Music for the Soul

I totally know how to write in paragraph and the draft here is written with paragraphs, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to make the new version of blogger keep the format I typed it in once I publish it... So forgive the long, run on paragraph. Tonight I was cooking dinner with Iz. Tre' wasn't home from work yet and Chip was reading (after being forced off screens). I had iTunes on shuffle. There was a little Veggie Tales from when the kids were little, a little Allison Krauss, a little Hootie and the Blowfish, a little country, a little Allman Brothers, and some Bon Jovi. Then came "When Love was Slain" (Selah), "Where Joy and Sorrow Meet" (Avalon), "Chicken Fried" (Zac Brown Band), "Palm of Your Hand" (Allisons Krauss's version), and "Come Thou Fount" (Chris Rice's version). A couple of those songs are so tied to certain times of my life that I'll never hear them without them stirring something deep within me. But the odd mix of songs and then one a friend sent later in the evening matched my mood tonight. The world is such a mess right now and there is so much hurt... so much hurt everywhere. And there doesn't seem to be any good or easy way out of the messes for any of us. And tonight it felt heavy even as I felt the love in my kitchen as I cooked with Iz... and Tre' came home and was happy to see fried squash on the menu (he and Iz have been wanting it and I always avoid frying b/c it's messy)... and Chip woke up and came and snuggled in for a hug (which doesn't happen as often as it used to). Even with all that goodness, there was still a heaviness that hung in spite of the good and the gifts. We can't fix the world... we can work to make our corner of it better for those we come in contact with... but there's so much we can't fix. There's so much hurt we can't mend... So tonight, these songs were salve for my heart... From "When Love Was Slain" This world is not my home; Oh, this world is not my home; My home's been made at heaven's throne; This world is not my home. From "Where Joy and Sorrow Meet" There's a place of thirst and hunger where the roots of faith grow deep; And there is rain and rolling thunder when the road is rough and steep; There is hope in desperatio,n there is victory in defeat; At the cross of restoration where joy and sorrow meet. From "Chicken Fried" Well I was raised underneath the shade of a Georgia pine; And that's home you know; ... And my house it's not much to talk about; But it's filled with love that's grown in southern ground; From "Palm of Your Hand" I'd rather be in the palm of Your hand; Though rich or poor I may be; Faith can see right through the circumstance; Sees the forest in spite of the trees; Your grace provides for me. From "Come Thou Fount" Come, Thou Fount of every blessing; Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; ... Let that goodness like a fetter; Bind my wandering heart to Thee. And then a friend texted with a link to another song that was just what I needed tonight. "There was Jesus" was a bonus b/c it's Dolly's part of the duet. These words though... In the waiting, in the searching; In the healing and the hurting; Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces; Every minute, every moment; Where I've been and where I'm going; Even when I didn't know it or couldn't see it; There was Jesus; In all of it... the hard and the hurting and the good and the healing and the certainty and the doubt... He is there... Every minute. Every moment. He is here. He is faithful... even when we can't make sense of it all and don't know how the world or our country will continue to move forward... He is here. And to help my eyes to see more clearly... to trace His faithfulness in this broken world full of hurting people... I'm so grateful for... A June day in GA where I actually wore a long sleeve t-shirt with my shorts because there was a chill in the air, music that soothes, the moments when siblings get along well, Louis Armstrong's voice, catching up with my brother, softball tournaments, sleepy cats, soft blankets to snuggle under, friends who know just what you need (sometimes when you don't even know), hydrangeas that are deep blue, the word benign, a laid-back summer night...

Enjoy the Ride

I miss writing!! It's good for the soul, or mine at least, and it clears my mind.

Kiddos are doing well and Tre' and I are trying to keep up with them. They will be turning 2 and 4 this month -- how on earth is that possible?? Izzy is loving preschool and has asked at least a dozen times over break when she gets to go back. Chip is loving trains and cars and anything his sister is doing. He's learning to throw a good tantrum here and there, but is still the more laid-back of the 2 by far. Christmas was wonderful and over much too quickly. Not ready to go back to work tomorrow, that's for sure!!

