Sometimes.....

(Regarding yesterday)

Sometimes....Motherhood is really hard.

Sometimes....everyone is crying and needing something and hungry and you just want to join right in with your own tears.

Sometimes...you just don't want to do what you are supposed to do.

Sometimes....you feel like all you do is repeat yourself, and repeat yourself, and repeat.....

Sometimes....discouragement is very easy to come by.

But.

Sometimes...Motherhood is Really, really fantastic. And amazing. And Grand.

Sometimes...you get to have a conversation with the little people in your care and speak to their heart - and HEAR their heart.

Sometimes...your house is full of sounds that are so beautiful you want to freeze the moment. You want to record it and have the laughter and giggles and "I love you" and squeals, played over and over.

Sometimes...the lessons are applied and the ears are open and you see glimpses of the wonderful people your children can become.

Sometimes...the perspective is right.

Today (unfortunately) is like the first set of "sometimes". It has been a battle. A war of wills.
And I have lost my temper. I have been discouraged.

But those sweet little sinful people who push my buttons and stretch me painfully and give me wrinkles and laughlines and gray hairs and loads upon loads of laundry.....THEY will wake up tomorrow ready for another adventure. Another great day....and I pray my perspective is right.

~Whitney


Copyright 2011

Poop on a stick

(Many grand and marvelous and mundane and difficult and tiring things have been happening in our corner of the world; hence the erratic posting.)

But SATURDAY. Oh Saturday! That needs to be written down....

Poop on a stick. What a memory.

We had all gone out to dinner (at Whitner's BBQ) and had an excellent time. Fantastic food, well-behaved children, quick service....just an all-around positive experience. You NEED to go there. Seriously. Change your plans and go eat there. :)

Near the end of our meal, My Love got a look on his face and shot me a questioning look. Apparently,  a horrible smell had just creeped into his nostrils and he was blaming me.

I was innocent.

Sniffing around the table and shifting accusations continued.

Boy Bean was the last one accused.

Unfortunately, he should have been the first.

My Love was sitting next to Boy Bean and pulled the little britches out to do a bum check.

(Insert coughing and fast retracting of limbs.)

The poor Boy had managed to poop....out his diaper...in his onesie.....down his pants....into his socks....and in his shoes.  

Thankfully his fleece was spared.

I catapulted out my seat for recon on the bathroom, hoping to find a changing table.

My hope was not realized.

Did I mention it was about 38 degrees and raining?
And that I had to just used his spare outfit from the diaper bag....the day before?
And had not refilled it?
And that I was low on wipes?

Good times.

So out I went to the Swagger Wagon in the tinkling rain (As the girl beans call it) to strip my Boy Bean and clean him up without getting our freshly-cleaned car dirty....with 10 wipes.

Miraculously, I succeeded.

Unfortunately for Boy Bean, we still had errands to run.

And he was naked.  

Well, he had a diaper and a blanket, and once I returned to the restaurant his fleece was donned. 

But still. 

His lower half was bare.

That's right. We went full-redneck.

(Our errands were taking us straight to the mall....so we quickly purchased a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie for the little dude.)

A memory was made.

And nasal hairs were burned.

Overall? It was an excellent evening.  


~Whitney :)


Copyright 2011

Cocoa Bean Moment....

This - these sweet faces,

these happy hearts,

these special hugs,

the 4 little people dissolving into giggles,

This is why I do what I do.

And the sadness of friends leaving to the mission field was worked through together. 

With play. 

With loving words. 

With sweet moments.

~Whitney

Copyright 2011

A First....

Well, it was bound to happen.

Boy Bean had his first nosebleed this past week.

And like any good mama...I took pictures.

I'm so proud!

He was running to chase his sisters around the house and his legs just were going too fast.

Face plant. Blood.

Very few tears.

He was perfectly happy just a little bit later.....

Playing with his sisters and all was well. :)

That is one cute kid. He flashes that grin and he has the house at his fingertips.....

~Whitney

Copyright 2011

10 seconds...

A book.

A challenge undertaken.

A challenge to listen. To act. To step out.

To obey.

So far, in my 8 days of the "10 second rule," I have had small promptings....talk to that person, write a note, make a call, answer the questions of the children, focus beyond myself.

The goal is to place yourself in the habit of obedience - in the habit of listening. And already I can see the difference it is making in my focus.

But in the interest of honesty - although I wanted my focus to be corrected and my obedience to the Lord better and my life to not be wasted; I really didn't want to change.

I didn't want big things asked of me...

because then I'd have to do them.

Change is painful. 

Growth hurts. 

It tastes yucky. 

It makes you clumsy. 

But I don't want to be a baby Christian without real faith forever. 

So I'm taking this pain. 

I'm taking the intense self-evaluation. 

I'm facing fear. 

Because really, that is what holds me back from faith, from trust, from growth.  

My Fear. 

Fear of the unknown. 

Fear of not having control. 

Fear of looking stupid. 

Fear of what other people think. 

Fear of harming my name. 

Fear of harming God's name. 

I could excuse it - rationalize it - brush it away as reason. But the truth is I am a woman who doesn't believe Isaiah 41:10 

"DO NOT FEAR, FOR I AM WITH YOU; DO NOT ANXIOUSLY LOOK ABOUT YOU, FOR I AM YOUR GOD. I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU, SURELY I WILL HELP YOU. SURELY I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH MY RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND." NAS

I am going to keep trusting, keep obeying, keep listening; and take baby steps away from fear...and closer to the God who created the universe, who parted the Red Sea, who breathed life into humanity - and is with me.

10 seconds....No Fear.

~Whitney

Copyright 2011

Sweeties day....

Well, since we are in the habit of moving holidays to suit our schedule....we partially celebrated Valentine's on Saturday.

Our whole crew of 6 loaded up in our Swagger Wagon Bean Pod and went to Krispy Kreme for donuts.

For the record - that was the girls' idea. 

I mean, I completely encouraged them and didn't let them forget that is what they wanted....but it was originally from them.

Since we wanted to do a special "Sweet" breakfast - it needed to be on the weekend so we wouldn't have to go before 6 in the morning.  :)

(Backstory...)

On February 1st I started our LOVE JAR. (I  think it needs a better name....but I'm drawing a blank.) I took one of our mason jars....wrapped a strip of pink construction paper around the middle and glued it on...added a cut-out pink heart....put L O V E  stickers on it....and tore a  bunch of strips of paper. DONE.

I'm ridiculously un-creative like that.

Then, every day, I talked with each of the girls and asked them what they loved about somebody in the family. I wrote it down...folded it up....and thus the jar was filled.

I had never done anything like this with our crew before, and I was a bit unsure of the reception it would receive.  Thankfully, they ate it up. 

So, Saturday found us at Krispy Kreme with our jar, eating donuts, and enjoying each other's company. 

We talked about being sweet - what exactly would that look like? 

Would a sweet heart be snatchy, or bossy, or mean, or selfish, or rude?  

How can you be loving and kind? (As a 2 year old? As a 4 year old? As a 6 year old? As a grown-up?) 

How does Jesus want us to love others? 

Then we read the notes out loud.  

So the whole family could know the special things we love about each other. 

And the girls ATE IT UP.  

Their smiles grew with each note. 

They said thank you after every one. 

And they gave spontaneous hugs and kisses because they felt treasured. 

Hooray for an idea actually going how I imagined! Woohoo!

So, this is from Christmas. At least I have ONE picture with our whole crew!

Happy Valentine's day.

Copyright 2012