Raisin' 4

And then everything changed...

2012-02-04T00:03:00.002-05:00

I used to live a regimented lifestyle. Always on time. Franklin-Covey planner marked up and checked off to a T. Neat freak and paper filer. I even remember a day when my clothes closet was methodically organized by color, beginning with the lightest shade, and gradually darkening in color as the shirt line grew deeper. Aahhhh.

And then I had kids.

Amazing, isn’t it, how one tiny little person can change everything? Forget the color-coded closet nonsense (wow, did I need a hobby!). Some days I’m just lucky to get the wet laundry switched into the dryer before it sits too long and I’m forced to re-run the load all over again.

But I like this new me much better than the old one. I like approaching train tracks with a minivan full of kids and silently thinking, “Man, I hope we get stopped by one today.” The old me would have grumbled at the delay. The new me wants the first spot next to the crossing, so my kids have the best view (okay, and so the engineer can see us all giddily pumping our arms up and down in hopes that he’ll sound the whistle – for just a little longer than necessary – at our hyper request). I used to complain about things like a blanket of fresh snow on the ground, and would immediately think of compromised commutes and of how winter drags on for what seems like forever here in the Midwest. Now I join my kids and with pure excitement, we sprint to the nearest window and cheer loudly at the sight of the first snowflake. And then I shallowly ask God to make it that perfectly packing kind, just right for boy-sized snowballs and snowmen.

Sure, the little inconveniences that surround things like busy train tracks and snow storms still exist. But my identity as a mom has given me a new perspective on life. A much sweeter, freeing perspective.

Ephesians brings us good news. There was a baby who changed everything over two thousand years ago. His name was Jesus.

His coming was less than glamorous and certainly not convenient according to human terms, but He would prove to change the path of humanity in an instant. The world would still remain incredibly imperfect, but suddenly He gave us reason to see life in a whole new way. A different perspective.

A future and a hope…

Jesus.

Are you living with the perspective as one who is forgiven today, or are you still stuck in the “old” you? Focused on the inconvenient, or living joyously free? Confident in your identity in Christ, or looking to the world for value and fulfillment?

He came, and everything changed…

“BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy,

because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in trespasses,

MADE US ALIVE together with Christ – it is by grace you have been saved.”

Ephesians 2:4-5

Today, you can LIVE like you KNOW it.

New adventure, take one!

2012-01-30T00:06:00.009-05:00

Hey friends! If you haven't yet heard, I have begun a new writing adventure over at Good Morning Girls! Click here to read my beautiful friend Angela's story of how God brought our families together so many years ago, and how He is still orchestrating all of the details today. Very humbled at what God has done, and excited about what He is going to do!

Today I'm contributing at GMG, introducing Week 3 of our Ephesians study! Head on over to see what date nights and the gospel just might have in common. Hmm.... :)

Getting to know you...

2012-01-25T14:09:00.043-05:00

The Internet is a crazy thing. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I need to manage it better. Sometimes it overwhelms me (even in good ways!) with it's information and possibilities. A lot of days I'm mostly in awe of all that we have access to technologically as human beings, considering that when I was in college no one had cell phones and I borrowed my roommate's word processor to type my lab reports.

True story. Hey, I'm really not that old, so watch yourselves.

My freshman roommate and I also had an "I love cats." poster stuck up with poster putty on our cement dorm room wall. And one time our funny next-door-dorm neighbor used her hand-held audio recorder (that she bought to record lectures) to record me belting out depressing Whitney Houston love songs after my most recent break-up. Some things clearly just need to be forgotten.

Technology certainly has come a long way, baby. Three and a half years ago, Tyler heard about something called a blog, and he thought that we should start one. You know, to post pictures of our kids for their out-of-town grandparents. We had a six week old. I thought he was crazy. He promised he'd post while I nursed my life away. Who reads this stuff anyway?

Well, I started to write, and I found that when I super-failed as a scrapbooker for the fourth time, our blog helped record some of the things that I should've written in the baby books that I'll never finish. I could write out a story of a hard parenting day, and find the good in it in the end. I started noticing my failures and flaws, and how God was growing and refining me as His child through the challenging days of mothering small children.

And I found out that I wasn't crazy. Or alone. And that blog writing is way cheaper than therapy. Just kidding. Sort of...

Sometimes I would write often, and other times weeks would go by without a free blog moment to spare, it seemed. Every once in a while I would go back and read an old post, and get tears in my eyes from noticing how fast time has gone with these little ones, or how much God has done, or how often I need reminding of the same lesson over and over. God and grace were always the resounding themes.

So between Pinterest (great invention by the way, but I refuse, for now, to start one more bad habit. Someone keep reminding me of this, please...) and Good Morning Girls, I've welcomed a few new friends here over the last few weeks. Welcome! You will not get fancy or even consistent writing here. And I'm pretty sure I start way too many sentences with an article (I will break many more grammatical rules, to be sure, so brace yourselves...).

But I pray that miraculously, somehow, you will get done reading here and think much of God, and much less of me.

Ah, I like how that sounds.

One great thing about technology? The ability to get to know someone a little bit more without having to fit in a Starbucks date or a phone conversation. Not that I would ever suggest that technology replace real life relationships. Goodness, no. But sometimes we moms have to be practical in our unavailability. So three cheers for technology just in case your kids are sick, or it's nap time, or they're awake and hyper, or because you have kid events every night this week, or your best friend just moved out of town (...or you fill in the blank...).

If you're new here, today I'm sharing some of my favorite posts of all time. They aren't life-shattering or deep in content, but they're us. Here's to hoping you'll be able to relate a little to the mishaps and chaos, and walk away encouraged, like me, that God is way bigger than us, and all of life's craziness that comes our way...

1. Loving God and Loving People

2. The Christmas Tree Hunt Strikes Again

3. Haiti

4. The Home Depot Trip that got a makeover... (P.S. Tyler's inventive, slightly psychotic LEGO storage solution that somehow landed us on Pinterest. Too hilarious!)

5. I thought I already learned this once...

6. The End of an Era

7. Two Are Better

Now it's your turn! If you haven't yet, would you leave a comment introducing yourself? So glad you're here!

"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Ephesians 1:16-17

"Do you know how much I love you?"

2012-01-18T01:39:00.019-05:00

We are spending our days lately laughing at a certain chatty little three year old. I am confident that God makes three year olds extremely hilarious for at least fifty percent of time so that we moms survive this crazy stage of staunch independence.

And oh, do I have an independent one.

She's not the first three year old in the history of the world to behave this way. But she sure does give this momma a run for her money. The determined, passionate characteristics she possesses will one day serve her quite well, I'm just sure of it. Until then, she has several opportunities a day to learn how to channel all of those passions into something productive for society.

And we do a lot of praying. :)

But oh, those moments of hilarity. This girl is funny. She reminds me a lot of her Aunt Stephanie. My sister... the funny one... who performed magic shows when she was just a little older than Tess, with her shy older sister (me!) as her assistant. Haha. Being funny did not come as naturally to me as it did to Steph. So I would hand her the magic wand while she stole the show with her one liners and crater-like dimples.

Adorable.

Some of Tess's funniest moments come through listening to her chat the day away. As her vocabulary expands to more complex words, she gets a kick out of hearing herself talk. Nonstop. What a storyteller! My favorite phrases lately have to do with her misuse of the word "soaking". She has heard us say over and over things like, "Your hair is soaking wet." Because "soaking" translates in her mind to mean "very" or "really", we hear her use the word like this:

"I am soaking hungry, Mom...", or

"He is soaking bothering me."

Obviously said with much girl drama.

She also walks around and makes you stop whatever you're doing so she can crawl up onto you, grab your cheeks with both of her chubby hands and say, "Do you know how much I love you?"

Talk about stopping a busy momma in her tracks.

She knows this phrase well, because she gets disciplined a lot. And after she's cried and tries to feel remorse and has served her consequence, I bend down, put my hands on her sweet chipmunk cheeks and say,

"Do you know how much I love you?"

And she shakes her head "yes" through her tears.

As I was reading in Ephesians this morning, I could almost hear God saying those same words to me. To say that I was stopped in my tracks would be pretty accurate. This book of the Bible starts out with powerful phrases like:

He has "blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."

"...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world..."

"He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ..."

What powerful words. The Creator of the universe blesses me with every spiritual blessing. He chose me, even in my independence much worse than that of a three year old. He has adopted me as His child, through no good merit of my own. He loves me in spite of myself.

What overwhelming thoughts that make me fall on my knees in gratitude.

Are you struggling with feeling worth today? Stop for a moment and let the words of Ephesians soak deep into your heart, and hear God say to you,

"Do you know how much I love you?"

A little help here (and introducing Good Morning Girls!)...

2012-01-11T22:51:00.035-05:00

I'm a groupie, I'll admit it.

Dictionary definition of Groupie - "An enthusiastic follower of some group or activity."

