~Turkey Legs AndOtherTidbits~

There's nothing like craving a ice cream, opening your freezer to get one, only to find a turkey sticking out of a garbage bag.

Turkey feet are not pretty as it is but seeing them, claws and all, sticking out of a bag, knowing there's a body attached to them is slightly disturbing. 

IN your freezer. Like where your ice cream and frozen pizzas are. 

Good thing I'm relatively laid back. 

It was a hairy, stressful week. Had a sick little Wall, school to make up, field days, photo session with a feisty two year old, dance recitals, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things. The last two years, the week before Mother's Day has been really challenging. I think I'll dub it "Survival Week". Because that's exactly where I've been.

Sleepless nights. Complete exhaustion. Frazzled emotions. Singing a LOT. (Now I understand why my Mom sang a lot.) ~hehe~

It's is a way to refuse to give in to the blah around you. Singing some faith filled song in the midst of turmoil is my own "Custer's Last Stand". ....somehow it works. 

Just the same, I think next year, we'll celebrate Mother's Day a week early....see if that changes things. 

I've decided that if you want to be upset about something, you can be.

If you're looking for the bad, you'll find it. 

If you want to worry about something or someone, not a problem. There's a list a mile long.

Those are also perfect ways to completely WASTE your life. 

Because at the same time:

If you want to be grateful, there are countless blessings in your life.

If you're looking for the good, it's everywhere.

If you trust God for grace in whatever you'll walk through, you can experience peace.

FOUR MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL.     can I get a witness?!!  

how bad is it that for Mother's Day, I wanted to spend an entire day in my room. ~alone.~  of course, I was mostly joking.....mostly. 

NO, I didn't spend an entire day holed up in my room. I figure those days will come soon enough. 

A quiet house.

No size 13 pink peace sign flip flops laying on the stairs.

No coloring books on the den floor.

No Lego people in the dining room.

The upstairs bathroom will be spotless because no one will be using it. 

No little voice calling to me from my bedroom,"More, Pig, Ma!" translation: "there are commercials on, please come fast forward Peppa Pig." 

I'm embracing the present crazy chaos and plan to enjoy the quiet when it comes. One season at a time.  

a few shots from Auburn's spring game....

 ~stacey

~Through The Eyes of a 4th Grader~

"See, there are these two new girls at school. One of them is really pretty and the other one is not. And the pretty one. Well, everybody likes her and thinks she's good. But the other one, they make fun of her and whisper funny things about her. I felt so bad for her so I asked who wanted to play a math game with me and she said, 'I do.' So I told her, 'Okay!' So yeh, that's it."

So proud of my son.

So thankful for the evidence of compassion and God at work in His heart.

I'm enraged by mean, spiteful behavior. (Be it from children or grown ups.) There is no excuse for it and it brings out a crazed woman in me. 

Go out of your way to love the unlovely. 

Accept the ones who may not be widely accepted.

Value the humble.

Find beauty in imperfection.

And for heaven's sake, tell your kids to do the same.

They won't always do it right but live before them in compassion. Build them up. Hold them to a high standard. A standard of loving people. 

~stacey

~engaged~

Engaged. Fiance'. Getting married. He's the guy. Want to grow old with him. He's the father of my children. 

I remember like it was yesterday.

A million thoughts and emotions swirling around at once. 

It's pretty phenomenal, actually. 

Finding the person you are forever connecting yourself to. 

It's not perfect. It's not necessarily magical. At times, you'll want to hit him.

But it's so great. Commitment.

I've said it before. The single most attractive quality in a man. ~cOmMiTMenT~

I'll stick it out with you, baby. 

I'm not going anywhere.

Brad and I?

We love hard and we fight hard.

I'm stubborn. He's fiery. 

But he makes me feel like I'm 18. I make him laugh. We work together. Work, I said.

But he's not going anywhere and neither am I.

So, Abby and Cameron. Roll your sleeves up and get to it. It's a journey well worth it.

Congratulations!

~stacey

~sunny~

had a mommy/kids getaway this week. 

thank you, brad, for working hard while we played in the sand. 

and thank you, mom, for keeping little miss emma. i missed that baby of mine but i was SO glad she stayed behind.

if you haven't seen "Soul Surfer", you really should. these two were being Bethany all week. 

we finally had to tell them to stop pretending they had only one arm and to please stop stretching their shirts by putting one arm inside.

these girls and their kiddos have been the type of friends that can be hard to find.

~simple. easy to get along with. welcoming. warm. real. supportive.~

i'm in my pajamas, coffee in hand at 10:40 on this thursday morning. so thankful for spring break.

brad is off today and tomorrow. looking forward to a little more down time that includes him and maybe we can get just a couple  "honey do jobs" checked off the list. 

biggest news of the week so far is that my little sister got engaged yesterday! 

 couldn't be happier for them.

~stacey

~inventory~

came across this great thought today on a friend's blog, "only concern yourself with (pour yourself into/invest in) the people who are going to cry at your funeral."

you really should read here to get some great insight.

how awesome is that?! that's what, like twenty people?  at least half of those will be family, so they will cry no matter what. then there will be a handful of people who are just "criers", and will shed a tear no matter who you are or how you lived. when you boil it all down, you're left with just a few people you have to really worry about!   i like it. 

i challenge you to take inventory of where your focus is. where is most of your time and energy going? it never ceases to amaze me how frequently i get "derailed" and it's largely due to my thought process.

people fall prey to emotions and often buy into the lie of "i can't help it." grant it, there are instances where tough things happen that take time to adjust to and yes, emotions are a complex matter. however, 90% of the time our bad emotions are a direct result of negative thoughts.  and guess what?  {you choose how you think}      

control how you think and you have authority over how you feel. seems simple but it's absolutely true.

........which means i'm more responsible for my emotions that i would like to admit. it leaves me with no excuses. 

the days I love the most are when Avery looks at me first thing in the morning. after breakfast, when we're just sitting down at the table, starting school. if i'm being honest, i sometimes look a bit of a mess, Reese is a little less than thrilled, Jake is already thinking about what he wants to do after he's done but sweet Avery, who sometimes complains that she "dropped out" of school, says this to me: 

"mom. doing school at home is cozy." it starts my day off right. melts my heart, brings a smile to my face, and reminds me why I'm doing this.  if for no other reason than to have time with them......I'm glad. 

cozy. i agree. for the most part. trust. there are plenty of less than cozy moments but i love three mornings a week being a little slower, a little less hectic, with a little more time with my little chickens. 

anyhoo.....emma just ran in here, saw the fish coming out of the oven, jumped, and said, "YAY, MAMA!" and then started to frantically pull her clothes off. she knows she has to eat naked......way too messy. if she's eating, she's happy. 

i promise Emma wears clothes more often than not. (although you'd never know it by our pictures) i think her fluffiness makes me want to get my camera..... they change too quickly.

the girl loves her head bands.

she took Reese's Bible, went on the deck, plopped herself down in a chair and opened the book like she knew what she was doing. 

~stacey