I'm Lazy

Wow...it's been awhile since I last posted.  Way too long!  Many times I think of blogging this or that that happens during the day, or when something big comes along.  And yet as I'm sure you can all tell I have been lazy about updating this blog...which makes me very sad.  Because I do truly love to write here and tell you of the things I do or have been doing.  But what just dawned on me while I sit here typing is that like a lot of things lately this year I have become lazy and unmotivated...exercise, eating healthy, keeping house...maybe even some relationships.  Honestly I feel like I don't have a good reason for it, in the end we all have reasons and excuses.  What do I say to myself?

*Pardon the randomness of this post...nothing goes in order and I am writing as it comes to me*

Sigh...I feel like this year has been a year of change and all I see on the horizon is more change in the next coming months and following year..  Let's face it, I don't know many people who like change.  Do you? If I'm honest most times I'm digging my heels in.

To be fair change can be good and brings forth good things, but I still don't like it.

So many things going on or not going on for that matter, LOL!  I have children who have lost their minds.  They apparently think they don't need to help out around the house and we constantly battle that. Constantly battle attitudes, laziness (I see the irony here), homework, playing outside, you name it we battle it.  Just a constant battle.

Some good things though are that I'm in a Bible study with a great group of women and I am learning lots. I am excited to learn from these women who I feel have a lot to teach me and I have a lot to learn!  A lot!  I have been waiting for a long time to get/find a study and when this group of women decided to do one we got it done.  It may have taken awhile but we have met 3 times now and we plan on more.  I think we are all getting and taking something away from it, I know I am.  I am learning to trust and surrender things to God.  Learning (always learning) to not fear things...and fear is not of God, that I learned a few years ago, that is from the devil.  Of course all these things tie into each other but I feel like I am learning.

I am also learning that there are some crossroads in my life right now.  This is where the trusting and surrounding the crossroads to God.  It is really hard...really. Decisions are going to have to be made on many of these roads....am I allowed to have a mid-life crisis?  Just wondering.  Some are going to be hard, heartbreaking hard.  I'm also going to have to be honest with people and no more backing down and just keeping quiet.  I am practicing what I need to say, nicely but it's a matter of time and right now just thinking of some of them I can feel the butterflies/anxious feelings in my stomach.  This is scary stuff going on right now for me.

School is going to be out for the summer in 15 days, this is going to be a test of will power and sanity.  Wondering already who is going to come out in the end, all of us or just some of us?
I have a summer planned with a few things but we are trying to scale back and work on being savers.  We started in a few ways and didn't go Memorial weekend camping like we have done for so many years.  It's so expensive and we NEVER have the $$ we need.  It was pleasant not going this year and not spending $$ we never have and coming back from camping stressing about money.  There was no stress from that this  year.  What a feeling!

Eli has graduated from preschool which means now he's eligible to go to Kindergarten, much to my horror I must say.  I keep telling him he can't go, he keeps glaring at me saying he is going, he apparently has his dad on his side.  I am dreading the next school year (I should revisit this comment after summer and see what I say then, eh?).  Eli will be at school all day!  What in the world does that leave me with?  Well if he has to go to school I know a few things will happen. I will have a clean house for more than 3 minutes and it's going to be incredibly quiet.  I feel so lost right now...is this normal? I don't know, I just know I don't know what to do with myself and that's really scary.

There is so much more to talk about but no one has that kind of time and how boring.  LOL!  I will try my hardest to be better about posting more often, I have no excuses and I'm so tired of my own laziness that it has to stop somewhere, why not here? Why not get back on track?  Why not start now on what I can?  Surrender what I can't?  I must remember to continue to pray.  I have/had a goal and it was from the sermon at church today but as I was writing it out it didn't sound right so I think I need to remember/ponder it.  I think pastor said we need to be (like Christ was/is) an answer so other people's prayers...does that make any sense?


Alright, night all...sorry for droning on.  Have a great day in the sun tomorrow!







 

Lent Season-A look back

         OK...so I know Lent season is over and everyone has puked Easter pictures everywhere (don't worry I will too...I'm just forever behind the times).  Just for a refresher, I gave up Peanut butter for Lent and also chose to add praying every day/night.  I kept a prayer journal and I absolutely loved doing that, I hope to keep the journal and pray every night.  Now don't get me wrong I missed days/nights of praying but as a whole I was aware and for me that's important. 

When all was said and done it was hard giving up peanut butter because I do like it so much but also because it is such an integral part of our food here.  At least one person is eating it at some point, so I was always dealing with it.  Very hard to not lick a knife or fingers while making lunches.  My mantra "must not lick my fingers...must not...must not!"  .  I also had 4 little boys who enjoyed keeping me accountable and an ever constant reminder for me...No peanut butter for mom!

