Mundane, but never boring!

Well, I am in housework catchup mode.  There are many areas of our home that I have been too busy to keep up on properly.  My pantry, which I mentioned the other day is one of them.  I suppose that I should take an after picture.  It is amazingly better.  Now, I am tackling laundry.  "Laundry" should be a four letter word.  It certainly is dirty and not very pleasant.  Add my inconstancy with laundry and a household of eight people and you get a LAUNDRY MONSTER!  So yesterday, I spent the bulk of the day washing, drying, folding, hanging, sorting clothes.  My laundry room was piled full with clean laundry which I have sorted through.  Now, my bedroom has stacks of out of season clothes, clothes that I am saving, but don't currently fit a child, but will, and boxes of clothes to donate.  Of course this was all done amidst schoolwork, reading, meal prep, cleaning, as well as dealing with a certain 4 year old that God must have put into my life to make me realize that I am totally inept as a parent.  Let's just say that when she is in a mood, I could tell her to go eat candy and she would feel the need to refuse just because I said it.  [sigh] It is exhausting.  Needless to say, this one child took a large chunk of my day yesterday.  I am praying for wisdom and guidance from God, because nothing I have learned from my 17+ years of parenting is helping.  God clearly has to intervene and I am depending on Him.  Of course, that's right where He wants me now isn't it?

It's Summer!

After cold and rainy weather for what felt like FOREVER, it finally feels like summer.  We've had HOT, humid weather and lots of sunshine.  It does look like a storm is rolling in today, though.  I am kind of bummed about that because my garden needs a bit of tilling so I can get it planted.  This was not a good year to try and create a new big garden.  It has been too wet to work the ground.  Hubby finally got our garden plowed and disked, but it needs some tilling before planting.  It should have happened last weekend, but mowing took precedence.  I am hoping we don't get so much rain today that we can't till and plant this weekend.

Now that I have more days at home without outside commitments, I have been taking this opportunity to do some cleaning and organization that was long overdue.  Our schoolroom/office was a ridiculous mess.  You couldn't even walk through the place because it tend to be a dumping place for everything.  I started sorting though stuff, but got discouraged.  That paired with the fact that we were have people over last weekend, I just boxed everything up and hauled it to the basement.  I promised myself that I would go through one box per day.  I might not be keeping up with that so far this week...BUT the schoolroom looks great! 

Yesterday, I started cleaning out my pantry.  It is packed full and I can never find anything. I had shelves full of bags of bulk foods, etc.  I would look for something, not see it, and end up buying it.  After returning from Sam's Club yesterday, I realized that something HAD to be done.  I didn't have room to put anything away.  So I broke down and purchased some containers to store all of our bulk things like nuts, grains and dried fruit.  I was so glad to get rid of all of those little bags!  It is still in process and my kitchen counter island is still covered, but I am hoping to have it put together by the end of the day.  Fact is, we go though a lot of food.  We have changed out diet to mostly unprocessed, whole, real food.  This can allow for way less packaging and a tidier pantry.  I just had to break down and spring for some containers.  I fell in love with one type, but they were $10-15 each.  I settled on a more economical option and they seem to be working out great.

My next big project will be our clothing/laundry situation.  I have come to the conclusion (with help from my hubby) that I am a clothes hoarder.  I save every outgrown thing for the next child coming up.  I buy any good deal I find even if I have enough clothes for that particular child.  (When I mean good deal, I am talking a quarter.)  However, I am discovering that much of what I have saved looked pretty sad.  It is worn, faded and outdated.  This should be no surprise.  I have about 7 years between several of my same sex siblings.  If you figure that most of the clothes were purchased used, they are over a decade old and have seen the wear of at least two children.  A couple of boxed were attacked by mice as well, so they were trash.  So, I am sorting through and getting rid of a bunch of stuff.  I will only save the best of the best clothing and pass on the rest to someone else.  I probably have a couple of weeks worth of work to go through my stash. 

That's my life right now.  It is busy with the mundane but necessary.

The Greatest Wealth is Health

I have no idea who originally said, "The greatest wealth is health," but they are so right.  You don't realize it until you are not feeling up to par.  We had the influenza go through our house the week after Christmas.  I was down for 3 days with a fever of 102-103 degrees.  Not fun, but I was blessed that my hubby was home that week and could manage the household.  I thought I was completely back on my feet, but I have never gotten rid of all my sinus congestion.  Sunday I woke up with the beginnings of a fever blister which is a sure sign that my body is fighting something and each day since I have felt more worn down.  This morning I am finding that my brain just will not kick into gear and I am so tired.  Sadly, though, it is not possible to rest.  There is a home to manage, schoolwork to do, we have our gym class co-op this afternoon and really need to go to the grocery store.  We even have outside commitments this evening.

