Wordless Wednesday - It's A Party

Linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom.

Relationship

Ever think about the relationships in our lives?  Ever wonder how much we differ in each of those relationships?

I am trying to appease some anger in this post by understanding what I am truly feeling.  Like any other human on this earth I have many relationships.  Husband, children, family, friends, acquaintances etc.  I play a different role in each one.

The relationship that is bothering me does not have a specific role due to the dynamic of how the relationship comes together.  It's complicated for sure!  This person can make me feel really dumb..seriously!  This person can make me feel wonderful! This person can make me feel like I will never measure up to them!  I have no idea what value this person places on me.  You may not think that is important but in some way it is because this relationship is with a family member.  Remember you can't pick your family like you can pick your friends.

Yes I am aware that my true value is not measured  by the likes of one human on this earth.  However, when it is a family dynamic it is nice to be looked at with equality. 

A wise friend once said "It's not always about you."  She was refering to the fact that sometimes the relationship I speak of above could get rocky and I would wonder what I did to cause the upset.  In fact most of the time I was distressed and the other person was not which would bother me evern more!

Many moons later, I have matured in my thinking and realize the true value of my friend's statement.  When you know you have a 50/50 chance of NOT being the cause of the person's grumpy attitude, it sure can help you see light at the end of the tunnel if you have to spend any amount of time with them.

Relationships are part of our lives and I want to make the best out of each one I am intertwined with.  I have an Aunt who is in the last stages of life.  She was fine and living her life a few short months ago.  Then a diagnosis of lung cancer changed everything.  She lays in a hospital bed now with nurses mistaken her Mother for her sister.  Yes Cancer is UGLY.  

Do you think my Aunt would not give anything to spend one more day connecting with those that she has relationships with?  My Mom was in the same state at one time and she yearned to be able to stay with us but in the end you have to accept that will not happen.  These situations happen to remind you that relationships do come to a close someday.  What should that encourage you to do?

We are here to serve one another. Seriously, even if you are not a Christian you must understand how it will change your life if you start to think of serving over anything else. 

Think of your children.  We serve them constantly and how much do we love them? Our heart overflows for our babies.  Think of a friend or family member who has helped you out many times.  You want to help them out when they are in need right?  You want to extend the same they did for you.  It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because they cared enough to assist you in some part of your life. 

That is what it's about people.  We really need to stop looking at each other with a rating scale of 1 to 10 and realize we are all a 5.  We may have our days we drop down to 3's but that attitude should be just within our thinking.

That all being said...someone please tell me what I should do with all the emotions that rumble up in me when this specific relationship falls off course.  I get so ANGRY I want to justify justify justify all my actions, thoughts and values in my life. 

I know I do not need to justify one stinkin' word to anyone.  I only need to stay true to what I believe in.  BUT....it's the emotions?

So at the end of this post I still feel angry.  I still want to look a this person in a #5 rating instead of a #3.  Time?  Will time heal that?  What about when it happens again and again and again.  I am the one getting offended therefore I need to fix that.

Time to dig out John Bevere's "Bait of Satan".

I am open to comments and or ideas as well.

Quotable Monday's

Make the best use of what is in your power,

and take the rest as it happens.

-Epictetus (55 AD - 135 AD)

If You Were Here - March 2011

Spring? 

Yeah right!!

In this part of the country we have yet to see signs of spring.  We get a little tease here and there then the temps drop really low at night.  At the moment it's -27 C with the windchill factor.

SERIOUSLY????

UGH!

The only thing helping me get through this VERY long winter is the sunshine.  How I LOVE that warmth.

GREAT is the sun, and wide he goes

Through empty heaven without repose;

And in the blue and glowing days

More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull

To keep the shady parlour cool,

Yet he will find a chink or two

To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic, spider-clad,

He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;

And through the broken edge of tiles

Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around

He bares to all the garden ground,

And sheds a warm and glittering look

Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The gardener of the World, he goes.

-Summer Sun, Robert Louis Stevenson

 

A Heart In The Snow

Meet the artist....

Linking up with 5 Minutes for Mom Wordless Wednesday

Tackle It Tuesday - A Room For A Boy

This tackle was completed just last week.  It was a work in progress.

