Category: big family life

Stories of Our Boys Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023

Archaeology, big family life

If you follow both of my websites, you know that I did a top ten list for Gettingmyacttogether.com last week. I would never just shun my original website by not giving it a “Top 10 Most Popular” post too. Over the past couple of years, I have tried to take storiesofourboys.com into a more focused direction. Y’all know I started out blogging about parenting four boys, and my oldest son was absolutely not having it. He was right. You can […]

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In Search of the King and Queen Seats

4 kids, Army Wives, big family life, fall, family

One thing I appreciate about Maryland is the sheer number of state parks. Our state boasts fifty-three state and eight national parks, not bad for such a small state. There are also islands to visit in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland also borders D.C., Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Delaware, so it feels like an excellent spot for an adventurer. Not long after we moved in, I heard someone mention the King and Queen Seats at Rocks State Park, in Jarrettsville, […]

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It’s Okay to Do Absolutely Nothing When Facing Big Changes

big family life, education, family, stay-at-home mom
It's Okay to Do Absolutely Nothing When Facing Big Changes

***Ad Disclosure Statement: When you purchase through links on this website, we collect advertising fees.*** Do any of you ever feel so subconsciously overwhelmed that you just feel like doing nothing? This week I definitely did not do “absolutely nothing.” In fact, I picked up all the boys’ school-issued materials for virtual school, set up and then re-set up work areas, and figured out how to work these new Chromebooks. That was a lot of things that I DID accomplish. […]

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Successful Annual Road Trip to See Family During the Rona

4 kids, Army Wives, big family life, road trip, summer
covid road trip to see family

We make this trip down south to see our family every single year. Alan had to switch jobs back in June, so this year we pushed the pilgrimage back to August. I kept thinking by August “things” would be better. But alas, August is here, and things still look like a bowl of mush. Alan had to get special permission to even take leave and travel so far during all this mess. With permission secured, we packed our bags and […]

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Indulging the Homesick Feeling

Army Wives, big family life, family, military life

Today, no that is not true, this whole year honestly, I have felt SO incredibly homesick. This is not a small pang that comes and goes. It is a longing much deeper than that. I have always said that home can be anywhere, that it is where my people are. That is mostly true, but the thing is that a pandemic year is the worst year ever to be newly moved in. Plus, there is the whole problem of my […]

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Overnight Trip to Ocean City, Maryland During the Pandemic

4 kids, beach, big family life, family, military life, stay-at-home mom, summer, vacation
Ocean City During the Pandemic

Alan pleasantly surprised me a couple of weeks ago when he announced that he had cashed in our hotel points and made reservations for us to spend July 5th in Ocean City. Say what?? Granted, Alan can be very spontaneous, but this was even better than a last minute trip. This was a PLANNED vacation surprise! Wahoo! I had not even suspected that he was planning something like this. We have been basically stuck here. You see, not only is […]

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15 Fun and Simple Games to Start Your School Day

4 kids, attitude, big family life, home school, homeschool, stay-at-home mom
15 Fun and Simple Games to Start Your School day

When this whole crisis home school fiasco started, John David, our resident first grader, sat down beside me and laid out exactly how his school day usually goes. He fully expected our distance learning day to mirror the way things run at regular school. Oh, boy, was he set up for disappointment or what? However, this did give me good ideas. This year John David has a teacher who makes school very fun, so she is someone I should be […]

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Weeks 6 and 7: Sometimes I am not okay.

4 kids, big family life, stay-at-home mom
Sometimes I am not okay.

Tuesday, April 21 (Week 6) The Mostly Happy Week I am taking a break upstairs, listening to Alan’s surprised voice downstairs saying, “Y’all already ate that sherbet!!??” It truly is eat or be eaten around here. Food has a short shelf life. School is going better though! Therefore, my stress level has decreased. Monday all the boys’ work was due to be turned in by 12pm, and we had most of it turned in on Friday afternoon. New assignments were […]

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Into the Unknown: Virtual School Nerves and Anxiety

4 kids, Bible verses, big family life, faith, family, God, home school, homeschool, school, stay-at-home mom
into the unknown: virtual school nerves and anxiety

Is anyone else feeling nervous about their kids beginning virtual school? I feel like this is an issue that parents across the entire world are dealing with. We have been out of school for the sheltering-in-place or quarantine or social distancing, whatever you want to call it, for a month now. Seriously. An entire month has passed. During that month, we here in Maryland were given home-school packets of suggested work. Thankfully, they gave us all the benefit of the […]

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Flu Week 2020

big family life
dog scarf

Is it just me, or does the flu seem especially rampant this year? Maybe it is just because it happened to us that it feels that way. Never will I ever regret not getting a shot so much as I regret not getting the flu shot. Alan had his, so he’s had the curse of having to do both my job and his job this week, plus constantly Clorox wiping the house. It’s been rough. Only he and Joshua have […]

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