Teething, Stomach Flu, and Mycoplasma Can't Stop Us From Smiling

We have been under the gun lately with illnesses.  Last week we suffered from an awful stomach flu that was accompanied by body aches, head ache, and the other stuff.   All five of us had it at the same time.  Clark threw up every 20 minutes for 13 hours.  Poor Levi has not eaten much in nine days, and he still has a very messed up stomach.

  Then this week, we have had a horrible cold that I believe is mycoplasma which is a bacterial based cold that often leads to pneumonia. Itchy irritated eyes are also a sign of this illness. 

And little mister has cut his first two teeth on the bottom. 

There is nothing like getting really sick to make you thankful for good health.  I thank God for my healthy kids and husband.  I know this may not always be, but today I rejoice in the gift of health.

Stay at Home Moms Are Lazy



My little boy who keeps me busy.

 Did that get your attention?
I know it got mine.  The other day I overheard a panel of working moms discussing why they thought stay at home moms were lazy.  I was flipping channels looking for PBS for the kids.  In their minds, the stay at home mom had less work to do.  It made me chuckle, then laugh out loud, then almost fall on the floor while holding my shaking, "saggy after three babies in a row" belly.

I am a stay at home mom who has to wholeheartedly disagree.    Both working and staying at home moms can be lazy or hard working.  You have to decide how to use your time as a mom.

I have been both a working mom and stay at home mom.  Both are tough. Both are harder than the average human woman can handle.  Both have pressures and stress that can drive you insane.

Being a stay at home mom, I will say that I seldom get to sit down in my day.  Writing on my blog is my only self indulgent activity, and I do not keep up with it like I would enjoy.    What keeps me so busy?  Well for starters, after waking up four to five times a night (6-7 hours in bed max) to take care of kids during the night, I hit the floor running.  I cook breakfast for the family, clean up their mess, brush teeth, brush hair, put on 10 socks on 10 feet with 10 shoes.  Dress everyone.  Play.  Teach.  Do loads of laundry.   Meal plan healthy kid friendly meals.  Buy groceries at five different stores to find the cheapest deal.  Budget carefully.  Grow a garden and can fruits and veggies.  Cook lunch and dinner every day.  Run errands.  Go the doctor's appointments. Pick up toys.  Read books.  Model servanthood through community service. Wash a load of dishes a day at least.  Sweep and mop the floor a couple times a day (having a baby is messy folks).  Change diapers.   Take stinky trash outside. Give the kids a bath.  And the list goes on. 

However, this is NOT what I consider important.
The job that keeps me most busy and the one those working moms might have forgotten is the full time job of guarding my children's hearts.

My most important mission each day is standing guard against pride, selfishness, greed, anger, self-pity, fear, permissiveness, laziness, self entitlement, and other enemies of my children's hearts.  As I make sure that I am staying close to my Father in Heaven,  He guides me and strengthens me be the parent I need to be for my kids.  My day then is filled with redirection, loving discipline, and encouraging words as I keep tight watch over my kids' hearts.

I start with modeling respect and love and EXPECTING it back in return.  I keep my ears tuned in to every word out of my children's mouths while looking for opportunities to teach, praise, and discipline.  I watch their actions while deciphering their motives and intentions. I try to head off fights and arguments by sensing when my children switch into selfish mode and pull them to the side to check  their hearts.   I create opportunities for them to serve each other and the family.  I foster intentional team work and relationship building.  I show my children the need for a Savior at each time of discipline by talking to them about their sinful hearts.

That my "Dr. Phil friends" keeps me busy.  Each night when I finally lay my head on the pillow, my body aches with the day's work, but I know it was a day well spent on my home, my children, and the Kingdom.

Lazy....No way. Not even a little.

Family Tree Rag Quilt with Photo

Many years ago, I dreamed up a family tree quilt to give my mother and father (inlaws).  I began working on it and then something happened that stopped me dead in my quilting tracks... I had three children.  This Christmas I am excited to say I finally finished it!!  It does not look like I envisioned, but it's done.   And that's got to count for something. 

Each piece of the green and brown parts of the tree represents some piece of the family legacy.  There is a piece with horses to remember the days when Mom and Dad where dating and Mom out rode Dad.  A monster truck represents their active grandsons and great grand son.  Watermelons remind us of how we Loftons love to eat watermelon on a hot summer day. 

In the center is our most recent family photo with all four generations represented.  My hope is when the quilt is used all the memories, joys, and love surround the person.

Merry Christmas 2011

On Christmas Eve, the boys went to bed to discover a present on every one's bed.  After opening the gifts, the boys found new pajamas, a bell, and a golden ticket for the Mini Van Express.  We hopped into the car and drove around to see our favorite Christmas lights spots. 

