Celebrating Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year, I requested to take a trip over to the neighborhood wildflowers and have Robby take some pictures of me with the Fab Five.  I really enjoy taking pictures and am often behind the camera, so this time we swapped places! We spent about 5-10 minutes & they were so sweet to smile. Robby always tells the grumpy kids that don't want to smile, "this is a way that you can love mommy well." So true.

Our photo shoot was sandwiched between sleeping in (7:30 am), breakfast & homemade cards, church, and then later, one INCREDIBLE dinner prepared by my own personal chef.

From Robby & Anson

Owen made me a necklace out of K'nex....I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow made an engagement ring for his future wife out of those. It is how he shows that he loves me : ) 

Dinner was Osso Bucco, one of my favorites. The girlie-pies prepared the table & joined us for the fancy feast.

We finished up with a game of CLUE. It was fun until it wasn't, we were all a bit frustrated that we couldn't figure out a piece of the puzzle. Turned out that when we gave up & opened the confidential file, it contained one suspect, two rooms & NO weapon! We called it quits, tried not to tease anyone that might have selected the three cards, tucked the girls in & relaxed.

The in-between was a sweet gift....

I certainly cannot leave out that husband of mine who leads our family in such beautiful ways.

We walked through two and a half years asking the Lord to bless us with a child & when He did, we were overcome with deep joy. We welcomed little Charlotte Grace and in the following weeks I put together a video celebrating her arrival. It begins with the following scripture.

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you 

by his love; He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

The song that was dear to my heart in that season was called Singing Over Me by Kari Jobe. The words still get me...

When I waited so long, when my tears were my song
With my hope nearly gone You held me God
To believe in the face of the dry, weary place
When You felt far away You held me God

Your songs have never stopped
You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough
And You're singing, always singing over me

His songs of rejoicing have never stopped & sometimes he needs to sing rather loudly! He is with us, mighty to save, quieting our hearts by His love, rejoicing over us with gladness and for that I am so thankful. Being mama to these five is an honor and a delight. It's funny that I thought those dry, weary days were only those leading up to becoming a mother. There are STILL dry & weary days, moments that feel hopeless, tears...lots of tears & not feeling his nearness. Yet, he never changes & in his mercy, delivers me (time & time again) out of those dry, weary places. I still sit in amazement sometimes staring at all five of them dancing in my kitchen or even when I am doing just two days worth of laundry & think "wow, we had no idea what was coming." What a joy it is to be their mother.  

snips & snails & puppy dog tails

Two of my three boys get all worked up when their sisters tell them they are made of dog tails. When a party is offended we often ask "is that true?" & if the answer is no, we encourage them to move along & not be bothered. This is hard when you are three. In fact, there are a lot of things hard about being three! In 1 month & 4 days (not like anyone is counting) we will have two 4 year olds. We hope it's not hard to be four too, ha! But really, they may not be made of dog tails but they are 1 part trucks, 1 part shovels & three parts mud. I love it & I love them.

 

Arlo has finally joined in on the exploring the great outdoors on two feet although you don't necessarily need two feet when there is a dump truck to ride in.

 

The wee little babe photographed taking a ride is now big enough to fight off siblings & push the coveted truck around the yard all by him "seeelf" as Owen says.

 

We have a spot out by the back fence where lots of digging goes on. They are certain they have found multiple dinosaur bones. I just don't have the heart to tell them there are no bones. Maybe I want to believe that they are right. Those two 3 year olds attempt to be real sneaky & fill cups up with water so they can make a river but I always catch them...well, maybe not always.

While Charlotte doesn't mind getting dirty she has taken a liking to scaling trees like a baby bear cub. During one of the many mud baths I got her propped up with five pillows, a towel, a blanket & her notebook. She spent the next hour happily writing a story about a bumble bee.

Back to the Valentine Boys + dirt. The twins were so sweet helping Arlo dig. There were no tears, no fighting & a delighted baby brother joining in on the big kid fun.

They even cheered him on as he tried it out for his afternoon snack.

 

Yum yum. Not the dirt of course but those chubby baby hands that fit just right in mine.

