Super easy 10 minute meals are all I have time for lately. Have you ever had a phase like that?

This week I had to stay off my feet. I had plantar fasciitis in a mild, I-can-handle-this version for 4 months. A little over a week ago, it turned into big, fat roaring don’t-you-dare-take-a-step-on-these-feet plantar fasciitis. It hurt! I did go and see a doctor about it. He gave me some anti-inflammatory medicine, and he told me to stay off of my feet for a week to let them recover. So that’s what I’m doing.

Meanwhile, if I didn’t do something about dinner I was afraid my husband would feed everyone pizza every night, so I tried to be creative. Most of these meals are all probably things you already know how to do. All six of these meals are so easy you might even be able to get your older children to make them for you.

Here are the 10 minute meals that I made this week.

Night 1: Ramen Noodles and Canned Bread Sticks

We ate the chicken flavored Ramen noodles. I boiled 4 bags of these to feed 6 people, and there were no leftovers. These were a HUGE hit. The boys said, “Mom is the best cook ever!”

I also popped open a can of Pillsbury bread sticks, added Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic salt, and basil to them, and those things cook in only 10 minutes too.

Night 2: Crockpot BBQ Chicken, canned green beans, and instant mashed potatoes

Don’t let anyone mom-shame you about these convenient foods. Make them. My bet is it’s still way healthier than fast food.

For the chicken, I slow-cooked chicken breasts with a stick of butter all day long. About 15 minutes before dinner time, I squeeze in a bottle of BBQ sauce and stir it around and let it warm back up for 15 minutes. Serve with convenient vegetables.

I do add a touch more butter than the instant potatoes recipe calls for on the box. I am from Alabama, after all. For the green beans, I only use salt and pepper, and everyone likes them except for 1 kid. 5 out of 6 is a win.

Night 3: Hot dogs, frozen french fries, and canned fruit

For the canned fruit, our family is a big fan of mandarin oranges. I might as well be serving chocolate cake, they love it so much.

Night 4: Grilled Cheese and/or Chicken Nuggets with Applesauce or Peas

Two of my children dislike grilled cheese sandwiches, so for those two I heated up frozen chicken nuggets in the microwave, on a plate with a large helping of applesauce or peas. I have one that’s allergic to peas, so they can’t all eat them. The others happily eat the canned green sweet peas. Cinnamon applesauce is also a huge hit at our house.

Night 5: Spicy Chicken in the crock pot

Literally just put all of this in the slow cooker or instant pot together:

-3 chicken breasts

-1 jar of salsa

-2 cans of DRAINED black beans

-sprinkle in some cumin or taco seasoning for added flavor

-At the end, sprinkle on 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. (Or you can use 2 cans of Campbell’s Nacho cheese soup if gluten is not an issue for you.)

I used to have a video for this spicy chicken on Facebook. You can imagine my dismay to realize I accidentally deleted it. Alan was off work on Friday, so he made spicy chicken for us.

It is very simple. It’s just chicken, salsa, black beans, and 2 cans of Campbell’s Nacho Cheese soup, all cooked together in the crock pot.

IServe this chicken with lots of tortilla chips or make it into a taco salad like I did in the photo above.

Now that I am gluten free, I cannot use this soup. Instead, I substitute in two cups of shredded cheddar at the end.

Night 6: Frozen Pizza

No explanation needed there, eh? I didn’t say this was earth-shattering, only that these things can all be made quickly and easily, without having to end up at McDonald’s!

(When you order from Amazon ads on my site, I do collect advertising fees.)

Here are a few more 10 Minute or less meals that we enjoy:

-Instant Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

They even make gluten free boxes now that you can find at select stores.

-Quick Grits

I’m telling you they are delicious. Follow the directions on the container. Then add half a stick of butter (to a pan for four people) and plenty of salt and pepper. Cheese is also a yummy add on for grits.

-Egg Sandwiches

I’m talking just scrambled eggs with pepper on them between two slices of bread. I love it.

-Panera Soups from the grocery store deli section.

When you are in too much pain to stand at the stove, these are a life saver. Just heat them up. Use any kind of pre-made soup you like. It will still be way cheaper than eating out.

-This delicious slow cooker roast only has like 4 ingredients.

