I love my job

One of the greatest joys of my life is being a stay at home mom.  This has always been my dream job.  There are moments when I have to pinch myself that it is really happening.  It isn't always all fun all of the time.  There are those moments where I feel like if we are stuck in the house any longer or I hear much more whining I might lose it.  And there are some sacrifices that come with it.....we drive old cars, don't eat out a lot and have to watch how much money we spend.  It is all worth it because from morning to night I am with two little girls that I adore and I don't have to miss any of the priceless moments that will never come again.  The little things that as they are happening I am thinking how thankful I am that I am not missing them.

Ashlyn saying good morning to one of the many babies who lives at our house

 

Ash is taking a little more interest in coloring.....like she will hold a crayon for longer than 3 seconds and makes scribbles

Two artists at work

Checking to see how the banana bread is doing

Two girls and two recorders = beautiful music

Girly girls with their purses.  Usually at some point in each day Kyla grabs her purse and tells us she is going to the store or to visit the princesses or take her baby to the doctor or to a birthday party....the list could go on and on.  Well, now Ashlyn grabs her purse and follows Kyla around.  Wherever Kyla is going, Ashlyn is up for it as long as she can bring her purse.

Time for a break to watch the rain coming down

Afternoon tea party with Snow White.  That day we had raspberry tea served with carrot soup and chocolate cake.  She throws a good tea party.

I realize what a blessing it is to be at home.  I love my job.

Milliseconds of our moments

This week has seemed to be a roller coaster of emotions.  Many of my mommy friends have kids starting their first year of kindergarten or first grade.  Some are sending their last child off to kindergarten, ushering in big changes.  It seems for the past week every time I run into a mom, this is the topic of conversation.  The other day at our neighborhood park I was talking to a mom who was getting ready to send her fourth and last child into kindergarten and she told me the night before she had bawled her eyes out for an hour.  Let me just interject here that at this time next year I will be the mom crying, sending my firstborn to kindergarten.  Thank goodness for moms who just get each other.

Troy and I have burdens we are carrying and some things that seem so overwhelming in our own strength.  We are seeking God in prayer over many different things.  I am sure that whoever is reading this, could say this is true for them as well.  This is life....things hurt our hearts, test our faith, confuse us, discourage us, scare us and just when we get used to one thing the changes just keep coming.  In the middle of all of this, I read something in a blog that I look at only from time to time, but it was the perfect time for me to read it.  These truths brought calm to my heart....

Wherever we are.....
Here we are at this very moment.....
On this specific day, in this exact place.....

During this particular season of life,
We must rest in this truth:

God knows, God remembers, God ordains and God orchestrates the milliseconds of our moments.

And God is working, building, preparing and making the way for His answer to your immediate prayers and your lifelong ones.

He is setting the stage for Jesus, who will glorify Himself and bless you and those around you through the work He is doing this very moment, even if it seems like a lot of silence to you.

No matter the craziness we are in, there is a bottom line truth and that is that God is at work in it all.  Orchestrating the milliseconds of our moments.  What He is doing in our lives at this very moment from tears on the first day of kindergarten to unanswered questions, God is at work.....building, preparing and making the way.  Thank you, Jesus, I would be lost without you.

*******

In other news.....check out the princesses who live at our house.  We decided it was time for Ashlyn to get in on the dressing up action, so she got to wear a Tinkerbell dress that is getting too small for Kyla.  It is still a little big for her, but she did have fun in it, until she started tripping over it.  Here are my two princess girls....Kyla is so tall in this picture because, of course, she had on princess high heels.

 Hello, sweet little Tinkerbell

Ready for a tea party

Deep breath.  God is always good and can always be trusted.  He is orchestrating the milliseconds of our moments.

Our roots

In the summer Troy and I like to set aside time to go to our hometowns and be with our families.  It is hard for us to get away on the weekends, which means it can be tough to go home a lot.  So, we are always glad to make trips home and this past weekend we were in Springfield, IL.....one of my very favorite places.  I love it because our family is there and it holds so many memories for me and Troy.  And, Kyla and Ashlyn love it because Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heidi are there.  We had a really fun weekend and here is why....

We baked in the kitchen with Grandma

 and made these really cute beach cupcakes

we liked them.

Kyla helped pick some tomatoes for Grandma

 We had a really fun time at the Illinois State Fair.  We went to the opening night parade and the girls could not have loved it more.  Kyla waved at all the floats and loved when they passed out candy.  Ashlyn loved it all....waved and clapped for everything.

