Category Archives: Life As A Mama

Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections

The Plan

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What would you do if you won the lottery?

The plan. It will happen. If I or really we won the lottery, it would just kick start the plan. But the plan will be completed with or without winning the lottery.

First my husband could quit his job. We wouldn’t have to wait to sell our house; he could just be done.

We would pay off debts because that’s normal. Since we won’t be winning the lottery, we will do this once we sell our house. Our fresh start will be just that. Fresh.

We would pack up all our stuff and start our next chapter. He wants to flip houses. Start a business with his dad. I would help with the design side of it all. I’ve always wanted to design and style houses; to me it a new way of art. This is the start of the plan.

With winning the lottery, we could buy our property and start building our end home. But since that’s not realistic we will wait until we can afford it. We will live small. Smaller than we have been; which seems crazy! But we can do if for a bit. We can live small and cheap until we can afford to buy a small house somewhere. It would be a fixer upper; that we would eventually rent or sell.

We would continue to flip. Until we could buy our big property and build our house with cash. We are not going to be doing the debt thing. Because once you start debt it just grows and grows like mold.

Once my husband believes we have made enough and invested money correctly we will be done. We will enjoy life. We won’t be going crazy with money. We will just live. If we want to flip houses it will just be a teaching moment for our kids, or if there is something shiny my husband wants to buy. Haha!

We will build or buy a house for my mom. So she doesn’t have to worry about anything. She won’t have to work. She could just live. And then my kiddos can grow up going to Grandma’s house. Which is a dream! We hope my husband’s parents live closer so they can also visit Nana and Pop Pop’s house.

Nothing special. The plan is just to invest our time and money in the beginning while we are still young, and correctly make the future we hope for possible.

I stopped saying what we would do if we won the lottery, because it’s not going to happen. We don’t play the lottery. Because as I said. We will do this plan with or without winning.

And lately I’ve been thinking, I’ve already won the lottery. I have an amazing husband. He has done so much for us to get to this point. That it’s not been easy for either of us, but we are still going strong. I have amazing kids! Even though they drive me crazy!! They are still amazing. I have the coolest mama ever! She is my best friend; still to this day. ❤️ I have great siblings and new extended family members. Family is the most important thing to me. Which is why it’s sad to live so far away from them. But with the plan, we hope to visit more often.

So really, I’ve already won the lottery. The best one to win.

Look at your life, and see if you have too?

Art, Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections

Emily

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Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc.

The meaning of Emily is rival or striving. Which makes sense with my personality. I’ve always put in great efforts for everything in my life. My art, my schooling, my family, my husband, my kiddos, etc. everything was hard work for me. Strangely enough my mom named me right!

Because my name is not a family name. My mom just liked the name Emily. When I was younger I was a little bummed I was not given a family name. But as I grew up I fell in love with my name. Now I cannot have another name. It’s my name. And now I have a daughter that I gave her a name that I have loved since I was little. But it’s not a family name either. So in a way she’s just like me.

However…I know I did a school assignment that was based on your name. And Emily meant something different back then. I probably have the school assignment somewhere packed away. But I wonder…

I love my name. Thanks Mama ❤️

Happy Birthday Hubby!! I love you!! 💕

Art, Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections

A Good Leader…?

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What makes a good leader?

To be fair.

To be honest.

To be non biased.

To be confident.

To be strong.

To be someone you would want to follow.

In a sense you should be proud of yourself. Your pride should be there because you take pride in the type of leader you are. Prideful leaders are always around. But you want the right kind of prideful leaders. Not ones that are proud to be in charge. But ones that are proud to be a role model in their place of leadership. That’s always a hard thing for people in power. Sometimes the power goes to their heads.

When I was on the swim team I was consider the leader for a small amount. But I always tried to be fair, honest, strong, and be someone that I myself would follow.

I struggled with being non biased and confidence. I would sometimes choose winning over wanting to include everyone. I’ve always struggled with confidence. Not when it was about just myself, but when I had to decided for other teammates. I would sometimes question myself. Being the leader is hard. But knowing what you struggle with, is the first step.