I've never been very good at New Year's Resolutions, at making or keeping them. So no big resolutions this year... However, I do want to relax a little more, let go a little bit, and worry a lot less. Tre' and I got to go to the Zac Brown Band concert with some friends on New Year's Eve -- had a BLAST! They have this song called, Quiet Your Mind - don't you love that??? The chorus says: Quiet your mind; soak it all in; It's a game you can't win, Enjoy the ride. So, I'm not making any resolutions, but I'm going to try to do those things a bit more. Quiet my mind, soak it all in, and enjoy the ride. Hopefully in doing so, I'll help my kids learn to do the same.

Things I Learned at the Lake

Izzy is growing up way too fast.

So is Chip.

18 month old little boys are insanely busy and share none of their energy with their parents.

Nothing wears my kids out like life at the lake.

Izzy is braver around her friends than she is with just us... wouldn't ride a tube with me, but hopped right on with the big girls.

I could float for hours.

Nothing says "me time" like a napping house, a good book, and being stretched out on a float on a screened porch.

I didn't miss my computer that much even though we were gone for 2 weeks.

Maybe I should try more time unplugged.

Izzy still comes running to me with most news, but occasionally she doesn't and that makes me a wee bit sad...

I'm still sometimes surprised by how much our family has lost in the last 3.5 years. We took a great picture of the kids, Izzy, Chip, and Natalie, piled on Aunt Nik Nik. Love the picture and there are smiles all around. Had to wonder though, what it would have been like with a nearly 8(!) year old Catie and 6 month old Aiden piled on.

I could listen to my kids laugh all day.

Izzy loves nothing more than being around other people.

I hope that Tre' and I raise Iz to think for herself, esp. during her teenage years.

Visits from family and friends sure are nice.

Nothing says, "aaahhhh," like a hot shower after a day at the lake.

Geocaching is fun.

I love vacation, but nothing beats coming home.

Strawberry Pickin'

This is a favorite springtime outing for me! I LOVE strawberries and I love taking the kids. I have to admit that I think Chip ate as much dirt as he did strawberries today! :) He also managed to swallow a few strawberry leaves. My how times have changed from the first baby!!! :)

Tired tonight and counting down the days until school is out (FOUR!!), so I'll let the pictures tell the story...





Couldn't help but add a couple of pics of Catie from the same strawberry patch several years ago. :)

Glimpses

into our day to day life...

Chip tinkled in the tub tonight while standing up. It's the first time he's ever "seen" himself tinkle. He thought it was hilarious!! Oh my goodness!! I laughed so hard!

Did you know that if your child covers herself, and I do mean COVERS herself, in BRIGHT PINK MAKEUP, it might not come off if you scrub her with Dial soap, but a little Shout will do the trick? Yes, I "Shouted it out" (or off) of Izzy!

Little boys can climb up and stand on top of toilet seats before they can walk. They are also fascinated with toilet water and will do anything they can to get to it.

There is no sweeter sound than the laughter of my children -- esp. when one is making the other laugh.

Hearing Little Man say, "Wuv you," absolutely melts my heart.

Painting is a very interesting experience when there are 2 young children in the house.

Little boys learn to make things go VROOM VROOM before they learn to talk and when they do learn to talk, "tractor" and "truck" will come shortly after (if not before) MaMa and DaDa.

Izzy cried longer than Chip when she closed his finger in the door and he had to get stitches.

My kids can turn a tub black with dirt faster than I can sneeze on these gorgeous spring days we've been having. I love it!! (except for the cleaning part)

Brownies after the kids go down taste wonderful.

Izzy enjoys saying "Boston Butt" (with a much higher pitch and great emphasis on the latter word) with a huge grin, b/c we don't usually let her say butt . However, saying that we're having Boston Hiney just doesn't sound very appetizing to me.

