With all 4 children in school full day for the first time I have more flexibility with how I spend my time as a stay at home mom. I miss having lunch buddies but the puppies make it so that I am never alone. I am still doing things like I did with N around like go to the grocery store — it just takes a few minutes shorter to run errands without a friend along. I feel like there is still a ton to get done, largely in part to our dogs, but I don’t have that rushed feeling as much. For instance, it doesn't bother me a bit to block out Tuesday mornings for catching up on the blog and scrapbook and spending every Thursday morning volunteering at D & N's school. It's easier to leave to pick up M from her school when I only have to take the dogs out instead of interrupting N from whatever she was doing. I am able to take the time to make better choices and work on becoming a better person. A couple women that I highly respect recommended I begin listening to the Better Than Happy podcast by Jody Moore. She is an life coach that specializes in helping moms and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have listened to 80 of the 219 episodes over the last several weeks and it has literally changed my life. Honestly, if you had told me about it a few years or a few months ago I wouldn’t have been able to get anything out of it with my brain that had been in survival mode pretty much since M was born. I realized I needed to begin at episode one to learn the jargon associated with life coaching. (There are terms like resistance that mean so much more in the way life coaches talk about it.) The podcast has helped me see that I am not alone, that what I feel is normal, that no one is stuck, that I have complete control over me and no control over anyone else, that any problem can be helped beginning with how we think about what is going on. I have noticed myself quoting the podcast in conversation with simple phrases like, “worry is a waste of the imagination.” Just being able to say that to myself is huge! I am much less stressed, especially concerning my children’s choices. I am less likely to let myself dwell on the past and don’t feel the need to dream about the future. I am finding more joy in what my life is and how lucky I am to get to choose to stay at home. Of course, this might all change when the weather gets cold (it's pretty darn chilly and wet today!) but I have confidence that between the lessons I am learning from the life coach and having puppies that need to be walked, I might be able to survive this winter a little better than the last. Only time will tell and I certainly have a ton more to learn and practice and rewire my habits but I am optimistic. And I know we have a trip (or two) planned to Florida when it’s really cold here. That always helps too. (:
K is keeping track of assignments and helping her school by selling magazine subscriptions, participating in Young Women’s at Church and giving Acro another try — she is a very impressive 6th grader in my eyes. D is loving 5th grade and is grateful to have the teacher he does. When I was taking care of the Thursday folders in his classroom I was so impressed by how kind his teacher is and how the students still listen. D switched Cub Scout packs and is liking it and I am liking that the Church pack doesn’t sell popcorn — makes my life easier this time of year. M and I got to spend the night with our Girl Scout troop at the Aquarium. It was a great overnight with lots of fun activities and I must admit waking up next to a giant fish tank is pretty amazing. M got to sleep in a tunnel with the fish tank going over her head! She is doing well with hip hop class, horse riding lessons and Activity Days being in the evenings at the Church as well. I am liking not having to host AD at my house -- especially with these puppies! N now gets a date with Daddy two Wednesday nights a month with K, D, M and I all heading to the church building together. I love being the Activity Days leader and this has simplified our schedule. We are also only meeting as Girl Scout once a month instead of twice a month and that is making life a little easier too. Now if I could just get these puppies trained my life might be too easy. Lol. N is still coming home tired from school but adores her teacher and is making new friends to add to her already large number of friends she knows from her previous years at the school. She is opting to not do any extra curricular activities at the moment but stays busy with puppies and sidewalk chalk and costume play and dolls. N is still my #1 requester of play dates and snuggle time. (:
Our two litter mates are so different it’s comical. For instance, Maisie likes to watch movies with us and Piper definitely doesn’t. One night we watched Captain Marvel and I got to belly laugh due to Maisie's reaction to Goose and his hair ball. It definitely got her attention and she was sniffing the screen and then when the “hair ball” came out Maisie startled. So of course we watched that scene again and laughed some more at our dog's expense.
A time when we left the dogs at home to go watch a movie was when K's best friend's neighborhood watched the live action Aladdin outdoors on a wonderful night. It was quite the party weekend. On Saturday Hubby took D to Z’s laser tag party while I took M and N to C’s bubble party before K headed to her best friend’s house for her first sleepover there while D headed to M.C.’s house for his birthday party which was D’s first sleepover party and Hubby and I took M and N to Hubby’s work’s evening at the zoo. Those of us that went to the zoo had a blast going around with friends from the elementary school and I was happy as a clam that not only was the weather perfect but we also got complimentary group photos and we got to eat Dole Whip. Perfection. The next day we gathered the troops to head to church before I took N & M to attend Annika's birthday party before feeding the missionaries dinner. That week also included usually things like yard work, Wednesday night at the church, Piper's puppy training class, and me going to the chiropractor and less usual things like getting the carpets cleaned, picture day for D & N, M's first cooking class after school, and M finding out she didn't need glasses anymore at her optometrist check up. The next weekend was less busy, with M and E and O attending at Junior Girl Scout Badge-A-Palooza at the hospital (which included one of the GS not in our troop being sent to the ER), Hubby taking K to a CU Volleyball game and meeting A's family there and K trying out for the local volleyball club again. They offered her a position on the team and she will be having practices 2x/week this year and more tournaments to participate in. Congrats, K!
M's half birthday cake (rainbow tie dye)
The last week of September went by crazy fast with things like me taking kids to appointments with doctors and dentists and orthodontists during the school day. Don't forget not one but two mornings at M's school to watch her Michaelmas Pageant one day and help at their Fall Fiesta another day. Or the afternoon we spent at Anderson Farms in the corn maze, racing pedal karts, trying to feed goats and a few rides like the essential hay ride but with no hay. So much fun! (Of course, some of us had more fun than others, as you can see by the corn maze picture I took. lol.). Our lack of cleanliness in our house definitely reflected how busy I had been, especially since we opted to switch D and N's bedrooms too! This week we hope to get those two bedrooms repainted and K's too since she had wanted to move rooms as well but we opted to have her stay in her room and choose some new paint in it. Somewhere in all this my dad helped me reorganized the garage in a way that the children would more naturally use and it's working so far. Thanks, Dad! A thanks also need to be sent out to my mom for babysitting last weekend so that Hubby and I could attend the adult session of Stake Conference together. Elder Stacey was so funny and powerful and real. We loved being there! And a huge thank you to Hubby for being willing to work as hard as he does to provide for us each and every day so we can do insane things like redo bedrooms and enjoy crazy hair day!
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