Lachlan. Today. You’re welcome.

Name That Photo Contest!

COMMENTS NOW CLOSED. Stay tuned for the winner later today! Ack! I’m sorry. It’s going to have to be tomorrow! I had a long adventure with the kids this afternoon and I’m pooped! So, I’ll do it tomorrow. Sorry. I can get away with the “I just had a baby” thing still, right? Right!

It’s that time again.

I’ll tell you the real story behind why I took a picture of Small Fry while she was crying in the backyard, holding a key. But first, I want you to name that photo! Give this photograph a catchy title, clever name or apropos caption which shares what you think is going on in this funny picture.

One entry per person, please. Contest ends tomorrow at noon, at which point I’ll shut ‘er down and pick a winner (or two!).

Name away! Continue reading

Chat live with MckMama!

Right now, at this very moment, I am tucked away in my bedroom with MckFlurry while my husband is with our other children. For one hour, from between 11 am until noon Central time, there is a live chat with me going on in my BlogFrog forum!

The live chat is over! That was a ton of fun…and very fast moving!! You can still click on the link below to comment on the thread and read what we all talked about, even though it’s no longer live:

Click here to view the live chat we all had!!

And now…off to the beach with my kids I go! Continue reading

four weeks, a LIVE chat with MckMama and more stream of consciousness

It was really hot outside today. We just wrapped up the financial study we did with our small group this summer. Yesterday during rest time, I transformed the office in our house to make it a) more functional and b) look more inviting. I am happy with how it turned out! I framed a set of photographs of Small Fry holding MckFlurry for the first time, because after I posted them so many of you thought that I should! It was a perfect idea, and the photographs look great in the office. Thank you for the inspiration!

Do you have a question you’ve been dying to know the MckAnswer to or just want to chat live with me and a bunch of my readers? You are in luck! On Tuesday morning (That’s tomorrow!) at 11 am Central time, I will be hosting a Live Chat With MckMama! I have had these before, but we only used the comments of a blog post. It wasn’t the quickest or easiest way to do a live chat. However, the fine folks at BlogFrog (Hi, Rusty!) have developed a live chat feature that we will be trying out tomorrow! Just click right here to see where we’ll be having it and also to join in tomorrow morning!!

We’re hoping to go to the Minnesota State Fair while it’s going on this summer. My husband and I are about to start digging into the book The Hole In Our Gospel. I ate some lunchmeat in the middle of the night last night. For the second time since giving birth a few weeks ago, I have thrown away something I just bought at the store. Seriously. Tonight, my husband was asking me where the external hard drive I had picked up at WalMart was. I couldn’t remember bringing it in the house, but it was nowhere to be seen in my car. I assumed I had left it in the shopping cart in the parking lot, and I was so frustrated. Until I walked by the garbage can in our garage. There were some WalMart bags in there. I remembering tossing away some trash when we got home. Sure enough, I had also thrown away the bag with the boxed hard drive in it!! Tomorrow is our garbage day, so thank goodness we went looking for it tonight. I did the very same thing a short while ago. I do not know where my brain is, seriously. Oh and get this. After we found it and spent time rejoicing, my husband said, “It’s alright, Babe. No big deal, but I need to tell you that this is an internal hard drive. Not an external one.” Sigh. He will return it and get the correct one tomorrow, though. I think the fact that I cried when he told me that made him feel sorry for me. But we did get some ridiculously cheap school supplies while we were shopping, so there was that silver lining.

Little Flurry is doing great! This is pretty much when I was due with him, so he’s becoming a bit more of a typical newborn now. Read: Not so sleepy all the time and has a fussy/restless period in the evening. I continue to be smitten with him. So smitten! He is growing great! Our fifth babe was 6 pounds, 13 ounces at birth, left the hospital at 6 pounds, 3 ounces. By his two week checkup, he was 7 pounds even and this past weekend, at three and a half weeks, he weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces! I am proud of him (and myself!) and happy that he is growing well, but I already have felt bittersweet pangs as I realize he is not going to be little for long. It’s already passing! But I am so thankful to be focused on living these fleeting days in awe of our son. I am soaking him in, sleeping beside his warm body all night long, rejoicing in amazement at being able to have been a part of God’s creation of another human being and smelling his (MckFlurry’s, not God’s) fluffy head with extreme regularity. His dirty diapers make me grin. I haven’t seen the dimple in his left cheek I swear (But I don’t.) I saw when he sleep smiled a number of days ago. And MckFlurry certainly has our family’s nose!

