Does Anyone Else Think This Way?

I have discovered that when the kids and I stay a home all week and have a normal, relaxed day that is planned put relaxed, I am happier. It is when I look out my window and see the ocean in the distance and the hills that I get an itch to take the kids somewhere. I think to myself, "Man it would be fun to take the kids to the beach and play in the sand or play at the park. Before I know it( if the car is available) I am off to somewhere... dragging my kids behind me. They will love it.
I wrestle with them to get them in the car...
wrestle them out of the car....
watch them run and play while I survey the area for safety purposes...
hold the baby...
feed the baby....
pick up crying child...
call wandering children back to me.....
Listen to 5 or 6 people tell me how full my hands are...
wrestle them back to the car because I can't handle them all every where.....
listen to them argue and cry all the way back home... complaining about what they didn't get to do
wrestle them out of the car and back into the house...
send them to their rooms for rest time because I am exhausted.
then I plop down on the couch and wonder, "What was I thinking".

I was thinking about doing something nice for my kids but the cost of it became more than I could handle. 10 minutes of fun cost me a days worth of exhaustion. Are my expectations way to high. Is it wrong to just want to stay at home? Am I confined to these quarters because of my kids. I want them to experience the world but ten minutes of the world cost me my strength.
May be the world will have to wait until they are all bigger or at least until Daddy gets home.....

Any ideas?

Prayer Journals

I have been trying to think of ways to teach my kids to value God and develop their relationship with him. One of the things that I should probably do more often because it strengthens my walk with Christ, is journaling. I enjoy it. So one day I thought why not start this early in my kids life so that when they are older it will come naturally to them and even be an anchor for times when they start to stray. We all have things that pull us back to God when we have wandered far. For most, I believe it is something from our childhood, a tradition or some thing familiar to us. My mom used to journal... I never told her this but I read a few entries every once. I remember sitting in our brown Toyota waiting for family to come. I picked it up out of curiousity. I was blessed by her candidness with God and the apparent trust she had for Him. Sorry Mom. I don't remember anything personal strangely enough. I think it was just one of those times when God was drawing me in.
So I presented the idea to the kids and they love it. Aiden writes a few words but draws stuff most of the time. Maylee does both. I told them that sometimes we don't have the right words and drawing pictures is a good way to explain. God also is so amazing that He can read our words even when they don't make sense. They like that.
So every morning i have them write or draw. So far so good. I am sure their will be more lesson from this practice.
For those of you who are straining to read Maylee's journal, she asked God to make sure we have enough money for her birthday present. You gotta love my perfectly imperfect children.

Karate Kid

HaeeeeY!!!!!

Ya!!!!!!!

We Spent the First Day of 2009
Building a Castle out of Cardboard boxes and playing Kings,Queens, Knights and Dragons all day. Note the balconies, windows and doors that open, on the side is a rose vine and a garden. It was a fun day learning about chivalry, proper sword fighting and about different castles around the world. We love the Playmobil stuff. It sure would be fun to take a tour of a few castles sometime. If was great hanging out with Tom and the kids all day with no plans but to have some fun.