Friday, May 30, 2014

8 years.

Dallas and I celebrated eight years of wedded bliss this week!  To say marriage is my very favorite gift on this earth is an understatement.  I love relationships, friendships, intentionality, conversation, and companionship.  Nothing fills my cup like what I share with my husband.

We had a lovely evening!  We dropped the kids off with Papa and Nana (thank you!!) and headed to the rooftop of our favorite restaurant, Montage.  As we were leaving, I mentioned that it was our anniversary and this was "our place," so thank you.  They gave us two truffles/cake balls, two candles, a thing of matches, and told us to go somewhere and celebrate.  What a treat!  We walked along the river, found a cute little bench, talked about our first conversations 14 years ago, our wedding day 8 years ago, and everything in between.  We ate our truffles and mozied back to the minivan (romantic) for a little drive.  We ended the night back at Papa and Nana's enjoying Scratch cupcakes with the family.  Perfection.

I know it sounds so cliche, and a little bit corny, but when I look back at our wedding day I remember feeling so in love.  While the "honeymoon" feeling of love might not be as strong as it was then, it's a different kind of love.  It's stronger, more intense, and even better.  I will choose him every single day, even on the days that are hard (and annoying).  I am so very thankful for our marriage, and still can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him.

Then...

...Now.



Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Some days...

A lot of days are good around here.  Like, really good.

Some days, though.

This morning, all before 9:00....

Charlie wanted popcorn kernels for his grain auger.  No big deal.  But, he accidentally dumps the entire bag.  As I am picking up the rug (covered in kernels) and shaking it outside, I walk back in to find...

Ruby with an entire box of Lucky Charms on the ground.  I literally opened the box this morning, so it was plum full.  She was pretty proud of herself.  As if an open buffet of Lucky Charms wasn't enough...

Layla got a box of brand new crackers out of the cupboard. As I was walking to help her open them, she pushed the bag together to "pop" it open, and every single cracker fell out the bottom onto the floor.

So many things wrong with all this.  We don't let the kids "graze," so why they were helping themselves, I don't know.  Lucky Charms are a treat, and well, now they are gone as fast as they got here.  And Layla immediately said, "Charlie did it."  Why?  I was right there and saw her.  I wasn't mad about the spill, but now we had a whole new issue.

I am thankful I was able to laugh this morning about this.  My perspective was probably better due to my incident this weekend.  We had two rounds of company this weekend, so I made one big bowl of a southwest pasta salad.  I cut up veggies, cilantro, green onions, on and on and on.  I made a double batch, as to feed both groups.  As I went to put the bowl in the fridge, I dropped it!  Even moms have accidents.  I wanted to cry.  Instead we laughed.

I am thankful for the good days.  Some mornings we just need a start over.  That's just what we did.


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Losing Weight.

I've had a lot of comments lately about the weight I've lost.  Yes, I have.  And, thank you!  I have worked my tail off, and it feels good for the work to be noticed.

While I say I've worked my tail off, there is not a single thing I have given up.  Not sugar, not grains, not dairy.  Nothing.  I can't do that forever.  I could do it for a time, sure.  But, I need something I can do long term.

Speaking of long term, all this weight I've lost has been a work in progress since September.  September.  It has been slow and steady.  Some weeks I gain.  This is life, and life happens.

I've done a fine job losing weight a lot of times.  Sigh.  It will always be something I have to deal with, but I've decided that if this is my worst cross to carry, I am a-ok.  Every baby I don't want to gain so much weight, but I do.  So, it's rolling around Ruby's first birthday, and alas, I'm getting back there.

The thing I am so grateful for is the long line of women before me and beside me, and my husband.  We are not a small family.  Period.  But, I hear constantly how beautiful we all are.  What makes us that way?  Our confidence.  My mom and sisters have never once made me feel like what we are, even at our heaviest, is not good enough.  We are all thrilled with a size 10.  Not many women can say that.  I am so thankful.  Our beauty isn't our size, because we aren't small.  Yet I think my sisters and mom absolutely radiate in a way that is not defined by the scale.