I used to love this one so much. Now I cannot make it because it isn’t gluten free unless you happen to have gluten free cream of mushroom soup.

-You can use frozen grilled chicken with a bagged salad to create a quick salad.

These are all easy ways to avoid the drive through or an expensive restaurant bill. Before long, this phase where you are injured or so short on time will pass and you can make more culinary masterpieces.

But hard times call for easy meals you can make in 10 minutes. It just does. Food does not have to be complicated to be good.

The post 10 Minute Meals for When You’re Injured, Over-Scheduled, or Just Plain Tired appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

2020 has to be about being positive. Maybe our brains just believe whatever it is we tell it. Let’s not tell our brains we “didn’t do a good job,” or “we wish we’d done better.” Instead of focusing on our shortcomings this year, let’s give our brains some building up instead.

I’ve been listening to Rachel Hollis on the YouTube, and she’s all about telling yourself good things, which seems like a healthy idea for someone who can be a bit of an Eyore like me. How do you spell Eeyore? I’m going to have to look it up…. It is in fact “Eeyore.”

How did you do with your goals or to-do lists last week? Did you have any?

I did smashing. I rock at goals. It’s hard to say that with a straight face, but there, I said it anyway.

Here’s how I actually did with last week’s goals:

#1. Re-lose those 2 pounds I lost last week and then gained back this weekend.

Oh, well. I ate too much. I was doing AWESOME about exercising, and then I crippled my feet, and now I’m supposed to spend a whole week off of my feet completely, so I’m not even going to bother to hope for weight loss until I get my heel healed.

#2. Exercise every single day, with one day off. Do not go to bed until this is done

Sigh. See comments for goal #1. When you look at it this way, I am obviously a smashing success as a motivational speaker because I’m making you feel so good about yourself in comparison to me. Ha! That’s something.

#3. Keep a food log on 3 days. 

No, I forgot that I really hate doing that.

#4. Intermittent fasting Tues.-Fri. and Sunday.

I’ve decided to go a different way.

#5. Study with each boy about 15 minutes/day.

Yes!!! Finally. Yes! I did do this!!! In fact, my unmotivated son crushed his science test thanks to how much he studied with me.

#6. Mail Mom’s calendar to her. I accidentally shipped it to my house.

Oops. Move this one to this week. Mom says it’s really just for looks anyway.

#7. Cook dinner every week day and Sunday lunch.

Pretty much, yeah, I did this. I even baked Danish pastries for the first time, so pat, pat, pat my back.

#8. Clean house 1 hour/day. 

YES! I did this too. Wahoo! By Friday, the house was a thing of beauty. Then the weekend came, so let’s start all over. I wonder how much cleaning I can get done this week while I’m “staying off my feet.” Yikes.

#9. Get 10,000 steps/day most days, for a total of 70,000 in 7 days.

Yes and no. I started out well, but then the heel problem began and then I was living in fear of walking. The more I walk, the worse my feet hurt. The doctor took an x-ray and gave me some medicine and exercises to do. He said I have a bad case of plantar fasciitis and possibly a bone spur. I won’t know about any bone damage until after the x-ray results come in. Either way, the recovery plan is basically the same.

#10. Blog at least once.

Yay! Done! I even edited 243 pages out of 310 of my upcoming ebook on my trip to Israel.

This Week’s Goals

#1. Stay off my feet.

#2. Continue studying with each boy.

#3. Blog at least twice this week.

#4. Go to the doctor.

#5. Go to John David’s parent day at school

#6. Find easy meals to cook, so I can “stay off my feet.”

#7. Finish reading Little House in the Big Woods with the younger boys, finish reading Girl, Wash Your Face, and finish reading Anne of Avonlea.

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear;

Genesis 50:19-21

The post Progress and Problems with My 2020 Goals appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Was I ever good at the actual housewife part of the stay-at-home-mom life?

Ehhhh. It didn’t matter too much. I didn’t feel like that was my real job. My job was caring for the kids and cooking dinner. So long as the children were well taken care of, towels and underwear were clean, the dishwasher was run every night, and everyone got to eat, I was a smashing success.

