Spring Blossom Move Exhale

I was reading the latest edition of Rhythm of the Home .....and it hit me. This feeling I have welling up inside of me. Somedays I want to cry and others I just want to pack what I love in the van and run.

"Spring is the season that always sees the earth exhale. The sigh of relief as color returns, trees bud, and flowers bloom is one that is welcomed with open arms after the long, dark days of winter. "

I don't share much about this part of life. It has been confusing, endless, difficult, even maybe a relief somedays. The last time I went to church someone commented that they didn't realize he was still there. My husband has been gone. For over a year. He went searching for a job when a family member found him a place. There in that other state. The one that is not at all like this one we have lived in for so many years. My children miss their Daddy. Our little one...he doesn't even realize it so much. He just says Daddy when the phone rings.


Poppy swinging at Grandma's House.





Anguish in deciding if we should move. Anguish in accepting fate or maybe finding a new place to bloom.


Ocean swinging at Grandma's House

There are tales of gypsy blood in my veins. Of a Grandpa who rode in a covered wagon. I never settled even when finally we came back to Washington State. The place my mother grew up. The place she called home. We move on. I hope the children see the adventure. I hope they really believe that home is where the heart is.

I have been holding my breath. Worried. Avoiding reaching out to God. I am on the verge of a Great Exhale.

April 2013

It has been quiet around here.
Changes happening.
One of us found out we can't eat gluten.
A birthday.
A celebration of Christ.
New season of cleaning and hope and praying.

I woke up to the strangest sound on Easter Morning.



Oops forgot to add the water when I set the coffee the night before. Life has been really long and tiring here. I turned in my French Press and got a coffee pot with a timer. The only rule we have for mornings is to leave mama alone till she has had her coffee.



Someone beat me to it.




An egg hunt and a newly found aversion to itchy clothes. She insists on wearing what she calls her gym shirt underneath the itchy princess dress.



And, this guy is double digits now.
He was told there was one last egg.
An orange one.
He didn't believe it was for him.

Toy Rotation and what to do with all the baby blankets...

 


 To keep the toy mess down we use a toy rotation for the little ones. We use plastic bins to store away toys. Then they can pull a box out to play and just that box. Each box gets an old baby blanket. They can set out the blanket for play. If they keep most of the toys on the blanket it is pretty easy to bunch up the ends and dump them back in the box. But, an old blanket is just a fun toy or cape or tablecloth for the imaginative child.

January 2013

Here it seems to be my monthly post!  This month I bought a coffee maker.  Which seems silly to some of you.  But, I have been a mostly tea drinker and occasional French Press coffee drinker for the past few years.  I think the French Press was just too strong for my tummy anymore.  But, homeschooling and mothering five children has taken it's toll.  I bought a nice big bag of Organic Coffee, French vanilla Silk creamer, and a coffee maker with a timer.  Now it is waiting for me each morning.

I joined the Book a Week challenge at The Well Trained Mind Forums in hopes that I can get back into reading for myself.  I have been having a difficult time reading in general.  Just fitting it in to my life and then my eye sight bothering me.  I had some reading glasses which my youngest child broke a month or so back.  I was at Costco and found out that my eyesight had weakened a bit, so I picked up a pack of three glasses at a stronger level and they have indeed helped a ton.  And,  three pack means if I forget them and a certain child snatches them up, there is a spare.

I finally cracked my books open.  And, getting up before children with a cup of coffee in hand certainly has helped accomplish that.  I haven't read for personal pleasure in the last two years.  Maybe an occasional article or online junk.  But, a book in hand...no not at all.  I mean to.  But, I end up putting it off or I am too tired.  And, that was a season in life.  One of those times wherever indeed, having a family especially a larger than average size family, does mean you have to set aside what you want sometimes.  Don't throw a big fit.  Just put on your big girl panties, you signed up for this ride.  Some times the ride is going around a swift turn and down a really steep drop.  It is ok.  Life does go on and you will find the time to fit the fun stuff in again.

Writing a letter to Santa.

Writing a letter to Santa., a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

~inspired by Soulemama~

Big boy, Little boy.

Big boy, Little Boy., a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

I snapped this photo one night this week. My youngest wasn't tired. So, my oldest took him out into the living room and used the iPad to watch a show on Netflix. I peeked in on them and they look so big and so small. I cannot believe I have two sons so far apart. A charming life I dare say.

{this moment}

, a photo by OakBlossoms on Flickr.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

~inspired by Soulemama~