32

I'm back...FINALY!  It's been a while since I have had the time to blog.  Time is precious.  Time is something that I don't have a lot of lately.  Don't get me wrong.  I am certainly not complaining.  Just stating the facts.  Since the beginning of school, Busy, Busy, Busy is the story of our lives.  I think it's the story of every one's lives.  Oh how I wish that I could just slow down.  But don't we all??? 

Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned 32.  It's hard to believe that I am 32 years old.  I know that I look like I'm 32 (maybe even older...yikes!) but I certainly don't feel 32.  In my mind, it still amazes me that I am old enough to have a second grader.  It scares me a little that I am 32 years old and it seems like just yesterday that I was laying on my nap mat in my Kindergarten classroom.  Where does the time go?  It scares me that time goes by so fast. 

Yesterday I made a birthday pact with myself.  I am going to try to SLOW down.  I am going to savor every moment of every day...even the stinky days.  I am going to make sure that I always have time for those that I love.  I am going to not stress over the piled up laundry and dusty shelves because I have kids to play with and memories to make. 

In my birthday pact, I also vowed to...
#1-spend more time with God.  
#2-exercise.  I think that I can no longer consider "chasing children" to be exercise!!!  I dislike exercise VERY MUCH.  I am going to try to partake in some sort of activity that is considered exercise.  I need to take care of this 32 year old body!!!  My momma gave me an energy bracelet for my birthday.  I'm wearing it right now.  I think it really works.  I'm hoping that all of this energy that I'm gonna have will give me the desire to exercise!
#3-not have to REjoin Weight Watchers!  I am a yo-yo er. My weight goes up and down.  This year my weight is going to stay DOWN.  It has to.  I am going to be very disciplined about what I eat...I say this as I am munching on the scrumptious cinnamon popcorn that my mother-in-law made me for my birthday!  I love cinnamon popcorn and I love that she made it just for me.

Life is grand!  The sweet faces in this picture tell it all!!!  I am one blessed 32 year old.  God is Good...all the time.  

This Too Shall Pass...

I consider myself a pretty happy person.  I try to always look at the bright side of things.  Other than my "bipolar" moments, life is pretty grand for me, HOWEVER...

These last few days have come with sadness, heavy hearts and not too many smiles.  I'm not too much of a cry er, but I think that I have maybe dropped a few pounds from the tears that I have shed in the past 48 hours.  So at least I am a few pounds lighter, right? (see, I always try to look at the bright side of things!)

And speaking of the bright side of things, I just have to remember that "This too shall pass".

I have been thinking a lot about my dear sweet friend who has been trying so long to have a baby.  She longs to hold her very own bundle of joy in her arms.  She wants this so much that her heart is aching.  Each time that she hears of someone that has just learned that they are expecting, her heart sinks to her feet.  She needs a baby, she wants a baby and she deserves a baby.  She will be the best mom.  Her husband will be a spectacular daddy.  Someday, this sadness that they are experiencing, "it too shall pass".  Someday, She will hold a sweet smelling, soft skinned baby in her arms and feel love and happiness.  The sadness will be gone-"This Too Shall Pass".

I think about the sadness that I have been feeling these last few days.  I think about the tears that have been shed.  AND I think of how minor my problems are compared to others who are hurting so badly.  I think about how thankful I am that I have a Heavenly Father that can offer me comfort when I so desperately need it.  My sadness consumes me.  Anxiety consumes me.  I hate that.  I hate it that Satan attacks me when he sees that I am at my weakest.  BUT, in the midst of all of my sadness, I keep telling myself, "This too shall pass".  Because it will.  Things will be back to my "normal".  I will stop worrying about what others think of me and be content in the reality of who I really am. "This too shall pass"

This too shall pass...

I have been SO consumed with anxiety and sadness that I have not been able to fully enjoy my children.  The Devil is literally robbing me of my joy.  How dare him?  My kids and my husband...they are my world.  I will no longer allow others to cause me so much heartache.  I will no longer give Satan the satisfaction.  My children's childhoods, they too will pass.  I am going to cherish every moment.  Every smile.  Every frown.  Every laugh.  Every tear.  My kids have my full attention. I don't want to miss a thing because, This too shall pass.

"You Learn Something New Every Day"

You know that phrase "You Learn Something New Every Day"?  Well, that is totally true for me.  As I was waiting for my son to find his shoes this morning before we walked out the door, I jotted down five things that I have learned lately.

