Mommy Octopus

I normally don’t blog here about the downsides of mylife.  The chaos.  The crazy.  The exhaustion.  But today I need to let it out!

I’m tired.

5 kids are exhausting!

Homeschooling 4 of them can be stressful.  4 different levels for all the subjects to teach and grade.  Pre-Algebra makes me want to pull my hair out most days.

Have a toddler who speaks in screams is enough to do us all in.  He loves to hear his voice and he loves to be VERY loud.

My husband works long hours and although I’m very proud of him and what he does, it makes it hard to be the one to get the kids up and put them to bed and do the daily stuff.

Adding a play and play practice for 2 of the kids on top of other extracurricular things makes my head spin.

I make a meal plan each week.  Normally things go according to plan.  This week, not so much.  This week, my kids have had peanut butter sandwiches for dinner 2 days in a row now.

Our bed sheets all need washing.

The bathrooms are a disaster.

“Mount Washmore” is reaching new heights.

I may or may not have showered this week.

I’m trying to eat healthy but the chaos jumps in the middle of that and sometimes convenience has to win.

I’ve yelled.

I’ve moved toys to the new house because I was tired of the kids fighting over them.  I have a beautiful new house that we can’t move in yet because lots still needs to be done.  It’s a little overwhelming and time consuming.

I haven’t kept up with my reading and quiet time.

I’ve thought about stopping this blog.  I just don’t have the time anymore and have a hard time paying to keep the blog running.  I’ve poured 7 years into this blog and I think I’m running out of steam.  Plus I wonder if anyone is even reading.

I’m grumpy and tired.

Through the midst of this, I know that God is still giving me new mercies each day.  New grace.  New breath and a fresh new start.

I do enjoy sharing a bit of our life with you guys.  I love sharing the new recipes.  I love sharing our homeschool adventures.  I love writing when I have time.

Tomorrow is a new day, and with that I can rest.

Psalm 62:5-8: For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.  He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.  On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him;  God is a refuge for us.

Meal Planning time!  This year has been a complete whirlwind.  My 2 big kids are involved in a big play, starting to move over to the new house and painting, and just life.  One of the first things that I bought for the new house is this fun Gnome!  My husband thought it was a hoot.

I mentioned last week that I planned to make an okra and chicken casserole and would share the recipe if it turned out delicious.  Frankly, it wasn’t horrible, but the okra brought out it’s slime a bit and ended up being a little too slimy in the casserole.  Next time I’ll just go back to broccoli, but I was using what I had on hand.  4 out of 5 kids ate it, so that’s not bad.

This Sunday, I’ll turn 33!  It’s quite amazing that it’s birthday time again and seems like life is going faster and faster each year.  We are celebrating with our community group friends and grilling at the house before Bible study.

Keeping dinners fairly simple this week.

Monday: Steak, salad, veggies

Tuesday: Grilled Chicken Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thursday: Grilled chicken, sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli

Friday: Lazy Lasagna

Saturday: Dinner out

Sunday: Burgers, broccoli, salad

 

 

As you may have noticed in my Meal Plan Monday post, there are a ton of boxes around here!  That’s because we finally have found a house!  We have been searching for a home in Athens in a specific area and our fantastic realtor, Laura Flanders, finally found one for us!  We have been looking for almost 2 years!  Crazy!  I definitely recommend Laura if you are buying or selling.  She sold 2 rental houses for us and helped us find our dream home!  If you contact her, tell her Mommy Octopus sent you.  She’s a good friend and would love to know that you heard about her from me.

The next few weeks, I will likely not be on too much as we are trying to get the new house painted and fixed up, just the way we want it for our family.

I cannot wait to move in for a little more breathing room, and my favorite part, a SCHOOLROOM!  This will make homeschooling so much better!  I plan to have a chalkboard wall in our homeschool room, which will be awesome!  I’ll definitely share photos once we have the new schoolroom set up!

Have a great weekend!

A few years back, I wrote a post on 55 candy free Easter egg filler ideas.  At the time, this was a must for our family because my son was diagnosed at 4 years old with a soy allergy.  It was a scary time for us and he was so incredibly sick.  I wanted to keep his childhood as normal as possibly despite the fact that he couldn’t have most candies.  Chocolate was especially out of the question since soy is used as an emulsifier in almost every affordable brand.