And time has proven that if I have trouble with the enthusiastic bit when it comes to a certain activity, then being a follower in a group will get me way more motivated than if I tackled the activity on my own. Anybody with me?

Take exercising, for example. I have a sad, sad track record with that evil word. Ha. It took my first pregnancy (and that crazy 60 pound weight gain!) to get me just a tiny bit motivated to do something to keep my body in shape, and still I never seemed to be able to fit it into my schedule (remember the days before kids when we thought we were really, really busy?! Haha.). I tried, but failed at any consistency in my workouts. It wasn't until two girlfriends and I schemed to meet at the crack of dawn several mornings a week to chat - uh, I mean walk - for an hour before work that I actually followed through with anything. If I wasn't at the end of my driveway by 5:30am, someone was going to knock on my door. You'd better believe that I would have snoozed my alarm and rolled back over a hundred times if I didn't have that accountability on my doorstep. That year, I may not have gotten in the best shape of my life, but I learned the very important skill of not getting completely out of breath while walking and talking simultaneously, both at a non-stop pace. :)

And I also learned the art of self discipline.

Bible reading is the same for me. I need accountability. I need consistency to make a difference in my spiritual walk. I need someone "showing up" to make sure that I'm going to show up too. I wish it wasn't true. I wish it could all come from me. But the reality is I need others to spur me on.

God knew that would be the case:

"Let us not give up meeting together..."

"Let us encourage one another...."

"Let us consider how we may spur one another on ...."

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up..."

"But exhort one another every day..."

After crying out to God to give me a renewed passion for and renewed commitment to His Word, it's time to take action. I can make all of the goals that I want, and definitely need to pray for God to help me (please do!!), but if I don't actually do it, I never did my part to show up on the driveway, you know?

My action starts here, at one of my favorite blogs ever:

Starting January 16, I am going to be accountable to a small group of women who share the same passion as me to daily be in the Word. We're studying Ephesians together, and a schedule is already all laid out for us, thanks to my friend Angela at Good Morning Girls (GMG).

According to their blog...

“Good Morning Girls” are groups of Christian women who email, facebook, twitter or text message to keep each other accountable for their quiet times."

Accountability? Yes, please.

It's tech accountability, so I don't have to fit one more "outing" into my schedule. I simply read the short Bible text assigned for the day (seriously, just a handful of verses - totally attainable!), spend time with God by journaling some thoughts with the plan provided, and send a quick message to my GMG girls about the passage of the day.

A group of women to encourage you, pray for you, and keep you on track in your commitment.

I love it.

There's still time to form a group and sign up. Grab one, two, or five friends, and start 2012 in God's Word daily...

... with a little help from your friends.

For study details, hop on over to Good Morning Girls here.

Christmas dishes are meant to be used, and so is your Bible...

2012-01-09T23:17:00.025-05:00

I've come a long way in these last ten years of parenting. So far, that as I was packing up Christmas decorations, Tess was aloud to have one last tea party with my Christmas dishes.

That's far, folks. Deep breath.

You see, I used to save nice dishes for when guests were over. When I really wanted to impress someone. But most of the time, I would display them in the hutch as part of the holiday decor, but would rarely use them. In fact, I usually ended up dusting them more than someone actually ate from them. Wait, I forgot that I don't dust in December. Heh. But if I did dust, they would certainly need it. They were used so rarely that sometimes I would even forget about them entirely.

But having kids conveniently, eventually does something for most of us parents and our view of material things. Mostly because nothing in our homes can ever be held sacred again after a two year old has crossed it's path. What once was organized and well taken care of suddenly begins to resemble those second rate items in a furniture store: once lovely and highly desired, but now residing in the scratch and dent aisle in the very back of the warehouse.

Only my stuff is a little stickier.

As I think about the new year, I don't want my Bible to become like my Christmas dishes. Out for display, but never used practically for it's intended purpose. I don't want to only pull it out when I have guests over, or when I really want to impress someone with just the right words, or wait until (gasp) a church service to find it useful. If I'm not intentional in it's use, it will sit in the same spot long enough to collect dust, and I'll pass over it just like I do other nic-nacs that sit around my house. An item that's nice to have, but never truly taken down and enjoyed.

Let's be honest, I've been on again and off again in my Bible reading plenty of times before, and I've had enough time to learn my lesson. I need it daily. Yes, daily. Not because I'm some legalistic rule-follower, but because I'm messed up enough that I need Jesus every minute of every day. And His Word is His voice calling out to me, showing me the way.

I have a plan for the new year. I know myself well enough to know that no plan means no follow-through. I'm keeping it simple or otherwise I'll fail. It doesn't require childcare or money, and I don't even have to get out of my pajamas if I don't want to. Just a small commitment of a few minutes each morning. And you'll never believe it, but someone has already done all of the preparation for me. I just have to be obedient.

And get a little help from my friends.

I'll fill you in on my little secret tomorrow. And I'm praying that you'll consider joining me!

One thing I do know... I've never enjoyed my Christmas dishes more.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

LEGOS, Baby Alive, hope for the future, and the magic lives on after all...

2012-01-03T15:01:00.028-05:00

The Christmas spirit didn't come so easily for me this year. That seems like a terrible thing to admit considering my usually ultra-positive personality. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but I just couldn't shake an unsettled feeling in my heart. I didn't want the excess and the unnecessary. I wanted to protect my children from selfish hearts and attitudes of entitlement. I wanted it to be all about Jesus, but everywhere I looked, commercialism reigned, and He seemed to be in the shadows.

Because God knew just what I needed so many years ago, Tyler stepped in and saved the day. He gently brought Biblical truths back to my mind, assured me that our family priorities were intact, and even took over shopping and wrapping duties for the kids. Then he sent me to bed on Christmas Eve while he stayed up until the early morning hours prepping and pulling out presents for the kids that I had never seen before, so that I could be surprised right along with them.

Talk about bringing back the magic. He's good.

Thank goodness for fun husbands who remind us of the wonder of Christmas (along with my need for an attitude change!), and for one amazing one who reminded me that it is okay to have four little bodies sneak down the stairs with pure, innocent excitement on Christmas morning. They know Who we celebrate (every day of the year, not just one!), and my negativity might have just been dampening the celebration.

Sometimes we moms think too much, when what we should be doing is spending our time joining the rest of the family as they dance to the cranked up Christmas music in the kitchen.

Anybody with me? So the magic returned and the latest LEGO sets appeared. And you know that there's always room for one more LEGO set in the Daugherty house... I had to crack up at this fireplace scene. Tyler is a bargain shopper (and likes to buy in multiples... pretty sure this is a man thing...), and we all know that you can get Colts attire for a real bargain this season (90% off in this case!). But we're loyal fans, we believe there's hope for the future, so we'll be more than ready for next year. :) And the prize for the most ironic present goes to Tess, whose Aunt Stephanie thought it was imperative that she have a Baby Alive doll. You know, the doll that eats real food and then conveniently goes potty in her pants? And to solidify the irony, it's so incredibly fun to feed Baby Alive that she ends up going through A LOT of diapers.

Fabulous marketing scheme.

You know what this means, don't you? After nine long years of changing diapers and spoon feeding several small (real live) children, we only give ourselves a break for a year before we actually purposely pay to start this process all over again. That's right, I'm spoon feeding and changing the messy diapers of a fake, plastic baby (whose insides are bound to get gunked up sooner rather than later, don't you think?).

For fun.

Something is clearly not right with this picture. I will remember this for a long, long time, Steph. You just wait until next Christmas.

And since we're committed to celebrating Jesus every day, the celebrating is still going on around here.

And here I thought I wanted to just get it over with.

Lesson learned.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,” Titus 2:11-12 ESV

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T14:39:00.013-05:00

God has been so good to us as we’ve watched four active little individuals grow and learn in 2011!

Jack turned ten in August, and I’ll never forget the excitement he felt over finally getting to double digits in age! He is in fourth grade this year, and is loving opportunities at school like dissecting, science experiments, and creative writing. He still enjoys LEGOs and reading, and has developed an interest in learning about medieval times. He is our self-motivated guy, loves to keep busy, gets super bothered when his sister gets in trouble, and really, really wants a pocket knife for Christmas.

Trey just turned nine and is in the third grade. Our family had tons of fun watching Trey play lots of baseball again this year, and he even tried flag football for the first time this Fall. Trey is our social, outdoor, sports lover. He is a great middle kid, able to switch gears and play with older and younger kids alike. He is full of energy, has a sparkle in his eyes, and often needs to be reminded to use his inside voice. :)

Chase finally joined the big boys at school this year as a half-day Kindergartener (school in the morning, then home to talk his momma’s ear off all afternoon!), and he couldn’t be more pleased. He is soaking up school and all it has to offer, and is so excited to be a beginner reader! He loves any activity that he can do with his hands: drawing, crafts, baking with mom, and collecting junk to sit on his shelf. :) He is recovering well from a recent urology/hernia surgery, but can't quite always remember that wrestling is off limits for a while.