#1.  You get a lot more done when you are dressed for the day.  A friend from church once told me that you should ALWAYS get up in the morning, get ready and get dressed to your shoelaces (flip flops or wedges in my case!)  I found this to be very true this morning.  I generally get up and spend a couple of hours picking up the house, doing laundry, and hum-hoeing (is that a word???) around while still in my Jammie's.  Not this morning.  The kiddos both had doctors appointments to get to.  I got up, bathed, got dressed to my flip-flops and started my day.  Okay, so I seriously don't know if I really got much more done because I was dressed for the day, but I sure looked a lot better doing my housework and I felt lots better about myself too.  As an added plus-if someone unexpectedly pops in, you don't have to dive under the dining room table and hide so that they think that you aren't home.  You are dressed, make-up on, hair fixed and ready to go...Yikes, does it sound like I've hidden from unexpected guests before???
#2.  It's not the Quantity of friends that you have, it's the Quality!  I LOVE my friends.  I spend a lot of time with them. God has truly blessed me with Amazing friends!  My friends stand beside me.  They stick up for me.  They have my back.  They laugh with me, cry with me and tell me that I look skinny when it is very evident that I have over indulged on fried okra or cheesecake! I have come to realize that friends will come and go-your true friends stand beside you through it all...they love you no matter what.  After all, the Bible says "a friend loves at ALL times".  I don't need a bunch of friends.  I've got my handful...and they are the real deal!
#3.  I am NOT Superwoman!  God wants me to be a GOOD mom.  Taking on too much gets in the way of that.  I was having a Bipolar meltdown (see my previous post to get what I mean by this) the other day because I was taking on WAY TOO MUCH.  I was trying to keep the house clean, teach Makenna to ride her bike, do laundry, get preschool letters addressed AND I had a bunch of neighborhood kids playing in our house.  I thought I was going to go crazy.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that I was on the verge of being hauled off to the insane asylum when my dear friend  saved the day by informing me that I am not Superwoman.  Obviously I am completely aware that I am not superwoman, but I needed someone else to tell me so.  God does not expect perfection out of me.  He expects me to be good at my job.  To give it my all.  And most importantly, He wants me to come to Him when I need help...because, after all, I can't do this alone!
#4.  I will NEVER have a peaceful moment in the bathroom!  A few days ago, my children, bless them, were laying on the couch, all snuggled in blankets watching tv.  Neither of them spoke a word to me during the the time that I was eating my breakfast on the couch all snuggled up with them.  I decided to sneak into the bathroom to take a bath-Sneak being the key word!  I quietly closed the bathroom door, turned the bath water on, stepped in to the tub and closed the shower curtain when the bathroom door flies open.  "MOMMMMMMM, where are my shoes?" Hunter asks.  Why in this very world does the kid need his shoes when he is still in his underwear???  I tell him to go check by the front door.  Then, ten seconds later, "MOMMMMMM, I can't find any shorts!"  "Check your dresser", I tell him.  Next, I hear little tiny feet tap, tap, tapping on the outside of the door.  I try to ignore it, but the tapping just gets louder and it's not so much a tap anymore, it's more like a stomp.  I get out out of the bathtub, drip across the bathroom floor and open the door.  My little rag-a-muffin is laying by the door with a very mischievous smile, "can Masen spend the night" she says.  I smile back and say "not tonight", close the door and get back in the tub.  She then knocks on the door, say's "Can I come in, it's Makenna.  I have to go potty".  I tell her to come on in.  She goes potty and then informs me that she is just going to hang out in the bathroom and keep me company.  So much for peacefulness-that will all come when I am fifty or sixty.  For now, I wouldn't trade these two bath invading, high-maintenance, yacky kiddos for the quietest bathroom in the world!
#5.  Eating Beans for FOUR meals in a row is NOT a good idea...Enough Said!

Not just a "stay at home" mom!

I am Hormonal!  I consider the week that I have just had to be my Bipolar week.  You know, those times when you are happy hearted and smiling one second and then grumpy and crying the next?  Come on...you know that you are totally relating to this right now, am I right? 

Summer is winding down and school is getting ready to start.  It's all hitting me at once.  The realization that we now have to enforce the kids' bedtimes, lesson plans and snack calendars have to be done, and those grouchy "hurry up and get in the car or I'm leaving you" mornings will be here before we know it.  Where oh where did the summer go?
This last week in particular has been crazy busy, but I wouldn't change a minute of it---okay, maybe I would change it so that my children weren't fighting for the majority of the time and the laundry was done and folded, and the bathroom was clean, etc. etc. etc.!!!

I have been feeling a bit annoyed lately because I feel like some CRAZY people think that because I stay at home in the summer truly means that I just STAY AT HOME.  Here's what I think-Those people are INSANE...and yes, I feel a little convicted that I keep getting annoyed at THOSE people.  I need to pray for God to do some work on my heart, don't I??

Anyway, I'll get off of my high horse and show you what we have been doing this week, definately not just Staying at home!

This is what I usually spend my mornings working on...

This is just a small portion of my laundry...Trust me, there is  LOTS more.   I spend lots of time picking up and cleaning the house too, but I didn't really want to show you a picture of my messy house because then you would know that we live like pigs.  I like to lead people to believe that we are very neat and tidy.   This is a neverending job-that's not an exageration either!

I have been working ALOT on preschool stuff.  Mailing out enrollment reminders, getting paperwork ready for enrollment and starting lesson plans...I am so excited for the new schoolyear to begin.  Makenna helped me stuff envelopes the other morning.  We sat on the couch and chatted it up while we folded and stuffed.  It's nice having my own little secretary around!

