Metcalfe Mud Puddles

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Healing Aroma of Coffee

Admission is so hard at times. Yet one thing is certain. As a mother of active children, I lean on my morning cup of joe for daily support. I take it even farther than that. I admittedly fall under the label of coffee snob. EEK! I try to buy local flavors, grind it just so at home, and brew it on my fabulous espresso machine.

My children ensure me on a regular basis that I don't lose my attachment to caffeine. For example...

Tim embarked on a Men's Retreat with our church last night as soon as he left work for the week. I was home alone with my boys for 24 hours. I made sure I tucked myself in by 10:30 p.m. so that I'd be rested for a Saturday packed with activity. I tossed and turned but drifted off into dreamland. By midnight, I could feel an extra warm body worming into bed with me. I granted David his own pillow and turned over. He groaned and kicked and muttered, nothing new on his radar. Then at 2:00 am I scramble out of my rem cycle to David puking on my lovely bed. Well, I needed to change the sheets anyway I told myself. I dragged HIS easily cleanable mattress to the bathroom, stacked towels on it, set a large bowl on the floor, and tucked David in for the remainder of the night.

Now I am wide awake, but the night is hardly over.

I pray, nay, beg God for a quick descent into sleep again. No sooner had I fallen asleep and my room lit up from outside the window and my tidy home shook on its foundation. Those forecast-ed thunderstorms finally showed up at 4:00 a.m. Samuel comes scrambling into bed with our cat and dog close behind. Within minutes I am surrounded by warm bodies.. furry and not. Dakota, a Husky mix, is now taking up more space than Tim does. Anya is hogging my pillow. My son is gripping my arm and snuggling close and I am praying the baby keeps on sleeping and thankful he hasn't learned the art of escape yet.

Needless to say, the aroma of my french vanilla latte this morning was a balm to my soul and helped chase away the cobwebs and foggy children dancing with energy and begging for sustenance this Saturday morning.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Epic Fail and Pictures

Just a quick sweep of the past 4 months since I have been silent on here! Hopefully I can carve out some time to get back to writing this year! :)

Daniel turned one in August! Everyone enjoyed blue coconut cake including the birthday boy!

This busy little one has a knack for emptying cabinets, sneaking outside and "gathering" leaves, helping me mow, and falling asleep during dinner.

David turned 3 in November! I used a little less food coloring this time so as not to dye every-ones mouth a bright shade of the rainbow and David LOVED his tractor cake.

Christmas was wonderful!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Daniel is One!

Happy Birthday to my cuddly spastic climbing little one!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Orange Beach

Our neighbors may live in North Alabama, but I've always suspected their hearts and health still yearn for sea air and coastal living. This year they followed their hearts and purchased a cozy vacation home just a stone's throw from the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. Since it's not inhabited year round (yet), Tim volunteered to mow the grass while they were away. I just knew he'd be lonely (and hungry) so far from home and working so hard so I volunteered to go with him. Well we couldn't leave the kids to fend for themselves so we decided they needed to come along too. We're quite responsible like that! One excellent quality about vacationing at the beach is.... it's FREE! No charge to get covered in ~~grit~~ sand and ~~green mush~~ seaweed from head to toe

and in the hair

and between the toes

and in every nook and cranny.

To top things off we found a family willing to spend a whole week in our ~~awesome~~ presence. So 2 van loads with 4 adults and 7 children spent a week ~~terrorizing~~ soaking up the gulf coast. Here's a picture BLITZ of our wonderful vacation to the coast.