Everyday Life

May was a doozy.  Tough in a million little ways.  I’m glad to see it fading in the rearview mirror of my mind.

We may not know what Andy wants to specialize in, but, after his month-long ER rotation, we know it’s not Emergency Medicine.  The ups and downs of that schedule were not for us.

No thank you!

June is proving to be better all around.  Summer is my favorite and even though it hasn’t officially begun, we’ve already had some very fun summery days.

We were invited to go swimming with Grace’s preschool friends one sunny evening last week.  Grace was infinitely more brave than she was last summer, and she beamed with pride at her own courage.  Avery played it safe along the edges, which allowed me to keep a close eye on her without having to get into the pool since Drew was planted firmly on my hip, squinting his sensitive baby blues as the sun went down.

We’ve spent long days in the yard and eaten dinner on the patio.  Salmon, corn on the cob and veggie kabobs were followed with fresh pineapple for a summery dinner that pleased every last one of us.  I pretty much want to grill all the food as soon as June hits.

Andy is tidying up our garden beds, adding fresh mulch, and finally installing some edging after years of debating whether it was worth it.

It’s totally worth it :)

I can’t wait for him to have a chance to finish up the job.  It looks so nice and makes me want to sit outside all day admiring it.

I’ve been weeding as though my life depended on it.  As much as weeding can be a pain, I’ve found it to be oddly therapeutic.  I find my mind wandering to the many ways my spirituality is like a garden.

In gardening, negligence is a breeding ground for weeds of all kinds to thrive and choke out the good.  I find this to be so true when I neglect spiritual disciplines like prayer, bible reading, and meditation.

Then there are some weeds that look so tall and threatening, but they’re really no big deal.  They have shallow roots and practically leap out of the soil as soon as you give them a little tug.  This reminds me of the obstacles in my life that feel overwhelming, but aren’t really such a big deal at all once I determine to give them a tug.

Deep thoughts with Rebecca in the garden :)

There’s just something about coming inside after a whole day in the back yard.  Clothes smelling like sunshine.  Kids sleepy from all the exertion.  It all makes me smile.

Another thing making me smile lately is Avery’s new haircut…

I cannot resist a little girl with a bob.  It’s so neat and adorable.  I’m glad Andy had the idea to get Avery’s hair cut now before she develops an opinion about it like big sister who wants Rapunzel hair.  Lord help me.

Drew used to sleep on his belly (taboo, I know, but he loved it) and now that he’s more mobile he will roll onto his side sometimes.  I just love sneaking a peek (on the video monitor) of him sleeping and I smile when I see him like this…

The little hands!  The leg and foot!  The diapered bottom!  I can’t even handle the cute.

Drew smiles at just about everything…

That face.  OMG.

I smile watching Grace spend HOURS drawing and coloring at the dining room table.  Her love for art has really blossomed in the past few weeks and it’s a joy to watch her create.  We updated her art stash with a giant box of fresh crayons and a new set of water color paints.  We bought a fat new coloring book and a ream of white paper too.  These simple supplies have provided hours upon hours of entertainment for her.  I found a YouTube channel dedicated to “how to draw” videos that are perfectly tailored to young artists.  Grace has had a ball working her way through each of the videos.  This Mickey Mouse was one of the early products of the video tutorials and I was so impressed with it!

Her passion and talent make me smile.

I’ve had very generous friends watch the kids lately and I’m overwhelmed by their help.  Andy and I were able to sneak off to Lansing for a scholarship dinner thanks to a good friend and my sister for taking care of all 3 kids.  Another friend took the girls for an entire day and I only had Drew to care for (which feels like a vacation let me tell you!) and I smiled as I sat outside with a good book and refreshing drink while my little mister took his afternoon nap…

Just the other day I read a sample of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and I was so hooked by the few paragraphs I read that I instantly had to purchase the ebook.

I read the whole thing in a day, and I felt like Marie Kondo was inside my head putting words to all of my frustrations.

I often joke about being a hoarder, but it’s actually not very funny.  I have entirely too much stuff and I probably spend 30% of each day hating the stuff, stressing about the stuff, trying to organize the stuff, cleaning around the stuff, or downright feeling overwhelmed by the stuff.

After reading this book, I’m THRILLED at the idea of taking care of this problem once and for all.  The author boasts that very few of her clients ever relapse after properly tidying their homes.

SIGN ME UP.

If I had 3 weeks of alone time to devote to properly tidying my home (aka getting rid of probably half of all we own) I’d be all over it like white on rice.

I don’t happen to have that kind of unencumbered time, so I plan to carve out what time I can and get to work getting rid of everything and anything that doesn’t “spark joy” –  the process that Kondo details in her book.

I may even have a garage sale despite the fact I’m a die-hard “donate everything” gal.  I just don’t know that it would be feasible to transfer everything I want to purge all the way to the donation site.  I may just get it out onto the driveway and sell it all for super cheap.

I’ll keep you posted on the great tidying of 2015.  I think I’m done being a hoarder once and for all.

Clutter is awful and I just don’t have the mental or physical time for it anymore!

Stay tuned…