Tess is holding her own in a house full of boys! She is 3 ½ and is spunky in every way. She is such a mix of personality. We’ll find her wrestling with the boys one minute, then loving so sweetly on her baby dolls the next. She likes running errands and going to aerobics with me while the boys are away at school, and tries to be patient at the boys’ sporting events and when we’re in the midst of homework! Her squinty smile, hilarious monologues and spontaneous dance moves get her lots of laughs in this house, even if she does add some girl drama to our lives. :)

This year marked ten years since our return to Lafayette, and we feel so incredibly blessed to have Tyler’s job and a church family that continue to make this home for us. When we’re not chasing kids, Tyler is involved in worship at church and recently with Purdue’s FCA group, and I help out with the women’s ministry. One of our kids’ favorite nights of the week is Wednesday night, when our church hosts AWANA, a fun children’s scripture memory program. Oh, how we love that they are learning to hide God’s Word in their hearts!

Thanking God for you this holiday season, and for the special place you hold in our hearts. Thanking God for His gift of Jesus, who gives us hope and help and life!

Love,

Whitney, Tyler, Jack, Trey, Chase, and Tess

The Best Sushi I Ever Ate!

2011-12-24T16:27:00.006-05:00

No...it's not Whitney writing this one. All my guy friends keep nagging me to blog more, so here goes. Actually...I just couldn't resist being the one to share this story.

So you either love sushi, or you don't, or you fall into my 3rd category: you've never had sushi but tell everyone you don't like it because you don't think you will. Now if you love sushi, then the combination of this blog title and picture probably have you scared. I'm no connoisseur by any means, but even I know that sushi packaged like this CAN'T be the best you've ever eaten. That's what I thought too!

The volunteer at the desk at St. Vincent's waiting room told us Chase's surgery would last about 2 hours. I took a book. We had the IPod with us. Cell phones for texting. But neither of us could sit very still. It was mid morning, and we decided to do what comes naturally during anxious, worrisome, stressful times.....eat! We quickly cased out the cafeteria and were finally greeted at the pizza counter by Rochelle, who was serving up mini breakfast pizzas. She and Whitney exchanged warm smiles and friendly conversation about our son in surgery and our need for "comfort food". I had previously noticed that the sushi chef was fixing up sushi rolls like those seen in the picture above and, being a skeptic, I decided to get an opinion straight from the staff. Rochelle said the sushi was pretty good and made fresh every morning. Without giving it a second thought, she asked if I wanted to try some. Now you're talking! I'm thinking a free sample or maybe a complimentary cafeteria voucher, and I jump on the opportunity. Rochelle walked us over to the counter and asked me to pick one out. I did. Then she asked me to pick another one. Hey, why not, it's on the hospital, right!?! She takes both containers over to the checkout, and before I can process what's happening, she whips out her employee ID and payroll deducts $15 worth of sushi to 2 complete strangers from the surgery waiting room. Whitney and I immediately tried to fix this little "dilemma" by offering her cash. She wouldn't have it, and just laughed and scolded us for trying to steal her joy. We made our way over to a table to eat and Rochelle left us for her breakfast pizza station.

As for the sushi, it didn't taste as good as I hoped or as bad as I figured. But we couldn't stop eating it. A couple of times I had to take a big drink just to keep my composure. Whitney and I couldn't stop talking about what happened. We wanted to repay her somehow, but knew that our role was to receive this random act of kindness. Before we left the cafeteria, we went back to Rochelle's counter for one last thank you, and to let her know we were committed to paying it forward.

I don't know what was at the core of Rochelle's random act of kindness that day. Our relationship didn't last long enough to find out. She could never afford to treat every customer that way. So why us? Why me? It didn't calculate, and it was hard to receive. I'm not used to this sort of thing, and it made me remember the humility required to receive the gift of grace from God. The stakes were higher with salvation, but the humility was the same. I like to think Jesus made her do it. That she couldn't stand to let the opportunity pass her by to show the love of Christ to someone, even a complete stranger. That's what Jesus does, you know! We simply walk up to Him and He extends his love to us whether we deserve it or not, whether we ask for it or not, whether we want Him to or not. Thanks, Rochelle, for reminding me what Christmas is all about.

I've had lots of tasty sushi in my life, but this was by far the best sushi I've ever eaten. We celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world tomorrow. Show someone today why he came!

Christmas tree farm tradition, take ten...

2011-12-23T22:36:00.013-05:00

Bob Evans, and then to the Christmas tree farm. A ten year tradition, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health...

This year, I only had to cut up one kid's breakfast, and the boys hauled the tree back to the tractor all by themselves.

Merry Christmas to me. :)

Card duty...

2011-12-22T15:51:00.003-05:00

The boys' school took a great approach to a fund-raising effort to benefit our local Lion's Club (whose members give their time and resources generously to the school!). Instead of a class gift exchange, the teachers encouraged each student to ask their parents how they might earn a small amount of money to donate to the organization's building repair fund.

Because my mom-scheming skills are getting sharper by the year - ha! - Jack and Trey earned their money by helping fold, stuff, stamp and sticker our Christmas cards. Turns out little Daugherty boys grow up to be slightly OCD, just like both of their parents. :) Two boys who initially gave me a "seriously, Mom?" look ended up having a ball working together and chatting the night away. I love nights like these. And so do they.

If they try to tell you otherwise, don't you dare listen to them. :)

Juggling...

2011-12-19T23:58:00.014-05:00

This is Chase's depiction of me juggling life as a mom. No one tells him to draw stuff like this; his little five year old mind is just as honest as it gets. Apparently we moms must multi-task or something, and we also have go-go-Gadget arms that help us do a hundred things at once. He knows me well to include a phone, my cup of chai, an apple, a bowl of cereal, homework, my Bible, and a handful of kids. He just forgot to draw the three year old hanging on my leg. And thank goodness he threw a couple of hearts in, or else I would really start to get worried.

Tess spilled her milk the other day, and Chase said, "Geesh, kids sure do make a lot of stress," just like he wasn't a kid, and just like he'd never in his life caused his parents any grief. Funny kid.

December means lots of extra juggling as a mom. Throw in four kids on constant sugar highs, a surgery and an excited nine year old's birthday and you're almost done for. But I sure don't want the only thing my kids to remember about the holidays growing up is a stressed out mom who over-committed to lots of good things, but forgot to focus on what was best. I don't want to be known for hangups like hanging the ornaments by myself so they'll be perfectly spaced, or shooing eager children out of the kitchen so they don't mess up my perfectly decorated sugar cookies (which get eaten in like ten seconds anyway).

There will be plenty of years when my children are gone to choose all white lights to elegantly decorate my entire house. But for now, they want some fun color mixed in. Who can blame them, really? And for crying out loud, the world will not come to an end if they insist on rearranging the Nativity a hundred times a day, confiscating baby Jesus to ride in the Batmobile or keep them company while they sit on the potty.

It's sort of a compliment if you think about it, and Jesus is everywhere anyway, right?

I'm pretty sure my kids don't care if I can tie a cool bow on a package, or if their teacher's gift was the coolest in the class. But they sure do love it when I sit down beside them and we enjoy our cups of hot chocolate together (they MUST include a heaping pile of whip cream, sprinkles, and a candy cane hung on the cup's rim) at random moments in the day (when I often tell myself I should be doing something productive... hmm).

I want them to experience more than a juggling mom this Christmas. I want them to see Jesus in me as I humbly serve. I want them to hear Jesus, as we tell the story of His birth, and as we worship Him for coming to save a broken world. I want them to feel Jesus' love as we say no to just enough stuff so that we can surround them with ours.

And Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior." Luke 1:47

Adventures in Urology...

2011-12-07T23:12:00.023-05:00

I know it's titles like these that keep you coming back for more. Ha. And you know it's an extra creative night when I combine Fall pictures with fascinating urology talk. Hey, I like to keep you on your toes (or, it's just been a really long day). Since I'm not known for blog consistency lately, at least I can get some points for efficiency, right?

Yeah, that's it.

Hey, just be glad that I'm sharing old Fall pics instead of urology ones. :)

So we're a pretty popular family in the Pediatric Urology Department at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis. You might remember that Jack and Tess were born with a genetic condition called urinary reflux. We spent several years following up with Jack's bladder and kidney health, until he finally had surgery to correct his reflux in 2005. With each baby, we thought we might encounter the reflux again (all of our kids statistically have a 1 in 3 chance), and we went through much testing during pregnancy and in the newborn stage to rule out any signs of the condition. Tess's reflux was a little more difficult to determine, was much less severe, and lasted a much shorter amount of time compared to Jack's. She successfully grew out of it in time (as many patients do), and we were released about a year ago from any further treatment for her, as long as symptoms stay at bay. Compared to so many other more serious health-related issues, we are so very thankful to have dealt with something completely fixable! Through years of treatment, we have actually enjoyed getting to know the amazing Dr. Rink and his staff. So many visits and phone calls later, his receptionist even refers to herself as "Aunt Trina" to our kids. We visit an office when upon entering we are humbled beyond words: where many children are there to treat urological issues that have resulted from things like spina bifida, brain injuries and the like. I don't think there has been an appointment that I have walked out of when I haven't been brought to tears. It's a powerful thing seeing such bravery displayed by such little ones. The office staff used to joke with us that they'd miss us until the next kid came along, and then surely we'd see them again for something. Funny joke, until it came true almost every time. :)

And just like clockwork, this Friday we'll go back for Chase, who will have surgery to repair an ascended testicle (uh, you can go back to looking at pictures now if you want). No kidding.

