The Wolf in the Woods

It's coming for us, no doubt about that. We had our annual Family Day last weekend with my Dad's side of the family. We all visited and hing out together and the locals hosted the traveling family members in their homes. And now at least seven people are down with a stomach bug. I'm just waiting. I know it's out there, like a wolf prowling in the woods. I just don't know when and where it's going to strike. We've been using some essentials oils in hopes of keeping it away, but we may have started using them too late.  At least this week is spring break so we don't have CC, music, or ballet.

This not knowing is driving me crazy.

Oh man. I am so tired. How are you doing? I feel very disconnected from everyone sometimes, even though I really hear from you all fairly often. I just get so busy with what we have going on in our household that I can't even deal with what is going on in your household. Sometimes I love the busy and sometimes I hate it.

The girls are doing great. Elaina is writing some pretty cool stories these days. Claire is rehearsing with Eily for the upcoming ballet, Alice in Wonderland. Eily is also mastering the violin. Nora is large and in charge. So nothing is new there. :)

Jason has started his 2016 season of traveling and competing.

Life is pretty much consistently changing and evolving. 

Checking In

We went to Maui. We came home. I took a lot of pictures. I am tired but less tired than yesterday. I am determined to make some progress today. I'll write up a Maui post soon. 

Tell me a thing or two

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

That's me relaying the voices in my head. I am so glad that the work is getting accomplished, but oh my goodness, how badly I am needing have the furniture back inside my house and in its right place. And guess what? The day after the floor men finish, the painter starts.  (insert palm hitting forehead emoji)

The painting won't be near as bad because it's just a room at a time and and it's more just getting things off the walls, not removing furniture from the room. Thank Goodness.

So tell me, what has been going on with you? I need a distraction from all the work here.

Good Morning!

Today, I'm taking advantage of the fact that we homeschool. The girls are outside playing, and I am in bed doing computer work. There is a good reason I am in my bed. The floor guy is coming in the morning so there is basically no furniture downstairs. We do still have the couch but we don't have any side tables so there is no spot for my coffee cup. So I'm in my bed, drinking my coffee, working my Colossians studying, and typing for my blog. Such a multi-tasker. :)

We have a ton of schoolwork to do to be ready for our co-op tomorrow, but I have decided that today all schoolwork is going to happen after lunch.  I am chill and relaxed and ready to slowly cross things off my mental list. Days like this usually flow pretty good.

So I'm still going strong on my food habits. I haven't had sugar or gluten for a couple of weeks. It really hasn't been hard at all, and I'm extra grateful for that.

My in-laws came and visited us for the first time this past weekend and we had a really good time. It was low-key and the girls really enjoyed having them in their home and showing off their music "skills."

I'm off to take a shower and get ready for this day of relaxed productivity. Happy Monday!

A Possible Repeat of Family Cuteness

You know what I never thought was that big of a deal but turns out I feel edgy without it? Baseboards. Well, the quarter-round that goes along the bottom of the baseboards, to be specific. I miss my quarter-round. I just can't ever feel like the house is clean these days. I know part of it is that our floor is rough concrete, but it's that small gap between the floor and the baseboards that just really gets to me.

We did a nice full day of school today. I felt very accomplished.

Claire had her first cello lesson. I'm not sure I see this having longevity.

I have been studying in Colossians. Did you know there's just a whole lot of goodness packed in those four chapters? Well there is. Read it. And then read it a few more times.

I have decided gluten should basically be eliminated from my diet. Last night, Jason surprised me with a date and and I splurged and had some breadsticks. I felt horrible afterwards. My stomach was swollen and tight and I had to waddle out of the restaurant. It was a good reminder of why I started avoiding it in the first place.

I can't remember if I ever posted any of family pictures but if so, enjoy again. :)

It's Over

The floor coverings are gone. The downstairs is now all raw concrete except for my bathroom and Eily and Nora's bedroom. It's going to stay this way until March, so in the meantime, I'm going to finally get curtains and rugs so that it's not so cold and sterile feeling. In about the three weeks, the painter will get started painting all the walls, and we will then be two thirds of the way through all this home repair chaos.

I feel like all I'm blogging about is the very boring details of our house. Sorry. It's just that is what's captivating most of my thoughts right now.

A while back, Kathryn asked me what I would do in my "free" time if I could do anything I wanted. I think she asked it just offhandedly, but it stuck with me and I have devoted a lot of my "free" time thinking about it. What would you do?  I have narrowed it down to sewing and cooking, but I just can't decide between the two.  Of course, traveling would be the obvious answer if "free time" meant more than a few hours in a row and an endless budget, but she didn't clarify those facts.

What would you do?

