Author Archives: tracye1

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About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

It’s the end of the week as we know it….

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  • I’ve finally made some headway into writing the story of our family’s Faith walk through our years of incarceration.  For some reason, (I’m going with the Holy Spirit’s leading on this one), I haven’t been able to write.  Perhaps it’s nerves.  Either way it’s begun and to say it’s mind-blowing to look back on how firmly we were under the protection of the Lord, and still are, is truly amazing.  God IS good.  In the midst of it all, He is good, He is present and He loves.
  • We are going to attempt a photo shoot (complete with tripod) for our Christmas card this weekend.  I have a mental block on ANY Christmas shopping until our card is done, ordered and MAILED–shortly after Thanksgiving (I like to be one of the first–I’m weird like that!!).   I’d love to do a post on the pics that don’t make the cut.  You know the ones….”he’s touching me, I’m TIRED of smiling….this is boring….WHY do we do this EVERY year”…and so on and so on….at least they are a little older and tend to sit longer for pictures these days…mostly…
  • I have pinpointed my errors in lack of pre-planning for our week with the dueling football and softball schedules.  I now have a plan going forth.  Not surprisingly, it usually takes me a couple of weeks to “work out the kinks” when change is upon us!  There will be freezer meals a-cookin’ in the casa this weekend!!
  • The weather is changing, the air is fabulous and crisp.  Now to decide if we will be brave enough to go through with our scheduled stand up paddleboard trip on Saturday morning.  It’s supposed to be in the low 70’s and sunny….and I suppose if I stay OUT of the water it will be OK…
  • Had a great two days of exercise in early this week.  Mid-week…ummmm, let’s call that “recovery” and here’s to hoping the week finishes BIG with a fun and physical weekend–which of course, means I have to get off the laptop and walk this morning before work…
  • Successful purging of summer clothes into fall/winter clothes is complete with a VERY small list of “needs” for the girls (even smaller for the boys) AND I managed to make it to the Post office to send off some winter shoes I purged to a dear friend’s daughter.
  • I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since 9-11.  Wow.  There are no words.  Prayers for all the souls of the lost.  Prayers for the families who annually relive that day.  Prayers for peace in this world.
  • It’s the end of the week…the kids sweetly asked if I would have today off also for Veteran’s day, but alas….not so much.  Daddy is working from home to oversee activities and such, so for THAT I am heartily grateful!  And on that note, I think I will grab some sweatpants and go for a brisk walk and get this day started!!  Happy Weekend, y’all!!

Sleep or blog???

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Ah, the beginning of the sports season….Flag football for one and Softball for another.  Same season.  Two different fields.  Overlapping games and practices.  <sigh>  The anthem of a million families….run, run, run.  A dilemma:  we want them to be well-rounded, experience the lessons in sports and a little extra exercise and play never hurt.  However, after a full day’s work, it’s switching over to “Round 2” for mom and dad and takes pre-planning in order to avoid all the fast-food traps that go along with it.  Some days we do it well, others we have “room for improvement”.  At the end of the day, when kids are fed and showered and cleats hung up (or thrown in the garage haphazardly….) there is a decision to make:  sleep or blog?  As my lack of posting can attest to, I choose sleep.

Several days a week I get up early to work out and therefore, need to sleep early.  Balance and time management.  I’m still working on it all…..it’s a lifelong process!

Colossians 3:2  Set your eyes on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Raise ’em up and let them go…sniff, sniff

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Lately I have been doing a lot of reminiscing about our kiddos as itsy-bitsy-wee ones and wishing for some of that time back.  Of course, looking back, it’s all with rose-colored glasses.  I choose to focus my memories on their chubby little cheeks, squishy soft hands that reached for mine, Johnson&Johnson’s shampoo and their sweet little voices.  I prefer not to dwell on the memories of nights of multiple wake-ups, temper tantrums, perpetual messes everywhere and the copious amounts of stuff necessary to lug EVERYWHERE.  That said, I absolutely love where our kiddos are right now.  I love the people they are and  the people they are becoming.  I love the portability of our lives.

