Week 26 Around Here {2019}

{pc: Aunt Roxanne}

Having... my sister over along with her kids on Saturday.  It was a really fun day, and I was so glad to spend the day with her.  She even curled Carly's hair while she was here with my new wand from Ulta, and Carly looked so darn cute!
I enjoyed loving on my niece Romy & seeing all the kids snuggled up on the couch together watching a movie during movie night.  They're just so sweet together.

Trading... kids on Sunday with my sister.  She got Jack and I got Milo.  We met at the halfway point and swapped kids, then met again in the afternoon to trade back.  Logan & Wyatt had such a great time with Milo, and Jack loved being at Roxanne's sans his siblings.

Sending... Jack for a sleepover at Grandma's.  He was so excited to have some special time with her and Papa, and I think it was just what he needed.

Kayaking... with the kids and Josh while Jack was with grandma.  We had a great time on the water, but it was interesting to see how lost Logan was without Jack there to be his buddy on the water.  They drive each other nuts... but they also depend on each other for entertainment and companionship.

Celebrating... Wyatt's birthday with a pizza party.  We watched a Spiderman movie and enjoyed pizza, Koolaid, cake & ice cream.  Wyatt had a great time, and I think his friends enjoyed themselves, but the best story of the night is this: I had given Carly a little Koolaid before the party started.  Then about an hour later, the boys were all having pizza and I started pouring them cups of Koolaid.  Carly marched her little self right over to the table, jutted her cup toward me and said, "I need more alcohol, mom."
What?!? Somehow she mixed up the name "Koolaid" with the name "Alcohol", and wanted more.  Hahaha!  Then, later that week, we were at the grocery store and as we were cruising down the center aisle of the store, Carly pipes up, "Can we get more alcohol?"
She just can't seem to remember that it's called Koolaid.

Riding... with the kids to the school for a morning play time, and enjoying it so much.  Carly loved riding in the bike trailer, and I felt really good, too!

Spending... some time with my bestie on Thursday, and enjoying it so much.  We got lunch while we were together and had the chance to have so many uninterrupted conversations since we were kid-free (thanks to her mom and Josh).  It was lovely!

Playing... at home is going really well so far this summer, thanks to the boys' "Play List" (a list of all the things they can play when they have free time) and the consequence of weeding when they are naughty.  I had been so nervous for how it would go, but I am happy to report it is going just swimmingly.  They are having so much fun building forts and reading books and I am grateful for the permission my counselor gave me to give them more screen time if I need it to survive.  I always have that little card in my back pocket!

Reading... The Road Back to You (which is about the enneagram), Harry's Trees (which I talked about last week & am still working through) and Love You Hard.  When I finished Love You Hard I started The Prayer Box, which I am loving!  It's about a woman whose landlord passes away, and while cleaning out her house, she comes across a life's collection of prayer boxes.  Through these prayer boxes, she begins piecing together this woman's life story.  It's really good!

Taking... the twins on a bike ride, just the three of us, and having the best time together.  We raced and took turns leading the pack.  When we got home, we all felt great, and I was so glad I had said yes.

Storm watching... with the kids on Thursday night and loving how Carly got out her pretend camera to take pictures.  They loved the lightening and counting to see how far behind the thunder was.

Blogging... my heart out to get caught up on the few weeks I was behind.  I am so glad to be caught up!

Getting... away for a small group get together with the girls I started small group bible study with back in 7th grade.  For over 20 years these girls have been by my side through thick and thin, and it was so amazing to sneak in some time away with them.  We left our collective 13 children with our husbands and had some kid-free time in Seattle, going out to dinner, walking to see the sunset view and talking until 1:30 in the morning!  This time I got to meet Maggie's little girls, and her youngest is Carly's age and just a doll! I wanted to take her home! {swoon!}

{thanks to Tabitha's friends for sharing}

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Week 25 Around Here {2019}

{My unread shelf}

{Time for a haircut!!!}

Waking up... and celebrating Wyatt's 8th birthday with a donut cake, which was the brilliant brain child of my sister, who wanted to make Wyatt's birthday special even though we had plans in Vancouver on his big day.  He loved the donut cake (... let's be honest, we ALL did!) and was thrilled to start the day celebrating.

Attending... my cousin Savanna's wedding shower, which was so lovely.  I was so happy to see her and her fiance, Deric, as well as her sister Alix.  I hadn't seen Alix's house yet, and really enjoyed seeing where she lives with her hubby and baby boy. 

Loving... getting ready for the shower with my mom and sister in the same bathroom.  It was just so fun to do our hair and make up together, asking opinions on clothes and jewelry... I have missed that since I got married so many years ago.  It makes me happy we still get the opportunity to do that once in a while.

Seeing... our beloved Annie & her brother James while visiting my mom.  She has grown so much, and it was so good for my heart to see her and hold her and play with her.  I bought her love with candy (like any good auntie would!) and loved seeing her laugh about our green tongues.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I love knowing my mom is in her life & such a loving presence for her and her sweet brother.

Road tripping... back home after nearly a week with our parents and two of our kiddos in Vancouver.  It ended up being such a lovely, lovely trip, and I am so glad Roxanne and Josh invited/encouraged me to go.  It was just what I needed to kick off the summer.

Trying... a new hair style with my new hair wand I got at Ulta.  I joked with my sister that my hair style has been "1990 soccer mom" style for my whole life (#butseriously) and it's time for a change.  I still need to get the hang of it, but I am determined to not get stagnant in the beauty department.  Repeat after me: Change is good. Change is good. Change is good.  Right???

Taking... Jack and Carly to the water park on Monday afternoon while Josh's mom had Logan and Wyatt.  It was a nice slow warm up to the summer spent there, and gave us a chance to see how Carly would do.  She LOVED it, and with her floaty life vest, we see her swimming in no time!