It was that time in our house to switch up some bedrooms.  Our oldest and second son were sharing a room and our daughter and toddler were sharing a room.  Sleep was not happening for the latter two and going to bed was not happening for the boys.  So we decided to move our oldest into what was the office.  Just a tip....moving an office is tough because it was where everything collected...alot of work!

So this post could be full of many household chores {there was much dusting, sorting etc. going on} but I will let the difference in the rooms speak for themselves.

BEFORE:

AFTER:


We still have a few things to do like find a branch for Owen to "whittle" the bark off of.  The branch will be made into a curtain rod for the hunting blind curtains.  I also want to frame the the target with a black frame and plastic front so he can shoot at it with his nerf guns and the darts will stick to it.

Otherwise we are finished and he loves it!

What are you tackling today?

Head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and be inspired.

Quotable Monday's

I've had a lot of worries in my life,

most of which never happened

-Mark Twain

Thought Bubbles

Is it odd that I worry of choking to death while eating almonds?

Am I the only one that has children that RUN around EVERY night right before bed no matter how many times I tell them it is time for quiet?

Is my coffee addiction slightly out of control or just out of control?

Is it strange I am more comfortable in the recliner than the bed?

Is it strange I wake up every hour to two hours every night unless I sleep in the recliner?

I love carrots.

April is probably shaking her head right about now.

That's all!

Now time to scrapbook or get something done in the heaps of photos I have laying on a table.

Inner Struggles

The other day on twitter someone posted this....

Today, instead of saying,

"This house is a mess!", try saying,

This mess is a home!

Is that awesome or what?

Even though I wrote this post, I still struggle with perfection and wanting everything in order.  When am I going to learn with four children 8 years and under that will not happen!  And I am assuming it will not happen in future years.

Sigh...

So when I saw the above tweet I thought okay...I WILL repeat that.  And I have...many times.

On Wednesday it was getting close to that time to leave for preschool.  I had not eaten lunch yet, I was starving but the twins wanted to play Go Fish with their new cards.  Everything in me wanted to say no.  The house was a disaster, I just put the two year old down for a nap and that is usually when I clean up his mess. I checked the clock, thought about what I could cross of my mental to do list and sat down with a cup of coffee to play the game.

I will never regret doing that.

I feel horrible that I wanted to say no to them.

But so very thankful I did not say no and sat down to spend that bit of time with them.

I get caught up in more no's than yes's. 

I want to be a yes Mom but I fear it will take years to get there.

Now That's Better

My husband made a great discovery yesterday.  He found a way to shut out the chaos in the house.

 Ear Muffs!

Not sure about you but with four children in the house the noise level gets a wee bit ridiculous at times.  I was trying to read the newsletter from school and looked up and saw my husband with the ear muffs on.  I promptly demanded them!

Great idea Sweetie!

Happy St. Patricks Day

Wordless Wednesday - Something To Look Forward Too

Linking up with 5 Minutes For Mom.

Quotable Monday's

Gardens are not made by singing

"Oh, how beautiful,"

and sitting in the shade.

-Rudyard Kipling

Putting It Out There....

If you care about what other people think,

you will always be their prisoner.

~James Frey

Just ponder that for a bit..............

Wordless Wednesday - Faster Than The Speed of Light

Wordless Wednesday @ 5 Minutes For Mom.

Quotable Monday's

Love is like pi - natural, irrational,

and very important.

-Lisa Hoffman

What Do You See?

What do you see in these pictures?

I see one morning's worth of dirt in my kitchen collected into one spot after sweeping and I usually sigh.

A person without children may see this as very dirty and the one who is responsible for cleaning the household that contains this much filth as lazy.

A fellow Mommy friend would see this as a good morning of play.

I see the toys spread across my fireplace hearth as a good adventure into the world of marketing. I also see it as a great entry point to teach life lessons.  Aftterall this is a "store" and Sam worked very hard to get things as he liked.  When little Brother came by and trashed it all it made sense why Sam went over the edge.

Since it's my blog I get more than one opinion on this picture and here it is. I tend to see the above chaos of toys as a few minutes for Mommy to get something done while they children played.  More than likely that "something" I had to do was related specifically to child rearing.

