Posted on

Highlights of the week

I’ve learning there’s not much time for this blogging thing…  surprise, surprise! šŸ™‚  So I’m catching up a bit.  Last week we had a few funny moments.  Sometimes it’s the simplest things that amuse the boyz…

One morning when Jim drove Carter to the bus stop, sweet Kiefer says “I wish I could go to school in the dark….” as he wistfully looked out the window watching his brother and Daddy-o drive away.  I’m fairly certain he won’t always feel that way!

Griffin is really getting into books and if you ever can’t find him, he’s usually upstairs reading… here he is a few times caught reading!

 Doing the “Prilly Pose”

Fletcher is rolling around now… here he is on the playmat with his blankie wrapped around his head like a turban because he’s been twisting around so much!

 And the best after school activity yet!  They decided one day that they wanted to wash their blankies and “Ellie” spelled L-E (I’m told) in their own wash load so they could watch them whirl and spin.  It was 10 minutes of peace and quiet for me, so I gladly accepted! Hilarious!  Who knew the spin cycle could be so entertaining?

Our pumpkins that we carved a few weeks ago imploded… so we started over.  Here are our four little pumpkins carving their punkins…  no injuries, either. It was a success! (In case you wondered it’s hard to make a mean face as requested by Kiefer)

 Ice cream scoops are good at getting the guck out!

 Even Fletcher was into it…

 Carter wanted to keep all the seeds to plant more pumpkins… I did too, but it’s easier to buy seeds next spring!

Then it cracked me up when they made this five hitch wagon get up in the driveway.  They amused themselves for quite sometime with this activity!  And then there’s Kiefer, always with his blankie in tow- like Linus.

 note the red flag on the very back…

 Linus… I mean Kiefer.

And then we had to practice trick or treating – with treats, of course.

Next stop is the real deal!

Posted on

Just a spoonful of sugar!

Mary Poppins has long been a favorite movie around the Jay household. (Even before there were any little Jays! It’s always been one of my favorites!)  But we ramped it up a notch when I took the (older) boyz to see the musical about a month ago.  Since then we’ve had a lot of balancing acts on the edge of the sofa to perform “Step in Time” and lots of dusters and mops used as chimney sweep brooms.  Even Griffin is getting into the act and carrying around a little duster saying “Chim Chim Chim a ROOO!”  Carter has decided he wants to be Burt for Halloween.  So I’m trying to rig up a Mary Poppins costume to go along with the act.  Last week they pulled stools together in the basement and put on a whole show for me & Daddy-o.  Carter was a natural Emcee.  Not sure where he’s seen a variety show but it rivaled the Lawrence Welk show for sure!

Today we made some homemade sugar cookies and cut them out in the shapes of pumpkins, half moons, cats, bats and the like.  Baking with the Boyz is always an adventure!  We did well – until I turned my back for a second – I think to run upstairs and get Griffin so he could join in the fun of icing a cookie or two. And when I came back Carter had literally dumped the WHOLE jar of sugar sprinkles on one cookie!  I’m grateful that I had grace in that moment and I just laughed and asked where he got ahold of that?  (Silly Mommy for leaving it out on the counter and leaving the room!)

But then it happened again when Griffin was icing his cookie. I paused to pick up my camera to capture a moment or two of the mayhem and caught him in the act of dumping “Just a SPOONFUL OF SUGAR”…. in the most delightful way!!! šŸ™‚

Posted on

Don’t Upset the Pumpkin Cart

We drove to the lake Friday.  It was a glorious fall day!  Crisp, cool air, cloudless blue sky.  A day that can woo a non fall person to be a convert.  I had hoped to leave in the morning, but we left around 11:00.  Packing with children is such an undertaking.  They undo half of what you do in the spirit of ā€œhelpingā€.  Packing is not my strength to begin with.  I try to minimize the amount of stuff – itā€™s only one night… but we still filled the car!  Once we were finally ready, then I had to feed the little guy again.  I let the boyz play outside in the driveway while we did our ā€˜gas and goā€™ pit stop.  

 The Boyz watching the kittens frolic and play

 So tiny & so cute!