With the help of a power converter, the minivan was a glow with Christmas lights.  It was quite a magical but easy touch.

The next morning, we came downstairs and thanked God for His good gifts especially His Son.  Then we spent the rest of the day playing and eating and enjoying each other.

Levi loved his little train and eating all the wrapping paper.

The boys got monster trucks  and tracks from Santa and three gifts each from mommy and daddy.  We actually forgot to mention Santa at all that morning.  Clark around 4 pm asked if Santa had come or was he still on the way. 

Joel has the right idea.  Forget all the presents, let's just eat all the chocolate!!!

 The best gift of all was the Legos!!!  The boys have played with them constantly!!  Michael bought a box of Legos at a garage sale when I was pregnant with Clark five years ago.  We forgot that they were in the attic until recently.  When we opened them we realized the box was full of 30 figures and tons of already assembled structures plus tons of bricks!!  So the best present of all cost $10!!  I love it!

No interruptions, no cleaning, no work, no responsibility...just playing, loving, worshipping, eating, and enjoying each other.  That's my favorite part of Christmas.

I've Been Busy Like an Ant

I love hard work and old fashioned life.  I was born that way. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning to do something things this year.

My mother-in-law taught me how to knit. This is my first baby blanket dedicated to baby Hannah.

I canned lots and lots of plum, strawberry, and handpicked blackberry jelly!

I also canned home grown tomatoes, applesauce from the apple orchard, and fresh Georgia peaches from my "neighbors".

I put back a lot of my extra garden produce in my deep freeze.

I planted these gardens right after my c-section with a simple prayer.  "God feed my family. "

And God did provide more than enough.

Here's one of my backyard gardens--peppers in the lower section and tomatoes in the upper. 

Looking back at 2011, I have to say it was productive.  I had my third son and learned how to knit, garden, and can this year!!

I hope to inspire you to learn something new too in 2012. 

Pre Christmas Joys!

We have been in full swing with our Christmas celebrations! 

 Crafts, parties, books, cookies, movies, songs, etc.....

Here's my boys all playing with their building blocks.   They are into blocks right now.  Levi loves to eat them.   Joel loves to make robot birthday cakes with them.   And Clark makes robots and cars.   Here's a little secret: they are getting  Legos for Christmas!!!  I know they will love it.  I just have to figure out a way to stop Levi from eating them all.

 This will be Levi's first Christmas!  Hard to believe.  It feels like he's been part of our family always.

Levi loves to eat the Christmas lights. 

Several times, I have caught him with the bulb disconnected and in his mouth.  Scary.

Here's our cookies we made yesterday during our party.  The kids had fun cutting and decorating their cookies.  And by the way, royal icing is the easiest to use because it dries out and can be transported without a huge mess.

A Creative Way to Use Gummies

My son found a new way to use gummies--ear plugs.

Joel's Firefighter Birthday

My little hero turned three. He wanted a firefighter party for his third birthday.  So we whipped out a fire truck cake and some fiery decorations!

We had Firefighter Mike come and talk to the kids about fire safety.  The children learned how to call 911 and stop, drop, cover, and roll.  They all earned their honorary firefighter hats after.

 We worked together as a team just like firefighters and collected loose balloons in a balloon game.

 We played Hot Potato with a hot "potato sock". 

Afterwards, we had smokin' hot dogs and five alarm chili for lunch.

Happy Birthday to a little boy who I would not be surprised grows up to be a fire fighter,  police officer, or soldier.  He has a strong spirit and heart to serve.

Firefighter axe!!! 

Fall Fun!

Fall is the Loftons favorite time of year.  Apples, pumpkins, leaves, sweaters, chai tea, chili, fires in the fireplace, trick-or-treating, chilly cold winds are just some our favorite things.

Here's Joel and Levi enjoying the leaf pile!!  Levi also had a leaf snack while he was there.

Clark is into climbing trees now.  Broken bones are soon to follow. :-)

The boys love being pushed by daddy on the swing set.

The view from our backyard is so amazing to me.  I love the colors and mountains so much.

Joel is having a ball digging out pumpkin seeds. Put that boy to work, and he's happy!

The boys and their pumpkin this year.

 Clark thought it was gross and backed off immediately.

The boys and I planned a pizza theme birthday for Michael with a pizza from Papa Johns and a chocolate chip cookie pizza cake too.  The boys had fun making fondant mushrooms, peppers, pepperonis and decorating the cake!

Bowling and Standing for the First Time

Here's the boys bowling for the first time at a friend's birthday! 

To be very honest, I think the boys had fun, but it was stressful.  Clark kept falling down as he let go of the ball.  Joel kept trying to throw his ball when it wasn't his turn.  He ended up throwing it into the crowd once. :-)

Here's Levi STANDING at the table train!  He's already in love with trains!  He's growing up too fast.