Friday, August 28, 2015

7 Quick Takes: Roller Coaster Ramblings

It's that time again....Noah is playing with his blocks, Jonah is taking his morning nap, and I've managed to shower somehow and am taking a few minutes to blog my thoughts. This week has been a little bit of a roller coaster (thus the title) of good and challenging things. I'm always excited though that it's Friday and soon my hubby will be home for the weekend! My favorite!

***1***

Earlier this week, for a day or so I was brave enough to have the thought that "Hey, I think I'm an OK mom.  I finally got my act together!" Bwahahahhaha...the next day I was feeling anything, but adequate.  Jonah didn't sleep, Noah was having some tantrums and showing his frustration with his limited vocabulary and Tom was running late from work. I wondered what I was doing wrong on every front.  But I've been a mom long enough now to know that that's how motherhood is.  Just when you feel like you've got a control of things, things suddenly get way out of control.  At the end of the day I need to remember that my kids are fed, loved, and for the most part thriving.  That means I've got to be doing 1 or 2 things right....right??

***2***

So this week something has really been bothering me.  REALLY bothering me.  I can't stop thinking about the Ashley Madison Affair scandal.  Josh Duggar and his poor family.  Is our world really
that messed up??  Is there any hope for marriages?? Am I ignorant for trusting my husband and not thinking that something like this could happen to us? (Just to be clear, I totally trust my husband...) I just am so upset that these are the odds we are facing.  This is the message our children are learning that if you aren't happy in your marriage you can just go have an affair.  And it doesn't matter what you think about Josh Duggar, those of us of faith have to realize that just because we go to church with our family and call ourselves Christians that we aren't going to have these temptations in our marriages.  I know plenty of Christian men and women that struggle with lust and pornography...and I imagine adultery too. 

I don't know what to do to resolve these feelings other than pray with and for my husband and our marriage and teach my boys the best I can about the sacrament of marriage.  It is a sad reality regardless.

***3-4-5*** (I've gotta be concise today...nap time is running out)

My thoughts haven't been all sad and depressing this week I assure you.  Inspired by the book  I mentioned last week, "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown, I have been thinking about when am I most happy and content in my life.  It was really an eye opening experience for me.  I realized that some of my happiest moments are the times when my family of 4 are together just living life.  Watching my kids enjoy time with their dad, singing silly songs together, working on little projects together.  Yes, we love hanging with our friends, going places, and having fun at our local hang outs, but some of my best moments are those with my little family.  We love watching our boys learn and grow.

The next thing I noticed is how much I personally enjoy doing little crafts.  My mom is the ultimate crafter and I am no where near her status of craftiness, but I do love doing little things .  I was surprised when my book talked about how having time to be crafty and creative is very stress reducing and fulfilling.  I realized how true that was for me.  I love my craft nights with my friend Cheryl and making gifts with my kids for their grandparents.  It's definitely something I want to make more time for in my life.  DIY here I come!!

The last thing I noticed is the joy I received when I was able to go to Mass alone with my husband a few times this summer alone.  There is such an intimacy in praying with your spouse.  We try to pray together at night, but it doesn't always happen.  We also love bringing our children to mass with us, but it really was lovely and very inspiring to pray the Mass, the greatest of prayers, along side my husband with no distractions.

***6***

I cannot believe in just a few days summer unofficially will be over, September will be here, Labor Day will be celebrated, and the lazy days of summer will be coming to an end.  I have mixed feeling about this.  I love fall.  It is my favorite time of year, I hate the heat after awhile, and I'm ready for some of our fall activities to resume and bring a little more organization to our days.  But the end of summer also means my parents will soon be heading back to Florida for the winter, which is a huge bummer for me and my boys.  I love the memories they are able to make when my parents are here for the summer.  We are going to have to try and figure out a way to get down to Florida this winter. Life also gets a lot busier for a lot of my friends with older kids and I'll miss our time together with them.  It's a mixed bag.  Luckily there is candy corn to help me get through it all.  ;)

***7***

My Noah LOVES Thomas the train and all trains in general.  We didn't intend for it to happen, and we love that he does, I just find it so interesting how little boys just gravitate towards little boys things.  It's in their make up to just love these things.  It's so fun watching him imagine and be creative with his train table.  He lines them up and makes the sounds too.  He can even tell you a few of their names.  I am interested to see if Jonah falls in love with him too. 

We are planning to take them to Thomas's World in Massachusetts next summer! I just know they are going to go crazy over it!!


Have a great weekend friends!! I'm hitting up the Mom2Mom sale of the year (or so I hear...) and making memories with my boys! I hope you all are doing something that makes your heart swell with joy as well!
worrying that something like this could mess up our marriage?

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