The demolition crew
On the way to the lake, we stopped in Bargersville at the fruit stand that TJā€™s friend Steve runs.  Iā€™ve driven by my whole life and Iā€™ve never stopped.  So today, we stopped.  After today, I donā€™t think I can ever go back!  Steve has all these crazy signs and he really invests himself in the displays that he puts together.  He had corn stalks aligned in groupings, pumpkins arranged by sizes, boxes of corn each labeled with silly little signs.  Itā€™s small, but I think this is his vocation and heā€™s an artist at heart.  He had two baby kittens.  They took my breath away how small they were. I havenā€™t seen a kitten since I was probably a girl at horse camp or playing at the barn when we used to ride.  They were no bigger than the palm of your hand.  But still quite playful playing with the cornstalks and wrestling each other.  
Carter kept whispering that he wanted to take one home! Griffin quickly learned that they would jump and ā€œmeowā€ when he played with them and thatā€™s who started the pumpkin launching.  I was attempting to buy a few tiny pumpkins for a display and thought maybe we might have a photo opp on our hands but instead we had what Steve deemed the ā€œDemolition crewā€.  Images of Kiefer unscrewing a corn cob from the display and Griffin launching pumpkins at kittens are fractured visions I have of the incident.  I could tell we needed to exit quickly, but rounding them up is another challenge.  I paid, apologized and backed out of there as quickly as I could.  Explaining, ā€œthis is why I havenā€™t been here before.ā€  
Iā€™m not sure heā€™s used to children – especially mine.   We totally upset the pumpkin cart. Oh well, we spent $5.  (Had to buy a box of ā€œKiefferā€ pears!)  (Actually, I didnā€™t think we could leave without buying a little more than a $1.25 sized pumpkin.) Later when Jim arrived at the lake he asked if I got a pumpkin, “Of course!” but after looking around – with all the confusion, I left it at the fruit stand!  Oh well!  
But they had so much fun today when we got to the lake!  Sweeping all the leaves together on the deck into a huge leaf pile, collecting buckets full of acorns, driving their tractors on the hillside, sliding down the giant slide.  Carter stepping up and being so helpful, loading the car, even packing and then lifting Griffin on the slide each time and sliding down behind him to keep him safe and help pushing ā€œK-I-E-F-E-Rā€  on the swings! He does rise to the occasion more often than I give him credit for and especially  when needed. They all need space to run. We are so blessed to have all this space down here! 
ā€œTheyā€™re good boys as long as you keep ā€˜em outsideā€ and ā€œIf you let them get bored you deserve what theyā€™ll do to youā€ are quotes that were running through my mind from a little section I read in a ā€œBringing Up Boysā€ book this morning.  Very true.

 Uncle Creepy & Carter on the Skid Steer (That Griffin calls “Creepy!”)

 The Boyz & Uncle Creepy

 Storm smiling for his picture!  Happy to have his snack of apples & carrots

 Storm checking out the boyz

 Kiefer’s one man band get up

 Griffin checkin’ out the view

 “Raking” leaves

 Daddy-o & his helpers

We rode the golf cart to see the neighborā€™s horse and fed Storm.  And we checked out what Uncle Creepy was up to.  Heā€™s always up to something.  Today he was driving the Skid steer, which Griffin affectionately calls ā€œCreepy!ā€ anytime weā€™re out or even the play one we have at home.  Carter got to go for a ride. Then we checked out the two story garage heā€™s building and the finishing touches heā€™s added to the little playhouse log cabin.  They adore Creepy!  Griffin kept lifting up his arms wanting a poor tired Creepy to carry him, which he did, of course.  Itā€™s Creepy!
Jiim joined us after he could escape from work and we all drove the golf cart all the way to Randy Lake and back.  
The leaves are so beautiful!
Thank you, God for the change of seasons and the way we are to embrace the beauty each season holds.  
This morningā€™s devotion read: 
ā€œNO MATTER WHAT your circumstances may be you can find joy in My Presence. On some days Joy is generously strewn along your life-path, glistening in the sunlight.  On days like that, being content is as simple as breathing the next breath or taking the next step.  Other days are overcast and gloomy; you feel the strain of the journey, which seems endless.  Dull gray rocks greet your gaze and cause your feet to ache.  Yet Joy is still attainable.  Search for it as hidden treasure.ā€  
Thatā€™s my objective.  Jim read my blog from yesterday and seemed surprised how negative it was and didnā€™t know how ā€œmiserableā€ my day was yesterday.  I donā€™t mean to sound miserable.  Iā€™m not at all!  I feel privileged to stay home with our four boyz and so grateful that I get to be part of their lives nearly every minute.  Iā€™m attempting to document our days so that I remember the funny things they do.  The stuff that in the moment makes you want to pull your hair out but the next minute you forget and have no material when they ask you to tell them a story.  I want to remember the funny things like Kiefer getting in the car to go to the park without shoes on or him asking if I know Mickey Mouseā€™s phone number.  I want to remember that Griffin has a fit nearly every time itā€™s time to eat and that heā€™d be starving by now if I didnā€™t keep putting food in front of him even though he throws it back at me at least the first three times.  I want to remember that they totally upset the pumpkin cart and that I as a mother I have to constantly balance their joy over teaching them the right thing to do.  I struggle, waiver, waffle, muddle in indecision and inconsistent parenting but I feel something I attempt to do (maybe not as much as I should) is enjoy the moment.  Try to remember it.  Seek the Joy in the moment because childhood is fleeting.  Spirits are easily crushed.  I need to channel their energy in positive ways, coach them. Encourage them.
Lord give me wisdom because I need a lot of it!  Help me embrace the joy in the moment because the days are glistening in it!  Thank you for this season in my life.  
Posted on

The pictures for “It’s Important to Look Back”

 Griffin runs after his big brothers…

 They lovingly stop to wait for him to catch up…. at least a little

 Once we scaled Mount Tractor, they rolled down the other side – again and again!

