Slow Down!!!

When I drop into bed, absolutely exhausted, every night then toss and turn because of all that we have going the following day, then waking up exhausted to do it all over again, I think back to 2020. To how life shut down and I said I’d never take the busyness in our lives for granted again. I need a middle ground. Somewhere in between insanely busy and bored out of my mind would be nice. When Monday rolls around, I think, “I can’t wait until the weekend so I can relax.” But then the weekend arrives and we’re even more busy. The never ending cycle is just that….never ending. 

The past two weeks have been insanely busy! One boy played two Fall Ball tournaments back to back weekends. I started a weekly Bible Study. One boys adopted a kitten only to find it, dead, a week later (Talk about an emotional week for him!). One boy had his first homecoming dance, which had me running all over town buying-and returning-clothes and shoes. The boys and I all had homecoming activities this week and Rob even got finagled into driving the elementary school float in the parade. 

The redeeming light at the end of the tunnel is that Fall Ball tournaments are behind us and, typically, life slows down when the weather changes. I pray that’s the case. But if it’s not I’ll hang on for dear life and just keep enjoying the wild ride of life! Like a close friend of mine always said, “You can always catch up on sleep when you’re dead.”

August Dump

 I can't believe the first month of school is already behind us! It's been a very busy month. So busy, in fact, that we're still not completely unpacked after moving into our house 2 months ago. But it's been good. We've been busy with school football games (and tailgating), cross country, baseball, surgery and Covid. We've had 3 home high school football games, which we've enjoyed tailgating at with family and friends. The boys LOVE tailgating because they can play football with their friends, have food readily available and sit to actually watch the football game when they want. After every game, they tell us how much fun they had. I thoroughly enjoy watching them play with their friends, laughing and creating memories. 

E has had baseball practice once a week for the past few weeks. While he goes to practice, P goes to youth group. Both have found their niche, which makes me beyond happy. E had his first baseball scrimmage this past week. The team struggled at the beginning of the game but by the end they had gelled and won the game! E had a great at-bat and even got into a very entertaining pickle. When it was all said and done he was safe. But he had been called out and stepped off the bag. At that time, the opposing team tagged him, so he got out. It was used as a good laugh and a learning experience. Last Sunday, E and I went on a 9 mile bike ride by our house, which we both really enjoyed. We're going to try to do that as much as possible. He's looking forward to adopting a barn cat in the next few days. So our bike ride included stopping to meet his new kitten, which he has affectionately named Snickers. I told him not to get too attached to the cat as I have a feeling it won't be with us for a long time. But he's still excited about his new pet.

Rob had neck surgery a few weeks ago to relieve arm pain due to pinched nerves. It's been a rougher recovery than expected and he's been very limited in what he's able to do. He's going stir crazy and can't wait to get back into the routine of work this week. 

P has had a great month! He asked a girl to homecoming and she said yes. He's been to 2 back to back concerts, one of which he thoroughly enjoyed and one we left early from. During the 2nd concert, he kept coughing and saying he wasn't feeling good. But I chalked it up to allergies since he had been outside all day. By the time we left, I knew he was sick and I feared it was Covid. We got home and he took a home test, which immediately showed up as positive. He had to quarantine for the first part of last week. But he got to go back to school Thursday and got to participate in his first school cross country meet. He came in 3rd place for his school and 8th overall! It was his best place finish to date and he barely coughed afterward. We were very impressed with how well he did. 

Yesterday we kicked off the start of college football season at our friend's farm. It was nice to enjoy time with friends, ride the 4-wheeler and the boys got to make memories with a non-existent dove hunt. I am personally looking forward to Fall. It's typically the time that life starts slowing down and temps start cooling off. I know that the slowing down part won't happen for us any time soon as our calendar is already full for September and part of October. So, I'm looking to the memories we'll be creating with our packed calendar, memories that I will relish for years to come. We fall into bed, exhausted, most nights and I wouldn't have it any other way!