This Week

Finished reading Night by Elie Wiesel. What an intense, sad and thought provoking read!  And I am two chapters (and one bible study) away from finishing 1,000 Gifts.

Thought for this week:

"Joy doesn't negate all other emotions-

joy transcends all other emotions."

--Ann Voskamp

Grateful for Josh taking the boys for several hours on Mother's Day to give me a break.  They went to the school and hung out while I devoured my coffee and some quiet reading time; took a long, luxurious bath; watched a movie and enjoyed lunch by myself; as well as got some chores checked off my list. It was the perfect Mother's Day.  (I also enjoyed two of the sweetest cards from the twins!)

Laughing at Josh telling me I smell like an old lady wearing fancy perfume from Nordstom's when I put on the Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion from Bath & Body Works.

Drowning in dishes. They are my nemesis.

Hating the crummy weather we've been having. Day after day of rain.  Three boys stuck inside with a very exhausted mother.

Struggling with parenting.  My patience is thin, my to do list is long, and my positivity seems to have left the building. This morning seems better than the rest of the week, so there's hope for a turn around, but mostly I can't wait to get home and go on some fun, new adventures with these sweet boys of mine.

Reminiscing about being a working mom.  This post and this one nearly brought me to tears this week.  Rereading about my struggles leaving the boys has helped me find bright spots during an otherwise tough stay-at-home-mom week.

Wrapping up our school year.  We finished all 140 Saxon reading lessons, completed our history book and have just one lesson left in math. Wa-to-the-hoo!!!

Starting a puzzle.  Because when you're overwhelmed and have a million things to do, starting a 700 piece puzzle just feels right.

Celebrating my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary today!

Relieved to be done shipping things home for summer.  Now I am perfecting our packing list and making sure everything has time to get done before we go.

Baking bread so we have something to eat while our food supply dwindles.

Still crying about the lack of baby in my belly.  May 25th is my due date. Was my due date.  Praying peace and relief from my grief comes soon.

Also Praying for the family of an elder who tragically passed this week.  She was a beautiful soul and the anchor of her family.  Lifting them up in hopes that peace will surround them as they say goodbye.

***

This Week

Loving having creamer for my coffee (Amazon came through!), cheese for my children (thank God for Uncle Samuel!) & snacks from my sweetest friend Kori.  #iamsohappy  #itsthelittlethings

Accomplishing big things in school.  Like finishing all 140 lessons of Saxon First Grade Phonics.  It feels good to look back and see all the progress we made this year.

Craving girl time with my mom & sister.  Soon & very soon!  I can't wait!

Enjoying all the time I have for reading now that my boys are older.  I finished Orphan Train yesterday and am excited to pull something else off the shelf for the weekend.  Also enjoying brainstorming ideas for a summer book club with my blogger friends Ashley & Tabitha.

Prepping for our three month vacation.  It is a lot of work to be away from home for so long.  I have about six lists going currently-- Things to Ship; Things to Pack; Things to Buy...  This is when my Type A organization comes in handy!

Blessed by my amazing marriage.  That husband of mine was hand picked for me, and I adore him.

Happy to have Jack's glasses fixed (again) by the amazing Karen.  She fixes glasses, loans cheese to those in need, and inspires me daily to live closer to the Lord.  What would I do without her?!?

Rereading One Thousand Gifts as we begin our Ann Voskamp bible study.  This book.  Every page has something underlined, and I walk away inspired every time I pick it up:

"In naming that which is right before me, that which I'd otherwise miss, the invisible becomes visible... This dare to write down one thousand things I love.  It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me."

Looking forward to going home! I can't believe it's May, you guys!  We did it!!!

Grateful for a care package full of avocados & raisin bread.  Yum.  Joan knows the way to our hearts!

Loving the boys playing with their stuffed animals and the clothes from Build-A-Bear my Aunt Linda buys them for every birthday.  They discovered their car seats in the playroom closet and are loving playing with them.