I am not really sure why I am sharing all of this.  I guess I am using this blog space as a sort of brain dump.  I am thinking about how do we function as Christ followers when we are struggling to just do the basics?  Having made the choice for Christ, I know that I have crossed over from death to life, I am clothed in His righteousness, I am on the eternal path.  BUT I am still living here in this earthly realm full of sin and trials and sometimes I feel like I am just sitting here wallowing in the mud not accomplishing anything of significance. 

Some days it is really hard to see the eternal in the midst of the laundry, messes, errands, and children's squabbles. I wonder what it even looks like in the midst of the chaos of life.  Then my little girl comes up and snuggles onto my lap and looks at me with those adoring eyes.  There it is!  I just saw a glimpse of it.  Or I look at just the right time to see someones kind action toward a stranger at the grocery store.  Again, I realize I have gotten another small taste of something heavenly.  If you look, these touches of heaven are all around us, but they are so easily hidden in the midst of the ordinary, the chaos and the busyness.  These small acts of love and kindness towards others, THESE are the eternal things.  These are the things that matter.  So, even though I am tired, and would much rather crawl back in bed than be the mom today, I choose to go forward.  I will go about my day with intention.  I will remember that my actions today do have eternal significance because when I show love and kindness in the middle of the mess, someone else may see it and recognize Christ in me.  THEY will get that taste of the eternal.  And isn't that really what it is all about?

Making Time

It sure has been quiet on the blog front here hasn't it?  I am trying very hard to be more disciplined with my time and follow a particular routine/schedule for my days.  The time in my day that I have allotted for blogging is in the early morning before my children rise.  During that time I also get completely dressed and ready for the day, make hubby's lunch, and have my quiet time with God.  These things take priority over blogging so if I don't get up as early as I would like, guess what falls by the wayside?  Yup, the blog.  And guess how is having difficulty getting up early?  Yup, that would be me!  I am working on this.  I am determined to do better. 

On a positive note, the new routine has been working pretty well for us.  (That is, when I actually stick to it.  Oh Discipline, I pray for you daily!)

DAILY SCHEDULE

• 5:00-6:00am:  Get up.
• Until 8:00am:  Get completely dressed and ready for the day, make coffee, make hubby's lunch, bible study, prayer, e-mail, facebook, blogging.
• 8:00-8:30am:  Wake kids (if necessary), help them complete their upstairs tasks, laundry.
• 8:30-9:00am:  Breakfast, family devotion, memory verses
• 9:00-:9:30am:  Mom's office time, Kids chore time
• 9:30am-12:00pm:  Academics
• 12:00-12:30pm:  Lunch
• 12:30-3:00pm:  Project time
• 3:00-3:30pm:  Tea time
• 3:30-4:30pm:  Quiet reading hour, Mom's office time
• 4:30-5:30pm:  Pick up house and make dinner
• 5:30-6:00pm:  Dinner
• 6:00-8:30pm:  Family time/Outside activities
• 8:30-9:00pm:  Younger kids bedtime
• 9:00-10:30ish pm:  Free time with older kids
• 10:30pm (approx.):  Bedtime!

Of course, this varies depending on outside activities for the day, but this is the basic framework that I am trying to maintain. Theere are several new things on this schedule that are working out very well:

1. Earlier mealtimes than we had before.
2. "office times" both early and late in the day for me to officially make/return non-personal phone calls, do paperwork, pay bills, etc.
3. Tea time which acts as a benchmark in the day and a little snack time for the kids.  We have been reading poetry during this time.
4. Quiet reading hour for my younger children.  This gives me a quiet hour to be productive AND I have seen a big boost in reading interest and skills since we started this, especially with my 8 year old son.

That all being said...I gotta go.  It's time for me to go motivate my kiddos!

Oh, the futility of it all...

