Thankful Thursday

 

Short and to the point today:

 

1.  I am thankful for strength from day to day.

2.  I am thankful for baby giggles and toddler grins.

3.  I am thankful for the husband and father Jason is and is becoming.

4.  I am thankful for the wisdom God has given me and Jason to train and guide and direct our children in the journey of life.

5.  I am thankful for technology.

6.  I am thankful for “old fashioned” paper and pencil, too.

7.  I am thankful for the knowledge I am gaining and sharing about essential oils.

8.  I am thankful for spring!  (Even though the mud makes things so messy!!!)

9.  I am thankful for clothes that fit just the way I like them.

10. I am thankful for the amazing changes I have seen in my husband and myself in the last 6 months to a year.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

A Game of RISK, and Stress Away

 

RISK.  It’s not a game to play with toddlers around.  So many tiny pieces.  The board is so easily bumped and jostled.  I bought the game for myself as a birthday present, using the money I received as gifts from family.  I first discovered how much I love playing RISK in November or December of 2011.  I played online almost non-stop for weeks.  Since then I’ve wanted to purchase the board game to play with the older kids and friends.

 

Well, I read the instructions, because I’m a nerd like that, and decided that I would not be able to play with anyone of the family, except Jason, Kristyn and Cora.  And even then it would have to be the short or beginner’s version.  None of them have long attention spans.  “Rolling dice is boring.” lol.  So, I decided that after the four little ones went to bed, the older girls and I would play one round; Jason decided to join us as well and we were thrilled!

 

I tried to get them to play quietly, but you know how well that works with squeal-y girls who get to miss bedtime.  Before we knew it, Marrissa was up and begging to come play too.  I held firm and sent her back to bed.  Well, she decided to play the tummy ache, bad dreams, thinking about fires cards.  I had already put Peace & Calming or RutaVaLa (both essential oil blends) on her feet when I tucked her in.  I ignored her cries and pleas.  Finally, I realized she had herself so worked up that she was going to be physically sick.  I grabbed the Stress Away Roll-On on my way to the bedroom.  I told her to put it on her wrists, rub them together and then to lay down on her pillow.

 

I talked to her a little, calmed her down some, but she was still sniffling and sobbing and fairly worked up when I left her to return to my game of RISK.  It wasn’t very long (only a turn or two) and I realized I hadn’t heard anything from her bedroom for a while.  Sure enough, I would say in under 10 minutes, she was sound asleep.  She even mentioned the next morning how quickly she fell asleep after I gave her that oil blend.

 

I love it!

 

Oh and I won the RISK game, too. :)

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

A great suggestion

 

There was one day this last week where I found myself fighting with Cora about doing two rather simple (review) pages of math.  They were subtraction questions.  It wasn’t just dawdling.  It was all out, “I am NOT going to do this”, laying on the chair, sobbing, crying, fussing.  This carried on for about  3 hours.  Finally I did give her a break, thinking she needed to spend some time with just Mom, I took her for a walk to get the mail or something.  Well, when we got home things still hadn’t changed; it was still the same attitude and still the same struggle, but those two pages did get done before bedtime that night.

 

As we moms often do, I lamented on Facebook my struggle.  I got some great suggestions.

 

A} cover half the page and play beat the clock.  Basically, time the first half of the page and when doing the second half, try to beat that time.

B} If the first beat the clock doesn’t work, break the page down further, only uncovering one line of questions at time.

C} Work in a different chapter of the book, covering a different topic altogether.  Give the mind and review work a break and learn a new concept.

 

So the next day, I offered Option C.  Cora took my offer.  Kristyn did not.  Guess who I had trouble with that day?  Kristyn!  HUGE SIGH!  But the day was not nearly as long as the day before with Cora.  Cora finished her pages in the new chapter in RECORD time!  I think it took her half an hour to do 2 pages.

 

On day three (today) of this saga, both girls chose to work in the new chapter.  Math work took less than an hour for both girls. I am so glad for the suggestions I received on Facebook that day!

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Getting A Routine Back: The Next Step

 

Last night it hit me.  My kids had taken over the house!  They were making the rules.  They were deciding what and where they were eating.  They decided when they were going to sleep.  Every time I asked someone to do something – laundry, dishes, clean up – I had a fight or argument on my hands.  The children had taken to violence – hitting each other when they didn’t get their way.  The screaming, the shouting, the disrespect was becoming more than I could bear.  The last straw was last night, when after I told them to shut down the computer, I found them watching a movie and camped out in the computer room prepared to sleep there.  I didn’t loose it.  I didn’t scream.  I didn’t holler.  I simply walked away, formulated a plan, and came back to tell them, “I am not happy about this.  Tomorrow we will be having a discussion and things WILL BE changing!”

