10 hours ago
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts
I'm trying to bring back the Wednesday Five on the blog! You can read other Wednesday Five posts here, and feel free to join in if you want.
A Quote
"The direction of a big act will warp history, but probably all acts do the same in their degree, down to a stone stepped over in the path, or a breath caught at the sight of a pretty girl, or a fingernail nicked in the garden soil."
-John Steinbeck, East Of Eden
A Book
Ribsy by Beverly Cleary. Tonight we all sat down together for dinner, which doesn't happen as often as I'd like, and Derek and I took turns reading it aloud to the kids. It is nostalgic, written about a different era, and I love it so much during this crazy time.
A Bit Of Nature
A Recommendation
You have to check out this Youtube channel I just found - this little old lady has a channel called Great Depression Cooking, and she cooks a meal that her family ate during the Great Depression, and tells her memories from that time. She's got to be at least pushing 90 then? Man, I hope I'm like her when I'm 90. I thought it was particularly nice to stumble across her channel during uncertain economic times. Hopefully we don't have a full-blown depression in our future, but her stories are interesting.
(Seconds of potato soup while I type this)
A Moment Of Happiness
When we were eating dinner tonight, the kids were all listening to the story so carefully while Derek was reading, and I was feeding Georgie a few spoonfuls of soup to help her not spill. I put particular effort into a creamy potato soup for dinner tonight, and she really liked the potatoes. She takes a bite from the spoon, and then all of a sudden she looks at me and makes this wide-eyed, stretched-out silly face at me. It was so cute and unexpected, I laughed. Then I made the face back, and she laughed. Then she said something cute and all my adorable little clan laughed.
It's moments like that which remind me how even "hard" times have fun in them. The world could fall apart, and I like to think we'd still find ways to make each other laugh.
Let's just take a moment and admire my title alliteration (I worked hard on that one). And after you're done admiring, let's pretend we are having coffee together, round two!
A Coffee To Try
Speaking of coffee, have you seen that whipped coffee trend? Apparently it's a thing - started in South Korea during their coronavirus self-isolating measures. You take instant coffee, sugar, and water, and whip it with a hand mixer, and it turns to this foam-like consistency. Then you top a glass of milk with it and let it gradually melt together. This idea was so interesting to me - who would have thought those three ingredients could turn into this creamy coffee foam? I've never had any coffee like that before, and it was fun to try.
A Little Encouragement
How is everyone feeling during this second week of social distancing? While we have been mostly in good spirits, I did find myself getting overwhelmed late last week over some minor stresses, and I realized that it would take a very little straw to break the camel's back right now. After getting out of the house for some breakfast at Sonic on Saturday, and virtual Sunday school and church services, I am feeling better this week. Our pastor pointed out that we should be careful not to binge on Netflix or news, but to binge on God's word, and I was convicted by that. I haven't spent enough time just praying over this whole crisis, and I want to focus more on that.
The sermon was also a great reminder of things we can be certain of in these times of uncertainty. It's certain that we will have trouble in this world. But it's also certain that Christ died to save us from our biggest problem, sin; that He has conquered death and this world; that this world isn't the believer's true home; that one day He will return or call us to Heaven, and this light suffering will be nothing in comparison to His glory. I've been saying from the start that we should keep the coronavirus in perspective, but more than an earthly sense of perspective, for those of us who have trusted in Jesus, an eternal perspective comes with real peace. Peace that passes understanding.
A Record For Posterity
Just for a little record for my grandchildren who may read this someday, last Monday the President asked us to practice "social distancing" for 15 days. Social distancing involves staying home as much as possible, washing your hands alot, staying six feet away from each other, not shaking hands, etc, and trying to keep groups under 10 people. That last one is tricky for us, since we have 7 people in our family alone, but we are still trying our best to follow the recommendations. The idea is to slow the spread of the virus long enough to give the government and medical community time to prepare for a potentially bad impact from the virus.
I've been watching no news except for the President's press briefings each day, and that is the way I like it. From what I heard, so much of the commentary is politically-driven, and sometimes even bordering on panic-mongering, and I don't need that in my life. Watching the briefings has given me a good idea of what is actually important to know, and I'm impressed with the way it's being handled, though a little skeptical about the plan of checks being sent out from the government. Where is the money for that coming from? I understand why they want to do it, but a couple thousand dollars per household is a ton of money, and it doesn't just come out of thin air! We'll see what happens with that.
Last week most press questions were implying that we would be locked down for months, which I was finding stressful. Not because it would be personally hard to stay home that long, but because the resulting economic damage could be devastating to the entire country. It's only been a week and I already know people who are losing their jobs. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of months. Yesterday President Trump assured the nation that we can't let the "cure" be worse than the illness, and that they are hopeful that we are looking at a matter of weeks rather than months. Weeks I can handle, so I found that heartening.
Today they are starting clinical trials of an anti-malaria drug in treating the coronavirus, and if that works it would be a game-changer - as the President said, "a gift from God". I spent time this morning praying that this medication would be effective.
