7 Quick Takes. . . What is on my mind lately.

1) Lately I feel like time, in general, has simply vanished.  There is NO TIME for ANYTHING!!  Want to read a book?  Sorry, no time.  Want to sew on boy scout patches?  Sorry, no time for that.  Want to clean off the top of the piano?  Want to redo the living room sacred space?  Want to wash the water bottles?  Want to clean up the kitchen?  Want to actually fold the laundry and put it away before the next wash comes through??  Want to get back in the rhythm of daily family prayer and bible study?

Somehow when I was not looking my life has taken off running without me and I cannot seem to catch it again!!  So what am I doing despite all this missing time?

a) I have managed to find time to feed everyone.

b) School work for the older three is going pretty well.

c) We have gotten back in our regular daily Mass once a week routine.

d) I'm getting the kids to Aikido, swim team, and religion class on Wednesday nights (which I am beginning to be convinced is a colossal waste of everyone's time, but that is for another post).

e) I am nursing and caring for a baby.

Hmmm. . . I guess my afterthought "e" there might be taking up some of that missing time. . . but honestly she is a fairly easy baby.  She does like to be held and nurse quite a bit during the day, but she is by no means a seriously "high maintenance" child.

2) My children's books need assistance.  We have quite a few books.  However, I feel they need to be organized in a different manner.  Right now they span about 8 or 9 shelves of four different bookshelves (the upper shelves are for adult books or photo albums and some of the other shelves are for toys).  I read a post recently from Catholic Icing, about how she organized her books by level and that helped.  I have considered doing such.  I even ordered some stickers for it.  But now I am hesitating as I am not sure I have the capacity to separate them by sticker. . . and really even if I did, some of the books are hardback and some are softcover.  And of the softcover books, they vary greatly by size.  They do not stack well on the shelves. . .at all.  So should I put them in bins or buckets??  I have some canvas bins, but my children have destroyed several of those in the past.  Is this because my children are overly destructive?  Or because I am lax in my parenting?  Or simply because we had the bins for several years and they are not necessarily made to stand up to that kind of stress?  Perhaps I need new shelves (like cubby-type-shelves instead of my regular bookshelves), but I have nowhere to put such shelves and no money for making those kinds of changes right now.

I've also considered splitting up my books into twelve groups and then rotating them by month, but. . . where would I put the ones NOT in rotation?!?!  (We do not exactly have an excess of space around here.)

3) My two-year-old, dear sweet Miriam, is driving me BANANAS at bedtime!!  Why she will not just go to sleep like everyone else is so beyond me.  I know that is a rough age.  I know kids around two and three-years-old like to get up and turn on the light and generally cause a stir.  But good gravy, it has been over three months since we moved her from her crib to her toddler bed.  Get it figured out already!!!  She is the last one to sleep and the first one up.  I have tried adjusting her nap (longer, shorter, earlier, later, skipping. . . hah, that does not happen - she will simply deactivate wherever she is) and that is no help.  I KNOW this phase will pass.  I KNOW all the other children (with the exception of "Angel" Rebekah - who is God's gift to us as the best possible child in the history of ever. . . nothing like setting the bar high for her siblings) went through this and they all go to bed with little fuss now and sleep until morning, no problem.

I think what frustrates me most is not being able to "fix" this problem.  I can lay by her for a while, but it is HOURS before she will fall asleep with me by her side.  I can rock her, but again, I can rock her for AN HOUR (honestly, I will watch the clock) and she will still be awake when I lay her in her bed.  She just needs to figure it out, preferably before I go insane.

4) I am growing to REALLY like my husband.  I just thought I'd throw this one out there with all the rest of the "craziness" I have posted so far.  Despite my current sense of ineptitude in some respects, it is nice to feel as though my husband and I are at the least on the same team, and most days, even playing the same sport!  

I know, I married this man however long ago, you would think I liked him "enough" to do that, right?  Well, of course, but we change as we grow and we are really starting to grow more together.  We appreciate each other more these days.  We are slower to anger (mostly) and quicker to forgive and move on.  

There is so much about marriage that I would say one can only learn as you do it.  And honestly, when I got married, I had NO CLUE!!  Sure we took the marriage classes required by the Church and such.  Sure we went on an Engaged Encounter (which was a royal waste of our time, but again that is for another post).  But I cannot tell you how many times, since getting married, that I have HONESTLY THANKED GOD for giving me such a great husband.  Because I had NO IDEA he was going to be such (or what one would even look like) when I married him!

5) I am beginning to see my faults more. . . and I think this is good.  I have been really trying to get to confession more often.  Lately it has been once a month or so.  And I have REALLY been trying to examine my conscience each night.  I feel like God is trying to pour grace on me, but I need to examine my conscience to scrape out a hole for it to fill!  Then, when I got to confession, I get even MORE grace dumped in to help transform me into a saint.

6) I have started exercising at a fairly intense level again (going on about four weeks now) since I had my last baby.  I really felt like I was more fit this past pregnancy, than I have been for any of my others.  Even the last few weeks did not seem that bad physically.  And then the birth went amazingly well and I recovered fairly quickly.  The only frustrating part at the moment is to see where I was (remembering how my clothes were getting very very loose right before I got pregnant - I had just lost about 25lbs) and see how I am NOT THERE now.  I feel like I am fairly strong still and I have "nice curves" but I was much more lean and quick before.  I hope to get there again.  I am trying to be patient and give myself some time.  It is a conscious act of the will to do so.

