300

This is officially the 300th post of "The Years are Short."

It's hard to believe that this fun adventure of sharing life experiences has accumulated up to 300 posts. I have delayed writing this entry as it felt so monumental. I was racking my brains for some clever witty rambles or some super great give away or some mind blowing revelations. The mounting pressure was a bit unnecessary. What I eventually realized, the true intent of this blog was to share with our friends, our family and document for ourselves what life is like here at the Marsh household. The name was inspired from a wise MOPS speaker who years ago said, "In the midst of parenting, the days are long. Dishes, laundry, wiping noses, cooking, cleaning - it never ends and drags out forever. When you look back, however, the YEARS ARE SHORT."

The first entry, December 2010, I had a busy 4 year old and a new kindergartener. Now, I have a reading, writing, growing almost 7 year old and a mature and ever amazing almost 9 1/2 year old. Sometimes, the days were very long. (and if I'm honest, sometimes they still are) by my, the years are short.

So, instead of an overly planned, extremely witty, bells and whistles 300th post, I'll pretend like it's another day in the life of the Marsh family.

Saturday - Haley had soccer pictures and played her second game. We don't care if the kids win or score a million points. We care if they are good sports, good teammates and play the best they can. (Haley did get the last assist of the game resulting in a goal however, if anyone at home is counting?!) After the big kid game, one of our favorite little buddies played his first game in history. It was pretty fantastic.

After soccer, we met Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Bonnie, cousins Juniper and Moses and went to THE FARM; one of the best ever fall experiences around. We watched a pig show, a duck race, pet baby kitties, rode a tractor, picked honey-crisp apples, ate fresh corn on the cob, picked pumpkins and had a great day in the sun as a family.

Sunday - Had a great church service about the Sabbath - literally means STOP and REST. Our true rest is only found in Jesus. This will be my focus for the week. It was also my favorite little sister's birthday. I won't disclose Missy's age yet . . . let's just say she's crouching in on 30! She's been one of my favorite people in the world since she was born. I wish we lived closer and could spend more time together but texting and Elf quotes will have to do for now. Thanks for the way you make me laugh and the way you have always loved on your nieces.

Monday - Today. I spent a long time in the PTSA rooms cleaning and organizing areas that haven't been touched in many years. It was so rewarding to take crazy closets, drawers and areas and turn them into usable storage with easy to find systems. (plus throwing tons of stuff away in the garbage made me pretty happy too.)

This afternoon the piano that Marilyn has had since she started playing at age five got delivered to our house.

It will get hours upon hours of love. And the sentimental quality is to much. Gerry's mom (granny oregon) created her own needle point design for the piano bench from a piece of music that Grandpa Gerry wrote. Incredible.

So that concludes post number 300. Maybe you've read all 300 (or if not, you should go back through the archives and start at the beginning!!) And, although I abandoned the idea of a drum roll and major revelation, I decided that I must do a give-a-way in gratitude for following our family, posting lots of fun and meaningful comments, and helping to remind us in the middle of the long days, the years truly are quite short.

Enter you name (and maybe add your favorite Marsh family adventure?) in the comments section and you will be entered to win your own "Honey" journal; a place to write notes and encouragements and memories to your honey.