Dinner Time Dilemma

Do you ever feel like you can't get things done?  I know you mammas with little kids do!  I was there once upon a time.  You felt like everything you were doing was being undone right behind you!

Well, I've been out of that stage for a while but I still struggle to get things done in a day.  I'd like to start my day by reading God's Word.  Thankfully this has become a great habit and I rarely struggle with getting this done.  I'd also like to get some form of exercise done in the day, whether it be walking or hooping, just something to get moving!  My job is very stationary now so I need that extra push to get up and move!  I've been so-so about accomplishing this.  The only time I have to do this is in the evening.  Our apartment doesn't have laundry in the apartment so we go downstairs to a community laundry room.  On the days that I do laundry, I can get a good walk in either outside or on the treadmill, while I wait for the laundry to finish.

The thing I struggle with the most, I really always have, is making dinner!  I absolutely hate going to the grocery store.  I hate the whole process.  The making the lists, then shopping, then lugging it all to the car, then lugging it all inside, then putting it all away.  Yuck. And I'm really not too fond of cooking either! :o

I can't get inspired to menu-plan for the week.  Then when I get home from work, I'd rather just eat a bowl of cereal or go out somewhere.

Dinner time is the time of day I'm the least hungry.  My family has never been very scheduled so we've never been in a good habit of sitting down together.  Kids are all grown now and it's just me and Larry, so I don't see the point.  No motivation.

I like to eat healthy, so I know it would be better for us to plan our meals at home.  I've looked at all the web sites that you can put in ingredients and it spits out shopping lists for you.  But it just seems like so much work!

My family doesn't complain about it at all.  They've been great scavengers!  I don't know how you mommas do it that have big households!

Well, no resolutions here.  Just something I've always struggled with.  Anyone else?  If you have any thoughts, comment below!  I'd love to hear how you all handle the dinner dilemma.

Hoop Story

Here's another hoop story.....

We were camping a few weekends ago and I took my hoop (of course!).  As we were enjoying the outdoors I was hooping away.  A couple of kids came over and wanted to try!  I love the looks on people's (and kid's) eyes when they see a **gasp** grown-up hula hooping!  Kids are amazed and want to try.  Adults are usually either really happy or really grouchy.  They really outta try hooping!

Anyway..  I was teaching one of the girls some basic tricks.  And she was loving it!  We had a great time and said our goodbyes and went on our merry way.  That evening there was live music at our camping resort! Whoo hoo!  Hoop time! As I enjoyed the dancing and the music, my little friend from that morning came up to me!  We were camping at the same place!  So of course we hooped together.  I only had one hoop with me so I let her use it while I danced around like I had an invisible hoop in my hand.  We had a wonderful time.  She was getting pretty good too!

Then she had a revelation,  she said to me "Oh, I get it!  You just do what the hoop wants to do!" Exactly! Out of the mouths of babes.

That's why I love hooping.  It gets me out of my comfort zone.  It gets me moving.  It gets me dancing.  It reminds me about love, happiness.  It draws people in.

Love the innocence a hoop brings.  And joy!  Lots of Joy!

Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts I'm having right at this moment:

what's for lunch? I'm hungry!

Can't believe I only have one teenager left!  My middle son is 20 now! Where did the time go?

I really liked the movie we saw last night, Mom's Night Out. Laugh out loud funny, and a great message!

Work is quiet today.

I'm thinking too hard about what to write in this blog.

I really should start cooking more at home but I hate going to the grocery store.  I wish someone would just bring me meals every day :)

I wonder what it would be like to live in a little apartment on the canal in Amsterdam.  And how much would it cost??

I love my little home church.  It's true friendships that matter.

i'm hungry

Can't wait to take Larry on a surprise date Friday night

Love my rainbow toe pedicure I got yesterday

Aww man! I didn't hoop yesterday!

Well that's my random thoughts for today.  What's on your mind??

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth!

Things that make me smile (in no particular order)  

a nice hot cup of tea

a good book that I can't put down

knowing that I accomplished something

my hula hoop

seeing my kids growing up to be gentlemen and a lady

kite flying on a beautiful day

reading Runny Babbit out loud

waking up to a thunderstorm rolling in the distance

finding that geocache with my hubby

feeling the Spirit of the Lord move through worship

kicking my shoes off at the end of the day

enjoying a good tv show or movie with my honey

finally winning against my honey in Wordfeud

seeing my flowers and herbs bloom and grow

sitting on my balcony listening the birds

getting something organized

singing along to a musical

traveling to new places

doing something for someone else that makes them smile

watching a play at Plaza Theatre

watching a big thunderstorm roll in

Well...these are a few of my favorite things!  How about you?  What makes you happy?

Summer is upon us!

Summer is coming up quick!  That means weekend trips and summer vacations!  I absolutely love to travel! Even if it's just a weekend trip to a new place I haven't been. I love seeing new sights and exploring new places.

Probably the hardest part about traveling, whether you are going for a week or a few days, is packing!

I used to be an over packer!  I thought, "Well, just throw it in just in case"   But since checking bags at the airport has gotten quite expensive...I've become a "carry on only" kinda packer.  Even if you aren't traveling by plane but enjoying a road trip..there are several things to do to take less stuff.

