Grit, Spit and Sticktoitiveness

Well, it hasn't been quite as bad as this, but what a couple of weeks. I'm starting to feel the way this woman looks. And frankly my ponytail probably isn't doing any more for me than her kerchief is for her.

Between stomach viruses, Casey's crazy hours, and the, oh, two dozen or so other things I've had going on lately -well, some times you just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I know things will settle down soon. Until then, what was the end of that nursery rhyme.......?

Caring for the sick

From the 1896 Original Fannie Farmer Cookbook...

Take special care in setting an invalid's tray.
Cover with a spotless tray-cloth or dinner napkin, folding the same, if it
is larger than tray, that it may just come over the edge. Avoid a fringed
cloth, as the fringe is apt to prove annoying.

I certainly haven't had much time to consider whether or not a fringed napkin would prove annoying to my paitients, but I have been so very thankful that I'm able to be at home caring for them.

Making Our Home a Haven - the fresh start

I surprised myself last week by being able to accomplish more than I thought I would. It was a busy week and I'm proud of myself for getting it all done, even adding a few things in. But I'm really feeling it now...that worn-thin feeling. And with more busyness ahead - there's already too much ink on my calendar! - I know I need to spend some time focused on Home. So, even though I usually preach babysteps, this week I have several good-sized goals.

• early to bed, early to rise...


• clean out the storage room to sort kids' clothes in preparation for the consignment sale coming up


• clean all the windows to let in the sunshine!


• eating breakfast as a family


• keeping the kitchen sparkly and shiny all week

How funny, before I had kids this would've been a good daily list!

Monica has a really good assignment this week - I hope to do a little work outside, too!

Making my home...a haven?

My home has been anything but a haven these last few weeks. With Casey working overtime, he needs the haven more than ever. Meanwhile, I'm thinking cloning doesn't sound so bad after all.

I plan to be back on track by Friday.

Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day

Casey bought me these beautiful tulips...my beautiful girl helped pick them out.

Why I can't get anything done...

He's smiling at me like this all day long:)

Making Our Home a Haven, week 3

I didn't do nearly the planning I wanted to do. I plan my day every morning, but this week was just too crazy to get beyond that. I did plan Brenna's tea party (sort of at the last minute, but still) and we're planning one for this Sunday, too.
Monica's challenge for this week is chores and that's definitely something I need to work on. Now that the kids have a working schedule for getting theirs done, it's time for me to get a schedule for mine.
In the morning before school...

• start laundry - load #1
• put folded clothes away if I didn't get to it the night before
• clean kitchen after breakfast
• check the kids chores

After morning school...

• switch laundry, start load #2
• fix lunch
• clean kitchen after lunch, sweep (teach Levi to sweep!)
• start supper

After afternoon school...

• laundry! - bring load #1 upstairs and fold (Brenna helps), put load #2 in the dryer
• finish supper

After supper...

• clean kitchen
• bring up load #2 to fold, then put away

I usually do a big cleanup on Friday morning, but all too often it gets pushed back until Saturday when there are lots of better things to do with our weekend. I think I'll move it to Thursday afternoons and see if that helps.

Now I'm off to catch up on the planning from last week...and the laundry.

Tea Party

I was so excited when Brenna asked to have a tea party - dressing up, making little snacks together, shopping for the perfect tea, doing a craft together, decorating a hat, beautiful invitations... I had soooo may lovely ideas. This was going to be the ultimate mommy-daughter tea party. Only it was never going to happen - when would I find time? But my little girl is growing up and I was tired of saying "maybe tomorrow, baby."
So now we're committed to a tea party every Sunday. This week I made the quickie snacks...on another week Brenna can help. One week we'll make the invitations...another we'll do a craft. For this week we drank some peach/mango tea I still had samples of. Some weeks we may heat up some lipton or have lemonade. The pickiness has got to go!

The important things are the time together and the tradition. My mother made the special little tea set for me in 1983. My granny gave Brenna the pink dishes. My grandmother and I had tea parties all the time when I was little. Funny, those were a highlight of my childhood, but I don't remember them being very fussy. Just a special little bit of girl time.

My boy is four! Squinting into the too bright sun, he still manages to look adorable.

He loves "gorilla" bars, they make his heart "beep" faster.

Making My Home a Haven, week 2

Last week went much better. The kids are picking up their chores and the kitchen is clean. And I've been able to keep up with my daily Bible reading and prayer time. Our morning routine is really working even when I have to adjust for nightowl babies.

Last Saturday's plans were changed for me - that happens some times! - so I'll try again this week to have everything done for dinner and for church by Saturday afternoon.

