School Days

These days Lula Mae is blowing my mind. I am beginning to wonder if she will be smarter than me by third grade! I mean, right now I am not even using curriculum and she is blazing through everything with flying colors. She is starting to make words with our letter tiles. Not only that, she is writing words! It is amazing! She will think of a word, figure out the letters, then write it! She is so incredibly proud of herself and I love seeing her so happy about learning! Do I have a 6 year old????? Oh, she really is a 3 year old????? Sometimes I am just not so sure!


For now, this is what school looks like. We love it! I can't believe that this time next year we will officially start homeschooling! I have figured out how I am going to organize the kids files and records and that makes me eager to start :-) So far, homeschooling has been incredibly rewarding and amazing. I can only imagine how much fun we are going to have with this. Not to mention the bond our family will have. If you have never considered homeschooling, you should. You would be amazed at how much better your kids can learn from you! Plus you get to be in the comfort of your own home and can really instill your families core values into your children. What a priceless gift to give to your kids!

Happy Friday all! Have a great weekend!

Cyber S.O.S.

No I don't have an online lover, I am just looking for some HELP from my bloggy buddies. You know who you are.... all like 12 of you!

Here is the deal, since I changed my url I have noticed a huge decline in my hits on my blog. I don't really "care", and yet I do care. I want to be able to reach people through my blog and right now I am not.

So here is what you can do for me. Write a post on your beautifully amazing blogs that I adore (too much brown nosing? Sorry, I will bring it down a notch) with a brief description of my blog and my new url. Or simply do like Brandi and send out a search and rescue!

Whatever you would like to do is fine. Just HELP ME!!!! I feel like I am talking to no one over here on my piece of the internet.

This is me.... begging just a little.... for all of you to give me a hand. In return I will totally advertise for you :-) You scratch my back I'll scratch yours!

Wordless Wednesday: Let Them Get Dirty

Even if they are wearing the new shirts you just got them....



Linking up with 5 Minutes for Moms for Wordless Wednesday.

It's My Move

Parenting is always a challenge. I didn't expect it to be easy when we decided to start our family roughly 4 years ago. Even though I knew it wouldn't be easy, I never imagined it being this hard. Don't get me wrong, I adore my children and am grateful to have them. I would not change one thing about my life, but that doesn't mean I am not entitled to some frustration along the way. Even the most joyful people have doubts, fears, anxiety... at least every now and then.

This past week has been a whirl wind. My children have been tag teaming me. Typically when one is difficult the other senses it and gives me a break. This past week the both were beyond difficult. No rest for the weary.

I have a 3 year old who is incredibly smart and that makes her more difficult a majority of the time. Not to mention that she is strong willed like crazy! She can not be distracted easily like most children. She understands things so clearly that she tries to reason with you and rationalize every.single.thing.you.say. Literally EVERYTHING! She is not like that all the time, but when she is it is tough. She is testing her limitations, trying to see what we are going to let her get away with.

I have a 1 year old who is teething 4 molars and one other tooth. 5 teeth folks. FIVE freaking teeth at one time! Would you be happy? I can't blame him much, for that part at least. Now I can blame him a bit for this new desire to throw temper tantrums. Aren't they starting a bit early??? I thought so too. To add to his difficulty lets throw in that he is still healing internally from his gluten intolerance and cannot tell when he is actually hungry. Instead his body feels hungry all day long. His intestines don't know which signals to send to his brain so it continuously sends hunger. He can eat an entire meal, like adult sized meal, get down out of the highchair and beg to get back in. He cries and begs for food all day long as though he hasn't eaten in days. My heart aches for him because I clearly can't let him eat every waking minute of the day. He would be sick and we would go broke from the grocery bill. And yet he understands none of that. So he begs and cries and throw fits.... for food. And all I can do is tell him no and try to distract him until at least an hour passes so I can offer him a snack.

I'm exhausted.

This past week with all of this going on I didn't see God. I haven't felt Him working. I haven't seen His grace. God just wasn't in my line of sight. He was hidden in my blind spot somewhere. We all have those times where we feel like we don't really know ourselves anymore. Times where we fall flat on our face in our faith and wonder if there is any way to get back up again. I was there last week. I raised my voice at my kids too much, I held them at too high of a standard and watched them fail, I showed them no grace, I belittled them.... I did not show them Jesus at all. Maybe here and there during our bible time or something, but not through my life.

This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

My spirit is beginning to lift and I see God all over the place now. But there is good reason for that. God doesn't have a big giant blinking sign that says "HERE I AM!" nor does he wear neon colored shirts so that we just can't miss Him. There are times when he blends into the background and waits. He waits for us. Yes, He does pursue us, but not always. Sometimes He waits for you to pursue Him. Last week I wasn't pursing Him, instead I wanted Him to do all the work. He wanted me to make the next move instead of Him. He was there even though I felt so alone, He never left.... He just waited quietly and patiently.

