I never knew

When Brandon and I first got married we only argued about one thing, who was doing the most around the house. Three years later after we welcomed little Caroline the chore list became longer, and our disagreements on who should be doing them bigger. But after 9+ years of marriage we have settled into our roles. We have learned to appreciate what the other does, but always just stuck to our own territory.

I'm married to an engineer, so you know we have spreadsheets for everything. None of our children were conceived before every possibility of what this could mean for our family was plugged into Excel. One of these spreadsheets is for the things we need to do around the house. It's color coded and helpful, but I hate the darn thing. I've seen the list so long I was scared. The minute I see things finally coming off the list it seems to grow instantaneously, and it's never been empty. For years Brandon has plugged away at the list trying to knock out what he could in his spare time. I helped out when I could but my job has mainly always been more for the day to day projects like caring for the kids, cooking dinner, and cleaning.

When I started to stay home my home responsibilities increased as expected. I reconcile accounts and pay the bills. I argue with Time Warner about why our cable rates went up again. I run the errands and take everyone to their doctors appointments. I've put more miles on my car driving within a 2 mile radius of our home than I ever did in my 30 minute commute to work each day. But I have my dream job, stay-at-home mom and the extra work is all worth it.

When Brandon started school I knew I would need to take on more responsibilities in order to keep the house running on the same level. This includes repairs around the house and the yard work. I've seen Brandon do yard work. I would take him a glass of water when he looked worn out and I walked back into my air conditioned house with a smile on my face thinking about what a great wife I was for thinking of him during "his" chores. We even bought a new lawn mower before school started so I wouldn't have to push the old one that didn't have self propel abilities.

Oh my gosh! After doing this for the last few months I can not believe I never saw all the things that Brandon did without complaint! I mow the grass, spray the weeds, trim the trees and bushes, splice wires on the extension cord from trimming said bushes. I fix drawers, clean air vents, and move things up and down from the attic (with no pull down ladder). And I know that I am not even scratching the surface. It all hit me this week. I have spend days preparing for fall. I tore out the old garden and planted the new, killed all the weeds, thatched the entire yard, mowed and trimmed back anything overgrown. My hands are cut and covered in blisters. My body aches and I'm not even done.

When our lives get back to normal I know that I won't. I will no longer sit back and watch my husband bust his butt on all the "manly" chores that have to be done around the house. I know what needs to be done thanks to my love/hate relationship with our chore spreadsheet. I always thought these were things that I couldn't do and the things that Brandon enjoyed to do. Wrong! I'm sure it will be much more enjoyable to do them together anyway. Now, if I can only teach him how to iron.......

An Apple a Day......

This weekend we had the opportunity to spend some quality family time together. Brandon didn't have class and since it was Labor Day we had an extra day added to our weekend. Most of the weekend went as usual, Brandon studied while the girls and I played, but we made the most of it.

Caroline has been saving her money for months. Every time her Dad comes home with change in his pocket, she loses a tooth, or someone give her a gift, that cash went straight in her piggy bank. This weekend we decided to cash it all in and go shopping. My 6 year old managed to save $53! Her mind was whirling with possibilities. On the way to the mall we talked about how buying a bunch of little things would probably not be the best idea and it was best to search for good items even if they cost more since they would last longer and she would use them more. Things started off so well, she found some great things on sale and was willing to walk away from other things that she thought was just too much money to spend. I was so proud of the foundation of an appreciation for what things cost as our trip went on, until time started to run out and Caroline started picking up anything that had sparkles or kittys on it. She still managed to save half her money for another day, so I would say overall it was a successful adventure.

Monday Brandon was completely caught up with his studying so we took the girls to Millstone Creek Orchards in Ramseur http://www.millstonecreekorchards.com/. Only a 45 minute drive from Apex, but we felt like we had gotten away from it all. The girls had the chance to pick apples, swing on tire swings, and drink apple cider slushies on the front porch rocking chairs. We walked through the peach, grape, blueberry, and blackberry orchards to plan a return trip. Brandon's parents were able to join us and we had a leisurely lunch in Siler City before coming home to make homemade applesauce and bake fresh apple bread. How about them apples?!

The girls having fun in the apple orchard

Nana with Bella picking apples.

Summer picking apples with Brandon

Brandon helping Caroline with the high ones

Caroline getting some air on the tire swing

Summer enjoying the tire swing with Brandon

To top it all off, even though Brandon had to study 3 of the 4 days he was off of work we had the entire evening with him each night. We got to play with the kids, he helped me with bed and bath time and we had at least 2 hours of uninterrupted time together each evening. It was bliss! These are the weekends that we live for and I'm glad we were able to enjoy every moment of it.