Purposing to Remain Calm

A new week is starting. I was really looking forward to this week because it's like a tiny fresh, new beginning, but instead of starting off strong like last week, we are starting off in pure chaos. The men are coming tomorrow to tear up all the flooring and so my sister and I moved all of the furniture into the school room, Eily and Nora's room, and our bathroom. Forget school tomorrow. That's not happening. And of course it's the day before the first day back at our co-op. Ideally, we would be able to get to our school desks on that day, but oh well. So here's to a large cup of coffee in the morning, some quiet study time before the workers arrive, and to keeping calm when I really want to scream.

Aaannd, we crashed

Well, we all knew that good streak couldn't last too much longer. I overslept, Jason was up all night with a migraine, school went an hour longer than usual, I spent all afternoon on the phone learning how to work a rife machine (boring), the girls trashed the kitchen playing Master Chef Junior while I was on the phone, as I was cleaning up that mess Jason told me an art friend was staying the night, I got mad at Jason for inviting the art friend since I had just finished hosting a different art friend and we have more company this weekend, Jason got mad at me for being mad at him, the girls were irritable with each other, Jason and I got into a "discussion" and so we were almost late for ballet, I didn't look Jason in the eye when we got home from ballet and then he left to go meet that friend for supper instead of having her stay the night, and now I'm here on the couch, pouting and licking my wounds and not feeling very forgiving-ish. But you know what, I have to forgive. I just do. It's what is right and certainly not easy, but not impossible. And I have to ask for forgiveness. Y'all, I HATE asking for forgiveness. I love to show it, to feel it, etc... but I DO NOT like to say the words. And that's an ugly truth about me. I should say it's one of the ugly truths about me because there are plenty to be found.

Silver linings: I did all my prep work for my tutor meeting tomorrow and I'm about to work on the new cleaning schedule. Those two things were weighing heavily on my mind and it feels good to put them behind me. Also, tomorrow is a new day; tomorrow is a fresh start.

I'm still enjoying our routine-y days. I'm slightly obsessing over them, actually.

Is this post to personal? Maybe. But I'm going to take a small guess that you all have had days like this and so you can relate, perhaps smile at my misery a little, and say a little prayer that tomorrow is the opposite of today.

Do I still have readers? If so, I would love to read a comment from you. It helps to know that I'm actually "talking" to someone.  (kudos to Mom for her commenting) :)

Still Going Strong

you guys...

Sleep makes all the difference. Seriously.
When the clock shows 10pm, I go to bed even if I don't think I'm sleepy yet, because I am pretty much always sleepy by 10.30pm and by the time I actually settle down to try to sleep, thirty minutes have passed and I fall right to sleep. Thankfully, I am a fast go-to-sleep-er and usually within five minutes I am snoozing. And last night not one child climbed in our bed during the night. Let me repeat that: NOT ONE CHILD CRAWLED INTO OUR BED DURING THE NIGHT.

It. Was. Amazing.

So in light of that news, I can tell you that Jason and I both woke up at 6:30 this morning feeling fully rested and ready to get the day started. That literally never happens. Because of his Lyme's, I am usually dragging him out of bed around nine o'clock. It was a great start to our day and it feels very nice to be having two great days in a row.

I did get my exercising in last night before bed and I am about to do today's exercising. School is finished for the day. So that leaves figuring out the rife machine, assembling my Morning Routine binder, and folding two loads of laundry. I'm feeling that's very doable. I LOVE THESE KINDS OF DAYS. Oh, and I need to call and make hair appointments for the girls. Still, so totally doable. I am soaking up this moment because I don't know how long this good streak is going to last. 

Back in the Saddle

Today has been a pretty good day. We got back in our normal routine of things and it was a welcome change to the three-week long break that we just finished. I have actually accomplished everything on my to-do list except exercise, and I will get to that once we get back from getting Jason's van from the car place.

Our new couch came today. I ordered it back in October so I really had no idea what it was going to look like. I mean, I had a vague memory, but not really. The color is less gray and more brown that I remembered, but I still like it. It is very large. Like very, very large, but our living room is pretty big so it's looking alright in its spot.

We've decided not not to put down hardwood floor. It's kind of a hard decision because I was getting $12,000 worth of hardwood for $1000, but the pressure to decide on the type and color was just too much for me. Over Christmas we stayed with Jason's brother and his family and they have stained concrete in their downstairs. We decided to save some money and come out ahead on the insurance by having him come stain ours for us over spring break. This also means that I get to rip up the old, nasty carpet that is currently in our living room. Hooray for that! We still have to hire the floor guys to take out the old flooring and clean up the concrete, but that is significantly cheaper than putting down new hardwood floor. We will also pay his brother some, but it's still much less money than it was going to be. I predict that by the end of 2016, this house will look much different than it does right now. But in a positive way.

Jason got his passport today and will be leaving for China for three weeks in March. Good thing he likes Chinese food. Ha!