Working on a plan for Screen Free Week which starts Monday.  Lots of outside activities planned, along with games, puzzles, reading and a slew of Pinterest ideas I have pinned but not yet completed.

Struggling with going to bed.  The sun is rising at 6:35am and setting at 10:56pm.  It is bright before we wake up, and staying that way until well after Josh and I are in bed.  It makes it hard to want to go to sleep when it looks like it's 3:30pm!

Laughing at Wyatt pouting.  He gets so mad when I tell him no.  He'll kick and growl and stomp.  Then when I put him in timeout, he folds his arms, furrows his brow, and sighs dramatically.  He cracks us up.

I hope you have a happy weekend.  

My goal this weekend is to slow down.  

Because as my Ann reminds us, 

"The hurry makes us hurt."

***

This Week

Loving the new pens I got from my friend Kori!  They write like a dream, and come in every color a girl could dream of.  Best mail I got all week!

Reading How To Be a Woman.  I am cracking up and underlining like crazy.  I finished If I Stay, and I'm sorry, but I hated it. I didn't super love the book, and I thought the ending sucked!

Looking forward to our new bible study by Ann Voskamp.  It's about 1000 Gifts which I read a year and a half ago and constantly refer to.  So excited to fill my soul with inspiration.

Wishing that we had cheese.  We are on week two of no cheese, and it's getting a little hard to be creative in the meal department.  Meatloaf? Check.  Sloppy Joe's? Check.  Golden Mushroom Soup Patties? Check.  And for lunch? PB & J everyday.  We'll be so happy (like, jumping up & down, throwing the good confetti excited) when the cheese Uncle Samuel bought us arrives!

Craving more of the awesome creamer people sent me in their care packages.  I drank through it all and am waiting for more from Amazon. (#becauseihaveaproblem)  In the meantime I am drinking Hazelnut, but only because I'm desperate!  (I prefer vanilla caramel).  I know, #firstworldproblems.  What can I say? I'm a mom, I don't sleep a lot, and a warm cup of coffee makes me a much kinder homeschooler/human being.

Nailing my goals for April!  Not swearing, blogging everyday and working out five days a week! I am killing it! Woot Woot!

Thankful that Jack traded beds with Logan, so he no longer fears mummies under his bed.  That kid and his anxiety can wear me out emotionally.  He's so similar to me, it's eery.  And I am often at a loss as to how to guide him through it.  So Jack's big heart gave me a free pass this week.

Enjoying the apple muffins I made with Wyatt earlier this week.  I took the apple cake recipe my mom gave me, and mixed it with the streusel recipe I found in my Betty Crocker cookbook and made muffins instead of cake with caramel frosting.  The kids like them, and I love them!

Laughing at the boys wanting to snuggle together in Wyatt's bed.  We barely fit, but they loved every second of it!

***

PS- I will be compiling a post about life in rural Alaska soon, and would love to answer any questions you may have about rural living, homeschooling or our family in particular. As you know, I'm an open book, so please ask away!

This Week

Feeling Grateful for Krista having my kids over for individual playdates.  Wyatt gets to go this afternoon and he can hardly wait!

Laughing at Wyatt learning to play basketball.  He stands on the trampoline, reaches both hands waaaay above his head and shoots with all his might.  He misses nine times out of ten, but oh man, is he adorable!

Enjoying blogging everyday.  A few favorites this month:
Facing terrifying panic at the thought of dying,
Our love story, fifteen years later
and my miscarriage experience & the nurse who made it tolerable.

Reading "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman.  I finished The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes, and also enjoyed reading Galatians this week during my quiet time.

Struggling to go to bed on time.  The sun is rising at 7:22am and setting at 10:15pm and the daylight makes it really challenging to want to go crawl into bed.

