Family Fun

We were blessed to finish out 2017 and begin 2018 surrounded by family. We got to spend a few days with my side of the family before Christmas and then headed down to South Padre Island on Christmas Day to spend a week with Jeff's side of the family. We had so much fun and made so many wonderful memories!

Crazy Cousins

So thankful to have these two beautiful ladies in my life!

Shooting lessons and target practice with an expert

Cousins and best friends

South Padre House

We played lots of Trivial Pursuit

These crazies thought it was warm enough to get in the water!

So much beach fun!

This little lady loved the beach and
wanted to be out with the big kids!

It really doesn't get any better than this!

Max and Slade really bonded!

Celebrating Mimi and Grandpa's anniversary at Dirty Al's

The breakfast chefs at our house were amazing!

Victoria and Clay were so proud of their pancakes,
which they made with their very own pancake makers.

It was necessary to sit in the hot tub after a cold day at the beach.

A cold beach picnic

Uncle Alan was a good sport and let the kids bury him in the sand.

New Year's Eve on the beach commemorated in shells

New Year's Head Gear

Playing Mexican Train while waiting on midnight

Ready for the countdown

New Year's Day breakfast at Yummies Bistro

The Polar Bear Club

The Buckhorn Museum in San Antonio

Grandpa bought everyone a round of root beer at the Buckhorn,
since it claims to be the place that pioneered the idea during Prohibition.

Making me crazy and saving my sanity

Y'all. I am not even kidding when I tell you I actually did a Google search today for boarding schools FAR, FAR AWAY. Because it was that kind of day. The kind of day where I wondered what on earth had ever prompted me to homeschool my children. Or bring them into this world in the first place. The Google search actually seemed like the most rational thing I had done all day, and frankly, I felt better just knowing there were some options out there.

To combat the feelings of ick lingering over the house, I transformed the whiteboard in our school room into a thankfulness board. I put up a note that no one was allowed to write anything on the board that didn't have something to do with gratitude. One of the kids looked at me cock-eyed and confused and asked if this was supposed to be the grammar lesson. It wasn't. When the actual grammar lesson was dispensed, I stood at the board for a long time and could think of nothing to write. I walked away. I came back. Still nothing. Finally the fog lifted (Literally. It was a ridiculously foggy morning.), and I rushed to the board and wrote "sunshine." No one else came within ten feet of the board. But I felt my focus shift and with it my day.

Being a single parent this evening, I had all the taxiing duty to myself. So, after dropping a kid off and picking a kid up, and doing the in between errands, I arrived back at the house prepared to open a can of beans and call it dinner. But as I walked in the back door, I found two of the children WORKING TOGETHER in the end stages of dinner prep. And, they had not been asked, cajoled, or begged to do this. There were no tears and no ugly words. And the child I had just picked up immediately jumped into the fray and started helping. Again, without being asked. And, one of the other children demanded from the third that he thank his sister for the help. I almost fell over from shock! And gratitude swelled in my heart.

And, as I rounded the corner, I saw several items written on the board, and one of the children declared that making a gratitude board had been a wonderful idea.

I don't know what magic was present in our house tonight. I only know that these people that I brought into the world are both my madness and my sanity. And I know there is power in gratitude.

PT Graduate

Today I graduated from physical therapy, and it honestly felt like a miracle. When I injured my knee back in August and after I had my surgery in September, there were many times when I wondered if I would ever regain a full range of motion or be able to do simple things without a great degree of pain. But, after months of hard work, I am mostly there. I do still have some work to do, and I haven't yet been cleared for all the activities I would like to do, but I am pleased with the progress I've made. I am so thankful to my therapist, Lisa, and the support staff that encouraged me and pushed me to do more than I thought I could. I plan to keep working, and I look forward to getting back to my normal level of activity, but today I am celebrating this victory that once seemed out of reach. 

