Naive November....

It is mid November and it is around this time each month I like to update you; my readers as to what is happening in my life, or at the very least what is happening in my brain. So for your enjoyment and hopefully your concern for my life's goings on, here is my latest blog.  But First.....

Who ever read my last blog about the mice you will be happy to hear that we are mice free, or at least we have been for at least two weeks. We used a ton of glue traps and spoke trash about the mice really loudly every where we went, so I think they got the hint and just left or got stuck and had no choice. 

Anyway, as of late our lives have been a little crazy.... even for us. The girls for some reason have half the month of November off it seems, and then add in a few snow days and basically my kids have two thanksgiving breaks. I always seem to exaggerate these things but I am really not kidding this time...(insert serious face here) Also a few weeks ago we agreed to take in our fourteen year old nephew for a while, during some of his own life transitional things. We had been made aware of his need for a place a little while ago, we prayed about it and felt it clear to take him in so we cleared out Naomi's room. Putting three girls in one room can have its awesome moments, like only one room to clean, and all the laundry is basically going in one room but it also has a few downfalls like having three girls in one room.... We love our family and we both decided a long time ago that our door would always be open if the need were to ever arise. So we in no way regret the decision we have made, its just taking a bit more adjusting than I think we originally thought it would. I mean we are only twenty seven and we have a teenager now in our care, We are both humbled and terrified, we have had a lot of moments just looking at each other and saying " what are we doing"... we don't want to pretend to have this whole thing figured out, because after a few events it is very clear that we don't. However, we are committed to trying and doing our best to make this whole difficult and ugly transition work. We recently admitted to our nephew that we need grace just as much as he may need it, that we will need to give it to each other because we are all in this place of trying to figure it out. There are days that I just stare outside unsure of how we became parental figures to not three but four children one of them being a TEENAGER, the dreaded T word. Jose and I transitioned out of youth ministry a few months ago, so we didn't expect to be working with teenagers again for a little while. Either way its in our life now that dreaded T word and it isn't going anywhere so we better just put on our big kid pants and deal. One HUGE blessing in this whole thing is how close it has brought Jose and I, we have always been close but this whole thing has just made us so much more thankful and reliant on each other for strength and prayer.
 I am just going to be really real with you guys, this whole parenting thing looks so much better with younger kids, it is ugly and painful with teenagers. Our nephew got in trouble the other day and because I felt so bad I bought him over twenty dollars worth of junk food, also he doesn't have a winter coat but is in that whole "I'm too cool for a coat phase" So I went to the store and bought him a coat feeling all awesome and cool because it was a nice jacket that the cool kids would totally approve of, only to find out that I got the wrong size..... (insert crying face here) Also did you know that sometimes teenagers don't eat? My brothers always ate so much we had to ration their food out before just to have some for the rest of us, but my nephew doesn't eat ..like ever and it stresses me out to the MAX as a mom I want my kids to eat, so when he doesn't eat it hits my mom button and makes me go to crazy emotional town, which I visit silently and to where no one knows I am actually there. But I am telling you guys, I am there, I am setting up like a summer vacation home in crazy, stressed out town. See...No idea what I am doing ... I need a live in nanny, just to give me teenager advice although she better be able to live in her umbrella or something because I have no more space for anyone.

One thing I really need grace in is my tendency to get easily irritated by clutter and messes that I can't control, this whole experience has taken me way out of my comfort zone, our house has very little storage so clutter is happening all around me. Little messes, clutter zones, and dishes are just living in my house on a regular basis and I've exhausted myself trying to keep up with it all. So here I sit with my coffee at 2 in the afternoon, I have kicked everyone out of my house except the two year old who takes naps. I am sitting on a bed full of clean clothes my two eldest girls didn't fold and my floor is covered in items from an old purse that Naomi got into, to think just yesterday my bedroom was sparkling clean. I am making like Elsa and just letting it go..for now, actually part of me kicking out my whole family is for the purpose of doing some deep cleaning but first I will have my blogging and coffee!  Well there you have it, naturally I had planned on all of this sounding better but it didn't come out that way. So you get what you get, this emotionally exhausted mama is out. 

Blessings Friends 

P.S.... If you haven't gotten the clue yet, please pray for me. Also please don't be all weird and talk to my nephew about this stuff that would just embarrass him and this whole thing is awkward enough