Hey, Remember Me?

Its been a minute since I have blogged, but I have this urge to write again.  My kids are all in full day school now and I have some time to actually sit and THINK every once and a while.  There's a billion thoughts swirling around my mind right now and I neeeeeed to get them out.  I haven't decided if I will revamp this blog or start another, but it seemed easy to just click "New Post" here instead of setting up a new blog so here we are!  It looks like I haven't written here since my boys were about three and they are five and a half and my girls just turned SEVEN! SEVEN.  Let that sink in for a minute. It still hasn't sank in with me yet.  Feels like yesterday I was thinking about how I was never going to be a mother at all. I started thinking about the whole process a couple days ago when I wrote a post on Facebook about my miscarriages since October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month.  After that, I realized that writing for me is therapeutic and helps me get through tough times which I'm having right now.  Like I said, I haven't decided if I'll continue on here or close this blog down and start another so if you are interesting in reading just let me know and I'll keep you posted. 

36- THREE

My baby boys are three!!! Their birthday was yesterday. How on earth did that happen??

35

Valentine's day was a bust. Better luck next year

34-Kindness

Today while I was out sampling my jams at the mall, I thought a lot about kindness and how it costs you nothing but can sometimes mean everything. 

I stood at my little table offering the samples of my jams to everyone that walked by. It doesn't bother me that not everyone buys, because,  well, they just don't all buy!  A man walked up to my table wearing a super worn out shirt with holes in it, and had a look that some may not approve of. I offered him a sample, he loved my blackberry vanilla jam, and ended up purchasing a jar. I could have just not talked to him, and judged him based on appearance, but I didn't.  I didn't have to engage him in conversation because he didn't look like someone who would buy artisan jam, but I did. He was a nice young man that appreciated my product just as anyone would, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my products with anyone that wants them.  We all know the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover" and it's really amazing the perspective you can get when you just see people as people.

33

It's 7:35pm and all 4 kids are in bed and sound asleep.  What do I even do with myself? 

I'm exhausted,  so no work will get done. But I didn't eat dinner yet so maybe I should do that.... and then eat the girl scout cookies I don't want to share!

32-Broken

Everything in this house is broken, including me.

$327 to fix a leaking pipe in the basement today. It was either that or have no water. Oh the joy it is to be a home owner.

31

Busy. That word doesn't even explain things right now! Today I made about 50 jars of beer jelly so I can take them up to the mall tomorrow and sample/sell. People will be out shopping for Broncos gear so I'm hoping to take advantage of those shoppers and sell some yummy jelly!

Thirty - A Day in the Life

Today was just one of those days that I wonder how we all survived

7:00 kids start waking up
8:20 take girls to school
8:45 back home to get boys ready for school
9:15 take boys to school
9:45 go to Walmart to but mason jars and stuff to make soup
10:30 get home and start soup
10:45 leave to pick up girls from school
11:15 back home to finish cooking soup
12:15 bring soup to friend
12:45 drive to the mall to pick up candied jalapeños  that a customer wants because I'm out at home
1:25 meet Brian at the boys school so he can wait in the parking lot while I go in and get the boys
1:40 bring soup to another friend
1:45 arrive home and kids all say they're starving. Make PBJ sandwiches
2:10 get kids down for naps
2:15 run to fabric store to get broncos fabric so the girls can wear something for Bronco Friday.
3:10 get home and Ollie hadn't napped and is still crying
3:30 call doctor to get same day appointment
4:00 get to the doctors office
4:30 leave doctors  office with antibiotic prescription.  Double ear infection for Ollie
5:00 try to pick up prescription  but the insurance changed 1 letter on plan info so call them with crying kid in the background  in the Target pharmacy
5:30 get home and give antibiotic/ibuprofen
5:45 wash dishes so we have clean bowles to eat from
6:00 eat said soup
6:30 let kids watch paw patrol while I cut dresses out
7:00 put kids to bed
7:30 sew dresses
8:00 crash and zone out with my phone

Twenty Nine- School Pictures

Twenty eight

It's snowing like crazy!

In my teaching days  I hoped for a snow day. Now? I hope it's not. My kids need to go to school!!!

Twenty seven -

Let me just say that when it rains, it pours!! Brian was in the hospital for 48 hours,  and now my foot is a sore and swollen mess. We are ready for our luck to change around here, that's for sure

Twenty Six- LINKS!

