Grey, Hair, and Biscuits

Sickness has made itself quite comfy at our house. When a cold/fever staggers it's way through a family of six it seems to last forever. Two weeks is forever. I think we are at the end of it though with my hubby being the last to get the chills. I've made at least 20 cups of a tea a day, pints of raw honey mixed with freshly squeezed lemon, we've gone through a whole bottle of apple cider vinegar, and finished of my bottle of eucalyptus essential oil. It's been a quiet time, a reading time, a play doh time, a Food Network time. It's been a time I'm happy is over. 

I was talking to Squirrel yesterday about how we never know what's going to happen in our lives. We make plans and dreams and some of them come true, some of them are put on hold - some things are canceled because of sickness or other reasons. It's so easy to feel frustrated at change, at time, at long cycles of hopelessness and exhaustion - and it's okay to feel the "tired." It's okay to feel the overwhelmed. In the long run what matters is that you are kind and that you talk to the One who hears. I love having little conversations like this with my Squirrel - keeps me in check too! 

My "cycle of exhaustion" ended yesterday THUS my blog post and to my family's GREAT pleasure - a basket of biscuits. What says love more than biscuits? Not much in my book (with the exception of good Lemon Curd...)

And while my man slept downstairs, all burrowed up in my daisy duvet, with the blinds drawn - every now and then a shake from the chill let me know that he was still with us - I chopped off our Bug's hair. He was none to pleased to have the buzzing clippers close to his little ears. I cooed and went on and on about how "mommy is so gentle, she isn't going to get your ears" but he still wasn't impressed. For a little one, scared of bath water, reading glasses, butterflies, the color blue (for now), having his hair cut seemed to be a major trauma. We worked through it though, and in the end...my little boy looked five inches taller and like a big boy instead of a giant cherub. I will miss his long blond curls, but I love seeing those little ears and the crook down the back of his neck. His rosy cheeks seem even more kissable now (if that's possible) and gone are the long dreaded detangling sessions before Sunday morning (we limit our baths to Saturday nights before Sunday services around here yall...just kidding - that bit of wit just popped in my head and I had to write it for fear of depriving others from my humor - anyone else read Farmer Boy when they were a child and become obsessed with the picture of him taking his Saturday night bath?) 

All the kids said they really liked Finn's hair, and after he was calmed and had a sucker in hand he was fine. He did ask me before his nap "mom, you put it on?" I couldn't at all figure out what he was trying to communicate and then I asked "your hair?!" He nodded his little head "yes" and I assured him that there still was hair on his head and it will grow. After nap he didn't miss it - as if he woke up feeling the same way he went to sleep and there wasn't a problem. 

Before I close out this post - I wanted to show a little bit of change about the place. After almost all winter of sitting on my couch and facing towards a grey wall, I realized that if I could reconfigure the living room to have the couch face the window - it could possibly lift my mood. So, one afternoon my muscles and I pushed around furniture, rearranged a couple pictures, brought my Himalayan Salt Lamp upstairs - and I haven't felt blue ONCE since facing the window. The little white dresser with just a simple plant and that beautiful glow just make me feel happy, warm - zen? 

Also, we found this amazingly sturdy coffee table at the Goodwill Outlet for FIVE dollars. With a little bit of dark stain it turned out really beautiful.
 I love taking care of our home. It can be tasking - dirty dishes and matted toddler hair and grey walls and fevers...it can be tasking. But at the end of it all, I'm content here in my little rental, trying to make the best of what we have with the people I love the most.

Blessings,
Alyssa Spring *

“After all," Anne had said to Marilla once, "I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea