I'm a Hater

Woke up this morning thinking about the very heavy responsibility I have to take care of my family's health. S has not felt really good this week and his blood sugar has been really high. (which is why he hasn't felt good!) Then this morning I got to thinking about the girls too. Everyone has something that needs to be dealt with!

click to read their diagnoses!

These are just the things that came to mind this morning as I lay in bed. S and his diabetes (which I HATE), Little Bit's TS (although under control right now), and her scalp problems are back, and Sweetheart with her complete love of all things sugar and starch and her avoidance of any form of vegetable. (thankfully, her asthma is gone!) Sigh.

As a homemaker, I feel such a HUGE responsibility in all this. I KNOW 90% of these problems could be helped or cleared up completely by proper diet. But OH "proper diet" is SO hard!!

I really just want to go to the store and mindlessly buy Hamburger Helper and Cheetos like I used to in the early 90s, OK? Grocery shopping was easy then.

Menu planning, label reading, grocery shopping, (affording the healthy stuff), cooking....it is all so much work and I feel very overwhelmed when I think about it all. And then there's me being pregnant and the new baby will be here soon and I need to make wise choices then because of...well, new baby and breastfeeding.

This isn't going away, is all I'm saying. So I suppose I need to really, really get with it.

The thing is, no one in our family has IMMEDIATE MEDICAL RESPONSES to bad choices. If someone were to say, have an allergic reaction or go into a seizure because of a food choice, then obviously we would be very careful and diligent. But that isn't it. In our case, a person can choose to eat a really bad-for-you meal and you really won't notice any difference in their life right away. BUT I KNOW it's having a bad affect on their long-term health. I know the future path if these problems are allowed to continue.

I won't get into any of my specific plans right now. They are still swirling around in my head. I need to do more research. I need to pray, too. All I do know is I need a plan of action and I need to start taking this responsibility very seriously.

Because I absolutely HATE all these health problems. But I LOVE my family.

We're Back Baby!

Sunday was the first time we've been able to go to the beach. Mind you, we've been going to the island all winter to eat lunch after church (at least once a month) and grab some ice cream. And sometimes walk around. But this was an actual, real, bonafide beach trip.

There was sand digging.

And ball throwing.

And lots of boogie boarding.

And I had a new chair.

...in all my glory! ha!

The End.

Perspective

Today I will go grocery shopping. My LEAST favorite thing to do (right up there with balancing the checkbook).

BUT...I am not giving the state test today.

Today I will make my girls do school and chores and all the other things they would rather I forget about.

BUT...they are not taking the state test today.

Every spring I used to break out with a bacterial infection on my face. The doctor said it was stress. I called it the TAKS rash. (It's now called the STAAR test.) I am ever so thankful that our family has nothing to do with that test anymore.

I looked at the released questions online this morning and had a small panic attack. And then I was really, really glad that we are free to move at the girls' pace and that they don't have to be smashed into a mold they don't fit in. I am also thankful for our curriculum as I know we will end up ahead in the long run of their education.

And I was reminded that the state test doesn't measure how many Bible stories they have learned this year, or how many homemaking tasks they have had the opportunity to practice. It doesn't measure their love of good books or their ever-growing understanding of how history all fits together. It doesn't measure much of anything important, really.

Lord, I am so thankful for the opportunity to homeschool my children. Thank you for this perspective today!

My Monday Brain

*This new schedule of school-in-the-afternoons is really working for me. I go back to bed after S leaves. I feel guilty about that so I actually googled "how much sleep do you need in your 3rd trimester?" this morning. Yes, I was looking for justification.

*We have (miraculously) kept the house from looking like a complete Hoarders episode. I mean, it needs some work, but it hasn't been AWFUL. I say "we" because without the girls' help, I fear I would end up on A&E. (Is that the right channel?)

*If you arrive to your prenatal massage 5 minutes late AND the lady has to leave the room for a few minutes to get pillows for you in the middle of the massage.....the massage will still be over exactly at the next hour. Which means you did, indeed, NOT get a 60 minute massage. Sigh. She talked too much also. But I was still thankful for it!

*S bought me a new chair for the beach. It's a lounger with a footrest. It's actually patio furniture but it worked so nicely at the beach. It will work nicely when I am not pregnant too, but instead nursing a baby at the beach. It was SO NICE to be back at the beach!! And apparently several thousand people agreed with us yesterday. Crowded!

*Keeping up with a 12 year old is a full-time job. Wanting someone to be responsible and independent in many areas is hard work for the parents!

*We own too many books.

*I don't want to go grocery shopping anymore.

*The kitchen needs a lot of work. Why must the bottom cabinets be so...low? (While my belly is so...big?)

*I have so many things I want to get done. My brain is going 90 miles an hour all the time.

*My motivation does not match my brain.

Have a great Monday everyone!

The Goodness of God

He never ceases to amaze me. I get a little stressed out every season thinking about Sweetheart's clothes. She is just growing so quickly. She's the biggest and oldest girl in our family so there are no hand-me-downs waiting for her. This year when we pulled out the tubs of spring and summer clothes we had stored away, Sweetheart had about 4 things that fit her. Four.

Still, every year we recieve hand-me-downs. I mean it. Every single year. I really and truly thought that at some point they would dry up. I mean, she's 12! Now the Lord provides in other ways too. My husband works so hard and we had money to go buy her some clothes this spring. Here is an outfit we found at Goodwill for $6. Not everything was gotten so cheap, but I'm always glad for cheap!

I got some ribbon from Hobby Lobby to make a belt and she was good to go. The skirt is from Justice. That may not matter to you or me, but it matters to a 12 year old. She's shopped at Justice exactly once--on her birthday last year. And yet she's had a lot of Justice clothes in her closet--all found at Goodwill or consignment sales.

I get that. I really do. I remember when we were in junior high, and "designer jeans" were all the rage, sister and I had exactly ONE pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans to share. (They were given to us.) It was traumatic to have to wear other pants to school. Seriously. I only got teased once or twice that I can remember, but it was rough not feeling confident about what I was wearing.

Do "designer labels" matter? Well, they shouldn't I suppose...but if it makes my 12 year old feel happy about her clothes, then I'm fine with it. It's an age thing. When you're older you don't care where your clothes come from. And honestly, she doesn't turn her nose up at anything. I could outfit her completely from Wal-Mart and as long as she liked the clothes, she would wear them. Ah, homeschool.

I only bring up the "designer labels" to make a point. We have more of a Wal-Mart budget, but my daughter has designer clothes in her closet. Why? Only the goodness of God.

What, Brenda? Are you saying that God cares about labels? No. Just that He loves us so much, He not only supplies hand-me-downs for our daughter, but GOOD ones. And from the craziest sources.

Yesterday we recieved 2 small bags of clothes---5 shirts, 5 bottoms, and a jacket--from a mom of a 10 year old boy. Pretty much the last person I would consider a viable hand-me-down source, you know? Seems their neighbor had sent her son home with all sorts of "treasures" from their garage, including 2 bags of girls clothes. The mom looked at the clothes, thought about Sweetheart, and brought them to us. They are GOOD brand names. Brand names we would not otherwise own. They are clothes that will LAST. (And her size, exactly.)

Along with what we were able to buy for her last week...I'd say she's pretty set for this summer. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!!

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:28-34