Stumbling Around Dreams: February 2019

Monday, February 25, 2019

New Year, New Garden

Hey y'all,

2019 has decided that Spring arrives in February. Thus, we have gotten slightly ahead of the gardening game this year, but only slightly -- no planting except for the bulbs because I'm still afraid we'll see some colder nights yet.

However, 2019 will see a more grandiose garden here at Cedar Creek compared to last year's last-minute Mother's Day extravaganza. In 2018 we moved rather unexpectedly to CC and found ourselves working on the interior of the house during the planting season. Not that I've ever had a green thumb; but come May, we noticed many a clearance plant at the local nurseries and we spent roughly $40 all told and did some light "landscaping" as well as planting our first small vegetable garden that consisted of two kinds of peppers, pumpkins and melons, and some tomatoes. We also had numerous things in pots that I continued to kill throughout the summer. An experimental garden, if you will.

After realizing that we were finally in a more permanent home, I spent this past winter periodically obsessing behind closed doors over the Cedar Creek Veggie Garden 2.0. I was for real this time. I read several books and articles; browsed seeds upon seeds and finally ordered some; and I even whipped out the new calendar and proceeded to map out our 2019 gardening journey over the next 12 months. Seriously. I wrote down exactly when we would be constructing the beds, preparing the soils, starting which seeds indoors when, hardening plants, transplanting plants, planting seeds in the actual garden, harvesting -- if you do it in the garden, I wrote it down on the calendar for the appropriate time. Including fall planting and harvest, as well as the planting of some fruit trees and berry bushes I dream of incorporating into our landscape. Ahhhhh! I live for the growing season!

This picture is depicting what the brick lining the front bed DID look like.
Then I stacked it to make it a taller and actual bed.

Finished and planted.

I am not a "gardening gloves" kinda gal. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than burying my hands in a good pile of dirt; and as you can see from the pictures, the apples don't fall far from the tree!
We are attempting a new method this year: square foot gardening. I've only heard good things about it. I'm extremely excited to reap the benefits of growing into a disciplined gardener! Especially that which is getting my kids outside and involved in the growing of their own food.
Last summer, one of Katie's favorite things to do each morning was to check the garden for any harvest. She absolutely loved picking peppers and tomatoes with me! I'm really excited to see her older and more able to help with other tasks this year, as well watching Mason get to dig his hands into the soil for the first time.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the first bed.

That's no grumpy gardener!

We were able to churn up one bed before naptime.

What about you? Do you garden each year? Have you ever gardened before and just don't anymore? Is it something you've always wanted to do? What sort of plants would you have in your dream food garden?

Extra-muddy. Time for baths.

Three generations. He'll be helping soon enough...

Worn out after a long weekend playing in the dirt.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Females Need Quality Time

Hey y'all,

We have been experiencing the "terrible two's" in the worst way over the last couple of months. Mason and Katie can't seem to look at each other without squalling. Mason does his fair share of instigating; but the emotional and over-the-top mess is Katie. We have tried spankings, time-outs, talking-to's, ignoring, and instructing in kindness. Nothing is working. I used to be able to talk to her and calm her down. Now she screams over the top of me, tries to hit or kick me, tells me "NO!", argues with me why she can't be sweet, slams her door if she gets sent to her room (or if she sends herself). Just a general all-around mess; and it has been only escalating for weeks now. I'm at the end of my rope.

Then a wise friend of mine shared something on Facebook about the minutes in a child's day that count the most.

Clearly this advice also presses the importance of physical contact with our children, and I am definitely lacking in that area, as well. Baby steps.

My kids are not yet school-age; but it struck me that I could still practice the "first 3 minutes" rule. As a simple experiment (I was at the end of my rope, remember?) I promised myself that the next morning (Friday), no matter what I was in the middle of, when Katie woke up I would purposely stop what I was doing, grab a book (or several) and sit and read with her immediately. Reading is her favorite thing to do with any adult.

