Around Here: Week 33

{always as close to mama as possible, even when I'm getting ready}

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Birthday Boy & Jack

{playing minecraft together-- love their little set up}

Eating... corn, peas & zucchini from our garden.  Wyatt was especially happy to eat the first ear of corn harvested from our little backyard garden.  We grew the garden solely for him.  He has such a fascination with growing and plant cycles that when his teacher sent home an egg carton garden starter, we decided we had to try for his sake.  Josh's mom supplemented the egg carton starter with some peas & tomatoes, and now we have so much stuff growing!
We also ate dinner together as a family for the first time in a week now that everyone is done being sick.  It felt so foreign but lovely to be seated around the table again.

Slowly... healing up after being sick for 10+ days.  It started with Carly and ever so slowly worked its way through all four kids.  Unfortunately this was during a planned visit from their aunt & cousins, which meant they had to cut their vacation short to avoid getting sick themselves, and it also meant we had to cancel our trip to Silverwood theme park with friends. Sad face!  (The boys earned the Silverwood tickets FREE by reading 600 minutes at school this spring.  We're still hoping to go, but aren't sure when we'll get it in. It might be after school starts.

Working... at getting the house settled & set up for school.  It feels good to have all the bedrooms set and organized, and to have at least a good start on the office/laundry room.

Setting... fall goals & 100 small things (year 2) written after wrapping up last year's 100 small things.  Setting goals and thinking what I want life to look like always gets me excited about change instead of dreading it.  The fall routine is going to help me meet a lot of goals and I can't wait!

Celebrating... the twins' friend Jacoby's birthday with a night out at a local pizza place with his family & friends.  We were only able to take Jack & Wyatt, since Logan & Carly were still sick (thanks for watching them, Grandma!) and I can't tell you how lovely it was to have a night out without having to chase Carly around.

Dealing... with tantrums & early rising from Carly.  That girl has an opinion of her own and she is not happy if you tell her no. The early waking (like 4:00am, people!) has me so utterly exhausted and suffering more migraines than usual from lack of sleep.  I am hoping now that the bedrooms are all settled and she's healthy again that we will get back to sleeping!  We are also dealing with her current boot obsession, meaning we put on and take off her little frog boots (that were Logan's and then Wyatt's) 273x a day.  Good thing she's so cute, and says please.

Reading... nothing until yesterday.  You read that right-- I haven't read anything all week!  Yesterday I finally started one I checked out from the library (The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett) and so far I really like it. I also downloaded a few audio books for our road trip-- Ramona Quimby (for the boys) & The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (who also wrote Room which was highly engrossing, disturbing and which I highly recommend!), as well as Small Victories by Anne Lamott & Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle.  I'll let you know which ones I get through & how I like them.

Yelling... too much during this second week of Josh at work & me alone to face all 4 kids.  They all have such different needs that I often find myself overwhelmed with attempting to meet them.  When I get overwhelmed, I yell.  I am working to overcome the habit, but boy it's a tough one!

Trying... to listen to the boys instead of automatically yelling.  I find if I can keep my mouth shut (that's the hard part) I can often hear their hearts coming through their tears & screams, and it reminds me to handle them gently... even if they are driving me bonkers.

Departing... yesterday for my my first solo trip 'home' with all 4 kids.  Took us exactly 6 hours from doorstep to doorstep, with only three stops (one on the way out of town to pick up a prescription, one to go potty and one for lunch).  I was really happy with the length of the trip and with how amazing all the kids were. Carly got a bit grumpy before we stopped for lunch, for about twenty minutes but Logan did a great job of keeping her calm until we got there.

Looking forward... to a weekend FULL of fun with my mom and sister and kids and nephews.  I have a small group reunion planned as well as getting to meet my cousin's baby boy for the first time, plus a trip to the river for the first time this summer.  I just can't wait!!!

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Around Here: Week 32

{Uncle Steve}

(August 8, 2003-- from my wedding scrapbook)

Dinner Plate Hibiscus in our front yard-- we love this thing!

 Reading... (listening to) State of Wonder and reading The Chocolate Touch to the boys at bedtime.

Finished... It's Not Summer Without You.  Waiting to read the third in the trilogy.

Enjoying... dressing Carly, per usual.  Also enjoying the beautiful flowers in our front yard, and the garden we put in for Wyatt in the backyard.  He's particularly impressed with how our little pumpkins are growing.

Visiting... with my grandparents and Uncle when they came into town for a night.

Hearing... Carly call "mama" over the monitor for the first time.  Heart melting!

Watching... as she figures out how to tell the twins apart.  They are thrilled!

Celebrating... our fourteen year wedding anniversary with sick kids & a busy week now that Josh is back to work.  So often I still feel like those teenage kids who fell in love in sign language class. I can hardly believe it's been 14 years since we said "I do."

Worrying... about the upcoming school year; Wyatt's current level of clinginess; Logan's epilepsy and everything about sending them off into the world. I shared some of the things I tell myself (things I learned last year) in a post about sending your little ones off to school. If you've got kids going back to school in the next few weeks, check it out!

Praying... over sick kids. First Carly, then the twins, and now Wyatt. Just praying Josh and I are spared!

