Around Here: Week 51

{"Before" of my closet} 

Cleaning... the house before we left last weekend to visit my parents.  I so love when it's clean!  Luckily I've learned to just enjoy it while it lasts and not stress over how quickly it meets its demise.

Enjoying... a quick trip to Vancouver.  It was my mom's birthday party weekend and I am so glad we were able to make it. I've missed her birthday for years since we were in Alaska.  It felt great to make a reappearance. Even if we did stay up until 2 in the morning talking.  Totally worth the tiredness the next day to have had some one on one time with my mom.

Thanking... my lucky stars that Carly slept most of the drive there and back.

Making... all the treats for the boys' school parties.  Rice Christmas krispie treats & cinnamon rolls, yum!

Staying... home on Tuesday since school was canceled for freezing rain.  Unfortunately for Logan & Wyatt, their class parties were supposed to be Tuesday, so instead of sharing with their classmates, they got to share their class treats with their brothers.

Wrapping... gifts like mad yesterday during Carly's nap time.  I hadn't wrapped a single gift before then, so I had my work cut out for me!

Reading... Bird by Bird and hoping to finish today.  I'd like to read Chasers of Light and finish Believing God before the new year.

Finishing... Winter Stroll and Winter Storms by Elin Hildebrand.  Gah, they were SO good!!!

Starting... a Christmas puzzle two days ago. Doing puzzles makes me ridiculously happy.

Feeling grateful... that Dashy our Christmas Elf goes home tonight. I'm exhausted from all the forced creativity. Buh-bye Dash. Have a safe trip North!

Sorting... through all my clothes and books via the KonMari method. I read the book in three days (found it on my library's ebook page!)) and then got started.  I got rid of so.many.clothes. Probably 2/3 of my clothes.  I am selling some stuff, but donated a lot at Goodwill.  I also sorted through my  jewelry which felt great (it's so good to have only what I love in my jewelry box) and I went through all my books.  I had 126 books, 6 magazines, 2 bibles and 19 misc/empty journals. ...and that's just my collection of books.  The boys collection probably has double that!  I made good headway though, getting rid of 42 of them!

Watching... my Christmas-card-covered-door fill up.  All the love from my people makes me happy!

Painting... my toenails the happiest shade of red. I finally got around to getting them done and I'm so glad I did!

Loving... my new drying rack for all the snow clothes that I got at Ikea last weekend.  My mom and sister swore by theirs, so I purchased one for myself and it is awesome!

Cursing... my children's need for glasses.  Yesterday Logan & Jack were fighting and the new glasses just got Logan (at Halloween) got broke.  They were $75. And they only lasted two months! Grrr!

Goals for this week:
Today I will be making Cinnamon Rolls & Special K bars
After Christmas I want to hit the post-Christmas sales to find a fake tree & a new star topper
Other than that, it's family time and relaxing!

Around Here: Week 50

Feeding... Carly bits of whatever I'm eating.  She is loving all the big people food I give her. She is also drinking more from her brother's sippy cups. She has her own, but much prefers theirs. Little cutie.

Setting... goals for the new year.  Looking at what I want blogging to look like, as well as other personal goals like reading & meditating.  I'm so excited.  I love the fresh start a new year offers.

Bundling... up all the children to endure the snow and wind and cold.  We're having negative night time temps and when the wind picks up during the day, it is COLD!  So it's hats and gloves and scarves everyday.  Keeping track of it all is sure to drive me insane!

Reading... Winter Storms by Elin Hildebrand (I finished Winter Street and Winter Stroll-- the first two in the trilogy last week.  They are, hands down, my favorite Christmas reads and I highly recommend them!) and I'm reading BFG by Roald Dahl to the twins each night at bedtime.  I am also hoping to finish Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott and Believing God by Beth Moore before the end of the new year. That will put me at 23 books read (that I kept track of) for 2016!  I'm hoping to do a better job keeping track in 2017, and my goal is to read 24 books, two each month.

Feeling... relief that my anxiety has subsided this week and I functioned as a normal human being. I am searching currently, however, for a counselor so that when my anxiety rears its ugly head I am prepared to face it!

Sleeping... very little these days. I'm not sure why, but Carly has been waking up screaming bloody murder every few hours each night for the last week. I don't know if it's night terrors, separation anxiety or an ear infection, but we are all a bit behind in the sleep department these days.  I'm taking her to the clinic this afternoon to check her ears, but I have a feeling it's just a phase she's going through. Poor baby!