Someone that does not have children or forgets what "toys" are supposed to look like when played with may think that the person in charge of keeping the household tidy is lazy.

A fellow Mommy friend would just nod and think the same as I stated above of what I think.

I see in the picture above a morning's worth of dishes when you have four children to feed and like to make alot of your own baked goods because you care about what your children put into their body.

A person that does not have children may think the dishes should be in the dishwasher or washed so that at least you can use the sink, not too mention how it looks.

A fellow Mommy friend will look at that picture and ask what we baked this morning and of course want the recipe.

It's all about perspective.  You can at times share the vision but sometimes people forget what it's like to be in your season of life or have yet to be in that season. 

Oh how children are lots of work, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  How demanding they can be, how much work it is, and how much it molds you to give more of yourself than you ever thought you could.

The children don't care how much dirt they can put on the floor.  That dirt symbolizes time spent together...that is how that dirt was created!  It is the aftermath of relationships meshing, time well spent with those you love.

Sometimes I look at that dirt on the floor and I am amazed that much can accumulate in a few hours.  But watching the children play with playdough, paint, or draw the most amazing pictures...they are exploring who they are, I get to witness that happen!

I don't know about you, but for many many years I was so worried about that "person who doesn't have kids or forgot what it was like to have small children in the house".  I was worried they would think I was lazy.  I wanted them to just say to me "don't worry about the mess".  Not only say it but truly mean it!

Embrace the chaos, the messes and LOVE this season of life.  If you are reading this and are well past that stage in your life...remember how precious it was and mentor those that are in the chaos right now.  Remind them that this is all going to pass someday, point out the love in the dirt, paint smudges, and tea party set on the fireplace hearth.  Show them what's beyond that.

New & Improved

When will the good ole' way be enough?

Lately I find everything can be new and improved. To be honest sometimes we really do not need the "improvement".

For example cartoons.

Why do the creators of these television shows feel the need to make the characters more "today".  Strawberry shortcake looked just fine in my day, why do we need to change her so much?  She now looks more teenager then little girl......

I just don't get it.

At least Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck have not changed. 

Now "Franklin & Friends" is in a sort of 3D format on Treehouse TV. 

It premieres tonight.  My children liked Franklin and will still watch it now and again.  I liked the show for it's life lessons.  Not sure if my eyes can handle the "new and improved" format.

Another pet peeve are hair products.  I like a specific brand of hair mousse and hair spray.  Is it just me or do you all get a little wonky eyed scanning the hair products on a store's shelf?  Their are SO many products to choose from I always seem to have a hard time locating mine...especially since the packaging seems to change constantly!

What items or television shows do you wish would just have stayed the same and never been "improved"?

Wordless Wednesday - Well Deserved

4th year of Hockey.

1st time scoring two goals in one game.....

.....and a penalty.

Finally achieving "Player of the Game."

Mommy teared up a bit.

Linking up with 5 Minutes for Mom.

Tackle It Tuesday - A Camo Wall

Things are going very well with the bedroom switcheroo of our four children.  Our oldest is enjoying his camo/hunting themed room and the switch with the younger three has produced better sleep with all of them and in turn me too.

The first job we needed to do was clean out our office to make a bedroom for our son.  This started a snowball effect and we began to spend money think of other changes that will be effected.  But for now back to the painting, makes me a little ill to speak of money.

This camo wall was super easy.

With a pencil I drew the pattern on the wall.  Drawing camo does not take skill just draw some blobs.

Then we picked three paint colors.  My son picked GI Green and Military tan from Benjanmin Moore Paints.   He had no idea what the colour names were so we had a good giggle when I read them aloud to him.

After picking the colours I used the pencil to write a G for Green, T for Tan, and B for Brown in the spots.  I did not want the same colour to touch.  This was the only part that was slightly difficult.  It did take a couple trys to complete the pattern.

Next we used the trim brush to outline the shape with the designated colour and then painted it in with a mini roller.  The design needed two coats of paint.

And now we have one very happy boy.

Did I mention he loves his camo?

I will post pictures very soon of the completed room.

What are you tackling today?

Head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom and be inspired.