Bella Blue always wants to know what's going on in the backyard. While these boys are not made of puppy dog tails, Arlo is certainly interested in getting ahold of that poor puppy's tail! I do love this picture for many reasons including the time stamp on life it will serve in the future of how old the boys were when Bella was still around. She is in fact alive & well but we are not blind to the fact she's not a spry young pup anymore.  Whenever we bid her farewell, she will be sorely missed by these three.

 

So as not to end on such a sad note I will close with this photo.

Another potential time stamp of little bitty kids & a young tree. I wonder how much it will grow over the years? We spend as much time as possible outside everyday especially when it's warm. Lunch, rest time, math & reading lessons are all better in the great outdoors. It is a gift to have a front row seat to the exploring this brood does day in & day out. Whether finding dinosaur bones or some colored rock they lost last month there is excitement in their eyes, a skip to their step & a song in my heart.

I struggle MANY days to embrace the level of exhaustion & frustration this life stage brings but I know that it is filled with countless opportunities to treasure what God has given me & soak it in. Opportunities to join in on a dinosaur dig, rescue a new tree climber & welcome muddy handprints on my back doors or my clean white shirt are at my doorstep.  I've never met a parent who said anything other than "enjoy, someday you will miss this" so I will ask the Lord to increase my patience, strengthen my soul on weary days & fill me with indescribable joy as I embark on the daily adventures of mothering.

a simple way to stay light-hearted

Every day of my life is filled with moments where I can't help but sigh which usually means "I'm going to lose my mind" or "how did I get here?" Does anyone else feel this way? I'm pretty positive I am not alone by any means. That being said, I am happy to share my simple way to stay light-hearted when you feel like you are going to explode in the midst of something completely ridiculous.

It's so very simple. I picture these two (the best brothers a girl could ask for) doing the same thing. 

I have been keeping a running list. Pick an adult in your life....preferably someone that makes you laugh since thinking of someone that aggravates you would only make the situation worse ; )

These are pretty much all about the boys...go figure...now the key is to picture that grown up...

• The boys are notorious for sucking toothpaste off of other people's toothbrushes. They can also be found with head leaned back & toothpaste squirting into mouth. This act can be in a synchronized fashion.
• When served a plate that contains a various assortment of things they start mixing it all together & saying "yum" following bites of blueberries dipped in ketchup & ranch dressing.  When they eat sauce from Chick-Fil-A they lick it straight out of the containers or scoop it into their hands & lick it off. It reminds us of Buddy the Elf.
• Collapsing on the floor in complete dismay when someone else gets the blue plate.
• Handing someone a toy to put away & they instead smile at you while running to the top of the stairs & throwing it over the banister.
• There was a morning that I was reading to the boys. Owen climbed up behind me, sneezed & shot a snot rocket into my hair. After a quick wash I decided to make a latte. Anson immediately reminded me that he really likes lattes & wanted to smell mine. I leaned down to his level....he got right over my cup & instead of taking a breath in he breathed out of his mouth & nose very forcefully & said "mmmmmm, I like that mommy."
• When eating lunch one day I was looking at someone across the table from me, glanced at Arlo & when I looked back there were feet in place of where the head was.
• One of the boys constantly struggles with putting his pants on correctly & ends up with two legs down the same side. He always looks so confused. This same child lays in his bed at night being told to pull up his covers which are within inches of his fingers & laments saying "I can't do it by my-see-elf!"
• Anson was next to me when I was getting the milk out of the fridge & said "can I help you mama?" I said "Sure! Hold this cap for me." He smiled at me & popped it into his mouth.
• I found both boys squirting hand soap into the girls hairbrush. That was actually the second time that happened. The first time I found out when the girls hair was magically filled with soap suds hahahaha! That is a great prank!
• When given markers or watercolor or basically anything you can use to color yourself, they do as soon as I turn around.
• The amount of times in one day that someone says "watch me, watch me" is insane& the majority of the time it is hilarious to picture an adult thinking they would like you to see every cool trick they can do.
• Every time someone touches ANYTHING that belongs to them they let out an extremely high pitched scream & sometimes go into attack mode.

Of course while looking through pictures to feature those funny guys I came up with more than I needed so, here are the Ellis kids back in the early 90's.

