How do you manage it?

I get asked a lot, "How do you manage working full time as an administrator with such little ones?"

First, of all, I love my job so I love going to work! I also LOVE my kids and want to be with them. But I also strongly feel God's purpose for my life is to work and not to stay home.

So what do I say..."I don't know but my husband helps out A LOT!"

My husband TOTALLY rocks.

He is not your "stereotypical" guy or husband!

He helps out and he helps out A LOT!

Here is a list of some things (but surely not all) he does around the house in a typical week!

- Our laundry (wash, fold, and put away)

- Makes dinner at least two times a week, if not more.

- Gets at least one boy dressed in the morning, if not both.

- Takes the boys to the babysitter at least two times a week.

- Takes and picks up Ryan from preschool twice a week.

- Plays with the boys daily

- Mops all the floors

- Does dishes daily

- Does our finances/budget/bills

- Helps pick up the house

- Takes care of the boys by himself when I have night or weekend commitments

- Takes them to doctors appointments, if needed

And the list could go on and on!

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful, caring husband.

I love him so much!

Thank you sweetie! I couldn't do it without you!

Thoughts...

I heard a great quote/analogy a couple of weeks ago on The Fish radio. John and Staci Elderidge were promoting their new book, Love and War. John was talking about their struggles in their marriage and how several times they almost walked away from each other. But then he said something like this.... God uses marriage to work on our flaws and that is one of the reasons why marriage can be so hard. However, if we choose to walk away from our marriage, do we really think God is just going to stop working on our flaws? No, he will find a different avenue to do so. I was like, Wow! I had never thought of it in that way. But then I also started thinking, isn't the same way in every aspect of our life, not just marriage. God uses everything to work on our flaws...whether it be parenthood, your job, friends, family, or a million other areas of your life, God uses them to work on us. He may not work on every area, every day but He uses ALL parts of our lives to teach us.



I feel like God has been working on me in several different areas. I really don't want to go into detail but sometimes, I have just wanted to quit in several areas of my life. But then I remember that analogy and relize I really can't hide from God's shaping in my life. But maybe I AM running away from God entirely instead of embracing His help to fix my flaws. I know I can't do it on my own but too often I think I can. So today, I want to start embracing God more.



How about you? Are you running towards or away from God?



(Hopefully, you followed my thoughts about what John said. Either way, I encourage you to read Love and War and hopefully, he will explain it better. I have heard that is GREAT! I know I want to read it also!)

The Cavs!

Last Thursday night, the Amherst Special Olympics went to the Cav's game. We sat in the "nose bleed" section but we still had a blast! It was my first NBA game ever!

During half time, our atheletes got to go down on the court and make a high five tunnel for the Cav's players to go through. How awesome is that! Dante West was really sweet to the our kids, taking extra time with them. I won't say who wasn't very nice (wouldn't even high five the kids) but people often call him the King!

It was a lot of fun! It was even a nice little date night for Chad and I! Thanks Papa for coming up and watching the boys!

Birthday Fun!

On Wednesday, Ryan turned 4!

Unfortuntely, he was sick so we had to scale down the day and stay at home.

We got McDonald's, brought it home and had a picnic on the family room floor.

This is his favorite pose lately!

Then he got to open his presents! Jaxson got him this puzzle!

We got him the Playdoh Ice Cream maker! Both him and Jaxson love it!

On Saturday night, we had his family/friends party! He was so sweet! He asked in between each present whether he could open another, took time to examine everything he got, and said lots of thank you's! (without being prompted most of the time)

The party was smaller than previous years but I actually enjoyed that. My parents, Chad's parents, Aunt Amber, and our new friends, Mark, Linda, Jacob, and Jonathan Rau joined us to celebrate!

Ryan picked a Land Before Time birthday! He still LOVES dinosaurs!

Jaxson also enjoyed the party!

Ryan had a wonderful time! He kept telling me "That was the best party ever!"

Though today he also said in the car on the way home from church that he was going to have a party after his nap. When I told him he had already had his birthday party, he replied,

"No, mom that was a little party. Now I am going to have a BIG party!"

No buddy, one party is enough...at least for this mommy!

...

Sleepy Baby!

Pure Sweetness!

Jax fell asleep on the home from church. I first put him on the couch to take off his coat where he stayed asleep. I attempted to wake him up so he could he lunch and so we could ALL take a nap together. But he was too tired and continued to sleep on the floor. Ryan was a good big brother and made sure he had plenty of blankies!

He only slept for about 40 minutes and of course, we was done napping for the day!

Three Men and a Truck!

Last week, Chad picked up furniture in Norwalk so Chad he also picked up the boys from Marie's house in the Maibach's truck. It was the first time in the truck for Jaxson and he enjoyed it! Ryan, of course, was in 7th heaven!