Weekly Wrap-Up: Trauma

• In my life this week…The big news this week is that I finally started my new job.  I applied in May, but our hospital has been expanding and I had to wait until the new additions were complete...then I had to wait to train someone new on my old floor before I moved to my new floor.  I actually had a good time training someone, really liked the person, and am now training under someone I really like...8 weeks of not having my own patients... think there will be trouble when I'm on my own again?  ;) It's a big, scary step for me, but something I've wanted to do for a long time.  I'm around people I really like, and who can teach me a lot.  Hopefully the "trauma drama" won't be too much for my emotions.  And above all, hopefully, I'll learn quickly all the new things I have to learn!
• In our homeschool this week… I'm not sure how I've done it, but since we've started back to school, we've managed to stay on schedule!  It's amazing, and I'm so thankful for all the help I've had from my husband and MIL.  I know without them my precious schedule would have long been long forgotten.  The girls were sick this week, so I did bump their schedule, but with K and 1st, I feel like I can be a lot more flexible.  They had 2 sick days... Mom had 2 "get it together" days!
• I am inspired by… There are certain people I know at work (and outside of) that are just incredibly intelligent nurses. They can answer almost any question I have, think quickly, and have amazing critical thinking skills.  I wish I could be like that, but my brain is not a sponge...more like a colander! LOL!
• My favorite thing this week was…  This is silly, but it was a much needed confirmation.... at work one of the respiratory therapists couldn't "place" me.  He knew he knew me, but couldn't figure out where from.  Of course, I told him I transferred, and he figured it out.  He made several comments about how bad it has been on my old floor lately (yeah, I know!).  This really made me think about how glad I was to be moving to a smaller unit with a really tight team.  But the kicker, and quite honestly boost to my confidence, was when I said to the other therapist, "I think I'll be ok down here"....he turned around and said, "Oh yeah, I always thought you would be good down here!"  Ya'll... I really needed to hear that!
• What’s working/not working for us…  Just a note to say that my goal of making Bible study the most important thing, is being carried out...and that my kids are really enjoying Stick Figuring Through the Bible (Esther) and want to continue with this Bible study.  Amazingly, they love our hymn study and Scripture memory as well! I'm so encouraged.
• Things I’m working on… The pinterest bug has hit me... about once a year I start feeling crafty and here it is.  I have accomplished a few things I've already shared, and am now working on a few more.  Today my mom and I are getting together for a crafting day.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures of things I can post.  I have a list....wonder how far down I'll make it!

For those of you who are working and homeschooling:  I've truly been amazed at how God has given me the opportunity to prove that He can do all things through me!  My husband always says that sounds "cliche`" but, truly, how else would you explain working 30-50 hours/week and still staying on your schedule?  How else can you explain this being the first year ever to keep up with your schedule and grades in an organized way (thank you soooo much Scholaric!)? How else do you explain the house only being a partial mess, and the kids being fed daily (mostly 6 times/day), and the animals all being alive??? Seriously, to say that it was me would be a lie.  I average 4-6 hours a sleep daily, some days more, some days less, and am barely functioning on any given day... but God is helping me by sending me others, giving me resolve I've not experienced before, and a loving husband who is constantly encouraging me!  I certainly am not the most creative, organized, supermom out there...but I am the most blessed mom in the world!  Even though things aren't the way I imagined them, you know, bon-bons and soap operas (hehe), they are far better....flour fights, crafts, gymnastics, Uno on Sunday mornings...bon-bon eating moms, eat your heart out!

Weekly Wrap Up: Keeping it Real

Well, I didn't meet my goal of at least 2 posts a week, but in my defense, I've been really sick!  As a nurse and mom, I don't do sick very well...though, I must be getting better at it because I got a ton of stuff done!  I did spend much of the day in bed on Tuesday which is the day I'd usually try to write my 2nd post, or 1st, however you want to look at it.

So, this week was our last of our short 2 week break.  :(  Seriously, unschooling sounds like so much fun!  We still had a lesson in saponification!  My mom and her friends came over, gave us a chemistry lesson and we made soap.  We learned about the exothermic reaction the lye makes when placed in water, and that saponification (soap making...and a really cool "big word") started around 2500 BC....I'm curious to know what they did before then?  We made glycerin soaps in the shape of skulls and crossbones and some lye soaps with different scents. I cannot decide on a favorite, honeysuckle, oatmeal and honey, special edition vanilla (different from your usual vanilla) are all at the top of my list, but we made a few more too.  Apparently I have to turn them every day for a couple of weeks, but that side of my kitchen smells really good.  My mom is so excited and wants to start a business with me!  I guess we'll see what happens. Hubby is on board.... I'm growing time on trees, instead of money of course!