This next one reminds me of when the girls try to hold Arlo.

They don't do this any more but they still make me laugh....

A final word about staying light-hearted....laugh at yourself or be okay when the rest of your crew does. Sometime in the newborn fog I poured orange juice into my cereal instead of milk & I have yet to live it down.  

in my own little corner....

In the Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway production of Cinderella there is a song that I love called "In my own little corner."  I'm not sure what I watched as a child since I never saw the Broadway show but it was something on TV or VHS that had Cinderella as happy as could be spinning, dancing & singing around a chair in her own little corner which was separated from her "real life." The phrase "in my own little corner in my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be" has always stuck with me & last summer after receiving some birthday money I decided to make my own little corner....with my own little chair.

A friend of mine called one morning & said she was driving down the street in her neighborhood on bulk trash day (as she often does) looking for "treasures." Her first find was an old ugly chair which she grabbed in case I wanted it. Shen knew we needed a couple more for our dining table since we never have enough for guests when we host dinner.  I was excited & shared that I really wanted one to have "my own little chair" for my "own little corner." Within the next two weeks she called to say she came across another beat down treasure, a desk that could use some TLC. She offered home delivery & even hauled it into my house since I was with child.

Both pieces sat around for a month or so until my in-laws kidnapped the Fab Four. I dragged the chair & desk to the entry way, threw down some tarps & got to work.

I wish I had a "before" picture of the chair....it was ugly but had great potential. When I flipped it over to unscrew the seat cushion I saw that it was made by Ethan Allen. Pretty good for a side of the road pick up!

List of repairs/upgrades:

• chalk paint- Robin's egg blue on the desk & a creamy white on the chair-it was my first go round & I was surprised with it's simplicity
• new fabric to cover ugly seat cushion
• the side of the desk had a lightweight board that was falling off so I ripped it all the way off to find an oval shaped hole that was about 4 inches in height. I was not in the mood to wait until Robby was home to figure out the proper repair. I ended up using duct tape on the inside to attach the oval piece that fell out. Good thing I didn't really care too much about "looks" ; )
• new drawer pulls
• slight sanding on some uneven surfaces prior to painting

Other additions to complete the corner:

• I used the blue & white to paint eight frames my mom bought at an estate sale while we still lived in Orlando. I wasn't sure why I never painted the wretched gold frames until the idea for my corner came about. They were perfect.
• some chalkboard paint
• a cork board covered in same fabric as the seat cushion with a clip attached
• a cute birdie with a hook
• all the meaningful designs & photos within the frames

I couldn't be happier with the final product & the thoughts it has brought about in my mind...looong post in which the title & thoughts are all tied together in the end. For now, here's the completed corner-

"Rooted & Established in Love" Humble, Texas + Dearborn, Michigan. I do love how identifiable the state shapes are. I know there is more to Michigan but I decided to stick with the "mitten" as the girls call it.

Since I love all things nest related, there are two birdies on the desk one of which is not in view in the photo below but was given to me by my mom. It could not coordinate more perfectly with our bedroom. The bird below is Polish in descent & arrived via package straight from Poznan, Poland from my Jenny girl. I LOVE it for it's beauty but more so for the reminder of a dear family far away participating in something eternally beautiful.  The brown vase was a gift from my brother Scott & did not have a "home" until my corner received it's finishing touches. Along with a couple pictures I really like is a frame with chalkboard paint & "teach my song to rise to you" lovingly cut out by my cousin Kelly with her Silhouette Cameo.

These lyrics come from a Matt Maher song called "Lord, I need you." There are so many great truths in this song that are centered around our great need for God & how Jesus is our righteousness.  My favorite part says

Teach my song to rise to you

when temptation comes my way

and when I cannot stand I'll fall on you

Jesus, you're my hope and stay

I SO desire my song; my call for help to rise to the Lord when I am tempted to be selfish with my time, respond in frustration to the needs of my children or become completely overwhelmed with my responsibilities.

