June/New Smyrna Beach 2015 Recap

June began with a week of Vacation Bible School for Audrey.  Having just gotten finished with her school year, she wasn't exactly rarin' to start something with the title "school" in it, but when I picked her up at the end of the first day she said "Mom!  That was AWESOME!  I can't wait to go back tomorrow!"  :)  I'd made sure she was in the same class as her little friend Kaelyn and they ended up having a wonderful time making crafts, playing games, singing songs, and watching Bible lessons told through fun skits.  Hearing about it kinda made me wish I could've attended, too.  

That week also included a visit from my Aunt Jill, who was down from Virginia.  She and my mom came over for the day and hung out with us.  After I put Luke down for nap, they took Audrey out to a local bakery that has GF cupcakes and spent some girl time with just her while I did my conference call for work.  She had a blast and it was a great visit.

The next week we left for our annual trip to New Smyrna Beach with David's parents and his mom's side of the family.  The ride down went extremely well and we had a great week full of family memories, excellent weather, and good food.  On the last day Audrey spiked a 102 fever with no other symptoms.  We kept her dosed on Tylenol and stopped by an after-hours pediatrician's on the way home to make sure she didn't have a UTI or ear infection, but both were clear.  I guess it was just one of those weird virus things that last a few days.  Thankfully no one else came down with it.  (And yes, if you're thinking someone always spends some portion of our NSB trip being sick, you are correct.  Last year we stopped by the after-hours place for Luke on the way home because his cough sounded like tuberculosis.)  Anyway, aside from that, it really was a great time and we enjoyed ourselves.  For the sake of time and keeping you awake, I've bullet-pointed some highlights at the end of the post.  

When we got back, all focus shifted towards preparations for Audrey's birthday party.  I'd told myself months earlier that I was going to keep things a lot more simple this year.  Instead of having lunch, we decided to just do cake and ice cream and put the money towards a magician.  I'm not entirely sure how I thought that switch would lighten my load a ton, but for some reason, I made that assumption.  It didn't really dawn on me until about two weeks out that I still had a bunch of work left to do (cleaning, decorating, finding and putting together favors, figuring out a small craft, etc.)  I ordered several things before we left for the beach and got to work on them when we got back.  I really did scale back quite a bit from what I've done in the past and not having the pressure of a meal was huge.  I'll write more details of the actual day/party in a separate post, but to spare you the suspense, I'll go ahead and tell you it was a hit and the kids had a ball (some of them literally...it was one of the tricks! Ha!)  And I now have a SIX year old.  What on earth...


The next week began daily swim lessons for both kids.  I was kind of on the fence about Audrey taking them since this would make summer #4 for her, but I figured it really couldn't hurt.  She was pumped, but Luke was definitely apprehensive.  In fact, on the first day, he kept shaking his head "no" at everything the coach asked him to do and even started crying at one point, which is very unlike him to do for someone else.  (He usually reserves his disobedience and stubbornness for David and me, which is annoying, but the way we'd prefer it if we had to choose.)  My heart ached for him, but I stayed out of sight and prayed for his bravery.  By the end of the lesson, he had jumped off (okay, maybe it was more like he'd been pulled off) the side, gone under water for the first time, and practiced both floating and how to pull himself up out of the pool from the side.  He got out, ran over to me, and yelled "Mommy, I did it!  I'm so proud of myself!"  I was too...big time!  I fed him lunch while Audrey did her lesson.  She worked on floating, freestyle, and backstroke and did really well at all of it.  


The rest of the week went mostly the same, with Luke gaining courage and Audrey gaining skill with each lesson.  The first two nights when we put Luke to bed, he cried in anticipation of the next day and even woke up once with a nightmare, but by the end of the week he was looking forward to going.  He still wasn't ready to conquer the water slide (even sitting in my lap), though we tried on two different days at his request.  We'd climb the stairs, wait in line, and then he'd get scared and decide he wasn't ready.  I told him that was fine and he didn't have to.  He HAD to do swim lessons, but I'd leave the slide up to him to decide when he was ready.  I'm not sure it'll happen this year at all, but he'll get there.  Audrey, on the other hand, couldn't be pulled away from the thing.  I humbled myself and even joined her in the fun about a half a dozen times one of the last days.  


At the end of the month, I began giving in to this enormous urge to purge I'd had going on for weeks.  Something about the extra time that quitting work plus the lack of outside of commitments during summer offers makes me want to frantically clean out every drawer and closet in my house and reorganize it all before August.  I feel like everything has just piled up and piled up until I'm ready to pull my hair out.  I tackled my craft room and "event planning" closets first and got rid of a ton of stuff that I no longer need.  I realized that I needed to shift my focus away from keeping things that are for gender-specific kids' birthday parties and only stash the stuff that'll help with the parties I do for the kids' classes.  If and when I ever do start my event planning business again (not likely, but who knows...), I don't think I'll have any desire to do kids' birthday parties, so there really wasn't any sense in holding on to stuff like tea pot party signs and Happy Birthday train-shaped banners.  It was hard to let it go given how much time, energy, and effort (and great memories!) I had invested, but I was able to sell some stuff and donate/gift the rest, so that helped ease the pain.  


