Behind the Pictures...

 We took a little day trip.  

Looks picture perfect, doesn't it?  I smiled as I uploaded these to facebook last night, and thought to myself, man I love pictures.  

They capture what I want them to capture.  The fun, the smiles, just the right lighting to flatter (because of course I deleted the others.)  What I'm left with is what I want to remember.  Because truthfully, there's parts I'd like to forget.  Like...

The huge ordeal it was just to get everyone going that morning.  The whining about where we were going, and what we were doing, and how long it would take to get there...and of course they're hungry, because they're always hungry.  The game, between brothers in the back seat of the van, called Don't Flinch.  It's all fun and games till one really doesn't flinch and technically wins, the lucky winner ends up with a fist in his eye because the other brother thought he'd flinch. Tears.  Spilled pop at the restaurant, crawling under the booth, numerous trips to the bathroom.  Oh yeah, I forgot batteries for the camera.  Big long *sighs* where Ben and I look at each other and smile (weakly) and try to encourage each other that yes, yes indeed this is family fun.  Because, really...at the time, there were lots of moments where it didn't feel like a whole lot of fun.

Did I mention how glad I am that pictures are silent?  Because I am.

And the time always comes, like last night...where I sit back, and look at the pictures and smile (an extra big smile when I get to delete the unflattering ones and pretend I never really look like that *cough*) Because all of the craziness really is part of the fun.  Not so much at the time, but later.  Looking back.  But in the moment, I forget that.  In the moment, I'm very annoyed that my kids can't get along, and need to be reminded 1,000 times to just STOP PESTERING EACH OTHER, and can't be more grateful for how wonderful their dad and I are for braving the outing in the first place.  Am I right?!?  Oh, I'm right alright.

Right and ridiculous.  

I'm not sure I'll ever get to the point where I enjoy the craziness in the moment.  Maybe I will.  But I know one thing, I always smile looking back on it.  

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Life is Good

Sometimes...our weekends are full of such great stuff that Mondays I sit here at the computer tongue tied.  Words sometimes aren't enough to capture it all.  


Friday night we headed out for a family date night...all six of us.  Our first choice of restaurant turned out to have too long of a wait.  When there's 6 of you, there's no more squeezing into a booth, or a table technically meant for 4.  Instead, you wait until two tables open up...or you go somewhere less popular.  


Bring on less popular.  


We ended up here.  And yes, we took home a whole peanut butter pie.  It's my new favorite restaurant, because really, I'm an old soul...I belong at Village Inn...with the old people.


Saturday I painted more doors.  Red.  Hello front door:

Saturday night the boys played flag football "under the lights" it's a big deal.  I'm the big-loser mom who forgot her camera.

Sunday we had a fall/birthday party at my husband's family's farm.  

Eli celebrated with three other cousins.  

And then Grandpa Dave took us on a hayride.

Lucy loved it.

And then fell asleep.

And then woke up to let the little puppy lick her toes.

And a get-together is never complete without a little football...

Life is good.

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Before & After

So, after I posted that pic of Jake on the table the other day, I noticed how shabby the material on my chairs looked.  It's been three years or so since I last covered them.


They started like this (3 years ago):  Boring and stained from my kids.

And then they looked like this:  Now faded, but great pattern and colors for hiding stains.

Yesterday I decided to hit the fabric store, and found some cute new stuff to fit better with my latest color scheme (while still hiding stains.)  Meet the new stuff:

Jake informed me he hates the new ones.  This, from the kid who made a hat this morning and then hung out outside while I staple-gunned my heart out inside.

I think Lucy loves the new look, no?

Happy Friday Friends!!

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Impeccable

Have I mentioned our impeccable table manners here in the parsonage family?

I give you reason #89 why you do not want to dine with us.  

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Too Busy to Tell You...

Things I'm too busy to tell you about...

