Better Everyday….

 

I remember years ago when they children were smaller and I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed.

Like Jay would come home from working 8 hours and I would want HIM to cook dinner….I know. Don’t judge.

I had 4 kids under 6 at one point.

I was actually losing my mind….a little at a time. True story.

No….I actually LOST MY MIND a few times.

And dinner????

Pa-lease……….can you say???

Last

thing

on

my

mind.

I just didn’t really do it.

I felt UNSURE of HOW and just not into it.

As I look back…that seems selfish.

But…I was in a funk.

For a few years.

Again…Don’t judge…Raising babies is HARD AS SHIT.

and raising 4???  That is certifiable.

But…I guess just like anything else…

life changes.

Circumstances change and things that weren’t important…

suddenly become important.

Things I didn’t THINK I could do in my life…

I am learning to figure out.

One foot in front of the other……

1 battle at a time.

Until one day….

I find myself standing over a homemade cheesecake with all the laundry done, and tomorrows meal in the crockpot.

Go Me.

I mean, raising kids is STILL hard as shit…

But, I think I might be getting the hang of it.

Maybe.

Check back tomorrow because…

you never know.

I mean…there are still 4 kids.

LOL.

The FLOOD....of TRUTH.

It all started like this:

We live in an old home...an old elevated home.

OK...its a trailer.

But we live in Florida ...so it counts as a home.
LOL.

Anyway...as in any old home sometimes things need to be fixed.

All kinds of things.

This time...it was the floor.

It was "spongy" ...as Jay called it.

It needed to be reinfoeced from the undernneath.

It was a problem that NEEDED to be fixed.

It is normal wear and tear...I mean our "raised house" is a 1975 model.

It was bound to hapen.

And GIVE THANKS that I dont have a "mamsy-pamsy" husband because this was not a "mamsy-pamsy" job.

THIS was a "put on your LONGJOHN CAMO jumpsuit, shoes, mask, and hat and crawl under the DARK house" kind of job.

NOT for the faint hearted.
AT ALL.

He actually went 30 feet under the house with a light and tools and FIXED it from underneath...CRAZY.

But THIS is not the funny part...this is the BACKstory.

Sooooooooo....

He spent 3 days under the house...making improvements.

An then he LEFT....for the evening.

and
THAT
IS
WHEN
IT
HAPPENED

Iasked Shasha to runa bath for me while I cooked dinner.

She DID.

And then..
I FORGOT....and there was a FLOOD.

Lets just say I FREAKED out when I walked into the hallway and stepped in a PUDDLE.

I think me EXACT WORDS were, "HELP ME!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!!! NOWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

And of course the kids ALL come running and THROW TOWELS at me.

I mean they throw EVERY towel at me.

AWESOME.

So for the rest of the evening we dried water and shifted fans.

and washed towels.

Again...AWESOME.

And after things had "calmed down" and my blood pressure went down...
I said to the kids, "Hey guys...we don't have to tell Dad RIGHT AWAY about this. He just worked REALLY HARD under the house and I think it might hurt his feelings. So...lets just let it be."

They all looked at me wide-eyed and surprised..."So you DONT WANT US TO TELL DAD??????"

"No...I didn't say THAT. I said that let's not run up to him FIRST THING in the morning and say, "Mommy flooded the bathroom!!!"....Lets give it a minute."

They seemed ok with that...I felt ok with that.

THEN IT HAPPENED....

I was getting ready for work the other day and Zeek had been at the recording studio with Jay.

When they got home I said, "Zeek..how was it?? Cool?"

He said, "Dad told me to say, "There were more girls in bikinis there than I had ever seen!!!" But I didnt want to say THAT!!"

Then Jay walked up and said, "Zeek...You weren't supposed to tell her that I TOLD YOU to say that...you were just supposed to SAY THAT."

It was a plan devised to get a RISE out of me...LOL.
Foiled by Zeeks affinity for the TRUTH.

My reply was , "Aww...sweet boy you always tell the TRUTH. You will always tell Mama the TRUTH right?"

I was so proud. Sweet boy. TRUTHFUL, sweet boy.

Then without a thought he said to ME....
"Yep, I am. And I am going to tell Dad about the FLOOD!!!"

Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He ran off before I could say ANYTHING...
I couldn't stop laughing. and kneeled down in my bathroom tucked behind a wall because I KNEW.

I KNEW that Jay was comming.

And when I finally came out from my hiding place....
there stood Jay..with a HUGE smile on his face.

LOL

I guess the TRUTH is the TRUTH.
And sometimes it comes JUST LIKE A FLOOD.

Homeschool...homestead stylee

School CAN come in all kinds of ways.

School CAN be on Saturday.

School CAN be unknowingly FUN.

THAT is what happened on Saturday when we announced that it would be a "animal chore day".

Which consist of cleaning ALL the animals cages/habitats.

ALL...which include: dogs,cats,guinea pigs,chickens, fish, and turtles.



You can IMAGINE their "excitement"!!!!! LOL

They tend to NOT WANT to help...but they are FORCED.

A rite of passage I believe.

I'll be DARNED if I will have LAZY kids.

So....
THEY WORK.

ANd soon enough we were surprised with a "secret school" lesson....
Daddy found some lizard eggs in the chicken coop.

AWESOME!!!



We RELOCATED them into their own habitat so that they could continue on their JOURNEY without being CHICKEN SNACKS.













LIFE SCHOOL ...at it's finest!!!!





So is life on the Rasta Homestead...
Blessed.

No more chicken…to EAT.

Throughout our lives, we have eaten ALL DIFFERNT WAYS.

Sometimes MORE strict..

Sometimes LESS strict…

From Vegan to Vegetarian to eating chicken.

Back and forth between .

(We DO NOT eat red meat or pork…due to our FAITH.)

When Zeek was little we were vegetarians.

Than we moved to Costa Rica and after about 5 months there,we decided we were going to eat more chicken.

It was one of the cheapest things to eat there.

And we pretty much HAD to eat what was CHEAP.

But-we never could get Zeek to eat chicken.

He just said he didn’t like it.

And we didn't force him.

But- about a year ago he started eating chicken.

And he liked it…pretty much.

He was still pretty PICKY about HOW it was cooked, but he would eat it…for the most part.

Then the other day during lunch I asked him if he wanted chicken.

“No maam” he said.

I said, “Why not?”

And then he looked at me with the sweetest TEARY EYES and said, “Mom, now that we HAVE CHICKENS, I don’t think I can EAT CHICKEN.”

He was almost CRYING.

It was such a sweet moment.

A true glimpse into his soul.

A layer of WHO HE IS.

Another piece to the BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE that is coming together in front of my eyes.

I looked at him and said, “Well, I guess that makes you a vegetarian!”

And he said, “I guess so.”

It was a proud moment for me.

He was ASSERTING himself and HIS BELIEFS.

LOVE IT.

I then looked at the other kids and said , “Has anyone else decided to be a vegetarian?”

To this Shasha said…”I’ll take HIS!”

Figures.

LOL.

NEW editions…….