The other big project we took on this month was removing the laundry room sink and replacing it with a hall tree/cubby/bench storage unit thingy (that's the official name for it) for the kids' backpacks, coats, etc.  David did a fantastic job building it and I even helped with the wall repair and cosmetic side.  It looks FANTASTIC and I am so very pleased with how it turned out.  It'll serve us well for years to come...much more so than the nasty dirty sink that I only used to fill up the watering can or wash out paint brushes.

So that was June!  A busy but fun start to our summer, for sure.  I'll leave you with the highlights I promised:

Highlights of our NSB Trip:

•   Our annual Crab Hunt!  I cracked open some glow stick necklaces and bracelets and we headed down to the beach just as it was getting dark.  We enlisted the help of David's cousin James again this year, since he is a master hunter.  After about 30 minutes, we'd managed to collect 22 crabs of various sizes.  We circled up, took a picture, and then let them go.  (Poor crabs are probably still trying to figure out what happened to them.)  The kids had a blast!

•   David, Luke, and I had our very first Mommy-Daddy-Son date.  We went out for ice cream, which he loved, and then took him to pick out a souvenir.  He chose a plastic blue shark and immediately named him "Bones."  We took a stroll on the beach and let him talk or ask about whatever he wanted, which was mostly questions about sharks.  

•    We also had our annual Mommy-Daddy-Daughter date.  We did get to have Dairy Queen, but had to forego the lunch part and the cone.  She couldn't decide between a hot fudge sundae and a M & M blizzard, so I got one and she got the other and we shared.  David got a banana split with strawberry syrup (I will never understand his preference for fruit in desserts.)  Afterward, we drove to the same souvenir shop that we'd taken Luke to earlier in the week and she selected a pink plastic shark and named her "Sarah."  We walked around for just a little bit and then headed back to the condo. 

•                On the last day I woke up super early and couldn't get back to sleep.  I crept out of the condo and walked down to the beach to see the sunrise.  Though I've seen plenty of sunrises on the beach while running by, I haven't actually stood to watch one from start to finish in a very long time.  I'd forgotten how amazing it is to see a giant orange ball of fire appear straight out of the water.  God's creation is just awesome.

•   David and I got in some personal hobby time, too.  He got in three rounds of golf with his grandfather and uncle (which brought his total rounds of golf for the year to three, so that was a big deal!)  I got to read two books and finish a huge blog post PLUS we got to do a date one night. 

•   We went to visit my Great Uncle Ben and Great Aunt Bonnie for an afternoon.  I've said it before after past visits, but it's just so important to me to spend some time with these sweet people.  They keep the memories of my paternal grandfather alive and connect my kids to that branch of the family.  Hearing his voice and watching his mannerisms are bittersweet, as they are so similar to my late grandfather's.  

•    I made it to "the rocks"!  Our first morning there, my mother-in-law and I got out and ran down to the area we call the rocks, which is 6 miles round trip.  It was great to accomplish that on day one and to have her company and uninterrupted conversation time with her.  I ended up getting in four runs on the beach during the week (one with her, two with David, and one solo) and logged 15 miles.  Running alongside the ocean is so therapeutic for me and did my soul serious good.

•   We celebrated Audrey's 6th birthday down there with a little "Beach Birthday Bash."  Everyone came over to our condo (which she had decorated with precious signs) and ate pizza.  After presents and cake, we played Catch Phrase for a minute and then Headbandz.

Quitter

In my last Thankful Thursday post, I alluded to having recently made a decision that I was at complete peace about.  That decision was for me to quit my part-time job.  I will be finished come mid-July and, to be 100% honest, I have discovered that I feel way more relieved than I ever imagined I'd feel.  (And no, the irony that this month's family virtue is "perseverance" is not at all lost on me, but hear me out...)

The internal battle had been going on for quite some time.  I was overwhelmed with all of the hats I was wearing and frequently feeling like I was just not enough.  The company needed someone that could offer more hours and I was barely squeaking out my existing commitment.  I knew that they were repeatedly getting the shaft because I was (rightly so) not willing to work more or put it in front of my other responsibilities.  That tense choice was a constant source of stress.  I was dwelling on and worrying about letting them down nearly as much as I was actually working.  (Hello, my name is Heather Sinyard and I am a perfectionist.)  To have an area of my life that I was consistently giving less than my best was a serious drain.  

The friction got especially tough in May, when both David and I were struggling with full loads.  I reasoned that I couldn't quit during one of the busiest months for me personally.  It wasn't a typical month...of course I had trouble balancing things then.  When the busyness subsided and I still couldn't shake the thought of lightening my load, I started giving my gut a little credibility.  I remember pulling over in a parking lot one afternoon and outlining what my roles and responsibilities were going to be come this August:

Wife
Mother
Daughter
Sister 
Friend
Household Manager (organizer)
Employee
Room Mom for AJ
Room Mom for Luke
PTA Social Media Committee Co-Chair
Co-Small Group Leader
Timber Trek Race Organizer
Runner (another half?)