I think I mentioned before that I have a small jam/jelly/sewing business so I thought I'd give you the link.  My group is called Mama's Messy Kitchen and Designs.  You can find it here

Also, I started selling Scentsy a few months ago.  If you don't have a rep you love, please shop my link here! I'm offering a free scent circle to anyone that orders something today from my "Bonus Party"

Happy Shopping!

Twenty Five- Butts

The boys had a "night of the arts" thing at their school tonight. There were ballerinas performing and they were just intrigued by them! During the performance,  Elliott asks, "Do ballerinas have butts, mom?"  I'm not even sure I answered him because it was such a silly thing to say!!!!

Twenty Four

I've been SO tired lately that I'm kind of at a loss for words!! 

My oven is broken,  so I baked a cake in my neighbor's  oven. That was the highlight of my day!!

Twenty-Three Pictures!

I'm really not in any mood to write, so I'll give you a couple pictures.  These are from my boys' 2 year pictures.  They were a little late but better late than never (turned 2 in Feb, pics in June I believe)

Twenty-Two- Connected

Its funny how even after five years, I still find infertility creeping into my life.   I have my four perfect miracles, but how they got here will never change.

I recently befriended another mom at my girls preschool.  She has a 5 year old that's in their class.  To make a long story short, she offered to drive my girls to and from school and I gladly accepted the help.  It was pretty daunting getting all 4 kids in the car, out of the car to go into the classroom, back in the car to get home.  Then the boys in the car to go pick the girls up, out of the car to go get them, back in the car to go home, and out of the car at home.  Are you tired already thinking about buckling 4 car seats that many times? Yeah, me too.  

One day when we were chatting she said something about wishing she could have more kids.  It was just a quick comment in the middle of the conversation that anyone else probably wouldn't have noticed but I was sure she had fertility issues.  Turns out that she and her husband have been trying for 3 years with no success. Shes 40 so its not super surprising, but there are many women that conceive babies at that age without issue.  Just this last Friday I invited her to a girls night out/crafting at another friend's house where we actually got to talk about things without being interrupted by 5 tiny humans.  She revealed to me that they were working on their paperwork for foster adopting an older child around their son's age or possibly a sibling group.   I'm not sure if she was scared or relieved to tell me about this, but I really wanted to tell her my story, too, so I didn't make her uncomfortable thinking I was super fertile or something because I had 4 kids.  It was a nice bonding moment, if you will, and I really give this mom a lot of credit for choosing that path.  

I shouldn't be surprised that infertility creeps up all the time, even though its not at the forefront as it once was.  Its not something I think about 24/7 anymore because I'm lucky and was able to have the family I always wanted.  Now that I'm not in that mindset anymore, I hope I can help support this friend as she goes through the ups and downs of this.  She's an amazing person for helping me out and I'd love to give to her as well. 

Twenty- One -Girls Night

It's not super often I get out without kids, but tonight I did! I have a friend that lives down the street and she had a craft night tonight at her house. We made valentine's day cards, and valentine's for the girls to bring to school! I brought along my scentsy stuff too and got a couple of orders.

There's something so fun about getting together with  a bunch of ladies :)

Twenty- Mama's Messy Kitchen

Most of my blog posts have been from my phone, but alas! I found 5 minutes to jump on my laptop.   I probably keep talking about my business, Mama's Messy Kitchen, so I just wanted to put some pictures out there to show off the fun things I've been making. If you're interested in seeing more, feel free to join my business group here!

I had a few professional pictures taken of my jams. I've since changed my packaging so I might need to get some new ones done!

Nineteen- Blankey

Chair's blanket is  completely falling apart. We had to send it to someone to get it fixed! I feel so bad! She's not a happy camper at all. Those things must have some magical power!

Eighteen

One of these days I need to figure out how to get photos attached here from my phone or jump on  my laptop. I've been sewing up SO any fun things while the kids are all at school and I'm dying to share!

It's pretty weird being home by myself because it hasn't happened in so long but the break is definitely nice.  The house isn't getting quite as messy  either since no one is here destroying it for the better part of the day.

The boys are really loving school, too.  I've really seen a difference in Elliott's behavior already!  He's listening more just toning his voice down in general.  His teacher said today was his best day so far!