One of my boys is a totally in the moment kind of guy. It actually drives me crazy sometimes because he can be totally okay and as soon as something doesn't go his way, he's off and pouting. He usually doesn't like to talk about it either, so half the time you're wondering what's wrong. One time we went to a small amusement park that has fun stuff to do like laser tag, go carts, mini golf, inflatables, video games, etc. When we were leaving, we asked the kids if they had fun.... his answer "eh". I was so mad that day. It was mainly the fact that we were leaving and the 'fun' was over.
It's funny though because I've been feeling that same way lately. God has blessed our family with SO much and the first sign of an average or mediocre day and I'm like "why is life like this". Today, and yesterday actually, I've been having a 'blah' day. I'm not finding any joy in homeschooling and missing somethings about the business world, like the satisfaction of a job well done. Oh, it's not like this all the time. Some days I'm totally loving everything and it's completely awesome. What's so crazy though is how quickly my attitude and thoughts can turn.
We often remind my son that life's not a party. It's not always going to be fun and sometimes it's just plain hard. Today I need that message. So I'm preaching to myself. Just because things aren't all peachy doesn't mean God isn't in them. Oh Lord, help me to realize the amazing gifts you have blessed us with and be thankful for them everyday. Even in the midst of the blahs help me find joy!
So in other news, I'm not crazy about my daughters kindergarten teacher. The teacher my boys had was so awesome. So awesome in fact that you don't realize how good she was until she's not there anymore. My daughter had some homework this week that I just thought was crazy. I'm not sure if the teacher really expects them to be able to complete it, or if she really expects the parents to help as much as I had to without telling us. Will definitely have to bring it up at conferences. AND... my daughter is writing letters as part of her homework and has NO idea the proper way to write them. If it's part of her homework, I would have assumed they practiced it or went over it in class?? Just makes me miss the other teacher. The silver lining is that if my daughter stays in public schools next year, she will have the opportunity to have that teacher since she moved to teaching 1st grade. We'll see.
I so want a vacation right now. I really love to travel and am getting the itch. It looks pretty bleak for taking a vacation anytime soon; unless we do it with tax return money, which only means something else won't get bought or paid. Ah, choices, choices.
Guess that's all for now.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A Whole New World
I am so excited to be typing this right now on my new Netbook that my husband got me for my birthday. Well, new to me. It's actually rebuilt, but I'm not complaining. So I started to think about how things have gone over the last 3 months since I left my full time job to stay home with the kids. Things really are different!
Firstly, I've read more books in the past 3 months than I think I've read in the 18 or so years since high school. I would say that I wasn't much of a reader, but the truth is I probably never had or made the time. Now that I sit a lot and watch the kids outside, or have all the housework done during the day which leaves evenings more free, or wait for kids at appointments, etc, I have a lot more time to read. I'm totally guesstimating, but I think I've read over 10 novels recently. Jude Deveraux is one of my favorite writers, although I've really come to love the Little House on the Prairie books recently too.
Another thing that's changed is I've been losing weight without even trying. I've lost 10 lbs since quitting which is just under a pound a week. I think it's because I hardly ever sit anymore. And I can actually say that I've missed meals because I've been so busy... that NEVER happened to me before. I would usually sit at work and force myself to hold off on snacking until the next meal or appointed time.
Among other changes, the other thing I started doing was BAKING! Seriously never considered myself a cook/chef/baker or any other name for someone who prepares food. I've been baking birthday cakes for everyone in the family instead of buying them and making homemade chocolate chip cookies like ALL the time. I even got a bunch of recipe books from the library.
It's so weird to be living this "alternate" life. I've gotten to see other moms that stay with their kids, take my kids to story hour, relax and watch movies or read books just for me!, visit the zoo during the week, visit the beach and build sand castles with my kids. It's so amazing.
I just feel so blessed. I guess it just goes to prove that so much of who you are can be buried beneath layers and layers of outside responsibilities. Maybe that's not the best way to explain it. It's just, I never got to do this stuff because I just never had the time working and raising a family. I just thank God for this time and opportunity to explore new talents and gifts that have been hidden away for such a long time.
Firstly, I've read more books in the past 3 months than I think I've read in the 18 or so years since high school. I would say that I wasn't much of a reader, but the truth is I probably never had or made the time. Now that I sit a lot and watch the kids outside, or have all the housework done during the day which leaves evenings more free, or wait for kids at appointments, etc, I have a lot more time to read. I'm totally guesstimating, but I think I've read over 10 novels recently. Jude Deveraux is one of my favorite writers, although I've really come to love the Little House on the Prairie books recently too.
Another thing that's changed is I've been losing weight without even trying. I've lost 10 lbs since quitting which is just under a pound a week. I think it's because I hardly ever sit anymore. And I can actually say that I've missed meals because I've been so busy... that NEVER happened to me before. I would usually sit at work and force myself to hold off on snacking until the next meal or appointed time.
