This past week I have thought about a lot of things that happen that I wish someone would have informed me of before having children that might have made me think twice before having four.  Oh who am I kidding?  We didn't plan any of our kids and I never read a book about parenting, but I think that the information needs to be put out there for all mommies-to-be.  Mind you it isn't traditional information like sleep when the baby sleeps or anything like that.  And a lot of it has to do with the bathroom since that's where we spend a majority of our time.  Deal with it.  If it offends you, don't read it.
  These are just a few off the top of my head.  Please log in and leave your comments to add your own!  I love a good laugh!
 1.)  Never EVER change a baby's diaper without wipes nearby thinking that they have only peed.  It will not work out well for you.
  2.)  Why is the toilet paper roll out whenever I sit down and take the two seconds to go to the bathroom?!
  3.)  Why do the kids have to all go # 2 right before we have to go out the door and be somewhere?
  4.)  Why does someone need me the second I get into the shower?  And continue to ask me things through the door when I repeatedly yell that I can't hear them?
  5.)  What exactly is the radar that I emit whenever I come into or leave the house that causes all the children to scream, cry, and need me simultaneously?  Or better yet, how do I lose it?!!
  6.)  Why whenever I sit/ and or kneel down to do anything, that I instantly become a human jungle gym?
  7.)  Why can't I get skinny by just chasing my toddler away from the toilet and dining room table?  It is an every five minute thing...
  8.)  Why hasn't someone invented an automatic car seat cleaner so you don't have to take the darn thing apart every time your kid pukes, poops, or leaves crayons in the hot car (hypothetically speaking, of course)?
  9.)  How do your breasts return to a normal size when your over 6 month old baby stretches them out about 6 inches while nursing and trying to watch his brothers wrestle at the same time?  Wait, scratch that question-they DON'T.
  10.)  How do little people that can drive you so crazy make you also the happiest?!!
 

Who Am I??????

  Mitchell had his first cross-country meet of the after-season today.  He had to run 3K (1.8 miles) in the rain and it was so cold.  He did really well and I'm so proud of him-next week he'll run in the regionals in Oregon.  Mitchell is such an intellectual kid that isn't really into sports, so I'm so happy that he seems to have finally found his niche.  I believe with continued practice, he will be really great at it.  One thing that I noticed while he was running today was that he tended to look behind him a lot.  After the race was over, I told him that he shouldn't do that while in a race, because it's counter-productive.  He should always have his eyes forward, on the finish line.  I was chatting with my grandma on the way home and I had an epiphany.  Isn't that what so many of us do with our lives?  We are constantly looking behind us rather than toward the future.  And what does that give us besides bitterness, regret, anxiety, and all the emotions that we want to avoid?  Or maybe it's to the other extreme and we are looking at all the happy times that happened before and living in the past.  The problem with that is we tend to have a very skewed and biased view of our past.

  I have been struggling lately trying to figure out who exactly the present-day Sarah Curl is.  I am David's wife and mom to my four boys, but if you take away that identity what do people know about me?  When I was in college, I thought I'd graduate with my degree in advertising and move to a big city and work in an agency.  I thought anyone who followed their man around for his job was crazy!  I guess God had other plans for me, because not only do I follow my man around the world, but I'm also a stay-at-home mom to 4 boys!  I've always thought God has a great sense of humor, especially when it comes to our plans.  But I have just felt so restless lately, like God has a plan for me that I am not fulfilling.  Of course I am so thankful to be at home with my boys, but I just feel like something is missing.  Cue the second life-changing book that I talked about in my last blog, and that is "Creative Journal Writing-the art and heart of reflection."  I've always wanted to keep a journal, but have never really known where to start.  I feel like this blog is part of a journal, because it is therapeutic to write things out instead of having them ruminate in my head all the time.  It has helped a lot!  I feel encouraged and hopeful that my future holds more for me than constant house cleaning and chasing of toddlers.  I am optimistic that with further reflection and journal writing I'll begin to know the plans God has for me.

