Everyday life of a Stay-at-Home Mom

This is a very busy week for Joel at work and I am busy myself getting things ready for the weekend. I just feel like a single parent. Joel is working really long hours at the office so I am by myself with the kids all day and most of the night. Yesterday I got the girls to pre-school and Sam and I came back home to start laundry. I did twelve loads of laundry yesterday and still have about two more to do. I grab some lunch and went to pick up the girls from pre-school and back home to clean some more. Joel called and said that he would be later than expected. So I didn’t feel like cooking so me and the kids went to Zaxby’s to eat. Once we got back home I got the kids ready for bed and we spent some time sitting in the floor reading books. Joel got home around 7:30ish so he got Riley in bed. I had to rock Olivia (not sure why she wants to be rocked nowadays) and then I had to get Samuel down. Joel got hom some supper and then I went to bed. I was so tired yesterday for some reason.

Today Joel went to work early, so I had to get the kids up and dressed all by myself. I took Riley to pre-school and then me, Olivia, and Samuel ran some errands. I got Olivia to kind of help me clean the playroom up…she played more than she cleaned. All Samuel wanted to do was pull all the books off the bookshelf. I cooked us lunch (Joel has corporate lunch today). I have worked on my Mission Friends lesson for tomorrow and now I am fixing to go pick up Riley. Hopefully I can get Samuel and Olivia to take a nap and get Riley to help me clean some more. Joel has to work late again tonight, so I will be taking Sam and Olivia with me to Riley’s gymnastics practice tonight…that is going to be real fun! She gets finished at 6:45, so then I will come home fix us supper, get everyone bathed and ready for bed. My plan is to have everyone asleep by 8:30 tonight, so I can have some time to myself. I love a quiet house every now and then.

Riley and Olivia will both be at pre-school tomorrow morning, so I will let Sam take a morning nap and hopefully finish up with the house work. Once I pick up the girls from pre-school, I am going to have them help me clean up their room, then we will spend the afternoon playing. Then it’s off to church at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday is the day that me and the kids will get everything ready for our family gathering Friday night (Luke will be at our house and will be going to the first MSU football game). We will have a house full Friday night….Luke, Missy, Adrain, Sara Lynn, Alex, Sammy, and Linda, plus us. Me and the kids will be going grocery shopping. I think we will grill out and have steaks and sides for supper Friday. I also have to get all the tailgating supplies out and ready for Saturday. I am hoping that Joel doesn’t have to work too late and I am also hoping that he can take Friday off or at least a half day off. I have to pick Luke up at the Jackson airport Friday at 11 a.m. and it would be nice if he could ride with me.

I am just thankful and I have the family that I have and can’t wait for Joel’s work schedule to slow up a little bit.

I am a planner. I plan just about everything and have been this way for as long as I can remember. I plan get-togethers with friends, dinner with friends, appointments, vacations, Riley’s practices, what we will eat for the week, when I’m going to the grocery store and other to-do’s. Sound familiar? My calendar is  filled with color coded lists and I check it daily and it is a wealth of information, and at times I think I would be lost without it.

Recently, God has been speaking to me telling me to give up the urge to control. God reminded me of Jeremiah 29:11, which says, ” ‘For I know the plans I have for you’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ ” God’s plans are not always our plans. His ways are not our ways. Yet we must trust Him and hold on to the truth that He wants what’s best for us. As a believer in Christ, I don’t have to be anxious or worried. I have the assurance that if I present my requests to God through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, His peace will guard my heart and my mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

WOW! How awesome is that? We must remember when our normal routine gets turned upside down, He is right there in the middle of it. Praying and petitioning God while thanking Him for the circumstances we’re in will give us peace. And who doesn’t want a little peace in their lives?

I have to learn to give up the urge to control everything and let God step in. With my future reeling with uncertainty, I’ve decided to let God handle it.

Today has been such a great day. For some odd reason I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning and could not go back sleep. At 6:30 a.m. I went for my morning walk/run (I am following the Couch to 5k plan) and enjoyed the sticky weather and the beauty of God’s creation. When I got back home, Joel and a pot of coffee ready and Sam watching Mickey Mouse Playhouse. I spent some time talking to them before going to get my shower. I read a great devotional and spent some time reading my Bible sitting on the porch with Joel. Joel left for work around 8a.m. and I got the girls ready to run some errands. First stop was to meet Riley’s teacher, Mrs. Shipp. We had a great room visit. Then I took all three kiddos with me to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. When we got back home the girls colored and drew, Samuel played in the floor, and I cooked lunch. I fixed Joel and I steamed cabbage with onions and potatoes and the kids mac-n-cheese…not a great lunch for the kids but they had a big breakfast so I didn’t think they would eat much. Now I am cleaning. I am even getting the kids involved…trying to teach them young not to live in a mess.

