Hosting a family event

Oh hey!

I'm hosting my family for Easter lunch tomorrow.

ARGH!!!!!

It's not so bad really. I'm doing my best not to over-analyze things, like I normally do.

I did spent today cleaning from top to bottom. I also did the laundry.

Thankfully, my Mom got the kids around 2:45pm this afternoon to take them to our church's Easter Egg Hunt. It's actually 6:57pm and my Mom just called to let me know that they were coming home.

Yes. They've been gone for over FOUR hours! I was able to finish up the laundry and go to the grocery store for some additional items.

So what am I serving tomorrow? I'm fixing some crock-pot ham, stuffed mushrooms, homemade baked mac-n-cheese, quinoa, and some steamed veggies. My Mom is probably going to bring some stuff even though I didn't ask her to. My sister is bringing some pasta and dessert. She's a baker. I have no idea what she's going to make, but whatever it is it's going to be yummy.

The kids' are so happy that they're going to see their older cousins. They just love hanging out with them. And I enjoy watching them all get along now. Yes. There were some issues between my son and my youngest nephew when they were little. My nephew was jealous or something about my son and wasn't very nice to him. There was some knocking down and unkind words. The two get along famously now that they're 8 and 11 AND about the same height.

Anyway, I'll be awake bright and early tomorrow to get the food cooked. I'm thinking 5am would be the best start time. The ham has got to cook for at least 6 hours, so that'll have it finished by the time we get back from church. I'll prep the mac-n-cheese so that I can just throw it into the oven when we get back. I'll get the mushroom stuffing all prepped as well so that I can get those into the oven when we get back as well. And then I'm going to make the quinoa and the veggies fresh. I think it'll be a nice time for us all.

What I don't enjoy about the whole thing is that I'm the only one getting stuff together. Normally for parties, the Hubs would be helping me clean and doing the food shopping. This time? It's just me. So I'm missing him a lot. A. LOT. But thankfully my family will be around me. Even though my heart is aching, I won't be alone. And that means a great deal to me.

Acting like kids & being silly

While my children can be at each other's throats at times. They can totally play together in the most silly ways.

They have a shorthand communication where they know how to move a "game" along.

I was working on the computer while I was watching a movie while they played. Then when I turned around.  THIS was the first image I saw.

What the HECK is on my girl's head?

It's a pair of "earmuffs" that my son created during art class that my daughter re-purposed into a "facemask". You can see the lightsaber she's flung over her shoulder. What you don't fully see is the messenger bag she's got over her shoulder with all her supplies. That's a plastic snake wrapped around her waist like a belt. Then she's got her foot in a bucket to simulate a pegleg. That's right folks. A pegleg. Like a pirate. Don't you love her serious face below?

While my daughter went all out in her creation, my son went the more traditional route.

While my daughter does a serious face? My son always makes a comical one. Can they be any more opposite?

But the two of them played for about 3 hours before they had to take a break from each other.

It's just funny listening to them "act" out their scenarios. For a while there I had the movie on mute while I just listened to them chitter-chatter with each other.

I love it when they get along. It makes me so thankful that they are my kids. THAT and the relief that I didn't have to referee. Right?

Costs a pretty penny to stay hydrated

I live in an area that has horrible tap water. HORRIBLE.

As a kid, we drank water from the tap. And I hated it. I didn't like the taste at all.

Now as an adult, I realize why growing up I didn't enjoy drinking water.

Because the quality of the water from the tap was horrible.

Like it is now.

When the Hubs and I bought our first house in the desert, we invested in an RO system.

I must tell you that the water tasted wonderful.

But I thought water didn't have a taste, you ask?

You'd taste the difference if you'd been drinking tap water your whole life.

When the kids and I moved here, I didn't want to have to buy bottled water every week - it's so darn HEAVY!

My solution? One of those water filter systems.

Fine and dandy.

But we drink a lot of water when we're home and this little container just couldn't keep up.

So I started to research other water systems.

I mean, the kids and I mainly drink water. We don't do a lot of juice. We don't do soda. Yeah, we're pretty boring.

