My Funny Valentines

  "Love" according to these three:

Respecting, serving, helping, being an example, hugging, kissing, tickling, not fighting, sharing, obedience, honesty, kindness, saying "I love you", saying "I love you so much that I just want to kiss you!", making things and giving gifts, giving away your favorite ______  and not keeping it for yourself, letting someone else go first.

 

Emma: What I love

"Jesus, camping, my house, my money (she's worked hard for it :), the world, recycling, art, making crafts, plants, pools."

Hannah: What I love

"Yogurt without chunks, doing projects, going to water-slides, trees, apples, apple trees, having treats."

(there was one other thing that I decided to edit out for your benefit...it had to do with bodily functions :)

 

Laurel: What I love

"Green Juice (Odwalla Superfood), drawing, sitting up on the counter when you make dinner, Big Grandpa Jim (my dad), reading books, painting my toenails.

 

I love their hearts- so simple and pure.  I love when they ask me for a hug, or tell me when I've hurt their feelings. I love hearing them tell me that they love me a thousand spontaneous times per day.

 

I love their transparency, never hiding their sadness or fear or joy.

 

I love how they make me laugh and cry all in the same day, all in their own ways. 

 

I love their smell, their chubby fingers, their soft bellies, their breathy whispers.

I love them and they love me.  Almost nothing else matters!

Staying on Task

Well, hello there.  I've been missing you!  Its been a nice time away.  Thanks to those of you who were checking in on me.  I didn't mean to be gone so long.  Life is just full you know?  It is all good- just full. 

I am finding that there is great reward in being on task.  I am not ready to give this little space up...but being a present wife, a patient mother, an enthusiastic homemaker, a competent teacher, a reliable birth assistant, a sane person, and a frequent blogger seems to be impossible.  Sometimes, something has to give.  I have been extremely guarded with my time.  Saying no to play dates, phone calls (sorry if I haven't returned yours), and all kinds of other extra curricular activities (including blogging) takes discipline.  In the end, just keeping my nose to the grindstone has been quite fulfilling. When I refocus my priorities and put my energy into blessing my family first (its a blessing to have clean clothes, clean toilets, organized cupboards, healthy meals, and a car that doesn't stink like sour milk) I don't think of all of those daily tasks as drudgery or monotony.  Instead, it becomes a way of making my home a place where relationships can flourish.  And that is a priority. So, staying on task has been my task. 

With that said....

 

 

 

 

I went skiing today :)  Allowable distraction!  Hope to be back soon.

Monday, February 2, 2009 at 10:39 PM

I really love what I do.  I love being a doula.  Just this morning my hands were one of the first to touch baby Taelynn.  My ears heard her first cries. I watched a Mother in her strongest, most valiant moment give birth to her first baby.  I watched a family be born.

But, I also have my own little family to nuture.  I have responsibilites at home.  For the past two weeks I have really been thinking about balance.  How can I do all that I do?  How can I do all that I do WELL? I have had to make some difficult mental adjustments in this area.  I am coming to realize that there is great value in being organized, obedient, and open to

not chores or burdens, but opportunities to bless, creating an environment where relationships can grow and deepen. even seemingly insignificant things like folding socks and putting them away is a hugh blessing to my children

not monotony and drudgery, but walking through each day with peace