Day #7 - the little things

I was already planning on wrapping up this adventure listing all the little things.  As I sit here with a pounding headache and two kiddos that seemed to have forgotten the meaning of the quiet & calm game, I really need to focus on this list.  Here it goes. No particular order.  And maybe without explanation.  Some of them just won't need it.

candy corn

coffee

coffee creamer

netflix

dr. pepper

facebook (to keep somewhat connected)

email (for all those coupons)

kids-eat-free nights

video games

70 degree weather

pre-cooked sausage

racecar themed grocery carts

long distance on my phone to call mom daily

straws

chocolate

giggles

snuggles & cuddles

a purr-box of a kitty

a warm kitty sitting in my lap

MOPS

my stand mixer

quietness

a digital camera

etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#6 - Eric

I don't tell him enough and he's not here to read this over my shoulder as I'm typing.  Babe, I'm thankful for you. 

I am thankful for the time he spends with the kiddos even when he feels like he has no time.  Even those times it is passed their bedtimes and I want nothing more than the kiddos to just be in their beds, but he takes the time and reads them their nightly Bible Story and ignores the are-you-really-keeping-them-up-past-their-bedtime look.  For the nights he wears his road shirt so the kids can play on his back.

I am thankful for doing all the things around the house that I just plain don't want to do.  Like yard work.  I hate yard work.  Especially in the Summer when the bugs are still alive.  I shiver just thinking about it.  And I know he is tired and just wants time to do the things he enjoys, but he makes time to do things around the house.

 

I am thankful that he hasn't called me a complete loony yet.  I may be getting to that point but he just goes with my craziness.  He lets me have my mood swings and then picks me back up.  He lets me cry and tell him how horrible I think my life is (It isn't. At all.  But sometimes I have these fits.)  He supports me in the things I do for just me.  And those weekends, when we lived a lot closer, I'd say, "I kinda want to go to Mom's." He'd say go. 

 

I am thankful for his calmness to my crazed being.  I am thankful for the time he spends with the kids. I am thankful that he enjoys his work.  And those weeks he has to travel, he calls.  He sends texts to check in.  I don't worry about him being off without me.  I know he is mine.  I am thankful he deals with all the relocation stuff.  The little bit I have had to deal with sends my head spinning.  I am thankful for his attentive nature.  And that he pays attention to the details.

 

I am thankful for this...

 

 

#5 - Eric's job

I am a day behind thanks to a busy Saturday and trying to spend some quality family time.  I'll still do seven items.

Eric has had a wonderful job for the past 10-1/2 years.  It has taken us to many states and has always provided for us.  Some would say that all the moving we have done is crazy.  And maybe they are right, but I am thankful that he has had this job, especially considering when he graduated it wasn't the best of times to be an electrical engineer. Thanks to his experience with his co-op job during school and his desire to be an engineer and not pursue the management side of things, DuPont offered him a job.  He enjoys working with the automation side of the manufacturing and he must be good at it since the last two assignments have resulted from more experienced engineers recommending him for those positions.

I am thankful that his job has let me stay home with the kids the past 5 years.  It hasn't always been a piece of cake, but I am thankful for the opportunity.  There are times when I am not fond of the job.  Especially all the traveling that he has been doing since we moved here, but I will not complain.  His job provides for us.  It is something he enjoys doing, even when it is stressful.

We have seen the country.  Or at least the eastern part of it.  We've been to Ohio, Delaware, North Carolina and now Iowa.  We've seen different areas and experienced different "cultures."  And yes, each place is different and unique.  I'm not sure I'm ready to ever be back in the crazy paced East Coast area for a while.  We've made friends everywhere.  And thanks to us not being the only ones that move, we have friends all over.  There is even a couple of friends from North Carolina that live about 30 minutes from us now.  We've got to slow down a bit to be able to meet up with them. 

DuPont is a diverse company.  When one area is slow, there is another they are pumping money in to.  Since he does like the engineering side of things and doesn't want to pursue management, I think he'll have opportunities for continued growth in his field.  He hasn't duplicated any business yet.  Right now bio-sciences is the big thing.  They are in Iowa building an ethanol plant that produces ethanol from the corn plant, not the actual corn.  His first job was customer support at a car plant that bought DuPont automotive paint. 

I am thankful for a great company and all the opportunities it has provided.  I am thankful that Eric enjoys his job. And that he is one H*** of an Engineer...