Super Saturday

This is the first Saturday since late August that we haven't had a kid's sporting event to attend. We enjoyed sleeping in, and since we aren't all going to be together on Weston's birthday in a couple of weeks (or on his birthday party day a couple of weeks after that), we decided to go ahead and celebrate his birthday today. His main request was Krispy Kreme doughnuts, which we don't have in Flower Mound. So, the men headed over to Roanoke to pick up the doughnuts, while Ruth and I went to workout. (For me, this is working out in the very loosest sense of the word, but I'm thrilled to be cleared to do anything that even resembles exercising!)

All the doughnuts!

Later, we gave Weston his birthday gifts, which included tickets to the OU/TCU football game in Norman, OK this evening. He did not see this coming and was thrilled about every part of it: football, TCU, two top-ten teams, going to another state for the game, and the fact that it was happening this very day. It was awesome to watch his face light up! I just love to give gifts that truly make the recipient happy! And, experience gifts are the best!

A new "Saturday shirt"

I can't tell you how happy this face makes me!

After that excitement, we headed over to Denton for the Pistons and Paint Car Show. It was so fun to see so many cool cars! But our favorite part was seeing Junior Brown, who is one of our all-time favorite musicians, perform live. Jeff and I have been trying to catch him live for more than a decade, but it just never worked out until today.

Max's favorite!

Clay asked several times how someone could get up in this

Weston's dream vehicle

I loved the pink Cadillac!

Junior Brown doing his thing

When we left the car show, Jeff and Weston took off for Oklahoma, and the rest of us came home for Clay's first Star Wars movie viewing. For all the other kids, we had decided they could see the movies when they turned seven, but since the new movie is coming out in December, the older kids voted unanimously to let Clay into the Star Wars Club at 6 1/2. And, they want him to get all caught up with the previous movies before the new one hits theaters next month. Clay was ecstatic!

The last thing on our Super Saturday agenda is tacos from Taco Ocho, and you can't ever go wrong with that! I'm so thankful for this happy day and the time spent with my people doing things that make us smile. 

Thankful

If you are following my Year of Firsts blog, you know that I injured my knee and am now hobbling around on crutches while wearing a giant knee brace. There was a moment this morning when I was tempted to give in to the "poor mes," but when I opened my eyes and looked around, all I could see was how much I have to be thankful for. In no particular order, here is what I'm thankful for today:

• I live in a one-story house.
• I have big kids that can get their own food, take their own baths, stay at the house while Jeff takes me to the doctor, work mostly independently or assist each other on school assignments, and help around the house in so many ways, plus one that is even able to drive.
• Jeff has a flexible schedule and is home most of the time.
• I do not have an out-of-home job I have to go to.
• The master shower that I have had contempt for since we moved into the house has a built-in seat and a combo shower head, which can easily be used as a handheld sprayer. 
• I have a network of extended family and friends who are willing to help out at a moment's notice and who are checking on me and praying for me.
• My sweet, sweet husband and kiddos who are quick to anticipate, inquire about, and meet my needs and who care deeply about my well being.
• An opportunity to practice patience and stillness, which are skills I definitely need to improve. 

Making room for what's important

At 2:22 AM, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for our immediate area, siting funnel clouds in a nearby town, heading our direction at 45 miles per hour. Shortly thereafter, tornado sirens began wailing throughout our little city. My first thought, as I fought through the sleepy fog, was that some horrible accident must have occurred and the hospital near our house was experiencing a higher than normal volume of ambulance traffic. A couple of moments later, I realized it was the severe weather warning, but I thought it must be a mistake because it wasn't even raining. At almost the same instant that thought entered my mind, the rain started, and I sat bolt upright and grabbed my phone to check the weather. Jeff asked me what was wrong, and, as we both realized we already knew the answer, we jumped out of bed and hit the lights. One flickering of the electricity was all it took for us to start collecting sleepy children from the other bedrooms.

This house lacks a true safe room, so we made the split-second decision to put everyone in the master closet, following the tornado rules we've memorized as long-time Texas residents. I began literally throwing shoes and other clutter out of the relatively small space, in order to make room for my people. It was then that I realized I just have too much stuff.

