My Eagle Scout

Here are some pictures of my Eagle Scout. We had his Banquet on Saturday night. It went really well.
This is the man that J gave his mentor pin to.
Us right before he was given his award.
Getting his award.
A pic of the yummy cake
Both of the eagles. This is J's friend who also received Eagle at this banquet.

So I know that...

Yesterday's post was whiny. I didn't really mean to sound whiny. I didn't feel whiny. I am really OK with the spot the Lord has me in right now. I am so busy with little ones and school I don't really have much time for anything else.
Thanks for all the wonderful words of encouragement and advice I got from my wonderful friends and my beautiful daughter.
I am a very blessed woman. I feel so blessed every day that sometimes it overwhelms me. Thank you God for my many blessings.

Fitting in

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I don't really fit in anywhere. I don't have a close friend near by. I have a few close long distance friends, maybe that is why because we are not near. I have prayed for years for a close friend but God has not sent one. I don't know why but that is ok. I have a lot on my plate with little ones and schooling. But back to fitting in I just don't fit in anywhere. I think I would like to but most days it really doesn't bother me. I have never really fit in for long anywhere. Plus when I was younger I made a lot of mistakes trying to fit in. So I am not sure fitting in is all it's cracked up to be.
Of course I have to wonder if it is me. Especially when I have a hormonal emotional week like last week. I mean why does no one want more than friendly surface conversation. I want deep meaty conversation. I want someone I can tell my deepest fears and desires. I want someone I can call at the drop of a hat, or they can call me, and we would be there for each other.
I guess people are just busy.
I am really ok with not having a close friend but sometimes I wonder...

Life

Life just goes on day after day. It seems to pass by so quickly. Kids grow so fast. The time I think I have to do things just disappears before I get a chance to do anything. I wonder when I am older what my regrets will be. I wonder if I will regret that day(s) that I didn't get the house as clean as I would have liked. I think in the end the house will be the last of my regrets. I think that I will regret the time that I didn't take to dance with my little ones or laugh with my older ones. I think the things of this world that are temporal will mean nothing. The lives of my children, which are eternal, will mean EVERYTHING.
I hate the days when my focus is off and I am too serious. I don't want to be serious all the time. I don't want it all to be about the supposed "urgent" things. Because you know in the end those things are not really all that urgent anyway.
So if you are reading this take the time today to laugh and dance with your children. They don't stay children for very long.

Today has been hard

You know today has been a hard day. For many reasons I will not go into all of them but one is that Judah is VERY fussy. But there are other things that have compounded that. In all of that I just keep thinking how happy I am to be a mother. I love being a mother. All I have ever wanted to do was be a mother. It is the most wonderful, rewarding and hardest job I have ever had. I have some wonderful children who care about me and want to help me. I love them so much. They bless me daily in some way or another.
I LOVE BEING A MOTHER! There is no other place in this world I would rather be right now than right here with my 5 children.
Thank you God for your many blessings.

Sad news

Sad News

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world
at the moment, it is
worth reflecting on the death of a very important person,
which almost went unnoticed recently.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died
peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for
his family was getting him into the
coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble
started.

Hush up. You know it's funny.

Ponderings

So much has transpired in the past less than 24 hours that it has made me think.
As the years go by I think of certain parenting times that might be harder than the others. Like a collicky baby is hard to deal with, the terrible twos and threes are hard. Then there is the teen years. They are trying to grow up and assert themselves and you are trying to guide and let go at the same time.
But although I don't have a grown child yet I can see, because of others experiences that that may be the hardest time. I am sure as they mature into older adults it probably gets easier but the 20's are probably going to be different. Maybe not awful, maybe they will still respect their God given authority but maybe they will look more to the world than God and their authority.

Is this a reflection on our parenting skills? As parents (Or at least I do) we tend to think that all our children's behavior is our fault. But is it? I mean they are born with a sin nature. We can help them control that. We can help them recognize that. We can guide them to a closer walk with God and while some of their bad choice will reflect our parenting I just can't think all of it will.

Sometimes we let go too soon and put them in the world when they are not ready and peers tend to guide their decisions. Sometimes we hold on too tight and don't let them experience the world as we choose and under our guidance so when they do get out they are floored and just blow with the wind.

There is a fine line for us parents and you know what we will not get it right all the time. We will fail and we will sin and we will make wrong parenting decisions.
So will our children as they reach adulthood. My prayer is that my children, even though not perfect and they will make mistakes and they might even choose something different than we would, my prayer is that they walk with God on a daily basis and that as we transistion to this role of adulthood we also transistion to the relationship of friends as well as parent and child.