Finding the Positives...

What a week!  Some days, I amaze myself at how well we seem to hold it together.  This crazy attempt to keep the boat afloat with two parents, two full-time jobs, and one baby, along with a house to keep clean, laundry to keep up with, groceries to buy, bills to pay, and birthdays to plan (yes, this is a priority lately).  It seems like when I can convince myself to stay in the present and focus on the NOW, things seem to stay under control.  But the other 29 or so days each month it seems I'm sprinting to keep up with this thing we call life.  

This week was no exception.  In fact, this morning, I felt like life inside our little gingerbread house on Fleur Drive was spinning wildly out of control.  I thought this after I picked up the third half-used roll of toilet paper Cruz had unraveled onto the bathroom floor.  I thought this after I took my trusty toothbrush and scrubbed on the knees of Cruz's new pair of jeans just one more time, hoping to get the stains out.  I thought this after I mopped up day-old banana, Hamburger Helper noodles, and the remains of a homemade apple crisp off the floor FOR THE FOUR HUNDREDTH TIME!  And I thought this as I maneuvered my son, his school bag, and my school bag into the car, only to remember just seconds before backing out of the driveway THAT I FORGOT TO BRUSH MY TEETH.  

Life has been a little less normal than usual lately and although we're blessed beyond words for nothing too traumatic, we are a little off our game this week.  My strong and resilient superwoman Grandma Henrichs fell the other night leaving Bingo and was airlifted to Iowa City Hospitals.  She's recovering (Praise Jesus), but the scare shocked our systems a bit.
  
Then Sunday, we got hit with another piece of sobering news.  Our cat, Jade, who's been in our lives for more than five years, has been a chain litter boxer user for the last few years.  For some reason, she can't seem to distinguish between her litter box and shag carpet, which has posed a problem when it comes to finishing our basement.  Thanks to a flood, wet carpet, and sadly, our cat, we junked a room full of beautiful, barely used, cream shag carpet two years ago, and as of Sunday, we junked a beautiful, barely used, cream shag area rug.  We've spent hundreds of dollars in vet bills, hoping to find a reason and solution to our cat's issue, but have had no such luck.  Sunday night, we talked about tough decisions and it was hard.  In the hustle and bustle of having a baby, it seems our cat has sometimes taken the brunt of our new lifestyle.  And at times, when my allergies are acting up and I'm going through my twentieth lint roller full of cat hair, I sometimes wish we were a pet-free household.  But actually thinking about life without her made me so sad.  She has been such a part of us, a part of our family for about as long as we've been a family.  Cruz and his high-pitched kitty voice are a pretty telling sign of how much Jadey means to us.

And lastly, the incident report.  Speaking of Cruz, last week at daycare Cruz received three 'incident reports' for biting.  Yes, my sweet, good-natured baby boy bit three friends: one while at chapel (of all places), and two during playtime while vying for a toy.  As a new mom who of course thinks her child can do no wrong, this hit a little hard.  I told Beau that I now know what my students' parents are going through when I email them about their son or daughter's failing grade!  I was disappointed, and immediately wondered what the heck was wrong with our parenting skills.  

So, all in all, our spirits have been sagging in the last week or so.  I don't do well with uncertainty, I guess.  

And I guess experiencing and then writing about these kinds of days motivate you to turn it around and look a little harder for the good in each day.  Because, after all, there is plenty of it.  

Like finding time to make that apple crisp I was craving...

Or hearing a student stay after school to tell you: 'I have to think so much in your class.'

Or getting an email from a former student telling you they just now realized how much they actually learned in your class...

Or baby leggings from Baby Gap...

Or an hour of play with Cruz during his Kindermusik class.  Watching the smile on his face and the way he dances to the music is enough happiness for weeks.  I love the hour of total, uninterrupted play we get to have.  What a perfectly wonderful way to begin my week.

Or the cute DIY fabric banner I'm perfecting for Cruz's first birthday bash.

Staying positive and finding the good in the everyday ordinary!  Also looking for a outside (safe) refuge for a very sweet cat if anyone has ideas!