Tag: Nature

Moms-Only Trip
Life · Travel

Moms-Only Trip

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Take time off. The world will not fall apart without you.

Malebo Sephodi
Sisters!

This past weekend was our planned girls(moms)-only trip with 2 out of my 3 sisters and my sister in law. It was a trip we had begun planning back in April of this year, a trip that my mom wanted to take back when she was alive but we now fulfilled in memory of her. This trip was the first time that I had ever left my girls alone with Josh for the night. That’s 4 years of me not having a break from them, despite knowing that it was needed. To be honest I was reluctant to even consider taking this trip, I felt guilty and nervous even though I knew my husband is perfectly capable of taking care of them, I mean they are just as much his kids as they are mine. But I was struggling with this sense of guilt, I felt excited for going on a vacation and guilty for being excited.

To be perfectly honest the trip was fantastic. I got to bond with my sisters, two of which live out of state and I essentially only get to see on special occasions. I learned things I never knew before and I recharged on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. It was a vacation filled with walks on the beach, prayer, girl-talk and chick flicks. It was only one of the first times I feel I actually came back from a vacation relaxed and recharged instead of more exhausted than when I left.

One of the things that really stuck with me was my sister who said that she took similar trips like this or even just a day or few hours away from her kids when they were younger for the specific reason of letting her recharge.

I take these trips to become a better mother.

It wasn’t until I came home that I realized the accuracy of that statement. Toddlers are tough, they’re tough to raise and tough to handle and when your patience is already running on threads that are barely holding on, it is very easy to forget that they are in fact toddlers. It is easy to catch yourself beginning to expect a 4 year old to have the understanding of someone two or three times their age instead of taking the time to explain something and teach them what they are trying to learn. This vacation has been a big eye-opening reminder of that and I hope that I can continue going forward with that reminder to become a better mother and teach for my girls. I am relaxed and recharged and ready to go.

The view from my window
Life

The view from my window

Deby Ciui (Chewy)1 Comment
Rain and wind from hurricane Ian

For 8 hours a day (minus breaks to get up and move around), I work from my desk. I made the decision to re-arrange my office one day and pushed my desk against the wall so that I have a nice view out the windows and the decision was absolutely worth it. It gives me the opportunity of breaking up the monotony of working with views from outside the window. Last Friday I worked while watching the winds from hurricane Ian bending the trees in our yard and sending branches flying by, thankfully we were more on the outskirts so just lots of wind and rain. Then one night last year I was even able to witness a very bright meteorite light up the night sky That was a pretty cool thing to see.

Squirrel enjoying a pinecone bird feeder the girls made

Some times the view is pretty much the same, yard, trees, sunlight. Sometimes you see the neighbors, or someone walking through the park. Sometimes you find dogs on the lose scavenging in your yard (yes this has happened). There are also times one of the kids from the neighborhood tries to sneak up on the house and play ding-dong-ditch, that made me laugh until they did it when Emily was taking her nap. But my favorite thing to see is all the different wild life that shows up. I enjoy it so much that I have set up many things to attract more animals in view as well, lots of bird feeders and seeds. Unfortunately, this caused me to make the mistake of doing an amazon subscription on bird seed and well… I now have several bags of it it my garage.

One of my favorite reasons for living in a more rural area is getting to enjoy the sights that you don’t really see very often in a more crowded city or town. Every spring I get to see does and their fawns playing in our backyard and sometimes even see them in the middle of the day. I’ve seen opossums, owls, several cats and the occasional fox. Squirrels have apparently taken refuge in our yard, I once counted 6 different ones all spread out across the yard. They’re a comical bunch and I enjoy having them around, up until its gardening time when they like to steal my tomatoes.

Birds at the bird feeder guest starring Phoenix the cat

As someone who also has a very active imagination, I’ll admit I’ve also had those moments where I can get lost looking out the window and just daydreaming in another world. Sometimes the lighting and view is just right to trigger that creative spirit and I’ll be thinking of adventures and plots and characters.

A short story is what you see when you look out of the window.

Mavis Gallant
Weekend Getaway
Life · Travel

Weekend Getaway

Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment
I say cheese and this is how she responds.

Everyone must have some place they immediately gravitate towards. For some it may be beaches, and don’t get me wrong I love beaches too and I love relaxing in the sun, but that darn sand getting everywhere makes it so hard to want to go often. For the Ciui(Pronounced Chewy) House our go to will probably always be mountains.

What is your go-to vacation spot?

We just love the mountains. We love camping (tents) and we love cabins. Granted, I probably enjoy cabins a lot more than I enjoy tents but you really can’t beat being surrounded by nature and the spectacular view.

Happy Birthday!

We had a weekend getaway this weekend. I wasn’t able to take more than one day off from work but thanks to Airbnb we were able to turn our 3-day weekend into a 3rd birthday getaway for Emily.

To be honest, the weekend totally snuck up on me and I was NOT prepared. The week has been a rush of laundry, packing, and I didn’t even have a chance to think about what we would do in our little cabin. Then found out that forecast showed thunderstorms so that also put a crimp in out plans.

Mouse Trap! Fun for all ages.

But with 2 small kiddos it’s not about trying to cram in all the things you can do in one short weekend, it’s more about doing things the whole family can enjoy. Like visiting nearby farm, or having fun with bubbles or just having a family game night and hanging out playing board games, Mouse Trap is the current favorite. Honestly, I’ve learned not the stress the big things with these kids. I might like to show them new experiences and go and see new things and we still do those things. But they are also perfectly happy relaxing and hanging out in the “cute tiny cabin” as they call it. Of course the birthday cake and presents helped.

Bubbles!

Overall, I think the weekend getaway was needed by all four of us. Having fun at the Darnell farm, spending time together while not being stuck in the house that we’re in every minute of every day was needed. Taking a break from the monotony of our usual routine has been both literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air.