I wrote this in the beginning of June and never got around to posting it. Better late than never! Now I need to write one for June!
So it has been about a month since the last time I blogged. I just wasn’t feeling it and decided to take a week off. I have been blogging for just over 4 years and have never really taken a vacation from the blog. Sure I have taken time off but I have always planned ahead with posts and made sure I wasn’t gone for more than a few days. Well one week turned into two, and two turned into three. Before I knew it I hadn’t blogged in almost a month. I can’t say I really missed it.
When I felt the need to blog about something I really just thought about it in my head and would think if only it was this easy to make a post. What most don’t realize is how much time and thought goes into a blog. When I sit down to write a post, even if it is only a few sentences it usually takes a minimum of 20 minutes, and that is without editing and finding pictures to go in the post. On top of my daily posts which I did for about two years without really reviewing any items but the odd and end one it was enough. I decided to really try to increase my readership numbers and started to review products. Sure they increased but not to anything substantial. The people who mainly read my blog are a few bloggers I have connected with along the way, family, and some who have stumbled onto the blog.
I am not a professional blogger, this is not my full-time job, and I have no idea how to increase numbers. I just write about the daily life of my family and what goes on. Would I like to make money from blogging? Of course, but that is not the norm for most bloggers. I had high hopes when I started and realized watching YouTube videos of how to create a blog were only going to get me so far. So here I am four years later and questioning whether I am going to continue to do the blog. The one really big downfall for me is I will lose all of the posts and pictures I have done of the kids. What I didn’t realize when I started this is I should have done it on Blogger and not WordPress. Blogger is free while you have to pay for a domain and host if you use WordPress. If I stopped blogging it would always be there on Blogger while if I stop paying for the domain and host I will lose everything. You can move content from Blogger to WordPress but not WordPress to Blogger. Now that I have rambled on enough let’s get onto what I have been doing the past month.
This past month I have been busy but really haven’t done anything. We have gone to Cleveland to see my niece sing in her Music A La Mode end of the year program. There was Mother’s Day. Let’s just say my Mother’s Day card from S was an eye opener. P turned 3 and we had a fun little party for her. S had his end of the year party which I volunteered at. The school year for S is over. We had a nice fun Memorial weekend.
- The kids had fun at my brother’s. They love to see their cousins and S loves when he gets to spend time with his cousin T. He really looks up to him and talks about him quite a bit. I cannot believe that P made it through the entire day without falling asleep. She still takes a 3 hour nap daily and goes to bed between 8 and 9pm. Well as we drove to the Music a la Mode for my niece she was talking and eating the entire 5 minute car ride. When we turned into the parking lot she fell asleep with her hand in her snack bag while we were parking. She slept through quite a few performances but woke up just in time to watch my niece sing. S was quiet the whole time just watching all the different performances sing. When P woke up she was antsy, and cranky, but managed to sit through the performances. I bribed her with ice cream if she was good. It worked!
- Mother’s Day is supposed to be a fun day where the mom gets to choose what they do for the day. I wanted to just hang out at home and get some stuff done since we were at my brother’s the day before. I knew the kids would be exhausted especially P. So we hung out at home. I got my Mother’s Day card from S that he made at school. While I know his intentions were good and it was a really sweet card it was quite an eye opener for me. It showed me what he sees through his eyes and that I need to make some changes. While I was going to blog about Mother’s Day, I decided to not touch the computer.
- P turned 3 on Tuesday the 16th. S had a game on that day so we celebrated with family the night before. She is currently into Minions, Frozen, and Finding Dory so any present that she opened with any of those characters she loved and it was her favorite. My sister and her family got her a mermaid tail which was hilarious to watch. P demonstrated to everyone how to swim like a mermaid and how she could barely walk when she was wearing her tail. Of course, she had to jump on the trampoline wearing it which was a task within itself. Papa got her a gift in a Minion bag so I waited until the end to let her open that. I had no idea what it was going to be but was afraid that would be the end of opening gifts and I was right. As soon as she saw the Minion character that talked she had to have it opened immediately and kept laughing hysterically at it. She ended the gift opening with a good hynee shake. She loved the Dory cake I made her. S couldn’t believe that I drew a picture of Dory and then made it onto a cake. The kids had a great time and it was quite enjoyable for everyone to just relax and watch all the kids.
- S had his End of the School Year party which I volunteered for. Each parent that volunteered signed up for a different station to host. I came up with Jumbo Jenga. I had purchased large Jenga blocks at 90% off in the Target Christmas clearance and this was the perfect time to use them. The kids loved playing and had just as much fun restacking the blocks as they did taking the blocks out. S is done with first grade and will be starting second grade next year. After having 3 days of summer break B and I are ready for him to start the second grade now. It is quite a difference to the routine that we have been used to. I think once the summer swim lessons start in a few weeks it will help to develop a routine for us.
- Memorial weekend we had S’s last soccer game of the season. It was beautiful weather and S actually got to wear shorts instead of pants (it was the first time this season)! We went to a cookout at my sister’s in the afternoon and S and P got to play with kids that were there age. It is always nice when they get to make new friends. I got to hang out with my family while the kids got to have fun and play together. This was the first s’more of the season for S. I am sure there are many more to come. Sunday we hung out at home. Monday there was the traditional parade in the morning which both of the kids loved. In the afternoon we went to my dad’s for a cookout. The kids swam in the pool, which was crazy because the water temperature was 66°. Each time one of the kids fell off their raft they were screaming because they were freezing. P never got in past her waist. The night ended with rainbows galore. We saw one at my dad’s before we left and then P and I saw another one when we got home.
That was the month of May in a snapshot. I waited until S was in bed for the night before I started writing this and now hesitate to even open my computer during the day. I have been trying to sleep less but for me I have always been a big sleeper. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get at night I still fall asleep during the day. When I worked I would take naps in my car during my lunch hour (I went to a park not in my work parking lot) or after I got home from work. When I was in college I always slept when I had breaks between classes. It has just been part of who I am for as long as I can remember. I guess we will have to see what the future brings and decide if I am going to continue with the blog. Only time will tell.