Give 'n give 'n give

   A prayer I have prayed ever since we first got married was that I could give and give and give and not think about "getting". It's still a prayer. I haven't "arrived" yet, but these dear lil foursome are making that prayer all the more urgent. (be careful for what you pray for! :) The Lord just might help you out with it!) You can pray for us. Pray that I can "give". Pray that I can have energy. (which reminds me of my new appreciation for sweet tea! I believe it's God-made for tired moms!) Pray that we can have patience and wisdom. The teaching of these tykes has had me very burdened lately. How can we mold them into unselfish, compassionate, respectful, and responsible adults? How???? It feels like I bumble through the day by the seat of my pants. I plead for wisdom so do I just trust that God guides my bumblings??? If we're strong when we feel weak then I must be very very strong :).
   Our well water failed the bacteria test, so I guess we've been drinking bacteria for 7 yrs. Yummy, I've always enjoyed bacteria. So we had to treat our well this week and have been without water since Monday. Yes, this is Thursday. They said we could flush the toilets once a day if NEED BE! LOL. Needless to say we are not going ANYWHERE until we all have some baths. The water treatment is done at 7:00 tonight, so we'll be doing some soaking to get off this protective crust. BUT, the end is in sight for our home study! This is one of the last of the last things that had to be done!
   Oh and the threesome have not been playing nice lately and it makes me soooo weary of settling fights. When do you let them work it out? When do you teach them how to play nice? (pullmyhairrightout) Both Marv and I felt like it was time to do some spying on their playtime to find out what really was going on, but that takes a lot of "give" too. It takes a lot of time to sneak upstairs and show them that you really DO have eyes in the back of your head! But taking the time it takes eventually will take less time and it has proved to be a good thing thus far. We seem to be making head way. AND it seems they haven't known WHAT to play either. Nothing wears on my patience more than children who wine around and don't know WHAT TO DO. Mom has always told me that children need to be taught to play and when I actually stop my work and go be a 3 yr old for a while I love it, but it's the "stopping"(more "give"). Yesterday Marv built a big snowman with them. (Yes it took all morning just to get the trio bundled up to play in the snow) Then I went out and finished it up. We put rocks on for buttons, sticks for arms and nose, more rocks for eyes, mud for a smile, and a cute red hat and a red scarf. They loved it, this Mom did too. Soon Miss Isabel was crying and cold and wanted to come in. So Isabel comes in and plays with baby. Isabel is my complicated lil lady and Addie is my robust tomboy. She is never ready to come inside. It is so fun learning to know them! Addie and baby are both good eaters! I've always wished for a good eater and now I have 2 of them! It is so refreshing not to have to remind Addie to EAT. She just EATS. Oliver and Isabel absolutely ADORE baby. Oliver always talks about "my baby". He often tells me "I just love my baby so much!" Sometimes baby doesn't love them as much as they love her! Oh and I forgot to tell you baby is sleeping through the night every night now! It is lovely. Addie is sleeping much better too. The other night we put the children to bed and I was cleaning up when I heard Addie crying. I went and held her. The tears were streaming. I asked her, "What's wrong, Addie" She just snuggled closer. Finally she just said, "Kiss me". Of course I did. Soon she was fine. Was she lonesome? What was hurting her little heart? I don't know..
   Mom gave me the best gift possible. She went grocery shopping for me and brought me stacks and stacks of paper bowls and plates. A luxury I probably wouldn't have spent my dimes on. Oh I use them for a crowd of company but daily? No. But I sure am enjoying them and they really do cut down on the work load! Thank you Mom!