Week 21 Around Here {2019}

Listening... to another podcast on marriage.  This one was about 5 Secrets to a Happy Marriage.  It had a lot of simple, but really applicable advice.  I also listened to the Simple, Powerful Truth About Marriage, also by Jody Moore at Better Than Happy. They were both super good.  I highly recommend them.

Reading... The Simple Wild and listening to The Nest.  Up next I have Beauty (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast); Bel Canto and Before Green Gables, which I'm really excited about.
The Simple Wild was amazing to read.  It's a book about a girl whose dad lives in rural Alaska, running a small airline company.  Following her journey to the bush was spell binding because of the five years we spent there.  It was like getting a chance to go back and visit.  It made me so nostalgic for that time in our life.  (As you can see in the flashback pictures above.)

Setting up... Wyatt's neurology appointment for the cyst on his pineal gland at Seattle Children's.  He will meet with them mid-July, and while I am nervous, I am just grateful to get it on the calendar. 
Prayers for an understanding doctor who has expertise in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Telling... some parents about behavior that their kids were engaged in that was highly difficult to point out and discuss.  I honestly considered not even telling the parents about it... but in the end, I knew that if I were the parent, I would truly want to know what my child had done.  So I sucked it up and bit the bullet.
I tried really hard not to come off judgmental, just informative and understanding.  Gosh parenting is hard.  The whole situation made me really proud of one of our boys, though, who made the hard decision to tell another parent about their child as well. It was a moral dilemma for him; one that I wanted him to make on his own; and he came to the exact conclusion I had secretly hoped he would.

Raising... a bunch of rednecks. Literally.  haha!
The kids spent all of Saturday out at "the land" (what we call the 40 acres Josh's parents own just outside of town) riding their four wheelers, shooting guns with their dad & uncle, and helping mow some grassy patches for their Grandma.  It wasn't super hot and sunny, so they ended up unexpectedly sunburned on their necks, which made Josh and I laugh out loud.
We are so darn grateful for the experiences they get to have out there.  It's the stuff most ten year old boys' dreams are made of. That's for sure.

Enjoying... movie night with them after their long day in the sun.  We had pizza and for dessert we all had Kit Kats, which Wyatt challenged us to eat without breaking into sticks.  I have never (in my life) eating a Kit Kat by biting into the whole thing.  I will admit, it felt really strange to bite it.  But it was delicious nonetheless. Ha!

Spending... a little time with a friend between errands and movie night with the kids.  It was much needed and I was so happy to see her. {Love you girl!}

Going... to counseling and asking how to make room for my kids' pain.  When they hurt, I just want to make it stop or glaze over it.  But I know that part of being a good mom means going into the hurt, into the hard with them.  My counselor said that I need to go into the darkness and explore the pain.  The way I can do that is by asking exploratory questions.  So that's my goal- to try and let them feel their feelings without shutting them down, while asking probing, open ended questions.

Praying... for Toby & Ember as they both recover from heart surgeries.  These babies and their stories are just amazing.

Watching... Josh and Uncle Samuel teach Carly how to ride her new big girl bike from our sweet friend Jolene.  She dropped it by one day, having heard that Carly was ready for the next step, and all we had to do was pick up a pair of training wheels and a helmet.
The bike is covered in princesses, which delights Carly to no end, and I just know that by the end of summer she'll be an old pro.

Taking... Wyatt to the doctor for his asthma which came back after just a few days off his oral steroid.  I was scared when his numbers started to drop again.  Hopefully we can keep them from dropping any further with the nebulizer and his Flovent.  I really don't want to put him on oral steroids again.  They suppress his immune system, which just makes him more likely to get sick again, and start the whole cycle over again.

Baseballin'... with two games Monday night, and another game for the twins this week.  Unfortunately Wyatt had to miss his second game because of his asthma.

Joining... a new book club in my neighborhood and feeling so excited about some of the books we're going to be reading! We chose books from now until December, and my contribution was Molokai, which has been on my shelf forever. I can't wait to read it. (It's August's pick!)

Splurging... on Dairy Queen blizzards and enjoying them in the sunshine with the kids.  This is what spring is all about.

Journaling... or attempting to, in order to combat my overeating.  I am so behind in my journal that I don't know where to start, but I am working on it anyway, just jumping in. Something's gotta give or I am going to balloon back up to my pre-weight loss weight, and I really don't want to lose ALL the work I did last year.

Walking... all the days in May and feeling so proud of myself.  My weight has ballooned up from what I lost last year and it would be really easy to beat myself up.  But instead I am just really proud of myself when I am active.

Contemplating... deep thoughts when Wyatt asked me, "Would you rather die at birth or live in pain?" I am telling you, this kid... He is so thoughtful and profound.  He asks me at least one question everyday that I don't the answer to.  (What is the sun made of? When will our sun die? etc.)

Laughing... when Jack described a funeral as a "sad party". And when I laughed out loud, he stopped and looked at me, dead on, and said, "Well, I'm right. That's exactly what it is."
He's not wrong.

Loving... how Carly explained her vision before & after glasses: 

"Without my glasses, everything is not beautiful.  
And then when I put my glasses on, everything is beautiful-er."

I also love how she sings along with Imagine Dragons' "Thunder", singing "Thunda! Thunda!" enthusiastically.  And how she calls skirts that twirl "Dancing Pants."  The other day Wyatt was dancing while we waited at the doctors office and Carly said, "Wyatt! You can't dance! You don't even have your dancing pants on!" I had no idea what she was talking about or what dancing pants were, until later I went to put a twirly skirt on her and she said, "Oh! I love these dancing pants!" I was cry laughing.

Poor big brother Wyatt with no dancing pants that twirl.  How he must suffer.
Hah!

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