July Recap 2020

The beginning of July was cool and cloudy. I call that perfect summer weather. However, it began to warm up by mid-July but it was still comfortable, in the mid 70's. Still, not bad at all. But, by the end of July it had definitely warmed up, in the mid 80's. You'd be surprised, not many people realize that WA can get pretty hot in the summer, sometimes 90+ degrees. The good part is that the hot weather doesn't last too long.

This was my book haul for the month of July. I definitely spot a theme, American history. It's important we know about our country's past, both good and bad. 

It's always a good idea to bring a book along with me when we go on outings. Although I can't read in the car because I get carsick there's still a chance that there will be some quiet time where I can get some reading done.

And now that I've finished reading this book, I can say that I did enjoy it. It was a cozy read for me. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

I think it's cute when cats spread their toe beans to groom them, it makes me giggle. And how they bite their back claws to remove the old sheath is interesting to see. 

While Jacob worked from home and Riley being on summer break, I have to find ways to keep him entertained so on this day I decided to take Riley on a short hike. The trail was partially shaded. Thankfully, it was a fresh day so it made for a pleasant hike.

After pulling weeds in the backyard during the morning and after my second shower Riley and I got cozy and watched The Goonies together. I love this movie. I've been watching it since I was a kid. 

Every once in a while, I'll make onion dip. We both enjoy this treat. We ate it out in our front porch while enjoying a nice breeze.

Other times, when I need time alone I either go book shopping or I get a few things for the house. How cute is that dish towel?  I love it!

I bought Riley a book on the Attributes of God. After each exercise it gave a verse to look up and study. I also read him the Case for Grace for Kids by Lee Strobel. 

He also had karate twice a week in the evening which was good. It gave us all something to look forward to, especially during those days when we stayed home all day. 

Weekday park visits were a regular rotation during summer break as well.

I sometimes came along, sought the shade and read. 

In this home I had modular bookshelves. So, naturally I needed bookends to prevent books from falling over to the ground. I got so excited when they arrived.

What I also do to decompress is journal. I either read my Bible or a devotional or a book and journal things that stand out to me. This activity is very calming to me plus it has its health benefits as well. Writing on paper as opposed to typing is better for eye coordination and exercises your brain by improving memory. I truly do love doing this plus I get so engrossed in writing/journaling that I don't notice how fast time passes by.

And summer is the perfect time to make ceviche. Jacob often craves it, so I make it several times a year. 

I am as contented being a homebody as I am exploring the great outdoors.

Content at Home

Since I can remember waking up early and getting out of bed especially during the winter months has really never been my thing. Now, years later I'm still not thrilled about waking up early. Maybe when I'm in my 60's I'll begin to enjoy early morning rising. Sometimes I can't fall asleep before 11:00 pm but the few times that I do I always end up waking up several times in the middle of the night and having broken sleep is much worse than sleeping through the night and waking up early.
I've been drinking lots of tea lately. I usually drink my last cup around bedtime and I do believe this has helped me sleep more soundly at night even if I'm getting the same amount of hours of sleep as before.
Ever since I've been drinking more tea I haven't really been craving coffee at home. That's like super weird for me because I used to drink decaf Dunkin every morning and sometimes in the evening. But now, since the beginning of January I've been drinking peppermint tea in the morning and afternoon and chamomile tea at night. I even crave it. I never thought I would say this but I love drinking tea {the two mentioned only}. It's cozy.

It's been pretty cold around here. Thankfully we haven't had any freezing rain any more but temps sometimes stay in the low 30's. Riley has been fighting a cold for the last couple of weeks. He recently had a Doctor's appt and was prescribed antibiotics. I also had a feeling that he was having some allergies and Doctor agreed so he's taking Claritin as well. Now his breathing while he sleeps is a lot better and he's getting good rest. And that is also good news for me because when I know he's sick I can't help but worry. I have been doing some meditation and affirmations about trying NOT to worry. It's difficult but I believe in time I can do it.

This girl is a comfort to have around. She's always right next to me during the day. I like to rest my arm across her body or rest my hand on her head and she does't mind one bit. She would stay next to me for hours if I didn't have to get up.
She's so big though and when she's sitting like this her neck fat rolls up to her face and it makes her look like Jabba the hutt, lol!

Riley's love language is definitely quality time. He constantly wants someone to be doing something with him. It's fun to watch him play board games with his daddy. Kids always try to find a way to cheat too and when he gets caught it's non stop laughter.

