And she dragged me, kicking and screaming.

So, I wasn't going to post today. I really didn't have anything spectacular to say and...honestly? I have a lot of messes going on at home lately. I have piles of clothes to be sorted; a homeschool room to be organized; toys to be purged; laundry to be laundered; children to be fed; PiYo to do; calories to be counted; toilets to scrub; prayers to be said; devotions to be done; and the list goes on and on...all the while the pool is calling my name for a couple more weeks. However, my TimeHop app sent me a picture today and it prompted the following thoughts.

A year ago, I hadn't been out with friends for about 18 months. When I mean "out with friends," I mean...like out, without kids. There wasn't really a reason I hadn't been out; I've never been a big Ladies-Night-Outer, I just got so consumed with everything going on around here (adjusting to life as a stay-at-home-mom of four after working outside the home, being pregnant, nursing a baby, taking care of the house and other kids, working it all around my husband's schedule, and sinking in to my own very comfortable routine of Facebook, blogging and photos, etc) that I didn't feel like taking the effort to get cleaned up and escape for a short while and go have a coffee, conversation and a little breathing room with friends. I just didn't feel like it. I didn't want to leave my routine and comfort zone.

However, I have a friend named Jenny, jennyitup, JRap.

Everyone should have a JRap.

She relentlessly harassed me to leave the house with her, for just a bit, and go have fun. (You should also know we were friends for like two years before this point). Now, if you know Jenny, you know she wasn't trying to get me to jump ship, get blindly drunk and max out the credit cards. She's just OLDER than me a seasoned wife and mom, also has a slew of kids, and she knows that a little time off in the right environment, for the right reasons, and with the right folks, is good. Everyone needs a time-out, right? We planned. And I'm pretty sure I got nervous and canceled twice (I'm not really sorry sorry, Jenny!!). Then she basically threatened me in the most Christian way possible.

So, we negotiated.

I told Jenny I would leave the house after the baby was in bed and if she picked me up. She obliged and we had coffee, chocolate and about a thousand laughs. It was a great boost and had me re-fueled for the next day. I'm pretty sure I texted her after to ask when we were going out the next time. So, one year later, we're still doing this. A few friends of ours all get together once every month-and-a-half or so and we just get together and breathe. and chat. and laugh. and eat food we don't normally eat. and get that breathing room that we all need, but so rarely make time for.

I love my husband and kids, so much, but I think a little breathe-time is good for all of us. It allows me to stop, collect thoughts and re-fuel while my husband and kids get a break from me can bond together, too! I've learned that going out doesn't make me a run-away mom, it just gives me an occasional time-out. Who would fight that?

When things get ugly.

Look for the beauty marks. Apart from Christ, I'm a huge pessimist. Can you believe that? On this very blog, I often write about seeing good come from bad; I have often counseled others to look on the bright side and stay there. But, without GRACE, I wouldn't be able to do that. There's SO much bad in this world that I could easily be an unhappy, sulking, pity-party throwing soul - every. darn. day. My glass wouldn't only be half-empty, it would be thrown across the room in disgust. Yeah, I just said that. The older we get, the more difficult times seem to appear before us. Just when we think we've had our fill, and we've seen our share, it seems that something comes up again. Doesn't it? As someone who has a history of anxiety, I have to make a conscious effort NOT to fall into a defeating pattern of anxiety and doubt when these things happen around me, but to remember that God who's faithful when everything is right, is the very same God who is faithful when difficult times abound. Satan is always at work, believing friends. He wants to see us down and discouraged, but we must put on the full armor of God and fight back.

By GRACE, though, we can look for the beauty mark in each situation. We can look for the possibility of redemption for people involved or close by. I LOVE a good redemption story, don't you? We can look for positive situations that evolved out of bad ones; We can look for signs of roadblocks and u-turns founded by grace that may not have been there if the situation happened another way.

You and I, believing friends, have to be willing to see that God is good, even when we are uncomfortable with His plan. We have to be willing to see that God's mighty hand is at work in even the most desperate and trying situations. We must have hope. He can turn anything around and make it beautiful. Most importantly, He will triumph over all.

This song has been on my heart lately and I truly believe the words it says. He makes beautiful things out of dust, indeed. I pray you believe that, too.

PS. The tortilla soup rocked. That is all.

You know how they say your nose never stops growing?

I'm pretty sure the same is true for my forehead. Over the last couple years, I've been increasingly
conscious about the size of my noggin and I've been thinking about hairstyles that will flatter my big-head a little more. So, recently, I started pinning things like "bangs" "long hair bangs" "2013 bangs" "trendy bangs" and "cute bangs" on my hair and make-up board on Pinterest.

And I kept pinning. 

