bits of sunshine

i have this girl

 

and she just makes me smile

i am so very blessed to be her mom.  so very blessed.

Present yourself always
As who you would be,
And that is the person
The world will see.
~Robert Brault

a strange sort of normal

my life is settling into a strange sort of normal.  this working nights thing is, well, very strange. my shifts are 10:45 pm till 7:15 am.  i am working while my family is sleeping three nights of each week. 

i like it best when i work a few shifts in a row, then have a few in a row off.  for instance, this week.  i worked monday, tuesday and wednesday nights.  now i'm off till sunday night.  we were able to have a rhythm this week.  tuesday morning i left a little list for my kiddos of stuff to do (including eat breakfast and drink water).  there were a few chores on the list and a few fun things to do.  the bottom of the list said wake me up at 1:00.  they rocked.  they ate and drank and cleaned and played and woke me up at 1:30.  :)  wednesday morning one of our very favorite babysitters came and picked up the kids and took them to her grandparents' farm for the morning.  thursday morning maddie and isaac got to go spend time with some sweet extra grandparents.  each morning i got between 3 and 5 hours of sleep. 

each afternoon we did a few chores together and then played outside.  (the weather, by the way, has been AWESOME!  60's and partly sunny.  just awesome.)  we have been rockin' the yard work.  hauling rocks (maddie and isaac are growing into such great helpers), moving and raking mulch, planting our vegetables.  we've also been eating our lunches and suppers outside.  and the kiddos have been riding bikes and playing in the sand box. 

i've been making sure that i keep up with the dishes.  it's so much easier to do them after each meal than it is to do a pile later on.  i load some into the dishwasher and wash a few by hand.  it is so nice to come in the door to a clean kitchen.  and a picked up living room.  the kids' rooms aren't perfect, but they aren't terrible.  same with ben's and my room.  but the main part of the house is really nice, and that makes me feel good.  it makes my family feel good too.

days when i don't work, the kids and i get up together, eat breakfast and do different bits of schoolwork mixed in with little chores.  for example: we do a load of laundry in between history and writing.  i let them go ride bikes for 15 minutes in between math and reading.  we eat a snack between writing and math.  this has been working great!

so, we basically get a week where we are able to do four or five days of school work, and then a week with only a day or two.  this, so far, has been working really well.  i think we will just continue right on through the summer.  sort of a week on, week off with the book and written work.  i basically work every other weekend and then 3 shifts every other week.  the weeks when i need to sleep on weekday mornings, i just make sure to use any life-lesson moments that i sense presented to us.  i guess i do that all the time . . .   maddie reads to herself and/or to isaac every day.  and last night, before bed, maddie had her math book out - all on her own - and just got down to business and did 4 pages.  today she got out her writing book and worked away for a while.  

both the kids are starting to take initiative in areas that will make our life together as a family more pleasant.  they are getting so much better at picking up, not only after themselves, but just things they notice that need to be picked up.  this is a huge blessing to me and makes me feel like i am a good teacher and they are good learners.  this morning i put a load of laundry in and started picking up the living room.  isaac went into the mudroom and tidied up the shoes (his own and his sister's) and hung up some jackets that he and maddie had left on the bench and the floor.  maddie came bumping up the stairs with the vacuum and vacuumed all the edges and corners for me, so that by the time i had moved a few things around, all that was left to do was vacuum the middle of the floor.  then we were all able to go outside together.  i think they are getting it that if we all pitch in on the chores, we all get to play together more.  and bless their little hearts, they love it when the three of us, and even better, when ben is home, the four of us get to do things together.  even if some of the togetherness is chores (taking care of our lives and home).  together is best.

we've all been making changes and compromises to make me having a job work for us.  ben is awesome with the kids on the weekends that i work.  i think that all of our chores are becoming more of a family effort than something that mom is in charge of.  ben is also awesome about trying to allow me to get enough sleep.  i admit, when i get out of bed a 1:00 or 1:30 in the afternoon i sort of feel like a slob.  but then i remind myself that i have to sleep sometime.  (i tell myself stuff like: i am not super-human.  i'm very human.  and i need my rest.  i will get sick and cease to function if i don't sleep.  this is normal.  i'm just not sleeping when normal people sleep.  if normal people worked all night, they'd sleep during the day, too.)  the nights when i do get to crawl in bed with my husband and my kiddos are all tucked in for the night, instead of taking it for granted, it is a huge treat, something i am immensely grateful for. 

this post, written by a blogger i appreciate, made the statement: Basically, homeschooling is a full time job (I knew this going in to it), generating a decent income is also a full time job (I did not anticipate I'd be doing this while homeschooling), then asked the question: How do you do it? Have you seen others do it well and can share your observations?  the comments are chock full of great thoughts and ideas.  i'm still reading over there and gleaning some more helpful hints.  the main thing for me has been to realize that the normal for our family is going to be different than the normal for most other people that i know.  and that's o.k.  and my kids aren't going to turn out weird because their mom works some nights and their life isn't like most other kids their age.  their life isn't going to be like most other kids their age anyway.  we are us.  we are doing our best with the life we've been given.  really.  most days i can say that we've done our best.  and that is a good feeling.  normal or not.  :)

Blooming Where I'm Planted

A little sunshine and springtime go a long way in aiding the blooming process. 

