AROUND HERE

Today marks the start of week three of the school year.  I don't feel like my mindset has done a full switch to school routine mode, but I can feel it coming.  That first week felt so long, but then last week went by in a flash.

One thing that I had forgotten over the course of the summer was how broken up my days feel during the school year.  It feels like we spend A LOT of time loading in and out of the van, getting waters for everyone, hunting for shoes and cleaning out the disaster van situation.  It also feels like I just get started on a project and then it is time to go again.

Oh well.  It's part of this phase of life and I'm mostly good with it - I just need to get used to it all over again.

- - - -

Eli has been really into playing a new make believe game with me and Sweetcakes (his stuffed rat).  He will ask to play "Sweetcakes Tornado" or "Sweetcakes Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula" or "Sweetcakes Shipwreck" or ....it really goes on and on.

He likes me to sit on the couch while he sits on a chair across the living room from me.  We start off by pretending that we are in a certain situation (camping, at home, on a ship, close to a volcano, etc.) and all is well.  We chit-chat about what a nice, normal day it is.  Then - SUDDENLY! - the bad thing happens!  We pretend panic / talk about the best course of action for the emergency.  And then usually move on to the next Sweetcakes game.

The entire game is basically just talking.  And I guess he should be well prepared for most disaster situations that might come his way in life.

- - - -

We bought a tree!  It has been in our backyard for about a week and we love it.  I particularly like that it is just outside the master bedroom window.

This had been on our to do list for a couple years, but we kept putting it off for one reason or another.  Then, we went to a graduation party in May that (funnily enough) convinced us to bite the bullet.  The party was outdoors and the day was almost unbearably hot.  The one saving grace was that a good section of their backyard was shaded by trees.  We left and Brian immediately said, "We need to get some trees!  So we can have graduation parties in the backyard!"  ...nothing like looking a few years into the future, I guess.

It took us a couple months to decide on a type of tree and actually pick one out.  But, it's in the ground and looking good and now making us more anxious than ever to have a patio poured off the deck.

- - - -

And somebody REALLY needs to kick me in the pants to put in the last hour of work on Maggie's room to get it done before the end of the month.  Anybody? 

FOURTH OF JULY

The fourth!  Oh my goodness, it was just a joy of a day at our house.  I've never had a problem with this holiday, but I've also never really been that "into" it. 

In 2016 (when Mags was not even two months old), we first attended a morning Fourth of July parade in a small town just 15 minutes from us.  So this was year number three and - as far as the kids are concerned - "this is what we ALWAYS do."  We were entertained for more than an hour and came home with giant bags of candy.  

My dad and Connie joined us for the entire day and two of our nieces and one of Brian's sister joined us for the parade.  It was great to get to spend time with all of them.  

Little things like eating dinner on patriotic paper plates and enjoying red, white and blue bomb pops for dessert brought extra joy to the day with zero extra work on my part.

Maggie played "ice cream shop" with my dad and I for a long stretch - switching back and forth from ordering to serving us food and charging "two moneys" for everything.  

In the early evening, Brian and the boys set off the majority of the fireworks we purchased.  The boys gain more interest and bravery in fireworks every year - again a small price for a lot of fun and Brian pretty much took over all of the "work" related to this, which I appreciated.  

After dusk, we sat in our lawn chairs and enjoyed the "show."  We have a prime viewing spot in our very own driveway and it is awesome.  It means Maggie could go to bed at 7:30 while the boys stayed awake for all of the amazing fireworks that happen around our neighborhood.  This was the first year the boys stayed up for the majority of the night time fireworks and it was so fun to see their reactions and enjoyment.  

In short: 

Throughout the day, we spent a ton of time outside.  We got to share our day with family.  We relaxed and nothing felt stressful.  I had visible reminders of the ways the kids are growing and maturing.  We embraced the traditions we started and had a great time together.  

Win!  Win!  Win!    

WHAT WILL YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THIS YEAR?

Last November, I did a fairly extensive life review.  I spent time considering each of the major facets of my life from several angles.  I looked backward, I looked forward and I looked at right where I was.  It was a great exercise and really helped me to think about how I wanted to spend my time as I moved into the new year.

Before I got started, I read through several articles with varying ideas on exactly how to conduct this sort of life review.  Fitting with my "Questioner" personality, I did a lot of research and then just used the ones that made the most sense to me or really resonated with me in one way or another.

Out of all that, one question has really stuck with me.

"What will you remember about this year?"

This question feels like THE QUESTION.  My days are often filled with monotonous tasks and urgent concerns, but those aren't the things that I will remember.  I fill our family Project Life album with all the photos and lists of what we do and some of the funny things the kids say.  All that is good and I enjoy looking back through the albums from time to time, but most of those things aren't the things I will remember.

It is amazing to me how big and important things feel in the moment and how little of them I can recall a year (or even just a month) later.

The things we remember are the new things, the big things and the things that happen on repeat.

For the first half of 2018, here's what I will remember:

• Sam's love of the presidents and crazy ability to memorize all of their birth and death dates
• Eli's love of Sweetcakes (his plush rat)
• Maggie yelling "Yijah!" and never calling her brother Eli
• Creating a new identity for our family as "campers" and our first few camping trips
• Eli's interests in guns and volcanoes and weather and talk of fish
• My adoption of "The Rule of Six" and all the ways it has helped me be (and feel like) a good mom
• Reading a lot of books - on my own and also to the kids
• Brian's summer of school (with the knowledge that this is the end of his classes and all future summers will be school-free)
• Brian's listening to Jordan Peterson on repeat
• Spending time with Brian's parents in the weeks before and after Ken's surgery
• The 40 Days of Prayer series
• Maggie's talk about ice cream flavors (every single day)and how happily she plays independently
• Sam finishing kindergarten
• Still not knowing if Eli will go to public school or stay home 
• Joining my small group through church and finding kindred spirits 
• The boys talking about our 2017 vacations on an almost daily basis
• Maggie saying, "Hi mama.  How doing?" twenty times a day.
• Running and singing and laughing our way around our kitchen and living room
• Maggie and Eli watching Charlotte's Web and eating Lunchables

I think this list does a fair job of summing up our last six months and I like it.  

