~The Ugly Yet Redeeming Truth~

My head is a mess of swirling thoughts and ideas most of the time. 

Don't be impressed. It's not highly intellectual or "I'm about to create something great" kind of mess.

It's just mess.

i.g.

Oh gosh, I forgot to do that.

I really should not leave my bed unmade.

I need to pull those weeds.

Should really get those pictures hung.

I wonder if it's really possible to be at peace on earth and also long for heaven.

Does the church have to be in a state of persecution in order to really experience God at His fullest?

Why do I always have a mess in my laundry room?

I don't know that I do a very good job teaching 2nd, 4th, and 6th grade all at the same time. No wonder that and dinner is just about ALL I can do.

Are we getting it right with our kids or are we missing the boat entirely?

See?

It's just mess.

My parents were here for a little over a week. To say I loved it is an under statement. I could be one of those people who build a multi generational house and have my folks live with us. Brad could to, believe it or not. 

Mom and Dad aren't selfish. They just help and serve and love. 

We talk lots and during one of those conversations, my Dad said,

"Stacey. You are going to have to decide that there are a lot of things that you just have to put on the back burner. Leave them there, you'll get to them but now is not the time."

That little reminder and extension of grace helped me during a really crazy week.

It's not that I don't see the weeds that need to be pulled or that I've forgotten that wall needs to be painted.  It's just that it's not essential to my family's survival. And frankly, we frequently find ourselves in "survival mode". 

See, I don't have to have every i dotted and every t crossed in order to be happy and at peace. 

Why? 

Because it's not about me.

These shortcomings, or to do lists with only half the things crossed off, have no eternal consequence. 

Am I being an example to my kids that it's about the power of Christ in me or am I teaching them that I better get my act together in order to do it right in order to feel good about myself in order to feel confident about my success, whether large or small?

Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me,

For I am His, and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man, 

Can ever pluck me from His hand;

Til He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

God is not afraid, nor is He limited by our "mess".

For that I am thankful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following is mere documentation for me so feel free to exit.

Reese's state meet was last weekend.

For three meets leading up to state, she had costly falls on beam. 

Three meets in a row, she fell on the same skill.

It was obvious it was in her head. 

State was her last chance of the season to "beat the beam".

During warm up, she was leaping and absolutely bit it. I'm talking, she went from leaping in the air to landing on her stomach on the four inch wooden beam to crumbling to the floor. I gasped, shoved Brad and said, "Get down there. Brad go. Get down there." 

Coach scooped her up, got her to the side, Brad's checking her out.

I calmly (on the outside) walk over, grab her, kiss her on the cheek, and ask here if she's okay and reassure her that she is in fact, okay. She nods, obviously shaken up but tough as nails, barely sheds a tear and shows her doctor daddy that she can jump without any pain. He does the football fanny tap, tells her to put it out of her head, focus, and go compete. 

Her awesome coach, in her wonderful, thick Russian accent, says,

"You sportsman. Come."

In our small little world, it was a Rocky moment. 

She had the best competition of her year. 

She wins with grace but I think I' most proud because I've seen her loose with grace. It's easy to be at peace when you win but to see her character and how she responds to not winning, or the grind of practice, or her sensitivity to friends who are struggling, challenges me. 

  

  

Happy Thanksgiving. 

I hope you will choose thankfulness. That is the ticket. ~cHoOsiNg~

Enjoy your family, in whatever state you find yourselves. Warts and all.  Life is a blessing!

~stacey

~Options~

I know there's an old book called, "Parenting Isn't For Cowards".

Can I just say.........

Tru dat!!

"Isn't for cowards" may just be the biggest understatement ever made.

Today, my son gets in the car from school. (They are in a model where they go twice a week, and are home doing assignments three days a week. School is about 400 students)

I pick and prod, as I usually do.
How was your day?
Were you lost in math class? What did you learn?
What did you do in study hall?
Who'd you hang out with at lunch?
What'd you do at recess?
Did y'all play football? AGAIN?
Don't y'all know there are other things to play besides football?!
Did you get picked last? AGAIN?
Did you make any good catches?

