Does It Matter?

I got this little picture from a friend today and I just had to share it with you.

This was the PERFECT reminder for me today, that every single thing I do matters.  No matter how small.  No matter how mundane.  No matter how unimportant the tasks seem.  Do you ever feel that way?  I know I do.

For me, it's realizing that every single little thing I do has an impact on the lives of my children and my family. If I'm grumpy, my family is.  If I'm sad, my family is.  If I'm pissed because I have to pick up dirty underwear....again...., my family sees that attitude.  They are watching.  They see my attitude and how I chose to handle the "every day, mundane" tasks.  They are learning.  So, I need to be the best example I can be.

NOPE....I'm not always going to do it well.  I am not perfect and I will NEVER be.  But, I am not called to be perfect.  I am called to love these precious gifts that have been entrusted to me, with all of my heart. 

Mothering is an important job.  And it matters. 

Julie

I'm Gonna Miss This

On Saturday, I took my kids to the pumpkin farm.  It was cold and rainy but we decided to go anyway!  Who knows....maybe the weather would improve.  I packed the kids up and we headed to McHenry to the farm.  After a detour (or two), we arrived at the pumpkin farm.  At this point, it wasn't raining so I had hope that the weather would improve.

Before leaving the van, we went over the standard rules....don't run away.  Be a good listener.  Stay together.  And above all....have fun!

After that, we were off to explore!  We did SO much!  Take a peek!

Lil' John loved the slide, even though his butt got wet! :-)

So did Jeff!

Racing!

You can get them, Grace!

Feeding the goats!

Mom, can we get a goat?

Jeff was talking to the turkeys!  They talked back to him! 

Lil' John was trying to get them to fly!

Then, we decided to hit the corn maze.  Lil' John said, "Mom, do you have your cellphone, just in case we get lost?" :)  I assured him we did and we headed out, with our list of questions that we needed to find answers to, so that we could get a free pumpkin. (There were 16.)

We were doing great!  Finding answers and having fun...then it started to rain.  It started as a light drizzle, then it just downpoured.  At this point, I was ready to stop.  I said, "Kids, I will buy you each a pumpkin.  Let's just go get dry."  But Jeff said, "Mom, we haven't finished the adventure, yet.  We can't give up now!"  How could I argue with that?!  So, we kept going.  It kept raining....harder.  Finally, we found the exit but we only had 14 out of 16 answers.  Jeff was SURE that we should keep looking.  The kind people running the maze took pity on us and gave us each a pumpkin, for enduring the rain!  :-)

We warmed up with some hot cocoa and apple cider and then we set out to shoot some corn out of guns!  Super fun!!

Mom, I want one of these! :-)

The rain never really stopped and after another hour and a half, we headed for home.

As I was driving home, I was thinking about how wonderful the day was and how much I enjoyed being with my kids.  Then it hit me.  I am gonna miss this.  

There will come a point where my kids won't want to go to the pumpkin farm with me. They won't let me take their picture. They won't want to eat McDonald's and play board games with me.  They will be off to dances and games and "hanging out with friends" and "hanging out with Mom won't be fun!" And, I realized, I'm going to miss this.

Yes, my kids drive me CRAZY sometimes.  The boys behavior pushes me close to the edge. And, I could do without all the tween drama.  But it's in those moments, where I step back, look in, and remind myself that I'm gonna miss this.

My three beautiful pumpkins!

Julie