Being the swim coach was less stressful. In a strange way. I had more confidence in my decisions because I knew what my swimmers were capable of. Also being non biased was easier as a coach. Because winning races were part of being a team. So I had to put swimmers in races that could win first. But then also spread out the swimmers so we could place in multiple races. So I had to be diligent in my decisions. To win, but get as many swimmers in each race for points.

But these are just my experiences with being the leader. Others have didn’t ideas of what a good leader should be. Everyone is allowed their own idea.

Another is in our household. I am the leader of my kiddos unless daddy is home. And then he is the big leader. As my daughter says, “Daddy is the big boss, Mommy is the medium boss, I am the small boss, and brother is the Tiny boss. Sister is just a cute ball of love for now.” So I’m the medium boss; which I prefer. Now that I have so many different responsibilities; I prefer to know I don’t have to make the big decisions. My husband still discusses them with me, but ultimately it’s his decision.

Medium boss now must figure out dinner…maybe I’ll make my husband decide. I really dislike choosing. He does too, but he is the big boss, so Mwahahahahaha!!

Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections, Uncategorized

My Kids.

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Who do you spend the most time with?

Since I’m a stay at home mom I’m with my kids all the time. 24/7! Especially since I’m going to homeschool, it will be more so.

It’s why my husband works so hard; he wants me to be home. He wants to know what his children are learning. So he does the hard job, for me to stay home and do my hard job.

And it is. It is a hard job. A typical day:

Wake up at 7:00am. Because that’s when my son wants to be up. We snuggle on the couch for maybe 10min then we wake up sis sis. Then by 7:30 I’m making breakfast. Either pancakes, waffles, egg sandwich, etc. everything homemade. Also while I eat breakfast I clean up the kitchen. Hand wash dishes, load the dishwasher, clear counters. (Only if I didn’t do it the night before.)

Next: School time. I spend about 20min on a reading lesson, writing lesson, and comprehension. She only seems to have a short attention span. And even 20min is difficult.

Next: we go outside to water garden and flowers. It takes a good amount of time. A two year old makes everything take longer.

Now it’s 9am. So usually I spend time cleaning the house or doing laundry. Both my son and daughter “help”. I tell my daughter to do things and she procrastinates until I’m annoyed. My son likes to help mama, but sometimes it’s more work for me.

By now it’s 11am. I’m hungry. Being pregnant, I get hungry early. So I begin to prepare lunch. It’s usually leftovers from dinner. And if the food was tolerable to my daughter then lunch takes a while for her to eat. My son is already a vacuum cleaner. Haha! Everything is gone!

1pm: since I’m pregnant I take a nap at this time. And thankfully my son still takes naps and he takes one with me. My daughter just has her own quiet time. She does puzzles, drawing, reading, etc. Or I turn a movie on for her and she watches it over and over until we wake up. Kind of depends on how she is doing that day.

3pm: I try to do a fun activity with them. Either playing a board game to work on math, Art time, or cooking lesson. But depending on how she is behaving by this point; I tend to get her started on her chores. She has 3. Clean her room, rinse a load of dishes or put away dry dishes, and sweep kitchen/ dining room floor. And normally she procrastinates. I will usually start to prepare dinner and then continue dishes or laundry. Those two things never seem to be done.

4:30. Daddy gets home!! All the built up chaos erupts from the kiddos. I’m preparing dinner at this point and my husband has to just soak up time with his babies.

It usually takes me about 1-2 hours to get dinner done. Depends on what I’m making. But remember it’s 100% from scratch. Like tonight we are having steak burritos. Like something from chipotle. And I have to make the tortillas tonight.

But after dinner. It’s about 7pm. I have “cleaned” the kitchen. I’ve gotten to a point that my husband can make his breakfast in the morning without tripping up. Sometimes I get the kitchen clean; especially if the dinner was easy to make, but I tend to gravitate towards difficult recipes.

I finally get to sit down around 7:30pm. By then my feet are swollen. I’ve been on my feet for over the past 4 hours. A long time as a pregnant woman. But sitting is not long. Not long after my kiddos want some stories and I’m walking to my daughters room. Reading a handful of books.

