My new life!

Well, I'd now consider myself a "stay-at-home mom" for about a month now.  I won't count the summer, since I'm normally off anyways.  The girls went back to school on August the 5th, and that's when reality kind of hit me.  No more running around like crazy, trying to entertain 3 children all day, no more excuses for why the house isn't clean or why dinner isn't ready.  This was the start of my new career!  And I had to live up to my talk.

So far, it's been wonderful.  Freeing.  Not (as) stressful.  Fulfilling.  Awesome.  But definitely not perfect... there was a couple week adjustment period, for sure.  The start of school was a bit rough, mainly for Taylor.  Adjusting to not having two girls to entertain him was difficult for Parker.  Trying to stick really close to a specific budget has been hard.  Keeping the house clean is virtually impossible.  It was hard for me to all of a sudden be the maid, be the cook, be the chauffeur, 100% of the time (we used to share these tasks!).

But... let me just tell you.  I get to be with my kids.  I get to cook dinner every night, including lots of new meals.  I get to walk- by myself, with Parker, with friends.  I get to focus on my health.  I get to be crafty.  I get to be very detached from my phone- which is a good thing- and sometimes I realize I've gone most of the day without even checking it!  (such a difference from work, when I'd feel the need to check and reply to emails right away).  I get to organize the house.  I get to do tasks that I've been needing to do for months, if not years.  I get to have play dates with friends and their kids.  I get to hang with my little buddy every day. We go to parks and play a lot.  I get to read to the girls for a while every night.  I get to read books for myself! (already about to finish book 2)  I get to coupon and search for deals at the grocery store.

"I get".  I'm so blessed to "get" to do these things.

New things I've added to my plate- room mom for Taylor's class, room mom for Parker's class, and team mom for Sydney's soccer team.  I'm going to volunteer 3 hours a week in Sydney's classroom.  I'm leading a ladies' workout group at my church two mornings a week.  I've joined a couple of help teams at church, and we're hosting a small group at our house, starting next weekend.  My parents and I are in the early stages of our Etsy store.  I help Stephen with some of the secretarial things for his job.  I swear, I'm more busy now than ever!

Some big tasks I've done are redoing the girls rooms, cleaning out and reorganizing our 3rd car garage, sewing clothes that had ripped (I know, who am I??), selling lots of stuff on eBay and donating other items, organizing the thousands of printed photos from 1980 on and putting them into boxes by years/events.  These are things I would have chuckled at if I thought of doing them while I was working.

I am loving it!!  I am very blessed to be in this position right now.

Here are some recent pics from our adventures:

Stephen's bday!

Sydney's artwork from her reading class on the wall at her school!

Waving to the garbage truck.

When we walk at the park, he likes to "mow da gass" with his stick.

Shenanigans in the carpool lane before school.

Taylor's first dance class!

Her friend, Lena, invited her.

Crafts with Grandmom!

Golf cart ride.  That's a winning smile right there.