My goal

I read an article the other day that talked to several young adults about their mothers.  It asked them the simple question:  What is one thing you remember about your mother?

Most of the answers were:  kindness, sacrifice, love.   Yes, as mothers, we give all these things.

But, I really started to think about this question.  What is the one thing I want my children to remember about me? 

I certainly don't want them to remember the yelling and nagging that I tend to do everyday.  I don't want them to remember all the hurrying we did to get to one place or another.  I don't want them to remember me bent over a bathtub scrubbing or folding a load of laundry.  What did I really want them to remember?

It has taken me several weeks to come up with my answer.  My answer is very simple. I want them to remember a mother that followed Jesus with all her heart.  Nothing more and nothing less. I want them to remember me in prayer.  I want them to remember me studying and applying God's word.  I want them to remember me singing praise songs.  I want them to remember me praying over anything and everything.

With these pictures in my mind I have shaped our house.

I study my bible in front to my children.  Most of the time it is laying in the most annoying places.  My bible has food on it and baby spit.  The pages are ripped and a 3 year old little boy wrote all over Genesis.   It is greatly loved and cherished.

I have a little stereo in my kitchen.  Every chance I get, I turn it on.  We listen to the Seeds of Family CD's.  The songs are scripture put to music.  I hear my children singing them....they have them all memorized without putting any effort into it.

I pray with my children.  Our nightly prayers are so routine for us that my children can't go to sleep without them (love that).  I have been very intentional about saying long, heartfelt prayers and pouring my heart out to Jesus.  Someday my children will be able to say them on their own.   I pray with my children when we are driving and we see people on the street or hear a siren.  We pray about school and hurt feelings and owies.   I try to be very intentional about praying.

We go to mass on Sundays.  Even though it is impossibly hard with 4 small children.   Bryan and I sometimes leave mass angry and exhausted and frustrated.  I keep going.  Someday I will see the fruit of this labor (I hope).

I read my bible to the kids.  We study children's bible stories.  We watch bible stories on You Tube and the television.   I review the Sunday scripture with my kids.  I take every opportunity to teach my kids about the Bible.  Some weeks I am more intentional then others but, it has become part of our routine.

I tell my children everyday....You are a wonderful, beautiful, child of God.  I tell them that God has a purpose for them.  A holy purpose and I can't wait to see what it will be someday.

Wednesday nights we go to church as a family.  And, this year, Gabe celebrated his First Holy Communion.  It made my heart swell even bigger as I watched him in church that day.  I am so proud of him and the commitment he made to accomplish this!  I will post pictures shortly.

And, as I close my weary eyes tonight I only pray that my children saw Jesus today.  Through me and their dad and our life.  That they are learning to have a heart for God.  And, when they remember me....it will be Jesus that they see.

6 months and growing!

Hi, my name is Grace Marie.  But, sometimes my mommy calls me Gracie.  Here I am.  Six months old already. 

I am getting so big!   I can do lots of new things and I just wanted to show everyone.

I LOVE to eat my toes.  They are so warm and just the right size to put in my mouth.

Every afternoon my mom fills our sink in the kitchen and I get to splash in the water.  I love taking a bath.  It's one of my favorite things to do.

Last week, I wasn't quite big enough to sit up on my own.  So, my mom would put me in this little laundry basket and I would play with my toys.  It was the perfect place to play and I didn't fall over while I was playing!

But, I got really, really tired of this basket.  So, I decided I better learn to sit up on my own.  And, look.  I did it!  Now, I don't have to sit in a silly basket.

My mom puts me in the stroller and we walk up the green belt to Hunters Glen Elementary School.   Then, I get to see Gabe and Owen.  I love riding in my stroller.

 

But, before Gabe and Owen get home from school, Eli and I have a little playtime together.  He is such a good big brother.  This picture was the day we made our laundry basket into a boat...built for two.

I have saved my biggest accomplishment for last.  Yep, here I am eating oatmeal.  I also love peaches, pears, and peas!  I also love spitting at my mom (she doesn't always laugh).

See all the stuff I get to do.  It's all very exciting and I can't wait to keep growing!

A little independence

One of my favorite parts of being a mom is watching my kiddos learn something new.  To watch them gain a new found freedom.  I love that little gleam in their eyes that says "I did it, mom".  And, the selfish side of me loves it when my kiddos learn something new because it means that I don't have to do it for them.

For example, every time Eli climbed on his brothers bunk bed he would scream for me to come get him down.  He just couldn't get down the ladder by himself.  So, I would run upstairs and lift him down.  Well, not anymore!  Now he can do it himself.  And, boy is he PROUD. 

He was so proud that he climbed up and down the ladder a total of 50 times one morning.  50 times!  No exaggeration.  He was so happy to learn this new skill and wanted to relive that moment over and over.

And, I was quite happy to watch him complete this task over and over.  While he was busy learning to climb the ladder, I was setting up his new little bed.  And, with the bed complete, Eli is taking another big step into childhood.  No more crib.  He is a big boy now.  He gets to sleep with his brothers in his big boy bed. 

And, here is our big boy.  So proud of his little bed.

After all our hard work up in the bedroom we run downstairs to make lunch for our Kindegardner before he runs off to school.  So cute!  I'm so glad that Owen is still home with us in the mornings!

hammock time

Breath.  Breath deep.  Breath deeper.  Tonight I have to keep telling myself that.   The silence in my house isn't helping me.  Most nights I would be enjoying this time of peace and quiet while my kids sleep soundly in their little beds.  No screaming, no whining, no fighting, no yelling. 

But, I can't seem to slow down enough to enjoy my time.  There is too much to do.  To plan.  To think about. My mind is filled with each child, a husband who is in another state, our upcoming move, selling and buying a new house, finishing up the school year.....  This is really just to much.    I am only just barely surviving.

