“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” –Proverbs 12:25 NKJV
Last night definitely did not go as planned.
I did not sleep until after 4:30am and woke up close to 10:00am.
Of course, we were all a bit sluggish, not very functional, and honestly, a lot of my planning made space for such a morning.
My boys DID help me with the inside of the house.
We got trash out of the house, washed a bunch of dishes, swept all the floors, and cleaned up the main part of the house nicely.
Also, I woke up almost pain-free! It was a good start to the day, at least. 😊
Tonight wasn’t so bad either.
I went to work at my job (that I LOVE), did some more cleaning there, read a little, and did other, work-related things.
The twins went to bed for a nap before I left for work, so everyone at my house got a little break before the evening fun began.
This is where I just need to sing some praises for a second.
My grandmother is A SAINT!
She comes over to help out with the twins, and she really loves doing it.
It gives her something to feel needed for, and she is bonding with the twins so well!
They adore her, and she just soaks up every little snuggle and cuddle she can get from them.
I love walking in the door and seeing her sitting with one twin in her lap and the other standing beside her at the couch. She has a smile a mile wide and they are just talking up a storm to each other in my living room. It’s picturesque.
Grandma is safely at home with Grandpa now, and everyone is either asleep or at least settled here, now.
So, I sit here again, writing up some lists and ideas for another good tomorrow.
I’m pretty excited about it, really.
And that gives me another tidbit to share…
I used to say, “I hope tomorrow is better.” And I would critique myself and my day (my own worst enemy, right?!).
As I write in my journal, planner, or make my lists now, however, I write down the good things.
“We got everything on my list done today!”
“We got some things done today.”
“Nobody fought like cats and dogs today.”
“School was done in record time!”
“School actually got done today!”
It doesn’t even matter how small the good is, if there is good to be found I will use it.
It is important, because we are in a time when depression is heavier, anxiety is higher, and fear is greater.
Missing the school days…
I have seen my children fall into depression because they cannot hang out with friends, or maybe they are completely disconnected from friends and other support, and all we have is us, in our home, doing our best to stay safe and healthy in every way we can.
Of course, I have to work. This is a necessity!
It doesn’t matter how bad things get out there, it seems. The bills must still be paid. The car still needs gas for appointments, work, and getting those groceries my kids are wiping out in record time.
And so, we keep moving.
We keep going forward, every step we can.
So what if we take a few steps back now and then. As long as we are moving, we will make it.
I am doing all I can, and I am working with my boys to help me by doing all they can.
Yep, we have burn-out days. I get frustrated with their lack of interest in helping. I get upset when they try to avoid school (gotta love remote learning…not!), and I get discouraged when they are impossible to talk to, reason with, and work with.
But we have come such a long way from who and where we were three years ago, two years ago, and even one year ago!
Things have been gradually changing for the better, and that’s the point! We are moving! Taking those steps. Climbing that mountain. Moving those obstacles. Creating the life we only dreamed would be a reality “some day.”
I’m pretty excited! And I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds for my little family, now. 😊
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein
When I sit here and think about the summer months of the great 2020 year, I can’t help but sigh.
It’s been a long year.
Longer than most, and yet, it has flown by with a fierce speed.
But we’ve been busy.
I was going to try to post some blogs about the updates in our little house, the summer visit my older boys had with their father, the twins first birthday, milestones, remodeling adventures, garden greatness, and so much more!
But…
Every time I sat down to write about one thing, all the rest would hit me, and I got jumbled.
And then there are the distractions…
Housework, laundry, the tasks of motherhood, appointments, grocery shopping, and more.
Like I said… busy.
So, here I sit. Pondering. So much has occurred this summer, and we are already standing at the open door of the new school year, which starts for our district in five days.
Before we talk about how THAT is going to go, I need to at least try to cover the highlights of the summer months that I missed out on…
We did a huge thing while T and L were gone to their dad’s for part of the summer.
