stacie's sacred space

i asked for a rainy day

so that i could get some projects inside the house done

i knew it was coming so i asked dave to set up the geotrax train set we haven't played with in a long time (some toys i like to pack up and keep away from the kids so they feel like something new and special when we're bored with the millions of them that we have :)). he did that last night ... yippee for a daddy who builds and puts together!  thank you, dave.

johnny was so excited about it this morning that he wouldn't even eat breakfast.  janie didn't mind it herself, she bossed johnny around playing it for a bit.  bossing around is a fun role for her because she's used to being bossed by joey.  she's getting good at it.  i wonder where she learns that skill.  hmmmm.

all this while jeffrey took a little cat nap on the couch.  i just love having this little sweet one around!

and then we had our neighbor, colton over to join in on the train fun! 

while they all played and slept, i got the kitchen "everything drawer" organized.  i like a somewhat neat junk drawer.  when it's so full it can't open (like it has been for a while now), i get cranky.  now this picture doesn't even do it's neatness justice for me ... i promise it closes nicely and i know where everything i need is right now.  woohoo!!

then immediately after lunch johnny want to to color with the paint markers and look at the result

oh, i want to note that i chose to get my camera out for this instead of my normal reaction of freaking out and saying, "i just caught up on all the laundry that needed treated, johnny!  ADD IT TO MY LIST!"  my "list" is just never-ending and this family hears that a lot.  for now, i'll just pat myself on the back for not freaking out ... that is not how i want these kiddos to remember their precious childhood.  i also didn't capture the pic of the messy table that i still need to wash off.  i better go get to it.  joey will be home before i know it!

we made it through another week!

i feel pretty good. i'm always happy to see a weekend especially this one without too many "plans". just the 6 of us, college gameday on tv, the kids at play (or sleep in jeffrey's case) all around us. yippee! i'm not even going to look at the calendar to see what next week brings until tomorrow because i know it's different and it's busy. today i'm going to play, rest, catch my breath, do laundry, hang shelves in joey and janie's bedroom, watch the buckeyes and take it as it comes (sure sounds like it right :)). tonight dave will be out playing poker and as long as jeffrey cooperates, i'll get all caught up on the posts i want out here!

for now, go bucks!!

it takes a lot of prayers ...

... to get through the moments of these days! 

in my morning prayer session i came across this poem that i want to keep as another gentle reminder. you'll find these reminders out here often. i love to be inspired and find it often in the things i read and especially the people in my life. i'm pretty good at connecting with others on this life journey especially mamas like me raising kids, keeping busy. it's good for me to stay connected vertically too. it's not always as easy for me. today was just a tough, tough day and so i decided to sit still and pray. that's how i caught my breath today! i kept picturing a direct line to God in heaven in my morning worries and busy-ness. i was then reminded to pray all day long with every challenge and every blessing just to make it through. 

Hang It On The Cross

If you have a secret sorrow,

a burden or a loss,

An aching need for healing ...

Hang It On The Cross.

If worry steals your sleep

and makes you turn and toss,

If your heart is feeling heavy ...

Hang It On The Cross.

Every obstacle to faith 

or doubt you come across,

Every prayer unanswered ...

Hang It On The Cross.

For Christ has borne

our brokenness

and dearly paid the cost

To turn our trials to triumph ..

Hanging On The Cross.

-Lisa O. Engelhardt

packed with protein

this is one of my favorites these days. bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. it's super simple to make and even fills up a hungry, hungry nursing mama like me! it's way tastier than it looks in this picture. i never said i was a food stylist. i really just want to post recipes on here to remind myself of some of the good ideas i have because i run out of meal ideas all the time. 

it has 285 calories and 20 grams of protein. the kids love these too although 1/2 is good for them ... except for johnny. keep reading ...

1 scrambled egg (i add a splash of milk after beating the egg)

1 tablespoon of crumbled bacon

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1 multigrain sandwich round (arnold brand)

topped with franks hot sauce kicks it up and adds yummy flavor

NOW do you think johnny would ever try anything like this? you guessed it! no way, jose!! he's sticking to a yummy slice of toast topped with cinnamon sugar instead. maybe it's that sugar that makes him so sweet all the time ... hee! hee!