Now that I am pursing Him, I see Him. I made my move and all of a sudden, I don't feel as exhausted. My children have been difficult, but they deserve the best from me no matter what the circumstance. The deserve to see Jesus in me so that they can learn how to follow Him and bring glory to Him with their lives. If they don't see God at home, where will they see Him? How will they grow up strong in their faith if they don't see it at home?

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9

I want my children to find that narrow path. I want them to desire to do the right thing for God and His glory. I pray that my children will find that narrow gate and enter it even though I am making so many mistakes. They deserve so much better than what I can give them.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the laws of the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:12-14

Parenting is always going to be hard, but I am clinging to this...

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Thing 1 & Thing 2

My girl and my boy are growing up way too fast. As Jayce gets older, photo shoots are harder and harder. Somehow I got these 2 shots of the kids in their new shirts just before the rain started the other evening.

Look Out Babe!

Hey

Babe

Don't

Move.

There

Is

Something

Behind

You

A

Giant

Shrimp!

No worries, he's friendly!

Welcome Back To The Real World

Where there isn't always happy Disney music playing in the background and the bathrooms are not magically cleaned and kept clean all day long. Disney is my happy place. I can't explain how carefree I feel when I am there. Not that I don't love reality, don't get me wrong, but there is something wonderful about vacationing at Disney. Reality is just harder.

Reality is a toddler screaming and disobeying, a baby repeatedly throwing major fits over virtually nothing, a kitchen that needs to be cleaned, a trash can that seems to always need to be emptied.... and the list goes on and on. Even though life is chaotic I am grateful for every chore, every task, every mommy duty that arises. God has me here, in this place with these jobs for a very good reason. He is bigger than all of this and I trust Him wholeheartedly.

Leaving for our first vacation away from the kids was tough. I felt anxious and emotional. I felt like I was not going to have a good time at all. As we drove off I prayed and prayed and prayed, and as the miles went by, I felt more relaxed and ready to enjoy my time away from the kids. I knew that my husband and I needed to spend some time alone together and get reconnected. We both know that distance makes the heart grow stronger, two deployments will prove that point.

Our vacation was great. We had great weather and so much fun! It felt like we were on our honeymoon again, it was very nice. As much fun as we had, we both missed our little ones. The quiet was nice, but very foreign to us. Coming home we both felt very refreshed. I won't lie... I can see an annual trip together :-)

Now we are back to the real world. Enjoying the noise, duties and chaos that is our real world.

Proud Mommy Moments

This a weekly meme-EVERY THURSDAY- hosted by Kmama of the Daily Dribbles and cohosted by Emmy Mom. This is your chance to share with us those moments that make your heart nearly burst with pride (so yes it's okay to brag about your kids) or you can share about those times that make you so "proud"-i.e. you want hang your head in shame and hide.. but hey at least it makes for funny blogging material.

I'm linking up with these two lovely ladies today with a wonderful Proud Mommy Moment. I read this link up pretty much every week and I don't know why I haven't joined in sooner.

We have been having a rough couple of days with Lula Mae and Jayce. I'm talking ROUGH. Nap time is a sacred for me.... and yes I know that it selfish, but I can't help it. It's my "me time". Over the past week Lula Mae has been doing anything but napping. Luckily she is confined to a crib and can't get up and flat out protest. (Yes I am terrified that when we move her to a big girl bed I will be fighting a horrible battle on my hands...that is another story... back to my moment) I finally realized that as long as she is resting I'm happy with that.

Yesterday as nap was drawing to an end, I decided to turn up Lula Mae's monitor and see what she was doing. This is what I heard....

"Okay now lets talk about what we learned at school today. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The first 5 books of the Bible! Good job Mickey"....... and on and on and on....

My heart nearly exploded with happiness. With the time that we have been having with our kiddos these days, I go to bed wondering if anything I'm doing is sticking or making a difference in their lives. That moment during nap time lifted so much weight off my shoulders.

That girl loves learning, but more than anything she loves learning about God. Nothing could make me prouder!

What A Predicament

So my wonderful hubster brought to my attention that there are a bazillion blogs names Organized Chaos. So I won't lie, I did not do my homework and investigate the title Organized Chaos. My bad. Still, I like the name because it pretty much sums my world up. So to all you other Organized Chaos blogs out there, this is my apology. I didn't mean to steal your totally creative name. Can I just say though, I like your play on words. I mean that's pretty obvious though since I did steal it. I will say I thought I was being totally original.... I mean I'm okay with being wrong on that one.

