quite exhausted and brimming with joy

Montage on a Monday

Janitor Jo. Really vacuuming. Lifesaver. 

Sorting with Easter Candy! 

The green was with the brown, but hey, I was impressed!

Basket fun!

Radishes! 1st year growing them. Simple and very fun to harvest!

Putting on PJs by himself...lots of practice needed but a PJ necklace is quite the creative thought. ;)

Easter chocolate!

(And best buddies)

Easter Boy

Joyous Day!

As requested by Becky, here are more photos of our Easter Boy! We are all so smitten! 

Current thoughts:

Motherhood is finally making sense.

I'm so excited to continue to grow this precious family.

My kids are awesome.

My husband is amazing.

My husband is the best.

Our gardening this summer might be tomatoes and okra - I'm ok with that.

The kittens next door.

Community.

How much I love coffee.

Hoping for a beach trip.

Praying for godparents for our wee boy. (Join us!)

Rita, you are blossoming into such a little girl and so attentive to your brothers. Thank you for your love and patience. You are forever my princess, and I, your fairy.

Easter morning!!

Cannot contain the cute!!
P.S. BEST baby caps, EVAAAAA!

During family Rosary decade Jonah brought Emerson "bed" (bread) and "Jezus" (holy cards).
I was melting.
The love.
The love.
Thank you Lord for all of this love.

For now we are sick. Festival of amazingness this weekend and we just might not make it. I'm still healing (read: very sore) and the budget is thin (end of the month - when will i get better at pacing this?!). Anyway. Loving, love, love, loving being home. Missing my chickens some days but, phases and seasons! Grateful for just having to feed one cat and one fish each day. Low maintenance and simple is perfect for us right now. (Yes, the dog was rehomed. Him:Too huge. Me:Too pregnant. He had a great "fostering" experience here, and I don't regret our decision. Someone called us dog killers…whatever…the dog isn't dead, just living in a rural home where he can actually run his 85+ pound self ragged each day. Not a bad life, and definitely not dead.)

So, trucking along. And loving every minute.

Money, Money, Money (Not an NSYNC Rendition)

image: flickr.com

Finances make me feel like the above picture.

I LOVE the IDEA of being debt free and I mostly get frustrated with the process.

Here's an awesome quote that I read to re-ignite my fervor.  It's from Choosing Voluntary Simplicity.

I think the most difficult part of real frugality might even be the initial realization that for most people there is no shortcut to achieving a debt-free life. Unless your income is unusually high, your expenses are unusually low, and you have just been throwing your money away… it is a given that it will take time to pay off debts, build up savings, and prioritize your values. It won’t happen overnight, but if you stay on track, financial security WILL follow.

Christ is teaching me so much with this pursuit of contentment. Daily I have to turn our finances over to Him.  Some days I do better than others, but I am confident the Easter season will bring so much grace!