Life is good.  God is good.  I can't thank Him enough for all of His blessings.  

CURRENTLY

There are so many things going on around here - and yet, the days feel properly slow and summery.  This combination is perfect, in my book.

We are gearing up for our second camping trip.  I am amazed at how much less stressful the packing seems this time around.  I still need to make a "master camping packing list," but even without that, I feel confident that we will be set.  It helps that we left a few things (air mattresses and campstove) stored in the under seat storage of the van since our last trip.  We also kept our camping storage / travel tote about half packed, so I had a lot fewer things to round up than I did a few weeks ago.  And, just having the previous trip in my minds' eye is really helping me to gauge what we need to bring and what we can leave behind. 

Brian spent most of last week in DC and we survived without him.  I wasn't really looking forward to his time away, but it ended up being a good week.

I have been working fairly diligently on my "rainbow quilt," but am starting to wonder if I will get it done by the end of the 100 day challenge.  I'm hopeful, but not going to be hugely upset if it doesn't happen.  I have most of my pieces pressed, but we have a busy weekend planned, so I don't foresee putting my quilt top together until sometime next week.  

The boys are signed up for swimming lessons this week and next.  So far, we've been rained out two of the four days this week.  There is plenty of rain in the ten day forecast, too.  Boo. ...although Eli has been happy because he REALLY doesn't want to put his head under the water.  

Brian and I celebrated eight years of marriage, this week.  He bought me flowers that were yellow and white - the same colors that were in my wedding bouquet.  We looked through our wedding photo album on the morning of our anniversary and watched the video with the kids in the evening.  They were more interested in it than I expected, but were ready to be done watching long before it was done.  And, we get to celebrate with a kid-free afternoon on Sunday.  

I get to meet my Bible Study friends for half-price margaritas after dinner, this evening.  We don't have regular meetings in the summer, so I've been missing them.  I'm much looking forward to catching up with what's been happening with everyone.  

That's (some of) what's happening around here.  Cheers to you and wishing you a good weekend!

AROUND HERE

It's SUMMER!  Brian was done with school on the 18th.  Sam's last day was the 24th.  We've made the quick transition from school year routines to days that feel kind of chaotic - at least to me. Our days have been broken up with a lot of appointments, errands and commitments that we had been pushing off until Brian was home.   I have hopes that we will find ourselves a groove of sorts in the next couple of weeks.

One fun thing I got to do this last week was have book club at a Saltdogs baseball game.  Our group rotates hosting, with the host choosing location.  Most often we meet in our homes, but sometimes we will meet at restaurants and we usually have one winery outing each summer.  This was our first ballpark meeting and it was really fun.  We didn't watch much of the game, but we enjoyed beer and snacks and talking.  And we did watch most of the last inning and had the chance to cheer for the surprise win at the end of the game.

The idea of hosting a "Rainbow Party" toward the end of my 100 Day Project has been floating around in my head for the past several weeks.  I keep alternating between being excited by the idea and wondering what exactly a Rainbow Party entails.  I decided, this week, that I'm just going to do it.  I will send out invitations today and then I will be on the hook for figuring out what a Rainbow Party does entail.  I predict it will be fun - both the planning and the party itself.  (Also, Brian thinks this is weird / crazy, which it is - but that just makes me want to do it more.)

We've spent time with all three sets of our parents this last week.  I feel like this is a funny, but somewhat regular occurrence.  We seem to go through long stretches where we don't see any of them and then calendars work out just-so, andt we get to see all three.  We - Brian and I and our kiddos - are incredibly blessed with all six of these people that we love and that love us back.

Next weekend begins our Petermann Family Camping Adventures.  I'm not sure if I've written about this before or not.  Basically, we are not campers, but we decided that we want to be.  So, this week will be all about basic preparations (trying out that camp stove we got for Christmas, setting up the tent in the backyard to make sure we can do it and that we have all the pieces, etc.) and next weekend we are giving it a go.  We are only staying one night for our first trip.  We will see what things we forget and what things we bring but don't need.  And from there, we can adjust and try again.  I would love for this to become a regular part of our summers and maybe even to someday camp our way across the country on road trips.

And now we are off to yet another graduation party.  'tis the season.  Cheers, friends! 

CURRENTLY

Wow!  This week just flew by.  It was a good one.

It felt like we had the right number of commitments.  Not many commitments, but not zero.  This is ideal for me.  I like to spend most of my time at home doing my own things on my own time frame.  But, I would get bored if we were always home.

This week, Brian went to a Bible study on Monday night, I took the little two to library story time on Tuesday and we had a play date on Wednesday morning, Sam went to his church group on Wednesday evening and my Bible study group meets tomorrow morning.  Besides that, we were home or playing outside with neighbors or doing before and after school drop offs and pickups for Sam and our niece.

Brian and I each have a few monthly commitments that seem to often fall in the same week. Those are the weeks that are not my favorite.  The meetups are good, but having too much in a single week makes me kind of crazy.

The color run we did last Friday night was fun.  I think everyone had a good time.  One of our nieces ran with Sam.  Brian ran with Eli.  Maggie and I had fun cheering them on along with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.  It was a very relaxed event and it was nice to do something that was a new experience for all of us. 