We refloored two bedrooms, moved everyone around into different rooms, and gutted parts of the house of things that needed to be gone for almost two years, now.
Bags and boxes were filled, removed from the house, and donated to those in need.
More bags and boxes were filled and set out with the garbage to be removed from our lives forever.
Carpet was ripped up. Old tiles were ripped up. Minor repairs were made where they could be, and new flooring was laid.
We moved furniture, boxes, totes, toys, baby things, big kid things, TV’s, shelves, and more!
It was a construction crew of 3 (my mom, my dad, and myself), sometimes 4 when my son was helping, and we did it over the course of about 6 weeks.
Did I mention we’ve been busy?
Not too bad, if I do say so myself!
During the weeks that T and L were gone we managed to clean out all kinds of clutter, organize closets, put away seasonal clothes that took up space, re-arrange furniture, rooms, storage, etc.! It was glorious!
During that course of time my sister had a birthday, the twins first birthday happened, the county youth fair took place, Holidays, and other events as well. But we did it! We got it done!
Not to mention the harvest from the garden that started, and continued, throughout the ENTIRE TIME! That made for interesting produce sizes… LOL!
The night before the boys came back home, we got all the big stuff moved, the beds made (kinda), and everything ready for their return!
And now, they are home.
We have continued to harvest from the garden, keep the house managed almost as well as I hoped we would, maintain a routine and schedule (with some minor hiccups that are beyond our control), and even got a trampoline this week to babysit the older three! Ha!
Yeah… we stayed busy. Just a little.
It’s been a long summer. A fast summer. A slow year. A weird season in our lives. And yet… weird as it has been, it has been good.
It has been good for my mind, my health, my heart, my family, and my spirit.
I have grown so much in the 7 months that 2020 has given us, so far.
I am excited about the things that have happened up to this point, and even more excited about the things to come! It’s going to be a great year!
It is currently midnight, I noticed as I sit here to type out a blog post for my wonderful readers.
This seems to be the new normal time for me, the new quiet time, study time, reading and writing time, or anything else I might want to get done while I am finally alone… (shower!)
I’m not complaining at all, though! We have been doing a ton of stuff in and around the house over the past month, at least! And it’s been a blessing!
We have been redoing bedrooms, cleaning out storage and clutter, planted a garden, tended the garden (my grandparents more than I on that one), and now harvesting vegetables from that garden!
The pandemic has brought changes to our routines, as well…
Appointments are mostly on a computer screen, for various things.
Going to the store requires masks, not taking the whole family along, and “social distancing” keeping at least six feet between people in public places.
There was no baseball this year, so crying has been acceptable.
The church we just started attending at the beginning of the year had closed their doors to gathering for months, and was able to reopen, only to close again during a spike of the virus in our area.
During this “social distancing” lifestyle change we have had several events take place that would have been much different.
Birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, memorials, graduations, and so much more.
There were no party gatherings.
The twins will be a year old in just over a week.
There will be no party gathering.
What there WILL be, however, is a happy family here in my home, together and safe, all in their newly renovated bedrooms, with their gaming systems and desks, computers, books, games, puzzles, toys, notepads and sketchpads, art supplies, and more all in their places for us to grab when needed and do something fun and cool together.
Not to mention their fuzzy house shoes! Lawd Jesus, these boys have some fun taste in certain fashions!
The flooring project has been testy, to say the least. My poor father has sweat, bled (literally!), and labored over the flooring in the bedroom he is working on now, for days, and it is still not quite finished.
I had planned to paint over the past couple of days, but this garden took lots of attention (besides the normal kids, laundry, dishes, cooking distractions of course), and the walls are still unfinished as well.
No setback has been significant, though, which is a good thing! We have made many big steps forward on the projects at hand, and no steps back… just some pausing here and there. That works for this mama!
Baby milestones are being met, and such joy all around as they are doing so!
Part of the problem at nighttime lately, is the constant flow of thoughts that invade my attempts to sleep.
