Blending A Family of Dorks

  A friend of mine recently posted online about taking the time to find the beauty in every day which sounds a lot like finding the things to be thankful for. So this week, I looked for the beautiful in the everyday. As a homemaker/stay-at-home-mom/child caregiver/homeschool mom, a lot of my life is taken up in the mundane daily chores of running a home. There are always dishes to be done, food to be prepared, diapers to change and laundry to be done among other things so it can take some effort to find the beauty in each day. Some days it can feel like these two will never get along and then something as simple as climbing the same tree gets them working together and smiling.  Hiking with two year olds is an adventure for sure, he's perfectly happy as long as he chooses each turn we take. Not so much when his brother gets to be the leader. These guys tend to make every outing in the woods into a survivalist game. Here they are reading the symbols on the t...

It's been a couple weeks since I've taken the time to write about things I'm thankful for and I find I've missed it. There is always a lot to be thankful for but taking the time to write about it makes me think about it more and therefore appreciate it more. I am always thankful for public libraries, since both Matt and I love to read and now our boys are devouring books we would definitely go broke if we had to actually purchase all the books we go through. A post shared by Elizabeth Trull (@elizabethtrull) on Jul 18, 2017 at 1:21pm PDT Without our public libraries, homeschooling would be much harder. I was able to borrow our history curriculum (for the beginning of the year at least) from neighboring libraries. A post shared by Elizabeth Trull (@elizabethtrull) on Jul 16, 2017 at 4:06pm PDT It's not just about the books though, both boys participate in a variety of programs at different libraries nearby. These programs inclu...

This was the first week back to work for Matt after two weeks of vacation. I've also begun caring for a friend's 3 month old son since she returned to work a few weeks ago so it's been a busy few weeks. I am thankful for Matt's vacation and all the fun family time we were able to have while he was home. We've did several nature hikes. And spent a lot of time at the nearby playgrounds. We also went swimming at the local pond for the first time this summer. Two weeks ago, we spent an afternoon/evening with Matt's sister Stacey, her husband Steve and their son Patrick. It's always fun spending time with them but this time there was a special reason for getting together, Patrick left a few days later for boot camp as he has joined the Army National Guard. I'm also thankful for our church family and the wonderful things we get to do together to bring God's word to our local community. On the last Sunday in Jun...

As always, there is so much to be thankful for. We're having a heat wave! The last few weeks have been on the cooler side for this time of year which wouldn't be so bad but it's been raining a lot too so it's wet and chilly which means it's not really comfortable to be outside for long stretches of time. At least, that's how I feel.  The boys would be outside in pretty much any weather, which I'd love if they were both old enough to be outside without me, lol. Even on days when it's pouring all day long, Davis and Tyrion manage to find ways to stay occupied without screens. Matt is on vacation for the next 2 weeks! It's going to be great to have the opportunity to spend some time together as a family and for Matt to have some time to relax after months of working 7 days a week. Between our local libraries and  Amazon's Kindle Unlimited  (affiliate link*) program, we have been able to keep up with our reading habits without spend...

I'm starting to get back to writing and as I work on more posts, I'm reminded how much I have to be thankful for so I'm going to share a few of those things. {1}. I have a very hardworking husband. For the past several months, Matt has worked 7 days a week in an effort to start saving more and paying off debts. It's been exhausting for both of us but it has helped us to get ahead and I'm happy to say that we have moved on from that challenging season as Matt worked his last weekend a few weeks ago. {2} Beginning in about a week, I will be providing childcare for a friend's infant son when she returns to work full-time. She spent a day with the week before last to see how our boys would interact with the baby and they both love him. It's bound to be a lot of fun! {3} Even while Matt was working so much, we were still able to find time for some great family time. Playing outside, going to church and just doing errands, it doesn't matter what we'...