 

So hears the plan:

 

Awake no later than 10AM. 

Dressed by 10:30AM. 

Eat, free time mixed with some chores until 1PM.

At 1PM, the children will be sitting at the table doing 2 pages in their math workbooks.  The baby will nap.  Once their 2 pages are completed, they are free to play, with exception for doing any chores I ask of them until suppertime.

After supper (around 6PM), there will be clean up, baths and bedtime routine.  Every child will be in bed between 8 and 8:30PM with lights out for the 4 youngest at 8:30PM.  The oldest two girls will have lights out at 10PM.  Lights out means NO ELECTRONICS, NO COMPUTER, NO BOOKS, NO TOYS!  The only exception is an audiobook.

 

I am writing this post at 2:45PM.  We started math just after 1PM, as planned.  Almost two hours later and the older two girls are getting close to finishing their math now.  It is simple addition, something they know how to do.  It is going to take a while to get back into this, but I feel a sense of relief already.  I can tell attitudes are settling down and there is a little more focus.  I have not really scheduled a lot into our day and I love that.  When I reorder our science stuff, I’ll be adding science assignments to our week as well.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Simplifying Life With (Many) Kids

 

Okay, time for something not fire related, specifically.

 

I was reading over at The Complete Guide for Imperfect Homemaking and read took notes from this post – 99 Ways to Simplify Life with Kids.  The following list is complied from that blog post.  I have listed the things that apply to, or that I want to apply to our family.  Some of these items I added from our own life but, honestly, most of them came from the 99 Ways list.  Thank you, Kelly, for such a great resource!

 

1. Ditch the high chair covers.  I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner!  Since moving into our rental home I have two highchairs currently.  Both have covers and I don’t like them!  I will be removing, cleaning and storing the covers for future use (in case I give or sell the chairs).
2. Rotate toys.  I NEED to do this!  We have received an abundance of toys and almost daily they are strewn across the basement floor.  Are they played with or just emptied?  Your guess is as good as mine.  I need to find a method that will work for us, but I plan to implement the ROTATE TOYS suggestion soon!!
3. Have less clothing.  Well, this one has been taken care of, to a certain extent.  As donations came in, we were careful not to let too much stay in the house.   This was HARD!  So many good, usable, name brand items came through.  I will need to pare down some, but it won’t be a lot.
4. Have one color of sock per child.  When you have six children, this gets difficult.  Now, Kristyn and Cora are close to the same size and could technically share a color.  I’m considering it.  Marrissa and Rayna are close enough to the same size that we are having some issues; they should be in distinctly different colors.  The boys are very different in size at this point and could share a color, if needed.  I’m working on this one too.
5. Sing hymns together while we work together.  We do a lot of chores together, at the same time.  I think this will be a great thing to add to our daily activities.  Right now (music needs to be replaced) I could create playlists on YouTube, or play Live365 stations.
6. Read Grace Based Parenting.  It’s on my TBR list at GoodReads.com.
7. Smile at your children when you are speaking to them.  I need to do this more.  Kristyn is feeling especially vulnerable in this area and seems to need my acceptance and my approval a lot lately.
8. Don’t expect perfection from them or from yourself.
9. Great a daily family rhythm.  This is happening naturally.  I love it, though I want to tweak it some.
10. Provide healthy snacks that the children can get for themselves.  Anyone who knows my kids, knows they are pretty independent.  And since I’ve been trying to change our eating to fruits and vegetables, this item is getting even easier!
11. Read the Little House series.  Before the fire the older girls had listened to the audio version of the whole series.  They’ve mentioned wanting to start over again at the beginning.  I think I may purchase the set for them (both book and audio).
12. Encourage daily outdoor play.
13. Confiscate toys that they fight over.  This is something I’ve done off and on for years.  I believe that clutter comes in different forms.  One form is fighting and bickering.  If a toy is the cause, it can go out.  I think it’s a good way to teach them to find better ways to deal with disagreements.  Now, this isn’t something I’m going to be pushing right away.  Right now my kids need to have their things around.  I will however confiscate and keep for a length of time and have a discussion about proper ways of handling issues.
14. Allow kids to clean up their own spills.  Even Matthias knows how to do this!
15. Expect them to eat what you are serving and eating.  This one is a little tougher for me because I can’t eat everything they can eat right now.  What I do try for, though, is to have something in the meal that everyone will like.  I do not make a special meal for anyone usually.  Occasionally, if they really hate what is being served they are allowed to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich or grilled cheese.
16. Let them get dirty.
17. Have a place for everything.  We are getting there in this house and in the new house, I am going to be pretty picky about what gets moved in and where it gets put!
18. Have less toys!  Yep, need to do this.
19. Have more craft stuff.  I’m not big on this, but I feel I need to change.  I need to let my kids create.  My two biggest issues:  storage and clean up.
20. Encourage them to make up plays and act them out.  The older girls are getting to a place now where this is starting to happen more and more!
21. Use your local library.  We use our local library.  When our house burnt we had a large number books from our library system in the house.  Very sad!  But very good.  I love that my kids love to read.
22. Keep library books in one place.  I used to do this!  I got away from it when the kids really started reading more on their own.  They wanted the books in their rooms.  And I can understand that too.  This one needs some thought.
23. Create a meal plan.  This is another one I used to do.  I need to get back to it.  Life is up in the air still.  This will come with time.  I hate having to think about what to make for supper every single night.
24. Bake more.  I have little bakers.  I need to let them get back to it.
25. Garden.  This year it’s going to be tough to find the time, but we’ll sneak a little of it in.
26. BBQ more.  Jason is on the “summer fun” committee of the local fire department this year!  We are excited!
27. Make play dough.  I think I’ll do this soon.
28. Tell them about your childhood.  My kids love to hear about things J or I did growing up.  Or about Uncle John.  They find it fascinating.
29. Tell them the stories of their birth.  They love to hear about their births and earlier years.
30. “Don’t bang on the doors.”  This is something I want to teach.  When I’m in the bathroom, leave me alone.  I’ll do the same for you!  Knock nicely, once.  And then wait.  We have two toilets now, so this really should be easy to teach.
31. Teach “Come to me, don’t shout!”  This is going to become important again when the new baby arrives.  Babies sleep a lot and the house will need to be quieter.  I will be starting this one soon.  If you don’t know where I am and you need me, look for me, don’t shout!
32. Keep paper and crayons in your purse or in the vehicle.  There are lots of things to do with paper and writing instruments that can keep children busy while waiting.
33. Keep an extra set of clothing (and footwear) for each person in the vehicle.  When I had my school bus, I did this.  It was a life saver many times.  Right now it doesn’t work for us, but one day!!!
34. Watch documentaries together.  We used to do this and we will again.
35. Keep clutter to a minimum with a “one in, one out” rule.  For example, if you get a new toy, one toy needs to be donated or tossed.
36. Make planned-overs.  In other words, make extra food to serve the next day.
37. Make double the recipe and freeze the extra.
38. Be a little over the top sometimes, just to keep life interesting.
39. Buy a Swiffer Wet-Jet type mop to clean up after each meal.  Quick and easy.
40. Everyone helps set and clear the table.  Even the 2 year old can put stuff in the fridge or deliver dirty dishes to the sink.