Then last year they all went to school, and it began to dawn on me that all “that junk” is actually my main job all day long. Grocery shopping, school supply providing, cooking, and cleaning— that’s my job. Blehhhhhh. I never wanted to do any of that mess. How did this happen?

So what did I do? I decided to mainly give myself a year to chill, and also I bought a dog. Then we got orders to move, so I spent most of that year unpacking and re-packing our stuff up.

I’ve gotten somewhat skilled at un-packing and re-packing a room.

Unpacking is finished now, so I spent a couple of months wallowing around the house. I was sad about things, unmotivated, lonely, bored with my housekeeping job, and watching out the windows as soon as it was time for the kids to get home. Being around people is important to me!

Thankfully, I am happy to report that I am past the sad, homesick phase of the move. No more wallowing.

Having three sets of company come and stay with us was a badly needed jolt. I couldn’t let them see me all pathetic. I must get my act together, so with all the gusto I could muster, I set to putting my house in order.

Giving this noble thing a try

I vowed to turn this thing around. There’s no excuse for my house to be messy anymore. I DO have time to clean it, and I DO have time to do all sorts of things, like writing on the calendar, baking, and even dusting.

What I’ve been missing was the want to. The want-to is surprisingly important.

But right before Nonna and DaddyO’s visit, energy, motivation, and optimism all showed up. Yep. I used my Fly Lady skills, my Fitbit stopwatch, and set to work.

First, I went down to the basement and dug out more fall decorations and replaced spring silk flowers with fall ones. Yes, I use silk flowers, mostly from Big Lots and Hobby Lobby. This makes it impossible for me to kill the plant.

I set my Fitbit stopwatch. If I promise myself I only have to clean up a room for 10 minutes, it makes it way more doable. Confession: I gathered up 7 pairs of shoes from the office and hauled them up to my closet. Yes, I am the kind of person who takes her shoes off exactly where she’s sitting and leaves them there. 17 years of complaints from Alan has failed to change this about me, so you might as well accept this flaw.

What do other people do about shoes?

You are sitting on your sofa, want to kick your feet up, and so you take of your shoes. Then later you forget about said shoes. You need to run to the bus stop to pick up the kids, so you grab a different pair of shoes and repeat the vicious cycle an hour later.

Isn’t it funny how when you finally attack the giant tower of papers on the kitchen counter it turns out to be 90% recycling? I mean that’s what happens when you don’t empty book bags straight into the recycling bin.

This post is rambling, so I’ll spare you all the details of the 4 rooms of cleaning I did. You should just know that I have the most surprisingly high feeling of accomplishment, and guess what. This is the most amazing part:

At the end of the day, our six-year-old came inside and said, “Oh, great job cleaning today, Mom!”

That felt like sunshine and joy. Someone noticed my work!!!!

“I am going to do this again tomorrow I vowed!” This high pace of accomplishing things was kept up for quite a few days until I came down with some sort of laryngitis/cold.

Until I do enter the workforce again, and who knows how long that will be as we still have many summers and military moves to get through, this is my job. My goal here is to take it seriously again, even the oh-so-mundane house-cleaning part. I’m even going to write things down in the Google calendar, send out Christmas cards on time, and declutter on the regular. I mean it!

Why am I blogging about this?

Well, I’ve had many fits and starts before and never stuck with it much. I don’t want to end up spending the days walking and reading Facebook. A clean house and fresh baked goods at least give me something to show for my days, so I want to stick with this.

It’s really just a matter of deliberately finding joy in my work and purposing to do it better. The moving slump has been dealt with for all of us here, and life is getting good again.

Plus, Christmas is coming, so life will NOT be all vacuums and dishes. I’m trying to take housekeeping more seriously, but let’s not get carried away. The fun is still important too!

The post Goal: To Take Housekeeping Seriously (But Not Too Seriously) appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I am definitely an alone-time hoarder. I am always hoarding, saving, and guarding alone time. This isn’t something I became because motherhood is exhausting either. This is simply who I always have been.

What do I mean by “alone time hoarder?”

An alone time hoarder is a person who jealously guards their alone time. They love and cherish being alone. In fact, they will go to ridiculous lengths to keep being alone.

An alone-time hoarder is an awkward name for a hermit or a loner, I guess, but not as extreme as a hermit. A hermit is a time-honored title for the town “weirdo” who lives by themselves and never socializes.

