Saturday, November 13, 2010

Safely Through Another Week: Wrap-Up

I'm totally uninspired this morning. The well is dry. Nothing left.


Waking up with hot flashes and sweating all night does that to you. Four hours sleep tops. And broken up at that. When the children are no longer babies, you think, "FINALLY, I can get some good sleep; no babies to wake me up in the night." Uh-uh. Try again... Now I've locked myself in my room until I can be not so grumpy.

But I guess it's okay to be uninspired some days. If all days were perfect, we wouldn't notice them, because we'd have nothing else to compare them to. Hills and valleys; ebbs and flows. I'm confident that there are special treasures in today, if I only look for the everyday miracles that God orchestrates so effortlessly for us. So I'll keep my eyes open and pray for vision to see clearly, past the muckiness. At times like this, it helps to think of the good things from the past week that I can savor in my thoughts. It also helps to read Posts on Gratitude. It'll help me realize that life's not really as bad as it seems when I'm feeling so yucky.

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Well, let's see...Monday I rested from our looooong, tiring weekend. It was so nice to wake up, stay in bed a little late, stretch, and not have to rush out anywhere. I let the children sleep in a little as well. We spent the morning slowly getting the house back in order, then we did school in the afternoon. I love the freedom of homeschooling! It's always nice to change things up a bit, like doing school outside, studying at the library, storytime at the park, or...doing school in the afternoon.

Tuesday night we went on a field trip with our homeschool/church group to the Observatory. We had perfectly clear weather, and got to see Jupiter and four of it's many moons.


It was nice laughing with my friend Lucinda. That was probably the best part for me! Laughter with an understanding friend...

Wednesday was a nice, ordinary day. Predictability and stableness are refreshing some days. (But too much is, well, not refreshing!)

Thursday, my daughter Pauline was in the throes of a full-blown sickness. Kids are funny when they're sick -- the ones you think would be quiet, patient sufferers aren't.

Ever feel so yucky that you follow people around the house all day and go sit near them so they can hear you whimper and feel bad for you? Times like these when a mommy builds lots and lots of character, HOPEFULLY. And, I guess it's easier to listen to someone be sick, than to actually be sick yourself. Or is it??

Then us girls had some quiet moments Thursday night when Drew took the three boys to our cell group gathering (a Bible study with other families). The boys needed to get out and stretch a little, be around a few other children. And, believe me, there were plenty of children to do that with Thursday night. In our little gathering of four families, there are 28 children! (With more on the way...gulp.)

So, it was nice to have quiet time with my sweet Pauline to rest and recover. To recoup from the boy-noise.

Friday. Got up feeling great, lots of energy. Going to accomplish a lot. School, cleaning, catch-up with the laundry, a little sewing, to the park for some exercise, and then maybe to the library. I may even break down and go to the grocery store! Woo-hoo! Feelin' good!

In reality, we got some school accomplished, did one load of laundry when I realized we're out of detergent, and a quick walk at the park for half an hour. I had aspirations of trying to get some great photos in the golden afternoon sun. But by the time we found the boys' shoes and ran back in the house to use the bathroom multiple times while the rest waited in the car, drove to the park, well, the sun had passed it's golden age.

I was very grateful for the meatballs we (really it was Pauline) made last week and put in the freezer. We had a nice Italian meal with homemade meatballs and sauce, whole-wheat pasta and a nice salad. Even a holiday-type cake for dessert! Sonlight, a curriculum we use, sent out a newsletter last week, and there was this very easy holiday cake recipe in it:

Quick and Easy Holiday Cake
(from Sonlighter Bethany W.)

1 package spice cake mix

1 21-oz. can apple pie filling

3 eggs

3 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

whipped topping

Beat dry mix, pie filling and eggs together. Spread half in greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over it. Spread rest of batter on that. Bake 30-35 mins. on 350. Cool. Serve with whipped topping. Wa-lah!


Looking forward to today, Saturday. And expectantly searching for those little miracles. My mother-in-law sent us a book she enjoyed by Bruce Wilkinson: You Were Born for This, 7 Keys to a Life of Predictable Miracles. Check it out by clicking on the title.

My husband is feeling quite ambitious this morning, as you can see (those are socks, by the way!):

Please share about your week, what you're doing today, or any comments AT ALL... Now go search for those miracles! That's what I'll be doing. Digging for treasures. And remembering to be grateful for each little one.


(Did you notice I finally figured out how to use that Hyper-Linky-tool thing? Well, actually, my husband sat down with me and very patiently instructed me. Check out the Homeschool Curriculum We Currently Use links on the sidebar there. I'm getting a little hyper-linky happy now. It'll wear off soon...)

8 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm laughing out loud (with you, not at you, of course!) ... hot flashes, insomnia and night sweats... all part of my life for the past 4 1/2 years. We'd be a pair sitting up at 1 a.m. with tea laughing and sharing stories because we can't sleep! ; )

Praying for rest for you, friend!

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

Okay, I'm right there with you when it comes to hot flashes and insomnia. I'm so glad the temperature outside has dropped into the 50s/60s at night because it's no fun when it's in the 90s/100s. Yuck!

It's okay to just have "eh" days. Glad you were able to find some blessings even though you weren't inspired. :)

Heather C. said...

Locking ones self in your room can be WONDERFUL ! :) Sending you a hug & wishes for more than 4 hours tonight !
HC

Prairiemaid said...

Some days are like panning for gold, aren't they? It's good, all good....but sometimes we have to look for it.

Praying you have a wonderfully, blessed weekend.

Cheryl

Catherine said...

I'm raising my hand to join the insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats club! You have my empathy. I am definitely going to try that cake recipe, thanks!

Michelle Smith said...

Oh, dear. Now you have me worried about the upcoming night sweats. But, seriously, thanks for sharing your week. Some days it might be more challenging to see the blessings, but they are there, aren't they?

the Mcclanahan 7 said...

I'm with you Michelle....we should enjoy our sleep while we can.
Thanks for sharing your week, if we try to do school outside we end up not getting it done.

jimi said...

Oh! I don't want you worrying about what may not come! Every woman is different, and this (hopefully) may not be you... And, it's not as bad when you get a good night's sleep. (We don't get much done when we do school outside either, but it's still fun! And a nice diverson!)

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