If I didn't feel so sorry for the guy, it would almost be funny. Seriously, what are the chances? He's five and a thinker. Just old enough to be scared because he knows what surgery is, and not quite old enough to know that he'll want to thank Dr. Rink someday for the opportunity to have everything in it's proper place and working like it should. So we're not telling him. Not yet anyway. He would think and worry and ask all the revealing questions all week long. He knows he has an appointment, and we'll share the rest of the news with him right after he drinks his loopy meds in surgery prep. Yes, that sounds like the perfect time to tell him. Thank goodness for loopy meds. And for that silly Theodore the Chipmunk stuffed animal that he's dying to have from the grocery store (that I'm going to pull out of my purse to distract him at just the right time when he figures the whole gig out). P.S. These hard working boys don't get paid an allowance on a regular basis (because don't you know, we're all family here), but for this pile of leaves? One dollar.

And a happy heart.

Another year....

2011-11-09T12:56:00.019-05:00

It's day four, folks (although yesterday's picture was kind of a cheat...), and pretty soon 1. Tyler is going to wonder why he doesn't have any clean underwear in his closet, and 2. you're going to get really tired of me. :) But I'm so close to proving myself wrong that I can't give up just yet!

You know it's a good story when I post pictures of myself. Heh. This is me with my best "Um, what's going on here?" look, walking in from the three hour trip home from Cincinnati on Sunday night (just me with the kids, where we endured only one potty stop in a gross gas station bathroom, one fit from the three year old, and one Starbucks stop for a Pumpkin Spice Latte for my reward for surviving the trip solo...). Clearly I grabbed all of the essentials out of the van so I could get the kids to bed immediately - pillows, the Elmo potty seat, and Tess's favorite sleeping buddy (Lord, please don't ever let anything happen to that crazy monkey). It was 8:30pm, and with school the next day, I had directed the boys to head upstairs and get their jammies on ASAP.

But instead of catching Daddy watching Sunday night football like we expected, we walked into a party! My birthday was a couple of days away, and Tyler had been scheming all weekend so he could surprise me when we returned. I thought he was being a little obscure when I asked him what he had been doing with the house all to himself for a couple of days. :)

We waded through a sea of pink streamers and lit candles in the kitchen (and a super clean house, by the way, which gets major points), and made it to the table full of presents (doesn't his wrapping paper pick crack you up?!), cake and ice cream. At first I was a little hesitant - all smart daddies should know that you don't ever mess with a tired momma's planned bedtime routine.

Unless you're throwing her a party, that is. I am totally laughing here because every kid is whining about wanting to be the one to blow out the candle. When you're a mom, that is sort of how birthdays go. Thank goodness for Tyler's sweet effort, because my actual birthday was full of exhaustion and kid drama. For every birthday phone call I got, there were four needy little people lined up one behind the other, waiting to ask me the most important question of their life. I finally just stopped answering the phone because that just meant that everyone might need something all over again. And even though moms try to act like they don't need someone to make a big fuss over them (and busy themselves with doing the fussing over everyone else), it sure is nice to feel appreciated every once in a while. If you look closely, you can see tears running down my face in this picture. Duh. I seriously must be getting old if cried over a dumb pair of tennis shoes. But when I opened them, plus other boxes filled with brand new workout clothes, I didn't see just the neatly wrapped gifts.

I saw a husband who has listened to my words, and who cares about what I care about.

I heard him supporting my efforts to work hard so I can stay fit and feel young.

I felt him encouraging me to take the time to work out, even when I battle the guilt of feeling like I should be doing something else that would seem to benefit my family more as a whole.

I saw shoes and clothes that I would never buy for myself, and felt so loved that he would take the time to figure out just what I would need.

Another year incredibly blessed by such loyal and sacrificial love... noticed in the perfect pair of Nike tennis shoes.

Who knew.

Fall Beauty...

2011-11-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

That's right...

2011-11-07T14:21:00.030-05:00

I will NOT be called a shallow goal-maker. Even if I just called myself one. I'm sort of getting competitive in my older age, you know (which incidentally gets way older-sounding tomorrow - ugh). So game on this week, ya'll.

Ok, I first have to prove (does this go along with my developing competitive side??) that we are definitely on a shirtless-Jack-O'-Lantern-pose-trend that dates back at least three years. The pic above is from 2009. Oh Chaser, what did those big brothers of yours talk you in to?

I know what you're thinking. Yes, our Jack O' Lantern was super lame even back then. But if you don't clue them in that there are way cooler carving methods, then they'll never know the difference. It's sort of like the fact that there are other options than having your mom cut your hair. Let's just keep that bit of information to ourselves for now too, okay?

And here is the shirtless trio again this year, just in case you forgot what they looked like...

...from yesterday. Since I'm two for two, you know (hey, I'm just as surprised as anyone). I know you all have moved on to Thanksgiving and probably even Christmas by now, but since this is my online scrapbook of sorts, you'll bear with my late Halloween revisit, won't you? P.S. Bjorn joins us again, and he's just plain awesome.

That well-used (sometimes stinky from sweaty boys!) little dress-up bin sure does come in handy every year when I challenge the boys to go create a Halloween costume from what we already have in the closet (P.S. I love NOT spending money!). I'll admit that I drug my feet a bit on Jack's all black mystery guy, but Tyler and I decided that we're not going to get hung up on a color. He wanted to be hidden, we don't worship Satan, and he wasn't trying to make a statement. Truth is, ten year olds don't want to dress up like five year olds. So we let him be ten. Which brought on a huge discussion at the dinner table about why we Trick-or-Treat (uh, candy, hello...), and why some people we know don't celebrate Halloween. Of course everyone has the freedom to celebrate (or not celebrate) a holiday as they choose. But, boys, do we think that dressing up in costumes and going door to door for candy compromises our beliefs? Not in the least. Even if my kid wears all black? Um, still no. Thanks for asking. :) Ok, moving on... The best part of the night? Going around our subdivision and running into tons and tons of neighbors, both great friends and acquaintances alike. What a fun, socially-packed evening! When was the last time you snuggled with a skeleton and looked this happy? :) We got back to the house in time to hand out some candy ourselves, and luckily we were just in time to welcome a visit from this adorable group of girls from Trey's class. Trey opened the door and was greeted with all sorts of giggles and girls calling his name - hilarious! We all enjoyed watching Trey's face turn a bright shade of red as he tried to sneak away back into the house. The girls and I finally convinced him to pose for a picture, which didn't actually take too much convincing. After they were gone, Daddy asked if he had a favorite, and he did shyly whisper a name (wait, maybe two). Ah, third grade love, when you don't have to choose just one. :)

And on that note, I'm adding another aerobics day this week to work off all of the candy I snuck out of the kids' pumpkins over the last seven days.

Duh.

Well, hello there...

2011-11-06T22:13:00.007-05:00

Do you think I can blog every day this week to catch up on the last month of our lives? Yeah, I doubt it either, but I'm going to make it a very shallow goal. Shallow being the key word. Don't hold me to it, okay? Oh, you crazy blog readers are so patient with me.

Gosh, I'm so lazy lately. Well, not lazy. At least raking a whole lot of leaves and refinancing your home doesn't feel lazy, but then again, that doesn't sound like a whole lot either, does it? There has to be something else going on in my life.

Hmm... the kids and I did just get back from a great couple of days in Cincinnati. Cory and Steph loaned me two of their boys while they were out of town, and though it was a full weekend with the one adult to six kids ratio (Tyler's weekend to work), it was so very rewarding. Ah, so much love between cousins, that I got teary-eyed a couple of times even. Wish we lived closer...

I just downloaded weeks worth of pictures, so hopefully I can get my act together and post some on here soon. Uh, like tomorrow if I keep my goal. Which isn't likely, if I'm being realistic, but you never know how crazy I'll get during nap time in between loads of laundry. Heh.

Until that happens, I have to comment on tonight's picture. I love it for so many reasons:

1. Tyler's in it, which feels like success, since he denies me sometimes. :)

2. The Daugherty boys once again pose with their Jack O' Lanterns shirtless in like forty degree weather. This is becoming quite the tradition, and we don't even have to plan it.

3. Our Jack O' Lanterns are so lame. Especially after seeing all of your crazy creative, intricate, pattern-followed designs on facebook. Seriously lame, but we were so proud of them that we could hardly stand it.

