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.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
25 years ago today...
On this day 25 years ago...I had my first official date.
This boy from my church had called and asked me out and I said, "yes." After I hung up the phone and came into the family room where my parents were, the questions began.
It had never occurred to me that they wouldn't let me date. I suppose the whole thing was a surprise to them since I really had not shown a huge interest in the opposite sex. I can still remember their discussion. My mom pointed out to my dad that this was a nice boy from church. My dad simply stated that there ARE no "nice boys." I do think the fact that they had known the boy and his family for years at church helped and they relented and decided to let me go.
So, the next Friday, I came home from school and spent the entire afternoon deliberating over the clothes in my closet. I was clueless as to what to wear. I can still remember the outfit I finally chose: jeans, a pink and blue striped polo and a white cardigan. In retrospect, it was pretty bad.
I anxiously waited for my date to arrive. When he finally did, I was surprised to discover that he had a friend with him who was going to drive. I suppose that he was even more nervous than I was and brought his buddy along for moral support.
I don't recall all of the details of that night, but it did include a lot of driving around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. I believe we ended up eating at Pizza Hut and walking the mall. The whole evening had an overall tone of awkwardness! It is probably a miracle that there was actually a second date after that one. But there was. Although things may have been a bit rocky at first, I continued to date this boy all through high school. We went to our proms and school dances together. We hung out and went to movies. We grew into adulthood together.
If it had not been for that awkward date 25 years ago that took place on the day after my 15th birthday, I wouldn't be the wife and mother I am today, I wouldn't be the same person because I ended up marrying that nervous boy. He is now my husband, father of our six children, and best friend.
Happy Anniversary, Barry!
It's been a fun time - let's shoot for at least 25 more!
Scrapbook Page: Barry and I at my Junior Prom. Credits can be found here.
This boy from my church had called and asked me out and I said, "yes." After I hung up the phone and came into the family room where my parents were, the questions began.
"Who was that?"
"What did he want?"
"A date?!?"
"I'm not sure we can let you do that."
It had never occurred to me that they wouldn't let me date. I suppose the whole thing was a surprise to them since I really had not shown a huge interest in the opposite sex. I can still remember their discussion. My mom pointed out to my dad that this was a nice boy from church. My dad simply stated that there ARE no "nice boys." I do think the fact that they had known the boy and his family for years at church helped and they relented and decided to let me go.
So, the next Friday, I came home from school and spent the entire afternoon deliberating over the clothes in my closet. I was clueless as to what to wear. I can still remember the outfit I finally chose: jeans, a pink and blue striped polo and a white cardigan. In retrospect, it was pretty bad.
I anxiously waited for my date to arrive. When he finally did, I was surprised to discover that he had a friend with him who was going to drive. I suppose that he was even more nervous than I was and brought his buddy along for moral support.
I don't recall all of the details of that night, but it did include a lot of driving around aimlessly trying to figure out what to do. I believe we ended up eating at Pizza Hut and walking the mall. The whole evening had an overall tone of awkwardness! It is probably a miracle that there was actually a second date after that one. But there was. Although things may have been a bit rocky at first, I continued to date this boy all through high school. We went to our proms and school dances together. We hung out and went to movies. We grew into adulthood together.
If it had not been for that awkward date 25 years ago that took place on the day after my 15th birthday, I wouldn't be the wife and mother I am today, I wouldn't be the same person because I ended up marrying that nervous boy. He is now my husband, father of our six children, and best friend.
Happy Anniversary, Barry!
It's been a fun time - let's shoot for at least 25 more!
Scrapbook Page: Barry and I at my Junior Prom. Credits can be found here.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Yes, today is St. Patrick's Day. We like to celebrate the day in our house for several reasons.
1. We have a bit o' Irish heritage.
2. We have a son named Patrick.
3. It is the perfect time to discuss the characteristic of God being One yet three persons.
As to #1, my maternal grandfather, Earl Patrick, was Irish. That brings us to #2. A bit of family trivia - my grandpa's middle name was Patrick (and everyone called him Pat). My mother's name is Patricia. MY name is Patricia (although everyone calls me Trish). We decided to name our firstborn son Patrick because we like the name and wanted to carry on the tradition. Now, the tricky thing on St. Patrick's Day is explaining to my son that although he is named Patrick, he "ain't no saint."
Now, if I am going to discuss #3, I have to share with you one of my big pet peeves lately. The significance of the shamrock/clover on St. Patrick's day comes from the fact that the original Patrick, who was a missionary in Ireland, used it the help explain the Holy Trinity - the fact that although there is one God, he is three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is NOT because the leprechauns like to dance amongst the clover and finding the four-leaf variety is lucky. So it really bugs me when I see St. Patrick's day decor with the four-leaf clovers. [sigh] I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when the holiday has become merely a time for celebrating the leprechauns and drinking green beer to excess.