 There is a great new park by Grandma and Grandpa's house that has a splash park as part of it.  So much fun!

Kyla having fun at Aunt Heidi's house

Our family

Another added perk of this weekend was that I got to be a part of my sister's first bridal shower.  My parents house is a little over an hour from Troy's, so on Saturday morning I headed down to my home church for the shower.  Here we are before the shower.....my mom, Kara (the bride to be) and me.

We love going home.  And as I was driving from Springfield down to Roxana, Illinois I kept thinking about all that God has brought together over these years.  These towns are our roots and we have received so many blessings because of them and because of the people who loved us as we grew up.  I had no idea when I was a little girl that an hour north from me was my future husband.  So when we are there and our children are with us, it is such evidence of God's providence and faithfulness.  As we were driving back to our Indiana home, somewhere as Illinois was about to turn into Indiana this beautiful rainbow filled up the sky.  Kyla knows the story of Noah and the rainbow that God brings to remind everyone that God keeps His promises.  As we were driving with the rainbow in our view, we reminded Kyla about that.  God always keeps His promises.  Going back to our roots always helps us see that.

A day with the cows

About 45 miles north of where we live is a dairy farm.  This is not a dairy farm with a few cows and some farm animals for the kids to pet, this is a dairy farm with 32,000 cows.  It is huge.  And a lot of fun.  We have been wanting to go visit Fair Oaks Farm for awhile now.  We went today and had so much fun.  Fair Oaks is so clean and all of the people who work there could not be nicer.  It is also great for kids with so much for them to do and see. 

At the farm and ready to explore

Daddy and Ashlyn ready for a bus tour....time to see some cows

And, boy, did we ever see some cows! Here is their milking station.  This is the dairy go round....all the cows lined up and ready to get milked.  They have it down to a science and it is crazy to see. 

Me, Kyla and the cows (we weren't really in the barn....just by a picture)

Big blue skies and a jumping girl

Taking a rest in the shade

Farm girl

And two little cow girls

 Troy seeing how fast he could milk a simulated cow.  He has farming in his blood.....he was a natural.

My favorite part of Fair Oaks is that you get to see baby calves being born.  This is what I was most excited about and the most nervous about....not sure what the girls would think of it.  I knew Ashlyn wouldn't really be paying attention but I didn't know what Kyla would think.  As Troy and I discussed with each other beforehand, cows giving birth in a barn is primal.  Actually, a woman giving birth in a hospital is primal too, but kids aren't generally allowed to peek in on that.

The birthing barn is really cool.  They have a stop light outside of it and if it is red it means no calves are being born right now.  If it is yellow it means it is coming soon because hooves are coming out (primal).  If it is green it means that baby is coming out.  Inside of the barn they have stadium seating for viewers to sit back and watch it all happen.  And that is just what we did.

Here are two mama cows who are in labor...they are pretty calm about the whole thing

 This is a mama just after delivering her cow, cleaning it off

Warning: Unpleasant picture.  Just keeping it real and primal.  We were lucky enough to see a cow deliver twins today.  But, she needed a little help.  So, in came a farmer/helper who tied a strap around the hooves coming out and started pulling.  Ouch.

It got even more invasive than that when the farmer went away and came back with a rubber glove on his hand.  You can imagine what came next.  I saw him walking in and I whispered to Troy, "Oh no, he is gloving up."  Luckily, none of it seemed to phase our children.  After the twins came out, everyone started cheering.  The farmer got the baby calves off into a pile of hay while the mama laid and rested, which who can blame her?  While she was resting the farmer came over and gave her a pat on the back.....giving her a little affirmation of a job well done.  After I delivered Ashlyn with no drugs and lots of screaming, Troy told me I was his hero.  I guess the pat on the back is the equivalent in cow terms.

Here is Kyla witnessing the miracle of birth, cow style

After the calves are born, you can go see them in their little newborn cages.  Like a little cow hospital nursery.  And I thought 7 lbs., 7 oz. was tough.

Since we were spending the day on a dairy farm, it was only fitting to enjoy some yummy dairy food.

Kyla and I with our grilled cheese sandwiches

And, of course, ice cream

Yummy......ice cream face

If the milk from Fair Oaks is good enough for the Colts, it is good enough for us

As we were reminded on our bus tour of the farm today, we live in the corn belt.  And for two kids who grew up in the corn belt, big open skies and fields of corn will always feel like home to us

As Kyla prayed tonight at bedtime, "Dear Jesus, thank you for cows that give us milk."  Yes, we are thankful for those cows and for a great family day on the farm.