7 Quick Takes - Daily Grind 2015

1. Putting the Christmas tree away means it is time to rearrange the furniture, right?

The top photo is actually from Christmas 2013, but our set-up this past year (2014) was similar, minus the desk and the chair (instead we had a small half-dresser near the door).  It has been YEARS since I did anything different with our couches.  We shall see if this "sticks."

2. Sight Word Brilliance

My son Jacob's brain works differently than the other children.  The "momma" in me says this is because he is a genius (which he very well might be) but the "reality" in me says that means some things are going to be a struggle.  School work is a struggle for him - not because he cannot do it, but because HE SEES NO POINT IN DOING IT!!  Anyhow, he was fighting me tooth and nail to learn his sight words (which is tremendously slowing down his reading right now) and yesterday it hit me to have him spell them out with letters.  He called it "fun"!!!  We have  winner :)

3. Movement helps the blood flow and that helps the brain work.

This is quite possibly the worst picture ever, but consider it like a "Where's Waldo."  Do you see two ropes (each braided) hanging from a giant climbing-strength carabiner?

I have been wanting to put some rings or a trapeeze bar in my living room for the kids to swing on, but we only have one hook right now and my dear husband already thinks I am crazy (and has a list of "honey do" items a mile long as it is).  So I found a strong clamp and a couple of ropes.  Now the kids pull, swing, and climb.  It has been helpful for me to have them (especially Jacob) answer a question and then swing once on the ropes, only to come back and answer the next question.  

Plus the ropes help keep them in the same room.  Jacob was pacing from room to room as I read him a story yesterday and I broke down at one point exclaiming, "Jacob, would you just STAY IN THIS ROOM, PLEASE!!"  Once I made it clear it was ok for him to pace, but I just wanted him close enough to hear he happily walked in circles around the table and from door to door while listening.

4. Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman is seriously BLOWING MY MIND!!

I know I have already posted about two other books she has written (well, they were really parts of her blog turned into books - this is her first "real" book, written as a book), but this one really takes the cake!!  Katy is a biomechanist that is basically looking at humans from an historical perspective of how we used to behave as hunter-gatherers.  She goes back to this point because she says that time/activity is how our bodies performed optimally and she says a lot (most) of our troubles today are from poor alignment/lack of movement as we do not move as we used to because of modern convenience.  I think my reaction to this book might be its own post soon.

5. Paul says the cutest stuff sometimes.

We had to upgrade our van last year before having Zipporah.  We ended up selling our mini-van to my parents.  When they come visit, Paul always refers to their vehicle as "the money-van."  

6. Samuel spoke up at Mass today.

This picture only kind-of goes with this number.  After Mass this morning there were many poinsettias looking for homes.  This one found its way to ours.  We shall see how long it lasts.

We try to go to daily Mass with our local Catholic school, at least once a week.  The priests regularly ask the kids questions during the homily and I often feel bad as I know Rebekah would LOVE to answer but they never venture further than the main aisle where all the school kids sit.  Today, however, Father Earl came over to our section as a few of the older school kids in front of us answered some questions.  And then, before I knew it, Father had called on Samuel!  Just like his momma, when he feels the need to say something he is not shy.  

Father was asking where we might find synagogues today.  Samuel answered, ITALY!!  Which, in his defense is quite wise of him.  We have been studying a lot about the Roman Empire in history right now and they just recently (in our studies) took over Judea and Jesus was born.  Since the Roman Empire first came from Italy, it makes sense he would say that.  Father got a good chuckle from it and agreed that there probably were some synagogues in Italy.

7. I took my two oldest children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday.

I only took those two because they are the only ones old enough to receive.  (This was Samuel's second time to receive this sacrament.)  It was a great experience.  I love sharing the faith with my children.

Zipporah (almost seven-months-old here) is very happy I am done blogging so I can play with her again.

Know Your Limits

I bet you are wondering what this "random" picture is all about.  Well, you are in luck, this picture here is the point of my post!!  But first, enjoy the picture. . .take it in. . . now, see below for me to explain it.

 

 

Today I did A LOT of things.  After my post on yesterday's craziness, I could not just leave you hanging wondering if my house ended up getting cleaned this weekend, could I?

Ok, in all honesty, it did not get ALL cleaned, but man I got a good chunk done!  And yes, I will be honest.  I did not clean (this time) for someone else to come visit.  And even when I do clean for "someone else" to come visit, I honestly know I am not cleaning for THEM, but for me and what I want my house to look like for them.  Does that make sense?  I feel better when my house is clean.  The people visiting often would not care one way or another, I do it for me - there ya go, honesty at its best.  But enough of this tangent, back to my point.  I cleaned today FOR ME!!  And then, I one-upped it, I took pictures!!  AND posted them here for all to see!!  But not just for you to pat me on the back and say how awesome I am.  I actually had a "mini-revelation" that I thought I would share.  And since I was on here anyhow, I figured a few of those "clean house pictures" would help make my point. . .   Err, maybe I did just want to show off that it is actually clean because by 7:30am tomorrow morning when the little ones come upstairs, it will promptly be "not clean" anymore.

No, the baby does not actually stay on this little rug, but it makes me happy to give her a "space" to keep throwing her toys back in.  Yes I am OCD like that.

This is "The Study."  It is also where I envision us doing "school work" but my kids seem to float wherever they please and in the midst of the chaos, I tend to let them!  It also houses A LOT of other things (if you may notice) as we do not have a storage room in this house.