I am having a down day. I look around my home and am overwhelmed with how many messes and how much work surrounds me.  It takes SO MUCH effort just to keep things with some slight semblance of order.  I feel like I have to be constantly picking up, cleaning, instructing the kids, cooking, doing laundry...did I say picking up?  I feel like I can just ignore the clutter that accumulates for a few hours and it is overwhelming.  Why are we all so messy?  Some days it all seems so futile.  I know that everything that I clean right now will probably be just as dirty again in a matter of hours (if not minutes!)  As soon as I am done with one meal, I am on to planning the next.  I can work diligently getting all the clothes in the laundry room washed and put away, but as soon as I turn around, there is a new pile of dirty clothes awaiting me.  It never ends; I can never get ahead.  I have things I would love to accomplish - great ambitions, but I feel like I am too busy doing the mundane over and over and over to even think about doing more.

I don't always feel this way.  There are days when I feel like I could take on the world.  I have been trying to figure out he secret to those days because feeling like I do now is no fun.  I think much of it has to do with how I am physically feeling.  I mentioned last week that I have been fighting a cold and allergies. I am tired and my head and body ache.  I feel like I don't have the luxury of just being sick and resting.  So, how does one get past this feeling and drive through it?  This truly forces me to rely on God's strength because I truly don't have much on my own.. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

I pray for God to show me the eternal camouflaged in the mundane, the purpose in the redundant.  I know in my heart that it exists.  Sometimes it is just so hard to see it.

To market, to market, to buy A LOT

"She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar." Proverbs 31:14

One mom, one 95 degree day, 4 children and 4 full shopping carts equals what? A full pantry and a very tired me. Oh, I forgot to mention the horrendous thunderstorm that broke loose just as I was leaving Sam's club with 2 of my full shopping carts along with a 3 year old who thought she had to go potty for the 3rd time just since we had been there and a tired 1 year old with a leaky diaper. Good times good times.

I know what you are thinking. "Why in the world...?" Well, my older two girls have started doing some painting and cleaning for us at our apartments and they were busy with that. I had no babysitters at home, so I had to take the younger 4 with me.

We were way overdue for an Aldi's run. I find that I get my best deals on canned goods there. Their selection isn't huge, but there are most of the basics. I buy flats of canned green beans, peaches, various other fruits, tomato sauce, cream soups, etc. Yesterday, they even had a mexican brand of tomatoes with chili peppers (similar to Rotel) for only 55 cents a can. We also stocked up on cereal, granola bars along with a few other misc. items. The nice thing about going to Aldi's with the kids is that I actually have help. When I do it alone, I have only one cart and it is tough fitting everything in it. I had Patrick push a second cart and and was able to use one just for flats of canned goods and the second for all the other stuff. Way easier. We loaded up our van with our two cart loads and moved on.

We were also long overdue for a Sam's Club run. As our family size has grown and we go through larger quantities of things, I am discovering that buying in bulk really works well for us and is more economical. The day before, I made a list and placed a Click-n-Pull order. If you don't know what that is, it is a service they provide for business members. You order online and they gather it all for you. You just show up, pay and take it home. The only downside to it is that not everything in the store is available online, so I always end up with a short list of things that I need to walk through the store to pick up. The click-n-pull does still save time.

My darling 3 year old, Rachel, must have a bladder the size of a pea. I made her go to the bathroom before we left. We used the bathroom at Office Depot, one of our first stops before grocery shopping, and hit the bathroom as soon as we got to Sam's. I think my big mistake was bribing them with lunch at Sam's for good behavior. You can't eat out much cheaper. You can get a hot dog combo for $1.70 which includes a big hot dog and a BIG soda. Did I say big soda? I meant BIG. Obviously, this was not a good thing for Rachel. Of course, she waits until we are at the very back of the store, the opposite end from the bathrooms, to start doing her desparate potty dance. You know the one, right? You bounce around holding your bottom yelling (so everyone around can hear) "I have to go potty!" over and over. Fearing an embarrassing puddle on the floor, I relent and stop my shopping to drag everyone back to the front of the store to the bathroom. The older two say they could try to go so I send the three in by themselves while I stand outside with the full cart and baby. After about what seems like 20 minutes of squeals and giggles coming from inside, they finally emerge. We return to the other end of the store and finish up. This is when I notice that the blazing hot sun has disappeared and it looks like rain. As I am standing in line to check out and claim my click-n-pull, the heavens burst forth and we hear torrential rain coming down along with lots of thunder and lightning. I am envisioning wet kids, wet groceries, and wet me. My order was brought up in two carts which meant that I now had three carts. As I am consolidating it into just two, my son accidentally spills my entire full cup of iced tea on the floor. So, I sheepishly have to tell someone so it can get cleaned up. [sigh]

