Figuring It Out

Well, I posted a facebook note a couple weeks ago in which I asked for encouragement and advice on how to "get it all done" with 4 kids and homeschooling and all the life stuff that needs done. I got Great encouragement and advice; all of which I appreciate! One stellar piece was for me to ask my husband for advice. Sure enough, Phillip and I had a great talk that night and he came up with some amazing solutions for simplifying life. Seriously, if anyone needs some help simplifying (job, life, schedules, etc), Phillip has great ideas on efficiency. He could be a life coach. :-)

I wanted to share my progress over the past couple weeks though. First, the ideas we came up with are:

1. Lunch was moved to one hour later. It's our big meal which I cook, but it was hard to finish much schooling in the morning with lunch bumping into the morning. So now we eat at 12:30.

2. We are using paper plates/bowls and plastic cups. A great time saver when it comes to cleaning up three meals a day!

3. Phillip has taken over supper. I made a list of what the kids can eat each night of the week and he makes it for them. Before I was letting the kids choose their own supper (things like tortillas and cheese/ sandwiches/ etc). They would all choose something different and then a big mess would ensue and I dreaded supper and clean-up. There is one supper option for all kids now. And they eat in the kitchen and clean up their own minimal mess. No fuss, no muss.

4. I let go of one service area at church.

Those ideas have helped tremendously. As well as the encouragement to rethink my life with children right now. My family is my ministry. If I have one moment of breathing room in my week, I think that I should add something to my life. Forbid that I should ever be bored! I must pack every minute of my day, no? Then I add too much, get overwhelmed, and inevitably drop some commitments. I borrowed a book recommended by a preacher's wife: "Good Girls Don't Change the World". This was good in showing me something I've slowly been coming to realize over the years: People pleasers will drain themselves and either erupt or get depressed. And those who chase worth (or God's favor) through "doing enough" will find they can never "do enough" to earn worth or God's grace. Another book ("Managers of their Home") is helping for me to see how other families schedule their day and fit it all in. These are large families, so if they can do it, it can be done! But it's helping me see that I"m naturally good at scheduling, I just need someone (husband) to open my eyes that my life has changed and my schedule needs to adjust (new baby added; schooling more than one child now, etc). Anyway, we have gotten two full weeks of school in over the past two weeks, so I'm breathing easier and am so appreciative of the encouragement!!!!! Thank you.

Four Peas in a Pod

A fellow mother gave me this necklace after I had Harrison. I probably wouldn't have guess what it represented if Phillip hadn't immediately exclaimed, "Cool! Four peas in a pod." I love it!

Mom Home Alone

Dad took the kids to get ice cream at Target and look at toys. I am home alone with Harrison who is sleeping. I'm baking a new custard cake recipe and watching The Duggars: 17 Kids and Counting. I caught some of it when I was held hostage in the hospital with Harrison's birth. (okay, it felt that way. A new mom has many emotions; you'd better not mess with her!) I was fascinated with their family, so I checked out their book from the library and now have Netflixed their show. Very interesting.....

Ramblings

No new pictures to post.

Scratch that, I just found new pictures. I'll download them and get them posted next. So I'll just ramble a little right now since I'm bored. Phillip is away. He's going to pick up a missionary from the airport and won't be back home till late tonight. So he's not gone for a long while, but I'm still bored.

Phoebe has been calling Jonathan "Diego" ever since she's gotten into Dora. I don't think she even calls him "Jonathan" anymore. He doesn't mind. He comes running. :-) He does a good job taking care of Phoebe. They often play together while Liz and I do school or Liz is outside playing. Phoebe's been a handful. The other day she was sitting on the floor coloring on paper with an ink pen. I was doing laundry and watching her. The next thing I knew, there was a puddle of potty under her, and she stood up and kind of looked at it like, "What just happened here?". So I carried her arms-length away from my body and put her in the tub. I cleaned up the puddle and went to wash her off. It turned out that she still had the ink pen in her hand and was happily drawing little circles and lines on the tub. So I cleaned her up and then had to clean the tub with a Magic Eraser. Then I finally got back to the laundry. Like Phillip said, "Phoebe seems to be more two than the other two were when they were two."

Jonathan (or Diego) is wanting to do everything Elizabeth can do. He wanted to write the words "Thank You" because Elizabeth was writing those words in a letter. He wrote a wonderful T and H, but then he couldn't do an A. He got very upset and threw a fit. I think he's going to be a perfectionist. If he can't do it, he wants me to do it. He's embarrassed by kisses and will wipe them off. He drinks and eats a ton already. I'm glad though. I like to see my kids eat. Especially since Elizabeth doesn't eat hardly anything. Except pizza; she loves that.

Elizabeth is growing up. She's reading so much more than she used to. A month or two ago, she read the first chapter of Genesis from my Bible for her dad. She has a hard time getting to sleep at night. It's 9:46 pm, and she just got up to tell me the night light is bothering her. But she loves to sleep in. I have to almost drag her out of bed at 8:00 in the morning so we can have breakfast and start school. You would think she'd be tired at night, but that's not how she works.