Things I've learned about packing:

Space bags are amazing!   You can buy those ones that you can roll the air out of and they work great!

I usually pull everything out that I think I want to take and then go through everything at least a few days before leaving.  I usually end up putting half of it back!

Try to coordinate your outfits to one or two color palettes.  Take more tops than bottoms.  And the hardest part....shoes!   Try to limit to 2-3 pairs.  If you will wear it only once then don't take it!  Mix and match! Scarves are a great accessory to take.  They are light and versatile and can make a plain outfit look completely different.

Now traveling with kids is a whole other thing!  But the same things can still apply.  Coordinate outfits, take more tops than bottoms.  If you need something buy it there instead. A few favorite toys and books and you should be good to go.

I've been overseas a few times now and I've gotten down to taking only one backpack and one small carry on!  It's so much easier to travel with less stuff!

My favorite go tos for ideas and inspiration:  

Rick Steves!

The Savvy Backpacker

Well happy travels!  Take lots of pictures and journal too!  

What really matters

I know this is going to be a bit controversial. But there's something that just bugs me to no end.

Homeschoolers.

Not necessarily the kids.  But the parents.  I want you to know where I'm coming from.  We homeschooled our 2 oldest the whole time, and our youngest one most of the way.

Why do the parents who have taken their kids out of school, or never had them in there to begin with, want to do everything at home the exact way they do it at school?

Don't they realize the freedom there is in homeschooling?  We don't have to do anything like they do in the public school!  We can tailor everything to each individual.  If one of our kids excels at math then BOOM -- math of all kinds.  We don't have to stay in the box of 1st grade math, 9th grade math etc.  Let the child lead. If the kid doesn't like workbooks, then ditch 'em!  Find out what the child's learning style is and use that!  Do they learn by hearing, doing, writing, touching stuff? Use that!  My daughter walked circles around the table while we were doing math stuff...drove me crazy!  I asked her to sit down and she said "Mom, if I sit down, I can't think!"  Who knew?  So I let her walk around and get up and down all the time.  It helped her concentrate more.  My way of "doing school" was to do page 1, then page 2, then ...stand back...page 3!  Her way of doing school was open the book and look through it and see what pages looked exciting and then do those!  What??  But to her it worked well.  It kept her interest.  And if I'd known more back then, I would ditch the books entirely! We'd use real life situations and go to the library and play games to learn stuff.

That brings me to the part that drives me crazy.

Most people do this when their kids are little because they enjoy playing and learning.  But when their homeschooled kids get to be in "high school"  they automatically shift to "do everything like the public school" mode.  High school credits, papers, graduation at 18 years old etc.   Why not continue the train of thought that the learning can be tailored to the individual?  Are they ready to be "done" when they are 15? Then be done! Just because I'm "done" with school doesn't mean I quit learning.  Do they really need to have credits? Do they really need to learn chemistry or calculus?  Maybe..it depends on what they will be going into.

There is freedom, folks!  That's why we bring our kids home!  Don't worry about them keeping up with their "grade level" (what is that anyway--do all 30 year olds know the same information?)

Teach them to love learning!  Teach them to learn how to learn!  Teach them to be FREE!

Why do we move so much???

Since I've been married...coming up on 25 years now... we have moved a total of 13 times!  That's a lot of moving!  It's always been for different reasons.  Sometimes a job leads us here or there.  Sometimes we need a change of scenery.   Sometimes we need a bigger house.  This last time we were ready to downsize and move closer to Larry's work.

I grew up in 2 houses.  One house till I was 5, then we moved and I lived there till I got married when I was 18.  I didn't grow up moving around.  My husband grew up in the same house all is life.  Maybe that's why we move so much.  I really don't know.

Moving around a lot does have it's advantages.  We don't keep a lot of stuff.  We de-clutter quite frequently. I've learned not to grow too attached to my things.  It's just furniture.  It's just stuff.  

It's interesting to see my kids and how they are affected by all the moving.  Some are still nomads.  Traveling here and there.  On to the next adventure!  But I have one that wants to settle down and have roots.  He wants to buy land and stay there awhile.  I get that.  I admire that.  

I'm grateful for all the places we've lived.  We've had lots of great experiences in every state and house. We've gotten to see and experience the culture in many different places.  We've made life long friends all across America. One funny memory was when we were up in Pittsburgh and Larry was trying to order something through the McDonald's drive-thru.  He says in his thick Texas twang, "I'd like to buy some chicken mac bites."  (it's hard to describe how this sounds...just exaggerate all the "i's" to really long sounding "i's").  The girl in the drive thru says "What?"  He repeats again, even thicker and slower.  She says, "Um, sir,  I have no idea what you are talking about!"  Too funny!

I don't think I could live in one place too long (shhh...don't tell my nomadic husband!)  I look forward to the curves up in the road ahead.  Although I don't enjoy the actual physical part of boxing, moving, lifting, sorting... yuck.. I do enjoy new adventures.

What about you?  Have you moved alot?  Would you like to?