It's been a great summer for our family. For me, I am in debate still as it has/is taking me a long time to catch up on things I feel I should have been doing. I wouldn't care but now my heart says I'm behind and I need to catch up... the ride was fun but now I see how much I didn't do. Isn't that part of parenting/life?
We did have a lot of family come visit us this summer. Between having Ali born, and a family reunion/get together that just happened to be in Waterloo, and then I had Phil's mom visit with our niece Jenna. Plus, my mom always come from Florida to visit us for the summer and she stayed in town for a week. Then we also had a cousin Maleigha stay for a few days. And then Ali's baptism and Harlie's birthday.
= LOTS OF VISITORS
Not to mention a few weddings and birthdays we attended (thankfully no funerals!).
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| It's not often I actually get to set my table fancy.. in fact this was a first. I got this clothe tablecloth from Goodwill and it fits perfectly; and I love the color and it's easy to wash. |
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| I am a food addict so taking pictures of what we eat is a pleasure. We grew the corn and beets in our garden. I would guess that is a turkey burger.. a new favorite of ours. Ground turkey + a little seasoning = healthier alternative to beef burgers. |
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| Another favorite: taking pictures out our back door. why? I don't know why but it shows our plush garden. We had a great garden this year; we grew (from left to right) popcorn, cucumbers, potatoes (not all of them came up). We tried to put some spinach in about a month ago but it didn't come up either. On the right side (by the garage) is sweet potatoes, tomato, beets, kohlrabi, and sweet corn. |
So a busy, busy summer, along with adjusting to a new baby. As I reflect on the summer I happy to report that I read a book called Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst and loved it. It has empowered me to rely on the Holy Spirit for EVERYTHING my heart ponders (not just food). And to rely on that Spirit to be with me, guide me, and stop me at times.
At this point, I am happy to report that I'm almost to my pre-baby weight. Sometime I have worked very hard at.. watching what I eat and exercising.
One last highlight from this summer is friends in our community. Due to our wonderfully social son Wendell (Harlie is right behind him), we have met several kids in our neighborhood. Some we are excited about and some we are not. We are learning where to draw the line with other kids, with other parents, and with our own children who are trying to fly away.
I have met another stay at home mom who is also a Christian AND sending her children to our school so we have been really enjoying getting to know each other, again. I say again because I used to supervisor her (eekk - scary as I was a very strict supervisor). She reminded me that yes I was very strict, but I was also very good about complimenting her. Oewww.. fuzzies in my heart : )
Norma, from Kenya, has been a great positive influence in how I see parenting. "Trust in the Lord, and do good" - I hear her say to her kids often. How great to use scripture to teach our kids!
On a sad note, I feel like I am saying good bye to my old friends - you know who you are - we are all starting our kids in school, we all live in different towns - we all are busy and moving to a new phase of life and challenges. Even MMO will be limited for me this year and that is another thing I need to work through emotionally.
Another sad note, some of you may know already but the triathlon that Phil and I have done the past two years was cancelled this year (after taking our money). So not only did I not get to race this year, I can't really spend money on another one. I could probably do a 5k but I am having a bit of a hard time with running (well). So we didn't get to race, our stomach felt punched, we are not recovering.
One more sad note, I am still having some back issues. I am 34 years old and have already been diagnosed with severe disc degeneration according to the xray I had over a hear ago. Baby #3 made it even worse. I am hoping it will get better but not expecting it too. I think in the next year or two I will need to look into 'old people' fixes. Do I take medicine? pain killer? do I see a specialist? do I go to a chiro regularly? do I wait and see? I just feel too young to have to worry about this. For now, I know I just rest when it starts to hurt. Maybe this is God's way of saying I NEED to slow down.
Well, that's enough dear diary for now. I just thought I'd share some thoughts of the summer. Now I can check this blog off my list! I can start my scrap book and baby book for Ali and then I get to rearrange my dining room!
2 comments:
Well that was a whole lot of great blog posts, Heather! You really did have a busy summer but I think you did the right thing by putting unnecessary stuff (like blogging) on the back burner. We, of course, missed your blog posts but I'm happy to see you back at it. Reading through your recaps leads me to remember what a positive attitude you can have about 'busyness'. I think it is admirable. Enjoy putting together the latest baby book!
What a great summary of your summer without feeling guilty about not doing 20 separate posts. I totally understand what you mean about kicking back, having fun and enjoying the moment but then paying for it later when the guilt sets in for being "behind" in just about everything. I struggle with that quite often. I'm not sure if it's possible to find a balance or if the natural rhythm of life will just cause an ebb and flow you have to learn to deal with.
The whole friendship thing is the same way. I'm sad about the natural changes taking place, but there have been other exciting relationships that have popped up at just the right time and place.
I'm impressed you're already back to your pre-baby weight. It always took me at least six months. I'm also impressed that you're starting a baby book next. I've sort of given up on that arena. :op
I really hope your back holds up. I started down that route and was lucky it turned out not to be the issue at all. Most people told me to avoid surgery if at all possible because once you have surgery, you'll continue to need surgery.
P.S. Did you know I am currently on my 5th attempt to get the security verifications entered correctly? They are getting so ridiculous! Happy Fall, my friend!
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