Monica's challenge this week is about planning. My favorite! Stopping to think things through is an absolute necessity. The things that really start to grate on my nerves are usually the same things that I haven't taken the time to plan (or maybe I had them all out but something changed...these kids are always growing and changing on me). Several things around here could stand to have a little thought applied...

• Meals...I do usually plan suppers, but I don't always stick to the plan. And lunches and breakfast need more planning, too.
• Luke's nap...he's been napping in the school room with us, but he's beginning to wake a little too easily for that so we need to find him a new spot.
• School...the basics of school are planned out for the rest of this year, but I do need to make copies, reserve books, and plan projects. The fun stuff. And I want to start thinking about next year and plan a planning day like last year.
• Tea time...Brenna's asked me to have a tea party with her so we're going to make this a regular girls only time on Sunday afternoons (although the boys will still be able to snack on any goodies we might have). I think I'm looking forward to this as much as she is!

That should provide a nice, full week. I don't usually have any free time to sit and think, but since Casey's going to work earlier, I'm planning to use that time. I'll just have to write myself a list of things to plan!

Thanks to Monica for hosting this lovely series!

Making My Home Home a Haven - Week 1

I got off to a slow start on this week's goals. Getting the kids back onto their chore schedule proved tough because of all the late nights I've been having with Luke and Christian. When Mommy sleeps too late mornings get off on the wrong foot! Getting the kitchen clean in the evenings fell prey to the same problem...I was too exhausted after supper most nights to worry about it.

But I got so much more done this week than I would've without the challenge! I read a chapter in my Bible every morning and wrote down my prayers every morning. That's something I've wanted to get back to for a long time so I'm really tickled about it. I did a little more blogging, too, which was nice. And I have this afternoon set aside to settle down with some tea and fill in my Bible - I've been looking forward to it all week.

For next week...

• Continue working with the kids on their morning and afternoon chores. We're getting the toy room and bedrooms completely picked p today - that should help.
• same goes for the kitchen!
• I also need to gt to bed and get up earlier through the week.
• On Saturday, I'm planning to have all my work done...house cleaned, church clothes ironed, dinner started...by three so that I can have a little time "off" and we can all have a relaxing evening together.

Thanks, Monica, for hosting this series. It's such a help!

Raising a young lady

Being the only girl in a houseful of brothers probably has its advantages. I do worry though that I will be so busy with these wild and crazy guys that she and I will miss out on all those wonderful girly things. I'm determined to spend more time this year focusing on raising a young lady...and painting our fingernails.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Making Your Home a Haven

I've always enjoyed this series that Monica hosts every so often, but these lovely hydrangeas just called out to me to join in.

We've been focused on school for the last few weeks so the house has had to make do with a lick and a promise. Hopefully over the next few weeks we can turn our comfy, lived in!, home into a true haven.

Here's what I'll work on this week.

• starting the day with my Bible reading and written prayers. I'm working on reading just one chapter per day from the New Testament.


• getting the kids back on the chore bandwagon. I've been very lax about reminding them lately and we all know how that works:)


• cleaning the kitchen every night before bed. Nothing is more depressing than waking up to dirty dishes!


• making time to blog a bit more often. This blog serves as my only scrapbook for right now and posting about what I've managed to accomplish is a big encouragement.


• filling in my brand new family Bible - a Christmas present from my grandparents. I'm so excited about writing our family history in the front.

That's enough, I think, to keep me busy for one week.

"First" Day of School

Our first day of school for this year was actually back in July. Then we took a long fall break and official school days were all chaotic and twirly (but not in a good way) after that. So after Christmas break I was ready to get back to a regular routine. I commemorated the event by finally taking first day of school pictures for this year.


Levi is a second grader this year. He did not do well with the lack of routine over the last few months - I think school seemed a little too optional and, given the option he'd rather play than work. I can identify. But the last few weeks have seen a total turn around. Once he knew the (challenging) expectations, he's taken right off...most days he does even more than I expected.

Brenna has been the one begging for more school. She's only 5 1/2 but is doing mostly 1st grade work. Math seems to come naturally to her (which makes me scratch my head) and her reading skills are coming along. I haven't managed to teach her to love books yet...I'm beginning to think that isn't something you can teach. But I am planting all the seeds for it...

Jack is my preschooler this year. He loves the Kumon workbooks - working his way through Tracing and Sticker & Paste right now - but I'm also trying to spend time reading just with him every day. He was too young for a lot of the picture books and Bible stories when I was reading them to Brenna and Levi, so I'm rereading them with him now. He still listens in to everything the big kids do, though. Especially science. And we all are studying the catechism together.