Fear of Another Fire

 

Today while we were cleaning up, the vacuum started smoking…

 

We were all right in the room – Jason and me and a bunch of the kids.  I’d told J it wasn’t working right and so he had looked at it and was watching and listening to it as Marrissa was vacuuming the living room.  Smoke everywhere!  And STINK!  WOW!  J figures the belt is stuck and he’ll look at it again.  Nothing major; we unplugged it right away and got it outside so it could stink out there!

 

Tonight at bedtime I had three kids who were scared to go to sleep.  Matthias, who normally just lays down, takes his bottle and goes to sleep, had a really hard time settling down, even though he’d begged to be put into his bed.  Cora read stories to Marrissa and Rayna.  So sweet, but when that was done, the two of them came out of their room in tears.  Terrified!

 

Right away, I figured I knew what the cause was.  I thought, if I plug the night light in they’d be better;  a little more light.  That made it worse!  It might start a fire, they said.  I told them that it was safe, that Daddy wouldn’t have bought it if he didn’t think it was safe to have in the house.  With the night light in, and Peace & Calming Essential Oil Blend on their feet and necks, I settled them back into bed.

 

I stayed with them a bit and we talked.  We talked about how we all got out safe before.  We talked about all the doors in this house where we live now.  Marrissa was worried about being able to get Rayna out of the room if she was asleep.  I said, “Do you know how to scream? Do you know how to shake her?”  They both laughed.  I said that I slept right across the hall and could get to them in time if there was a fire.  I reminded Marrissa how brave she was in our old house when she had to run by the flames to tell me about the fire.  I told her that I knew she’d be that brave again, if needed!  We talked about how if they woke and were scared they could come sleep next to my bed.  I reminded them that Daddy had put new smoke detectors in the house so those would wake us up in time to get to safety.  They seem to have settled into sleep now.

