Birthday Boy

My kids are giddy with excitement about celebrating the 'birthday boy' today. They have been anticipating this day all week...making birthday brownies and opening presents and watching a special movie and singing Happy Birthday to their Daddy.  You will find us today at home, watching football, and loving on the main man in our life.  

Happy Birthday to the guy we call Daddy, babe, and Daaaaaadddddyyyyyy.  We love our life with you.

Finally, Fall

Finally, fall.  It is absolutely here.  The perfect season in rural Iowa when the temperature drops just enough to dig out leggings and hoodies and the fields are golden with the glow of harvest just around the corner.  I am donning leggings as I sit with my feet up and windows open wide.  Like everyone else in the country, I am singing the praises of this glorious season.  There is something about the change in what we see, eat, drink, and smell that makes us feel more alive.  I am on the fall bandwagon.

Today I'm sharing some things that have made life just a bit sunnier.

First up, MOMCon.  If you follow me on Instagram, you know I attended a conference with mommas from around the world in Kansas City.  I was only able to be there for twenty four hours, but I packed a lot in.  I was able to hear from Bob Goff, worship with Elevation Worship, have Erin Loechner all to myself, and the best part of all, spend some quality, uninterrupted time with some of my favorite girls.  It was splendid.  Although I didn't purchase any momentos while I was there, I did get this nifty water bottle in our welcome bag and I have been using it all week long.  Lesson of the week: two littles who can reach the counter requires a water bottle with a lid.

Next up, this Wax Buffalo 'The Orchard' candle.  It is bursting with the scent of fall and I am absolutely in love with it.  Enough said.

Kevin's grandpa passed away two weeks ago.  He built the house we are now raising our family in and left a strong farming legacy to the next generation. His life was honored last weekend and for a guy in his 90s, he sure did have a lot of people come out to celebrate him.  These flowers have been brighting up our kitchen and reminding us of him. 

Anyone else making applesauce?  There is a lot more input than output for a jar of homemade applesauce, but I find it's a simple luxury.  It's not complicated, but not easy, and takes some time and care.  The result, though, is warm, smooth fall-in-a-jar goodness.  Most of the time, I leave out the sugar.

Today is my sweet husband's birthday.  We will be celebrating by staying home and eating good food and watching football all day, per his request.  I can definitely get behind that.  Have a Sunny Saturday, all!

Motherhood Matters

Lily and I are rocking back and forth, back and forth in the worn chair in her room.  She is stroking my neck as I pray words of affirmation and encouragement over her.  I stop and ask quietly, 'would you like to pray, Lily?'  She says yes, folds her hands and starts mumbling softly under her breath, talking to Jesus 'in her heart'.  She then prays aloud and thanks God for her 'beautiful Mommy' and her 'princess Mommy' and her Mommy that has 'beautiful hair'.  My mouth slowly turns upwards into a wide smile and I feel my eyes wet with tears. This girl of mine is saying the most wonderful things about me.  And she doesn't even know that I haven't washed my 'beautiful hair' in five days.

How in the world does my almost three year old know to pray these things?  How does she know her words bring power and meaning?  By the end of her prayer, it clicks.  She is saying these wonderful things because night after night after night I have been thanking God for her.  I thank God for the way she is kind and sweet to her brothers, how she makes us laugh, the way she is friendly to the people around her.  (I leave out: 'please help Lily to keep her hands to herself when her brother does something irritating and please, God, help her to obey when I tell her to please put on her underwear'.  Yes, I leave those out.) I have been doing this for months and my Lily has caught on and is experimenting with this thing called prayer.

Five minutes of prayer time with my Lily taught me so much.  It taught me what I do matters.  It taught me she is always watching and listening.  It taught me I absolutely have an incredible influence on each and every one of my children.

Not every day or moment is as sweet and momentous as that five minutes before bed with Lily, but everyday and every moment matters.  It matters how I respond and react and communicate with my babes.  It matters how much I tell them I love them.  It matters if my face is in front of my phone all day or my eyes are gazing their way.  These things all matter because Kevin and I are the single most influential people in their lives.  I would do well to remember that.

The simple prayer from my baby girl reminded me I am vital in Luke, Lily, and Jude's lives.  I'm not just feeding, clothing, and bathing children.  I'm not just keeping them alive from day to day.  (Although those things alone equate to a full time job.)  I am building character.  I am (hopefully) modeling Christ-like love to them and our friends and neighbors.  I am teaching them about laughter and family and making a meal and relationships and Jesus and nature and prayer.