I hoard alone time. I crave it, protect it, seek it, and will beg, borrow, cheat, and steal to get more of it. It’s like how a drug addict must feel about drugs! That’s how I feel about sweet, sweet solitude.

For 13 years, all I got was nap time, and this year allll the boys went to school, and I must be making up for lost quiet.

Here’s how to know if you also are an alone time hoarder:

-You ignore almost all phone calls while the house is empty. Call people back once the house is already noisy again.

-You run home at every opportunity.

-Get a job?? Only if you can work from home….alone.

-As much as possible, you try to not be too early to events because you do not want to be the first person there and have to make awkward small talk with the other first people there. (Now this does not apply to friends. I’m talking about when you are with strangers or acquaintances in a new atmosphere.)

-Your favorite part of the day is when you are alone.

-Being bored is a concept you cannot even imagine. How could anyone ever be bored!!?? There is an endless amount of things you’d like to do at any given moment.

My best work is done best with no interruptions….which is about impossible, but I managed to pull off a victory with these pecan pies.

-You get waaaaay more work done when the house is quiet and no one is around than when other people are around. In fact, having a house full of folks is fun, but it makes your productivity shut down because you feel like you need to focus on the people.

-You are highly reluctant to sign up for new things that will take away from your precious alone time.

-You don’t get enough sleep because there are so many other things you want to do with those hours after everyone else goes to sleep!

-Anytime you are riding in the car, and the person you are with stops to run an errand or go in a store you say, “Can I please sit in the car while you go in?”

Can you relate? Okay, maybe it is an introvert list. Maybe this is even normal. I don’t know. What do you think?

We introverts/loners/alone time hoarders/shy people have to be careful though. The hitch is that humans need other humans. We are a social species. God created us that way.

I will isolate the heck out of myself, and then I’ll find myself out at a function, laughing my head off. Then I am always reminded, “Oh yeah, I DO love people.”

I have always been this way. When I was a child, I loved nothing more than to sit in my room and play Barbies. Once I tired of that, I’d read. I also loved zipping down the road on my bicycle. I adore being in my space, alone with my thoughts. Mom said if anyone wanted to talk to me, they always had to go looking for me first.

I LOVE being alone. Until all of a sudden I don’t.

It takes a large amount of seclusion before I finally reach that point, but then all of a sudden I HAVE to find companionship or at least get out of the house.

If we were always alone, we’d be miserable– even if we don’t think we would be–we would! And we’d miss important moments like this one. This is Daniel making face-down snow angels. Why face down? To be as close to the snow as humanly possible, I suppose.

The problem is I don’t realize I’ve let myself become isolated until I’ve pushed it too far, and I actually become sad. People who spend too much time isolated can become terribly depressed and eccentric.

I suppose there’s a fine line somewhere to be found. Where that line is exactly, I have no idea, but we each have to recognize it and get back out into the world. As much as I’d love to be at home cleaning, writing, and creating forever, without everyone else I think we eventually run out of inspiration and good sense!

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to change anytime soon. You should see this awesome La-z-boy reclining sofa we got. I could sit here and blog for days, well, you know, at least until I start to get sofa butt. Yep. That’s also a thing.

I hope you all manage to get some quiet today. I personally just spent the day alone with four boys on a snow day, bundling and unbundling them, trying to convince John David that snow bibs aren’t evil, drying their clothes, cooking their meals, and settling their disputes. As you might imagine, all my daydreams currently are of a quiet hotel room with a t.v. and room service. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

The post Are You an Alone Time Hoarder? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Only three weeks of summer are left.

Three measly weeks. I’m ready and excited about this because this enters a new phase of life for me. I’ve never had ALL FOUR kids in school before.

That’s right. The baby is going to kindergarten.

People keep asking me what I’m going to do with my new free time.

The answer: Whatever I want!! haha! Sort of… I have several different ideas.

Am I sad? Only a little, and really only when I can’t get a single one of our children to come sit in my lap. Having a baby in my lap has been a great joy that I will miss!!! I do adore a chubby little bubby to cuddle with.

But I’m also ready for this. At least, I think I am. Only time will tell.

Will I run out and get a full-time job?