I'm really excited about the last half of the school year. Our homeschool group has been a lifesaver! I'm teaching a short class on Medieval Times for the co-op that I'll share more about soon. It's so fun to work with all of these great kids and to see my kids making friends. Just the booster shot we need every now and then:) And I'm so glad I finally took their pictures...look how much they've grown since last year!

Luke's Baptism

We had Luke's Baptism on our anniversary. It was really precious to me - he grinned at the pastor and seemed to enjoy it, too. Just about our whole family was able to be there.

Luke and my dad

Here are Casey and the rest of our little tribe. Brenna had a hard time deciding between gold bows and a gold headband for her hair. That was (miraculously!) the biggest drama of our morning.

Casey, Christian, Levi, Brenna, and Jack

After church everyone came back to our house for an extremely casual meal of make-your-own subs and some yummy desserts. It was so fun to have everyone together to visit and relax. The kids played outside (and got my nephew's brand new rc helicopter stuck in a tree) and the grownups stayed in and talked and snacked and talked. Lovely.

pictures by my sister, btw. I never would've included the mayo jar:)

Happy New Year!

I'm still wrapping up 2009, but in my head I'm making big plans for 2010. More on that later. In the meantime I thought I'd catch everyone up on the last few months of 2009 since posting got lower than usual on my priority list after Luke was born.
Casey's work went back and forth between too few hours and overtime, causing quite a bit of upheaval. It was well worth it though to have him home a little more often.
Our schooling was very slow to pick back up after the fall break we took when Luke was born. We did the bare minimum most days and I postponed a lot of extras, but we kept up with our great co-op group and went on a fun field trip.
The most difficult thing we did this year, by far, was leaving our church. It's a decision we've been praying over for a very long time...God was gracious enough to keep repeating Himself while I hemmed and hawed. But we've settled in a new church and been very blessed by it. The pastor was even kind enough to work Luke's baptism into the holiday schedule so that our family could all be there.
The baptism was a truly happy day. Luke grinned through the whole thing - he's a happy little fella. And then we had friends and family over to the house for a (very relaxed!) lunch.
Casey and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary just after Christmas by going out to dinner while my parents watched *all* of the kids. So nice. I'm so thankful that God brought us together when we were so young and has held us together since then. Sometimes I feel like we're toddlers on His lap and, whether we play happily or push and pull and try to escape, He holds us there, loving arms restraining and protecting us. This past year we've played happily with only a very few minor tantrums:)
And now I'm looking forward to getting 2010 off to a good start. I'm full of ideas for school and home. I can't wait to make a brand new notebook! But first I think I'll get the Christmas tree put away:)

Levi on the steps

We've been so busy in my month-long blogging hiatus, but I have really enjoyed all the busyness:) Now, though, I'm looking forward to settling back down and getting caught up with everything and everyone.
Levi turned 8 this month and I can't help but be a little emotional about how fast he's growing up. I am enjoying having a big kid, though!

Field trip with Grandma Mary

The first is a series of field trips I'm calling "Not everything comes from Walmart" - my grandma took us to visit her cousin and see how cane syrup is made.

Brenna did not care to have her picture made, but Levi didn't mind. He was impressed with the whole process.

Jack was impressed by the fire! Here he is by the wood pile.

We had a wonderful time and got to spend the day with Grandma Mary. The kids went back to her house to decorate gingerbread men over the weekend. They are lucky, lucky kids to have great-grandparents who take up so much time with them. And Casey and I are truly blessed to have such awesome babysitters!

Christmas ideas

It's that time of year again...that time when I realize there are only 7 1/2 weeks until Christmas. And in that time we also have Thanksgiving, 2 birthdays, and a baby dedication. I want to be relaxed and able to enjoy each of those things so...I'd better get busy:) It's time to start planning what to cook, which traditions to focus on (cause they don't all fit every year!), and which presents to shop for. For example, Levi has asked for throwing knives. I need to think about that. For a few years.
My friend Betty and I are brainstorming some Christmas ides so if you have a favorite recipe or gift idea or tradition who'd be willing to share, please do! And head over to Betty's to talk about great gift ideas for the hard-to-shop-for!

edited to add links

• Owlhaven has some fun educational gift ideas here. The comments have some great ideas, too.
• History, character training and paper dolls in one gift:)

Today

I got a full day's worth of lessons done with the kids, cooked a real lunch, took everyone outside to play, did some laundry, doctored some owies and sniffles, and had dinner done on time.

My house looks like Martha Stewart's nightmare.

I can get it all cleaned up tomorrow...if it rains...and the kids don't mind granola bars for lunch.