Packing... for a last minute trip home to celebrate my  mom's birthday. When I was in Alaska I didn't cry on Christmas or Thanksgiving or Easter. I cried on my mom's birthday. I hated missing it and am so happy that I will be able to be there this year.  Hooray (again) for living close to family!!!

{Inspiration this week}

Weekly Goals:

• Finish two books
• Kon Mari our clothes (!!!)
• Wrap Christmas presents

Blue Eyed Baby

{July 2016}

Known for Love

Every year at Christmas time, I have to go through my address book and erase names.  It is, hands down, the most depressing part of Christmas.  This year I had to erase my grandma's best friend Shirley, who was like a grandma to my boys and myself.  She passed just days after Carly was born and never got to meet our sweet girl.

I also had to erase my Grandma Dorothy & Grandpa Bob, surrogate grandparents whom I'm not actually related to, but grew up with all the same.

My grandpa's brother also passed away this year...

As I slowly work through my Christmas card list, erasing as necessary, I can't help but think about the loved ones I've lost, and the thing I would like people to remember most about me when it's my name they're erasing.

I've considered many virtues, different things I'd like to be known for and decided to settle on the most boring, yet most meaningful one. Love. I just want to be known for love. I want to be known for loving my husband more than anyone on the planet.  I want to be known for loving my children and sacrificing everything for them.  I want to be known for loving my friends and my family and making them feel like the most important people in the world.

***

Broken Things

Things will break.

People tell you they will cry.  They tell you about the laundry.  They warn you about your heart.  But they don't tell you all the senseless things that your children will break, ruin, destroy, decimate.  Last week was a breaking week.  I lost the backpack shelf (pulled right out of the wall), a piece of wall decor in Wyatt's room, two of my favorite ice cream dishes, and this fruit bowl.

Those are just the broken things.  There were also messes-- chocolate on clothes, water spilled on papers and snot smeared across t-shirts and forearms.  It's enough to send you running for the hills!

But Friday morning, when the last bowl bit the dust, I felt peace wash over me. What was done was done. So instead of yelling, blaming and blasting poor Logan who dropped another dish on the fruit bowl while unloading the dishwasher, I hugged him.  I told him it was just a dish.  

Broken things can be mended or replaced.  But hearts broken by words spoken from an angry mama are much harder to heal.

***

Around Here: Week 49

Finally... filling out our anniversary journal.  Our anniversary (13 years!) was back in August and I am just now jotting down notes about our year and ordering a picture to put in.  Every year I enjoy looking back at all the previous years and seeing how far we've come as a couple.  Adding Carly this year was pretty magical.

Sending... our Christmas cards out. I've been working on them for a few weeks now and it feels good to cross that off my list.

Carrying... a sleeping baby to and from afternoon pick up for a bunch of days in a row. Poor Carly had a runny nose and every time we were in the car, she'd pass out. So I got to relive her newborn days and enjoy her sleeping everywhere.

Giving... Wyatt nebulizer treatments to get rid of his lingering cough.  Last week his doctor said he has reactive airways which means that when he's sick, his lungs tend to bear the brunt of it.  The albuterol helps and at this point we aren't calling it asthma, but we are watching him.

Forgetting... to move Dashy (our Elf on the Shelf) twice this week. #momfail  I told the boys that he can't travel when it's really cold outside, so he stayed here where it's cozy and warm. Ha! Hopefully next week I will be more on the ball.

Bringing... Carly to bed with me in the early mornings so she won't wake Wyatt up (they share a room) and so I can get a few more zzz's before the day starts.

Attending... Josh's work Christmas party last night.  It was nice to meet his coworkers and have the chance to dress Carly up.

Enjoying... every minute of having a daughter to dress up.  Putting on her new shoes and Christmas dress from my mom (thanks, Nanny!) was like dressing up a doll.  I feel so lucky to have her!

Ordering... snow gear for the boys. (Sierra Trading Post for the win!) The snow started on Tuesday and we woke up this morning with a brand new blanket of snow, at least two more inches.  I am grateful the snow pants (for Wyatt) and boots (for the twins) that I ordered showed up yesterday and that my mom thought to order Logan and Jack's snow pants a month ago!  It's been an adjustment, dressing everyone for snow each morning before school.  Keeping track of everything is such a pain!

Reading... my favorite Christmas books.  I just finished Winter Street by Elin Hildebrand and have started Winter Stroll.  I got Winter Storms for my birthday and I can't wait to read the whole trio!

