Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Busy

I am looking for a new groove.  Since Butterfly started preschool last week I am still searching for a groove for the other two.  The younger two still need a nap and I just started babysitting for someone yesterday again, he gets dropped off at 3:15-3:30.  Abby needs to be picked up between 3:05 and 3:15.  So the parents of the little boy I watch and I decided it would be easier if I picked him up after I got Abby.  Let's hope that I can do the picking up easily and without incident.

Our current schedule is something like this:
Up and dressed by 8am
Beds made and rooms picked up by 9am
Free play until 10am.
Kids can watch a movie or continue free play until lunch (they usually continue to play)
Lunch at 11:30
Drop Butterfly off by 12:40 at pre-school.
Bee and Bubby in bed by 1pm.
Pick up Butterfly from school by 3:15.
Pick up Little Mister by 3:30.
Let the kids play outside until dinner.
Make dinner.
Dinner is at 6:30 or whenever Little Mister gets picked up.
7:30 bedtime

This is just a typical day.  This doesn't include a playdate, or shopping trip, or anything.  It is just our typical day.  And we are busy!

Mom's are always busy.  The term stay at home mom is just a myth if you ask me.  I am not sure there is a good term for what I do.  I am mom and that, in itself, is wonderful to my kids.  We don't just stay home.  We go to the park, to the zoo, to the store, to appointments, and occasionally out to eat.  We go and have playdates and go to birthday parties.  And now, as I am moving into a different stage of life, we go to school.

One of my friends on facebook had this quote on her status:

"We feed a misguided sense of significance when we make the assumption that if a person is busy he or she must be important or, to turn it around, that to be important a person must be busy. If we are honest, we will see that underlying all of this busyness lies an inevitable awareness that we have begun to lose a sense of what our actions mean, and ultimately, what our lives mean." Gordon T. Smith


How powerful is that?!  Why do we keep ourselves so busy?  Is it because of what the quote says, that we want to feel important?  What does God say about being busy?  

Let's investigate that a bit.  In Titus 2 we hear Paul writing to encourage Titus, a fellow believer.  He is instructing Titus in his journey with establishing a church that Paul had started in Crete.  Paul wanted to make sure that Titus knew what qualities were admirable in church leadership.

From Titus 2:3-5 -

 3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. 

Let's look at verse 5...to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind...

I wish I was busy at home.  But rarely am I at home.  God is calling us to be at home.  Now I don't want anyone to take offense to what I am saying.  I am not saying that if you have a job you need to quit and be barefoot and pregnant at home.  I am not saying if you have other outside interests that you need to quit doing those.  What I AM saying is that we need to reevaluate our priorities.  Do we honestly need to be doing as much as we are?  Do we need to have school, sports, music, shopping, playdates, going to do this or that, as much as we do?  I am not expemt from this question.  We do a lot of stuff.  And that is just what it is, stuff.  I don't think we NEED to be doing most of it.  I think we want to feel important so we fill our lives with busywork.  

So take a look at your life.  Evaluate your situation.  Do you feel run down and burnt out because you are doing so much outside of your home?  Are you just making busywork for yourself?  Let's take a minute and reflect.


Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog today.  I really appreciate any comments that you may have, whether I agree with them or not, so please post them!  :)  <3 Alison

Saturday, August 28, 2010

God's Plan ~ Waiting

As a kid I heard somewhere that God can be like a stop light.  Sometimes he gives you the Green Light (the go ahead), sometimes he gives you a Red Light (Stop!), and yet other times it is Be Patient and Wait (Yellow).  I am good with the green lights and doing better with the red lights.  But those pesky yellows are starting to frustrate me. 

I know what I want.  I know what my hubby wants.  We both agree that it would be best for our family.  But God is saying, just be patient...wait. 

God's timing is always the best timing.  I am reminded of Hannah's struggle with bearing children.  God blessed her through her persistence and continuous prayers.  Eli, at one point, thought she was drunk on wine because she was so enthralled in prayer.  Now what we are waiting for is not a baby.  We have three beautiful children that we love very much. 

God knows our hearts.  God knows what we are seeking.  God knows when and where and how he is going to make this work, whether it is the way we would like it or whether it is something completely different.  In my heart, I know that God has been preparing us for what is ahead.  I just hope I can wait for His timing.  Because God's timing is ALWAYS perfect, whether we see it or not. 

Friday, August 27, 2010

The Many Hats of Alison and a CHALLENGE!

This is something that I am realizing more and more as my kids grow older.  I have many hats.  I am a Mom, a Wife, a Housekeeper, a Cook, a Chauffeur, a Personal Assistant, an Organizer, an Event Coordinator, a Support System, and oh yeah, I am a Woman. 