As if it had a mind of its own, my pen floated to the "employee" line and crossed it off.  I knew what I needed to do.  So, as is my typical MO, I acted immediately...by obsessing over it for several more weeks.  Oh the internal dialogue and pros and cons list that were created in my head!

Eventually, I reached a decision.   All of the reasons I took the job - extra money, something outside of mommyhood, a sense of pride in my work, having something unique to talk about other than the children, offering a different example to the kids by working (which they rarely actually saw me do!) - were no longer enough. I wrestled long and hard about feeling like a quitter (because, as I told David, that's what I was by definition.) It is not in my stubborn nature.  He and others helped me reframe my thinking to the more positive spin of "re-prioritizing." :)

And the truth of the matter is that I was not passionate about doing project management for a web design company.  Sometimes a passion or a call for something can cover a multitude of sins/cons.  (See: drumming up sponsorships for the neighborhood 5K.)  What I AM passionate about is being a good servant for the Lord, wife, mother, volunteer, and friend...all of those other roles that I'd written on my list.  Plus, quite frankly, having time to chat with friends, organize something, blog, read, OR JUST PLAIN CHILL FOR FIVE DADGUM MINUTES while the kids are resting or napping is incredibly appealing.  I mean really.

I do not regret this past year.  It was tough, but I learned a ton and proved to myself that I could do it.  Until I couldn't anymore.  And then I proved to myself that I could make the tough call when I needed to.

Will you please pray for me as I finish out these last couple of weeks and for them as they find a replacement?  These people are more than employers to me...they are sweet friends that have been so supportive and understanding and I want the best for them.  

But in the words of the great philosopher Kenny Rogers, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run."  (I'm hoping for a little more time and energy for that, too...)

Update #2 on New Year's Resolutions

It's hard to believe that it's already been three months since my last review.  As a refresher, here are the goals I began with this year:

1.  Get in shape.

2.  Read more

3.  Implement the monthly virtue lessons in a book titled "In This House, We Will Giggle" to help teach the kids important things we want to pass on but in a purposeful, fun way.

So how has it been going?  Well, not too bad!  

Goal #1:  Between mid-March and mid-May I lost about twelve pounds and met my desired weight.  As a really cool bonus I learned some valuable lessons in the process.  You see, not a single person said anything about the weight loss.  Twelve pounds is a lot for no one to notice and at first I was a little upset about that until I realized three things:  1) That must mean that I'm getting pretty good at camouflaging extra pounds with my clothing choices 2) As much as I obsess and worry over my appearance when I'm heavier, it doesn't seem to occur to anyone else, least of all my husband and 3)  You absolutely cannot make changes like this for anyone on earth but yourself.  So the weight loss was great, but the take-aways were far more valuable.  Even though I will most likely fluctuate those numbers on the scale again, I really hope the lessons stick.

Goal #2:  Going great!  This quarter I read Nobody's Cuter than You by Melanie Shankle, Momumental by Jennifer Grant, Ketchup is a Vegetable by Robin O'Bryan, and The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben.  I even threw in two very large fiction works: Rules of Civility by Amor Towles and All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  That's six books, bringing my total to ten for the year.  My goal was approx. one per month with a total of ten, so even if I don't pick up another book (which I will because I have one on my nightstand to start and two on their way from Amazon) I've reached my goal with six months to spare.  SUPER pumped.  (By the way, in case you're curious, most of them were great.  If I had to choose a recommendation from each category, it would be The Happiness Project for non-fiction and All the Light We Cannot See for fiction.)

Goal #3:  Ah, still so-so.  We really did well with this month's virtue, which was "perseverance."  I reckon' I'll just have to draw on that one a little bit to make sure we keep  our focus on this goal these next couple of months.  :)

So there ya have it!  If your resolutions have fallen by the wayside, the start of a new school year is always a great time to turn over a new leaf.  In fact, I just may add one to my own list come August! 

...Okay, that's crazy talk.  I need to go persevere through a new book.

Thankful Thursday

Today was NUTS.  We left the house at 8am and headed to the gym so I could squeeze in a workout.  (Nothing is as motivating as swimsuit season, I tell ya.)  I picked up the kids from gym childcare and we went to order new glasses frames for AJ.  Though we really didn't have time to deal with it today, we were already out and I couldn't believe a week had gone by since her eye exam without me having ordered new glasses, so we bit the bullet and got it done.  The kids were very patient and well-mannered and the whole process was relatively painless...until it came time to pay, that is.  

We raced home from that, changed into swim suits, slathered on sunscreen, and hit the pool for the kids' swim lessons.  Just like every day this week, I stuffed a picnic lunch into one while the other was doing their lesson and then swapped.  At the end, I let them have a few minutes of free swim before loading our hot, tired, wet selves up and heading home for nap/rest time.  I got them dried off and settled and then did my conference call and worked for two hours.  I got the kids up, jumped in the shower while they ate snack, and then we drove to Audrey's gymnastics class.  (She's doing a once a week class for six weeks this summer.)  She did great and Luke enjoyed alternating between sneaking peaks at the class and coloring with me.  