4. Chase totally cracks me up. That's his AWANA verse he's holding up, and this just gives you a glimpse of how focused he is to memorize his verse each week. I write the verse out, and he literally carries that paper around the house all week reciting it to himself. So proud of that boy.

5. Tess stands out so much surrounded by all boys in her hot pink outfit (thank goodness she DOES have a shirt on!), and is never without a baby in her arms. I look at this picture and see how far she's come in the last few months: much less aggressive and much more nurturing. Thank you, God.

The appraiser comes in the morning to finish up the last bit of the refinancing gig. Uh, are you supposed to clean your house for that?

Oops...

Signs of Fall at the Daugherty house...

2011-10-16T15:35:00.018-04:00

AWANA is in full swing! This amazing program at church combines cool stuff like dress up nights (so far we've had pirate night and cowboy night!) and crazy games that get your kids super sweaty WITH scripture memory. What a great combo, huh?! It's a big commitment, but so far we've said the kids can play a sport if it doesn't land on a Wednesday night, and it's not felt like a sacrifice one bit. Each week consists of organizing four different books, memorizing four different sets of verses, four club shirts/vests, four Bibles, four bags, and four very excited children. We are so blessed to be a part of a church that commits to teaching God's Word in such a fabulous way! Fall means cookouts with good friends (and our husbands and thirteen kids!)! Words cannot describe what these girls mean to me. God has brought us through much joy and much heartache together, all while adding lots of kids along the way! So, so thankful that the Creator of all good things knew that we would need each other. Near or far, what an encouragement these girls are to my life and walk with God. This Fall was our first attempt at flag football. I have a feeling Trey will have us making the rounds with every sport before all is said and done! In an effort to not over-commit (uh, the ongoing story-of-our-lives effort!), we passed on Fall baseball this year and gave football a go. Practice and games all happened on just one night a week, which got big points in my book. It was a fun new adventure (besides the playing in the rain part!), but Trey ended the season saying that he thought baseball was more his passion. Suits me, since next year his only option is full-blown tackle. I like this narrowing-down thing... And... some boys are getting serious about Halloween around here! Potential costumes have been discussed for the past two weeks at least, and Chase and Trey combined efforts and entered the pumpkin decorating contest at school. Our friendly pirate now sits on display in the school hallway, with the boys anxiously awaiting the vote! I've been able to hang out with Chase's class at school twice in the past couple of weeks: once to help with the Kindergarten Apple Day, and next for their trip to the pumpkin patch. You learn a lot on days like these; things like: how a five year old all of the sudden gets clingy with his Momma around, how his little mind is soaking up so many new things with such excitement, and how this sweet bright blue-eyed girl in his class may or may not be his girlfriend...

"I'm not sayin' she is, Mom. Just maybe..."

School conferences are this week, and Jack and Trey have already had their reward "dates" for achieving their first quarter reading goals. Can't believe one-fourth of the school year is complete!

A decade.

2011-10-08T15:03:00.041-04:00

Autumn bliss today. While all four boys headed to campus for the Purdue game, Tess and I took off for our very first girl outing - a baby shower for a dear friend. While she has some social etiquette -ahem - yet to learn, today gave me a great glimpse into some future fun with my only girl. Success overall. I think she handed half-eaten and well-licked favors to only about half a dozen strangers. And, only one food item went back onto the platter with a bite taken out of it. All things considered, that's a good showing for the three year old, folks.

Oh, and the guest of honor's mother wasn't offended one bit when Tess walked up to her, ran her chubby fingers through her perfectly salon-set hair and proclaimed loudly, "Your hair is kinda crazy, Grandma!" Thinking back to how this could have played out six months ago... not bad, girlie, not bad.

All of that snacking and uplifting conversation wore her out, so she sleeps. The boys are still gone and house is currently the quietest it's been in weeks, so I decided to use the time to take some pics off of my camera. Great September memories, especially of our new ten year old boy!

He was ten at the end of August, but because his heart was set on certain guests in attendance for his party, we had to wait until Labor Day to get everyone here.

A Pokemon party for Jack! My boys full well know my aversion to spending money on things like rocks (really?!) and Pokemon cards, but I finally came around to the fact that there are worse things in life.

Why the heart change, you ask?

I suddenly remembered Garbage Pail Kids.

For crying out loud, how we ever got away with collecting those politically incorrect things (and then trading them in the back church pew - while chomping our gum - in the middle of the sermon) is beyond me. Go ahead boys, loose three teeth, then take your bucks to buy a Pokemon pack, I say. Seems like a lot of hard work for a bunch of cardboard nonsense if you ask me, but I'd much rather have Tess going around the house repeating phrases like,

"I trade you a hundred damage, Chaser," all proud acting like she knows her stuff, instead of overhearing one liners like, "Hey, why that baby have a bomb exploding out of his head?"

Seriously. Mom? Anyone?

Oh dear, where were we?

Oh yes, the Pokemon party was planned and ready to go, with lots of games plotted out ahead of time to make sure no one was bored. Pokemon Bingo, Pin the Tail on Pikachu, Design Your Own Pokeball, plus detailed instructions on how to draw your favorite Pokemon character step by step.

Turns out, ten year olds do a fine job entertaining themselves (ahh... I knew I liked this age!). I've never hosted a quieter, simpler party. And we never played even one of the games I had planned. Eight boys escaped upstairs with their Pokemon cards in hand, and I never heard a peep out of them for the next two hours. Sweet.

At one point I got worried that Tess might be up crashing the boys' fun, so I went upstairs to check on her. This is where I found her. Reason #147 why Bjorn fits in so well around here.

He arranged (completely symmetrical to no surprise) and lit his own candles, and at that moment I realized just how much he is growing up. This boy who was once such a handful has become one of the greatest joys of my life. Ask me about that story sometime, and I'd be happy to tell you how very good God is. With God, there is much hope in parenting, and in life.

Ah, the quiet is officially over... the boys all just piled back into the house, sweaty and happy after the Purdue win and a stop afterwards at B-Dubs. Nothing like a little football and a few father/son hot wing challenges to make your Saturday complete.

They've been home for fifteen minutes and Tyler is already asleep on the couch. How men do that surrounded by such chaos I'll never know.

More to catch up on soon!

My time...

2011-09-19T22:12:00.005-04:00

After a long, exhausting day, I always say there's nothing better than a chubby paw wrapped around your neck.

Or wait. Maybe sometimes I say, "Man, I wish I had just five minutes when someone wasn't hanging on me or calling my name in a chorus over and over and over..."

Yeah, that's more like it.

Tess cried out a few minutes after I had tucked her in for the night. We are serious about bedtime around here, and usually I have no problem responding with all business. After all, it was the first time the house had been quiet since six o'clock this morning. But tonight was different for some reason. Her tiny voice called my name, and before I knew it, I was laying in bed beside her.

My heart wasn't in that compassionate place at first. There were dishes to clear from the kitchen sink, and surely a load or two of laundry to fold. And a ten year old boy would need tucked in soon, after his bonus reading minutes had expired. I had computer work to do, and a list forming in my mind of the rest of the week's events. This was supposed to be my time; the first efficient time in my day.

She snuggled up so close that I could feel her nose-breath hitting my face, and it almost made me giggle. Just when I thought she was asleep, she kissed me on my lips, and I could feel the shape of hers smile. Her right hand was smack in the middle of my left cheek, pressing down like a paperweight, ensuring that I wasn't going to sneak out unnoticed anytime soon.

And then I snuggled in too. This time wrapping my arms around her, instead of hoping for a quick escape. I told her that I loved her very much, and she said thank you very much.

And I realized that sixteen will be here before I know it.

Back.

2011-09-13T21:34:00.035-04:00

Let's see if I can remember how to do this. I just logged into blogspot and typed in the wrong password if that tells you anything. Heh.

Three school boys. Good start. No, great start. Turns out Chase isn't weepy in school like he can be at home sometimes. Guess it's easier to find your place in a sea of five year olds who may or may not overpower or get more attention than you. He did cry once the first week after I asked him if he was doing a good job following all of the rules. He quickly burst into a full-blown sob and said, "There's one rule that I just can't remember to follow, Mom." I nervously inquired which rule that was. After crying for what seemed like forever, he finally took a breath long enough to admit, "I'm a horrible kid. I just can't remember to push my chair in every time."

That, I can handle, Chaser.

That kid is starting to read, and you can see the elation in his eyes. I can't get enough of it, and he can't get enough of my reaction. He read a short poem to me the other day, and when I limited my praise to just a (huge) smile and a quick, "Wow, great job, Bud!", he responded with, "Aren't you going to jump up and down and clap and scream really loud for like thirty-five seconds or something??"

Uh... let me wash the raw chicken goo off of my hands, then of course I will.

And here's another neat trick: These two miss each other while Chase is at school. How that is possible in the quickest three hours of our lives I'll never know, but it's true. Enough to embrace when we pick Chase up from school, and play their little hearts out from the minute we get home until nap time. No TV needed (not even once in the last three weeks), rarely a fight, and lots of "Come on, this way Girl..." to direct their play.