If this nose looks familiar, it’s because my dad’s looks similar and so does mine. Big Mac basically his baby brother’s exact same nose; Flurry reminds us a lot of him as a newborn! There is quite a bit of Small Fry in our new baby boy, too. When I am asked who I think he looks like, I always say those two. I do see whispers of Nuggey in him from time to time, though. Just for fun, you might want to look at this post. It is a bunch of photographs of Big Mac, from newborn up until almost age two, which is when I started this blog. You can see for yourself if you think MckFlurry looks like him. For sure, both of these boys were blessed with lovely warm skin. Honestly, when Big Mac was born in the dead of winter, people asked me how he got so tan!! Oh, and Flurry is chilling on the couch in an awesome muslin blanket; he got a pack of them as a gift from my dear friend Sandy! They are so perfect, especially for the summer!

Dinner and bedtime these days are getting pretty hard. I know I will find my groove before long; I have before after each baby. But it’s hard right now. My husband works every afternoon and evening, so I am with our MSC during those times. We have great fun, but right before bedtime I am feeling quite ragged around the edges. No lie, I chant to myself quietly, “I’m gonna miss this. I’m gonna miss this.” And it helps. But tonight was exceptionally challenging.

I have caught wind of the fact that there are now Coconut M&Ms, but I have yet to get my hands on any. I had Pretzel M&Ms today and, although the concept is nice, I didn’t care for them a ton. A little on the dry side. It is probably worth noting that I don’t like pretzels to begin with, so there’s that. Big Mac is loving (and rocking!) the Kindergarten math curriculum we got him. He asked spontaneously this afternoon if he could work on it! Our recent camping trip served to whet our appetite for rustic togetherness with our family. So today we planned (No, we’re not only spontaneous!) another outdoorsy summer trip for Labor Day Weekend. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

All three of our oldest children came running full tilt over to me this afternoon after examining MckFlurry in his bouncy seat. “He has teef! He has teef!” It was hard to break the news to them. We proceeded to have a long discussion about gums, with each of them then examining their own. Later, we all went to a state park to walk the trails. We saw a huge turkey running near us and unfortunately saw scads of mosquitos, too. We ended up having to leave early because of them as they threatened to carry us away. Bummer, but we still had fun during the short time we were there.

And finally, today MckFlurry is four weeks old. Continue reading

Not Me! Monday

Are you feeling guilty for going camping with your family and letting your husband do nearly all of the work? Overcome with embarrassment when you checked into the pediatrician’s office and couldn’t remember your child’s birth date? Well, don’t be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I’d rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

I’ll start!

I did not come up with the idea to go camping with our family (including a three week old). I didn’t ask (er, beg) my husband if we could go. Not me! I am way more rational than to desire sleeping in tents with all of our children, leaving the house a mere 4 hours after deciding we would go.

I did not shed actual tears when my tried and true breast pump breathed its last yesterday. Nope. Who gets that emotional over something like that? Not me!

I didn’t have such a late night on Saturday that I dozed off during church (Again!) on Sunday! How embarrassing that would have been. Good thing there is no way I did it!

And, finally, I didn’t become friends with one of the sweet nurses who took care of me last month when I was hospitalized with kidney trouble and end up inviting her over to our house for a photo shoot with her family yesterday. Not me! Nor did I, right in the middle of our shoot, look down and see an enormous frog in the grass and holler at the top of my lungs for Nuggey to come see it. Nope. I’m super professional and wouldn’t holler during a photoshoot in the first place. And I certainly wouldn’t do it at the top of my lungs or in order to point out a slimy green thing to our animal loving four year old.

I would never take a few shots of our delighted son and said frog before continuing on with my photoshoot without missing a beat. Nope. That is just not how I roll.

Not me!

So what do you say? Would you like to share what you have not been up to lately? If so, join the Not Me! Monday fun! Just click continue reading at the bottom of this post to learn more about how to get involved.

Happy Not Me!-ing.

he is

one life to live, a story about camping and life

This started out simply as a post about how our family all went tent camping the other day and about what a blast we had. But, as you probably well know by now, I have mothering and big issues about life on the brain a lot lately. So, the direction of this post kind of, ahem, deviated from my initial, simple idea.

Just call it poetic license. Or something.

I have but one life to live. We all do. Of course, I have known this for some time. That I have one life to live, as do of course our children, hardly counts as new news. But I’m telling you (again and again) that giving birth to our fifth baby, along with some other big events in my life in the past handful of years, has changed me. Brought a new slant to my mothering. Adjusted my attitude, which definitely needed adjusting in a few ways, towards the long days my husband and I are currently living with five children ages five and under.

There are times when I really, really want to escape the noise, clamor and needs of my children. But looking down at our sweet newborn, growing already too fast for my taste, reminds me quickly that we have but one life to live. Small Fry, for example, has one life to live. Will I ever regret giving her the chance in that life of hers to eat S’mores for breakfast in her pajamas?