And now that I have that off my chest. whew.

The hubster and I are creeping up on our trip! I don't know what I will do with myself. How will I function without a diaper bag, without needing to hold a hand, without needing to ask about potty breaks (other than Charlie), without having to hand out snacks, without needing to break up fights.... I really don't know what it is going to be like without my babies. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. Just imagine someone who is a workaholic being forced to take a vacation. It is not the easiest thing for me to let go, of anything, but especially not my kids and my home. Quite a few months ago I started making some great progress on my anxiety and fear. Now that the trip is upon us I have had some major backsliding. It's discouraging, but at least I know where it is stemming from. With that said, pray for me! We need this trip very much but my brain is really having trouble comprehending that.

Testing....1,2,3......

So I have officially changed my url. I'm not a .com or anything, but none the less it is different. I switched from one blogspot to another and now I am wondering...... is there anybody out there????? Just leave me a comment if you have found your way here again folks. I plan on heading to all of your blogs soon and letting you know the new url too. Think of this post as a test. Nothing fun to share, simply trying to see if you are all still with me!

All These Changes!

So as you can tell, the changes have begun! So far my name has changed from Destination Life to....

Organized Chaos

Fits, no? I fell like it fits what my blog is about much better. When I picked Destination Life it was a very quick, like the way it looks written out kinda decision. I really love the change. Little things have also changed, fonts and some colors and what not, but the name change is the most drastic. I also have a verse on my new header that I really love.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will for you in Christ Jesus.

I put this on there because it is a great reminder to myself that even on days that are stressful and crazy and chaotic I need to give thanks. I hope now when you see it, it will be a great reminder for you too. In ALL things, give thanks.

I also added a "tag line" onto my header. I needed something to quickly explain what my blog is about.

One Mom striving to live a simple life and find joy in all the chaos.

Quick, simple and to the point. So, how are you all doing with this change? Is it driving you nuts and you want me to put it all back? I hope not. I hope you will enjoy my new space and continue to read along with me here.

So tomorrow is going to be the day when I change my web address. I'm not sure how this is gonna work... I'm not sure you will be able to find me.... so that part is making me nervous. We shall see how it works. I hope you will all try to find me again and change your blog rolls and news feeds and all. If you don't hear from me for a while.... please come looking! I don't want to loose you all.... all like 8 of you!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Warning!

I am working on giving my blog a bit of an update. I am feeling the need to change the name so that it fits me and my blog a little better. I have been toying with the idea for quite a while now, but Heather really sparked my interest. Have you seen her new blog, or should I say website!? Yeah, it is fancy. I'm not wanting to go all out fancy, just do a few updates and what not.

That being said, be on the look out for a new name, a slightly new look and a new web address! Are you as nervous as I am? Don't worry, same old me posting my same old posts.... just in a different environment. Don't forget to change your blog rolls, google reader or whatever when that time comes because I wouldn't want all you folks to miss out. Do not fret, I will let you know when the switch is coming.

Ps. Jayce peed in the potty last night. How totally random is that?

Nap Time Epiphany

When you have had "one of those mornings".... oh you know the morning I'm talking about.... the one where one kid wakes up in a goofy mood, the other wakes up with a present in their diaper, the milk spills before it reaches the table, the goofy mood slowly turns into a bad mood, the dentist appointment gets forgotten briefly and is rescheduled for half and hour later..... yep, that morning. The one that makes you feel like this.....google

After a morning like that what person wouldn't be ready for nap time? I was! I flipped on Netflix and picked a show to veg out in front of.

Someone tell me why I picked Nanny 911. Am I mad at myself or trying to punish myself? What in the world was I thinking!

My epiphany: Nanny 911 is never allowed to be on in our house during nap time. Ever.

The Big 30!!!

My Hubster is 30!!!!
I guess it is easy to get excited about him turning 30 since I still have 6 more glorious years in my 20's. ahem.



For Charlies 30th birthday I couldn't get him...

I mean, could there be a more impersonal gift??? So I thought about getting him this...



because he needs one. Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like a gift that will put you to work. No, no, no. So instead I got him this....

No, not a race car....

He got to drive 8 laps at the Charlotte motor speedway.

My man loves cars. He loves to drive. Could there be a better gift? We had a great day of just being together. By the way, that was him in the Army car passing that other car ;-) just thought I would throw that out there.

Now I don't think Charlie has a NASCAR career in the future, but he did have a great time. It was a very memorable 30th birthday gift for sure.

PS-wives don't hate me if your hubby starts asking for this as a gift.