Well, I guess I'll get these pictures downloaded and then uploaded and then posted.

Thank you, AT&T.

We got our cell phone bill yesterday, and it was $328.03! We normally pay about $55. But we had switched plans to lower minutes to try to save money and had inadvertently gone over the assigned minutes, and so had been charged $.45 per minute.... Anyway, I called them, and got right through and asked to be sent a list of who we had called so we could double check it. She said she could change our plan to the higher minutes' plan right there over the phone and also would change our bill to reflect that plan! So she took our bill from $328.03 to $85.79!! I was so excited that someone would do that for us. Just had to share!

Baby Shower for Grandma

We did the funnest thing in small group tonight. One of the ladies in our small group has had us praying for her son and daughter-in-law who were pregnant. This is their third, and the first two pregnancies were hard and the girl had to stay in bed for most of them. So we prayed all along for this one, and she had the baby last week right on time (not early like the first two)! Everyone's healthy and happy. So we had a little baby shower for the grandma tonight. She brought the cake and we had punch and everyone gave boy gifts (their first boy!). I love showers, but I've never been to one for grandma. It was fun!

the abdication of parents

" A writer of today represents a mother as saying -

' But you are not afraid of me, Bessie?'

'No, indeed; who could be afraid of a dear, sweet, soft, little mother like you?'

And such praise is sweet in the ears of many a fond mother hungering for the love and liking of her children, and not perceiving that words like these in the mouth of a child are as treasonable as words of defiance."

".... Meanwhile, it is well worth while to notice that the causes which lead parents to resign the position of domestic rulers are resolvable into one - the office is too troublesome, too laborious."

from Parents and Children, Charlotte Mason

Sometimes I can't wait to get there.

After 6 loads of laundry and 10 hours of all of us throwing up in this household, I think I see the end of the tunnel! I haven't been this sick since I was a kid! The kids, freshly washed, are sleeping back in their beds. Phillip is sleeping on the couch (his way of "staying up till 10" so he can sleep tonight). My stomach feels the best it's felt since 4 pm yesterday. In the midst of one trip to the toilet bowl, the thought kept going through my head, "In heaven there will be no sickness or pain!"

Life List

A lady in small group has inspired me to write a short life list (list of goals to accomplish while on this earth). She has one and was telling us about it and what she's crossed off so far. I wrote one back when we were first married and I've accomplished or am in the process of accomplishing them right now, so I thought I'd come up with some new goals. I'm not especially adventurous, so this may sound boring to some. It also doesn't have some important goals like how many people will I affect spiritually (how do you know that number?). Here goes:

1. Invent 12 new recipes (I know, there's nothing new on this earth, but at least think them up myself instead of following someone else's recipe).
2. Write a book.
3. Travel with my kids to the Northeast, Ireland, England for learning purposes.
4. Travel with my kids on a missions trip.
5. Travel with my husband for enjoyment (so probably not with kids).
6. Learn how to swim well (comes from living near so much water and driving over bridges).
7. Take a pottery class where I learn how to use the pottery wheel.
8. Sit in an outside hot tub with snow all around (Amy, is this really as fun as it sounds?).
9. Decorate my home better.
10. Be totally debt-free (including our home!).
11. Be on Food Network :-).
12. Work in/ own/ or manage a coffee shop ~ it just seems like it would be a fun place to work and I love the smell!
13. Plant a garden with at least 6 different fruits/veggies.
14. Volunteer or work in library.
15. Be involved with mission work somehow (besides just giving money).

A Few Favorite Memories

~ singing hymns by kerosene lamp light in my college dorm room with a good friend and roommate at midnight.

~ buying food for a homeless shelter and then several half gallons of ice cream for ourselves with the remainder of a friend's food stamps.

~ the four of us kids (myself and siblings) squeezing into the back of our Hyundai as teenagers when we'd go to small group as a family. Lots of teasing, and usually a lot of laughter too.

~ getting together with the cousins and aunts and uncles for holidays. Grandma's house was always warm and full of yummy smells and there were the favorite movies we watched year after year: Anne of Green Gables, The Princess Bride, Meet Me in St. Louis...

~ bonfires at the beach in Seattle with youth group kids. Loved the freedom and fun of it and the sunsets were gorgeous.

~ an evening walk around a park with cookies and milk and some college friends (one of them being Phillip, but this was several years before we dated).

~ a sweet baby girl being born in our home. She came so calmly - not crying; just blinking her eyes.