It’s so odd to be on the track with little people, who become bigger people who evolve into grown ups and fly the coop.  I don’t like that aspect much, but it truly is a part of life.   As I watch friends go before me on this bittersweet journey, it puts me in check with the path our own children are on.  I always second-guess myself, and perhaps that is the nature of parenting…..guessing, figuring it out as you go, judging yourself against others, watching, learning, repeat the cycle.

I just pray that the way we raise our children prepares them for the life ahead of them.

  • We choose not to helicopter-parent our children.  If we orchestrate every activity, every friendship, monitor every argument, control every choice; how do we ever expect them to think for themselves?  We won’t always be there.  In taking away the opportunities to learn, choose and fall, we raise our children to be dependent on us and independence will be long in coming to them. Living in constant fear of what “might” happen is unhealthy.  So we let go.  A lot.  And we trust, hope and pray.  Joshua 1:9  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
  • We give them a lot of freedoms, choices and variety in their lives.  Lead by example.  Set expectations.  Open your mind to a variety of opportunities, people and experiences.  Life is FULL of them.  Be the salt and the light and learn how to get along with different personalities.  Life skill!  Matthew 5:13-16  “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 
  • We try to let them be kids for a while.  That means (for our family):   participating in team sports, band, X-Box, skateboarding with friends, barbies, pet shop toys, Poptropica, weekends of NOTHING scheduled so they can roam the ‘hood with friends and build forts out of spare nails, sheets and big sticks, kickball in the street, wrestling with each other and dad (which I LOATHE but can see the importance of letting little cubs wrestle).  Let the big responsibilities wait.  There is a lifetime of that ahead.
  • We give them chores. Life is full of them.  If we don’t teach them and give ample opportunity to practice, how will they learn?  Sure, I can do it faster and better, but it does my children a huge disservice.  A side bonus of this is chore day gets done MUCH faster.  The downside is, perhaps not to MY specifications, but in time……
  • We give them allowances.   Money management is a practice.  practice.  practice.  Get in the habit of managing money, saving for wants, helping others.  Start early.  Start little. Big payoff when they get older.  We are starting to see the fruits of this practice even now with our older boys.
  • We give them consequences.  Action.  Reaction.  Good choices. Bad choices.  Responsibility for choices made.  Again, much easier to learn when they are young and just pray, pray, pray that it’s a good, strong, thick foundation that serves them well later in life.
  • We bring them to church, speak about our faith and do our best to live out that faith in our lives.   Again…build that foundation.  All that we have, all that we are is granted to us by the mercy and grace of a most loving God.  When the time comes in their lives when they are questioned and challenged on their own faith may they have enough of a background, trust and strength to walk the walk.  May that time be short.  May these lessons in their lives now bear great saving fruit later.  Proverbs 22:6   Start children off on the way they should go,and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
  • We give them bedtimes.  Reasonable bed times.  With the occasional sleep over or special activity.  Regular sleep is a huge need.  The old “I’m not tired” just doesn’t cut it when they are asleep within 10 minutes of going to bed.  They need it, we enforce it.\
  • We give them extra homework.  Practice makes perfect.  Doesn’t win us any “cool mom and dad” awards but I don’t really care.
  • We let them fail.  Set the bar.  Lead by example.  Show them how.  Preparation.  Time management.  We learn from our mistakes.  The can’t learn if we do it for them.  It makes me cringe, but it truly shortens the learning curve.

Bringing in the weekend with Pumpkin Chocolate chip cookies among other things!

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— 1 —

And the weekend is once again upon us….Finally Friday, free again…..Everybody’s working for the weekend….Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday.…and our neighborhood is having its 2nd annual block party (barring rain, then it moves to Saturday night)…my girlfriend reminded me about some cookies I made last year.  Sooooooooo, my pumpkin-chocolate-chip cookies are baked and ready to go ( you KNOW that sounds good, and this time of year, I am ALL about anything pumpkin!).  if the party is postponed I’m not sure how long I can hold my gang off the cookies though…

— 2 —

Almost a whole week down of “Clean Eating” and I must say that so far so good.  Planning ahead with the meals worked FABULOUS and I felt satisfied and my only cheat was testing out the cookies mentioned in #1….but actually I only had about three and I’m good….didn’t even eat the dough….HUGE accomplishment on that!!!  HUGE!!!  Who doesn’t eat the cookie dough!??!?!?!?!

