The Ambitious Life

Grace, You are my mini-me.  You think and look and act like me.  It is so cool to watch and scary all at the same time!  You are growing up into a beautiful, thoughtful young lady.  You care about people around you and want things to be done well.  You get frustrated by the noise sometimes and by people not doing things how you would do them, but you are generally quite gracious with them anyway. You take care of your rabbits every day.  I am so proud of how much attention you give them and how well you take care of them! You are a hard worker in all you do and it is inspiring to me!  I can't wait to watch your character continue to develop and see how amazing you are going to be in the future.  I know that ten can be such a rough age when you want to be treated more grown up but seem stuck in a lot of 'kid' roles.  Hang in there lady and don't rush it.  You'll be grown soon enough so keep laughing, playing and being a kid as long a...

Jacob! You are a rough and tumble guy!  You are definitely the biggest of your brothers and let them know it!  It is fun to watch you be big and tough but also gentle and sweet.  You love your baby sister and play well with your brothers.  You have been working so hard on school work this year and it is fun to watch things 'click' for you as you figure them out! You are loud and the lately you LOVE to sing.  Sometimes they are songs I know, sometimes made up songs...and they often come with a dance.  You are an entertainer, that is for sure and you like having attention on you. You have an awesome smile and are compassionate.  You want to help people feel better and are a gentle giant.  You also say exactly what comes to mind and have very little filter to speak of.  You see things very black and white and don't always understand the nuance of gray areas.  It can be quite funny sometimes. I love you kiddo.  You are a delight...

Levi James, You are a delight.  You are such a good helper.  You are a great big brother and love to help me with Faith and the other little people.  You listen well and do good work!  You have done a great job with school this year and have been putting in great effort.  You are going to be able to read this easily VERY soon! You are generally super polite and say "yes ma'am!" quickly if I ask you to do something.  You still take a nap some days because you still seem to need it - and you are quick to let me know you're tired if you are feeling out of sorts.  You are developing a fun sense of humor (although your knock knock jokes still need some work).  You are still light enough for me to throw around, pick up and flip over...but you are strong and capable of doing lots of things!  You are brave and confident and it is so fun to watch you become who you are. I love you little man, Momma Birthday cake: Chocolate - decorated with ...

Timothy, You my boy are full of life.  You are loud and joyful and fun.  You are easy going except for when you are not.  You love all things dinosaurs - they are your absolute favorite.  You like to play in dirt and make huge messes.  You are learning independence and how to do things for yourself...which sometimes turns out well! The swings are your favorite place to be. You like to hide in cabinets and make us search for you.  You also like to find a quiet place to play your tablet and hope no one figures it out.  You are getting so big and strong and like to tell me that you're a big boy!  (And you are!)  I'm so thrilled to be your momma and grateful for the little man you are growing into! Love always, Momma Birthday cake:  Chocolate cake, orange T-Rex Birthday Dinner: Favorite Toys: DINOSAURS Favorite Thing to Play:  Imaginative things - magnatiles, blocks, dinosaurs Least Favorite Thing: Bedtime and Napt...

Abi Ann, You are spunky.  You have so much joy and energy and you delight me.  You LOVE to play games with your brothers and sisters - especially Levi.  You like imagining, creating and building.  You are one of the most creative people I know!  You are doing a great job with school this year - I am so proud of how hard you are working!  You love Science and tolerate everything else.  It is my prayer and my hope that you continue to LOVE going to church, having great friends and being around your family.  I am starting to see more and more maturity in you.  The way you think things through and tackle obstacles.  You are more willing to try new things and you are starting to speak your mind more!  I am so grateful for you little one! Love always, Momma Cake: Chocolate on chocolate with some pink buttercream that you did yourself Birthday Dinner: Homemade Pizza Favorite Toy: Dolls and blankets still, art stuff Favo...

Happy birthday sweet girl of mine! You are such a joy!  I am so thankful for this year with you and cannot wait to watch you continue to grow up!  You make the cutest expressions and you are finding your little voice.  You love all your siblings but especially love when Grace cares for you and Isaac entertains you.  When you feel well, you are joyful and easy going.  You spent five days in the hospital this year for breathing issues.  You also had pneumonia right before that.  You spent quite a bit of time fighting colds and other issues, none of it fun for you.  Now you are healthy and thriving and I am so excited about that! You learned to walk just a few weeks ago and are still wobbly on your feet.  You say mama and dada.  I'm pretty sure you say "hi" too because everyone said hi to you when they walked in the room at the hospital.    You spent a lot of time fighting sleep and keeping me up all night, but...

