Arrows in the Making (AIM)
We may not be perfect, but our prayer and aspiration is to empower and inspire Christian families to sharpen, target, and launch themselves, their children, and future generations—along with a sprinkle of fun for good measure!
Christ serves as the ultimate role model for living boldly and courageously in faith. You are not alone in your desire to nurture your family in the faith and to raise your children in a countercultural way!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2, ESV
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate." Psalms 127:3-6, ESV
Arrows in the Making (AIM)
17. The Year of Unexpected Transitions
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We reunite after a year-long hiatus to share the whirlwind of changes our family has experienced. From career transitions and education milestones to homesteading adventures and parenting revelations, we reflect on how our carefully planned future compressed into rapid, transformative action.
• Transitioning from a two-year plan to a two-week reality when Cody took a teaching position
• Completing a master's degree and starting a doctoral program in history
• Beginning our homesteading journey with 40 chickens, fruit trees, and garden plans
• Switching homeschooling responsibilities and adjusting to new family dynamics
• Converting our garage into a bedroom to accommodate our growing family
• Surviving memorable parenting moments including an oven fire and toddler mishaps
• Finding a church community and celebrating our children's spiritual milestones
• Balancing the paradox of wanting little ones to grow while cherishing older children's stages
We're excited to be recording regularly again, creating both a family time capsule for our children and sharing our journey with listeners. Join us as we navigate faith, family, and the unexpected twists of life together.
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Email us questions, content suggestions and prayer requests at arrowsinthemakingministry@gmail.com
Be blessed!
Hello and welcome back to our Castellani family podcast and it's called Arrows in the Making.
Speaker 2It has been a little over a year since we made one yeah, I guess so, because I think we ended in August was our last one of 2020, I thought it was in. Christmas three. Well, yeah, I guess so because we did. Yeah, it was Christmas because, we did Christmas movies.
Speaker 1We rated our top Christmas movies yeah, that's probably one of my favorite ones, other than our families. Our kids are playing in the room. If you hear a squeal, they got a new room, which is part of our schedule, but they're playing in the room and they love it so much so welcome back. We took about a year year and a half off and we wanted to reconnect and restart this for our family because we have so much fun doing it.
Speaker 1So this is going to be like a recovery recap episode of just what we've been doing the last year and a half or so.
Speaker 2Yeah, I feel like doing these for us is like a journal for our family when we're dead and gone.
Speaker 1Yeah, I feel like every day is getting closer and closer because I'm just so tired like all the time but it's also like a little midweek date for us.
Speaker 2Yeah, just kind of chit chat and give us a reason to like kick our kids out.
Speaker 3Like hey, we got to do this, we're going to do this thing for 20 minutes yeah, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Rapid Career Transitions
Speaker 2I really enjoy okay. So why we took a break? Why did we take a break? Well, life, well, we's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1I really enjoy it. Okay, so why we took a break? Why did we take a break Life? Well, we had a lot of moving pieces, a lot of three-year plans that turned into two-week plans. Yeah, Like literally it was a two-year plan for me to quit homeschooling, finish my master's and get a job. Yeah Well, a job in my career path that I want to do?
Speaker 1I applied for a job at a local school that I thought was going to be in August. I had just had surgery, I was. I had an interview January 3rd and they said, hey, can you start in 6?
Speaker 2days and I thought it was starting in 6 months.
Speaker 1So I was like, wow, okay, this is kind of fast. And I said, hey, can you start?
Speaker 2in six days? Yeah, and I thought it was starting in six months.
Speaker 1Yeah, so I was like, wow, okay, this is kind of fast.
Speaker 2When I look back on it, you know what I remember.
Speaker 1How I didn't want to do it.
Speaker 2How you weren't going to apply.
Speaker 1Because if I had taken this in my mind, if I had taken this job, our whole life would have to come to a crashing change within about 48 hours. Yeah, and me.
Speaker 2Being the planner that I am, I always thought like that's exactly how it would go, because I took it as god knows I need to release the reins and before that job ever came open, I remember telling my co-workers like this is how it's going to happen. I just have this weird feeling.
Speaker 1You have control issues.