 

School tomorrow is going to be drawing escape plans.  And I might see if the chief can come have a look at them and just chat with them again sometime this week.  Even though Jason’s a fire fighter and knows all about that, sometimes it’s important to have someone else, someone important, to come and talk to them, too.  The chief and his wife are special people that love kids and support family.  They have a special place in their hearts for their fire fighter’s kids.

 

I know we have a long road ahead of us.  It’s not just about the stuff that we lost; it’s not just about the re-building of our home.  There are some real fears and concerns in the hearts and minds of each of my children.  All of them are reacting differently to this major experience!  Kristyn cries almost instantly when something doesn’t go her way.  Cora is almost overly helpful!  Marrissa seems normal, most of the time but is protective and organizing.  Wyatt is moody and loud!  Rayna needs a lot more sleep these days.  Matthias just needs his momma, a lot.  We are remaining open and honest and we talk about the fire a lot, almost whenever they want.  We’ve made sure that each child had possessions that are only for them, and not shared with a sibling.  We have allowed them their own space.  We’ve slacked on chores to give them time to regroup.  Sit-down school has not been required to this point (but there are books on the way).

 

It’s been 4 weeks tomorrow since the terrifying night of our house fire.  I am amazed at how far we’ve come already.  Life is getting back to routine.  We have the things we need to live day to day.  I guess those are kinda the easy things, right?  It’s the hard stuff, like what happened tonight, the fears and the grief, that is going to take the time.  Well, that and the rebuilding.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I lost everything!

 

I sit in this house… It’s just a house (though one I’m thankful for)… It’s not my house.  My house is gone!  It’s burnt up!  WHY???  Why did I have to lose my home?  Why is the place where two of my children were born now a pile of burnt wood and ashes?  A pile of rubble waiting to be hauled away??

 

It’s not fair!

 

I sit here.  My youngest children are all asleep.  My dog is curled in the corner, settled in for the night.  I expect my husband and the older girls home from work soon.  Life goes on, just as it always did.

 

But it’s not the same.  It never will be.  I will always remember the smell, the fear, the initial indecision.  I really wonder how I sleep at night now.  I think I’m just so exhausted that sleep over powers me.  Or maybe things turned out okay, so I can trust that they will turn out okay again.

 

It’s very overwhelming to think about your whole life gone… all the memories…  all the pictures.  If you’ve lived in your house for any length of time, or kept items as you moved from house to house, your memories are stimulated by what you see around you.  I don’t have that in this house.  It’s just a house.  You could ask the owner about this carpet stain or that mark on the wall.  She could tell you the stories.  To me, they are just marks on the wall.

 

I guess I have the jammies Rayna wore as we escaped with our lives.  Same with the clothes the other children were wearing.  Every time I see Kristyn’s runners… she and I were the only ones with footwear…  What I can’t do is look at a blanket and say, “this was Matty’s when he was born” or “Wyatt, you used to wear this shirt when you were Matty’s size.”  I can’t say, “Look at this book, Kristyn, it says your first word was cat.”  Invariably, Marrissa wants to know what her first word was.  I can’t remember and I can’t go look it up!  I can’t tell her…  I can’t tell her!  I can’t tell Marrissa that she lost her first tooth on this day or that, because my calendar where I taped each tooth and made a note over the years, is gone!  It’s like a piece of their childhood is just gone, wiped away!

 

I guess the “what ifs” are hitting me tonight.  The terror of what could have been, if this or that had been different.  What if I’d stopped to grab one more thing or left the children to re-enter the building… What if more of the children had been sleeping… What if…  What if, I hadn’t done what I did do, and there had been loss of life…

 

The grief of losing your home and your belongings is very different that the grief of losing a child.  It’s much less intense, but that’s the only thing I can compare.  I am not attached to things.  I never have been.  A thing is just a thing, but to lose ALL THOSE THINGS at once, to have to start over from scratch, to have to repurchase a whole household.  It’s just overwhelming!

 

Tonight, I can’t even look forward to a new house… I just want my old one back!

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Pregnancy…

I am 13 weeks pregnant.. This pregnancy was a surprize; we were / are emotionally and mentally done.  I didn’t want to have any more pregnancies … anymore babies.  I wanted to move on to the next stage of life.  I wanted to start to enjoy my older children more – teaching, guiding, doing fun “grown up” kid stuff.

 

I have really enjoyed the last two babies, despite the fearfulness that lasted the whole of Matthias’ pregnancy.  This first year and a half of his life has been such a joy.  He and Rayna are such great little people.  (Not saying the older children weren’t / aren’t, but all of us have enjoyed them!)

