Every weekend we try to do something fun with the kids. Not overly expensive fun, just fun. Sometimes we go to a different park, sometimes we go to the zoo, or we go to Lake Superior and let them throw rocks into the water and we'll have a picnic. I'm dreading winter because there won't be as many fun things to do outside and my children LOVE to be outside. Absolutely love it. As in they are not happy being inside and will eventually get bored in approximately 3.6 minutes and start bothering each other for something to do. *Sigh*
This last weekend we had big plans. We were going to go up to Gooseberry Falls, go on some hikes, go to the lake, and to the pier and some shops in Two Harbors. It was going to be fun! But we didn't go... so what did we do? We packed. Frantically.
Josh found out that he lost his job on Thursday of last week. We had to make the very quick and hard decision that we needed to move out of our apartment by the end of the month. So we packed, a lot, and priced things as we decided to have a sale in our apartment to try and sell things that we weren't going to have space for.
Every day since we found out we had to move has been miserable. Traveling, packing, hauling, lifting, trying to work around children, trying to find people to watch said children, and the emotions. Oh the lovely emotions. See I'm not a pack rat. Nor have I ever loved a lot of the stuff that we've had. But there are memories tied into every things that you own, even if you never liked it, and when you turn to sell it, well let's just say it can be hard.
Yes, getting rid of some of the stuff can be hard but I'm actually happy to be gone with most of it. I don't like clutter or even organized clutter. I like space. Space feels cleaner, looks cleaner, space gives you a little freedom, clutter just boxes you in and I don't like that. And I was feeling like we had too much, so I guess this is an oddly perfect solution, even if there are hard corners to take along the way.
Since my last blog post, you know, the one where I said I hope this next week will be better? Yeah, since that post it's been hectic and crazy and I'm actually surprised I'm having the time to sit down and write this! I'm trying to mentally prepare for school to start in a week, looking for a baby sitter for my Wednesday night classes, hoping to finish Eli's quilt somewhere in there, having an apartment sale, and moving. Oh, and I have an appointment I can't miss on Wednesday and I need to find time to go to school and get my books. Blah!
Hopefully the next time you hear from me, I will actually be having a good week and my mind will not be running at a million miles an hour. Oh dear!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
this week...
This past week has been miserable. There is simply no other way to put it. Just down right miserable. It all started last Thursday when I started getting this funky stomach issue. I had this stomach issue back when I lived in Korea but I haven't had it for over a year and a half. Pretty much the issue was if I ate certain things, or ate too much, I would have immense stomach pains for up to 2 hours after eating. The only thing I can compare this pain to would be childbirth, except unlike contractions I didn't get a break. Sometimes, thankfully, it wasn't that bad, just minor pain, but many times I was laying on the floor or in bed rolling around in complete misery. Yeah, it wasn't so fun. Everyone around me gave me a hundred reasons why I was going through what I was but none of them made much sense when you take the history of it all into consideration.
I have no idea if I'm done going through that, lets hope and pray that I am!
My stomach issues weren't the only thing that has made this week completely miserable. Oh no, not at all. My children also got the stomach flu on Saturday night and all day into Sunday... then I got the same flu on Monday night in Tuesday... and I'm still not caught up on laundry!
And only if that were just it, but no, there were migraines, awful back issues from being sick, teething baby Eli and last night Gabriel topped off my week by, in a moment of sheer naughtiness, jumping up while I was trying to grab him which slammed his head into the bottom of my chin which resulted in searing pain shooting up my jaw, into my ears, and down my neck. And now I have a hard time opening my mouth, my teeth hurt when I eat or drink and personally I think it would hurt more if my teeth were cracked or chipped so I'm guessing my gums or nerves are just bruised.
There was some good times in my week though, we went to the zoo on Saturday, my sister came up with her daughter, I went on a couple of walks to get out of the house ect. But still, I am hoping and praying that this next week is far better then this last one was! Sorry for my rant, it's just been a rough week!
I have no idea if I'm done going through that, lets hope and pray that I am!
My stomach issues weren't the only thing that has made this week completely miserable. Oh no, not at all. My children also got the stomach flu on Saturday night and all day into Sunday... then I got the same flu on Monday night in Tuesday... and I'm still not caught up on laundry!