This summer feels like it has been hard.  We have dealt with a lot of sickness, especially with Faith.  There seems to be quite a it of turmoil around and it is just taking it's toll on our family but I am feeling it especially and struggling a bit to keep my happy face on.  The reality is that most of my discontentment comes from selfishness and that is usually stemming from a lack of thankfulness.  So here I sit, when I have a pile of things to work through, writing out reasons why I am thankful in the midst of the unrest in my soul. 1. I am thankful that although Faith has been sick frequently, I am learning slowly how to trust the Lord with her health.  I am also learning how to communicate well with Aaron, and him with me, during the emotional times when we have to make decisions about treatment. 2. I am thankful for summer study with Dayton Women in the Word.  This takes the focus of my quiet time during the summer, keeps me on a schedule, and gi...

Isaac, I just love you buddy.  You are such a sweet little guy and just a joy.  You can scream something fierce if you get mad, but you are generally easy going and go with the flow.  You like to play with super heroes, figures, and cars.  You almost always have a small toy in your hand.  Right now your favorites are random cars and magna-tiles.  You LOVE to push buttons and touch all the things.  You've turned off Grandma & Papa's heat in the middle of winter just because you like to push buttons.  You also like to just see what things do.  I'm sure this curiosity will serve you well one day.  You like school but aren't always excited about going.  You LOVE Miss Dawn at church and being in her class.  Buddy, I am so thankful for you.  You are the sweetest fifth baby a momma could ask for and I'm grateful for you! Love you always, Momma  (Yes, we're still best friends) For your birthday dinner w...

What a week!  I spent the weekend at IF: Gathering here in Dayton.  It was awesome but it was a lot of information and a lot of people.  I crashed hard Tuesday night.  Like, went to bed at 8pm crashed hard.  It was lovely though and my mind and body thank me for it. Without further ado, I'm thankful for... 1. Rest.  And recognizing how my introverted self functions.  If I spend a weekend with a room full of women, tons of speakers, and lots of small talk, I'm going to need a nap.  So I crashed and crashed hard and it was just fine.  I'm thankful for recognizing the need and the permission to do it. 2. Chocolate croissants.  Not life changing, but oh my goodness are they yummy.  They fill that light but delicious need that sometimes just needs to be met.  (I'm generally a give me all the heavy baked goods, but this was a lovely change of pace). 3. Honesty. There are a couple Instagram accounts I've been following lately ...

It is time to bring back Thankful Thursdays.  I am not unthankful, but writing things down always makes it more memorable and is a beautiful marker to look back on.  Here goes... I'm thankful for... 1. Chili for dinner because it is pre-made and all I have to do is make sure it is warm or done by dinner time. 2. Kids that are hilarious.  Especially the wee ones that also are crazy makers :)  I love their little personalities. 3. The quiet time tablets provide so I can make dinner (or in this case type this list since dinner is already made) 4. Friends who are always around to push me in the right direction. 5. Practice having the hard conversations and knowing that God's grace is for me too. 6. "Daddy night" - aka Mom gets to leave the house ALONE night!  This is great for my OCD self to plan and re-plan homeschooling from now until all eternity.  Seriously, I have no business considering high school curricula yet. 7. Peace that comes even w...

I wasn't going to post this - but in case anyone wonders if life matters at a teeny tiny, pre-heartbeat level, it does.   1/24/19 Dear Baby #8, How clinical that sounds.  Like your little life is just a number.  Truth is you are a tiny little bean right now and we don't know if you are a boy or a girl so for now that will have to work.  Think of it more as a testament to joining a family that is overflowing with people to love you.  It's loud here too. January 16th your Daddy and I were running some errands, out and about.  I told him there was a chance I may have you inside of me.  He went to two different stores so I could run in for a pregnancy test while the other seven waited in the car with him.  My heart was beating fast, but I thought it may be a fluke. Turns out it wasn't.  I went home, snuck off to take the test and then came back to get everyone else ready for bed.  My hands were shaking a bit.  I kept sneaking ...

Almost sounds depressing doesn't it?  Really, it is just a testament that I have learned fairly well who I am, how I work and what suits me best.  What doesn't work is a list of all the things I'm going to change starting on some magic date that is never today.  So, I didn't write resolutions.  I didn't ponder over a word for the year.  I am just making some tweaks to my existence that will help me embrace who I am better and serve my family better.  Here are some things I am changing... 1. Getting up at 6:30am to run. I'm not a fan of mornings but I can only complain so long about how I need to run before something has to change.  So I am up and at it early. I am usually showered and downstairs by 7:45am so Aaron can take his turn running.  We also decided to get the boys up earlier to embrace their early bird mentality and start the day off calmly with them.  So then I get my turn to hang out with them...usually try to do my quiet tim...