Eh…I don’t know, you guys. Do you know how long it has been since I left the work force? 13 years!!! 13.

The preschool mom phase has lasted for 12 1/2 years for me. We had four babies in 7 years. At one point, there were actually 3 preschoolers. I can honestly tell you the hardest parts (for me) were going from 1 to 2 and going from 3 to 4. Having both a 2-year-old and a baby was always quite the juggling act.

It was hard, but I loved it.

Us, 10 years ago

Us, 4 years ago

I see moms doing what I used to do, out pushing strollers, wearing a baby, looking all sleep deprived and carrying a diaper bag, and I just think, “How did I ever do that? I did it, but how???”

Young moms, do NOT be offended when people comment with offers of help or, “Oh, you have your hands full!” They aren’t annoyed by you, at least most of them. Most people have been there too, and they are just sympathizing with you, I promise. They are recognizing that you deserve a medal. Choose to see it that way!

Even though the babies brought me so much joy, life lessons, pure hard work, and adventure, I’m at peace with moving on to the next phase.

But a full-time job? You know we move like every two years, right? That doesn’t make me the most desirable employee. Also, there’s summer. Sure, I have no kids for 9 months from 8-3, but where do I find childcare for 3 children that would be covered by the cost of whatever returning-to-work-after-a-decade level of pay I would make?

No, it’s not quite time for that. I’ll keep working the blog. Maybe I’ll take the time to pick up some other online writing, do a little freelancing. I did that once before.

Instead, I’m excited about the possibility of quiet! And I have ideas! So many ideas, which of course, I must share with you below.

My Bucket List for this New Phase of Life:

#1. Ballet Lessons

I looked into it. They offer adult dance classes, even for beginners, not too far from my house! This is something I wanted to do when I was a kid and never go to, so why not now?

Quit laughing. 😉  It might be fun!

#2. Get a library card and gradually return to checking out books.

We’re ready now. The library problems of the past are behind us, I promise.

#3. Fix up Pinterest pins for my best blog posts.

While I was on a blogging break, Pinterest exploded my traffic for the posts I wrote about homeschooling. The better looking the pin, the more traffic I got. I want to comb through and fix up the images for my other posts that are still relevant.

#4. Keep a more organized house.

I won’t lie. It’s hard to get excited about that. Bleh. Housework.

Last year I did do a far better job of keeping house though, while John David went to preschool. Therefore, my high hopes in this area are not unfounded.

#5. Decorate the playroom better.

Basically, my only plan is to add curtains and tidy it up more. Oh, and finally run that corner full of junk to the Goodwill.

#6. Go to downtown Washington, D.C. and just walk around, exploring.

This is so fun to me! It’s a beautiful city.

#7. Clip coupons and go to the store ALONE

Finally! I will have the brain space at the store to open my purse and dig out coupons. Also, in Virginia, they actually drop the coupons off in my driveway, no newspaper subscription required. Pretty awesome.

#8. Catch up on all my doctor and dentist appointments I’ve been skipping all summer.

I have to do another cardiac MRI. Fun, fun, fun. And I will not admit to you how long it’s been since I visited the dentist. Don’t even ask. I refuse to say.

#9. Print the 50 billion photos I’ve taken over the last 4 years into photo albums.

#10. Play my Jeopardy app. Oh yeah, I love that thing.

#11. Study the Bible BETTER.

I keep buying these excellent books of archaeology Bible stuff, but I rush through my Bible time. Now I can slow down and let it sink in.

#12. Walk MORE

I’m passionate about getting my walks in already, but now I can take longer ones!!

#13. Sign up for some regular volunteering activity.

When you’re new in town, this takes a while to figure out where you fit to volunteer, but it makes you feel SOOOO much more fulfilled and connected.

It took me at least 6 months after the last move to find a place to plug in, but then I found several. I enjoyed teaching a girls’ Sunday school class, shelving books at the library, and serving on the MOPS leadership team.

#14. Meet Alan for lunch some time.

After all, Alan, everything I read says that workers work better when they leave their work building for lunch.

#15. Just keep blogging. Just keep blogging. That’s what we do. We blog, blog, blog.

#16. Buy a houseplant and keep it alive.

