my week in photos 8.18 - 8.26

A Pile of Rocks

Another week has passed by where I have dominated this blog. Seriously. Seriously. It's not Josh's fault. He works hard for us, he is training for a half marathon, and he likes needs to relax when he has some down time. In addition to the usual busy-ness of life, he worked all last weekend on a roofing project [out of town] and is on his way back after work today to finish it. Then, he has another job to start after he gets back in town tomorrow!! Dude is a machine.

He also took the camera. So there goes my hopes of sharing some more photos from my past week. It's ok, because I didn't get photos of my favorite moments anyways.

Like when I took the kids and the dog for a walk in the afternoon and Rufio got so tired out he jumped into the stroller's cargo basket. He loved it and even felt better enough to bark at the neighbors we passed [from under the stroller]!

Or the pile of rocks that comes in with us after a walk. Each kid and the dog carried in at least 1 rock each.







As requested, I have been preparing a post about cloth diapers. I have been trying to determine how much to write about cloth diapers. There is so much to say, that I might just devote all next week to them. I apologize in advance if you don't care! And my intent is not for this to be a mom blog. But I spend my days with three kids and I'm passionate about mothering. So I have no shame in sharing my mama-ness.

Joy

Undeniable, uncontainable J-O-Y. That is how we were all feeling today at the splash pad. The good Lord knows how badly I needed something like this today. I have been feeling burnt out and completely out of ideas. Not to mention, summer is ending in 4 short weeks! I want to take advantage of it.

Lately, it has either been too hot or too rainy to enjoy being outside. So today, we loaded up 3 kids, lunch, snacks, drinks, swimsuits, towels, AND the puppy. (you read that right - we have added a puppy to the madness! More on that later) We visited Josh at work and headed to the splash pad. Cold water is not really my thing, so it was perfect timing with Merit running around on his own. We had so much fun!

OK, OK, I just watched. I don't know the last time I had so much fun watching someone else have fun! I took TONS of pictures because I just didn't want to stop - I wanted to capture every bit of sheer excitement and cold-water screams that I possibly could.

I felt like an idiot sitting there with this huge grin on my face. My cheeks hurt. It was bliss. I needed it.

I have been talking about letting go of my lists and my agenda, but I have not truly let go. When I get out of the house, I let it all go. For real. Sometimes there are bad attitudes and potty accidents and lots of frustrations. Today was a blessing. A gift. A joy.

*Note: I don't mean to monopolize the photoes with Merit, but I want to get explicit permission from JW and LM's parents before posting any recognizable photos of them. They are in the background though.

Balance

Now that we're out here in blog world, I must admit to some writers block. I was getting to where I read so many blogs, I felt like I sometimes thought in blog-lingo. Do you know what I mean? Phrases about my day with clever-artistic snapshots to accompany. It made me feel lame. I don't really know what I'm doing here. I don't know where to start. Maybe more introductions are in order, or photos of the actual Scheutzow Ranch. But, since all our current readers are already our friends, that seems kind of silly. And if you haven't been here, I'm sure what you're imaging is much cooler than the real thing!

So I guess I'll just jump in. I have been focused on balancing priorities. I have been feeling a huge void of 'me-time'. Or rather, time spent doing things that I actually want to do, things that are NOT NECESSARY. I love [really, really love] taking care of Merit, but it's not like I have the choice. It's important to reset.

Working from home is truly ideal when you have a baby and still have to work. For me. [nothing against those mamas who truly like to go to work... that's just not me]. But it still has challenges. I feel overwhelmed and guilty when I spend the whole day at home and haven't done a thing on the household to-do-list. It's almost worse than working away from home, because I add to the mess all day. Even though I'm here, I still have to remember that engaging the kids is priority - not only because it's my job, but it's just more important in life than the dishes, or cleaning the toilets. The more there is to do, the harder this is for me. I seem continually surprised by the struggle and the results. Even 30 minutes spent in JW-world or LM-world [which are unusual places indeed] can alter their behavior for the better for the rest of the day. You can tell they just feel so loved and pleased. It is so worth it. But getting there.... some days it is just hard for me. I just don't think like a 5 year old boy. It really hasn't helped that when I'm not working [on the weekends] we've been out of town or completely busy for the past 2 months. We're trying to pump the brakes a bit now and enjoy.

So, I've been trying to let go of the to-dos and just enjoy life with three kids; see things as they do, and in the least allow them to be amused with the ridiculous [to me] things that amuse them. I've also been trying to let go of the lists for some stuff I want to do too.  I have plenty of fun project lists that have been put aside for months/years. And I'm starting to dive in. It has been really fun. It's amazing how refreshing it is to create. Whether it is a meal, a sewing project, a 1st birthday gift requiring assembly... I really like missed it.

Merit is getting to be more fun every day. I don't want to miss a thing. He is making up his own games and ways of doing things and it's really fun to see his little person come out more. Yesteday, Josh accidentally taught him to hit his head as a sign for cheese. His quickness in learning is amazing. Hide and seek is a new favorite around here, check it out.