Here’s to 34!

Here’s to 34! January 16, 2020

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:56 pm

It’s my birthday week! And as life goes, it hasn’t quite turned out the way I expected. The first week back to school was a good one. Everyone was adapting nicely back to routine. I was surprise how excited my kiddos were to return to school. It was a great to start 2020.

Back to school with my favorite young reader!

On Saturday, we had brunch to celebrate my birthday with family. It was a nice meal, but Jeremy came home from the brunch feeling under the weather. While he rested and the boys napped, I re-arranged the playroom. The boys got three new train and track sets for Christmas. My goal was to create more floor space for these tracks. I am pleased with the new configuration. I was able to add more books to the room which made additional space in the boys’ rooms for their personal treasures. I combined bins and cleared out unused toys. Very satisfying!

I combined these bookshelves on to one wall. The train pictures on the wall are from our 2019 calendar. I cut them apart and used them as art for my little train lovers.

I kept the boys home on Sunday because Graham woke up with a cold. Jeremy came home from church with a fever. And the sick vibes settled over our house. Monday Jeremy was home. He and Graham were sick buddies while I plowed through a MOPS & MOMSnext day. My dad was the guest speaker at our meeting. The topic was budgeting and the ladies were so appreciative of the information that was shared!

Enjoying some time in the snow Monday morning.

It snowed Sunday night into Monday. The boys went outside to play briefly before Owen had to go to school. No schools were canceled or delayed, so MOPS & MOMSnext met on Monday night. I drove home through snowflakes on Monday night as the next wave of snow hit. Tuesday morning (my birthday), we woke up to a two hour late start for Owen. I was supposed to volunteer on Tuesday, but the late start meant my volunteering time frame was off. Owen was bummed, but I explained to him that the late start meant we got extra time together. This made him happy.

Tuesday Morning! Two hour late start for Owen! It was great to have a relaxed pace on the morning of my birthday!

Snow on my birthday was a special treat. It was beautiful and the boys were thrilled. Graham and Jeremy had day two of being sick buddies. I got to spend the day with them around the house. While I was sad that they were sick, I was glad I got to spend my birthday with them. The original plan was to go out to dinner, but we quickly changed to take out since half of the family was under the weather. As it turns out, I developed a low grade fever on Tuesday evening that I’m still battling today. Seems like we are a family that shares.

Celebrating 34 with my traditional chocolate birthday cake!

Plans have been canceled and postponed. Jeremy went back to work yesterday while I became Graham’s sick buddy. Poor Graham is on day five of being home, but he doesn’t seem to mind too much. I’m feeling a bit off because my busy week has turned into a lot of downtime at home to rest. That is okay. A fever is a clear sign to lay low.

To jazz up day five of being home, I attempted to make a special Hot Wheels track for Graham.

My sister gave me a biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery for my birthday. It’s a thick book. I might be longest book I’ve ever read for pleasure. I’ve had plenty of time to pour through it with our extra home time. I love Montgomery’s novels. My bookshelf is full of her works. Her life was hard and her family struggled in many private ways that she kept hidden from her public work. As a fan, I struggle with the difference between her characters and her actual life. She wrote herself into her heroines, but they all got happy endings, which escaped her. It’s certainly given me a lot to think about and mull over now that I’ve completed the book. It was one of those good, but hard reads.

My happy place is a book and a blanket.

Probably because I just had a birthday and because I just read a biography, I am mindful of the story I am crafting with my days. Thirty-three was a wonderful year. I was a little sad that I did’t welcome thirty-four with a trip to Disneyland like last year. But that is a hard tradition to create. In the past, I’ve celebrated my birthday in Portland, Seattle, British Columbia – last year it was California. This year it was at home, with my boys. It was quiet. There was snow on the ground. I felt blessed that despite our lack of spunk, we were all together and we were happy. I’ll take it! Here’s to 34 and all that lies ahead in 2020.

A few additional snapshots from our week:

Graham has started sniffing the books I read and declaring he likes how they smell. Future librarian? Here he is sniffing The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.

The trim boards didn’t get put back on our walls until the 9th (a week after our floors were replaced). It is nice to have everything back in place and settled again!