bybmg: September 2013
This week has not been usual...

 

Wesley started rolling places. So, now I need to start cleaning my floors better! My postpartum hair shed isn't helping!

 

Henry biked some more. He even rode 6 blocks up to the town farmer's market and back on Wednesday.


He got his first book order from preschool! Though I'm a teacher and can do book ordering from Scholastic whenever I want, there is still something about sitting down with the paper book order and circling what is wanted. Too bad the kid wanted every book!
  

Thursday night we had a crazy storm at about 3:45pm. It made it tricky to get the boys from daycare and knocked out our power until about 10pm.


Thank goodness for Chick Fil A and their playplace (for Henry), plastic lid (for Wesley), and shake (for me). We went there for supper while the power was out.



Henry has asked a few times this week to hold his brother (once specifically while he was standing up). It's precious to see how much he loves his brother and wants to make him laugh. 


My former coworker is due in November, and had a baby shower on Saturday. It was fun to celebrate her and see some other friends. (The four of us pictured all taught 5th grade together last year.)


Saturday night, Henry was up vomiting until midnight (aren't ya glad I didn't include a picture of that?!) and then this little guy was up at 4am and had trouble getting back to sleep. I discovered that he is getting his first little tooth.

Linking up with Diana




still being [molly]
I have already started digging into my tossing/storing/organizing goal.

- My underwear drawer - I dumped it all out, got rid of some things, and neatly organized the rest. Will I continue to fold my underwear so neatly? Probably not, but it took about 5 minutes to put it in order, so I know I can accomplish it again quickly. And, no, I'm not posting pictures.

-I dug into a couple cupboards and closets. The local Facebook swap group is wonderful, and I've sold a lot of things in the past on there, so I added some goodies. I did, however, store them back in a cupboard together so that I can locate them easily. I commit that if things don't sell in two weeks, they're off to Goodwill.



I found 27, yes, 27 reusable shopping bags! I narrowed it down to just 7 to keep.

  I dug out the sleeping bags. I'm pretty sure we've never used them. Hope they find a great new home!

I also did the 10 minute tidy up last night before bed. I stayed up way too late, but I did it! (sticker for me!)

I walked at school on Friday for 10 minutes. I'm going to focus on doing this 5 days a week and see where it goes from there. I have an app on my phone that I can set workout goals with, so I set that goal in there (kind of like a sticker chart, but not as cool in my opinion).

I feel great about what I've accomplished so far. Let's hope I can continue with as much gusto as I've had the past two days!
Happiness is not determined by what's happening around you, but rather what's happening inside you. 

I just started reading the book The Happiness Project. I somehow scored it cheap/free on Kindle a long while back, and it has just been sitting there on my virtual shelf waiting for me.

I like the premise of it just from reading the first few pages. It's not that I am unhappy, I just feel like I could be happier.  Russ and I keep going back to the YOLO idea (you only live once). Some days I just feel like I should be getting more out of things. I sometimes feel discontented. A few quotes that have hit me from the book so far:

"I had everything I could possibly want -- yet I was failing to appreciate it." (Kindle location 86)

"How could I set a higher standard for myself as a wife, a mother, a writer, a friend? How could I let go of everyday annoyances to keep a larger, more transcendent perspective?" (Kindle location 91)

"I wanted to change myself but accept myself. I wanted to take myself less seriously -- and also more seriously." (Kindle location 118)

So, I'm going to dig into this book a little and share some of it here.  More for a place for me to record it than anything. Maybe, you might get something out of my reflections too or join me in reading the book.

The author took one focus each month for a year. Though I may not agree with all of her focuses or feel that they apply to me, I will still consider them. I don't want to have to read through her whole book to get started. Taking things monthly is a good pace. Trying to change it all at once is overwhelming. She started in January. I'm going to try to start now. In January, her focus was VITALITY (Boost Energy). I feel like this section applied to me in some aspects. She talked about going to sleep earlier, exercising, tossing/restoring/organizing, tackling nagging tasks, and acting more energetic.

In all honestly, I do go to sleep pretty early, so I feel like I have a good grasp on that.

I truly don't feel like I have much time or want to devote a ton of time to exercise. I know it's important. I do. But right now it seems like time away from my kids. She did mention just instituting a simple 10 minute walk, so I think that will be my goal. I will bring my running walking shoes to school and go for a 10 minute walk sometime in my day. That way, there's no weather interruptions. There's no gym fee. If I'm here at work, I can walk. Starting tomorrow. I'm going to make myself a sticker chart. For. Real.

Tossing/Storing/Organizing is something that always makes me feel better. Dear old Goodwill benefits a lot from my constant purging (and also from my shopping!). I will continue to do purge, but I want to make a list of some focused areas I would like to hit this month:
  • my sock/underwear drawer
  • my shoes
  • the closet in Wesley's room
  • our file box
  • the closet in Henry's room
  • my sewing area
  • Henry's toys (again! - I feel like I do this all the time)
  • the kitchen cabinets
  • institute a 10 minute tidy up time before bed (I'll need a sticker chart for that, too!)
My challenge for this is to really simplify. I need to let go of the "some day I might use this" stuff. I need to let go of the "nostalgic" stuff. Seriously. We have sleeping bags we got for our wedding that have NEVER been used. I know, the boys might need a sleeping bag SOME day, but when that day comes, I will buy a new one or borrow one. Our house is small. I have Christmas platters I never get out. We don't host Christmas stuff. I know. Some day we will, so I will keep a COUPLE around...but not a the multitude that I have. We have a set of glasses we NEVER use. I don't plan to document all my purging, but I will share some with you as I see fit.
 