I decided that there was no way that I was dragging four kids and two carts out into a thunderstorm. So, I place my older two in charge of guarding the carts by the door and grab the baby and 3 year old and go to the van to pull it up under the covered loading area. This is when I discover that Baby Samuel's diaper has reached capacity and he is soaking wet. Ick! This is the second time his diaper has leaked on me in one day. Thankfully, this time it was only wet! I pull up and start the task of trying to quickly load two more cart-fulls of groceries into my already full van. Cars are lining up behind us waiting. This is when Rachel begins her encore of the desperate potty dance. I think, "You have got to be kidding me! I am not taking you a third time to the bathroom here. Not now." We finish loading, pull out of the way and I change Samuel. Rachel is screaming and holding her bottom. Luckily, I still have one pull-up in the van and put it on her. We drive home listening to her cry "potty" all the way.

Thankfully, when I got home, Barry and the girls were there so I had lots of help unloading which was wonderful. Rachel did, by the way, make it home to the bathroom without an accident. I am so happy that we are fully stocked up and won't need to do that again for a long time - at least a week [wink].

Yes, I'm still around

I have really failed lately when it comes to this blog. Time - there just never seems to be enough of it!

Here's a quick up date about what is going on in our lives right now.

My daughter Elizabeth and I both participated in a photography contest called Photos of Faith. She and I both got ribbons in our divisions which was very exciting. This photo here is Elizabeth's called "Steadfast Resolve" which got 1st place in the youth division. The judges even said that they thought is was the strongest image in the whole show and probably would have gotten 1st place even in the adult division. Cool, huh!

Speaking of Elizabeth, she is officially a licensed driver. We are all very excited for her. I have to admit that my heart is just in my throat watching her drive off by herself. I know that she is in God's hands, though. I have to keep reminding myself of that.

Both of my older two girls have started a new business venture doing some painting and cleaning for us at our apartments. This gives them some real work experience and a bit of cash in their pockets. In addition to this they are feverishly working on their 4-H projects which will be fine arts and crafts. The fair is just a few short weeks away.

Patrick and Abi just finished up two weeks of swimming lessons which they loved. Rachel, being only 3 years old, was too young to participate. She was devastated and has thrown her share of temper tantrums to prove it. We are going through a rather difficult phase with her right now. She definitely has a temper and is NOT afraid to use it. Her screaming outbursts are a regular occurrence in our home even though she gets disciplined for every single one of them. She just can't seem to control them. I am praying that with diligence on our part to always take action when they occur and maturity on her part, she can get a grip on her fiery emotions.

My littlest guy, Samuel, is already 17 months old. As can be expected for his age, he is a busy little man. I have had to put a lock on my tupperware cabinet for our sanity because I couldn't take cleaning up the mess after he had gone through it like a tornado one more time. He adores his older siblings and tries to follow them everywhere. His second favorite activity right now is emptying drawers. Fun!

Samuel has his first official haircut this morning so it is time to cut this short so I can feed the troops their breakfast before we go.

Still Alive!

Yup, I am still around. Life have been particularly full lately and I just haven't figured out how to make time for blog writing. I may be able to squeak in some time, but often my mind is so FULL of stuff that I can't put a coherent thought together.

Since I last posted, much has happened, but no more than usual, I suppose. My Anna had her 13th birthday so we have two teenagers in the house. For all the complaining that folks do about teenagers, they are not all bad. Maybe I am just lucky, but I love watching my girls grow into young women.

As you can see from the photo here, we experienced our first flood. We got over 4 inches of rain in a couple of hours. Our teeny weeny drainage ditch overflowed its banks and flooded our yard. Thankfully, our house stayed high and dry. Not all of our neighbors fared so well. The kids, however, thought it was cool. I was thankful for a break in the rain.

I have been very busy managing our apartments. It seems like I am spending more and more time lately one them. Time, I might add, that I don't feel like I have. Strangely though, God is showing me that this a sort of ministry that He has for me. I've arguing with Him about it, but I know it is a silly thing to argue with God. What's the point? We both know who is going to win. ;)

Then, of course, the kids' education continues. We don't take a summer break, but instead continue at a relaxed pace year round. I just started the oldest three on a new math curriculum.

I have also had a couple of graphic design projects that have kept me pretty busy. Both are volunteer work. One was the yearbook for our homeschool gym class and the other is a book and a video for a photography contest/exhibition at our old church.

Add in the cooking, cleaning, laundry and everything else that must be done to keep a household running, and my plate is more than full right now. I keep thinking that if I could just figure out a way to give up sleep....

