Father's Day is around the corner

Some days, I forget to express how wonderful my husband is. As I am writing this, I'm trying really hard to listen to my husband tell our oldest son about the time he found out he was going to be a dad. He's retelling the story of how he was so excited to tell all of his teammates that he was going to have a son. My husband Chris played in the minor leagues for a few seasons and learning that we would be adding to our family was a really stressful time, especially to a minor league family. At least, that's how I remember it, but Chris' version of the story is much better, especially telling it to Cade. I never knew how excited Chris was to tell his teammates and his coaches that he was going to be a dad. Apparently, he was nearly fined for talking about it too much on the bus after a tough loss. I guess the coach was yelling at them for losing, but Chris wasn't too concerned about the loss and was more thrilled about having a son. I'm sure Cade is just glowing knowing how excited his big, awesome, baseball playing daddy was to have him as his boy.

I am so thankful to do life with this man. He's hardworking, fun-loving, hilarious, not afraid to speak truth (especially to me) and he loves the Lord. I know that I'm blessed, but I also know without a shadow of a doubt that God thought of me, when he made my hubby. Happy Father's Day to the best daddy I know, my wonderful husband Chris.

I just needed to get that out there...ok back to the summer schedule!

Monday was make something Monday and we painted fish plates. We even had our neighbors over to join in the fun! Over the weekend, I made a flip up, picture, chore chart. It works so well! My kids can see what they still need to do and they don't really have to ask to get started. It's really great for my Type A oldest, who thrives with a schedule! He's almost like a broken record. Seriously, he's repeating himself and the schedule over and over and over and over....you get the idea. Anyways, picture chore chart, great idea!

My kids loved the craft. They kept asking to make another craft all day. It made me feel really good that I was deterring them from watching tv and video games because I kept them busy, all day. The cool thing was, and granted, I am typically NOT, wait no, NEVER this scheduled or routine, but when my kids were done doing a chore or their craft, they didn't want to watch tv! They wanted to play. Thank you Lord! It felt really good and productive! Not to mention, for the first time, I was not embarrassed to have someone new in my house. My house was actually picked up, toys put in their places, trash taken out, table wiped. It felt so fantastic! I really hope I can keep this up because I like it!

FYI- other moms, Please hear me out. I AM NOT a meticulous, scheduled, orderly, clean, or amazing homeschooling mom. I am a loud, unorganized, late, goofy, forgetful, messy, did I mention late? Mom. My kids' clothes are always wrinkled, their hair isn't combed and we eat out A LOT. So if I can do this, you can do it! (Ok, it's only day 2 but still, we can do this!)

Today was Team Tuesday. Really, this is what my summer schedule is for. I want to get my kids to buy in to the idea that they are apart of a family and not just here to be serviced. We are apart of a team, so we all need to do our part. Plus, how the heck am I supposed to send my kids to college knowing that they have no idea how to do the dishes or start their own laundry!? Am I right??
My kids worked so hard today, I could not be prouder of them! My son worked his tooshy off, he didn't even want to play with the neighbor kids because he was too tired. They vacuumed, mopped, cleaned toilets, changed laundry, pulled weeds, mowed the lawn, dusted, cleaned appliances and of course did their daily chores too. What a blessing it was to me!!! As I write this, I am filled with gratitude for the effort my kiddos put forth today. This tired mommy got such a great pick me up from my 3 kids, of all people!! 

Thank you Lord for these 3 blessings that you've entrusted to me. Not only do you trust me to give to them, but you trust me to accept the love they give back to me. What a great position to be it. I think as moms, we get so worn out by constantly giving that we forget to receive the love that our babes give back to us. May we always remember gratitude when we think of our kids. May we receive the love that they give in the obvious ways and in the not so obvious ones. Lord, help me to remember that my "Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord." (Ps. 127:3)

Tomorrow is What's cooking Wednesday!! I'm excited to see how we do!

Love,
Reese