• I've been reading blogs, it's easier to read then come up with a post.  
• Lucy turned 5 months old.  She celebrated with her first fever and cold.  She's better now.
• She has lost almost all her hair.  She's sporting a sort of come-over-mohawk right now.  It takes a special kind of cuteness to pull off this look.  She's done it.
• I'm hooked on watching the show LA Ink.  It's about tattoo artists.  No I do not have one.  Yes I am way to much of a wuss to even contemplate wanting one unless an epidural was available.  You think they'd find it ironic that a pastors wife in tiny town Iowa was completely amused by their show?  I do.  For some reason, I find it fascinating.  My husband is not amused with my fascination.
• My running partner has an injury so we've taken a break till it heals.  Technically, I could still be running, but I think it kinder of my to take a "sympathy break"  *cough*  I'm nice like that.
• I've made it my goal to master the knit beret hat.  I always try them on and look like a dork, but THIS year, I'm gonna learn how to wear it right.  And, I can then go for DAYS without doing my hair, greasy roots will totally be hidden.  Brilliant.  It's amazing what laziness can inspire.  Pictures to come...after I actually find the hat and then learn how to wear it.
• Today, my black leggings have Gus hair all over them.  Devastating. 

Happy Tuesday Blogland.  

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Not the Same

So...


This time last year I was either throwing up, or laying on the couch feeling like throwing up.  Little Lucy was the cause of those good times.  


And maybe you remember (because I beat it like a dead horse) that I had trained that summer to run a little half-marathon and then couldn't because the barfing made me dehydrated like 2 days before the race.  I was so bummed.


Funny how things change in a year.


This time last year she was a little person that consisted of a clump of cells, and now she is this:

This time last year I was ready to run a half-marathon.  This year, I ran that race...but in a relay.  My leg of it was a whole 3 miles.  It hurt.  I'm not a racer...I like to run at a leisurely pace. The desire to run further is gone.  The desire to run at all is dwindling.  I'm trying to make myself like it again, but it's just not happening.  Wishing my feelings would catch up to my actions.


So much changes in a year.  Some for the better.  Some not.  I find that I'm sort of trying to figure out where I fit and where stuff fits.  Prioritizing.  Trying to fit back into my "pre-baby-girl" life is just not working how I thought it would.  Kinda like my jeans.  They technically fit, but just don't feel quite the same.


I wouldn't change a thing.  Lucy has blessed our family beyond words.  It's like she's always been a part of us, or at least was always meant to be a part of us.  I look in the mirror and I see a different person than I saw a year ago. And I like her, but I'm also getting to know her to.  She's different.   

• I'm a mother of 4.  
• I'm no longer the mama of boys, but the mama of "the boys & Lucy"
• I've been the youngest in my group of friends in tiny town, but our kids were all similar ages...now I have a baby, and the dynamics change.
• Running has now become a group activity.  I used to like it and my friends didn't.  Now, they're all into it and I'm, well...not.
• I've even decided to grow my hair out for awhile.  I KNOW!  

It's interesting how changes in life, physical or emotional change who we are.  Part of me misses my old self.  And part of me is looking forward to getting to know the new one better.  Part of me just wants everything to return to the "normal" I knew, and part is looking forward to the possibilities ahead.  The one thing I can't escape...is that it means change.  I am not the Sarah I was a year ago.  Sure, a lot of me is, but a lot of me is not.  It means changes in my real life, and likely changes in blog life.  

I'm done trying to fit back in.  I'm ready for the new.  Ready to be open to the possibilities God has in store for me.  Bring it.  

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The Joy of My Life...

Riddle me this:  What does it say about me, when the below pictured item, made me absolutely giddy?

This lovely gate, which , by the way, I made two trips to Wal-Mart in the same day (once with one child, the next time with 5) just to purchase it.  Don't forget, I live in tiny-town...Wal-Mart is not next door.  The first time I didn't think they carried one long enough.  So I checked two other nearby stores.  Nada.  But, turns out, had I talked to my husband before my first trip, he could have suggested hooking it to the cupboard then, making the gate at Wal-Mart totally doable. 


Answer to Riddle:  I watch a couple of one year olds a few days a week.  I have a Basset Hound that can't resist food on the counter.  I have three boys who can't seem to remember to stay out of the (tiny) kitchen while I'm cooking.  


Who knew a small gate could fix all my problems?  ;)

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