 

a window in heaven

photographed above is today's moon from our driveway on this beautiful morning.  i have a whole new appreciation for the sky after dad died.  i remember the clear crisp night sky so vividly when i arrived at home in hudson just a few hours before he died.  the stars were gorgeous and the moon was big.  i remember looking up there from the family room with all of it's windows shortly after he died, and i saw a shooting star! maybe that was dad's dance into heaven or his way of letting us know he's okay now or god's welcome for dad.  who knows! what i do know is that i look at the moon as dad's window from heaven.  it's neat to pay attention to the beauty of God's great universe thinking this.  i get to see the different cycles of the moon in a whole new way.  the kids love to see it and notice when papa is looking down.  it's funny that the moon is often around for our big events ... mom found a gorgeous big orange moon rising the night jeffrey was born, we found it out on janie and johnny's first morning of school, we've seen it the past couple mornings while waiting for joey's bus, they saw it at lunch time today while we were playing at the park.  we also notice it at ordinary times when we least expect to.  all three big kids notice it.  i think joey and janie truly have memories of dad but even johnny will yell, "mooooon!  hi papa" just out of nowhere.  we all miss having you here, dad!

my little lambs

janie and johnny started preschool today!  oh my goodness!  my babies are all growing up right in front of my very eyes.  i remember when joey started preschool like it was just a little bit ago, and i was carting around sweet teeny, tiny johnny and toddler janie in the big honkin' double stroller at that time.  i'm afraid that i'll blink my eyes and it will be jeffrey we're taking to preschool.  i was a little nervous this week because we switched schools for this school year which means i'm walking uncharted territory plus i have two of them going at the same time which means more things to remember at the same time. hopefully many angels will appear to me to help me know what i'm supposed to bring, when i'm supposed to bring it and where i'm supposed to be.  this is the first time in my life i will have to have three kids fed, dressed and out the door by 8:40am.  that's early to do all that especially while jeffrey still needs me to sit down and nurse him whenever he wants it ... nope, no schedule or routine for my two month old baby!  wish me luck.  i'm so lucky to have dave around to help me a lot of the time.  he's an awesome daddy and husband.  

so here they are at the school all ready to go in

 

and here's johnny in his classroom.  he looks like he was having fun (but i will take time to note that he was in the classroom alone for 45 minutes and when i picked him up he still had tears on his cheek ... hmmmm).  he was sure to point out what toys in the classroom that we have at home and which ones maam has at her house too (mom, see the little tikes semi truck in the background?  can't you just see johnny riding it around his classroom the way he does at your house?)  he's been talking about the apple he made out of play doh all day.

sweet, sweet jane by her cubbie.  she did great!  her class read the kissing hand which was a familiar book.  she told johnny and i all about that sweet story on our way home.

and this cute thing is how janie checks into the class when she arrives - puts her bird in the nest.

here's janie and her buddie, ellie reash.  she's happy to have a friend in class with her, and she's demanding a playdate soon.  her words: mom, i want to play with ellie tomorrow or the next day and for a long time at my house or hers.  my words: okee dokee 

and my dear friend, theresa reash with ellie.  we met the reashs at church a couple years ago, and within weeks of knowing each other discovered that theresa and i attended the same grade school (not at the same time though), have kids the same ages (reashs have ellie, jacob and isaac all within months of janie, johnny and jeffrey) and are in the thick of child raising chaos together.  theresa will surely keep me in line or make me laugh when i want to cry as we pass each other in the parking lot or the school.  we'll be able to help each other too ... woohoo!  

my september morning project

as part of my new year, i'm trying something new this month.  self discipline was never that easy for me and has become harder for me with my growing family.  i'd love to eat healthier naturally, pray more, exercise more often, save more money, choose more wisely, get upset with dave and the kids less ... all areas where self discipline comes into play for me.  within the first couple hours of being awake, i'm taking a picture that becomes a subject of my blog entry for the day.  this is forcing me to think about my day and feel my feelings (which again is not often easy for me to do) instead of running on autopilot.  i don't want to live my life sleep walking.  there's a better way!  remember my very first blog entry said, "one day you finally knew what you had to do, and began."  