And only if that were just it, but no, there were migraines, awful back issues from being sick, teething baby Eli and last night Gabriel topped off my week by, in a moment of sheer naughtiness, jumping up while I was trying to grab him which slammed his head into the bottom of my chin which resulted in searing pain shooting up my jaw, into my ears, and down my neck. And now I have a hard time opening my mouth, my teeth hurt when I eat or drink and personally I think it would hurt more if my teeth were cracked or chipped so I'm guessing my gums or nerves are just bruised.
There was some good times in my week though, we went to the zoo on Saturday, my sister came up with her daughter, I went on a couple of walks to get out of the house ect. But still, I am hoping and praying that this next week is far better then this last one was! Sorry for my rant, it's just been a rough week!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Coats and Boys
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a light jacket for children now days? It's hard. As in I've looked in stores every fall for three years and have not come across any, or at least any that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for. Granted, I'm not a huge shopper. I'm not going to go to every store in the mall to every kids sections to look for something. And, the Duluth area doesn't have that many great stores, especially great kid stores.
I've always made the kids clothes work though, for spring and fall when I needed those light jackets. Or I would happen across a run down jacket at a rummage sale that would work. Finally, this year, I smarted up and looked online.
Why did I not do this before?
I have no idea, I prefer online shopping anyway so it doesn't make much sense that I didn't think of this before... Anyway. This morning I looked online and after finding hundreds of kids coats that were outrageously expensive, I found one! My three year search is over! Woot woot!!! Gabriel actually has one that I found at a rummage sale that is in perfectly fine condition, but Eli had nothing.
I think it's kinda cute! And I finally smarted up a bit, I will store in my forgetful mind that in the future, look online!
Anyway, my whole blogging today was not only to blog about a coat. I was just so excited that I felt like sharing!
Ahem. So, Eli. You know, my youngest monkey? He's changing. A lot. In the past 1-2 weeks he has become the pickiest thing on two legs. He refuses to put food in his mouth that he's not thrilled about and has gone from being a vacuum for food to only eating one good meal a day, the other two are struggles.
His eating is not the only thing that is changing though. See Eli has always been a good sleeper. Almost too good. He is 16 months old and until just this last week, has taken two naps a day every day and each nap it 2-3 hours long. I found that I would be the one waking him up so he could enjoy the day instead of just letting him wake up on his own.
His sleeping so much has been a blessing but it also caused me much worry. I have never known a child his age to sleep so much! I started to look online for possible problems that kids could have that caused them to sleep so much, but I didn't find one thing! I simply was not accustom so kids sleeping this much, Gabriel after all was at one nap a day long before he was one years old. But alas, Eli finally seems to be changing his sleeping habits. Granted, he still needs two naps a day but I think we are finally in the slow transition to one nap a day. His morning nap is gradually growing shorter to only an hour-ish and I find if he sleeps more then that then he won't sleep in the afternoon. I'm a bit relieved, nothing is wrong with him after all! Though, a part of me is a bit sad... he's growing... and I don't know what I'm going to do about my morning shower when he goes from two naps to one... selfish, I know :)
Eli has also been teething for 2.5 months! CRAZY!!! He's working on his molars and they are slow going. He's not a good teether in the first place (unlike Gabriel whom would get them so fast that half the time I didn't even know he was teething until after he had teeth!) so these molars are really getting to him. The top two have poked through a little bit but have seemed to kind of stalled (which, I think it normal, I vaguely remember Gabriel's doing the same thing) and he's still working on the bottom two. I feel so bad for him. I don't like to give him medicine every day because it's just not good for him so we usually make things work until the teeth go through the popping out stage, then he gets too miserable so we get out the medicine bottles. Luckily though, and lets cross our fingers on this, I think the bottom two might poke out at the same time!
I also find lately that Eli is not the only one changing. As I start to pack up the summer clothes oh so slowly, I start to unpack Gabriel's 4T clothes. *Hyperventilating* *Wheezing* *Gasp!!!!* I can't take this! Aren't they supposed to stay babies forever? They aren't supposed to grow up this fast :( *Tears* *Sobbing*
Pulling myself together.... Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Ok. I'm good. *Sniffle* So where were we? Oh yeah. Gabriel is getting so big. He's definitely is not a sleeper like his brother and unlike his brother whom loves meat and hates veggies, Gabriel loves veggies so much that I have to bribe him to eat pizza with broccoli. Not kidding either. And it's always a struggle to get him to eat even one bite of meat. What can I say, my boys just even each other out I guess!
I've always made the kids clothes work though, for spring and fall when I needed those light jackets. Or I would happen across a run down jacket at a rummage sale that would work. Finally, this year, I smarted up and looked online.
