the dirty truth

i like to have my life together.

i love to check off my lists.

have everything clean, organized, and in control.

mess, dirt, and disorganization drive me cuckoo.

yesterday, one of the girls i work with said something about me having it all together.

i laughed out loud.

of course, i love to LOOK like i have it all together.

house clean.

kids dressed cute.

work finished.

showered.

the truth is... this is rarely the case.

more often than not, my life feels like a dirty, chaotic mess.  

within moments of the kids waking up, the house turns into a tornado of toys, food crumbs, and screaming.

it can feel like groundhogs day around here.

pick up toys.

sweep up meal off floor.

load/unload the dishwasher.

run the laundry.

repeat, repeat, repeat. 

and then it's lunchtime.

i have no idea how to actually clean my house.

the dust gets thicker on my furniture.

the mold gets, um, moldier in my shower.

and my floor... i don't even know what's on it anymore.

all my effort goes into simply just trying to get things picked up.

the truth is...

i'm exhausted.

my house is dirty.

i haven't showered today... in fact, i'm still in my pajamas with my teeth unbrushed.

if i have to pick up one more toy today, i think i might scream.

i try to come up with fun activities to do with my kids, only to have them fighting and creating even more of a mess.

if i spend the time cleaning, i'm ignoring my kids.

if i focus on my kids... my house needs to be condemned.

sigh.

sometimes the balance of being a mom, working part time, and maintaining a household feels like an unclimbable mountain.

a box that can never really be checked off.

a job that is never completed.

i love being a mom.

i enjoy my job.

i love having a clean home.

but today.... i just can't quite figure out how to make it all work.

here is my life, at this moment....

messy kitchen

toys everywhere.... through the entire house

no beds made

stuff to put away everywhere

a sink full of dishes

piles of things to file

filing, crafts, and misc items all waiting for a home 

bella jumping on the couch even though she's already received 3 time-outs today

charlotte telling me 'NA!' when i won't let her play with the remote

luckily, today is just one day.

i'm going to play another game of hi-ho-cherry-o with my kids,
and pick it all up when they go to bed.

and tomorrow, maybe, i'll have things 'all together'.

or at the very least, take a shower.

our firecrackers

who's who?

we get told all the time that our kids look alike.

often, we even get asked if they are twins.  

(really, isabella and charlotte?  bella is only 20 pounds heavier...)

the common feeling is that bella looks like me,

 jackson looks like jeff, 

and charlotte is a combo of the two.

and the girls look like michelle tanner from full house.

soooooo....

how about a little sunday guessing game?

below are pics of jackson, isabella, charlotte, and mary kate/ashley olson.

can you guess who is who?

here are pics of all the kids at 16 months (charlotte's current age)

except michelle tanner... this was what google had to offer me.

 A.

B.

C.

D.

 

E.

F.

G.

 

H.

I.

how did you do?

think they look alike?

next time i'll try to throw some old-school pics of jeff & i in there... we were pretty cute babies!

no matter what they look like, they definitely all have their very own little personalities.

and i love them all to pieces.

A. charlotte  B. bella C. charlotte D. michelle tanner E. charlotte F. bella G.jackson H. michelle tanner I. isabella

she did what?

our little bella is a determined girl.

she knows what she wants.

up until this summer, what she wanted was to sit on the step of the pool and splash.

she did NOT want to get into the actual water portion of the pool.

then this year, she discovered the floatie

  (see this post for pic... super cute :)

she has been happily floating around the entire pool, kicking her little feet.

but do NOT try to put her under and get her to actually swim.

if you do... watch out because you will get kicked/poked/scratched/hit/and screamed at until you have hearing loss.

i am so not exaggerating.  this happened to me just last week.

so imagine my surprise when we went to the pool on tuesday 

and bella said, "daddy, can i swim to you?"

um, what?

OF COURSE!

then that little stinker just leaped off the top step, kicked her legs, and swam to daddy.

and then wanted to do it over, and over, and over.

and guess who didn't have her camera?

since tuesday, bella has been begging to swim again.

we took her back this morning.

looks like we have another swimmer on our hands.

ready to swim, daddy!

here i go!

kicking those little feet.

she hasn't quite figured out how to move her arms yet, though.

 i did it!

 she is SO proud of herself and has been telling everyone she meets that she's a big swimmer.

but wait!

there's more!

we asked her if she'd like to try and jump off the side to daddy.

she said okay.

a bit nervously tried one time, 

and then.....

wanted to do it all by herself 

over, and over, and over.

what a big girl.

 

here's a little video of her jumping in.

(please ignore the camp games in the background and my super-loud and obnoxious sounding voice.  

seriously.. do you ever hear your voice and think, "i should never speak again?")

and if all that didn't make you smile

(in which case, you must be having a really bad day)

i thought i'd leave you with this little piece of sunshine

i love that cheesy, mater smile :)

pondo

we're having lots of fun here at pondo.

we've never been here before, so there's lots to explore.

here is the last 2 days in pictures:

logs turned into drums.

running, exploring, hide & go seek.

giant jenga.

mommy ziplining... just for jackson.

watching skateboarders, archery, and the giant swing.

discovering tadpoles.

we heart BOB.

dirt, dust, and more of the same.

pinecones, sticks, and rocks.

laughter, smiles, and giggles.

new friends.

mice in the kitchen.

cottage cheese for charlotte... all by herself.

the 'house' and the big rocks- so much fun to climb.

sharing a house with 7 other people.

charlotte up all night.

camp food.

thanks to all of you who have been praying for jeff this week....

 it is definitely working :) 

he is doing amazing and I am hearing incredible stories from kids and counselors.

to god be the glory!

keep it up- we're here until friday.  

and tomorrow.... i have something very exciting to share!

7 hours

just a picture of 5 bachmans on a road trip to camp:

*1 stop at the bakersfield chik-fil-a to stretch our legs

*in 'n' out- the ultimate in car food

*windmills in the middle of nowhere... jackson was in love

*charlotte-45 minute nap = crankiness

*lots & lots of binkies

*5 movies and a quasi-broken dvd player

*happy faces to arrive

we're here

jeff got home last night around 6pm.

hooray!

then this morning, we left at 9am.

after 7+ hours of driving.....

(think multiple potty stops, several tantrums, boredom, a mere 45 minute nap for charlotte, and  a lot of snacks later)

we are here.

i had super cute pics from the drive to share, but it looks like we have the world's slowest internet connection.  

so you'll have to wait :)

jeff is speaking this week at ponderosa christian camp in big bear california.

it is a new camp for us, and we don't really know anyone.

i am excited to see how god is going to use jeff to speak to the hearts of these kids this week.

he'll be preaching out of galatians 5- not an easy text!

currently, my husband is suffering from some massive jet lag.

right now it is 6am tomorrow israel time (8pm here)

he woke up at 2:30 this morning and hasn't slept since.

and right now he needs to go meet a camp full of new people,

build relationships,

and explain god's word.

if you read this, will you please pray for him?

pray that god would use him in a mighty way this week.

that he would give him energy and rest in every way possible.

that he would speak through jeff and the word would touch the lives of students.

that this week will mean something.

that students will grow in their relationship with christ because god chose to use jeff at this camp.