Speaker 2I do, I have control issues and I just have this weird feeling like it is going to be a job that posts mid-year and he's going to have to start pretty quick. It did At my job. You had to give a 30-day notice. That was a whole other level of okay, well. Was.
Speaker 1COVID still there no.
Speaker 2No, COVID was basically over, but it was just another level layer of the unknowns. And how is it all going to work? But honestly, when we look back, I don't know. It was kind of cool to see like God had every step of the way and I had no doubt that that's what we were meant to do. And so when you said you weren't even going to apply, I honestly wanted to smack you through the phone. Well, it really was a blessing because it's within like a 20-minute drive.
Speaker 1It's local.
Speaker 2The schedule. They don't go to school on Mondays.
Speaker 1Yes, so we have an extra hour Tuesday through Friday, and that Monday allows you to work as a nurse on the floor.
Speaker 2Yep, yeah, I went back to bedside nursing.
Speaker 1It really fits hand in glove with what we needed and need now. I finished my master's degree in when? What month?
Speaker 3December, I mean this past.
Speaker 2December yeah, this is like three months ago, december 2024, which already feels like it was a year ago. Yeah, I feel like I've slept twice. Yeah.
Academic Achievements and Plans
Speaker 1And now I've entered again. My two-year plan turned into a three-month plan. Yeah, I've been accepted into a doctorate program for history in Virginia, and I'm really excited it's Liberty. University, which I am over the moon excited Because, when I've done more research, they are a very conservative Christian school.
Speaker 3They're very Politically active.
Speaker 2Yeah, they're politically active.
Speaker 1They're like the tip of the edge, it seems like, of having public speakers Like they don't shy away from controversial people.
Speaker 2No, they take a stand, which we're we're pretty big on, like don't shy away. I've never been the kind of person that had like a list of schools. Yeah.
Speaker 3I want to be accepted into it, like that was my number one school, yeah, and I got accepted into it and I'm just I start in May and it should be about three years.
Speaker 2I am just over the moon excited it's going to be three years.
Speaker 1Yeah, three and a half years, three years.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, that's pretty quick. I was expecting it to take longer.
Speaker 1Well, I don't know yet. We might have to have a class or two. No, you won't, so we'll see. I think you're going to completely nerd out. Yeah, and.
Speaker 2I am trying to mentally prepare myself for all the fun, random historical facts so that what we even did, that did.
Speaker 1You know John Adams was the president, was the lawyer to the Boston Massacre.
Speaker 2They got the Boston people like off the murder charge no, who knows that I didn't think we watched John Adams for fun.
Speaker 1We watched it for fun.
Speaker 2I know, but I love history like that, like when it's historical dramas. Yeah, when it's historical dramas, I mean it's totally squirreling, but when it's historical dramas like the Crown and I can Google. I also watched Victoria. So if you have any recommendations, holler, because now I'm done, but these historical dramas that you can like quick, google. Did that actually happen?
Speaker 1And you can like quick google. Did that actually happen? And you're like what?
Speaker 3yeah, mic drop because they did no way. This is crazy. No, I think they. They uh had artistic expression for this.
Speaker 1Yeah, well, you can keep going. I'm sorry, so we caitlin's having some sinus issues because we had two jobs today.
Speaker 3One was double our chicken pen oh, we got chickens, by the way. Was double our chicken pen. Oh, we got chickens, by the way.
Speaker 1Double our chicken pen or clean out the winter layered foot and a half of chicken poo.
Speaker 2And Caitlin got the chicken poo job, so now she's all sinuses. I am. It's bad.
Speaker 1We also agreed to buy five chickens and Caitlin brought 40.
Speaker 2We'll get into that.
Speaker 1And is there anything else to fast forward the last year I've been teaching for just over a year now at a school and I love it.
Speaker 2I love the content, I love it.
Speaker 1There's some good productive conversations from time to time in class. One thing is that's really grasping the school. Maybe we can do like a political one but we can cover it more. But it's called bell to bell, no cell that Huckabee Sanders has passed and teachers are so excited no phones at all from bell to bell of the classroom, not even in between classes or in the bathroom, or in cafeteria. Yeah, so that would be a political one we could get into.
