Back in the Swing of Things

So, after a 2 week long slump from digital scrapping, I FINALLY got out of it and created a 2 page layout last night. It is about my last baby shower that our church threw for me and the youth pastor's wife, M, since we were due VERY close to each other. As it turned out, our babies are only 12 hours apart LOL. She went into labor and I thought "darnit, she's gonna beat me!!" hahahaha, and then that night at work I went into labor too. Too funny....anyways, back to my layouts. the second page is the letter that my sister wrote to me as a devotional/encouragement that she read to the whole group. I'm so blessed to have such an amazing big sister! She's not only my "mothering" role model, but also my spritual role model! She is not perfect, but she is such an encouragement to me in all things, someone whom I can go to for questions, support, or just a shoulder to cry on. I am sad that we can't spend more time with each other, especially since I moved a little farther out, but we make due with what we can.

The main picture is of my mom, my sister, and me. The smaller photo is of my mother, friend "S", mom-in-law, and my sister. Credit for both LO's are from Evening Rose Page Kit by Rene Bross
This is the letter I was telling you about. It says:

August 18, 2007

Janete,
Hasn’t this pregnancy gone by so much faster than the first time? In a few weeks you’re going to have a new little one
and life will be really wild for a while-how long? I’m not going to say. To be honest it’s a challenge to get to know who your new little one is, what she needs, and how you’re going to meet those needs. But you already know that. The question is what is it going to be like for your children to learn to be a part of the same family and how are you going to handle meeting the rigors of raising children who at this point you cannot fully rationalize with. They don’t understand you’re tired. They don’t understand why right now their sibling’s needs are being met first. They don’t understand you’ve never done this before with this many children. It may feel like for a time you’re constantly running
around, pulled in every direction. Mothering your children will be a labor of love but that doesn’t mean the sacrifice is any easier or less great. In times like these remind yourself Whose you are and who you are.

You belong to the one who made you, the Creator. He who spoke and all things came into being, He Who all things are from, through, and to, has His eye on you. He knows you, sees, and gives you what you need when you need it.

You belong to the one who bought you, your Redeemer, your Savior. Not because there was any good in us, but because God loved us He willingly bought us out of slavery to sin which leads to death and this at a great personal price.
Why? So we may live, really live. So we may have joy, real joy. So we may delight in His presence.

You belong to a family-not only to the once which you were physically born into but also to the one you were spiritually born into. God is your Father. Your Creator, your Redeemer has made you His child and has committed Himself to you. He who began a good work in you will carry it to completion.

Janete, you are a woman of incomprehensible worth, made in the image of the One who made the stars in the sky; loved with a love that did not refuse the price it meant He would have to pay, the blood of His only Son; committed to by a Father who is willing and able to bring you to
maturity, complete in every way.

These things God has said of Himself and you are real and mean something for you right now.
It is as real and immediate as Cora and Sammy telling you they’re hungry. Believing these
truths will affect what you do and how you do it, mothering included.

So may you continue to grow in your understanding of Whose you are and who you are. May
you learn more and more of the One who created you, redeemed you, and promised to bring you to
maturity. As you know the truth, live in light of it when times are easy and especially when times are
hard and you’re pulled in every direction.

Love,
T


Yesterday, the kids and I were supposed to go to the playground with our SAHM's meetup group, but it ended up with a thunderstorm in the morning (which lastest all of and hour, then was BEAUTIFUL...go figure). So, we all headed over to K's house, since there were only going to be 3 mom's going, we all piled into K's house!! =) I had a blast, and so did all the kids. K is such a fun person to talk with, we have very similar personalities.

Last night, I promised Cora that I would take them to the playground in the morning if it wasn't raining. She gets so excited anytime the word "playground" is mentioned. The beam on her face just makes me smile! So the first thing this morning that she said after I got her up was "I go to the playground!!" It's amazing how the kids now have a longer term memory! It was great back when you could tell them something, then if you didn't feel like doing it later, you knew the kids wouldn't even remember about it....not the case anymore hahahaha!! Such is life! The weather was SOOOOO beautiful! When we got to the playground, it was sunny, not too hot or muggy. By the time we left, it was starting to get humid and hot, so we got out of there at the right time. Poor Maddy was so exhausted that she had a huge crying fit, like none I've ever seen before. She wouldn't even eat her lunch...so I ended up putting her right to bed.

I didn't bring my camera to the playground this time, but I just wanted to post some pictures of the kids at past playground visits! They are just to dang cute...of course I'm hugely biased about that!!






That last one of Sam is so cute! I need to scrap that one, since poor Sammy is lacking in LO's of him!!