And pinning some more. 

Do you see the size of my ginormous forehead? Am I the only one who sees this?

When I got a hair cut the other day, I ALMOST asked Candy, my Hair Artist, to cut bangs for me. Alas, we were in a hurry and I took it as a sign to stay in the world of no-bangs. I was still thinking about it. though; the pins were taunting me. So, I asked around for insight. When I mentioned taking the bang plunge, one friend said she was "scared for me."  My sister-in-law gave me the, "oh...oh....I just don't know..." So, I considered their words of caution, then I immediately texted Candy. We're so doing this. "How soon can you cut them?"

Hey, I'm 10 kinds of dramatic when it comes to hair cutting and styling and coloring. Remember when I cut my own while I was pregnant?

How about my blonde hair? Anywho. I ain't scared of no hair transformation.

SO, the first time we could meet for the bang-ectomy was yesterday. She basically cut the coat of a small dog of my head and it was done. Finished. 10lbs of my hair scattered across the floor. AND, I am the proud wearer of some rockin' bangs that reduce the appearance of my giant head and, keep me a little warmer, in fact.

I rather like them, what do you think?

In case you care, I used the Conair Infiniti YOU CURL Curling Wand, Thermal Styling Spray by Kenra, and about 12 gallons of hair spray as well as  to curl my hair as shown in the photo above.

Now, back to Pinterest so I can Pin more "chalk paint" ideas for our bathroom cabinets. If it works out (or, you know, if it doesn't) a blog post is sure to follow. 

We aren't even blonde (right now).

SO, you guys, I was super excited when Gevalia selected me to be one of their Chatterboxes. As a Chatterbox, I got to test out their new Cafe-Style K-Cups and tell the internet all about them. They sent me box of cappuccino to run through our Keurig and share with some friends. So, when the box showed up, I knew exactly which friend I was going to share it with first - the one who introduced me to Gevalia, of course! SO, Jenny and all her littles came over this morning to visit and indulge in some delicious Gevalia, perfect for this chilly fall day!

I'd already had one cup of coffee this morning (though totally not apparent by the string of events I'm about to share with you), so I took the old coffee out of the Keurig, as well as the entire plastic insert and reusable filter. Ahem. This is where bad things happened. I excitedly put a K-Cup in, and the brewer started spraying water and coffee grounds all over the darn place (see photo, above).

As I'm giving the brewer the stank-eye for being a jerk and examining the K-Cup (which must have been faulty, right?), I start ripping open another froth packet to try again. THE SAME SCENE on take 2. We were about to call it a day and cart all seven kids to Starbucks when I noticed that I left the brewer's plastic K-Cup holding insert - right in front of me, on the counter.

My bad.

Sorry, Keurig.
Sorry, Gevalia.
Sorry, Jenny.

Take three. We finally get a nice cup brewed and Jenny thinks it needs a weeeeee little bit of sugar. She's over there mixing and stirring and all while I brew my cup. Then, I get the stank-eye from Jenny. She says "Um, do you think...I think...is that the salt I just put in here?"

Yeah, that's what you get for displaying so much hatred toward Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Jenny! She totally salted her coffee. We basically burst into the laughter, which soon became that weird silent I'm-laughing-so-hard-no-noise-is-coming-out laughter.

Take four and five. We get a good brew for her, a good brew for me, NO SALT, and the results were amazing! Gevalia has created a product that truly does taste like a high-quality coffee-house beverage. On take four and five, we were super impressed. ;)

Thank you, Gevalia, for such a delicious product! AND, thank you for sending enough coffee that we could have several domestic mishaps and still get to enjoy the product. I'll definitely keeping a box on-hand and using, with caution, in the future!! Love it!

Humble pie, anyone?

It seems like humble pie is being served every where I go lately. I'm not complaining; I'm getting used to the taste, actually. If you've been reading this blog a while, you might remember that a month or two ago, one of my littles threw up at the grocery store, in the main aisle, repeatedly. I'm not talkin' about no baby spit up either, people. This was the full-fledged "if-you-weren't-in-the-sorority-of-moms-before-you-are-now" stuff. Make sense? Well, the kiddos were at it again over the weekend. If you are bothered by toilet talk, you can just go ahead and click-out now and I'll see you on the next post. If you're okay with it, here's the latest character-builder.

My husband was meeting with some customers at the end of the day and I still had an errand or two to run. To make good use of our time, I dropped him off and decided to take all four littles into the family bookstore to pick up a children's bible for our friends who were having their littles dedicated in church the next day. Four kids, bookstore, no problem. Right? They're well-behaved, right? No big deal. What can go wrong?