Because recess has been a bit of a sore spot lately.
It's slim pickins at recess at a small school.
This one little group of boys all play on the little flag football team at the little, awesome school we are a part of.
Jake doesn't.
So guess what?
He's low man on the totem pole.

On the drive home, he senses my mama heart breaking and keeps telling me how frustrating it is and how it's not fair and yadayada.

We get home, my brain full from mulling over my options.
1. Beat some kids up.
2. Email teachers and principals, imploring them to teach a class on sensitivity and inclusiveness.
3. Go observe recess and give really dirty looks to kids who don't know how to consider others.

Can't get okay with any of those so I just get real.
I get over my emotions, sit Jake down and say,
"Okay, son. What are the options? I mean, let's discuss a plan. What can you do about this?"

Our  synopsis:
We have a few choices.
1. Keep playing with the 6th graders, and be willing to always get picked last and never get thrown to.
2. Go play with the 5th graders and see what happens.
3. Play something else entirely, with none of his friends.
4. Get mad and allow himself to feel rejected over and over again and decide he must be worthless because he's not  big, bad, Johnny Football at his 7 man pick up football game at his 25 minute recess in 6th grade.
5. Decide that God allows difficult situations for a reason. The hard stuff comes to us to shape us and make us more like our Creator if we let it. Decide that we end up much happier if we think about how we can bless other people and not focus on me, mine, and ours so much. These things can make us aware of people around us that are hurting. We can really become one of the few stellar individuals that actually consider others who may be hurting or feel left out of some situation.
And get grateful. Jake has friends at school. He's not being picked on. It could be worse!

I believe this is a truth that even an 11 year old, who feels left out at recess football, can begin to grasp. Unfortunately, I know quite a few adults who still don't really have a handle on this.

The truth for my 6th grader is the same as it is for my 39 year old self.
Where is my source?
Why am I valuable?
What matters for eternity?
Does seeking my own happiness actually bring me happiness?
Do I believe that God allows things I don't like for a reason?

His precious heart is open to hear things from me, and ultimately form God. May it always be so. And may he be a leader. A man after God's heart who lives his life with purpose and an awareness of others.

It was a productive ride home from school. He's moved on to guitar practice, sit ups, and push ups, so he can move on to the fun stuff he does after school.
You get things out, talk about them, run them through the filter of truth, then get about life. Enjoy the many blessings we have.

We are having beef stroganoff for dinner. It's cloudy and cool. Brad may be home early.....or at least close to "on time".....whatever that is.

Happy Tuesday afternoon to you!

~stacey

~Truth In The Midst Of Crazyville~

At this point, it's just funny.
My day, that is.

Here. This picture sums up the state in which I find myself:

This morning was school, this afternoon, before school was finished, we made an impromptu visit to the doctor with Jake to rule out appendicitis. (that's a story in and of itself) 

An hour and a half, three tubes of blood, and one urine sample later, we flew back home, where Emma was napping, and Reese had missed an entire private lesson on vault, and was 45 minutes late for practice. 

Threw them in the car, dropped them at gym, flew to the grocery store because we had NO FOOD in the house. 

Seriously mean just about zero food. 

Dropped the bags in the floor, only taking the time to put up the cold things because:

 Jake has to finish school, 

Emma has to poop, 

oh, and she informs me, "Mommy, I need to learn." 

So, I sit down for a nano second and draw her some shapes, she learns, 

I toss some chicken in the oven, 

say quick thank you prayer for Bertelli's fettucini sauce in a jar, followed by a quick prayer for protection from the additives and preservatives in that jar, 

remind myself how to divide fractions, 

call Brad to beg him to get done with patients in time to pick up the girls from gym, 

and here I sit.....listening to my sweet son try to verbalize the difference in a compound and simple sentence. 

