4tunate

By: QuatroDaddy

My life has not gone as planned.

I was looking down the train track of life, wondering what was around the next bend when, out of nowhere, someone threw a switch and we took off down an uncharted route.  Who in their wildest dreams could have come up with this course of life for us?  Where did all of this come from?  This is not what I had planned.

I married a Speech and Language Pathology graduate, not a blogger.  I thought it would be nice to have two kids and a little house, not quadruplets and room to store them.  I didn’t plan for that.

Things could not be more different than I imagined.

If you told me that my Jen, that girl I married, would be mother to 4 young boys in a few years, not a speech therapist, I would not have believed you.  I certainly would not have believed she could carry four babies for 32 weeks.  I didn’t think the girl I married was tough enough to get through something that difficult.  I was wrong.  I have developed a deep respect for Jen.  She is tough in ways that no one else gets to see, and I love her for it.  I don’t like to see her suffer, but it has demonstrated toughness I could never have imagined.  I didn’t plan to have a tough wife. (I’m supposed to be the tough one, right?)

Any number of kids take more of your time and attention than I ever realized.  Kids are on your mind whether you are with them or not.  Kids enter into every single decision we make.    The reason for that is simple, children are an amazing blessing from the Lord.  They are so amazing and we love them so much that we cannot function without considering them.  It’s the way it should be, but I didn’t plan for it.

I do way more laundry and house cleaning than my dad ever did  (sorry dad).  I did plan for that, but not THIS much more!  If I ever wash another sippy cup in my life, it will be one too many.  I actually get a strange satisfaction out of cleaning our house.  I definitely didn’t plan for that to happen.

I have four little boys who could easily become my idols.  God made them so lovely that it is tempting to worship them instead of their Creator.  They really are wonderful, but that is simply because they are the image of the one who created them.  I never planned to have that struggle.

I am a blessed man and never planned to have such an exciting life.  I never wake up in the morning and say, “what am I going to do today?”  Our home is busy and I know that I am a better man because of it.  I didn’t plan to love my wife as deeply as I do today because I never knew these depths existed.  I thank the Lord that my life has not gone as planned.  His plan for my life has been amazing so far, and I am excited to see where it leads!

Did you catch Brad’s M.O.B Society post this week?  It was so convicting to me, personally.  It’s something we are working through on a daily (make that multiple times an hour basis). Three year olds have a natural talent at arguing, and too often we find ourselves falling into the trap of arguing back. Perhaps it’s something that might resonate in your home as well…

“I so often find myself allowing my boys to retort, “No, I don’t want to!”  Instead of dealing immediately with his disobedience the first time, I simply reply “Yes, you will, right now”.  This, of course, is followed by more whining from my 3 year old sons.  Round and round we go from there…..

WAIT, STOP, THIS IS NOT WORKING!”

Continue reading at The M.O.B. Society…

QuatroMama

I want to support my wife in all of her passions and pursuits.  It gives me tremendous joy to give her the opportunity to go do something SHE enjoys.  So when General Mills and the Betty Crocker team invited Jen to join them for their blogging event "Baking with Betty", I really encouraged her to go.  Since I am working at home now, I have the unique ability to volunteer my time so that she can take advantage of these sorts of opportunities.

So what does a dad do by himself with 4 little boys that are full of energy for 36 hours?

CAMPING!

Our itinerary:

- Grocery Run (hot dogs, smores, other unhealthy snacks)

- Build Fire, don’t burn down house

- Roast Dogs, make smores, eat cookies

- Pitch Tents, blow up mattresses

- Sleep under a full moon!

Ok, so I am not about to pack them up by myself and head for the woods, but we did have our very first camping experience.  I consider it a preview of many camping and fishing trips to come.

Our grass was crispy brown at the time, so I did have to water everything down before I struck the first match, but we built a roaring fire that the boys really enjoyed.  It gave me a great opportunity to talk to them about fire safety.

It was perfect weather for camping.  Once it was dark, the boys all cheerfully climbed into their tents without protest (much to my surprise).  When I was tucking him in, Brooks looked at me very seriously and said, "Daddy, the birds no get in my tent when it’s dark outside?"  I said, "Birds?  No buddy, no birds are going to get in your tent tonight."  He just smiled and put his thumb in his mouth, ready to drift off to sleep.

I was amazed, after 15 minutes of chatter, the back yard grew silent.  All four of my boys were sleeping outside for the first time!  It was this daddy’s dream come true until…..the swarm descended.  You see, we have individual travel tents* for the boys because we use them when we are on the road with the boys.  We do not yet have an adult tent, so I figured I would sleep on an air mattress under the stars.  That plan was going well until the dive bombing mosquitoes attacked at midnight.  I finally lifted each sleeping boy from his tent and retreated to the house.  My mission was still mostly accomplished, but I am going to have to find a tent for next time.

Man Camp was a success, but we were all 5 very glad to see mamma again.  Stay tuned, I think there will be many outdoor adventures to come!

QuatroDaddy

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