And my hubby?  He loves me (and my body) more than I can fathom.  I am really grateful he isn't even a fan of "skinny," but I do love to make his long eyelashes twitch a bit.  He doesn't show more, or withhold, a bit of love and affection no matter my size.  He is the best.

All this to say, it's nice to feel good about myself and be able to be active with my children.  I like putting on an outfit and walking out the door, instead of trying on five different pair of pants and still hating what I end up with.  A healthy lifestyle is good.  Really good.  We have one body, it is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I want to honor God with it.  My issue all along hasn't really been the number, but my self control and discipline.  Denying myself chocolate cake after a long day with the kids?  I think not.  This is where I am wrong.  That is not what food was made for.  Food was certainly made for enjoyment, but also for fuel.  I want to enjoy food, because I enjoy it.  No more mindless eating just because.  It is sinful to not deny myself.  I do it so many other areas of my life, and it's time to attack this stupid area too.

So, practically speaking, what have I done?  Weight Watchers works for me.  You can eat anything, you don't have to take anything special, and I confess I am a repeat offender.  Because, it works.  I am also having accountability with a friend.  This is key.  I can lie to myself all I want, but to weigh in front of my friend?  That brings it up a level.  I'm not tracking like I should be, and I don't always stay within my limit.  But, for the most part, I am putting points to my food.  It all has a value, and I decide if that value is worth it.

Some changes, food ideas, and go to's....
1. Rice cakes.  They are crunchy, and only one point.  They probably won't be the highlight of your day, but they are good.  If you need more, add Nutella to a caramel rice cake, or peanut butter to an apple rice cake.  You'll be surprised.  It's not so bad.
2. Joseph's brand Lavash bread.  It's 2 points, but can easily be cut in half for 1 point.  Get a Weight Watchers cheese stick (1 pt), roll it in 1/4 of the lavash wrap, nook it for 20 seconds, and dip it in some spaghetti or pizza sauce.  I have two of these, and it's 4 points total.  Really good!
3. Smucker's sugar free jam is NO points.  I take Sara Lee 45 calorie bread (1 pt.), toast it with 1 T. WHIPPED Peter Pan peanut butter (2 pts.), and some of the 0 pt. jelly.  That's 3 points.  Want a sandwich?  Put another piece of 1 pt. bread on it.
4. Veggie Wraps.  My friend got me hooked on these.  I use either the Lavash Bread or the bread.  Get some 1/3 less fat vegetable cream cheese, spread it on, sprinkle on some sunflower seeds if you want, then load on the veggies (carrot shreds, peppers, lettuce, cucumbers).  This is seriously SO good.
5. Turkey hot dogs.  Oscar Meyer 95% fat free I believe.  They are 2 points.  Add an 80 calorie Sara Lee bun for 2 points, and you have a 4 point hot dog.  Sometimes a person just has to have a hot dog, and this is the way to do it.
6. Smoothies.  I put together smoothie packets in the freezer.  A baggie of spinach, half a banana, and frozen fruit.  It makes smoothies more convenient and easy to just pull out, instead of having to get everything out.  Dump the bag in, add some almond milk or orange juice, yogurt if you want, I always add more water, and voila.

I can't think of any more things off the top of my head, but plan to add more as I think of them.  Losing weight doesn't have to be miserable.  I have to be realistic about it, eat a Scratch cupcake with a friend from time to time, and be content in who I am, no matter the size.  I am worth more than how the scale defines me.

But, I have a plan (and plan ahead) and do control what I eat when I can.  Situations come up daily I can't control, and I will not feel guilty about those.  I eat whatever the family eats every night.  I don't want them to think I can't have what they have, because I can.  Thankfully, my kids are in sanely good eaters, but we have pizza too.  It is all about balance.

So, there you have it.  I'm still a work in progress.  I've done this before, and I'll do it again.  It feels good to feel good.



Monday, May 19, 2014

Contact Update

Maleah is still surprising me with how well she is adjusting to her contact.  We have had both funny and frustrating moments with it.

Funny...

