This, That, and a Million Other Things

So about 3 weeks ago, my babies started back to school. :(  They enjoy it and I do have a few minutes of peace or time to run errands and not have someone asking "When are we gonna go home?" That is nice and I have high hopes that at some point, I will have my schedule down pat and make the most of the time I have with no kids in the house on MWF.

I am doing better about treating my "stay at home mom and wife" gig as a real job. Too many days I felt like I  hadn't accomplished nearly enough. Well, I ran across a website that included forms for planning out your day. They have been a huge help. I am a big fan of a list anyway. I love the feeling of crossing off things and feeling good about it. Sometimes I even write in all the extra things I did in a days time just so that I can mark them off! Weird I know. Now I plan out my days and the things I want to accomplish and what I am cooking for dinner each night. This has helped me. I get more done and feel better about myself. Planning my meals helps make less trips to the grocery store and I am prepared for nights where we have commitments or activities.

Everybody thinks that stay at home moms have all this free time if their kids go to school, even if it is just a few hours per week. Well, everyone except stay-at-home moms that is. If you have lived it - whether you are lucky enough to do it full time or while juggling your paying job as well, you know that there is more than enough to keep you busy 24 hours a day! (I find it is usually men who are of this opinion. You can't really blame them...they are just uneducated about what life as a mother, caretaker, wife, chauffeur, nurse, cook, cleaning lady, organization specialist, and personal assistant to two other people is like.)

This year is shaping up to be a busy one. I have a first grader and would like to have a day to volunteer in her classroom. I have a son who is enrolled in the preschool at our church and I am teaching two classes of Early Learning there this year. (I have so much I need to do for this class!) I am also picking up and dropping him off at another preschool 3 mornings a week. I have done pretty good exercising this summer and am trying to work that in some days while the kids are at school. So far, not so good. I am usually having to do it after Jeremy gets home in the evening. That is about to be a problem because we are quickly heading for a time change and it will be too dark when he gets here. I am joining a MOPS group too this fall. It puts me out of my comfort zone, after all it is on Friday mornings (one of the days Jack is at preschool) and I really love just having quiet time to myself. But I need to do it, I need to get outside my comfort zone and meet other women at my stage in life. Maybe even make some friends and get the name of a good babysitter so that before my kids turn 18 the hubs and I could go out some night! All this in addition to the "normal" stuff. You know church, cooking, cleaning, car-line, homework, birthday parties, etc. Oh, and did I mention as of August 31 we will own 90 acres! (I am sure that won't add to the workload!) I have to say, lately I have been happier, more content, and more at peace with my life than in a long time. I still have worries, mainly the impending events involving relatives in Tennessee and the financial changes associated with owning our farm, but everyone has something to worry about and I am truly blessed to have this wonderful life I have!

Our First MOPS Meeting

Jack and I attended our first MOPS meeting today. We dropped Mady off at school, went to the cleaners, swung by Starbucks, and headed over to the church where the MOPS meeting was being held. I have never been to a meeting before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We signed in and a super nice woman, Meghan, showed us around. I walked Jack to his class and hoped he had a good time. He was sad, since it was a new place with new people. I hated to leave him; I know strange people in a new place is scary. I knew he would be fine in a few minutes. The kids had a lesson, decorated swords, made crowns, had a snack, and then played a while.
Meanwhile I went into where our meeting was Meghan introduced me to another woman and she showed me around and talked to me about the MOPS group. They usually have refreshments and today they had prepared breakfast burritos. Yummy! We just ate and talked for probably 30 minutes. Then one of the members got up and talked a bit about her personal struggles in her life right now. It was interesting and made me think again how we don't have to look far to see someone who has it worse. Then we divided up into 3 groups. My group had some really nice girls in it. I was probably the oldest and my kids were by far the oldest. There were just 4 in our group. We went to a room and planted tomato seeds and talked about how we could do this with our children and lessons we could teach them from this. Then we moved to another room where a personal trainer from the Pavilion talked to us about a form of exercise where you pick 4 exercises, and you do each for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds. It was good, but let's just say jumping isn't a good idea after you have had 2 kids. Then we went to the kitchen and another lady talked to us about meal planning and nutrition. I really enjoyed it all. Everyone was really friendly. Then when I went to pick up Jack he had had a really good time. As we were walking to the car he said he had fun and could we come here again?. So I think we will go to the next meeting too.
They meet every two weeks from September till August. So I think I can handle that. There are only 2 more meetings before they break for the summer. We both had a good time and I think we'll do it again!