Speaker 2So as far as my side of things, obviously, with you going to full-time teaching, that transitioned you out of home, which means I had to transition to home and start homeschooling our kiddos yeah, we transitioned what you're hilarious. So yeah, that's happened and it's been quite the rollercoaster.
Speaker 1I love. I know she's having a rough day when.
Speaker 2I get a text that says something like I'm so sorry I wasn't giving more grace. Oh no, and I was like, wow, I was having a rough day. I think we do have a unique.
Speaker 1We need to post that picture of the oven on our facebook page yeah, that'll be our welcome back everything's been fine and then that picture yeah, we'll get into the picture.
Speaker 2I'm sorry um, I don't know what I was saying. I was saying I knew you're having a rough day oh yeah, we have a unique perspective, I think, because you did it for a year and a half two years before I did, and so that's made you more graceful yes or it's hard. Yeah, like you understand when you get home why I'm ready to like clock out and you're it.
Speaker 1You're like you literally hand me a baby and the chef says I'm going to my room for a minute, or like if we're at Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker 2So our boys do Jiu Jitsu now and it's literally every day. If you can go every day, but because I have the littles I do not dare um, but the days that I do. When he walks through the door of the jiu-jitsu place I literally like release edison to the wild and say go get your dad.
Speaker 1All right, let's go, screams daddy, and I'm just cheering more edison or Caitlin Mama. She's like yes, dad's here, mama is cheering that daddy is here, but I get coffee, so I'm good yeah.
Speaker 2So that's happened. Yes, we started. I mean, if you want to call it a homestead, we're trying to get there.
Speaker 1We're step one and you know what. Any finished homestead.
Speaker 2you have to take the first step, you know the thing is like we actually have done more than I realize. We did plant 12 fruit trees. So we have a little orchard and we planted several nut trees Pretty much. I'm pretty sure half of my fruit trees died.
Speaker 1I would say at least two. The peaches are harder yeah. But either way, so we did do that.
Speaker 2We've done a lot of work on our land to try to clean it up. I have lots of dreams.
Speaker 1We currently have garlic and onion. Yes, garlic we're going to do onion and potatoes. We cleared out the back line.
Homeschooling and Family Life Changes
Speaker 2We did a lot of land work this summer, yeah but I also know that I am a go big, go home kind of personality. I am all in. So with the chickens, chickens, we got chickens. Cody said we would never have chickens. I remember the one time you said I could, it was either have another baby or chickens and you got both and eventually I got both, but that was with rosalind during covid yeah, I did anyway.
Speaker 2so here we are. I did order, well, we set up five, but then we had our little family planning meeting. Yeah, so Caitlin does the math, the math.
Speaker 3I'm doing air quotes.
Speaker 1The math says it's cheaper if I buy 50, because the $10 shipping charges are waived. If we buy 50 as opposed to five.
Speaker 2It is, it's true. So we went from that to we ended up getting 35. And then there was a breed I really wanted.
Speaker 1Yeah, this breed cost me about $200. It was lavender orpingtons. Google them. They are gorgeous. It was a 15-minute drive down the road. That turned into an hour drive down the road.
Speaker 2I didn't realize it was so far but even if it was, it was fine to buy lunch cody was not happy with it on the way there, but then once we got the little chicks he was not sad about it so we spent I don't know, probably it was a good whole day 30 bucks in gas to get there, yeah 50 bucks in lunch for all of our kids to eat 30 bucks in gas to get back I don't care, they've been fun we just gave one away today.
Speaker 1I was just thinking about we literally just gave one away. I was waiting for you.
Speaker 2They're absolutely gorgeous, so we we ended up with two meters like 40 chickens. Yeah, we ended up having like 10 roosters one died, two died, one got trapped one. We don't know what happened and one got attacked by some kind of animal, and then we just got rid of four today, finally, Four roosters, because there's just too many. Yeah, they were just causing issues. Yeah, I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker 1They were plucking all the feathers off their backs. The hens, oh my poor hens.
Speaker 2Anyway, so.
Speaker 3Let's roll back.
Speaker 2We actually have done a lot more than what it feels like, and I think what I've learned with homesteading, if you want to call it that is, it does. It's so small. Yeah, you can't just do it all. You've got to pick two projects a year and kind of work on that. Or like the garden while I would love to have a huge garden, I planned one out on my Excel spreadsheet and had it all planned out.