 Smiling Griffin on top of the world, Mount Tractor

 My boyz!

 More of my Boyz!

 Carter filled his pockets with rocks!

 The day was redeemed!  Sonlight bursting in!

 My three boyz coming down the slide together

 Say “Tractor Park!”

 Their shadows on top of Mount Tractor

Griffin turning back to make sure I was still with him as he ran to catch his brothers…!!!

Posted on

It’s important to look back

It was a busy day.  The first day of Fall break.  I haven’t had all four boyz at home by myself on a weekday since school started.  When Carter first started school I missed him so much!  Today was, well, tough.  He jumped on his brother, stepped on his brother, climbed up his brother to get to the top of the slide, stole a train, took food from his brother… and the list goes on.  When I wasn’t reigning him in, I was wrestling Griffin whom, I keep saying, turned two right on schedule (two weeks ago!)  We attempted lunch at McDonalds with Papa Tom.  A total bust!  We should have just done the drive through because after Griffin threw his milk, his straw, and his cup he then refused to eat his chicken nuggets and screamed when Papa Tom ate them in front of him.  We ended up eating in the car.  Reasoning with a two year old doesn’t work for anyone who thinks it might. (Including Papa Tom) šŸ™‚

The house was a wreck – so many shoes, hats, coats and toys thrown everywhere.  Dishes in the sink. Markers and the marks they leave behind all over my countertops. Requests for more white paper, “where’s the tape?” Can I tie his shoe? all while nursing a baby and trying to console and unconsolable two year old who only napped for the 10 minute drive home from McDonalds. At one point I dozed off for a few minutes while nursing Fletcher and woke up with a toy cockroach dangling by a string over my face.  It’s been a day!  But when I was at my wits end, I threw them all in the car and we went to the Tractor Park (only having to go back into the house once – when we started down the court and Kiefer says “I don’t have any shoes on!”)  I decided Fletcher would survive without a hat the second time I headed out of the driveway.  And he did.  

Once at the park they got some of their energy out.  We summitted Mount Tractor and once at the top they rolled down the other side.  The day was redeemed as we stood at the top and tried not to blow over.  The light was luscious and I snapped a ton of pictures.  Somehow when I’m having a bad day when I look at my children through the camera lens it helps focus my attention on what’s really important.  The last one I snapped of Griffin running after his brothers on the way to the car melted my heart.  He turned back to see if I was still following him and he smiled at me, his mama, while he was running.  “To earn the love of a child, that is to have achieved success in life.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Posted on

The Beginning

It’s October 21st.  There’s nothing really special about the date other than it’s the beginning of this blog.  A new beginning.  This is something I’ve been thinking about for some time now and I finally decided to just start.  Welcome to the Soul Spa Sisterhood.  What is Soul Spa?  Hopefully it will become a place of joy.  A place of beauty.  Glimpses of God in the mundane.  A tool to help seek goodness, grace and godliness in the midst of each day.  A beginning.  Like the rising sun.  May the sunlight penetrate deep into our souls and may we step away refreshed, renewed… ready to face a new day.

Posted on

I do, again and again

There’s something about weddings that always melts your heart.  My sister cries at every wedding.  Even if she doesn’t know the people.  I can’t say that I feel that way about all weddings… but you usually know the couple pretty well and it’s interesting how each wedding takes on a distinct personality – reflective of the couple.  Well, a few weekends ago, Carter was the ring bearer in the wedding of our former babysitter and her fiance.  Stephanie actually lived with us this whole summer since she graduated from Butler.  Jim helped her find an internship that led to a full time job and since she’s from Cincinnati we offered her a place to stay before she and Justin got married.  It’s been really fun to watch them go from dating to engaged and then up to their eyeballs in wedding planning, registering, showers, etc…  It brings back so many memories.  I was a senior at Butler when Jim and I were engaged and Jim was the same age as her finance.  They’re a bright young couple with so many fun times ahead of them.  We were pleased to be able to help her out a little and in turn we totally appreciated her babysitting services for the past 5 months.  I miss the little “beep beep” of hearing her walk in the door super late each night…. gives me a glimpse into how her parents must be feeling.

