day 6: rounded

Rounded: what "clean edge" business cards look like when your kindergartener helps with staff appreciation.


But you know, I wouldn't trade them for the world. He wanted to help, he did his best, he felt important. Win!

How often do we do it ourselves so we can do it "right"--and miss an opportunity to empower our kids?

days 4 + 5

day 4: bent

Mother of the year here. I took the kids to Walmart yesterday before school so I could grab some things to organize my in-laws' papers...and let the knuckleheads pick out Lunchables to save a few minutes. Sigh. So, it wasn't my best work. But as we walked out to the car, we saw this:


and we stopped to talk about the cool pterydactyl cloud and take a picture for Daddy. What "bent" means to me: looking at old things in new ways, and stopping to take time to appreciate them.

day 5: soft

Several weeks ago, I wore my favorite oxford shirt for the last time. (You know the one, pink & white stripes.) After almost 15 years, it was pretty ratty. I can't wait to show y'all where the shirt is going to end up...stay tuned. It was bittersweet.

This came in the mail this week. I love this soft new oxford, but more than that, I love the soft heart that bought it for me.

day 3: shaded

I just texted a picture to my Boy that's perfect for right now. It's kind of gloomy outside right now, so my normally sunny living room is...shaded. :)

Just sitting down with breakfast to have some quiet time in the Word before I get back to work. I'm doing things a little backwards today.

Photo a day: 1 & 2

I miss blogging...I thought The Idea Room's photo a day might be just the trick to get me back in the habit. Then I got busy and forgot! I just saw Heather's post (thanks!) and that inspired me to get mine out there. We'll see how this goes!

Day 1: fun

I'm tempted to write about the not so fun things dominating my days right now, but I'm so tired of talking about that. It's the fun things and the little routine things that I live for, which is why after a craptastic day we had a fun April Fool's dinner. No original ideas, all from Family Fun, but we did it and had a blast. Our schedule worked out so that Noble was able to make the main course (actually dessert) while Kayci was at chorus, then she and Daddy were able to make dessert (actually the main course) while he was at Tae Kwon Do. Neither had any idea what the other had done, which made it even more fun. They both tricked and got tricked. :)




Day 2: shine

Little things brighten my day, like having some unexpected time to clean house and take care of things that have needed some attention. Like the SIX bags of stuff that needed to go to Higgins Branch, ahem. I guess I need to post about last week's kid garage sale, but I'll do that later. Just pretend you're caught up and know that Noble cleaned out a bunch of toys, which meant that I could *finally* condense all things toy & game to the kitchen side of the shelf and move the recycling tubs to the back...giving James an extra shelf and some clean floor space. And no more coming home to toys all over his work space, maybe. ;)




This is actually the picture that came to mind when I saw "shine"--one of the things our current trial keeps showing me is how important it is to empower our kids to help themselves. Our kids do a lot, actually, and last night was the first time I let Noble get out and help return the Redbox movie. He had a hard time getting back into the Explorer, being ten feet tall and all. :)

Spring Break 2014

Our Spring Break 2014 agenda:  celebrate Noble.

After that?  Nothing.  

So far, so good!

I finally finished a blog post about his birthday:  http://ipharaon.blogspot.com/2014/03/six.html

In the kids' journals this morning, I wrote about how other families probably look forward to going and doing on Spring Break...and we're the exact opposite.  We've so enjoyed a couple of days at home with no plans!  The only drawback has been that we've let the kids stay up late, which means that by yesterday at lunchtime they were G-R-U-M-P-Y.  So, I told them to lay down for 30 minutes.

3 hours later, they woke up acting like themselves.  Phew.  

As for me?  Monday, I didn't accomplish anything.  Yesterday, I left the kids to their own devices for a few hours and got 40+ pages into the Project Life binder.  Now to finish journaling...and I'm caught up for 2014!  

Today?  Well, today I promised to take them to two new boutiques they've been wanting to visit (yes, Noble can't wait...he's my boy).  We might go to the library, we might go to the park...we might not.  Either way, that's okay.  

I love not having an agenda!

40 Days of Focus

At bedtime last night when I told the knuckleheads I'd deleted my Facebook app, a cheer of "hooray!" came from their bedroom.

Either they think I spend way more time on there than I really do...or I spend way more time on there than I think I do.

So, it's a win-win.

My two online jobs have ended, which gives me a break until JULY. How awesome is that? That leaves me with (just!) two jobs for the spring, and I'm beyond thrilled.

Today I work at the church and hopefully get to attend Bible study, then it's Public School Week so I'll go walk a mile with Noble after lunch. Or, if it's like every year I've done this with Kayci, I'll walk around holding someone else's kid's hand while my kid runs ahead.