 

I thought that after 7 weeks (found out I was pregnant around 6 weeks) that I would have gotten control of this feeling.  I figured that I’d be okay with being pregnant by now, but I can’t say that I am, not totally anyway.

 

Would I be devastated if this baby died now, before she is born?  (We don’t know gender, but Rayna is positive it is a girl, maybe even twin girls.)  Of course, I would be extremely upset!  But it doesn’t change the fact that I am not emotionally or mentally prepared for this pregnancy or the coming baby.

 

When this baby arrives, I will love and care for her.  I will raise her, see to her education, and be her mom, just as I am to the other children with whom I have been entrusted.  But I’d really like to feel some (more) excitement about this baby throughout the rest of this pregnancy.  I wouldn’t say I’m stressed about it.  I’ve accepted that this is God’s will, that He has chosen to bless us again.  I think “resigned to the fact” is too strong of a phrase, but at the same time, it is not terribly far from the truth.

 

I know I have a friend or two that will say, “well, give the baby to me.  I will love her.”  But I never could do that!  This is MY baby; I want to keep her!  I trust that I will come around to the idea, and enjoy this pregnancy more as time progresses.  (Maybe when I feel sick less often!)

 

What a bundle of mixed emotions I am!!

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Lord

 

written by LaDonna (Salmond) Harris in February 1998

after Grandpa Gordon Banks’ heart attack

 

My heart, it aches for ones I love.

When they do hurt, my heart is torn.

Sometimes I wonder and I ask,

“Why, Lord?”

 

Pain and death are here on earth,

But in heaven they will be no more.

Will my loved ones make it there?

“Will they, Lord?”

 

What can I do when I’m so far?

What can I do? I feel so helpless.

What can I do to help them more?

“Show me, Lord!”

 

Granddad is in so much pain.

Christ endured more pain for him

Who will tell him of Christ’s love?

“Who, Lord?”

 

Help me to trust You, to be strong

And to know that You are in control.

For friends You give, I’m ever thankful.

“Thank you, Lord!”

Overwhelmed… a little

This post is inspired by Kat’s…http://inspiredtoaction.com/2011/11/2-reasons-why-you-might-feel-overwhelmed/

 

Yeah, I’m overwhelmed and for both the reasons Kat gives in her post – TIRED and LACK of PLANNING.

 

I am tired.  I am still up most nights with the little kids.  At least one of the three youngest up at least once in the night.  DH’s schedule keeps me up as well.  I know that’s my choice, partly, but I do want to see him too.  So I’ve been working on it… I’ve been taking naps right after I get the little three asleep!  I’m getting more sleep.

 

The lack of planning is tougher.  I think.  I am running on auto-pilot… Sleep, up, sleep, up, food, coffee, laundry, dishes, food, nap for kids, work, home to make food, clean up, baths, sleep, sleep, up….  There is no real to do list.  I operate on let’s get done what needs to be done before it grows feet and walks…  OH you have no underwear under there…. well, I guess we better get some laundry done pronto (without a dryer it can take up to 24 hours!).

 

So I need to plan to make a plan…  Even if that plan is to plan to do what we are already doing.  KWIM?  I just need to be more intentional to feel less overwhelmed.  I think.  I just don’t know what the best plan is…

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Life is happening.

Well to say my blog has been neglected recently would be a bit of understatement.

 

So what have we been up to?  Well.

 

Working, actually.  Jason started a new job at the beginning of September that allows us to be with him a lot of the time.  And we help him with his job.  He is the caretaker of our local arena.  A couple of years ago the rink burnt, but we have a new one now, and Jason takes care of it. :)  So almost every morning the whole family treks the couple of blocks.  We let the little ones run around, play and stay out of trouble.  The big ones help – checking trash cans, recycling, toilet paper, soap, even scrubbing toilets (although the novelty of that wore off way too quickly in my opinion).  It takes us a couple of hours.  Then it’s home again for lunch.  Mid-afternoon Jason (and sometimes one of the older kids) go back to the rink, for the evening practices and activities.

 

Sit-down school work is not a high priority, but just the other night (9:30PM) three of the kids pulled out their math books to do a few pages.  I wanted to go to bed, but who am I do deny learning.  Sleep can happen later.  So we did math.  (As soon as interested waned the slightest, I had them head to bed.)

 

Our discussions are interesting.  On top of learning about bodily functions (cleaning toilets….), the girls are listening to the Little House series on CD at night while they are going to sleep.  We are hearing all about the adventures of Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie.  We get to listen to the songs their daddy sings to them.  We talk about the construction and the husbandry.  We talk about death and sickness.  We talk about how life was different in 1880 versus now.  Lighting is another topic that has come up – kerosene versus electricity.