Oh! And my dishwasher is broken and has been longer that it had to be. (again, long story) 

*and I realize that a dishwasher is a luxury item and not necessary. But. See, I have a dishwasher, so I expect it to work. If I had no cavity in my cabinets with this wonderful invention sitting in it, then fine. I would be a paper product queen and a nazi about ONLY ONE GLASS PER PERSON PER DAY. 

But I have a dishwasher and Lord willing, it will be fixed tomorrow. For that I am thankful.

Can I just tell you what the redeeming factor in my day has been? 

This morning, Brad was leaving for work, came over to me, where I was in bed, half awake, trying to get psyched up for a Monday to do list a mile long. 

He scratched my back and said,

"Hey. Just remember that today, in all that you're doing, you're doing the Lord's work. It's what He's given you to do and it honors Him. Take a step back, we have our four kids, right here with us. Don't be stressed out about stuff that really doesn't matter. Math is hard, so what. They'll all be fine."

I needed that reminder like nothing else. 

It's far too easy to get so caught up in the seemingly senseless running around, the wiping hineys, the fixing hair, the cooking dinner, and the mundane tasks that NOBODY sees. 

That's the secret though, isn't it? 

God sees. And He actually cares. 

Better yet, He is actually pleased when my purpose is to honor Him in the ordinary. 

I'm living for an audience of One. 

And today, this man God gave me reminded me of that gem of truth. 

And it got me through a rather unattractive, haphazard day.

I'm a thankful girl this evening. 

~Wednesday Review~

My knees hurt.

I'm tired and feel a little defeated.

Sometimes teaching school makes me feel less than intelligent.

Is it just me, or is it DIFFICULT to teach a 4th grader that there are 60 ten-thousands in 600,000?!

Tough concept.

I got irritated and frustrated today more than I would like to admit. 

I have a million thoughts running around my head which wears me out. 

Pretty sure God is the only being that could stand to listen to it all. 

Wish I could sit at my dining room table across from Him, open my head and heart, pour it all out, and have Him bring clarity and perfection to the cluttered mess. 

Truths that I am thankful for today:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12 9-10

~Even though left to myself, I am a complete mess, grace will cover me. 

I have been properly equipped to accomplish the purposes God has for me.~

"A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living."

~stacey

~Strange But True~

1. Old dogs really can learn new tricks.

Exhibit A:
for THREE WEEKENDS IN A ROW, I have bought the following week's groceries and had bonafide dinners ready at supper time pretty much every night. Don't know if anyone but me has noticed but I feel a lot less spastic, much more satisfied with my job as wife/mother, and the conversations at the table are, as usual, priceless.

Exhibit B:
My newly formed habit that I'm in love with:

They are $1 each, they hold SO much, are easier to get out of my car into the house, and I feel so resourceful. I just about smile every time I grab my bags off the hook in the mud room and head to the store. A tree hugger I am not, but small changes make a difference. which leads me to my next thing....

Exhibit 3:

Recycling DRASTICALLY reduces the amount of waste leaving this household.
For real.
We were a twoHUGEbulgingtrashcans per week people until I realized that the city will happily give you two handy dandy recycling cans to be picked up twice a month.
We are now barelyoneandahalffulltrashcanswithtwonearlyfullrecyclingcans people.
Again. Not a tree hugger but I can't lie! I do like waste reduction.

2. That Touch of Mink, starring Doris Day and Carey Grant, just may be the best movie ever made.
You really should watch it. You and Your Honey.  Put your kids in the bed and get cozy.
(see it FREE if you do a one week trial of amazon prime.....you can watch a million movies. free. forget netflix! ;-) )
I absolutely. love. this. movie.

3.  You really can live in a house six+ months without buying a bit of furniture for it. There's a lot to be said for learning a little about delayed gratification.

