Kariss Farris

the tension 😭

anything to keep food particles out of my water

As a camp counselor in my 20s rest looked like 24 hours completely off. Sleeping in, laughing with the other counselors, no kids in sight. Motherhood doesn't hand you that same kind of break. Church used to be a reprieve. Now 3 of 5 of our kids want to sit with us in "big church."(Which I love), and it's just... not the same kind of refueling it used to be. Notes from day 7 of "camp mom": 1. What used to fill my cup doesn't always fill it the same way anymore. But I don't think that means someth

Some days are just boring... Notes from day 5 of trying to be "camp mom": 1. As a camp counselor, the energy wasn't actually endless. It just felt that way because we shared it. We'd tag each other in, vent between activities, laugh off the exhaustion together. Nobody carried a full day alone. 2. Motherhood doesn't always come with that built-in relief. Day 5 I was tired. Josh picked up where I couldn't. A few of the kids spent the afternoon (and the night) with their cousins. 3. I'm learning "

They say "the days are long but the years are short," they weren't lying about the 1st part. 😭 As I watch these daily mini vlogs back and go through the uncut footage, I'm shocked my dang self at how much happens in a day in our house. But one thing I see without question is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because there's NO WAY ON EARTH, I could do this well on my own. I see Him when Josh and I recover quickly from miscommunication and connect via facetime during the day. I see Him when my

Day 3 I called in a co-counselor. And by the grace of GOD, it was parent's night out at church. I hung up my "camp mom" hat, and put on my "working mom" hat. A reprieve. Here's some notes from yesterday: 1. Calling in for backup doesn't mean you're weak or inadequate. We were made for community. 2. IT'S NOT YOUR RELATIONSHIP....IT'S THOSE KIDS.

After the babies destroyed the house in under 20 minutes and I said... "Let's go to chick fil a!" Ellie said, "Why are you being so nice to us?" 🙃 the Holy Spirit baby, the Holy Spirit. Yesterday was not the vibrant, "bring camp home" experience I'd hoped for. I had to work, Josh had to work, we took turns keeping our eye on them and somewhere in there, had a miscommunication about who was watching who when. So here are the notes from yesterday: 1. What contributed to kindness towards campers in

Yesterday I had an idea to revive my college camp counselor spirit for my 5 kids before school starts in 2.5 weeks...The idea was, treat my 5 kids like I would if I were a camp counselor at Pine Cove again. To be honest, the only thing that changed about the day was my outlook. I'm pretty sure I never went to Costco with campers, and the age range at my camp was middle school, not ages 2 to 10. Slight oversight on my part. 🤦🏽‍♀️ At camp, there were a DOZEN walkable activities. I didn't have to c

Cannot explain this feeling as a mom 😭

I literally cannot.