 

Our cats disappeared this spring, very early in the spring.  We suspected they were long gone (DEAD).  And the children mourned a little.  I rejoiced a tad.  However, one afternoon, Franklin appeared.  Jason figures he got into a truck or something to get warm and ended up miles and miles away.  Will a cat find its way home??  Apparently Franklin did, from wherever he ended up.  He has been outside once, maybe twice, since his return.  He is now Cora’s indoor cat.  She has taken the litter cleaning and such as her responsibility.  She doesn’t want him disappearing again; if she has her way, Franklin won’t be leaving the house again!  Should we start hoping that Tweety will return as well?

 

We have our second round of chicken pox.  When Wyatt was born, the oldest three girls had chicken pox then.  Rayna has a pretty intense case.  She has been MISERABLE this week!  Matty has about 10 or so spots, and is less cranky.  I thought I saw some spots on Wyatt but they’ve disappeared, without developing as chicken pox develop, so I’m not sure what to think about that.  The older girls are perturbed because they can’t go anywhere or have anyone over until we are through this.  There is never a good time to get chicken pox, but I’m just glad we have this stage of life over with now, rather than later.

 

I love the fall.  Although I’m not terribly fond of having to dress 6 kids for outdoor play in the winter, I do love the holidays the fall and winter bring.  We have three birthdays in October.  Thanksgiving and Halloween.  And Christmas.  While we continue to celebrate the “regular” holidays, I am continuing to study and learn about the Biblical holidays found in the Torah or Old Testament.  It’s a long process because it’s so different than how J or I were raised, but so exciting because they are holidays we are commanded to celebrate in the Bible.  I often wonder why or how we got away from celebrating and fasting as God directed His people to do.

 

I am without a vehicle, again.  My bus has been causing problems, even to the point of DYING DEAD while on a test drive.  And the people were SUPER interested in purchasing it too!  I was not impressed.  Jason is still working on finding the problem.  He’s closer, one $300 part closer.  UGH!  I hope that I have a vehicle by the time the snow flies.  I suspect that we will keep the bus at least through this winter, but I could be wrong on that.  We are very indecisive when it comes to selling or keeping the bus.

 

So that’s my craziness in an elongated nutshell.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Feeling a Little Overwhelmed with Trying to Do It All

I found this sitting in my drafts.  The date on the started post was November 10, 2010.  Just under a year ago.  I had a new baby.  I was trying to homeschool at full speed.  Jason was gone quite a bit with work.  I don't remember what else was going on, but those things alone are enough.  lol.  So, even though I'm not feeling all that overwhelmed, I thought I'd share this song with you anyway.





Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Sick. Sick. Sick.

 

And let’s throw in a little whine with that sick.  For the last three nights I have gotten not more than 3 hours of sleep, and not a 3 solid hours!  I’m hurting for sleep.  I was so thankful this morning when Kristyn was feeling well enough and was up early enough to look after the little ones as they got up, so I could sleep a little longer.  I didn’t climb outta bed for the day until almost noon!  And still could have slept longer.

 

Almost every hour of the last 2 days I’ve been handing out meds to someone!  And almost every hour of the night, someone was crying out in pain or something.  And whine whine whine and cry cry cry.  Kristyn was hit first.  I think she’s over the worst of it.  Then the three littlest, one after the other!  YUCK!  They are on the way to being better.  I think.

 

Unless, those are chicken pox I spy on Matty’s arms and legs!

 

And Marrissa has been hit with the fever and sore throat.

 

Yesterday I was BEGGING to go to the store to buy sour cream (for a dish J wanted made) just so I could have some peace and quiet, a break from the constant WWWWHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGGG!!!!

 

I know Wyatt’s getting better; he played over an hour on the Wii by himself.  Rayna’s not whining as much, but she tires easily.  I’m not handing out meds hourly either.  Now it’s every 5 or 6 hours that someone is miserable enough to deem getting a teaspoon of ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

 

Here’s hoping for a better night’s sleep.  With only one child really needing meds (Marrissa) I might be able to get a couple solid hours in!

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

An Update

 

I have since decided that I like my flush toilet.  I had to use some outhouses in the last little bit and they were GROSS!

 

Kristyn got her first real job.  She’s 9.  She is feeding the neighbor’s cat while they are away!

