I'm going to be brutally honest. Last week was rough. I didn't do a whole lot of thinking about the list. In the grand scheme of life, my week wasn't that bad. I might be slightly dramatic, but it did wear me out. So what if I'm a big whiny baby? (Please don't answer. That was a rhetorical question.)
While #14 (the bed-making one) has been crossed off, I'm happy to report that the bed-making has become a habit. And I LOVE it.
As a reward for my rough week, I took a long, solo trip to Kroger on Sunday night. (No, I'm not kidding. Stop laughing.) I *thought* that I'd accomplished #19 (Save more than 50% on a grocery order at Kroger), but I fell short. I saved a piddly 42%. It was a rather large shopping trip, so 42% is nothing to sneeze at, but I thought I was closer than that! Sam (who honestly does more of the grocery shopping than me) did accomplish a 50% savings two weeks ago. Tempting as it is, I will not steal that accomplishment from him and claim it as my own. But I did save the receipt, so I can marvel at his super-shopping ways.
One thing I did manage to keep going was #31 (Take my vitamin every day for a month). Hooray! This is no small task for someone who just doesn't do medicine.
I am back to square one on #37 (Get up early enough for Church AND Sunday School for an entire month). I worded that poorly, and technically, I was awake in time for both of them. What I meant was that I wanted to actually attend both of them for an entire month. This past Sunday, for reasons known as "life", I didn't make it to the first hour.
#40 (Begin and maintain a prayer journal) has already been a blessing to me. To see and be able to recognize answered prayers is an amazing thing.
I went to the library last night and checked out five more Dr. Seuss books in an effort to accomplish #55. We have officially read all of the Dr. Seuss books that we own. We're up to 28 now. Almost halfway there! (And I still love him just as much.)
#73 (Host a party at the homestead) is possibly in the works. I have offered to have the class party at our house this Christmas. We shall see. Fingers crossed! I love a good get-together. Come one, come all!
Aside from taking treats to the teachers, and sending notes of cheer, I plan to buy something on Etsy (#46) and make some homemade gifts (#67) in the very near future (what with Christmas being only 44 days and 13 hours away). I also hope to tackle the advent calendar (#70) before December gets here and start the journal of quotes (#68).
I hope to maintain a paced enthusiasm in the spirit of the tortoise.
"Slow and steady wins the race."
3
Darn, she wasn't voluntarily napping.
I never really bought into that whole thing about "if they're being quiet, you'd better check on them". See, Ben has always been an old soul, responsible and mature for his young age, and not at all mischievous. I could trust him to be quiet by himself from a young age.
Then there was Abby.
That said, maybe it's intuition, but you know how when you haven't heard the kids talking to themselves, tripping over things, clanging two random objects together, etc etc etc, you feel the need to get up and see what kind of trouble they're getting into? In an attempt to be optimistic, you imagine rounding the corner only to find them snuggled quietly in your bed, fast asleep. Or reading to themselves. Maybe even playing without making noise! We've found with Abby, you can never check too soon.
Upon returning from the grocery store last night (a new Kroger even, it was very exciting for me), I found this in my bedroom:
That, friends, is a television completely covered in Mommy's Dove Deodorant. In the same day, she decided to apply some of Ben's anti-itch lotion (that smells like Ben-gay) to her freshly bathed skin, cut open one of these things with scissors to get the little "toys" out from the inside, and help herself to countless pieces of Halloween candy.
Another thing people say is that if you'd had your second child first, you'd never have had another. It's too late for us to not have another, but I think there's some truth to that!
Oh Abby. She definitely keeps us on our toes.
Edited to add: Poor girl. I just reread this, and let me say...we wouldn't trade her for the world! She's nothing if not fun!
Then there was Abby.
That said, maybe it's intuition, but you know how when you haven't heard the kids talking to themselves, tripping over things, clanging two random objects together, etc etc etc, you feel the need to get up and see what kind of trouble they're getting into? In an attempt to be optimistic, you imagine rounding the corner only to find them snuggled quietly in your bed, fast asleep. Or reading to themselves. Maybe even playing without making noise! We've found with Abby, you can never check too soon.
Upon returning from the grocery store last night (a new Kroger even, it was very exciting for me), I found this in my bedroom:
That, friends, is a television completely covered in Mommy's Dove Deodorant. In the same day, she decided to apply some of Ben's anti-itch lotion (that smells like Ben-gay) to her freshly bathed skin, cut open one of these things with scissors to get the little "toys" out from the inside, and help herself to countless pieces of Halloween candy.
Another thing people say is that if you'd had your second child first, you'd never have had another. It's too late for us to not have another, but I think there's some truth to that!