Last week, Maleah came home and told me her contact came out at recess.  I asked her how she dealt with that problem, and she assured me she went into the bathroom and put it back in.  What?!  No way did I believe her, because we spend so.much.time working to get that thing in every single day.  It could not be possible she just put it back in her eye in the school bathroom with no help.

So, what do I do?  I contact Mr. Nuiver who was on recess duty when this happened.  I asked him if she did, in fact, have her contact fall out.  He answered with, "Yes, it did."  I then asked him if it was true that she went inside and put it back in by herself.  He answered with, "Yes, she did."  I laughed and explained to him how I have put sweat and tears into this stinkin' contact every morning, and then boom, she just plops it back in by herself?  He answered, "That is the wonder of growing up quickly.  She wouldn't want to call her mom for that."  True.  I apologized for bothering him and thanked him for his time.  His last comment was, "You are welcome.  And, you should trust your kid."  Oh, did we have a good laugh!

Frustrating...

The other night she went to take her contact out and was obviously struggling big time.  Her eye was turning red, watering, and she was getting discouraged.  We looked further into things and realized there was no contact.  Weird.  Somewhere along the way her contact had fallen out and she did not know it.

This was the perfect opportunity to put her "dailies" to use.  We were just putting that off, and now we had no other option.  Those dailies, I tell ya.  They are HARD.  After a lot of trying and way too much stress, I called the eye doctor and asked for another option.  They were so gracious and gave us a different kind.  We are back on track.

During that time, though, Maleah had to wear her glasses.  I think I did not realize the hardship for her, even with her glasses.  Piano and violin have come so much easier to her with her contact, I think because of looking out onto the fingerboard and down onto the keys.  She also seems to have headaches more without the contact.

With her contact, though, she is a different kid.  Her temperament has been off the charts: happy.  As soon as she gets it in, she is over the moon.  I am thankful we found something so helpful to her.  I was completely unaware of what this would mean to her.

We are adjusting.  We have laughed and laughed while we fumble around, and screamed at other times.  All in all, all is well.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Ruby is...

...walking!

Ruby is officially walking.  She has been taking steps here and there, three to four at a time.  Tonight she stood up and walked the entire way to her destination.  She did it again, and again, and again.  It is official.

Are there many cuter things than chubby ol' baby thighs waddling, a big splat on their cute bottom, then a proud grin and clapping?  I think not.


Oh, my girl, growing up so quickly.  It's a joy to get the front row seat to all your firsts.  I wouldn't miss them for the world.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Trees at TCS

This morning our school planted 60 trees.  We received the trees, per grant, from Trees Forever.  What a blessing!

{My husband is a doer, I tell ya.  And while it takes him away from us, I sure love him for it.  His servant heart and helping hands are on the top of the list of what makes him extra awesome.  He spent a lot of time this week preparing the trees for planting.  Thank you, my love.}

The morning started with chapel, followed by a demonstration on how to plant the trees, and away each group went.  As you can imagine, 60 tree is quite the undertaking.  Those kids were busy little bees and did a fabulous job working together.

All busy!

See Charlie and Ruby there?  You bet.  You better believe this was a family project.  They will one day benefit from the trees and benefits they bring to the school, so we all pitched in.  Do we like getting dirty?  Eh, not really.  But teaching our kids the act of service is far better than clean hands.  


Good job, girls!

The school crew!
It was a messy morning with all the rain we've gotten this week, but the sun was shining and that was a gift.  The kids were eager to have a fun morning of being outside.  We are thankful for a place our children go daily, that not only cares about their smarts, but their character and ability to work hard, and work together, to make their school a better place.

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Ingenuity & Creativity

The girls worked very hard on Monday to bring us a "movie theatre."  After supper, we all got our tickets, they made very comfortable chairs for each of us, and we got cozy for the show.

Check it out!


They did this all on their own.  Layla drew the scenes, while Maleah got the box ready.  During the show, Layla told the story to us while Maleah rolled the film through.

I am absolutely fascinated by their imaginations, creativity, and ingenuity.
Way to go, girls!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Mother's Day Fun

Mother's Day was delightful.  We have started the tradition (well, it's only our second year in a row...) of planting flowers on Mother's Day.  It's so much fun to go pick out the flowers together, then come home and dig in.