 

We went to the library and joined the summer reading program.  I think this is the link to the program they are using: http://tdsrc.torontopubliclibrary.ca/

 

We’ve finally had some warm enough days that the children have been in the pool.  And in the mix there have been some comfortable days where they have been all over the yard, in the trees, riding bikes and just enjoying being outdoors.  Today I was comfortable in a long sleeved shirt and jeans.  That’s my kind of day.

 

In the last couple of days, I have rid the house of about 6 large garbage bags of clothes and towels!  My house and heart feel lighter!  There is still a lot of STUFF around but I am slowly paring it down.

 

I’ve slowed down on my reading; I need to pick it up again. My plan is to take the kids to a park, then sit a read while they play.  I had to get some of the decluttering done first, and get the laundry caught up.  I am currently reading three books – 100 Thing Challenge; KaBoom!; and Fire Men.  I am enjoying them all.  100 Thing Challenge is the story of one man’s year living with only (often under) 100 personal items.  KaBoom! is about restoring play in the lives of children today by providing parks to areas in need.  Fire Men is the personal story of 3 generations of firefighters.

 

It feels so good to be caught up on the laundry.

 

Matty (11 months) isn’t walking quite yet, but getting closer everyday.  Rayna (2 years) is mostly toilet trained during the day.  She wants to go without a diaper at night too, but she’s not ready.  Wyatt (4 years) is all about cars – anything with wheels!  And jumping on the trampoline.  Marrissa (6 years) is learning to read and probably about to grow because she’s started napping about every other day again.  Cora (8 years) is settling into who she is.  She is helping teach a cooking class at the library with a friend of ours.  Kristyn (9 years) wants to be the best at everything, and to do everything everyone else is doing.  She is an “alpha-female”, leader of the pack; she just needs a willing pack.

 

Jason is starting a new job this fall.  He is leaving Scott Safety’s shop, but staying on their day-rater list.  He will be working at our local arena.  We are excited about this change, glad to have him closer to home, though he won’t be any less busy in the winter months.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Ok, so I know some have been waiting for pictures

So here are some pictures for you.

 

Doc is getting bigger and stronger.  He is a lot for the girls to handle on a walk now.

 

Matty likes his baths, but not as much as some of the other babies in this house have.

 

Doc rolled in cow poop!!!!  I couldn’t let him in the house until I got him clean. He was not impressed with the cold water coming out of the hose.  I am in bunker gear pants, so that I didn’t get too wet.  I was still quite wet but not as I could have been.  Once I got him smelling remotely better, I took him in to the tub and used warm water and soap, still wearing the bunker gear.

 

 

Marrissa had a birthday in June.  So these are pictures of her cake and a few of her friends that she invited.

 

We have had soooo much rain this year.  And the roof is leaking badly where the new kitchen will be going.  The shingles are purchased and when it decides to stay dry for longer than 24 hours, we’ll try to get them on.

 

 

Just some more water pictures.

 

 

To stop the water from coming into the basement so badly, Jason dug a small “mote” in the yard. It worked.  Almost immediately I could tell a difference in the basement water level.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

I miss it

I have not been blogging and I miss it so much!  So briefly here’s what’s been going on around here.

 

One day I looked after a little boy, same age as Matty.  They played the piano together; it was so cute!

 

Matty learned to climb the stairs!  He’s fast!

 

I created a new 3 day/week homeschool schedule.  I’m kinda excited about it.  We will start on Monday.  I’ll try to write more about it soon.

		ACSI Math Gr. 2	Building A Life Gr. 3	Human Body Gr. 2-3	God’s Wonderful Works Gr. 2	Books Read
Week 1		Do 6 pages.	Do 4 pages.		Do 4 pages.
Week 2		Do 6 pages.	Do 4 pages.	Do 4 pages.
Week 3		Do 6 pages.		Do 4 pages.	Do 4 pages.
Week 4		Do 6 pages.	Do 4 pages		Do 4 pages.
Week 5		Do 6 pages.	Do 4 pages.	Do 4 pages.
Week 6		Do 6 pages.		Do 4 pages.	Do 4 pages.

 

I have talked in the past about purchasing and teaching through the Tapestry of Grace program of study.  I have decided that it is not a fit for us.  Too involved.  So instead what I am doing is taking their book lists as a jumping off point.  I order as many of the books from the library from the list as I can find.  I’ll order 10 or 20 at a time.  As they come in we spend some time looking at them together at the table.  I even ordered from the lists for the high school students.  Right now we are reading about ancient Egypt.  The kids are having fun with the information!

 

Jason got a raise!  I’m so proud of him for working so hard and sticking with this company, even when things were really tough this winter.  The guys (and gals) that he works with are decent people and they get along pretty good.  He likes the work.  He’s working in the shop at the oil field safety company that he was doing fire watch for the last year and a half. 