this is really good for me so far this week.  i hope i'll have the self discipline to keep it up.

today my picture is of the kiddos playing in the family room in their jammies making houses out of couches with their cousin, joshua who's visiting from peru.  paul, alida and joshua ... we're so happy you are here!

even with all this going on all 6 of us were ready for church at 9:42am and we don't have to leave until 10:15am.  dave and i couldn't believe our eyes when we saw the clock at that time.  we didn't quite know what to do with the extra time but it was so nice not to hurry, hurry, hurry and scurry out the door!

let's go bucks!

and speaking of college football ... my little sports nut, joey is already good at getting the whole house riled up as soon as he wakes up on football saturdays.  we could hear janie and him bouncing around the family room early this morning.  here are some of our favorite pics:

all decked out in their buckeye tie dyes first thing in the morning

we found some fans right in our backyard too - abbi and drew have been cheering on the bucks with us for the past 6 seasons - the kiddos whole life! they are the ones who gifted our kiddos these tie dye shirts (i don't know how to put links into my blog yet, but here's the etsy shop you can find these tees twofishtiedye.etsy.com).  

 and now jeffrey's awake and all geared up for football saturday!  crazy looking fan would fit right in down there on lane ave.

our fab four holding their lucky buckeye nuts

the boys and their mean football player faces

 

for those of you who don't watch it or follow all the scores as closely as joey does: osu beat navy today 31 to 27.  it was close there at the end, but our favorite team pulled it off!

jeffrey's clean and soon the house will be too

i cannot believe how much happens around this house by 10am.  i guess it's all part of getting used to the 6:30 wake up time and the school routine!  

today is a great day (even though we missed the bus this morning - there's a first for everything, and it won't be the last time either :)).  so i came back from st. paul's to see janie as happy as can be - daddy was getting her all set up to play computer on her favorite site: noggin.com.  they had also read a book together in the time i was gone.  dave - your the best!  thanks so much!!  

back to the great day.  i rush around and get things straightened up and somewhat organized every other friday because, yep the cleaning team is coming over around lunch time.  i'll try to grab a shower before they come.  i'll feed the kiddos lunch early and then we'll get out of their way so they can work their magic.  it's a guilty pleasure that i have.  i am embarrassed that we have this luxury.  it is sometimes hard to admit that we spend dave's hard earned money that way. yet it brings me so much peace.  a calm comes over me and i feel like i can breathe a little easier ... i get 45 minutes to myself before joey comes home from school in a very, very clean home, i can pray or read or rest or journal or listen to music in a clean quiet home, dinner time is easier with a clean home, bath time is smooth, we catch up on washing all the sheets and we can work on some house projects rather than cleaning on these weekends.  i love getting into my crisp, clean sheets at bedtime these days too.  oh, if only i could remove the guilt from this pleasure, i'd be all set!

natural energizer

when i had to get out of bed this morning, i was dragging big time.  joey and i have morning special time too so we talked about being tired.  i told him thursday mornings are sometimes exhausting for me because i'm so excited we got over the hump for the week, but we still have 2 more wake up early days left.  fridays i'll be sure to be bouncing around in excitement ... because, well, it's tgif and i can even put baileys in my coffee on fridays if i want, ha! ha!

anyway, i was thinking of how to get some energy so that i didn't turn on mickey mouse clubhouse and dora and just lay on the couch most of the day.  the sun was rising which made me feel grateful for this awesome weather.  right then i knew just where to take my camera first today.  this little tile is hung right next to the kitchen sink for a reason.  i'm very blessed.  as i thought about what i was grateful for, here's what was fresh in my mind:

• an amazing, loving, supporting, calm husband who compliments me so well
• parents who were the best role models for a good marriage
• friends who support me and make me feel strong even when i'm this stinkin' tired
• dinners delivered from friends
• a nice home
• enough food in the house 

just making this list in my head helped me to know that i could take on another crazy day even if i didn't know what the heck we'd do and even with stuff all over and laundry piling up.  i'll get to it when i need to, right?