All I want for my birthday is a haircut and a pedicure! 😬
However, in all seriousness it's been a great day.
Despite the grey skies and rain today, I've received so many phone calls, texts and even a few in person visits on my front door step.
I feel like the warmth and well wishes has never been greater!
Right now as I write this I am double quarantined; in my home, yes- but after a long morning of schooling...(Well, lets just be honest, there wasn't a lot of schooling going on today...) John has "banished" me up to my bedroom with my computer and a bottle of water. (update: since being banished, two girlfriends have showed up to my door with cans of wine)
I don't think I have ever heard more loving words from John as "don't come out of your room."
I hear a lot clattering of pans and I'm starting to smell something wonderful, and despite denying that they are baking me a cake, the kids have come to check on me with a lot of chocolate batter smeared on their face.
It's been two months of our social, scheduled life shutting down; however, life now has swallowed me up like never before. Working, schooling, trying to keep up with the messes, and food consumption and laundry day after day is extremely daunting.
What has really been helping me lately is listening to history podcasts. I don't think I got a very good history education (or perhaps my head was in the clouds in High school with the drama of my social scene...) but I missed so much of what happened before I arrived on this earth, and it's really fascinating.
I'm learning about all sorts of tumultuous times in history, and it makes me realize that 1) we are not the first people to ever go through anything like this-pandemics and times of uncertainty have been around since the beginning of time...2) even despite all the tough things, we still have it good compared to the rest of the world and past times.
But, alas....I'm feeling at the "end of my rope" with homeschooling. I've done my best and we've done some neat things, but I feel like my kids and I are just tapped out.
Recently, we've searched out slugs and snails....
made book marks out of flowers.....
dug up soil and sifted through it to see what things we could find.
We've overturned rotting logs to uncover slimy critters and creepy bugs.....
We've gone on bike rides....
created volcanos out of clay and made them erupt.
We investigated tornados,
lightening
and tsunamis....(Reassuring my children that tsunamis do not happen in the Tualatin River)
We've gone fishing....
and watched our plants grow....
and built bridges over a river....
My favorite place has truly been the woods with the kids.
I thinks it's because I can forget the world for a bit, and there is such a feeling of peace I get there.
I love observing the things that crawl and creep alone; they live their lives completely unnoticed, without a care in the world.
Sometimes I just want to evaporate into the woods.
The feeling of peace and serenity is addicting, and I find myself retreating to the woods to find it. My children feel it too.
One thing I am certain of in my 38 years of life here on planet earth is that what is most important is right in front of me.
I couldn't be happier at turning 38 when I look at the beautiful life I have been given.
It's messy, and hard and exhausting, but my husband John of 15 years and my precious children are worth not evaporating into the woods. ;)
I celebrate and am grateful.
And I am ready for more.