 

Oh and because of the raise, we’ve also decided to keep the bus!  I didn’t realize how attached I was to my bus until we re-discussed the sale.  I love my bus!  It is perfect for what I want and need.

 

The garden is mostly in.  Just onions and cucumbers left to put in the dirt.  We were planting bean plants (Jason started them in the house.) the other day.  We had to hurry at the end because a storm was blowing in fast!  We were cleaning up the trays and pots just as it started coming down hard.  I can’t wait to see what this year’s garden produces!!

 

I took this picture of my favorite beverage:

 

Just a couple other quick things:

• the 2 big girls went to the store by themselves!  They did so great!
• shingles are on sale this week and pay day is this week!!!!

 

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Changes & Total Randomness

Bear with me.  Please.

 

There are some changes coming.  If the Lord wills.

 

Plan to sell the bus.

 

That’s just one.  Leaves me kind of stranded, at least in town.

 

I can live with that, because there are lots of changes I want to make in the house.  Having to stay home will help me make them I guess.

 

I want to make changes.  Really what I want is for my job as teacher and mom to be my JOB.  Like 9-5 with a boss and everything.

 

I want to change my focus and have a schedule and a list of things that need to be done.

 

I have all sorts of excuses.  We moved my desk and it threw my off.  I haven’t been able to get back on track.

 

I want to have a routine for our lives and our house.

 

I was even challenged to start planning the whole year.  It makes so much sense – the same things happen year after year.

 

I have “what if” questions flying around my head.

 

I am in a tough season with the baby needing the house quiet to sleep.  Everyone goes downstairs or outside and the house kinda stands still.  Seems like nothing gets done.  I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s not forever.  But I’m not transitioning well.  I’m not using time wisely.

 

Do we ever use time wisely?

 

I think I need to pick something and stick to it.  Or simply use the system I have already laid out.  It’s a good system.  I just have to do it.  Instead I do nothing.

 

Today I feel like I wasted the whole morning shopping for next year’s homeschool stuff.  It wasn’t on the schedule for today at all!  The kids watched TV.  Now they are playing nicely downstairs while the baby sleeps and I take this opportunity to tell you what’s going on.

 

I think that maybe I need someone to keep me accountable.  But then that only works if you really want it to work.  Am I willing to do the work to get my house and my life to where I would like it to be?  Or am I willing to do the work to even get close to my goal?

 

It’s an ongoing battle for me.  I don’t know if it is for others or not.

 

Growing up I remember we had a regular routine.  Get up by 6 or 7.  Breakfast was at 7:30 every morning, except Saturday, maybe.  We were out the door by just after 8 for school.  We’d come home and do chores, then homework, then supper, then maybe some TV and then off to bed.  When I started working that routine changed very little.  Now, I understand that we were older than my crew is, but I don’t remember life when I was 9 or 10.  I don’t know what we did.

 

How do you maintain a routine with a baby and a toddler and two preschoolers and two elementary school age? What should normal look like?

 

Just feeling overwhelmed with it all right now.

 

So what do I want to do about it?

 

I want to get up at 5:30 or 6 to get time for myself – Bible, computer, blog, etc.  I love mornings!

Then I can get breakfast going.

Then we could get some chores done.

Then if it’s nice go outside.  If not, book work.

Then lunch.

Then naps.

Then clean up.

Then supper.

Then baths and bed.

And I’d like to be in bed no later than 11.

 

Is that so hard?

 

It is if you are getting up after 7 and sitting at the computer until lunch time.

 

The day is gone.  I can’t save this day, but I guess I can start afresh tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow is a new day, right?

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Our Saturday

 

So we spent the morning cleaning the yard and working in the garden.  Jason has the garden ready to plant.  Cora worked with me and we cleaned up three large garbage bags of “winter trash” from the yard.  (Winter trash is frustrating because most of it is not our trash; it’s trash that has blown in or been dropped in our yard over the winter months.)

 

The deal was (with the kids) that we would work until noon and then go to the dam.  They worked hard right up until the end when they were wore out.  And hot.  And hungry.  While Jason did the final tilling, the kids helped me gather things for the afternoon.  Jason attempted to catch a fish.  He didn’t get one.  We ate a cold lunch by the bus and I snapped some pictures.

 

When we got home, we had spaghetti for supper.

 

 

Mr. Matty loves spaghetti.

 

All in all, a beautiful, productive and fun day.

 

Now I plan to take my lobster arms to bed and hope they aren’t quite so red in the morning.

 

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,