This motherhood gig is not a runner-up career.  It's not second-best and it's not just a supporting role. It's the whole shebang.  It's important.  It's vital.  It's necessary if we want our earth populated with loving, caring, kind human beings.  Whether you are a stay-at-home momma or a momma working 9-5, your motherhood role is imperative and influential for your babes.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, but sometimes we all need a reminder that being a mom is more than wiping bottoms and putting our littles in time-out. Moms matter.  Deeply and immensely.

So, if no one tells you today...

Momma, you are important.  You are loved.  Your work day in and day out for your family matters to them and to God.  You are shaping the minds and character of tomorrows mothers and fathers and teachers and scientists and aunts and cousins and neighbors and politicians and pastors and caregivers. 

Those five minutes with Lily will forever be embedded in my memory and my heart.  And if I didn't know before, I know now.  My sweet girl doesn't know the difference between five day old hair and newly washed hair. #blessherheart 

And Motherhood matters. 

Sunny Saturday

Fall might be just around the corner, but it still feels a bit like summer here on the Trail.  It hit 90 degrees a couple days this week and as badly as I wanted to pull on my sweat pants, mother nature had me reaching for my shorts for a little while longer.

Our homeschool routine is getting a little bit better each week and I feel like we maybe, could be, in a bit of a groove.  I have had to say 'no' a few times to friends getting together and playdates, but I know it's all part of this season.  We try and say 'yes' as much as we can, but know we need to be home a certain number of days during the week to complete preschool activities.

This week I'm sharing some things that made this week a bit sunnier.

Youtube.  As a new homeschooler, I have been using Youtube for mini lessons and songs and a reward for completed school work.  They are almost always short and under ten minutes, but they provide value to our learning and give Luke an extra incentive to get his work done.  

Our preschool theme this month is apples.  We have been painting with apples, performing apple experiments, counting with apples, and reading loads of books about apples.  Even though we have a plethora of apples right outside our door, a friend asked us to go to the apple orchard and it was a perfect way to tie everything together.  Tress, Shrubs, and More is a sweet orchard.  It is small and quiet and my littles loved running down the rows and pulling their wagons while apples bobbed inside.  After we tasted all the apples we could, we went to the nursery and I picked up this ornamental kale and purple aster.  The kids helped me plant them this week and they look so fall-y on the back deck.

As most of you know, I am an avid reader of anything in the genre of simple living.  I recently subscribed to a quarterly online magazine called Simplify Magazine.  I signed up for a lifetime subscription for a mere twenty bucks and have loved every single article that has come across my screen.  Two of my favorite simple living gurus, Joshua Becker and Tsh Oxenreider, created this magazine, among others.  You can still snag a lifetime subscription for $20 if it's something that peaks your interest.

As I mentioned in my last post, Kevin's parents are raking in the homegrown goodies.  They have been so generous with their zucchini and I have been baking bread like it's 1950.  This zucchini bread is so tasty, my kids will stuff it into their tiny mouths any chance they get.  In college I would make zucchini bread with a hand held shredder like those mommas doing their thing in the 50s and this time around I am using my food processor and it. is. life. changing. I can whip this bread up and have it in the oven in twenty minutes.  It's perfect for a mid morning snack break.

I am spending today celebrating a friend's birthday and then it's football, football, football all weekend long.  Hope you have a Sunny Saturday wherever you may be today! 

Sunny Saturday

I know fall is officially a few weeks away, but everyone knows after Labor Day it's okay to pick apples, order a pumpkin spice latte, and cozy up in leggings and sweaters (weather permitting).  I'm not in full fledged fall mode, yet, but this week we did sleep with our windows open a few nights and pick some pumpkins because the kids were begging to...so I guess I'm easing into it.  

Today I'm sharing some in-progress fall things that made my week a bit sunnier.

My in-laws are pros at growing things on the farm.  Bless them, we get to benefit from the apples, zucchini, squash, grapes, and green beans they have carefully grown from seed to plant this time of year.  We have been eating all we can of the fresh produce and have enjoyed picking apples every chance we get. On Monday we even borrowed their juicer and made fresh apple juice.  The kids love this time of year almost as much as I do.  Luke has been begging to make a pie, so we are going to try this recipe sometime soon, with a Pillsbury crust of course because momma doesn't have time for that.

It was a Cooking Club week.  Horray for extra time with girlfriends!  My cup was filled in the midst of our first days of homeschooling.  I needed some adult conversation, friends.  My friend, Nicole, picked the theme of Mexican night and it was simply delightful.  The food was over the top and the conversation just what I needed this week.  My friend, Lydia, literally threw together this incredible dessert and we all were speechless as we ate it.  She did something similar to this ice cream cake, except substituted roasted pumpkin seeds for cornflakes and put a layer of salted chocolate sauce in the middle.  There isn't much I wouldn't do for another piece of that deliciousness.

