procrastination

If I close my eyes, it will all go away - right? That's what I believed as a child. Christ says to believe like a child, so I believe that it will all get done if I just close my eyes for a few moments.

ha!

Yeah, I wish. Stressing isn't getting it done. I need to take it all just one step at a time. My problem is, I take a step then remember 15 other steps that must also get done. Delegate? To whom? There's no one to delegate to! Kaden & Frank are ridiculously selfish and absolutely refuse to do anything other than take up space and require a lot of attention. The kids? They leave the day after tomorrow.

So rather than work on that stuff, I will sit here and type to you. They say writing can release the same amount of endorphins as exercising. I exercised this morning, will exercise a bit more tonight AND am writing. I should be higher than a kite on endorphins by tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow....the last full day with my sweet firsties. I can't tell you how much I love and will miss those sweet babies! They have been the highlight and happy thought in what was one of the most difficult school years! Well, maybe not the most difficult. Last school year I had to deal with stents, surgery, a colonoscopy and 27 firsties (all of whom I LOVE and miss!) But this past year, or rather, the year we are finishing now was different. Stephen was gone essentially from July 19 to the night before Thanksgiving. He has been to schools, dry docks and long river runs this semester. It will be SO nice to get up to NY and have him home each night! Will I get on his nerves? Most likely.  Will he more than likely TRY to find a reason to be outside while it is warm? Yes. I don't care though. I am ready to have my Bestie with me full time. We move in just a couple of weeks (YIKES!) and will have until mid-July to put the house in order before the kids arrive. I also need to find a job. YIKES!

"It will all get done." at least that is what everyone says. Which, it is true. Everything will get done. But I want it done in a semi-orderly manner (see previous and possibly unfinished post.) Prayers appreciated and welcomed. With that...I am signing off. You have helped me to relax and remember God has this. I can preach it to my children and now must take it to heart in my own life. Yay. Lol. Love yas!

chaotic order

God is a god of ORDER.

Right?

So, why does everything always seem chaotic?!

Oh, wait...

That's because I get impatient. I rush. I want my way. I want it now. Not later. Sounds mature, right? In April, I had my last lasix scan while in NOLA.

Did I trust God to put things in order and take care of us?

Nope.

Did He take care of it?

Yes.

We found out we weren't going to be able to go house shopping.

Did I trust God to supply a house?

Not 100%.

Has He taken care of it?

Yes.

That's just the last month! God is taking care of things EVERY DAY!

Can I just tell you??? Good! Thanks =)

For my birthday, all I wanted for us to be together and have fun OUTSIDE. It's May 1, surely that would be a possibility. Life happened. I stressed. I steamed. I stewed.

God provided.

Stephen & I were able to enjoy a FABULOUS time on the lake while the kids were in school.

Saturday we, all 6 of us, went hiking at a beautiful park not too far from the house.

It was fabulous! We were all SO exhausted that even the puppies weren't very active the next day!

House hunting has been in all of our minds. As previously stated, it isn't an option before June. Stephen has been earnestly searching for something that would meet our family's needs. We finally had a few minutes to sit together. I was fearful as this tends to be a stressful subject. He pulled up a site that helps military families find rentals. Stephen pulled up his first pick. I doubted we would get it. The home was gorgeous. Landlords had taken good care of the property, there was a pool, two FULL bathrooms (you never know how much you love that until you don't have it for 3.5 years) three bedrooms with HUGE closets, a fenced in backyard, 2 car garage, fire pit in the backyard and an extra storage room.

We  made contact. Long story short, we mailed the signed lease & deposit today. We are THRILLED! Both kids are excited too.

Hopefully, I will get it together and just Let it go!

Let go____________

the need to pack the kids for summer in AR

the need to pack up my classroom

the need to go through all of my school supplies and purge all but the necessities

the need to go through all of my clothes are purge what I don't wear

the need to pack up the bare necessities to live in a house until our things arrive

the need to organize everything before the packers put it all in boxes

the need to get all of our mail switched over to our new address

the need to get EVERYTHING done before we leave and potentially flying solo

_____________, and let God.

He will handle it. He has handled everything up to this point. All of these little things  are just that - little things. Let it go, Elizabeth! All of these little things will get done and they will get done on time. It always does. I don't need to stress. 