Tomorrow is a commute day, and it feels a bit like going into battle but that's just part of the job this time of year. I'll survive, because once I hit the road tomorrow night, I'm on SpRiNg BrEaK, baby! And we have no plans beyond celebrating my baby's 6th birthday. That looks pretty good from here!

We have really enjoyed a slower pace on the weekends this semester, and I hope that will extend to Spring Break.

Life's been a little crazy this school year, and it's made me realize it truly is the little things that make me happy...and it's the absence of these little things that steal my happy.

Cooking makes me happy.  This cheddar chowder recipe is awesome, and from an awesome friend. We ate it a few weeks ago at their house and taking time to go out there and just visit with them made me happy.  We haven't done that enough this school year.

Being at home on the weekends makes me happy, because it gives us time to slow down.  Saturday night the kids cooked dinner and baked dessert (sporting their new aprons from Grandma).  

Volunteering at the kids' schools makes me happy.  PTO bought green eggs & ham for every kid at Krause this Monday, and then we got to serve.  It was a blast!

Documenting this little life of ours makes me happy.  Of course I'm a month behind, but I got it all in order this weekend and I have a plan to get it all in the binder this Friday.  I've given myself grace when it comes to stuff like this, because I'm the only one it really affects.  If I quit spending time with my family to get this done, that would make EVERYONE unhappy.

Taking walks, and letting Noble go at his own pace, makes me happy.  Saturday morning he found the first roly polies of the season, and he was just as thrilled this time as he was back in his Wonder Pet days when he went around "saving" all of the "animals" he could find.

Spending time with my family makes me happy.  A couple of weeks ago, we picked the kids up a little early and took Daddy to see the Lego Movie in 3D.  It was such a treat, all the way around.

These dang cats make me happy, even though they also make me c-razy.

Taking time to celebrate others makes me happy.  When Mom was out of town, we visited her friend and took her a little birthday party.  It wasn't much, but sitting down with that sweet 88 year old and just talking to her was the best gift we could have given.

Working around the house makes me happy.  Doing it as a family makes me darn near ecstatic.

Spending time with friends makes me happy.  I feel so out of touch with everyone right now.

Our little routines make me happy.  Noble loves, loves to get the mail...but it takes time and patience to let him.  So many days, we do it ourselves.  Yesterday, I let him do it and it made. His. Day.  Simple things, y'all, simple things.

Playing games with my family makes me happy.  Sometimes when I find myself alone with one kiddo, we'll play a game together of their choice.  Yesterday I was home unexpectedly, and I took full advantage.  Noble and I enjoyed a fantastic afternoon doing things he loves while Kayci was at Children's Chorus, doing her thing.  It was the best day. :)

Giving happys makes me happy.  Today is Noble's student teacher's last day, so I had fun putting together some tools for her teacher toolbag.  It was way more fun for me than it will be for her, I guarantee you.  I love giving gifts that mean something, and tell the receiver that I really thought about you and tried to give you something that you would like.

Even working in the secret sweatshop (what we call it when I work from home) makes me happy.  I get a lot done on these days, and after several months of feeling more busy than productive, that feels pretty good.

And with that, I've got to get a few e-mails sent before I head to church/work.

What makes you happy?  What could you focus on during Lent that would make a big difference in how you feel, how your days go?

Lost time?

I guess here would be a good place to announce that I have a new part time job (but it's something I've been doing as a volunteer for months, so it's not earth-shattering). I'm excited to be the Children's Ministry Coordinator for our church, officially, for 10 hours a week now. It's a long story that basically comes down to, God made me...He's definitely shown His sense of humor this past several months as we've wrestled about this. God won, if you dozed off there. I'm really happy He won, and grateful to serve, but it's been a rough year and I think it's going to take me a while to wrap my brain around where I'm heading next.

This is the only reason I can think of for how I missed an entire WEEk of my Project Real Life class.

Seriously?

What does it say about me that I was too disorganized and missed the week on organization? Yowza.




Looks like I'll be playing catch up
this weekend after I finish my must-dos for my other jobs that I've pushed til today due to a pesky cold. Although "cold" seems too small of a word for the sheer amount of mucus and nausea and fever and coughing I've enjoyed this week. Have I mentioned I'm grateful for my preschool teacher's immune system? I rarely get sick, so when I spend a day on the couch you know it's bad. On the upside, it was the day Melanie Shankle's new book was released, so that helped tremendously. :D

Lemonade from the snotty lemons, y'all.

What's new in your world?