The Month of June in a Nutshell

What a hectic 2 months! I realized it's been nearly that long since my last post that wasn't over the moon about an organic DS company I discovered.

Since my last post, Paul has done plenty of extensive travelling for work. I've had one solid breakdown that resulted in a nasty text to my husband informing him he isn't allowed to travel anymore. Now, I know that ain't gonna happen. However, let's be real here. My husband has been home a total of 6 weeks (maybe) since he returned home from deployment in January. He deployed last year in July. It's now June. If you do the math, that's far too much. I can handle him travelling. That's been our entire relationship. When the man cubs take an entire 6 days and reek havoc in a way I've never seen out of them though, it is time to pull the plug for a bit. It was awful. I don't want to relive that at all.

Just prior to this meltdown of mine, I started the elder man cubs in MMA. Ethan is starting in the next few weeks. I've thoroughly enjoyed watching their classes. With the exception of the one week of hell, the overall self control and discipline of the man cubs has immensely improved. Even Ethan, who has not started class yet, has behaved better since the starting of the classes for his brothers.

I started MMA class immediately following the elder man cubs. Absolutely loving it! I like the fast pace of the Prep class. I have gold boxing gloves 😎🥊😜 Booyah! I will finally "earn" my white belt tomorrow night. There's a rule at this studio that every person has to earn their white belt, including adults. I love it. No handouts from this place. Because Paul has been gone, I haven't turned in my Act of Courtesy paper in order to recieve my belt. I didn't find it fair to write my own story although I earned it long before now. Aside from looking like a rookie, cuz I am the rookie in class, I'm the only one without a belt, so paint a target on my back.

Around the house, we are finally getting some projects finished. The old chicken coop has been demolished. The new one I bought off our neighbor is in the pen. We are making plans to extend the yard out another 20 feet or so to give them more space to roam. The goal is to get that done before summer is in full swing, and get a bunch of wheat grass and lettuce planted for them. Their original pen is too small, so the extension is necessary. Also, with the garden doing so well, I can't risk the little peckers eating our produce. Big money saver for summer and winter grocery bills after we get enough growth to begin canning.
Our garden is looking so much better than previously. Last summer was a nightmare. Everything died. I didn't understand why until this year. After some extensive research, I discovered the Alkalinity of the soil is far to high for most of the plants we need the most for our consumption. Between having a bit too much nitrogen within the dirt, and the pH being too high, the green bean bushes and pepper plants are stunted. After finally finding the answers I needed from a gardening website this morning, the man cubs and I made a trip to Armstrong Gardens for Iron, Sulfur, and Gypsum. Grrrrr….I've been working to get the soil balanced out for a couple weeks. Takes longer when doing so organically, but it's a good lesson for myself and the boys. I'd rather take the time to do it right and safely than poison my family with toxic chemicals.

School wise, it is not staying on schedule, like, at all. With such unpredictability lately within our entire dynamic of life, it has been difficult to stay on track. I have to keep reminding myself that the purpose of home schooling is not just the safety of our man cubs, but teaching at my pace, and the learning occurring at their pace. Everything is a lesson regardless if you're using a curriculum to give you a guide for lessons or making it up as you go. I have several things printed to teach because I loved the outline description and set up of each lesson, however we can't stay on track with it. I find myself teaching in a more practical way, which was another important goal of mine to begin with. Maybe we're the unschooling type after all. ;)
The elder man cub is borderline reading. I purchased Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last week and have done one lesson. Le sigh. A lot of the book is review for him. We simply have to get through what he's gonna find boring because he knows it, and get on to the reading.
Nolan is finally writing his name. Not from memory (yet), but he is doing better with his pencil control and desire to write. I've discovered he can count a lot higher than I thought--He chooses not to vocalize his knowledge. He's much more humble about his abilities. Not that Isaac isn't. But Nolan is different in the aspect that he doesn't want a big deal to be made about his skills. His story telling is epic though. He is the next Stan Lee people.
Ethan soaks everything up like a sponge. He speaks so well for his age. He is also interested in writing. Clearly not ready for full on letter tracing yet, but he's doing well enough, it won't be long. I started Spanish videos for all three of them recently. While it bored Nolan to death, and Isaac couldn't concentrate because of Nolan's whining, Ethan was repeating the teacher quite well in Spanish. I was impressed. Never seen him glued to anything that wasn't brightly colored or Grinch related. He may begin yelling at me in Spanish.....
David, oh David. That punk. My 4 month old has been rolling over for maybe two weeks. And yesterday, the little booger was up on all fours rocking. I nearly lost my mind. Today, I caught him fully attempting to crawl. That's an entire month ahead of the elder three for milestones. Oh, he's teething as well. Ask my nipples how that feels. They're not gonna answer you, but you can ask anyway. That would be the polite thing to do.
I expect he will be fully crawling by the end of the week and walking by eight months instead of nine months like his brothers.