Good morning!
I am sitting here looking out my back windows which face east and watching the sunrise through this gorgeous misty fog. I am separated from my closest neighbors behind me by a 25 acre field and a majestic row of mature pine trees. Each day I am treated with seeing them silhouetted by the rising sun. It still amazes me that we lived on this property for 7 years before I ever really took notice of them. That is because where our old farmhouse was situated, they were blocked by our detached garage. Our new home is in our pasture directly in front of them. What a treat to discover them and the lovely vista they provide every morning!

Years ago, there used to be a similar row of trees on the outskirts of town. Every so often I would drive by them traveling west at sunset and loved their gorgeous silhouettes. Sadly, they were cut down in the name of progress and a gas station now stands in their place. We saw the signs that this was soon to happen and I made an attempt to get a photo of these trees at sunset, but didn't have good success. I chalked it up as a loss and treasured the memory of that beautiful sight. I suppose that is why my morning view is all the more special to me. It is as if those cut down trees have been given to me and placed right in my back yard - a little gift from God.

I would love to share a photo, but I am working on my laptop and I don't have any on this computer. We are having a little technical difficulty with our computers. Our old desktop is, well, old, and runs especially slow. Since up until a couple of months ago it was my photo editing computer of choice, I have quite a few photos saved on it. Our newer desktop is currently out of commission. For several months we have been getting a "hard drive failure is imminent" message when we start it up and have been making sure that nothing important is saved on it. We were just waiting for it to finally quit and replace the hard drive. Well, now the graphics card is not working right. [sigh] Both of our desktops are HPs and I have gotta say that they have had lots of little problems that we have had to repair. After the trouble we had with our first one, I swore I wouldn't ever by another, but I got talked into it by a good bargain and a persuasive hubby who was convinced that our first computer issues were just a fluke. I am not so convinced. Anyway, all that being said...it is a challenge right now for me to be able to share a photo online. I guess you will just have to deal with me yammering on and on...

I know; I know...it is ridiculous how I have neglected my blog. I am still alive and kicking, but have been finding it hard to find time to write something here. At least I am finding it hard to write something coherent. Most days I crave just a few more hours and a bit more energy so that I can get more done. My intentions are good, but I find it difficult fulfilling all of the roles I am required to play in life.

What's happening in my corner of the world:

My baby is almost 9 months old. I blinked and he went from a helpless, squishy little newborn, to a busy, boy who is crawling, pulling up, and putting anything he can get his chubby little hands on into his mouth. He, alone, could be a full time job just making sure he doesn't hurt himself at this stage. He is also the cutest little thing!

The rest are busy with lessons and learning in various degrees each day.

My oldest is now taking a rifle class ans seems to be doing well. Just a warning, I guess, that no one should mess with her.

We have officially joined a homeschool gym class this year which meets each week. The kids seem to be enjoying it.

I am now a 4-H leader! Ya' gotta do what you gotta do to keep the club alive. 4-H is such a good learning experience for the kids. I was already participating as a parent anyway. Now there are several of us moms that have stepped up to run things since our former leader has stepped down. She will be missed, but we are looking forward to keeping things going great.

We have been attending a new church. The whole experience of deciding we needed to do this, church shopping, and feeling a bit lost has been quite an experience - one we are still in the middle of. I can't even begin to tell you what it has been like and how many emotions I have gone through. To sum things up, we have attended the same church for about 10 years. Its members feel like a second family to me. Then God nudges us out of that comfort zone and into the unknown. ( I won't go into the details. That is a post and a half in itself.) It is a challenging thing to try out new churches with 6 kids that range from baby to high school. We forge into the unfamiliar and have to figure out where everyone needs to go. Thankfully, we have found a place that we think we are gonna stay at least for a season. In certain aspects, it is a bit out of our comfort zone, but it just feels right to us. I think that is all God's leading. For the time being, however, I am still involved in things at our old church; in particular bible study, book club, and the girls and I are still doing liturgical dance. because that is where my friends and my connections are. The church we are now attending on Sundays is rather large and it is going to take some time and effort to make those same personal connections there. And also, I don't want to lose those connections that I have from our old church. That is what really makes this such a difficult thing. [sigh] And that is enough about that.

Let's see...what else?

I have cleaned my house like 850 times since I last posted. Sadly, the kids have messed it up 851 times.

