keeping me on my toes...

The journey of motherhood is full of surprises of all kinds.  

here are a few from my current stage of life.....

1.  Third grade is hard.  I'm convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that third grade was not this hard when I was the student.  Fractions. yikes! Converting equations of measurement.  even worse!  Learning all fifty states, capitals, abbreviations, and the spellings.  well that I actually love, but in third grade?! book reports, presentations, 6 tests every Friday.  whoa.  I'm not complaining.  mostly because my third grader never does.  Which is amazing.  and humbling, when I do find myself grumbling about the work load.  He's learning a ton and for that I'm so grateful.  But the fact still remains.  Third grade is hard.  

2.  Friday's are awesome.  Up until this school year I really did not have a favorite day of the week.  Most Saturday's hubby needs to work and of course when the kids were really young, they had no idea that a weekend should be any different than a week day.  But now, Friday is a beautiful thing.  First of all, it's cleaning day.  As strange as it may be, few things soothe my soul like a sparkling clean home.  I enjoy the process, and the results of my Friday house cleaning :)  And secondly, by the time Friday gets here we've done all the studying we can do...we've written all the papers we could write...done all the homework we could do....packed all the lunches we pack... and we've rushed to squeeze in each day's activities and still somehow get everyone to bed at a decent hour so we can do it all the next day.  But alas, Friday always arrives.  The pressure is lifted.  at least for a day or two.  the floors and bathrooms are clean.  at least for a day or two.  the older boys now understand that we DO NOT set alarms on Saturday morning.  Everything slows down just a bit and we all have a chance to breath.  thank you God for giving us Friday's.  

3.  The amount of food consumed by this household.  that's it.  there's not much more I can say about it.  It shocks me each week how much food I buy and how quickly it disappears!  I'm choosing to look at this one as a blessing....it means our kids are healthy and growing.  but goodness.  the teenage years are going to be something to behold.  

4.  A child's ability to learn scripture.  I mention it frequently but it just continues to blow me away.  When I walk into our church on Wednesday evenings and hear all those children reciting verse after verse, it is simply amazing.  and so inspiring and motivating for me to continue to memorize and hide God's word in my own heart.  last week Chase finished his entire first grade Awana book by reciting 5 final verses.  great job buddy!!

5.  They really do grow up way too fast.  I snapped this picture for that very reason.  They were all standing together in the laundry room and I was just looking at them thinking, "look how big they're getting!  What's happening!?  I'm not taking enough pictures!  I need to take one right now!".  so here they are.  my 3 growing little men...

Happy third day of Spring to you!