Today

Borrowed from Sandra over at Family Corner

Outside my Window... crickets and night critters.

I am thinking... about schooling/educating my son who will be 3 in the fall. I think part of his behavior problems lately have been boredom. I'm also unhappy that t.v. has become a daily thing and that every single day turning off the t.v. is an earth shattering event for him. *sigh*

I am thankful for...my husband. He has been such a blessing to me this week. He works overnights, and gets to bed around 6 a.m. and the boys and I wake at 7 a.m. Every morning this week I have woken to an "I Love You" Note written on the bathroom mirror, or laundry already started for me, or this morning's great present- a single rose. Love that man. :)

From the kitchen... Crockpot Chili was for dinner tonight, tomorrow's kitchen endeavor is going to be muffins to last us the next week or so.

I am going...to stop working for the night and get to bed!

I am reading...Sabrina by Lori Wick. I was in desperate need of a light read, and this has been a nice easy Christian romance. :)

I am hoping...that my work obligations will magically take care of themselves! I've been really wishing to be a stay-at-home mom lately. I do work from home, but starting in the fall I'll be up to working 30 hours a week, and I am really not liking that idea. I'm praying though for the leadership of my husband. This is the lesson I have been learning for a few months now, but I am really having to bite my tongue on this one and wait for him and wait for God.

I am hearing...the hiss of the quiet baby monitor, and listening to Fernando Ortega.

Around the house...all is quiet. It is long past bedtime, and my husband is already gone for work. I should have been in bed about 30 minutes ago!

One of my favorite things...warm strawberry rhubarb pie!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...finishing my work week tomorrow, taking my boys for 9 month and 2 1/2 year portraits, piano lessons on Saturday, and then spending the rest of Saturday at my mom's house learning how to follow a sewing pattern.

Catching Up

We had a crazy week last week. My 9-month-old woke up from his afternoon nap last week on Monday vomiting and then with diahrrea. It was a crazy stomach bug that lasted until Sunday. 7 days of very sick baby, a few doctor visits to make sure he wasn't needing intervention, and finally he is back to his normal into-everything self. For 2 days he wouldn't even suck on a bottle because he was so weak and sick- we were giving fluids through a medicine syringe every few minutes all day long. Thankfully he is much better now!

I also had my music studio recital over the weekend, so that is another big stress lifted off of me. It is an annual event, and I have quite a few students so it took a long time to prepare this recital and manage it. Everyone really did a great job and I was so proud of them. It was possibly the best recital I've ever held for my students in 10+ years! I am glad it's over though, just so we can move into a summer and a more relaxed schedule.

I made very little progress on unpacking last week between my recital prep and Little Bit being sick. I made myself a specific list yesterday of what I can do each day this week to improve on the unpacking status. By Saturday I will feel much better about this place. :) It is just so much harder going into a smaller place. We have to be really careful about organization and using space well. Once I get things organized it's easier to maintain, but it's the getting there that will take me ages!

A Giveaway and Menu Plan Monday

There is a sweet little Apron giveaway over at The Apronista- check it out! These aprons have me seriously drooling.



I'm still keeping it pretty simple and kid friendly as our evenings are (still!) being spent unpacking this week.

Monday: Spaghetti, green beans and garlic bread

Tuesday: Hamburgers and Cheesy Hashbrowns

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice in the Crockpot

Thursday: Veggie Soup in the Crockpot

Friday: Left Over Night

Saturday: Eating Out (we'll be on our way to a baseball game during the dinner hour!)

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner- waffles and pancakes, fresh fruit and eggs.

Our Nature Adventure

We *finally* had a nice day! It's either been sunny but freezing, or warm-ish and raining for a few weeks now, but we finally had a nice sunny warm day earlier this week and we went on a really long walk. My 2 year old loves to collect things and he brought everything home to be able to show daddy:





I meant to put these up the day of, but we were super busy around here! I can't wait til summer hits and our schedules relax a bit.

Craftiness

I used to be a big scrapbooker. I really loved it! Unfortunately it was the first budget cut we made when my husband lost his job unexpectedly 2 years ago. We cut a lot of things, but I was sad to see that money go. I used up most of my stash and then I literally haven't bought a single scrapbooking item in 2 years. I've gone digital and I'm so glad I did! The only expense has been printing my pages, and I don't mind that since I can wait until we have a little extra wiggle room in the budget before I print. Before I couldn't scrapbook at all unless we had money for supplies. Now, if I could just find more time to actually do it...

My other hobbies come and go. I like to crochet and cross stitch and sew a little, but I have not had much time (or money!) for extras since having the boys. I'm starting to get back into it a little, and here was the inspiration- The Emmeline Apron. See that gorgeous apron on the right? It has me itching to sew again!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm sticking with easy fast known recipes this week as we're still working on unpacking the house and my husband and I are both tired. Right now he cooks two nights a week which has really been a blessing for me. He became a full-time student again a few months ago so it has meant a big change around here! He works overnights part time and goes to school during the day, and I work in my studio here at home. Since I am working a little more he is taking care of our boys in the evenings some and cooking a bit. He has always been really helpful about household tasks, but I have really appreciated his extra help with those 2 meals.