#4 - The color pink

I am not a girly girl  Never have been.  Or as long as I can remember at least.  But then five years ago we were blessed with a baby girl.  And from the start her color has been pink.  I tried to stop it.  Her bedding and décor was green and purple.  We were thinking Tinker Bell colors.  I didn't buy anything pink.  But that doesn't mean she wasn't given any pink.  In fact I think my mom tried her best to buy lots of pink.  To make up for me never wanting anything pink.  Unless it was taffy. Or ice cream.  Pink in sugary sweet form is fine.

However, this little girl had her mind made up from the start.  Pink is her color.  How do I know this?  I just folded a load of laundry.  It was all pink.  We also promised her that when we moved she got to pink out the paint for her room.  Can you guess?  Yep. Pink.  And two shades of pink at that.  Here's your proof.

 

Here's also the proof that I did it.   

 

 

So why am I thankful for pink?  I am thankful for a lot of reasons.  Pink means that a little girl is in our lives.  I was told at one point that due to the severity of my PCOS I most likely would not be able to have kids without medical help.  I did.  A miscarriage before Kathryn brought hope there would be a child one day.  And I got this spunky little girl that loves pink and challenges me daily.

 

Pink pushes me out of my comfort zone.  I had no idea what to do with a little girl.  Dresses?  I may have one or two in my closet. Pink? It had better be strawberry flavoring.  And yet, those are two of her favorite things.  And usually it is pink dresses.  With bows.  Or butterflies.  Or both.

 

 

After we painted her room I asked her something to the effect of, "So how do you like it?"  Her response? "It is okay, but it could be more girly."  "More girly?  How???" "It needs butterflies."  My thoughts went straight back to 6th grade.  We had just moved into a new house.  My room had blue wallpaper and it was COVERED in butterflies.  And I hated it.  I was upset that Randy's room got painted first.  Me??  In a room with butterflies??? It was horrible.  And now I have this little girl asking for butterflies.  Nana to the rescue and sent her butterflies to paint.  See. My mother is still trying to make up for all those years. (I love you Mom!)

 

My pink girly girl is also stubborn.  And strong-willed.  And so much like her mother my uncle even called her a mini me.  And he probably knew me the best, out side of my immediate family, when I was that age.  She & I.  We butt heads.  We snuggle.  We fight.  But I know this pink-loving little girl is all mine.  She is my miracle.  And I love her to no end, pink and all.

 

 

Day #3 - Andrew's Imagination

(As a side note to yesterday's post I, in no way, am against homeschooling.  I think it works wonderfully for a lot of families.  Kathryn & I butt heads way to often and most of our little bits of preschool work we did ended up in tears.  She does much better in a classroom setting.  My gripe was with other moms, who knew very little about us, making me feel that I was putting her in harms way or I was less of a Christian for putting her in public schools. I truly believe that homeschooling is the way to go for a lot of my friends and family.  It works wonderfully and gives a lot of flexibility. We had prayed about it and knew that public school is where she needed to be. I did not mean to offend anyone if my tone came across wrong.)

Andrew.  My very independent child.  The child I have to go find because he's been playing by himself for an hour and I have no idea what he is doing.  His imagination is crazy.  From fires to space to super-heroes, the day is not boring. This is what my living room looks like 5 out of 5 weekdays.

 

The fire station is hiding behind the barn.  There may or may not have been a fire at the barn caused by the light saber or maybe by exhaust of the oversized tractor.  There is also a space station in the back that saw a flying pig come to aid the astronaut in defense from the blue & green aliens.  And I can, without a doubt, say that the blocks were most definitely used to design some sort of airplane.  And this all may have occurred within a five minute time frame and multiple times throughout the day.

 

This was from another fire-filled day.  As you can see, anyone can be a firefighter.  Including a tiny Delta airplane.  It was used to dump water on the fire in the canyon (the stairwell).

 



 

Mommy must be apart of the action because what is a fire station without a Station Officer.  Yes, I know it is a police hat, but I'm not arguing with a very stubborn 3 year old.

 

 

 

The kids made these glasses at church.  Andrew wore his for the majority of the day.  This is sitting on the floor at Target while reading a book on tractors.  And yes, he wore them all through out the store.  And I think they are still sitting on his nightstand.

 

This boys imagination will keep him busy all day.  I am very thankful for that.  Kathryn is my needy child.  By that I mean that she needs my attention.  She will play by herself, as long as I am watching.  She needs the interjections once in a while to show I am paying attention.  Not Andrew.  Once in a while I'll get a "Watch this!"  His imagination will take him as Superman to outer space to fight aliens with his imaginary puppy as his side kick who may also have a light saber as a tail.