Speaker 1I did. I sent you a screenshot, I did. She had a 25, I had my pathways.
Speaker 2I had what was gonna be planted where, but, like ultimately I don't know what I'm doing, so we're gonna start with the garlic, which has been in since october it looks good like we cleared a bunch of trees on the back line and a bunch on the side yeah, that's the neighbors. We also made it sound like we have a ton of land.
Speaker 1We have an acre let me tell you something but you can do a lot with an acre it's thick brush now my dream list.
Speaker 2I want some honeybees no I want some cut flower gardens. Okay, I want flowers can't hurt me I want turkeys I can kill a turkey I was gonna get turkeys this year, but then I didn't realize how expensive they were. So yeah, so anyway it's mainly been she's working on ghost next, but I do but I think I want sheep instead, because sheep don't try to escape and then you can well, they're stubborn, but anyway, so that's been a lot of our change dumb and stubborn a lot.
Speaker 1I feel like you just entered, invented a new word, so we got that going, which is nice we are we're trying to plan future things um, so I would love to get my doctorate, and when that's done, become a college professor or um adjunct or online. I would love to like be able to teach my underwear on the couch like just do online school you know I've read that like anywhere between 30 and 50 percent of total students are online now.
Our Homesteading Adventures Begin
Speaker 2Yeah, I believe that. So I think the future is going to be weird to go in person. Yeah, no, I think that's definitely a thing. I think these colleges are going to see like a shift, it's going to be a ghost town, in school.
Speaker 1So there might still be like on campus, but it'll be on campus. I think you're going to shift from traditional classes. You're going to see like more coffee lounges.
Speaker 2Yeah, I could see that.
Speaker 1So, like you're going to have, like 50, 100 students in a coffee lounge doing their online work at the same time, the same place.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1As opposed to a lecture setting.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1I think that's what you'll see.
Speaker 2I'm not opposed. And Jordan Pearson is actually starting his own online school. I saw that it's a subscription based.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm not sure if you can transfer credit, but I thought about it.
Speaker 2I don't know if it's there yet but I think that's the direction, yeah yeah, I think that's the direction but anyways, so I'm trying to see where we are.
Speaker 1so what else we got? Okay, so we added stuff for our home. We've just, I feel like we've made three years of changes in like a year. Yeah, it's funny because when I look at like friends of mine that have had a rough year, well, it's not as rough it's been hard, no, but I guess that's what I look at are.
Speaker 2Sometimes it's easy for me to minimize, maybe, how crazy it's been in the last year because it's all been good things. You know what I mean. But even good things all happening back to back to back is a lot of change yeah and so it can be feel a little crazy. Even though they're not bad, it's still stressful, it still can be a struggle like. Coming home for me has been a lot harder than I thought it would be, and that will be an episode in and of itself.
Speaker 1I literally like my first. I think I'm having my first ever panic attack yes, I gotta sit down.
Speaker 2I don't know what this is. I think I'm having my first ever panic attack. Yes, like I got to sit down. I don't know what this is.
Speaker 1I think I'm having a panic attack.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1It was right at the beginning, or I think it was right around when I was finishing like a week from graduating I was having issues with my school stuff and everything got resolved and I graduated like a near 4.0. But I was like I think I'm having a near 4.0, but, um, I was like I think I'm having a bad attack it's like it just all kind of yes, yeah and it's like you can't breathe when you have so much change happening at the same time yeah, it's like I expect everything to go wrong.
Speaker 1I expect not to be a smooth day, I expect not because it's bad, because like if one of a hundred
Speaker 2things goes wrong, we'll throw everything off. Yeah, but we also joined a church. I don't know if where were we going?
Speaker 3I don't know when were we going. We joined a church in our hometown and they love everything about it.
Speaker 1Our pastor is currently in Israel or just came back. Yeah, which Just getting back, yeah, which we pregnant. That's scary.
Speaker 2Both of our boys have been saved.
Speaker 1Oh, yeah, and baptized.
Speaker 2Yeah, I don't again. I don't know what timeline.
Speaker 1I don't remember it was last Christmas, it wouldn't have been that long, yeah. So yeah, it's 2023.