I spent a good amount of time making art.  Challenging myself to share things that I truly love as part of my 100 day project has been a good thing.  I enjoy both the challenge, the making and the sharing.   (The two "rainbows" in the image above are some of my favorites so far from this project.)

I started using the Daylio app.  I just learned about this app last weekend.  It is a quick way to record what you've done over the course of your day and how you feel about your day.  The app collects your data and then will give you reports to help you see which activities correlate with great days and which correlate with bad days.

Obviously, the "bad" activities can't always be avoided and it is impossible to have 365 awesome days in a year.  But, if a large percentage of my "awesome" days include art and reading, I can strive to add art and reading to every day.

Actually, I pretty well already know that art and reading are important for my happiness.  I am curious to see what else I can add into (or take out of) my daily practice to help me have as many great days as possible.

We have no big plans for the weekend, but lots of possibilities.  We might try to get to the zoo for the first time this year.  I'm pretty sure we will hit up the library.  I ordered some plants through a fundraiser that need to be picked up tomorrow morning.  I am looking forward to planting them with the kiddos.  Plus church and Sunday School on Sunday morning.  I think it's going to be a good one.

Happy (almost) weekend, friend! 

AROUND HERE

The weather is crazy.  It is currently 78 degrees.  Woohoo!  A snowstorm with possible blizzard-like conditions is in the forecast for tomorrow.  What!?!  So the hot and the cold combo means that we could be in for thunderstorms and tornadoes this evening and through the night.  I'm curious to see how it will all play out. 

The good news out of all that is the 78 degrees.  We've had four days in a row with highs in the sixties or above and it has been wonderful.  We have spent SO much time outside and it has been a much needed change of pace.  Just being outside is great, but even better are all the interactions with neighbors.  It's given me a little glimpse into what our summer might be like this year and I'm liking it.    

I work this weekend.  This means that I've been working ahead a bit on some rainbow ideas.  It also means that I've been trying to get all the things crossed off my to do list in five days, rather than seven - which, honestly, is probably good for me. 

Brian and the boys are doing a "color run" this evening.  Assuming the weather is not stormy at race time, that is.  The race was originally scheduled for tomorrow (and I was going to have to miss it altogether), but they changed the date and time due to the potential snowstorm.  Maggie and I won't be participating, but I'm thankful that we will be there on the sidelines.  I'm looking forward to taking photos and seeing the kids' reactions to the running and to being inundated with color.  

My 30 day "Wake Up Before the Kids" challenge is going really well.  The difference in my energy level, mood and productivity is noticeable.  I haven't missed a day of 10,000 steps since I started waking up early again.  For me, waking up early means getting my first 1,000 steps in before attending to other chores or the kids' needs.  I don't speed walk, so it usually takes me about 10 minutes to walk 1,000 steps and I use that time to read a book using the Kindle App, pray and / or think through the list of things I need to accomplish for the day.  This challenge is just what I needed.  

Off to pack snacks and get the kids loaded up for school pick up time.  Happy weekend to you!     

AROUND HERE

Wow.  This week just flew right by and now it is almost weekend again.

It will be a working weekend for me and I expect to be pretty well worn out by Sunday evening.  In addition to the usual patient work, I have a ton of paperwork and additional testing to do before the end of the year.  This is the downfall of working so rarely.  Instead of having these things spread out over several weeks, I am always trying to cram them into a twelve hour shift or two.  If I can't get everything done during my scheduled hours, I can go in and finish in the evenings after Brian gets home from work.  Since that doesn't sound like a lot of fun, I'm going to put on my game face and see if I can just crank it all out this weekend.  We will see.  

The low moment of this week was Tuesday morning when Brian and I were both convinced we were going to be told that Mabel (our almost 12 year old beagle) was in her final days.  She was acting really strange and we could tell she was in pain.  But all of her lab work came back normal and the vet's suspicion was that she had injured her back.  He put her on a couple of medications and she was back to her usual self by the next morning.  

Following my online holiday shopping spree, my email inbox has been completely out of control this past month.  I decided to do something about it this week and have been happily unsubscribing to things right and left.  This is such an easy thing to do, but for some reason I tend to put it off.  

Someone drove into Brian's car door as we were getting out of his car, a couple weeks ago.  Trying to get insurance companies to pay for the damage and figure out if we wanted to fix the car or buy a new one has felt like a giant headache.  Big props to Brian who has done 98% of the legwork on this not-fun project.  We ended up with no money in our pockets, but decided to just fix the car for now and it is nice to just have that decision made.  Now, we are anxious to get the car back and get back to being a two-car family.  Thank goodness for carpooling and for Brian's carpool partner being so willing to drive while we've been down to one vehicle.

Sam has been anxiously awaiting his turn at being "The Star of the Week" at kindergarten.  He has talked about it almost daily for the past month or so.  On Wednesday, he got in the van after school and said, "Look what happened!" and then pulled the Star of the Week bag out of his backpack.  So, next Monday is his chance and I'm happy for him.

I've been feeling surprisingly unhurried and unstressed about the holidays.  We've been enjoying things as the come and nothing has yet felt overwhelming.  On my to-do list for this next week is planning our Christmas Eve party, which mostly consists of planning and setting up Minute To Win It games for about 15 people, and also figuring out menus for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  ...oh, and I think there may be a few big gifts for us to assemble when we have some kid-free hours.

And that's what's going on around here.  

AROUND HERE

We've made it to the end of the month and I'm feeling thankful.  Brian has one more super-crazy week of basketball practice and games / a tournament and then he is done with coaching for the year.  It's going to feel like such a treat to have him home around 5pm again.  

