A Schrag Kind of Christmas

Like a lot of people, Christmas is our favorite time of year. The crisp air, glowing lights, holiday shopping, and extra time with family. It just goes by way too fast. Every year I look at David and say "why can't the stupid hot weather go by this fast?"

But alas, it's over and now it's time to reflect upon the year and make resolutions for the new one. But first, I'd like to remember what this Christmas was all about, Jesus Christ and family.

We've made some traditions as a family that I absolutely adore. The first one is that on Christmas Eve we let the kids open one present each and it includes new pajamas to wear that night and a new blanket. I try to remember to wash everything first, but this year I didn't, so I had to wash a quick load before bath time.

New pajamas and blankets. I think we have around 20 blankets now, but there's always fort building right?!

 

We also bake a birthday cake for Jesus and make reindeer dust. Charlie got to pick out the cake this year and it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. They all took turns decorating and we sang happy birthday to Jesus. And if you're unfamiliar with reindeer dust, it is a mixture of oatmeal and glitter. You sprinkle it on your lawn so that Santa can see the glitter sparkle from the sky and the oatmeal is to feed the reindeer. I believe there are several different variations out there. We chose the most simple one.

We follow that by making popcorn with M&M's and watching a Christmas movie. It's usually Home Alone or Jingle All The Way. I don't think anyone ate popcorn but me. They just tried to fish all of the candy out of the bowl.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We didn't have any glitter so cake sprinkles did the trick. Saving some money.

 

It was now bedtime so we followed our normal routine. Bath, teeth brushing, book reading, saying prayers, and then chasing them back into their rooms for about 30 minutes. We always read The Night Before Christmas to the kids and they get all excited dreaming about the morning to come.

During the next hour I was the look out. That really meant I got to sit on the couch and watch TV while David finished wrapping gifts. Earlier in the day I took the kids to Little Giggles so David could wrap gifts but he didn't finish.
About an hour later he was done. We ate leftover pizza and started watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the best Christmas movie ever! Unfortunately we were so tired that we both fell asleep on the couch before making it halfway through the movie. We woke up, grabbed the stockings, put them by the fireplace, put our elf Giggles away, and went to bed.

7:30 AM and it's Christmas morning! We read Luke Chapter 2 to the kids before we allowed them to open any gifts, because that's the real reason for Christmas right? This year instead of missing it all while trying to take pictures, I sat my phone down and just recorded everything. I'm always trying to get more video. Pictures are great but there's just something about being able to listen to their tiny voices and laughter on camera.

We spent the afternoon with my sister's family and my mom and step dad. We ate traditional Christmas food and opened gifts. Then for the last special treat of the day, Madelyn and I wet to see Annie at the movie theatre.  It was a great day. One to Remember.

The last picture on Christmas Eve night.

You can see the frustration right? "Why do we have to take a picture? We want to open gifts!"

Stockings first. Christopher opened his so fast I couldn't even get a picture.

 I think he was reading his xbox gift card.

Santa always brings the necessities to the baby's stocking.

Lip gloss!

Her first pair of kitten heels, and they're red glitter. She has worn them every day since Christmas.

They're own doll carriers made by a friend.

And the best gift of all. After 3 years we have a trampoline in our back yard!

Above all the gifts, laughter, memories, and food, Jesus is what matters. He should always be the center of your circle. The stronger your relationship with God, the stronger the relationships with your family and friends will be. I love my God, but he still loves me more. He loves me perfectly despite my faults and he loves you despite yours.


Love,
The Schrags

A Pretty Perfect Day.

 

It's been way too long since my last post and I promise myself to do it more often. It's not only therapeutic but the 15 minutes it takes to put together will be priceless 15 years from now.

Michal had it covered.

My wonderful new/old friend Michal and I are experimenting with kid swapping and it's pretty terrific! We each get the fun on watching our kids play together and some free time so it's a win-win all around. Today was her turn to watch my hooligans and it just so happens that David had the day off.

My handsome husband!
 