Ahh, once again it is time to get back to my initial picture and my point. . .   I have often had a "collection point" for little odds and ends such as game pieces that got left out when the game was put away, or pieces of this or that set of blocks or gears, or even puzzle pieces!  And I have often felt guilty over such a point and tried tirelessly to be consistently emptying it and getting things back where they belong.  Well, no more I say!  Today I realized that putting such "pieces" in a box is ENOUGH!!  And when we play said game or have such a set out, or need a piece for a puzzle, this is where we can look!

So brilliant, right?  Yeah, I really did not need this mega-long post and lots of pictures to tell you this, but. . . yeah, I'm a sucker for drama.  So enjoy. 

The TV room. . . and THE TOYS

I have been thinking a lot about toys since my friend Monica posted this link on facebook. The comments about it were also good for thought. Monica mentioned that she had several toys in "storage" and rotated frequently. The funny thing is that I would have told you I do the same thing, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that is not quite true. We don't really have a lot of room for storage. I have to stick things here or there - no real "storage room" or what-not. So in a sense, I was considering toys to be "in storage" when really they were just crammed in the nooks and crannies of the tv (toy) room in places I really did not expect the kids to get them out (although I was not consciously thinking that when I put them there - if that makes sense). In any case, after much mulling over the subject of toys (and having some free time as I mentioned in my previous post -staying home with an almost fine baby) I attacked the tv room. I thinned out the toys so there would be more space. And created a "toy library" (or really it is more just an "ask permission first" so that I can make you pick up your other toys and/or help you because I don't want these broken or the pieces lost - although there are some things that are just regular toys I am planning to rotate to perk interest).

Unfortunately I have no "before" pictures as it did not dawn on me to take any until I was in the thick of it and toys were EVERYWHERE so you will just have to take my word that it looks better.

Here is the "toy library" - although most of it is games or puzzles that I don't want broken or the pieces destroyed - so in a sense it is more like "restricted play" - although there are some "rotating toys" here, too. Here is the tv room - you can't tell but I've seriously cut down on all the bins and what-not that are scattered about. And the ones left I have put serious thought into - the toys on the black shelves are well-loved by all the kids (doctor toy set, toy tea set, tub of toy phones) and the bottom shelf are blocks for the baby to stack and a tub of little people and animals that I think Paul will enjoy.

I moved the toy kitchen into this room from the front room. All the kids love the toy kitchen and use it frequently - so as much as I dislike picking up toy food every day (and disinfecting on a regular basis), I think the kids might riot if I tried to put it in "restricted play"

Here is the closet - just trust me - it has been thinned out and the toys are MUCH MORE accessible. The box in the middle is dress-up clothes or to be more official, "dramatic play." Many of the moms I am friends with dislike plastic toys that take batteries and trust me, I am right there with you - but at the same time, the baby always seems to enjoy the heck out of these - and most of the ones in this closet have been with us since Rebekah was a baby - so they are tried and true.

Here are our videos (yep, old-school - most of these are from when I was little - hehe) and our "older books" - some are chapter books and some are just a bit more advanced. (This is my first time "organizing" the books - I hope it sticks as it makes my book choice much easier when I'm looking for something to read to the kids.)

Here is our other shelf of books. (Notice the tubs on top - more "toy library/restricted play" toys.)

Here is a close up of the bookshelf. The top shelf is wooden puzzles (ask to get them down - so we don't lose the pieces) and our religious books (and St Francis and Jesus). I keep a few of these down in the living room as our "featured books" and then rotate them every week or so. The next shelf down is comic books (a little old for our kids - again, from my childhood - some day they will love them, though - I still enjoy them :) followed by a "regular reading" shelf - books that all the kids (except Paul) enjoy. The shelf one up from the bottom is board books. And then the bottom shelf is big board books and a few more "regular reading" books.

I know it seems nerdy to have a whole post on this but I am sooooo excited to have the room cleaner and a conscious approach to toys. I'm still letting the concept of homeschooling sink into my soul - maybe some day. In the mean time I'm trying to make the most of my time with the kiddos as I work and play with them throughout the day.

House Rearrangement

I was home with the recovering baby this past weekend - and really he was not very sick to begin with and was feeling much better very quickly, so I took the opportunity to rearrange the house. I am THRILLED with the results. I imagine you will be, too.

Here is the living room as it was - front door shot.

Here is another view of the front room. This is an older picture as we still have the stove here (it has been taken out for a while now - it was not mounted, just sitting there, so when it got warmer we moved it to the back porch) but the picture suits my purposes - as you can tell this wall had a bookshelf and chair and misc other junk.

I should interject here, that we were given a new couch that we like quite a bit. We debated getting rid of the old one but then decided to keep both. In any case, it was in front of the window (where the kids' table and chairs are).

Now, here is a shot of the new set-up. I call it dueling couches. But it really seems to open up the room. I put the rug sideways because I like to have the footstool in front of the easy chair (as the kids like to jump on my legs when I have them up and I'm always afraid they will hurt the recliner foot - so I use a footstool instead) and it does not sit well on the rug. But I think the rug sideways also makes the room look larger as it makes the dining area appear bigger. (And I'm all about illusion - if you can't actually make the room bigger, you might as well make it LOOK bigger :)

Here is shot of the old set-up. Notice all the toys along the wall near the kitchen door? I will address where all those toys went in my next post. I did not realize how cluttered they looked until I moved them.

Here is the new set-up. I like the bookshelf there a lot better, but now I will have to move our 5x7 frames of the kiddos. Oh well, maybe I will invest in a digital photo frame (hint hint for Christmas dear Hubby - if you actually read this :) - then I could just have ONE and put pictures of the all the kiddos on it.

And a final picture - looking at the front room from the front door.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

So my daughter does a lot of coloring and craft projects at school. And here is what I do with them. I actually really enjoy them. Just thought I'd share.