There is much yet to be done, a little bit of a time crunch, and this mama who wants to see it ALL completed in that timeframe. And then some!
And then there have been the lists!
Oh…the lists…
Anyone who has an overactive mind understands exactly what I am saying, here!
Let me give an example of what I wrote out two nights ago:
To Do Lists
Menu for the week
Shopping lists accompanying the menu
Shopping lists for hygiene, cleaning, laundry, necessities other than food
List of needs around the house
List of needs for the back porch and garage areas
Baby needs
Big kid needs
Working the Scentsy business
Blogging
Scheduling all of the above and organizing it in the daily planner
Rewriting some of it so it all fits into a single day
Remembering something that was forgotten and changing a list or five
Lists of calls that need to be made, appointments, emails, etc.
Prayer lists
Reading lists
And even a list of goals (many hopes and dreams) for myself and the family.
Now, I don’t do this every night. But I do tend to write this much at the beginning of each month, and I often go over these lists near the end of the month to see how much of it all I accomplished.
And yes, I know there isn’t a list of “Mommy needs” mentioned above…
That seems to happen after the rest, and once I think about it those above lists are the “mommy needs” that I would prefer to see done. 😊
I typically get my joy in seeing completion of the other projects, and maybe some rest here and there, in between.
So, here I lay, dozing off as I type. This post will be finished and posted during the daytime tomorrow… or maybe the day after… depending on when I get some free time. Ha!
Speaking of tomorrow! I can’t wait! Because more will be done, and I’ll be one day closer to the finished product! Yayness!!
Today’s adventures of the House of Dragons was unplanned, unexpected, and pretty fun!
Yesterday I had to take a trip into town, but my vehicle decided it wasn’t going to start… again.
My mom had to come and drive me into town to take care of my business, and she listened to me gripe and grumble with such grace!
My Denali has been a broken mode of transportation for years, honestly, and yesterday was my breaking point with it.
So, this morning my dad came over to try figuring out what is up with it… again… and hooked it up to a charger for the day.
When he finished that, I took him to my back yard to show him the “Man Cave” my children have decided they wanted to start digging behind the shed. Yes. Man Cave… Literally the beginning of a giant HOLE in the ground!
That is yet another story on its own!
We walked around the house. He started looking at things that he had planned to finish for the past year, and then he said he brought his chainsaw and figured he would just go ahead and cut down the dead Spruce tree that was very close to the side of the house.
By himself.
One man. One chainsaw. A wedge and hammer. And the boys and I standing to the side, watching the whole thing “go down” so to speak.
Oh! And my mother on Marco Polo on my phone, having panic attacks as she watched a little of the event as it happened. Ha!
Dad cut a section of the tree to give it proper direction for the fall, then began to cut into it with the chainsaw from the other side.
All three boys gathered behind me and we watched as Dad inched his way through the trunk of the tree toward its center.
He put the wedge into the cut and hammered it in.
The tree shook, just a little.
He stood back and waited.
It stopped.
Dad picked up the chainsaw again and kept cutting, slowly, inch by inch.
He picked up the hammer and hit the wedge a few more times.
The tree shook again, a little more.
And then it stopped, again.
He gave it one more cut and backed off. The tree was slowly giving way, and you could see it as the topmost parts shook and shuddered.
I was getting excited! The boys were getting excited!
Dad stepped forward with the hammer one last time.
Gave it two hits.
The tree began to lean (more than it already was), slowly, tipping and groaning.
“It’s going down! There it goes!” I told the boys behind me. It was so neat to see!
It was like slow motion, watching the tree as it groaned, leaned, and then fell exactly where Dad wanted it to with such grace!
Yes, the swoosh and crashing sounds it made as it finally landed on the ground were loud and a bit ungraceful. But watching a tree fall from where it stood is quite the sight!
The boys cheered and jumped up to climb onto the fallen giant in our yard.
The stump was tall. Micah climbed up on it and held his hand high, like he had just championed some tall mountain. It was adorable!