The class wrapped up and we met David for a quick dinner and a sweet treat from Rita's.  He took the kids home to start baths while I stopped by a couple of businesses to talk to them about race sponsorships and then went by the grocery store on the way home.  We put the kids to bed, did laundry, and that brings me here to you now...with my eyelids drooping.

Summer oh summer, where for art thou "supposed to be chill" summer?

Today was not the norm, of course, but overall it has been a little crazier than I would prefer.  VBS, our trip to New Smyrna Beach (maybe I'll post about that one day), AJ's birthday party (maybe I'll get around to a post on that, too), swim lessons... None of these things are chores by any means, but they have kept us busy.  I'm hoping it'll slow down a little next week and, if not, certainly by mid-July.  In the midst of the busyness, though, I'm trying to focus my attention on the blessings and perks.  Here is this week's list:

1.  Brave little ones who are conquering their fears in swim lessons.  Luke was super anxious on the first day, even crying and telling the coach "NO!" at one point, but he's a completely different student now and doing fantastic.  Audrey has built up her solo- floating to a full 30 seconds and is working hard at freestyle and backstroke.  I'm so proud at their perseverance (which, fittingly, is our virtue of the month.  Don't think I haven't run that into the ground this week!)

2.  Eye improvement for AJ.  Though we found out at last week's appointment that she still has to patch for another three months, her eyes are improving!  In fact, her farsightedness has decreased by 25%.  Pray with us that these next 90 days bring about an end to patching for her!

3.  Not nursing or sleeping in 2-3 hour increments.  I know that sounds like a crazy thing to list, but it definitely crossed my mind when I took a meal to a friend earlier this week who just had a baby.  Oh man was I exhausted just thinking about that stage!  Her tiny daughter was precious and there are certainly moments I miss from that sweet time with my own two, but thank you Lord that I am no one's meal ticket and that sleep comes in much larger blocks these days.  

4.  Audrey and Luke's close relationship at this moment.  I'm well aware that by writing about this I'm going to ruin it, but it's just so amazing how well they're getting along right now!  I firmly believe it's because Audrey has way more patience with him than when she's had to put up with 17 other kids and a teacher at school all day.  Plus, he's so pumped to have a playmate other than mom that he'll go along with most of her ideas.  It's not perfect, mind you, but it's going quite well.  Please, please, please let it last!

5.  Podcasts.  I think I've listed this one before, but they really are such a good way to make monotonous tasks more bearable.  I found a new one that I'm hooked on now ("Happier" by Gretchen Ruben) in addition to some of my favorites (God Centered Mom, Inspired to Action, and Big Boo Cast.)  Check them out while you're driving, cleaning, or exercising and just see if it doesn't perk you up and make the time go by faster!

6.  Date night at a new restaurant.  Love me some date nights, love me some Italian food.  Put the two together and I'm over the moon!  :)  David and I got to sneak away for a couple of hours earlier this week and I know it gave me the boost to carry me through the rest of the week's busy t0-dos.  (I highly recommend Parma restaurant if you haven't been, by the way.)

7.  That feeling when you come inside from being at the pool.  The air conditioning hits you and there's a little smell of chlorine lingering and your lungs are tired...it's just quintessential summer to me.  

8.  Progress on the race that I'm putting on in our neighborhood this fall.  This week I've hit 17 businesses in person about sponsorships and emailed 6 others.  I know it's going to take asking 30-40 to get a solid 10, so pray for continued motivation for me and for interest from them!  Tomorrow marks 90 days out!

9.  Laughter with the kids.  Audrey and Luke's senses of humor are blossoming and I'm trying to make a conscious effort to join in, cut up, and laugh more with them.  Earlier this week we passed a port-a-potty being transported on a piece of construction equipment and made up a story about what it would be like if someone had been inside when they moved it.  We were all laughing so hard I thought we might have to pull over and find a real potty!  

10.  Peace.  When you make the right call at the right time and you know it's God's will, there is a confident, incomparable peace that washes over you.  Sorry to vague-blog, but I've reached the end of my stamina tonight...more later.

Sweet dreams!

May 2015 Recap

Welp,  I really didn't want to save all of this riveting detail for the monthly recap, but May was just too busy to do much pausing and reflecting.  Truthfully, the first few weeks of it 'bout killed us.  Knowing I have a flair for the dramatic, that may be a bit of a stretch...but only a bit.  

In the first five days of the month we: hosted my college roommate and two of her three kids overnight, I attended a baby shower, we had our small group end-of-semester cookout, went to church, attended a birthday party for one of Luke's little friends, had an evening meeting at church, and Luke caught a stomach bug.  All of that in the first FIVE days.  It barely slowed down from there.

That Friday I checked Audrey out of school early and took her down to a special gluten-free bakery in Roswell for a Mommy-Daughter Date.  I knew that this summer might actually mean less time for just she and I since I wouldn't be volunteering in her classroom.  I wanted to take the opportunity to celebrate the end of her kindergarten year and Mother's Day with just her and, frankly, to sneak her out of school for a couple of hours that didn't involve a doctor's appointment. 

