These March Dayz...

Winter's been a doozy...but mayhap we are on the tail end of things.
One can always Hope, anyway.

At any rate ~ a cold and snowy March has been a million times better than a pukey, sick February...
I'll take it.  Begrudgingly...

Someone once said that "Childhood is a Journey; not a race."
This little space for recording our Days of Journey together has sat sorely quiet for many a week as of late.
But not for lack of living...

In all of its various forms.

One Family Day, we literally dug ourselves out of the snow and made a fire pit out back for making hotdogs and s'mores.  It was cold.  It was windy.  It felt a little Arctic...but we determined that we were going to play outside...and that WE WERE GOING TO HAVE FUN!!! Or else....

And we did.
And it was.
Until it wasn't.
So, then we came back inside and finished cooking our hotdogs in our downstairs fireplace.

We have a couple of little maples that we are attempting to tap for syrup.  While we see our friends pouring gallons of sap over into tubs that reside in their awesome homemade sugar shacks....our trees are plodding along with a good one inch of sap in each bucket.

Our yield is going to be Epic this year....

Crazy days.
Lazy days.
Hazy days...where when I lay my head down at night, I honestly can't even remember what I did for the day....

This is life, right now....
It is full, and it is good.

And oh so over the top chaotic-ally messy.....

I found this blog post today, and I loved it.
I thought it was super funny and super encouraging.

I think this generation of Moms has it way hard....

Too many things vying for our attention.
Too many programs we feel we are missing out on if we don't enroll our kids in them.
Too many perfect Facebook updates to read.
Too much comparing.
So many unrealistic expectations in which we are setting ourselves up for failure....
So much joy suckaging from our souls....

Man, I can barely keep my kids clothed.
Oh wait.....

So, here's the deal...
How about you do YOU...and I'll do ME.
We'll both do the very best that we can....and we'll both keep it as honestly real as possible...

We'll love and we'll laugh...and we'll ache and we'll cry.
You'll do some things way better than I will....and that's okay.
And maybe I'll be gifted in an area where you aren't so much.  That's okay, too.

"Nothing steals joy away from parenting than believing you're doing a terrible job at it." ~ Jen Hatmaker

Preach it, sister.
Truth.

And nothing much more makes us feel like we're doing a crappy job than when we compare ourselves to each other.  Good grief, what a nasty game.  And what a slippery path to walk.  If I look hard enough, I will always, easily find someone who is doing every single thing that I am doing...plus more.  And way better.  This sends me wallowing down the "I suck-eth" trail of Motherhood.  But, then again...if I look hard enough, I can probably find someone who isn't doing as much as I am...as well as I think I am...and so then I become the Snob of the Century.

Both, completely Miz Mamas...

These guys don't expect perfection.
These guys don't ever get perfection.
But, these kids know that I love them wildly.  Always and forever.  No matter what.

And guess what.....God feels the same exact way about us Mamas, too.
There's not a single thing we could do that would make Him love us more.
And there's not a single thing we can do that could make Him love us less.

He loves us through the mundane.
And He loves us through all of the madness, just the same...
Both the tame and the untamed moments...
Through the blissy...and maybe even especially through the messy.....

He is gracious.
He is tender.
His specialty is redemption....

"This is the most shocking truth;  The God who knows us truly, loves us still!" ~ Bryan Chapell

Rest in this, Sweet Sisters...
It is well with my soul.

Regroup.

My mom and dad took the kids for five nights (Count them - FIVE. NIGHTS.) this past week.
I know, right?  I am fully aware of the gift that I have in my parents.
They take them for almost a week every winter and every summer.

They ask to do this...
I don't even have to beg...

I hope I'm that cool of a grandparent when I get older.  I hope I'm not too old and washed up.
I also hope my kids don't have a lot of children...  Juuuust kidding.  Truly, I jest.
I fully intend to give this same gift to my kids, if they will let me.

Trader Joe's.
One of my most favorite places in the world.

