background . :)We have successfully attended our Sunday school class approximately three times since the birth of the twins but someone hasn't taken us off of the email list so I guess they believe there is still hope for us.  I got an email from our Sunday school leader's wife, a sweet friend, asking for help to feed the family members of another class member whose father had passed away.  I really do enjoy serving by sending meals to those who need them.  I already have to cook and it is such a simple way to help.  With that in mind, I told Henry the date and asked him if he would be able to drop it off at the church.  "Yes, we should do that" he replied.  I told him again when I was updated that the location to bring the food had been changed.  After picking up Haigan from the church pool party, I went to WalMart to pick up the (demon-possessed) eggs and a dessert.

I have made deviled eggs probably no less than 50 times.....successfully.  These eggs were different.  These eggs had obviously heard the not so loving conversation that I had with Henry once I got home when he revealed to me that he had a meeting all day which had been scheduled for a while.  He wouldn't be able to drop off the food.  They boiled, they were rinsed with cool water.  I started to peel them...and the white started to ravel like a poorly sewn hem.  First one, I thought oh well...that is why you make more than you need.  I'll eat that one. (I usually offer these to Henry but I was ticked at him - He wasn't getting any!)  Second, third, fourth....
Defeated, I sat down to email my friend to tell her that the devil had truly taken over my "deviled" eggs.  Henry, meanwhile, was devising his own plan to use any staff member available to take this food by the church.  Each plan he came up with made me more frustrated.  My sweet friend said that they had plenty of food. I assured her that if they did not, I would call Domino's!  We both got a laugh at that.
With tears in my eyes, I moved on past that silly little failure.  Things seem so huge when you are in the middle of them!
Bless his heart, my husband called again this morning still trying to figure out how he could help me get food to this funeral.
He is a good man, a great father, and a caring husband.  BUT he will not be getting any deviled eggs for a while!
One of the cult
And thank you, Amy, for picking up a pie to take for me! :)

Thursday, July 14, 2011

All in a Day

All in a Day's work play
I guess it depends on who you ask around here.  These are some activities from our last 24 hours!

We emptied the cookie cutter drawer

We made edible peanut butter play doh

We played behind tried to tear down the curtain

We rearranged the pantry by playing "store"

We had great bubble baths!
Hope your day is as great as ours has been!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

It takes a village

Well, maybe it doesn't take a village...but wouldn't that be nice?  I am home alone tonight with the babies.  Everyone else had "things" to attend.  I was making bottles while listening to the babies cry impatiently "mom- a - moma - mom- a".  The moments during the day when there is just one you and too many "to-do's" left when you're done for....well...that was one of them.

I was finishing up the bottles and I glanced out my kitchen window and saw the sweetest sight.  A little girl was on her scooter and her grandfather was lined up beside her with his best "ready, set, go" stance.  They took off and he kept up for a bit! I watched for a moment and realized that I had this HUGE smile on my face. I was quickly brought back to the task at hand....and the babies were satisfied and ready for bed.

That scene still stuck in my head, I sat down to write this.  How amazing that must be to have people  to invest in the lives of your children.  There must be so many great things to come from that.  I can only imagine that your sanity would be saved a little, your load would feel lighter, your marriage would be better.  I could go on and on.

What is the purpose of all of this rambling?  I'm not quite sure.  I guess it would be to tell you that if you are reading this and you have people,whether friends or family, who are in a position to pour love all over, into, and around your kids....Enjoy it!  It is certainly a special blessing.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Has to be love.....

It has to be love that:
-allows you to enter the nursery at 2 am and still smile at the one(s) who woke you

-coaxes you into blowing bubbles in the house one hour after mopping the floors

-causes you to eat the "rest" of anything off of a toddler's plate for your lunch

-allows you to help with projects at midnight the night before they are due because your child "just remembered"

-causes you to wake during the night and think of uniforms that need to be put in the dryer before morning

-makes you consult "map" before leaving home and come up with exactly three points to highlight along the way, and repeat them every 1/2 mile until you have reached your destination

-change poopy diapers and be able to eat anything with gravy or mustard involved again

-causes you to clean off a paci by sucking on it to return it to a frantic baby (probably only after baby #2 though :) )

-sustains you while you sit through awards banquets that consist of every child's name being read at least twice

-search for pacifiers until the threat of knee replacement feels like a real possibility

-keep on loving when their sentences become grunts

I love my kids.  I love being a mama and all of the things that go with that.  It is not easy some days, but it is well worth it!