On the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend I excitedly headed out for my annual day off only to have to end it early and head home because I was nauseous.  I wasn't sure if it was Luke's bug or the ever-increasing havoc that my monthly hormones cause these days, but it was getting ugly fast.  I made it home before getting sick, but spent that afternoon, evening, and most of the next day in bed.  It was really sad not to get to do the hike and picnic we had planned and I was very bummed about missing the special day with the kids.  David was a champ, though, and the kids were very sweetly concerned about me.  I guess I'm glad it didn't happen on a weekend we had big plans, but I do so hope not to spend another Mother's Day like that.

The following Monday was Audrey's Field Day at school and she had a decent time.  There was one incident where she got really embarrassed and I felt so bad for her.  A bunch of kindergarten classes were doing relays in a chaotic mass and the coach was dragging a hose out to fill up the little pools so they could do the sponge-squeeze-fill-up-a-jar thing.  As he walked back, he squirted Audrey as well as some other kids nearby with the hose.  It scared her and got water all over her glasses.  To make matters worse, he brought it up and apologized on his megaphone.  Twice.  (DUDE.  Quit talking!)  She ran to me and hid her face in my leg, crying mostly from humiliation.  I talked her down and ran back across with her and we waited together in line for that particular game to end.  It just wouldn't be elementary school field day unless the non-athletic kids were sufficiently embarrassed.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of doing away with the event because that's just part of life.  But it certainly was not one of my favorite parts and won't likely be hers either.  As I reminded her later, though, it was far less scarring than when I split my shorts open doing the dizzy bat race at my kindergarten (or was it first grade?  I've blocked it out...) field day.  I then had to get them stapled in the office and go on to chapel until my mom arrived with an extra pair.  Oh yes ma'am, that happened.  She giggled and admitted that the wet glasses and public megaphone apology seemed a little less terrible.  

That same week I dropped off the van at the body shop to get the rear gate repaired. Someone had backed into me in the gym parking lot a few weeks before.  I was perturbed at the inconvenience, but I'm very thankful they left a note and that their Allstate Insurance was so pleasant to work with.  I got a rental minivan - a 2015 Chrysler Town and Country, as a matter of fact - and quite enjoyed driving around in the a nice, spotless, smells-like-new ride for a few days.  When the body shop called to tell me they were running ahead of schedule, I made sure they knew I wanted them to take their time and do things right.  No need to rush on my account, folks.  I don't mind driving this another day or two at all. (And that, my friends, is sign #572 that you're an adult.  Getting that pumped about a clean minivan.)

The end of the week was Audrey's end of year class party.  I scaled back a little from what I normally would have done and kept the five stations and decorations pretty low-key.  We had a bubble station complete with giant bubble solution, a musical beach towels (like musical chairs) station, a ring and flamingo toss station, a hula-hoop game station, and an art station where they painted tropical sun catchers.  After the kids cycled through the centers, we had some snacks and (very melted) ice cream sundaes.  We presented the teacher with a monogrammed tote full of summer gifts, gift cards, and a framed picture of her with the class in a mat that the kids had all signed.  They limboed their way back to class with their game prizes, sun catchers, and ice cream mustaches.  I personally nearly cried a river of relief on the way home.  I couldn't believe I'd survived my first year in the room mom big leagues.  I laid down that afternoon and took the first nap I'd taken in who knows how long.  And when the alarm went off to signal me it was time to get up and finish putting away all of the party decorations and supplies, I turned it off and slept another half hour.  Glory be.  After Audrey came home from school, we got to meet the Taylors at the park for a couple of hours, which rounded out a wonderful day.  

On Saturday after a long run (which is about 6 miles for me these days), we went to a local art festival.  The kids ran around in their favorite open field, made sand art, and Luke got to pay $1 and paint a car for five minutes as part of a scholarship fundraiser.  We walked over to a park and let them play for awhile before grabbing lunch outside.  We felt like the itinerary just begged to be concluded with ice cream and then naps for all.  It was a perfect way to jumpstart summer and celebrate putting the craziest part of the month behind us.  

Painters were coming to our house the next week to do the exterior, which meant that during the end of April and first of May, I had also been frantically attempting to choose paint colors.  I was under the gun to choose something and submit it to our HOA for approval before they were scheduled to show up.  I spent hours (yes, plural) driving around the neighborhood taking pictures of what I liked and then getting samples and testing them out.  I get obsessive about finding the perfect pillows for the couch, so you can only imagine what a grueling process it is for me when we're talking about that kind of money for that long of a time period.  I had a friend recommend a realtor/designer in the neighborhood, so she came out and weeded through my choices with me.  It helped immensely.  The painting crew got started and, though there was a lot more rotten wood to replace than we expected, it went well and we are very, very pleased with the end result.  

Audrey's last day of school was the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend.  The kids and I started summer off right by driving up to a farm and picking strawberries that Friday then meeting David at Mellow Mushroom for dinner and watching a few minutes of an outdoor concert for Memorial Day.  On Saturday, we all headed to Alabama to celebrate David's aunt's retirement and his cousin's high school graduation.  I don't much recall the rest of the holiday weekend except that there were burgers involved, a walk or two, and several thoughtful prayers for those men and women who gave us the freedom to do wonderfully monotonous things.

