Weekly Wrap-Up: It's all starting to run together

Seriously though, I'm trying to think what all we did this week in school, and all I can think is, "The same thing we do every week."  Nothing is exciting anymore.  We are simply getting through the days until school is out.  And this is why I am not a year round homeschooler.  If I didn't have a summer break to look forward to it would make getting through school much harder! 

When I was feeling so bad I could hardly get out of bed and Hubby told me he was taking care of school I was mildly thankful.  I was feeling so bad that I didn't really care if school happened or not.  So when he told me he was taking care of it, I just kind of shrugged it off.  Now that I'm feeling better though I am so very grateful that he did that for me.  We still would have gotten through everything, it just would have been a bit more crunched.  I'm thankful for all our sakes that it won't be!

We did celebrate Hubby's birthday this week, on Monday.  Since my gift is currently waiting in Oklahoma for him, I still didn't really feel well enough to cook, and he can't have cake because of his diabetes, I felt like we were kind of just passing by the day without really celebrating him at all.  So I decided that we would call him--often--and sing happy birthday to him.  My original goal was to call every hour, but it ended up being just whenever I thought about it.  I think we ended up singing to him about 8 times during the day.  And #4 sang to him at the restaurant when we went to dinner.  He put up with it with a smile!

We also got to go to pick strawberries.  We all love strawberries so we've been looking forward to this trip for a long time.  Unfortunately, the unseasonably cold winter and extra rain we've had lately made for a bad strawberry crop.  When we went at this time last year they were nearing the end of their picking season.  This year they just started picking a week ago.  Last year we could have stood in a one foot area on the row of strawberries and filled a gallon bucket.  This year we had to walk up and down about 3 rows to get our buckets filled.  But we still had a good time picking.  And then we got to eat lunch and spend a couple of hours visiting with our friends.  It was also a gorgeous day.  Not too hot with a nice breeze every once in a while.  I'm glad we were able to go!

We were the only moms left.  There were a lot more of us!

The aftermath!

We also had co-op this morning.  As we've gotten to know everyone better we are really enjoying going.  I enjoy getting to know all the Moms better and the girls are all having fun in their classes.  Unfortunately, we've decided we're not going back next year.  I decided that starting up the homeschool choir is going to take a lot of my time and energy.  And I know myself well enough to know that when I pile too much on my plate it makes me a little crazy which means the family is going to be miserable.  So we're dialing back on the co-op, but hopefully once the choir gets established we can revisit joining again.

And this weekend is going to be spent cleaning out the suburban and getting it ready to sell.  We've been waiting for it to warm up to sell it.  So now we're trying to get it sold and buy another vehicle all before we leave to go up to Oklahoma for a Gospel Meeting.  In a week and a half.  Because that's how we roll!

Daddy of Girls

I wanted to share a conversation Hubby and I had this morning so y'all can get a glimpse as to why I love this husband of mine so much.

As Hubby was getting ready to go mow our lawn I told him he ought to take #1 and start teaching her how to mow the lawn.  I never grew up mowing our lawn when I was a kid, but then I had four brothers as well.  Now, I'm all for the "traditional" roles of men and women when it comes to what the Bible says our roles should be, but as for "the men should take out the trash and mow the lawn while the woman cooks and does laundry" mentality, neither hubby or I think that way.  Not that I'm not happy to have him mow the lawn while I do the laundry, but we do it because that's what we've decided works best, not because anyone else thinks that's how we should do things. 

So imagine my surprise when Hubby answers me by saying that he doesn't need his girls to mow the lawn for him.  I laughed and told him that even if he didn't need the help it would probably be a good life skill for them to have. 

At which point he comes back into the room he had just left to put his shoes on and told me that if his daughters have husbands who won't mow their own lawn then they (he and said husbands) were going to have problems. 

I laughed again and said that I was talking more about if our girls were ever out on their own and had their own lawn to mow.  To which he raised his eyebrows and said that that is when they would call their Daddy to come mow the lawn for them. 