4. We survived our first week of school. I think we may actually make it the whole year.
Does anyone remember prime factorization?
.....'Cuz I could teach a class on it. .....I've never in my adult life needed this skill but apparently, it is "fundamental for algebra and ALL math" so I had to learn it. 'cuz I had to teach it. ......so yeah. call me if you need a refresher course.

Brad just asked me to come outside and talk to him while he cleans out his truck. Since we are having fake fall weather, AND he's been at the hospital a fair amount this weekend, I think I will.
Hope your Sunday evening is wonderful and that your week is productive, semi-peacful, full of minimal tears, lots of smiles, and memories made with your family.
~every day is a gift.

~stacey

~Darcy, Knightly, Edward, and Brad~(again)

This is an oldie.....but I just felt like it needed to be re-posted.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

~Darcy, Knightly, Edward, and Brad~ I admit that I am the world's biggest sucker for a great romance. I swoon. (that word is way past it's prime but I can't resist typing it) Any way you slice it, I'm GOING to be a fan. Darcy, cravat and all....... Mr. Knightly. Completely devoted to Emma.........*sigh* Edward absolutely cannot function without knowing Bella is safe. He exists for no other reason than to love her...... The list is long and the stories are oddly similar. He wants her. Needs her, even. The wanting part is better than the needing  because there's nothing you have to do to be wanted except to breathe. Those movies leave you firmly believing that several years and children later, a few pounds heavier, and after every detail of who she is is no longer a  mystery, the man will still want his girl. Really want her. If I ask Brad Wall to live up to the ridiculousness of a vampire madly in love with his soul mate or werewolves imprinting , bless his heart. I mean, c'mon, man. Seriously. If I expect to only ever get an, "As you wish" response from this man I married, I am in deep trouble. Those movies conveniently omit financial stress, selfishness, sleepless nights, a messy house, extreme exhaustion, a broken ice maker, kids with rotten attitudes, long days at the office, and a myriad of other realities. WHO would pay to see that movie?! Quite a while ago, I came to my firm belief that the single most attractive trait in a man is none other than the quality of commitment. Maybe it was when, before Brad was leaving for six months, went out in our backyard at midnight to chop down a tree stump that I was worried about the kids falling over. (In nothing more than his shorts and hiking boots.) I hung out the window, loudly whispering to him, "Stop that! You don't have to chop down that tree right now! It'll be fine!" My heart was screaming, he loves me and cares about these senseless details.  I almost swooned. -sorry. there's that word again. More recently, after having the luxury of spending a week in the woods, hunting deer with one of his best friends, he came home rested. Renewed. As only a guy would know, he told me how God had spoken to him on the deer stand. Weird. I know. It has to be a guy thing. There's no other explanation. (The only thing I would hear on a deer stand would be my teeth chattering or a warm bed calling my name. ) Anyway, in our kitchen, after being home a day or so, he hugged me and very simply said, "Honey, I want you to know I've prayed all these years that God would give me eyes only for you and He's done that.  I'm so thankful for you." he then proceeded to tell me how cute he thinks I am....... TMI. anyway.... It is a moment I will never forget and one almost to intimate to share but I find myself compelled to. And I think this is the reason: I want to challenge you to honor those qualities in your husband that matter. Faithful is something a man can be.  A vampire or mythical millionaire in a top hat? He's not going to measure up. If you are married to a man who is committed to you, give him a big hug tonight. Whether he pumps your gas, bathes your kids, drives them to school, says he's sorry, cleans a bathroom, takes you to dinner, tells you you're cute, or goes to work every day, tell him thanks.   ~stacey

~Dear Mama Friends~

Dear Mama Friends,

I'm writing this farewell letter to all my sweet Mama Friends whose kids are getting back to it tomorrow or whenever. It pains me to say it but it's already that time again. It's like we are all about to be swallowed up and I miss you already.

School is starting. And if that were it, JUST school, there would be no need for this note. BUT.
We all know that's not it. Couldn't be that simple.