I love the idea of planting our garden and flowers on Mother's Day.  There's working together as a family, the beauty of the colors, new life, and the production that the garden will bring.  It sounds fitting, right?  I should clarify, however, that I wish I could say the whole process was an absolute joy.  It wasn't.  There was frustration, nerves sky rocketing as garden tools were close to heads, and the list goes on.  It wouldn't be Mother's Day without some of "that."

{What did we do today?}
After church we went to Texas Roadhouse, home for a snooze, shopped for flowers, got T&L's ice cream, then home to do the work.  And let's not forget: I didn't change one diaper.  Score!

The kids love working in the garden!


Ruby girl watches on.

Pattin' those seeds down.

And, she found the dirt.  And, she ate the dirt.

Us girls went in for baths while the guys worked hard.


The little sweet peas who remind me of my name every day!
"Moooooommmmyyy!!"

It was a great day!  

Thoughts on Mother's Day...

It's 7:30 on Mother's Day evening, and all the little ones are sound asleep from a day full of goodness.  I have so many thoughts swimming around in my spaghetti brain.

If I were to be honest, it kind of feels like every day is Mother's Day.  I have always dreamt of being a mommy.  I knew it was what God wanted me to do with my life, and I felt so excited in that.  So, every single day I feel overwhelmingly grateful to be doing what I truly love and imagined about so many years.  Even on the bad days, I am living somebody else's dream.

But, Mother's Day is a nice day to set apart, isn't it?  Make it special.  Feel appreciated.  Bask in the beauty around me.  Be pampered a bit.

At church this morning, we were singing and I was looking around.  There were so many beautiful women; some with corsages on, some holding babies, and some with gray hairs.  And then boom, I saw him.  The single dad who had his sweet Jillian dedicated the same day as Layla.  Jillian is one of my very favorite little girls in the preschool wing, and her mama died shortly after she was born of heart arrhythmia (no real reason).  I remember Pastor John praying over Jillian, that she would not be bitter growing up without a mom, and that God would protect her.  Here we are on Mother's Day, celebrating, while five-year-old Jillian doesn't even have a mom.  I started crying.  And I couldn't stop.

My mind went back to our conversation in the van this morning.  To say Dallas and I are tired is an understatement.  After him working 102 hours this week, we felt like zombies.  I made the flippant statement in the car, "Eh...we will sleep when we are dead."  Layla piped up from the back seat, "I won't!"  Maleah said, "Me either!  I'll be dancing, singing, and praising God!"  Layla responded, "We won't even care about sleep!"  They are so wise in such a precious way.

Jillian's mom was celebrating today.  While I ache for the sadness of Jillian hearing all the other little children talk about Mother's Day, her mom is dancing.  Right then, when all this was weighing heavy on my heart, we sang the words to "10,000 Reason."  And on that day when my strength is failing.  The end draws near and my time has come.  Still my soul will sing your praise unending.  Ten thousand years and then forevermore.  Tears, tears, and more tears.  Praise the Lord!

Here's the deal.  I don't know everyone's story.  But they have all have one.

Sometimes I think about my opportunity to raise these little souls, and it almost takes my breath away.  Is there anything more worth my while?  I am a mom.  I am their mom.  I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but for today I am theirs and they are mine.  Life can be so short, and little earthly things that seem so big get in the way.  I never want to lose sight of the gift of being a mom.  I have all my babies with me everyday, I still have my beautiful mother to share life with, and I am surrounded by a multitude of mom friends that I absolutely adore.

For some reason, Mother's Day hit me different this year.  I am blessed.  So very, very blessed.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Evelyn Joyce

Last week, I was blessed with another sweet little niece!  

Meet Evelyn Joyce.