I have made several gifts in the past couple of months which include two custom monsters for my nephews, a nightgown for my mom, an apron and two bread bags for my sister-in-law, a stuffed rocket ship complete with 4 little aliens that ride in it for my son, and a pretty little doll with a removable skirt, blanket and carrying bag for my daughter. I have quite a few projects in mind that I need to get started on for Christmas, too. One of these days, I will be organized enough to post photos here, but I am running out of time. You can see photos that I have posted on Facebook here.

If you are interested, more recent photos can be found here, as well.

I think that's all for now.

In my world...

In my world, life is still busy. Nothing new. I have had too much stuff swirling around in my head to write a sensible blog post.

Here's what's happening:

Although we school year-round, lessons definitely slow down during the summer, so I am gearing up to kick things back up a notch.

Have asked the children to think about their goals and what they desire to learn this year and am meeting with them one on one to discuss. This will help me in the direction of their schooling for the upcoming school year.

I have a pear tree that needs to be harvested and I am trying to figure out how to preserve all that goodness.

I also have 2 crab apple trees that appear to have crab apples that are ripe and ready. I am thinking about trying to make crab apple jelly.

Trying to decide where to put another litter box in our house because we are having some issues in this area.

We've been cleaning carpets (has to do with above item). We have a monster-sized commercial carpet cleaner that does a great job, but is quite a bit of work to use. So we are trying to go room by room and do all of our carpets. This means emptying nearly EVERYTHING out of each room. This is good because it gives me a chance to go through things (toys) and only put back in the rooms what we really want and need.

There are quite a few birthdays coming up in the next couple of months and I have intentions of making quite a handmade projects for them. I need to get working on these.

Elizabeth has completed the class portion of Driver's Education and we are awaiting the driving portion to be scheduled.

My older girls have been taking archery classes through 4-H. Fun!

Samuel, at 6 months old, is hitting some milestones. He has been on his knees and rocking for about a month and it moving about quite a bit, but just this week he figured out how to get himself to a sitting position by himself and is now actually crawling slowly and deliberately forward. He is quite a curious guy and will have our work cut out keeping an eye on him, especially with this new mobility.

We are considering a new homeschool gym class.

We have units open in the apartments we manage which means fielding lots of calls and making appointments to show them. This can be a real time stealer.

The garden is flourishing. Herbs are producing well and I have been harvesting and processing these. Now the tomatoes are beginning to ripen. Love that! Soon I will have to be deciding how to preserve them.

Of course, there are the usual allergy shots and orthodontist appointments, etc.

I could probably go on and on, but I hear my household stirring and waking up, so it is time to get my shower and attend to breakfast. Just thought I would check in here.

In a Perfect World...

In a perfect world...

I would wake up early in the morning before the rest of my household, dress, make my coffee, and have some quiet time with the Lord before I start my day. I know that isn't everyone's dream morning, but for me, I have found it is what works best and sets the tone for the rest of the day. HOWEVER...life isn't perfect and it doesn't always happen that way. But a girl can dream, right? I think it is a good thing to try to visualize the ideal scenarios so I can at least shoot for them.

Here are a few more that maybe a few of you can relate to:

In a perfect world...
there would not be enough cereal on the floor after breakfast to make an entire second meal.

In a perfect world...
my children would never watch mindless television and I would never use the TV as a babysitter when I am desperate to get something done.

In a perfect world...
I would never see an unflushed toilet or never see a used toilet that does not include toilet paper within its contents.

In a perfect world...
I would be able to see my laundry room floor.

In a perfect world...
I would not know what a lego feels like when you unexpectedly step on it in the dark.

In a perfect world...
I would also not know what oatmeal feels like squished between my toes (related: see cereal note above).

In a perfect world...
I wouldn't need to hold myself back while making this list.

I think I could go on and on because as I go through my day there are so many things I encounter within my home that not only are not perfect, but are just plain wrong. [sigh] But we are working on improving. As I type, the TV is off, my younger children are "cleaning" their rooms, Anna is cleaning the kitchen and the washer and dryer are doing their thing. It may not be perfection, but it is good.

Ahhhhh...a lazy Saturday morning....
Today, I was able rise early before the rest of the family. I made a pot of cinnamon tea to sip as I snacked on homemade biscotti while I did some reading and watched a summer storm roll in. It was deliciously wonderful. Then the house arose with the storm and we watched it billow through from our front porch. Just as I was thinking I should consider fixing breakfast, the baby awoke and called out to me his hunger - a beautiful excuse for me to slip away to my quiet bedroom to read and meditate and pray with my little one cuddled to my breast in cozy comfort. There is something about a nursing baby that makes all things seem right with the world - there is such contentment in it.

