2013 mid-year rundown

i have gotten significantly worse over the years of blogging. i noticed on my sidebar the other day that i am severely lacking this year in posts in comparison to years past. for mothers day my boys made me another book of our blog and i realized how precious these memories are to have and then to have them where all of our hands can touch them and read them over and over. it was good for me and gave me a kick in the pants to get back on this train.

so. there are quite a few reasons i am falling behind this year. most of these reasons deserve their own post but since i've proved to myself that just really isn't going to happen, i will overwhelmingly record some of our life  happenings right now.

1. i am really really really really really bad at balancing things. i mean really bad. i tend to be 100% wherever i am. and i haven't been here.

2. these boys. they keep me moving and shaking in all the right ways. therefore my 100% is mostly going to them. this is for them and us so i realize i've got to balance that in some way. 

3. photo shoots. a lot of them. i have had so much fun this year with all of the different things i've delved into. but it takes time. a lot of it.  therefore in most of my free time i am editing until my brain hurts. again, that 100% thing really gets me here too. i am taking a little break here while we move and such. a lot of the spring rush is over so i am going to clear my head, learn lots in the way of photography, find inspiration for creativity and try new things. i am so excited to have some free memory space and brain power to take pictures of my own children and free time to record things about their little, ever-changing lives. 

4. homeschool. it takes up lots and lots and lots and lots of time. obviously. and i didn't even do it justice. i am so clear and confident in the decision we made to do it this year. it has been a blessing in all sorts of ways. (this really will be another blog post) but, as of now, grey will be attending first grade at the elementary school in our  new neighborhood next year! he is thrilled. 

5. job shift. and seminary. matthew switched roles in our church back in january. well really he was doing two jobs for a few months but officially moved over into his new role in january. his new role is minister of life groups and assimilation. our life has DRASTICALLY changed. it's been weird. good but weird. he was not necessarily ready to move on from student ministry. we thought we would be doing that for years and years. but the Lord has other plans that are becoming more and more clear and concise. it's been exciting, hard, sad, and a little scary. it couldn't be more obvious this change for our church, our family, and our community is necessary. we are definitely growing and learning. 

6. the computer screen. bleh. i hate looking at it for long periods of time. i'd rather be outside and that's where we are the majority of the time. 

7. preparing to sell our house and move. so any other spare second i've had, i've been getting this place top notch to sell and now it's on to packing. thankfully most of these things we can make family events but we knew it would take us months to do the things we could do without 6 extra eager hands to help. i for one, am thankful to be on the packing end.

i'm not sure too much of this will really change but i hope to learn to balance a little better with some of the changes that are coming. this is where've we've been this year. we've attended lots of graduation parties just this weekend and it makes recording these boys' everyday even more urgent for me. if i heard it once, i heard it a million times, "you'll blink and they'll be graduating high school." sheesh. i know it.