As for my three hours alone with just Tess everyday? We are so NOT efficient. We light candles, drink hot chai (with lots of whip cream on hers), chat with neighbors who are out walking their dogs, dance to music in the kitchen, and fold lots and lots of laundry together.

And occasionally eat pickles.

She's killer at folding washcloths, even if the tags aren't tucked in and they're not all stacked facing the same direction. And now, all these years (and four kids, which have to be a lot like therapy) later, I don't even fix them before putting them away. That's progress, people.

Oh, and we started attending an aerobics class. I won't go on and on like we're pros or anything since we're totally the new chicks on the block, but hey, it's something. You're talking to the girl who doesn't exercise. Ever. And my sad, sore muscles are proof. Tess comes along to play in the gym during the hour long (free taught by my friend at her church) class, which will totally take the place of any gymnastics or dance class I had considered putting her in before now. She jumps and dances and copies the moves (hopefully the instructor's and not my sorry version), and giggles at me when I look silly.

Which is practically the whole sixty minutes.

My facebook status this week pretty much sums it up: "Here I thought my lack of stylish workout clothes would be what made me stand out at aerobics this morning. It all worked out... everyone surely was so distracted by my lack of coordination that they never even noticed my outfit. Sweet." :)

As for the older boys, they've got the school routine down. Except for Trey, maybe, who occasionally forgets to listen to instructions fully and has to start over because he's too excited to get his work done as fast as humanly-eight-year-old-boy-possible.

Not because he loves doing homework, necessarily. It's all just a means to an end for his incredibly packed social agenda. Sadly (or not so sadly??), I can relate, buddy. Reading comprehension... who has time for it when there are people to see and things to do? But don't challenge him to a face-off in mental math, 'cause he'll beat you every time.

And Jack? Once upon a time, the Lord knew that I'd have four kids and the four o'clock hour would be completely nut-so in our house, so He gave me a boy who just gets it done. No instruction or motivation needed, no jumping up and down in a cheering frenzy required, just a signature at the bottom of his assignment book saying he's completed every last bit. Now you can go read happily for hours on end, my friend.

School happened. And so did Fall. A new nephew, a wedding, AWANA, flag football, a moms/school prayer group, ladies' bible study, a new ten year old, school fundraiser, multiple out-of-town grandparent visits, random ministries, plus a whole lot more.

Life is full.

But it's that good kind of full.

(Unless it's flag football in the rain. We baseball people aren't used to playing sports in the rain, you know...)

New adventures for all...

2011-08-19T22:20:00.064-04:00

The day started out on a happy note. Everyone was up early, beaming with excitement, more than ready for the first day of school. Chase was especially pumped to ride the bus for the first time, and reminded me over and over that he definitely wouldn't be tired enough for a nap after putting in his half-day. Tess hadn't grasped the fact that all three boys would soon be off on their own separate adventures, leaving her to invent a very new adventure of her own. It didn't take long for her to realize that the morning somehow wasn't about her. Major depression over a request for her to step out of the picture so I could get some shots of the brand new Kindergartner all by himself. The limp body act on the ground no longer sways me either, I'm happy to report. If it's comfortable down there, you go for it. I'm pretty sure you won't stay there for long. Ah, there's that shot I was looking for. He's big and not nervous one bit, although he despises the pig name tag he's required to wear for the first week. "Pig name tags are for babies," he announces. "Kindergartners follow instructions," I announce right back. A sure sign he's the third child: he soaks up photo shoots and thinks of a thousand poses all on his own with his new dino backpack as his only prop. He's so excited he can hardly stand it. He's not thinking about whether he'll find his way to his classroom all on his own in a brand new place, but I sure am. I'm thinking of that, while trying to keep my emotions in check as I take in every sweet expression he makes while he tells me what he thinks his day will hold.

Third, Fourth and Kindergarten boys. How in the world can three boys have such different looks and personalities and come from the same two parents? Never mind, I don't want to explain the intricacies of that phenomenon to any boy anytime soon. Carry on...

Before heading to the bus stop, Daddy pulls the big boys aside to make sure they know to look after their little brother at school. They get it. At least we hope they get it, instead of choosing to tackle each other in the hallways whenever they cross paths, which might be the more natural inclination. And then we know, when Chase later told us that Trey had his arm around Chase's backpack the minute they stepped off the bus until they reached the right Kindergarten classroom. Thanks, God. I needed that.

Ok, the girl is allowed in one more shot. No smile, but she's slowly on her way to recovery. Girl drama or just duke it out like the boys? It's a toss-up, but I'm leaning towards just getting it over with.

It's been a whole four days, and we're still walking over to the bus stop to hang out and wait with the school kids. Not because the boys need us, of course. They'll kick us out eventually, and then we'll have to just hang out in our own driveway and wave until we can no longer see the bus over the top of the hill. Every day for 180 days. Even in the snow. Yes, Tyler, I know you think that's crazy, and I'm ok with that. I waited and waited for him to look back for reassurance, but he never did. I really should be thankful for his independence and confidence, shouldn't I? Great qualities to have. Yes they are... Tess waves to the boys and confirms her feelings by telling her neighbor buddy that she can't ever ride the bus, and he's not ever going to either. Thank goodness he puts up with her nonsense.

Then she gets it. She's the only one left, and that just might not be a bad thing. I ask her what she wants to do (her pick the first day, my pick the rest...). Her first request is to paint her fingernails and toenails. I am pleased, and pleasantly surprised that it is a somewhat girly activity. So we head to the bathroom and find the pinkest pink polish we can find.

I feel like we might be onto something. An entire morning full of mom and daughter fun. Girl stuff. Tender moments. Memory making, just the two of us. Her second request? Ahem. To the kitchen for a snack of pickles. At nine o'clock in the morning. Not exactly scrapbook worthy, but I can think of worse things I suppose. Pickles for my girlie it is. Ten of them, to be exact. Her third request? She let out a little giggle and whispered....

"Let's wrestle."

School love...

2011-08-15T22:50:00.005-04:00

Here's to the start of the new school year tomorrow. To prepare, we cleaned out old backpacks last week. Aahhhh. That little exercise alone was a good reminder of how very different our boys are. Jack's backpack was tidy and straightforward. Papers were tucked away neatly in folders, and only the necessities were allowed. Trey's pack, on the other hand, contained leftover school supplies crammed in every which way, random wrinkled up papers, a dozen Matchbox cars, old gum wrappers, rocks, sticks, and trash galore. What's even more bizarre is that they're both straight "A" students. And best friends.

Who would've thought.

Anyway, I ran across this folder in Trey's ~~garbage~~ pile of second grade stuff.

If any excuse will fly, buddy, it's this one...

I'm gonna miss that kid, and his brothers too. Praying for God to surround, protect and guide them into a great year!!

Three minutes captured...

2011-08-05T14:26:00.003-04:00

Intentionally looking ahead...

2011-08-01T22:47:00.029-04:00

I just went online and registered three boys for school. Ugh. The end of summer can wait just a little bit longer if you ask me. I know lots of moms are itching for their schedules back, but this one is pretty comfortable right where she is, thank you very much.

We have enjoyed a great summer routine, thanks to a little bit of intentionality. But since it's August 1st and those crazy registrations are submitted, I've been forced to look ahead to what our schedule will look like once school starts.

Some leisurely things will sadly have to go. The kids will have to actually take baths instead of relying on the sprinkler to clean their dirty summer feet. Meals must consist of more than a PB & J on the way to a ballgame. The nighttime routine is in serious need of being bumped back by at least an hour. And pancakes in the shape of Star Wars battle ships? Well, those molds might have to be reserved for lazy Saturday mornings.

Oh, and one more thing. Sweet, sweaty boys, you might as well get it through your thick skulls... shirts must eventually be worn, whether you like it or not.

But I'm praying for the resolve to continue to make some things a priority when we say goodbye to this beloved season. Yes, we've enjoyed the simplicity that summer can bring. But, in an unexpected way, summer has also caused us to be more disciplined in certain areas.

Like Bible reading.

We take the time because there's more of it. Or maybe it's because we've intentionally scheduled it into our days. Could it be that we've come to the realization that our older boys need to be honing some of these spiritual disciplines for themselves instead of always relying on us to make it happen?

As we gear up for another year of public school, we want our kids to be armed with the Gospel of Truth. Guided, encouraged, and filled with the wisdom that God has revealed to us through His Word. It might mean getting everyone up a half-hour earlier. It definitely won't always be the easy or natural thing to do. But if I could only commit to one thing as the school year starts, it would be this.