There's school, homework, parties, fundraisers, fall festivals, work, football, soccer, cheer leading, ballet, gymnastics, tennis, coaching, teaching, piano, guitar, violin, traveling, holidays, supper, board meetings, early risings, exercising, husbands, packing lunches, signing forms, folders, binders, laundry, and sleeping.

All that. ALL THAT is the reason I feel the need to say this:

I love you. I love that we are all in this together. Please forgive me when I forget to call you back or worse still, don't even hear the phone ring because I'm on it, emailing a poor, unsuspecting teacher that my child or I may be doomed to failure and that all I'm asking is that she not kick us out. 

If you pass me in the car, as I speed out of the neighborhood on two wheels, you wave, and I don't wave back, it's not on purpose. Don't call the police. I'm not texting. I'm most likely looking for a good place to turn around to go back and get the lunch box somebody forgot. 

If I call you crying, or ranting, please humor me and listen. I'm sorry ahead of time. I'm prone to a weak moment every now and again and try as I might to limit my verbal vomit to Brad, my mom, or sister, there is the rare occurrence that they are all unavailable. In that instance, you girls are up. So be ready. Remind me that it's going to be okay. And with the curveballs life is sure to throw me, you'll still love me. If my sweet kids go loco, you'll still love me. I promise to still love you. My Steele Magnolias.

So, as we pass each other  at 7:30 a.m. in our kid heavy SUV's, make-upless,  baseball caps pulled down low, smile and say a prayer. 

"Lord, bless my crazy friend. She is as busy as I am and we all need a little extra mercy from You. Help us to find peace in the busy and give us the wisdom to know when to stop what. Help us not loose sight of our purpose and calling. Show us how to train these precious kids you've loaned us. They are 100% our primary job right now and we want to do it right.
Amen." 

~stacey

~just keepin it real~

it's raining. (which i LOVE)

jake is doing his "responsibilities". (which he just complained about and claims give him panic attacks) the truth is: he doesn't like the fact that his sisters don't yet have the quantity of responsibilities that he does. (i get it....but i'm rearing a man here.....can't have a sissy)
and just in case you're wondering if we are abusive.....his responsibilities include guitar practice, a certain number of daily push ups and sit ups, and weekly trash cans to the road duties.

i just said to him, "son. you don't need to worry about what people around you are doing. focus on the job YOU have and get it done. period. end of discussion."

the "non-working, responsibility-less" girls are playing some sort of horse game. one gets a rope tied around her and the other holds the reins and so on and so forth. baby just gallops behind them convinced she has a very important role.  then a and e come in here arguing about who can be called Sarah and who can be called Sophia. what do i say?

"complainers get to work so i suggest you stop complaining and work it out between you. unless you want to start working." they choose to get back to it.

meanwhile, i'm doing this:

it's my secret to success this school year. i realize this is homemaking 101 but somewhere between husband with weird working hours, 16 years, four kids, part time homeschooling, treading water to just keep my head above it, and maintaining my sanity, homemaking 101 got skipped or ditched.
either way, here it is.

i'm compiling a list of the things we like to eat. breakfast, lunch, and supper. i'm making a card of ingredients needed for each meal. i plan to laminate and put the cards in a box.

every saturday, while the kids are helping brad in the yard, (good timing, i think) i will plan a meal for each day of the following week, then check pantry and fridge for what we have/need and make a quick grocery list based on my handy dandy cards. i'll zip out to the store ALL ALONE ~hallelujah~ and i'll have, Lord willing, EVERYTHING i need for the entire week!

i warned you......it's pretty basic stuff....but you'd be surprised just how much of your brain you push out with each and every delivery of your precious children. i'm working withe limited resources here but am living to fight again. i've never consecrated a certain day as "grocery day". until now. watch out.

i'm praying we get it right. 

i'm praying we teach our kids to stand alone,

that we teach them to know right from wrong and to choose right.

i'm praying that we actually pour our lives in to them,

not in word, but in deed.

i'm praying that we actually READ God's Word with them 

more nights than we do not.

that we demonstrate humility before them

by leading strongly but apologizing when necessary.

i'm praying that we teach patience by practicing it. 

i'm praying that with every year that passes,

we challenge the hearts of our kids to 

have compassion for the hurting

and to look for ways to bless others,

to be less self centered and more eyes open for those around them.

if i give every single bit of me to the four entrusted to me,

then i'll have been a success.