  Those who know me well also know that I have a love affair with music-especially songs that are gut-wrenching and soul-piercing.  I find it fascinating how my mood can be affected so drastically by whatever song I am listening to.  I can be ready to go out dancing one minute and then moved to tears the next.  There is a song out right now by Natasha Bedingfield called Strip Me that I absolutely love.  I feel like it goes along with everything that I am feeling and trying to say.  It is so hard as a mother of 4 young children to have any time to dream or even think for myself.  I am constantly taking care of everyone else's needs.  But it is so important not to lose sight of myself as an individual, apart from my husband and kids.  These are the lyrics-I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

      Strip Me by Natasha Bedingfield

Everyday I fight for

All my future somethings

A thousand little wars

I have to choose between

I could spend a lifetime

Earning things that I don't need

That's like chasing rainbows

And coming home empty

And if you strip me,

Strip it all away

If you strip me,

What would you find?

If you strip me,

Strip it all away

I'll be alright

Take what you want

Steal my pride

Build me up

Or cut me down to size

Shut me out

But I'll just scream

I'm only one voice in a million

But you ain't taking that from me

Oh no you ain't taking that from me (4 Xs)

I don't need a microphone

To say what I've been thinking

My heart is like a loudspeaker

That's always on eleven

And if you strip me,

Strip it all away

If you strip me,

What would you find?

If you strip me,

Strip it all away

I'm still the same

Take what you want

Steal my pride

Build me up

Or cut me down to size

Shut me out

But I'll just scream

I'm only one voice in a million

But you ain't taking that from me

Oh no you ain't taking that from me (4 Xs)

Cause when it all boils down

At the end of the day

It's what you do and say

That makes you who you are

Makes you think about

Think about

Think about it

Doesn't it?

Sometimes all it takes is one voice

Take what you want

Steal my pride

Build me up

Or cut me down to size

Shut me out

But I'll just scream

I'm only one voice in a million

But you ain't taking that from me

Oh no you ain't taking that from me (4 Xs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnhDIGTldho

Until next time-keep looking forward friends!

Dinner madness

  To everyone that has checked out my blog and commented-thank you so much!  It is a lot of fun-and I am always open to suggestions to what I should discuss.  Send me a message and I'll see what I can try to write.  I think it would be kinda fun!  

  Yesterday I introduced two different life changing books to my life.  Maybe not that dramatic, but at least game changing!  The first one is a book called "Once-A-Month Cooking".  I struggle every night figuring out what to fix for dinner.  Not to mention I'm trying to figure it out and make it during what our family affectionately calls the "arsenic hour."  It's where you either want to take some arsenic and put yourself out of misery or give it to one(or all) of your kids and put them out of misery.  A couple of kids are wrestling and screaming that someone hurt the other one or that someone's life is more unfair than the other's.  My three year old is usually screaming for me to hold him and my 18 month old is usually swimming in the toilet.  I am screaming at all four simultaneously and then I usually find that whatever I have started is missing a few ingredients and I have to load up all of them to take them to the store.  That's usually when I have an out-of-body experience from fear and stress.  They're just as unhappy to be going to the store as I am to take them, and they let everyone within earshot know that. I'm pretty sure that I could get paid really well to be a traveling birth control troop to local high schools and other community organizations.  Does this happen to anyone else?  Didn't think so...

  Okay, so enter the Once-A-Month Cookbook.  It's written by two busy moms, and they provide a grocery list, meal plan, and recipes that are supposed to make my life a lot easier.  You do all of the cooking on one day, which is a long day of pain but then you have a whole month of meals in the freezer.  

  I decided to start with the two week cooking plan because I was unsure I had the patience to do a whole month's worth yet.  And it's a good thing that I did, because I almost croaked trying to get the two weeks prepared.  The baby was up on the dining room table countless times, removing my decorative balls from my hurricane in the middle of the table, spilling drinks, jamming keys on the laptop, and in general wreaking complete havoc.  He also found a box of nerds and opened them and dumped them all over the kitchen floor, so I was slipping, sliding, and sweating while running around my kitchen trying to make 75 dishes at once (again, an exaggeration).  To sum up this painfully overly long story, I got almost all of the recipes for the next two weeks done and in the freezer.  The best part?  We had one of the meals last night and one of them tonight and everyone HATED them.  Awesome.  

  I do think the book is a great idea and I actually liked the recipes, so I think once I get the hang of it I think it will make my life a lot easier and save us a lot of money.  So check it out and you, too can be a new person like me.  I will discuss the other book tomorrow because I am exhausted from just writing about everything that happened yesterday.  Until then, I will leave you with a picture of the awesome decor that my kids have provided in my house.  For a nominal fee I can provide you with the same look if you'd like.

                                                               D's butterfly garden

                        Wyatt's love note held in place by packing tape, which I find to be a classy touch