We start back with out homeschool co-op next week. I was supposed to have the revamped cleaning schedule ready- not done, and have prepped for the tutor meeting this Thursday- also not done.

One of my goals for 2016 is to blog once a week. So far, I haven't failed. hahah

Happy Monday, everyone!

2016

New Year.  New memories to make. I don't really make resolutions for the long term, but I do usually make one for the first month or two of the year. This year, it's no sugar for the family until the middle of February. The girls haven't even acted like it's that big of a deal and they are all on board. Jason is SUPER on board which makes me really happy. That will make it so much easier to actually follow through with this resolve. Our family's health really, really needs this. As does my gut.

I am ready for school to start back again. We need the daily routine of it and the push to get out of bed at a decent hour.

Happy New year, everyone. I'm off to make breakfast for the fam.

What if my word for 2016 was BLOG. Wouldn't that be dandy?

Help Wanted

One day a while back, I was driving along, doing the usual things. You know, using my blinker, not texting, straddling the dead animal in the middle of the road, when it dawned on me that roadkill, a word that is so common and normal in my life, wasn't even a word at all 100 years ago. So now I'm always trying to think of words that are a normal part of my life that didn't exist back then. And I don't mean the obvious things like microwave, iPhone, or electricity. I mean words that didn't come along because of man-made inventions, but because of the natural change of the way of living. Does that make sense? I know that sort of overlaps, but I'm hoping you get what I mean.
So far, I've only been able to think of roadkill and trashcan.  There simply wasn't trash back then. Everything had a purpose. Everything came in something that was repurposed into something else until the only purpose left was to keep the kitchen fire burning. Trash was not a word. Trashcans weren't needed.
Can you come up with any more words that would apply?

3 words

So one of my favorite things is figuring out how to decorate my home. I enjoy waiting for that perfect "inspiration" and then figuring out how to execute it in my own way.
I have realized that I have a problem when it comes to actually putting holes in the wall, though. I can't seem to commit, which is very silly because nothing like that is permanent.
I did finally finish panting the little girls' room so I'm very excited to get in there and start making it homey and adorable.

One more wall and a smidgen to go!

One of my current goals is to come up with three words that represent the feelings I want my guests to have when they enter my home. I know that uncluttered is high on the list for me but I think it may end up being somewhat of a secret, fourth feeling. I do like the sounds of fresh, clean, open, homey, comfortable, warm, natural, artsy,  and inviting. I'll let you know what three words make the cut. Once I decide, I'm going to use words those as a basis for how I style the main rooms of the house.

Am I putting too much thought in to this? Maybe. But I really enjoy it so, oh well.

Let me know what words you think of when you close your eyes and think back to places you've been that you've really enjoyed. I really want your suggestions.

October Catch-up

Hey, guess what! I'm finally not dead tired. It feels so good to be back to my normal speed. Don't get me wrong; I'm all about a good nap, but it isn't an absolute necessity like it was there for a while. 

So apparently the only way I know to blog anymore is to just post pictures and make a comment or two about each photo.  

Claire's right eye looks an awful lot like my right eye did at her age.  

I hope Nora never, ever, ever gets tired of being "just like Daddy". It gets me every time.

 I had a very rough evening a few days back and took a long, long, long walk all by myself. I took off my shoes and enjoyed the feel of the pavement. Sometimes I would also enjoy the feel of the neighbors' sprinklers as I walked past their yards. It probably weirded them out but, oh well. I didn't really care. 

 These two have had such a special bond since the time Nora was born. Claire has so much patience for Nora's stubbornness and Nora overlooks Claire's sassy mouth. They just work together. 

Our homeschool group went to the pumpkin patch and it was fun but so hot. They did have some super cute baby goats to pet and a very nerve-wracking corn maze. 

At one point while we were walking around the farm, Claire said, "Mama, may I take off a pair of socks? I'm so hot!" I said, "A pair? How many pairs did you put on before we left the house?" 

"Three."

Later on that evening, as we watched the Lamar Warriors make history and beat the Charleston Tigers for the first time EVER, Claire was glad she (I) had carted around those three pairs of socks all afternoon. They kept her toes toasty warm as she ignored the game and buried her head in a book. :) 

Really though, it was a great game and my sister and I have decided I must be their good luck charm since that's the only Warrior's game I have attended. 

It's another week, another set of activities. Happy October!

Renovations

This is where I was a few days ago with the renovations. The dining room walls were painted, but not the little, upper light indention. I needed new curtains, curtain rods, the new light hung, a new table (we have majorly outgrown our current one), and a rug. I'm kind of stuck on what kind of curtains I want- patterns wise. Solid? Print? Color? Neutral?

I have to keep in mind that the dining room is somewhat connected to the parlor, and I don't want to overkill both rooms with color and pattern. 