Something super cute that I have noticed lately is this. You see, I love lists and all things organizational. I make lists, post lists, buy lists...create colorful lists, alphabetized lists, prioritized lists, exercise lists, food lists, cleanings lists, lists, lists, lists!

Kyle & Abby are now proudly telling me they have made this list or that list.

LOOOOOOOOVE it!!!!!! =)

March 5 (Originally begun Feb 12)

It's crazy, isn't it? The Devil does absolutely everything he can do to keep us from doing God's Will.

This blog is a release for me. it helps me to count blessing, share interesting stories and epiphanies that I have. Granted, it is primarily designed to share about my kids and husband so that all of you lovely friends and family can keep up on the latest and greatest. 

Writing is something that I truly enjoy.

Not writing books, like my brother. By the way, he has written an ADORABLE picture book about Teeny the Tiny Raindrop. I don't care if you only donate a penny - please just donate to help him get his first book going. That is all I ask.

I like to share the idiosyncrasies of my days. 

Those moments that catch people by surprise and...

melt your heart
(I have tried & tried to make this small enough to fit neatly...it won't!)

 

open your eyes to how precious my children are

 

share joyous news

We are moving to Alexandria Bay, NY 

or make you giggle at the innocence of children

I want to share all of these with you the moment that they happen so that I do not lose a single memory. Stephen has accused me of living in the land of fairies and unicorns.

Unfortunately, that is very true.

Dr. Tingley used to ask students if they were "out with the fairies" when they didn't know an answer to a fairly obvious question.  PLUS, I also look to the optimistic side of things to a fault. That is why God gave me my Stephen. He is more realistic and keeps me grounded. 

It is time....

Things I NEVER thought I would say...

or do!

Yep! It is THAT time!

 There are SOOOOOO many things that I NEVER thought I would do, say or experience!

My dad ALWAYS told me, "Don't ever tell God that you won't do something!
He will have you do it!"
I'm fairly certain it is because God gets a kick out of showing how sovereign He is.
Seriously, it's like your child who refuses to take a bite of food.
Why?
Because it has pink stuff on it and therefore must be disgusting.
You press the issue. The bite is taken.
Lusciously moist cake melts in the child's mouth at the same time the discovery that the pink stuff is sweet, smooth icing!
You giggle.

Yep, that is how I picture God.
Mind you, not all things that I have experienced have been as delicious as that cake.
For example, helping my husband process a deer.
No cake.
However! It does save money. It does grant him a sense of pride.
I'm happy!

Fishing...growing up, that was not fun.
Why would I want to stand still with a stick in my hand waiting for the elusive fish to nibble my line?
BORING!
These past few years (since 2011) I have discovered the peace and joy that comes from being on a boat and casting. Sitting with bait is still BORING! Casting? That's fun!
Am I good?
NOPE! But it is fun and has given me some GORGEOUS pictures!
(INSERT PIC FROM FISHING)

I never thought I'd live in the South.
I've met some AMAZING people here!
I'm ready for moving North though!

First grade? Seriously?
Those people don't even really teach much!
Or at least that is what I thought. For the last two years, I have had the privilege of teaching 1st.
I LOVE IT!!!!!
The students come in - some reading, some not - and by the end of the year everyone is reading, has learned more math than you would think possible and, if you can get it in, LOVE science & social studies!

I did ONE, did you hear that? ONE year of cheer when I was younger.
That was enough. Ew.
Who knew I'd have a daughter that eat, sleeps and DRINKS cheerleading?!