But during those times when I tell him to keep himself busy he sometimes finds something fun to do. He's creative too. He got the guitar stand and placed his plastic microphone on top and pretended he was in a rock band. That came out of nowhere. Whenever he sees something that looks like fun he says that he wants to do that when he grows up. It changes all the time though. Just yesterday he told me he wants to be a police officer {I hope not - too dangerous}.

I'm looking forward to the Superbowl this Sunday. Several weeks ago our pastor asked if we would be interested in watching the Superbowl at church. A lot of people were interested so that's where we'll watch it. They're providing wings and lemonade. Jacob wanted to take spinach and artichoke dip but I told him that it would need to be kept warm and people wouldn't want to eat it cold. So we decided to buy four pepperoni pizzas and hawaiian punch. It'll be a fun time. There's going to be games for the children that they can play during commercials and during halftime we're going to watch a video of several NFL players giving their testimony on how God has worked in their lives. Good wholesome stuff.

I miss pretty flowers. Winter is beautiful in its own way but since I love flowers I can't wait to be able to buy some. I like to brighten up my home with flowers.

And regarding how the far left has behaved since Trump took office has been nothing less than petty and shameful. People can be so evil. I didn't care much for our former president but I never wished him ill will. I just chose to not even think about him, but these liberal people are so hateful that they are taking time out of their lives to take part in hateful protests or online bullying. They are SO hypocritical.

This winter we've been spending a lot more time at home and I haven't mind not one bit. Part of it is because it's so darn cold but another part is because I'm continuing to mourn the loss of our sweet baby Reagan. I really don't feel like doing many things out of the house but stay in the safety of home. Spending our time concentrating more on each other, loving on each other, being more intentional at home.

Lord of life and love ... quiet our souls in thy presence with the stillness of a wise trust. Lift us above dark moods, and the shadow of sin, that we may find thy will for our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Winter Weather

I'm not sure the effect that El Niño is having on the PNW, or if any at all ... after all it is winter and heavy rain, frost/ice and snow are winter's natural elements, but then again I'm not a meteorologist. Here in my neck of the woods the new year started well, icy then we got snow and naturally, it was very cold.

Frosted trees look pretty.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to enjoy much of this winter weather because Riley is still sick with a cold. So I don't want to take him outside until he's 100% better. In the meantime I'll just enjoy it during the time I have to take Sydna to college and then work. Those are the only times I really leave the house unless I have to run errands.

I'm sure most children dread taking medicine and Riley is one of them. Boy, does he ever fights us when we have to give him that red medicine that he doesn't like. He totally looses it. Poor thing but there's no way around it. He had to take it.
Thankfully now, he's able to sleep through the night and I'm also thankful that he's not as congested as he first was. I felt so bad for him.
One thing he didn't give me a hard time over was when I would tell him to lie down and rest during the day when he would normally be playing. I made sure to put on one of his favorite mellow movies in hopes that he would fall asleep. Well, he didn't always end up taking a nap but he did watch the entire movie which allowed me some me time. Much needed time for journaling.

It snowed on Sunday, January 3rd. The entire day fell into place. The day before, Jacob and I decided to stay home the following day {not knowing that it would snow. Snow wasn't in the forecast}. That's the day we also had thanksgiving dinner because well, I craved turkey and ham again. Seeing it snow and the smell of turkey and ham cooking and all of us together at home was simply wonderful.

I love seeing snow fall. It made me wonder if Libby would like to see it too or smell it? If that's even possible so I went to get her. She has become such a scaredy cat. She startles at the sound of a passing car. I had to block the entrance so she wouldn't run inside. She quickly began observing her surroundings and laid down on the porch but then there was a drift and snow began falling on us. That's when I noticed that she was beginning to freak out and so I let her back inside.

Once noon came around ... I believe Jacob was watching several games on tv, the kids had gone to their bedrooms and Riley was hanging out in the living room. I figured it would be a good time to steal a moment to myself. Back in early October I had bought enough books to last me all through winter. I've read seven books already from the picture on the left. That would have brought my books down to six however, I've also been to several bookstores since then and I've added more books to my stack.
The picture on the right shows the new books I've gotten since October. Jacob is currently reading Knowing God that's why it's not in the picture but I haven't read that one yet. A couple of days ago I started reading For the love by Jen Hatmaker. I've read about fifteen pages so far. I hope I like the book because her style of writing is on the humorous side per se ... she's a bit of a comedian ... and I'm not so I hope I am able to read past the "humor" and learn something new.

