I have to be firm. I cannot budge… And then my 2 yr old daughter wanders out of bed wearing her patent leather shoes. For the third time, I remove them, hide them under the bed, and tuck her in. But this time I take a picture because it’s just too cute and I know I will want to remember this moment forever…



I have to be consistent. I cannot give in… They need to sleep in their own beds. But then the little shadow darkens my doorway at night and a little voice says, “Can I sweep with you, Mama. I hab bad dweam.” And even though I’ve been sleep deprived for five years, I pull the little shadow into bed with me to snuggle and squeeze her tight. I will remember this moment forever…



I am tired. Dinner is almost burnt… She’s 5 years old and she’s been afraid of everything since she was born. But even though I’m tired of the whining, and I already did it once before, when she appears in her bathing suit and goulashes and asks me one more time to make sure there are no bugs outside, I go. I go because I remember what it’s like to have irrational fears and I was never so smart to think to just put on my “goulashes”. There’s no way I could forget this moment…



 I clean. I teach. Over and over… I’ve reminded her several times to use her fork when she eats, and yet here she is facedown in a bowl of rice. When I reprimand her, she lifts her head from her food, covered in rice from her eyebrows to her ears, and says, “Sawy mama…” And I realize that a fork is not the best way for a 2yr old to eat rice and that she was actually using her little brain. I smile with pride, wishing I had a camera to capture this moment forever…



     I am a parent... I need them to listen… They’ve interrupted Daddy and I too many times. We need to talk. And then one of them starts crying because she wants a family marching band… and suddenly a hero appears. Even though they should listen, and even though our conversation is important, the hero sees something else; an opportunity he doesn’t want to miss. Daddy hurries for his guitar and begins to march through the kitchen as the two little ones fall into line. And I smile because I cannot remember what we were talking about that was so “important”. And I take a picture. This moment MUST be remembered forever…



I’ve worked a twelve- hour day and it’s not over yet… I’m trying to get through the bedtime quickly because I’m already yawning. I am firm and only read one story, like I said I would. No more, no less. One song. One prayer… And then they ask if they can pray. Their sweet little heads bowed, their tiny hands folded beneathclosed eyes, and I realize that the kingdom of heaven is present right before me. That everything I am working for is already happening. And I pray to God that this moment lasts forever…



     Nothing else matters. How lovely are those piles of laundry scattered all over my house. How lovely are the paint stains and crayon marks on my granite countertops. How lovely are those fingerprints that decorate my “clean” windows. How lovely are those voices that call to me for the hundredth time from their room even though they are supposed to be sleeping, “Mama! We need you!”







Katie... married her college sweetheart, and together they continue in youth ministry. They are finally living their dreams of he being a youth pastor and and her, a worship leader; however, the best part of her life is being a wife to her man and a mommy to her daughters. She can honestly say with all certainty that the melody of her life is that of God's unfathomable love and never-changing faithfulness.

     I have to admit to being slightly guilted into inspired by Cindy's friday post on basically making memories for our kids.  First of all, I am what my husband calls the "reality police"...meaning that anytime he suggests we go do something "fun", I bring up all of the reasons it would NOT be fun for our family, yet.  Anyway, due to my previously mentioned "inspiration" I decided that I would give up our date night and turn it into a weekend of family fun...our first ever family camping trip.  My princess has been bugging us for about 2 years to do a real camping trip in a real forest, but after reading the first half of  The Shack, I have no interest in taking them into a "real forest!"  (thanks to everyone that suggested that book to a parent with a 4 year old girl about a 4 year old girl being taken from her dad on a camping trip and......etc.) anyway, this irrational new fear  of mine was the catapulting factor in my great idea of "camping at grandmas"!   It made a lot of sense really...only 15 min away, a big beautiful piece of property and the best part, running water...PERFECT!  My vision was to pitch a tent for the family, make a little fire pit, roast marshmallows, go on a mini hike, fly a kite, even go to the lake!  Brilliant, right???  Well,  it didn't exactly go as planned, which got me to thinking "maybe we aren't quite ready for real camping! So I made a little list for you all to give your family to check your camp-ability, in order to maybe avoid total camping disaster...



#10...When you have to take two cars on a 2 day camping trip only 15 min away (and you didn't even pack food)

#9...You get there and are unable to fly the kite (your only planned event) because you forgot the string, so your husband gets out his 5ft remote control  airplane (hence the extra car)

#8...You have to move the tent 3 times because your father-in-law is afraid it will kill the grass

#7...When your kids prefer to swim in the hot tub and not go to the lake

#6...Instead of hot dogs and marshmallows over an open flame, dinner is prepared by special order (father in law buys, mother in law makes) and then it is served at the dinner table while the kids watch a movie.

#5...When family time around the camp fire turns into one child knocked out because he decide napping earlier in a tent covered in spiders is not his thing. Child 2 is watching another movie, Mom is sitting on the deck with grandma, reading a book drinking a glass of wine,  and dad is watching Taledega Nights in the recliner.