Sometimes I'm amazed at the amount of potty talk that I engage in on any given day. A lot of life with little children is all about bodily functions.

I love that Izzy knows that Catie was her sister and Chip's sister too. Lately, she's enjoyed looking at pics of Catie, and I love to hear her laugh at them.

Spring Break

Aaahhhh... I love spring break! We've been busy, but we've been busy on our own terms. And that does not include a 5:30 AM wake up call! Thankfully the kids somehow got that message too and have been sleeping in till at least 7:00 every day (I'm sure I just jinxed myself for tomorrow though).

We've been busy decoating Izzy's room -- we've painted it green (very green), and tomorrow we'll be adding the finishing touches w/ lots of pink, green, and yellow and lots of ribbon. If we can just get the chair rail painted, cut, and hung before the weekend, we'll be set! I can't wait to see the finished product. The only problem is this has totally given me the redecorating bug and I'm already ready to tackle Chip's room next! His room has had classic Pooh in it for nearly 8 years -- could be time for a change! :) It really is amazing what a little paint can do for a room!!

Both kids had well visits today and both are doing well. Chip seems to have some allergy issues as his runny, goopy eyes do not like the pollen! Both kids are off the chart or nearly off for height and weight. They definitely got Tre's height, not mine. Both kids also had to get their finger stuck today. Oh the tears -- esp. from Izzy. Only Chip had to get shots and Izzy cried for him then. She absolutely cannot stand for someone to be hurt or upset (unless of course the 2 of them are after the same toy!). She was very worried for him today when he had to get shots though. My sweet girl...

Here's another favorite Izzy story --

This morning she wanted to build a track for the train and Chip was right in the thick of it and they were both hollering. I told Iz that she could share or put it up and wait until Chip took a nap to play with it. "Ok momma!" she said. There was no change in the hollering and Izzy wasn't making a move, so I said, "Iz, what's your choice?" "You can go ahead and put Chipper down for a nap, Momma." :) Gotta love it!!

Nothing Too Exciting

Whew -- what a weekend! Chip has been one puny boy -- he's really never had a fever before now (unless you count a mild one for a couple of hours about a month ago). He has more than made up for it in the last 3-4 days. High temps of 103 and even above 104 a couple of times. Poor thing -- but he's still good-natured and would even smile some when he felt crummy! He's on an antibiotic, but I think he and Tre' are headed back to the doctor tomorrow morning. We're ready for him to feel better.

Though we didn't get out to enjoy it much since Chip was sick, it was a beautiful weekend! It looks like maybe, just maybe spring is on the way!! I'm so glad we had some good cold (for South GA) weather this winter, but I confess to being ready for spring. I want to get our vegetables in the ground and we need to do some work on Catie's garden. Iz will have fun with all that this year. She's already helped Tre' move a few blueberry bushes that had sprouted up from our other ones. She keeps wanting to know when we can pick them. I think we're going to hit 75 degrees -- bring on the spring!!

Someone asked me the other day what I missed most about Catie... Hmmm... hard question, and one that I don't know that I've ever thought about -- it's hard to pick just one thing. Originally I missed her snuggly self curled up next to me. Then as time passed, and Iz was still really small, I very much missed the conversations we had. She was starting to think and communicate big thoughts before she died and I missed that... still miss that a lot, in fact. Now Iz is starting to think big thoughts and it's fascinating to me to see how they think about such different things. I guess now I just miss her and the way we related to each other. As a mom, each of my kids is sooo different and thus the way we relate to each other is different. None is better than the other, they're all just so very, very different (still amazes me that these 3 kids came from the same parents). But I miss the way Catie and I related to each other b/c it was different than the way Iz and I do and the way Chip and I do... I also miss her giggle and her holding my ear. Lots of other things too, but tonight those are what I miss the most. Still hard to believe it's been 3 years...

Off to get things ready for the week -- counting the days till spring break!!