Anson frequently yells "Mommy I need you!" with the most adorable inflections. Robby smiles & sings to me " I need you oh I need you, every hour I need you!" What a tangible example of what our simple & immediate call to God should be like. I'm thankful for sweet Anson's reminder in my life right now even though I have to take a deep breath before walking to his room ; )

A favorite print  that says "dwell" with a birdie (surprise, surprise) was given to me by my sweet friend Amanda before we moved back to Texas.  It's within my favorite of the frames.

I wanted to include a "V" & found a burlap one that I covered with stick on pearls & attached to a piece of fabric I bought when I was pregnant with Charlotte. The small oval was in need of some chalkboard paint & a number "7" to represent our growing family.

Below is one of my favorite pictures of all time that was taken when the twins came home from the NICU & is next to a Willow Tree mama holding a baby. It was a gift from a special friend, it reminds me of the fullness of a mama's arms with one baby & brings about laughter when I picture what it would look like if those arms were full of five "babies."

The last frame is filled with something very dear. On April 13, 2003 I opened this piece of paper with the lyrics of a David Gray song. I answered "yes" which was my first stepping stone to becoming a Valentine...

While it has been fun to have my pretty little corner in our bedroom, I seem to not be able to spend much time in my own little chair or any time really as of lately.  I see it when I wake up in the morning, when I come to relocate Bella so she doesn't bark during nap time or from the chair I nurse Arlo in which is across the room. When I am in that spot I can hardly see it over the mound of unfolded wrinkled laundry that often finds it's home there until I move it onto the chair I nursed the baby in so I can go to sleep. It's a bad habit. That was not my plan for this lovely corner but I am realizing even more that it's really not about my plan anyway.

I picked up a new book called Teaching from Rest- a Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace by Sarah Mackenzie. It has been extremely encouraging, convicting & has provoked much thought about how to move forward resting in the Lord while teaching these little ones.

She quotes Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis...

"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's "own" or "real" life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life - the life that God is sending one day by day; what one calls one's "real life" is a phantom of one's own imagination."

Reading that stopped me in my tracks. How often do I feel that my plan is interrupted & that my day is derailed by handling 1,000 other minor crises. It IS my "real life" which in the context of "unpleasant things" is full of opportunity to embrace what God has given me whether it be children, a husband or my responsibilities in our little Nest.

It seems that the quote disproves my initial thought about the line  "I can be whatever I want to be." ....while I sit in my pretty little corner in front of the desk I have forbidden anyone to lay a hand on.  Regarding the phrase "being whatever I want to be" or using the label "my real life" I must acknowledge that where I am in life is exactly where I have always wanted to be. I could not WAIT to be a mother & though I had an extremely small understanding of the challenges I would face, I love it.  

Through the "real life" days filled with much neediness, He is sufficient to provide more abundantly than I can imagine. He is making me into HE wants me to be & my hope is that my desire each & every day would be aligned with his. So, rather than the day dreaming about the "what if I.." that could accompany me staring at my own little corner from my own little chair, I should place these five in front of my corner & celebrate what God is doing in my heart through them....

Opportunities to love & serve unselfishly abound...

All in a day's work

Work at work, work at home...they are both challenging & rewarding, never boring, sometimes sad & always refining. I spend my night "out on the town" (at least that's what I tell my patients) helping others enter the delightful world of mommyhood or increase their workload with each new addition. I spend the rest of the 156 hours in the week "working" in our little Nest.  

I truly enjoy both roles & see some similarities here & there such as: 

• Serving- the titles of nurse or wife/mommy has "serve others" written all over it. Often times the people you are serving may in fact be irrational (women in labor or two year olds) but are desperately in need of someone to come along side them & help make sense of the craziness. 
• Repetition- life at home is full of repeating the same tasks over & over, diapers, meals, diapers, snacks, diapers, baths, more snacks & a big blow out diaper to finish off a good day. Life at work is full of repeating the same tasks over & over. There are only two ways a baby can exit a woman's body & although combinations of complications run rampant at such a busy labor unit I still do the same thing over & over & over. I find some comfort in that...in both places.  
• Screaming- there is a lot of screaming in my house. Someone told me prior to having the twins "just realize that there might be someone crying all the time...and sometimes it might be you...and that's okay!" I've definitely experienced that over the past year. Similarly there is a lot of screaming on a Labor & Delivery Unit & for a darn good reason! The same advice holds true, "just realize that there might be someone crying all the time...and sometimes it might be you...and that's okay!" 
• Refining- I know God made me the way I am & led me to fulfill the role of nurse & mommy simultaneously for the time being.  At home, I am frequently challenged as I parent four little ones. God reminds me often of my imperfections & his perfection. At work, I am frequently challenged to love & serve patients that are different than me. I am reminded often of how Jesus loved & served to the point of death & how I am called to be like Christ in the way I love & serve others. 