I have been trying to live a minimalistic lifestyle ever since we got rid of everything and headed off on our RTW trip. But, suddenly, my stuff was getting in the way of my people, and it just seemed like too much. I was wondering how it even all got there and how I hadn't noticed it piling up before. But I hadn't noticed it before because it hadn't interfered with the safety of my family, and I had just been lazily letting it accumulate.

This morning, I woke up bound and determined to make room in my closet--and my life--for what's truly important. I'm not saying I'm happy we all had to gather in the closet in the middle of the night or that I want a repeat performance, though I'm ready for it if it's forced upon me. What I can tell you is that everything that's important to me was in my closet last night, and it darn sure wasn't my shoes!

Mexico

Jeff has always been a wonderful gift giver. And, the most recent gift he gave me only proves how well he knows and loves me. He presented me with the gift of travel--a couple's trip, anywhere I wanted to go, though he and I both knew it would be somewhere beachy. We settled on Mexico and found a house with a 180-degree view of the Gulf of Mexico, right on the beach. It is perfection! My eyes never tire of the view, and I absolutely love being lulled to sleep by the sound of the surf. We arrived late on Thursday night and have been having a blast ever since! We spent Friday exploring nearby Progresso, walking on the beach, and getting caught up in a Harley convention when we went out for dinner. Yesterday, we drove out to Chitzen Itza to explore some Mayan culture. We detoured through Merida for lunch and then headed back to our wonderful house to rest and read, before tracking down some more Mexican food for dinner. I am so thankful for this special gift and for the man who understands what makes me tick!

Our beautiful home on the beach and a view that never gets old

Breakfast in Progresso on Friday

Exploring Progresso

Harley Convention

Chitzen Itza

Lunch at Casa de Frida in Merida

Comida Autentico

Spending time with our people

We are so very thankful for our extended family and are so fortunate to have had some quality time with them this holiday season!

Christmas Eve with most of the Wainscott clan

Grandaddy loves messing with the kids

Playing a shocking game

Working on building circuits with Papa

Road tripping in style between family gatherings

Clay loves his baby cousin Slade

Clay and his cousin Victoria are inseparable

Watts gathering in The Woodlands

Mother's Day and Merino

We started buying our travel clothes for this trip almost two years ago. Many of the things we bought were made from merino wool, due to the versatility of that particular fabric. Several of the items we bought came with codes, which allowed us to trace our garments back to the farms in New Zealand that produced the wool. One of the farms turned out to be catering to tourists by allowing them to come to the farm for education and fun. I knew right away that we needed to visit "our" sheep and began planning to make that happen. What I did not know was that the day of our visit would fall on Mother's Day. (I actually only realized this happy coincidence yesterday, when Jeff asked if I planned it that way.) It was such a fun way to spend the day! We took a steamboat from Queenstown over to the farm, where we got to feed the sheep and other farm animals, have afternoon tea, watch a sheep dog in action, see a shearing, observe a spinning demonstration, and enjoy the beautiful farm and the beautiful day.

When we were back in Queenstown, we shopped in the cute little shops and wandered up and down the wharf. Jeff bought me a beautiful pair of opal earrings, and the kids surprised me with a lovely New Zealand paua shell necklace. And then, they all conspired to take me out to dinner at a fantastic lakeside restaurant. My people are awesome people, and I'm so thankful for all of them!

My Mother's Day was wonderful, and I sincerely hope that all of you mothers who read this blog also had/have a fantastic day! Mothering is hard work and is often a thankless job. But, I hope today, at least, you feel loved, and appreciated, and valuable, because you are. And, even if no one else tells you that, I want you to hear it from me. Happy Mother's Day!

You know this guy isn't going to pass up a chance for a photo with a giant kiwi!

The TSS Earnslaw

We're all wearing merino here!

Feeding the red deer stag

Feeding and petting

Loving on Sprite the Sheepdog, while she wasn't working

This big guy was quite friendly and eager for some treats

Afternoon tea

Mother's Day roses

Now Sprite is all business

Ready for shearing

Spinning wool into yarn

Gorgeous Lake Wakatipu

I'm so thankful to be called "Mom" by these amazing people!