Past times with the Fizz-Meister

Sock puppets with her "Doc-y"

Quiet book time

And if you can't find Felicity, she's probably with her baby chicks:

Last Day of Pre-K for E

"Thank you God for our house, food, & friends (& chickens!)."

"I forgive you"

From a young age I've been able to apologize.  I learned this easily from my mom.  She was tough on us and she'd lose her temper and would yell at us at times.  (I'm not blaming--I do this too). But if she were in the wrong, she would always offer up an apology.  It didn't happen a lot because we were wrong and needed correcting.  But here is where I learned to apologize and can do so rather easily--if I am wrong ;).

HOWEVER-- that being said I have a very difficult time forgiving.  It happened more in the past, high school & college years, where I would have to forgive someone, even if they didn't apologize since that is what God teaches and it was SO hard!!!   No!!  They were wrong and I should make them feel wrong in my own head for eternity.  Who does that hurt? Them? Don't think so.  

Now I have a husband who I've learned to both apologize to and to forgive.  I've also required it from my kiddos. Kid A: say you're sorry "I'm sorry". Kid B: say I forgive you "I forgive you".  

Now when my 5 yo got permanent puffy paint in her hair, on her new dress, & on my hutch this wk it was HARD for me to forgive her when she didn't tell me about it until it was dried & impossible to get off. But she said she was sorry, I forgave, & the paint went into the trash. 

What's the saying? Not forgiving someone is like taking the poison pill and willing the other person illness. 

I've got a lot of work to do, but God aint finished with me yet.

This Stage of Life? Its hard.

My awesome "seasoned" mom friend of mine sent this to me. I cried bc it is SO true. Thank you, Susie. I love you!

This Stage of Life? It’s Hard.

by Hayley Hengst on April 20, 2016

This stage of life. It’s hard, you guys.

I’m talking right now to you moms who are in your early to mid 30’s. You have kids. Likely two, three, maybe four of them. They probably range in age from newborns to  7 or 8 year-olds. (Give or take a few, on all of the above mentioned stats).

In this stage of life, you are dealing with exhaustion. Mental, physical, and emotional.

In this stage of life, you are dealing with teething. With ear infections. With stomach viruses. You are juggling nap schedules, and feeding schedules and soccer schedules. A million balls you are juggling, and you probably feel like you are dropping most of them.

In this stage of life, you are dealing with guilt. Guilt over having a career, and not spending enough time with your kids, or guilt over staying home with your kids, and not doing enough to contribute financially. Guilt over being too harsh with your kids. Too lenient. Guilt that your house is clean, but your kids were ignored, or guilt that you enjoyed your children all day, and now your husband is coming home to filth. Guilt.

In this stage of life, you are bombarded daily with a whole host of decisions. Some of them life-changing, some of them not. None of them with clear cut answers. Do I vaccinate my kids? Do I not? Do I send them to public school? Homeschool? Charter school? Do I continue to breastfeed? Do I blow the budget so that I can buy all organic? Do I force my child to apologize, even though the apology will be insincere? You don’t know the answers to ANYTHING, but you feel constant pressure to figure out EVERYTHING.

This stage of life is less and less about watching your friends get married and have babies, and more and more about standing by and witnessing your friends struggle in their marriage, and even get divorced. It’s a stage where you’ve got to put in the time and the effort and the work and the energy to make sure your OWN marriage stays healthy. And that’s good, but it’s hard, too.   At this point, you or someone you know has experienced infertility. Miscarriages. Loss of a child.

It’s a stage where you are buying houses, selling houses, remodeling houses, packing up houses. And then you do it all again a few years later.

It’s a stage where your hormones are all of of whack. I mean, you’ve basically been pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding for the last ten years, right?

It’s a stage where you are struggling with identity. Is my entire identity “mommy”? Is there anything even left of me that isn’t about mothering? Is there something more glamorous I could have/should have done with my life? I LOOK like a mom now, don’t I? I totally do.

It’s a stage where you are on a constant quest for balance, and can never find it.

