Campfire & The Sleepwalker

I have to start off this post by saying how incredibly grateful I am. Even right now.
Because as you'll read later on...
I had a really, REALLY stupid moment today and it's a miracle I even was able to salvage all of my photos and now be able to share them here with you.

By the way: as I currently type this I am getting the royal treatment. Christopher is brushing my hair and making me "look like a beautiful princess" Ok. That also involves using some eyeshadow which he has chosen the lovely colors of green and purple and is putting all over my face / arms.... so perhaps it looks more like I fell down a flight of stairs!  But that's ok :)  It's dark, I'm not going anywhere, it's relaxing and I SO needed this little special treatment tonight.
Such sweet boys I have. Seriously.
FACT: I would pay somebody equally as much to brush and / or play with my hair as I would for a massage. Does anyone else love it that much?!

So yesterday (Saturday) my mom came over and I made my week 35 vlog / blog.
Then I got some stuff done that needed to be done in the house.
And after the boys got up from their naps it was time to plan out our schedule for the week and have a little outside time enjoying the unseasonably gorgeous weather here while enjoying the beautiful display of fall colors.  I was homesick for Florida yesterday something awful.... I mean nearly physically sick I was missing it so much!  Since I can't exactly just hop in my car and roadtrip down to the ocean I found the next best thing to a Florida beach: a Wisconsin lake!

Here's a little insight: I know someday I'll be moving back to Florida. I know for certain that I am here in Wisconsin for a reason, though, and I'm at peace with being here right now. (Ironic.... I spent my greater childhood just waiting to get the heck out of here and I've come full-circle! Perhaps I should stick it out for once and prosper where I'm planted so I can advance to Stage 2 finally!) The fellowship I've found and the new friends that have been brought into my life, Christopher's school, the doctor we have now.... I couldn't ask for more. But eventually (this is on my dream board!) I want to split my time between Wisconsin and Florida.... with traveling around to other places in between that, of course!


planning the week!

Anyways:
so as you guys know I work from home.
And part of this whole "single mom"  ... ugh. I hate that phrase. Because I'm not exactly "single". Re-term it... "SOLO PARENTING" experience I am having right now has taught me how to be more organized. Now I find myself absolutely loving my calendar on my phone and my daily agenda and all of the whiteboard lists I have around the house.  Each week I get to take an hour of time out and go plan our week.  Otherwise there's NO WAY I'd be able to accomplish work, house, meal planning, blogging, homeschooling, doctor appointments, outings, YMCA.... ummmm.... no. I would be a hot mess!  When I don't have a vision or a plan for my time: it flies out the window!
So I can't complain with the view I had yesterday as I planned our week.

I plopped my butt down onto a lovely patch of soft grass atop a small hill and watched the boys slide down it on their butts and then skip rocks and sticks into the water.
Boats were gliding across the water: pulling the remaining die-hard brave watersport souls across the lake on tubes and skis... blaring tunes.  One in particular made me laugh: 2 guys on tubes being flung around the water to THIS tune!
"Yeah baby she's got it.... I'm your venus.... I'm your FIRE!"

So that was pretty hilarious.  The boys wanted to call their dad.... because they missed him.
When he was in town we all drove out to the lake one night and he spent some time with them skipping sticks and rocks into the water and it reminded them of that evening.
They miss him,

I was peaceful sitting there listening to the waves crash against shore and hearing the boys laugh and play.
Lia was rolling around and kicking me with her little elbows and knees and it made me smile knowing to soak it all up since I won't be feeling any of that in a couple of months!
Then we decided to drive around the lake a little and pick up sticks because the boys really wanted to have a campfire.
(PS - Ryan got FULL of red dirt ... you know... the kind that stains everything? So we had to strip him down and put him in the car and he ended up wearing one of his shirts like a tunic before getting him home to plop him straight into the tub before heading to the grocery store for a late-night s'more run!)

They love the local store here because they have the mini-carts and they get to push them for me.
It's so weird. I remember being little and getting to push the mini carts and feeling oh-so-grown-up!
Then we got back home and we crumpled up some old magazines for fire starters and loaded them into the outdoor chimenea; putting the sticks we'd gathered on top. It only took lighting the paper and ...
VOILA!
Fire!

It was a pretty proud moment. We sat out in lawn chairs around the fire, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, looked at the stars, then watched videos on my phone about how stars are made (Christopher is very interested in it!) Then Ryan fell sound asleep in the chair and Christopher and I sat out in chairs for 30 minutes watching the coals die down.
Reminded me of living out in Missouri when we would sit around the campfire in the yard....
Made me realize you don't have to be in the middle of nowhere to enjoy the little things like that.
You can be in the middle of the city and it'll still be peace and quiet.

then we went into the house and as I was taking my contacts out in the bathroom Ryan stumbled in mumbling incoherently. Then I watched as he (with both eyes closed) lifted each leg over the side of the tub before sitting cross-legged in there. He was sleepwalking!  I took a video. It was adorable. I took a short video clip of it.