Tacking Nagging Tasks is something I've been wanting to do so badly, but just get too lazy. I'm beginning to make a list. For sure they won't get all done this month, but it's a place to start.

That list includes:
  • cleaning all windows (which have not been done since we moved into the house 4 years ago...)
  • clean out the pantry (so much stuff in there we rarely use...and I have a bazillion of those reusable shopping bags) - and I realize this goes in the tossing/organizing section as well.
  • write a will (Sorry, mom, still haven't gotten this done, but I will!)
  • set up an actual college savings account (529 or whatever it's called) for the boys instead of just a random saving account.
  • finish the jewelry display I started 2 years ago
  • and some more things...I'll share them as I think of them/see fit
 Acting More Energetic is something I've always struggled with. I'm not an enthusiastic person. I'm introverted, and I just don't get super excited. But I try to be conscious of this.

So, that's it. I'll update you and see how these things go. Anyone with me?
We hadn't been to the Des Moines Downtown Farmer's Market at all this summer. When we're on endless weekend (which is what we call summer in our family of two teachers), the days kind of run together. We often forgot what day of the week it was! Since school has started, we're back to routines and this morning was perfect sweatshirt weather, so we headed to the market!



I admit I was pretty excited to get out Wesley's cute little jeans and owl hat. I picked up the owl hat for about $3 at Gap before he was born. Also, ErgoBaby carrier, I adore you!


Russ got a crepe at this lovely place. They're gluten free. We want to know the recipe!


The GF place also sold donuts. Henry had two. :)

I had the Farm Boy's breakfast burrito. YUM!



Henry was kind of all over the place, but we weren't in a hurry. Sorry to the about dozen people he almost ran into!


It is definitely looks like fall down there. I love it! Bring on the sweatshirts and pumpkin EVERYTHING. 


Eventually Henry rode on Russ's shoulders...


I love this place's display!


I lovvvve this popcorn.  So much that I looked up their website when I got home and considered adding added it to my Amazon wishlist.  :) 

What have you been up to? 

Linking up with Diana @ Diana Wrote 

Diana over at Diana Wrote started a little link up with glimpses into the past week. I thought I'd link up with what's been happening here!


Wesley has found his toes. It's fun to see him discover new things. 


Henry had his first day of 3-year-old preschool on Wednesday. I wanted him to wear a polo. He wanted to wear Spider-Man. So, we compromised and he wore both. 


Wesley turned 5 months yesterday. He is a spit-up master. I had to laugh that I caught him in the act. Although he spits up all the time and we have to have a rag in arm's reach, he really is a joyful baby.


Russ's dad and grandma came to visit Saturday as well. The boys loved their time with Great Grandma Tiny. Also, I got a new app on my phone where you can put cute little things on pictures.  Fun!


I scored this 3G Kindle on our local swap page for $20 last week. Although I have an iPad mini, I am appreciating a device that is just for reading.


I had some precious time today where both boys were napping. I had three Toms bags pinned with zippers, so I took a little time to sew and list them in my shop!


 
A few friends posted an article on Facebook the other day entitled 5 Ways We're Making Parenting Harder. #5 was Pinterest. I went back and forth in my thoughts about this... I have been on Pinterest for a long while, like back when it was invitation only. I truly LOVE Pinterest.

I know through this blog, it may seem like I'm a super crafty mom who has tons of time to do all these projects. But, you know what, I don't have it all together. This blog is my highlight reel. My house is somewhat messy (I've truly been contemplating hiring a house cleaner...and if you've seen my house, you know it is TINY and I SHOULD be able to hold it together.). My flowers in the painted pots on the fence died. Sure, I'm not going to share pictures of the dead flowers. You may, however, see pictures of the messy house from time to time. I go back to the quote... 


"Good moms have sticky floors, dirty ovens, and happy kids."  

My floor IS sticky. My oven is DIRTY. But, Henry loves it when I spend a few minutes making a fun snack with him or bring in snow from outside for him to play with in our warm kitchen. I often hear, "Mommy, can we make a project?!"

So, I would respond to that blog post that Pinterest doesn't make life harder for me. The ideas I've found there make my life better. I don't have to come up with ideas, I just find them. Pinterest makes my kids' life more fun because I can find something on there for them to do when it's a long summer day, the laundry is 5 loads high, and I just need something for them to do for 10 minutes.

It's hard to see other moms/bloggers sharing all of their cute little projects and not get envious or feel down right bad about your lack of craft/creative abilities.  But, for me, crafting is a release. It's a de-stress. And I love sharing what I do. I've made a small, small extra income because people have paid me to make things for them after they've seen what I can do. I've decorated to my home frugally. I've helped other moms with ideas of fun activities they can do with their kiddos.

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel." - Steve Furtick

This blog IS my highlight reel, and my behind the scenes aren't pretty, but my life it better because of the ideas I gather and create from on Pinterest.

Linking up with Mommy Mondays
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