I chose my career.  I chose to be a stay at home mom.  And most days I love it.  But, like most jobs, there are days that I don't.  I dislike when working moms and dads don't give credit where credit is due.  I chose my career, you chose yours.  I respect what you do, why can't you respect what I do?  Do you honestly think that I sit at home and eat bon bons all day?  If that is your portrayal of what a stay at home mom/dad does, then you are in for a RUDE awakening.

My husband is great.  Just last night, while talking with a friend about stay at home parents, both my hubby and our friend gave immense credit to those who can stay at home.  They both admitted that they could not be a stay at home parent.  They actually made sure I came back in the room to hear that point...lol.  But it was nice to hear.  It was really nice to hear that they both value their wives (our friends wife is a stay at home mom too) for what they do.  It isn't often that we hear the value of our work. 

Most days our kids are up at the crack of dawn (and I am VERY thankful that my hubby get the kids fed so I can catch a few more winks before I have to get up) and are into everything from that point on.  It is Veggie Tales, Barbies, Polly Pockets, and playing house.  All the while, I am trying to clean the house, make the food, and keep any fighting at bay.  Not to mention doing the laundry, getting it folded and put away.  At my worst, which is right now, I pull the clean dry laundry out just to shove another load in the dryer and walk away to tend to something else, whether it be a crying kid, a hungry kid, an appointment we are now running late to...you get the drift. 

I love my kids, I love my husband, I love my famliy!  But I forget that I need love too.  Now, don't get me wrong, my husband and kids love me immensely!  And they show it to me daily.  I just don't always remember to show myself love.  I am my own worst critic.  I see all of my flaws.  I see all of the things I wish that weren't there.  I hear all the things that I think.  I know my heart.  I know where my faults lay.  And because of all of that, I forget to love me.  I forget that God has created me to who I am.  He has brought me through life specifically to be at this point.  He knows what he is doing and HE LOVES ME!  So if God and my family love me, and show me daily, why is it so hard to love myself? 

I wish that at the end of the day I could sit back and think, ya know what, I did good today.  I fed the kids, clothed the kids, bathed the kids, kept them semi happy, and now that they are in bed, it is time for me.  But that isn't how most days go.  Most days it is, the kids are in bed now it is time to finish everything I didn't get done or re-do the things I did get done.  I need to go clean the bathroom again, I need to finish folding and putting away the laundry (wait, kids are in bed I can't put it away, that will have to wait til tomorrow), and the dishes, and the kitchen......

I am going to challenge myself, and you!  I am going to challenge us to take one evening, afternoon or morning (where ever you find the time) a week to take care of you.  It doesn't have to be an afternoon at the spa or anything huge.  Just find something to do for YOU!  Read a chapter of a book (cuz if you are lucky that is about as far as you will get before someone needs you...lol), go paint your toes, go sit in a bath, go for a run/walk, listen to your favorite CD, whatever it is, do it for you.  If you find you have the time go to the bookstore or coffee shop or, heck, Target. 

I want to know how this goes so I will ask next week.  Good luck!  I hope that we all find a few minutes this week to take care of us.   Have a good weekend!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Mish Mosh and a recipe!

Ok so I have a hand-full of things for you guys today.  Just stuff I have been meaning to put in a blog post but there never seems to be a right time...so here it goes...lol.

Bee had her 3 year old appt today at the doctors office...she did great.  Only one shot and she only cried for a little bit...ok SCREAMED for a little bit.  Then I gave her smarties and the nurse gave her stickers and those tears drier up faster than the Red Sea. 

Bubby had a follow up GI appt today as well.  Yeah, smart mom right here, I scheduled 2 doctor appts on the same day (2 hrs apart) and one on each side of town.  Durrrrrrr.  Anyways, he is doing great!  We are moving him from Neocate infant to Neocate Junior.  Since he is one now he can have the big kid Neocate.  Unfortunatley, we had to do another blood draw.  They want to check a few levels on him and make sure that everything is functioning properly.

A couple of weeks ago a friend of my from church asked me if she could feature me on her blog.  So I said yes!  She is featuring the different crafty things that I do.  So here is the link to her blog so you can check me out...oh and her too...  ;)  Thank you so much Janet!  You rock!!!

As I am writing this I am eating one of my FAVORITE summer snacks.  Chips and FRESH salsa.  My mom made it when I was growing up and I loved it then and still love it now.  Here is the recipe.

Fresh Salsa

2-3 small-medium tomatoes
2-3 green onions
6ish sprigs of cliantro
1/2 lime (just gonna use the juice)
pinch of salt

Dice the tomatoes and green onion.  Then finely chop the cilantro.  Add all these ingredients into a bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and squeeze the lime to extract the juice onto the tomato mixture.  And DONE!

You can eat it right away or  you can chill it and let the flavors meld a bit before eating.  ENJOY!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I have a PRESCHOOLER!