This is going to be a busy week for me. I started the Couch to 5K program this morning and I am looking forward to the nice morning walk/runs. I am not planning on running a 5k anytime soon, but thought this would be a nice way to ease back into running. I have ran since I became pregnant with Riley (and she is 4 1/2 years old). Plus it I thought it would help me lose a few more pounds. I got up at 6:30 this morning and walked/ran day one of the plan and it was really easy. I even added a longer run in at the end.

Today I will spend the day cleaning, doing laundry, and spending a lot of time with the girls…Olivia starts back to pre-school Friday and Riley starts back Monday. Where did the summer go. Anyway, so far this morning, I have cleaned the hardwood floor, washed a load of dishes, and got laundry started. But I still have lots to do.

Tomorrow I will spend cleaning bathrooms, the kids rooms, and the playroom (major clean out and organizing I think…depends on how much help the girls give me). I hope that we can spend most of the afternoon outside in the pool too.

Wednesday morning Riley has her room visit to meet Mrs. Cathy Shipp (her new teacher). She already knows Mrs. Shipp pretty well…she goes to our church and use to be my Sunday School teacher. Riley is really excited to see her new classroom and find out what is in store for her this semester. After the room visit, me and the kids will run some errands and then its back to the house to spend time together and play and swim.

Thursday morning Olivia has her room visit to meet Mrs. Meg and Mrs. Angie. She already knows Mrs. Angie because Riley had her when she was in the Lamb class. Olivia is excited to see her new room and find out who her new friends will be. Thursday night we are going to a Grill out at a friends house. Kristen and Lloyd are down from PA and we are having a big party at Scott and Lydia’s to fellowship and hang out. I am so excited to sit and catch-up with them and play with their precious little girls. We actually had supper with a bunch of friends last night after church and I got to talk to Kristen just a little then.

Friday morning Olivia starts to school. Not sure if I will take her or if Joel will but I am happy and sad that schools is back in session. I hope that she has a great time and learns a lot and makes a lot of new friends. When Olivia gets out of school, I will take the kids to Smithville so they can spend the weekend with Joel’s parents and my parents.Friday night I am giving a Baby Shower for a really great friend. She is pregnant with her first and it’s a girl. We are making the shower a girls night out…eating at the Veranda then coming to my house for gifts of love and cake. Speaking of which I have to get to embroidering some of her gifts.

Saturday Joel and I are heading to Tuscaloosa for a day of shopping with our Sunday School Class. Target here I come. I look forward to all the conversations and laughs that I know we will have. Our class is a great class and we all love to spend time together.

Sunday Joel and I will go to church and then head back to Smithville to pick up the kids.

What a week, but I am glad God has blessed me with so much and I know I will have a great week.

I can’t believe our beach vacation is over. It went by way too fast. We had a great time and the girls loved every minute of it. We had a long ride home…we left on Sunday at 10 am to start our trek back and arrived at home at 7:30 pm. You would think that Riley and Olivia would have slept coming home since they were so tired, but they didn’t. All they wanted to do was mess with each other.

Vacation pictures are posted on our family blog www.thewashburns.org.

We have had a busy week at home. Monday we spent unpacking, washing, and cleaning up. Today we spent washing, waiting on the bug man, and cleaning out the van. It took me forever to get the sand and crumbs out of the van. Tomorrow me and the kids will head to Smithville. Samuel has a check-up with the ENT in Amory and then we are going to spend the night with my parents. We will check on my grandmother too. We will head home Thursday afternoon and Friday we will spend the day relaxing and swimming. Saturday we will all head to Smithville and Tupelo…it is tax free weekend, so my mom and I will do some shopping for the girls some school clothes and backpacks. We are hoping that Luke will be able to come home so we can see him too. We will be back Saturday night and off to church on Sunday. Some friends will be back in town from PA, so we are hoping to get together for supper after church Sunday night.

Next week school begins…where did the summer go. I am going to miss having the girls home all the time, but at the same time, I am glad they are going back. Riley will be in the Lion’s class taught by Mrs. Shipp (the teacher we wanted her to get) and she will go Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday’s. Olivia will be in the Lamb’s class taught by Mrs. Meg and Mrs. Angie (the teachers we wanted her to get) and she will go Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s. I am taking Riley to meet Mrs. Shipp (she already knows her) & her new room Wednesday, August 4th and Olivia will have her room visit to meet Mrs. Meg & Mrs. Angie on August 5th. School begins August 6th. I am going to spend as much time with the girls these last few days as I can.

We will leave for vacation early in the morning…thank goodness. I have been counting down the days that we can all get out of town and go relax with are headed to Orange Beach/Gulf Shores for a long weekend. The girls have been excited for the whole month and for the last week Riley gets up every morning and ask if we are leaving today. This has been a really busy month for us but it has seemed long too.

