A few things

Well it's that time again. Packing away....It always amazes me how much stuff four people have, or need. Hopefully this will go quickly and we will be at peace once we hit the Missouri lines. Soon, we are all excited.

Quickly I wanted to share a few things.

Norah is not even two, but this does not stop her from insisting that she dress up in Patrick's tae-kwon-do uniform, and mimic his moves. She loves to do this. Here she is doing a tkd pose, and sporting Patrick's new yellow belt.

I started making some jewelry, but turned out in disaster for me. I love my new necklace, however, apparently my skin is allergic to the metal I used, so I will have to upgrade to better quality metal. No one else has had any problems though, so thats good. We will see.

I bought new shoes that I love.

Jerry and the kids are great. Norah loves the weekends when her daddy is home, and right now is his shadow when he is here. Patrick is as good as ever, not much taller, but sharp as a tack.

We need rain. The wildfires here have been horrible. We have not had rain here, in months, a really bad start, I imagine it wont be long before everyone is saying drought. Glad to be getting out of here, lots of rain in the forecast for our drive to the show me state.

Invite

Invitation

My Patrick

He is a character!

He rarely let's me photograph him without him making a silly face, and then demands to see the images right away.

But every now and then he lets me get one in there.

Patrick is one awesome little kid, and seems to finding his place once again. He has been doing great with school, and we are getting ready to start our first grade year.

We will be learning how to read and write music, play the recorder and then move on to the piano. We are going to be watercoloring with real watercolors, and learning to work with clay and to form pottery. We will also be focusing on reading and science as well. We are both so excited about our upcoming school year.

Patrick received his yellow belt last week in Tae-kwon-do and has been so excited all week long. He cant wait to go back tonight with his new yellow belt on.

Other than that, things have been very relaxed here lately, and we have been taking advantage of the nice weather.

If you would like to see the video from Patrick's yellow belt ceremony you can see them on facebook, and perhaps if i have the time, I may upload them here as well.

****UPDATE: Patrick and I decided that the best way for us to share our videos with family is to upload them onto Youtube, so we started our own channel. We are currently trying to figure it all out, and get video uploaded, but to start off, here is a message from Patrick himself!
YouTube Message from Patrick

My Norah

My Norah, is something else. Oh how I love her! She brings me so much joy.

Norah has been using the potty for the last two weeks going on three. I know, I was shocked too. She is only 19 months old, and I had no intention of potty training yet, but then here she was telling me it was time. It seemed as if literally one day she decided, "No more diapers". So naturally, she has been running around stark naked for the last couple of weeks.

She has been going number 1 and 2 on the potty all day, everyday, and only wears a diaper at night. How is this possible? Lol. She sure is cute though, and her little potty dance is adorable.

Here is Norah on her potty, in the closet, with her puppy of course.

I am so proud of her. Of course we have had a few accidents, but they happen and we don't make a big deal out of them. No pressure.

Did I mention she loves to be naked?

And she loves to play.

.....I know you read my blog

I forgive you!

Did I say "Blog Everyday"?

Okay, sooooooo, did I say everyday I was going to blog?

Lol, not practicable, because something always comes up, and I always have an excuse to not do what I said I was going to do. I don't mean to do this, it's just the chaos of my life right now. This has bothered me lately. I want to do everything, and be there for everyone, but I cant, and by saying I "can't", I feel like a failure, which I am not.....am I? No. I think the real problem is I set unrealistic goals and expectations for myself. My mother always tells me I need to say "no" more.

"Sure I can have that for you next week", "sure I can come by on Friday", "sure, no problem", "I'm flexible", "whenever", lol. The real problem? I don't often have a whenever. Or the kids get sick, or I get sick, or some other thing comes up. It feels like I have not had a break in a long time. Wanna see?

Last April-Jerry and I's wedding anniversary and my sisters wedding in PA.
May-my birthday, summer, usually some family weekend planned.
June-Patrick's birthday.
August-Norah's birthday.
September-Jerry's birthday.
October- preparing for fall and Halloween.
November-Thanksgiving.
December-Christmas and family road trip.
January and February are left to recover everything that had been lost.
This March- My sister moved in briefly.
Now, I am trying to pick up all of the pieces once again.

Somewhere in all of this we are doing homeschooling, Tae-Kwon-Do, writing monthly for the newspaper, photography, home improvement, gardening, sewing, and more. I can barely keep my house plants watered at the moment. I feel like I am in some need of some serious stillness.

Don't get me wrong, I don't not want to do any of these things. They all bring me joy, but it also leaves me feeling like I never have a moment of peace. I currently am trying to complete 70 projects,(okay, not really 70) and I feel like I accomplish nothing. I probably have 10 if not more ongoing projects that are all, half done, or almost done, but alas not done. I have people waiting on photos, and owe them, but have a hard time finding the time to sit and edit. Time for a priority check? Maybe!

I want to do all of these things, but it has come to my attention, that I am not a superhero and can not move at the speed of light. I cant snap my fingers and have it all done. This disappoints me, but also helps me to understand my false beliefs better. If I want less work, I have to take on less. If I want quiet time, I have to make and allow that time. And it is hard, there are times where I have to force myself. I think as a woman, a mother, a....whatever, I have become accustomed to the high energy, running all the time way of life. So when quiet finds me, or stillness, I feel like I should be moving, or doing something, I invent things to do to occupy that time. Whooosh!!!! I just wore myself out talking about it, lol.

So,long story to shor.......well, to late, lol, the point is, I am going to clean house, "internally". It may take me a while, first task is laundry, lol, and then the hard stuff. Me! I want to be dedicated more to my children like I once was. I feel I started taking on other things that gave me joy, but some have turned into chores I despise now, and have taken my time and focus away from my kids that are the most important.

So I am going to move forward and do my best to cut some things out. Just as soon as May is over, lol. The end of April we are taking a trip, and the end of May as well. OMG!!! Lol, this did nothing for me today. Have a nice day!!!!