We celebrated David turning 34 during the last week and he wished upon his peach cobbler candle while the kids dove into their gluten-free ice cream sundaes.   I gave him a printed out coupon explaining I'd reserved a kayak rental for us to try out on the Chattahoochee River, something he's wanted to do since we moved to the area two and a half years earlier.  

That Friday night we took the kids to his parents and I picked up the two person kayak.  We went out for a belated birthday dinner at a mexican restaurant and then went home to binge-watch West Wing, which we'd borrowed from friends.  The E. Coli levels in the river were running high, but by Saturday morning they were back in the safe zone, so we loaded up and ventured out.  We drove to Settles Bridge and carried the kayak down to the ramp, feeling a smidge anxious but a lot adventurous.  We'd mapped out our course, planning on going upstream to the bridge at Hwy. 20 and then circling back down to the park.  Because the logistics of putting in at one place and getting out at another were so difficult ("But the truck has to end up here.  No, we can't leave the kayak alone.  Okay, if I drive you there and then...")  we opted to attempt doing a loop.  The water felt unsurprisingly cold and the fog made us a little uneasy as we got in and pushed off.  While going upstream wasn't terribly hard, we certainly couldn't sit back and enjoy the scenery.  We paddled over a few tough sections of big rocks and got in sync pretty quickly.  After awhile, I began to hear the sound of water breaking and rushing and felt nervous about what was ahead.  Turns out it was a little ledge that we unsuccessfully attempted to get over twice before it pushed us towards an area of fallen tress along the shore and we decided to abandon our route a little earlier than planned.  (Sidenote:  My favorite quote of the day was hearing David behind me state:  "This is bad" as we fought to stay out of the downed tree and not get flipped by the current.  Ever the calm soul, that one.)  

David's work was also exceptionally stressful during all of the other chaos, which was tough.  I can count on one hand the number of times he's been that overwhelmed at his job in the eleven years he's worked there.  It wasn't necessarily that he was working a lot of hours (See: March and April), but it was just a ton of stress over this big two year project that was finally nearing the finish line.  

Here's what I've learned about stress in our decade plus of marriage:  when one of you is drowning, the other can help by throwing life lines.  That may mean keeping things off that person's plate, offering extra encouragement or help, or doing little and big acts of kindness to boost their spirits.  However, when BOTH of you are drowning simultaneously, well, you'd just better make sure that situation is as short-lived as possible.  There were a couple of weeks in May where the ship was sinking.  I remember one night we stuck the kids in front of the television and had a pow-wow to talk through what on earth we could get off our plates.  I even considered quitting my job in an effort to lighten our load, but we just kept treading water and eventually things slowly receded.  

It was partly because of this intensity that we began hunting for a weekend getaway option for ourselves for later in the summer.  If you don't have the time to take a break, the next best thing is making plans for one, right?  We kept holding off hoping that David would have a work trip we could tack a weekend onto, but the only place that was even a remote possibility was Cleveland and...sorry...but no.  He also confessed that he really had no desire to turn a potentially stressful business trip into a quasi-vacation, so we began exploring other options.  We researched Callaway gardens, lake cabins, and even thought about doing a staycation in downtown Atlanta for a night or two.  On a whim, I looked up Norwegian Cruise Lines deals.  We sailed with them for a week to the Caribbean back in 2008 and loved it.  Turns out, there was a package deal for a weekend in the Bahamas that was just as cheap as any of the other possibilities we'd considered.  And it also turns out that the one perk of having to travel for business a lot is airline miles.  It took me a couple of days to wrap my brain around it and be okay with it (but we just did Mexico last year!  What will people think?!  This is so "last minute"!)  In the end (and upon my husband's urging) I realized that he deserves this and, after airline miles and credit card points, it's only going to cost us the price of lunch at the airport and whatever souvenirs we buy, so yeah, we're going.  We'd be crazy not to.  

So that was May with a little bonus glimpse of the rest of our summer.  Throw in a week's vacation with his family at the beach, Audrey's birthday party, a week of swim lessons for both kids, and a few other day or weekend excursions and I have a feeling I'll be writing a "Back to School" post in what will surely feel like 37 seconds from now.

I hope your summer is off to a rip-roaring good start!  Don't forget the sunscreen!

1,000 Miles

But I would walk 500 miles

And I would walk 500 more

Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles 

To fall down at your door

I've had these lyrics by The Proclaimers stuck in my head for weeks ever since I noticed my Nike running app ticking closer to 1,000 miles on its odometer.  

I am admittedly proud to say that, after nearly two years, I achieved that benchmark yesterday:

1,000 miles in 202 runs over the course of two years.  A THOUSAND MILES.  And that does not include the 100 or so I've probably logged on treadmills or completed untracked.  

That's an average of 41.7 miles per month, or 9.6 miles per week, of running.  My biggest month was 83.2 and my smallest was a lowly 9.1 (February of this year, actually.)   But you know what?  Every month had a number in it.  All 24 of them.   