Now, it wouldn't be right to talk about St. Patrick's day without sharing this video. This is a short from the VeggieTales video, "Sumo of the Opera." It is a "flannel board" story to teach the history of the man and the holiday. We think it is adorable and funny so therefore, it is tradition to watch this every year.
Another tradition that I have been trying to do is to have Corned Beef and Cabbage. Growing up we never did this. It think it has something to do with the fact that my mom bought a really nice corned beef to cook one year and the spices were so strong and repugnant that it stunk up the whole house. So, she never made another. Now, me, I buy the cheapest corned beef that I can find and our family loves it. We may try to make some Irish Soda bread this year to go with it.
Whatever you do to celebrate this day (even if it is just watching the above video), make it a great one!
1. We have a bit o' Irish heritage.
2. We have a son named Patrick.
3. It is the perfect time to discuss the characteristic of God being One yet three persons.
As to #1, my maternal grandfather, Earl Patrick, was Irish. That brings us to #2. A bit of family trivia - my grandpa's middle name was Patrick (and everyone called him Pat). My mother's name is Patricia. MY name is Patricia (although everyone calls me Trish). We decided to name our firstborn son Patrick because we like the name and wanted to carry on the tradition. Now, the tricky thing on St. Patrick's Day is explaining to my son that although he is named Patrick, he "ain't no saint."
Now, if I am going to discuss #3, I have to share with you one of my big pet peeves lately. The significance of the shamrock/clover on St. Patrick's day comes from the fact that the original Patrick, who was a missionary in Ireland, used it the help explain the Holy Trinity - the fact that although there is one God, he is three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is NOT because the leprechauns like to dance amongst the clover and finding the four-leaf variety is lucky. So it really bugs me when I see St. Patrick's day decor with the four-leaf clovers. [sigh] I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when the holiday has become merely a time for celebrating the leprechauns and drinking green beer to excess.
Now, it wouldn't be right to talk about St. Patrick's day without sharing this video. This is a short from the VeggieTales video, "Sumo of the Opera." It is a "flannel board" story to teach the history of the man and the holiday. We think it is adorable and funny so therefore, it is tradition to watch this every year.
Another tradition that I have been trying to do is to have Corned Beef and Cabbage. Growing up we never did this. It think it has something to do with the fact that my mom bought a really nice corned beef to cook one year and the spices were so strong and repugnant that it stunk up the whole house. So, she never made another. Now, me, I buy the cheapest corned beef that I can find and our family loves it. We may try to make some Irish Soda bread this year to go with it.
Whatever you do to celebrate this day (even if it is just watching the above video), make it a great one!
Monday, March 16, 2009
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.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Linky Love
This morning I thought I would share some of the interesting things I have discovered lately while cruising the web.
Just for fun: Obamicon.Me - Make your own "Obamicon"
With St. Patrick's Day coming up, Knowledge Quest has posted a free unit study.
Controlling my Chaos posted a chip-ilicious sounding recipe and technique for Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Make your own play tent (it looks like a teepee) with this great tutorial from Sew Mama Sew.
And while you are feeling crafty, you may want to whip up one of these cute bags made from a placemat of all things.
If you are into sign language like we are, you may enjoy this site that quizzes you on finger-spelling.
Can you name all of the U.S. Presidents or all of the states? You can test your knowledge at Sporcle.
And last but certainly not least is an article from Ann Voskamp at Holy Experience that struck a chord with me that discusses our fear of being alone and obscure. Definitely worth the read.
Have a great weekend!
Photo: My oldest contemplating the frozen creek on our nature walk this week.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Been Quiet
I know that I have been quiet here on the blog. I have been around, but every time I think I should create a blog post, my mind goes blank. I have no idea what to write about. I could blather on about my day to day life filled with baby stuff, housework, and the challenges of raising 6 children. But does anyone want to actually listen to all that? So often I feel that I have nothing truly significant to share here. Perhaps it is just that this little baby of mine is taking more than milk from me when he nurses; maybe he is sucking brain cells, as well. [teehee]
Speaking of nursing, I have been, however, using that sit down time to pour my creative energies into scrapbooking. So, I guess I will share that.
Speaking of nursing, I have been, however, using that sit down time to pour my creative energies into scrapbooking. So, I guess I will share that.
Here is a page I created yesterday. Doris Castle, whose creative team I am on and create layouts for, has made these wonderful backgrounds called Seasonal Enchantment. These are perfect for the fantasy-type pages that are prevalent in the online scrapbook galleries lately. I don't usually do stuff like this, but I thought I would give it a shot. Here's what I came up with:
This is a photo that Elizabeth took of Abi last October. I love her sweet expression. I removed her from the background of the photo and placed her in this land of fairies instead. Credits for this page can be found here.
Hoping you all have a fantastic day!
Monday, March 02, 2009
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.
(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.
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