 

But he does love to play and for that I am thankful.

 

Day #2 - School

With our move to Iowa we had no doubt that Kathryn would be attending public school.  It seemed while we were in North Carolina that we would get "the look" when we dared to say that public school was for us.  How dare us go against what was becoming the norm (homeschooling) and think about putting our child in a public school.  I can say with all confidence that after over a month of being in public school, this was the right decision for us.

Kathryn has a love for going to school.  We (I) were (was) a little concerned after the first Friday and I got an email saying she was having difficulty sitting still and not interrupting during class.  In fact I cried for hours.  Looking back, it wasn't that big of a deal.  Oh and since they line up by last name, she was last.  She didn't like being last.  Over the weekend we  talked to her how the importance of being last and if everyone lined up right, she should be last.  It was her job to make sure everyone was in front of her.  Her job as class caboose was very important.  We also stressed the importance of sitting and listening.  Her guidance class has also helped with that.  We haven't had a problem since.  Unless you count her running into a pole at recess and busting her lip.  A call from the school nurse is better than from the principal I guess.

Kathryn has a love for learning now.  All those months of me trying to get her to practice her letters and she & I ended up in fights, now seems so distant.  She comes home and practices.  In the 5ish weeks they have been practicing handwriting, I have seen an improvement.  And she is using both upper & lower case. She loves that they get a special class each day (art, technology, music, guidance & PE).

She loves her teachers and meeting new friends.  The school sends out constant updates on what is going on. They incorporate technology without it being overwhelming.  They do teach the D'Nealian form of handwriting which based upon a little research must mean they still teach cursive handwriting though I've heard most public schools are going away from that.  I was afraid the new style would be rough to learn since it isn't the typical block form we were teaching (most letters have tails), but she loves it.

The top "Kathryn" was the 3rd day of school.  The bottom was yesterday.

The school uses a positive reinforcement set of guidelines (rules) and the kids catch on quickly.  Kathryn loves to tell us her good behavior that earned her a ticket.

She loves going to school and it gives me time to work with Andrew.  It is a win for all of us!

Seven Days of Thankfulness

I am imposing a challenge to myself and by way of this blog, you are going to hold me accountable.  I've been in a slump.  I don't think it is a depression slump, but one of those feelings you can't shake.  So many changes, including a couple I wasn't expecting months ago. Lately I am only seeing the bad.  And honestly, it isn't bad, not as bad as I think it is.  To help me see the good in all that is going on, which again, isn't as much as I think it is, I am going to tell you one thing each day for the next week that I am thankful for. 

Today is a good church.

I honestly spent most of the 5 years we were in North Carolina longing to return to the church we were in for 3 years in Delaware.  I know that I could call any of those ladies up today and say, I'll be in town, and I'd have a friend to visit with.  I miss those ladies.  I missed the teaching.  Even though the current pastor wasn't there for most of our years, his teachings were truth. He had an impact on our lives for the few months of overlap that we had.  There were times I'd pull up Pastor Curtis' podcasts when I felt I needed a little extra. 

Being the Southern Baptist gal that I was (am), I missed Sunday School in NC.  Small groups are wonderful, but they are small.  I missed Sunday School were you were in a group of people mostly in the same stage of life as you.  You couldn't hide and you were just about forced to make friends.  We hosted a Small Group in NC, and as much as I enjoyed those groups, being in a group of all different ages & stages doesn't always give you the friendships that I felt we were lacking.  Our current church doesn't have Sunday School, not for the adults anyway.  But we were placed in a Small Group, that even though we've only attended once, the people all seem to be in just able the same stage of life.  I feel that that is the group that God wanted us in.

After only a couple of Sundays attending our current church, it feels like home.  People know our kids.  But really, how anyone hasn't met Kathryn is beyond me with her outgoing, never any inhibition, personality.  As the pastor's wife said the other night, They are a one-stop shop for us.  I knew I needed a MOPS group to help with the transition.  They have the only one in town.  The kids were looking forward to AWANA.  Yep, got that as well.  They have a Bible study group that is for moms with children at home.  And the study they were starting this Fall is called "Stuck".  Exactly what I need.  No Sunday School, but small groups with a pastor overseeing that will direct you to a group.  The group we were directed to is almost within walking distance and I knew several of the ladies already from MOPS and the Bible Study.

I am thankful for a one-stop-make-you-feel-like-family church.  I feel God at this church. My children look forward to going.  We have made friends and I feel challenged here.  I am truly thankful for finding this place