The Bedtime Battle...it's coming.

Bedtime is for losers....

Some people have anxiety about things like flying, taking a test, or public speaking. My anxiety kicks in oh right around 6:50pm. I know that bedtime is coming. It's right around the corner! I'll honestly sometimes delay starting the whole bedtime show because I'm not prepared for the battle. 

Bedtime is not a new thing at our house. I'm not sure about your home, but here we go to sleep every night. Yes! Surprising I know, but every night we like to sleep. We say our prayers. We close our eyes. We lay in our cozy beds. We drift off to dreamland. 

Well that's not entirely true. There is a tiny one of us who seems surprised each night by this bedtime nonsense. Little Em is taken aback each evening when we gently let her know that it's almost bedtime. It is earth shattering news. 

From this point we will go through our bedtime routine. Then we spend a good two hours on average convincing her that sleep is fun. I'm not sure what her aversion to it is. I love sleep. I would sleep the day away if I could. Nap? Yes! Early bedtime? Yes! Sleep in late? Yes! For Em? Not so much. 

Emily certainly can not sleep before she has 2.3 million sips of water or milk. She will also need to fake pee or poop a few times. She will be scared of everything. She wants her blanket. Her blanket is smothering her. It's too dark. The night light hurts her eyes. Don't forget things like she is Ariel and Ariel doesn't sleep...

Her bear told her she can stay awake...

Her eyes don't like it when they are closed...

So bedtime is a struggle. We've tried everything we can think of. We've talked with her doctor and she assured us Em is healthy and a lot of kids her age have trouble going to bed. Some things work for a while and then we return to this land of WHAT IS GOING ON? I do find comfort in the fact that I'm almost 100% sure most college aged kids don't still need their mom to sit by the bed, but don't look at them because they don't want to be looked at... 

Do you have bedtime troubles? Do you have amazing advice? Please share! 

Burdens

I want you to picture all of the things that you worry about. Clearly see the stuff that weighs heavily on your shoulders. The big things. The small things. The stuff no one knows about. Now I want you to imagine you have a sack. Begin to bundle up all of those things. Picture yourself approaching the thrown of Jesus. Remember that bundle of burdens you have? One by one begin to lay them at His feet. Now this is where so many of us get it wrong. I'm guilty of it too.

Once we've worshiped Him and thanked Him for everything He's done for us. After we've placed all our troubles at His feet and told Him we trust Him, sometimes we pack those burdens back up. We're saying, "Thanks Jesus for holding these for a little while. You know I felt so peaceful while you held onto them. I feel revived and renewed. I'll just gather this stuff up and get it out of your way. I think I can deal with it on my own now."

Maybe we don't leave with all of the burdens. Often we leave with our sack just almost empty. There's still that one little burden in there. It's that one thing that we've struggled with for so long it's hard to let go of. Maybe it's something that seems so small to you that God couldn't possibly care about it. 

Leave. It. All.

Once you let go of something leave it alone. Trust that He can deal with it in a way that you never could. He can do so much more with your mess than you ever dreamed. He will fight for you. I know it because He has fought for me. I have not always been the best person. I have chosen the wrong thing again and again. Yet He loves me. His love is not contingent upon how good we are. It knows no boundaries. He loves you right where you are, even in your deepest darkest place. There is none like Him. He's waiting to take the things you carry everyday. He wants to take your struggles from you. You've just got to hand them over. 

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. - Psalm 55:22

The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still. - Exodus 14:14

Life Lately

My poor little blog. I love to write. Sadly it's the one thing I have trouble finding time for. I'd love to be able to write everyday again. I need to make it more of a priority. Anyway.....

So much has gone on at home lately. We've just been so busy. It's a good busy though. We've fallen into a better rhythm with homeschooling. We still have some really rough days but for the most part it's fun. I'm looking forwards to next year because Noah is really excited about his curriculum. I can't believe he'll be 11 in December. He's a great big brother. You know...when he's not picking on Emily. I don't know how they even manage to fight. She's 2. He's 10. What could they possibly have to argue about? Noah is very smart. He's funny like his dad. He has a very kind heart. I love to watch his faith grow. I'm excited to see the ways that God will use him. Oh. He also hates when I share photos of him now... So if you follow me on social media that's why my pictures are mostly of Emily lol

Emily is so much fun. She gets into a lot of trouble. One night before bed Noah couldn't find his 2 favorite animals. We looked everywhere. He insisted they had to be in Emily's room. In the process of checking her room I woke her up. I asked her if she knew where they were. She told me they were in brothers room. I asked her to show me. She ran straight to his nightstand and opened the drawer. She had hidden them inside. I know she did this on purpose because she KNOWS they are his favorite.  Her antics are so naughty but hilarious. It's hard to tell her no when we're all laughing. She knows what she wants and she wants it all right now. She's also very sweet. She likes to give hugs and kisses, on her terms of course.

We're still dealing with our flooding backyard. Every time it rains we have a lake. We did finally landscape the front. When and if we move someday I feel like I don't want close neighbors. I love people but I'd like a little more privacy and quiet. We've been here for almost 2 years now. Joey wants to move to Florida but I'm not ready to move anywhere lol. Moving is my least favorite thing!

We have a trip to Disney planned for next month. I know. I know. We just went in December. Since Emily is 2 she's free. So that paired with a great discount made it possible for us to go again. We're also driving this time. Which saves us thousands of dollars. It is SO expensive to fly from here! I'm more excited about this trip because now Emily knows who all the princesses are. We booked a Disney Cruise a long time ago but we wont actually be going until next year. After that we'll be done for a while. We have never gone on a big family vacation before. We've never really been able to. I would much rather spend the money on experiences and time together than on things to fill up my home.

Other than that things are the same mostly. My house is a mess. There is laundry to do. The dogs play in the mud and I have to bathe them. The usual.