I still can't believe it.  Today was Butterfly's first day of Pre-School!  She said she loved it!  When I got home from running and errand with two kids I sat down (since the littles went to nap) and watched a show.  By myself.  With out anyone getting out of bed 30 times.  With out anyone needing this or that.  Everyone did what they were supposed to!  I was SHOCKED!  But I enjoyed the show!  Here are a couple of pics of Butterfly on her big day!  :)

New Creations!

So I have been busy working on a few new things.  BOWS!
I think it is because Butterfly actually gets to wear her bows somewhere so I am inspired to make more.  So here are my new creations.


So those are a few of my new creations.  I have quite a few more bows you should check out.  I just opened up a shop on etsy.com.  Check them out!   You can also find me on Facebook as well!

I will be opening a new blog for my shop, Babes in Bows and Beyond soon so be on the look out for that.  I am so excited!  :)
Thanks for reading! <3 Alison

Monday, August 23, 2010

They grow up too fast!

Today is my last day with all three of my children in my care full time.  My baby girl has grown up.  She is going to pre-school tomorrow.  Four days a week from 12:45-3:15 she will be at school.  I am so excited for her.  She is going to a wonderful preschool and is going to learn a lot and have tons of fun.  I am going to get a chance to spend time with my younger two as well!  This is going to be great. 

Even with all of these advantages in mind I am still sitting here wondering what it is going to be like to not be apart of my little girls every waking moment.  Up until this point I have been the primary care provider for her.  I am mom, if something goes wrong, she comes to me.  If she needs a drink, she comes to me.  But now, she won't always come to me.  She will go to her teacher.  She will go to the aid in the classroom. 

We thought about homeschooling Butterfly.  But when this opportunity came up for her we thought that perhaps this would be a good experience for all.  Just because she is going to preschool doesn't mean she can't still learn from home.  I will continue our Bible lessons and reading as well as what she is given at school.  Tomorrow there is sure to be many pictures taken and probably a few tears shed, most likely from me.  I think that the younger two and I will go and do something special tomorrow afternoon to take my mind off of the big change that is ahead. 

I love you so much Butterfly!  You are my best Butterfly ever. 
XOXO ~ Mommy

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Happy

Have you ever just felt happy?  Today has been such an amazing day.  I cannot even explain it to you.  The kids were not perfect.  They have been arguing and fighting all day.  But despite that today has been terrific.  I got to spend the morning with a good friend I haven't seen in ages.  This afternoon I got to talk to a new friend about cloth diapers.  I just got off the phone with one of my best friends and I just feel energized.  I feel like God put these people in my life today to remind me that he is still there for me.  That he still cares for me and that he only wants good for me. 

There has been much negativity around me as of late and I am so glad that God is reminding me that he creates everything for good.  That even though I have gone through a hard time that he is bringing me out of it and he is giving me the opportunity to serve others.  Even if serving others is putting in a phone call to a friend, or texting someone to let them know you are thinking about them, or having a conversation with someone about something that is going on with them. 

I am so blessed.  More and more I have been feeling the presence of God in my life.  I have been seeing Him in everything that I do.  I feel as if someone has removed a curtain from the windows in my life and is now letting the light shine into me again.  I feel as if I am coming out of a haze.  God is so amazing.  He put up a shield for me when when I needed it.  He protected me when he knew I couldn't handle it but he held me through the tough times.  He let me go when He knew I was ready.  What an awesome God He is. 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Another Domestic Day!

The domestic bug has bitten again.  Today I am making and canning salsa.  I am SO excited.  This salsa recipe my mom has made for years and my family loves it.  My mom always gives us salsa so we usually don't make it but I really wanted to try it this year.  So I am!  With this first batch of tomatoes we are doing salsa and I think with the next batch I am going to do some spaghetti sauce.  I am so excited!  I wish I had a bigger plot for tomatoes so I could do more so it would last us longer.  Rest assured, Mom, we will still need the salsa that you want to give us...lol.  :)

While the salsa is cooking I am going to be working on a couple of projects.  I am in the midst of making a diaper clutch and still perfecting that envelope system bag.  Then I have a skirt to work on for Abby as well as a couple more dresses.  I have my work cut out for me but I am loving every minute of it. 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I saw God in my laundry

I know, it is a strange title but it sums up a lot.

This week has been rough for me.  There has been a HUGE emotional roller coaster that I was on.  It made it's highs and lows and bumps and curves.  And tonight, it stopped. 

I finally had a surge of energy at about 11pm tonight.  So I walked up the stairs and stumbled over the mountain of clean laundry that I had been avoiding all week.  It has been sitting there, waiting for me to deal with it.  We kept tripping over it, I occasionally kicked it because it didn't bother to do itself...lol.  But as I sit there folding the laundry, with said energy burst, I realized how my life was like my laundry. 

