Saturday 28 May 2016

Seasons of life - where are you?

It's half term again and we are well into exam season in our house.  Which means that the summer is just beginning and it's time to change our schedule.

Word of the month - May - Cheneycraft blog
Summer is a much more relaxed affair around here.  As I only work term time, I am home with boys so we can get things done in more time.

This year though is somewhat different, which I'll explain in a bit.

I haven't updated the blog since February and in the meantime I have been looking at where I am in life and what is important to me.  I purchased the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle  which although is American based, is a great set of resources, offered for a limited amount of time at a great price.

Ultimate homemaking bundle 2016
Several of the eBooks on offer focused on organisation and making life simple, so I have working through these.  When I started he blog I wanted to share my crafting activities but also how I manage to fit everything in around a busy family life inspired by my faith. What I have realized is our family life has changed and the season we were in when I started is not where we are now.

I used to write the blog while the boys took their bath on a Sunday evening as we prepared for the week ahead.  Well they are grown teenagers now (and they will both be men by the end of the year!) and so that time I had carved out no longer exists.  What I have realized, however, is that I fit everything because I work term-time.  So some things slide during school time and then I tackle them, head on, when I get the luxury (and I fully appreciate how fortunate I am to work this way!) of long days at home to get things done.

My dawning realization has been that I need to embrace this and blog during my down time and not add to the pressures of my working weeks.  The boys are both off to university soon, one this year and one next year, so I only have the pleasure of their company for another 16 months (not thinking about this too much!!).  I want to make the most of that time and not be too busy filling up the day that I can't play Call of Duty (and I am under tuition for this!) when my youngest son wants to share his time with me or to be able to discuss what culinary needs the eldest will have at university later this year and work through his recipe repertoire.

Chocolate Meringue
My intention, therefore, is I might blog two or three times a week when I am home and then just occasionally during term time.  You are never far from my thoughts dear blog readers but I want to be present in my boys lives while I can and create memories and then as a by-product of this I will have more to write about.  Win-win I think.  I want to share more with you about I how achieve what I achieve, which is how I am wired (I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and I am a defender and the enneagram (pronounced any gram) test which showed I'm a helper (most mums are) and loyalist).

I'm off to plan the summer, high level plans only we ant room to be spontaneous, but this year is slightly different.  As I said I work term time but as the boys have officially finished college this week and just have exams and year 2 preparation classes to attend, we can go away on holiday before the schools break up.  SO, I'm splitting my summer break up and taking three weeks in July, then going to back to work (we have a project that benefits from me being in the office) and having the end of August and beginning of summer off.

Summer Planner - Cheneycraft blog
The Bible passage that has come up for today really ties in well with my personality test findings:

Rejoice with those who rejoice; 
mourn with those who mourn.
Romans 12:15 NIV

Our prayer as a family this week is for those who find the break from school routine hard, may they find peace in the time off.  We pray that those who are still studying will have the concentration they need and God's presence with them in their exams.

Take time to smell the flowers, hug the children, splash in puddles and play games (even if that's Call of Duty on the playstation).  The time with children passes oh so quickly.

Flowers in the garden - cheneycraft blog
With God's blessings, from my family to yours,


Jo x

No comments: