Do the holidays leave anyone else feeling just plain tired? Maybe it’s just me, but I know that I’ll spend pretty much this entire week getting everything and everyone back in order after the holidays.

Laundry is no worse (thank goodness), but it’s no better either, even after a full two holiday weeks of no break from it. Mount Laundry is still a formidable giant.

It’s always challenging to try and keep on top of the needs of 6 boys, but at the end of the holidays when sleep deprivation has set in (either due to insomnia or children waking at 5am… or both), suddenly everything seems foggy and a little more difficult to grasp than usual.

Today, although a nap is sounding lovely to me even at 8:30 am, I have a busy day so I am going to make the best of it. For me this means having a few moments of quiet, a nice hot cup of coffee and just get moving.

If you’re fighting post-holiday fatigue, here’s a few tips…

Get up and move.

Getting outside, even if it’s cold or a little dismal, can do wonders for your attitude, brain fog, etc. It’s a great way to clear your mind and although it tends to make me sleepy at first it definitely puts me in a better mood and makes me feel far more able to tackle whatever I need to do that day.

Make a plan.

Have a purpose, especially this week. Make a to-do list and just whack away at it this week to see how much you can accomplish. Keep it realistic, it’s a great motivator if you know you can actually accomplish it.

Take time to rejuvenate.

Make a few moments each day to just be alone and unwind. This might not be everyone’s thing, but I love silence and it’s definitely more than a rarity around here. I like to cozy up for a few minutes and either read or just sit and relish the moment with a cup of coffee or tea.  For some of you it might be taking a bath or even just a long hot shower. Whatever it is, try to find that 10 minutes where you can just breathe!

Take your vitamins.

Make sure you’re taking a good quality vitamin. This is the time when a lot of us are run down physically (not eating the same, stress, less sleep or not sleeping well, you get the idea) among other things and making sure we have plenty of B and C vitamins in particular is essential to keeping our bodies healthy.

Oh the neglectfulness!! I guarantee you all that I’m still here but I have truly just been trying to enjoy the summer with my kids right now.

There has been some sickness thrown in this last few weeks and as all moms know that definitely puts us behind a bit.

I’m currently struggling a bit as I realize just how close back to school is. I’m not so sure I’m ready for the end of summer just yet. August always seems to feel much more like a precursor to school starting than it does part of summer break.

It’s definitely time to start gearing up for school though so I hope to offer some thoughts about that over the next few weeks. as for the question of when I will resume regular posting… I anticipate everything returning to normal the second week of September.

Until then I will definitely try to offer a few things each week for all of you to chew on as well as a few giveaways. Talk to you soon.

You never know when it’s gonna strike. The middle of the night stomach bug is likely to rear it’s ugly head when you least expect it.

Around here that’s definitely the case. we always feel fortunate if only one child ends up sick in the night once it starts. Doubly fortunate if they actually didn’t throw up on their bed.

That wasn’t the case last night (this morning actually, around 1:30am to be exact).

The problem is my stomach hurts too and though I am extremely tired, sleep is elusive. And so I write to all of you.

I have to admit that despite it all sitting here in the stillness is so refreshing in it’s own way. Reminding me that without some time spent in quietness I cannot rejuvenate.

How often when I’m at my most overwhelmed do I remember that moms need time outs too? Never, or very rarely.

So this week as I muddle through the daily schedule, I’m also challenging myself to take plenty of time outs as well.

Gone are the days where I carefully plan and schedule posts. Now I simply blog as I feel inspired by life. I have decided there is a time and a place for both.

I know I’m not alone as a mom who finds that the most joy can be brought about by the littlest things that happen each day. It can be a hug, a giggle, a story, a kind gesture or many other almost imperceptable things. But if you look close you’ll catch them.

This was clearly shown recently when CJ our oldest made a completely selfless sacrifice to try and benefit me. It was so kind, so completely loving that it brought me to tears.  I was amazed by this young man once again.  I’m so thankful for him in so many ways.

So today, I’m looking for the little things and praying that I can offer little things to everyone around me as well!