There are always things in our lives that we don't like to deal with.  So we push them aside and hope they go away.  We don't want to deal with the problems.  We don't want to deal with the emotions.  We just plain don't want to deal.  So the problem gets bigger, just as when I avoided my laundry, it got bigger.  If we don't deal with our problems they get bigger and bigger and BIGGER!  And soon they may become unmanageable.  Now thankfully, my laundry is still at the manageable state.  :)  I took a break from folding because I needed to jot my thoughts down but will quickly finish up the folding before I head to bed tonight.  And will put it away in the morning as to not disturb anyone's sleep tonight. 

God reveals himself in so many unique ways.  I just never thought that he would use my laundry to teach me something. God often uses my children to teach me things, even if it is to step back and smell the flowers...or as the case may be...the pepper plants...lol.  Never give up a chance for God to show you something new.  Think about it.  Where have you seen God lately?  Is He is YOUR laundry too?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Vacation Bible School

This week my girls have the opportunity to attend a Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our church.  They are having SUCH a good time.  Several of their little friends are attending with them as well.  It is so nice that each of my girls has a little friend attending in their group at VBS.  They come home telling me stories of what they did and the stories they learned.  We are even listening to the CD of music.  I have to say, it is quite catchy!  :)

While the kids are at VBS I have had the opportunity to chat with a couple of the other moms and we have gotten some really meaningful conversation in!  I love it when God puts things in place like that so that not only can our kids grow in their faith but that I can to.  God is amazing. 

This is the first year in four years that I have not directed the VBS at our church.  I loved directing VBS, but I felt that God was pulling me in a different direction, so I passed the baton.  I must say, the new director is doing an AMAZING job.  It looks like the kids are having SO much fun.  The decorations are amazing.  I from the way my kids come home and talk about it, I KNOW they are learning about God and His word. 

Great Job Ms. Erin on a FANTASTIC VBS!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Who do you lean on?

When things get tough, who is there for you?
Who do you go to when you can't seem to find up?
Who is your strength?  Where do you turn?

Today, I turned to all the wrong places.  Not to say that turning to our friends is bad but ultimately, where should I have turned?  I should have turned to God and it is only now in the quiet solace of my home, with the kids in bed and the washing machine washing do I remember that I could have avoided all of this stress, had I just turned to Him.  Why does it take a 2x4 to get it through my head sometimes? 

God loves me!  He cares about EVERYTHING I do.  He doesn't want me to be stressed out.  He wants me to remember he is there for me ALL the time.  Not only if I have been especially good that day, not if I have prayed 30 times that day, but He is there all the time.  If I would just remember that I could prevent myself from soooo much added stress.

In 1 Peter 5:6-8 it says: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.  Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

In context, this passage was written to the churches in Asia Minor.  They were being persecuted at the time Peter wrote this letter to them. 

As I reflect on this passage I think of my day today.  It was NOT an easy day.  I had to face some of my demons.  You know the kind, the ones that give you that knot in the pit of your stomach.  They make you want to run away and hide.  I wanted to scream and shout and throw a fit, and to an extent, I did. I know my friends are there to support me.  I know they are there to help me through tough times.  I feel like I have been over burdening them lately though.  I think I have been going to them instead of to God.  I LOVE my friends.  They are fantastic!  We do lots of GREAT things together.  But even so, have I been neglecting the most important relationship that I have?  The one with the Almighty Saviour?  As the song goes, He calls me friend.  And what kind of friend have I been to Him? 

So, I am going to memorize 1 Peter 5:6-8.  I am going to keep that verse close to my heart.  I am going to program it into my phone so I will always have it with me.  I am going to program it into my heart.  I am not going to let the devil prowl around me anymore. 

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Happy 1st Birthday, Bubby!

Bubby is 1 today!  I cannot believe it.  A whole year has passed.  Where did the time go?

One year ago today I woke up around 4:30am knowing I needed to go to the hospital.  After getting the girls arranged at a friends house, my hubby and I headed to the hospital.  Once we got there and settled we knew that today would be the day.  We also realized that we pulled classic third child problem...we had left the camera with the girls at our friends house.  We called and asked them to bring it by on the way to work.  Ahh, all was good.  I am not known for short labors so we figured we had til at least noon.  But things progressed VERY quickly.  By 7:20 Bubby entered the world!  A short hour later they took Bubby to the NICU.  That had to be the most heart wrenching thing to do.  He wasn't breathing right.  His O2 stats were terrible.  So away he went and I eventually went up to my room.  Hubby went with Bubby to be his advocate.   Bubby ended up being just fine and after a 3 day stay at the NICU we went home.  

I cannot imagine our life without him.  He is such an amazing kid.  A few hurdles later, he can now eat some normal foods and is gaining weight like a champ.  We are so proud of him.  

Happy 1st Birthday, Corbin!!!