A week of refreshment.
A week of rest.  Of spending quality, intentional time with your spouse.
Time to refuel.  To fill back up spiritually, emotionally, physically....
It's been amazing.

Old Port.  Delish coffee.

And it's been awesome for the kids, as well.

Both Kev and I have some of our most favorite childhood memories that include extended time with our grandparents.  Some of my most cherished memories that I hold the most dear were times spent at my Grammy's house on overnights.  And I did this all the way up through high school.  Simple pleasures like long, leisurely breakfasts.  Playing duets on the piano.  Grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken and stars soup for lunch.  Staying up late talking in bed together.  Watching movies.  Picking flowers.  Catching frogs in the pond and taking them up to the house to show her my treasure!  Those memories are forever, firmly implanted upon my soul - a part of who I am today.  And my parents are now giving my children those same, deep memories for themselves.  What a gift!

Coffee art.  

I hesitate to even write about it, because I am well aware of friends who don't have this same gift in their family members.  One of my dearest friends said to me the other day:  "I have a love/hate relationship with your mother."  I get it.  Mom's a rockstar.  A lot of grandparents don't -- or even, can't -- do this for their grown children.

I know.

And the real beauty behind it all, is that the kids live to go up there. They love it...and I swear, they don't even miss us.  Mom and Dad have a laundry list a mile long of things to do with them while they're up Home.  They've spent the night in Dad's little cabin out back; he's dragged them behind the four-wheeler on some sort of homemade contraption over the snow.  They've watched movies and ate an obscene amount of junk food. They've stayed up late.  Dad's done projects with them....  And Mom's even done school with them!

Afternoon tea at our Inn.  Super sophisticated we are....

My parents are amazing.
They are intentional with their time.
They've loved on my kids as though they are their own.
They have filled their love tanks full to the tippy top brim.
And in doing so, they have filled up mine, as well.
This is the gift I want to give to my own kids some day.

Duck Fat Sandwich Shop.
Still having trouble wrapping my brain around that one...

And so, while my parents loved on my babies...Kevy and I snuck away for a much anticipated Belated Valentine's Day getaway.  We blitzed it South just a wee bit and spent two nights and three days at a sweet little Inn and had the best time -- just doing nothing.  It was so blissy!  We slept in, we ate lots of beautiful food.  We poked around some fun little shops.  We took naps.  We went out for coffee in the evening - just because we could.

And we reconnected.
We assessed and reassessed.
We asked ourselves questions like:  How are we doing?  Where are we going?  How is our family? What things need to change?  What things are really great?  How are our jobs?  Where do we need to be more intentional?  What do we need to take off of our plates?  What should be added?  Where do we see ourselves in five years?  Are we good?  Are we connected?  Is there anything we need to talk about?

Holy Donut.  Made with mashed potatoes.
Hands down the BEST donut I have ever eaten in my entire life.
Well worth every. single. calorie.

Good questions -- always good to ask and re-ask every few months -- especially when life has you passing like ships in the night sometimes...and when your family has spent an entire month puking.  I also really love having a few days in a row of extended, uninterrupted conversation.  That was quite lovely....

And so....while the re-entry might be just a wee bit painful...and a little bit shocking to the senses....
We are ready.
We are filled.
We are connected.
And we are missing our Loves....

And I will look across the room at him - over the heads of three little boys and one crazy little girl....
I will have to raise my voice just a bit - over the bedlam and chaos that is our life....
We'll start a couple of conversations and then we'll give each other a knowing look that says:  "Let's wait just a couple of hours til the Hoolies are tucked in for the night...."

And then, we'll curl in close...for a night of sleep involving multiple interruptions for sure...and an early morning that will come ALL too soon....

...And I'll tell him this:  "It's crazy.  But it's good.  It's SO very, very good.  And I wouldn't have it any other way...."

We are blessed beyond measure.
Pressed down and overflowing...

To my parents, I thank you.
For loving on my babies.
For giving us this gift of Time together.
For filling love tanks full to overflowing....
We are so very blessed indeed.