In an outside-of-me sense, this was our house this winter   notice the very unfinished paint job around the front door . . .

this is our house now, after a sunny afternoon  notice the very finished paint job around the front door! 

We are planted here.  This house is going to bloom.  One little project at a time.

In an inside-of-me sense, this phrase "Bloom Where You're Planted" is creating tension for me.  In a good way.  It is such a cliche and I don't really like cliches.  In fact, at times I downright detest them.  But, I read a post with this title on another blog recently, and I've been mulling it over.  It is resonating with me.  I've been exploring all the stuff in my head and my soul, figuring out what is worth time and effort, what will last, what's important.  I'm wanting strength and contentment, not the weakness that comes from too much stress and uncertainty.  These thoughts are coming along, and I'm grateful that I'm on the way to figuring some of this out right now, while I'm 31, I've been married for almost 10 years, and my kiddos are 6 + 7.  There's lots of time to put into practice the results of this soul-searching.

“Bloom where you are planted” is one of those old tried and true aphorisms, and can sound an awful lot like “make the most of what you’ve got and where you’re at."  This past year has been full of changes.  Some anticipated and happy and fullfilling.  Some completely out-of-the-blue and hard and cause for bending and stretching and taking new directions.  We've been moved to totally new soil in many areas of our life . . . I could hunker down and go dormant (some days that's what I really feel like doing), or I can press ahead, find some water and a bit of sunshine to feed on and be nurtured by, make the most of where I am, and bloom.  I'm working on blooming. 

Things I'm doing that allow me to be a healthier Me.

1. Instead of just thinking about posts - I'm going to write them.  :) Like this one, now, in between other things, as I think of things to jot down.
2. Reading bits of my Bible throughout the day.  And mulling over what I'm reading. 
3. For every cup of coffee I drink, I try to drink a glass of cold water.
4. Leaving happy, upbeat encouraging notes for my friends on Facebook. 
5. Not writing so many To-Do lists.  Unless, like today, there are certain things I just can't forget.  And the whole list is very doable.  Otherwise, To-Do lists tend to overwhelm me.  And I'm the sort of person who feels like a failure if it was on my list and I didn't get it done.  Even if I had 20 things on my list for the day and only 3 or 4 of them were really doable, I'll feel like crap cause there are all these things on the list that aren't crossed off!  Lists are only for things that will wreck me if I forget them.  (An undone load of laundry won't wreck me!  Niether will an unswept floor!) 
6. Hanging more colorful, happy pictures on our walls.  Realizing that though in some areas less is more, in other areas, for me, more is more.  And this house is our home.  Forever.  I'm going to make it reflect us.
7. Realizing that because I work over-nights, random nights of the week, that my normal is going to be something very different from other people's normal.  And that's not only OK, but it's good.  It's what I've got.  And I'm going to make it work the best I can.
8. Never, ever throwing laundry from the dryer into a basket.  Always folding it as I take it out of the dryer.  Man, does this make things better.  My laundry area looks nicer, it's easy to take the properly folded piles to the proper rooms and put them away, the clothes and linens don't get nearly so wrinkled, and I never have piles and piles of laundry to fold.
9. Taking a deep breath and remembering that my kiddos are 6 and 7, and they are awesome.  This helps when they are bouncing off the walls with excitement and just generally being crazy.  Spring Fever?  I think so.  Yes, we still need discipline and order; but I better have self-control if I'm telling them to have it!
10. Drink a glass of milk every day.  So, as I tell Maddie, when I'm an old lady my bones won't crack to pieces.
11. Soaking up and enjoying the sunshine, every chance I get.
12. Listening to music.  Often and a wide variety.
13. Sewing.  Bits and pieces here and there.  Some little projects - like hemming a flour-sack towel that I can accomplish quickly.  And some bigger projects that I can keep working on a bit at a time until they're complete.
14. Having fun with my kiddos while they learn.  So they learn that learning is fun. 

What are some of your healthy goals and aspirations for mind, body and soul?