Welp, I dropped the ball....again. So much for blogging every day in November. I guess I have a lot of ground to cover for the past few months. What a better morning to catch up than one where I wake up not feeling great and the wind chill is in the single digits. I'm bundled up with a hot cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet (P and Rob are at work and E is still sleeping). So, I thought I'd use the time to catch up on our blog.
I don't know where to begin- like usual when I take a hiatus- so this may be a jumbled blog. November through the beginning of January have not been the easiest. No. I am not going to sugarcoat it and make it look all pretty for the sake of others seeing it. So, let me rephrase that. November through early January have been downright brutal and absolutely shredded me. Parenting is hard. I naively thought that, once kids were self sufficient, it'd get easier. Wrong! Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart. Sleepless nights, anxiety, countless tears and walking on eggshells about sums up parenting teens. But, on the bright side, I can honestly say that I am so thankful for a godly husband who has become my teammate more so since being saved than ever before. Our bond is stronger than it's ever been and I love it!
Despite the hard, there has also been a lot of good. We stayed local for Thanksgiving and enjoyed a quiet- if not a tad boring- week at home. We are pinching pennies due to a huge, unexpected house repair in late August. So, we did not travel anywhere like we usually do during Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving night we bundled up and went to the local baseball stadium that had been converted to a Winter Wonderland. The boys enjoyed ice-skating with some school friends we had run into and I loved looking at all the beautiful lights.
We have gone to Alabama a couple times over the past couple months to spend time with our 96 year old uncle at his farm. We always enjoy our time there. It is a time filled with roaring fires in the fireplace, watching football games, good food, stories told by him and priceless memories. A couple weekends ago we went there and E ended up killing a once-in-a-lifetime buck. I got to be with him when it happened and it was such a fun hunt!
In December we had a busy month. We spent time with friends and church family. We also got to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in almost a decade. It was a low-key week with them because of the weather. But, it was a nice reset- a time of naps, board games, family devotions and an early birthday celebration for E. The day after we got back, we celebrated E's 13th birthday with a couple of his buddies. He wanted to go to a local trampoline park/arcade and then we had a late lunch at a local hibachi restaurant. It was local key compared to years past, but that's what he wanted to do.
Last weekend the boys went to a youth retreat and Rob and I enjoyed some much needed husband/wife time. We prepped for the forecasted ice storm, went out for a nice steak dinner, slept in and watched movies. I absolutely loved every minute of our weekend together! Due to the weather, the youth retreat was cut a little short. When the boys got home, I enjoyed listening to the memories they created and how they were challenged spiritually.
I laugh because Rob turns into a meteorologist when skinning deer and can determine, even in early October, what kind of winter we're going to have based off the deer. He told me it was going to be a really cold Winter and I reminded him that he said that last year and it wasn't too bad. This winter hasn't been bad until January. And then, oh my word, it has been beyond chilly! I feel like I can't ever warm up. Rob has had to work a lot this week because a Winter snow/ice storm pushed through last weekend and the damage from it has been catastrophic! Trees down, schools shut down, over 150k without power, deaths, roadways closed (with cars on them). I think this is the first time that I can ever remember actually looking forward to Winter being over and warm temps being the norm.
But, that is how life is....some days are warm and sunny and some days are downright cold and miserable. The beauty of it all, though, is that every day is a new day. The storms pass. The sun comes out. And life keeps going. Through it all, we love, show grace and grow from the trying times. I am thankful that both boys have a good group of friends at school, are involved in Bible Studies and have a solid youth pastor to lead them by example.
Now, onto sunnier, warmer days full of school baseball, nights on the front porch, afternoon walks with Rebel and weekends spent fishing....
