FFF

1. Today I'm thankful that life goes on.

I just read a post that I wrote back in May about how frustrated I was feeling about not being able to accomplish everything. I was so tired and feeling like I couldn't accomplish anything. And here I sit two months later and my house is a disaster (has been since June 13th - when the kids got out of school), my laundry is piled high (both the clean and the dirty), I deep cleaned the kitchen yesterday afternoon (but within half an hour, you would never have known it), my kids are still in the pajamas, their bedrooms are messes (even though they supposedly cleaned them yesterday???), on and on and on.

For some reason my blog decided to start randomly moderating certain comments on my blog and I never knew about it until today. Nice. Thus, with that post I wrote, I was just able to read a couple of sweet comments from an old college buddy (thanks Heather!!!), that made my morning. And even though my house has been in a constant state of chaos for the past two months, I'm flowing with it better. Sometimes I lose it, but for the most part I just keep plugging along. I'm thankful that life just keeps on going - amid the mess and regardless of the melt downs. :)

2. I have made it down below my "pre-Violet" weight! Finally! It's only been about 3 years now . . . And Nels is almost down to his pre-Elsie weight!!! :) Maybe that's why I'm feeling better about the house. I've proven to myself that I actually CAN accomplish SOMETHING. :) Now. Just another 17 lbs to go!

3. We made it through swim lessons! Hazel, Lilie, and Elsie have had lessons down at the beach for the past two weeks. We are all brown & sun-bleached and the van looks like a sandbox. It has been a lot of fun playing at the beach everyday, but truthfully I'm kind of excited to get some work done during the day as well. :) All three of them did a fabulous job and I'm so proud of them for the progress that they made in two short weeks!

4. Blueberries are ON right now!!! Yesterday we went berry picking at a U-Pick farm down the road. It was really fun (for everyone but Clara) and I got 6.5 pounds of fresh blueberries for $13.00. We're going back again this weekend to get more. Seriously, can there be a more perfect place to live than Sandpoint, ID? Huckleberries are coming on right now, too. We're going to have to do some hiking this weekend to get enough for some jam!

5. In other news, I'm dealing with some feelings that are very familiar to me. Namely anxiety and uncertainty. I'm looking back on exactly one year ago and am completely amazed that, in some ways, I am in the exact same place I was then. (I'll give you more details on that little bit of stress in a few weeks.) Now, the fabulous part. I feel like I am learning (a very little bit) how to choose faith instead of fear. How to cast my burdens on the Lord. Worry is a useless waste of human energy. Wherever He takes us, I'm just along for the ride. :)

"I'm a Little Teapot"