Marriage....it's a neat thing

This is a link to a sermon series by Mark Driscoll  from Mars Hill Church in Seattle. It gives you a whole different view of what marriage is supposed to be, especially if you didn't grow up in a christian home.  He goes through the book of Song Of Solomon. It is absolutely amazing and worth listening to no matter where you are in your marriage. It has some really practical advice. We have been listening to bits at a time.     http://www.marshillchurch.org/search/results?q=peasant+princess+sermon+series

Oh, My

Well, here we are day four of the day shift. I had this vision in my mind of finally having "normal" days and more family time. Ha! First day was a 13 hour day, 2nd day was a 17 hour day, 3rd day was about 13 hours. Poor Paul..he got home at 1:00am on Wednesday morning and said "You know how this was supposed to be better? Well, I think I they lied to me!"  Hopefully things will get easier over the next few weeks. It is nice to know, though, that at some point in the evening he will be coming home. Lauren is thrilled to come out of her room in the morning and her daddy is awake and she can spend time with him for a few minutes before he leaves. The adventure that is our life right now!

Changes in our household

Most people would say that I am over reacting to the change that is happening around here, but to me it's pretty big. After eight and a half years of night shift Paul got a day shift position. For the first time in eight years I got up and made breakfast for my husband. Tonight I get to make supper for him when he comes home. Does that sound crazy? I've never done it before. I've never had to schedule meals around my husband's work schedule. I'm used to making him lunch when he woke up and sending his supper with him. We have never had to schedule our evenings around anything but Lauren and I.  Paul has never been home on a week night to help put Lauren to bed or say good night to her. When we do an activity on a week night it's mostly me going alone with Lauren and having to explain where my husband is. One of the ballet mom's asked me if I was a single parent one time. Very glad to not have to experience that feeling again!  We are really excited, but there is going to be some adjustment as we find our new normal.

Some pictures finally!

Grandma's house! 

This is Molly, one of my parents labs. She wanted to know when she could hop in and play with the girls.

Nothing like relaxing in grandma's giant whirlpool tub. Life gets hard when you are forced to play and have fun all day! 

This is the view from my mom and dad's upper deck. Beautiful Ozarks! 

Quiet...maybe a little too quiet

Our house is quiet. VERY quiet. There is five year old little girl chatter missing. For the first few days we have enjoyed it. Paul's job has been really calm this week so he has been home a bit more than usual.  It's been nice. Now I think we are ready for the little girl chatter to come back! She'll be back next week, thankfully. I can't complain. I am so thankful that she gets to spend time with her cousins and my parents. 

I have been busy purging rooms and going through a certain child's room and ridding it of all the "necessary keepsakes" that she accumulates. It is so funny to see what kinds of things she deems as keepsakes.  A gum wrapper, a broken flip flop (because it was the prettiest color of pink that she had ever seen!) or a barbie doll that has it's legs and arms chewed off from the dog. It makes me smile.