Taking Stock

Lately, I've been feeling a pull to simplify our family's life.

Having two children has really put a lot of things into perspective for me, one of those being the relationship we have to our belongings.

Do we really own them? Or is every time that Stuff gets in the way of life a reminder that they own us? 
There have been too many days that I've felt guilty about not spending time with my children because I was too busy contending with our Stuff, or too tired from the battle.

No, we wouldn't be featured on Hoarders, but is that really something to brag about?

I have a lot of belongings I truly enjoy, but also a good number that just get shoved from one room to the next. Shrinking that amount is one way I'm hoping to bring more peace to our family.

Another way I am working to enrich our family is by gradually switching to more and more homemade and natural alternatives to things we use every day.
I currently use cloth diapers, line dry our laundry, prepare many of our meals from scratch, and make some of my own kitchen necessities. Recently I discovered the fun of spending time over a pot of steaming milk and watching it magically turn into a ball of cheese
I get mighty interested in a science lesson if there's cheese to be had at the end.
Sewing pajamas and simple gifts for our boys is another way I have fun and stay productive and creatively engaged.

One of the things I want to try in the near future is homemade sunscreen. This fall, I will plan my front yard garden.

Even though we live in town, I don't see any reason why we can't have a little more country in our lives, and these are just some ways I'm trying to do it.

It's Been a Week, Alright...

 Marion's not too sure about all this.

 Sean loves puttering around in the yard.

 Mmmmm...

Hauling lumber for a project (a ramp for his cars).

 "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood." -Fred Rogers

Whew, it's definitely been a week. And I don't mean that like "it's been so busy and we've had so much exciting stuff going on." I mean, it's been one of those weeks where everybody just cries so much that Mama questions her sanity, and also wonders how the heck to get a meal on the table when every single minute all she can think of is curling up to sleep a long sleep.

Yeah. that kind of week.

But the good Lord gave us sunshine today, and when we were all feeling mean and cranky with each other, I finally decided to throw a blanket on the grass and get ourselves outside.

Forty minutes later, an entirely different group of happy individuals returned indoors for lunch and continued work. Sun and playtime are just good medicine.

Sunny Sunday

Nothing hotter than a handsome man with a baby.

Silly faces!

On an exploration...

Learning new things...

My three blue eyed boys!

A happy afternoon!

Today

Today I am thankful for these boys.

And Back Again

Motherhood is a kind of love which empties your mind and body, but in exchange fills your soul.

These boys are my life. I've had nagging back pain since my pregnancy, and some days -a lot of days, it can be really hard to get more than the bare minimum done around here. It isn't crippling or debilitating, just very tiring sometimes.

Dinner is usually simple, and most of the time there's a good amount of creeping filth sweet little dust bunnies and sticky spots on the floors, furniture, and linens. We're often wearing clean clothes though, and no one has gone hungry yet, so at the end of the day, it's alright.

Being a good mom is more important right now than being a good housekeeper.

There will be a day when I don't wipe fingerprints off the oven door, or shake Duplo blocks out of my shoes, and I know I will miss it then.

So here I am. A spottier writer, a less lively conversationalist, and an acutely lacking homemaker, but a thankfully full soul.

I have to go now. They need to be kissed again.

Small Things

I haven't really written lately, because who would want to read about fingerprints on my oven door, jam dried on my fur boots, biscuits turned to confetti beneath our table, or any of the other humble makings of tiny love?

Forcing the days of giggles and kisses and grabbing each other tight to outweigh the ones where my back aches, everyone is pouting, and I have to keep myself out of the bedroom lest I spend two hours there in a sulky nap.

I don't know much about current events -or maybe it's just that I can't remember them- but I am fluent in Pixar quotes. Less poetry and more farting. Body fluids. The toddler's cold which manifests in a phlegmy cough that won't go away.

I am happy this way, in this smelly, silly, comedic mundanity that is raising two boys. Looking past the goofiness and boogers, and seeing two souls in my hands. Looking at the repiling mess (where does it all come from?) as an opportunity to be a servant instead of a defective apostle of Saint Martha Stewart.

I've realized that the people I find most encouraging are the ones who just let you see that they are real, and so I think I'm going to give blogging another shot, to share my experiences with these precious people, and hopefully to see myself growing as a wife, mother, and follower of Christ.

Up next will be Marion's birth story and maybe pictures of things I've made (besides my kids).