My Journey to being a SAHM part 1

 So these are some pictures from our trip to the beach that is only a little over an hour from here :) !!!!! 

 It is called Siesta Key and as you can see it is clear and VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The sand is seriously very very very soft!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 And the "drop off" point is very far out.......so very very kid friendly!!!  Which is great!!!!!

 Most of our crew hanging out in the water together...

 Ooooopppss one got away :) he he he he

 Look at the clarity :)

 Doing lots of sand fun today!!!

 Considering it is the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend- it wasn't bad.  Of course we were there by 8:30 in the morning.

 And we didn't leave until 3:30 in the afternoon.......at which time it was a bit more busy :)

 Look- awww......she looks like she is covered in sugar.  

 Awww......big girl play time.

 See this is after lunch time....a bit more busy, but not that bad. 

 time to get covered.

 Hey, cutie can I squeeze you?

Play time in the sand!!!!!

So what has been in my head is my journey to being a Stay At Home Mom.

*****WARNING!!!!!!!!  This is NOT condemnation toward any working mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is NOT to say EVERYONE should stay home with their kids and homeschool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is JUST MY STORY :)  JUST WANTING TO CLARIFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Because I think God's story is different for everyone :)  Ok....... 

So my story starts with how I grew up........my mom was a Stay At Home Mom :)  I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!  What can I say I loved my mom very much and having her be there meant the world to me!  Especially when I was older and understood all that this entails.  She had time for us, she helped keep the house clean, things organized, had daily time with God, kept us in line :), read us devotions daily, we sat 2 meals a day at the table together as a family!!!!  You see I was very very very BLESSED!!!  Now to show you that it wasn't easy....the flip side is I started my life living on a farm which I loved!  BUT the down trend in the 80's for farms in Iowa and the rent.....well forced us to do something else.  My dad then went on the road full time.  Before he actually did trucking local and part time to help with the farming.

So now get a bigger picture.  My mom not only was a SAHM, but was kind of like a single parent a LOT because my dad was over the road trucking all but 24 maybe 48 hours a week.  It was tough, and whenever I think about it I am AMAZED at the works God did to keep our family together.  PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!

Now, when my older brother and I were in high school and my younger brother was in middle school.  My mom did take a part time job at the school helping with office work and "babysitting" those in free period.  But it was always when we were already in school and she came home with us or usually before.  Then as we were getting ready to graduate she did take on a few more hours and helped with special needs children- which was a great pleasure for her!  She LOVED working with at risk children and she was GREAT at it :).  Hmmmmm......tells you where her heart is.

Now to change it around......my husband also had a Stay At Home Mom too.  Actually when he was younger his father did stay at home for a while, and then they switched.  So she too was very involved in his schooling, homework, being there for everything he was involved in.

So with that as our background you can see how we were both pretty set and talked about it at length that when we got married we wanted one of us to stay at home with the kids.  The funny part- we decided it would be Jason.  Why?  Well, looking back on it there were a few reasons.
1)  I just graduated with a Music Education Degree and couldn't wait to teach- LOVE TEACHING!!!
2)  Jason moved here......so it just fit that I would keep doing "my job".
3)  Jason is a very WONDERFUL daddy!!!!!!  And has gifts for being great with the kids.....
4)  Staying at home although I thought was necessary- I just couldn't picture myself doing it?  Not sure why?

Ok so there you have it......the beginning of my journey.......................hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Please pray...Jason got sick this weekend....and had to miss a day of work today :(  BOOO!!!!  Praying he is much better soon.  Trying to keep the kiddos occupied so he can get rest.  Hard to do in a very small space.