It had to be love that held him to that cross.  Nothing else could have ever made him take that punishment for my sins.  Thank you God for sending me your son and for giving me my sons and daughters to love.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Growing up

Oh, the power of words.  What an ability they have to affect me.  Today they did just that.

I had been busily cleaning for the past hour or so while the babies napped.   I had gotten Lana Grace started on several projects....painting, cutting and gluing, matching shapes....most anything to keep her busy so that I could be.  Each time she finished an activity, I found her in the same place doing the same thing - sucking those (yes there are three) pacis!

We have been battling the pacifiers for quite a while now.  I got an idea from an article that I read to use the "paci fairy."  So Lana Grace knows that when she turns three in a few weeks and has her fairy princess party that the paci fairy is coming to get them.  A little baby somewhere needs them.  Now in exchange, she gets a ridiculous amount of "consolation prizes" but that is a story for another day!  

She prayed last night for her "best most favorite things," her pacis.  She has become very protective of them so she wants to have them now more than ever.  I suppose it is her fear of them disappearing. I hope we are not scarring her for life!  

Today's conversation went like this.  "Mommy I love my pacis."  "I know that you do Lana Grace but you are becoming a big girl."  "Well, when I get little for you again can I have them back?"  "Well that is not the way life works.  We don't get to be little again.  We grow up and become big people."

We don't get to be little again.  We don't get to be little again.  Wow!  Now I know I'm the mommy and I'm probably totally emotional about one of my babies turning three...but this made me sad.  When do we grow up?  When do we lose the ability to be comforted by something so simple?  When exactly do we put aside those silly things that make us giggle and let life become so complicated?  

Life is so short.  I'm going to do my best to slow it down a little.  I hope the paci fairy has the courage to show up at our house.  But if not, that is how things work sometimes....... I suppose.
Our little fairy

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Why?

If you are a parent, you've been overloaded with this simple three letter word.  Our simple answer (and not a very good one) is "because I said so."  I read a post this morning at jonacuff.com about those three letters.  It was both inspirational and challenging.

I am an over-analyzer of my words.  I always wonder (probably worry but wonder sounds better) if I have offended someone through conversations.  I replay them in my mind and hope that my point was taken the way I intended it to be.  Or maybe I'm hopeful that my point was taken but hiding behind that innocent "Oh I didn't mean it that way" line.  Many times in my life I have allowed words to slip from my mouth or have written them for others to read and later regretted them.  The sinking feeling when I speak something that doesn't come from a pure heart is immediate for me.  I was challenged to think about what I wrote or said and find my motives BEFORE saying or writing it.  Wouldn't the world be a kinder place if we did that?  Wouldn't we save ourselves and those around us many heartaches?

So my challenge to myself is to question WHY I write and say the things I do.  What is it that I hope to give or gain?  Is it pure?  It is selfish?  Is it humble?  Is it necessary?  Will it build others up or tear them down?  Will it direct others to Christ or make me look good?

I hope that I find myself writing and saying things that are helpful not hurtful, wise not foolish, and humble not prideful.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Contentment

With three little ones who want the same thing at the same time, we have several "fits" a day over who can play with what.  Lana Grace is older and is able to play with some things that the babies just aren't ready for.  One of these things is her beloved beads.  She plays with beads any chance that she has and never seems to tire of them.  She sorts them continuously and in a million different fashions.
Our Sunday nap schedule is a little different and today the babies got up about the time she wanted to "play beads."  This means that Lana Grace gets to go into the dining room and close the door to be by herself and play.  Annabeth is our curious child.  She really wants to do big girl things already.  She wants to wear hats and necklaces and "preees" (her word for pretty flowers) in her hair.  Today she caught a glimpse of Lana Grace through the window and wasted much of the next 30 minutes just sitting and watching.  I don't know how content she was to watch and she obviously can't tell me that she wants to play that too but eventually she just went to the playroom.  
So much of that scene reminds me of things I have struggled with in my past.  I am thankful to say that I believe that I have overcome much of that and am truly content in my life now.  But there are those days when a quick look at something as simple as facebook can make me long for some material thing... a new car, a beach vacation, a trip to the mountains, a night out at a great restaurant, more of this, the best of that, less of this....whatever, whatever.
I am so blessed!  Today's sermon reminded me that if for nothing more, I'm blessed because I was born in this great nation.  So my prayer today for me, for Annabeth, and for you if you need it....is that we would be content with our lives and all of our blessings.  

