These shoes.

I bought them second hand from a friend but I will keep them as if I bought them new for my first child. I mean, have you ever seen a tinier ballet shoe? Emma's feet didn't get too long for them as much as they got to tall for them. She has sweet, puffy feet that from underneath to the top are just fat.

I love them and will always remember her feet squishing out of them finally making me put them away.

 

 

 

We had a wonderful Easter weekend away at my parents' place in the mountains. Cousins to play with and Grandparents to love on makes it one of the kids' favorite places. They never get tired of it, never ask to leave, and rarely stop running around outside or splashing in the creek.  

We had church on the porch.

Some of us had make up on, some of us didn't.

Some of us were barefoot.

Some were eating candy while the story of Jesus' death and resurrection was read.

Some of us cried, and some of us laughed.

We sang, some louder than others, but we sang.

The great thing about church is that it's not a building. This past Sunday, a part of the Church was a handful of Believers gathered together on a porch surrounded by birds chirping, water rushing, and the nicest breeze ever. 

I think it was our best Easter yet. 

 

   

 

 

In the car two mornings ago, Reese told her friend, Cass, "My Grandma sings Jesus Loves Me to me all the time." Avery, needing to add her two cents worth said, "Yep, she does. She sings to us and scratches our back softly. It feels so good." 

I smiled and just about teared up. A Godly heritage is something I wouldn't trade. 

 

I've got more pictures and more words but I don't have time. *sigh*

My heart is full of good things. ~~~A sweet husband who let me go galavant last night for several hours while he took care of the kids. ~~~I've been having so much fun doing my first bit of decorating in this house. It's really my first "grown up" decorating ever. Pictures to come.  ~~~There's a storm due in tonight and I kind of like it. Well, I'll like it as long as the power stays on and nobody gets hurt. I'm about to get supper in the oven, fold some clothes that the kids will help put away, then look forward to the evening.

 

BTW, If you haven't seen "The King's Speech", you really should. You'll have to endure a run of not so tasteful language but there's a point to it. Such an wonderful movie.

~Stacey

It's Monday alright. At the Wall household, we've already been making choices. I've made a choice to get back in the swing of things with a smile after a wonderful  spring break. Jake has been encouraged  to make a choice to have a good attitude about school.

Brad gave him a pep talk this morning. ~~~Work is a part of life. May as well get okay with it.~~~

I've been quoting II Thess. 3:10, "if anyone will not work, neither let him eat." ---I like it.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

LittLe MiSs Emma loves Trix. She goes to the pantry, brings me the box and makes her little sound that means, "I need some."

She's growing like a weed, drinking from a straw, still is NOT a fan of the nursery at church, loves to be outside, and is trying to get some hair. 

  

 

Grandma treated us to a tea house for lunch. Everyone loved it. Even Jake. Halfway through our meal he said,

"This is not that bad, after all". 

Grandma loves hats and the girls loved wearing them. 

 

 

Grandpa built a camp fire and we made s'mores and lit up Jake's fireworks he's had since Christmas. 

 

 

 

The kids are going to do pre-cotillion this year and I'm really kind of excited about it. It's only a three day commitment this summer and I think they will enjoy it.     We shall see.    The girls refer to it as the "fancy thing" and Avery says it's going to be about learning to lift your pinky up when you hold a cup. Jake is intrigued and though not a fan of "fancy", today he asked me, "When is this manners thing, again?" I assured him he wouldn't be forced to hold his pinky finger up and he seems good with it.

Brad thinks there should be "how to change your oil, a flat tire, and your brake pads" class instead. I agree but until I get an invitation to that class, we're going to cotillion.   

Speaking of manly things, Brad almost teared up with joy last night when he overheard Jake in the shower making turkey noises. The two of them went hunting yesterday and both loved it.  

 

 

Don't ya' just love green? 

 

We're off to pick up one from school, go to golf lessons for another, and coming home to spaghetti for dinner.

SIX WEEKS OF SCHOOL LEFT. I CAN DO THIS. 

Happy Monday!

 

~stacey

 

 

This is one of those nights I could stay up til two in the morning.

Kids are sleeping, Brad and I just finished watching American Idol and he's off to bed. Busy day in the O.R. tomorrow, he says. He routinely gets up at 5:30. If it's not for his men's Bibly study, it's for rounding, or.....wait for it.........

a workout.

Without a doubt, if I got up at 5:30 to work out, I would most certainly be sick to my stomach. Don't know how he does it.

I'm a nine a.m. workout kind of girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mind is going in so many directions that trying to go to sleep is pointless.

The older I get, the more I think the issues you face in life are pretty much the same whether you are 6 or 36.

Maybe it's a matter of women not ever really growing up. I mean really growing up. Getting older, calmer, wiser, more solid, more graceful, and more confident.

Isn't that the goal?

How many of us really get a handle on insecurities, for example? Do we really learn where our significance comes from and where our sense of worth originates or do we just learn to mask our emotions and control our outward responses?

As I parent my children, I keep thinking about how I am preparing them to deal with "real life issues". The hard, cold fact is that most things they face in first grade, they're going to face in their teens, twenties, and thirties. The "real" starts early.