Gardening...I hated weeding when I was growing up.
My poor parents had to deal with my stubbornness when it came to that.
They won, but you better believe that I, in all my maturity, graciously let it be known how much I loved it through my facial expressions.
For the past 3 years though, we have had a garden.
Stephen did the grunt work of tilling and planting. He also helped with the weeding when he was home. However, I did the bulk of it (well....whenever the boat was out) and enjoyed it too. There's something satisfying about looking back at what you have accomplished!
Not to mention, the produce was SO much more delicious than anything in a grocery store!


In years past, I have also sworn the smallest dog I would willingly own would be a 50lb pup.
Smaller dogs are adorable! But I'm tall. It's difficult to do what I need to do and constantly be aware of what is on the ground around me. I would surely step on and possible injure a small dog!
Yet, here I am. I own a 102lb Labrador and a 30lb Boston Terrier.
Dear Breeders, you said the Labrador would be 75lbs & the Boston Terrier would be 15lbs.
I just thought you might want to know the puppies were a tad bit larger than expected!
My family and I are thankful for our pups, but for others you might warn them that your puppies end up on the large end of the scale. ;-)
Despite the fact they still think they are 5lb puppies.

Now, along with owning a small dog, I never thought I would NEED to buy a dog clothes.
I figured it would be for kicks and giggles if I did!

When we move, we will need to buy this SMALL dog a winter coat.
Why? Because he doesn't grow one! Boston's aren't designed for extreme temperatures. So, I guess that since it can get down to a -25 BEFORE wind chill, I should probably buy him a coat for when he needs to do his business.

Speaking of moving, I always thought people were a little crazy to travel long distances to get their hair done. Hair is hair, right? It grows back!
I have learned my lesson.
Yes, hair grows back.
Did you also know that the growing back process can be EXTREMELY rough? No one has purposefully done a bad job on my hair. In fact, if I had someone else's hair, it probably would've been adorable! Yet my hair remains determined to do its own thing. Believe it or not, I do my ABSOLUTE best to wait until I go to IN for a haircut.
How far is that?
787 miles.

IF you are near Indiana and need a good haircut, I can recommend a great lady to you!
She's probably going to roll her eyes at me for typing this, but I don't lie.

Also....she didn't pay or ask me to do this.
That's how good she is!


I started this post back on the 12th....more things have happened....
But if I told you everything, I would most likely fill this blog up and have to start another.
;-)

Hope you enjoy your Spring Break!!!!

stress

I try to keep the "insightful" posts to a minimum.  Years ago (although not that many because I'm still a newbie to the 30s) a person pointed out that sometimes I share too much. That isn't my desire. I simply like to talk with people and hope they will open up to me too. Anyhoot, here's an insight. Feel free to move on if you aren't up for it. I love ya anyways!

     I have fought stress all of my life. Most of it was in my head, but let's face it - middle children have a lot of stress. The olders try to boss us. The youngers try to blame us. The parents just ignore us. (haha! jus kiddin!...but seriously) Or at least we think we are ignored. It's crazy. I've had a couple health bumps in the road and the #1 cause for health issues is stress. Did you know that? It is true.

Stress = Kidney stones, heart trouble, colon trouble, lack of sleep, cognitive trouble, migraines, etc. Oh... shingles. Stress can also aid the shingles getting you. Thankfully, I still haven't had that and I am PRAYING I don't.

Why are we stressing so much? Life shouldn't be this bad! God didn't create us to be so busy that we literally fall apart! He didn't design our bodies to be so active that it requires medication to get us to calm down. If you need it, take it. If you don't, don't.

But - why? Why don't we just disconnect from the internet, the television, the phones? We need to reconnect with people and books and, most importantly, GOD! Think about it! Check it out! Go to His Word! There are ...dare I say...millions?! (I don't really know how many) of verses talking about casting our cares on him, continuing in hope, taking HIS yoke? For real people!! Let's get a clue! (I'm preaching to myself, let the side of you that took offense go...it ain't worth it!)

You might be thinking, as I have thought, "But my kids need to do _______________. (fill in the blank activity)

Yes

Sometimes activities are important. SOME sports are important. SOME outings with friends are important. SOME shopping trips are important.

