Finding Joy

Do you ever feel bogged down? Like you don't have time to take 2 minutes to just sit down and breathe? There are many things that demand our attention every day and before we know it a week, month, and even a year has passed. And what do we have to show for it? Stress, headaches, bills, etc.

I've been depressed the last couple of months. I've been feeling alone, tired, and like a robot just going through the motions of life. I work 2 jobs and not being home very often is starting to get to me. Now don't get me wrong- I am a person who doesn't like to sit still. I love being on the go and staying busy. But I miss out on a lot of things with my family and I'd rather be staying busy while having fun with them. And when I am home I'm often tired and grumpy. So I'm starting to find joy in the simple things. I'm going to make the most of the time we do get to spend together.

We haven't been having very many home cooked meals lately. At least not by me. I'm either working nights so Sidney cooks for Jack or I whip up something quick. Sometimes I'll even pick something up on the way home. I used to cook good dinners and I want to go back to doing that when I'm home.

Last night I enlisted Jack's help and made him my sous chef. "What am I called again, mommy?" He asked more than once. :)

I made spaghetti for the boys and spaghetti squash for myself with a yummy meat sauce for both.

Jack washed and cut the mushrooms, peeled and cut the carrots, helped dump the ingredients into the pan, and stirred. He also helped with the spaghetti squash, getting all the seeds out. He put them into a container and wants to plant them so I won't have to buy more. I can just pick them from the spaghetti squash tree that will grow. If only it worked that way! :)

I have a picture of myself around the same age peeling carrots at the kitchen sink. I'll have to find it!

It was a great dinner that everyone enjoyed. After we cleaned up and got ready for bed, Jack and I played a couple games and just relaxed a bit. So simple. I'm trying to take the time to enjoy the small, simple joys in life.

Laundry needs to be done, stuff put away, and bags unpacked (from a trip that occurred over a week ago!). But the kitchen is clean and, thanks to Sidney, the floors are vacuumed. The rest can wait until the weekend.

Today, don't worry about the dishes, laundry, floors, etc. Enjoy your family. Do something fun. Find joy. And when you do, hold on to it and never let go.

Christmas 2014

Jack's birthday is 2 days before Christmas and because of this, we've always gone to visit family for Thanksgiving and stayed home for Christmas. In 2013 we stayed home for both holidays and I was really missing family. We always have a big Christmas Eve party with extended family and I wanted to be there. I made it happen for 2014!

We had an amazing Thanksgiving with friends in the area, having a non-traditional feast of goat meat and rice. It was fantastic! It was a huge blessing to be surrounded by great people and amazing food.

I was off work on Black Friday and Jack and I decorated our little table top tree with all of his favorite ornaments.

After we finished he asked where the star was for the top. We don't have one so he said he would make one. I was in the kitchen cooking while he went to work making a star. I wasn't sure what he was going to end up with and if it would even be something we could use, but I left him to do it. When he was done and showed me the finished product, I was floored! I couldn't believe what he ahd done. The only issue was how would we get it to stay on the tree? Then I had the brilliant idea of attaching it to a toilet paper roll. And now we have the best tree topper I could ever imagine having!

The week after Thanksgiving our elf, Fook-Dook made his appearance. He likes leaving presents for Jack on occasion and of course, Jack loves it too!

For Christmas, Sidney stayed home due to work and Jack and I made the drive to upstate NY on our own. It was hard not having Sidney with us on Christmas, but I think he enjoyed some peace and quiet. :)

We went up on Monday and Jack's birthday was on Tuesday. I'll write about his birthday in a separate post. I was most looking forward to Wednesday- the big Christmas Eve party! It was great seeing family that I hadn't seen in 2 years!

I was so happy to see my Grandma. I miss her so much and really wish I could see her more. Here are a couple photos of Jack and his Nana.

I see my dad fairly regularly but it was nice having him there too. Here's our selfie. :)

We stayed at my mom's and spent Christmas day with her. I really didn't get too many pictures. Here's one of Jack on Christmas morning, with his gift from Santa (which was the Lego set he asked for). He doesn't look thrilled but trust me, he was!

I scaled way back this year and Jack got 1 big gift from Santa and some smaller gifts from us. He got a pair of Ninja Turtle pajamas, legos, a game, a movie, a Spider-Man toy, and of course a stocking (actually 2!) filled with cool stuff. He got 1 on Christmas morning and 1 at home when we opened gifts with daddy. It was less than we would normally do but still more than enough!

It's definitely nice being in your own home for Christmas. One tradition we have is making cookies every Christmas Eve which we weren't able to do last year since we were out of town. But nothing beats being surrounded by family during such a wonderful time of year!

Bathrobe-wearing Ninja

Jack is big into ninjas and karate. He's actually got some very impressive moves! These pictures are from a couple months ago, but they're too cute not to share!

We hope everyone is having a great start to the new year! I won't promise to blog more in 2015. But I do promise to laugh more, have tons of fun, stay positive, and once and for all- clear the clutter in all areas of my life. And have more date nights with the hubby. :)

Halloween 2014

I'm super behind on posting...but what's new, right? :P

Remember how last Halloween Jack wanted to be The Flash? Instead he was an adorable parrot. This year he's become obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and other random boy things. At first he wanted to be Iron Man. Then he wanted to be a Ninja Turtle. BUT I came across a costume at a consignment sale for only $7! Drum roll please....

The Flash!

I was so excited to find it and at such a great price! Then the disappointment rolled in when Jack was less than thrilled because he didn't want to be The Flash this year. Oh well. You don't have a choice! Cue evil mommy laugh. :)

Jack was a trooper though and he came up with something very creative.

Introducing...
The Flash Raphael!

His aunt had given him a Ninja Turtle dress up set so he paired that with his Flash costume to create a new and awesome character. Pretty creative! He wore this to school for his class party and parade.

He dressed up as just The Flash for trick-or-treating and handing out candy.

Aren't our pumpkins cool? In case you can't tell, that's a skull, Iron Man, and the small one is Jack's own design. :)

Despite the chilly weather we had a great time! After trick-or-treating Jack sat with me on the front porch at Grandpa's house, helping pass out candy. We were out there for a good hour before calling it quits!

On the way home we stopped at his previous home daycare to visit Ms. R. She had a special goodie bag waiting for Jack and we visited with her for about an hour. Jack even spent the day there on Veteran's Day because his school was closed but my office wasn't. I'm grateful to have a wonderful caregiver close by who truly loves Jack!

There's A New Biker in Town

In August we got Jack a bike, Ninja Turtles of course! He was a bit wobbly at first but he's getting better and more confident each time he gets on it.

Isn't he adorable?!