Attitude Adjustment

This morning I decided to wake up early so I could have uninterrupted quiet time. I awoke at 5:30, but remained in bed until 6, because I didn't want Patricia to wake up. (If you know me, you will realize that this is an unthinkable hour for me.) Before I even got to the shower she was awake and at the bathroom. By the time I was out of the shower all three kids were there. 

Now here's where choice comes into the situation. At that moment I chose to grumble and complain that I can't even get a few minutes to myself. And that choice carries on throughout the whole day. This is not just today, but everyday I find myself trying to take time away, so that I can fill some desire of... what, I don't even know. It's like I have this idea in my head that if I do enough for myself then I will suddenly be content. How flawed is that thinking?

When Tabitha was a baby I was so happy. I LOVED the idea that someone needed me 24 hours a day. I never had a break and I was perfectly content. I didn't mind in the least if I had to stop cooking because she needed to be picked up or if cleaning had to wait, because she wanted a book read to her. I had a baby that I always dreamed of and a wonderful husband, what more could I ask for?

Some where along the line I got this insane idea that I shouldn't have to serve all the time, but that I should do things for myself. Get out and do things "without the kids". Pursue my own interests, which most often happens to be self centered interests. Things that don't often involve the children. Well, here I am, often trying to attain some sort of self fulfillment. Every night I have one to three hours of alone time after they go to sleep and yet I am not content for the most part. I see that I need to change my attitude, but it's not something that's going to happen over night. 

If you think of me, please pray that I would have a servant's heart.

The Birthday Girl

Patricia turned one last Wednesday and I'm finally getting on here to update! She wasn't in a real picture taking mood, but that's ok.

Here she is on the verge of tears:

Posing with her siblings:

On all the kids' first birthdays it seems to have become a tradition to eat at Chevy's Mexican restaurant. We didn't want her to miss out on this yummy feast, so we made last minute plans to go there. My dad and Suzie joined us for the occasion. Patricia was the only one out of all three children, who did not cry when they sang happy birthday to her and put the sombrero on her head.


This is the fifth or so picture taken of us. We finally got the lighting right, but as you can see, some family members are tired of smiling for the camera =)

Verse for thought: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Lazy Day

The kids had a lazy day yesterday. None of them even got out of their pajamas all day long. Patricia is posing here with five items I fished out of the toilet. Apparently she thought that it was a bucket of some sort that needed socks and puzzle pieces.


Seth. What can I say?


Tabitha making pictures out of magnets.

Patricia enjoying her Mickey Mouse sticker. She was fascinated with it.


My mom, Patricia, with my daughter, Patricia.

Post for City Folk

Today I drove up to Philly to get my mom. She is spending a week or so with me while Enoch is gone to help me out. Here is a conversation I had in the car that I found so funny:

Tabitha: Hey mom, look at that bird walking around.

Me: Oh, you mean that pigeon

Tabitha: Pigeon? You mean there's pigeons in real life?

All I could think was, "She is obviously not a city girl."

Meal Time Madness

Well, I unplugged the tv for the two weeks. We'll see how that goes over. I figure they can watch DVDs when necessary. Here they are watching Bambi while I'm getting dinner ready.

The chicken turned out pretty good. I did feed Patricia and even put some cut up chicken on her tray. She liked what she ate, but she spent about five minutes crying and pointing. I tried to offer her water, more food, even the salt grinder, but she didn't stop until I gave her the chicken bone. After gnawing on it for a while she ended up with cartilage in her mouth, so I tried taking it away, but to no avail. She really wanted the bone!
Her new trick is to climb up on the chair just like her brother and sister. We better watch out!

This morning we all woke up a little on the grumpy side. Even with that factor in mind I still fed Seth Red #40. Oh well.

Here's Seth's milk that he accidentally spilled. I took a picture of him screaming crying over it. He didn't like it, so out of respect for him I deleted it.

Later, when we were all still grumpy and the kids kept fighting, I decided that we could play a game. We sat in a circle and went on a picnic. Each of us brought a fruit, a dish, a drink and a dessert. Here is the masterpiece: (Oh, and we brought ourselves also)

Afternoon Set

Tabitha was invited to our neighbors for a few hours, so Seth was treated to ice cream.

Later, he was still bored while waiting for his sister to return, so he decided to drop golf balls down the stairs.

The same stairs that Patricia were standing on, of course. Thankfully she didn't get hurt.

Morning Pics

Here is Tabitha helping make the chicken marinade. She mixed all the ingredients together and called it icing.

Seth wanted to show you his "pokemon"
Here's the chicken. I can't wait to taste it. My hands smell like garlic and the kitchen does too. Yum! (BTW, the white stuff is yogurt)
Patricia really wanted to see what was going on at the counter. At one point, all three of them were on the chair. Right now she's trying to put on my shoes, which is keeping her quiet for this minute.