Why did I not do this before?
I have no idea, I prefer online shopping anyway so it doesn't make much sense that I didn't think of this before... Anyway. This morning I looked online and after finding hundreds of kids coats that were outrageously expensive, I found one! My three year search is over! Woot woot!!! Gabriel actually has one that I found at a rummage sale that is in perfectly fine condition, but Eli had nothing.
Anyway, my whole blogging today was not only to blog about a coat. I was just so excited that I felt like sharing!
Ahem. So, Eli. You know, my youngest monkey? He's changing. A lot. In the past 1-2 weeks he has become the pickiest thing on two legs. He refuses to put food in his mouth that he's not thrilled about and has gone from being a vacuum for food to only eating one good meal a day, the other two are struggles.
His eating is not the only thing that is changing though. See Eli has always been a good sleeper. Almost too good. He is 16 months old and until just this last week, has taken two naps a day every day and each nap it 2-3 hours long. I found that I would be the one waking him up so he could enjoy the day instead of just letting him wake up on his own.
His sleeping so much has been a blessing but it also caused me much worry. I have never known a child his age to sleep so much! I started to look online for possible problems that kids could have that caused them to sleep so much, but I didn't find one thing! I simply was not accustom so kids sleeping this much, Gabriel after all was at one nap a day long before he was one years old. But alas, Eli finally seems to be changing his sleeping habits. Granted, he still needs two naps a day but I think we are finally in the slow transition to one nap a day. His morning nap is gradually growing shorter to only an hour-ish and I find if he sleeps more then that then he won't sleep in the afternoon. I'm a bit relieved, nothing is wrong with him after all! Though, a part of me is a bit sad... he's growing... and I don't know what I'm going to do about my morning shower when he goes from two naps to one... selfish, I know :)
Eli has also been teething for 2.5 months! CRAZY!!! He's working on his molars and they are slow going. He's not a good teether in the first place (unlike Gabriel whom would get them so fast that half the time I didn't even know he was teething until after he had teeth!) so these molars are really getting to him. The top two have poked through a little bit but have seemed to kind of stalled (which, I think it normal, I vaguely remember Gabriel's doing the same thing) and he's still working on the bottom two. I feel so bad for him. I don't like to give him medicine every day because it's just not good for him so we usually make things work until the teeth go through the popping out stage, then he gets too miserable so we get out the medicine bottles. Luckily though, and lets cross our fingers on this, I think the bottom two might poke out at the same time!
I also find lately that Eli is not the only one changing. As I start to pack up the summer clothes oh so slowly, I start to unpack Gabriel's 4T clothes. *Hyperventilating* *Wheezing* *Gasp!!!!* I can't take this! Aren't they supposed to stay babies forever? They aren't supposed to grow up this fast :( *Tears* *Sobbing*
Pulling myself together.... Waaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Ok. I'm good. *Sniffle* So where were we? Oh yeah. Gabriel is getting so big. He's definitely is not a sleeper like his brother and unlike his brother whom loves meat and hates veggies, Gabriel loves veggies so much that I have to bribe him to eat pizza with broccoli. Not kidding either. And it's always a struggle to get him to eat even one bite of meat. What can I say, my boys just even each other out I guess!
Cake Wrecks
One of my favorite blogs that I love to read is a little blog called Cake Wrecks. It's a humorous blog that features professional cakes gone extremely wrong and the humor of the writers will always leave you laughing. But, every Sunday they take a break from all the awful cakes to share some truly beautiful amazing cakes, a segment on their blog called Sunday Sweets.
This last Sunday Cake Wrecks had so many awesome cakes that totally inspire me and I just thought I would share with you! So head on over to Cake Wrecks right HERE and look at some truly awesome cakes that will blow your mind away! You won't be disappointed, I promise!
This last Sunday Cake Wrecks had so many awesome cakes that totally inspire me and I just thought I would share with you! So head on over to Cake Wrecks right HERE and look at some truly awesome cakes that will blow your mind away! You won't be disappointed, I promise!
Monday, September 12, 2011
just some sentences...
This morning was a rough morning. I was extremely tired from not enough sleep this last weekend and my children don't believe in sleeping in. I was exhausted. I was cranky. I didn't want to move from my bed. Then I didn't want to move from the couch. It was just one of those days. When Eli went and took his morning nap I put a movie on for Gabriel, gave him a snack and went to take a shower. On the way to the shower I grabbed my bible. Then I proceeded to sit on the bathroom floor for peace and quiet and I read my bible. I needed that. Oh how I needed that. I'm human, not super woman after all :) And, by the grace of God, I am now doing much better. I have energy (enough energy at least) and my bad mood is gone and I'm alive enough to play with the children. Sometimes, you literally do just have to lock yourself in the bathroom!