I never want to minimize the feeling of being left out because it's a legitimate complaint, (I've experienced it recently) but I want to teach them to process that bad emotion, cry it out, and then move past it.

Stop dwelling on yourself. What are you thankful for? Who can you bless? Who can you be a friend to?

I don't want my kids to find happiness in being popular, having the right friends, having the right brand of clothing, or having the right house.

You can be in a sea of people you call friends and be lonely.

              You can have fancy clothes and feel not good enough.

                            You can be in a great house and feel dissatisfied and discontent.

Doesn't it always blow your mind when you read something about a beauty queen struggling with an eating disorder because she thinks she's not skinny enough or pretty enough?

I want to raise sturdy kids. Kids with strong character. Kids that think beyond themselves.

So to my children:

You will, most likely more than once in your life, be excluded from something. Please don't be the one doing the excluding. You will sometimes be taken advantage of by someone. Be sensitive to people. There are reasons people behave badly. It's not an excuse but have compassionate eyes to see past the rude behavior. Don't find your identity in anything other than who you are in Christ. Have fun where you are, and love whomever you're with. You will be the life of the party if you live in freedom. Freedom from everything that is not God in you. Freedom from the "green slimy stuff", as Grandma calls it. Don't get caught up in things that don't last. Everything that is not eternal can be gone in the blink of an eye. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. True contentment will be with you in whatever state or condition you find yourself. It's a choice and you have to practice it.

 Contentment vs. Covetousness

Realizing that God has provided everything I need for my present happiness (I Timothy 6:8)

 It's midnight and I can't hold my eyes open any longer. Today was busy. Tomorrow morning is going to come early....I think I see a nap on Thursday's calendar.

 

~stacey

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

I just offered to pay my 7 year old $1 to bathe my 5 year old. She accepted and even suggested helping her with her hair. 

Not a bad deal. For either of us. 

 

I am mostly incapable of making furniture decisions on my own. So, I enlisted the help of the fabulous Amy Morgan. She's nothing short of amazing and the best part?  She's FRUGAL.  A rare combination in a decorator/designer.

SO! Today, we headed north on the interstate and hit the jackpot. Tomorrow, I am having a table and chairs delivered and I can hardly wait. It feels a little like Christmas Eve.

 

I can smell summer even though our high today was only 65ish. I've never looked more forward to spring/summer as this year. It marks the end of having three kids in three different schools. It just about killed me and I am thrilled to have them all in the same school next year.

It's been so exhausting that I've not quite, but almost dreaded every little "fun" event. I'm too busy shuffling schedules and getting sitters for the baby to have time to look forward to things like the  preschool "egg drop" that is actually tomorrow.

An egg drop.

You wrap a raw egg in an 8x8 zip lock bag as creatively as you want to and a teacher climbs on the roof and drops it.  

Who's egg will survive the fall unbroken?? Tune in tomorrow to find out!!

I'm guessing it won't be ours, seeing how I've NO idea what I'm going to wrap it in. Brad suggested concocting a parachute. hmm....the competitive monster in me is dying to figure out the sure fire way to save the egg but the mother in me is screaming, "OH MY GOSH. Grab some bubble wrap, stick the egg in it, let it fall, let it break, and let's go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. IT'S FRIDAY! Who cares!!"

I love my babies. I think they are the most precious things that ever walked the face of the earth. I wonder if I'll feel that way when they are 8, 12, 14, and 16?

The other night, Jake asked me how he will know when Jesus calls him. How will he know if it's really Him or if he's just day dreaming.

Like I said. The most precious things ever. 

 

~stacey

 

 

I've come to the conclusion that I would blog a lot more if I had a laptop. Brad's old one that is literally hanging on by one hinge is now being put to use thanks to our recently acquiring wireless internet. 

I know. It's ridiculous that we have only just now gotten wireless.

I'd love a sleek, shiny new laptop but this one works just fine...as long as I angle the screen just right so it doesn't fall back while I type.

This morning, I'm being a little self indulgent. It's one of the two days a week my three big kids are all in school. I'm just sitting. Drinking a Coke, even. The only thing I hear is a bird chirping, an owl hooting, (is that possible at 9 in the morning?) and Emma's little music machine in her crib. She's drifting off to sleep.