This was a good Lent for me and I haven't quite grasped what I prayed I would take away from this, but I hope to continue to think on it and look back on it and find different nuggets.

Who I am most proud of though is Ian.  I told my boys about what I was doing and asked them if anyone wanted to join me in Lent this year.  Ian took me up on this offer and to his credit, he stuck it out 40 days.  He chose to give up caramel (Ian says it the fancy-to big for your britches-way) and chocolate.  He did really good, he stayed aware of what he was eating and asking what was in things.  We came across a few things where he had to decide what he meant by giving up chocolate...did that also mean white chocolate? Did that mean Hot chocolate too?  It really got him thinking and I loved that! 

A moment that really impressed me was when his 'lame' mom packed his lunch thinking she was packing it for Lee and not Ian.  She packed a chocolate muffin and a chocolate & Peanut butter sandwich for him for lunch.  He made an amazing choice...he chose to not eat those things and had a very, very small lunch.  He stuck to his guns and that's what I'm going to take away from that.  My baby is growing up and finding things out about himself and we are getting glimmers of the man he can grow up to be.

He was starving when he got home and I felt so bad!  The worst part of it was I didn't even mix up the lunches like I thought I did...I just outright wasn't paying attention! 

On a more important note...Easter has come and HE IS RISEN!  So many opportunities for me to talk to the boys about what Easter is all about.  I read the Easter story to the after we watched Passion of Christ (that title doesn't sound right but I can't think of it).  We have started praying as a group in the morning, well try and remember...starting a habit takes time.  Most of the time I just pray  but they have prayed a time or two and it makes my heart warm.  We are branching out and it's so important that I/we keep doing it, to grow. 

This Lent was a most revealing one and growing one, glad I participated this year!

Thanks be to God!

 

11 Year Streak...

....has been broken!  I don't know whether I should cry over this or not.  Four boys and outside of a surgery that's the only time we've ever had to get stitches.  Along comes Eli and blows that right out of the water!  He's the only one who has colored on the walls with markers (the permanent variety), climbed the walls or book shelves, and as of now the only one with a story and stitches that back it up. 

So do I pat his back and say bravo?

 

 

 

OK folks...here goes nothing with the story on THE incident at our house this morning 08:20 this morning. 

I don't even know where to begin other than it starts with naughty boys...surprised? Yeah me either. So Eli and Lee were not getting ready for school this morning and instead were running around the house and my couch.  Eli got to running again because Lee was chasing him, and during all that Eli tripped and went head first into a hard plastic bin.  Not a Rubbermaid bin...that kind of plastic but a much harder/stiffer plastic (the kind of plastic they use to make the bin for needle disposal at a Dr. office).  He went fast and hard into that bin and of course immediately started crying.  So I went to go pick him up and it was like a picture from a crime scene.  All this blood was pooled by his head...this quickly became more than I had anticipated.  The shaking and freaking out commenced about then...go ahead and ask Dru, Lee, and Frank...they'll tell ya.  Thankfully Ian wasn't there...he would have been freaking out way more than I was.  That child does not do blood (showed him the pictures and he started getting antsy from looking at those).

Anyway, I call the Dr. office to get in...I knew right away it was going to need stitches but not an ER visit.  They couldn't get me in for an hour...I didn't feel it could wait an hour...what a hour that would have been!  I could have probably have waited the hour anyway, because we went to the next town over and went to the Urgent care and when all was said and done it took about that long to drop the big boys off to go to school, get gas (cause of course I didn't have enough), get there and fill out paper work...but I felt like I was doing something and things were moving somewhat.

 

*I should mention if you are queasy I maybe wouldn't look...personally I don't think they are too bad.

So this is what I saw when I picked him up, just less bloody.  Not a great picture here but everything is matted down and has sorta dried. He has stopped crying but it hurts.

 

 

 We are at the Urgent Care and are waiting to seen...didn't take the nurses long to see that they were gonna have to move us to a procedure room.  *I could have told them that...LOL*  He was such a champ, wanted his daddy there with him but put up with me instead.

 So this is what I saw at home and knew immediately that we'd need stitches...2-3 stitches tops.  Pretty gnarly looking but I'm seriously glad the crazy bleeding has stopped.  Apply pressure!

 THIS is how big the wound/laceration was...I had no idea! At one point when they were moving hair and what not I thought it's never gonna end...it's gonna keep going.  The wound really is that big folks...I'm amazed.  The more amazing part is that while I was looking at it and (GROSS ALERT) moving the skin around and looking I wondered if I was looking at bone and had myself almost convinced that it wasn't...but my gut said different.  It was confirmed that yes that was his skull I was seeing...but with kids it doesn't take much to get to their skulls...so there you go.  Today I saw Eli's skull, let's all seriously hope I don't have to see it again!