This week we also saw my grandparents (2 sets) for lunch, had Hubby away overnight for his internship, had a "kid swap" with a friend so each mom could have time alone, made a trip to the "big library," and accomplished massive amounts of planning and plodding- nay, trudging through cleaning out the school room!  UGH... will it ever be done!?  Today I believe it will... if I finish, I'll add pictures in this post.

I also did one other thing... my mom actually yelled at me saying, "You know, the rest of us just pin stuff on pinterest and let it sit there.  You're making us look bad by doing the things you pin!!!" *Giggle!  That made me feel good...when do I ever get to do things special and extra? This week was full of them!  For the girls, I made "lampshades" out of plastic punch cups by covering them with material I bought at WM.  I then put slits in the bottom, and stuck lights through them.  I hung up one set on their bed, and have to find a place to hang the other set...I think they look pretty good.  

Yes, I snuck in while they were sleeping to take this pic!

Pretty cool, huh?!

My week at home ended with making chocolate chip cookies and going to Moms to use her cricket to complete our new chore chart....let's just say, I'm not a fan of gluing! This morning (Friday) I will finish up the planning and cleaning of the school room.... UGH!  Then, begins my 4 in a row!  Double UGH!!!  But, as the kind lady at the dollar store pointed out, only 6 more paychecks till Christmas!  :)


WARNING! WARNING!  This is where it gets real. IF you want to continue to think I'm the neatest person ever (snicker, snicker), stop reading HERE!

So, as I was eating breakfast, one in which I had to trick the children into thinking they had enough by making silver dollar pancakes because we didn't have enough bisquick, I realized just how awesome I made myself sound in this post... Ha!  That's funny!  I remembered the reason I started this blog wasn't to make myself look good, but to be real!  So, while yes, we did some really cool stuff this week, here is where I failed... I didn't make one homemade dinner! Or lunch! Today was the first breakfast I made all week! This after singing praises about different things I use to help in this area (here)! My school room still looks like it is under construction.  While I started planning and made good progress, I don't have much hope I'll actually finish.  My living room is and has been a disaster since, well, I don't know when.  Below is a picture of my work table in the living room....mind you, this is after most of the planning has been completed and it is about 2/3 smaller than it was before I thought to take a picture...  It had been my goal to get this area cleaned up too, but I'm not extremely hopeful for that either.  I have yelled at my children.  I did not take a shower yesterday.  I am truly real.  I told Hubby, I can do neat/fun things with kids, school, and maintain some order (though not sure where it is) OR fix meals... I can't seem to do both.  I have just decided I want our family relationships to come first.  I never want my kids to feel like a clean house was more important that them.... they should definitely think that!  Please join in my excitement with the fun we've had this week, be encouraged that all the bloggers out there are "real" people and we can't see the whole picture of their lives.  Be encouraged to spend every minute you can building relationships with your chilies and leading them to the Lord, whether it be through meals, cleaning, school, fun projects, or even, saponification! 

See! I'm real, with real messes that last for weeks and weeks...can't remember when I last saw that little table!

I am, as always, eternally grateful for the wonderful times, the mess, and the awesome family God gave me to share all this with!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  Blessings!

OK....It's done!!! Woohooo wooohooo!!! See why it is such an accomplishment here.

AND, while I didn't get to clean up my area in the living room, Little Bit straightened it somewhat! Sweet girl!

Linking up with Kris!  Run over to her site and check out this awesome giveaway!
 




And linking with:

Let's Talk About Food

Okay... so we all love to eat.  We all need to eat.  But for me, food is truly a love-hate relationship.  When I first got married, I loved to cook.  It was fun to surprise my hubby with new meals every night.  Of course, he stayed toothpick thin while I packed on the pounds!  No fair!  As the children came along, the new meals every night became more of a chore, and we now have a few select favorites.  Then you get bored with your favorites.... as life gets busy, it is just easier to grab something fast or go out to eat... also a love hate relationship.  While I love eating out, it is harder to make good choices, and of course, more expensive.

Over the years, I've made grocery list after grocery list. I've scourged the internet for more and more simple recipes.  I've tried really hard to make a plan, stick to it, waste less, eat out less, and provide healthy meals for my family.  I've also tried losing the weight gained in the first year of marriage and with each pregnancy.