In our state, we are looking at restrictions for the next 30 days, but thankfully not a shelter-in-place order as some states are dealing with.
How We Are Keeping Busy
More personally, the past week has not been that unusual for us. We are a homeschool family, and not much has changed in our day-to-day life because of that. Our co-op has been basically canceled for the rest of the year, and having every day of the week at home has been refreshing. The biggest change has been having Derek work from home every day, but that hasn't been too much of an adjustment. He was working "from home" two days a week before, though he often ended up working from our local coffee shop. So our main obstacle was finding him a more isolated corner of the house to make working at home feasible. We ended up setting up an "office" in our master closet, and even though it's a cramped space, he says it has been working really well! We are probably keeping the closet office from here on out.
I've been trying to make homeschooling a little more fun over the last week, and we've been trying to send letters to some of our friends and family. We've been slacking on the letters for the past couple days, but we'll get back to it today. I especially want to write a letter in response to my friend Hazel this week.
The kids have been spending alot of time outside, then it snowed and all their pent-up energy was unleashed on the house. Now it's melted and I'm making them go outside again.
I've been watching too much TV, and I'm trying to step back from that this week and spend more time reading - reading the Bible, and reading my big stack of library books. Sometimes a mindless distraction is not a bad thing though, so we won't give up TV entirely.
As far as projects - keeping on top of household chores has still taken up the majority of my spare time, as it always does. But I do have one extra project. We have a vacation booked at the end of April. We may have to cancel it, but we are not going to make any decisions until a couple days before we are scheduled to leave, so I am treating everything as if we are still going. The coronavirus news has been changing almost daily, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for the better, so who knows what the status will be by then. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic for now. Today my project is to pull out the kids' summer clothes, and figure out what gaps are in the kids' wardrobes so I can determine what summer things I will need to buy, and which things I need to get before our hopeful vacation, and make a budget for all that. So that's what I'll probably be working on today.
A Bookish Conundrum
And because I can't end an update without talking about what I'm reading, I keep wavering on which book I want to focus on while we are mostly stuck at home. I started The Lake House by Kate Morton, and I'm enjoying it, but I also got a few chapter into East Of Eden by John Steinbeck, and I'm finding that really interesting. Which to read, which to read. Have you read either of those books? Which one should I choose? Maybe I'll just continue alternating for now, and see which one pulls ahead.
How's this week going for all of you?
As schools and libraries and businesses are shutting down, many assume that nothing has really changed for us homeschool moms during this pandemic.
That's partly true, but only partly.
For us, our co-op has been canceled, most likely for the rest of the year, and our weekly library trips are put on hold (ha! I keep stumbling into puns this week). My kids have been asking me every night "What are we doing tomorrow, Mom?", and the answer continues to be "nothing". It doesn't seem right to continue on with our schedule as though nothing has changed, when my kids obviously know something has. They know we aren't going to co-op or church, and they know why.
While I'm grateful for the stability that homeschooling has given us, I decided to make a few changes over the coming weeks. I find myself a little jealous of the extra time so many public/private school moms are getting with their kids. I am blessed to get that amount of time with my kids every day, and it's easy to forget that! This whole thing has reminded me that I get to choose the quality of the time that I get with them, and I want to up the quality during this unusual series of events. I want to make some special memories with my kids too, even though homeschooling means not as much has changed.
So here are the things I'm doing to make the next couple weeks more exciting for all of us.
Take a step back from the three R's.
For much of the homeschool year, my main focus is keeping up in the "three R's" - reading, writing, and arithmetic. Obviously those things are important, but we aren't going to fall behind if we lighten up on the tedious bits of homeschooling for a couple weeks. I want to pull back on the "have-to's" and focus a little more on the homeschool "want-to's".
More history and science.
I love elementary school, because there is so much flexibility in what we choose to study! We get to follow our whims. Right now we are going to focus on westward expansion in history, and see where that takes us. And science will include alot more nature walks and special activities.
Add in those activities we never get to.
Amidst keeping up with our regular curriculum, sometimes I don't make time for the things I really want to do with the kids. Things like nature study (still trying to figure that one out), art lessons, physical education (our basketball hoop needs more action), cooking instruction, and life skills (such as letter-writing, how to clean a bathroom, etc.). I want to take this as an opportunity to spend time on those things right now.
Watch more movies.
Books are wonderful, but often movies really make things come alive. I see alot of Little House On The Prairie in our future.
Take advantage of all the free resources!
In light of so many people finding themselves accidental homeschool moms, alot of websites are offering more free educational resources than ever. I'm taking full advantage! I've already downloaded a couple free studies, and I'm keeping an eye on my inbox for more. If you have any resources to share, please do! I know there are a ton right now that I don't even know about.
(Just for a couple things, I really am enjoying Chantel's homeschool posts this week, and Raising Up Wild Things and Cottage Chronicles both have the cutest printables that I've seen anywhere!)
If you are a homeschool mom, are you changing anything about your school during the pandemic?
You can read all my homeschool posts here.
