Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

So...

My baby is a year old now. Seriously!?! Where has this year gone? She is cruising around everywhere and even has a few words now. I am not ready for my last baby to grow up! The thought of not having a baby around anymore makes me sad. I love getting to experience all their stages of learning and growing. Alas, I must come to terms with the end to this era.

I do, indeed celebrate these little lives God has given me the great pleasure of overseeing. So I'll delight in my life now while my kids are little because this is it. No more kids, until I have grandchildren that is. And we're not going to talk about that.

Clemmie got to celebrate her birthday this year by sharing a party with her cousin, Scout, who turned four.

Happy birthday, my beautiful Clemence.

Country Roads, Take Me Home

So...

My friends, we are movin' back! To ole' West Virginny that is. It has been a bit sketchy these last few months, but we now have a plan. God is good. He knows my limitations and has given me the info that I need to start making plans, which I needed to do before going crazy.

My sweet Josh was not accepted anywhere to pursue his MFA in creative writing, so our direction has changed. Although, we love our Mountain Mama we never really anticipated going back there. God has apparently always had a different plan. :) We are super excited to be moving back home and be close to our family. We are also very excited to see how God will have us minister there.

As of right now, we have no foreseeable means of income, so if you know of something that Josh can do please let us know! We like to eat!

The End of My Hiatus

So...

No, I didn't really take a hiatus, but having that baby girl in June mixed with the other three has made blogging a back-burner item. I think, too, the old Facebook status steals my blogging thunder as well. I really want to be someone who can blog regularly. Daily is probably out of the question, maybe even weekly, but my goal right now is to at least do a monthly post. That's my promise to you, faithful reader. :o)

I think right now I'll talk about friends. They are truly God-given. After spending a lovely evening with some friends last night, I have come to the conclusion that they are truly probably the sweetest people I know. They are so loving to each other and to their children, so in turn, their children are super sweet and loving. There are moments when it is easy to react in a loving and sweet way, but this isn't just a reaction for these folks. They are always this way.

I have thought before that for me to be sweet to my children requires their obedience. If they would just do what I ask, then I wouldn't have to get upset and discipline. Or with Josh, if he would just take care of me the way I need, I would repay him by being a more loving wife. Why do I do that? If I had to guess, I would probably say pride, which comes from my sin nature. I want things and people to be a certain way so as to fall in with my plan, and if that happens, then I can love them.

I realized last night as I was putting the kids to bed that these people had inspired me. I was patient. I was loving. I was sweet. I didn't yell. I didn't fume. I didn't belittle. I just enjoyed my children. What I also realized was that I had made a conscious decision to act in this way. I didn't expect my 2-year-old to act like he was 10. I let my 5-year-old take his time getting his pajamas on. I didn't get aggravated that my 7-year-old's obsessive teeth-brushing routine takes so long. I let them be, just be. They don't need to be any certain way for me to love them and to have my respect.

I think the Lord gave us yesterday evening to just relax and be with people we enjoy and to teach me to step back and quit expecting perfection.