Of course I didn't just begin running two years ago.  I have run off and on since high school, doing a dozen or more 5Ks and a couple of 10Ks through the years.  But this is certainly the most consistently committed I've ever been to the sport.

Oh, don't get me wrong.  I'm not an expert.  Those miles were S-L-O-W and often ugly.  And I'd say that out of those 202 runs, I probably really only felt like doing about 1/4 of them.  Maybe not even that many.  The vast majority of them were run at least partially in the dark early morning hours.  Many were freezing (or below), many were hot and humid, and some left me soaking wet with rain or snow.  Some were while pushing a jogging stroller full of a heavy, whiney child.  There was soreness and dehydration to contend with and, as all runners know, the mental hurdles were a beast.  Those are always far worse than the physical struggles.  

But here's another secret:  When I finished each run, I never once regretted going.  Not a single time did I think, "I really wish I hadn't run today."  Not EVER.

There wasn't any fanfare when my app rolled over that mark yesterday.  The monumental mile happened at dawn on my neighborhood streets, like most of the 999 miles before it.  It was quite fitting, actually.  Because here's what it confirmed for me:  Most of the greatest successes in life happen at a painstakingly slow pace, over a long period of time, without a ticker tape parade for every little victory.  It's showing up and doing your best to put one foot in front of the other over and over and OVER again even when you don't feel like it.  

Actually, especially when you don't feel like it.  (See also: Relationships, parenting, marriage, career, homemaking, etc.)  I guess you could say it's like running with endurance the race that is set before you.  (Hebrews 12:1)

Thank you, Lord, for the health and strength to have accomplished this.  I so enjoyed our talks during a great many of those miles.  Sorry for huffing and puffing so much.  

Here's to another 1,000.  Y'all let me know if you want to go out for a jog.  

April 2015 Recap

April kicked off with a quick visit from Kara, Easter, and then Spring Break, which was a lovely way to begin a month.  It ended a lot busier with less fun things, but we'll get to that shortly.

Kara swung by with the kids on Friday (her girls had off from school, but unfortunately AJ did not) and we caught up about as much as we could in between Luke's Superman interruptions.  That night the kids spent the night at David's parents and we went for a run together, had dinner, and came home for a DVR marathon.  The next day we laid 20+ bags of wood chips on the playground, put out a dozen bails of pine straw, and finished clearing out the woods just on the other side of our fence.  It's still our property back there and had begun to encroach on our backyard and look a mess.  I had started the project earlier in the week and made an impressive dent, but was no match for David with a chainsaw.  We joked that there had once been a time we could've gone for a run together and then done all that yard work, but sadly, that day ceased with our twenties.  I think we might could have pulled it off, but not without still maintaining mobility.    

We met Ed and Pam to pick up the kids and came home to dye Easter eggs.  Stuff like that really gets easier and more fun every year.  On Sunday morning, we went to church and enjoyed a great service.  Back home, the Easter bunny had stopped by and the kids dug into their baskets.  Afterward, everyone humored me through taking some pictures and then we had an egg hunt in the backyard.  At some point a few days earlier, I realized that Audrey had gone from having about five egg hunts a year between preschool, Kara's that she did when she lived here, Alabama (we didn't get together this year), our neighborhood's, and then ours in the backyard to having just the one in our backyard.  And I also realized I was totally fine with that.  Kinda bummed for Luke, but he'll get one at preschool next year.  

After hunting eggs, we ate a quick lunch and the kids went down for rest/nap while I started cooking a couple of things for dinner.  We went for a little hike on one of the neighborhood trails and then back home for dinner.  (That's another thing that has gotten a lot easier and more fun as the kids have gotten older - hiking/taking walks.  They're able to go farther and there is a lot less whining from Luke begging for us to hold him halfway in.)  I was really excited about dinner because it was the first gluten-free "holiday meal" I'd made and everyone enjoyed it.  We rounded out the weekend by playing the game Headbandz that the Easter Bunny had given them.  It was a wonderful Easter full of spending time with my biggest blessings and the perfect way to kick off Spring Break.

The week of Spring Break was a great mix of fun stuff and relaxation.  I asked Audrey to pick three things she really wanted to do and she chose spending the night at her grandparents' (which they did the Friday before), having a play date with her friend across the street (which we couldn't because they were traveling, so we had play dates with several other friends), and going to the children's museum (which we did with friends on Wednesday.  It was insanely crowded  because of a field trip, but we made the best of it and ended with a picnic in the backs of our vans, which the kids thought was cool.)  We also went to Kids Up and then ended the week with my mom coming out to spend the night.  She brought along my niece Annelise who was in town and they all had a blast playing together.  

The second Saturday of the break, David and I got up early and drove down to Roswell to do a 10K that ran by the Chattahoochee River.  It was perfect weather, the pollen count was low (if you don't live in GA, you don't even know how big of a deal this is but trust me), and the course was extremely flat.  All of that made for a great race and, despite his less-than-consistent training schedule, David ran the whole thing.  We were super proud of ourselves and celebrated by swinging by Martin's for a biscuit...our first trip there in probably six years.  It was as good as we remembered.

