I Can't Do It

"Apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
These are the words I read today as I sat thinking about the events of the morning.

 I just wanted to go to a bible study for women to actually have adult conversation and pretend to be a showered, civilized woman. Ok, I also wanted to go without any stress, and to be honest that shouldn't be a realistic goal of mine anymore.

Over and over my physical limitations of only having 2 arms with 4 children proved my humanly weaknesses. I got them all into the van (only screaming at them once) and had a pretty peaceful drive to where I was going. Realizing I was about 20 minutes late, I decided to just haul the twins in my arms and not use the stroller to get into the building. Hello, what? I don't know what I was thinking. As we are headed in the door, both little boys are screaming and the two older are complaining about the wind, cold, and having to carry too much stuff for me. "Just hurry up!!!", I yell while barely making it through the door before it hit me from behind. Ok, the twins are now 20 months and I don't know if we just don't get them out enough or what but they have some separation anxiety going on...bad. I love it while we are home and they want to cuddle and always be close, but when they need to go play for mommy to get a little break, it becomes a real tough thing. All that to say, I made it in, although twins were screaming, I went to the study. It was great and much needed.

And, now its over and I have to go get the little darlings. I could hear the scream as I entered the hallway to the children's wing. Oh no! Oh yes, that was one of the twins. So, again it was quite a circus to get coats on and try to make it out the door just to get in the flipping van. I felt exhausted already from getting there. The hour and a half study just wasn't long enough. As Owen was flailing around screaming because he was desperately wanting to know if I was going to leave him again, Andrew decided he just might cry too. I mean, afterall, there was a chance I could take them back into that room where they had so much fun. ahhh!!! While, trying to carry the screaming duo and keeping the olders inline to get out the door, I had several sweet ladies ask if I needed help. "No! Why? why would you think that?! I can do this." Oh heavens. I made it to the van and as soon as I sat down, tears ran from my eyes. I felt the sting of pride, exhaustion, and utter weakness all throughout my being. I was mad that it's this hard to do one simple task. I was sad that my children are clingy and won't exactly take help from anyone. I was tired, and I didn't want to be. I was embarrassed, because I couldn't keep it together.

The simple reminder that we can't do anything without Him, was exactly what I needed to read. In my weakness, HE IS STRONG. In my weakness, others see HIS GRACE. In my weakness, I SEE HIS GRACE. I have to try and remind myself of this. I'm not superwoman. In fact, because I'm not superwoman I get to experience Christ in a way that I wouldn't if I were. When we go through trials and adversity, we become dependent on Christ. If we could do it all and not have to strive for perserverance through faith, we wouldn't depend on our Lord.

Father, thank you for reminding me today that I need you desperately. Thank you, that though it's hard and at times exhausting, you've given this family for me to love.

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My Child Puked Into My Mouth

  So, you ever had one of your kids throw up in your mouth?  Not, like, "Oh, I think a little of that vomit got into my mouth."  No, more like, "wow, most of that vomit is now in my mouth."  It reminded me of the SNL skit where the family chews up their food for each other (picture).

At about 5:00, our oldest son called me and said, "Dad, you need to come home right now.  Andrew is throwing up and mommy is sad.  You need to come home right now."  Fortunately, I was already on the road and almost home that night.  The twins had both been sick for a couple days, and poor Andrew couldn't keep anything down that day.  I walk in the door, and Lins is holding Andrew as Owen screams from his highchair.  Manning is running around yelling about something, and Elijah is slowly stroking Andrew's head (he's our lover).  I can quickly tell Lins needs a break, so she hands Andrew over to me.  For whatever reason my mouth apparently was as wide open as humanly possible and Andrew immediately shared most of his dinner with me...Shared it directly with me. I may never know why he strategically waited until Lins handed him over to me.
  Now, this seemed like a highly contagious transaction, and I was certain that the flu immediately engulfed my body.    But here I sit nearly 5 days later symptom free.  Although, I was looking forward to the following conversation:

PERSON:  Aw man, you got the flu?  How do you think you got it?

ME:  I'm pretty sure that I caught it when my son puked in my mouth.

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Updating Outdated Kitchen Counter

Before

                                         

After

  This is how you can change your old, outdated countertops without spending a fortune.  And all you need is 3-5 colors of paint, paper towels, and paint brushes.
  I really didn't like our fake butcher block counter tops, and I read several places that you could paint them. While John was at work one day, I took a stab at painting them with some random paint in the garage...We have a lot of leftovers. I was pleased to see how well it covered.
Now I am obsessed and want to do the whole thing for sure. :)
  I ended up buying some counter paint by Rustoleum at Lowes to put down first. I figured it had a much more durable surface to work with than whatever I was finding in the garage.
  Once the solid color was dry, I started dabbing. Using a paper towel. Yep. that's right...Crumple the paper towel, dip in the paint lightly and go to town stamping the counter. After about 5 different colors and several layers here are the before and afters.

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Adoption Video

  I don't think that we ever put Elijah's adoption video on this blog, so here you go.  Watching it brings up so many emotions.  The trip was exhausting, and Lins and I experienced so much excitement, and fear, and doubt, and hope every hour.  It was truly physically and emotionally draining.  But God has been excessively good to us, and Elijah continues to be such an incredible blessing to our family.  His love, kindness, selflessness, gentleness, and obedience have been overwhelming.

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Kickin It

  As most blogs seem to do, this blog has laid dormant for over 2 years.  The last update was in 2010, and at that time we were merely a family of 4.  Well, in that nearly 2 year period, we have added a couple more whipper snappers and now we blessedly sit as a family of 6.  We've also moved into a new (for us) house, and Lins has been chipping away at a ton of projects.

  So, we thought, given the uniqueness of our family, this blog would give us the opportunity to show our ups and downs and God's constant faithfulness along the way.  From house projects, to adoption stories, to projectile vomiting, you'll find it here.

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