December 27, 2008

New Days Ahead


This is the week I was going to relax and enjoy my family, but manage to accomplish a few major tasks. So far, so good. Christmas Day was very exciting! Four happy kids, a shiny tree, and all the other makings of a Norman Rockwell painting. We had loads of excitement filling the air and toys everywhere. We spent the following day taking down the decorations, mainly because mom was tired of picking them up, and cleaning up the house. The kids were angels who disappeared to play with their new toys. Mostly, we've slept a little later, played more video games, and just slowed down all together. It's been a much needed hiatus.
Our major accomplishment has been getting Bubbie potty-trained. We went cold-turkey and told him that only babies wear diapers and pull-ups. He is now a big boy and must wear underwear. The first day, he ran downstairs to tell us that he had put his poopy in the potty. Eric and I stared at each other in disbelief...it couldn't be this easy! Come to find out, he had gone in his underwear, picked up the little package, and put it in the potty. Technically, he did as we asked. After explaining the procedure in a bit more detail, he got the idea. He's been doing it right ever since, excluding one accident. It's amazing how easy it is to only have two kids in diapers now!! Yippy! Unbeknownst to the little twins, the passy-nazi is coming to visit next!!
After taking down the tree trimmings, I rearranged the living room in a new fashion it has never before seen. Eric is reluctantly going along with it, while I feel like I'm in a totally different house. I'm sure I'll get tired of it and move it again, but for now it's a nice change of scenery.

This going to be "Our Year." Eric and I have decided that we have been so focused on surviving, that this year we're going to get our lives back in order. I've been working hard to maximize our budget. Having one more out of diapers will help. We have a savings goal to reach and when we get there, we're going to get a bedroom suite. I've always wanted Eric and I to have a nice bedroom that we could retreat to after a crazy day. I'm hoping to have it by our eleventh anniversary. Got to start saving away!!

This is starting to sound like a generic New Year's Resolution list...
I am going to go to the gym more. Not necessarily for my physical health (even though that's a plus), but for my mental health. It's so good to get the blood flowing all the way up to the brain!

On a different note, God's really laying things on my heart that he's got big plans for our family as long as we trust and obey Him. We're at a point with our kids that we must choose to fully devote our lives and follow Him. Mom's do a lot of what I like to call "behind the scenes" work. We constantly pray for our kids, devote our lives to making sure their needs are met, run the home, take care of the man of the house. I believe God made moms as special unique beings created for this purpose. However, when a mom chooses to devote her life to God and her family is raised up by a woman who fears the Lord, then there are no boundaries to how much blessing will be poured out from above. Not to say they will endure no hardships. God doesn't promise us an easy life. He just promises to never leave us in this life. Everything we endure is for a reason. I am thankful for all the things I've endured in this life because it has taught me compassion, faithfulness, and to be humble. God is so good. I hope to truly devote my life and my time to growing in His grace this next year. I hope my family will reap the rewards.
So here we go...into 2009. Seems like just yesterday we were rolling into a new millennium!

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