So, now baby is fed and I sit here journaling this, procrastinating leaving this cozy spot. I wonder how I can keep this relaxed feeling as I go downstairs to squabbling children and television noise. [sigh] But I cannot hide away here forever (if I try, the children are sure to find me eventually). So, I venture forth into my day, praying that I can continue to find peace in the midst of the chaos of life - God's presence in the midst of daily business.

Summertime Colds

I know that there are germs 365 days of the year, but somehow it seems so wrong to have a nasty cold in the middle of summer. It is fairly miserable walking around hot and stuffed up. When there are tons of fun activities to do outside, it is not fun to have an overwhelming desire to crash into bed and sleep for a few days.

Last week, Rachel started with a nasty cough and slept TONS. There were two days where she didn't want to rouse from her nap and ended up sleeping all night for a total of 16 hours or so of sleep. Next Barry caught it, and I soon followed. NOW I understand Rachel's sleepy days. Sleep sounds so wonderful! But, as a mom with lots going on, extra sleep is a luxury that I can't afford right now. So, I plug away, focusing on what needs to get done most because I am working at a slower pace. I need to be very intentional with my choices of activity or I can find that my entire day is gone and I have nothing accomplished to show for it.

A bit behind

That's how I have been feeling lately. I am bit behind in every area of my life it seems. I had a couple of big tasks on my plate a few weeks ago and didn't keep up on the cleaning and laundry. I have been trying in vain for the past couple of weeks to catch back up and get things back in order and it seems to be an impossible task. There are mountains of clean laundry in both my bedroom and laundry to fold/hang and put away. More mountains of the stuff to wash. I have piles and piles of the assorted papers that accumulate in a house. It astounds me how much paper one household can process! Of course there is just the general clutter of life: toys, books, dishes, STUFF.

Anyway, so that's where I am right now - struggling with continuing to do my daily duties along with all the work to catch up.

Update

No, I have not forgotten that I have a blog. I've had a lot on my plate the past few weeks and just haven't found the time to update here.

Samuel is nearly 4 months old. The time is just flying by. He gets more personality every day.



Although we had frost on the ground through mid May, it has finally reached "sprinkler weather" and the kids have gotten to enjoy running through the sprinkler and the kiddie pool in the back yard. Abi LOVES it!



Samuel has officially mastered rolling over. Here is one of his first rolls captured on film (well, memory card). Now, often I go to get him up from his nap and find him on his tummy. He gets pretty proud of himself when he does it, too, getting a great big grin.

I have to show off my fun new project here. I made those cute little shoes for him. It was so much fun, I think I may whip up a few more pairs.



And here is just one more shot that I couldn't resist sharing. My little moo cow - isn't he cute?


It is late and I should really be in bed, so I'm signing off for now...

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I'm still around, but struggling with my day to day routine and getting it all done. I have been oversleeping (at least for me) and not getting up until 7 or 7:30 which just seems to throw my whole day off. I feel like I am behind all day long then.

On a good note, though, things are going well. I have got the little guy on somewhat of a daily schedule/routine that is fairly consistent. Knowing when and how long he should nap each day is incredibly helpful. He is also sleeping really well at night (Knock on wood...) once I get him to sleep.

Also, it is beginning to look and feel like Spring which means that I can send the kids outside to burn off some excess energy. Wonderful!

I also want to share a link with you today that I have recently discovered. It is called the Daily Audio Bible. At this site, you can listen to a portion of the bible being read each day. It follows a plan to read through the entire bible in a year. The man who does the reading, Brian, has a wonderful mellow voice and I have really been enjoying having him read to me each day. His nine year old daughter, China, reads a kids version of this, too. Very cool. Check it out.

Monday...Monday

It is Monday once again. Here I sit, still in PJs because I overslept and needed to feed the baby and grab what little quiet time I was able to before jumping into my day. My littlest ones are still in their PJs, too, watching Franklin on PBS. Am I proud of this? No, but life doesn't always go the way we plan. This is not ideal, but it will work for today.

In just a few moments I will go lay down the sleeping baby nestled in my lap after feeding to contentment, Then I will start breakfast to cooking and rally my troops to start making things happen - productive things (hopefully). We are all a little under the weather fighting off some germ that is making us tired, stuffed up, coughing, and incredibly achy. The forecast is good for today and I am hoping to open up the house a bit and let the spring breezes blow the sickies right out of our house. Perhaps we can even motivate ourselves enough to take a little walk and look for some signs of Spring. Finding little green things poking through the ground and listening to the commotion of all the birds that have returned will certainly lift our spirits.