~stacey

~My Birthday Gift To Myself~

Just ordered my birthday present.

Yes I know my birthday isn't until the fall but listen to what I got myself and you'll understand why.

Jake was two when we started residency.

What do you think he loved?

Trains.

He loved anything with wheels but trains were his obsession.
One year for Christmas, he got the Thomas wooden train set and I don't know who was more excited. Me or him. Jake or I. He or me. Whatever. I loved him loving trains. The fact that they were wooden was even better because I have a thing for classic toys. This was a gift I would never put in a garage sale. His babies will play with this train at Honey's house.

So! The next year, and the year after that, and every year after that, what did I want more than anything at Christmas for my growing family?

A clanging, smoking, puffing train to put around our tree. I remember being in Target one year during residency and there it was. A Lionel train set ON THE CLEARANCE END CAP!

After walking around the store with it for who knows how long, non typical behavior overcame me and I put it back. I had a knot in my stomach but I knew I just. shouldn't. buy. it.

See, these were lean years for the Wall household. We didn't have even $100 to spare on frivolous things like train sets.

Fast forward nine years. Wow! Nine years.......maybe I am learning  a little about patience.

2013.

This is the year of the train. My sweet 11 year old hasn't hit puberty yet and by golly, we will have a train chugging happily around our tree this year.
It's cheaper than I've seen anywhere, I got free shipping, AND it'll be here in two days. (which is totally useless because it will stay in the box until the end of November) but still!!!

Happy early birthday to me!

~stacey

~for ailee~

~stacey

~just life & iPhone pics~

I hate to have to say the S word. (not snakes.....the OTHER S word), but I do.....because it's taken up an hour or so of my week so far and a little $ out of my pocket.

School.

I know, I know.  It sends shudders up your spine, you wrinkle your nose, and if you're at all like me, you just twitched, then sighed and groaned a very unhappy groan.

Let me be clear. We are not focusing on the S word yet but I had to order s books. And I have been looking at backpacks just because I like to have all that junk stuff done so I can just coast right on in to August 8 or whatever it is.

I don't know that there's any hope for my kids because I dislike school almost as much as they do. Don't get me wrong. We do it whole heartedly, I just empathize with them.

I can't fake it.

"Mom. I don't want to do school."

What do I say?

"I know, dude. Me either."

I can't work up a fake, " Oh, school is great!"

The only response I can muster is,

"Well, guess what? I don't really want to do laundry either. And I'm guessing Daddy probably didn't really want to go to work today. And I'd rather go to the beach than cook dinner. But! We have to work. You better get used to the idea. Work hard so you can play hard later. It's just the way life is."

It's not sexy but it's the hard, cold truth. And most of us don't even know what real work is, so I say, let's get to it with as little complaining as possible.

Have no idea where I was going with the above but there it is.

We recently celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.

There was no sweet, long tribute but I think following pretty much sums it up.
THIS is why I'm one of the luckiest girls in the world:

and this is weird. my girl is doing her round-off back handspring in the purple leo.

it's like a 13 second video but it's playing non stop. 

have no idea. 

but this is where she spends 7 and 1/2 hours a week....working her happy little rear end off. 

sweetest girls from the sweetest Mama and Daddy. (not mine, but our friends) 

~I'm not that arrogant~

and......it could have been a Matilda Jane convention.

we hung curtains finally and baby got a new rug.

anyone who asks her about it hears,

"and it's SO soft!"

yes, that's Reese rolling or flipping......shocker.