Katie doesn't really wake up in the morning at a consistent time anymore. I try to get the most important and non-baby-friendly chores done before the kids require my attention; but it rarely goes as planned. So, I end up pausing briefly to rush her through the motions of getting dressed and getting strapped down for breakfast in the mornings, complete with the entertainment of tv, so I can get back to my agenda.

Friday morning, I was in the middle of cleaning my bathroom when she woke up at 6am. Ugh. However, I remembered my promise/experiment and immediately washed my hands, hung up my apron, and snagged a book from the living room shelf. It was warmer that morning, so we went to the back porch swing and watched the dawn break. We read our story and talked about the colors as the sky changed and we welcomed the morning together.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MADE. I got 0 lip from her for the rest of the entire day! There were maybe two or three tiffs between her and Mason all day! And none of them escalated anywhere close to the level they had been for the last several weeks!!

I've tried this "method" twice more since then (Saturday morning and this morning) and it has had an amazing impact on our relationship as well as her relationship with everybody around her!

New topic: Skye has been beating up Joey. I mean to a pulp. He looks awful. She won't even let him eat. She even backed him into a corner and was so terrifying that my poor blind horse fought his way through the fence and out into the street last week. A neighbor, a guy from the fire department, and my father in law were trying to get my attention around 6:45am last Monday morning for this reason. sigh. I've reached my limit with the mare, too, and quickly posted her for sale.

I already wrote about how I put her on the lunge line and sent her around until the attitude was worked out of her system because she went after Joey pretty good while I was out there last week. She was like a brand new horse and they stayed best friends through the next day.

But just to be sure, I tried it again the next afternoon. She gave me a little lip, but nothing like the day before; and Joey had a new friend for another 24 hours.

I have gone out and lunged her everyday for the last four days; except on Sunday. While my mother in law had the kids, Skye and I went on a nice long trail ride. We had so much fun, and I haven't seen her go after Joey since Thursday. They stand together so nicely now.

New topic: My birthday was last Tuesday. Jacob had been talking about taking me out for a nice dinner for weeks; but of course he works on Tuesdays; thus, I didn't count on it.

Thus, he got home way early and I hadn't even so much as showered. The kids and I had just gone about our day as usual. I rushed to put on a dress of some kind and make my face and hair somewhat decent while the kids clawed around me wondering when their babysitter would be arriving.

With fussy kids and greasy hair at the end of the day, I proceeded to stress out and naturally think I was too ugly to go out for my birthday. #girllogic

By the time my mother in law arrived after work to pick up the kids for dinner, I had slammed the bathroom door shut and was crying on the floor saying, "I don't know why we thought this was going to work! I'm so ugly! We should get the kids from her and just treat it as a normal night! I don't deserve a birthday dinner!"

Jacob basically had to drag me to the car and make me go. I'm so glad he did. I stared grumpily out the car window and didn't talk to him besides a few growls all the way to Olive Garden.

By the end of dinner, I was talking and laughing and flipping my greasy hair like we were on our first date (except I did wash my hair for that one). He asked me what else I would wanna do since it was still early in the evening and we went and signed up for my first gym membership. We had our first gym date the following Sunday and I'm in love (with both him and working out). <3

Turns out, girls need quality time in order to thrive. And in the words of Casting Crowns: we were made to thrive.

So, if you've got a female in your life who is raising some cane, try spending a little one-on-one time with her -- even if it's yourself.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Kid-Picture Overload

Hey y'all,

There's a million and one things I should be doing right now; but a few people have been urging me to get back on the blog and update. Three of those people being me, myself, and I. Honestly, keeping up with this blog is mostly for myself (I know, I'm selfish). It helps solidify anything I've been learning, feels like I can let go of problem areas I post about, and it's fun to be able to go back and read what I was doing or thinking a year ago -- or three! It's a creative outlet where being a mom and wife sometimes isn't. And I'm a very creative person, so that can be stifling.

Mason fell asleep in the highchair during lunch today. He's been trying to convince me he's too big for naps over the last couple of weeks. Guess it finally caught up with him. Bless his heart.
Thus I was presented with a spontaneous couple of hours to do whatever my heart desired -- just as soon as I got his older sister down for her nap.