Speaker 2Early 2024.
Speaker 1They joined FFA 4-H, 4-h oh, 4-h oh yeah, jiu-jitsu Watson is passionate about cooking and painting, so even this week we're going to a cooking class for him and a painting class for him.
Speaker 2One of our friends is doing the painting class.
Speaker 1Winston is really loving he's finishing his.
Speaker 3Harry Potter series, and every time he finishes a book, we watch it.
Speaker 2He tells us the whole time it's like this is better than the book, because you don't know this but he's thinking this or they miss this, or they miss this.
Speaker 1He's making an editor's note for JK Rowling oh, they've been doing their. They did a presentation next month. Oh yeah, they're doing a presentation for Winston Churchill and someone else.
Speaker 2Yeah, watson is doing, obviously Winston's doing, winston Churchill, watson's doing, whoever the DNA.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3Watson and.
Speaker 1Crick, yeah, they just have the DNA strands. Yeah, so reading it's just weird Because you don't think they're old enough to be doing these things.
Speaker 2Well, I think that's okay. So something that I have learned, I guess. Well, I feel like I'm. I feel like this whole last year, year and a half, has been a very sanctifying year yeah, of learning all my shortcomings um and then seeing them come alive in my children.
Speaker 1But it's always fun to have a mirror around you it's exhausting.
Speaker 2but anyway, one thing that's been on my mind, I guess, is like it's like you know, time does not pause, Like I know time does not pause, but still feeling like it's paused. But then Winston's going to be 10, and now Edison's going to be 3. I mean, we've still got a little while before that happens, because it's in september and december but like I don't know, I don't know how to explain it.
Speaker 2It's just like this weird feeling of I feel like I've been waiting for my I'm waiting for the kids to reach a certain age, like I'm tired of the little years, to be honest, like I'm ready for edison to be older. But in being edison being older, that means winston and and Watson and Rosalind are also getting older 12, 15. And so it's like this weird paradox of wanting one to stay 10 and wanting the other to age older, and you can't have it.
Speaker 1You can't put a positive one and fast forward the other Right.
Speaker 2And so just trying to juggle through, like how do I enjoy these little years with edison while I have them, without foregoing the older years that I have with when I? Don't know I'm not explaining it very well, but it's just a weird it's me.
Speaker 1It feels like I'm trying to like hold sand that makes sense, like I'm grabbing on to like the edison, like pulling him up to where I'm at, yes, and I'm losing, yes the other ones yeah, and so, like I say, you know, I'll do more with winston and watson and rosalind when edison gets older.
Speaker 2But then, while I'm waiting for edison to get older, that means my older kids are also getting older, and so it's this weird dynamic of how to blend it all together to make sure I'm giving the olders what they need without not giving edison what he needs, and then making sure edison get the olders what they need without not giving Edison what he needs, and then making sure Edison gets what he needs is a little, without missing out on time with my olders. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1No, so there's this if I'm just waiting, it's waiting all I'll ever do.
Speaker 2Right, and then it's like well, what did I do?
Speaker 1with this time period of waiting, season of waiting. And then it's like okay, boom, well, good, he's old enough. Now the other ones who I've wasted four years waiting, yes, now what?
The Infamous Kitchen Fire Story
Speaker 2yeah, so I'm thankful for the 4-h and the jujitsu and the plenty of these yeah, these little classes, and let me tell you those little the jitsu has been so fun to watch.
Speaker 1Yeah, it is, it's a lot of fun so I'm trying to think, yeah, garage chickens.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, so garage Mm-hmm. Okay, so poor Edison has been a closet baby. Yeah, harry Potter baby. Thankfully, my closet in our bathroom is pretty big, and so we've had a playpen set up in there and he's been able to sleep. That was his nursery, was our closet, for I mean a good two.
Speaker 1I mean two years for two years and he just for people. We could have fit several playpens in your closet.
Speaker 2It's huge oh yeah, no, it's not like no, but I just a broom closet. He literally had a playpen and that's it. Yeah, because we had other stuff in there.
Speaker 1Yeah um, we had too many kids yeah, no no, I mean like, not like too much. We had too many for what our home could give us.