  

she loves my bed and I love summer days where I can take 20 minutes and lay there

and listen to her giggle and hear her whisper, "Mommy, you're my girl, aren't I?"

what my mud room looked like when I walked by it.

(almost done organizing it....)

my pattern is this:

 organize,  gradual mess accumulates, pick it up, 

more gradual mess, a couple crazy days go by, 

I peek in and declare,

"good grief! Looks like a bomb went off in here!"

re-tidy, re-organize.

repeat.

(oh! and this picture is mild mess. gets WAY worse. trust that.)

what it would look like if I, hypothetically spruced it up for a picture. 

why do we do that?

....I guess it does look like this sometimes just not nearly as often as it does the other.

and! 

I'm working on some really good plans to make our home life during the school year go a little smoother. 

here's hoping I actually finish planning and implementing before crazy fall schedule kicks in.

~stacey

~Smartest Thing I've Done In A While~

I happen to have a mud room. It's just now, three months into our move, getting my attention.
I found a great burlap covered pin board with cute little nail head push pin things around the edges.

I'm sure I could have covered a board myself for a little less than my Tuesday Morning purchase but let's be honest. I have to have serious motivation, extra time, a burst of energy, and a really great idea to make myself attempt a craft or DIY of any sort.

Case in point:
A friend's daughter spent the night with my girls recently and excitedly asked,
"Ooh! Mrs. Stacey! Can we do a craft later?!"
I just smiled, chuckled, and replied, "uhm, probably not."
In my head, I said,
"Child! You are asking  the wrong Mama! This is Mrs. Stacey here. I can think of another Mama I can drop y'all off with to do a craft. Then you can come back here for popcorn, a movie, and a great bedtime story....But that's about all you're gonna' get from me."

See, it's not that I hate to do crafty things....I actually enjoy it when the mood strikes but that is not a weekly occurrence.

So this mud room. The #1 thing I must have is a calendar. Since I have an aversion to stark white, I really hoped to find an alternative to a white dry erase board and I really wanted to somehow attach it to my cutesy burlap board.

After my Pinterest research and I saw three dozen DIY calendar ideas involving frames, fabric, ribbon, magnets, sharpies, glass, tracing, gluing, and stapling, I'm thinking,
"Please. Can't a girl just get a brown calendar somewhere that will magically hang on a burlap board?!"

My next move was to quit thinking about it. Then came a quick stroll through Target.

There it was. A semi cute flip calendar that goes from July 2013 to July 2014.
Not too heavy (might hang on my board) and not solid white (won't feel like I'm in an office).

Tadaaaa!

Like I said. Smartest thing I've done in a while. Calendar for a year costs $10 and about 7 seconds.

~stacey

~Beach 2013~

I know God didn't create summer break per say, BUT, I'm convinced He knows I need it and that He enjoys my enjoying it. 

I mean. Just the break from the hurry up is beyond wonderful. 

Nothing is ever all done all the time and the summer affords me the luxury of not being a complete stress ball because I'm a panic stricken, almost always behind mother at least 85% of the time.

Okay, so maybe panic stricken is a bit of an overstatement but at the very least, I am less than thrilled with never being all done and my "have to do" list is MUCH longer between August and May.

I think I'll be a wonderful grandmother. May be better at that than I am at being Mom. :-) 

Moving on.....

Is it weird that I enjoy the beach pictures ALMOST as much as I enjoy the beach itself?
I mean not quite, but pretty darn close. And it's not like I have a camera glued to my face the entire time but I just love these sweet faces and feet, moments and memories. ....especially the ones I catch when no one is looking. 

 

 

Proof that I was actually there.

 

Doctors are everywhere on our beach trip. 

Dr. Chris is so good, the girl can eat ice cream, DURING a splinter removal.

That is some serious skill.

Jumping. 

It's what we do. 

Some people do the duck bill platypus face.

We jump.

At the beach.

Every chance we get.

~stacey