We love you so much and are so thankful for the joy you are in our family!
Photo credit: Heather Bauers
To those who mentioned that I haven't seemed "real" - I apologize for giving that impression. I have always made every effort to be completely honest here on my blog and to be the same person on screen and off.
There is one comment that stands out to me today. It is from my friend, Angie:
David agreed with every word as I was telling him about it over the phone today. I have always been a firm believer in doing my crafts or my blog as a way of being re-energized for the tasks of home and mothering. Yes, sometimes I let them become an escape. But I'm talking as a general rule here.Even though we've never met, you give me the impression (through your posts) that you are terribly hard on yourself. I don't doubt that you/I need to focus on discipline. As children of God, we all strive to be more like him, which requires discipline. However, I bet you are doing so much better in prioritizing your days than you think right now. You are very intentional in your roles as wife, mother, and child of God. Perhaps you need to restructure your day so that certain things get done. But I can't imagine how discouraged you would feel if you drastically curtailed your crafting and creating. It is in your personality to create, usually with the purpose of blessing someone. I'm sure your littles will recall all of the family fun you created for them and forget (or not even realize) that the pantry was out of order.
I will pray for God to give you a plan and peace in your heart.
Angie
Have a great day everyone!Our son Noah was born Dec. 30, and was quickly taken to the NICU with respiratory distress. The next day, they discovered he had a pneumothorax (or hole) in each lung, resulting in an air leak.
So, Noah had to get two chest tubes inserted — one on each side. The chest tubes removed the air that had gathered outside his lungs, thus allowing his lungs to expand and to heal. He spent six nights in NICU before we were able to bring him home on Jan. 5.
The Lord was most gracious to us in healing little Noah. A friend of my wife's works in an NICU at a different hospital, and she said it's not uncommon for this kind of situation to require a much lengthier stay.
So, we're so grateful to the Lord for healing Noah as quickly as he did. God is indeed good.
* Family prayer time: It is on my heart to teach my children the benefits and disciplines of prayer - even in a very simple way for their age. I don't know what this looks like yet - but it is something I want to pursue.
* Planning, cultivating and enjoying a garden. Last year our garden was a complete flop - because I did not invest much time or energy in it. I desire this to be different this year - Lord, please help the bugs to stay away from me or make me not afraid of them.
I'm sure there are other things that should be on these lists - but this is all I can think of at the moment. Regardless, it is a great place to start and will spur some other ideas as well I'm sure!
How about you? Are your home systems keeping things in order - what needs to stay and what needs to go?
There is a fun airplane that you can climb in and it leads to a tunnel that comes out in another part of Odyssey!
Toddler soft play room:
Puppet theatre and puppets:
A wall of Odyssey charachters without faces so you can pose as your favorite!
A fun reading area:
A stage and costumes ~ older visitors can enjoy script books and sound effects as well!
We finished up our visit by eating lunch at Whit's End soda fountain!