8pm. Bedtime starts. Not always. Bedtime is not a set in stone time for me. If they are rambunctious still I let them get their wiggles out. So I should say usually I let them play another hour.

9pm bedtime. Showers and brushing teeth. Then we say goodnight to sis sis first. She tends to not go to sleep until much later. She is just not allowed to leave her room, unless for potty time. Next my son hangs out with my husband; they watch the show Expedition Unknown. (I don’t watch it…I should though; it would be a great way to fall asleep.) But after a while my son falls asleep and I lay with him in his bed until I know he is 100% asleep. Then I climb into my bed finally!! Usually around 10:30. And sometimes I fall asleep. But lately I’ve been so tired I can’t sleep; so I wait for my brain to turn off.

…

That’s a typical day. And I do that pretty much everyday. The only changes would be if I want to bake something. Like bread or cookies, brownies, honey buns, donuts, etc. I like to bake yummy things.

But I’m with my kids all the time. And yes I feel like I’m about to go insane sometimes but then I remember that I’m not having to do a job. Like a normal job. Like my husband. I didn’t mind working; I just love to be home more. It’s a fun exhausting job!!

Enjoy your day!

Creativity, Life As A Mama

Strange Thing This Pregnancy…

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This pregnancy for me has been a strange one. My food desires are all out of whack.

My other pregnancies, I couldn’t stop eating. Like I gained so much extra weight because food was all I wanted.

But this pregnancy I’ve been having trouble. I’ve always had issues with “morning” sickness. (Should be called all day nausea.) I’m not one of those lucky 30%. (That number used to be 20%.)

But it’s weird this time around. Like all I could eat the first month was steak. And only steak!! But now, the thought of steak sickens me. Unless it is in Chinese food. So I went into a Chinese food phase. That only homemade Chinese food would fill my hunger.

But other things. Like I crave sweets, but it has to be certain kinds. Like brownies or ice cream. But the thought of plain chocolate is so gross.

Another, popcorn. Popcorn sounds so disgusting. Like the smell of it turns my stomach. But the thought of a can of corn sounds amazing.

Another, sourdough bread. I’ve been making our own sourdough bread for the last three years. I love sourdough bread; or at least I used to. Now it makes me sick. The taste is all wrong. So I’ve got to figure out a new recipe. I love bread; I can’t go nine months of no bread…

Another one that happened a few days ago, was the meat in the dish was whatever. I ate it because I needed it, but the onions were AMAZING!! I wanted to eat all the onions!!

Or like I’ve been craving a combo pizza. With sausage, olives, bell peppers, onions, etc. I had a piece today, and it was everything. I wanted more, but my husband would not have appreciated if I ate all his leftover pizza. So I made pizza tonight for dinner.

Also I’ve been craving this grilled cheese chicken sandwich with chipotle sauce. Oh, is it delicious!! My husband was fine with indulging in my craving, the other day, because he was able to leave me to my food and go exploring for fun new toys he’s been wanting.

So I’m just confused at how my body is this time around. Some days I just want to devour one certain food for an entire day. But then the next day comes, and the thought of that previous food is unappetizing. Haha!! I don’t get it!

Writing this out…I’m craving that chipotle sandwich again. But instead of a $10 sandwich excursion; it can very easily turn into a over $200 day.

Maybe I’ll try and make it myself…?

Have a wonderful Thursday!! Hope this post didn’t make you too hungry. I will be adventuring into another strange day of my pregnancy. Be thankful you can eat anything you want!

Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections

This Is A Tough One

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How do you feel about cold weather?

This is tough. I guess it would all depend on what time in the year is it? Because it’s it supposed to be Spring and it still snowing; Nope I’m definitely Not a fan!

But if it Summer and you have been slowly melting. Like you feel like your face has melted down to your shoulders. And the only relief you feel is the cold shower before bed; then yes! I’m excited about the cold coming.

Just where we live I would only wish it would stay in its designated months.

Like one year. (I was dumb, and impatient.) I had planted a massive amount of seeds inside. Because I wanted a huge garden. And since it doesn’t start to warm up until mid May I had to keep everything inside since January.