~ a Great Day of Questions date with Phillip. This was one of my favorite dates we went on before we married. We simply wrote out a list of questions to ask each other and then went to a garden park and asked them. Learned a lot about each other before we committed to marriage this way. :-)

Goals

Inspired by friends and kinsmen who let us in on their goals and wishes for the New Year, I thought I would jot a few notes on ours. Well, my goals and wishes anyway; although Phillip and I think along the same lines. Though we haven't talked about 2008 specifically, we often talk about what we would like to accomplish in life. We want to continue keeping our lives simple. In this world that we live in, it is so easy to get busy and be gone from home all the time and spend too much money on more stuff that complicates your life. With church stuff and homeschooling groups and classes and kids additional activities and then personal get away time ~ you just have to make yourself say no. I don't know that we do great at this, but we try. I want to enjoy my kids more. They are so funny and want to have fun ~ I don't want to miss out on this time of their lives. Elizabeth will be leaving home in 12 years! So this means watching Jonathan when he says, "Watch me, Mom!" (which is constantly!). Working with Elizabeth when she wants me to help her with a project, have a tea party or play Webkinz with her. This means holding Phoebe or holding her hand or reading her a book while she sits in my lap. I would love to get up earlier every morning to read my Bible and pray. I've always tried to do this, but it seems a lot harder at this point in my life. I pray for myself and for my kids ~ our whole family ~ to love God and to love others more than we love ourselves. I figure since those are the two most important commandments, then even if I just pray for that, we'll be on the right track! :-) These aren't measurable goals, I know. If they were, I would meet the measure and then quit, so I just have things I want to work toward. Hopefully by the end of 2008, I can look back and say I did do those things more this year than I did last year.

Cold

It's been cold here in Florida. It's gotten down into the 30's and we've had to pull out our coats and bundle up and even turn on our heat. But thankfully after this long arduous winter, we're getting back into the 60's today. Yep, it's been a long 3 days!

80 degrees out there today!

Can it really be Christmas time when it's 80 degrees outside and we're walking around in short sleeves and sandals? It doesn't feel quite right; but let me tell you, I like this much better than having to get bundled up every time we go outside and trying to get the kids in the car without the freezing wind messing up my hair too much and being cold in the house no matter how warm I try to dress. So we're enjoying our warm Florida holidays!

My Place in this World

One of the times I feel most satisfied as a wife and mother is when I take time to relax and fix a tear on a shirt or sew on a new button. This shirt is for Phoebe and is so very cute. It just needed new buttons on the two sleeves and on the front.

Memories

I remember going to Grandmas for Thanksgiving or Christmas when I was a kid. The aunts and uncles and cousins would all come over. One year was snowy and icy and I believe I had a new driver's license. Maybe it wasn't so new, because Bunney was with us, I think. The adults had gone to bed and the kids were up, probably playing cards. Nathan and Bunney and I (was there anyone else with us?) backed the car out of the driveway with the headlights off and started slowly to the store on the icy roads. We purchased a half gallon or so of ice cream and made our way slowly back to Grandmas. We turned the headlights off again to drive into Grandmas yard. We thought we'd gotten away with something, but the next day my mom found ice cream in the freezer and gave a knowing smile.

We played lots of cards at Grandmas. Watched Princess Bride and Anne of Green Gables countless times. Seems like there was always shrimp and dip which was really, really good. Uncle Dan and Aunt Lenora would make fresh salsa. We would play outside in the snow. I remember going to shoot guns on a mountain one year. Lots of good memories made with my cousins and aunts and uncles. I hope my children have their own special memories by the time they leave home. Memories and traditions that they can make with family and with friends. But there seems to be no more special bond than the ones made with family.

Christmas is close

Phillip inadvertently found the all-Christmas-music- all-the-time radio station which is already playing all Christmas music all the time! The kids and I are happy about this, but Phillip isn't thrilled. We bought egg nog while shopping today. Christmas decorations went up immediately after Halloween (in stores, not in our home). All signs that Christmas is close! The picture is of our one and only Christmas tree that we've had since we've been married (4 years ago, I think). I've always loved this picture.

Thoughts on Obedience

"Two conditions are necessary to secure all proper docility and obedience and, given these two, there is seldom a conflict of wills between teacher and pupils. The conditions are, --the teacher, or other head, may not be arbitrary but must act so evidently as one under authority that the children, quick to discern, see that he too must do the things he ought; and therefore regulations are not made for his convenience.... ... The other condition is that children should have a fine sense of the freedom which comes of knowledge which they are allowed to appropriate as they choose, freely given with little intervention from the teacher." Charlotte Mason in "A Philosophy of Education"

10 Years Ago

Ten years ago this month, I left home for college in Missouri. Phillip and I have known each other for 10 years now. I went to Sonic tonight to reminisce ~ I used to go to Sonic with friends from college. Tonight I got a small cranberry-lime iced tea. Then we used to mainly get cherry-lime slushies (someone else always bought for me and I think if you bought so many, you'd get one free). We would drive around town and talk and listen to music. Jessica would sing songs from Veggie Tales ~ now my kids listen to those same songs and I crack up laughing! Everyone has moved on now ~ some have kids, some have careers. Lots of life lessons have been learned as opposed to college lessons. I really enjoy remembering back, but I'm glad to have my family life to come back to. Tomorrow we start school!