January 2022
2022 has come! We have survived yet another year of marriage and parenthood. I would call that an accomplishment, wouldn't you?
Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went quickly. Our Thanksgiving was spent with my husband's parents, his aunt, uncle, and their daughters. Lots of food, and card games, and laughter!
We were thankful when Christmas was over. Not that it wasn't enjoyable. But our Christmas day was simply tiring. We enjoyed ourselves, but when it was time for bed (for us), Paul and I were certainly relieved.
The Man Cubs were gifted several things for their room. Now that all of them have bunk beds, they have their own bed set and vinyl decals for the walls. David is very much into Grogu (Baby Yoda). He has a life size wall decal of The Child on his portion of the wall on the bottom bunk. He loves it! Ethan is still into Spiderman. Three years, and he is still obsessed with Spiderman. He now has a wall decal of Spiderman busting through the wall. Nolan still loves Captain America. A Captain America shield resides on his wall. And Isaac still loves Mario. But he has become more obsessed with Minecraft. We are currently in the process of deciding which decals would suit his portion of the wall best. OH! I nearly forgot! Because there is an obsession with playing The Floor is Lava, I found a floor decal that appears to be broken open to reveal a lava filled cavern below. Big winner!
Given that our History lessons have been primarily surrounding ancient Egypt as of late, they have become increasingly interested in mummies. Not surprised! The Man Cubs now have an Egyptology book thanks to their great grandparents. They've also seen The Mummy 1 & 2. The real obsession of mummies is courtesy of those movies.
Our New Year's Eve was spent with our friends from church. We had wings, pigs in a blanket, empanadas, chips and dip, pulled pork, chili, veggies, and cupcakes. So good! The adults played a couple games on the Nintendo Switch. The Man Cubs and She Cubs played in the basement. I have no clue how. But all twelve kids made it past midnight. The youngest is not yet two years old. The oldest is twelve. Isaac, Nolan and Ethan stayed over with their friends. Paul and I brought David home with us. I don't believe we actually made it to bed until 2am. Nothing beats a get together with people we now consider family.
Last Monday started our 2nd semester. I was relieved to begin again, believe it or not. We have some catching up to do from last semester. However, I have a schedule in place to finish what we need to in order to get closer to where we should be. Despite not trying to push ourselves to the point of stressing over whether or not we are on the precise week when I estimated we should be, I would still like to stay close to that. I do have work to do around the house this summer after all!
We are currently reading Here's a Penny, Sled Dog School, A School Story, and Charlotte's Web. The first two books, I read aloud to Isaac and Nolan as part of their literature/geography lesson. This year, the books are part of Ethan's lessons. The latter two are for Isaac and Nolan this year. However, Ethan has been sitting in on Charlotte's Web since they've all seen the movie. I promised them that I would add the movie to one of our upcoming school days as soon as we have finished reading the book. They are quite excited about that.
David will be three years old at the end of this month. This kid.....I don't have enough words to describe him. He is the baby. That is certain. He is by far the one who has needed his mother's snuggles for the longest amount of time. He has a great deal of independence, don't get me wrong. But when David wants his mother, the best course of action is to comply. The longer he has to wait, the more cantankerous he becomes.
His articulate speech is amazing. Each of my sons possess an extensive vocabulary for their age (because I don't do the goo goo ga ga crap). But David blows my mind. He knows what he wants, and he has no qualms telling you. It is humorous however, to witness David scolding his brothers. He often begins talking far too fast for his lips to keep up with his brain, and goes off on a tangent of gibberish only his mother can understand. I maaaaaaaay have met my match. But only a little...
The holidays this year enabled a lot of work to get done around the house. We spent a lot of time organizing many things that we had simply put off far too long. Some hinderances included lack of time, proper organizational miscellaneous, and a plan...the planning is my job. Thankfully, there is a cleaning routine that is beginning to develop around here that everyone is trying very hard to adjust to. It's a relief for me, to be sure.
I still have some painting to do in our bathroom around a light fixture. And what is left of the bathroom paint, I plan to use in our laundry room. Everything has been taped off for so long that I wonder if I'll ever be able to get the tape off. I may put forth an effort to accomplish both this week so I can dispose of the paint can and finally remove all painting equipment out of my soaking tub. And maybe hang up all of the bathroom decor that I simply have not had the desire to mess with. I think I shall...It's annoying to not have everything unpacked. Despite having been here over a year, there are still some tubs we've simply avoided putting away properly. Of course now, I have to finish putting all of our Christmas things away. But at least those things have a place in the garage. The tub holding all of the nautical decor for the master bathroom has sat in my soaking tub for far too long. It would be nice to have everything in the house finished. All decor and pictures put up, a place for any random items we don't use everyday...We're so close. And yet, so far...
Paul traded our Traverse for a Subaru WRX STI recently. He's been obsessing over it for so long. Ha! When he finally came across one at a reasonable price that wasn't beat up and over modified, we took the opportunity. Given the chip shortage, we were offered much more for our Traverse than anything prior. He posted pictures of it on Facebook soon after he got it home and in the proper light to do so. My Suburban makes me happy. If anyone ever hits that thing, they'll basically be a booger on my windshield.
As far as music, I have lyrics that are probably two thirds of the way finished. As I was writing, I hit another brick wall and had to take a break. I haven't looked at them in about two weeks. But I have enough written now that finishing should be smooth. I still have other unfinished projects and other ideas on a list. But I'm not pushing those. I write as I'm led. And sometimes that isn't very often. But I see progress where there was none. So I am content with progress despite my impatience to have more finished. I am still counting on releasing a CD eventually. But these things can't be rushed. Yet another lesson in patience and humility, and acceptance of my limitations that I need to continue adhering to.
My Etsy store is doing quite well! The organic herbal soaps I've been making are selling like hot cakes! I have Dude Soap, Lady Soap, I Love You a Latte soap, and 12 Gauge Soap. Clever names, yes? For the record, the Dude Soap is assumed to be liked by dudes. The Lady Soap is assumed to be liked by the ladies. The I Love You a Latte soaps are coffee scrub soaps (BIG SELLER). I currently have Pumpkin Spice Latte, Sugared Juniper Berry Latte, Peppermint Mocha Latte, and Spiced Mocha Latte available. The latter is new so it is not yet on Etsy. It will be available this week, however. The 12 Gauge Soap is a specialty round for shave kits. Those are made to order with any Dude Soap scent desired, in a campfire mug with "Mornin' Scruffy" on the front, and a lather brush.
The other items available include herbal smelling salts, growing pains massage oil and bath salts; adult massage oil, and calming bath salts. Coffee sugar scrubs will be available in the next few weeks And I am still repurposing liquor/wine bottles for decorative purposes. I hope to have more items available soon!
That's it for this post. I'm sorry there aren't any pictures. I have yet to upload the photos from my phone to the laptop. And it's been so long between posts that I decided it was better to post without pictures than wait any longer. I am going to try to post at least once a month at minimum from here on out. I would like it to be more of a biweekly affair, but I'm not sure if I can guarantee that just yet. I know everyone misses my Facebook posts, and Instagram too. But social media is nothing like it once was. Seems more like a bloodbath now. If mental health is such an important thing to everyone, getting off of Facebook and Twitter would be a huge benefit to all. I have been Facebook free since April of 2019. It was by far the best decision I could have made for myself and my family. I have far more time for my sons and husband. I have more time for life lessons. I have more time to study Theology and Herbalism, and Aromatherapy, and to write music. It's time well spent and not squandered watching people fight with their fingers.
Love you all! Miss you! More updates are coming soon!