I'm trying to bring back the Wednesday Five on the blog! You can read other Wednesday Five posts here, and feel free to join in if you want. You can borrow the format and slap any old day of the week on there.
A Quote
"Shake not the head, feet, or legs; roll not the eyes, lift not one eyebrow higher than the other, wry not the mouth; and bedew no man's face with your spittle, by approaching too near him when you speak."
-George Washington, from his rules for civility
I thought you all would appreciate that part about not "bedewing" any man's face with your spittle in light of the events this week!
A Book
East Of Eden by John Steinbeck. Our little local library, the one that is a ten minute walk from my house, was still open today. I went in (careful not to touch anything), and rented this book. I've never read anything by Steinbeck, have you? Grapes Of Wrath I've heard of, but this one sounded interesting.
A Bit Of Nature
Isn't this fence in our neighborhood so neat?
A Recommendation
I recommend you keep an eye on your email this week, because a lot of companies are having online sales to combat the fact that people aren't out shopping in person. I'll probably have alot of packages coming next week (so glad that postal service is still up and running)! I ordered a swimsuit I've had my eye on for a while at 20% off, dresses for the girls at over 50% off, and some new essential oil blends from Plant Therapy at 30% off. Good deals this week, and lots of homeschool websites are sending out freebies too - email/online is where it's at right now!
A Moment Of Happiness
Georgie was following me round the kitchen this morning, and I bent down with my lips pressed together to give her a kiss. She threw her chubby little arms on either side of my head and pulled my face to hers, crossing her eyes as she aimed at kissing me on the lips. I don't want to ever forget her concentration and precious little face.
Let's have a virutal coffee date, since no real-life coffee dates are happening this week!
I've Got My Coffee, I've Got Toilet Paper (For Now)
Well, this has been a weekend for the books, and never did I think I would say that about a weekend where we literally did nothing.
On Thursday we went to our local railroad museum with my sister and cousins, and I'm so glad we got out one last time when we did, because by Friday things started shutting down. Our co-op was canceled, and we made one last run to the library. By Saturday night, the libraries were all closed. A women's retreat I was supposed to go to was postponed, and our Sunday church service was put online as the doors were closed to the congregation.
I know you know all this already, but I just wanted to write about it on my blog for posterity's sake.
Derek tried to buy me bananas at the grocery store over the weekend, and they were completely out of produce. We checked a different one later, and there was produce, but that store was out of canned goods. I don't understand this stockpiling impulse at all. Theoretically, if you were to get sick and get quarantined, couldn't you just get a non-sick neighbor to pick up the few things that you may not have in your pantry? Or couldn't we just do that for someone else if we were the healthy ones? But no, people have to go buy out all the stores until no one can get a package of spaghetti noodles or a bag of sugar when they need it. Or let's not forget toilet paper (if you are a toilet paper hoarder, for goodness' sakes, share!)
Over-buying stuff might make people feel better, but for me, I think it's important not to be over-anxious. I'll be staying home with everyone else, but I'm also not going to waste time worrying about something that I can't control at all. I think the best thing to do is to pray for the nation/world, for the people who are badly affected by this virus, for the economy and the hit it's taking (another serious concern), and for wisdom for a quick resolution to this whole thing.
This too shall pass, guys. It's going to be okay.
On Chickens And Vegetables
On a related note, I really am considering allowing Derek to do that chicken-raising project with the kids. He mentioned it a few months ago because he would like the kids to join 4-H, but I was hesitant. I grew up with friends who had chickens, and always thought they seemed like a hassle. But it would be nice to have eggs when you can no longer buy them at the store, right? Also, maybe it's time to learn how to garden. A black thumb has plagued me my whole life, but surely a person can learn. Do any of you have chickens/garden? The buying panic has made me consider that it might not be a bad thing to be a little more self-sufficient. By that, I mean not at the mercy of the purchasing whims of the nation in a crisis.
A Book And A TV Series For Your Consideration
On a positive note, I have been reading a ton this weekend! Something about a pandemic that makes me want to hunker down with a book I guess, ha! I was actually thinking about putting together a post about post-apocalyptic/natural disaster fiction to read during a pandemic, because it seems appropriate, no? I'm serious though, I've been in the mood to read those kind of books.
In particular I've been reading The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Eghan, and man, that book puts things into perspective. Imagine the air filled with so much dirt that it feels like you are eating it, people dying because their lungs are filled with silt, and not being able to feed your family except every fourth day because the economy crashed at the same time, and you no longer have a way to earn money. That really happened. Those people back then were made of some tough stuff. I've found it particularly interesting because some of my ancestors were in Nebraska at that time, and I wonder if they experienced any of the things I'm reading about. There is a really interesting series about the Dust Bowl on prime video, if you are interested in learning more.
I started that section with "on a positive note", but that wasn't overly positive was it? To me it is positive though, in as far as the country (and world) had a lot to deal with in a very short period of time at the start of the last century, and they made it through. They had World War One, the flu epidemic, the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowl, all within 20 years. Thousands of people didn't die, millions of people did. Things can always be worse, and I'm just thinking about this verse this morning:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6
That's all I've got this morning. Time to re-fill my coffee cup and get started on school with the kids! I'm thinking a hike might be on the schedule. This is a good week to finally get serious about nature journaling, I'm thinking.