Happy to be accomplishing my No Swearing goal!  I found lately that I'd been cussing a lot, and didn't like how it made me feel.  So I've been cleaning up my mouth for the last two weeks.  So far I've made tons of progress.  Most days I find myself slipping only once or twice. (Like when the tupperware container of soup fell out of the fridge and spilled all over my foot. Oops!) I'm hoping that by the end of the month, I won't be swearing at all!

Working out is hard.  But I'm doing it everyday.  Some days I don't want to do it, but it's so quick (only 15 minutes) and I know it's really good for my mental health, so I force myself to do it anyway!  And bonus, I fall asleep at night quick as a wink!

Planning our trip home/our return here.  I am doing inventory, making packing lists, creating meal plans to incorporate all the food we need to eat up for our three month absence here and making shopping lists for when we arrive home in Washington & when we hit Anchorage on our way back.  Thank goodness for cute notebooks, awesome music playlists and good pens.  They make the job a lot more pleasant!

Remembering how lovely it is to be at my  mother-in-law's house.  We will be staying with them (Josh's parents) this summer, and I am really looking forward to it-- to spending time in her garden, chasing the boys up & down the sidewalk on their bikes, having extra helping hands with our boys, and going on adventures in the park.

Looking forward to date night! Pizza, a movie & my man.  No kids & no chores?  Yes, please!

Happy Weekend!

***

This Week

Loving the boys' new shoes. They look just like their daddy, and Logan swears he can run faster and jump higher in them.

Reading The Last Letter From Your Lover.  I am hooked!  (Waiting on the Kindle, Eleanor & Park and If I Stay.)

Posting way too many pictures on Instagram. It's such a fun way of keeping everyone in Washington involved in our lives.  #hooked

Enjoying the twins trying to learn about basketball as Josh watched the NCAA games.  I love how they try to emulate their daddy.

Laughing about my complete lack of counter space in the kitchen.  It's really ridiculous!

Struggling with Logan's current fears. He's terrified there are mummies under his bed.  I have explained (many times) that we don't have mummies in Alaska, or in our village.  That mummies are from Ancient Egypt and even if he did come across a mummy, it'd just be an old, old dead body that could do him no harm.  I've also had him check under his bed and prayed over him... but nothing seems to abate the fear.  It makes me sad and frustrated, a challenging combination of emotions.

Still working out everyday.  Some days it kicks my butt, but other days it seems a little easier than before.  Everyday I am proud of myself.

Looking forward to eating out with Josh (alone. sans children.), going to the zoo and hugging my sister when we get home.  Is May here yet?

Laying with Wyatt, then Logan, every night at bedtime.  Those two sweet snuggle bugs make me so grateful I'm their mommy.  (Don't worry, when Jack's not on the top bunk, he gets snuggles, too.  April is his month for the top.)

Happy Weekend to you!

This Week

 I've had some people ask me about my flowers...  These are sunflowers we got in a kids meal at Burgerville when we were back home this summer.

 When we got back to Alaska in August the boys planted them, and Josh has been wonderful about watering them. I can keep the children fed & watered, but not the plants. Go figure!

 We also planted two radish pots & a sweet pea.  They have all done amazingly well.  With only a little over seven hours of daylight (and losing up to six minutes each day) I imagine their season is just about through.

 I will be sad when they go.  

The green & the bit of happiness those beautiful buds bring will be missed.

***

I have some plans in place to make for a good week this week.  

First, I should be cleared for working out now that I'm two weeks post D&C.  That will help ease my anxiety, give me more energy and help me sleep better.  Win, win, win.  

Second, Josh and I have committed to going upstairs for bed at 9pm.  We've been going to bed later and later each night, and in the morning we are paying the price.  

Third, I have plans to catch up my journal, which always helps with my emotions as I feel my way through everything.  

As for today, I'm going to be working hard to prep for the week ahead.  Meal planning, getting my new math curriculum prepared for the new week, reorganizing all our bookshelves since our Scholastic order just arrived, and finishing up the boys' laundry.  

Happy Sunday!