Gotta brag on two of my nieces, AnnaBelle and Kara. AnnaBelle graduated Kindergarten and Kara finished her PreK program. Proud of both of them! :) Liam, my nephew, will be starting 2nd grade this Fall as well. Time flies. I watched Liam be born. I got the first pictures of AnnaBelle after she was born. And I had to tell my sister she was having contractions the day Kara was born. That's a funny story.
Little miss Luna Bee belongs to Steven and Robin. She was born premature last October. It's amazing how such a little thing can show so much strength. And man, she is beautiful! I have never seen a prettier baby.
For those following Mr. Howard, he is doing much better. We are finally seeing some weight gain for him. No answers as to why there is a continued weight gain issue, but he is happy, reaching milestones, eating like a little pig, and gaining weight. Cannot be more grateful given the circumstances!
I believe that leaves, Sir William and Greyson. Both of them are toilet training. Funny thing, I was instructing Alex the best way to teach a boy to poop in the toilet over the phone earlier today. Call me a professional. Baha She had a girl first, so boy experience, she does not fully possess yet.
Love those babies bunches.
I do have a prayer request to my readers for my eldest niece. Quite frankly, she is a selfish idiot. I'll leave most of the details out because the above description should suffice enough. However, the family would greatly appreciate prayers for patience and compassion, given we are all spent in that department. As for Alexis herself, a mild lightening strike to reset her selfish behavior, and the idiotic risks she's been taking as of late, in addition to her inability to be compassionate or kind to others, would suffice. Yes, there is sarcasm behind that request. However, given my candor, that is the kindest way I can muster to request cooperate prayer to God for a life altering event to inspire her not to be so stupid.

Anyway, in light of the prayer request, as far as church is concerned, two weeks ago we made the official decision to resign at the church we've been attending for 2 years. It was not an easy decision to do so. In lieu of some of Paul's family attending there, as well as the relationships we've been blessed with since joining leadership, we are heartbroken not to be seeing our friends and family every week. But it was clear we were being called somewhere closer to where we live. We have not discovered where that is just yet. It has been a hefty process of elimination between reading the Statement of Faith on every website, and emailing the Senior Pastors when one has drawn me in to request more info. We are allowing the Spirit to lead in this department instead of moving in a way that is convenient to us.
A church we considered for full time attendance is the one we started the man cubs in AWANA at on Wednesday nights sometime in March. That's only during the public school year though, so there isn't anything for our kids during the summer there because of their ages. We felt welcomed, but I was turned off by how rehearsed the Sunday services felt. Having more than one Sunday service is great, but it can become difficult to have a spirit lead service when trying to recreate the same thing for each attendee.
Another option near home, we found to be extremely welcoming. Music was great, as are the sermons, and there are home groups for adults. There is a huge military presence there as well, which is great for us. More people to understand how our family dynamic is because of Paul's career. Only downside, kid's program seems minimal. That's not a bad thing, but we became spoiled with the AWANA activities on Wednesday night, and the church having a playground, basketball, and tetherball for them to enjoy between classes. There is at least one more option for us to consider before making the final decision. I already know of one downside to that one, but I have to investigate it anyway. The entire family needs to be spiritually fed, not just the parents or the kids. We need prayers for guidance in this new chapter of our lives.

Several of my friends from the Worship Team of our last church have been so kind to help me get some music written to a song I wrote a few years ago. The leader and I are even songwriting over email. That's a new experience. Wish we'd have started that a long time ago. I wouldn't have so many unfinished ones in my notebook. The goal for myself, is to have at least 10 ready by next year and get them recorded. My dream has been put on hold long enough. My impatience as of late has been fruitful as far as inspiration, but lacking because of my inability to finish the lyrics. Patience and open ears are needed in this journey of mine. It's amazing how it suddenly took off two years ago. And now, it feels like it's attempting to bulldoze forward. I guess it's important to get it all reeled in and pay attention. Can't allow it all to spiral out of control.

We are happy to be spending time with Josh and Mariana over the next 3ish weeks. Josh is on vacation and he brought my favorite skinny girl with him. They live in Wyoming now. So proud that Josh got outta here! He's doing well in his job. The skinny is lovely and cracks me up as always. Feels good to have some familiar faces around here. And, they appreciate my candor. You either love or hate me. There is no in between. I like how they're upfront with me. They ask questions, and they listen. Even when we disagree, we can all talk without being rude to one another. Wish there were more people in the world like them. I'm looking forward to some more time with them. And the kids as well. They're ecstatic to have both of them home for a bit.

I will be updating this post with photos tomorrow when I receive my white belt ;)