I want to get back to trying a new recipe about once a week- hopefully by this summer!



Monday- Tacos

Tuesday- Chicken & Dumplings and Veggies

Wednesday- Spaghetti

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday- Lemon pepper Chicken and Broccoli

Saturday- Quesadillas

Sunday- dinner with In-laws :)

My Newest Purchases

Summer dresses make me very happy!



 

 

Now I just have to figure out the zipper thing- I have never made anything with a zipper on my own before, so this will be an adventure!

Moving In

We've been busy moving to our new home over the last week. We have been painting and fixing things up since March 28th, and we made the big move on the 5th. We ran into a few minor problems, or I should say, my husband and father-in-law ran into a few problems. Minor repair work that should have only taken about 6 hours ended up taking almost 2 full days. They worked so hard to get things ready for us, and they felt likey had nothing to show for all their effort. Once they got things taken care of, my mom and I spent a few days painting and putting borders up in the boys' bedrooms. I'm very happy with how everything turned out! The only things left to do in their rooms is to put up the closet systems, but that will have to wait awhile until I get the house into a better state.

I am not taking time off from work for the move, so it's going to take me quite awhile to get everything taken care of. Every room is at least unpacked enough to be functional. The boys rooms, bathrooms and kitchen are completely done. I have yet to finish up the living room and master bedroom, and my studio is only half unpacked. I've been working on the studio in little bits all week long as that is the next task that *must* be accomplished. My goal is to be unpacked by Sunday.

One thing that packing for a move does for you? It certainly forces you to declutter! I found myself thinking "I don't want to bother with moving that!" over and over again. I got rid of so many things it was ridiculous that I even had all that stuff! I'm so glad. There were things in there that we had been carrying for years and I feel so much better to be rid of so much of it.

Our First Step into Homeschooling

After reading a ton about all our different education options we're still undecided, but I've been impressed with all the early childhood information out there! I'm going to start working with my 2 1/2 year old a bit each day just to learn more about the world. We're going to start with learning about the ocean because we are taking a trip to the ocean in May. I have several little activities planned, and I think it will be fun for him. His little brain is so organized and he acquires new information like crazy, so I think this will help keep him busy.

I'm putting together some coloring sheets, and we're going to make a big ocean on the wall. I'm loving this! I hope he does too. I'm also looking into doing Five in a Row literature since he loves reading so much. I'm excited to get started!

Changing

About a month ago, the mother of one of my students shared with me something that I feel is going to change my life.

I have been teaching her pre-teen daughter for about 2 years now, and just started teaching her early elementary aged son this winter. They are a sweet homeschooling family and I have enjoyed getting to know them over the last few years. Ever since I have known them both the mother and the daughter always wear skirts or dresses. I have never asked them about this practice; I knew homeschoolers that were that conservative when I was growing up, so I assumed that they were part of that segment of the homeschooling population.

One day about a month ago, this mother saw that I had a copy of A Wife After God's Own Heart  by Elizabeth George on my desk. I had just purchased it for when I finished the study I was working on, so I had not started it yet. She commented on it and said she had really appreciated that book when she read it a few years ago. Then she said, "You know what really changed our relationship for the better? I gave my husband back the pants in our family." She laughed, then said, "Literally!" She went on to tell me about how she is such a dominant personality that wearing a dress or a skirt each day is a literal reminder for her that she is to be a helper to her husband rather than being in charge. "It seemed like a very extreme change, but for me and for our family, it was worth it." She told me that it is not just that reminder to keep her personality in check that has blessed her family, but that her husband became more affectionate with her, treated her even more like a lady than he had before, and that she feels more feminine when she is in a skirt or a dress. In turn, she works hard to not nitpick her husband, to think before she says everything on her mind, and to approach her husband with respect rather than accusations.

What spoke to me about her story, was how she made this change for herself-- it was not something that her husband asked of her, or that her church suggested, or anything like that. She was working on the part of her personality that she felt held her back in her relationships with God, her husband and her family, and she made a step that she felt would genuinely work for her, and it did. Drastic, yes, but it definitely yielded the results she wanted, plus some.

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to have a place to hash out the various parts of my life that I try to balance. I have two growing active boys with their own individual needs, my husband who is working a crazy overnight schedule so that he can go back to college but still help to provide for our family, my desire to be the homemaker for our family, my business and taking care of myself.

I am working to make changes in myself and some of them may be drastic, but my prayers are that they will be the right things to bless my family, my husband, myself, and my relationship with God. I am a Work in Progress.