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Baby Updates

We are just amazed at the milestones that the babies are reaching.  They change and grow daily.  I haven't captured it yet but I am pretty sure that they grow during their nap!  We went to the doctor at the end of last week for their check up (oops, little late for the one year). Amelia weighed 30 1/2 lbs and Annabeth weighed 23 lbs.  So one on each hip means that we get to carry around over 50 pounds of sweetness!

Amelia makes the cutest little turtle face when we ask her if something is good.  She makes an "mmmmm" sound and stretches her neck up as far as she possibly can.  If she doesn't like it, into the floor it goes!  She tried to say her name today after the hundredth time that I asked and "a-nun-nuh" came out.  It was cute.

I realized this week that Annabeth points to flowers and says "fre-eee" almost with a break between so as to make two words.  It is obvious to us that she is trying to say pretty flower. I guess we should have just called them flowers.  She also loves to wear flower hair clips in her hair.  She will place them on top of her head over and over until you hook them in.  So cute.

Annabeth is walking everywhere, still with her arms up in the air like a little monkey.  It is precious.  She carries shoes (anyone's shoes, no preferences) around and rubs them on her feet until you put shoes on her. Amelia has taken a few steps and her little eyes just light up when you coax her to come to you.  She is so sweet-natured.  She LOVES to play with the toys and would really rather play alone, just figuring out how each thing works.  Annabeth is still the swiper so Amelia's fun is usually interrupted. :(

Such sweet blessings.  Such treasured moments.  Thank you God for all of our miracles.

Bath time is one of our favorite times of the day.  I love this picture of Annabeth concentrating so hard on filling up the watering pail through the spout.  Notice the "tongue out" - a true sign of Overton concentration.


Monday, June 27, 2011

Remember when?

So even though it is Monday and it has been all day long, I usually don't think of myself as "old" (even if I may feel like it right now.)  I overheard Henry talking to Amelia tonight and I didn't hear details but I just heard him say "you won't even know what that is when you are older because they probably won't have them."  During my walk tonight, I started thinking about how strange it seemed to me when I was young to hear my papaw (who just happened to be the most amazing man I've ever known and was delivered straight into the arms of God in 2000 at the earthly age of 91) talk of putting a heated brick into a sack to keep his feet warm as he rode in the wagon to school in the winter.  I remember how he talked of sleeping on a straw bed and relating how he had to be still so as not to overturn during the night.  I wish I remembered more.  I wish I had asked more, or listened more, or sat still longer, or something.  So the purpose of this blog is to simply go down memory lane and put into writing some memories so that when I, or my kids, look back (while living on Mars and driving a car like the Jetsons...lol) it will bring a smile, or a question, or an "I remember that too."  On a side note, many of these relate to school, as I was obsessed with becoming a teacher from an early age. :)

Remember when:
-It was a privilege to be the kid who got to sit in the front of the class and show your book, while patiently waiting until you heard that stupid tinkerbell sound to let you know the page needed to be turned - and I was in the gifted class!

-It was also big stuff to get to go outside and dust the erasers by beating the heck out of them on the sidewalk, or the building, or whatever you found because at that point in time, we had chalkboards..the real kind that had to be washed at the end of the day.  You know what else?  I doubt it if any teacher wrote in the lesson plans "students will spend the last 30 minutes of class cleaning up my room for tomorrow!"

-The slide at recess was a piece of metal (hot as fire in August) that had no safety rails WHATSOEVER

-No one used seat belts and you rarely heard of fatalities from car crashes - was there such a thing as a carseat?  Seriously, was there?

-Just when the music was getting good, the needle would stick on the record player and the entire song would have to be restarted - probably how rap music came to be!

