Tragedy Averted

Last night we were going through our usual routine of me trying to get all of the kids ready for bed at the same time. I was also trying to find some cool ideas for W's upcoming birthday party at the fire station. I was printing, brushing teeth, clicking, giving orders, and printing some more. As usual, they were doing everything BUT getting ready for bed. The boys had formed a "fireman's club" but they were in disagreement about some by-laws, like can you be a member before or after you brush your teeth. Everything was loud and chaotic and then...crash. My first thought in those circumstances is usually angry frustration. If they had obeyed, after all, no one would have gotten hurt simply brushing teeth. In my frustration, I began my usual Mom-nag. Then I looked up to see W with blood all over his face, and I do mean all over. I immediately grabbed Kleenexes, scooped him up and got him downstairs. I had visions of rushing to the ER for stitches...or worse.

Apparently, he had been pushed into the hall and out of the fireman's club and right into a little table in the hallway. The injury was right in the middle of his forehead and looked at first to be a puncture wound. After applying pressure and cleaning it up, it became obvious that it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. My heart was still beating incredibly fast but we got ice and Tylenol in short order. Today it is bruised but I think he'll be okay.

Fortunately, the black eye his brother gave him last week is just about cleared up.

Don't Ask!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It makes me sad that it gets skipped over so much in our commercial society because the only ones who really stand to make a lot of money off of Thanksgiving are the food industry. Gifts are not given, very little decorating is done, although that seems to be on the increase as well.

But the whole point of Thanksgiving is to slow down, spend time with the ones you love, and give thanks to God for all His many blessings. I do love to cook and I love the warm smells coming from the kitchen all week. This year was our first to be alone, just our nuclear little family of 7. I decided that rather than try to make the whole production for just us, we would participate in the church thanksgiving operation which prepares and delivers meals to homebound, homeless shelters, and many others who are alone or left out on this special day. I have been taking pies for several years but I wanted to see the whole process for myself and have our family contribute in a meaningful way. And we would have a Thanksgiving dinner with our church family.

I spent all day on Wednesday making 5 large pies and 2 mini ones. There's always too much filling for the number of pies it says it will fill. My mom always put that in a tiny casserole and made it for me as "Pumpkin Pudding". But the kids wanted to roll their own crusts and I have individual size pie pans so we did two of those.

We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade before heading out to the church. We helped set up six major serving lines while the kids colored placemats. The helpers ate first so the food would still be hot when delivered to the recipients. Then we went to work filling 900 plates with every wonderful food imaginable. Those were quickly packed into boxes and delivered to their intended. All told, we were there for about 3 hours and enjoyed the fellowship. It was rather chaotic, but I'm glad we participated. I don't have any leftovers to deal with, and no mess in my kitchen. I came home and took a nap yesterday and we had a light supper before watching holiday specials on TV. I am ready to get in the Christmas Spirit now!

Father and Sons

Monday night tends to be a guy night around here. Oldest son and J go to Boy Scouts where J is an assistant Scout Master and son is very active. He loves everything about scouting and I love that they have that to share. J takes most all responsibility for scouts including awards, outings, paperwork. I sometimes feel bad because I don't even know all the other parents very well, but I'm so glad they are doing that together, I stay out of it.

Tonight was especially nice because the Packers were playing on Monday Night Football. This is J's team, and the boys' by proxy. They all cuddled up in the living room to watch the game while the girls made other plans and I walked the dog. It warms my heart to hear my 4 yr old say "I vote for the Packers since they're our team." Both of the boys think their Dad is great! Isn't that how it's supposed to be. Dad should be every little boy's hero.

Now that the boys are off to bed, I think I'll join J for the end of the game. They are our team, however.

A Change in Plans

The house looked so nice by noon yesterday. All that was left to do was vacuum and I intentionally saved that for later in the afternoon. But then about lunchtime, our guests cancelled. Only two other families were coming but then both of them had unexpected conflicts. J had taken the day off and we had already planned our date. This was a gift of even more time. We decided to lengthen our date. We had such a good time. It was just the break we needed and we had such a good time,

We started at the Ransom Center museum on the UT campus. They have one of only 5 copies of the original Gutenberg Bibles in the US. I loved that. And their traveling exhibit was photos of Ansel Adams. I learned about him and his life in addition to enjoying some pretty amazing photographs. Our pace was slow as we savored his contrasts in black and white. My favorites were the snow pictures in Yosemite National Park.