This little girl learned to ride her bike this week, so we have spent lots of precious time together outside learning to master this skill-and trust me, she did master it!

Then, we had to clean up this MAJOR MESS (which is actually supposed to be a "war fort" and Hunter was pretending to be "Walker, Texas Ranger" and his buddy was Walkers sidekick "Tribett")  This fort was of course built AFTER I had already cleaned the house up, so we are now onto clean up time #2, where mommy picks up and no one else helps because they are on to bigger and better things!

generally we would be at the pool cooling off in the afternoons...BUT

This guy, my wonderful dad, had surgery last week so we have been spending some time in Madison trying to help out a bit.  FYI-This guy does NOT like to HAVE to have help.  He is a do it himselfer-He probably did not enjoy being helped as much as we enjoyed helping him!

The kiddos especially enjoyed helping feed the horses.

I picked all of these veggies in my dads garden on a very hot afternoon (see the thermometer above to find out exactly how hot it was.)

After picking and nearly having a heat stroke, I made the new rule that you have to help pick the veggies before you can eat the veggies.  I always tell my mom thank you for the delicious garden goodies after she cooks them but not once have I ever said to my dad, "Thanks for enduring the heat and itchiness in the garden to pick these yummy veggies".  So here it is...

Thanks, dad, your garden work is very much appreciated!

I mowed my parents lawn while the kids sidewalk chalked, played in the treehouse and rode their bikes.  My dad sat outside and enjoyed watching the kiddos play while I mowed...at least I think that he was watching them play.  That may have just been his cover.  He was probably observing to make sure that I was mowing the lawn the correct way!!!

We then retreated into the cool house and began to fix supper.  My little chef is a great kitchen helper.  She loves to peel the cucumbers just as much as she loves to eat them.

We also made these this week.  YUMMO!  Miss Makenna put everything in the bowl, including breaking the eggs, and then she mixed it all by herself-NO HELP from mom.  Hunter wasn't really into helping with any of this, but you better believe that he was into helping eat them!

We have spent so much time this week doing what we love...

Helping others

Cooking

Being with each other!

These are the days!  Someday, I'm gonna miss this.  I sure am glad that in the summertime I am a stay at home mom...even though we don't just Stay at home!

"keeping up with the Jones's"

For quite some time now, I have been "toying" with the idea of writing a blog.  After all, everyone's doing it.  I am a regular reader of a number of blogs, so I decided to be a regular writer of a blog as well.  I keep thinking that blogging will allow my loved ones to see what's happening in this crazy house that we call home and it will also be a way for me to document those things that I don't ever want to forget.  I am absolutely the WORST when it comes to writing down memorable things that my kids do or say...they don't even have baby books for Pete's sake!
I am laughing as I write this, knowing that my only readers will probably be my hubby who experiences the happenings of our crazy home on a daily basis, my momma who hears about the happenings of our home on a daily basis, and Becky, my BFF who also  daily hears about all that goes on in this house.  Oh well, so I am not really expecting a huge fan base.  At least I still have that whole "documenting things that I don't want to ever forget" thing going for me, right???

So, here goes...because everyone's doing it, I'm Keeping up with the Jones's...and starting a blog.

This is me (but you three readers that know me think it's completely silly that I just stated the obvious, am I right?) 

I am clearly not a photographer, so my posts are not going to be filled with exceptionally great photos.  See the above photo and you will totally get what I'm talking about!

Most of my blogs are going to be about my family.  You know, the stuff that makes you belly laugh, the stuff that makes you cry, and all of that stuff in between that we call "life".

Tonight, my blog is going to be all about ME and what I like and DISlike..

Once again, I'm very sorry to you three readers who already know me so well-maybe

you will learn something new!

5 Things that I Dislike

#1.  I absolutely hate it when I know that my children are sad.  When they have heartache, and I can't fix it, I feel broken.

#2.  I Don't like it when my feelings get hurt OR when I cause someone to have hurt feelings-heartaches just STINK!

#3.  I dislike CANCER-is it really weird that that is one of my dislikes???  Cancer was a big part of my childhood and it seems like it has haunted me ever since.  I have this fear of cancer that is unexplainable.

#4.  I dislike it when I am SO proud of myself for losing two or three pounds and I eat something really stupid and then gain back four...In my rear end!

#5.  I dislike gassy tummies!  No need to explain this one, they just stink (no pun intended!!!)

5 Things that I LOVE

#1.  I LOVE laying beside the love of my life each night as I drift off to dream.

#2.  I LOVE listening to my daughter talk to her imaginary friends-makes me smile every time.

#3.  I LOVE watching Hunter play ball-He SO reminds me of his daddy when he was that age (and I can say that because I remember his daddy when he was that age!)

#4.  I LOVE walking into my mom and dads kitchen and smelling okra cooking.

#5.  I LOVE it when I lose two or three pounds and I am SO proud of myself and then have the willpower to not consume so much fried okra that I gain back four...In my rear end!!!

"keeping up with the Jones's"