I’m pretty sure I won’t.

We want the world for our MSC; it’s likely that nearly all parents do. The kind of world I long for my children to have has changed as I’ve aged. What my husband and I desire for our offspring isn’t what the endless commercials that flash on television screens across our nation tell us to desire. The last thing I want our children to become is selfish, entitled creatures who are not satisfied with what they have. I’ve been that creature (I still am at times), and it isn’t pretty. I don’t want to raise little American dream seekers, to allow our children to think that the world revolves around them or to let them believe that having just a little bit more will lead to true contentment.

I long for our children to enjoy life, to know about Kenya, to savor the small things, to meet children in our own area who are so much less fortunate, to learn help and love and compassion. To embrace the idea that they have but one life to live. There are no do overs.

I will consider my life well lived if our children (who still wear their Crocs on the wrong feet which still brings a big smile to my face) mature into adults who can see what is eternally important in this life, while also being able to live in, and enjoy, each and every simple moment of their lives as they live it. To know that it is not just the destination in this one life we have to live that matters but the journey as well. And our family believes that the journey doesn’t need to be complicated. Being with our children, running errands as a family, attending church, finding teachable moments as we wander the aisles at Wal-Mart, prioritizing the simple, choosing to be spontaneous with our MSC, camping.

This is the journey we have chosen.

I was never much of a camper. Or, ahem, a camper at all. I mean, not even a little bit. I loathed the idea of tents just a couple years ago. My idea of roughing it was a cheap hotel with really slow Wi-Fi. But my husband loves to camp. He’s always been much better than me at enjoying the process of life and not needing fancy things to make him happy. And, well, he’s rubbing off on me. And with our fifth baby here in our arms, it is constantly clear to me that we have but one life to live.

Am I going to look back and regret taking our children camping with four hours notice, leaving in such a hurry that we forgot a few important comforts and outdoor necessities (while certainly remembering the marshmallows for roasting burning)? No. I finally realize that I am not. Instead, I will cherish the memories and photographs we now have of our only daughter, looking out at the lake, wearing a sling I fashioned for her using Flurry’s blanket (at her request) for her to carry her baby (monkey) in.

We have one life to live.

Am I going to wish we’d stayed home more when MckFlurry was a baby? Will I look back and wish we’d have been worried that he might get sick or that Stellan would have a hard time snoozing in a tent? That we never tent camped because we might have gotten sore backs from sleeping on the ground? Will I be proud that our children ate healthy, organic food every day of their lives and that we never allowed them a weekend of ingesting only cold brats, S’mores and Gatorade?

No, I don’t think I will. I’m transforming as a mother, and it feels so good. We have one life to live. All of us. So I am trying to say yes more. Yes, you can play with sand in the garage. Yes, I’ll put (even) more bubbles in the bath. Yes, you can eat peanut butter for dinner. Yes, I’ll ask Daddy if he’ll take us camping. (And he said yes!)

This is it, our one chance at life. I could mope around with regret that I didn’t live this way years ago, that I was too busy being a planner, a worrier and realist. But I’m not going to. Instead, I am so thankful for my children, for they have taught me to dream and to savor every moment. Each one of them, and each year of life I’ve lived since becoming a mother (and each experience I’ve had in those years, namely our trip to Kenya, nearly losing my marriage, struggling financially due in large part to our own poor choices and nearly losing our sweet Stellan), have slowly helped me learn to embrace life. To spend my time remembering that we have one life to live. I think I become a better mother each time I give birth.

Well, if not that, than at least I for sure get more spontaneous and laid back with each child I birth. Less worried about dirt and schedules and nutrition. More focused on family and faith and relationships. And fun.

Please don’t misunderstand me, though. I still have a long way to go. I am neither the perfect mother nor always a loving wife. I all too often forget to practice what I preach. But I do not focus on those times. I am so thankful for this blog and humbled that any of you even read it. I am glad to have a place to record some of my failures, but more importantly to celebrate my successes.

They are what I want to remember.

And, sometimes, our success as parents can be clearly seen in the eyes of our children.

I don’t know, maybe you’ll think I’m making a whole lot out of just a night of tent camping. But for me, it was huge. Yes, since being married, this was my first time ever sleeping in a tent (You might remember that the last time, which was also the first time, we camped, I might have gone home to the comfort of my own bed after nightfall.). Plus, we camped with a newborn (Which in my opinion is nowhere near as hard as camping with a toddler is.). The other night, under the stars with the six most important people in my life, was amazingly fun. Yes, I’m sure that has something to do with the fact that my husband, who stayed up super late with me, playing cards and eating candy by the campfire, did nearly all of the gruntwork. And because I had an inflatable mattress. And because I slept to the sound of a white noise app (after making my way around our campsite by the light of a flashlight app on my cell phone).