It’s a stage of life where you are overloaded. Constantly. You are overloaded with questions. Your children never stop asking them. You are overloaded with touch. Someone is constantly wanting to be held, holding on to you, hanging on you, touching you. You are overloaded with to-do’s. There is so much to do. It never ends. You are overloaded with worry. You are overloaded with THINGS. Your kids have way too many toys. You are overloaded with activities. You are overloaded with THOUGHTS (thoughts about how to not be so overloaded, perhaps?).

It’s hard.

So….what do you need to do to survive it all?

You need to ask for help.

You need to accept help when it’s given.

You need to not neglect your marriage. You need to put your kids down for bed early. Sit outside on the back porch with your husband, drink a glass of wine, and have a conversation.

You need girlfriends.

You need your mom.

You need older friends, who have been there and done that. Who can reassure you that you AREN’T screwing it all up as badly as you think you are.

You need to not feel bad about using your kids nap time every now and again to just do whatever the heck you want.

You need to lower your expectations….then probably lower them again.

You need to simplify.  Simplify every single part of your life, as much as it can be simplified.

You need to learn how to say “no”.

You need to practice contentment

You need to be ok leaving your kids overnight, and going away somewhere. Anywhere.

You need to do something you enjoy, every day, even if it’s for no more than 15 minutes.

You need to pray. Girl, you need to pray.

You need a coffee you love, a wine you love, and a bubble bath that you love.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, you need to remember that…..

….this stage of life is beautiful, too. Like, really really beautiful. This is the stage of life where every single older person you ever meet tells you, “you’re going to miss this”. And you already know it’s true. It’s the stage where your kids love you more than they are EVER going to love you again, for the whole rest of your life. It’s the stage where they can fit their entire selves into your lap to snuggle…and they want to. It’s the stage where their biggest problems ARE ear infections and teething and stomach viruses, and you’re not having to deal yet with things like broken hearts or addiction or bullying. It’s the stage where you are learning to love your spouse in an entirely different….harder…..better…. way. The stage where you are learning together, being stretched together, shedding your selfishness together, and TRULY being made into “one”. It’s the stage where you get to see Christmas, Halloween and the Fourth of July through your kids eyes, and it’s so much more fun and magical than it would be just through your own eyes. It’s the stage where you get to watch your parents be grandparents…and they’re really good at it. It’s the stage of life filled with field trips, class parties, costumes, swim lessons, bubble baths, dance parties, loose teeth, and first steps. And those things are so fun. It’s the stage where you are young enough to have fun, and old enough to have obtained at least SOME wisdom. It’s SUCH a great stage.

But, man it’s hard

Kitchen Cupboards Needed a Freshening Up

I've painted before, but never done much with wood. So I called my step-dad & FIL for some advice and it turned out not to shabby. I scuffed the wood first with steel wool, applied stain, buffed off the excess after it dried, then the next day applied polyurethane.  I didn't want to take ALL the doors off so I used a rag vs a brush with the poly--less brush strokes & I could control the amount better to avoid drips.  I can tell I still need some touch ups where I missed, but so far it spruced it up nice under the tutelage of my family!!

Before 

After

Learning About Life

The chicks moved outside and loved it. Mother's Day after mass I went to check on the babies. The chicken door to the run was open, it was a beautiful day, but the chicks were scared and huddled in the corner of the coop. After multiple head counts I realized why; we were short one. "Candy" one of my 2 Americana Easter egg layers was missing. Best guess is a hawk took her from the run. The run now has a tarp over the top, but too late. I bawled & searched the woods incase she flew over the 6' fence. The kids took it better than me, but I also didn't let them see me cry over a chicken. She was such a pretty & sweet bird, one of Fizzy's favorites who would cuddle up in F's lap. Poor Candy. RIP. 

