Saturday, September 19, 2015

Community

My last blog was a bit heavy - I will not apologize for that as it was put on my heart to share for a reason.  I will try to make this one not as heart wrenching though. LOL

Life in general has been busy; there really is no other word for it when you are a parent of 5 kids ranging in ages from 2-15. Somewhere in that busy life though, I have found little bits of time to remember to reclaim myself. Remember who I am, what I enjoyed to do before kids, even try my hand at seeing if it is something I still enjoy.  I have changed my radio station in my car - something that some of my kids don't enjoy as much as the others. My calendar fills up quickly each week, and sometimes I complain about that. Especially if I have to be in my car most of that day running errands, or from meeting to meeting with Orion in tow. That is not as enjoyable as a day filled with coffee, friends and time wasted.

You see, part of my busy life is being filled with something that I have found I LOVE to fill it with. Community. Friends, fun, food, coffee dates, chatting away with people either via text, phone calls, in person or guess what? Sometimes even Facebook - there are times that in person meetings just can't happen, but community can happen if you want it to. Jon likes to make fun of me sometimes when I talk about my 'community', my small group of friends whom I know have my back. Whether it be my best friends, my small group from church, some newer friends from the kids schools, my virtual friends that have been in person friends at one point and are now too far, or have not met in person but have been able to build community in some shape.

Today, was a great day in my world of community. It was my youngest son's 2nd birthday and today we celebrated with food, fun and friends. I won't lie, I almost started the Pinterest trend of parties that I have a habit of attempting to make. But this last week, something kept itching me, something just felt off about things as I tried to plan them.
So instead, last night I let my kids stay up late if they wanted. I let them help if they so chose to, or they could watch a movie. I didn't care either way. I let it go. Jon and I were indeed up until 1 am finishing the cake, but that was also because when you have little helpers, things take a little longer to complete. LOL  Streamers were hung, balloons were blown up, small decorations were hung in a corner (photo booth created), and cake decorated. Today, food was completed, friends had fun and the little birthday boy went to bed an exhausted two year old. I am perfectly content and happy with how fun and simple things were.  I let go of Pinterest, I let go of having to control so much of so many things, and I got to enjoy hosting an awesome afternoon of community. :)

I look forward to finding another opportunity to do something like this again, food-fun-friends. Aside from a great husband who is full of love and support and understanding, what more do you need?

Not a picture from his birthday, but a great one none the less

Photo booth :) 

Photo booth 
Here is the cake that could have been Pinterest created, but instead done with more peace and fun. :) 

Random summer fun shot from last month
I have never been able to keep indoor plants alive. A friend gave me these in a smaller form and I kept them in vases in just water... Then they grew roots and I planted them in pots and look!! I have green plants!! :) 
Squeezing some fun before school started.