Working at Resting

 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

Lately, I've been really struggling with my priorities. Just like right now I should be cleaning or doing something important but I really feel the need to post this. Thanks to @nataliecreates over on Instagram with her Question of the Day: How do you prioritize self-care? or her blog Natalie Creates I really felt the need to talk about this.

I feel like I'm always trying to get my priorities in check or in balance. I know what they are and what order they come in but actually keeping it balanced all the time is a struggle. I don't think I am alone in this but in my mind I feel like I am. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't have it together, no where near together. But thanks to Natalie's post I am reminded once more that most people don't have it together and if you think they do, there are probably other areas you don't see that they struggle with.

The older I get though the more comfortable I am getting with "things just are the way they are". I'm doing the best I can, to keep my family happy, me happy and sane. The house is just always going to be in a perpetual mess as long as I have a 3 year old and 16 month old trashing it. That's the way it's supposed to be right? Messy house means happy kids or so I'm told. There are days when I wake up and once diapers are changed and breakfast is doled out, usually whatever self-feeding food we have around I will just start cleaning. I won't shower or usually even change my clothes. I just clean clean clean, then the afternoon comes and I realize I stink, look horrible and feel horrible and the house still isn't the way I would like it and the areas that are nice won't be like that in a couple of hours. There are days when I feel like not even trying. The only area I really work on daily is the kitchen and without a dishwasher and no help it really is a chore. How did they do it back in the day? I realize they didn't have several electronics and blogs pulling them this way and that but I've tried days with no phone, computer or TV and it's still a huge struggle. The Greatest Generation is my favorite generation though I'm not a part of it but sometimes they make me feel bad. Not their fault and I'm sure there were plenty of families back then that didn't have it all together, you just don't see that on TV or in photos.

This post isn't about giving up though or feeling bad about things. It's just about sharing the truth and stating that I'm not giving up but I'm also not striving for perfection. It's about the fact that I can rest in Him and He doesn't care if my house is messy. He's that best friend that will come over for coffee amongst all of the mess and really talk about real things. He will rest my soul and remind me that all I need to focus on is Him and all else will fall into place.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest".  Matthew 11:28


 

Tot School - Pioneer/Farm / VeggieTales

The past two weeks title should really be Tot School or lack there of. I don't even know what happened during Pioneer week (the week before) but last week we had an off week to say the least. I didn't even get tot school set up until midweek. Our Sunday started off really rough with a 4 hour round trip drive which included Sissy getting car sick 15 minutes before arriving at our destination. Luckily Mama had a change of clothes & shoes, bags to put the yucky stuff in, lots of Wet Ones to help clean up and Lysol on the Go to help with the smell. This is the second time this has happened so we're pretty sure she gets car sick now and it's not just a fluke. So needless to say after a day like that we were exhausted when we got home and unfortunately that set up our week to be off.

But there was alot of Life School. We had a fun day of shopping including a trip to Ikea which the kids actually enjoy. Probably wouldn't be so fun if they didn't have the cafeteria. Then pretty much everyday was filled with VeggieTales, ALL DAY LONG. I know, I know I'm an awesome parent. But it was just one of those weeks and I will justify it with the lessons that VeggieTales teaches.

Despite all of this I did happen to catch some snap shots of learning and play.

Sissy enjoyed this Buckets of Buttons file folder game messy face and all. She didn't quite get it yet but if was fun anyways.

 Baby Guy was having some fun with the farm puzzle, tractor overalls and all.

Here he is learning to write. This really shocked me that he was actually writing.

Caught them red handed reading Daddy's book.

Posing in action. Don't you just love my vintage carpet. I really really love this about Baby Guys room.

The looks on those faces. Priceless.

 Well regardless of intentional schooling or time spent together, they are learning all of the time. Seeing them play together, which they are also doing right now, fills my heart with so much JOY. This is why He put me here in this place right now.


 

Daring paths

End of summer reading.
Heavy thoughts.
Following new paths.
Trying to change old habits.
Thankful for new beginnings.
Knowing that the path will be long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excited for new views, new ideas.
New ways to show love to her and him. Realizing how I probably screwed up with the first, but also realizing how wonderful he is despite my lack of intention.

Tot School - Dinosaur / Creation Day 4

Sissy is currently 40 months and Baby Guy is 16 months. Last week was dinosaur week for tot school. This theme has been the most fun so far. There is alot of dinosaur stuff out there. Somehow again we didn't do much on our Bible activity, but I plan to catch us up.

 The moment I set this tot tray out on Sunday night Sissy was begging to do it. It's just a dinosaur clip art I found online and printed for her to color, we also put glitter on the glue and pom poms. She had a blast putting the glue where ever she wanted. We just need to work on how much.

 This was the cutest thing ever, I printed the whole Dinosaur Tot Pack, from 1+1+1=1. She loved the sequencing dinosaurs, there was a size for each member of our family. She called them out in order; Daddy, Mommy, Bubba, Sissy and Baby Guy. It was a adorable.

Then she blew me away when she pulled out this shape puzzle. I thought for sure she wouldn't get this for a while but she knew exactly what to do with it, I was very excited and proud.

This was a picture I snapped one morning. This was before we even got breakfast going, she pulled out her tot tray right after she got dressed. She was ready to color her Dinosaur Train page that I printed from their website. She then pulled this out many more times in the week to continue coloring, write H's and smiley faces all over.

Baby Guy did an awesome job at looking cute while big Sissy colored.

Another thing I did this week was get some dinosaur chicken nuggets and dinosaur oatmeal. The oatmeal didn't look so cool once warmed up, but was still tasty. 

Another loved activity this week was the Aqua Doodle mat, this was an awesome find at
 the recent Target clearance event. I had wanted one for a while and so glad I waited for the price I paid.

The books this week were Dinosaur Bones, Stomp, Dinosaur Stomp!, & Dinosaurumpus!. Baby Guy and Sissy also completed their first part of the summer reading program and both earned a prize. Sissy picked out a book called The First Day of Winter and I picked out a dinosaur book for Baby Guy called Dinos on the Move. I plan on having many more dinosaur themed days as we go through this Tot School/Preschool journey. Another thing I did this week was record Dinosaur Train for them to watch daily. 

Tot School - Beach Theme / Creation Day 3...a week late

This week was a little off, we didn't do much of Tot School because Sissy spent her first week at VBS for 2 1/2 hours every morning. She absolutely loved it. She had so much fun making crafts, listening to new music and meeting new friends.

The theme this week for Tot School was beach theme, it was very loose. We kind of continued from the ocean them the week before. Below Sissy is wearing one of the crafts she made at VBS a bandanna she drew smiley faces all over. Smiley faces are one of her favorite things to draw right now along with H's, W's and now a cross.

 This week also consisted of a lot of Veggie Tales. This picture depicts everyday real life in our house.

 Baby Guy really is enjoying reading time, I signed both of them up for the library summer reading program and they've already earned one prize each. Here he's holding one of the beach books we read, Sneakers the Seaside Cat.

Sissy really enjoyed a used book I got on Amazon, Gallop.

Even with a busy week we were able to cram in some learning time. I however did slack on the Bible theme, we did read about Creation day 3 at bed time but that was it. I figure we made up for it with VBS. Being able to get all of this done during a busy week gives me more motivation for the upcoming busy fall and winter seasons and years to come.