Evy was born on Tuesday.  We packed up that night and took off first thing Wednesday morning.  There's something about a fresh baby you just have got to see!  We went straight to the hospital, then back to the Scheve house to hang out and play games before heading to the hotel where all 13 {well, not Evelyn, Ruby, or Julia} children swam their little hearts out.  We ordered pizza, swam, swam, and swam, then hit the hay.  While the guys stayed back with the kiddos, Alisa, Mom, and I headed back to the hospital to see the baby and Erica.  It was peaceful and precious.  We stopped by the hospital for one more quick visit Thursday morning, then hurried back on home.

Between Alisa, Mom, and I, we brought home the first Scheve gals.  We also picked up Asher on the way home so the triplets could be together.  It was a fabulous, and I mean fabulous, five days.  I was seriously so sad to see them go back home.  The cousins had such a great time together, and it did my heart a lot of good.

I am positive all the kids will remember way back when Evy was born.  I love making memories.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Maleah's Contacts.

When we discovered all of Maleah's eye business, he mentioned that in a year or so we should consider doing a contact.  Well, that year came quick, and here we are.

She is super young for a contact, yes.  Let me explain.  She only has one contact for her right eye.  Her eyes are so drastically different.  She doesn't have an eye stigmatism or anything like that.  Lasik would do nothing for her, as it is more so a brain thing than an eye thing, actually.  Because her eyes are so incredibly different, one from the other, her brain (even with her glasses) gets two different visual images.  This is confusing to the brain.  A contact helps that barrier.  Not only will she be able to see up, down, and out so much better, but her contact basically serves as a part of her eye.  He said it's basically a fake cornea.  Makes sense.

To have contacts (a contact in our case), you have to be responsible enough to deal with it.  But, he told me that if Maleah was his daughter, he would have her working on a contact like yesterday.  He was confident that it would improve her vision (especially peripheral), and way of life, greatly.

Maleah was so excited to try a contact out!  Sadly, and surprisingly, the morning of getting her contact, we had this conversation:

Maleah: "Mom, if I have a contact, does that mean my eye won't look so big anymore?"
Me: "We can ask the doctor, but I think you won't even be able to tell you have a contact in.  Are you worried about what your eyes look like?"
Maleah: "Well, kids tell me a lot that my right eye is so much bigger than my left eye."
Me: "I think your eyes are beautifully perfect.  God gave you one funny eye to deal with, so we are thankful for Dr. Jarod and your glasses.  But, He made you so pretty, your eyes and all."
Maleah: "Yep!"

I had no idea anyone had ever said anything to her.  While getting the contact was totally for medical reasons, this was the icing on the cake for me.  Off we went, at the ripe ol' age of six, to try the contact.

Ready to learn!

She was so willing to try.
Donna was so incredibly patient with her!  They sat there for TWO HOURS.  It took one and a half hours to put the contact in the first time, then half hour to get it out, then back in and back out.  I had the kids, so we sat and encouraged her for a while, then went to the waiting room while they worked it out.  I assured Maleah that if it wasn't going to work, we could try again in 6 months/year.  I had heard that no matter the age, learning to put them in is difficult.  The youngest they had ever dealt with teaching contact care was to junior high kids.  But, she was determined.  And, it paid off.

Maleah was squealing in delight at the things she could see with her contact in!  An airplane.  She had never seen one in the sky before.  She loved her contact so much she didn't want to take it out.  But, in order to give the eye time to adjust, we have to gradually wear it longer each day.  She is now wearing it full time.
Her set up at home.

I'm not going to lie.  It is a really frustrating way to start the day.  Putting it in is hard and time consuming (we have to allow a loooot of time).  It takes a lot of tries and a lot of encouragement.  BUT, she has such a great attitude!  Probably better than mine.  Taking it out is going so well.  She can do it without even looking already!  She has done a fantastic job of learning.  She has a little bit of a thicker contact right now to learn on, so my next prayer is that our transition to her "dailies," which are flimsier, goes smooth.

We went back to the eye doctor today to get it checked, and her vision was better than it was with glasses.  Yay!  We celebrated with ice cream.


It took us a while to get used to her with glasses, and now it's taking some time to get used to her without.  I am so, so, so very proud of her.  Her courage and persistence has pleasantly surprised me.  She's done a good job, and I am very proud of my girl.