Also, I need someone to come arrange my gallery-wall paintings. I'm getting nowhere fast with that. I even had three other women helping me last night and we couldn't figure out how to make them look right. They will go on the wall behind the table.

This room is my next focus, well,  after I finish painting the girls' room. I want shelves on either side of the piano, and some kind of patterned rug. I also want to put a bench in front of the window and then place some nice, green plants on it. I have an abstract painting that's in Memphis, just waiting on me to come get it, that will hang above the piano. 

 These were the original sconces in the downstairs hallway leading to the girls' room. Ugly, plastic-looking spaceships. 

 Speaking of space...

This ceiling fan made me feel like I lived in The Jetson cartoon. Although, having Rosie the robot maid wouldn't be too bad.

This is where this room stands as of now. One coat of paint on one wall, half a painted wall, two more walls with no paint. And that's what I'm tackling today. This is one of those projects I could easily put off for a long time so I'm going to make myself get to it. We have a rare, free day and I'm going to make it count.

And for posterity's sake, a grand, glorious picture of the old chandler that hung above the dining room table. I mean, seriously, what were these people thinking?

Here's whats happening lately

Week three of school kind of whipped us for some reason so we met with our CC friends (actually, this is the original group of the FS CC campus.)for some more-entertaining-than-usual review. 

Georgia, Nora, Gillian, Eily, Betsy, Claire, Alice, Elaina

The "before" picture of the dining room finally uploaded. This room only needs to things to be officially finished. It will be a while before I get those two things, but it's exciting to think I'm that close to marking it off my to-do list.  (Well, technically there are three things, but one is very cosmetic and costly and I'm not even sure it can actually be done, so I'm not counting it right now.)

My adult coloring book and colored pencils finally came in the mail. It is so relaxing to sit, color, and watch a show in the evenings after the girls are in bed. You should try it. 

Claire turned 9 this past Tuesday. We continued our tradition of a candle in the breakfast food. 

Daddy took her on a date and sent me a picture of this photo booth strip. 

The girls wanted to celebrate them both being 9 for a few days so they got out their paint kits and spent some alone time outside painting. 

Then, BAM! Elaina turned ten. That's right, I have a child in the double-digits. She had cereal for breakfast so we stuck her candle in a piece of bread. :)

On her Daddy-date, they went plain-air painting. She kept saying it was the best day she's ever had. 

We do big parties when you turn 5, 10, 13, and 16. Since it was Elaina's 10th birthday, we had a private skating party at a local skating rink. Thirty seconds in, someone fell and broke their arm, but other than that, it was a lot of fun. 

Elaina had wanted an ice cream cake but we couldn't figure out where to get one so we brought ice cream sandwiches instead. It worked perfectly. 

I actually did not have any time to take photos during the party, so the ones I have are from a mother who brought her children. There are a lot of kids not in the photos but that's ok. We have the memories and they are better. :)

Attendees: Elaina Sacran, Claire Sacran, Eily Sacran, Nora Sacran, Mama and Daddy, Nanny and Pappy, Aunt Rachel, Eli, Luke, Ryan, Aunt Leah and Uncle David, Lillie, Ian, Elsie, Kim, Catherine, and Caleb Hoelzeman, Mr. and Mrs. Barr (Megan), Alice, Betsy, and Rosie Barr, Mr. and Mrs. Good (Lauren), Gillian and Georgia Good, Audrey Green, Alisha (Mom) and Attley Ellis (the next-door neighbors), Sally (Mom) and Kathryn Israel, Mrs. Pickartz (Amy- Elaina's 2nd grade teacher), Regan and the youngest daughter Pickartz. 

It's a very normal thing for me to paint on a room while Jason is away. Poor guy almost never comes back to the same house. Something is always different. On this last trip, I worked on the dining room. It was funny because it was the first room that I have ever been nervous about painting. It's like the stakes were higher because it's a nicer house. But once I started working, all my nerves fell away and I was in the zone. I don't have an after picture because we haven't hung the light fixture yet, but here is one picture to give you a taste of how it will look once it's completely finished.

This will replace the existing light fixture.

School is Happening

Did you know that you shouldn't title your essay until you have written it? And then, the title should come from only the last sentence. Did you know that? Did you? Well now you do.

Today's weather was beautiful. We went to church and then came home and the girls played outside until after dark. And then they only came in because it was after eight and I needed them to clean up and get ready for bed. Almost all of the neighborhood kids were outside with them and it was so fun to watch them all play and really have a sense of community. Have I mentioned that I like living here?

Another week of school is starting. Last week kind of kicked my tail so I'm determined that this week will go a little bit ore smoothly. Elaina had a crazy virus-mouth-sickness thing that slowed us down but as far as I can tell everyone is healthy and we should have a great, productive week.