Football.  Kevin and I always look forward to the last weekend in August because: football.  My Hawkeyes are playing his Cyclones today and you can better believe our house will be divided for a few hours this weekend...all in good fun.  This is the one time we will fight over who gets to dress all the children.

Many of you know our family took a two week road trip a few weeks back.  It was absolutely wonderful, but I did lose a few house plants during our time away. I feel it's my duty to tell you about one of the few that made it.  This jade plant looks exactly the same since the first day I planted it.  After two weeks without water or sun rotation, it is still kicking.  This is a public service announcement for all you black thumbed girls like me.  It seems this plant can't be killed.

This last one was a gift from a dear friend.  This Be You print from lovewell handlettered means a lot to me because I have found myself in a season of rediscovering who I am not just as a mom, but as a woman.  Motherhood is my dream come true and part of my identity.  However, God created me with other gifts to use on this journey.  I am working on honing in on those gifts and using them for good.  

I hope you have a great weekend.  I could be hiding all the Cyclone gear before the game starts this morning in hopes all three of my littles will be adorned in Hawkeye attire.  If I can pull it off, you can catch it on Instagram.  Have a Sunny Saturday all!

7 months

'You're such a cuuuuute baby.  Yessss youuuu are.'

Those are the words that escape Lily's mouth almost every time she lays eyes on her baby brother.  There is no doubt, he is loved.

Our Jude is 7 months young today.  He is acting like a nine month old and I just can't handle all he is doing these days.  He is making his baby days fly by.  Here is what Jude has been up to this past month:

• Jude is crawling and standing and this makes him happy.  He is on the move, all the time.

• Apples, pears, peas, strawberries, peaches...Jude loves food.  He is eating with us these days and gets giddy when he sees a baby pouch appear.
• Bottles are another one of Jude's favorite things.  He nurses three times a day and gets three bottles a day.  He is most definitely our chunkiest baby.
• Jude loves to be kissed and snuggled and loves it when raspberries are blown on his belly or arm or neck. 

• As much as Jude loves standing or crawling, he wants to be held often.  We don't mind, most of the time.
• Jude takes two significant naps a day and sleeps from 7-7 at night.  We started sleep training when we returned from vacation and he is catching on.

• Bathtime is officially done in the bathtub these days and is needed everyday.  He is a mess from eating food and needs to be dunked and scrubbed every night.  
• Winter is going to be brutal for Jude because he loves being outside in the sun.  He has also discovered the swing this past month and can't get enough.

We just love this kid to pieces.  Slow down big guy.

Sunny Saturday:

A glorious three day weekend is ahead of us.  And we have zero plans in permanent marker on the calendar.  There could be some farmer's market strolling.  There could be naps for the whole family.  There could be a Quarry visit.  There could be a few pancake-making slow mornings.  I pray there is a lot of slowness to the next three days.

This week I'm sharing some things that made the last seven days a bit sunnier.

First up, routine people.  We slowly, but surely are back into a routine.  We did some 'practice' days of school this week and I tried a few different formats and ideas to see what would work and not work.  Also, my children are back on their nap schedules.  #allthepraisehands  I love the back to school season for a lot of reasons (like the pretty school supplies and football), but the number one reason my heart flutters when September rolls around is routine.  

Next up is MOPS.  I am a big believer in the power of a great community of women and MOPS is it.  If you are a momma with toddlers, I urge you to check them out.  I am starting to get emails about upcoming meetings in the next few weeks and I am absolutely giddy with excitement.

Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally in a Chaotic World by Tsh Oxenreider.  I read Tsh's new book At Home in the World and I decided I need to read more of her words.  She resonates with me and I pretty much devour any simple living book I can get my hands on.  

Sunflowers are beautifying the farm.  They are the blooms that close out summertime and make these last few 80 degree weeks absolutely stunning.  I can see them popping over my fence from anywhere in my kitchen.  They make the landscape outside our back door a teensy bit whimsical.

Table grapes.  Have you ever picked grapes?  My mother-in-law and father-in-law have a vineyard and we had the luxury of picking grapes this week.  The kids had so much fun and I'm not sure I have ever tasted better grapes than grapes right off the vine.  I highly suggest finding a pick-your-own-berry farm in your area and taking your kids to pick apples, peaches, grapes, or any other fruit that is in season right now.  (If you live in my area, shoot me a text and you can come over and I'm sure we can find something for you to pick.) It is so worth it.

Cheers for a slow three day weekend!  Hope you all have a Sunny Saturday!