- - - - - 

I ordered our Christmas cards and added "kid quotes" to the back of the card in lieu of the "this is what we've been up to in 2017" spiel.  I sometimes feel weird writing out the list of our travels, etc. and thought this seemed like a fun way to still add some personality.  Now I'm crossing my fingers that they can bring a few chuckles and people won't just think it's weird. 

- - - - - 

My mother-in-law and I took the boys to paint pottery last weekend and it was a success.  I feared that it would go the way of mini-golf and we would be in and out the door in 20 minutes.  But they surprised me and we were there for close to an hour and a half.  Eli made a big mess of both himself and the table, but they both stuck with it and I think they had fun.  It will be fun to see how their pieces (a Christmas tree for Sam and a basketball for Eli) look after they are fired. 

- - - - - 

I'm surprising myself by embracing the ugly kid-made ornaments on our Christmas tree.  I did not expect this out of myself.  My mom handled this situation by having a second tree - one was "pretty" and one was for the "fun" ornaments.  Perhaps I will someday do the same, but for now, the mix is okay with me.  

- - - - - 

Maggie has suddenly started saying so many words and it is so fun.  I swear she adds several new words each day.  It is pretty great to be able to communicate with her and her little voice is so cute and sweet.

- - - - - 

Sam has suddenly turned into a teenager and started sneaking milk from the jug.  Where did he even get this idea?  

- - - - -

I've been using a new to me budgeting app (Daily Budget) and I'm totally into it.  It's going to take me a few months to completely sync the process of using the app with my old process (using a spreadsheet on the computer), but I can tell that it's going to be good and I'm excited about it.  (Of course, I'm easily excited about anything related to personal finance and making good money decisions, so...)  

The app subtracts out your fixed expenses (mortgage, insurance, etc.) and then amortizes the rest of your income into daily allowances.  So, if you have $2000 left after fixed expenses and 30 days in the month, it adds $66.66 to your available allowance each day.  You subtract out as you spend and the app shows you what you have available to spend.  

Of course, we still have the same amount of money to spend as before, but it's a pretty easy method of accounting (you can assign your subtractions to categories) and it's just a different perspective than I have used before.  

- - - - - 

We are getting pretty excited for Topper (our Elf on the Shelf) to fly down from the North Pole on Thursday night / Friday morning!  

SEASONAL LISTS: ONE WAY I AM NURTURING

 

My big goal for 2017 has been to embrace the idea of nurturing and put it into practice in my daily life.  To me, this means finding time and putting energy into the important, while letting less significant things fall to the wayside.  

This, of course, means many things and relates to a lot of different areas of my life.  But one of the action items that I've really grown to love is making seasonal to do lists for our family.   This isn't a new idea for us.  We've done this in previous years, but not quite as intentionally as we have this year.  Putting in the time to plan well has really paid off and we will definitely keep making quarterly/seasonal lists as time marches forward.  

Three things that are different this time around:

1 / Not including all of our ideas.

I particularly remember a summer list we made about three years ago that included all. the. things.  It was really more like a list of ideas than a list of things we intended to accomplish.  

It made me feel like we weren't doing enough and also like we had to do something at every opportunity we found.   The list was too broad and included too many ideas of varying degrees of importance, so it wasn't clear which things were our priorities.  

This year, we've narrowed our lists down to the things we would regret if we failed to do them.

2 / Including things that we would probably do even if they weren't on the list.

These are the things that have become annual traditions in our family and is (sort of) the opposite of the last point.  

I like to include the things the boys would tell you we "always do."  Even though they would likely get done without being on the list, having them on the list gives us something fun to look forward to and highlights their importance.  

It also helps me remember to do the next thing, which is...

3 / Penciling things into the calendar.

This step is critical.  Our weekends fill up fast and a lot of activities just don't fit into our week night routines.  So, as often and as early as possible, I get things on the calendar.  This insures that we have a time and a plan for getting it all done.  

4 / Keeping a running list of ideas.  

I have a page in my planner to just keep various ideas as I run across them.  It is nice to have a single place to keep the ideas and also serves as a great reference point as Brian and I look ahead at each season.  

5 / Scheduling in a date for Brian and me. 

We just figured this out with our fall / early winter list, but this totally needs to go on every seasonal list that we make.  I wish it easily happened more than four times a year, but we'll take what we can get - and afford.

- - - - - 

Our complete "fall" list includes:

1/ Zoo trip (using the train passes we received from the library summer reading program)

2 / Zoo trip (with our church community)

3 / Bowling followed by lunch at Red Robin

4 / Apple orchard visit

5 / Pumpkin patch visit

6 / Anniversary picnic

7 / Christmas Eve morning pancakes

8 / Christmas Eve party

9 / Miniature golf

10 / Paint Yourself Silly visit

11 / Carve pumpkins

12 / Ashland football game

13 / Husker band

14 / Harvest with grandpa

15 / Date for B and b

One thing we have not figured out - or really just not made time for - is for Brian and I to take the kids on individual outings.  We've been talking about this for a long time, but have yet to make it happen.  ...adding that to my "idea page" now,  so we can schedule it into our winter/early spring calendar.  

If you do seasonal family activity lists, do you have any pointers or great ideas that I've left off my list?  

AROUND HERE

We are in full fall swing and the weather is starting to match the season; Sam has been wearing a jacket to to school and I've been doing the closet dig to see if we have appropriate winter gear for everyone.  And we don't.  So winter coat shopping is on the list for this week. 

Other things happening around here:

Sam is in the midst of a full-on president obsession. 