Speaker 2Yes, and so we have prayed about it and contemplated, and you know pros and cons, for a long time, yeah, and finally just decided to take the plunge. Um, and I do think the lord has been faithful and you know, blessing that there were no hiccups. Um, we were right on budget we had a great builder so we knew very well what we did is converted our garage to be a very large bedroom it's like 30 by 30, uh-huh for four it added 500 square feet to our home.
Speaker 1it's enough for um a 10 by 12 jiu-jitsu mat to look small in their floor, yeah.
Speaker 2And so, you know, we moved the older boys, so eight and nine-year-olds, out to the garage with some Watson, and then that allowed Edison to move into their old room the shuttle deck.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And so now he's in his own room. It kind of made me sad for a little while, but they did an amazing job in the garage.
Speaker 1It doesn't look or feel like it. It looks like a large sunroof.
Speaker 2Yeah, and it actually was a very smooth. Yeah, it was really good. Process. There's no, it was a little crazy. You know people coming in and of your house, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be it was really fast yeah, and it didn't take very long, um, so that's nice, but yeah, so that's part of you know some of the things.
Speaker 1That's before we move on the homeschool thing and life at home, because I want to put that picture up on our facebook. I want you to give context to that picture, real quick, of the oven picture oh yeah, funny.
Speaker 2I feel like I guess for those days I'm like hey, honey I'm texting caitlin how's it going today?
Speaker 1hope you have a good day and all I get back is this picture. Yeah, and that's not even the only thing that happened that day.
Speaker 2So I was in roslyn's room. Well, I had okay, I had the oven on to get lunch ready, because we do chicken nuggets and frozen pizza and easy lunch, okay. And so I had the oven on to get it ready. I went to Rosalyn's room to help her clean her room, because, of course, she was pitching a fit about it. And so I'm like, well, I'll just help you. And the next thing, I know, I smell something weird, like a chemical?
Speaker 1Yeah, it was. It was like a weird smell.
Speaker 2And so I come in here and you know we have like an island in front of our oven so I can't see in the oven, but I see that it's open. And then I come around the corner and I see Edison with things in his hand and a little pile next to him. And then I look in the oven and honestly it kind of took me a second to even realize what was happening. But there were flames, because Edison has a liking to one fire, he's obsessed with fire.
Speaker 1It's very strange for a two-year-old, he's a hundred percent boy. Yes, he likes to be naked and fight. Not fight but wrestle and be aggressive and fire.
Speaker 2By naked we mean a diaper only.
Speaker 1Yeah, he likes to wear a diaper and run around his house.
Speaker 2Anyway, anyway, I'm looking in and all of a sudden I see a pair or one. Rosalind shoe, her favorite shoe, a edison shoe, um a bottle of medicine thank the lord, was not flammable.
Speaker 2Yeah, and then a bag of grapes um a new box like a whole thing of sam's, so like sam's grapes so a giant thing of grapes and I think there's something else in there and, honestly, the first thing I did it's like I know what I need to do. Okay, it's a fire, you put it out, whatever, but for some reason my mind went to I need to call my mom because, one. She needs to know about this. Two I can't even process what's happening right now because I was just trying to clean roslyn's room.
Speaker 1And three what the heck like I love like I can either put out this fire or take a picture of this.
Speaker 2Take a picture and call my mom. What do I do? Yes, call my mom, and so she said something about like we'll throw flour or whatever, which I did, and it just made a giant mess. Well, that's what I ended up doing. I got tongs and put them in the sink and you know it's fine, it's over. But then later that day I'm giving Edison a bath because we've been outside, it's nice out, we're playing and he's disgusting, and so I give him a bath. And then it was close to when you were coming home.
Speaker 1You asked bath and then it was close to when you were coming home you asked me to make coffee. Yes, okay, I was like hey, if you don't mind, because I survived.
Speaker 2Yes, so I was giving him the bath. I realized I forgot to make the coffee, so I hurry up and get him out and I just dry him off. Well, of course, he's a little boy well, baby any baby. He like takes the towel and just throws it off and runs around naked and I'm like I don't care, it only takes five minutes to make coffee and then I'll get him. Well, I'm adhd or whatever you want to call it, it doesn't matter or I'm just a mom yeah and so I go to make the coffee and then I'm like, oh, this shirt needs to be folded.
