A little backstory to understand where I’m coming from: My middle child struggles with reading. Always has. I’ve gotten judged and ridiculed because he couldn’t read the letters for an eye exam. I noticed he was very behind when he was around 3. I quit my job and worked with him for almost a year, but within that year, he pretty much only learned how to spell his name, along with the letters A, B, C. Fast forward to second quarter of kindergarten, his teacher recommended getting him tested for a learning disability. I didn’t even know that was a thing. We filled out the paperwork to get him tested through the school. Two days later, the school shut down due to covid. I was advised by his teacher to get a referral from his pediatrician. It took them 4 months to give me the referral after several messages, which I understood because covid. By then, the clinic we’d be taking him to to get tested was booked until November. They called in July to schedule a parent only meeting in November. They were booked again until March. His testing would be a total of 6 hours, but they split it to an hour of testing a week. I ran it by my husband and everything was good to go. I am not allowed to bring my other children to his appointments. With our luck, my husband got news yesterday that he will be leaving in a few days for 6 months 🤦🏽‍♀️ I don’t want to reschedule obviously because it’ll probably be another 3 months before they are able to see him again. If you know me, you’d know I NEVER ask anyone to babysit my children. The struggle is real. Anyway, rant over. I just can’t wait to get to Germany. I’ve heard how great their schools are especially for kids with learning disabilities. I’ve literally been waiting about a year for this.

I don’t know if it’s the blogging or the various projects I’ve been throwing myself into, but I felt good today. No sudden sunken feelings. Maybe it’s the hour long convos I’ve been having with my grandma every day or the fact that I’ve just been pushing myself to do more than just stay in bed on Netflix all day when I’m not tending to the kids. I’ve definitely been taking them out to the park a lot more. I’ve also been planning my son’s 10th birthday next month. The house has been been more organized since the new year started. We also got great news today, but I was feeling good even before I got the news. We will be PCSing to Germany at the end of the year! I haven’t processed it yet because I’m sure when I do, I will start to freak out a little. Four years in Germany. My eldest son will start high school when we get back to the US. For now, before the worry kicks in, I’m going to enjoy the excitement I’m feeling. We have been wanting to go over seas with the boys and have them experience things not every kid can. Thats every parent’s dream, right? To give our kids everything we didn’t have. My husband and I are from a tiny island. We moved to Texas when our first born was one year old. Since then, we’ve lived in Kansas and now Washington. We’ve discussed moving back, but we can’t imagine taking away all the opportunities they have out here. Anyway, that’s a story for another time. For now, I’m gonna continue to work on my little home project and feeling good about everything before that nasty depression kicks in.

I received an instant pot duo last mothers day from my sister. I used it a few times, but wasn’t in love with it. I didn’t understand the hype. Well, ff to two weeks ago, I finally understand why people love their instant pot. I was so tired of eating the same thing every week. I felt even worse making the same things every other week for my husband. I started thawing out random meats in the morning. Then, right before I cooked, I’d search an instant pot recipe for whatever meat I thawed. My husband has loved every single one of them. Tonight’s dinner will be instant pot Korean Ground Beef, only this time, I was so busy that I completely forgot to thaw it out. Not to worry though because this instant pot has magic powers and is going to have the meat cooked in 35 min 🙌🏽 I will include the link to the recipe below. I have found myself using this instant pot more and more each week. We have tried honey garlic chicken thighs, fall of the bone bbq ribs 🤤, mung beans and hamhock soup, etc. I cannot wait to try more recipes!

https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-korean-ground-beef-bulgogi/

I received a nespresso machine for Christmas, and I can’t get enough of it. It probably wasn’t the best idea to have two lattes after 5 pm last night, but who’s counting? It’s 7 am, and I have plenty to prepare for, but I thought I’d take this as an opportunity to write my first blog before the day begins. I’m starting the day on three hours of sleep. My husband leaves for PT around 5 am, and since becoming a mom, once I’m up, I’m up. One of the perks of motherhood. I was up all night thanks to those lattes, but it wasn’t a complete disaster. I managed to clean the entire kitchen and fix up the living room. I am expecting a friend over later to do a crafting project so I got a head start on getting the house presentable. Of course, I’ll have to do it all over again after my 1 and 6 year old have breakfast. Getting the kids up in 45 min. to get ready for school. I just can’t help but feel Monday blues. Is it Friday yet? Why is it still so dark outside? Making a mental note to clean the restrooms before company arrives. Life with boys…three of them to be exact.