I realized that one system I'd read about was far better than any other I could find at a regular store (versus getting something online).

And after a week of contemplation? I bought it.

Yes, I did!

Not only does it filter out more contaminants, it's got a much larger reservoir.

In this scenario, bigger is better.

What's even more interesting is that this particular unit came with a water testing mechanism.

I tested water from the tap and it registered 464.

I tested water from my original unit and it registered 333.

I then tested the new unit and it registered 0. ZERO!

Needless to say, I am mighty impressed with the results.

And even though the filters cost 1 1/2 times of the original unit, I think the end result it worth it.

Less junk in my kids' system, you know?

Everything I do is for them...

Long day ahead

It's 5:34am right now.

Many of you wake up around this time every weekday to get ready for work and get your dis ready for school.

The big problem?


I woke up at 4am and could not go back to sleep.

FOUR O'CLOCK!!!

My eyes are going to be tired today.

I can already feel it.

I typically drink decaf but today I'm going to need some caffeine.

Oh yeah!

Big time.

And now?

It's time for me to make some sandwiches for the kids and throw some stuff together for myself as well.

Then it'll soon be time for me to rouse my sleeping children.

The kids were on Spring Break this past week, so I'm sure they'll be kind of horrible this morning. You parents KNOW what I'm about.

But we'll get back into the groove.

No worries.

But I'm definitely going to need some strong coffee today.

A bit of quiet for my restless spirit

No news about my husband and finding a new job.

So my mind?

It's been endlessly shifting between being upset and then being okay.

I try my hardest to be okay and fine when I'm with the kids.

Then I'm alone in bed at night and there are times when I let my mind go into despair mode.

When I do get into that kind of mood, I do allow myself to bit upset for a little while.

But then I try to read some inspirational verses from my Bible and finish with prayer.

I mean, that's all I can really do.

It's up to the Hubs to keep looking and get a job.

I can't do that for him.

My job is to keep the kids occupied and happy AND to keep the home fires burning here.

[sigh]

But I did sign up the Bear for football this Fall.

The Princess is all signed up for middle school.

AND I started working out a little bit this weekend.

Yes, I did!

Some sit-ups and pushups.

The Bear kept me company today when I ventured out on a 3-mile walk that had a nice hill in it.

It felt so good to be outside on such a beautiful day!

I've definitely got to continue to do this for myself, you know?

I may just make an "appointment" for myself to take a walk/job about 2 days a week before I pick up the kids from school, which means not staying late at work.

It'll be a little snippet of quiet in my week that I definitely need. 

What happens when no one says anything?

My son is a person who doesn't complain about much.

He's pretty easy-going about most things.

He just goes with the flow.

Oh! Except when we doing errands. And then it's all about the dragging feet and sighing behind me.
 
Are we done yet?

We were walking to a store and I noticed that he was walking strange.

Me: Why are you walking funny, buddy?
Bear: I am?
Princess: It's because his shoes are broken.
Me: Your shoes are broken?
Bear: Yeah. The bottom is a little broken.

I had him lift his shoe and I immediately chose to head on over to the shoe store that day.

Y'all? His shoes were a mess. It wasn't just he one shoe. BOTH shoes were "broken". Look how abused the shoes are.

The bottoms were just a mess. Can you see the HOLES?

No wonder my son was walking funny. And no wonder that he was trying to avoid puddles (which would make his socks wet).

I felt like such a bad mother. I should have been checking his shoes. But I figured he would tell me if there were any issues.

I should have figured that his participation in running club would put some quick wear-n-tear on his shoes. He runs every Tuesday and Thursday at recess. I mean, he's already accumulated 50 miles for the school year. You'd think the lightbulb would click on in my brain, eh?  Sucky Mom Award! 

Thankfully, we were able to find two pairs of shoes for him at the first store we stopped at. That's an amazing achievement since he's got duck feet like me. Yes. WIDE feet! And the new shoes are one full size larger than what he was wearing. Ay-yay-yay!

Here are both pairs in all their clean glory. Because these things are going to get some immediate abuse.