But seriously enough was enough! It looked like a green house in my enclosed patio. That needed space was no longer accessible.

So. It was around the 2nd week of May and it had been sunny and rainy for most of it. I had been told to wait until after Memorial Day, but I was impatient. So I spent almost 8 hrs transplanting all the plants. Tomatoes, Lettuce, Onions, carrots, cilantro, potatoes, green beans, sweet peas, cucumbers, etc. Everything you could think of I had started from seed. But importantly from heirloom seed.

But so I transplanted everything. And it was all fine. Everything was happy to have more sun and way more space!!

Only to have a night frost happen 2 days before Memorial Day and kill almost everything. I think 2 of the 13 tomato plants survived. All the green beans froze and shriveled. Everything above ground perished. I was so sad. Because we had been planning on having our vegetables covered for at least a few months.

But I was impatient and I suffered the consequences. Our harvest that year was so sad.

All this to say. I like cold, but not when it springs up from no where and ruins all your hard work. Because I had been told by several different local people that the frost was over; that it should be fine to plant outside. But that’s what I get for not listening to the year-round farmers in the area. They are the ones to listen to, because it’s their livelihood is at stake.

So to answer the question it would be yes. I like the cold after the hot hot Summer. But also no; if it has not departed in a timely manner.

I miss Spring. Anywhere else, Spring is my favorite season.

Enjoy your Monday. 🌸

I did not have a relaxing Sunday like I had hoped. Instead my kiddos decided to have meltdowns all day, since their daddy is away on a trip. We miss him dearly. I miss being sane.

So a shout out to all the good husbands out there! Your help is always wanted. You keep us, moms, at bay from insanity! Give your husband a hug today. Just randomly. I’ll give mine a virtual one. 😊

Photo
By: emily2jane
5-19-24

My daughter picked me so many wildflowers!! We are going to plant some today.

Life As A Mama, Reflections

So tired.

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I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I know why, but it’s been difficult to change my weird schedule.

I’ve been staying up late until 1-2am and my son wants to wake up at 5am. But I’ve been doing that for maybe the last week.

At night it’s my alone time, and when I divulge in binge watching shows.

But man it’s hitting me today. The husband wanted to play video games last night so I went into the room early. And magically I was tired at 11pm. And I went to sleep. And I woke up just before 7am. And I’m still exhausted.

I’ve been trying to put my son in his own bed, but the motion of laying him down wakes him up instantly. So I have to wait until he is dead asleep. which is about 1am.

So tired.

Art, Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Poetry

This Would Be Awesome!!

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Come up with a crazy business idea.

That the government had to pay stay at home moms a salary. I know, I know. If you magically come up with something for the government to do it just makes taxes go higher…

Instead let’s say this…If you are a stay at home mom, your husband gets a tax break.

Because, us, stay at home moms do so much. And I wish I could help out my husband financially. I know I do in a sense. We don’t have to pay for daycare, cooking, cleaning, laundry, gym, school, etc. It was about 2 years ago, when I looked up to see how much money would a stay at home mom make; and it was about $160,000 a year. I just looked now, and it’s saying closer to $180,000.

Really. Tax break would be awesome!! Like you naturally get, say $20,000 tax refund plus your other additional tax return. I think that sounds amazing!!

Just something extra for all our hard work. An extra incentive for having the greatest and hardest job of all time!! Seriously!! My days seem to be like Tetris…how much can I fit into a day?!?

So I don’t know if this actually counts as a business idea. But it would be truly awesome!!

Just an idea…

.-.-.

We are tough,

We are strong.

We are enough.

Our days are very long.

We feed you.

Bathe you.

Teach you.

Even prepare you!

Payment you might ask?

No money for us.

It is said,

Give us your love instead.

.-.-.

To all the mamas out there!

Digital Art: By emily2jane
“Just Pretty”
01-11-24

I felt inspired to do a pretty picture. Probably because it’s so cold outside. I miss all the colors.