In the last year, I've lost 50 pounds, and have kept it off.  While I did begin my loss with a juice fast brought on by watching Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead, I've had help from a few other sources.  First, Skinny Taste has countless low calorie, healthy recipes that are now on our new favorites list.  Never have I tried one of Gina's recipes and been disappointed! They're wonderfully delicious.... and she uses a lot of cilantro, which we love. (If I believed in reincarnation, I'm sure I was Mexican before this life!)

The second tool that has helped as far as my weight loss has been Myfitnesspal.  It is a great site and has an ap for your phone where you can log your food.  Logging food has proven to be a major factor in successful weight loss. Myfitnesspal has a ton of foods already in their list.  I can put in hummus from 2 or 3 different brands, and they will already be there with nutritional info ready.  I select the one I want and add it to my list.  I can plug in my own recipes and it will give me nutritional info for that, or I can add a new food to the list by plugging in the nutritional info on the label.  The ap is handy when you are out to eat and want to know how many calories in a specific restaurant's dish.  It lets you know how many calories you have left to eat. Oh- and you can track your exercise and how many calories you've burned from that!  I love it... now if I could just get back to using it, and losing again!  I did lose weight when I was faithful with logging my foods! You can also have friends and leave them encouraging messages! It's great! By the way, this site is completely FREE!!!

Lastly, on the grocery shopping side of the food dilemma...  Being as I don't experience weekends the way most of you do, finding time to make a list and shop is very challenging.  Last week we ate out a ton because I hadn't shopped (big shopping) for 2 weeks(almost 3 now)!  Thank God for freezers and fast food!  One day, in desperation, I came across SayMmm.  I was floored that someone had created this and was sharing it for FREE! Woohoo!  SO, with SayMmm you can plan your meals.  Most of the meals I've used from Skinny Taste are already loaded into the database, so I can simply link the meal to my calendar.  Then, all the ingredients go directly to my shopping list.  Spices, and things you normally have on hand go in the "check pantry" section and you can simply click to add them to your list if you are running low and need to replace them.  I can also add my own recipes.  It does take a minute or to add the recipe and all the ingredients, but you only have to do it once.  There is also a database of recipes you can use; you can search by ingredient or title, or browse for fun.  You "click" the recipe to add it to your plan.  Once your weekly plan is on your nice calendar, you can view the entire calendar, one day, one month, or one week at a time.  Then you "create list".  SayMmm takes all your ingredients for all your recipes in that time frame you set, and creates you a list!!!!  You can choose to arrange it by recipe or by store sections, for example: dairy, produce, frozen, etc.  There are some "premium" options I have not used, but I believe they will estimate your cost and calories!  Fantastic.  Oh, and did I mention that all but the premium options are FREE!!!

I try to make my list when I'm at work and give it to hubby to shop for me.  Then, he can go to the website and find out what's for dinner, print the recipe and have it ready before I go to work!  Yippee!!! Easy, FREE, and wonderfully helpful. 

The last thing I do to help with our crazy schedule, is organize a casserole swap.  Every 6 weeks or so, my FB homeschooling group gets an invite to participate in the casserole swap.  I've just sent out the invite to our 3rd event.  About 6-7 people have been signing up, which is just right.  So, you make 6-7 of the same casserole and then exchange them on one evening.  It works out great.  Every Tuesday, I pull one out of the freezer and stick it in the oven before we leave for gymnastics... Hubby gets home a little later and pulls it out when it is done.  And...tada! Dinner is served, just add salad!

Maybe some of these things will be helpful to you!  Happy meal planning!!!

Linking up with Darlene

Weekend Special

Well... I'm sooo excited, and sad! I just spent the entire weekend with my family!!! AWAKE too! A whole weekend! As I mentioned here, I work most Friday and Saturday nights.  I do this so our school weeks can be as normal as possible.  BUT, as you read in my other post, I worked 3 on 1 off 1 on... torture, but it freed up my weekend.

Originally we were going to go to the homeschool conference.  Instead, the girls spent the night with a friend, and my son was with my mom.  We had an entire night alone together.... it was great!  I can't remember the last time we had real alone time.  We went to dinner, rented a movie... I even slept in!  All the way to 0730!  HAHA!  Yes people, for me that is sleeping in!   Once the kids came home, we went to the bookstore, out to eat (3 times in one weekend...I was truly spoiled!) and came home....this is the fun part.... the girls cleaned the inside and the boys cleaned the outside (and our neighbor's yard). I slept in today too... to about 0739! Then, I got to go to church with my family, take an afternoon nap, grocery shop, and watch a family movie... We Bought a Zoo... many tears over that one, but it was good.

