February started off without a hitch. I spent the entire day making phone calls, cleaning, and doing paperwork. But, then, for a few minutes on the second day, our household went into panic.
My little guy, curious as they come, was exploring the house. My daughter (4) was going to go look for him, as she often does. She went to the basement and never came back up. We assumed they were all down in the basement playing since that has happened many times before. About 35 or 40 minutes went by and the older 2 come upstairs. We immediately asked, “uh where is Bug?” They seemed to be caught off guard and said, “I don’t know, he isn’t in the basement…”
So, he wasn’t with us and he wasn’t with them. My first thoughts are to check the bathrooms upstairs as he is always looking for something dangerous to get into it seems like. Nope not there. All 4 of us were running around the house, up and down all of the stairs, yelling for Bug. We were opening all the doors and cabinets, thinking where did he go!? I swear I went up and down all of our stairs at least 3 times, nowhere to be found! My oldest (7) is literally about to cry because he was so worried. We all came upstairs again, looking under beds, in closets, everywhere when my husband goes, “he is right there…”
Yup, he was asleep in my bed, hidden by pillows and a sheet (which you can’tsee from this picture’s angle). Thankfully it wasn’t something much worse. My heart was racing so fast, I had to take a timeout afterwards. He has been getting into everything, I feel like I can’t keep up a lot of the time.
I also worked more on my diamonds by numbers/letters thing that my best friend got me for my birthday (she got me 2 different ones).
One of my goals for February was to finish the Harry Potter one. While working on it, I was listening to the book, The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A Fuck by Mark Manson. I highly recommend reading or listening to it!! I lost count of how many actual days I spent working on HP, but I finished it on the 22nd. Here is how it looks all done.
Along with that crafty business, I have been doing a lot of painting. Not only did I do some canvas art, but the little kid’s room and basement (which isn’t entirely done yet) got some paint too [which I will talk about in a minute].
I also finally got my DNA results back! It turns out, I am not even a tiny bit from Italy 🤣.
Now that I have the results, I have been looking at the different foods. Now, since I did take German class for 4 years I already have a pretty good idea on the culture. So I went to dig deeper in the Scottish culture. I landed on schnitzel. I wound up making it, with sauerkraut, and actually really liking it!
We took a short family trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas city. It was fun and probably the best family vacation I have experienced thus far. Everyone had a good time and the social distancing and safety measures were great!
We finished out the vacation week at home, doing what I do best; redecorating. We, okay I, decided that I wanted a mom cave/office space. In order for that to happen, 2 of our kids would have to share a room. I decided that it would be best if the youngest 2 shared a room. They get along so well, especially in comparison to the older 2. After finally being able to transition Bug from a crib to a racecar bed (he wanted nothing to do with the toddler rail on the crib) they often were trying to share a room anyway. That also meant Pickle was moving rooms back upstairs. He prefers being closer to everyone, so he was happy with the change. I had found some inspiration from pinterest of all places. It took 2 days of shopping, painting, building, and cleaning, but both bedrooms are finally done.
Chris and I celebrated Valentine’s day a day early while the older kids were at Chris’ parents. We got keto pizza from my favorite pizza place and we also found a place that has keto desserts! All of it was so delicious that I didn’t take pictures, plus we were working on the bedrooms that weekend as well. I wound up going to sleep way early (for me, before 10pm) because I was feeling off and nauseated (I think it’s the keto flu symptoms again). Luckily, I woke up feeling a lot better! I got morning snuggles with my littlest guy. I won my first ever give away on Instagram! Woohoo! We got our groceries picked up, as well as our older kiddos. We had a basement organizing party and then finished with dinner and a movie night (the 2 Fantastic Beasts movies). Overall it was a good day, even though it was a frigid day.
Speaking of frigid days, February is sure winning the most freezing month contest, yay polar vortex. It has been so cold that the power company insisted that people layer up and turn their heat down. They also went as far as cutting people’s power for 2 hour increments. I have never heard of this happening before. What weird times we are in.
While the older 2 kids were away for the 2 day stay that weekend, we did do some shopping and tried out a new BBQ place nearby. We have been trying to support local when we do eat out. The food was good, but it didn’t seem any more special than any other bbq joint. The service there was really good though! We haven’t really found one that we find absolutely amazing yet.
