Watering Flowers

Spoiler alert: There probably won't be a single picture of flowers in this post.  

I read a devotional some time back and it talked about how folks spend too much time watering the (figurative) weeds in their life.  It really stuck with me and this year has been a great opportunity to weed out things that aren't so healthy and water the things that matter.  

Now, please don't take this to mean I'm suddenly an advocate for more 'me time' in the world.  I'm not.  Living a God filled life doesn't mean making yourself the biggest priority, but I think living a more God filled life does call for tuning out more of the noise and watering the things that bring you closer to Him.  

In keeping with this theme, we've scaled back on many obligations (also due to covid) but in the meantime we've focused on some pretty cool things.  Our neighbor drove by last night and absolutely hit the nail on the head.  "Mom. Dad. All the kids.  Whole family's together, must be working on a 4-H project!"  He was right.  Kenyon has a heifer to show and he's pretty serious about it.  Actually, he's pretty serious about most things in life.  I really appreciate that about him.  He thinks like, and talks like, a 70 year old man most of the time.  He gives directions to the substitute bus drivers using directions like 'east' and 'west' and uses them correctly.  He likes to talk about cattle and crops and what the forecast for the week is.  He told me the other night that he couldn't wait to grow up and be a hard worker every day just like his dad.  He's a cool kid that has a lot of priorities right we feel.  We pray that he doesn't lose sight of them.  

He's assigned a book to read every evening and the two middles enjoy listening to him.

John still absolutely loves Reese and considers her to be his baby.  Her happiness is his greatest joy in life.  He takes after me in that he considers Halloween to be rather ridiculous and he was dead set against dressing up.  I finally convinced him to wear his nice church clothes and pretend he was a presidential candidate.  He went to three grandparents' homes and said "Vote for me" and called it good.  

Vote for me!

Kathryn is at such a fun age right now.  Her sentences are getting longer each day and she loves to attempt big words.  I like it that she's learning reasoning skills and starting to put together bigger pictures in life each day.  She thoroughly enjoys being a big boy just like her brothers and running alongside them as they ride their bikes up and down the road.  Also, she enjoys picking out her clothes to wear each day.  If you see her in mismatched whatnot it is probably because I made her wear something.  If she looks awesome, it's all due to her.  For being a 'big boy', the kid has some fabulous taste. 

And then there is Reese.  Our dear sweet cheeks Reese.  She is such a light in our lives.  I do not know how we ever lived without her.  Her little dimples are insanely adorable and she loves to laugh unless she's hungry or has a dirty diaper.  I try to keep up on both and thus we are endlessly entertained with deep belly laughs and high pitched squeals and songs.  They are endearing.  Even the ones at 5am.  Because we needed to get up anyway.  She's like our personal alarm clock with no off switch.  

I made a conscious decision this week to ignore the mountain of laundry on the couch that needs folded and instead work in my wood shop.  This particular bench will be a surprise for some friends (so don't tell) and I can't wait to give it to them.  It was just one of those weeks when 'watering flowers' was necessary for my soul.  Again, not literal flowers.  I had to give up on my garden this year.  It was beautiful until we had a kid spend several days in the hospital and then it rained and BOOM.  Weeds everywhere.  Sigh.  Next year we will do better for sure, if only because the bar is incredibly low at the moment.  

A friend posted this picture of me and I'm eternally grateful for it.  1, it proves that I exist and 2, it showcases me in my natural habitat.  Outside and with a baby in my arms.  I don't enjoy having my picture taken, but I just love that I have this one of Reese and I together.  

I was so excited to have one picture of me, but then there's this guy.  I have thousands upon thousands of pictures of him.  The kids will have photographic evidence galore of Wesley to look back on someday.  Sunday afternoons and evenings we try to spend together, just the six of us, and we had a ball last night getting this heifer haltered and smothered with affection.  We've no grand dreams of 'winning the state fair' as John suggested, but rather, we'd just like Kenyon to have a good taste in his mouth after this project and hopefully the other kiddos will be inspired by him too.  

So there it is, in a nutshell.  These are the flowers we've been watering lately.