Unfortunately, David had to go into work that day as well as the next.  My brother met us at church in the morning and then he left to get Annelise from her grandparents' and go back to Savannah while we grabbed lunch and surprised David at work.  It was good to see him and lift his spirits for a little while and the kids always love checking out his office.  

We drove home, I put the kids down for rest/nap, and started cleaning up the house for small group.  David got home just in time to lead it and then we ate, put the kids down, and he went out to cut the grass while I worked.  Suddenly that relaxing Easter weekend seemed far away!  Still, it was a great break for Audrey and just left me wanting summer all the more.  

We got back into the routine of things relatively quickly that next week.  We didn't have much of a choice, though, as Kindergarten Market Day was the Friday after Spring Break and there was work to be done.  (If you're unfamiliar with what that is, each class transforms into a place of business and half the kids are consumers while the other half are workers and then they switch after about 30 minutes.) On top of that, Luke had a check-up that Tuesday and I had a Volunteer Appreciation Brunch that Wednesday.  All turned out well and Audrey had a fantastic time at her little Market Day.  I told the other parents I felt like it was Black Friday for five and six year olds.  They were insane running from class to class.  There was a little bowling alley, a jewelry shop, a candy store, a disco, a movie theater, and her class was a pet store with live animals you could learn about.  It cracked me up when about halfway into being worker she whined, "Mommy!  This is boooooring!  I want to be finished working."  Well.  Welcome to the real world, kid.  Turns out everything you need to know you really do learn in kindergarten.

That night David and I celebrated making it through the week by going out on a dinner date and then picking up approximately thirty paint swatches from the paint store to begin the process of choosing a color for our exterior.  He may have gone into work that Saturday, but truth be told, I can't even remember.  I do know that on Sunday after church, we drove out to Douglasville for my nephew's seventh (wha?!) birthday party at a bounce house place.  The kids were amazingly fearless trying out everything and had so much fun celebrating Carson.  While watching him and the little boys he'd invited, I realized how glad I am to have a son.  Their sweaty hair plastered to their little heads and the way they saved seats (by putting their hand in the actual chair, of course) is just precious.  Of course I'm very glad to have a daughter, too.  The best of both worlds for sure.

The next week was slightly slower.  We celebrated Audrey's pretend birthday at school (since hers is in the summer) and I ate lunch with her and took the class popsicles to eat after lunch.  She was so upset that morning as she worried about standing in front of the class and having them sing to her.  I explained that sometimes the things we want to do (celebrate our birthday by sharing popsicles with the class) come with things that we don't care for (standing up and having them sing.)  Good and bad.  Pros and cons.  You know, LIFE.  I even had her sing it to me that morning while I counted and explained it was about 20 seconds and it would be over.  That didn't placate her a bit.  Finally I told her she could ask Mrs. Lynn if she could skip that part, but that if she answered no, that was that.  She asked me to please write a note to "excuse" her.  I said absolutely not.  Back and forth drama all morning.  Long story short, I showed up at lunch and asked her how it went.  Her answer?  "AWESOME!  I LOVED IT!"  :)

The rest of the week was filled with paint samples and play dates.  David worked late nearly every night that week, missing dinner and bedtime.  By Friday afternoon, I was done.  I loaded the kids into the car and took them to the gym for a while.  They were entertained and I got some stress out on the treadmill and bike.  I picked them up from childcare and we walked out into the parking lot to find that someone had backed into my van.  UGG.

Thankfully the guy had left a note and David called him and then the insurance company that night.  We're still in the middle of getting all of that handled.  But just, UGG.

The last week of the month we had an orthopedic check-up for Audrey.  We saw a different doctor who said that either the first doctor was full of crap about her muscles shortening or that the stretching had done it's job, because she is fine.  He also said most kids don't outgrow toe walking until the age of seven or eight.  We'll continue to work with her and stretch this summer and follow up with one more doc that he recommended in about three months.  

On Wednesday, I sent Luke to Pam's for the day because I just needed some time to get things done at home. I used the opportunity to catch up on some projects that have fallen by the wayside since I started work and, yes, I also admittedly used some of the time to catch up on the DVR a little too.  Later that week I drove the van in for a repair quote and then met with the insurance adjuster for his quote.  Turns out it's going to take 4-5 days to fix and involve a rental car.  (Did I mention UGG...but still, yay for honest people?!)

I also had a realtor/designer that lives in our neighborhood come by and talk through some paint samples with me.  When I thought we were just changing the siding color, I felt semi-capable.  When it became evident that we probably needed to switch up trim and shutter color as well, it was more than I could handle.  She offered some great tips and narrowed it down quite a bit for me.  I think we may actually be able to make a decision sometime before the painters show up in a few weeks.  We ended the month preparing for out-of-town guests and a crazy hectic first weekend of May, but that's next week's recap.

So, there's April.  Its slogan should be:  "Busier than March, but not quite as crazy as May." I could've saved both of us a lot of time if I'd just recapped with that statement, but where would the fun be in that?!  

Catch up more soon! :)