I confess my world has tilted, and I am slowly finding my way.
School started.
Mataya and I started having regular office hours.
It is cross-country season.
And I have been overcome with a need to clean-up, clean-out, and nest.
In all honesty, I have chosen to be WAY too busy. A lot of the household "settling" could have waited. But, I did have fun doing it. So perhaps the rush was worth it. . . and yet it can not continue. As Ann Voscamp says, "life is not an emergency."
However, the time has come for me to pace myself once again and to deliberately savor all that God is doing in our home.
So, here is my cell-phone pictorial review of the past weeks:
Although Mataya and I are spending several hours in my office 3 - 4 mornings a week, we are also saving time to play! Mataya is BUSY. She needs to climb and run and swing. So, we commonly stop by a park in the middle of running errands. It is sometimes hard for this task-oriented momma to break to play, but it is also wise (if I do say so myself.)
I have totally loved all the time I have alone with Mataya. She is thriving on it as well.
She is also doing better than I expected at work.
In all honesty, having an 18 month old in my office is sometimes hard! Everything takes longer than it should, even going to the restroom, because Mataya wants to help. Singing silly songs, helping her to fix a toy, redirecting her when she is getting into something unsafe all takes time and energy - BUT - I would not change it for the world. I feel very, very blessed that she and I get to be together all day.
And she is learning all about Daddy's business! She has a toy box in my office. One day after watching the guys operating the skidsteer, she dumped out her crayons and used her skidder to clean them up! It is such a wonder to see her learning every single minute.
Mataya LOVES to help.
Anytime I am doing anything she comes running. She grabs for whatever I am doing and says "helper!" I am telling you, we are a team. I have learned to plan extra time for every task, always pack an extra set of clothes for us both, and to start each task thinking of how I can involve her. I do this because I want to fan the flame of her helpfulness AND because when she is not engaged, she is in trouble!!!
We are spending as much time outside as possible. . . slurping up every last drop of sunshine we can find before winter arrives!
Mataya is the fastest, smartest, busiest, sweetest, and moodiest toddler we have ever parented. She is either in the sweetest mood, greeting strangers with a grin and noisy "HI!", giggling and playing with joy OR she is so incredibly grumpy we do not know what to do with her. There is no in between. And often little warning which mood we will get. Thankfully she is all sunshine most of the time - but, to copy the children's rhyme, "when she is bad, she is horrid!"
She can throw a fit like few others.
She can get into mischief faster than all her other siblings combined!
She dumped an entire bottle of shampoo all over the bathroom floor while I showered.
When given shaving cream to play with, she bathed herself in it. . . in the time it took me to pour myself a cup of coffee. I know I'm old - but trust me, she is fast! Ha!
She also gives the sweetest hugs in the universe. And a spontaneous TayTay kiss is enough to melt my heart for days. We took her to Dairy Queen last weekend, and when she had her first spoonful of our blizzard her eyes got huge and she leaned in and gave me a BIG kiss. It was pure gratitude, I tell you!
She is also crazy smart. She talks non-stop; however most of the time she uses one word "sentences." I am honestly never quite sure how much she comprehends. However last weekend she proved she KNOWS exactly what we are saying. Sunday we had a family dinner. All the kids were home, which is a treat, so I asked them each to share the event in their last week that was their personal high-point. Mataya listened as Brenna, Jamison, Sierra, and Chad all shared. Then I asked her the same question. I was trulyly just being polite and silly. I did not think she would or could respond appropriately. She looked around the table and said "Bompa" (aka Grandpa Scott). I responded, "You did go to Grandpa's house this week! Was that fun?" To which she replied with glee, "Yeah! Neighs!" We were all shocked. So shocked we just laughed and laughed. No one else had gone to Grandpa's last week. No one was talking about anything remotely close to that. She HAD to have known exactly what we were saying to respond so correctly.
Yikes! She is keeping us on our toes!
And we love it!
Only someone who thrives on organization would photograph her clean pantry! When my life is organized I feel so much more alive and productive.
In addition to cleaning my pantry, I cleaned out the storage room and every closet and drawer in the house. (That is mine anyway. I did not clean the older kids' closets or rooms.) My house is feeling fresh and crisp, just like the weather. I LOVE it.
