It may or may not have been said of me, just a few times, that I am somewhat, pessimistic. I really prefer the term "realist". The other day John said, "how is that realism? life is good!" "We live in a fallen world," was my textbook, cliche-ish response. But he is right. My life is amazing.
I do think one reason we all (yes, even you shallow optimists- hehe), notice the bad is because we were MEANT to live in a perfect world! God created us in His image to live in His perfect creation, before we messed it all up. So I think there is that sense that we need to fix whatever is wrong, no matter how little, that it's not SUPPOSED to be like this! Because it really isn't. The hard part comes with the realization that all that's wrong is our (humans' in general) fault and that anything good that comes now is from His grace. That's where the need to be positive comes in. So here I go; I'll take a stab at it.....
- I LOVE my job. Seriously, I feel so lucky to be able to wake up each morning to 2 healthy boys who love their Mama and need her all day. I don't love each part of my day or every part of my job, but staying home with them has been such a blessing! They are SO fun!
- I LOVE living in Texas and in the town where I live. The people, the food, the weather (yes, even the heat- take over snow 6 mo at a time any day!), the environment, the thousands of churches that dot each street corner. Love my roots and love that my boys are 7th generation Texans.
- I LOVE the family I married into. There are so many people who want to be a part of their family. Seriously, I am lucky.
- I LOVE nap time. Call me shallow, but I love that time of day where there aren't 1500 distractions and I just sit and THINK. The introvert in me really needs that each day.
- I LOVE the way my mom chose to educate me. I see SO many benefits of it all the time, and they definitely outnumber the drawbacks.
- I LOVE that God has brought me through so many difficulties. I did not love them at the time, but I can see all the time how Romans 8:28 really does work. Dislocated hip, divorce, broken back & spinal cord injury, 3 weeks of mental health hell, postpartum depression, all for good.
- I LOVE sunsets, the sky, the smell of woodpiles burning in the fall, swimming, boats, listening to sermons online, and reading a good book at Starbucks.
For being a realist, that's a pretty good start, I guess. Maybe I need to make this theme a regular here! :)
I feel like I've been cooped up, well, since G-man was born! Years ago, I learned I can only handle a few things on my plate at once. If the house was going to stay somewhat clean, get any tot school stuff done, and the kids and I stay somewhat or at least not completely stressed out, we had to stay home most days. We did MOPS and play dates with friends. I also did a Bible study just recently but that's pretty much it. EVERY morning, K asks me, "where are we going today?" and most days the answer is, "nowhere, sorry."
Well, this summer I decided to switch things up. MOPS is done, we are taking a break from tot school, G-man is at the age where he can participate in activities finally, and the house will survive a couple of months! My goal is to be gone every morning. Well, all but one day. And then the kids have their church program once a week, so I will have a morning to myself or to run errands that day.
It gets HOT here, I mean ALL summer long, HOT, so we will do things like the library, a church that has an indoor playground in the area, and the pool, or splashpad, with an occasional park or zoo trip with lots of water! Our pool has a deal because I am a wife of a "student", so we will join that, AND they offer swimming lessons, and I am so excited to get the boys in those for the first time. I couldn't put K in last summer because he was too little to do it without me, and G-man was too little for me to do that. So this summer, K will be in the beginner class and G-man & I will do a mommy & me class. They will be at the same time, so I am a little scared K will freak with me there, but hopefully it will work out! I plan to get him in the water several times before it starts.
We also have a wading pool that we can use when we're home, and I want to do some fun messy things with that. I want to try one of these per week: shaving cream, shaving cream paint, colored ice cubes, cooked spaghetti, bubble solution, water beads, and slime. My other goal is to invite people over for play dates or meet people at the park or wherever. (So if you know me and are reading this, give me a call! ;) )
This all means that I will have to spend nap times in the afternoon doing housework. I think it will be worth it. I am excited! I am posting this now, because I am starting in May! while the weather is still somewhat bearable. We actually have 4 more weeks of "Year 3 Tot School" to complete because we got behind (if you're wondering where letters W, N, M, & U are; they will come later.) I'm gonna try to fit that in later in the summer after I get tired of all this, haha! :)
I'll be posting our adventures. Stay tuned... Have anything planned this summer??
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