We are over here today....

A few months ago, right before I delivered RJ - a sweet friend of mine, Katie, asked if I would write a post along with a bunch of other women, for her "Intentional Mothering" series she is having this month on her blog....I was humbled by this asking and honored! Time went by and lots of thinking & prayer went into what should be written. So from my momma's heart to yours - catch the Glorious in the Mundane and let it change your view!  Let it make you joyful & thankful!

Todays the day...check out her blog!

Echoes of My Heart

Craziness! Kids! And more kids!

I'm sure there are many people who think we are crazy for having more than the average amount of kids. And there are probably even more that would say I am out of my mind for even entertaining the idea of wanting to have more kids. (I am sure my husband may fall into this category!  heehee!)
However I wanted to share this, just from my heart. I do NOT think that having a large family is for everyone. I understand that it is a very personal decision. I understand why some make the decision to not have big family.
I also am not claiming that it is always fabulously, wonderful every second of the day or that I maintain my cool all of the time. If you follow this journey we call life you will see that clear as day. We have great days and we have absolutely insane days. What I will tell you is every day it brings me to my knees. To my knees in thankfulness, in fear, in joy, in apologies, in frustration and in moments of thinking "there is no way I can do this". And every day I am reminded God's love and grace is enough. Period. He is enough. And HE is all I need.

So if you are one of the many wondering why we have "more than the average" kids - here is why :

This is it. The first time since we started having kids that even I fully see how wonderful it is. This little one adores this bigger one. He fully trusts her, he fully loves her. And these moments here are why. She loves him, I love them. Yes she is an amazing helper - I cannot imagine this journey without her, but more than that she loves him differently than I have seen her before. She's that much older. She's that much more capable. She's trustworthy and gets it. And this little one has changed her view, her outlook and even her love for her other siblings. She sees the value in a living, breathing, precious human life and how in a second that can be gone if God so wills just because she is old enough to "get it".

So this is it - yes I believe children are a blessing, yes I LOVE having a bigger family, yes I even love the craziness it inevitably brings. But even more than that, I love what is brings about it them! I love seeing it transform each one just a little bit more every day. 

From Arae :

"I love being the leader of the kids because they look up to me. It makes me feel very special! I like being old enough so I can take care of RJ. I like when my mom calls me the "baby whisperer" because I can get him to fall asleep. 

Having a little sister is really fun because she always says "I wuv you Arae!"She likes to do the things I like to do...wearing my sunglasses - upside down, pretending to go to school like me, and changing her babies diapers like I sometimes do with RJ. 

Having a lot of siblings is cool!"

Opposites attract...and opposite children we have

We are learning over here on Cherry Street...learning new things about ourselves and each other.  The little ones are growing and getting bigger. The bigger ones are growing and changing and getting older. Which means DJ and I are definitely getting older and hopefully wiser along the way. Wisdom...something I long for more and more every day - the ability to judge what is true, right and lasting. 

I have been praying lately for this very thing. Wisdom in handling life as it comes some days without warning. Don't you just love those days...the ones without warning?? We've had a lot recently. I need wisdom in raising the little kids and bigger kids all at the same time. This is truly proving to be an interesting endeavor. One that I have to consciously breathe through.

Here is what I am learning along the way : 

-No two children are the same no matter how much they may be alike. 

-Different kids will struggle with completely different things....just when I feel like I have taught one, one thing I am turning around teaching the next one the same thing in a different way because...

-...The way one learns most likely is not the way the other learns. (We have opposite learners in our household)

-Each child has a bend in a direction - how they learn, how the move about the day, how they pick up (or don't), how they eat (honestly, my 2 year old is a cleaner eater than my 7 year old...he is what we fondly call a "two fister") and how they do the things they love to do, their desires and wants.

-Some days they just need me - to sit on a lap; be with them. Bitty has told me often lately, "I need Mommy" and all she wants is my attention and lap. She doesn't need help with anything just ME. I'm learning to listen for these cues.

-Some days I just need them - to hold them close

-What the world expects them to go through and when is NOT always when it happens because what "they" don't factor in is life; circumstances out of our control and ultimately in our Master's hands.

When I really sit and think about where I am as a Mom right now I'm realizing I have 5 balls I am juggling high in the air at the same time. And every once in awhile I see I have dropped a ball or some days all of them. While other days, moments I am juggling well. This is why I pray deeply for wisdom! Each day proves to be a different day, a different challenge and full of different joys. Then for a split second I see a little progress made, a little more independence gained, a little wing that grew a touch more and I breath in deep the achievement they have made and praise them for that accomplishment. Ahhh, these are good moments!

What keeps me sane some days is writing down this thankfulness I store up inside...sometimes too deep that I need to be reminded and that thankfulness needs to come out in penned down. It allows me to see some of the beauty around me in the very little things. And realizing nothing is random to our God. Everything happens for a purpose, a reason for those who love HIM.  I get so caught up in the little things that I need to be reminded those days to trust and be thankful. Every day I need to have my God "antennae" out to pick up the faintest glimmer of HIM, His finger prints, His moving about in our lives, conscious of HIM in all of my daily routine. 

This is our daily routine, life as we know it....I am thankful!

She's becoming a very thought provoking person. Which is keeping me and her daddy on our toes and knees. In many ways, way beyond her years. In many ways her age. 

Bitty, in a totally different way, keeps us on our toes. She is something!! Almost daily sporting her little "Cindy-Lou-Who" sprout. This little independent girl enjoys doing everything on her own. 

This Man is "mister dependence" - so opposite of his little sister. He likes everyone to do everything for him. While Bitty gets dressed all on her own, he is very content to have me help him. 

Sweet sleeping baby - if you follow me on instagram you know how often I post these...he melts me just as they all did when they slept at this age...okay I still love watching them all sleep. 

If she isn't sporting a "sprout" she has crazy, ragamuffin hair.

Science Fair day - they worked so hard...okay so this Momma worked hard too...but they LOVED their topics and knew them well.
This is why I pray for wisdom...they are all SO different. This project alone gave me great insight into just that.

Crazy Kobo - he wants to be a zoologist & police man ...some how he thinks he can do both! This project only made his love of animals grow. He only sleeps with about 50 in his bed...knowing when one is missing. We tried narrowing them down for him without him knowing...unsuccessful! He "sensed" some were gone.

This girls was fascinated with birds nest this year. We collected them for a year and did lots of research on ALL the different kinds. Who knew there were SO many different nests. What a creative God! 

Typical...just typical!