Adventures, Creativity, Life As A Mama, Reflections

Strange Thought Today…

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I feel like I wasted a few hours binge watching a show. It was a current modern show. About a girl finding love young. 16. And she made so many mistakes. I don’t know if it’s because I’m older, or I was 16 once, but I couldn’t enjoy the show. That as I watched it I was hoping she would change. But she kept making mistakes.

And then when she was at the crossroads moment; she calls her mom for advice and her mom says, “I want you to have several loves before settling on the one”…wow. The mom could have done some good parenting and helped her daughter, but instead gave her the worst advice. My advice would have been, “don’t decide anything now. You are still young. Just leave it alone and just live life dating free, until you figure out who you are and what you want.”

Is that so difficult. Maybe I’m naive. I know I didn’t listen to my mom’s advice when I was 16. But as a mama now, I would tell my daughter the deep hard stuff. Even if all she wants is a pat on the back. Because to me that’s not good parenting.

When I started the show I had this thought. “Maybe I’ll use this show as an example to my daughter in the future.” Show her that you don’t need to date at 16. That it is better to wait. I wish I had. I wish my husband had been my first love. He was my first real true love.

But that thought is gone. As the show continued the girl kept going against my views on life. Now it just makes me worried about the future. But I have to trust that my husband and I will continue to do good parenting. That my daughter will know what is important in life.

Also for my son. The boys in the show were not the greatest. But they too didn’t have great parenting. I want to parent my son so that he knows how to treat women in his future.

I’m terrified of them growing up. Also them growing up in today’s world. The world is going crazy! But I will continue to educate my kiddos on morals and character.

But I have a piece of hope for them. My kiddos are strong-willed, stubborn, intelligent, but still warm with love. And I hope they continue to be that way. Because they will not be bullied into changing their points of views. I know that may come back to bite me, but I want them prepared for whatever their world will look like.

This is just a worried mama post. Haha! Enjoy your weekend. I’m going to be staying away from new shows. They always disappoint me. This was the first new thing I’ve watched since 2017. That was the last time I saw a movie in a theater. I’ll just stick to what I like and watch the same things over and over again.

Another random question to think about. I saw a short video on someone asking this question. “What was the last movie you saw in theaters that the entire audience applauded?”I can only remember 2 movies; they left a strong impression on me. Spoilers.

#1 Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The moment Luke Skywalker dusts off his shoulder. That moment was epic. The audience erupted!! It was a moment to remember. This was the last movie I saw at a theater.

#2 Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows Part 2. The audience erupted at the start. I went opening night. It was amazing!! But then also when He Who Must Not Be Named (trying to not spoil) died. The moment it happened everyone screamed or WHOO! at the screen. Again epic!

But that is the last time I remember it happened. As you read in a previous post I like a wide range of movies. But it’s been a while since I was wowed!!

Just think to yourself. What was yours??

Art, Creativity, Daily Prompts, Life As A Mama, Reflections

What will they say about me…?

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Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

I was:

A stubborn believer. I won’t change my beliefs for anyone. I will always, and to the end be a believer in Christ Jesus the Lord!!

A loving smartypants wife. I am a lovingly wife. My husband knows. But I can also be a pain. Haha 😂 in a sarcastic way. Sarcasm is our second language.

A daughter. I love my mama!! She is still my best friend. It’s difficult to be so far from her. Not what I had first thought my future would be like. But she is supportive and adamant of our dream on living away. 🥰

A somewhat patient, but warm mama; and an above average homemaker. I try. Being a mama is hard. I’m still trying to figure it out. And it will only continue to get harder; if we keep adding kids. But I still love this job. Even though some days I feel like I have no hair by the end of the day. Also the home maker job….it’s hard to juggle the mama responsibilities with all the other chores. Again I’m not perfect. I probably have the kitchen requirements to 85% but the rest of the house is only at 70%. But not bad. But the husband keeps trying to help me.

An artist. I want to be an artist. I would love to be an anonymous artist. That only you on this blog would know. But that my art could speak for itself. Because also…I’m incredibly busy. Finding time to paint will be hard enough. But I do desperately want to get my art out there!!

I don’t what else is there….I think this sums me up!!

Have a great day!

Digital Art: 🩷
By: emily2jane
12-14-23