UP | Minivans Are Hot

April 2, 2012 by Kelli

Photo taken my my amazingly talented friend, Sarah, when she was here on Spring Break.

I have a confession to make. It’s not nearly as scandalous as my last confession, so please don’t be worried, but this confession is going to force me to make some changes, some of which might affect this little space I’ve created on the web.

The confession is two-pronged, because I don’t believe in doing anything small. Go big or don’t go at all, that’s how I roll.

First, I have a very nasty habit of biting off more than I can chew. I assume I can handle way more than I actually can and I convince myself that it’s fine, I don’t actually need sleep and Nutella for breakfast, lunch and dinner because I don’t have time to prepare a proper meal is perfectly acceptable.

Which, who am I kidding right? OF COURSE NUTELLA IS ACCEPTABLE AT EVERY MEAL!

Okay – so that’s the first part of the confession. I take on too much and assume I can handle it just fine.

The second part of my confession is I am terribly prone to laziness. It’s true. I am the dog from the movie UP. I can be perfectly engaged in an activity then SQUIRREL!

That’s me. It’s not ADD, though I would LOVE to blame it on that. I’m just easily distracted and I have a hard time pulling myself back.

I’ve struggled with finishing the school year strong with the kids. I imagine every teacher the world over feels this spring time tug when the rigors of a daily schedule must wage battle against the pull of a warm breeze and the call of the outdoors. The fact is, I’m tired. I want to be done and so do the kids. But we can’t, because learning should never end.

I read this post by Ann Voskamp the other day and it reignited my desire to do this home schooling thing well. Whether this ends up being the only year we teach our children at home or we decide to do it again next year, I want it to count. This requires that I fight the laziness that threatens to invade and dig my heels in.

I’ve lost momentum on my book. It’s a lot, this business of home schooling, maintaining a blog, writing a book, trying to keep a household running smoothly, editing a new manuscript and getting into shape.

SQUIRELL!

I need to finish the book and finish it well. Do you see a theme here?

So first order of business – GET MORE SLEEP!

Do you know how fascinating squirells are when you’re tired? Stunning little creatures…

My goal is to be in bed no later than 10:00 ~~every week night~~ most week nights because the whole stay-up-till-midnight-pretending-to-be-working-but-really-reading-blogs-and-surfing-facebook thing isn’t working for me. I’m tired. I need to sleep. I’m not a night owl and never have been. I’m accepting that and moving forward.

This means I need to be diligent with my time and get my butt out of bed early. In fact, I set up my alarm on my phone so that when it goes off, my screen lights up with the phrase “Get your butt out of bed you lazy A…!”

I firmly believe in tough love.

I am going to be kickin’ it on my book this month and I actually do have a book manuscript to finish editing. I will be here, too, but maybe not every day. And I’m going to add a third confession – that’s scary.

Shaun wrote about it last week. It’s sometimes difficult as a blogger to not blog because we fear the audience we’ve worked to build will go away. And honestly, I can’t afford to lose my audience right now. I’m counting on you guys to help me get the word out about Compassion International’s awesome work when I go to Tanzania next month. I want you right there with me!

So I won’t be far away this month, but I may not be here every day. Because I’ll be a little busier than normal trying to keep my head above —

SQUIRELL!

Monday – In Bullets

March 8, 2010 by Kelli

– Spring has sprung. Unofficially, of course. We could still have another deep freeze as St. Louis is prone to experience before Spring really decides to settle in. But I’ll take what I can get. The kids played outside all weekend, skipping naps and all around having a fantastic time. My eyes are itching and my nose is running and I’m so excited about it because it is 60 flippin degrees outside.

– We realized last week that our kids haven’t been on antibiotics one. single. time all winter. I’m knocking on wood as I type this. I believe there are two reasons for this phenomenon. First, we more than paid our dues last winter when someone was sick preeeetty much all winter long. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we spent roughly 600 dollars in copays at the doctors office. Second, I have been giving my kids Emergen-C like it’s going out of style. Seriously – You’re thirsty? Have some Emergen-C. Your throat hurts? Emergen-C. You feel fine? EMERGEN-C! Sloan had a sore throat and a fever on Friday. We pumped the Emergen-C in double doses and by Sunday he felt perfectly fine. Of course he is glowing in the dark now, sssssoooooo…

– Speaking of Sloan, his top tooth is hanging on by a thread. Every time I look at it my stomach flips over and I get all hot and light headed. And guess who he keeps asking to try and pull it out? ME! The one who could quite possibly pass out if blood came spurting our of his mouth. (In my mind I imagine the scene from The Shining when a waterfall of blood comes splashing down the hallway – *shudder*) He doesn’t want Lee to do it – just me. He came into our room at 5:45 yesterday morning to have me wiggle his tooth. That thing better fall out quick.

– I put about 20 items on Craig’s List this weekend. I’ve sold a lot of it and am a little over half way to my goal of remaking my bedroom. But if I get one more spam message from someone who is “interested” in my item but wants me to click on her link to make sure it’s what her son/cousin/brother is looking for I’m gonna go batty. I may have gotten a little nasty with someone yesterday…

– My parents put their house on the market Monday afternoon. They are under contract as of yesterday afternoon. Mom is panicking (*deep breaths mom*). They thought it would take longer. They close in 5 weeks. The bummer is that we love my parents house and are sad to see it go (they’ll get a condo here in town). The plus is that I will be able to sell more stuff on Craig’s List. Wahoo!

– I wrote a giveaway/review over at 5 Minutes for Giveaways today for the Superstar Barbie. It’s not up yet but it will be later. It is now up and running. LEave a comment to enter and win a commemorative st of Superstar Barbie dolls. If you don’t want to win a Barbie but do want to check out Barbie’s rockin’ shoes that I totally love, check it out anyway!

– I am writing an article on raising bilingual kids in a monolingual home for STL Family Life this week. I’m gonna have a few late nights as I work to put that together. Hello procrastination, I’m so glad you’re here.

– Have I mentioned that it’s gonna be 60 degrees today? That makes me want to do back handsprings down the street. But I can’t do a back handspring anymore so I may have to settle for a pathetic hurkey when no one is looking…

– We watched the Oscars last night. I don’t know why. We haven’t seen a single movie that was up for nomination. Well, that’s not true – we saw UP. We haven’t always been this cool, folks.

– Landon’s new favortie phrase is “Oh My Dosh.” He says it a hundred times a day and it’s funny every time. He is also showing a great deal of interest in the potty. He’s not ready to train yet, but I am letting him sit on the potty a few times a day. He hasn’t gone in it yet because he usually tells me he has to go after he’s already gone. But he’ll sit on the potty for ten minutes talking and playing (usually with himself…ah the joys of little boys).

– I have so much laundry to do that I fear I may get lost in the mounds of clothing spread around the basement. That is today’s number one goal to accomplish.

– And with that, I will head out. Have a nice Monday!