Today is Samuel’s 1st birthday so we have been celebrating that since this past weekend. And we will continue to celebrate at the beach.

I am taking the dogs to my parents this afternoon then coming back home to load the van (I still can’t believe I am driving a van), and we will head out first thing in the morning.

I’ll post pictures once we get back.

My life for the past month and a half has been spent at the doctors office.

May 10 – Samuel was at the doctor for high fever and an ear infection in his right ear

May 11 – I was at the Urologist with kidney stones and an UTI

May 12 – Samuel was back at the doctor with very high fever and ear infections in both ears

May 14 – I was at the hospital getting tons of x-rays on my kidneys and bladder

May 18 – I was back at the Urologist to go over all the x-rays

Samuel continued to run fever on and off for the next two weeks

June 1 – Samuel was back at the doctor with very high fever

June 3 – I took Samuel to a different doctor because I was tired of the run around I was getting from the Starkville doctors and he ended up in the hospital

June 4 – Samuel was released from the hospital at 8:30 p.m.

June 18 – Samuel had to go back to the doctor for high fever and he has an ear infection in his right ear again

June 22 – Riley went to the doctor because she said she put something in her ear and it was hurting. I couldn’t see anything but wanted to make sure. Everything was clear.

June 23 – Samuel and Olivia is going to Amory to see the doctor for a bad cough and fever

June 30 – Samuel will be seeing an ENT about tubes.

My summer plans are not going as planned because we are always at the doctor. I pray that July is a better month. If not we will go broke trying to pay all the doctor bills.

I survived VBS. I wasn’t expecting to have the number of children that I had. I was told that I would have the workers pre-school children so I only prepared for fifteen to twenty kids. Man was I totally wrong…I had all the pre-schoolers, pre-K and Kindergarden kids. I had about seventy kids. There were kids everywhere. I had a blast though. The kids were so sweet especially the girls. The Kindergarden boys were wild everyday and sometimes were hard to settle down. I was tired when I got home, but it was so worth planting that little seed about God’s love into their little hearts. And kids say some of the funniest things.

Not only did I have VBS last week, but my in-laws were here everyday, and I had a shopping trip with my mentor. It was a great week.

This week we are hanging out at the house and swimming in the big pool that we finally got up. The girls will be going to Joel’s parents Friday morning to spend the day and night. I think they are going to go see Toy Story 3. Saturday, Joel, Samuel, and I will leave out in the morning to pick up the girls and then head to my parents house. We will probably go to my great-aunts to go swimming.

Sunday is Father’s Day and Joel got one of his gifts early, but the girls made him something special that we will give Sunday morning.

So to all you father’s out there…Happy Father’s Day!

I am teaching at Vacation Bible School this year and I am so excited. Me and another lady are teaching Missions & Music…she is doing the music and I am teaching missions. We have the pre-schoolers and kindergarten kids and I know we are going to have a blast.  The theme is Saddle Ridge Ranch and I am getting things together so we can decorate our room. I meet with Vicki yesterday to begin planing what we wanted to do and we had a great two hour chat…we talked about VBS and our own lives.  I haven’t taught VBS in many many years, but only having the little kids should be a piece of cake. I am planning some really cute and fun activities that go along with the Mission stories, so I hope that will keep their attention and help the Word of God soak into their little brains. So pray that God speaks through me and these little ones learn about God’s word. VBS is June 7 – 11.

I follow a lot of other peoples blogs (yes I’m a blog stalker), some I know and some that I come across from others. I really enjoy reading how other people parent and parenting tips that they share. The past two weeks I have read where several bloggers say their children were getting tubes put in their ears. Why is it that some doctors are so eager to have tubes put in while others refuse to put them in. I am getting a little upset with our doctors. I really do love them, but I am so tired of running to the doctor all the time. Riley had ear infections every two months until she turned one or maybe she was two. Olivia has only had two infections in the last two and a half years. Poor little Samuel is just like Riley. We are at the doctor every two months with severe ear infections and really high fever. So my question is why will the doctors not have tubes put in? I had them and so did my brother. I just don’t get it. Not only have I read blogs where children were having tubes put in, but several of my friends from high school have just had tubes put in their children’s ears.

This last set of ear infections that Samuel had were terrible. 105 fever, not eating, not sleeping and screaming all night. Joel and I did everything we knew to do and nothing seemed to work. I almost changed doctors. If I get the run around again I will change. I understand that with small sicknesses you need to let the body fight off the virus, but severe ear infections is not something that the body can fight off without some help. If Samuel gets another ear infection I am going to request tubes, and if they refuse I will go back to Amory and use the doctors that we used and loved while he was in the hospital.

Sorry for the rant…just a little frustrated.