Seen here Candy was always one of our highest perchers. Prob why she got nabbed from the perch in the run. ;(

Pig Rollin'

Once a year Kelly & I make pigs-in-the-blanket (sarmas) and freeze them. This year I moved farther away so the kids and I spent the night & her house and mom met us to share in the fun. I don't know if we doubled the batch or made 1.5 batches, but it turned out to be 92 pigs. Even Ruby helped this year. Uncle Dirt had fun w/the kids Wednesday night and Pap Earl entertained them Thursday morning. It took from 10-12 to make with 3 1/2 people. ;) and then mom and I took ours homes cook. Dave and I ate these for dinner that night and they were delicious!!!!!  

Hibbing Visit

The girls and I spent Friday night at Grandma Candy & Papa Gary's home. 

Saturday we met the Makis for pizza @ Sammy's and welcomed Grandma Sharon & Papa Earl home after their Tx winter. Fun was had by all!!! We have such an awesome family. 

Love that the cousins hug goodbye.  Wm gives the BEST hugs!

Grandma in the pool w/ E. Papa in the hottub with F. 

A perfect wkend ended with spending time with our Lord. I so miss this church & the people inside!! 

We stopped to visit a few friends afterwards before the next mass started. It was so good to see them, Diane, Mary& Harry, Susie, Barb, Melissa & kids. 

Baby Chicks!

Introducing...Sam our Black Sex-Link

"I'm ready for my close-up" Fizzy named Sam. 

Anna...our ISA Brown

Elsa--our Salmon Favorelle- fuzzy legs & 5 toes 

Koney- Americana (Easter egg layer)

Candy- Americana (Easter egg layer)

Buffy the Buff Orpington

Princess Lay-a (get it)- Black Australorp

Rocky-our Barred Rock

Cali- California White

Queen Rose - Rhode Island Red

These girlies have stolen our hearts. 5 of them came to school today to see the pre-k class. They are 6 days old and already have some of their wing feathers and the buns of their tailfeathers.  Makes a mama sad to see her babies growing so fast. The girls are already quite the little chicken whisperers.

Napping in warm little hands.

The Enchanted Tea Party

We bought tickets for Elizabeth for Christmas and she has been o-so waiting for this day!  It was so sweet and so magical.  The kiddos are too young for Disney world right now, but this was pretty amazing. We met the princesses, had tea with them (we had Tiana the frog princess-guess we souls have watched her movie!), then a dance party. Turns out "Elsa" was a former OT student of mine. 

This was the perfect age to bring Elizabeth. Just mom and daughter. Dad & Fizz went to a gun show and soccer game, so they had their own fun. 

Nighttime Rituals

Every night it's some thing. Parents of kids under 5 know there is no "goodnight Hunny", smoochy smoochy & they scamper off to bed and not wake until 7 am. No. Our 2yo will open the door multiple times and will occasionally come upstairs. 

I forgot I did this with Elizabeth. I stood by her door and waited her out. It's something that Super Nanny does and Dr Leman recommends. I was doing expert advice w/o consciously knowing it, hehe. 

When E was young, still in the crib, she'd whine and I'd open her door, tell her to shush, and she'd be quiet. I did it too after she was in a big bed and she'd peek out @ night. I swear the kid thought I camped outside in her hallway all night. 

So why didn't I remember this until just recently w/ #2? Because I have mommy brain and I can't finish a thought or recall anything. 

Anyway ms F started having this prob of sneaking up the stairs at night....until mommy stayed outside her room a couple of nights and waited for that first door creek. Stern mommy voice, "Felicity, go back to bed." Door shut. Might happen once more, but not usually. First time scared her and she cried. Now she keeps her door closed and I listen to her song the alphabet or count. 

It's not down to perfect yet. Sometimes this is still my 5 min post bedtime post.

Flourless GF Oatmeal Muffins

Momma @ Pre-K

I brought supplies to E's class and we made binoculars then went on a hunt for gold(en twinkies).  Ms. Darbro then had "Rhe Littlest Leprechaun" book and the kids asked me to read.  Afterwards we went to music then came back for stations. Fun was had by all. I kind of worried what parents would think of toilet paper rolls & wine-cork binoculars, but I haven't heard anything negative back yet. The kids were also so good about letting Felicity join in the fun too! Hehe here's some pics the teacher took: