1) A baby year goes by much faster when it isn't spent dealing with crying and not sleeping. Now that Celeste is 1, it seems like this year has pleasantly flown by. It might have something to do with the 5-kids-now aspect too, but each day hasn't been spent dreading the night and walking the floors. I think I walked the floors with her fussing a total of 2 times in her whole first year. With the other kids it was at least 5/7 nights a week for months. She still has only slept through the night twice (once being last week and the other was last night from midnight until 7 a.m.), so that's the next step. She can climb onto chairs and tables now, and destroy anything she wants in a pretty short time period, so isn't left unattended for too long. Thankfully there are 2 parents and 4 big kids keeping an eye on her so somebody's always watching (another blessing of lots of kids!)
2) Sometimes you can have all sorts of plans and wishes and dreams and the answer comes to just keep on plugging away at the same old thing you're already doing again and again. And that's okay, it's even quite a relief. Recently we've been exploring the option of selling our house and moving to a "better" place (that has a shop or room for one, that can accomodate my aunt when she sells her house in a few years, that isn't quite so hilly for gardening and animal purposes). We prayed about a clear answer as for what we should do and started moving towards getting the process going. We looked at a few houses (just drove by and looked in windows since they were empty) and also some property (would bare land be a cheaper option?) and then prayed and pondered about it. During this time, Greg was having a rough day so had gone to town to have some quiet time and happened upon an all wheel drive lawn mower. He didn't buy it, but wanted to, so came home to tell me about it. Our hilly, bumpy, quack-grassy yard has been a huge headache ever since we moved here. Last summer it even went 6 weeks without any mowing because we were too overwhelmed by it and we had a little baby that just got priority. Always.
After discussing this new mower idea, we headed over to the store and bought it. It is amazing! It just walks up and down all of our hills and Greg had the whole yard mowed in very little time. When he got finished mowing, he says, "well, now I kind of want to just stay living here because this lawn is finally doable." This is the 5th mower we've tried on the lawn, so it's not for lack of trying. One small push mower that we wore right out did mediocre, a riding mower, a brush hog type, and a self-propelled one from my aunt after my uncle passed away. All of them could not do near what we needed them to do, so Greg would end up weed whacking most of the yard. Ugh. This new mower just climbs over all the hills without hesitation.
By this time we had crunched the numbers to see what would be the cheapest of all of the options. Buying similar to ours but on flatter ground, buying bare land and building as we could afford, bare land with a used manufactured home or just staying where we are and cracking down on paying it off. The last option won out by a long shot, so we're trying to get "gazelle intense" about it again. It seems like such a good idea, but it's also very easy to lose motivation when the amount owed is quite large. Having the resolve to just stay the course is needed and I know we'll be glad we did in the end.
3) I love my husband for these types of things. Common sense about money. Exploring options and then wisely choosing the most sensible one (even if it isn't the most exciting or fun one). Talking the ideas through instead of just jumping the gun and then regretting it (we did come up with some outlandish ideas of how to save money and still get the house we want/need). For realizing and recognizing that we're never going to be high dollar people. We are the slow and steady kind and likely always will be. And we're okay with that.
As we were driving down the free way the other day we were driving by a Tesla car. We admired it as we cruised by in our 1992 station wagon and then Greg noticed that it was his boss's wife from his old job. He then commented, "I'm so glad we don't live with the intensity that it takes to own a ($100,000) car like that. It wears me out just thinking about the stress level that job had." One of his old boss's favorite sayings was "stay with me and you'll retire rich." But is the stress level worth that? We can't see that it is. On the other extreme is a neighbor we talked to recently. He bragged about how he works for the railroad now and how well it pays and how little he has to work (and everyone else too) and how it's a "retirement job" because of the pension. When we left I asked Greg, "Has he no pride?" and Greg said that he pitied the lack of manliness about him. I'm so thankful for a manly husband who works hard for our family, but not so hard that he's manic about it in the pursuit of retiring rich.
4) Raising girls. They're complex. I have no answers and feel like a failure most days in most areas. Probably all things if I really sat down and thought about it. Praying for some answers, or at least some confidence that I'm on the right track. Or some books that might help. There's lots of dad/daughter books out there, but I haven't found many mom/daughter ones. The everyday stuff. The special stuff. I just feel like I'm failing them in all points. And now that I have 2 of them, I feel the burden even stronger than I did with just 1, although it's also gotten easier in that I can take them both to girl functions where before Elise never wanted to go alone with me anywhere ("I'll be bored with just you, Mom." Uh, thanks.)
In a book I'm reading, a mom states how your heart will break seeing your daughter go through all the things that you went through yourself so the main need is to listen to their fears, hopes and dreams and share what you've learned along the way. Then, when the time is right, prepare to let them go. But, you'll always be their safe place. I hope I can do that for my girls (and my boys, but that's a different story).
5) Wrestling is going well. 3 weeks in and Luke and James are getting stronger and figuring it all out. I love that they get a good workout (that I could never get them to do at home) and that they're learning new skills. Luke is not athletic at all, so it's a challenge for him. I'm not sure if he struggles because his body just doesn't know how to do the exercises, or that he's just lazily going through the motions because he prefers other pursuits (books, crafts/building things) or that he just gives up too easily. Which ever way it is, he is enjoying it and will learn something, I'm sure. James on the other hand is just taking off. He spent the whole school wrestling season watching and learning and he's so excited to put it all into some action. He may be small, but he makes up for it in determination and stamina. When we head home, both boys are completely exhausted from the 2 1/2 hours of working out. They do 1 hour of exercise and the rest of it is wrestling. This extracurricular stuff is a new venture for us. Hopefully we can keep it within our family set parameters as we go along (whole family time, not intruding on Bible Study or other church function time, etc.)
6) I can't believe I'm almost 40 years old and I've lived without a lazy Susan spice spinner all these years. Both my mom and mother-in-law have them and though I've wanted one, it was never enough to actually remember to go and buy one. I just kept my spices in little bins in the cupboard which worked, but not really well. Recently I found one at a thrift store (double decker even) for $0.55 and couldn't pass it up. It fits all of the needed spices and extracts and just smoothly spins as needed. Yay! I also bought a single layer one ($0.55 also) for one on the table (because the kids said that their friends have one and it is SUCH a great idea) but with a one year old who can now climb on chairs, it's not such a great idea for now. Celeste climbs up on the chair, reaches over and gives it a big, fun spin which spews all the contents over the table and floor. Salt, pepper, Tabasco and prayer jar/sticks everywhere. Maybe in a year or two we'll bring it back out. It's amazing all those little things that make your day go more smoothly. Next up...coffee/tea cupboard organization needed.
Until next time...
