To Everything There is a Season

I know I say this a lot, but my life has turned into a crazy life. I don't even know how else to describe it right now, other than plain crazy.

For any of those following along on facebook, I've had some pretty exciting yet cryptic posts recently. Well, the cat is finally out of the bag, so I can share. And yes, I know most of you are secretly hoping the "exciting news" relates to more little Poland babies...sorry to disappoint, but that crazy train has left the station. No more babies!

The household is going through some major changes though...this is my last week at Fairmont State. I've always loved the people I work with and the outreach activities I'm involved in...but the commute has been driving me batty. I'm 40 minutes from the kids and I hate the drive in the snow. So what is ahead for us? I am moving into a position at WVU...in the Freshman Engineering Program. I'm excited for the challenges and opportunities that are present, the proximity to my family, the salary change...all of it is exciting. I've been in this process with WVU since February...so you can imagine my elation when I finally got the call. I start to work at my alma mater on Monday!

So with the job change (and salary change) we've decided to pursue building a house...and have some very serious plans in the works. We're hoping to get a construction loan underway in July...so by the kids's birthdays we hope to be in our new house. This of course led to the discussion about when to sell our house...we had originally planned to sell it when the new house was almost done...but now I'm thinking about financial safety...and we've decided we just love stress, so we're going to put our house on the market now, as in before July 1st. So every waking moment spent at our house is used for decluttering, preparing for a yard sale, or cleaning. Everything is out of place - and for those who know me you realize what kind of stress that is for me. We have to replace carpet, move the cats to my parents' house, move a LOT of stuff into a storage unit, and generally spruce up the house...all while still maintaining our jobs and caring for our kids. No short order! (Did I mention this week is swim lessons - every night?)

So this has all led to a very exciting summer, but incredibly stressful too. It also has led to some pretty in-depth realizations. We are getting older, making more important decisions. Carl turns 30 this fall, and I do next fall. Everything is changing, we're growing up, becoming mature (I thought that happened when we had kids - I was wrong). It really feels like we are in the midst of a life-changing moment. It's like our journey has suddenly come upon a giant mountain and we are slowly climbing up, knowing how amazing it will feel to rush back down the other side. We are closing a chapter in our lives, just to open another. When I started working at Fairmont State, I didn't know I was pregnant with Savannah...and now I've had two children, lost two children, and flourished in my ability as a professional. Carl's job is progressing well and he is content. We are turning 30(!!) soon. We are selling the house that we brought our children home from the hospital to live in...the house we lovingly prepared for our family. It's like we can just feel the change.

Exciting? YES.

Scary? Absolutely!

Pinterest Mom

I'll admit, it's been a while. I've been busy. There's a lot on the horizon. I'm just not ready to share all of that...so for now...

I've been doing a lot of Pinterest browsing recently. I've pinned all kinds of party ideas (Construction Zone Luke and Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust! for Savannah) and can easily see my party creating beginning this fall. I've pinned ideas about teaching math skills (gasp! Savannah is already old enough!) and I've pinned all kinds of cute recipes. I've pinned crafts with kids, Christmas ideas, all kinds of things. I'm one of those moms. At Savannah's 4th birthday, one of her new friends from school attended, along with her mother. The mom looked around and said, "So you are one of those moms who goes all out, huh?". I just laughed and said I loved crafting, and I do.

So I am on of those moms...the kind that always brings something out of the ordinary for Halloween treats, or decorates like crazy for a birthday, or creates all kinds of holiday themed crafts with my kids. I am the craft leader for VBS (keep an eye out for a post where I try out all of this year's Kingdom Rock crafts out with Savannah!) and I put a lot of time into making memories. We have an elf at Christmas that does all kinds of silly things. *sigh* I am definitely one of those moms.

I've seen a lot of comments, memes, pins, etc. about moms who aren't like me...aren't craft crazed. And I agree with most of them - the little things I work myself into a tizzy over are probably not going to change anything about Savannah or Luke's outlook on life. They probably don't even realize the amount of work I put into making just one moment a little more special. I realize, and I enjoy it. But the other day, out of nowhere, I got a little reminder that all my hard work does stick in Savannah's memory. I'm not sure what brought it up, but out of the blue, Savannah said, "My silly Ralphie - he turned the milk green!"...she was referring to our resident elf, Ralphie, that in December decided the milk should be green. So while my kids may not remember all of the details, they will remember some, and as they age, they will realize that I love them so much and did so much to make their childhoods special. So yeah, I'm one of those moms. What do you have to say about it?