Getting... Wyatt to the orthodontist for an early morning appointment, and then taking him and Carly to my friend's house (thanks, Crystal!) so I could go to counseling since Josh worked and the twins were at the land with Grandma & Papa.

Suffering... a 36 hour migraine this week that was a DOOZY.  I get them with my cycle sometimes, and this one would.not.quit. It was seriously the worst.  But I took my meds as needed and pressed on, because life just keeps on a-going, and ain't no one got time for migraines.  Especially when Josh had to work Tuesday through Sunday this week!

Talking... about overeating at counseling, and seeing how I think of it as rewarding myself, but in actuality I am punishing myself by getting so stuffed that I feel gross and sort of hate myself.  It's a vicious cycle. 
I have seen some improvement when I am able to feel my feelings as they come, which requires a lot of staying present, but is totally worth the effort.
I'll get there.
Small steps.

Feeling... like a champion (seriously, I wanted a trophy & confetti) after getting the twins to their dentist appointment (hooray for no cavities!), running errands to three stores and the post office with all 4 kids, and putting away all the groceries while suffering the last bits of that 36 hour migraine.  I felt like Superwoman.  Or at least SuperMom.  Hah. 
But with my migraines it's like, I can suffer here on the couch, or I can suffer while I'm getting shit done. Sometimes I let myself loaf on the couch.  And that's fine.  But one can only loaf so much when there are mouths to feed and a birthday party to plan and teeth to get checked. So I bucked up, and took one for the team. #goshelly

Thankful... that the boys are all old enough to leave me alone during nap time when I need it.  After our crazy morning running errands with a migraine, I ate lunch with Carly, laid her down for a nap, and then went and took one myself.  I was exhausted. The boys were so good, letting me rest and taking care of each other.  It made me so proud and grateful.

Adoring... the way Carly and Wyatt watch the garden grow.  And really all the plants around our house.  They are so fascinated with the bugs and the bees and love to help water everything to make it grow.  They love to check the plants in the garden and see if any fruits or veggies are starting to sprout yet.  We have a few Zucchini starting and they are just pumped! It's so sweet! 

Reading... Harry's Trees, which is a great read about two widowed people whose lives end up entertwined in a kind of magical way, and listening to Before Green Gables (my new favorite!) and Love You Hard, which is also so good and very inspiring.  If you want to be grateful for your life, listen to Love You Hard.  The author's tenacity is incredible.  And if you love Anne of Green Gables, you simply HAVE to read Before Green Gables.  My friend Theresa recommended it, and I am so grateful.  It was such a fantastic book to start the summer with on audible loan from the library.

Giving... the boys their summer haircuts.  They hate me now (at least the twins do) but I can't stand their long hair in the summer, all full of sweat. So, summer haircuts it is! #sorrynotsorry

Throwing... a birthday party for Logan & Jack's 11th birthday with their friends, including batting practice with the pitching machine (thank you, Josh!) and a water fight, plus cupcakes.  Win-win-win.  The kids had a great time, and I really enjoyed watching them play ball together- it reminded me of The Sandlot, which made me smile; and Jack said it was his best birthday EVER.

Praying... for my bestie who had surgery this week.  She was in amazing shape post-surgery and now begins the long recovery process.  I am so proud of how brave she has been and am praying she will recover quickly.  I stayed with her one night in the hospital so her husband could get some rest, and I felt so blessed to be able to be there for her like that.  It's truly a gift when people let you in, and let you be there for them during hard & vulnerable times, and I am blessed to have a friendship like this one. I love you, girl!!!

Laughing... when Carly told me (vehemently) that she wanted to call and tell Grandma about "the Pocahontas" she had seen.  I was all, "What Pocahontas?" and she was all, "Not POKE-ahontas, HOKE-ahontas... you know! That we saw in the yard?"
Lately she's been talking a lot about ghosts and shadows and heaven and death, so when she started talking about seeing something in the yard she wanted to talk about with grandma and I didn't know what she was talking about, I was pretty freaked out.
Finally she said, SUPER exasperated with me, "You know! The HOKE-ahontas we saw on the window!!!" with her hands all emphatic and irritated.  And then it clicked! She was trying to say "Praying Mantis" hahahahahah!
Earlier in the week we had seen a teeny tiny praying mantis on the front window and we went out front and held it, and then set it free in this plant they seem to love in our front yard.
Oh that poor girl trying to get me to understand her.  No wonder she was so frustrated.

Shopping... with all four kids at Walmart Friday morning (against my better judgment) because they had birthday money burning holes in their pockets, and I brought my book, so I could read while they shopped. Ha!  Seriously, I just read Harry's Trees while they ran up and down the aisles at Walmart and finally decided what they wanted. It was the best thing ever.

Breaking... my book buying ban and getting We Are Okay for myself at Walmart.  It had been a long week, with my migraine, and my friends' surgery and just, life... so I rewarded myself with a book.  I'm not sure how I feel about that, but for now I am cutting myself some slack.  It's one book, and there are sure a lot of worse transgressions I could be worried about.

Playing... at the park after a picnic and really enjoying it.  I loved the simplicity of taking the kids to the park with bags of sandwiches & chips, and seeing how much fun we could make it.  It reminded me that having a fun summer isn't necessarily about doing anything big or fancy, but about doing small things each day with intention.
So I decided that each day I am going to try and do something FUN with the kids.  Some days that may just be pulling out the Play Doh and playing with them for ten minutes making 'cupcakes', and other days it may be going kayaking as a family, but if I have at least one FUN thing planned, I know that that Mom Guilt won't gnaw at me when we are busy doing NON-FUN things like cleaning out the garage or putting away laundry, because something fun is around the corner!

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"I will rise up

And I will try again"

Yes, yes, yes.

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