Raising Children and Self-Imposed Stress

Raising children is very difficult. I find myself thinking, more and more, that I am not very good at it. This week has been particularly stressful, and not so much because of my children, but because of the pressure I have been putting on myself. Need to just turn it all over to God.

First, Luke was asked to go out of town, unexpectedly, which turned a 4 day trip into an 8-day trip. Then, while Luke was out of town, his brother and wife came into town to visit. This was a planned visit; we knew they were coming, and they are actually staying with Luke's mom. But I freaked out over have the house "clean enough" to meet their cleanliness standards (which, I'll just say, are higher than my own). I stayed up until 4 am the night before they arrived, cleaning, and then attempting to sleep. (The cup of coffee I drank at 9pm kicked in and I stared at the clock from 2am on...begging for sleep but...not sleeping.) Consequently, I was exhausted for the next few days, and was trying to manage the kids...who are out of school on summer break...on my own.

And my kids are good, but occassionally hyper. Actually, they are almost always hyper. Or maybe wild at heart? They are easily excited. They wear me out. And I wonder, do all kids act like this? Are other parents questioning their parenting skills?

Not working

I have to admit that when Luke was laid off two weeks ago, I was fairly panicked. At this point, with me staying home with the kids, we are a "no income" family. But, it has actually been nice having him home the past few days. The kids think it's fun that Daddy can now take them to school (in the "vroom vroom" car, of course), and they are enjoying spending more time with him. And, the stress of the former job is gone, which is a blessing for all of us, but especially Luke. There are two potential job offers out there, so we're trying to be patient and relax.

Some pictures of the kids...

Wyatt and Deacon at church on Valentine's Day

From our recent Busch Gardens trip...

(oops...I was so focused on getting Mom and Deacon that I forgot about the horse's face!)

(Deacon on the merry-go-round)

(Wyatt, Luke and a giant gorilla. You can guess which is which. :)

No more New Year's Resolutions

Well, it is only the 2nd month of the year and I have "broken" every one of the resolutions I had planned for the year. So, I've decided that resolutions are silly and I am not going to make any next year. If a change needs to be made in my life, well by-golly, then I'll have to make it. No need waiting until the "new year."

I must say though, that since I received a new camera for my birthday, that I have been a little better about taking pictures (and even some video, too!). Hopefully this trend will continue.

Also, I have now decided that it is not easier to eat something healthy every day, but rather easier to cut out bad things. Eating something healthy every day means you have to have healthy things available to eat...and all too often that is (unfortunately) not the case at my house. I totally need to be better about that.

Dreary days

Am I the only one out there who likes dreary days? Does anyone else like overcast skies, with a few scattered, dark clouds that look like they could drop rain or even snow?

Strange, I know, but I like those days. I think maybe it's because I spent my younger (formative?) years in Maryland and Michigan, where the weather was a bit different (and more drastic) than here in Florida. I think those dreary days remind me of growing up somewhere else.

Let it snow...

Luke says this is crazy talk, but I am ready to move...and to move where it is cooler. I am tired of this warm weather during the winter months. I want seasons, and specifically, I want snow.

Luke just looks at me and shakes his head. He tells me I don't know what I'd be getting myself into, and he's probably a wee bit right. But, it doesn't change the fact.

I have lived in Florida for 23 years (19 if you subtract the college years in NC), and I will admit that my blood has thinned. In fact, I get cold so easily that I think sometimes I may have water running through my vains. But, the first part of my life, I lived in cooler climates. I was born in Maryland, lived there until I was nine, and then moved to Michigan, where we lived until I was 12 and we moved to Florida. So, it has been a long time since I lived anywhere with significantly cooler weather. And, I will admit that my parents' recollection of Michigan may be a less fond one than mine. I remember snow days and snowmen and skiiing and ice skating on frozen ponds. I think they remember shoveling the driveway and sidewalk, and navigating wet, icy roads in hazardous weather conditions. And having to let the car warm up before they could go anywhere. And even I remember the week that we were without power in the middle of winter and had to go stay in a hotel b/c the house got so cold, and when we came back home our fish had frozen in its bowl.

So, yeah, sure, there are setbacks to snowy weather. But I just really want to experience it again. And I want my kids to experience it, too. Snow can be fun.

Of course, as I said, Luke thinks I'm crazy. But this is coming from someone who was born in Florida and has never lived anywhere else. So, see, he's been deprived of all the winter adventures. Good and bad.

I feel like change is coming...and maybe it'll bring some cooler weather the Granlund way.

Happy New Year!

I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions, but I am going to make three this year.

One: To eat something healthy ever day. I figure it's easier to add something in rather than take something out. I need to make some better choices about what I'm putting into my body. I definitely need to eat more fruits and vegetables. And we have two great juicing machines...I need to start using them more often.

Two: To update my blog more regularly. hmm...too vague. Maybe...update it once a week?

Three: I am not sharing this one here.

Mental Note: I was contemplating adding this one as a fourth resolution, but that would just be too many to keep track of. So this is more of a "note to self." ---- Take more pictures. And definitely more non-posed pictures. Those are the really good ones, when you catch a true smile or a moment of reflection. I'm tired of all my pictures being posed just right with everyone smiling. Who smiles all the time? It's silly to try to capture the perfect picture every time.