We pretty much drove up to Michal's door and tossed the kids out of the car and sped away. Just kidding. We slowed down first. Ha! The first destination was Kohl's then David actually agreed to go to TJ Maxx with me. Pigs must have flown over the house last night.
We continued shopping until we finished with our Christmas list! We've made a vow not to buy the kids anything else before then so we will see how that goes. If anyone reading this is without children, my advice is to never build Christmas up too early. That sets expectations high and it's difficult to lower them. It was nothing to spend $500 on one or two children, but with four that's no longer possible. Plus as most parents believe, the materialism of Christmas has gotten out of hand. Whew, that was my lesson for the day apparently.

After we got home I nursed Annabelle and put her to sleep so the bigger kids and I could make peppermint hand scrubs for teachers and nursery workers at church. They do so much for my kids and we love them dearly, so a small token of appreciation was definitely in order.

I googled a recipe and we got to working. Christopher was tested with multiplication of a recipe and he quickly became bored a retreated to his room. Madelyn grabbed a spoon without me knowing and began eating the sugar. Charlie found a brown paper bag and started using it as a suitcase for every toy she could find... I was left to make scrub by myself. At least until it came time for the fun part, putting it into the containers. I'm pretty impressed and wish I would have bought another container for myself! Peppermint oil is a favorite of mine and my house smelled like heaven.

Now it's time to get the house picked up, get the girls ready to go stay the night with grandma, pick up Greyson and take the boys to wrestling. It's been a pretty perfect day. God is great and he has given me so much more than I will ever deserve. I honestly try to show God's love whenever I can and it makes me feel closer to him.

Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Christopher put the ipad away to help. This is big!

This little girl steals my heart when she says "mama I wanna hewp you."

Don't worry, the sugar I caught her sticking her tongue in was thrown away.

This was the best part!

The color is off  because these are a beautiful mint hue. It was very easy and I hope they bring smiles to
our favorite people's faces.

Love always,
Lisa

My terrible, awful, horrible, not good, bad day.

I will be upfront and let you know this will be completely negative. This is for my benefit and will not uplift anyone so please feel free to stop reading and move onto something better. Today has been the hardest day of my journey so far. But I cannot take my frustration out on 4 children and I try not to take it out on my husband so here I go.

I woke up pissed off! You know those days when you wake up and already know it's not going to go well and everything is going to be negative. Yep, that was today. And sorry for the language but that's the best explanation I have.

I didn't want to go to the gym, I didn't want to change another diaper, I didn't want to argue with 2 irrational children, I didn't want to do another 3 loads of laundry, clean dishes, mop, sweep, etc... What I wanted to do was eat the sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit that made it into my McDonald's bag yesterday by mistake. Then eat a bagel with butter, a couple pieces of bacon, some sausage, some biscuits with gravy, and a Mt. Dew. So that not only upset me because I wanted to eat an entire grocery store but knowing that I can't eat those foods ever... Moderation is not something I am good at and I was born with the metabolism of a slug so I have to say bye to the things I love. And by the things I love I mean food. Good food. Carbohydrates saturated in fats food. And you know what? It's not fair. It's not fair that some people can eat a truck load of Little Debbie cakes while washing it down with sweet tea and NEVER gain a pound. It's not fair that some people don't really care about food and have to remind themselves to eat something. It's not fair that for some reason the part of my brain that is supposed to tell me I'm satisfied doesn't work. IT'S NOT FAIR!

Not to mention Madelyn and Charlie was extremely ill-behaved today. Annabelle bit me twice while nursing her, and I had to wake both babies up in order to get Christopher to gymnastics on time. That only meant one thing. David would get home late. That was just another hour of being ganged up on by little people who you cannot reason with and will do the exact opposite that I ask of them.

Now it's dinner time and I shut myself in my bedroom to get 20 minutes to myself. There is chicken ready to eat and dang it, I DON'T WANT CHICKEN! I want what other people are having... Then there's sweeping the same floors I've swept 4 times already, more dishes, more diapers, more frustration. More reminding myself that I am again in the place I said I would never be again. Agonizing about losing the weight I gained while just doing what I love. Eating.

So with all that being said, I will eat the stupid chicken and pretend it's something that tastes good. I will thank God for everything that I am obviously taking for granted and complaining about. I will ask for his forgiveness and strength. And I will ask that tomorrow be a better day.