The calm is so unusual I'm a little uncomfortable with it. I'm fighting my mind going 90 miles a minute.

~~~~~That's one of the things I miss about when my kids were 0, 2, and 4.While I was physically exhausted most days, mentally, things were so simple. There was no crazy calendar filled with pink, blue, purple, and orange appointments and reminders. There was no place we had to be.~~~~~

My den floor is littered with throw pillows. The baby wobbles to the couch and pulls them off EVERY time she spies them in their appropriate place. I'm not sure why I even keep them there.

I think the quiet is gone. The dog is now barking, Emma is still fussing, and my mind is racing. There are errands to run, forms to fill out, counters to wipe off, and pillows to pick up.

It was short lived but I enjoyed this 40 minutes of mine.  

 

 

 

~stacey

 

 

 

Tornado sirens blared yesterday evening.

My children were terrified.  My son, who is fascinated by severe weather, in books at least, was sweating and teary eyed from the fear. As sad as it was to see, I found myself resisting the urge to laugh.  (terrible. i know.)

We went to the basement just in case and he went to the bathroom. (nerves will do that to you, ya' know) While he was in there, doing his thing, the sirens stopped which caused my daughter to shout, "YAY! There's not going to be a  tornado!!" From the bathroom, my son calls out, "That's because of ME!! I prayed!! THANK YOU, LORD!!" 

It still makes me laugh. 

 

Two nights ago, while tucking Jake in, he proceeded to complain about school the following morning. I explained yet again how we HAVE to go to school It's the LAW. I told him he had things he needed to learn and that God gave him a brain that He wanted to be developed. Here's the response I got:

"Why? I mean, who thought up school? I already know a lot of stuff. 12x12 is 144 and 9x9 is 81.". 

If only it were that simple. 

 

I have a sick 12 month old who has been on my hip almost the whole day. She's getting her feelings hurt non stop. How dare I let her feet touch the floor or have to use the restroom. I love every bit of her sweet, fat legs and unhappy, glassy eyes. She slept with me last night.

Every time I woke up, looked over and saw her curled up body, I realized with absolute certainty, that I will always have the urge for another baby. Mothering is in me. I love almost everything about it. Emma is our last baby and I intend to squeeze all the juice out of every day with her.

 

 

 

 

I feel like it's been forever since I've been on xanga. I've missed it. 

My treadmill and I got reacquainted this week. We've missed each other too. It's been a few months since I've worked out consistently and I couldn't stand it any longer.

I somehow lost my ENTIRE iTunes library in an update several weeks ago. I since learned that one and only one time, iTunes will restore lost songs if you delete them by accident. THAT is a really great thing.  Customer service is a beautiful thing.

Brad and I enjoyed a few days in San Diego sans children last week. It takes such an incredible amount of work to make things ready for someone else to run this house without me that I was sure I would be exhausted before I even boarded the plane. That wasn't the case, though. I worked very hard, got everything in good order, typed out a list of instructions for my sweet Mom, and had amazing friends that helped take and return my kids to all their activities throughout the weekend. The two pictures I took were on my phone. Pathetic, I know. But it was actually nice to  only have my purse with nothing more than my tinted chapstick and wallet inside.            

NOTHING and NOBODY to tote was a nice break.                                                                          

(Though I did miss the baby on my hip and the three beautiful youngin's in tow.)                                                      

Despite some rain and cooler temperatures, we had an amazing getaway. We met up with some dear friends from residency. The guys went to orthopedic meetings while the girls shopped. Afternoon naps were followed with late dinners and lots of laughter. 

Did I mention I have a new love? His name is Mac. I had NO idea what I was missing. No idea. Surprisingly, Brad's not jealous. He says he knew it would be love at first sight for me and he's okay with it.

Yes. By Mac, I only mean my computer.  

I overloaded our 12 year old pc and it finally bit the dust. We then switched to Brad's 7 year old laptop with a broken hinge and I pretty much killed that too.

I'm sure I haven't even begun to use it to the full or understand all I can do on it but I'm stumbling my way through and getting some training. I feel the need to name it. You know. People name their cars. I think I'm going to have to name my computer. Hmmm.....

 

Chunky little Emma is walking just since the last few days. I had forgotten how cute they are learning to balance. Her eyes light up in the midst of the intense concentration. She knows she doing something big and grins when I clap for her. 

 

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

During the evening, this dog of ours is sometimes in the kitchen sleeping while we hang out in the den. He's right behind me. Panting away. Laying down in his spot like he's supposed to but still. ~He stinks.~

 

I know I have a hyper active nose and all but I am SO not a fan of the aroma.

Telling Brad that Easy stinks is like telling him, "You're ugly and your Mama dresses you funny." 

So Easy will lie there and when he goes out, I'll politely clean the floor. Because Brad loves Easy and I love Brad. 

 

~stacey

 

I've come to the conclusion that quite possibly my brain is no longer capable of deep, thought provoking ideas.
I've determined that after a certain amount of diaper changing, taxi cab runs, making pb&j sandwiches, and folding clothes, one's brain may be simplified to that of a four year old.
Oh well. At least I find joy in the simple things.

So here is a post full of simple.

This beautiful, mind blowingly pleasant girl got her handspring vault ALL BY HERSELF at practice!! TWICE!

I have nothing inspiring, emotional, exciting or even interesting to post.

BUT! I DO have a bathroom that looks a WHOLE LOT better than it used to!


Remember the shiny?

I've still got some accents to add but it's coming together!........................

Thank you, Brad, Daddy, and England family!

~stacey

All I can think about this Monday evening is how grateful and blessed I am. I don't think "blessings" are reserved for those chosen few who appear to make no mistakes but rather a matter of perspective.
I am humbled and blessed by God's mercy in my life every time I take  the time to open my eyes.

                  

                                                

Happy New Year!

~stacey