Fun, Fun, Fun

T1 and T2 played ball this summer.  It's always fun to watch them enjoy a sport, make new friends, and succeed.  

One of the many reasons I love summer!

We thought they would love going to watch some real ballplayers so we took them to a Grizzlies' game.   Little did we know, it was $2 food night!  The tickets were free to us, so we let the kids enjoy some ballpark food.  We watched the Grizzlies pull in a win in beautiful weather while the kids blew their weezer whistles and chowed down.  

What a great night!

God Guiding Us

Some moments you just don't want to forget.

All of our small group guys were gathering at our house for a friend's birthday.  Me and the T's cleaned the house, made stuffed mushrooms and smokies, and then packed up and headed to town to a friend's house where all of the girls and kids were hanging out for the evening.  

Five mamas, twelve kids, and a houseful of food, toys, and overall chaos.  Spilled soda, loud squeals of laughter, shared baby bottles, poop handprint on the wall (it wouldn't be real without it!), some drinks, and lots of talking and laughing.  Then, it was winding down....and raining.  It's now 11:00 and way past all of their bedtimes.  They're tired and tender.

I packed up my crew, the odds and ends I could remember and headed out in a downpour to the van.  I buckle T4 in, T1 gets T3.  I'm soaked, and it's still pouring.  Lightning lights the sky like a strobe light.  Thunder startles the kids.  I ask the kids to be quiet so I can concentrate for our normally 15 minute ride home.  They amazingly stayed quiet.  T2 calmed T3 who was scared.  T1 softly hummed to T4.

The lightning was continuous.  Several times, our van would lose traction.  The amount of rain water overwhelmed the ground.  On a curve, we hydroplaned and I feared the van would not make the turn.  It did.  We drove through inches of rain at the four way stop.  We got home and quietly got out.

T1 said that was the scariest ride he'd ever been on.  I told him me too.  T2 gave me a big hug.  T3's little face was full of anxiety and melted when I picked him up.  Mike grabbed T4.  We prayed and thanked God for our safety.  The kids were jammied, brushed and pottied.  After they were down, I snuggled into Mike's arms and let him know how frightening it was.  He held me tight.

God's provision is incomprehensible.

Birthday Fun

Another year has gone way too quickly.  I never felt like I was getting old, until I had children.  Even then, my age didn't make me feel old; it was my children's increasing years that caused me to realize that time is happening so fast.  This year was #35 and the first time that my number made me catch my breath!  All of the T's made me a card, and they always touch me.  T2's cake, decorated with all 35 candles, about made me fall over.....

Regardless of the momentary realization that I'm know longer a young mama, this had to be my best birthday yet.  Last year, I was on bed rest for my birthday and just praying that T4 wouldn't come at 30 weeks like they were worried she might.  Not quite the birthday celebration everyone hopes for, although I did score a homemade fondue night with the family.  This year, I was just so thankful to count my blessings:

an incredibly strong marriage to an amazing man

four beautiful, happy and healthy children

great friends

a faithful, loving, helpful family

an incredible small group

a church that is accepting God's challenge

a warm home with plenty of food

grace abounding

God's endless love

Jesus' overwhelming sacrifice

Holy Spirit's leading

a beautiful world to experience

Thank you, God.




 

Learning

We just finished our second week of school this year.  We get asked often what grade the kids are in.  We pause and explain.  T1 is in third grade age wise, but is doing fourth grade work.  Actually, he's doing sixth grade spelling and reading and is between fourth and fifth grade math.  T2 is in first grade according to her age, but she is doing second grade work and reading at a third grade level.  Being a homeschooler, I always feel the need to justify that my kids are learning and that we don't sit at home and play all day.

That said, we do play, A LOT!  Somehow, yesterday, we got school done in two and a half hours, for both kids.  While the kids did their chores (ahem, more learning!), I hopped on the Wii Fit, my attempt at exercising with four children.  The kids love to watch and cheer Mommy on.  