Some Kind of Wonferful Weekend

I can't tell you how long it's been since David and I got to go out on a weekend night without kids. Besides our anniversary back in May, it's been months. Thanks to our wonderful church family we got to go out to eat at Outback. I can't express the love we have for everyone in our church. They really are family.

We decided that Saturday would be a family day. I got out of bed around 9:30. And before you get jealous thinking I slept until 9:30, I'll say that I still have an 8 month old baby who nurses at LEAST every 3 hours at night...
I was brushing my teeth when I see a text from David that says "gentry safari." So I holler back "well then lets get ready." So an hour and a half later (because that's how long it takes to get 4 kids ready and nurse the baby again) we get in the car and drive to Gentry... I mean Oklahoma, because we're directionally challenged and the safari sign was missing on the way there.

It was HOT, but the kids had a blast riding the ponies and feeding the animals. We were pleasantly surprised at how many animals we saw during the drive through part and had to visit the car wash later to remove the snot and slobber from the windows. It was pretty pricey to get in but that's why you work and make money right?

My husband never looks more handsome than when he's baby wearing!

I had to throw Charlie up on the pony while she was screaming no, but we knew she would love it, and she did.

Riding a pony in a sparkle skirt... That's our princess Madelyn.

This was Charlie's favorite part.

Christopher is growing up too fast. We have a hard time finding things that all four of the kids can do because of the big age gap. But he's a terrific big brother and very loving. He will be an outstanding man some day.

She may be in a skirt but she's not afraid to get dirty.

Annabelle watched with wonder. She never cried or got upset. She's just along for the ride.

 

After the safari we did some chores and rested up. I managed to convince David that we should take the kids to the Bentonville splash park in the evening and get snow cones. It was beautiful weather and the kids had a lot of fun and ran all of their energy off. The snow cones weren't a hit but the water was.

Christopher isn't pictured because he was lying on a towel soaking in the sun.

And then it's Sunday. The kids love going to church and they can't wait to see their friends and their teachers. David and I feel a real sense of community and thank God for sending Pastor Jonathan into our lives about 7.5 years ago. We look forward to worshiping every Sunday, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night. Our greatest hope is that our children will find other God loving friends to grow up with.

Now it is time to rest up.

Love,
Lisa

A Day In The Life.

I got this idea from another blog and thought it would be fun to look back on one day. I probably shouldn't have chosen today but it happened, so here we go.

Annabelle and I co-sleep because I think I would go insane if we didn't. I try not to look at the clock every time she wakes me up to nurse because honestly it's just extra frustrating. I will say my day started at 7:30 because that's when I actually knew what time it was. I nursed Annabelle and must have fallen back asleep because the next thing I knew Christopher and Charlie got in my bed and it was 9:15. Charlie said "I need go potty mama," and after I realized she took her diaper off and was on my bed naked, I jumped up and asked Christopher to take her to the bathroom.

When Christopher was back I put him in charge of watching Annabelle while I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Today was going to be a no shower day and I quickly accepted that. But mass chaos happens in my bathroom and bedroom unless I do what needs to be done then lock the door.

I try my hardest to let Christopher be a kid when he's home. I honestly despise the "Dugger" style of parenting as I call it, but some days I use Christopher more than I'd like to. Today was going to be one of those days. We were planning on going to Little Giggles so I needed to get everyone dressed, fed, baby bag packed, snacks packed, and the house sort of picked up before we left. Madelyn stayed at my mom's last night so it was one less child, but it still takes a LONG time to get ready to leave my house. Especially when Charlie has now entered the phase of not wanting to wear a diaper even though she is not potty trained.

Just as soon as I had everything packed and ready, Christopher and Charlie were in the car, Annabelle has a blow out...Everywhere!

Little Giggles was a bust. I think they are bored of it now because no one was having fun and they were not listening or following directions. David brought McDonald's and no one was eating. Annabelle was nursed twice, put into the carrier, rocked, but nothing was working. I quickly asked David to help me get them in the car and we left. It was a waste of $35.00 for sure.

I get home and my first thought is that it's nap time! Annabelle is highly distracted these days when nursing so I try to take her into my room and lie down with her until she falls asleep. During that time Charlie took her clothes off and got in the baby pool in the backyard...
Charlie was next and she fought me tooth and nail. She refused to put a diaper on and I had zero energy left, so she is sleeping with panties on. It will just add to the mother load of laundry that's waiting on me.