Oh Abby. She definitely keeps us on our toes.
Edited to add: Poor girl. I just reread this, and let me say...we wouldn't trade her for the world! She's nothing if not fun!
Imagined up by
Jennie
A Little Humor
I did something that brought a smile to my face...at the expense of my oldest...but he's not out surfing the web (yet), so I'm safe. Just don't tell him.
Ben's had a rough couple of days coping with a mysterious bout of severe hives. We concluded with some certainty that they had to have been caused by some sort of synergistic environmental reaction as a result of his field trip to the corn maze.
Therefore, I rudimentarily edited a previously posted picture to read as follows:
After all, laughter is the best medicine, right?
Hope you all have a healthy, blessed weekend!
Ben's had a rough couple of days coping with a mysterious bout of severe hives. We concluded with some certainty that they had to have been caused by some sort of synergistic environmental reaction as a result of his field trip to the corn maze.
Therefore, I rudimentarily edited a previously posted picture to read as follows:
Hope you all have a healthy, blessed weekend!
Imagined up by
Jennie
Flashback Friday - My Other Half
Being a single-parent for 3+ days this week really opened my eyes to a few things. In no particular order, here they are:
1. Single parents have one of the hardest jobs in the whole entire world.
2. I do not handle stress well.
3. "Me time" is critical for sanity's sake.
4. Sam is invaluable to me as a partner.
I'm sure there were others, but for the purposes of this flashback, I want to concentrate on #4.
Sam and I are rapidly approaching our seventh (!!!) wedding anniversary. I cannot even put into words how my life has changed in the past seven years. I went from being a carefree, teenaged college student, to a wife, to a mother, to a fulltime employee and consequently working mother. We have been blessed in so very many ways, and now, we stand as an imperfect but amazing family of five. (When I say imperfect, I'm mostly talking about myself. But we *all* have our moments.)
Sam is the perfect complement to my crazy self. While I'm impatient, he's got he patience of a saint. While I prefer to do mindless, tedious tasks, he's the thinker and problem solver. I can never relax, and he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat (even minutes before he's slated to do a presentation at a conference for a group of peers...true story!). When I try to bulldoze the kids into doing something, he slyly tricks them into doing it. He loves to cook and I like to clean up. I create clutter and he gets rid of it. He manages the finances and I manage school lunches, permission slips, snack calendars, and outfits. I am unable to formulate plans, and he can make an agenda like no other. Should I continue?
When we met, I knew we were soul mates. We can chat or sit in silence. It doesn't matter. We can laugh together, fight together, and get over it together. Sometimes life makes it harder to do this as expeditiously as we would want, but that's how life is.
I think back to our wedding day, and despite the fact that I fail to say it as often as I should, I'm so grateful to have landed in this man's life. And even if our wedding pictures look like a couple of kids playing dress up, it was beautiful and perfect, and I will treasure the memory of it forever.
1. Single parents have one of the hardest jobs in the whole entire world.
2. I do not handle stress well.
3. "Me time" is critical for sanity's sake.
4. Sam is invaluable to me as a partner.
I'm sure there were others, but for the purposes of this flashback, I want to concentrate on #4.
Sam and I are rapidly approaching our seventh (!!!) wedding anniversary. I cannot even put into words how my life has changed in the past seven years. I went from being a carefree, teenaged college student, to a wife, to a mother, to a fulltime employee and consequently working mother. We have been blessed in so very many ways, and now, we stand as an imperfect but amazing family of five. (When I say imperfect, I'm mostly talking about myself. But we *all* have our moments.)
Sam is the perfect complement to my crazy self. While I'm impatient, he's got he patience of a saint. While I prefer to do mindless, tedious tasks, he's the thinker and problem solver. I can never relax, and he can fall asleep at the drop of a hat (even minutes before he's slated to do a presentation at a conference for a group of peers...true story!). When I try to bulldoze the kids into doing something, he slyly tricks them into doing it. He loves to cook and I like to clean up. I create clutter and he gets rid of it. He manages the finances and I manage school lunches, permission slips, snack calendars, and outfits. I am unable to formulate plans, and he can make an agenda like no other. Should I continue?
When we met, I knew we were soul mates. We can chat or sit in silence. It doesn't matter. We can laugh together, fight together, and get over it together. Sometimes life makes it harder to do this as expeditiously as we would want, but that's how life is.
I think back to our wedding day, and despite the fact that I fail to say it as often as I should, I'm so grateful to have landed in this man's life. And even if our wedding pictures look like a couple of kids playing dress up, it was beautiful and perfect, and I will treasure the memory of it forever.
To my wonderful husband, thank you. For your eternal patience with imperfect me.
Imagined up by
Jennie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