I know that probably doesn't sound amazing to you guys.  For most of you, it's probably a pretty typical weekend.  But, of all the things I miss the most about my former (pre-work) life, weekends are pretty close to the top of the list.  And, when I have one off, it's usually because we have something to do.  It is a very rare weekend where we can hang out and watch movies, clean the house, and go to church together. Very rare, indeed.  I'm so glad we got to enjoy this time together and that this week, I don't have to try to squeeze it all in to 5 days!

 

Predictability....

WOW!  What a week I've had.  The kids had VBS this week, so I thought I'd relish the time alone starting with cleaning the house!  I thought this would take 2 days to do a really good job.  Then, I planned to plan for school, and get things set up for a unit study/lap book about the Olympics.... Well.... it took ALL WEEK to get the house cleaned how I wanted it!  All week!!!  On Wednesday, I began to become disheartened, thinking this job was never ending.  Plus, one of my daughters decided she didn't like VBS and stayed home with me Thursday and Friday.  This week was not shaping up to be anything like what I had planned....come to think of it, neither is my life shaping up according to my plans!!!

Besides the cleaning, I ran errands daily!  I didn't manage to cook one meal, other than breakfast, which of course means a big dent in our budget.  I'm not going to lie... I was totally frustrated.  I was working my tail off, and not really seeing any progress. UGH!  Today, as I was mowing the lawn (more work....) and complaining to myself about who should really be doing this, about the FL heat, about the sweat, my wrists hurting, and etc., etc, I realized I truly should be thankful.  I remember moving into this house and how God saved it for us for 12 years!  Almost all of the things inside have been given to us. Thank God I have a house to clean, kids to pick up after, a lawn to mow, garage full of stuff! I pray that I can be a better steward of the things I have. I pray I can teach my kids how to be good stewards of the things they have.  I pray that I can lighten the burdens of my husband as I mow the lawn and prepare meals and prepare to go to work.  In addition to giving me things, thank you Lord for my health and the ability to take care of them.  I pray God will forgive me for complaining. Help me to relinquish control when things don't go as I planned.

Apparently, I had a lot of time to think while I was mowing the lawn.  I was thinking then, that this weather is just crazy!  We went from drought, to flood in as little as 3 days!  We went from cool mornings with a nice breeze and warm afternoons, to sticky, muggy HOT...like hottest days of the year!  I was thinking how God is good to show us that He is in control of the unpredictable weather- and just as much in control of my unpredictable life.  Just like the weather, I can't do anything about it.... I can only change my attitude towards it- and that only with Him!

Why

Why...

It was quite humbling to sit across the table at dinner the other night from an old ex-friend. This friend was one whom I was sure I had immortally wronged about 10 years ago.  A friend that had been so close and then had become one of my "worst enemies".  Truly over something silly. But I was right!  And, so was she!  As we humbly sat across from each other (apologies had previously been given and accepted) I felt so embarrassed that I had ever acted that way....and that there was someone sitting there that knew how I could act!  I've done an excellent job hiding my messiness, my sin, the real me!  Even the mess in my house gets cleaned before I have company over...even the ones I love and trust!

So- three of us sat there at dinner, and we talked about how the blogs of our homeschool friends, and supermoms we don't know, always show those perfect clean-cut pictures...and why doesn't someone have a blog that exposes the mess?  SO- it has been born!

I love God as much as I possibly can....though often forget!  I am a homeschool mom of three, learning that my life is about constant sacrifice, and that some days I love it...some days, not so much.  I work two nights a week from 7p-7a as a nurse at our local hospital!  I still manage to do some pretty cool things, like field trips to the movies, make cookies, coordinate spelling bees, and more (all done this week!!!).  I am not a great housekeeper.... thank God for the children and husband who help with that quite a bit!  In fact I will post 2 pictures of my worst spots tonight and ask you to remember that there are 2 pairs of shoes, blankets, pillow, Lysol all purpose cleaner, a bag of books, a vacuum, a chair full of construction paper and more things out of place, JUST in the room I'm sitting in!!!

My point in exposing the mess, is to reveal my need for Him who washes all white as snow, to remind ME that I need Him, to remind me with Him, I can be a supermom....not because of who I am, but because of who He is and because I am His!  With Him and His help, I have accomplished a lot, even if the house is a wreck!  Lastly, this is to remind me to be content with the mess.  Life is messy BUT without the mess, I wouldn't need my wonderful, sweet Jesus!!!