This too shall pass, guys. It's going to be okay.
On Chickens And Vegetables
On a related note, I really am considering allowing Derek to do that chicken-raising project with the kids. He mentioned it a few months ago because he would like the kids to join 4-H, but I was hesitant. I grew up with friends who had chickens, and always thought they seemed like a hassle. But it would be nice to have eggs when you can no longer buy them at the store, right? Also, maybe it's time to learn how to garden. A black thumb has plagued me my whole life, but surely a person can learn. Do any of you have chickens/garden? The buying panic has made me consider that it might not be a bad thing to be a little more self-sufficient. By that, I mean not at the mercy of the purchasing whims of the nation in a crisis.
A Book And A TV Series For Your Consideration
On a positive note, I have been reading a ton this weekend! Something about a pandemic that makes me want to hunker down with a book I guess, ha! I was actually thinking about putting together a post about post-apocalyptic/natural disaster fiction to read during a pandemic, because it seems appropriate, no? I'm serious though, I've been in the mood to read those kind of books.
In particular I've been reading The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Eghan, and man, that book puts things into perspective. Imagine the air filled with so much dirt that it feels like you are eating it, people dying because their lungs are filled with silt, and not being able to feed your family except every fourth day because the economy crashed at the same time, and you no longer have a way to earn money. That really happened. Those people back then were made of some tough stuff. I've found it particularly interesting because some of my ancestors were in Nebraska at that time, and I wonder if they experienced any of the things I'm reading about. There is a really interesting series about the Dust Bowl on prime video, if you are interested in learning more.
I started that section with "on a positive note", but that wasn't overly positive was it? To me it is positive though, in as far as the country (and world) had a lot to deal with in a very short period of time at the start of the last century, and they made it through. They had World War One, the flu epidemic, the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowl, all within 20 years. Thousands of people didn't die, millions of people did. Things can always be worse, and I'm just thinking about this verse this morning:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6
That's all I've got this morning. Time to re-fill my coffee cup and get started on school with the kids! I'm thinking a hike might be on the schedule. This is a good week to finally get serious about nature journaling, I'm thinking.
It’s an unseasonably warm day. The sun is diffusing softly through the curtains, and the house is almost quiet. My tiniest child is sleeping upstairs, and I hear muffled shouts as I carry my book into the sitting room. I brush the gauzy curtain aside and see my gaggle of children, coats unbuttoned and flapping as they race on their bikes.
A sniffly noise emits from our hound dog, snoozing in the corner, his head resting between his two front paws and eyes closed. I sit and read a while, listening to nothing but the sounds that always fill a “quiet” house. The heater clicking on. A sink dripping somewhere. A slight breeze creaking the screen door. A small cry from my baby upstairs, before she settles and this noisy silence fills the air again. A conversation outside, in young voices I can’t decipher. A page of my book turning.
I look out the window and I can see the rain blowing up over the mountains, and the wind is picking up. My kid-gang tumbles through the door with bright eyes and red, runny noses. My middle boy asks for a snack with big eyes and a sniff. They tell me it’s getting cold, and they are inside now, and the house is quiet again, but not silent. A cartoon plays softly from the next room, and they occasionally converse with their fictional screen-friends or burst out into laughter.
Sometimes I want peace and quiet as a mom, and I got a little bit of the peace part this afternoon. The quiet part is ever debatable. A house with five kids is never actually silent.
But then, even when the house is so full of noise that I’m overwhelmed, I know in my heart that silence isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. How very grateful I am to be here, in a house that’s never truly quiet, where shouts of joy, and small sorrows, squabbles and giggles - all this life spills out and vibrates the air molecules straight into my ears almost every moment of the day.
My Dear Wyatt,
Buddy, you are nine years old! I can hardly believe how much you have grown this year. I looked at you the other day and saw with fresh eyes how tall you have gotten.
You are all boy, and a smart, thoughtful boy too. I frequently find you tucked away by yourself in your room, reading a book about birds, or nature, or science experiments, or history. Sometimes you'll read something in a book that you want to try, and you'll emerge with tons of ideas spilling out. You'll go track down the supplies you need and start bringing your ideas to life. Right now you are anxious for spring, when you can use your new bike lights (which you got for Christmas) to ride your bike when it's dark. On your birthday list this year is an "adventure kit" (containing binoculars, a compass, and a flashlight, for all your birding adventures), a new watch, and Audobon bird stuffed animals with authentic sound effects.
I love how adventurous you are when you get a new idea in your head, but I can still tell when you get nervous in new situations by the way you hang back next to me. Sometimes if something is bothering you, you'll come and sit by me a while until I gradually get it out of you. You need me less and less these days, so I have to hang on to the little ways that I can help you.
You are a funny kid, and you are constantly making your sibling laugh with your silly stories and jokes. You are an organizer of games, especially imagination games, and I love to see the stories you all come up with together. They all look up to you so much.