#4...The only wildlife you come in contact with is a crazy huge mosquito eater on the kitchen wall and a dog that will not stop dropping pinecones on your lap to try to get you to throw them (I kinda think a bear would have been more fun!)

#3...The good intention of a family sleep out in the tent ends when child one is crying because she wants to sleep with grandma, and child two being brought inside by daddy (after daddy sends a text to mommy who is already inside, saying they are coming in because it's not comfortable!).

#2...Your early morning wake up does not come from surrounding campers but by the clanking of dad's  golf clubs being thrown in the back of his buddies car!



and the number one reason your family is NOT ready to start camping is..(drumroll please!)





#1...the only use you have for a flashlight is using it a 3:00 AM to clean up dog vomit off of your mother in laws white carpet. (yup, that really happened!)



So Im fully aware that this whole debacle was of our own doing and pretty much all of you are thinking "what the h$#%, they didn't even go camping...so, I'd love to hear about your camping fun :)...make sure to comment below and give us your scoop ;)

     Vacations are a glorious thing!  We save for months, plan for what feels like ages, and go on them, with high hopes, big dreams and chaos in tow!  Reality sets in usually within 23 min of a car ride in our world of "vacationing"....



     I'm sorry but I have to quickly detour and go back a few years "pre-child" to get the full pict.  I have so many great memories of places like, Florida, England, Israel, Mexico, ski trips, backpacking trips, Hawaii, and disneyland a 100 times over...Ya, now those are vacations....Now lets fast forward to recent history....vacations in the past few years more resemble a family of ten moving across country, ya know, by the time you pack strollers, porta cribs, back packs, costco size diaper boxes and 8 changes of closes per person per day!  And the term vacation, well lets just say I'm sad to report that staying on a cold, windy beach where the drive is within 3 hours because we can't make it any further, that is now vacation!

   I alway try to look at the positive though, so today I have come up with a list of why "vacations with babies and toddlers really are a great thing".  Please make sure to add to the list that I have started, we would love to know how much you love traveling with littles ones too!



My kids learn new vocabulary words...like "moron, and idiot" (in reference to people who drive white Cadillacs and swerve around cars lined up 13 deep on narrow forest roads!)  Ya, some guy just did that...I thought it was so cool that he was willing to risk all of our lives so that he could get there 3 min faster!  Moron!  Oops...said it again!

Gourmet food for every meal! Oh how I love Red Robin and Applebees for days on end!  Lets get real here, people don't like kids in any other restaurant and to try to enjoy a decent meal, means being in a decent restaurant, and we all know how fun that is with little ones!



Swimming, swimming and more swimming.  Now this in itself is actually a pretty fun event, but honestly paying $163 a night at a hotel so they can swim for countless hours and never want to leave to go do anything else, well that is crazy!  (Unless your a kid who thinks everything is free!)



Countless hours of rest and relaxation!  And by this I mean having to sit in a dark hotel room for two hours mid day trying to force naps, and turning lights out by 8:30 PM because the kids go to bed then.  It's so fun sitting in the dark staring out the window at the other adults out for an evening on the town, while you sit in silence so your kids don't wake up!



Coffee!  Ok so this is a great thing for real...hotel lobbies that have coffee on 24/7, now that is my kind of vacation!



Movies, movies and more movies.  I have to preface this one by saying that when I was young, we didn't  have to wear seat-belts and so mom and dad would throw us kids in the back of the wood paneled station wagon and cruse the 12 hours to Southern Cali with no problem.  Now, my children have to be strapped in car seats like nascar drivers and since they don't have the option of building tents while we drive, they get to watch more T.V. !   Here's the thing, cartoons can get on my nerves, but when I can only hear them? oh this is enough to drive me freakin crazy!  Especially the time they watched a cartoon with Roseanne Barr as the main "cow" character...I think I might have thrown that one out the window!



Money....lets face it, when it comes to vacationing, there is no way to put a "positive spin" on this one!  Does anyone else think that it is totally ludicrous (thank goodness for spell check!) that you have to practically refinance your home to take a family of 4 to a theme park, museum, water park, or zoo?  Seriously, do the people who run these places sit down and think "how can we get people to have to steal from their kids college fund in order to get them here??"  And all of that money just to have to leave within 2 hours because jr. peed his pants, sissy is cold, daddy is grumpy from lack of food and mommy was in charge of packing everything for everyone for the entire week with no freaking help from anyone because she is always in charge of everything no matter if she is at home or half way across the %&^*#@* country!!!!  (insert throat clearing and shirt adjustment here)



ok, so enough about my vacations...

Lets hear about yours!!!  

We will even give a set of 

"travel essential" 

Earth Monkey gear to a random commenter with a great addition to this post! 

Bring it home sisters!  (literally!)