Movin' on up.

I have never claimed to be technologically advanced. I did take a typing class in high school, then practiced extensively through daily emails to my best friend during my freshmen year (she went to college in Iowa and this was before cell phones and texting so email was our only free communication), which helped me get pretty quick on the keyboard. And speaking of keyboards, I am actually typing on my new little fancy one that is "paired" up with my new tablet. Sounds fancy, huh? Well that's as good as it gets. But I guess I have come a long way from dial up and a "car phone" (literally the size of a regular phone, cord and zipper case included). It's funny that our kids wont even know the times before touch screens. I purposely have not downloaded any games on my tablet, it's been hard enough keeping my kids off my phone (even my 2 year old asks for "Angy Buds").

 David makes me laugh every day with his talking, he's not just repeating things now but he's making his own sentences, usually involving bears or candy. His tantrums have hit an all time high, I'm afriad to say, intense doesn't even touch it. I'm just praying that strong will can be used for the Lord one day. I don't know what got in to me, but I went shopping with all 4 kids two nights in a row. Steven was preaching Sunday night at a little meeting so I decided to have a traveling nursery and get my Walmart trip out of the way. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and I did get my shopping done, thankfully not losing any kids. The following night we were meeting Steven and his family for dinner and had a few minutes to spare on the way there. We stopped by the library to turn in a "lost" book, where for some reason D has the opposite behavior than is expected. I still had some time so I decided to "run in" Target and look for a couple birthday presents. By the time I got to the register Mary Jo was crying, D was screaming, and I'm not sure what the big 2 were doing. I picked up Mary Jo as I paid the bill and repeatedly had to turn around to shove D back into the cart he was feverishly trying to climb out of. We hit an all time low when the sympathetic casheir actually came around the register, picked up D, and walked me to my car. It was embarrasing but a couple kids ago I decided to never turn down help. I haven't been in a store with D since, if I could grocery shop on Amazon I think I would.
As for my little Eli, he's about as laid back as D is not. He's got his faults too, he hates to color, loves tv too much, and is really poky with getting his shoes on. The new favorite show in my house is "Peter Rabbit", which actually has 3 villians, all who try to eat Peter Rabbit in nearly every episode (well, I guess Mr. McGreggor doesn't actually want to eat Peter, just get him out of his garden, understandably). The other night Eli's wheels were turning and he said "Mommy, if there wasn't any food in the kitchen, and there wasn't any food at a restaurant, and there wasn't any food at the store.....would you eat me?" He also talks about his "old mom" a lot, one night at bedtime we were all praying and talking about different requests. Eli asked if we could pray for his old mom, because she died. Gotta love 4 year old minds.
I've gone on and on about my boys I don't have time to write about my girls, but Sadie is doing a little better in school, has mastered "Old McDonald" on the piano, and is as bossy as usual. As her teacher put it, she has "leadership skills", which in first grade just means you like to tell people what to do. Apparently when the teacher tells the class to turn to page 27 Sadie is too busy "helping" everyone else turn to the page that she doesn't do it herself. It's nice with Mary Jo being almost 6 years younger, for most of her life she will be fine with Sadie telling her what to do. Especially if her personality is anything like Eli!
Speaking of my sweet caboose, she's starting to crawl! Which means I should really be keeping the floor a little cleaner, a mobile baby is a dangerous thing around here. She's such a happy girl, growing at her own little slow pace, but getting sweeter every day.

I got to talk to a sweet, godly, lady the other night who encouraged me more than she'll ever know. She talked about how overwhelming it is to have young children, and shared with me some of her own struggles. I really believe the Lord sent her to me, that he even plans, in His sovereignty, our conversations for the encouragement that we need. I had been anxious, my mind constantly going with feelings of inadequacy, wondering if I'd remembered to pull socks out for Eli, and what side did the baby last nurse on, did I have any good excuses to go out over the weekend vs. eat in, how much sleep will I get if I fall asleep RIGHT NOW (not that I can ever count on that these days!), am I paying enough attention to my marriage, am I supposed to bring food to MOPS, etc.....I think just having someone validate my feelings, make me feel normal, not near crazy, was what I needed. I do NOT have it all together. I do eventually get the house cleaned up, even if it takes several days, but if I go to bed at night with toys on the floor, that's ok. I want to remember these years as good years, not as a rat race to be the best mom with the most organized house. With God's grace I am learning every day, simply surviving some days, but thankful most of all to get to be on this journey. One day I wont be escorted out of Target, I'll be able to shut the bathroom door, but I will miss my little people and their sweet snuggles. I'm going to go kiss them all but the baby (might wake her up!). Goodnight!