I love your interest for so many subjects and how curious you are about the world, but I love even more how I see you growing in your faith. You have made a very specific effort to start reading the Bible every day, and you just made it through the book of Genesis. It gives my heart so much joy that in all your learning, you are making learning about the Lord a priority.
Ten years is an exciting year for kids since they hit the double-digits, but nine is a landmark year for me as your mom. This year you are halfway through your childhood. I find myself looking back on the last nine years with tears in my eyes, wondering where it all went. But I'm looking ahead to the next nine years with excitement, because I am so proud of the young man you are becoming. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you, my darling boy. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful boy who made me a mama. I love you more than every feather on every bird in the world.
Love,
Mama
A lot of people like to start off their new year with goals or resolutions, reflection on the year that has just past, or planning for the year ahead. We started our new year with a cold.
On New Year's Day I started to cough a little, and by the 2nd I was sprawled out on the couch and miserable. It took me about a week to finally feel completely better - which means I felt better yesterday. Just in time for my kids to catch it. Clyde started coughing last night (I'm hoping whatever this is more shorter-lived for them).
I've always liked the new year season, though not because I'm a particularly goal-oriented person or a planner. I'm not really either of those things. But the new year always feels fresh, and I ride on that feeling of freshness though cold, brown winter days. When things could start to feel stale, the new year makes them feel...well, new.
Since I was too miserable for the first week of this decade to enjoy any of that newness, my new-year-mode is going to be extended. I actually prefer it this way. For me, the whole month of January is a time of reflection and gentle planning anyway. So the new year in this house starts now.
I felt a lot of pressure to start off the year with a significant post, but this is shaping up to be a regular old chatty post instead. I've decided I'm okay with it. I don't think much on this blog is meant to be significant anyway, not in that way. Ordinary days are significant in themselves, I think more than we know.
Our Start To The 2020's
The last day of the 2010's I spent filling up the last of the petition I've been working on (to stop late-term abortion in my state). I had run out of people I know to ask for signatures, so I texted my sister-in-law, and she graciously set up a time for me to meet her extended family so they could sign my petition. The last line was signed. So a few days into the new year, I headed down to a notary event to get my petitions notarized and turned in. Even though I had been sick, I was feeling functional - but barely, and I had lost my voice. I tried to avoid breathing on anyone or shaking anyone's hands while I handed over my petitions, just in case I was still contagious.
Then I had to stop at the grocery store, because by this time we were basically out of food after the holidays. I wanted it to be a short trip out of the house so I could go home and continue to rest and recover, but we just plain needed a few things. So I did a little shopping trip at Walmart, and then headed back out to my car.
As I was pushing my full cart across the parking lot, I noticed a flutter of wings overhead, and then a flash of white in front of my eyes, and I looked down and realized a bird had pooped on me. I was completely grossed out. Do you know how many germs birds carry?
I'm admittedly very slightly germaphobic.
I went straight to my car, parked the cart on the sidewalk, and set my purse down on the front seat while I rummaged around looking for hand sanitizer. As if hand-sanitizer would be effective against bird poop, but it was better than nothing. After I finished dousing my pants in it, I turned toward my cart full of groceries and closed the door.
Then I heard a click.
And my keys were still in my purse. On the front seat of the car.
Thankfully my phone was in my pocket, not in my purse, so I called Derek and squeaked out what happened (remember, my voice was gone). He called my parents, and they came to rescue me about 40 minutes later. Not too bad of a situation overall, but a little embarrassing. I haven't locked myself out of my car since I was 18.
So yeah, that was a good start to the new decade.
New Year's Day Though
I actually take that back, the true start to the new year was a good day. My cough had barely started, so I didn't realize yet that I was getting sick yet, and we decided to take a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park on New Year's Day.
Unfortunately, the last couple times we have visited the park there ends up being a storm rolling in, and we can't see any of the mountains. The weather was clear and bright, right up until we entered the park, and within five minutes we could see nothing. Cars were stuck in the snow on the mountain roads. And we forgot to bring snow pants, because we thought it was going to be a beautiful, bright day.
We made the best of it though, and we still enjoyed the wintery beauty and saw some wildlife. We piled the kids out of the car, walked for five minutes in the snow, piled back in. Then we stopped at a taffy shop on the way home. I've decided I'm not really a fan of saltwater taffy unless it's fresh. This was the fresh stuff, and it was so tasty.
Ten Years Ago
Between signature gathering and being sick, I haven't had much time to truly reflect on the fact that 2020 is not just the marking of a new year, but a new decade. I didn't look through the last ten years of pictures (that thought overwhelms me), or find old journal entries, or anything like that. But I can remember where I was in life and how I felt ten years ago.
We were living in our first home, with three rambunctious dogs. I was working as a dental hygienist a few days a week, and it was the heyday of blogging. Derek was working for our county, and we were scraping together any extra income we had into saving for a ten-year anniversary trip to Italy. We had been married for two years, and had decided we wanted to start trying for a family, but things weren't exactly working. I wondered when, or maybe if, we'd have kids. It was a little premature to worry too much, but worry I did. My biggest prayer for the new decade was a houseful of children.