Anyways: about the phone.
So I had a bad moment. I let myself get stressed out an offended and hurt by some stupid words that somebody said.
So what did I do?
.... well. Let's say the phone went sailing.
But you won't even believe what happened afterwards.
It taught me a huge lesson!
I'll do a different blog on that....

Thanks for reading

Trippy Rainbow Relaxation Experience! Office Re-arranging and Weekend Stuff

TIMEHOP:

Aw.... 3 years ago today we were unpacking everything to move into our new house in Niceville, FL.

Christopher decorated Ryan with stickers.

Oh, how I miss Florida and can't wait to move back someday!

So in case you haven't read my blog on it: I'm at WEEK 35 in pregnancy!
Here's how my first night of listening to "Rainbow Relaxation" went.... 
I'm not sure if anybody else has experienced anything like this: but I certainly wasn't expecting it!
Like I said in the video.... this is my brain NOT on drugs. Can you even imagine it if I were?! Oh my gosh. No. Nope. 

Let me recap my "Rainbow Relaxation" experience: 
(if you watch the video below I explain it a little more.... it was....INTERESTING!)
I floated through some violet mist towards 
this beautiful, peaceful, relaxing stream in the middle of nowhere.  I just watched the sparkly blue water until I decided to
stroll across the lush green grass into the green forest where I finally found a beautiful, soft patch of green moss to lay down on.  As I lay on the moss I looked up and saw the 
warm sunshine with it's beautiful rays of warm light just shining down on me. I laid there and felt the warmth on my face and cheeks until I decided to get up and
walk a little until I came to this clearing in the woods filled with orange poppies.  The flowers were so pretty and I just watched them for awhile before finally
floating up into the clouds. 


Today I am re-arranging the office downstairs. 
This cozy house. Oh it's like tetris!
Even though it's 1/3 the size of our old house.... I can't complain because it's exactly what we need right now. And I know we won't live here FOREVER. 
Here's what I repeat to myself:
"be faithful with the little things and you will be made ruler over much"
it's essentially the "prosper where you're planted" philosophy and one of the laws of nature. 
If you want to be given more (bigger, better) then you have to be trusted with what you have first!
.... so that means taking care of this wonderful, adorable, cozy, tiny little house until it one day leads up into taking care of my "dream house"! This right here is just practice.
Plus it's REALLY forcing my creative side to come out as I try to fit everything just right in it's place.


My mom took the boys to the Adventure Center this morning so I could get some stuff done.
Which also included giving myself a fabulous new (NONTOXIC) manicure.
Excuse me.... "jamicure" ;) 
Oh I'm so glad I found these. 
And my  Jamberry consultant. She's so awesome!
Seriously: she's the best. So if you're looking for a place to order these / try these out you have to get them from her!
And I LOVE being able to support moms and wives in business. Doesn't that make more sense than just throwing your money at big corporations like Wal-Mart? 
(PS - I'm cheap. It's no secret. You all know I will hunt down a good deal and I RARELY EVER ever EVER buy anything that's not on clearance or at a discount....
But DON'T buy knockoff nail wraps from a store. They DO NOT come anywhere close. Mine peeled off within 2 days! TOTAL Waste of money!)
So if you haven't tried these yet you can get in touch with her HERE (yay she just got a facebook page going!) to try a sample or place your order (if you click the last link it'll take you straight to her site) She's fantastic!  Her name is Cindell. 
"Like" her page and tell her Sara sent you over.... maybe she'll throw in something extra special ;)


anyways. 

I also took some fun pictures today. I was loving my belly!
I figure I have to treasure and cherish it these last couple of weeks while I still have it because I am going to miss it when it's gone!  She's so peaceful and beautiful and wonderful already. 
I can't wait to meet my princess <3 











Oh.... by the way.
If you've ever gotten completely frustrated by the fact that your kids are just.... AGH!
No attention span. 
They can't play with something longer than 5 minutes.
Every night its 30 minutes to an hour of cleanup that HAS to be supervised by you ending up in disorganized chaos and you wanting to pull your hair out....
then I HIGHLY recommend doing a toy purge and just getting rid of EVERYTHING.
Or.... most of it and only keeping a very very few select amount of educational items.
It's been AMAZING!
More on my entire experience with this later and how exactly it went down.....

but long story short:
the kids play outside for HOURS at a time now and occupy themselves.
They have plenty of outside toys but what did they spend 2.5 hours playing with the other day?
Boxes. BOXES. B-O-X-E-S my friend. Making them into houses, pirate ships, you name it. 
Ahhh but they're so deprived my children :) 
Look at him all happy and stuff. 

Thanks for reading and following along on our family's journey!