Speaker 1Oh, yes, I'm like, oh, the dishes.
Speaker 2let me do these real quick, it won't take long. And then, oh, I need to get dinner started. That won't take long. And next thing I know, 30 minutes have gone by and I one haven't seen Edison.
Speaker 1Which is up to no good. Yes, that's shenanigans. I don't hear Edison. That's definitely shenanigans.
Speaker 2And then I'm like, oh, he's without a diaper. This is not good. So I go looking for him and I open our bedroom door and now, granted, he's used to going in there Because that's where he would go to bed, in my closet, and, you know, I kept some of his toys in there, and so that's where he's used to being. And so I go in there, I open it and the smell like hits me. Love that the smell hits me. Love that the smell hits me. And I don't even want to look. But the next thing I know, edison is walking towards me, going yuck, yuck, with his fingers spread out Because he's got poop in his hands.
Parenting Revelations and Future Plans
Speaker 1Awesome.
Speaker 2And then I look down and there's a trail. Because he pooped on our bedroom floor, stepped in it.
Speaker 1Played in it.
Speaker 2Put his hands in it and then because he stepped in it. I have a trail, adorable little poop I remember sending cody a white flag and saying I am done today.
Speaker 2I think I said something really supportive like so you're having a crappy day yeah, and then I got nothing back for a couple hours so that's been the transition of being full-time at home and or full-time at work in an office, closing the door when you don't want to be bothered to a baby, throwing things in the oven and catching them on fire and pooping and walking all over the floor. So that's been our year? Yeah, it's been a really good year.
Speaker 1We've checked a lot of the things off our box, things we never thought would happen anytime soon with the master's doctorate cody loves chickens um yeah, it's been nice with the chickens they're very much more relaxing than I thought they were going to be. Yeah, um, they have little personalities.
Speaker 2They're fun to watch, especially when there's like flies or a bug. Yeah, they like chase it.
Speaker 1We knew these things would happen, but not as fast as they did, which is awesome to see. We love the church we go to. We're taking on more responsibilities in our church, just trying to think. So yeah, we have some ideas of maybe some specials we want to do for our podcast involving homeschool, maybe politics and maybe just culture stuff. And thank you guys.
Speaker 1We check in from time to time to see if anybody's even listening to this Surprisingly came on text and like hey, a week ago we had 17 listeners from Idaho or something weird.
Speaker 2It's like oh, that's weird why are they listening to that, especially when we haven't done it for a year?
Speaker 1But we're going to get more active in this, and it's something we both look forward to and really enjoy. But now things have slowed down. We've got a routine at work with the weekly responsibilities, with teaching and lesson planning, what that looks like, and then getting graduated and getting home and establishing our home routine just every day with education, and then tuesday it's jiu-jitsu, thursday it's cooking class or you know, and it's all good things.
Speaker 1But you know, we really need to take a step back to establish our own routine before we add it onto it yeah and so we check a lot off the box and I'm very excited to see what the next year is going to look like. Why?
Speaker 2are you shaking your head? I'm not. Oh, you shook your head. No, I did. Yeah, oh, no, I don't think so. It's probably a curl falling in my face and I had to move it.
Speaker 1I did forget. I usually ask a question for you, since I'm scared with everything that's happening in the world today. Who killed?
Speaker 2jfk.
Speaker 3Oh my gosh, because they released 18 did it 80, 80, I've heard things of israel, george bush's father.
Speaker 2Why would israel?
Speaker 1something about denuclearization, oh um.
Speaker 2What was the theory you had a theory about? Like well, we don't need to get into all that, that's a whole other can of worms. But like he wanted to audit Fort Knox or something. He said he was going to audit Fort Knox, which now they're going to do that now Thirteen days later he ended up dead.
Speaker 3He also owed favors to the mafia.
Speaker 1I've never seen someone who a hundred different people plausibly could have killed someone.
Speaker 2Like legit, like there's evidence, not just thoughts.
Speaker 1Like there's evidence of a hundred different murderers.
Speaker 2Cody really likes conspiracy theories. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1Oh, one more thing before we stop.
Speaker 3Uh-huh.