I went out to let Skye out of her pen and clean it (she's not playing nice at all lately; so I'm having to separate the horses the majority of the time). She proceeded to tell me what a big deal she was and lunge after Joey. Thus I marched back to the house and got a lunge whip and line and marched right back to that paddock and hooked her up. We went round and round and worked on some things that I didn't know she never knew -- or at least needed some serious brushing up on. I learned that I've been letting her off the hook way too easily when I have worked her before. And by the end of the session, she was a completely different horse. She and Joey are standing at the round bale right now, side by side, munching away. Which hasn't happened for weeks. Score!

Skye really is such a fun little horse. She is so willing to learn, though she does have some mare attitude. I desperately wish she had come to me at another season of life when I could have the time she needs to be put in to her. Just as soon as the dawn starts breaking earlier in the day, you can bet your boots that time will be ours.

Right now, though, it's still dark when Jacob and I get up at 5:30. He goes to work; and I've recently learned something my mom has been telling me for years: Life just goes easier when moms get up before their kids. And we Christian women should know this one from Proverbs, anyway: "She [the virtuous wife] rises while it is yet night and prepares food for her household." (Proverbs 31:15)
I've learned (this last week) that I am more patient with my children throughout the day if I've already gotten up and gotten the majority of the chores completed without them. Then the stress of "Hang on just a minute, honey, Mommy's busy...I SAID JUST A MINUTE. Sheesh, can't I finish ONE task before being interrupted?!" is completely unnecessary. And I'm a stress master.

One thing I'm having to learn to not stress over is balancing everything I already have going on in my life.... with school.

Ecstatic over Valentines

That's right. School is back in session for this mama. I'm hoping to finally complete my associates (to simply transfer to a university, nothing major) this semester -- so in May.
I started this two year process four years ago. I had one class left to take and somehow waited until I had two toddlers.
Enter in the fact my school was offering a BOGO deal; and thus I'm now taking Psychology online and a night class in World Religions. That's right: hubby and I are running a literal relay on Thursdays now.

Especially because I joined a local MOPS group that happens to meet every other Thursday.
What on earth is MOPS, Sam, and don't you have enough going on already?? Moms of Preschoolers and yes, yes I do. But I've come to realize the value of a support group. The value of being plugged in with people who are currently going through or have already gone through what I am. Especially a group of people who have similar goals and values, such as a fear of God. I love love love my new support group (even though I've only made it to two meetings); but, yes, Thursdays are long at the Thomas household now.
On MOPS days, I drop off the kids at Mom's around 8:30am (and it's a 45 minutes drive from my house); MOPS meets at 9:30, ends at 11:30. Then I go back and hang out with my family -- or whoever is coming and going -- until World Religions begins at the college at 6. Jacob picks up the kids, ready for bed and dinner fed, when he gets off of work at around 6. They make it home around 8; and then we still have to take all the trash to the curb (pick up is first thing Friday morning), feed the farm, get the kids in bed, and have dinner together -- because that's one of our relationship's core values. My class is scheduled 6-9pm, so most Thursday nights he does absolutely everything and we eat a late dinner. Which isn't super healthy, but I love him so much for it.

We try to go on nature walks regularly when the weather permits.

And we also joined a gym.
Now you're laughing at me. But the idea was to have a date-thing to go on; and we're not really movie people. We're kayaking at the lake, biking at the park, take a picnic on a horseback ride kinda people. And, in case you haven't been keeping up, the weather down here in the South has been the wishy-washiest. So indoor sports it is, because there's only so much Netflix he and I have the patience to sit for.

This is how he plays Mario Karts on the Wii...

...like this, Mom. #bigboy

My birthday was on the 12th; Valentine's Day was on the 14th.
That's just a quick update for now because I have a test for World Religions to get through before kids start crying and dinner needs prepared.
I really want to slow down and do some specific-topic blog posts, so be on the lookout for those. I really want to do a series telling my testimony because it has been on my mind a lot lately.
But at least now you know why it's been a hot minute since the last entry: I'm really super busy and that's no joke. lol But take heart -- I've not forgotten nor given up on the blog!