Our 1-child week marches on.... again, it's been an oddly nice little break having Asher away! haha. I feel bad saying that - I miss him, too. I really do. He's often my more "snuggly" kid who will randomly come and hug me, or that sort of thing. But time with just the 14-year-old this… Continue reading A week with only 1 kid and old vans
I barely have the emotional energy to write this post, because I just feel kind of exhausted, mentally. To get to the point, our other hamster, Steel, died suddenly and unexpectedly on Tuesday morning. I shared recently that Ethan's hamster, Flint, had to be put down in June. (Read my tribute to him here.) That… Continue reading Grief and happiness, in one day
So Ethan is officially enjoying his first full day as a 14 year old. 🙂 I think he had a great b-day! He seemed to be in good spirits and all smiles most of the day yesterday. Ivan and I both had to work, and Ethan actually did too (a shorter day, though- just 8… Continue reading Quick b-day recap
22 for 22 List- Halfway Point I've been seeing many "goals check in" posts and episodes, since obviously we are over halfway through 2022 at this point. If you set goals for 2022 and would like to feel better about yourself, keep reading, because I am mostly failing miserably at meeting the goals I set.… Continue reading Goals check-in and…14!!!!
#1: Ethan's farm job is going well, overall! Let's see, he has officially worked a total of...4 full days now. (2 days on, then a week at camp, then Monday was a holiday, then they got rained out on Wednesday this week.) Today will be Day #5. Oh! And he got his first ever paycheck… Continue reading Farm job injuries & people pleasing
I have about 2 seconds right now; just got back from dropping Asher at summer school strength and conditioning class, and I have a ton of work to do. So, just a very quick check- in on a couple things! 1- Asher and Ivan are back from Iowa. They left and drove there Friday morning… Continue reading 2 second check in
"It's a big job gettin' by with nine kids and a wifeBut I've been workin' man, dang near all my life, but I'll keep workin'Long as my two hands are fit to useI'll drink my beer in a tavernSing a little bit of these working man blues...." -Merle Haggard, 1969 We have a workin' man!!… Continue reading Workin’ man blues
I did some actual CARDIO at the gym yesterday (the stairmill) after my shoulders/triceps workout. Crazy, I know, because I'm not usually big on traditional cardio. While I climbed stairs, I listened to this recent The Mom Hour episode about household chores. It got me thinking about a couple of things: #1- It would be… Continue reading Kids, Chores and Allowances
Swim camp: On Thursday I dropped Asher and friend off at swim camp. The camp is being held at UW-Stevens Point, and the kids all stay in the college dorm rooms. Both boys were really excited about it all! They went to camp last year, but this is the first time they are staying in… Continue reading Asher to camp/ free weekend
(*Okay, topic for today is mostly just a little general "musing" on an interesting (to me) topic. I don't want to accidentally offend anyone, though, so just know that I don't actually have a super strong opinion on this either way- I'm mostly just mulling it over.) So. Last week I was at the gym… Continue reading Kids and expensive brand name clothes?
GRATEFUL KAE 