Life...

Life with four kids is crazy...and fun...and stressful...and beautiful...and busy...and so very amazing. It is fun to raise them from infants, and watch how they blossom. In the last couple weeks, the kids are asking for chores, and I'm seeing Mason and Charlotte mature into a nice young man, and a sweet and very responsible little lady.

Charlotte gets home from school and immediately starts on her homework. I help her with her two reading assignments, then her math, then her spelling. This takes a good 30 minutes. Then she gets her backpack ready for the next day. This includes unpacking her snack and lunch, and repacking her thermos and snack for the following day...it also includes taking any wet boot liners or gloves and putting them over vents to dry. After this, she goes up to her room, makes her bed and picks out her clothes for the following day. She does this all without me saying a word, and she never complains a bit. And she is only SIX!! I told her how proud I was for her being so responsible for her homework, and taking care of all of her things. She told me "It just makes it easier when I have all my work done and everything ready for the next day!" Ahhh...a girl after my own heart...she is, in so many ways, her mother's daughter :)

I also made a chore chart today for the kids, I realized it's about time they can start to help with lots of other things. They've been helping with cleaning here and there, and setting/clearing the table, but I think they're old enough to start scrubbing toilets...you know, the really serious stuff :)

What else lately? I had my first root canal yesterday. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't horrible...but I'm quite certain I am only able to say that because of the nitrous oxide I decided was a good idea :) I was a nervous wreck, but the dentist was amazing, and my pain the day after is minimal. The kids are anxious to see the shiny gold cap they are going to put on in a couple weeks. I'm glad they were able to save the tooth, and hopeful the crown will last for a very long time.

On another topic, I have to say how amazingly thankful I am for my marriage. To have a husband that loves God, who works hard, who leads our family (and I need to do a better job of LETTING him lead!), who shows our kids all the things a husband and father should be. I'm thankful for a devoted husband, that is honest, loving, caring, compassionate, and forgiving. I am blessed for every moment I get to spend with him (like our great lunch date today!!). I'm so thankful that I am able to stay home with the kids, that I have been afforded this time to be the mother and wife I am meant to be by taking care of our home and our family. We know several couples with marriages that are falling apart, and it has made me hold mine closer....to be so very thankful for all of the amazing things my husband is. If you read my testimony a few posts back, before I met Matt I prayed over and over for God to send me my partner...my husband...and He heard and answered me in ways beyond my comprehension at the time. The man He sent me was so much more than what I had dreamed him to be. He was not just what I needed at that time, but everything I would EVER need in a husband.

Being thankful FOR things is a wonderful feeling...but it means nothing unless you have someone to be thankful TO. I am thankful to our God for everything He has given to me. My world means NOTHING without Him!!