Our practical plan over the summer has included Jack and Trey learning to study the Bible on their own. Trey completes his daily reading and worksheet for his Sunday school class, then has a head's up for the story they'll be covering during their next class time. Jack is reading through the New Testament (a challenge from his dad), but has recently decided that he wants to take a detour in Proverbs, covering a chapter a day. He then picks one verse out of his reading to write out and apply to his life personally. Chase and I just completed The Jesus Storybook Bible (the most beautiful tying together of scripture for children), and are now attempting to read it through again with Tess.

Yes, attempting.

Only the Lord knows if she is hearing the words through all of her squirming and hanging off of the bed upside down.

No matter. We're not perfect. But we're giving it our best shot, and we're begging God to do the rest.

To work in our kids' hearts. To change them to be more like Him. Then to empower them to make an impact for Christ in their own little worlds.

So far the one who has been changed and challenged the most?

Me.

Ninety degrees.

2011-07-26T16:29:00.001-04:00

Fourteen

2011-07-19T14:40:00.022-04:00

That's how many years I've been married to this man. Before fourteen, we went on quite a few mission trips together during our college days. Before fourteen we tried setting the other up with our good friends. He even trusted me to start cutting his hair when we were just buddies (either he was cheap or he wanted an excuse to sit close to me...). A few years before fourteen we debated and fought like siblings. And then we got engaged and never looked back.

Fourteen years ago, we walked Purdue graduation together, then began our married life with a journey to Arizona for Tyler's first job. We were young, half-way fearless, but mostly cheap, so we slept in the back of our U-Haul to save money on our drive out. It was a fourteen-footer (see fourteen is magical!), and with hardly any furniture to our names, our 6'3 and 5'10 frames had plenty of space to sprawl out on sleeping bags for the night. We even put safety first and jammed a wood block in the top of the back door since we couldn't lock ourselves in from the inside.

See, I did use my college education for something other than changing diapers. Street smart, I tell ya. Unless you're talking about being locked in the back of a U-Haul on a drive out West in the middle of blazing July heat.

Good thing we spent the weekend in Chicago celebrating, because on our anniversary night we're taking four energetic children to the local fair. At fourteen you splurge, and then you get practical, because there are traditions to keep and family night fair deals that can't be missed. Tonight we won't talk about dreamy love. Instead we'll talk about the outrageous cost of fair corndogs, how three year olds can't possibly behave in 100 degree heat, and we'll encourage our mini 4-H'er with gushy words about his coin collection displayed in an egg carton.

All in the name of love, of course.

Fourteen.

At fourteen, fancy Chicago meals turn into conversations about our kids, and leisurely strolls down Michigan Avenue turn into photo shoots of elite cars that our boys will absolutely flip over. At fourteen, we choose the American Girl store over Nordstroms, and she doesn't even own one yet. Afternoons in famous city parks freeze in time long enough to answer texts from a nine year old, who is beyond excited to report that his grandma is playing Hearts with him while the little ones nap. Quiet hotel moments become beautiful times of prayer as husband and wife, lifting our family - and each of our children specifically- up to the One who made it all possible fourteen years ago today.

Fourteen has changed us. Physically, demographically, and in numbers.

And fourteen couldn't be sweeter...

"The Lord has done great things for us,

and we are filled with joy..." - Psalm 126:3

The one MUST on my summer list... love lindsey

2011-07-13T02:49:00.034-04:00

My kids are growing up. Surely mine aren't the only ones. This girl was just a baby yesterday, and now... she's a mover and a shaker. I watched her in swimming lessons today and couldn't believe the little girl that's transforming before my eyes.

I want time to stop so I won't forget.

I always think I'll remember everything from their little years. The cute faces unique to just them. The pudgy bellies and crooked smiles. The adventurous spirits and playful moments. The lazy summer days of following them around outside, exploring and interacting.

Letting them just be themselves.

My remembering fails me more often than I would like to admit (can you still have pregnancy brain without actually being pregnant?). But even though I can't make time stand still, I can capture some of these priceless moments and keep them as memories for a lifetime. I plan to do just that this summer with love lindsey.

I walked through my kitchen the other day and looked up at the photos of each of my four kids hanging on the wall. It was at that moment that I realized how pathetic I am.

Tess's latest professional picture? When she was sixteen months old. Yikes. Do you know how much changing happens between sixteen months and three? Tyler even requested out of the blue this week that I get an updated photo of her on the wall. You know it's bad when he notices.

So I found out about an amazing summer deal that my photographer friend Lindsey is offering right now (don't you love it when you know friends with mad skills?), and it's simply too good not to share with my local friends. Get this...

You know you have thirty minutes. And if you're like our family, if you skip one round of McDonald's, you have thirty dollars (now there's a tragedy, folks). This might possibly be the best thirty minutes and thirty bucks you'll spend all summer, because the results will last long after the fireflies (fireflies sound so much more romantic than mosquitos, don't you think?) have disappeared for the season.

And for the record, it's lifestyle photography, otherwise known as no-stress photography. Ha. She captures your kids as they just do their thing. No posing. No forced head tilts. No cheesy fake backgrounds. Just natural personality through and through. And you'll look back on her photos and think to yourself, "Ah, I remember when she used to make that cute face...," instead of saying, "Look how miserable she was sitting still for that long." Finally, someone invented something that works for kids like mine.

You know, the ones who don't sit still for more than ten seconds.

Lindsey has creatively chosen different styles of locations in town (from country to urban), and different dates to suit busy people like you, and because I love you, I'm getting this info to you now before she fills up. But you won't want to mess around, people, because she is just that good.

You won't regret taking advantage of this unique offer! First come, first served, and the first mini-sessions start THIS SATURDAY!

P.S. You must reserve your session time... double click on the schedule above to zoom in on how to contact Lindsey.

Need more convincing? Check out Lindsey's website and blog to see some of her incredible work. I promise you won't be able to say no. :)

Happy memory making this summer with the ones you love...

A birthday party, fourth child style...

2011-07-01T14:43:00.030-04:00

Moments like these are what make busy moms glad they stayed up until 1:00am to make a last minute birthday cake. She never smiles this big when she first wakes up.

Last week was one crazy week. We made a very exciting trip to Cincinnati to see the newest cousin on Thursday and Friday. Tess's birthday fell on Saturday, but I got home and quickly got to work on the baby shower I was scheduled to help throw on Sunday in Bluffton (for another new cousin... babies everywhere in this family, and we love it!). We had already decided to lay low for Tess's birthday with all of the traveling, and I even talked myself into no cake... just a candle stuck into something at some point in the day.

Wow. This is fourth child thinking, for sure. Good thing I'm so far behind on scrapbooks that they'll never know the difference. And good thing you don't remember anything from when you're three anyway. But there are those simple moments that are worth the effort, even if they won't remember it a year from now. Or next week. After I couldn't stand it any longer, the cake went in the oven at 11:00pm the night before her birthday. I had no cute plan or even a theme. No matching napkins and streamers. I scrounged around for anything remotely girly and party-like (hard to find in this house!), and began decorating the kitchen at midnight.

She loves babies, and this is as creative as I get on a whim. Heh. Her surprised face when she woke up the next morning.... totally worth every minute of lost sleep. The great thing about having three brothers is that you always have a party on your hands. They cheered and sang and cheered some more, and didn't even fight over her presents.

Probably because they were all pink.

As much as she gets in their space, I think they've still all asked at some point why they can't marry her. She's still spunky and spirited, but she's finally maturing in her behavior and is becoming such a fun little personality. A day doesn't go by when we don't laugh hysterically at her antics. She was able to attend VBS while I volunteered this year, and every night multiple leaders would come to me with the funniest stories about her (they usually had something to do with her expressiveness, extreme silliness, or her crazy good three-year-old dance moves). One leader's comment was, "She's so adorable because she's hilarious and she doesn't even know it."

I couldn't agree more.

Thanking God for his faithfulness (and help!) these last three years. Tess, you are such a gift.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

4th of July Pie!!

2011-06-29T14:07:00.023-04:00

Popping in to share my favorite Independence Day treat with you all...but first of all... can you believe it's almost July?! Where in the world has half of the summer gone already?!

Oh yes, it's flashing right before our eyes... on the baseball field.

I'm madly in love with my little ball players (especially their cute bottoms in their baseball pants...), and actually really enjoy watching the sport (though I'm still working on the newly-turned three year old to acquire the same affection), but geesh, what a commitment. Just when we thought our season might be over, Trey had to go and make All-Stars. Super proud of that fired-up first baseman, but I'm trying hard not to drag my feet about the season now being extended by three more weeks.

The league, however, will be thrilled to know that the Daugherty siblings will be around a little bit longer to contribute to the concession stand fundraiser. :)

Ah yes, back to the pie. It's fresh, light and in-season, and it's one of those recipes that looks really impressive even though it's super easy - my favorite kind (you might want to splash some flour on your face at some point so your guests know it's homemade!)! And it's so 4th-of-July-like that we just have to make it every year. Inspired yet?! You can find the recipe here.

And, because they're too cute not to share, check out some other kid-friendly Fourth of July ideas on this sweet blog.

What's YOUR favorite 4th of July tradition?