Speaking of this past weekend, I went down to the cities! I have wanted to go down there for so long and visit some of my family but because of transportation issues I haven't been able too. But I finally made it and I was able to visit my sister and her children whom I wish I could go visit more often!
These are the kiddo's! This actually was my first time meeting baby Kyeson and I have to say he sure is a cutie pie!
The girls showed me all around their new house and did gymnastic shows for me and introduced me to their new dog Piper. They are just precious!
After I left their place I traveled a little South of the cities and went to a conference. I learned a lot but unfortunately I didn't get out of there until 9PM... which meant a three hour drive home. I usually don't stay up past 10PM, so having to drive until midnight was stretching it for me. I also forgot my glasses that I normally where when I am driving and though, according to my drivers license, I don't legally have to wear them, it makes life a lot easier when I do. By the time I was half way home I had a pounding headache from trying to focus and squinting my eyes. I was in desperate need of some Motrin so I had to stop and pay the ungodly price of $2 for 4 pills at the gas station to take the edge off of my pain so I could finish the drive back.
Eli got an awful diaper rash while I was gone in the cities. He's my baby that never has any skin reactions or rashes (unlike Gabriel whom has reactions to everything and had diaper rashes most of his diaper days, even with cloth!) so I wasn't sure where it came from or if he was allergic to something he ate. I've been trying everything and it's not getting better so hopefully it breaks soon and him and I will have more pleasant diaper changes
I am now very excited for nap time and I hope and pray that Gabriel sleeps for me so that I can hopefully get a nap in too!
That's all for now! Toodle-oo :)
Speaking of this past weekend, I went down to the cities! I have wanted to go down there for so long and visit some of my family but because of transportation issues I haven't been able too. But I finally made it and I was able to visit my sister and her children whom I wish I could go visit more often!
These are the kiddo's! This actually was my first time meeting baby Kyeson and I have to say he sure is a cutie pie!
The girls showed me all around their new house and did gymnastic shows for me and introduced me to their new dog Piper. They are just precious!
After I left their place I traveled a little South of the cities and went to a conference. I learned a lot but unfortunately I didn't get out of there until 9PM... which meant a three hour drive home. I usually don't stay up past 10PM, so having to drive until midnight was stretching it for me. I also forgot my glasses that I normally where when I am driving and though, according to my drivers license, I don't legally have to wear them, it makes life a lot easier when I do. By the time I was half way home I had a pounding headache from trying to focus and squinting my eyes. I was in desperate need of some Motrin so I had to stop and pay the ungodly price of $2 for 4 pills at the gas station to take the edge off of my pain so I could finish the drive back.
Eli got an awful diaper rash while I was gone in the cities. He's my baby that never has any skin reactions or rashes (unlike Gabriel whom has reactions to everything and had diaper rashes most of his diaper days, even with cloth!) so I wasn't sure where it came from or if he was allergic to something he ate. I've been trying everything and it's not getting better so hopefully it breaks soon and him and I will have more pleasant diaper changes
I am now very excited for nap time and I hope and pray that Gabriel sleeps for me so that I can hopefully get a nap in too!
That's all for now! Toodle-oo :)
9/11
Yesterday was 9/11 and I thought it was an interesting day, for me at least.
As 9/11 approached there was a lot of things that went through my mind. Mainly, I thought about the people whom had lost loved ones and what they were going through. I thought a lot about the kids that didn't have their Mom's or Dad's anymore. And I thought about what people had gone through that day.
9/11 didn't effect me that directly though, I didn't know anyone that perished. I didn't even know anyone that knew anyone that perished. But yesterday, when I was watching some of the memorial shows they had on TV I teared up, a lot. I'm even tearing up as I write this and I can't say I completely know why. When I watched the shows yesterday, all the emotions and worries that I had ten years ago all flooded back and I remembered waking up to do school (I was home schooled) and I turned on the TV. I was the only one awake, my mother was sleeping and my sister had gone off to school for the day. I saw the scenes in New York and I was scared. I went and woke up my Mom to tell her what happened and for the rest of the day we watched the television. And for many days after. I didn't know anyone that died that day, but I still cried for those that were lost. It was such a tragic day.
