Teenagers.
Need I say more?

I sometimes wish I could go back to those younger years. Preschool, toddler, baby.
I reminisce and miss those sweet hugs and kisses. I miss being tugged on and those little voices calling "mom, mom, mom!".  Silly, right? *sigh* Not in my mommy brain. Those kiddos have grown so fast that I can barely believe it!  I remember nights (when they were babies) thinking; "Wow, this feels like FOREVER". Lack of sleep doesn't help.

Was it worth it? Of course! Every step forward was treated as a victory and every step back was taken lightly and dismissed as nothing more than a minor hindrance on our way to another victory.

Life seems to go so quickly. I never wished away any of those sweet baby years.....but I tell ya what; I am truly wishing these teen years would vanish. No hugs, no sweetness. A lot of sass and confusion. Loads of hormones, crying and yelling. (Yes, both me AND the teens.)

Maybe one day I will look back and wish I could be here again. Maybe one day I will see what I can't see now and understand. For now, though, I keep moving forward because I know that there will be more victories and I can't wait to celebrate them.



ps. I do cherish every God-given day. It might be the last.  

Morning Thoughts

Good Morning.

What a fine, cold April we seem to be having. Such a disappointment from what I was expecting. A bit of a shock and very disheartening.......Well, I could also be describing something else. My attitude.

This morning I was reading devotions and, lo and behold, I was convicted. *sigh*
"Convicted" seems like an ugly word to me....and an ugly feeling. Kinda like someone just shone another bright light on a dark corner of my life and exposed me.

I don't like being exposed.
I don't like thinking I need change or work harder or get better.
But I do.
I know I do.

What I read really rang with truth and not because it's a problem I have, but it's one that I have constantly wrestled with. Imperfect Progress.

It's that life dance we all do; 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  

It's that 1 step back that is discouraging and sometimes has us feeling as if the 2 steps forward aren't worth it anymore.  

I know ya'll know what I mean.

Every morning I used to mull over how difficult it was to be patient and speak lovingly in the chaos that is my house. I would try. Really, I did!  But to no avail on some mornings. I felt like a failure whenever my mouth would shoot out fire instead of grace. Burning those around me instead of loving them. So much sadness.

So this morning, as I am reading devotions, specifically one by Lysa Terkurst, and I see she (once again) has hit the nail on the head. Stating that "Sometimes we girls think if we don't make instant progress, then real change isn't coming."  Now, you can apply that to just about anything we do, but this morning she was talking about "Unglued Mornings" where we moms can just be surrounded by craziness and coming unglued. 

Lysa states "There is a beautiful reality called imperfect progress." and "Imperfect changes are slow steps of progress wrapped in grace....imperfect progress." 

I love how Lysa Terkurst is so down to Earth and shares some of her hardest struggles. We can all glean from what she writes. It is because she is so real that she is so relatable. Seriously. 

So, with the knowledge that I am not the only one who suffers from "unglued mornings" or "1 step back discouragement", I will take another view on all of my messy mornings: Imperfect Progress is still progress and as long as I keep on making some sort of progress, I will keep moving forward in this line. I will keep trying to lace my words with grace and love outwardly in kindness and patience, and when I fail or fall short, I will hike up my big-girl pants and try again.  

Dinner Conversations and Children

It's amazing what children can and will say at the dinner table.
Although we discourage any inappropriate language and talk, it still gets a bit crazy!

Last night was no exception. My 4th child decided that his response to every statement or question was "There's a potato for that".  (*taken from the popular saying, "There's an app for that".)

Needless to say I was laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.

My oldest boy, Brenden, decided he wanted to hear Ride of the Valkaries, so that is what we listened to during dinner. (Thanks to my wonderful hubby who found it on his phone and played it for us).

Brenden then proceeded to claim boredom and announced "I am going into 'screensaver' mode", put a headband over his eyes and leaned back to portray 'screensaver' mode.

Now Cassie, my 3rd child, is laughing as hard as I am and Eli, my toddler, is dancing in his highchair whilst covered in ranch dressing.

I love my children and their crazy antics. Who wouldn't love such a crazy bunch of kiddos.....but come confession day, I will confess to being overwhelmed and overtired MOST of the time and unable to appreciate such fine moments. My mommy skills haven't been perfected and I expect they wont be until I am a grandmother. That being said, I know there are other moms out there who struggle to balance being a good mom and having well-behaved children and a manageable house....We aren't alone fellow struggling moms!

I love sharing the gems of my day and hope that another struggling mom can find the fun in a crazy, chaotic day.


Much Love,
J.G.Lentz

Back to Blogging

Its snowing.
Alot.
This cold snowy day is beautiful! I wish I could enjoy it the way I would like to, however, I broke my fibula (leg bone) on New Year's Eve when I took my children rollerblading (one of my favorite things to do!).
I am hoping I can get the kiddos out to sled, but its not that easy. Oh, and now I have a toddler in tow. Our beautiful 18 mth old who is growing like a weed!