There are some houseplants that even clean the air in your house. I’d like to have a plant that a.) we remember to water and b.) prevent my husband and children from OVER watering.

These are decent goals, right?

I do realize that being a stay-at-home mom is an amazing privilege, one that many women never get to experience. My mission is to cherish the year, make the most of every opportunity, continue to shine my light and encourage the boys to shine their lights as well.

I’m a person who LOVES space and quiet. I thrive on it. Sometimes, when I allow myself too much alone time, I actually become reluctant to make contact with other humans….There’s this hermit side of me. But then I’m also a person who needs regular social interaction too. I need both! In order for this work-at-home plan to work out, I’m going to still need to see friends often!

We have plans for new things we’re going to do WITH the kids too. It’s going to be a fun year. There is no doubt we will all learn many new things, hop over countless hurdles, fall a few times, and that’s okay. We’ll get back up again. Bring on the new school year!

What are your goals for this school year? Did you ever send all your kids to school and do the stay-at-home mom thing? I’d love to hear about it.

The post The Back to School Bucket List for My New Phase of Life appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Me, putting together one of John David’s Lego sets. Do I like building these things? No, no I do not.

I don’t know if I’m just not getting enough sleep, if there’s something bothering me that I don’t realize is bothering me (it can happen!), or WHAT, but I have a serious case of the mulligrubs this week. Is it the cloudy weather?

I mean I actually LOVE that it’s cloudy because that makes it cooler..

Is it that now that Alan has gone back to work I’m shut up in my house for 11 hours everyday alone with 4 energetic young fellows?

Yes, okay, that’s it.

I dare you to walk through their bedroom bare-footed, but it is adorable, right?

Call it cabin fever. Call it silly. Whatever, but the fact is that I need summer to be over. We’ve done fun things, visited wonderful people, seen old friends, “settled in”, and yet…..I just want to jump in my car and go….anywhere.

I don’t care to dust, and goodness knows my shelves need the dusting. Almost everything has become completely uninteresting to me.

Really life is a cycle of feed the people, do the dishes, feed the people, do the dishes, feed the people, do the dishes.

What a terrible attitude, huh? I know. But if I have to break up one more fight, say good-bye to one more broken Willow Tree figurine (They broke 2 today. Okay, really just one of the boys keeps breaking things), or make one more pitcher of Kool-Aid, I’m going to go lay down in my bed and refuse to get out of it, I tell you.

I have a love/hate relationship with the electronics. Most of the time, I hate them, but then sometimes I NEED them, for the kids, for me, for peace and quiet the world over.

what my coffee table always looks like

So this week I find myself in a terrible mood. The books I’ve ordered for myself are nonfiction and they’re depressing. I bought a book about the early church and a book about interpreting EKGs. Seriously, I need a good ol’ fashioned novel I think.

Oh, my EKG interest. You want to hear something funny? Alan was recently chatting with an acquaintance who is a paramedic. They were talking about heart issues. Alan mentioned v-tach (my occasional heart arrhythmia). The paramedic, who of course had no idea I get v-tach, said, “Oh, pshhh a v-tach patient is about dead anyway….” or something like that.

It was one of those choke on your coffee type moments for me.

Things with my heart haven’t been going super well, not terrible, but not smoothly either. I got cussed out by an irate patient in the waiting room who thought I was interfering with her appointment time….she actually said to me, “I hope you die before you ever leave this *#@$%* office…” She went on this long tirade of “colorful metaphors.” (*Star Trek Spock reference– Let me know if you get it!!*)

You know what I said in response to her? Nothing. I said nothing at all, But I sat in my chair and looked at my hands. It was so absurd, and one thing I’ve learned is that you CANNOT reason with a crazy person.

Anyway, there’s simply no way around it. I can’t continue in this monotony, or I will go crazy myself. Alan is going to stay in town, but I’m headed back home with the boys for a bit. It’s time to see other adults in the middle of the day, cook less meals, dust less furniture, and have some 103 degree air hit me in the face (Ha! I actually hate that part.)

Oh, side note. I just heard one of my older sons tell one of my younger sons to never tell Mom he’s bored. I suddenly feel somewhat accomplished.

Do you like these Willow Tree figurines? 2 of these are no longer with us now. They were casualties of energetic boys. This is my life. Where do they get all this energy????