He was supposed to wear a necktie to school today and wanted to wear it up around his neck (outside of / above his shirt collar).  I convinced him to wear it the appropriate way by showing him photos of various presidents wearing their neckties (in the appropriate manner) and then asking him if he wanted to wear it his way or "the president way." 

He spends a lot of time talking to Alexa and Siri about the birth and death dates of various presidents and fact checking them against his Presidents book. 

He knows a lot of random facts about various presidents, knows which ones are alive, etc.

- - - - -

The next MANY weekends on our calendar are planned and full.  Thankfully, it is all good and fun stuff.  Still, that thought makes me feel a little bit overwhelmed. 

Also, Brian just started his basketball coaching season.  He coaches a middle school team, so their season is short and their practices aren't super late.  But I still say, "ugh."  I am not looking forward to additional hours of solo parenting.  Additionally, since he gets home late, I will likely miss my prayer group for the next several weeks and I don't like that.
  

We've been making great progress crossing things off our fall fun list.

Most of our family traditions are tied to pretty specific events and places, but we still haven't found a pumpkin patch that quite fits us.  We've been going for the past five years.  We've tried five different places.  And we still didn't feel like we found a winner this year.  Oh well.  Maybe this tradition can just be tied to the idea of trying new things. 

We also added "date night" to our list, as Brian and I haven't had any alone, out of the house time in what feels like a long, long time.  ...need to talk to the nieces to see who can babysit. 

- - - - -

I'm going on a weekend trip with my middle school / high school girlfriends in a few weeks and really looking forward to it.  These women are like a family to me.   We always have SO many laughs and just enjoy one another's company.  I am so thankful that God placed them in my life back in 1992 and that we've stuck together.

To add to the fun, we will spend the majority of our time at IKEA.  So, I've been spending my days looking around the house and scheming about rearranging and replacing furniture and accessories. 

- - - - -

And now I must go clean up the kitchen....

Cheers!

AROUND HERE

School

Here we are at August again.  School has started and we have a kindergartener at our house.  Crazy town.  The whole passage of time thing is so weird.  At times I still feel like I am playing at this mom role.  Are these little people really mine?  The world is trusting me to be in charge of them?  And in other moments it feels like the last five and a half years have been my whole life.  Was I really a person with a real life before these kids showed up?  It feels like so-o-o long ago.

Sam has taken to his new school like a champ.  He thrives on routines and schedules and generally knowing what to expect.  School definitely provides that.  We pulled him for the day of the eclipse (so he could watch it in an area that had 2 minutes plus of totality) and he was crazy bummed that he didn't get to go.

And the school year starting also means that Brian is back to teaching.  So, another summer break is officially in the books.

New Routines

And now I find myself home with Eli and Maggie for most of my days.

Maggie is definitely in toddler (not baby) mode - climbing on everything, getting into everything, starting to talk, expressing her likes (and dislikes) and generally showing us her personality.  This is pretty awesome to witness and also pretty taxing on me.  I feel like I can't keep up with her.

Similarly, Eli requires way more attention when Sam is away than when Sam is home.  He very rarely plays independently and so I find him following me around all day, every day.  "Mama, do you want to play farm?"

Keeping up with them is a challenge to my own nature.  I want / need (at least a bit of) time to myself.  I like to work on various projects and do household tasks without a million interruptions.  I guess this is something to look forward to as it definitely isn't happening now.  ...maybe the two of them will learn to play together over the course of this school year.

Wedding

We are headed to Seattle so soon!  My sister is getting married and we get to be there for the festivities, plus fit in a bit of sight seeing.  Each of the kids have been there with me at least once and Brian and I have visited together twice.  I think my total number of trips to Seattle is up to 15 or so now, but most of them were pre-kiddos/marriage.

This will be our first time to Seattle as a family of five.  Also our first time on an airplane with all three kids.  Wish us luck!

But, we are super excited to welcome a new brother-in-law / uncle to the family, to spend a lot of time with other family and to show the kids the sights.

Pizza and Movie Night

Tonight = the start of a new tradition for our family: Friday night pizza and a movie.  The plan is to have this be our default Friday night plan.  If we are home, this is what we will do.

The boys are super-resistant to new movies.  Sam, in particular.  He was already crying this morning when I told him that the movie wouldn't be Dora or Daniel Tiger.  The trick seems to be to tell them they don't have to watch it, but just leave it on. Eventually they get sucked in.  ...so, I'm not sure how the movie part is going to go.  Crossing my fingers.

Blogging

As seems to be the case every fall, I have so many things to write about.  So, I imagine I will be back soon.

Cheers!

A NEW PHASE / FAMILY PHOTOS

This is the last week of our usual, school year routine - with Brian at school and Sam home with us in the mornings, but spending the afternoons at preschool.

We are moving into a new phase in our family.

In my head, I'm calling it "the beginning of the end of the baby and toddler phase."  I think we're actually a ways past that.  Sam hasn't been a toddler for a while. Eli often talks and acts like he is seven, even though he is only three.  Basically, I think we are in between phases, now.  But, I'm sticking with this "beginning of the end" title because I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to these years of all my "babies" spending so much time at home with me.

As always seems to be the case, these years have gone by so slowly and so quickly.  It feels like it has been FOREVER since I worked full time.  (I honestly can't even imagine working a full time schedule and also having three kids.  All you working moms, have me amazed.)  I can hardly remember what it was like to have only one kiddo or to do all of the "mom things" for the first time.  But, it also doesn't seem so long ago that Sam was two and Eli was a baby and now, somehow, they are five and three - with a baby sister toddling behind them.

