The two lil munchkins in the above picture account for a good portion of my day. Their boundless energy and knack for getting into just about everything keeps me busy and my heart pumping! It’s not uncommon for these two to have two baths a day each! Nor is it uncommon for the various floors to need sweeping or mopping, furniture wiped down, wall spot cleaning, endless laundry and general picking up several times a day! Spring Cleaning, cooking, homeschooling and dealings with my older sons and husband don’t leave much time in the day for much more… when I do have ‘free time’ (ha!-insert all moms laughing world-wide!), I usually spend it writing, playing around with art and creating somehow or trying to steal away some extra time with the Lord… life is FULL, but Life is GOOD! This doesn’t negate the fact that these are CRAZY, HECTIC Mama Days!!
I often feel like I am doing motherhood a second time around, lol, it seems silly, but the way my children were spaced (not planned at ALL by my husband or me, I promise!) we ended up doing parenthood all over again, it seems! But you know what? I’m GRATEFUL– seriously!
Look, ladies, I’m a mom who is also 40– I’ve been around the parenting block a few times and I know all too well just how QUICKLY it passes. My older boys are 21, 18, and 15… my younger children are 10, 5 and 18 months– ladies– SAVOR IT. Oh I know, it seems like you’re drowning in diapers, laundry and sleep-deprived chaos…but someday, you will truly miss these days. You’ll miss the peanut-butter-covered fingers that want to stroke your face, you’ll miss the days when “Mama” is hollered every five minutes. You’ll miss the less-than-Van-Gogh masterpieces that demand a place on your refrigerator and the sloppy wet kisses that grace your cheeks… I miss them from my older boys and I am so ever grateful to be given another blessing in my younger ones to experience it yet again! So, REST and ask the Lord to help you to enjoy it all…
We try to get outside as much as possible when the weather is nice, the sunshine and fresh air is good for us, and it’s a great time of year to study various things in nature…
The park nearby has lots of geese and ducks that we can check in on. One of our favorite things to see is the geese coming in for a landing on the pond and river waters, they ‘look just like airplanes!’, my boys will say.
We were able to visit the Farm Center again this year for the “Babies, Babies Everywhere” event. It’s so much fun to see all the baby animals.
So far, I’ve accomplished spring cleaning in the living room, kitchen, hallway linen closet and part of the home school room. We were also able to convert another hallway closet into a mini pantry so that we can have some of our most used pantry items upstairs right next to the kitchen. It’s been such a blessing to have a little extra storage up here!
I am hoping to re-do the whole homeschool room for a more comfy, yet functional, feel. It just doesn’t feel ‘homey’. I’m hoping to feature more of the kids’ art work too and even have a family collaborative project that I’d like to finish by the end of the summer. We’re really trying to make art a focus on purpose this year… my family responds well to any form of creativity– it’s not just education for us- it’s therapy, thinking skills, expression and fun! In one of the photos below, you can also see that we are working on some botany science experiments– growing seeds! Botany is our science subject for the summer, so we will be doing LOTS of nature study and botany-related studies this year. We’re also raising butterflies!!! I.Am.So.Excited!!! In all the years that we have homeschooled, I’ve never done this with the kids, so I’ll be writing a separate post on our unit study. Lots of field trips are planned this year too– we’re exploring the Great Lakes, West Side of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and lots of quirky little places in Michigan that I hope to post about in the future. It’s funny, but even though I lived here most of my life, there is SO MUCH that I have never seen! I look forward to exploring new places with my kiddos this year!
In short, I’ve just been busy… at HOME. I don’t make many commitments or plans outside of the home these days because home (& family) keeps me busy enough! And that’s okay! One thing I know from raising my older three boys, is that you don’t get this season back. It may be crazy and hectic, but it is totally worth the effort… priorities matter and family memories matter… so make the most of it!
What do you need to ‘surrender’ to in this current season in you life?
What kind of memories do you want your family to have 20 years from now?
What do you feel God is calling you to during these years as a mother?
It’s important to think about these things, to PRAY about these things and let God lead you concerning your role in your family.
I know that I want my children to feel loved, I want to be an example to them, I want to show them Christ, not just talk about Jesus to them… I want to nurture their God-given gifts, and build relationship as a family unit. I pray daily about how God might want to use me in our family and I offer my self to the crazy, hectic days as His instrument, to be used for His Glory.
Isn’t that what this is all about? To be used, in WHATEVER context, for His glory???
Completely His, Nicci
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