Are they vital?

Have you (I) tried just letting the kids be home? Letting them have a friend over and purposefully stating that this will be a relaxed day/afternoon? I'm working on it.

 

Love ya! This is not focused on any one person (save myself)

January 27, 2015

2015

Who would've ever thought that in 2015, I would be one full year post opp! But it is true. So much has happened. The kids and I survived one full semester almost on our own! Stephen came home as often as he could, which was wonderful. Nothing beats having all of us together though! We are full swing into this semester. Kyle has started basketball! He has the aggression and shot down fairly well! We are working on speed. He is built for football more than basketball, but he is determined to do well! Abby is still rocking out at gymnastics! For sanity sake, we backed off to only going once a week. She is upset, but we are all much more rested and therefore, happier! 

Kaden is still just as precious as ever!  ♡♡♡♡♡♡

Frank is still his adorable self. ;-)

We didn't travel for Thanksgiving this past year. I know that was several months ago, but I've been asked. Military life requires flexibility. So, my inflexible areas are being stretched! Stephen is my rock. No joke. I stress out and he helps me by reminding me of the big picture. We are together and that is the main priority! 

We are hoping to be able to visit our FL family before we move this summer. I'll let you know WHERE as soon as I can! Personally, this Northern girl is ready for the North! 

I told Stephen I would entitle a post, "Things I never dreamed I'd see or experience."

That will have to be a later post. Right now.... Right now I need to chill. It was been a crazy few days. We thought I was having kidney trouble for the first time since lay Spring. I'm happy to report, my kidneys are fine!  I also went to the ENT. My ears have been popping since early November.  My GP thought that I'd need tubes. NOPE! I just have allergies. 

Let's revel in the fact there is indeed no surgery currently on my horizon. :-) :-) :-)

I am typing this on my phone, my dear friends.  Therefore, I am signing off. I just needed to say hello. I have missed you!

Sept 21

Hello!

We didn't disappear! But our school year is in full swing! Here are a few updates on everyone!

 

Abby:

She has officially started third grade! So far so good! We LOVE her teacher and Abby LOVES her teacher also! This sweet lady keeps all of her students hopping! Abby has learned that valuable lesson of, "Don't tease others because it might happen to you!"

What am I talking about?

Well, back when Kyle was in 3rd, he would complain about the amount of homework & the difficulty level. Abby would, with all the kindness in her soul, respond, "Well, I am in Kdg & I love it because it is SO easy!"

Sweet little thing, wasn't she?

Now, Abby is enjoying the business of gymnastics 2x a week, cheerleading 2x a week, church on Wednesday nights & homework 4 out of the 5 nights that requires her to think harder and memorize!

As a teacher-momma, I am LOVING watching her learn!

We have recently begun to learn that as we grow up, that means more responsibility (see her schedule above) along with needing to learn to handle the situations with friends with grace. In true 3rd grade form, there is drama. Abby has done a great job of adjusting and being kind!

This past Saturday (9/20) was our football jamboree!

Abby is part of the cheer team for this and had two cheer 2 half games back to back. She was quick to discover that cheer is not all happy happy joy joy. It takes hard work and a lot of determination to stay full of pep & joy as well as keep her movements sharp & tight!

Everyone who encounters her still says what we already know, "She is the sweetest, most polite, kind and loving little girl!"

 

I could have told you that! Even with her dramatics!

Speaking of dramatics, she scared the floods out of me on Friday!

We run from 5:45-8:30pm most days with her. By Friday, she is exhausted. While getting dressed, she was standing with her knees locked. While getting her hair done, she was standing with her knees locked. Do you see where this is going?

She started talking about hurting and not hearing me. I told her to start bending her knees back and forth to help the blood flow. She bent at the waist and plopped straight back in to my hair brush, hair spray, hair tie full hands!

Obviously, I kept a level head.

Or I yelled loudly for Stephen to get out of the bed and help!

 

Holy moly does that girl keep us on our toes!