And here we are ten years later, in a different house, only one of those dogs still laying at my feet, and five tiny pairs of shoes pounding on the second floor over my head. We never took that trip to Italy. And we were okay with that, because dreams change over time. I've received more than I ever thought to ask for ten years ago.
When I think back over the last ten years, I think of the faithfulness of God in our lives over this past decade. There have been stresses and joys and sorrows and triumphs, and the Lord has been our anchor through it all.
I don't like to think about where I'll be in the next ten years. I know my oldest will be graduated from high school, and my youngest will be right in the middle of middle school. That thought alone is overwhelming to me. Ten years is too far in the future for me to think about. I don't know where we'll be living, or what exactly our lives will look like. But I imagine that in ten years, when I look back again on the previous decade, I'll still see how God is faithful to us through it all.
So yes. I'm ready to start the 2020's.
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I want to write more about my plans for the upcoming year, or changes I'm already trying to make, but I think I'll wrap up this post here for now. The kids are awake, and this is our first week back to school in 2020, despite being sick, so I have alot to catch up on this week! The house is slowly being disinfected of whatever bug we caught, and I'm working with the kids and myself on developing good habits - one of those habits is that blogging has to happen first thing in the morning, so we can start school on time! So I'm off to pour some cereal bowls and crack open some books.
How was the start to the new decade for you all?
Hopefully smoother than ours, ha!
Every year I write a year-in-review - it's quite possible that no one finds these interesting but me. But it does my heart good to look back on everything that happened in the previous year - the surprises, sorrows and stresses, joys and beauty, the things that delighted me, and the things that didn't work out quite the way I wanted them to. To see God's hand through it all and thank Him for the ways that He has worked in our family, and in my heart, over the course of one year. So I'll try to make it interesting to read for all of you, but just know that these years, reviewed here on the blog, are something I need to do for me too.
Without further ado...
January
-I started the year out with making goals for the first time in many years. Post coming about how that actually went...
-We finished up renovating the kitchen and Derek started on the master bathroom.
-We made the difficult decision to explore some of the other churches in our area, because of some drama that went down at our current church. This led to a months-long period of discouragement for me as we realized the pickin's, for what we are looking for in our area, were pretty slim.
-I did a day-in-the-life series on Instagram - I always think it's fun to go back and watch these later. It always brings back fun memories.
-We visited the stock show, and the kids loved it.
-Georgie started walking, and quickly took off!
-We braved a snowstorm and visited the "butterfly zoo", which was a nice spot of tropical in the middle of all that winter.
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February
-We went sledding at my parent's house with my sister and her family! It was so much fun, and made me feel like a kid again.
-We did a field trip the the Nature and Science museum with friends!
-We bought valentines for friends.
-Wyatt turned 8 years old. We had a fun day celebrating him with a trip to Bass Pro Shops and the movies!
-We had my sister over for Valentine's Day for a little mini party.
-My mom watched ALL the grandkids for me and my siblings, and we had a rare date! We saw Ralph Breaks The Internet at the dollar theater, because we're fancy like that.
-We went on a winter nature hike.
-I started a classics book club with some friends from my college days! We started reading Far From The Madding Crowd.
-We continued our church wandering, and I felt so untethered and lost. I felt deeply discouraged all through February, and realized I was overloading myself. I stepped back from a few things, which helped with my stress levels, but not with my discouragement.
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March
-We got alot of snow, and I came up with this list of reasons to like snow, in response to an unusual amount of local friends complaining about it. We live in the Rocky Mountains, people! It's going to snow.
-I finally started to get into a morning routine and I began getting up before the kids - something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it has been too hard with young babies before this year.
-I celebrated the 12th anniversary of the day I met Derek!
-We got hit by a bomb cyclone.
-We visited the zoo amidst the snowy remnants of the bomb cyclone.
-Clarice drew our family portrait.
-I got a sinus infection and the kids got another stomach bug. We never threw up as often as we did in the 2018-2019 winter.
-I really started struggling with how much time I was spending on Instagram, and I wrote about it a little bit.
-It started to warm up toward the end of the month, and we enjoyed a park day!
-We did an "inside the orchestra" field trip with our co-op, and the kids loved playing around with the instruments!
-I thought I was starting to come out of my doldrums and discouragement, but now I think it was just the initial bounce-back from cutting things out of my schedule in February.
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April
-My discouragement came back with a vengeance, and after sprinkling in exhaustion and some people problems, I spent a couple weeks basically just crying about everything. I was so relieved when Derek called my parents so I could go to New Orleans with him for a work trip. An escape and reset was really badly needed at that point.
-My dad gave me some encouragement too.
-Clyde turned five years old!
-I got back into taking the kids on "mom days", and had alot of fun on my mom day with Gwen! She also lost her upper front tooth.
-We had a wonderful and refreshing trip to New Orleans! Ate alot of Beignets, took a couple plantation tours, listened to alot of jazz. I came back with a fresh perspective, and things finally started looking up for real.
