Finally everyone is on the mend today. All but the youngest of the young have been showered. The house..... didn't fair so well. I wonder if there is a Guinness World Record for dirty laundry mountains? I wouldn't win it. In part because I just would never get it all into one pile. But I am wondering about it today.... (Mason is on his way into the bath as soon as Morgan is down for a nap. Sometimes they nap together. Sometimes they don't.)

It was a long rough week of sickness. And yet.... maybe not so rough. Continually on my mind is this perspective thing. What am I thankful for? What am I savoring? What might I be milking? (ahem)

Here is what I learned (or re-learned) this week:
- It is actually possible to assist three small pukers at once. This is a lesson I could have done without. But I'm thankful that I was not sick during this episode. Mama crashed a day later.

- Sunshine is always good for the soul and sometimes a bit of hard work can hope a person (child) make better choices.

- Everyone needs something to think about, something to do and something to love. Even during sick weeks. And the TV doesn't do much for providing any of this. (It may actually inhibit this significantly.)

- We actually really do enjoy poetry together. Mama's attitude makes a BIG difference.

- Sometimes it's the little lessons that are really the big lessons.

- We love audio books. And picture books. And snuggles under cozy blankets.

- It's ok good for Mama to take time to paint a crocus or read a mama-book even though the laundry is piled high and the floors are covered in dirt. Sometimes the painting or the book is even more important. gasp.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

The Secret of Thriving

From the first days after I found out I was carrying twins I began hearing a common mantra, "Just survive the first year." "The first year is all about survival." But I bucked that advice immediately. From deep within my heart I cried, "I don't want to just survive for an entire year. I don't have a year to waste in survival mode." I didn't have any ideas on what that would mean. I didn't dare even hope that I might thrive in that first year. But I knew I couldn't just survive it.

Just for kicks one day I looked up the words "survive" and "thrive" in the dictionary.
Survive                      Thrive
get on                         get ahead
sustain                        grow
persist                         prosper
go all the way             advance

It occurred to me that the words weren't really the opposites that they were in my mind. And I got to thinking that maybe the only difference was my perspective. This morning I read a blog post by Sarah Mackenzie that is sort of along the same lines. She quoted a friend of hers in saying that the difference between surviving and thriving is the act of savoring...there is always something sweet to lean into.

We did more than survive this past year. And many days we have thrived. I thank God for this season. This wild and crazy season with His grace right in the midst of it.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

Every night I nurse two babies to sleep on my lap. Then every night I lift a baby to each shoulder and carry them upstairs to bed. Every night I look as those sweet dreamy faces and wonder how many more nights I'll have the strength to carry them together. I know the time is coming nearer. Tears in my throat, I've whispered this confession to my husband. He offers to carry one upstairs for me. But I am not ready. Not ready to close this chapter. Not ready to give it up. I look down on this precious double blessing and smile. Tonight I will. This night I still can.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

Holding On to Me

Over the last 13 months I do not remember a single morning or evening when I have not begun my prayer with "Lord, I'm tired....". Well unless you count the times when I've started, "Lord, I am SO tired." Many days this has been the beginning and ending of my prayer, my sole thought as I am crawling into bed. I'd like to say that I have at least done a better job at praying through out my day. But not so. Mostly I've been a popcorn prayer, "Lord, help me not to lose my temper right now." "Lord, please just give me enough strength to get through the next five minutes." "Oh God, please let the babies stay asleep long enough for me to brush my teeth." There have been prayers of thanks too -- for the warm sunny day, for the $1 clothing clearance that started just as I walked into the store, for my husband who does supper dishes almost daily.

Lately, I've been thinking though. The babies are now over a year old. It has been at least that long since I've had a regular time where I could spend even just 15 minutes alone with my Bible and my God. Good Christian mamas are supposed to have a daily quiet time and so I've been trying to find a creative way to put this back into my life. Today I got to chat about it with a dear, dear friend whom I haven't visited with in well over a decade. I love this friend for so many reasons, but especially because she is just so practical and real.

These are some of the bits that I gleaned from our chat.

When running a marathon, the runner doesn't stop in the midst to sit down and eat a meal. She grabs protein bars and shakes, snacks along the way. And she's thankful for the times before the race began when she sat and ate healthy food in order to help sustain her body through this time.

God has a lot of confidence in His grace.

And finally, How great is God's love and grace that He holds onto me even when I cannot possibly hold on to Him.

So I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. I'll start each morning telling God that I'm tired, and end each day the same with some chatter and praise and a plea for wisdom and mercy, until one morning I wake up feeling a little less tired. I'll just keep trusting and praising because He's holding on to me even when I haven't the strength to lift my arms to Him.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

Breaking for Spring

This week we are taking a break from school. All of a sudden we went from plodding with slow but steady tread to ... well... I was still plodding, but not so steady and I was dragging everyone else behind me. Feeling quite confused by it all, I called up a dear friend of mine and poured my messy heart out. Would you believe that woman recommended we take a break?! A break?? I've been doing everything I can think of to pull us all through and her advise was to come to an almost complete standstill, to rest.

I decided that we would take the next 10 days off and begin again on Tuesday. Well, someone (ahem) forgot to consider that our break would end two days after Day Light Savings began. Oy. We are now 4 days in and absolutely no closer to recognizing the change. So here we are taking a few more days of slow and easy before returning to our regular school schedule.

We didn't go on vacation. Things are still happening here. We all are continuing are morning routine. Some chores have been taught and traded up. We're reading together for just 15 minutes at the time when we would usually begin school. We are working on some projects together and also playing together. What has helped me the most is that I've taken some time to de-clutter and re-organize some areas that were badly needing it. And I've taken some time to really think.

Some how I've been forgetting to educate my children as persons. These sweet darlings had become something else that I needed to check off my list. And I was getting frustrated that filling their hearts and minds wasn't quite as simple as filling my washing machine. And so we back up. I back off. We find joy.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

 My oldest boy is 8. My only girl is almost 6. Eeek! Then my little middle man will be 4 in just a few weeks. The twins will be a year old in February. It's been a crazy year. Somehow we have done schooling off and on. There are weeks of moving forward with our curriculum and weeks of moving forward with life. And sometimes there are tears where I feel like we're all just falling backward. But those are the times where I have lost perspective.

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty

Snow Day

The Lone Adventurer

 Poor Babies

 Dr Mason

 Morgan the Naturalist

Peacefully BuZzInG!
Misty