I laid in bed last night thinking about everything that has happened on 9/11 and after and I always came back to the kids. The children whom live without Mom or Dad... or both... all I could do was pray for them as I tried to fall asleep.
I didn't plan on getting all emotional on 9/11, but I did. Because I remembered. And as the famous quote after 9/11 came to be 'We will always remember, We will never forget.'
As 9/11 approached there was a lot of things that went through my mind. Mainly, I thought about the people whom had lost loved ones and what they were going through. I thought a lot about the kids that didn't have their Mom's or Dad's anymore. And I thought about what people had gone through that day.
9/11 didn't effect me that directly though, I didn't know anyone that perished. I didn't even know anyone that knew anyone that perished. But yesterday, when I was watching some of the memorial shows they had on TV I teared up, a lot. I'm even tearing up as I write this and I can't say I completely know why. When I watched the shows yesterday, all the emotions and worries that I had ten years ago all flooded back and I remembered waking up to do school (I was home schooled) and I turned on the TV. I was the only one awake, my mother was sleeping and my sister had gone off to school for the day. I saw the scenes in New York and I was scared. I went and woke up my Mom to tell her what happened and for the rest of the day we watched the television. And for many days after. I didn't know anyone that died that day, but I still cried for those that were lost. It was such a tragic day.
I laid in bed last night thinking about everything that has happened on 9/11 and after and I always came back to the kids. The children whom live without Mom or Dad... or both... all I could do was pray for them as I tried to fall asleep.
I didn't plan on getting all emotional on 9/11, but I did. Because I remembered. And as the famous quote after 9/11 came to be 'We will always remember, We will never forget.'
Saturday, September 10, 2011
busy bee
I've been busy lately. Not that I have been out and about running around doing all sorts of fun and busy things, on the contrary. I have been home, sitting, a lot. But, I've still been busy. With what may you ask? Well, this could give you some idea...
I have been working on a quilt for Eli since before he was born. It's a larger quilt (well, large enough!) and has tons and tons of patches on it. Each patch I have to sew on by hand and they take a long time. A very very long time. And if I would have been focused and didn't get distracted or bored after stitching patch after patch onto his quilt I would have finished sometime in the six months after he was born. But I wasn't focused, I got distracted, and though I love working on the quilt, eventually I would get bored with it and move onto something else until I was in the mood to work on it again.
So, what's the rush now to finish it? Part of it is that Eli doesn't have (his own) a warm blanket for the winter and since we have had some pretty cold nights lately I realized that this quilt should really get finished. But the other huge motivating part of this is that I start school for massage therapy in less then a month and once that starts all of my free time will be doing homework or going to/reading (online) classes and I will have no time to work on Eli's quilt once school starts.
So, I have been sitting, a lot, putting stitch after stitch, patch after patch, needle after needle, hour after hour, into Eli's quilt. The boys are very excited for the quilt to be done, and so am I :) Don't get me wrong, it's actually therapeutic to work on the quilt, and I do enjoy it, but I feel rushed, and I feel slightly guilty it's taken me so long, and I want to enjoy a little bit more of my free time doing something else besides quilts before school starts... ya know?
I have been working on a quilt for Eli since before he was born. It's a larger quilt (well, large enough!) and has tons and tons of patches on it. Each patch I have to sew on by hand and they take a long time. A very very long time. And if I would have been focused and didn't get distracted or bored after stitching patch after patch onto his quilt I would have finished sometime in the six months after he was born. But I wasn't focused, I got distracted, and though I love working on the quilt, eventually I would get bored with it and move onto something else until I was in the mood to work on it again.
So, what's the rush now to finish it? Part of it is that Eli doesn't have (his own) a warm blanket for the winter and since we have had some pretty cold nights lately I realized that this quilt should really get finished. But the other huge motivating part of this is that I start school for massage therapy in less then a month and once that starts all of my free time will be doing homework or going to/reading (online) classes and I will have no time to work on Eli's quilt once school starts.
So, I have been sitting, a lot, putting stitch after stitch, patch after patch, needle after needle, hour after hour, into Eli's quilt. The boys are very excited for the quilt to be done, and so am I :) Don't get me wrong, it's actually therapeutic to work on the quilt, and I do enjoy it, but I feel rushed, and I feel slightly guilty it's taken me so long, and I want to enjoy a little bit more of my free time doing something else besides quilts before school starts... ya know?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)