Last fall, I thought it would be a great idea to delete some old posts and in deleting, I mistakenly deleted the post I had written on this topic and several others.  That’s what happens when you bulk delete things.  It was a good post, but many things on that list aren’t so readily available or so popular anymore.  Like those rubber band bracelet thingies.  I don’t even know if they sell those anymore!  What were they even called?

I figured a 2017 edition of the candy free Easter egg ideas was in order.  Happily, I add that I don’t have to do candy free Easters anymore for our family.  My son has outgrown his soy allergy!  We do try to keep the candy to a minimum for behavior issues around here.  I hope the rest of you can enjoy this post and even comment to tell me some other things to add!

1. Stickers
2. Disney Tsum Tsum mini figures
3. Pretzels
4. Gold Fish
5. Tops
6. Coins
7. Hair Clips
8. Glow Stars
9. Lipgloss
10. Nylon Bracelets
11. Mini Rubber Ducks
12. Bouncy Balls
13. Mini Play-Doh
14. Miniture Bubbles
15. Mini Yo-Yo
16. Silly Putty
17. Plastic Rings
18. Lego Minifigures
19. Magic Grow Capsules
20. Stick-on Earrings
21. Gift Certificates
22. Erasers
23. Pencil Toppers
24. Chuck E Cheese Coins
25. Nail Polish
26. Mini Plastic Animals
27. Finger Puppets
28. Seashells
29. Marbles
30. Jacks
31. Polished Stones
32. Coupons for Special Moments
33. Toy Cars
34. Temporary Tattoos
35. Crayons
36. Whistle
37. Mini Stamps
38. Confetti
39. Stuffed Disney Tsum Tsum
40. Pencil Grips
41. Sticky Hands
42. Mini Parachute Toy
43. Mini Squirt Gun
44. Glow Sticks
45. Mini Skateboards
46. Slap Bracelet
47. Plastic Jumping Frogs
48. Mini Foam Gliders
49. Mini Rocket Launchers
50. Mini Hand Clappers
51. Stretchy Flying Animals
52. Party Poppers
53. Mini Slinkies
54. Pretend Fun Teeth
55. Finger Lights

Whew!  That list took longer to come up with than I had expected!  Good thing my kids were helping out 🙂  What else would you add to a non-candy Easter egg?

The kids and I have been studying astronomy in our homeschool this year.  We are so excited to hear about Solar Eclipse 2017, which will occur on Monday, August 21, 2017!  Even more exciting is that we can take a short drive and be right in the Path of Totality!  If the Moon’s inner or umbral shadow sweeps across Earth’s surface, then a total eclipse of the Sun is seen. The track of the Moon’s umbral shadow across Earth is called the Path of Totality.

I think we plan to head toward the Dillard House area for great viewing.  The Dillard House will be having an Eclipse Extravaganza Party to celebrate the occurrence, and they are in the Path of Totality!

Info on Solar Eclipse 2017:

In researching to find our more about the eclipse and how we could see it, I found these websites to be the most helpful:

• Great American Eclipse: This website lets you know the full path of the eclipse.  It also offers info on where are the best places to see  throughout the US.
• Eclipse2017: You can find the states in the path of totality and it will tell you which cities you want to be in!  It also lets you know about how long totality will last so you can make plans for a short or a long duration depending on which you prefer.

Things you Need to Know:

If you plan to view Eclipse 2017, be sure to purchase the special Eclipse Viewing Glasses so you do not damage your eyes.  You can also find some fun gear on Amazon.

You may want to go ahead and plan to have August 21st off from work so you can get to a location for viewing.  Another thing to consider is getting a hotel room if you plan to drive far or just want to relax for the day.  MANY places are already booked!

 

Do you plan to see Solar Eclipse 2017?  Tell me your plans!

What a great weekend!  It was super busy, but fun.  Our youngest daughter turned 6 over the weekend!  We celebrated with a quick trip to the mountains, followed by a party with her friends.  She thought it was perfect!

Our baby is getting to where he hates getting off the horse! Gotta love my little cowboy!

Here’s what we are making this week:

Monday: Lazy Lasagna

Tuesday: Chicken Quesadillas, salad

Wednesday: Dinner out

Thursday: Trim Mac Salad

Friday: Lazy Chicken Parmesan, okra, salad

Saturday: Omelettes

Sunday: Taco Pie, salad

What are you making this week?