-Ooh, ooh me...I want to sit and turn the knob on the film projector so that I can totally mess with everybody's eyesight and leave it halfway in between the pictures - don't you LOVE the kid who could not figure out how to do this without everyone in the class saying "TURN IT!"  I still remember his name and it started with a J....he's on facebook....lol!

-The worst possible thing that could happen was that the little piece of tape would come out of your cassette and twist!  GGRRRR.....talk about stress

Okay, I have myself laughing at that one.  I once had a crazy boyfriend who did that to my tapes for payback..what? Who does that??????

-It was punishable to pass notes in class!  Wouldn't my teachers have had fun with texting?...oh my goodness.

-New Year's Eve meant Casey Kasem would be on the radio the entire next day and you could sing loud and long to ALL 100 of your favorite songs (as chosen by those people whose parents let them pay the 25 cents that it took to call in and vote..ok, made that up..but really, who did decide?)

-Rick Springfield and Scott Bayo posters were the artwork of choice for most teenage girls' rooms.

-You had two channels and to see them well meant someone had to go outside and "turn the antenna" while you yelled from inside "ok, that's good..no, back...no, I said that's good...we can see it!"


Ok, this has gotten too long....but it was fun for me. If you are one of my younger friends, thanks for reading the other posts...lol.  If you're a little wiser......leave me some laughs in the comments!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

That kind of day...

It's that kind of day.  What kind of day you ask?  Well, it is the kind that makes you ready for the next one with hopefulness in your heart.

It is the kind of day that:
at 10:50 (5 minutes after church starts) your two year old is sitting in the time out chair with nothing more than a pull up on

you feel "properly dressed" for church because you made it through the door without snot on your shoulder

upon reentering your house, your deadbolt lock shatters

you enter the bedroom to the smell of blueberry poop and you are the only one concerned that it is all over the bed

while fussing about the popsicle juice that is spilled on the stairs, you spill your entire glass of sweet (southern sweet) tea

your child is choking on a chip that she swiped from the table at lunch and she has locked her feet around the highchair - you can't remove her for love nor money and the lady at the next table glares at you for the rest of your meal (while texting child welfare under the table....just kidding!)

Well....it has been busy around here. I hope that you are having a blessed Sunday.
This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Wonder.. a Verb



Happy Friday!  I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo at www.thegypsymama.com for her five minute unedited writing challenge.  The subject today is "Wonder."  There are many wonder-filled moments around here with my five but today I'm going to write using wonder as a verb...you know, those things that keep us moms/sisters/girlfriends/wives up at night long after everyone else is tucked in.

So, here goes.  Start:

I wonder:
if the twins know that we love them individually even though they have to do everything together right now
if my 17 year old knows that we are truly proud of his accomplishments and that we really would like to communicate beyond one word sentences
if my 12 year old is going to always want to go for nightly walks with me - I hope so
if the paci-fairy is going to have the nerve to take Lana Grace's pacis away next month when she is three
if sleep deprivation could be cured without having to get more sleep
what kind of spouses my children will have - praying hard here for Godly individuals that God is already preparing
if my house feels like home to those who enter
if I can scar my children with too much Barney during "meal preparation time"
if I can do better today than yesterday
if there are wrongs that I need to right
if my children and husband know that I love them beyond words and if my words, my actions, and my life reflect even a glimmer of Christ

Five minutes is up....I wonder what my three little ones have destroyed. :)
~Monica

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Having it all together

I don't know about other moms but I rarely feel as if I have it "together."  I mean, we get it done..well, sort of.  I usually only get out of the house to go to the grocery store and church.  By the way, I know this is not healthy, but if you can figure out how to do it easily with no help and three under three...message me. :) The grocery store is a pretty forgiving place at 9:30 p.m. so I can get away with shorts and one of Henry's t-shirts.  Church, on the other hand, always makes me feel a little anxious.  Thankfully, the boys are pretty self-sufficient. By the time six wiggling arms are coaxed into perfectly ironed dresses, six little feet are shoved into shoes that fit well last week but not this one, three little heads of hair are brushed and attempts at bows are made......I'm done.  Henry is usually loading the girls into the van and I am calling out, "Okay, just let me fix my hair and I'll be right there."  So you can imagine.  Drop off at the nursery is hit and miss.  Sometimes we packed it all...sometimes we hope no one poops and needs another diaper.  God's richest blessings on those who bring spares. :)  It feels silly sometimes to feel successful that you are actually IN the van and haven't even gone anywhere.  The twins have given me a new appreciation, or maybe it is envy, for those who appear to have it all "together." I went to a 9am birthday party last week with Henry and the girls.  After the initial crowd moved into the house for cake, my good friend (bless you Jessica) said "I think you have your shirt on inside out!"  I quickly responded "but we made it."  That seems to be my way of life for now.  I love this life.  I wish I could figure out how to have perfectly painted toes and fingers, serve gourmet meals, have girls night out weekly, and do all those things that "together" girls do.  But for now, I'm blessed to be a mess.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Rain, Rain