 Studly Carter

 Carter & Sloane – we caught them just hanging out like this…

 Carter carried the rings in a little bird’s nest

 They made a John Deere picture frame for him telling people how they knew him.  They called it “Meet the Maids” and “Meet the Men”  It told the story of him helping change Stephanie’s tire and they asked him to do the important job of delivering the rings down the aisle.  That he’s a big helper and was up to the task.

 He was quite proud!

 Pointing out all the details of the frame

 Kiefer was fascinated by the musicians and while everyone else took pictures he found himself a front row seat for a live concert.

 Too sweet!

 Then Griffin joined him.  There’s something about live music that’s captivating!

 Carter & Justin minutes before the “big moment”

 The rest of the Jay family sitting while we wait.  (This was the calm before the storm for Griffin)

 Here they come…

 A slight smurk of pride

 Watching to make sure Sloane makes it down the steps ok

 I love this moment!  Their sweet little faces. So focused on the dropping flowers.  Carter holding carefully to the string that holds the ring in the nest cupped in his little five year old hands (five and a half I hear him say!)

 All eyes are on them…. check out the mother of the bride over the shoulder of the photographer…

 Now she’s really crying!  Soooo sweet!

 Just so you can see the other big moment…the  beautiful bride, Stephanie.

 A beautiful open aired church!

 Me and my younger boyz on the steps during the reception.  Fletcher is in the baby seat in the room behind us…

 Mr. & Mrs. Kime!

 Carter earned a new tractor from the groom for his job well done!

 Hanging with the bride and groom at the head table

 Mommy & Carter… So proud of him… he’s like, “Oh, Mom… it’s no big deal.” šŸ™‚

 Me & Stephanie.  KAO’s  I always tell her I’m her in 15 years.  (Oh, and brunette…)

Picture perfect ending!  Or just the beginning for them…

But all their time invested in wedding planning paid off!  It was a beautiful wedding! They had so many special touches in the decorations, the tribute to their wedding party, even the venue selection being outside under the canopy of fall leaves because they love fall.  It was gorgeous!  It made me wish we would have done so many special touches… but that wasn’t really the thing back when we got married.  We didn’t have a ring bearer or flower girl either.

In fact, I’ve never really understood why people have little children in their weddings until theirs.  I was actually a flower girl once when I was 8 and my cousin Brad was supposed to be the ring bearer.  He freaked out at the end of the aisle and refused to walk down in front of everyone.  Ever since then my mother’s mantra has been “you don’t have children in a wedding…” so we didn’t when we got married. (Plus, we didn’t really know anyone that age at the time.)  But Stephanie asked long ago and I made sure she was sure she really wanted him in the wedding… she insisted that she did.

And you know what?  He and the flower girl stole the show!  They really did!  She was a beautiful blonde little girl and Carter looked so handsome in the tie, suspenders and cap they got for him to wear!  He matched what the groom was wearing and she matched the bride.  And as I watched with pride and tears welling up in my eyes as Carter walked down the aisle with Sloane I couldn’t help but notice the mother of the bride’s tears.  She was crying, I think, looking at that little girl and realizing how quickly her daughter had grown up.  I was crying realizing how quickly my little boy is growing up and I know it will only seem like a blink in time before I’m sitting up front as the mother of the groom watching my sons get married!

It was a beautiful, touching, personal, Christ-centered ceremony.  The minister talked about her love story starting long ago when Stephanie fell in love with Jesus.  Then later, fell in love with Justin.  Then he talked about how no one wants to read a boring novel.  They want the story book romance. The happy ending… that they’re just beginning their story together and to make it a good read.

I couldn’t help but reflect on my own marriage.  What a good story it’s been so far… and continues to grow richer, deeper.  I have often said that I remember on my wedding day feeling like I couldn’t love Jim any more than I did on that day.  Boy was I wrong!  It just keeps getting better.  Too bad he missed the whole wedding because he was tending to a screaming Griffin in the back room and ultimately in the parking lot.   I was a reader in the wedding, so I couldn’t step out.  I had to had Fletcher off to the sweet girl sitting behind me when it was time for me to go up front.  It all worked out… and Carter and Kiefer were captivated.

Carter did the important task of delivering the rings with style, grace and confidence.  I think it’s just the beginning for that kid!  The week after the wedding he came home one day and told me he had asked Claudia, the girl at the bus stop, if she would marry him.  She said she’d think about it when she was in college.  (Good answer!) But I think he thought the whole idea looked like something fun he’d like to do.  Hopefully we have a few years left!

A link to their wedding pictures: http://kimlongphotographyclients.com/blog/?p=3735