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Daddy of girls in a nutshell.  And now I'm off to eat dinner cooked by Hubby and #2.  He mows and cooks!  I'm proud that he's all mine!

Finally got to use my birthday present

My birthday is exactly two weeks after Christmas.  Now that I have children that usually means that after we purchase Christmas gifts and gifts for Baby Girl #3 whose birthday is actually only 8 days after Christmas, that there is usually not a lot left to purchase gifts for me.  Hubby does his best to make sure that I get something, but it's a little hard when there is no money.

This year Hubby asked what I wanted for my birthday at the beginning of December.  At that time I was going a little stir crazy.  Usually I'm OK being home all day every day with the girls, but every so often I have had enough and I really need a break just to myself.  When he asked happened to be one of those times.  So when he asked what I wanted all I could think of was having a day to myself and a little bit of spending money to spend on whatever I wanted.  And that is exactly what I got!  Actually, he also got me a Groupon for a one hour massage, but I don't get to use that until the first part of April. 

The money has been sitting on my headboard since the first part of January, but with my sister's wedding at the beginning of March we were pretty busy and I didn't have a chance to have my day.  But now that that is behind us I finally got to go.  I did a whole lot of nothing.  I had a coupon burning in my pocket so I went shoe shopping and found a couple pairs of shoes for $25 total.  The only thing better than buying new shoes is buying new shoes and getting a great deal!  I also went to a couple of movies, browsed Hobby Lobby and sat in the shade and read a book.  I got home after the girls were in bed.  The house was clean and I had no jobs waiting for me to do. 

I enjoyed the time to myself.  Even though the cabin fever had passed, I still enjoyed shopping on my own and having no one asking me a million question for several hours.  And to be perfectly honest, I enjoyed not having to share my candy and popcorn at the movies!  But at the end of the day I wondered if I would ever request this gift of a day to myself again.  I enjoy being around other people too much.  While the peace and quiet was nice, I don't think I need it that often.  Time without kids, sure.  But I would rather spend time with Hubby or friends than be by myself. 

I am very thankful for the time I got to spend by myself.  I do feel recharged.  But I think that the next time I'm asked what I want for my birthday I'll pick something else.  Like Sees chocolate--just in case you were wondering!

If you would just tell me...

My Hubby is very good about eating whatever I make and never complaining about it.  I have watched some husbands who snarl their noses at what their wives put in front of them or just flat out refuse to eat it and I'm shocked every time.  Especially when most of those husbands don't even think about helping in the kitchen.  I think it is incredibly disrespectful for anyone, man, woman or child, to complain about food that other people have made for them.  My own children aren't even allowed to make comments about the food I make unless I ask them for their feedback, and even then they are to be respectful if they tell me they don't like it.  And heaven help them if they complain about something someone else makes for us.

OK, sorry for the soapbox, it's one of my pet peeves.  Anyway, the only time I actually remember Hubby not wanting to eat something I made was about 2 months ago when I made something that had sweet potatoes in it.  He had pushed them all over to the side and when I saw them in his bowl I raised my eyebrows and asked if he really wasn't going to eat them.  He rolled his eyes at me and proceeded to eat them all.  After which he tells me that he HATES sweet potatoes.  Not just doesn't like them, but that thinking about eating them actually makes  him kind of sick to his stomach.  I was beyond shocked.  After being married to this man for 12 years I had no idea he felt like this about sweet potatoes.  If I had known I wouldn't have cooked with them and I certainly wouldn't have questioned why he wasn't eating them.  I asked if there were any other food preferences I should know about.  He says no, but I have to wonder what else he hasn't told me.