— 3 —

In my usual procrastination fashion, with Halloween a mere 3 days away, it appears we will be getting into high gear of the whole putting-the-costumes-together-last-minute-and-all.  In all actuality, we have the costumes in our possession but certain little girls can’t seem to make up their minds, certain boys suddenly want to trick or treat ONE LAST TIME….but fear not, it ALWAYS comes together somehow!

— 4 —

I have an opportunity to share how God has worked in our lives over these past 8 years:  before, during and after incarceration.  An actual writing project—fo’ REALZ.  I’m a little queasy at the prospect. That’s coming WAY out of my wheelhouse!!   However, prison ministry is an area that is hugely important to our society.  It shows the unloved that they ARE loved, if not by their own family and friends, Christ is ALWAYS present.  I haven’t done the research (yet) but I’m quite sure it’s safe to say that the majority of society have blinders on when it comes to prison and probation.  “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and “as long as I don’t have to deal with it, I’ll just mind my business”.  The problem is, it’s ALL of our business when prisoners are released and return to society.  The more positive reinforcements they receive and support groups on the outside, the more likely they will be to be productive in society.  And I can assure you, the prisons are overcrowded and understaffed and rehabilitation comes to very few.

— 5 —

I started to grumble about my Monday afternoon “Taxi duty” of the drop off, pick up, drop off, pick up and repeat and repeat and THEN it occurred to me.  At this time, we only have ONE day during the week where it’s that bad, I have other friends who do it multiple times a week.  Who am I to complain?  I am glad that our kids are involved in extracurriculars.  It gives them a great outlet physically, they meet friends and they open up their interests.    Sure, some seasons it’s more intense than others, but each year goes by more quickly, the kids keep getting taller and one day I am going to miss all this chaos.  And only because I can look back on their toddler and baby years and ACHE for that time again do I know it’s true.

— 6 —

Our youngest diva daughter and I had an appointment with the Deacon at our church this week to address her bedtime-anger issues.  It was time to pull in a third-party because it’s a little BEYOND ridiculous.  I have learned that sometimes, when you parent, you have to realize you need someone else to tell your kids the same things you’ve told them a million times, because their voice is different and for some reason they actually HEAR them.  whatever.  I’m good with it.  She appears to have taken the conversation to heart…..so far.  Her attitude is much better and PRAISE BE TO GOD, we haven’t had to go back in a second time ALL week-long!!!  Glory, that’s a huge celebration!!!!

— 7 —

Last week I cut my hair.  It’s been long for quite a while this time.  I only went to my shoulders, long layered.  It’s so FUN!  My head feels so light and when I drive with the windows down I can still see what’s in front of me.  I love a good haircut.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Clean eating….

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Day 2 of my “clean living” venture.  So far so good.  Though it IS Day 2.  I am queen of sticking to something for about a week or two and then it’s back to my wicked ways….THIS time, however, with hubby home I have an accountability partner.  So, that’s always good when one may reach for that Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream in the freezer. perhaps.

Oxygen magazine has a great “Off the Couch” publication with really good articles, very motivating.  Now, I don’t aspire to be a competitive bodybuilder or fitness model, but will be thrilled to be COMFORTABLE in my jeans this winter, to have more energy and to be healthier.  Here are a few things that are different “this time”:

  • Hubby’s home.  Statistically, with spousal moral support people do better at sticking to diet and exercise changes. Right?  Common sense says yes……..let’s go with that!!
  • I have a PLAN this week.  Each day, in fact!  There is a weight watchers saying, “If you fail to plan then plan to fail”.(also attributed to Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill, Carl W. Buechner, and Harvey MacKay–in varying versions)
  • My kids are on board.  H.U.G.E. Now to slowwwwwwly introduce them to more exciting vegetables, etc.
  • I’ve already been pretty consistent on my workout routine for the past month, time to add good nutrition.
Some things to still incorporate:   journaling what and when I eat.  Purging the “junk” from the house so as not to tempt me.  Incorporating the meals I am making to the entire family.  Baby steps.  You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time…
Phillipians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!