Loving... our slow mornings on the weekends.  During the week, we always hit the ground running, and it's so nice on the weekend to let the boys play Minecraft to their hearts' content (we don't do screens during the week) and to let Wyatt do all the crafts his little mind can think of.

Meditating on this gem:

Having four kids has taken a lot more juggling than three kids did.  And it's a constant adjustment, as needs change, to make sure I'm doing the best I can for them.  Remembering that God chose us for each other helps as I sometimes struggle to meet their ever changing needs.

Next Week's Goals:

• Wrap existing Christmas presents
• Be joyful when I see my kids
• Blog 3x next week

Before the End of the Year Goals:

• Do my Christmas puzzle
• Paint my toenails (why can I never get this checked off my to do list?)
• Read Dave Ramsey's book
• Read Ann Voskamp's new book
• Contemplate what goals I want to set for 2017
• Make a book list for 2017

Around Here: Weeks 47 & 48

Whew! Last week was an amazing whirlwind.  Because of that and our spending the holiday with family out of town, my regular Friday post never happened. So I will combine this week and last week.  Thanksgiving will have its own post soon.

Jack & Logan 2010

Wyatt 2012

Celebrating... my birthday (again!) with my parents when we arrived at their house last week.  The boys (& my nephew Ferris) got to try lighting matches and helped my parents light all thirty-four of my birthday cake candles!

Reading... Flight Behavior. It took nearly half the book for me to get hooked and now instead of showering this morning I read while eating Froot Loops as the kids got ready for school. I am so anxious to see how it ends!
The twins and I are also finishing up My Side of the Mountain. When that's done, we are going to read BFG by Roald Dahl.  I am loving that time with them each night after the little kids are down.

Decorating... for Christmas! We got our tree at Lowe's, but the kids were content to check out the blow up decorations, so I refuse to feel guilty that we didn't do the whole "Christmas Tree Farm" thing. They enjoyed decorating the tree and Wyatt has enjoyed un-decorating it everyday.  He takes a handful of ornaments off each morning and afternoon to use as makeshift toys. I remember loving to play with some glass bears we had growing up, so I let him, even though rearranging ornaments every night is getting old already.

Starting... our Elf on the Shelf holiday tradition with Dashy our friendly elf.  So far he has turned our milk green, held baby Jesus from our manger scene, climbed up on the clock on the wall, and been caught drinking syrup through a straw on the kitchen table. The boys really love his shenanigans.

Preparing... to do 25 days of kindness.  Each day has a simple thing we can do to bring a little more love into the world and I'm excited to get the kids on board.

Done... Christmas shopping.  We only bought gifts for the kids this year, and I bought every single thing except one online. I felt great about that until Jack snuck in my room and peeked into the box from Amazon that had all their gifts in it. Gulp.  Ah, parenting.

Hoping... to get our Christmas cards done over the weekend so I can get them out early since we moved.  I like people to have our new address before they send out their Christmas cards.

Enjoying... the roses Josh got me for my birthday. They lasted a super long time and made me smile each time I walked into the kitchen.

Watching... sweet Carly suffer from a terrible cold. She's snotty and coughing and so, so sad.  I wish I could make it go away!

Finishing... my first puzzle in our new house. It was so fun to work on it off and on over the last two weeks. I love doing puzzles so much.  I have a great one waiting for Christmas break. I can't wait!

Getting angry... at Ramona (our cat) for scooping water out of the tree stand in the living room like a person who can't swim bailing out of a boat that's taking on water. She is SO naughty!!!

Feeling... inadequate, especially at bedtime. There are four children in this house, and only one mother. I could really use another me, or three.  I often have Wyatt requesting that I lay with him, the twins waiting for me to read with them and do bedtime prayers, and Carly screaming to be fed and put to sleep.  It's so hard to juggle it all.  By the time they are all in bed each night, I feel as if I've completed a marathon.

Jumping... for joy as our ice maker and garage door opener have been repaired.  (New Home Warranty for the win!)  I've never been so happy to push a button and have something do what it is supposed to!

Choosing... the material I want to use for the taggies my mom is going to make for Carly. She's currently using Wyatt's, but we want her to have her own girly ones.  I am in love with the material choices I found in my mom's stash!

Looking back... at the twins and Wyatt when they were babies, as well as paging through photo albums at my mom's house. So much fun!

Rejoicing... that we got good, normal results from Logan's EEG a few weeks back. It seems that seizure was a fluke.  I am so relieved and grateful.

***

Weekly goals:

1) Write my Christmas letter

2) Address our Christmas cards

3) Paint my toenails