Redirecting my focus

The past six months of our family's life has been crazy!! In December, we moved out of our first home in Jedora Estates after living there for 5 1/2 years. Our house wasn't even for sale, but our brother-in-law Rick just had a buyer he thought it would be perfect for. We loved the home and have so many sweet memories there, but it was right in the entrance of the subdivision. Cars were constantly turning off a busy road right into the entrance at high speeds. It was hard to let the kids ever go out front and play. The weird thing was, we sold our lot just a couple months earlier, so not only did we have to find a rental to live in for awhile, we had to quickly find a lot to build on. After much contemplation and prayer, we finally decided on one. We drew up some house plans as fast as we could and began building. Our new house is just about done!! We have moved, found a lot, drew up plans, almost completed a new house, and are getting ready to move again (into our new house) all in about six months! Like I said, it's been a little crazy around here! On top of all that, I have helped in Hannah's preschool this year (with Aunt Heidi) which was so much fun but took more time than I felt I had to spare while building a new house. Anyway, back to my title of my entry, "Redirecting my focus." I'm so ready to focus on being a better mom and a better wife. Those things have kind of been pushed aside lately, and it's time to change that! I bought my mom the most wonderful book for Mother's Day because I knew she loved the author (Linda Eyre who wrote it with her daughter Shawni Pothier). I snuck into the book for a couple days before I gave it away on Mother's Day. I loved it, and it reminded me of the mother I want to be. I am really trying to relax a little and not be so busy. I am trying to enjoy each moment and notice all the sweet, cute, tender things the girls do each day...and there are a lot of these moments. As soon as I decided to slow down and take more time to notice these things, motherhood suddenly became more enjoyable (not that I didn't enjoy it before)! There was just more of a sweetness about being a mother. For example, the day after realizing I needed to slow down and enjoy this journey, we decided to have a picnic in our front yard. I spread out a blanket, made sandwiches, cut up an apple, grabbed some carrot sticks, and some juice boxes, and we had such a fun picnic. I noticed how cute the girls were to one another (I usually only notice the fighting moments)! Hailee and Hannah are so sweet and helpful to Ellie. I listened to their sweet laughter with one another. After they ate, they began piling themselves on top of each other and just giggling. It was such a sweet, tender moment. I was sad that I haven't taken the time to enjoy these moments more. As everyone always warns me, they grow up too fast! It is my new goal and my new focus to enjoy mothering more, spend more quality time with them (I spend a whole lot of time with them but it's usually working on things like dinner, cleaning, or the new house), and be more tender with them. I've noticed about myself that when I am busy or overwhelmed with things, I am much more critical of the kids. I point out all the things they are doing wrong but don't ever noticed what they are doing right or good! What kind of mother am I?? That's why I am refocusing!!