Smelling the Roses

Today has been a DAY. Messy house, messy kids. Disastrous painting activity. Screaming toddler who now knows how to say, "My turn!" and "I want," and acts like I'm ripping his hair out when I'm simply trying to very gently give him a haircut. Frustrating grocery shopping trip with (you guessed it) a screaming toddler throwing fits when I won't let him squeeze the chip bag or won't give him a balloon. Big boys don't want to do school, don't want to run errands, in the end, don't want me to tell them what to do. Sigh. Being a stay at home mom is definitely not all roses.

But, there are roses. A lot of them. Even these frustrations are covered in God's grace and mercy. The weekend is coming. The rain is causing our garden to grow. Hummingbirds found my feeder on the garden window so I can watch them while I do dishes. Screaming toddler is taking a long nap. God provided a friend just down the street who stays at home with her four kids and is in the trenches too.

 

Days like this I like to grab my coffee and look through pictures of the past few months. Because I mostly take pictures of the roses, and it's nice to remember how sweet they smelled!

 This kid. Too big pants and shirt. And the random croc. Life.

 We discovered that by using the Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 mix, we can bake our families traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe! They were amazing!

 Letting Josh play in the water at the sink has been my "go to" as of late. It keeps him busy for a long time! (And look at that hair! That's why I was trying to give him a haircut!)

 He loves his daddy so much. And is getting too big. Look at how long his legs are!

Um, can you believe how much they look alike? I can't! (Sam top, Seth bottom)

 I love this picture so much! The pj's, the boots, the smile!

I was so thankful for the week my mom spent with us in March. The boys got lots of attention and did lots of art projects. She even got to go to school with us and let me have a morning out for lunch with a friend! I'm reminded that when being I get overwhelmed, God has always provided me with help just when I needed it!

Birthday at the Beach

Be ready for an absolute picture overload. I'll use few words to make up for the picture mayhem.

 

Last weekend our Ruda family spent the weekend at the most gorgeous house in Newport to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. We weekend was wonderful!

The table fit all of us! We ate some good meals together!

Art time with Grandma

Great picture of Sammy and Seth (at least I got a natural smile out of one of them.)

We surprised my dad and hired a photographer to take family pictures. I cannot wait to see them! This is all the kids making funny faces to help their grandparents smile in the picture.

It was hilarious to watch! Such silly kids!

One of the coolest features of the house was a beautiful chess set. Ben and Nick were thrilled to use it to teach the oldest kids how to play. They all took to it, especially Miriam and Sam, who tried to play every free moment.

Peek-a-boo Josh

We did get down to the beach some, but it was a bit chilly. This is Katie's Clara.

Edmund loved the water, but hated the cold. Same with Josh. The poor boys were at the age where they would cry until we let them play in the water, and then cry because the water was so cold.

Such a special friendship these five have!

Ben's outfit illustrates how warm the beach was...

This was the house we stayed at! Isn't it amazing!

Love the clouds in this picture!

Papa pitying poor Joshy

Nick and Mom went back with soaked and freezing Edmund and Aidah. I was close to follow with Joshy, but Ben stayed behind and built a dam with the older kids.

This is before he's screaming because his feet are numb.

Dam in the making.

More chess.

Can you stand how beautiful these windows are in the house? What a view we had!

The "babies" were a lot of work at the beach!

Welcome to the Oregon Aquarium. (Seth otter, Sam the feeder)

Aidah and Seth. This picture is hilarious. These two were paired off all weekend and walked holding hands everywhere.

I was tempted to leave Josh at home while we went to the aquarium, but Ben wisely thought that Josh would love it. He was so right! Josh had a blast and we loved watching him discover and explore.

The whole crew in the fish tunnel.

Shark!

Seth, Sam

I love this picture. Ben and Josh have such a special relationship!

Josh LOVED the tide pools.

Another one of my favorite pictures of the weekend. Silly faces in front of the beautiful jelly fish.

Such a handsome picture of my dad!

Nick and Ben sitting on their thrones.

Papa opening presents. The kids couldn't crowd in close enough.

They all made him special cards.

Josh liked putting rocks inside the decorative canon.

What would a trip to the beach be without a fire pit? Ben is the fire master.

It was an amazing sunset. Thank you Lord!

The man of the weekend: Happy Birthday Dad and Papa!

Edmund helped blow out the candles.

A sign of a good weekend: Josh conked out almost the whole trip home!