But I also think it was so amazingly fun because I remember that I have one life to live. Yes, I am so very much enjoying life since becoming a mother, as my children are teaching me great lessons such as those. So, yes, we threw caution to the wind, left sensibility at home, eschewed rational thought, and took our five children ages five and under camping. And not only did we live to tell about it, we also cannot wait to do it again.

Our MSC were beyond ecstatic when we gave them the news. We threw our tents (we brought two this time) and some gear in our car, ran to Wal-Mart, and off we went!

My husband is awesome in so many ways, one of which is the fact that he sets camp up all by himself. While I watched our miniature campers find frogs, collect leaves, squeal with joy and break into our marshmallow stash a mere 7 minutes after arriving at our lakeside camping site, he worked.

Of course, we all got to help make sure the tents were comfortable. They were! I loved sleeping on an air mattress, and MckFlurry did great beside me. I was so very thankful that my husband thought it would be best to bring the Pack-n-Play for Stellan. Our little nearly 22 month old was unsure about falling asleep at the very beginning, but it didn’t take him long before he was out. He slept all night without a hitch; all of the children slept until between 7:30 and 8:30 the next morning. Success in my book!

There was loads of graham cracker eating, playing in the dirt, story telling and relaxing.

Our sweet babe did great. Taking him camping was an absolute breeze. The weather was gorgeous: neither too hot nor too cold.

The setting was perfect for pinecone hunting around our super secluded campsite.

And Small Fry wore her monkey in the sling I made her for the bulk of the second day we were there. She even wore him again once we were home. Monkey see, monkey do. Literally! She’s an amazingly nurturing “little mama”; I love her heart!

Rubber mallets, camping chairs, candy and Daddy kept everyone very happy. The tents were the perfect place for me to hang out with the Flurrster, although nursing him by the campfire in the wee hours of the morning was definitely the best.

I haven’t been able to stop thanking my husband. For taking us camping. For being spontaneous and fun. For living in the moment and teaching me to do the same. For doing the gruntwork when we travel. For being a great dad. For living like we have one life to live. For giving me these children.

Seeing Nuggey holding “his” baby (He asks all the time now!) in this outfit reminded me of this post, when little Nuggey cradled Stellan in the same romper.

More dirt, marshmallows and a campfire. Yes, I have one life to live. And this, my friends, is how I want to live it.

And these are the people I want to live it with. Whether we are camping, jumping on the trampoline, eating hummus, homeschooling at the kitchen table, splashing at the Splash Pad or playing cards into the wee hours of the morning, I cherish these times with my family.

Before we knew it, though, our camping adventure was over. We (and by we, I of course mean he) took down our tents. We gathered our garbage, wiped the marshmallow stickiness off our fingers the best we could, ate one more brat for old time’s sake and hit the road.

Another day lived in this one life to live that we all have been given.

I like life.

And now, apparently, I also like camping. Which is still a bit of a weird concept for me to grasp. But I’m getting used to it. Continue reading

sleepy

stream of consciousness

Yawn. We’re stretching and yawning over here as we recover from a wonderful night camping. It was so amazingly perfect; I didn’t want to leave the campground! Yes, our family camped in tents last night. I’m still surprising myself that the whole adventure was my idea, carried largely out by my spontaneous husband. More on MckFlurry’s first camping experience, complete with photographs of course, coming soon.

I’m taking on a few new endeavors these days as well as wrapping up some undertakings I’d long had in the works. Yes, being vague is one of my spiritual gifts. Just kidding. Actually, I took a (for real) spiritual gifts quiz the other day. It was very interesting.

Interesting, also, has been juggling Kindergarten at home for Big Mac and educating/entertaining our other children. But, so far so good.

It helps that MckFlurry, now awake for a good portion of the day, is a delightfully content baby. Our state’s big, annual state fair is going on right now. Not sure if we’ll make it or not. Our oldest three just wrapped up another session of swimming lessons. The sweet post office gal saw me unpregnant today and remembered I used to be. She asked to come out and peek at him, snoozing in the car with my husband and our other kids. That was so sweet of her, and I was proud to show our new little love off. We have an old mattress in our yard right now. It looks super high class. You should see it. I’m eating Skittles and typing this in the car right now. I’ve eaten nearly the whole bag and haven’t had a red one yet. Bummer, because reds are my favorite.

Have a great weekend, friends!!! Continue reading

she still does

Does she? Or doesn’t she?

To find out and see all the pictures, just… Continue reading

Next Page »