 

Kyle:

We have officially reached 6th grade & EVERYTHING that it entails!

Homework! Hormones! Sports! LOVE IT!

Ok, maybe not all of that. He is becoming independent, which is always a great thing to see develop in your child. It is a struggle to remember to step back & allow that at times. We don't want him to fail. We don't want him to have to suffer consequences. However, it is all part of growing up. He is doing a great job of handling most of these situations! We are SO proud of him! Despite having a crazy schedule (6am-9:30pm) that pretty much only allows him to chill during meals, snacks & bedtime he is doing great!  Kyle has done a great job of keeping up with his homework despite football practice 3x a week for 1 1/2hrs each time & church. He is learning the tough lesson of time management! We can tell exactly what point in the week he begins to get tired. Statements such as, "Do I have to use soap when I wash my hands?" mean that he is tired. He definitely keeps all of us laughing! Kyle is learning the art of complimenting! He inherits this from his Meme & Nana!!!

The other day was a rough morning for me, not enough sleep, too much to do, kids tired, hadn't spoke much with the Hubby lately - it was rough! Kyle spotted my new key ring for my work key & said,

 "I like your new key ring. It fits you."

Being the happy joyful person I am in my happy joyful completely not at all grumpy-overtired mood that I was in, I said, "Really? How?"

 

"It's bright & happy. That's just like you, Miss Elizabeth."

 

*Insert heart melting right here!*

 

I love my boy even when he isn't spouting such sweet simple compliments.

 

(there should be better punctuation throughout this blog. However, I'm tired & in a time crunch)

 

Kaden:

He is still a big sweet loving teddy bear!

Kaden lets me know when he doesn't get enough attention & exercise by becoming a class 10 clinger. Going to the bathroom alone?

Not possible.

He will lay outside my door and breathe heavily. Change clothes on my own? Nope! Lays right outside the door and sniffs/breathes heavily to ensure I am in there.

When Stephen is out on the boat, he gets spoiled.

I lay a sheet on half of the bed. Kaden lays on that half and makes sure I know he is there CONSTANTLY! Kaden will slap a paw on me, lay his head on my chest, or if I'm having a hard time settling he will give a quick kiss.

 

Frank:

Frankie is still just a little peach!

Despite the fact he scared the socks off of a teacher & her child.

He was having his typical pouty moment because Daddy was gone on the boat. When I went to drop off lesson plans in order to stay home with Kyle who fought impetigo, I brought Frank with me. He is so well behaved and wouldn't cause any trouble, or so I thought.

Well, my sub came in and I'm going over notes with her. Abby left the door open to the hall. Frank smelled new people and decided to investigate.

 

Aug 17

Are there pictures?

 

Not in this entry.

 

Pictures in general?

 

Yes. Yes, my sweet friends and family, there are over 100 pictures. But there are so many stories overflowing in my heart that to put in pictures would deter me from sharing these stories. My heart is full because after the difficulty of leaving IN and leaving TN, I was given a very precious gift. The two most important children in my life came back home. You've no idea how hard it is to go from being full time Mom, to zero contact. That has not been placed on me by anyone other than myself. My sweet babies love me and they love their birth momma. Out of respect for them, I typically don't call. I want them to fully enjoy every second that they can get with her. A good friend came with me to pick up the kids. I am so thankful that she did because I probably would have just been a puddle of tears. You know how we mothers get. We cry because we are happy to have our babies back. We cry because we know it will be hard for them to leave their birth momma. We cry because when we get home, there will be adjustments.

 

We are Moms.

We will cry.

 

However! As previously stated, I had a friend that helped balance that. You can't know how happy I was to hug them and hold them again. It is SO hard to drive the 1 1/2hrs back to our house and not be holding them in my lap and seeing the pictures they took and laughing as they sit on either side of me. Instead of going straight home, we dropped our friend off.

