Busy Fun

First a couple of boy pictures:

Aron turned 6 weeks on Tuesday. We had a big party and he’s still sleeping it off.

I love it when I find them playing together.

I have been running around. Figuratively and literally. This week I have felt almost 100% normal and I have actually wanted to get a few things done. Not that I totally go by what I “want” but I have tried very hard to make sure I am healed before I tax myself very much. I am trusting my body to tell me when it feels like doing things and so far I think it’s been honest with me.

Monday I took the boys to Opry Mills to walk around. It was enjoyable and frustrating all at the same time. I did have the objective to get Ivan a striped button down shirt to coordinate with the striped shirts the other two boys have. None of them are the same but they are similar enough to look cute together. We were there for quite a while and I only had one stroller so it was a challenge to keep us all together. I was hoping to gain a little exercise in the process but at the pace we were going I doubt I accomplished much. It is a start though.

And now a couple of accomplishment pictures:

Clothes Owen can wear now.

My fancy labeling system. It’s small, easy to read, affordable and completely adjustable.

Size 5 & 6 clothes Owen will grow into.

Size 3 clothes Ivan will grown into.

The whole closet.

My sewing closet.

Tuesday we were home most of the day and I started a closet project. I am attempting to clean the house again and my one room at a time system worked so well for me in August and September I would like to try it again. This time however, I have the added challenge of winter approaching and the dropping temperatures necessitating my organization of the many boxes of hand-me-downs in the boy’s closet. Both older boys are well stocked with sweats, sweatshirts, coats and thick socks. There is a never ending supply from a couple of older boys that keep me doing this closet dance a few times each year. Pulling out what he can’t wear anymore, rummaging through what is acceptable for him to wear in the future and purging what is not worth making space for. There have been a few occasions when I’ve missed the opportunity and Owen had already outgrown the cool outfit his cousin or friend had graciously given him. So I’ve been concocting a system we can keep up with. I went to Home Depot Tuesday afternoon and purchased a shelf/bar and brackets to go in the closet. I hung it yesterday afternoon and organized the rest of the clothes this morning. Now, as you can see in the pictures, there is a lower shelf in the closet that Owen can actually reach, allowing him to get his own clothes out. Above that are the hanging clothes he will grow into, labeled appropriately, with plenty of room for more clothes and more labels. Also on top of that shelf are two crates with folded clothes he will grow into. On the other wall I have hung and folded in a crate the clothes that Owen has grown out of and will fit Ivan in a year or two. There is enough room for a few crates on the floor with shoes that are too big for Ivan and a little extra storage above and below. I know this isn’t the most interesting topic, but I can’t tell you what this type of organization does for my brain. It is exciting to me and makes me feel like a weight has been lifted. Every time that I look at an unorganized closet in my house I feel that burden of knowing there is something that needs to be done and usually I feel like I can’t do anything about it. It is overwhelming and discouraging to me, and the rest of my house suffers because I feel that if I can’t clean all of it, why do any of it. It’s my idealist idiot coming out. All or nothing is her motto. Thus the mass of unfinished projects in my house. One interruption equals never picking it up again. It’s something I’m working on. Anyway…enough confession time…I’m happy to show pictures of my two “working” closets.

In other news…the boys and I took a trip to the grocery store again yesterday. This time it was to Publix, “where shopping is a pleasure,” because they have a couple things I can’t get anywhere else. It was much better than our Wal Mart experience but still a challenge. I saw someone there that I had met a couple weeks ago at the park. She and her two boys were out playing and our little families were the only ones there. We talked and she and her boys were so sweet and I regretted that I had not gotten her name or asked for a way to contact her. I prayed and simply asked God to allow me to meet her again if He had any purpose in our forming a friendship. So, seeing her yesterday was encouraging and I did get her name but failed to find anything to talk about that I could do while keeping an eye on my three boys. We parted quickly but again I felt that urge to do more in the future. I will continue to pray for Julie from Donelson and her family and hopefully God will cause us to cross paths again.

After our trip to the store was my last visit from Kathy Williams. It was nice to have the boys all napping during her visit.

When the boys woke up they played outside and I worked on the closet. I checked outside periodically to make sure they were okay and from the window in their bedroom I could see most of the ground they covered. Just as I was about to finish the shelf I felt compelled to look for Ivan. I caught site of him just as he disappeared behind one of the fences outlining the lawns behind us. He was in a particular yard that I knew had at least one large dog. I called down to one of the neighbor boys to run after him while I tried to get downstairs and outside myself. We got to him about the same time. He was fine and the kids were so sweet to help me get to him. I haven’t run for a long time but it felt good to move quickly in that cool afternoon air. I brought Ivan inside where I could better keep tabs on him and not 10 minutes later I heard Owen screaming like he was being attacked by something. I got to run again. By the time I got there he was sitting in the grass looking frustrated. Apparently, he had followed the bigger kids into the “woods” (it’s really a thin line of trees and shrubs) bordering their lawn and when one of them got a little over excited about a spider web they all ran out and Owen was scared and couldn’t keep up which really freaked him out. He was fine, just a little shaken up.

Last night Robby McGee said something insightful as he preached the evening service. “A good speaker isn’t someone who says something you’ve never heard before, it’s someone who causes you to do something you’ve never done before.” His particular challenge was to be anxious for nothing and pray about everything from Philippians 4:6-7. This is a daily test, with new and greater hurdles to rise above. I like the challenge.

Finally and most importantly, we got a phone call last night from Kris’ parents. Kris’ grandpa in Tallahassee suffered a mild stroke yesterday afternoon. Please keep him and grandma Kelso in your prayers. Everything seems to be going well and from what we understand he should recover well, but prayer can be that difference between fully recovered and near fully recovered. Thank you all.