T1 was very impressed my unlocking an expert course for the cycling exercise.  Since I needed to do a little more working out, I decided to let him see what it looked like.   Usually, each course is about ten minutes.  After twenty minutes, I was tired and ready to quit and announced that I was going to quit and make some lunch.  The kids let me know they were hungry but wanted me to keep going.  I told them I was tired and ready to be done, and then their sweet little hearts shone!  T2 said "Mommy, you can do it!  Don't give up, even when it's hard!".  T1 kept encouraging me the whole time with little comments like "You're doing great!", "I'm proud of you", and "Way to go, only X more flags to go".  T3 started dancing and yelling "Go, Mama, Go Mama".  Their little hearts were so encouraging and patient!

Don't mind the sweaty, panting mama that logged in over 40 minutes on that one exercise.   I walked away feeling great for working out so long, but even better that my kids were unselfish with their time, encouraging with their words, and proud in their hearts for someone else's work.

When I first started homeschooling, I felt the need to check everything off the recommended list for work to be done.  Every page must be completed, every book on the suggested reading list read, every hands on activity accomplished, and every single day done exactly as it should be (regardless of what kind of day anyone was having).  Now, we go through our year with hearts ready to learn.  We slow down on things that interest us, complete our coursework, read more books, and play more together.  There will be days when school will be called off for fun or crazy days, and there will be snow days that we will still school.  The best part of all is that even when we are not sitting down with our books, our kids are still learning...knowledge, life skills and character.

When I first started homeschooling, I wasn't sure about it.  I felt like it's what God wanted, but not what I thought would work for everyone.  I didn't know the first thing about teaching.  Good thing He doesn't need my perfect self to tell him that it's not a good idea to work his plan.

God doesn't call people who are qualified, but He calls people who are willing and then He qualifies them.  Somebody remind me of that when I start to stress again....

Sweet Moments

What a blessing today was.  Beautiful weather, friends and family!

We did school, cleaned the house, left for two showings, and met up with friends at the park.  T1 & T2 climbed in the trees with their friends.  They are so adventurous, and T2 is particularly fearless.  I wish I had taken my camera with me to catch some shots of how high they were.  T3 was sleepy from a short nap, but he had so much fun.  T4 was trying to eat every leaf, along with her little buddy.  She is so close to standing, before I know it she'll be walking!

My kids are so precious!  If I could just focus on that when they're being crazy, too!

T3 is so in to Cars; possibly a little too much.  Good luck having a conversation without that boy revving his engine!  He told us in the grocery store that he had a broken tire.  He then pointed to a boo boo on his big toe.  Before bed, he grabbed my face and looked me in the eyes.  He asked, "And you sleep with me Mama?"  Time to be planning another family sleepover. 

T1 enjoyed the dinner I made tonight and told me what an awesome mom I was.  He told me I was funny, tender like him, that I do anything for them, and I am a good cook.  He let me know how good dinner was.  "I'm as happy as an old man in a trailer park with his shirt off and his fly undone."  Seriously?? 

T2 is such a sweetheart.  Today she was extremely sad when we read that Christopher Columbus was brokenhearted after having been arrested and sent back to Spain.  The sympathetic look on her face melted my heart.

These moments are going by so fast!  I love taking the time to slow down and enjoy them.  Praying tomorrow will be just as sweet.

So, here it is...finally

I've thought about it several times, I've even started it once.  I've read hundreds of others. I'm finally doing it.  I always wondered who would want to read anything I would write or be interested in another average life.

Maybe this will allow my failing memory a chance to record the firsts in life, cherished memories, answered prayers, and a means of keeping friends and family up to date.  Maybe it will encourage some other average person's life.  Perhaps, it will just make someone laugh or me laugh, looking back on it all.


We'll see how often it gets updated, but I'm hoping it will be a lot.  After all it's the sweet life of Six Sweet Stephens.