As I tried to login to post yesterday, I discovered that my blog was down.  So I took that as a prompt to move on and let it go for the day.  Not sure what the problem was since everything seems to be just fine today but I’m thankful that it wasn’t anything major because I hadn’t backed up for a while and I’d feel terrible if you all had to re-enter the contests.

Life got put on hold again this week as we have had more creeping crud.

On Friday last week I received a phone call from the boys’ school.  It was the health room gal letting me know that Lion had a nasty little infection going in his left hand.  A half hour later I picked him up from school and dragged him to the doctor.  All the while wondering how on earth a simple cut or splinter could cause that nasty of an infection overnight.

An hour of kicking and screaming at the doctor’s office later (they had to clean it out and such – it was awful), a bandaid was applied, stickers handed out and a prescription ordered.  Two days later I received a call to stop the antibiotic they had prescribed since the infection was Strep not staph as they had presumed.  So on to a new prescription he went…. SIGH.

Yesterday CJ was a mess, his head was so stuffed and painful he could hardly move until I’d loaded him up on meds.  Since none of the other boys were in school that day the Twinkies and Tater went to visit my parents and overall it was a pretty low key day.

That afternoon though CJ still wasn’t feeling as well as I’d like and the presence of a fever in addition to some neck pain had me a little concerned so I decided to take him in.  Something he was determined not to do.  You try convincing a 14 year old who is almost 6 feet tall to go to the doctor when they don’t want to… it isn’t fun!

But as we were getting ready to go, Salesman told me his throat was hurting pretty badly, so last minute I decided to take him as well.  After a small check-in ordeal at one of the local walk-in clinics, the boys were checked out.

Turns out CJ just has a lot of sinus stuff going on and needs to take preventative measures to keep it from turning into a sinus infection.  The cultured Salesman’s throat right away and by the time the doc was done checking CJ the results of the 5 min Strep test were ready… and very positive.

Oh Joy!

I have 6 sons and in the 14 years that I’ve been a parent not one of my children has ever had Strep throat.  Something I was quite happy about since there are so many of them and it is so contagious.  Today I might have one more child to take to the doctor…and tomorrow, well, I don’t want to think about that lol.

So, there you have it, we are officially in the middle of the sickies and I can only hope that you are not doing the same in your house!  Have a GREAT Thursday ladies!

Fall is here, with it are cooler, shorter days that tend to be darker.  Here in Washington, the rains are actually not as bad as normal, we’ve had a lot of sunny fall days…I actually do not remember having so many gorgeous fall days.

So this year, for me the fall gloomies are taking a little longer to set in, but for many the changing of the seasons means a definite change in attitude.

Focus, attitude, perspective and purpose are all ways to maintain…or lose…a great mood.   The choice is, ultimately, up to us.  The problem is that I don’t always feel like “making it work”.

As the weeks progress through fall and winter, I’m likely to offer a variety of suggestions.  Since I often know that a day may be gloomy as soon as I start getting up, today I want to make a few suggestions for starting your day.

Shower!

There’s nothing better than a nice warm shower on a cold gloomy fall morning.  Especially an uninterrupted one.  So many of us moms let this part of our day go a little, but if you have an opportunity to do this, spend a little extra time just letting the hot water wash over you.  Make sure you lock the door too.

We have only one bathroom, and honestly, I usually leave the door unlocked in case anyone has to use the toilet or sink while I’m showering.  We haven’t had any issues with privacy doing this, but when they open the door all the hot air rushes out and it totally kills the comforting affect of the shower.  So, on gloomy days, warn everyone that the door will be locked so they’d better get their business done before you go in.

Comfort Breakfast

Have a favorite breakfast?  Love cocoa or a great mocha in the morning?  Take time to make and really enjoy it on days when your mood is less than fabulous.  Going through a morning on an empty stomach is bad enough, but when you’re not in a great mood, it becomes even worse.

Forget the House

This may seem like the strangest suggestion of all.  I’m not telling you to get out of the house, though that may be exactly what some of you need.  But, go into the cleanest room (nonexistent in my world, but we’ll ignore that fact for a moment) and take the little ones with you.  Cuddle with them, read them a story, play blocks with them, watch a quiet kid movie.  You get the idea.  Lay low.  If you try to do laundry, dishes, clean house and more while entertaining your little ones, your mood is likely to just keep going downhill.  Save those activities for a little later, when your children are napping or having their quiet time.