We made it from the car to the store with no problem (first major obstacle cleared). Our oldest was managing the middle two for me just fine while I searched for the book I was looking for. I found the book in about 60 seconds and we really should have checked out and ran could have left then, but my inner book-hoarder took over and I just couldn't seem to get us out of there. I meandered through the store some more and the littles started getting restless. I think they brought me about 476 different books to ask, "mom, can we get this?!?" Once I saw that we were re-arranging just about every shelf in the store, I started to look a little faster. I had this sudden idea to pick up a small purse-size Bible for myself, but had trouble finding the translation I wanted. During this time, I've managed to say "yes" to about four books for my early-reader (I mean, who can turn down a child who's developing a love for reading??). Meanwhile, the baby is jumping around like a feral beast slipping out the bottom of her Ring Sling that I somehow managed to put on all twisted. So, I put the baby on the floor of the bookstore, un-thread the sling, re-thread the sling, put it on, sling her up and we move on. Finally I get my Bible and want to check just one more thing. As I'm checking, I hear the five-year-old say to the three-year-old, "you smell like poop." Of course she does; to the registers we go.

After I tell the kiddos to stay in line with me four or five times while some stranger-lady behind me is stroking the baby's hands and feet, we're finally up to the front. The cashier rings us up (of course, I've over spent already and they want to know if I want my Bible cover personalized). I mean, I already have four children jumping about - one of which smells like poop - of course I want it personalized. Now I've spent six more dollars and have to wait 10 more minutes for them to stamp the cover. I take all of the children out to the car in hopes of freshening the one up. I get the non-stinky three back in their seats and start to change the poopy one. Sadly, I managed to drag the mess out of the Pull-Up all the way up her back. Weeeee! I had to give her a bath with wipes and, THANKFULLY, I had a another clean outfit for her in the car. Once she was all fixed up, my five year old (boy) has to pee. This is the kid that pees like twice a day and, of course, it's an emergency this time. There's no way I'm taking all of these children in a public restroom. I'm just not doing it. I let him go next to the car in the parking lot (completely shielded, of course). During this time, he manages to pee on my foot.

Awesome.

I get them all back in the store to get my personalized Bible (all of the employees are turning to stare at me...) and we take off to pick up my hubs and get to the next place. At least we all made it out alive, right?!

Oh, and that Bible I went in to get for my friend? The one that I made the trip for? Yeah, she got the same one from the church the next morning.

You know. I'm going to take this as a lesson in patience, humility, and remembering that God ordains all of our moments - even the crazy ones. I could totally ask God why he sent me on a rat race through a busy store with a poopy child only to get peed on and find out my friend already has the book I went in there for. Alas, I know he has greater reasons than I could ever fathom. And, that's totally fine with me.

And the socks that you dare to pair, really do match, too!

Since I waved farewell to the land of status reports and time-sheets to be a SAHM, my job description has changed as well as the way I network - and who I'm networking with. Just last week one of my sisters-in-law and I were exchanging photos of the big clothes sorting jobs we've both been enduring as we switch out seasonal items and prepare our homes for new babies. 

I'm not posting the photos here because the mere sight of ALL THAT LAUNDRY might scare you out of having children, or any more children. In a nutshell, that means we have a lot of extra work to do in addition to our normal routines. That means there is clothing everywhere - waiting to be sorted, washed, stored, hung, moved, etc. and many messes in limbo while we take care of the regular routine. After clothes, it's toys. It's blankets. It's finding this or that. It's a wonderful blessing to have this kind of work to do and to be able to care for our families in this way, but at the same time it can be a challenge. And, it's one of those housekeeping challenges worth discussing with your fellow mamas; whether you stay at home or not - as you press on to live up to Titus 2 - don't be afraid to reach out to others who may be able to help you sort (there's a difference between reaching out and gossipping/complaining, btw). Between the two of us, we've discovered some time and space saving techniques. It's been a great time to reach out to one another and move forward with our messes. Quite honestly, it's comforting to know someone else is working through the same piles that I am. We can also encourage each other to keep pressing forward as we attempt to live up to by staying busy at home, showing love to our husbands and children through this work, and encouraging one another in that respect (Titus 2 reference there again). 

So, as you embrace housekeeping challenges, reach out with your questions! It's a great opportunity to get some new tips, bond with your fellow mamas and sisters-in-Christ, and laugh about the land of mismatched socks together as you get things figured out. And, of course, I'm no Martha Stewart, but I'll happily try to answer any questions you have about kids and home if you'd like to ask. Just leave your message in the comment box below. :)

Take care and God bless!


-----


This post is linked up with Titus2sdays at TimeWarpWife.com! Head on over to Darlene's site to see what else is happening in the blogosphere on this beautiful Tuesday!