For the past few days, we have been receiving small showers of rain in the afternoon.  Yesterday was no exception.  I tried to remember if the twins had seen "real" rain, at least since they have been old enough to notice it.  So I quickly got Haigan to help me get them to the back porch so we could sit and let them watch.  As all of the showers have, it quickly faded into a sprinkle and then it was gone, with only a few steamy puddles to remember it by.  I had noticed my sad little marigolds earlier in the day, dry and in need of some attention.  But as the rain left, they were just shining with color.  I just had to take a picture of them. (We're very proud of them as they are the one thing we had time to plant this year.)  It really made me stop and think about the rain.  I feel like there have been many showers of rain in my life, many disappointments, so many things that I wish I'd done differently.  During those times when it was "raining" and "stormy", I certainly would have wished to be anywhere but in the middle of it.  But just like our little pots of marigolds, I needed the rain.  I hope that I have been polished just a little bit during my life's rainstorms and that I can shine just a little brighter now too.

There she goes...

Annabeth took her first steps about two weeks ago and has gotten really confident in the past few days.  I was actually, and still am I suppose, very anxious for the twins to walk.  They watch Lana Grace and kick their feet in their wagon as they see her run freely through the back yard.  It seems very appealing to them and I have felt that they were being left out of some of the fun activities.  But as this milestone is reached, it is bittersweet. I had a professor in college who once said "Mothers have the hardest jobs because they have to let their hearts walk around in the world."  I don't know if she was quoting someone else or if she spoke from her own mama heart but that just stuck with me.  I was a very new mother at the time but I still got it.  Not quite like I get it now, but I understood.  Right now, we lure Annabeth by excitedly saying "come to mama, come to mama" and she does.  She comes with the sweetness and innocence of all that she was created to be....bringing it all to mama.  I know that this entire life is likened to a vapor...so these brief moments pass so quickly that I can't even comprehend it.  My prayer for my girls, and all of my kids, is that their steps will be lit by His word. I pray that the paths that they take lead them to the foot of the cross.  Four of my five hearts are now walking around in this very big world.

Oh be careful little feet where you go.......

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A messy house but not a messy heart

Today is like most other days. I have done the never ending pick up of toys in the midst of the ordinary maintenance of the housework.  I have done the dash from living room to playroom at a maddening pace...only for the toys to reappear minutes later.  I have cleaned up under highchairs way more than it seems should be necessary.  The dirty bottoms, the runny noses and the yogurt covered faces really could get the best of me today. My living room has been converted temporarily (I hope) into a community of quilt-tents for Haigan and Lana Grace.  I have constantly reminded myself today (and it has been a struggle) to embrace these moments.  I don't think my children see what I see in this house.  What I need to see is a house of comfort, creativity and love that we are creating.  I am not sure I would let you in if you came to my door right now.  But as I sit and listen to Haigan playing his guitar and watch Lana Grace dance, while hearing the babies giggle from their bedroom....only my house is messy.  My heart is a happy place.

Up, up and away!

Holton, my 17 year old,  received his private pilot's license two weeks ago.   He has worked so hard and for years toward this so I am very proud. He can now fly small planes with passengers without his instructor.  I was totally thrilled when he asked me to meet him at the airport to be his first official passenger.  I temporarily forgot my sickening fear of heights.....for about a minute.  Although I was totally dramatic and pretty much had him turn around as soon as we got started, it was a great experience.  I did tell him that I was glad that I had never gone before because he would probably not have been allowed to continue training!  So, here's to private pilot Holton!  I must include this picture of the last time I was his passenger. He was two!  Where have the years gone?