Easter morning with better things to do...

Summer!!

Remember snow?! Well don't! Because it's currently 82 degrees outside, and I am headed out the door to work in my yard. I love working in my yard. Let's see how long these children can nap. Blog, schlog... I'm outta here!

Blessed...

I'm sitting at the computer with a pile of dirty laundry on my lap after a very satisfying day as a mom. Not every day ends on an up note when you're in the thick of motherhood, but today I'm just feeling very blessed. What a privilege it is to be the momma to Jack, Trey, Chase and Tess. Thank you God, for these gifts from You. Help me Lord, to teach them to know and love You.

Now to the laundry room, where I end most days. As I fold each hole-in-the-knee pair of jeans and treat each chocolate milk-stained shirt, I will pray for the child who wears them. The ministry of motherhood. There is no greater calling for me.

Kitchen Fun

I really don't have much to add to this madness... it kind of speaks for itself. Chase will be three next week and has the attention span to go with his age. So when his brothers are at school and he's needing some excitement in his life, I'm pretty game for anything that will occupy his ansy little self for longer than one minute per year he's been alive.

What you may not know is that each item was taken from a drawer and strategically placed in it's spot after careful reasoning and calculation (while Chase narrated his thought process the entire time). This kid is a good mix of his older brothers - part analytical, and part goofy-hilarious.

Now, if this would have happened with Jack, say 4 years ago, I would have washed every item before putting it back in the drawer - and would have definitely put it back myself, organizing each piece as I went. But I am much less bothered all these children later. Chase had to pick up his own mess (after we admired it for several hours). It was most unorganized. Crammed in drawers in all sorts of uneven ways. Fingerprinted. Straight from the floor.

But maybe, just maybe, Chase will pick up his dirty socks for his wife oneday. I'd like to think that we're both learning something along the way.

I still refold washcloths, sometimes. If I don't refold them, I at least have to face them all in the same direction. But I'm getting better...

...baby steps.

More whistling while we work...

Yesterday we stripped beds for washing, and you would have thought it was Christmas around here. Now, ask them to make their beds (or ask them to make mine... hey, I'm no dummy), and it's like pulling teeth. But there's something about the words "boys" and "destruction" that just go together, almost like peanut butter does with jelly. This is one job they are giddy about. And I don't even need 80's music to boost moral.

On boredom and baseball weather...

Ok, baseball practice officially starts for the older boys next week, so this cold weather needs to get out of town ASAP. Otherwise, I might have to break our "no-movies-in-the-van-unless-it's-a-long-trip" rule to pass the practice time with the little ones while we wait. And let's just say that this momma does NOT like to break rules unless she has to.

So we continue to get creative indoors, and this might just be my favorite idea yet. You guessed it, I'm letting my kids watch way too much TV putting my kids to work!

With each addition to our family, the love has certainly increased, and so has the workload around the house. We have a family mentality around here. We help each other. And it's not for pay...usually. It's for what we like to call a "happy heart." Now before you get the wrong idea, check this out. Work can be fun. And I mean lots of fun. It's all in the presentation, I like to think. I can demand in a grumpy voice for my kids to pick up their toys, and it'll get done, but not without some attitudes (and probably some compromised work). Or, I can turn on some 80's Gold worship music really loud, set the timer, and challenge the boys to some sweet dance moves while they pick up and try to beat their previous record in the "cleaning time challenge". Hmm... I know which one I'd respond to better.

I've been going through the kids' clothes sorting out sizes and seasons (those tubs are a bit overwhelming, aren't they?!), and came across lots of things Chase had outgrown that needed to be returned to the ever-so-generous Costello family. When I say generous, I mean that we're spoiled. Big time. Only the Costellos would let us borrow, not one, but three pair of the same size Crocs for a two year old to run in all summer long. Nice.

So because we try to be responsible (ok, so really we just have a two year old who likes to get really dirty), we had some scrubbing to do before the Crocs went back to their home. I stuck Jack and Chase on the job, and they took their job seriously. We played music really loud, they talked and laughed together, and they got to use as much soap and water as they wanted. My OCD wanted to monitor the soap and water amounts, but you can't spoil all the fun when you ask your kids to work. And we talked about responsibility. About how when you borrow something from someone, you want to give it back to them in just as great of shape as when you got it. And instead of that turning into a lecture, it turned into a great conversation about how much we love Cade and Jace and want to bless them. Ah, can you feel the love?! They might have even forgotten momentarily that they were working...

Clean shoes and "happy hearts," and everyone wins, right? Turns out they're getting smarter by the day, so I'm not sure how long I'm going to get away with this method. Here's another news flash: I'm not always patient and creative when it comes to getting my kids to accomplish a task (heh, I had you fooled, didn't I?). Sometimes the work just plain needs to be done, no questions asked. Kids dilly-dally and days get long. But we're family.

We work together. We play together. We might as well have fun while we're doing it. I remind myself of this often. I am 35, you know. :)

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." - e.e. cummings

"...she can laugh at the days to come." - Proverbs 31:25