7) God has blessed us with some amazing neighbors.  Honestly, my kids go play in the next-door neighbors' yard AT LEAST three or four times a week - often for hours on end - and the neighbors even seem to like having them there!!  Plus I can get some "adult conversation" (and chatting with my stay-home-mom neighbor is better than dessert.  She is so skilled at conversation she should be a therapist - seriously, I LOVE to talk with her!!  She is so good at asking questions and reformulating what I am saying to show she really is listening.  I am so in awe of her social skills!) anytime I pop over to join in the fun the kids are having.  Then on the other side we have an older couple with their kids all grown, but they are super-friendly and supportive of our kiddos.  Across the street is a nice "old guy" that often gives us fresh produce from his garden.  And down on the corner is another fun family with kids!!  My husband wants to move out in the country.  While I would not mind this, I cannot help but be SO GRATEFUL for the loving and supportive people he has given us right outside the home we have now.

Well, there you have it.  The top seven subjects rolling around in my brain right now.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Coming soon (hopefully) will be "the case of the missing birthdays" (aka, a recap of Rebekah's 9th birthday, which was in July, and Jacob's 6th birthday, which was in August).  So stay tuned!!

Zipporah approves of this message :)

My Latest Brilliance

We have just finished up our first round of mid-year dental appointments here.  Our dentist recently changed things up so we have to go in for our check-up and THEN schedule ANOTHER VISIT for the cleaning. I'm less than thrilled to say the least, but I digress. . . . Two of my children have showed some tooth decay (Samuel last year and now Jacob this year), so I realize it is time for me to "step up" the brushing.  In an attempt to do so, I have now started having the kids use an electric toothbrush.  I have one and I purchased a second so we can have two people brushing at a time and that is really about all that can comfortably fit at the sink anyhow.  In an attempt at cleanliness, I gave each child their own toothbrush head.  And in the beginning we kept them each in their own plastic baggie (labeled with their names in sharpie), on the bathroom counter.  That worked real well. . . ok, not really, but it was all I could think of!!  And then, last night I was at Wal-mart and kept my eyes open for something.  After much browsing in the "bathroom stuff" aisle I began to finally start to visualize what I was needed.  Then, as I was gathering a few office supplies, I stumbled upon this. . . 

No, it did not come with the labels.  I added those.

The drawers are perfect for holding tooth brush heads!  And some toothpaste and old toothbrushes (for traveling and Miriam still uses a plain hand-held toothbrush) on top!

School Days. . .

These are a few of my favorite things. . . 

We are homeschooling again this year.  As difficult as it can be to prepare for (and to survive), the more I do it, the more I cannot imagine going back to traditional school.

This year we are trying something a little different as we have enrolled in an online virtual public school.  So it is "public school" at home.  There are pros and cons with it for us.

There is quite a bit of computer work involved in their studies and they all enjoy that A LOT!  It makes this method "fresh" and "new," and even "fun!"

But there is still lots of book work and traditional reading and writing going on, as well.  We are slowly getting in the groove of how things work.

I am hoping to finally put together "my part" of their schooling this weekend.  (Since Catholicism and Scripture are not offered at a public school.)  Likewise, our Sacred Space could use a face lift and our daily prayer has been sporadic (as we have not quite mastered the new schedule yet).  Although I have some guilt about not starting/doing these things sooner, I keep reminding myself that I am still recovering from/adjusting to this new baby!!  So I need to cut myself a little slack now and again.

We have had one of our upstairs bedrooms termed "the study" for the past several years, and we have attempted to do school work in it for a couple, but this year, it finally seems to be working!!  I believe the secret is having ME in the study with them.  I used to get them started and expect them to do their work, while I went and sat in "the comfy chair" in the living room (away from them).  Although this was great for nursing the baby, the children really need me by their side as they work, even if it is just for moral support.

Here is our current set-up.  The little table is for Paul and Miriam.  They do not do much school yet, but we have a plethora of educational toys that they enjoy.  Then the desk Rebekah is at in this picture is actually Samuel's desk.  Jacob is sitting on my chair (the blue one ) which is truly part of the secret this year.  My husband picked up this chair at a work auction and it is amazing.  It is VERY comfortable and obviously has wheels, so I can scoot over by each of the children as needed.

In this picture, Paul is at the computer Rebekah likes to use.  And the table beside it with the tall chair is where Jacob sits.

Rebekah also has a large desk we inherited from my mom.  It is good for her as she likes to collect stuff (twigs, leaves, craft stuff, cards, etc) and this desk has lots of places to put "stuff."

Everybody loves whiteboards here.

Here are the majority of our "educational toys."  I considered tidying them all up for the picture and then promptly decided a "real life" shot would be much easier and realistic, to boot!  :)

I guess the heart of our homeschooling can really be summed up in an encounter I had the other day.  I was making dinner and Rebekah came to ask me if I "had time" to come help her.  And although it was a simple request, I just felt it resonate deep down.  I love "having time" for them.  I LOVE sitting beside them and helping them learn.  Through the insanity and struggle with schedules and children wearing their "grumpy pants," I feel blessed beyond measure each and every day.