Yes, there are a lot more suggestions I could make, but for now, I’ll leave it at that .  I think a surprise recipe for a magnificent mocha/cocoa is in order next week…be sure to come get that!

I’ve heard it said a million times “remember, you can’t get these years back”.   I’ve translated that to myself over and over countless times again…telling myself things like, remember today will never happen again (which could be a good or a bad thing) so make the most of it.

Whenever I’ve had a bad day, I promise myself that “tomorrow will be better” since each day “is fresh with no mistakes in it…yet” (Anne Shirley).

Somehow though, despite the warnings from those who are already past the younger years of children and my own reminders daily, I often simply don’t make the effort or (gasp) I shrug it off and act like it’s no big deal.

Yet somewhere, even in the midst of occasionally saying, “they don’t understand because they aren’t still in the thick of it like me” I know the truth. There really is only a short time I get with my little ones and I’m the one missing out.

I have scheduled myself not with the crazy list of activities that drive most moms out of their minds, but rather with a list of “invisible” things like email, blogging, designing and much more.

None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they all distract from the here and now, and most of all they can become our focus instead of our children. Maybe most other moms can schedule their e-time more carefully than I, but for me this is probably the biggest challenge on my plate…how do I eliminate what I need to in order to get back to the place where I know I’m supposed to be.

Once again I want to stress that doing these things isn’t really the problem, it’s that I know in my heart that my priorities and time spent isn’t as it should be.

When I ask myself the following question, the answer I come up with is the true testament of where I am at (you’re welcome to take the challenge to ask yourself as well)…

How often in the day do I see my children as a joy not a nuisance?

The answer to this question, if answered honestly is where we will find our true current priorities. If we answered that we honestly see our children as a joy more often than not, then we are totally in the right place in our hearts and lives.

If however, you discovered the answer to that question is that you am forever shooing my children away or trying to “get them out of my hair” so that you can do my own thing, there is a very good likelihood that you probably feel a little sad right now. The truth is setting in and you feel a little awkward.

One of the worst things we can do at that moment though is to write it off and tell yourself that it is just too late, or too hard to change. I encourage you to pray about the situation and if you don’t know what is causing your priorities to go caddywampus, ask for God to show you. If you do know what’s causing it, ask Him to help you make the changes necessary to do the right thing…NOW…not in a year, you don’t want to lose any more time.

You can endeavor to do many things in life, having goals is a great ambition and I highly recommend it. But we have to set reasonable time frames for those goals to be accomplished so that we don’t miss out on NOW.

Ironically, I write this as I sit in the parking lot of one of my sons’ football practices. I feel content and happy here, I am where I know I should be. If I was at home, there is a good chance that I would be busy on my computer, but I wouldn’t have slowed down enough to listen for the inspiration prompting this post.  The worst part is that after a long and harried day when I’m already tired and grumpy, I wouldn’t be spending the time with my little ones that I KNOW I should…time I only have today, for I know not what tomorrow holds.

Time doesn’t stand still for any of us. As difficult as it is to have 3 year old twins, and as often as I wish they were “just a year older ‘cuz maybe it would be a little easier”, God knows where I’m at.  Although He doesn’t expect me to be perfect (thank goodness, right?), he does wait for me to come to Him and I can imagine that like any other parent, He hopes that my choices and priorities are the ones He has shown me. The question is, am I living up to that or settling for second best?

It’s my choice, and I’m realizing more and more that I honestly need to ask myself if 10 or 20 years from now will all of this seem so important? In my ever present effort to walk by Christ’s side and become more like Him, I have to be honest and say that if it isn’t furthering the kingdom of God, it isn’t going to make a difference in the end.

So, though being “just a mom” can feel like a lowly position to have at times, I am learning more and more that there is no greater gift I could have been given…and no greater difference I can make in the world than to focus on instructing these amazing creations that call me “Mom”.

“Well, no one can ever say that our life is boring.”

I’m in love!

Froggy Frugal Tip: Spread out your family’s clothing, shoes and household expenses.

It’s funny how you sometimes don’t realize that you have a great tip because it happens to be every day life for you…well, this is one of those times.