Moments

There are moments, while raising kids, that Ben and I question whether or not we are doing the right things. If what we work so hard at doing is going to pay off. We try so hard to raise loving and respectful boys. We wonder how they will ever turn into the loving and respectful men we want them to be. Lately, we have questioned our parenting skills A LOT! The kids have been fighting nonstop....they have been VERY challenging. Eli is a challenge, as he is in transition again. He is not a baby, yet not quite big enough to do the things he thinks he can do.

But then....

There are moments.....

Moments that make your heart jump a beat.
Moments that let you know that your hard work is paying off.
Moments that you know you can't possibly screw them up too bad.
Moments that you know, everything is going to be alright.

Last night, I had one of those moments.

Eli was playing on the chair and ottoman. I had told him it was dangerous. I told him he was going to get hurt. He ignored me, because sometimes, those daredevil, boy instincts take over and it is hard to hear anything else. He ended up falling and smacking the back of his head. I scooped him up and cuddled him. I didn't notice, but both Evan and Isaac took off running. I wasn't paying attention to where they were going. Evan ran to Ben and My bedroom, and Isaac took off the other way to his room. Both came back at the same time. Evan had Eli's blankie in hands and Isaac had gotten him one of his special stuffed animals. They were there to comfort him....

That was the moment.
The moment that I was reminded that we ARE raising loving, caring, and respectful boys.
The moment that I was reminded that these boys ARE going to grow up to be loving and respectful men.
The moment I remembered that everything IS going to be alright.

The night....

Finally the kids are in bed, the house is picked up, and there is silence....

The t.v. isn't on....

The kids aren't fighting, or rough-housing....

The baby isn't climbing on the table or doing some other dangerous stunt....

Supper is served and cleaned up....

The only sound is the dishwasher going and the washing machine....The sound of accomplishment!

Things have been rough lately. 

Ben is in full swing with wrestling. He is gone every night either with practice or a meet. If it is practice, he usually gets home about 7:30. I try to keep Eli up so he can see Ben, but really, he would prefer to go to bed around 6:30 or 7:00...he is usually tired and fussy by the time Ben gets home.  If it is a meet night, Ben doesn't get home until the kids are sound asleep (usually after 10). Tonight he has night class, tomorrow a wrestling meet, Thursday a wrestling meet and Saturday an all day tournament. This is a lot for me to handle. I get so frustrated when I can't handle things....It is so hard to have a good attitude, and have patience when I am doing this all alone. It is hard to get the bills organized, do all the grocery shopping with three kids in tow, get meals made, served and cleaned up, keep up with the laundry, keep the house picked up, run the kids here and there, keep track of school work and schedules for the kids. Ben helps as much as he can, but the reality of it is that he is not home right now. I hate blaming Ben for all the stress... I know that life with kids is stressful anyway. Ben has a ton on his plate and tons of responsibilities too...and we are doing the best we can. We do get Sundays with him, but he has to spend the afternoons at school preparing for the week. The kids miss him and I miss him. I know this is very temporary...in a month we will be at state wrestling, which means the end of this schedule. I just feel like I am failing miserably...at everything. I am going to work on being more patient and having more fun with the kids. I hate that I snap at them and don't have more patience for them. I seriously don't know how mothers do this. I hate that it seems like everyone else has it all together and I just can't figure this out yet! 

Ok, enough of my pity party. I am going to wake up tomorrow with a better attitude! Just needed to feel sorry for myself tonight!

Just life....

Tonight at my monthly Women of Today meeting, we had to go around and say what we were thankful for. The rule was you could just say "my family" "good health" or something generic like that. Those are things were are all thankful for. We had to think deeper. I struggled for a bit, because those truly are the things that matter the most to me. Then I started thinking some more.....

Lately, I have been so consumed with how busy life has been lately. Seems like we are running here or there all the time and barely have time to breathe.  For example, Friday we didn't have school and I took Eli to his 1 year checkup and then to Waterloo with a friend in the afternoon. Friday night we went to Clarksville for Bob's birthday, Saturday we had a wedding, Sunday we went to Grundy for my mom and dad's birthday, Tuesday Ben had night class and Evan had math night at the school. He missed wrestling practice to attend the math night. Tonight we had to be in Charles City at the bank to close out our loan at 4:00 which meant we had to leave school a few minutes early to get there on time. Then it was home for supper, then I had a meeting.  Tomorrow night Evan has wrestling practice. Next week, the real fun starts, as Ben starts the wrestling season. He is going to be the high school assistant coach this year. The list goes on and on....Life has not slowed down and doesn't look like it is going to any time soon. 

We are BUSY, and I am so THANKFUL for it. I need to remind myself of this. I am thankful that I have friends to spend time with. I am thankful that Ben has night class...it means we are educated parents, doing what we think is right for our children.  I am thankful that we have school activities to take the kids to....it means that we are involved in our kids' school - not just as teachers, but as parents too. I am thankful that we have appointments at the bank and the doctor....it means we have the means to build a new house for our family to grow in, and we are keeping our children healthy. I am thankful we have family birthday parties on the weekends...it means that our family is close and spends time together. 

I am thankful that we have three small boys that keep us BUSY but fill our life with so much love and joy. Being BUSY is not a bad thing. Being BUSY means that we are right where we want to be. 

We are BUSY and we are so blessed.