Dad swept the sawdust off the stump and they counted the rings. There were at least 35 of them.
I had to go back inside and take care of the babies, but while I was in there Dad, Grandpa, and Micah worked hard to get the tree cut up and removed from the front yard to a burn pile out back.
When I finished my indoor work, I walked out to see the progress.
The tree was gone! All of it! They made quick work of it, to say the least!
Dad got the stump grinder out and finished off the last of the stump that was left, the stump of the holly bush we cut down months ago, and an old stump in my grandparent’s yard next door. It was fun to watch.
Before he ground up the stump, Dad cut a huge chunk off it to make it shorter. Now, I have a stump chair in my yard! I need to figure out where to put it! It’s so cool!
The boys were bouncing all over the place shouting, “The wood chipper! We are getting wood chips everywhere!” And my first thought was, “Oh great… I’ll have wood chips to add to the tracks of grass, mud, weeds, stickers, and other outdoor scraps through my house…”
After that thought, though, I smiled. We had a great day. No, my house didn’t get cleaned, or the laundry done, but we had a good, productive day and everyone was smiling. It was bliss!
And that has been the theme of my world lately. Since just after Christmas, bliss has been felt around here. It has been such a blessing!
Had I been stuck in social distance land with anyone from my past this would be such a different story to tell, I’m almost certain! But it’s not. It is pure happiness, joy, bliss, a little chaos and drama, but overall we have peace.
There are more artists found on YouTube than I can count, and a plethora of songs in different formats! Lyrics, videos, slide shows, and more! All accompanied by our favorite songs!
It’s a wonderful distraction when I am cleaning, writing, doing other work, and even when I am in the shower.
When I am working in the house or in the yard, all I need is my earbuds, a fully charged phone, and YouTube! Music to motivate me through my day!
Even better, the meditation and sleep music that is available over thousands of choices, to play through the night to help the babies sleep peacefully, and Mommy too!
What else is it good for?
Kid Distraction!
Millions of videos are available here! From funny to educational to ridiculous yet entertaining.
My kids love watching the Five-Minute Craft channel, funny hand puppets, talking animals, funny fail videos, and some of their favorite video gamers who livestream their favorite online games can be found on YouTube.
If I allowed it, my kids would live on YouTube day and night!
You know what I get out of it? LONG SHOWERS! (Gosh, I wish I had a bathtub!)
The channels that I am still working on getting the kids interested in more are the “How To” channels. So many things are on this site! It’s like the encyclopedia of crafting, writing, video-making, vlogging, podcasting, building, recycling, planting, cooking, baking, and so many other things!
I recently stumbled upon some crochet and knitting channels that I now follow! And that excites me!
I have subscribed to so many channels I think I lost count!
Whoever invented this wonderful tool was blessed with genius!
Another perk of YouTube is the parental controls! Lord knows there are things there that children should NOT see! Things that I will never unsee have crossed my computer and phone screens! Ha!
YouTube is basically a search engine for almost anything under the sun. It’s the video Google of the internet. Just type something in the search bar, and a drop list of selections opens before your eyes!
For instance, the day my dad used YouTube to work on my Denali! Yes, he did!
Now, my children have tried to convince me to start my own YouTube channel.
So, I will ask my readers…
Is this something you would see me doing? Now? In the future?
I am simply a single mother with a basketball team of kids, and a few animals that hang around outside my house, living in the countryside next to my adorable grandparents and their chickens.
What would my channel be about?
Would I do video blogging? Reading my own blogs, and the blogs of my favorites in front of a camera? Reading books? Kids books? Chapter books? Telling stories? Showing off the Scentsy products I independently sell? Simply recording the antics of my children as they run wild in and out of my house? Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about with that one!
While I appreciate that my children are just trying to help me make money with my passion, my blog, and so on, I am not sure at all what I would do with a video channel on this amazing YouTube I sing praises of! Although, I must admit, it would be quite the adventure!
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