My goal was to finish reading all the books in the left picture. Like I said, I have already read seven of them so I guess I should read the last six books and not get myself into reading books that I've recently bought. It's really very exciting for me ... having all these books stacked by the side of my bed just waiting to be read. I am SO happy that my love for reading came back because for a while there I had lost my passion for reading.

In my opinion, reading is a precious commodity. I do like to also read crime/mystery books. Just like everything else I also like variety when it comes to reading. Inferno was such an awesome book! I finished reading it in two weeks!!!! Now I'm looking forward to reading The Murder House by James Patterson that Jacob got me for Christmas. Can hardly wait!!!

Reading is fun!

At The Moment

... I'm home sick with a cold along with Riley ... coughing non stop.

At the moment I'm watching Annie sitting on the chaise covered with a blanket and tissues strewn all around me.

At the moment it has stopped raining ... it is quite windy ... and the sun is shining.

At the moment I realize we have to make a visit to the dentist but I keep putting it off. I hate going to the dentist!

At the moment I'm wondering what we'll eat for dinner. I had plans on making my delicious chiles rellenos but since I don't have a gas stove I have to char the chiles on the grill and given that it's super windy I'm procrastinating because it'll take me twice as long. That dish is already time consuming as it is.

At the moment and on occassion I still think of home {San Diego} and wish I was there visiting our favorite places.

At the moment I wish I had bought more yarn so I could continue crocheting the afghan I'm currently working on. Bummer!

At the moment I'm really hoping Jacob gets to have July 5th off, a Friday. Every year we've spent the 4th of July at the beach ... I love to celebrate Independence day. Given that if falls on a thursday this year I want to plan a fun long weekend. It would be awesome if he can get the friday off which he may not given that he's a supervisor and well you know how that goes ... there needs to be a certain amount of supervisors on hand on any given day and most people will be requesting that friday off as well.

And at the moment I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. God willing! {you'll read about it in a few days or if you have Instagram I'm sure I'll be posting a few pictures of our day tomorrow on there. I'm mommaof3and1cat on instagram just in case you care to follow.}

I'll be back in a few. Blessings.

At The Moment ...

2.12.13

I am loving my front windowsill.

I think my dry flower bouquet in the white pitcher has given its new home a sense of tranquility.

I love to look out the window and see lots of pine trees. I especially love to stare outside when it's windy and also when it's raining.

And when Libby sits on the windowill to observe the birds it makes it much homier.

 

I like to have spaces where I can decorate with flowers, books, and seasonal decorations. I'm very particular about where I want things placed. Little things matter to me because seeing a flower bouquet makes me happy. Seeing a stack of books in a corner makes me happy because I love to read. Having a semi toy messy house makes me happy. Simplicity makes me happy. And when I'm happy it's so easy to want to continue to keep my house looking nice and feeling cozy. It doesn't even feel like housework because I have a happy heart when I'm busy doing my chores. It makes our home a safe heaven and a positive environment for my children ... for all of us.

 

*****

 

Riley has been behaving a lot better lately. I know toddlers have phases they go through and will continue until they learn to control their emotions and feelings a bit better ... but having him have way less tantrums or whiny episodes have really been such a relief {it's the eating part that continues to be a challenge}. His change could well be that I am showing more interest in what he's doing which results in engaging in more talk with my little guy. He can see that I'm making time for him when I'm busy doing chores or simply watching something on tv {which is rare because whatever we watch when he's awake are movies or shows that would be of interest to him}.

Sometimes when I do feel I need a few minutes to myself I do tell him to go play quietly with his train or blocks. I talk to Riley a lot. I use simple common day to day words {not baby talk} so he can know them and understand their meaning. And for the most part he understands just about everything that I tell him.

 

My favorite thing he's doing right now is hugging any part of my body he's able to reach. When I'm washing dishes he'll come up to me and say "hug" and he'll hug my leg. When I'm sitting on the couch he'll hug my arm and sometimes when he's being extra lovey dovey he'll climb on me and give me a great big ol' hug. I love that he's affectionate ... and now at 2 years old he's no longer shy to show his feelings when we're at home.