And yes, I realize this is all sort of melodramatic.  I know Maggie is still a baby for a few more months and will be home with me still for the next several years.  It just feels like a big shift is heading our way and I'm trying to prepare myself.

So, I am more than a little thankful that we recently had our family photos taken in a way that feels like it really captures THIS stage.  This in between stage.

A few weeks ago, we had Misty Prochaska join us for a Saturday morning and she took documentary style photos of our morning.  She did well.  And she was a joy to spend time with.  All photos in this post are hers and she also did a post on her site with more images.

If you happen to be local to Lincoln, I would highly recommend her.  

I'm not committed to this yet (in other words, plans are likely to change), but I am considering using the photos plus some in-depth text to make photo books that document this current stage.  I like the idea of creating a digital book (versus my usual paper and printed photo albums) because I could easily have four copies created - one for Brian and me and one for each of the kids.

I have tried to do Week In The Life albums several times in the last couple years, but have yet to pull one off.  I think these images could be a great jumping off point for adding text about our everyday life that would sort of fill the same role as a Week In The Life album.

Thanks again to Misty.  Like big, big thanks.

AROUND HERE

Lots of things to say / updates to share today, but...

I have a computer issue that is quickly threatening to (greatly) shorten the length of this post.  There is something up with the left side of my keyboard, so the "caps lock, a, q, z and number one" keys do not work most of the time.  But then, randomly they do.  My computer is a combination laptop and tablet, so I can use the tablet screen keyboard to fill in as needed, but that is a pain in the butt.

I quit wearing my FitBit.  My wrist feels weird without it, but I imagine I will get used to the change soon.  After more than two years of continuous wearing, I found that it was no longer motivating me to move.  This is a pretty drastic shift, as it had been hugely motivating to me for a long time.  In recent weeks and maybe even the last couple months, I would ignore the hourly "buzz," rarely check my progress throughout the day and even occasionally go a few days without syncing with the app on my phone.  So, it's stored away for now.  I'm guessing / hoping that I will be reinvigorated to walk and track my steps sometime in the next few months.  For now, it feels kind of nice to just not think about it and not to feel guilty about not getting steps.

The 100 Day Project (see more in this post) is going strong.  I love my creative time.  I love that I find myself thinking of design ideas or seeking them out throughout my days.  I have noticed, however, that I have to really put some limits on how much I let my mind dwell on the "big idea" of the project.  I pretty easily get sucked into the numbers game - counting how many days are left and wondering how in the world I will come up with that many more designs that fit with my project and that I like.  Going down that track makes my brain kind of freeze up and I start to think it will be impossible.  I'm striving to stick with the one day at a time mindset.

Maggie had her first birthday, last week.  We had a party with our families the weekend before and then had pizza and another cake the night of her birthday.  She really started walking in the last week and I feel like she is suddenly growing up so much - handing me books to read, babbling more, and such.  It is just crazy amazing how much they change in only a year.

My mom and step-dad moved from Washington to Illinois a couple weeks ago.  They already tried the drive out once and got here in a little less than eight hours.  Eight hours (or probably more once we add in stops) seems doable and we have our first visit scheduled for June.  Our kids have only been to "Nana's house" a few times - and those times were all when she lived in Phoenix (a cheap and direct flight).  I have felt guilty, these past couple years that we never made it to Spokane, so I am excited for this change.

I took Sam to Kindergarten Roundup, last week.  He REALLY did not want to go.  I had to carry him most of the way into the school.  He cried and had to be led away by the teachers, when it was time for the kids to go check out their future classrooms and do an activity.  And then he came back smiling and happy and excited.  We also went back to the school in the afternoon to get a tour with some of his preschool classmates and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.  This little story just sums up Sam so well.  Novelty is SO HARD for him.  But, once he's done something once, all is well.

Brian and I did the Lincoln Half Marathon with my sister and her fiance, last weekend.  It was a ton of fun.  As we were doing our longest training walk (11 miles, two weeks pre-race), I told Brian that I didn't really want to do another half marathon in the future.  And then race day came and it was pretty great and I changed my mind.  Funny, how that works.

Brian will be done with school at the end of this week.  Woohoo!  That means it is almost summer time!

CURRENTLY

It's the middle of March and I've failed to set March goals.  Oops.  But, I'm chugging along in life and even getting things accomplished, so I'm not going to worry about it.  Perhaps, I will set some in April.

- - - - -

Half marathon training is happening.  Since Brian and I are both doing it - and since we are walking instead of running - and since we have these little people who don't take care of themselves - it feels like one day of each weekend is just taken over by training.  One of us walks (six miles / an hour and a half, last weekend) while the other watches the kids.  Then there is cool down and shower time.  And then we switch roles.  So...four hours or more of training time.  Ugh.

The plan we are following increases the distance of the long weekly walk by a mile each week through twelve miles.  So, by the end of April, it's just going to be kind of crazy with six hours of walking between the two of us plus prep, cool down and showers.  

But, this weekend, we have kid watchers on hand, so we will get to walk together - which is awesome in that we will get to spend an hour and forty five minutes alone / together and also because we will be done with the whole walking process in half the time.  Perhaps we will need to enlist help more often in the coming weeks.

The shorter walks that should be happening between the long ones have not been so great, thus far.  Most weeks, I've only managed to fit in one extra two-mile walk on the treadmill.  I wish it was more, but it just doesn't seem to be happening.

- - - - -

The boys both recently had birthdays - Sam's at the end of February and Eli's at the beginning of March.  I love that they are at ages (and of personalities) that small is good.  We had family get togethers for each of them and went out for dinner on their birthday nights.  That, plus a few presents was the extent of things, but they were happy.