-Tried a new egg-coloring method with the kids.
-We celebrated Resurrection Day!
-We noticed a sore on our dog's neck, so I took him into the vet and we found out Harvey had a tumor. Tumors in dogs are most often cancerous, and we really thought we were going to lose him. He had surgery to remove the tumor, and thankfully we found out a couple weeks later that it was benign! Apparently it was a type of tumor normally found in cats.
-Took another trip to the zoo and admired the thousands of daffodils they had planted!
-Derek took the boys to see spring practice for his college football team, and he scheduled the girls and I for a Mermaid Painting Tea Party. It was not something I would have ever dreamed up, and so much fun!
-I got jury duty - something I've always wanted to do is participate in the civic process through jury duty! But the trial got cancelled before I could go. Maybe someday.
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May
-We continued the bathroom renovation, and finally finished it up this month. I forgot how long bathroom renovations take.
-Clyde and I got a mom day this month, and he helped me pick out some flowers, since I was itching for something summery around me. Good thing I didn't plant them yet though, because it snowed again in May.
-I discovered a really pretty back room in our local library, and have enjoyed many blogging afternoons there since.
-The trees finally flowered late! It was a weird year, because we usually get pretty flowers in April.
-We celebrated Mother's Day in a nice, laid-back way, and it was perfect. I got some loose-leaf tea, and we visited my mom, and we relaxed.
-I bought a new swimsuit that I don't hate.
-We finished up school for the year. In the snow. I just laughed.
-Georgie started to get into "coloring".
-I visited the library book sale, which is basically the official start to summer for me.
-We started a new book for book club! The Great Gatsby. I ended up liking it way more than I thought I would.
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June
-We tried the last couple churches on our list, and finally made the decision to return to our old church. We figured out that even with everything that had happened, it was still the best one for us. I learned alot through this whole church process, and maybe learned to value loyalty to the local church body a little bit more. No church is perfect, and I think maybe we needed to learn to stick with a place even when the imperfection starts to show. I still haven't mulled over my thoughts enough to express them better than that. But it was so good to be back. Our church welcomed us back with open arms, and it felt like coming home.
-Clyde started gymnastics! He was so excited, he bounced all over that gym.
-I got a very weird big toe injury. I literally did nothing. I was sitting at my desk and it randomly started swelling.
-Clarice and I had a mom day, and she's a clever little thing.
-We tried VBS for the first time for my big kids, and they LOVED it. Georgie and I ran around town together, and spent too much money on donuts.
-We visited the Great Sand Dunes.
-Dollar movies started for the summer! We went to the first one with friends.
-I celebrated my birthday at the homeschool conference, ha! Including a spontaneous visit to a hotel.
-We celebrated Derek and my dad for Father's Day! But Father's Day wasn't as perfect as I wanted it to be for Derek, so we celebrated again the next week with a campfire.
-We went to a state park, and though the day didn't go very well, it was very pretty.
-I took Wyatt with me to see Ken Ham at the homeschool conference.
-We visited Rocky Mountain National Park, but it was in the 50's in the middle of June! So it was a chilly day.
-It finally started to feel like summer. Wyatt made bird feeders and hung them around our yard. We discovered that the bush in front four house is a lilac bush!
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July
-We celebrated the 4th of July on the road to my grandma's! We had a lovely visit with her and my Grandpa Bill, and we also took a trip to Mesa Verde National Park.
-I took the kids to the pool all by myself and shared a few tips here.
-We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary! The whole thing felt a little anti-climactic though, after our 10th last year.
-Wyatt and I had some one-on-one time, and he helped me shop for a few more summer flowers, now that we were sure they wouldn't freeze.
-It rained alot in July, and it was a quiet, nice mid-summer.
-We did some porch camping.
-We finally upgraded our mattress, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was. We have been sleeping on a 20+ old mattress for the last 11 years of our marriage, so we sprung for the really good mattress. And it's a king now. It's been really nice!
-We finally set up the trampoline my parent's got us for Christmas! The kids love it.
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August
-We saw a century plant.
-I felt ready for summer to be over.
-We took a trip to see my grandpa, and had a lovely day visiting with him and my Grandma Juanita. They set up a unicorn sprinkler, and the kids loved it!
-We finally remembered we were supposed to take a vacation in August, and we got a last-minute trip to Florida on the calendar! We saw the Everglades, went to SeaWorld, visited NASA, went to the largest McDonald's in the US, stopped at an orange grove, and had several pool and beach days. We even did one day at Disney. It was a much needed sunny vacation!
-I struggled alot with getting into fall and school mode once we were back from Florida, so that was a big swing from earlier in the month! This is why I like to take vacation in June (but it's not an option with Derek's work).
-New classics book club pick - Dracula, which I never would have picked up on my own, but I enjoyed it!
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September
-We started the school year and eased into it, because I wasn't ready. We did nature hikes and visited a railroad museum to get us inspired to learn! Also, Clyde started Kindergarten, so I officially have three students this year.