But, I don't want to just survive.  I want to enjoy.  Enjoy my kids.  Enjoy all the blessings that God has given me. 

So, today, for the first time in many days, I took that time.  On purpose.  To be intentional.  To stop talking on the phone, browsing the internet for houses, doing the dishes, organizing my kitchen, throwing in a load of laundry.  I stopped it all.  I grabbed my baby girl out of her high chair and headed out to my new hammock.  And, we layed in the hammock and let the sunshine warm us up.

 We sang Old McDonald while we rocked back and forth. 

Until the boys joined us.  Then we laughed and were crowded and yelled at each other to scoot over.  Feet, legs, and arms all entangled.  It got noisy and loud and there wasn't enough room.  But, I stayed on and held onto each one and we sang "The Ants Go Marching".  We made up our own rhymes and we laughed at them.  We soaked up the sunshine and learned how to balance on a hammock with 4.

Tomorow will be the same.  I will have to stop.  I will have to put everything aside and do what is important. 

I will have to trust that our move will be easy.  My husband will make it home safety this weekend.  We will find a house in Phoenix to call our own.  And, this is the hard part.  Trusting that everything will work itself out.  But, if I don't.....I may go crazy.  Crazy with worry.  Crazy that my life is no longer my own and under my control.  Crazy with 4 small children and a large house to maintain.  

And, when I take a "hammock moment" things don't look so complicated.  Because I am so blessed.  So blessed to be able to lay around with my kids and sing crazy songs.  So blessed that we have such wonderful opportunities.  So blessed that we have so much love....and we know how to share it.
  

BIG MOVE

When something big happens in my life, it always makes me look back over where I have been and think about our life.  I look at our life from every angle and try to figure out how we got to this place.

Those days when you know change is in front of you but, you need to sit in the past for awhile before the whirlwind starts and everything is different.  The whirlwind of change.

Bryan and I are good at change.  We actually embrace it, live for it.  It makes us feel alive.  It is only when we are not in constant change that we feel uncomfortable.  Anxious, antsy, uneasy.  We learned this about ourselves when we went to a marriage conference several years ago.  Very few people in the room shared our passion for change.  And, Bryan does more then me. 

I close my eyes and imagine something simpler.  A nice small house in Sheridan, Wyoming with 2 children.   Close to all our family.  Bryan would have a low stress job and be home at 6 every afternoon.  Ahhhhh, it sounds so nice.  So comfortable.  The whirlwind doesn't exist.

Then, I smile at myself for even thinking about this because Bryan and I had the opportunity to take that life.  We could have stayed close to family.  We could have stopped at 2 children.  We could have turned down Bryan's promotions.  We didn't.  With everything we are, we looked at our life and created what we knew would be best for all of us.  A whirlwind.  A whirlwind of change and chaos and in the midst of it all we knew we would find happiness.  Not the kind of happiness that we would have found in Sheridan but, our own kind of happiness.  And, he and I both know that we wouldn't have been able to live in that nice small house in Sheridan.

And, we have been so blessed.  Blessed beyond anything that I ever imagined.  I certainly didn't ever imagine our life today when I was in my 20's.   It is so much bigger then I ever imagined.  Our opportunities have been endless and our children have brought us so much happiness.  It has been incredible.

OK.  I have to tell you why I'm writing this.  What has started all of this thinking. My husband has been offered and accepted a new job.  He accepted the position last week and our whirlwind started.  We will be moving to Phoenix, Arizona.

And, like each move.  Each new baby.  Each new house.  We know this is right.  We know it's the next step in our lives.  We also know it's not going to be easy.  It will be hard to leave Colorado.  To leave our friends and move further away from our family.  It will be hard to start over with 4 small children.  It will be hard to be the President of a large company.   But, we haven't been concentrating on these details.  We are concentrating on what God has in store for us.  God's plan for us and all the blessings we have been given.  All the opportunities and what our new life will be like.

And, looking forward is so much more exciting then looking back.  Embracing each new opportunity we are offered is our focus and we are very excited.  Excited and blessed.  Did I say blessed yet?  I am overcome with thankfulness for everything that we have and all we have to look forward to.  No words can express my thankfulness.

Thankfulness for an amazing husband.  A young man with a biology degree who decided to take his first job in the construction business, as a laborer, with shovel in hand.   I remember going with him to buy his first pair of steel toed boots.  But, he didn't stay there long, he quickly moved his way up to backhoe driver and I was proud of him.  And, soon after that he started supervising crews on the road.  He traveled all over the country with clipboard in hand.  Staying in hotels and changing cities every few weeks. I was proud of him.   After several years he soon became an engineer and started working in an office (I think he enjoyed the air conditioning).   Again, I was so proud of his accomplishments.  And, as the years passed he continued to accept promotions and change positions.  Never second guessing himself or feeling content with one thing.  He embraced each new challenge and excelled.  And, today he starts as the new President of Pauley Construction.  Wow, it's all I can say.   I have never been more proud of him.

So, today there is no looking back...I looked back and I don't like what was there.  No regrets or we should haves.  Just contentment and thankfulness.  I know that Phoenix, Arizona is the perfect place for our family.  This is the perfect job for Bryan.  It's all a new adventure and I am ready.  Ready to start something new (again).

My bath

I'm telling you what.  This is the life.  I just love it when my mom starts getting my bath ready.  I start squealing and giggling.

I love my bath.  Hot, soapy water.  I get to splash and play with my brothers.  They dance for me and make all kinds of funny faces.  And, I just sit back and relax and enjoy all the entertainment. 

There is nothing better in the whole world.

photo shoot

Having a girl means I get to dress her up.  It is so much fun!

Grace Marie Dahl

5 months

And a little color (pink of course)