OK, stick with me, that was just the intro to the story.  A few months ago I found a recipe on Pinterest for sourdough bread.  I enjoy making bread and rolls, especially since it is much cheaper than buying them, so I figured I would give it a go.  Well first of all, it is a pretty involved recipe.  And by involved I mean that I had to read it several times just to understand what it was that I was supposed to do.  Sourdough bread evidently involves a starter.  Some of you may know what I'm talking about.  I had no idea what it was or what I was supposed to do with it.  I finally figured it out and made the starter.

 This is from the blog where I got the recipe

So after two weeks of getting the starter going I made my first two loaves.  They weren't that impressive.  I figured out I let them rise too long.  The thing with a starter is, once you have one you just keep it in the fridge until you make more.  So I tried again a couple of weeks later and the loaves turned out pretty good.  However, I decided that since it actually takes 2 days to allow the loaves to sit and rise the way they are supposed to, and I have a hard time remembering to get them started the day before I need them, that I was going to just dump the starter and forget about sourdough bread. 

I pulled the bowl out at lunch to dump it and told Hubby what I was going to do.  He was like, "Well, OK.  If that's what you want to do."  But it was said in that "I guess that's OK, but I really don't want you to" voice.  Turns out he really likes the sourdough bread.  He told me I should know that because he's told me both times he ate it how good it was.  Apparently I'm too used to him complimenting me on my cooking.  He said I could go ahead and dump the starter if I really didn't want to mess with it anymore.  The thing is, when I know Hubby or my girls really like something, I like to make it for them.  I find satisfaction in cooking and baking things my family enjoys.  All I'm asking is for them to tell me when they like or dislike something.  Because I am apparently terrible on picking up the hints!

Date night--in the afternoon

Today Hubby and I were able to go on a date.  It's a bigger deal than you might think!  Not having any family around to watch our kids for free means we rarely get to go out by ourselves.

Love him!

  Before we moved we had a date night co-op going on with two other families.  One set of parents would watch all the children while the other two sets of parents went out for about 4 hours.  It would switch every month so that each set of parents was able to go out 2 out of the 3 months.  I was so thankful for that.  Out of the three couples, none of us had parents or grandparents anywhere close.  So anytime we wanted to go out we ended up paying more for a sitter than we spent on ourselves for the date.  So this co-op was a real blessing for us.

When we moved I assumed that it would take a while to find other families that we could do this with.  Not only does it take time to meet new families, but there is also finding people that we would trust our children with for four hours.  Luckily, one of the families at church wanted to do it with us.  We thought maybe another family would want to, but I ended up feeling like I was pressuring the Mom into doing it, so I dropped it.  Not that I blame her--she has two girls.  When it was their turn to watch all the kids they would get an extra 7 girls dumped on them.  Not the fairest trade off!  And doing it with just one other family, we decided that we would like to actually go out once a month.  So on two different weekends we trade kids and each of us get to go out each month.  I'm very excited!

I know you're desperately wondering what we did during our few hours to ourselves.  We went to Whole Foods!  No kidding!  I mean, we also used a gift card to go to PF Changs, my most favorite restaurant ever.  Then we went to Whole Foods, just to look around.  We had never been in before and figured going without kids first would probably be a good idea.  Cool store.  After spending $5 on powdered sugar and $7 for some cut fruit (that was amazing by the way) I decided that we could start shopping there if we didn't have to pay rent.  So we are now actively looking for an empty house to squat in.  I hear you can do that now.  We also stopped by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  Not exactly Sees Candy, but it'll do.  We got chocolate to go and then went to a book store, splurged and actually bought ourselves new books.  Then we sat outside with a coffee and our chocolate and read for a few minutes.  It would have been longer, but our friends watching the girls texted and said that our neighbor had come over and was acting a little weird, asking for Hubby.  Turns out she needed a little counseling.  I blame Hubby's skills in that department for our date being cut short.  Luckily it was only by about 30 minutes!

This is how we're most likely to act when no one else is watching

Overall, it was just a low key, somewhat cheap date.  But I'm so excited that we get to do this every month.  Time spent with him is the best way to spend a day!