-I started experimenting with a simmer potpourri on the stove to get in the fall mood.
-I got involved in political volunteering for the first time, collecting signatures for a measure to stop late-term abortion in our state. It's been interesting to learn about the process from this angle, and to see firsthand how much work goes into getting a measure on the state ballot!
-Derek and I got another rare date, and we went to see a play! Hunchback Of Notre Dame, which was actually very depressing, but we had a nice time laughing about it together anyway!
-I started re-reading The Fellowship Of The Ring in earnest, and enjoyed it all through the fall. I don't re-read very often, so this is noteworthy.
-My kids remembered learning about the Harvest Moon from school last year, and kept asking when it was - it happened to be on Friday, the 13th!
-There were fires in the mountains near our home, resulting from a pretty dry August and September - this is why I don't complain about the snow and rain.
-After meaning to all summer, we finally went fishing with the kids! It was so fun, even though we didn't catch anything, and we want to go more often now.
-My little Clarice turned four years old!
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October
-I decided to try to blog every day in October. I didn't make it, but I did blog a lot, all about memory-keeping. It brought up a lot of unresolved feelings about social media and phones.
-I finally tried Stitchfix with a gift card I got over a year ago for my 30th birthday!
-We did a fall nature scavenger hunt for fun. We also went fishing again, and I shared some photos and reasons to give fishing a try here.
-Wyatt started his second season of soccer, and it was fun seeing how much he has improved since last year!
-We took alot of nature hikes, and it's a good thing, because the fall colors were short lived. I managed to get some family photos before the leaves were gone.
-It started snowing again!
-I went to visit my friends' ranch with the kids one weekend, while Derek was hunting! We had a wonderful time, as always, and I'm so grateful for friendships that last.
-Georgie turned two years old!
-The kids hounded me until we celebrated Reformation Day again! I shared my favorite Reformation Day resources here.
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November
-Clarice started her ballet class, which she has been dying to do for at least a year. Gwen and Clyde started a homeschool gymnastics class, and they loved it too!
-After taking a home improvement break over the summer, we started again this month. Derek took a week off work to install our fireplace for our new wood stove!
-I decided to take a social media break and signed out in the middle of November. I needed some space and time to consider what I really want out of social media, and how to make sure it's serving me instead of the other way around. More coming on this, I'm sure.
-We had a game night with my sister's family, and her Christmas decorations were up, and it was just lovely!
-We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parent's house, and Derek's mom came with us! We ate good food, and played A Christmas Story: The Game, and it was lots of fun!
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December
-We visited a Christmas light display with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday! We always bundle up and walk around outside enjoying the lights, and then go get pie afterwards. It was unusually warm this year, so we were really able to enjoy the lights!
-We visited my grandpa and Grandpa Juanita again, and I loved hearing more stories from my grandpa's life.
-We visited our favorite Christmas shop! We bought a "new house" ornament, since we forgot to last year.
-I finally made Christmas Bible verse cards for my Etsy shop. (This might be a good time to bookmark them for next year, if you're interested?)
-Despite it being a short Christmas season, I stayed on top of things and didn't get too behind or too overwhelmed. I shared about the presents I was most excited to give here! I got a lovely gift in the mail from my longtime penpal Felicia, and another one in the mail from my dear ranch friends!
-It was a quiet Christmas season for us, with not as many gatherings as usual, but we did go to an ugly sweater party with our Sunday School class! I got a fanny pack during the white elephant exchange, but it's actually a really nice one and I'm totally going to use it when we go to the zoo.
-I dabbled in creating my own recipes again, and invented this Spicy Raspberry Cheeseball recipe.
-I wrote a Christmas newsletter, just as a writing exercise, but I ended up liking it and was sorry it was too late to send it with my Christmas cards. You can read it here.
-We did some baking together.
-We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, and with my grandma and Grandpa Bill! We will see Derek's family for a belated Christmas celebration next week.
-We had a wonderful Christmas Day together - it was about as perfect as a Christmas Day can go, and that is a rare thing because nothing usually goes perfectly. We had time to reflect on Christ's birth, everyone was excited about their presents, and we just enjoyed each other.
-We celebrated Gwendolyn's and Derek's birthday (they have the same birthday, in case you forgot)! I got Derek and Apple Watch because he has been dying to get one for years. Gwen turned 7 years old!
-We are celebrating New Year's Eve tonight with final signature-collecting for my petition, and an impromptu dinner with my brother and his family!
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Wow, even though we didn't have alot of "big" events, it was a busy year! I think there was alot of growing for me personally this year in different areas of my life.
A month or two ago, as I've been struggling with more circumstances that have left me feeling a little alone, Derek said to me offhandedly, "Maybe the Lord just wants you to learn to lean on Him more right now." I actually think that sums up this year pretty succinctly. I think the Lord used alot of different circumstances this year to teach me to lean on Him more and myself less. I'm still learning how to do that, but I'm thankful that He is my solid rock, the One on whom it will always be safe to lean.
Happy New Year's Eve, friends!
Hope you have plans to do something fun!
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