The Bucket List.

So, I am about to plagiarize in a big BAD way. Three of my favorite bloggers (and women) Kristen, Denise and Sara posted their summer fun lists.

Not only am I stealing their idea but I am also stealing the quote that Denise used in her post about being proactive.

"if i'm not proactive

i'm reactive

and that can be very unattractive."

(I just copied and pasted that little pearl right off Denise's blog)

(The days of me being worried about the punishment of plagiarism are behind me)

(Thank the LORD)

I admire these mommies so much and think The Bucket List  is something my family desperately needs this summer.  Because here is the truth.  I am struggling.  In a bad way.  The best way to communicate this is in numerical order. 

The heat has fried my paragraph writing skills.

1.  I haven't found "the groove" yet.  Our nights are late, our mornings are late.  The whole time that I am awake, so are the kids.  We haven't settled into a livable routine yet.  This is hard.  I need time alone each day to rejuvenate.  This hasn't been happening and I am feeling defeated upon waking up and it lasts all day.

2.  My house is TRASHED.  I don't function well in a messy space but I don't have the time or energy (see #1) to fix it.  I feel like a hamster on a wheel to nowhere.  I know someone wise will say to ignore the house and focus on the kids because time moves so fast.  blah blah blah.  I know that, but a messy house means a messy unorganized day.  And a messy unorganized day means a very FRAZZLED JANELLE.

3.  The constant fighting is KILLING ME SLOWLY.  My tolerance level for all the fighting is at an all time low.  Everything grates on my nerves right now. 

4.  Along with the fighting is the constant demand on my time.  Someone needs something at all times.  From sun up to sun down (read #1 again).

5.  Littlest one potty training.  (Read #1, and #4)

6.  It's HOT and HUMID and I'm not really an outside kinda girl.  (I added this one late because I have been hot all day.  Hot Janelle = Crabby Janelle.) 

7.  I have one child that thrives on tight structure.  Without it THE WORLD STOPS SPINNING and all *&#$ breaks loose.  High perfectionism and OCD tendencies are not a good combination with a laid back summer.  Transitioning into summer is very hard on this little one.  It affects the whole house, namely me.  With enough time, things eventually fall into place but not without severe gnashing of teeth and loss of privileges a mile long.

(insert pity party here)

Add that all up and you have one frustrated, drained, irritable, tired, emotional mess of a woman.  Not the mommy that my kids deserve.  Not the wife that Skip deserves.  I am not giving them my best. 

I am very unattractive.

After reading Sara's, Denise's and Kristen's blogs I felt very convicted of my attitude and my attention to the here and now.  I won't ever do this perfectly, but I can do better than I have.

We spent the day creating our Bucket List.  I am happy with the ideas my kids presented.  I told them we would try our hardest to do most of these things.  Some of them cost $$ so we will have to see if it fits in the budget.  But now we have a plan.

And I have a proactive attitude.

Here is our cute bucket.

And here is our idea list that they typed, printed and cut into strips. 

White Water

Splash Country

Eat out

Silver Dollar City

Bowling

Mini golf

Camp in

Cars 2

Picnic

Blueberry picking

Hotdogging

Tubing

Neighborhood pool

Rec Plex pool

Grisham’s pool

Lunch with granny

Lunch of choice

Donut date

Craft

Invite a friend

Uncle Mikey's store

Library incentives

Skating

Jump mania

Kids cook dinner

Take Bristow to lake

Play Doh

Horses

Movie Theater

Sprinklers

Redbox

Baseball Game

St. Louis

Lunch with Dad

Nature hike

Take a walk

Paint

Bouncy House

Ride Bikes

Feed ducks

Picnic

Make cookies

Star Gaze

Go Carts

Ma & Pa’s house

Gramma Papa’s house

KAMP!!

B2 School Shopping

Creek

Make Ice Cream

Play at the park

Wiffle Ball game

VBS

Thanks for listening to my heart!  I know that a lot of great mommies out there are feeling the same way.  Mothering is HARD.  Harder than anything I ever imagined.  Let's sharpen and encourage one another to be the mommy that God desires us to be.

Imperfectly yours,

The best 5th of July ever.

Fourth of July has come and gone in a flood. We had several good moments that evening sitting by the pool and eating pizza. Off in the distance the gray clouds loomed. Still we swam. Still we ate.

Bring on the lightning and thunder. Bring on the rain...torrential rain.

Cancel fireworks (not that I was sad...but the kids were).

Wake up on the 5th to bright sunny skies. Had a terrific day watching Alana's boys and swimming with Jen. It was great spending this summer day playing without worrying about time, laundry, dishes, cleaning. Just playing. It was good. It was summer.

Listening to a house full of kids was pure delight. They laughed and giggled. They told great stories. They had lively discussions. Here are some of our quotable moments.

"When your mom is mad, she is not funny."
"Do you have a special recipe for grilled cheese?"
"I'm not tiwed."
"We are brothers by different mothers."
"Popcorn. Popcorn. I love popcorn!"
"Popcorn is not a snack, it's a vegetable."

As you can tell, I had me some laughs. Debating the snack-worthiness of popcorn, with a six year old, made my day!

Later in the evening we went to Tod and Pam's for swimming and the burning of explosives. Because you know the evening would not be complete without the screaming pain of watching 976 bottle rockets explode. We had a blast playing in the water and eating yummy food. Having 4 kids to watch in the pool was really quite the challenge, but I survived and even got my hair wet to prove it.

Sometime in the middle of the evening I looked up to the sky. God had painted the most beautiful sunset that far surpassed any man-made fireworks. It was as if He boldly proclaimed that He is the Master. He is the painter. He is the One and Only. It literally took my breath away. I needed that reminder. I needed Him to say, "Janelle look at Me and take notice. I make all things beautiful."

It really was the best 5th of July ever.

Just A Swingin...

Thursday 13 and The Summer Can

The "Summer Can" made it's appearance last summer as a way to maintain fun and sanity during the long, lazy days of summer. The kids and I decorated an empty paint can with fun scrapbook paper of flip-flops and sunny skies. Then we wrote activities (mostly free ones) on slips of paper to be randomly drawn on a day with nothing else planned. I can't wait to get the Summer Can down from the shelf, dust it off and start having some fun with my kids. The key to The Can's success is to be flexible. I have to remind myself to slow down and play with my little people

For my Thursday 13, I thought I would share 13 fun things from the can. If you have any good ideas for activities that your kids love, post them in the comments. We are always looking for ways to spice things up!

Happy Summer!

1. Nature hike
2. Write a letter to a friend and mail it
3. Feed the ducks
3. Take daddy lunch at work
4. Sprinklers!!
5. Visit Library
6. Build a fort and have a picnic
7. Backyard Olympics
8. Bouncy House in garage
9. Do a puppet show and video
10. Cook a fun snack together
11. Visit the fish hatchery
12. Paint pictures
13. Free choice!!!