- - - - -

Maggie is ten months.  How can my baby be so close to a year?  It didn't really hit me until her ten month birthday.  Her babyhood has just flown by and it makes me a bit sad.

- - - - -

I lo-ove Daylight Savings Time.  Sunlight at dinner time and during after dinner playtime makes me SO happy.  I'm kind of a light junkie.

And, we've been blessed with a couple mornings of the kids sleeping just a bit later than normal.  The time change doesn't impact me, personally - I have no trouble getting up at 5, so the kids sleeping in a bit means some extra time for me and I dig that.

- - - - -

We've started filling in our summer calendar and it is already kind of crazy with weekend commitments.  But, they are almost all fun commitments.  And, most of the weekdays will likely be the opposite of full, so it will be nice to have plans on the weekends.

- - - - -

And that sums up all the things I can think of off the top of my head.  Cheers!

AROUND HERE

We are in the midst of sickness round (feels like) 27 for the season.  Poor Sam got the brunt of it, this time around.  He still seemed pretty lethargic this morning, but totally rallied when I mentioned that I needed to call school and the bus to tell them he wouldn't be there today.  He kept down his breakfast (and it had been more than 24 hours since the last time he got sick), so I let him go.

We had planned to visit Brian's parents this weekend - driving after Brian got home from work tonight and heading home after lunch on Sunday.  Alas, the sickness has ruined those plans and we are all bummed.  Now, I'm just crossing my fingers that we will all be well enough for Brian and I to attend my work (belated) holiday get together on Sunday evening.

. . . . . . .

I signed up for the Lincoln Marathon along with Brian, my sister and her fiance.  Our plan is to walk the half marathon together.  April and I walked it in 2013 and averaged 14:38 miles, finishing in 3 hours and 11 minutes.  I would love to match or beat that time.  We haven't officially started training yet, but I feel like I am in significantly better shape at this starting point than I was four years ago.  Which is grand.  But, I have a feeling, that finding time to get those long training walks accomplished will be harder this time around.  We will see.

In previous years, this marathon has sold out in a matter of hours.  Registration opened, in the middle of the night, while I was visiting April in Seattle.  So, we set our alarms and woke up at 2am to register.  And now a couple weeks have passed and it still hasn't sold out.  Oh well.  We were prepared.  Ha!

. . . . . . .

Sam and Eli are crazy reluctant to watch anything new on the TV and are also very easily spooked by anything they deem "scary."  They've only seen a handful of movies and almost always say "no" when asked if they want to watch one - whether it is new to them or not.

So, we finally convinced them to watch Finding Nemo a week or two ago.  We only made it about five minutes into the movie at which point they were both begging us to turn off the TV.  What is wrong with our children?!? It makes me both laugh and also kind of want to cry.

We tried explaining the entire plot of the movie and let them know that it has a happy ending when Nemo's daddy finds him, but they aren't having it.  ...someday.  And even though they only watched five minutes, Nemo has been a big topic of conversation around here.

. . . . . . .

The boys' birthdays are coming up in February and March and that's the big talk around here.  They are so excited.  Along with family parties, we are planning to go to Chuck E. Cheese on the night of Sam's birthday and to visit an indoor waterpark over the weekend between their birthdays.  These will both be new experiences for them, so they don't really know what to expect, but they are excited.  We need to figure out one other small outing for the actual day of Eli's birthday, but I think we will wait until closer to the day to decide that one.

. . . . . . .

Wishing you a happy and healthy weekend!

WISHING FOR ROUTINE

The past thirty days have been anything but typical.  A little shake up is okay every now and then, but I'm more than ready to settle back into a routine.

Brian and Sam started their Christmas breaks from school on the 22nd and 23rd of December, respectively.  

Since then:

• I have spent nine nights away from home (sleeping).
• I pulled an all-nighter at home - with kids awake for various reasons all through the night.
• I have worked two night shifts.  I was technically also away from home these nights, but I was awake.
• We hosted a Christmas Eve "Minute To Win It" party.
• I said farewell to my last living grandpa.  
• Brian had two unplanned days off of school due to ice.
• Sam had one unplanned day off of school due to ice.  
• I have packed a lot of suitcases - my own, plus the kids', times several trips. 
• I have spent a lot of time with my sister - both in Lincoln and Seattle.  
• I have spent four nights away from Brian, Sam and Eli (in Seattle).
• We have been working on getting Maggie to sleep through the night.  (This means a lot of time listening to a baby cry in the middle of the night and praying that she will go to sleep and also not wake up her brothers.)

Plus, we did the holidays.  Which were great, but a far cry from typical life, you know?

So, I'm standing here, looking ahead at the next several months and just hoping to settle back into a rhythm.  I think it's ahead.  Maybe it's even arrived.  Crossing my fingers.  

CURRENTLY

This post contains affiliate links.

Currently, I am:

happy to say that I placed a couple books from my list on hold at my library.  Ghost World and Notes From a Blue Bike should be ready for me later this week.  Not surprisingly, I also added a third book - After I Do - to my holds list that is not on my reading list.  What can I say, I'm not good at feeling constrained.

using my Instant Pot.  We ordered one via Amazon on Black Friday and then it sat on the shelf for a couple weeks because figuring out how to use it felt somehow overwhelming.  But, earlier this week I took the time to read through some of the "how to" instructions.  On Tuesday, I made French Dip and I'm planning to use it to make chili later today.

wondering if we will catch a break from sickness anytime soon.  November included colds for all three kids followed by a pneumonia diagnosis for Eli and double ear infection for Maggie.  Then, E took a turn with the ear infection.  Sam and I each went through 24 hour flu bouts last week.  Eli's started this Monday and he has been better and worse off and on since then.  Geesh.  I'm ready to move on and have some healthy weeks.

thankful (yet again) for The Read Aloud Handbook and Honey For A Child's Heart.  These two books are my go-to sources for finding new-to-us books to introduce to the kids.

amazed at Maggie's recent changes.  In just the last week, she has started rolling all over the place, signing "more" and "all done," and drinking from a straw.  The changes that occur between birth and one year are just plain crazy.

wishing I didn't have to work this weekend.  I often look forward to my work weekends as a bit of respite from child care.  But this weekend, I wish I could just not go.

