A bad mommy moment

We had this video posted on facebook for about 30 minutes before Brad deleted it because he thought it was too sad. But since the only people who look at this blog are pretty much family members, we thought it was semi-safe to show you a "very bad mommy moment", but also a video of Chloe rolling over! About halfway through videotaping I realized all the other times Chloe had rolled over she was on somewhat of a soft surface...this time, not so much! =0( Poor girl.

PS. And yes, I'm aware of how retarded I sound when I talk to babies! =0)

Baby steps

"One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time."

I heard this quote by John Piper a few months ago. Talk about convicting! I don't use twitter, but facebook, email, blogging, coupon searching... it was as if some sort of magnetic field was drawing me towards the computer. Everything in moderation is fine, but in my own life, I knew things were a little out of balance. When I would drag myself to bed late at night shaking my head at how many hours had passed while I sat at the computer, when I told the kids, "not now", because I was "busy" on the computer, when I would sit at the computer and google random things out of boredom, it made me start to wonder if I was really just being a poor manager of my time. I always complained that my house never seemed clean, my laundry never done, and how hard it was to find really good solid time with God...when in all reality, I had the time, I was just choosing to use it on something else. After hearing this quote the first time, I made a huge effort to cutback my time on the computer and spend more time growing my relationship with God. Now, a few months down the road I find myself drifting back in to my old habits, and it's time for a reality check again.

My reality is that I am mommy to four beautiful kids that are growing very quickly. My time is already in short supply, and I really do want to use it wisely. When I waste my time on the computer the two very most important things in my life: God, and my family get put on the back-burner once again. No, I don't think my house will be clean all the time, my kids perfectly happy every waking moment, and that I will have oodles and oodles of time to spend deep in prayer, just because I cutback my time at the computer. But I do think I will be making a step in the right direction. My mom gave me a book one time called, "We're making our house a happy home." And it talks about how the attitude of the mother sets the tone for the whole house. If the mother doesn't spend time with God the whole family suffers. Or sometimes in my case, if the mommy goes to bed too late...the family suffers. I don't want my family to suffer. I don't want to get overwhelmed when I step into my house and see clutter everywhere. I don't want to have junky food to eat because I failed to plan a good meal. No, I won't stop using facebook, email, or even blogging. I love them all and I think there is huge value in relationships and staying connecting. But I do need to re-prioritize again and use them in moderation. So wish me luck as I do my best to stay off of the computer when the kids are awake, and to take a step in the right direction, if only a baby step.

Tulip Festival

Whenever I think of tulips, I think of the poem my Grandma once told me:

Tulips in the garden

Tulips in the park

The tulips I like best

Are two lips in the dark! =0)

Although this post has nothing to do with smooching, it does have a little something to do with flowers! This past weekend we packed the family in the car and took a 45 minute drive to Mount Vernon to hit the Tulip Festival. Here are some of my favorite pics!

Silly Josiah =0)

Love this pic of Maddy

Sweet Reagan

Notice Josiah's jeans... it took him about ten minutes to think puddle jumping was much more fun than "oohing and aahing" over flowers! Gotta love boys! ; )

Happy Easter

On Easter morning we woke up to sun streaming in through the windows and bright blue skies. It couldn't have been a more perfect day...unless you lived at the Fox house. I was having one of those mornings where I wanted to scream, but instead I just muttered, "Are you kidding me?!" every two minutes... Have you ever had those days? If not, wait until you have four children, it seems like it is an almost every day occurrence. ; ) I started the day by chiseling my super yummy idiot proof sticky buns out of the pan...after some investigation I realized I forgot to put the 2 cubes of butter in that it called for. Slight detail. Which meant I had to make a run to the store (when I was already running late) and buy cinnamon rolls to bring to our friends house after church. Then right as we were ready to walk out the door I found Madelyn stuffing her face with so much chocolate that her cheeks were oozing brown goo out of her mouth and down her Easter dress...there was no salvaging her dress, so an entire outfit change was in order! While I was finishing up I discovered a huge wad of gum stuck in her hair! That took another ten minutes... Oh the joys of motherhood! And that was only to name a few of the lovely adventures we had that morning. Ummm yeah, we barely made it to the last hour of church!
Maddy loves, "Baby Co-ie"!
~Josiah, Madelyn and Chloe

Madelyn loved dying Easter eggs!

So much so that we found her drinking the dye by the spoonfuls! This is her face after we told her, "NO!"

Reagan and Josiah had a blast this year, and were very creative...
Gotta love The Dollar Tree! Found some sweet deals for the kids' Easter baskets!

The beginning of the sugar-high!

Brad's sang in the choir this year! There's no way that I can point him out, but just know he's in there somewhere! =0)

Reagan and Chloe

Happy Easter from our family to yours!