 So here we are!  A liquid numbing agent was put on but it didn't work and then before stitches they had to do 5-6 numbing shots with a needle to the cut, Eli was a champ, barely cried.  8 stitches , one CT scan and a Tetanus shot later!!  It was a real doozy that's for sure. 

 

 

Of course this was all fixed with a phone call to his dad and asking if his daddy could take him out to RR for doing really well.

 

What a day (and yes we went to RR and met his dad there)!

* On a side note...the dr's and nurses were very concerned or intuned to scarring and such and that was the farthest thing from my mind.  I was more of the opinion do what you have to do and let's get it done?  I got to thinking about that and wondered if I'm the only one who doesn't care so much in perhaps this instance about scars?  It just wasn't and hasn't been anything I've ever been concerned about.  Even with Ian they talked about scars and I was like where ever you gotta go in do it, we can not worry later about scars.

 

Take Me Out...

......to the ball game!

That's right folks, it's that time of year again!  Baseball season is upon us and we are in the thick of it!  Games have started, well yesterday they did, either way...we are in it now!

Dru had his first game last night, they are going by the name Mariners...which is funny because last night the MLB team Mariners had their opening day last night.  Dru just thought that was too funny, on top of that though both teams won their games last night!  GO MARINERS!

Lee's first game is tonight, they go by Thunder Kings.  I have no idea where that comes from but the coaches came up with it.  I can't tell if he's excited or not...baseball with him has been major drama this year.  Well everything that has anything to do with Lee turns into drama...and people think I don't have a girl...PLEASE!

Eli will be doing T-ball, have no idea when that will all start...they said it would start in April...and it's April and no word. So they better get on that...soon in my opinion or people are gonna start leaving and wanting their money back.  Me included!!

Things heard around my house this year when practice started for baseball...things no one told me I would hear....


Wait for it....


"Mom!!!! Wear is my cup!?!  I need my cup for baseball!!!!"

"Uhh son???  Last time I wore it was?????"


Yeah...that's a new one for me and they just look at me like I grew a third eye or something. 

Ok, off we go to get a kid from practice and off  to a game! 

Grandparent Day

 

A few days back it was Grandparent's day at Preschool and Eli called Grandpa up and asked if he would come to school with Eli.

 

So Grandpa said yes and the big day finally....and I do mean finally arrived!  Eli wasn't sure it was going to ever get there, but it did!

 

It was such a momentous day that Eli dressed in a nice button up shirt as you see, AND he even applied deodorant.  I couldn't help but chuckle when I had to re-help him dress after he put it on, he pretty much undressed down to his knickers (well if he was actually wearing those)

 Of course we have to do these kinds of pictures...I forget what he calls them but I obliged like the good mother that I AM!

 Zombie Eli??

He had so much fun with Grandpa and actually got to have Grandpa take him home IN Grandpa's truck!  It really was a good day for Eli and I suspect for Grandpa too!

 

First Born

2013

March

 April

May

June

July

 August

 September

 October

 November

 December

 2014

January

 February

 

*Birthday March picture will be taken and posted tomorrow!

 

**4/23/14**

Ian on his actual birthday

Our boy turns 12 tomorrow...where in the word has the time gone!?!  I ask this in all seriousness....and I'd like an answer! Thank. you. very. much.

Happy day you were born Ian! 

Board Games

 

The dreaded assortment of board games ....yeah my most dreaded one is Monopoly and my big boys have discovered this game.  They weren't more than 5 minutes into it before they started fighting.  Yuk! 

 

I hate that game and I really hated playing with my brother...it was NEVER...and I do mean never fun to play with him.  I get the point of the game...really I do.  Man my brother would buy everything he landed on and make himself just about bankrupt doing it.  Not fun memories...at. all.

 

For now they really like it...for now.  Not including the one who was in tears, the other one who gave all his stuff to the losing brother and walked away from the game, and the other brother who was busy gloating and being generally unbearable to be around.  It was making me twitch the whole time.

 

  All that to say or ask...what is your most and I do mean MOST dreaded board game or card game of all....Pinnacle (Is that how you even spell that??) is my most dreaded card game of all!  *sorry Grandpa and Grandma Great if you are reading this but it's beyond my mathematical capabilities and understanding...and then it no long is fun.  Give me Goldfish or Slap Jack any old day!


**I will say we did find a game that day we could all play...UNO something or other....different than the original UNO game but everyone could play and had fun...especially Eli and Dru...they won both games we played.