#TheStruggleIsReal

Yes, it’s been very real today. You know it’s real every day, at least it is for me, but some days it’s really real, if you know what I’m saying 🙂

It was a dreary day here, but I didn’t mind. And when Dale volunteered to take the children to school this morning, I was grateful. A bit of alone time. Yes, sir 🙂 But I did know there would be guys in my kitchen fixing my backsplash. That’s fine. We have other rooms in the house to drink coffee in 🙂

Jenna and I did a grocery run, which went ok. Besides the bill, but I’m rarely ok with that 🙂

The afternoon went downhill. Not in a horrible, tragic way. More like a slow, continuous battle. Today was vision therapy day for my son. We drove through rain, but got there in time. So that was nice. Also, a confession after my rant about running red lights. I think I hit about 10 yellow lights today 🙂 I went through some easily. Stopped for others. And I kind of went through one that turned red on me. Shame on me! I felt immediate guilt, because of all that I said about this. I really think God tests me when I say things 🙂

Anyway, that all went well, and then came home, threw some hotdogs and kraut in the crock pot because I’m nutritious like that. And I wasn’t going to cook with the tile guys in my kitchen. Don’t judge 🙂

Then milking time. Maybe I should correct myself, and say that’s where the struggle started 🙂 The weather turned muggy and humid, and our barn was a sticky mess. It affected me. And the cows. And the children. And the husband. You get my drift. Really though, the cows seemed uptight, hitting me in the face with their tail, kicking off milkers, chewing on them. And then the boys decided to race their bikes around, yelling loudly, till mom lost it, and hollered. Shame on me again.

Time for supper. Realized the hotdogs were on low 😦 Turned up the crock pot. One child is losing it that he made a mistake on his homework, call the teacher NOw, Mom, call her NOW. The other child ran around throwing folded wash on the floor. Another trying to tell me something, and yelling that she can’t talk because ev.ery.one interrupts her. One comes in stripped down to his skivvies, fussing that his brother threw sawdust on him, and he’s so itchy, and his sister is lecturing him on immodesty. Aand the mom yelled,”What next???!!” And started dishing out advice, and thank goodness the hubby is coming in the door!

And then more homework, and bathtime, and bedtime. I told them I couldn’t wait to put them to bed. That probably wasn’t the nicest thing to say. I really felt like that though. I wonder if I’m cut out for this job of mothering sometimes. My post last week about life, and how quickly it can be gone, should make me think. And it does. But then why do I mess up over and over again? I can picture God sighing about me some days.

Like I said, not a terribly, horrible no good very bad day. Just a day that felt like I didn’t cope well with my attitude and my children.

I feel a bit silly now that I wrote out my feelings 🙂 But I also feel better. And in about 5 minutes, I’ll be feeling better yet. Because I will be eating an apple dumpling from my sweet mother. And it will be very yummy 🙂 Don’t judge 🙂

Feel free to share your struggles in the comments. I admit to sometimes feeling like I bore you over my life, and have little interaction with you 🙂 My stats show that someone is reading this blog. Maybe not many, but still some 🙂 And I love reading comments, so please share if you find time 🙂

Now… about that apple dumpling;)

Bits of summer ~ Part 3

As promised way back, more summer photos..

One of our favorite summer highlights was when my sister and her family came home from Haiti on a 3 wk. furlough. misc and Rachelle's boys 009 Jenna and Owen enjoying corn on the cob at Grandma’s house. They seemed to hit it off pretty quickly after not seeing each other for a year 🙂 We had a corn day at our house. It was special to spend a weekend at the cabin together while Harold and Sherita were here! Fun memories were made 🙂 We enjoyed the Lebanon fair. There was warm, summer nights.. Owen loved our puppies 🙂Checking on a cow in the float tank. For those of you not familiar with farming, it is a means of getting a cow back up after she is unable to on her own. Sadly, it didn’t work for this girl 😦He is doing so much better at school than I thought he would 🙂

Ending this post on that note. Thanks for taking the time to read 🙂 Be blessed!

Life

Did you wake up this morning, thankful for your beating heart? Did you feel blessed to feel your spouse’s warmth beside you? Did you smile at your children as they tumbled out of bed with stinky breath, and tousled hair? Did you joyfully make them breakfast, and wipe up the aftermath?

