The photos are just simple moments during the week. I’ve been working on being more intentional on shutting out excess noise in my life, and while doing so, I’ve noticed that I can no longer just enjoy a dull moment. If I have a free second at home, at a red light (totally guilty!), standing in line, or sitting as a passenger, I will automatically grab my phone to check it (email and instagram). It’s this mindless habit that I have become accustomed to and it’s absolutely horrible. This bad habit has contributed to some of the noise in my life and I have really been working on getting rid of it.

Ben and I were sitting outside one evening and he went inside to grab something. I saw the iPad right there on the table, it was either just sit there and do nothing, or grab the iPad. I wanted to grab it so badly, probably to check Pinterest or something, but I had to resist. There was nothing I had to look at, nothing urgent at all, but I’ve trained myself to fill my dull moments with an electronic device.

Therefore, this week I’ve tried to enjoy the dull moments more. Once the girls go to bed, I usually get on the computer to blog, email, or just waste more time (hello Pinterest and online window shopping!), but this week I’ve planned my evenings to stay away from the computer. I even enjoyed a glass or two of wine while reading a book or watching something relaxing on Netflix. The girls are usually getting ready for bed by 7pm, so if I have to do something online, I’ll try do it between 7-8pm, and then after that, step away and enjoy the evening with Ben. It’s been so refreshing. I feel like we’re both always working on our home, but we never get to enjoy our home. Does that make sense?! It’s like everyday is go, go, go, and we never actually sit there and enjoy it. Anyone else feel that way?

I’m going to keep on trying to enjoy these dull moments as they come. Sure, sometimes I may still check something on my phone, but I don’t want that to be my go-to all the time. It’s lame for my kids to see and I’m probably missing out on a lot of great things by looking down, even if it’s just for a couple minutes.

One great thing about all of them being close in age is that I don’t feel like I have to constantly entertain or play with them, especially when the baby is napping, because they all do a really good job of playing together (usually). A couple days ago, once the baby went to nap, I set off to organize and clean the homeschool area. I was so engrossed in my task that I had no clue what the girls were doing downstairs (parenting at its finest, right?!). It was pretty quiet and their was no fighting, so I took that as a good sign. Of course, the girls had no problems entertaining themselves. I went downstairs to find everything is disarray (I was totally controlling my urge to clean up), but their mess was really cute because they turned the whole first floor into an arcade central, more specifically it became Chuck. E. Cheese. I chuckled as I walked room by room reading the challenges and the “tocens.” Once I entered the guest room/play room, I had to smile big because of the prize area… there was all their junk, um, I mean toys, displayed for all to see.

And you know the best way to make clean your white walls?! Use a filter when sharing a picture of it on instagram… instantly wonderfully white! To be honest, all my white walls are pretty dingy due to little hands, toys, and crayons, and they all look like the second picture above.

Even though their home arcade messes looked pretty fun, they did have to clean it later in the day.

I’ve started to realize I have way too much noise in my life. Noise from binge watching shows on Netflix, from the internet, my own dumb wants, music, social media, projects, and the list goes on. I have been horrible at listening to my husband, children, and especially my God. I’ve filled my life with so much noise that I was losing focus and neglecting the things that should be most important to me. This week I started to see and hear more clearly, and I’m thankful for the different ways God revealed to me just how cluttered my life was. Sometimes I really suck at this wife and mother thing, so I’m praying (and trying to be more consistent at praying) that God keep shaping and growing my selfish heart into a selfless one.

The two big girls have been at a sleepover for a couple days, so Soul’s been enjoying some quiet time to paint and play in peace. Maybe it’s me who gets the peace because when there’s only two at home, there is for sure much less fighting.

The dynamic is so different any time one or two (or three) of them aren’t here, and Glow talks a lot more when her big sisters aren’t here doing the talking for her. There’s less cleaning and mess (and half the meals) when only half of them are home. When the baby goes for nap, I try to get as much done as possible from cleaning to emails, to getting curriculum ready for the new school year. Somehow though, I still never get as much done as I hoped to get done when they’re not here.

I’m glad the girls get to have fun, but we sure do miss them when they’re gone. While managing two at home is much easier than four, I like my four, chaos and all. Even if sometimes I feel like the chaos drives me nutso and I’m a crazy yellin’ mommy, I’ll take it.

These girls are goofy and playful. If you met them, they would be absolutely silent and you wouldn’t get to see how silly they really are because they are super shy, but they are so funny (when they aren’t shy)! True is the shyest, and we think about putting her in traditional school to see if that would make a difference with her shyness, but we don’t think it would. I think if she were in traditional school, she would easily get overlooked in a classroom because she would stay on task, but she’s just so quiet, she would get lost. The other girls aren’t nearly as shy, but they follow her lead when we’re out and about. When they aren’t with her, they are much more outgoing. It’s so interesting how the oldest really influences the rest of them.

As parents of a very shy child, I find it difficult because she can come across rude and it may seem like we don’t teach them politeness. We are constantly reminding her that even if she feels shy, she can still be polite and greet people. We practice how to greet others (like here) and they meet other kids often, but sometimes that shyness just takes over. It can be so frustrating! She’s such a sweet girl, but it just takes some time for her to come out of her shell. We had a large group of friends over a couple weeks ago (with their kids), and I think it took about an hour to break out of the shyness, but once she did, oh man… all the kids were running around the house. We just need to remember to be patient with her, keep practicing, give her opportunities to practice, and praise her when she takes steps forward (and be encouraging when she needs it). One plus of them being shy is that when we are out in public, especially when dining out, they are pretty behaved. It makes us look like we have really great parenting!

But when they are with people they are comfortable with, they (even True) are squirrelly children. We are always laughing at the funny things they say and do. Soul’s always saying, “Stop laughing. Why are you laughing?!” It’s so cute.

Any of you have super shy children or were shy as a child? What are some things you did or your parents did to help you feel more comfortable engaging others? We understand their shyness is part of them and we love that, but we also want them to have a healthy balance of being able to engage others and not letting their shyness hinder them.

on me: dress, vintage from ms. tips. shoes, swedish hasbeens. necklace, handmade. on true: dress, handmade pattern in my book. leopard shoes, c/o old navy. on brave: dress, handmade by me. shoes, zara. on soul: top, misha lulu. denim skirt and jellies, c/o old navy. on glow: dress, from auntie reinna’s travels. shoes, vintage.

Ben’s ready to give up going to the fair, but I won’t let him. It’s tradition to go, use the photo booth, and take this picture. Here are some things I noticed about this newest picture versus the rest…

True is actually smiling in this picture!

This is the first year I’m not carrying the baby (in my belly or my arms).

Ben broke the cycle of carrying Soul.

Ben’s wearing the same shorts as last year (and similar shirt). He’s a simple guy and rarely buys anything new for himself.

Read last year’s comparisons here. Another tidbit from these pictures… The one of 2007, Brave was born the very next day. All that walking at the fair helped get labor started because my water broke the very next morning (we were at the fair until late that night).