Katie R. Hurst

"Mom, sliding in the house is the BEST." "Thank You, Mommy." "This is so fun!" My house is a mess. Like, if you show up at my door I will refuse entry type of mess. Food is scattered on the floor from a big brother dumping cereal out for Evers to eat off the floor. School is all over the kitchen table.  Dinner from last night is still sitting on the stove. But, the kids think I ROCK!!! Want to know my secret? I sprayed Pledge on the wood floor, threw some sofa cushions against the end wall and TADAAAAAA!!!!! Slip N Slide in the house, Friends! P.S. I totally count this as P.E. for today. P.S.S. Daddy walked in early for lunch today and said, "You know Pledge isn't good for the floor, right?" And I said, "You know you weren't supposed to see this, right?!?" Ahem....he totally slid down the hallways himself and giggled like a school girl the entire way. 

I know I may get some rebuttal on this one, but here it is. Get out! Attachment is hard work and we are so afraid that if we leave we will ruin everything we have worked for and so we wait, and we wait, and we follow all the rules. We put our marriages on the back burner while we wait. Whoa. Girls. There is something very wrong with that statement. This is not okay. This is not Biblical. This is a lie. Take time with your husband. Go out with him. It may only be an hour of walking around the park while your friends sit with your kids. But get out! If the marriage fails, that attachment is going to take an even bigger hit. You need this. Your kids need you to need this. It is not just okay, it is necessary. Maybe you are stuck and don't have friends or family that you trust. Then plan a date night in. Buy some wine, or sparkling grape juice (whichever floats your boat) and some nice steak and chocolate. Do your hair. I am aware that this may take several attempts

It was a long night, followed by a long morning. At 10:35 I'm in agony that it is STILL morning. The same doggone one. This is how the morning started. But to my relief it was chocolate. To my horror, daughter two had the same issue....unrelated to chocolate in any way. I shall hold my hand over my mouth to resist saying what I'd really like to say right now. Laundry. Screaming. Breakfast burned. House destroyed. But I reminded myself that God is doing something beautiful here even if I can't see it now. So, I gave my self a survival task of taking pictures of beauty surrounding me. Tiny hands Colored gifts Encouraging friends dropping beauty in my life Friends who get it and give accordingly, Don't worry, these will not enter any beds tonight. And last but not least THE KEURIG. AKA, Promoter of World Peace

Aaaannnnddd. We made it. One month in China, taking my 9 year old as my support person. Adopting two girls who are completely blind, non verbal and really as helpless as infants. Four cities in a foreign country. Countless trips to aeon, walmart, trust mart, rt-mart. The girls screamed a total combined 13 of the 15 hour flight back to the States. My sanity is officially gone, gone, gone. TWO WEEKS HOME TOMORROW We survived. How? 1.Earplugs ya'll. And sometimes earbuds with music, loud music. 2.Sugar. I was sugar free before China. Bahahahahaha. Sugar is such a blessing. 3.Coffee with friends 4.Meals from the most amazing church ever 5.A new goal of saying five nice things to the spouse every day That's to counteract the grumpiness that jetlag and sleepless nights and adjusting to two new kids brings. Marriage is the Devil's playground. We've banned him from ours. 6.Keurig on repeat. ALL.DAY.LONG.