A day's work at work consists of lots of charting but more importantly lots of encouragement, direction & shared moments of joy as babies are welcomed into families.  I have bonded with many patients over the years but nothing quite beats being there to see your own niece or nephew born even if I wasn't the official nurse....

Karis Ann- August 20, 2010

Isaac Haddon- February 27, 2012

I am bursting at the seams thinking about the upcoming arrival of my newest niece Olivia Noel who is due to be born WHILE WE ARE IN TEXAS!! Please join me in praying Jenny will far surpass her due date so I can make it home in time ; ) just don't tell her...ha! Truly though, whatever day she arrives is absolutely perfect & Livi-Lou & I will make up for lost time with lots of snuggles once we get back to the Sunshine state.  Plus my Jenny girl is in fabulous hands with her on-call nurse : ) 

Back to this work thing....

A day's work with a family of six consists of many things including but not limited to: playing, cleaning, cooking, laughing, disciplining, bathing, repairing, tickling, chasing, teaching, reminding & jumping off of a school bus of course....

It was Elo's first go- round with school bus jumping & I was a little nervous due to the "wild woman" factor but thankfully we survived with no injuries! The boys got a kick out of watching their flying sissies. Speaking of flying sissies, Char got some serious air!

School bus jumping led to long naps for all which then led to some playtime outside in the beautiful February weather.

The boys are SO happy cruisin' in the double stroller with this view...

Lolo is getting the hang of scootering and as long as there are no curbs in sight, little Eloise stays upright. Charlotte would immediately say "that rhymes that rhymes!" if I was reading this to her : ) We are playing a lot of rhyming games these days. Anyway, Eloise was making me laugh with her funny little grin...

Charlotte is a speed demon on the scooter but has taken a liking to the tricycle. We do realize she is ready for a bicycle but we haven't gone there yet so the Texas Tech trike is getting lots of use...

It's a tough little trike as you can see...

Rob came out to join us so I passed him the camera to capture me doing my "signature move" where I ride the scooter while pushing the stroller. I figured out I could do this out of necessity one day when Eloise crash landed off the scooter requiring her to hitch a ride in the double stroller....with two other babies. I'm sure I could have laid the scooter across the top of the stroller but then I wouldn't have been able to look so cool...

Robby made more fun of me for calling it my "signature move" versus the actual riding. Eloise decided she would return the favor & give Charlotte a ride except for she can hardly pedal herself. Thanks Daddy...

School bus jumping to nap to outdoor sweaty time to BATH TIME! My favorite part of the day, other than bed time of course ; ) I love my kids SO much but I really do get excited about bed time...if you are a parent, you know exactly what I mean. 

Baths lately are the Fab Four slippin' & slidin' all together which makes for lots of grins! 

The little guys are enamored with the water coming out of the spout. They look a lot alike to me in this picture.  If you can't tell, Anson on the left, Owen on the right. 

And there they are, the squeaky clean Fab Four that keep me "employed" at the Valentine Nest.

I collapse on the couch exhausted most every night by 7:30 & praise the Lord for a few things. 

1. We made it through another day & possibly did more than survive (ie had fun jumping off buses)
2. We have a fresh start upon waking even if there are multiple wakings in the upcoming 12 hours.
3. We have many more years ahead to love & serve these precious blessings as irrational as they (or I) may be at times. 

The night a week that I am not collapsing on the couch I am prayerfully starting a 12 hour shift asking the Lord for wisdom as I walk into room to meet a woman with a baby bump & her own story that effects everything in the process of giving birth.  

It is all good "work" whether home or at the hospital. It is work ordained by God for my mind to figure out & my hands to do. It is work I am thankful for even though the sacrifice is often great.