Among other changes, the other thing I started doing was BAKING! Seriously never considered myself a cook/chef/baker or any other name for someone who prepares food. I've been baking birthday cakes for everyone in the family instead of buying them and making homemade chocolate chip cookies like ALL the time. I even got a bunch of recipe books from the library.
It's so weird to be living this "alternate" life. I've gotten to see other moms that stay with their kids, take my kids to story hour, relax and watch movies or read books just for me!, visit the zoo during the week, visit the beach and build sand castles with my kids. It's so amazing.
I just feel so blessed. I guess it just goes to prove that so much of who you are can be buried beneath layers and layers of outside responsibilities. Maybe that's not the best way to explain it. It's just, I never got to do this stuff because I just never had the time working and raising a family. I just thank God for this time and opportunity to explore new talents and gifts that have been hidden away for such a long time.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Too long
Its been much too long since I've written here. I've thought many many times about jotting down some thoughts or a little event and just never made it to the computer to actually do it. So needless to say, things have been busy.
Homeschooling is in full swing. This week is our 7th week of schooling. It has been an up and down roller coaster for sure. I can truly appreciate comments I've heard from other moms about trying to be a mom and teacher at the same time. Wearing both hats is truly challenging. I often say to my boys, "you would never whine like that or say that to a teacher in school". There are also days that I have to remind them a few times that "Playing with younger siblings" is not currently a subject we are studying during school time.
It took us some time to fall into a routine and to be honest, our homeschooling is nothing like I envisioned it to be back in the summer... nothing. The boys really enjoy working independently so they can crank out their work and get it done. I pictured us sitting around the table studying each subject together and working through the curriculum. There are some things we have to do together, but too often it doesn't happen and that task gets pushed to the next day. But for now, it seems to be working and the boys are learning stuff. Sigh of relief :)
The financial side of us doing this journey has had it's roller coaster ride over the past month as well. My husband went back to work full time for the month of September, just to have his hours cut again in October. A new twist to the situation though is that his company transferred ownership to one of the other co-workers (now boss) that was at the company. Unfortunately for the owner, business has been SO slow. Luckily for us, God has continued to put construction work in the path of my husband in order to make ends meet. So much so, that we are contemplating, just naming the business and running with it. We will be prayerfully considering that option over the next few weeks. Not that anything would change really.... it would just be more formal. My husband would continue to work at the computer shop part time and do this on the side (Is it really the side, if you do it more than your *real job*??) Anywho, in the meantime of praying about it, my husband has been looking for other work.
The main thing we are lacking right now is Health Insurance. Go figure, we haven't had any major things come up in the past few years that weren't planned ahead of time and just in the month of September we had two ER visits. Two of my boys on separate occasions cut their heads open enough to require a hospital visit. My oldest son had 4 staples put in his head and one of the twins had his head glued. How crazy is that! So regardless of what happens with a job or business, that is one thing that needs to be seriously considered.
I guess that's all I'll ramble on about today. There are other stories to tell, but I'll save that for tomorrow.
Homeschooling is in full swing. This week is our 7th week of schooling. It has been an up and down roller coaster for sure. I can truly appreciate comments I've heard from other moms about trying to be a mom and teacher at the same time. Wearing both hats is truly challenging. I often say to my boys, "you would never whine like that or say that to a teacher in school". There are also days that I have to remind them a few times that "Playing with younger siblings" is not currently a subject we are studying during school time.
It took us some time to fall into a routine and to be honest, our homeschooling is nothing like I envisioned it to be back in the summer... nothing. The boys really enjoy working independently so they can crank out their work and get it done. I pictured us sitting around the table studying each subject together and working through the curriculum. There are some things we have to do together, but too often it doesn't happen and that task gets pushed to the next day. But for now, it seems to be working and the boys are learning stuff. Sigh of relief :)
The financial side of us doing this journey has had it's roller coaster ride over the past month as well. My husband went back to work full time for the month of September, just to have his hours cut again in October. A new twist to the situation though is that his company transferred ownership to one of the other co-workers (now boss) that was at the company. Unfortunately for the owner, business has been SO slow. Luckily for us, God has continued to put construction work in the path of my husband in order to make ends meet. So much so, that we are contemplating, just naming the business and running with it. We will be prayerfully considering that option over the next few weeks. Not that anything would change really.... it would just be more formal. My husband would continue to work at the computer shop part time and do this on the side (Is it really the side, if you do it more than your *real job*??) Anywho, in the meantime of praying about it, my husband has been looking for other work.
The main thing we are lacking right now is Health Insurance. Go figure, we haven't had any major things come up in the past few years that weren't planned ahead of time and just in the month of September we had two ER visits. Two of my boys on separate occasions cut their heads open enough to require a hospital visit. My oldest son had 4 staples put in his head and one of the twins had his head glued. How crazy is that! So regardless of what happens with a job or business, that is one thing that needs to be seriously considered.
I guess that's all I'll ramble on about today. There are other stories to tell, but I'll save that for tomorrow.
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