Scrapbook page: A photo of Rachel taken at the hospital on the day her baby brother was born. Credits for the page can be found here.

Discombobulated

dis·com·bob·u·late

(dĭs'kəm-bŏb'yə-lāt') Pronunciation Key tr.v. dis·com·bob·u·lat·ed, dis·com·bob·u·lat·ing, dis·com·bob·u·lates
1. To throw into a state of confusion. See Synonyms at confuse.
Perhaps alteration of discompose.
2. Trish on a Monday morning.

Yep, that's me - Miss Discombobulated. I overslept and only had a couple of minutes to be up before my 4 youngest munchkins were, too. I love 'em, but they just don't respect my need for quiet reflective time in the morning. I am sitting here with Samuel on my lap nursing, Rachel coloring with much animation and noise on her magnadoodle, Patrick badgering me about "what is 'nature' outside and what isn't", and Abi just being plain argumentative and nagging him that he didn't draw enough points and "sharpies" on his pinecone. [sigh] Just a typical morning.

But I need to gather my thoughts, make a futile attempt to plan my day, and pray to God that it will all work out. My little ones just don't get that. So, I will write out today's to do list which will look remarkably similar to my lists from last week because very little got crossed of of them. I will plan out the days chores and school assignments, plan out our meals, and more. AND I will try not to get too discouraged when it all falls apart because the baby is fussy, or the children melt down, or I get that call from an apartment tenant that causes me to drop everything and race out the door to deal with the unexpected.

Happy MLK Day and Updates

I was talking with my daughter last night and the fact that today is Martin Luther King Day came up. I mentioned that public school kids are off of school. She got all excited figuring that we would get a day off as well. I informed her that she was not so lucky and she would still have schoolwork. My kids had plenty of vacation days over the holidays when hubby was off work. Now its time to hit the books while we can because before we know it, there will be the "Mommy is too sleep deprived from being up with the baby to think" vacation days, and then , of course, when the weather turns warmer there's the "It's too nice to stay home inside so we are going to the park" vacation days. I figure that we will use this day to take the opportunity to talk about its significance. Usually I print off a copy of MLK's "I have a dream" speech for us to read aloud, but this year I think we may watch this version coming right from his mouth that I found.



In other news....
I'm still pregnant. No shock there, for me anyway, since I am still 6 days away from my due date and my earliest baby so far arrived 5 days past my due date. I think the "nesting" has finally kicked in. For me nesting is more of "Oh my, I have nothing ready for baby yet!" I hunted up the wee baby clothes and soaked them and scrubbed them to get the yellow spit up stains that always seem to appear after clean baby clothes have been stored away for a few years. I have a handful of generic/boy clothes and tons of frilly pink things - a consequence of the fact that I have had 4 baby girls and only one boy and the box of itty bitty boy things is MIA. So, this is probably a boy, huh?


Dragging out the baby things and trying to figure out where I am going to put them has caused me to clean out my bedroom closet. We have a big closet that tends to become the stash for every one's out of season and outgrown clothes that need to be packed away. I decided to pull everything out and catch up on my ginormous laundry pile (Mt. Washmore). This has kept me QUITE busy over the past few days. I am close to being caught up. I just have to pack up some outgrown clothes in an organized fashion which for some weird reason is not a strength for me. Anyway, I am rambling...


I am feeling compelled to get this done quickly because I know that if the baby arrives before I get all of these piles sorted and put away, it may be quite some time before it happens and all my sorting work will probably get undone by several energetic children.


Also in other news...
My Christmas tree is finally put away! Last night hubby bundled it up and packed it away in its spot in the basement. I know we sound like such slackers, but I just wasn't motivated to do all the work of taking decorations down and I actually had still been enjoying the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights everyday during my morning quiet time. This morning I really missed them and had to turn on the fireplace so I didn't go completely into withdrawal.


Even more other news...
Now is the time to start keeping an eye out for great deals on clearanced clothing. I am a fan of Old Navy's clearance sales and they have a bunch on sale right now and if you use the coupon code EXTRA50, you can get an additional 50% off clearance items. Note that this only works on "clearance" stuff not anything else including their "bargains." (Found this over at Deal Seeking Mom.) I ended up finding a few things for EVERYONE in my family there including the new wee one for some awesome prices.


I should wrap this up and get prepared to jump into my day before the kids all get up and ambush me. Have a great one!