No one can be perky all the time, right?  No, it’s not possible.

Now I know everyone is accustomed to happier, less whiny posts from me, so if that’s what you need, do talk to me after August 28. You see, that’s 28 days away, and it’s when the boys will ALL go back to school.

“Tara. Home. I’ll go home…. After all, tomorrow is another day!”

*Gone with the Wind quote*

As God as my witness they are not going to lick me. I’m going to live through this and when it’s all over, I’ll never have despondent summer mom brain again!

(modified Gone with the Wind quote)

Finding alone time is IMPORTANT for mental health for so many of us. Here’s a link to a post where I talked about this, which by the way, has much better photos than this post since it was in Monterey.

Yes, I will be okay, but for now, I am here, in my house, and I am completely out of the get-up-and-go.

SaveSave

The post Despondent Summer Mom Brain appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

At the Smithsonian National Museum of Art

When we went to D.C. this summer, I insisted we go and visit my favorite painting in the world, which happens to be at the National Gallery of Art on the National Mall. While we were there, we perused the collections, along with our friend Amy and her children.

I thought the day was going amazingly well. We took 6 kids through a museum where you are supposed to be quiet, and I felt like we did a heroic job. The kids even sat on these nice sofas they had in many of the galleries.

After about an hour, Alan whispered emphatically, with the big eyes,  “Are you ready to go now? Please.”

“Sure…. C’mon kids, let’s go.”

Once outside, Alan looked like he’d just escaped prison.

Alan had a much different experience in the Smithsonian than I had.

While I was all gazing at paintings and taking photos, Alan was getting dirty looks and lectures from security guards about the six children. Apparently, rolling on the sofas, flipping over the backs of the sofas, and leaning and pushing on your friends and giggling are inappropriate museum behavior.

Sigh. The bar is high, okay. I guess we’ll try a museum again in another 6 years. We just aren’t there yet.  I LOVE art museums, but alas, I LOVE my people and staying out of trouble too…

I still say they were good. Quiet and not touching anything = good.

****************

Last week Alan had to replace the garage door opener and fix the air conditioner unit, the dryer, and the fence that Irma blew over.

This week the sink is dripping and the microwave quit. Oh!! Plus, the house we rent out in Alabama has a broken a/c unit too.

I said to Alan, ” I feel like God is trying to tell us something.”

“What, that we suck?”

Okay, Alan didn’t say that, but that’s what I was thinking..

We agreed that this is an insane amount of things going wrong and breaking down. Perhaps God really is trying to get our attention.

OH! Plus next week is report card week, grades were turned in today, and I have new zits. I have new zits because I stress out about the boys’ grades more than they do…

I’m a stress ball, okay. That’s right. April is the Captain of the Struggle Buss. (Shout out to Nicole from MOPS for teaching me that expression.)

So….

I said to Alan, “I’m Captain of the Struggle Bus today.” I was so proud of my new expression. I HAD to use it right away.

“Everyday. That’s every day for you.”

“Hey!! That’s not!…I…well…..really? You think so? Huh.”

I guess he was familiar with the expression.

Good things happened this week too.

Alan started waking me up at 6am so that I can get a 1 mile walk in in the morning to kick-start my day. It was surprisingly fun. Alan said I came in from my walk each day so happy.

“Huh. Maybe I’ll be a morning person after all,” I thought…

But then on the other days he did NOT wake me up at 6 am…. I slept until 6:30 and did not have time to walk. Oh well, still, two great things came of it:

1. Alan woke me up early and managed to not get fussed at, which is a miracle.
2. I felt happier all day knowing I’d gotten up and walked. Plus, my step count was better. No weight loss though. 🙁 Apparently, ice cream is not good for weight loss. Sad.

I was reading my Bible this morning for inspiration, and this truly did inspire me. I’ll share it in case it helps you too:

…wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.    James 3: 17

I told Alan I felt like I needed to plaster this verse all over the house. Maybe it will remind us all how to behave…

Ok, here’s JD. He woke up from his nap, and he’s begging me for food. That’s my cue.

Have a fabulous weekend, y’all.

The post Funny Fridays: Taking 6 Kids to an Art Museum & Other Stories appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.