Seek First His Kingdom & His Righteousness

This week has been crazy! First off it seems that mid summer blahs have hit the kiddos here, so it has been an extra challenge to keep them entertained. Secondly it seems that sorrow has been swirling around us everywhere. We have had our community here in Aurora struck by the tragic shootings, and almost all of our closest friends have lost a loved one these past weeks. We are thankful that our own family has been minimally affected yet it's hard not to think of how fragile life is. There is not a day that's gone by this week that I haven't thought how strange it feels to know that life can be here one second and gone the next.

I spend so much of my time worrying about trivial things like whether Joshua will ever get the "F" sound correct, or if Jonas will be ready to give up his pacifier soon. Then you see something like a 6 year old killed at a movie theater, or a man in his 30's dying from cancer and leaving behind a wife and 2 kids the same age as my 2. Suddenly whether or not Joshua is ready for preschool seems like a blur in the background of what is really important. God gave us life so that we could do something with it. He commands us to love one another, to make disciples, and the one thing he reminds us again and again is not to worry "Therefore do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink: or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes....Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life." Matthew 6:25-27

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself, Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7


I've looked at my family differently this week and hope this is a perspective that I can keep. Every moment I spend with them is a gift, but only a glimmer of the Joy I will feel when I reach my heavenly home.

On a lighter note I've been working on several different projects with and for my kiddos . Joshua has officially passed the no naps marker so I've been scrambling to come up with "quiet" activities to keep him busy while Joe rests. The best idea I've had so far was an alphabet scavenger hunt.

Letter Scavenger Hunt- I wrote each letter of the alphabet on a different colorful piece of construction paper and then hid them throughout the backyard. I taped a few in the playhouse, one under the slide, a few by the picnic table, fence, swing, and so on. Joshua enjoyed hunting for them and when he found each one I had him bring it to the sidewalk and find its place in the alphabet. Let me just say this took about a half an hour and anything that can occupy Joshua for that amount of time is a winner in my book :)

Dino masks- I also bought some felt and constructed 2 triceratops masks for the boys. They play pretend dinos almost everyday so these were a hit for sure, and required minimal work to make and only cost $2.00 for the felt.

Letter board- I found an activity similar to this one on pinterest and made a few changes to it so that Joshua would be a little more challenged. This is one of his new naptime quiet activities. It did cost me $10.00 for the magnetic white board but I did see one at the thrift store for $3 but passed on it because I wanted one that was really nice so I could use it for Joe when he's older too. For this Joshua sounds out the words and chooses which letter each word begins with.

Road Trip Box- More on this one later but I scoured the Internet looking for some new ideas of what my kids can do in the car to occupy themselves on our upcoming vacation and to be honest: I didn't find anything that I was too crazy about so I have a few of my own ideas and when the entertainment box is complete I will post it and for those who wonder how it's possible to keep my VERY energetic boys quietly seated for our long trips. 
                             

Crazy Mom "Jobs"

Each and everyday my love and appreciation for my own mother grows as I face the needs and demands of my own children.

Just this morning I was mending Jonas's blankie and as I muddled through sewing it back together I thought to myself, " I wish I'd known sewing would be a pre-requiste for motherhood, I would definitely have paid better attention in home-ec class." As I sat in front of the sewing machine it occurred to me just how crazy and random the tasks of motherhood are. Then just as I was getting into "poor me" mode A vague memory crept in....I am pretty sure that at one time my own mother actually re-fur-ed an entire stuffed animal for me because it was my favorite. What a reality check! I snapped right out of it and thought this could be worse, I could have had to do the things my mother did. I know I often say this in my blogs, but I'm not sure that I could say it enough, "My mom is truly Super-Mom." In the truest sense of the title, because I cannot remember one time that she complained or even sighed about having to do something for me.

Here is a quick list of some of the Random Mom "jobs" I have done lately:

1. Repaired Joe's Blankie

2. Sewed a purple pocket onto Joshua's Corduroy Bear (evidently the Barnes and Noble bear makers have not read the sequel book A Pocket for Corduroy, but Joshua has and demanded that his bear have a purple pocket.

3. Assembled and glued down the boys' trainset to their train table so Jonas would stop taking it apart and Joshua would stop sobbing about it.


4. Re-sewed Corduroy's pocket after Joshua tried to stick his entire hand into it (did I mention my sewing skills are limited?)

5. After 5 months of searching for the missing camcorder cord I finally located it so that Joshua could watch the Denver zoo video we made when we first moved. Because when Joshua is not at the zoo he wants to watch himself being at the zoo...he's animal crazy!

6.  Tried hiding Joshua's vitamins in EVERYTHING and even last night when I crushed one up and smashed it into a fresh from the oven brownie he only ate half before noticing and handing it back to me saying, " I don't like that stuff you put in it." Major Fail :(

and many more...

Today when the boys returned from their morning with Daddy, Joe immediately spotted his freshly sewn blanket. He wrapped it around his head, giggled, smiled, and gave me a big hug around the leg. Totally worth the 20 minutes I spent threading and re-threading my sewing machine. Worth it, and then some. As I've become a mother I've been surprised by two things 1. How much I can love my children, and 2. How much I can love my Mom.

Joshua kissing his Corduroy

Jonas taking his Blankie to naptime