One thing I started this month that has been very helpful for me is making goal lists. I sometimes make a daily list, like a to do list, but more prioritized. Then a weekly goal list and a monthly one. Like I mentioned earlier, my Harry Potter diamonds was one of my monthly goals.
Another one I have been trying to do is to incorporate more intentional things in my life. Trying to make use of my time to figure out who I am; the who, what, where, and why of my life. Part of this, thanks to my awesome sister in law, was to have my first ever new moon ritual bath. She gave me some candles, one specifically designed for clarity, and 2 she made herself (she’s getting ready to launch her own candle business!)
It was such a relaxing experience, what felt like a short amount of time wound up being almost 2 hours. The mind is a wonderous place.
I did take advantage of the month’s full moon as well.
This month has also been busy with the kiddos! Little Bug has been talking so much! I just love the baby gibberish when he tries to pronounce everything he hears. He has been trying to put words together. He says things like, “I poopin'” “mommy drive” and “sissy chair”. He also uses himself in 3rd person when he thinks something is his he will say (with his name but I will use Bug) “Bug shoes” or “Bug’s bench”. He is a wild little guy and definitely keeps me on edge most of the time, haha.
Monkey is officially enrolled to start preschool this fall! She has been asking about school for over a year, literally every day. She is definitely excited! She also earned her first ribbon in gymnastics! She has been doing a lot of reading (together), writing, coloring, and crafts.
Pickle has started back to school 5 days a week now this past week. The structure helps so much in helping minimize ADHD symptoms. He is doing so well! He went from “being behind” to being ahead of most kids his age in reading. He has come so far! I think it is because he found something he is interested in reading, The Dog Man books. I am so proud of all 3 of them!🥰
I had the pleasure of ‘hosting’ a little sleepover with my niece and nephew. My niece, the little artist, has been asking to paint with me since Halloween. It is so fun that my kids have cousins the same age as them to play with. The boys spent the majority of the time playing video games. My niece brought her body art pens so everyone was getting inked up. Of course, my 3 kids decided their entire bodies needed covered. Little bug ended up looking like a Lil Post Malone or something. We did have a painting session with all of the kids. All of them did at least 2 5×7 canvases. My niece just didn’t want to stop, even though everyone else disappeared to the basement. I went ahead and let her have a go with my better canvas. She really enjoyed herself! I think everyone had a good time.
We took the following weekend to ourselves with the kids. We went bowling and to an arcade. The following day, Sunday, we spent the morning cleaning the house, shampooing carpets, and Chris shoveled the heavy wet snow. I think I saw we have gotten about 40 inches or so this Winter so far. After lunchtime we went on a family outing to the pharmacy, the bookstore, and to dinner. On the way home we took a detour to listen to the cd we just got.
This month I have been forcing myself out of my comfort zone. By that I mean, not waiting for Chris to be home to go and do certain things. For instance, for the first time since we got married, I took one of our cars to the shop for an oil change (with all 3 kids with me). I also drove all the way to my sister’s and sister in law’s houses, ON THE INTERSTATE, by myself (with the kids). I can’t remember the last time I did that (because of anxiety). I am not letting things hold me back anymore.
Of course I cannot forget to mention some not so fun times this month, too. Both dogs had their vet appointments. One was a checkup and the other was a checkup and diagnosis for an ear infection. We spent a week of having to clean out his ear and giving him oral medication and an ear cream. He really hated it, but we made it through. Monkey had her 4 year wellness visit and had to get shots. She was so scared, but she made it out just fine.
Chris and I both had doctor’s appointments and he started seeing a chiropractor again. I am on the road to figuring out all my medical issues, which I may post about later after my testing is finished. Though, I can say to start, I did get confirmation that I do have carpal tunnel in both hands. Yay. Chris had me order these weighted things that are suppose to help my tremors when I write or paint. Then the kids and I finished out the month with some nasty sinus crap, oh the joys!
I did dye my hair this month, but nothing too crazy. I went from a light golden brown to a sort of chocolate brown to medium golden brown ombre. I’m happy with it. I also decided to invest in some new makeup. I also went through the kid’s clothes and went to the second hand store to get their spring/summer wardrobes accomplished. They are nearly set and it’s one less thing for me to worry about later.
Needless to say, we have been busy this February! I have been trying to stay ontop of things and be organized.
I wonder what March will bring!?
Much love,
Jenn
Reclaiming My Sanity 