Someone has the giggles...

2011-06-24T21:33:00.002-04:00

... and I love it! Cherishing moments like these this summer...

Father's Day every day...

2011-06-18T21:19:00.009-04:00

Do you ever click through old pictures and get to one that brings back a flood of memories? I did that recently with this one. Jack was four, and was admitted at St. Vincent Children's Hospital. A day or two expected hospital stay post-surgery had turned into five, and we were all a little bit weary at this point. One sweet, patient daddy took over and helped Jack finally visit the playroom down the hall, IV pole, loads of tubing and all. You look at this picture and see a pale, puffy four year old working on a puzzle. My heart knows the full story of how much that daddy loved on his boy that day.

A few years ago I read an article encouraging wives to affirm their husbands with spoken or written words. I took the challenge and left a note showing my appreciation for him on his bathroom sink the next morning.

And I learned something that day.

Men need to hear those words. Even if they act like they don't.

Seven years later, that note is still tucked away in his vanity drawer, in full view when he grabs his toiletries each morning. I'm humbled by that, and reminded that I need to do it more often. Father's Day is a great day to recognize Tyler, but my spoken affection for him shouldn't be limited to just special occasions.

I'm thankful for pictures like these that give me a good place to start...

“Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. " Proverbs 31:11-12

One year older...

2011-06-10T14:18:00.004-04:00

I think we've found a regular family photo spot on our Florida vacations. I only wish we had started this little tradition when we first began traveling here with our kids, when Jack was just six months old. This fountain is in a huge outlet mall outside of Rainforest Cafe... the only place all week we venture away from the pool with our kids in tow (and trust me, since they were used to bumming at the pool all week, they quickly complained about wearing collared shirts and having to do their hair...). This was us this year: ...and this was our family exactly one year ago: It will be so fun ten years from now to compare how they've grown each year (look at the difference in Tess's hair alone!).

No more swim diapers :)

2011-06-08T20:34:00.002-04:00

Summer, with a little bit of intentionality...

2011-06-06T14:26:00.021-04:00

I feel so out of the loop. We just returned from our nine day family vacation in Florida, and funny enough, everyone else's life went on while we were gone. Heh. Friends had babies, houses went up for sale, our lawn grew much taller, and the weather improved by forty degrees (what in the world?!) while we were gone. My pile of ironing is still here (darn that) and weeds seriously need pulled, but for today, I'm soaking in the fact that it is officially summer around here.

Now I am one of those mommas who sincerely looks forward to having all of the kids home for the summer. I also love the much less structured schedule... for about the first week. While we love being together, it's a trick having varying ages of kids in the house all day every day. Nine, eight, five and three... quite a range of interests, abilities, concentration levels, and ideas on what's entertaining.

And we haven't even talked about four different sets of emotions yet. Oh, dear. Wait, make that six.

So, the longer we venture into this parenting thing, the more we learn about how children work best. Every child is different, but this much I know - every kid needs structure. Some thrive on more and some on less, but their worlds run much more smoothly when there is some predictability involved. So instead of leaving our summer to chance (within God's master plan, obviously...), I must plan enough structure in each day to set them up for the best possible scenario for success. Because when I skip the intentional part, all that's left to show for our special time together is way too much Wii, and not nearly enough love. Enough said.

I've jotted down my summer ideas and have somewhat of a master plan in place, but I'm still working on tweaking the fine details. We have bigger events scheduled each month, weekly activities that we'll revisit, all the way down to daily time slots set aside for reading, chores, and honing spiritual disciplines. Not scheduled so much that we can't change it up if necessary, but scheduled enough so we won't all completely loose our minds by week two.

If I'm starting to sound too structured for summer, don't you worry. We'll fit in plenty of time for the ball field, popsicles for no reason, water fights, picnics, star gazing, Dog 'N Suds, and fires in the fire pit. And that's just getting started, ya'll...

It is summer, after all.

Movin' on up!

2011-05-22T21:07:00.005-04:00

Look what we took down this past week! For as much as I feel like we've been in the baby stage forever, I can't believe that after ten solid years of use, this thing will no longer take residence in our house. If I thought about it too long, I might get a little emotional. That is, until I remember the schemes of this little daredevil.

She and Trey, my two little climbers... up, over, and right on out of the crib. It only took one time to shake Trey up. Tess on the other hand... oh dear. It takes a whole lot to sidetrack this girl. I haven't had to get her out of her crib for the last month and a half. Spunky, that kid.

So the new big girl bed is working out quite nicely, and she's even slept past six a.m. a couple of times in the last few days. That alone is a miracle, and worth the switch, if you can credit it to that. The first night she slept in her new bed, I listened to her sing herself to sleep through the monitor. It was soft, sweet, and purposefully tender and melodic, and it went a little something like this:

"I like you new bed... you look like Jack's bed.... you're so pretty and cute... I no climb out.... my momma 'pank my bucket... I love you new bed...."

Sometimes instead of blogging...

2011-05-19T05:44:00.030-04:00

You have to take on the world. Or at least engage yourself a little more in it.

Parenting with Tyler has taught me many lessons over the years. About how daddies seem to be able to hold their ground with a little less (ok, a lot less!) emotion involved. I've noticed (with some longing, I might add) how they can often times be more efficient, because clingy two year olds don't hang on their legs like they do ours. Fact. He also gets kids to fall asleep on his lap sometimes, because he actually sits down with them and enjoys them, instead of always trying to get every last thing on the to-do list accomplished. And for the record, he doesn't video our kids. We do have some sweet footage that we'll be able to look back on and embarrass them with when they're about to graduate from high school, but many times we pass up the urge, because as Tyler says, "If my eyes are behind a lens, I'm not engaging in the moment."

This past month has been a lot like that. Sometimes the social technology, the urge to document it all takes over the living for me. And this past month, I happen to have had a lot of living to do.

It was one of those reevaluation times for us. The start of baseball season always seems to do that. Heh. Tyler and I had late night conversations about how we spend our time, and how that is affecting our children. We talked about goals, and what we wanted our kids to remember about their days at home with us. We asked hard questions about our commitments, and how those reflect our priorities. And we walked away a bit discouraged that we might regret the craziness that we found ourselves in.

That being said, it's not all about the schedule, is it? Tyler and I make very deliberate choices, realizing our limits with four young children. Sometimes it's more about the attitude I wake up with in the morning. Sometimes it's the discontentment in my heart when I take my focus off of others and onto myself, or when I try to move onto another season in my life, instead of embracing the one I'm in. Sadly, it happens when I put my to-do list before my family and my time with God.

So we went to the Bible for answers. I tell myself it wasn't a last resort effort after all of our logic and hard work didn't pay off. God pointed me to verses that confirmed my need to live in the moment - daily with my children - taking every opportunity to teach them about Him. I was reminded to love God with my whole heart - not just my leftovers - and then to love and serve people well. I needed to hear again that this world is not my home, and to stop acting like it. That God's purpose and plan in my life often goes far beyond my limited view.

We're making some changes in this house. That doesn't mean that life will ever be simple, or even that it will slow down all that much with four busy, needy kids. But it means that my perspective is beginning to take that needed shift.

Up earlier, less facebook, more relationships, less wasting time...

I don't think it's any coincidence that God placed some significant people with some pretty significant circumstances in my life over the past month to remind me of the shift that needed to happen in my life - and to do it much sooner than later:

A precious mommy friend whose world has been blessed and turned upside down by a sweet boy who happens to have Williams Syndrome. Megan, you've taught me a lot about embracing and finding joy in the life God chooses for us.

My Grandpa Fincher, whose life we will celebrate this coming weekend. Just weeks after being diagnosed, he lost his short fight with lung cancer. Thank you, God, for reminding me that life is short - and precious - and can be over when we least expect it.

My dear friend Tammy, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Our late night talks have reminded both of us that God is up to something, and that His promises never fail. Tammy, your courage and faith have inspired me, and so many others. I am privileged to walk alongside you on your journey, and to call you friend.

My dad, who retired last week, and is embarking on his new carefree adventure across the country! You have not only taught me much about hard work and sacrifice, you've taught me to enjoy every minute of every day... as if it were my last.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Sometimes instead of just blogging about it, you have to simply live it.

Five years ago...

2011-04-21T14:51:00.022-04:00

I was wondering if I would go into labor during the Easter service at church. :) I do remember having a few contractions, but Chase held on five more days, just so he could follow two important Daugherty baby trends - being late, and officially weighing over nine pounds. Thanks buddy. Not that I'm complaining... I should just be thankful that we made it to the hospital in time that day. The crazy kid was born thirty minutes after we walked through the hospital doors (uh, that would include registration and all), just after Tyler hyperventilated and I lost complete sanity. But oh, was he worth it! Thanking God for my third, sweet, almost Kindergartener boy today (who is napping now, hopefully recovering from his party at preschool, followed by a fun lunch playdate with three of his boy classmates...).

Happy 5th Birthday, Chase Dylan!!