It's now time for a deep sigh and strength from God because there is a lot of stuff to get done.

I turn on a movie for Madelyn and Christopher. I feel bad that I'm not giving Madelyn one on one time so I give her an ice cream cone and turn on Lilo and Stitch. Christopher wants to go to a friend's house and I let him but he comes back a few minutes later saying they're not home. So Madelyn is now bored and Christopher is upset that he's not getting to play. I decided to have a little talk with Christopher about how mommy can't do everything by herself so when I ask him for help it's because we're a family. We're there to help each other. He shrugs me off and goes to playing video games.

I get to my list:
clothes in the dryer
2 loads of dirty clothes
2 loads of diaper laundry
picking up massive amounts of kid clutter
dirty dishes
unpacking from Little Giggles
oh, and maybe getting to eat something for lunch

It's 2:00 PM and I'm exhausted, frustrated, and feeling like a bad mother....

I think I'm just going to stop here. I still have to pack all the kids up to take them to Christopher's gymnastics lesson, attend my weight watchers meeting, pick up the house again, make dinners, give baths, finish laundry, nurse another 7 times, etc. I'm sounding like whine bag and everything that's coming from my mind is negative. All I want to do is stuff my face with the chips and cookies that I stare at all day long. But remind myself they're not weight watchers approved, get mad that I can't have them, then get over it.

Annabelle is now crying and I realize nothing on my list is going to get done. She took a whole 40 minute nap...


What I do know is that my job is hard, stressful, exhausting, frustrating, and endless. But it's also awesome, beautiful, important, and God sees... He hears my heart, and gave me a wonderful husband to help. I couldn't do it without that man for sure. I'm blessed and today was just another day. It's okay that I'm frustrated and would trade places with David in an instant. Tomorrow may be exactly like today but it's another day living in God's grace and that's AMAZING!

Love,
Lisa

I am a work in progress.

My daily devotional this morning was about our attitudes towards ourselves. And I think God knew exactly what I needed to hear!
Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

It doesn't matter what others may think of you, or ever what you think of yourself. The only righteous judgment comes from God. Yes, I want people to know that I am a follower of Jesus and that I love my family and friends. I want to feel good about myself in the morning based on my words and actions of yesterday, but that has been a very big struggle for me lately.

I am an open book. I always have been and I always will be. I am a loyal friend, wife, mother, sister, and daughter. So when things or people get in the way of these relationships I can't seem to be objective and as Christ like as I should be. I'm working on that. But this morning I wasn't happy when I saw myself in the mirror. My heart and mind are full of hateful thoughts and negativity. I ask God to remove these feelings from my soul and to replace them with light and joy. I know he is helping me do this but it's on my shoulders to fix.

So I guess my point is that it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you but God. He knows what's in your heart. He doesn't care what car you're driving, what brand and size your jeans are, or what neighborhood your home is in. He wants your car to be driven to church and for your to offer rides to those in need. He wants jeans to be on a butt that's worshiping him. And he wants your home to be filled with his spirit and love.

I am a work in progress...

Love,
Lisa

It's our Anniversary!

Friday June 13th, 2007 is  a day I will always remember. David and I had plans to go see the newest Harry Potter movie and my mom was going to watch Christopher for a few hours.

I was sitting at my desk waiting for 5:00 to roll around when my dear friend Dolores handed me an overnight bag. Inside was a beautiful bouquet of roses and a note that said come outside to the main entrance and there would be a car waiting for me. Well, I looked around for my boss to make sure it was okay for me to leave early but there was no one in my department. I hoped that I wouldn't get in trouble but who would say no to a rose bouquet and a note from your handsome boyfriend?

Waiting for me in the parking lot were all my co-workers with huge smiles and tons of applause. Also a man holding a sign with my name on it outside of a limousine. I think my smile at the time was permanent for the next several hours.

He gave me an letter that said he was going to take me to a hotel and to let the front desk person know when I got there. We arrived at the hotel and I did just as he asked. The hotel desk clerk handed me an envelope which had a card key inside. The note said to go to the room and come in. Well at this time I had a suspicion that he was going to propose but I didn't want to get my hopes up because maybe it was just a little weekend getaway.