AROUND HERE

It's Christmas season!  We have a pretty decent stack of holiday books.  I pulled them all out of the storage room the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  They found a new home in the bin where we usually keep library books.  It's been a good week of reading - new books and new subject matter are fun - and I'm looking forward to more of it throughout the month.

- - - - -

This week is Brian's last week of coaching basketball.  He coaches middle school so it's only a six week season.  I am thankful that he doesn't coach high school sports with longer seasons.  From my point of view, it means long days alone with kids, which sometimes feel interminable.  (Single parents, you have my utmost respect.)  From his point of view, it means days when he sometimes only sees the kids for an hour or in the morning and doesn't get home until after they are in bed.

Also, I'm proud of myself for asking for help, this year - something I haven't done in the past.  We went to watch one game and are going to watch another tonight.  For both of these occasions, we brought/are bringing a niece with us to play the role of friend and helper.  Also, on several of the other nights my nieces and/or sister-in-law visited us in the evenings to help break up our time and help me get everyone in bed.  

- - - - -

I invited one of my sisters-in-law to do One Little Word with me in 2017.  Even though we will have different words, I think it will provide an opportunity for us to connect with each other in a new way and also offer some accountability to each other to keep working toward our goals and within our intentions.

- - - - -

We are going to make it through the holiday season on budget.

It seems to be the same story every year: when I start shopping, I think I've saved way  more than we need and will be able to finish shopping with money left in the account.  By the time I'm done shopping (and buying holiday-related things like the Christmas tree and our holiday card), we're scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But I don't feel bad about using the money, because that's what it is for.  We are pretty (maybe very) conservative with buying stuff for ourselves and our kids through most of the year.  But, we save money in our Christmas fund with the intention of spoiling ourselves and our family and friends over the holidays.

- - - - -

I introduced the kids to a bit of  punk-flavored music via Hoops and Yoyo.  It makes me happy.  And, I'm happy to have a new CD playing in the van after months and months of listening to the same thing.

- - - - -

I've been using Walmart Grocery Pick Up for the past several weeks.  It is fabulous.  Like really, really fabulous.  I've used it for small grocery trips (their minimum order is $30) and for a few big trips.  So far, I've been ordering and setting up the pick-up through their online portal and then using the app to check-in when I'm headed to the store.  They have designated pick up parking spaces and bring the groceries out to you when you arrive.

I placed an order last night and scheduled the pick up for 8-9am, this morning.  I dropped off one of my nieces at school at 7:45, "checked in" via the app, drove to the store, had the groceries loaded into the car, stopped by home to drop the groceries off and put the cold stuff in the fridge, drove another niece to school and was home by 8:30.  In my book, this is just-all around super.

If you haven't tried it yet, I recommend!  And this referral link will get you $10 off your first order.  It also gives me $10 off my next order.

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That's (a bit of) what's going on around here.  I'm off to check on the craziness going on in the next room.  Happy Monday!

CURRENTLY

Currently, I am:

Thrilled at how much Eli suddenly loves to draw.  This is the kind of artistic interest that I was seeking when I wrote about craft time in this post.  He fills page after page and sidewalk square after sidewalk square.  It is hard to get him to stop.  His favorite things to draw, just now, are Os, Qs and lollipops.  He also draws "guys" and "spiders."

Amazed (in a not so good way) at his resourcefulness at  finding writing implements.  I keep thinking they are all stored away on too-high-for-him-to-reach shelves.  And then he proves me wrong and finds yet another marker / pen / pencil / crayon hiding somewhere around the house.  And he goes to town.  We currently have writing on our walls, floors, couch, windows, dining room chairs, table and probably other places I haven't even noticed.  His skin and his snack (as seen above) have also been victims.  Aaah.  We've repeated and repeated, "Only draw on paper!" but so far it is falling on deaf ears.

Striving to buy no disposable diapers this month.  I fall in and out of love with our cloth diapers on a somewhat regular basis.  Last month, I just wanted to give up and be done with them.  Then I saw the pretty penny we spent on disposables and re-decided that cloth is worth the small hassle it requires.

Proud of myself for fixing a few of the cloth diaper issues that we've encountered.  I bought this set of snaps and pliers so I could fix the ones that were missing snaps.  Why didn't I do this a year or two ago?  Seriously.  It was so easy to use and we now have eight more diapers in our rotation so we don't have to wash as often.  Also, I googled a bit and found a new wash routine that requires one less step and seems to have an improved outcome.

Thankful that another week of Brian's basketball coaching season is (almost) over.  He coaches middle school, so it is a short season and really not a huge commitment.  Still, we miss having him home.

Enjoying a revamped daily checklist for this month.  After falling off the checklist horse halfway through October, I decided to make a much simpler one for November.  My five daily checks are: flossing, devotions, dinner plans (early in the day, so I don't stress at dinner time), walking 10,000 steps and brushing my teeth before bed.  Nothing big or extraordinary, but if I do these five activities each day (besides all the usual mom / wife / household keeper stuff), I feel pretty good about things.

Being summoned to the other room by a crying babe.  :)