Speaker 1For the, for I guess my mom and your mom who listens to this when we put this out they found like 800 foot spiral columns.
Speaker 2Oh my gosh, I've heard about this about 20 times from you know, under the pyramids 800 foot.
Speaker 1There's like 16 spiral columns.
Speaker 2Why do they need to be spiraled, like their steps, like stair steps?
Speaker 1I don't know why. That's what the social information suggests. So, um, we plan to get much more active. I think we decided what once to get a slow active. I think we decided what once to get a slow start.
Speaker 2I don't know. I don't want to put a number on it.
Speaker 1We're going to get a routine and then build up on it.
Speaker 2Yes, but we will be active. But my ultimate goal for me because I can't see this any certain way or else it becomes like a project, but my ultimate goal for me is honestly to have like a diary for our kids yeah, and to hear they would love to hear about how much you love home school here last year they should know how hard it is it was so hard and that they should appreciate all that I've done for them some things are good to hear.
Speaker 1Now.
Speaker 2We're eight something, so don't get another 30 yes but I mean, I think it's a good way for them to be able to you know.
Speaker 1You don't want to be sold a bill of goods. Like hey, this is what you're getting into. We love every minute of it, but it was hard. Yes, but I also just think as they get older, hopefully they'll want to know about their family and their parents, and you know how we lived our life and the decisions that we made and how we made them, and we try to keep god at the center and, you know, like going through I don't say coded, like the trump presidency or whatever the next thing's going to be.
Speaker 3What was that like as a parent of young?
Speaker 1kids. How did you navigate that? Yeah, we have this yeah because no one can read my handwriting amen, and apparently I missed I misspell everything on my text. Even talking about like doctoral stuff, I misspell stuff yep, yeah, you need spell check severely.
Speaker 2Actually you have it and just choose not to listen to it and everyone that loves you just has to learn how to decipher your texting see, they got it you could invent a new language.
Speaker 3So, yeah, be on the lookout, whatever we decide to do.
Speaker 1We will be routinely doing that thing, whether it's once, a month, twice a month twice a day, whatever it is. It ain't going to be twice a day. I can tell you that right now I'm joking.
Speaker 2It ain't going to be.
Speaker 3Whatever it is, whenever we establish.
Speaker 1We are going to do that thing. So it will be consistent whenever we decide, and we already have some ideas of future podcasts.
Speaker 2So it's going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1We're going to have more contemporary things going on in the world and some specials. We have some specials in mind, some really cool things I think that's another reason we have short pause.
Final Thoughts and Prayer
Speaker 2Well, it wasn't short for me it feels short for me it does. I needed, I needed to have a clear direction on what this is for me to feel comfortable, because I don't like to, I don't like to be showy, you know, um, yeah, so I needed for myself, I needed to pray about this, and what's it going to look like and what is it really and what's the purpose. And the purpose is not look how good we are, this is how you should do things.
Speaker 1We only be our kid. We only snapped at our kids seven times today.
Speaker 2The purpose is honestly for me, for our kids to have something to refer back on and if other people want to join the journey of listening, great, if not totally fine. It's fun for us to do and I hope our kids appreciate it as they get older.
Speaker 1Alrighty, I'm going to say a quick prayer and I think we're going to end it there.
Speaker 1Yeah, alrighty, I'm going to say a quick prayer and I think we're going to end it there.
Speaker 1Okay, alright, jesus, thank you so much for today and thank you for this. Whatever this is, I thank you that we are getting back into it. We love it so much. We love being able to talk about our family and the things we're doing and how we're trying to keep you at the center and live the way you want us to live, lord, and I just pray that we can magnify and work by you through it, and I thank you for the many changes we've had in the last year, and I could just, looking back on the other side of it, see how you were in control the entire time, and I knew it in the moment you were in control of things, but I didn't, I didn't understand, I didn't think it would work out the way it did, and again looking back and see how you were in total control of everything, lord, uh, thank you for those that have been with us this last year and the people we met this last year that quickly become very close friends of ours through our church stuff.
Speaker 1And I just pray you'd be with us in our endeavors going forward that we can again just honor you and magnify you. I just keep enjoying doing this and I just praise you for all the blessing you've given us in our family, in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2Amen, tell it as it says it.