I knocked on the door because apparently I can't read directions when I'm super excited and nervous. No one answered! I kept knocking then finally let myself in... David greeted me down on one knee. He was wearing the same clothes that he did on our first date, had my favorite flowers, was playing our song, and was holding a box. Of course I started instantly crying and could barely understand what he was saying. And knowing David, it was something beautiful. But I screamed yes and put on the most gorgeous engagement ring I've ever seen.

Our wedding day was amazing. And best of all we got to share it with David's mother who is no longer with us. I remember David holding her up so they could dance together. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.  I thank God for that. I know in my heart that God let her hang on long enough to see her youngest son get married. She also asked me to promise that I would always take care of him and I will never go back on that promise.

David and the little boy who will look up to him forever.

I love this picture! David carried him down the aisle after we said I do and this is the first picture after that.

The first picture of our four beautiful children all together. BLESSED!

To this day I have no idea why God chose to bring this man into my life. David is truly my better half and at times I feel as though I don't deserve him. He has given Christopher the father he never would have had and has given our girls the ultimate role model. He's a kind and loyal friend, a wonderful father, and my husband! Ya hear that ladies? He's mine...

___________________________________________________________________________

Edited to add that David and I had a wonderful kid free meal at Ruth's Chris. My mom came over to watch the babies and we had 2.5 hours alone! It was great.

Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful weekend! Friday night David took Christopher to a baseball game so the girls and I went to a graduation party for Heather Martin at our church. The girls ran and ran until they almost passed out... That made for a very easy night for baths and bed.

The next morning Annabelle and I went to Tulsa with the ladies from church. I got some chocolate from Godiva, a pedicure, some much needed nursing shirts, sandals, and clothes for the kids. It was about 90 degrees and the bus's AC wasn't working properly, so other than that it was a lot of fun.

 

 

Then it was Mother's Day. David and Christopher went to church early to talk to Pastor Jonathan because they were getting baptized!!! That was present enough but I found a beautiful love letter from David, a bracelet that Christopher made me at school, handwritten letters from Christopher, and a sparkling locket on the dashboard of my car! I was overwhelmed with love and appreciation.

You can see my beautiful locket.

I found my gifts in the van as we were heading to church.

 

The church service was wonderful. My mom, Wayne, and our dear friends the Katzers came to witness the baptism. Then the Katzers came over to have lunch. That's always fun watching all the kids running around playing with each other.

After David was baptized he and Pastor Jonathan baptized Christopher together.

If that wasn't enough Wynne and I went to see Mother's Night Out with the tickets David bought us. The movie was nothing short of the story of my life. I reflected a lot and cried a lot. It was a great reminder that our children won't remember if the house was messy, or if their dinners aren't homemade. But they will remember that their mom and dad loved each other, loved them, and tucked them in at night while saying a prayer and I love you.

There have been many times that I have voiced frustration about feeling unimportant and unnoticed. Being at home with children all day is hard. It really is. And I've realized that the brunt of my frustration gets put off onto David because there's no one else for me to vent to. I am going to try to change that. I am going to put it in God's hands and just enjoy the fleeting time with my children that I love so much!

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers. We are important and God sees.

What a wonderful day!

The girls and I were supposed to go to The Crystal Bridges Museum for their preschool day but there was rain in the forecast so I decided that tromping through a museum with three wet kids that are 4 and under wasn't such a pleasant idea.

After several days of almost 90 degree weather (yes 90 degree weather in the beginning of May) it was a cooler morning and overcast which are my favorite days! We all went outside to ride bikes, draw with sidewalk chalk, and sit in the neighbors yard to pick their flowers (weeds).

David came home for lunch which I so appreciate. I was able to get a few things done while he was holding the nursling. After he left I decided to order pizza for lunch then felt guilty when I paid almost $20 when we had perfectly good food in the pantry.

Annabelle was asleep when it began to rain so Madelyn and Charlie got to go play. Their smiles and giggles were contagious and those are the memories I hope to never forget. I captured pictures and sent them to David at work and got some great video. One day we will look back on that footage and smile.

It has been a good day. A blessed day from God.