Failing... at dieting this week.  I worked so hard last week and lost nothing. Nothing! I stayed exactly the same. So this week with the kids sick, I was like, "Why even try? I'm not successful anyway."  So I ate whatever I wanted, and now I'm scared to step on the scale for fear it will tell me I gained.  I decided, though, to give myself grace until the kids go back to school and I actually have some time to myself again.

Imagining... what I want my days to look like once life gets back to normal after summer ends.  It's going to be hard, but I want to wake up before the kids to work out and get ready for the day.  I am such a better (read: more nice) mom when I'm not rushing around trying to get ready while the kids also rush around trying to get ready.  I also want to try and meditate or do a short bible study everyday to sort of center myself. I have slipped back into yelling and swearing (darn it!) and don't like how it has me feeling about myself.  Change is definitely in order.  So instead of dreading the end of summer and the return of the whole 'school routine', I am looking forward to an opportunity for making some changes. It's gonna be good.

Feeling... grateful for so many things in my life:

• My sister in law for buying me a replacement bracelet for the one Wyatt broke. (For the whole story, check out my Instagram.)
• My neighbors who took care of my boys while I took care of Carly.  One neighbor had the twins all day, fed them lunch, and sent them over with some soda for their poor, exhausted mama; and another neighbor shopped with Wyatt for Pedialyte popsicles, fed him lunch and entertained him so I only had to take Carly in to Urgent Care.  I am so grateful for the village we've created here.
• My husband who works so hard for our family, at our house and who always has patience for me. He's the best. 
• That I'm a stay-at-home mom and never have to choose between working and taking care of sick kids.  I am so thankful my first experience as a mom was as a working mom because it means I never take staying home for granted. I am always so happy to be able to stay here with them, without having to decide how sick is "too sick" and if I need to call in.
• That I can choose my attitude in life and change that attitude at any time if it's no longer serving me.

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Around Here: Week 17

Grateful... my kids are good pukers and even though Wyatt & Jack both came down with the flu this weekend, neither of them threw up on beds or couches.  In this same vein, I am grateful to be a stay-at-home mom.  I love that staying home with my sick kids isn't even a thought. I just stay home.  No boss to call, no decisions to make. It's such a blessing.

Wondering... if Logan will be the last one to get the flu.  It took about two days to travel from his other brothers to each other and then to him.  I thought we were over it, then on Wednesday he complained of a stomach ache, and it was all down hill from there. (I wrote this last night- Thursday- in preparation for today and awoke this morning at 6am to Carly crying in her crib, surrounded by little piles of vomit. She got it. We are on Day 8 of this stomach virus and I am so over it. Just praying that at least Josh and I will be spared!)

Sad... to have missed all three of the twins' baseball games.  First Jack was sick, then Wyatt, then Logan, so I have yet to see them play.  But according to Josh, they are doing amazing!  Jack hit a home run at his first game, and he and Logan both are hitting the ball, far, each time they are up to bat. Plus they're catching the ball and making outs when they're in the field.  I am such a proud, mama.

Doing... haircuts for five of the six members of this household.  The twins are still growing out the tops, but I love how fresh it looks when the sides are trimmed.  Josh's haircut is the same it's ever been, but Wyatt's is shorter than I usually go. I love how it looks and think it'll be nice for spring heading into summer. For Carly I trimmed all along the back again and I'm so excited that her new hair that's growing in is nearly as long as her longest hair in the back, so from here I should be able to let it grow out. I absolutely hate doing haircuts, to be honest, but it saves us so much money (probably $100) that I can't really excuse stopping.

Giving up... cloth diapering.  Over spring break I bought myself a box of diapers and it's been so lovely to continue using them up. So last week I priced diapers and at Walmart I got a box of 124 diapers for less than $18.  Fourteen cents a diaper is what it works out to, and I decided that $18 a month is totally worth not having to scrape poop out of a cloth diaper into the toilet, and also that I probably spend nearly that amount on laundry loads (water + electricity) since I do a diaper load every other day (a rinse cycle, followed by an extra hot wash, followed by the dryer for the inserts).

Doing... lots of homework because of sick kids.  Especially Jack had quite the load. Happy to start next week all caught up!

Feeling... crazy proud of my sister and her husband who have journeyed a very long road to Blake becoming a Fish & Wild Life Officer.  He was in training near us, so he stopped by on his way home Wednesday night. It was so good to see him, and my boys thought his uniform & truck were the coolest!

Reading... Freakanomics and The Lies We Believe.  This week I finished The Forgetting Time & The Gift of an Ordinary Day.  Both were so, so, so good.  I just started I Survived the Eruption of Mt. St. Helens with the twins and The Memory of Water for myself.  They're both proving to be quite good as well!

***

When We Were Sick...

sick kids = lots of baby wearing

He fell asleep like that!

So it seems that since Josh left, we have been nothing but sick, sick, sick.  I honestly can't tell if it just feels that way because one cold takes so long to make its rounds among us, or if we're actually sicker than usual, or if I'm just overwhelmed by taking care of all of them when they are sick and I'm on my own... but in any event, it feels like a lot of sickness & I'm pretty much over it.

Here's hoping this last bout was it for a good long time!!!