I’ll tell you how I did with that. I woke up weary, feeling lousy from a cold that hasn’t left me for weeks, and what seems to be a different cold starting. My body rebelled at the early hour, and no, I didn’t feel thankful. And I did none of the above. Instead, this week I was feeling discouraged a bit. In the last month, I’ve lost count of all the things that needed to be repaired or replaced around here, but it seems like a stack of dominoes falling, one after the other, and I complained to my husband about it. He reminded me that “That’s life.” 🙂

I need to be reminded of that. And it hit me this morning, when I heard of the young family in an automobile accident, the loss of a mother and child. Here is the news article on that. I can’t imagine the grief, and heartache they are facing.

Who am I to complain about anything, when their are families mucking through deep grief. When children are being abused. When families are fleeing for their very lives. When the homeless spend a cold night outside.

I know I’ll forget again and again, how good I really do have it. How blessed I really am. And I imagine I’ll complain and worry, even before the day ends. But I think God uses different events, tragedies, a sermon, a song, or whatever it may be, to remind us that He is in control. To remind us to be thankful for all we have been given. Because it was all given to you and I. Without Him, we are nothing.

I hope that you have the blessing of enjoying a meal with your family. Of goodnight kisses, and a hug goodbye. Of laundry to fold, and floors to wash. Of grace, and love, and friendship. Of beautiful sunsets and a sunny day.

Side note…

I’m back to finish this post. I had to sweep up mud that my dear child dumped on my freshly washed kitchen floor. God may have been testing me to see how I responded after I wrote all that about complaining 😉

Enjoy your weekend! Around here it looks like a cold one!

I’ve come to realize…

… that randomness is something I am quite good at 🙂 Say that in your best English accent 😉 Anywho, we’ll be keeping this post very random.

I guess since this is my little spot to write and share things, I’m going to share something that I think is getting progressively worse. It bugs me very much. People that run red lights. And if you are wondering, did I see you doing that, that would be no. I’m not saying I never ran one. If I did though, it was because the sun was in my eyes, or the yellow light changed to quickly. Ok, or maybe I was in a hurry. Working on that! But really, the other day my light turned green, and I slowly started going, and some person blew right past me. We could have had a very unfortunate meeting. And every Wednesday, I take my son to a therapy appointment that is a 1/2 hr. drive, and it is unbelievable how many people run right through a red light! In fact, one guy was coming up to the light, and my guess was it had been red at least 2 to 3 seconds, and he never even hit the brakes. Just went through like it was greener than green. Is it just me, or are the colors on the light pretty easy to see? And red means STOP the vehicle. Got that off my chest 🙂

Moving on..

At the store this week, I heard a mother talking very unkindly to her children. And then she proceeded to call them idiots. My heart hurt for them. So many mistreated children. Our words can be weapons, fellow moms. Trust me, I do that way more than I care to admit. Something to think about when those sweet children are wearing you down.

The weather lately has been all sorts of lovely. I do love fall!Filling the planter.

Picking up potatoes at Pop-pop and Grandma.

She loves our puppy Caramel. MISC. Sept. 2015 006 This guy sat on my washline post, and left me get quite close.

Mom brain is actually a thing. Yesterday, I was going over quickbooks since I am only 4 months behind, and I discovered my balance was off. The reason, a deposit that I put in the deposit slot, and then subtracted it instead of adding it. The nice part – I could add it back to our account 🙂

I took my children’s photos one evening. I got a lot of this.

This sarcasm fits me well 🙂 I did not edit these. Just God giving that gorgeous light.

Jenna has learned to ride a bike. Guess she wanted to show her big brothers that girls can ride without training wheels at 3 yrs. old too 😉

Have a great weekend, friends!

Bits of Summer ~ Part 2

Another picture post. Because I take so many photos 🙂 Taken through the gator window. I love her! 🙂The joy from seeing a monarch. I always think of my nephew in heaven when these winged beauties flutter by.There was much love to see 2 ducks come to our farm.The sweetest fishermen. ❤ 20150723_193024 Wild hair 🙂 A visit to Mt. Gretna lake.Fun with cousins in Grandma’s sand box. beach june 2015 061 Time at the beach with cousins. Tricycle rides.. misc and Rachelle's boys 012 Corn on the cob.