I am hoping to have some beautiful pics to share of sledding, but now, I can just show you the amount of snow dumped since yesterday:

Crazy, huh? Well, there you have it. Snow. Everywhere. 

So even though I am slightly unable to function normally, I am going to try to get all the kids out of the house with sleds, in one piece. But first, we must wake the toddler.....

Dress A Girl Around The World - VA: Little Girl's Panties - A Tutorial

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1st and 2nd Thanksgiving

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I have a very extended family.....very.
This Thanksgiving was spent with my father and his fiance and her kids and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My brother also came. It was amazing to see how everyone has grown and changed. I haven't  seen everyone in years. All the kids diapers I used to change and now they are having babies of their own (and yes, I got in there and changed them too!) I just love babies!

So my niece Amanda found a tape from 1991 and 1992. It was a couple of the grandchildren's birthdays. Their 1st and 2nd birthdays. So I was eager to watch...not to mention my kids being able to see mommy as a kid herself (10 to 12 yrs old at this point).  Funny thing though, every time you saw me, I had a baby in my arms. Or I was playing with the kiddos. (At one point there wasn't any babies to hold so I held the dog...a pug mix).  It was very surreal to see those videos and go back. I was joking with the now 19 yr old Taylor (AKA: Bug), that all I wanted to be was a mommy when I grew up and that's why I just loved holding the babies. But that's not all; I insisted on changing diapers and feeding them too. I was really gung-ho about taking care of the kiddos back then.

All the while we are watching the videos of Amanda's first birthday, I was cradling her newborn baby girl. How strange time is and what a funny feeling to have come full circle. That was our 1st Thanksgiving of this year.

So now I have just come home from our 2nd Thanksgiving, of this year, with my father-in-law and his girlfriend and my brother-in-law and his wife, and I realize that nothing has changed in the short 7yrs I have been in this family. We talk about the first time we all met, what we really thought of each other and how everyone had doubts about Jeff's and mine whirlwind romance into marriage.  Its quite the insight to see what everyone first thought about when we first got together, but look at us now! No one really thought it would last, but here we are 9 years later (8 years married) and we aren't going anywhere.

So thankful for both of my families and so thankful for such a brave, wonderful, smart and hardworking husband. I wouldn't change anything for the world. So this year, I am once again reminded that my life is awesome, my kids rock (they aren't perfect, but they totally rock!) and I love my husband with all my heart!
God is so good!!

Full Day

Ever have one of those surreal days that seems to go by too quickly, but then when you get to bed and recall the day you cant seem to believe that it ALL happened on that same day? Yup. That's today.

It started out fine. Kids up, fed, out the door to school. My friend Melissa then drives me directly to my doctor's appointment....for my knee. I was all proud because I dont need my crutches anymore (its only been about 2 weeks since the ACL surgery) and so I go strutting in, give my name, wait my turn. When I am called back and the doctor comes to check on things, he takes my leg and says "bend it". Um, ok. See, that part I haven't gotten so good at yet. So it wont bend past 90 degree angle...well, without me passing out that is.    
So then he looks at me and says, "That's not good". WHY???? Its only been 2 weeks! Apparently, what I was not told was that scar tissue forms and inhibits movement. (I don't wanna hear a single "duh" from any of you! You wouldn't have known if I had not just educated you, so phhhttttt)  Anyway....so I have some more work to do on my leg. *sigh*

THEN: Off to deliver Girl Scout cookies!  I had to go to Rochester General Hospital (I tried to hit every doctors office, that I went to for my surgeries, to get orders!) And while parking, I accidentally rubbed my side view mirror against the vehicle next to me. Go fig. So I got out, cleaned off the rub and after much debate, left a note with contact information. And prayed......and prayed some more.  I was really worried.
Well, after about 4 hrs, the lady called me back and left a message saying that she didn't see any damage and  not to worry about it, and to have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Well, I just broke down and cried. My prayers had been answered.

THEN: Off to another doctors office with more cookies....no incident there, but I did have some italian wedding soup. Very good!

THEN: Squeeze in a quick run to BJ's to get more supplies for the kids lunches.

THEN: Met my bro-in-law at my house to grab a few things, kids came home, went through their stuff, had Brenden make pancakes for dinner, I made eggs and banana bread muffins and we ate!

THEN: Off to their school for Bingo and Books (family bingo night and book fair going on). Was fun! Then a quick stop to Walmart to get a couple of things, including a new filter for the furnace and Christmas cards.

When we finally got home and I changed the furnace filter while the kids took out the garbage to the road, Jeff texted me that he was available to Skype. So upstairs I "flew".....more like flopped...and booted my computer as fast as a 3yr old computer can boot. An hr and a half later, I am writing my blog.

Personally, I am exhausted just reading this.....I did alot today! And this isn't unusual for me. Guess I better get to sleep...got plans with the sis-in-law tomorrow for Christmas shopping! Good Night!!