 

Bear with me on this next part, you will understand. ;)

 

We dropped our friend off. I didn't really understand why I was driving 15 minutes the OPPOSITE direction of the way I needed to go get my babies. However, she said yes to coming - who was I to argue? We passed by our street and in my selfish little heart all I could think was, "I don't want to drive 15 more minutes out! I want to be home with them!" The kids were excited to see Mr. J.....and the cat.....so we went! Lol. They barely said hello to Mr. J and immediately sat to pet the cat. I came in last and being the ever distractable person I am...I saw movement out the back door and went to investigate!

 

My Precious Gift!

 

Thank you Mr. J & Mrs. C!!!!!!!

 

 

Stephen surprised us! We weren't supposed to see him that soon, but who were we to complain?! The cat was unceremoniously dumped on the floor after jaws were picked up off said floor. He was tackled with hugs, kisses and tears. (tears were once again mine. I can't help it! Blame my mother!) Saturday we did the lovely task of uniform shopping. Let me tell you, shopping the weekend before school starts is stressful! Add in a 1 1/2hr drive to Baton Rouge and YIKES! However, we all had a great day and we got SOME of what we needed! More will come, but we are good for now. For that, I am extremely thankful!

 Monday dawned bright & early! I started work. The kids had one of their FAVORITE babysitters come stay with them. We went to the dentist and before I knew it, it was bedtime. Tuesday followed that same setup. Wednesday was open house.

 

Can I just interrupt here?
Yes?

Good! Because I'm the author so I can!

HA!

 

K & A are amazing! Those three days BLEW past us before we knew anything! They were so amazingly patient as dinner did not get on the table RIGHT on time. We didn't get to play with friends like we had hoped. (Except the Princess did get stolen by a sweet friend for a night.) No fits. No tantrums. No meltdowns (except by me after the kids were in bed!) They are SO great!

 

Ok, so back to the story. I have a FABULOUS class! 12 of the most excited to learn Firsties that you have ever met! They are all SO sweet! This should be a fabulous year! The toughest part will be reining in my excitement.

 

"Reining" makes me think of horses.

I miss horseback riding.

 

Yesterday we had our first moment.

The kids were exhausted.

I was busily cleaning.

 They were to eat dinner solo.

A came back in tears. She admitted there had been arguing (which I had heard but it didn't escalate so I left it alone.) She missed her momma. She missed her Daddy. That is all the further we got before she fell to pieces in my lap. K came in. Told the full story.

We spoke of love.

We spoke of patience.

We spoke of family.

We spoke of bringing glory to God through our kindness.

Both were crying quite a bit. My lap is only so big. My sweet, gentle, loving LARGE hearted pup came in. He pressed his large head to K's lap and stared at him. K placed his hand on the pup's head and returned the gaze. The pup layed down as we spoke some more. After a few minutes the mood lightened and we heard a whimper a split second before we were overwhelmed with pup breath and kisses and more whining. We welcomed the love and he went silly on us! Before we knew it, all three of us were giggling like little children as we were covered from neckline to hairline in kisses! It was a bit tricky laughing and keeping our mouths closed so the pup couldn't get IN our mouths.

 

Here we are.

It is Sunday night.

My sweet babies were so patient as I stressed and held in more needs for God's Word and tears. I know it sounds like I cry a lot. However, children are my heart. Most of my tears are connected to them. I am also an extremist. If I commit to someone (The Hubs) then anything less that my hopes for time make it difficult to stay steady. Bless his heart, he is INCREDIBLY patient with me. Both of these things are not how I would ideally like them to be. Therefore, emotions.

My words are spent.

I wish I could tell you all of the individual stories. There are so many!

 

Favorite quote this past week?

"O.M.G. Miss Elizabeth, you would not believe what so-n-so did!"

 

Favorite question this past week?

"Is yogurt a vegetable?"

 

Favorite sweet moment with K?

"Miss Elizabeth, I just love you. Do you know that?"

<3 <3 <3<3<3<3<3

 

Favorite sweet moment with A?

"I just need my Daddy. You know? He just makes me happy. Even when he teases me. I just love him."