Then we went over to the new Whole Foods store downtown. All I can say about that is "WOW!" It is huge, with so many fun things in each area. We snacked our way through the samples since it was 5 PM and we were trying to tide over until dinner. The best thing we tasted was a butternut squash and crab bisque. Yummy! I am trying to recreate that one. We spent an hour in there and still didn't see everything. Then we went next door to Book People, an equally impressive bookstore. We browsed there for a little while until is was getting dark.

Lastly, we headed to Jovita's, a little Mexican restaurant in South Austin. They were having free music and that was our goal. The best fun we could have on the smallest dime. J had porkchops and I had Chile Rellenos. I love Chile Rellenos. The music was fun but we headed home about 9 since we were getting tired.

It had been so long since we had had a time alone away from the children just to enjoy each other. I felt so free and relaxed just enjoying my husband with no task that needed to be completed. We all need to do that every once in a while with the one we love. It recharges our batteries to come back to real life and deal with schedules, bills, and chores.

Making Progress

I am making progress in my quest to rid our home of some clutter this week. I finished the kitchen counters yesterday and had wonderful aroma of candle wafting throughout the day. Today I plan to tackle the dining room. It tends to collect my teaching overflow as well as the kids' backpacks and lunchboxes when we return home. The table is covered with things I brought back from my dad's when helping him clear his house this summer. Time to find a home for it, or pass it on. It is hard to get rid of things, isn't it? Some of the things really aren't special to me, but they were my mom's and it is still hard to part with things that remind me of her. They probably weren't even special to her! There are mostly silly things like kitchen tools or household decorations, nothing of any value. I tend to be very practical and I realize they certainly can't bring her back. And having the stress of them is actually detrimental but it's just too hard to throw it away myself. I guess a trip to Goodwill may help if I feel like someone can benefit from them. I'll make that part of the to-do list today.

Since we are having company tomorrow, I want to get as much as possible done today. John has extra vacation time so he is taking the day off tomorrow and I am planning an afternoon date. We plan to go eat lunch at the new Whole Foods and then to the LBJ library to look at a painting collection. It's been so long since we actually had a date, I am really looking forward to the day.

Making A House A Home

I've been thinking about this all week. I went to Michael's and Walmart this weekend for normal errands. Yes, Michael's is a regular errand for us :) This week it was knitting supplies since I finished my first scarf and wanted to try something else. But while I was there, I picked up a couple of candles and a candle warmer. I had seen one of these at my Dad's since his wonderful new wife, Janet, has a very good sense of this and she had one with a Pecan Pie candle warming on it. It really dispenses the smell wonderfully. So I picked out an Oatmeal Raisin Candle and a warmer so I could have this wonderful homey experience in my own kitchen. But when I got home, there was hardly any counter space on which to put it. So the clutter had to go. I got one counter completely cleared tonight. Tomorrow I'll tackle the one by the phone. It just collects everything! I want to be able to welcome people into my home and have a feeling of calm, not stressful over how messy it is. We have invited the Sunday School class over Friday night for a game night so this is my chance. We don't have company very often. I'm just too lazy to initiate it I guess. But this will be a small group and I am looking forward to entertaining.

I challenge you all to do one thing tomorrow to make your house more homey. Maybe it is an afghan thrown invitingly over the couch or a lamp lit softly in the corner. Fresh flowers are a welcome addition to any home. I think I'll pick some up for Friday night. Let me know what you think makes your house a home. I am always looking for new ideas.

The Strength of the Ox

Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox. Prov. 14:4

Cleaning your house while the children are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk while it is still snowing. Phyllis Diller



These are two of my favorite quotes. Both remind me that although I struggle mightily to keep a clean and straight home, there are so many things more important and this season of life is not one during which I'll be likely to call Southern Living for a photo shoot of my home. I go through phases where I really don't care and things pile up all around us. I get the "dailies" done, as I call them. You know, dishes, beds made, that kind of thing. But the living room has books, socks, papers, cuttings from those papers, every writing utensil known to childhood, all over the floor. And we won't even talk about the couches. We always start and end our days on those couches reading, or maybe watching a movie.

But then, the wind changes and I decide I can't stand the mess anymore. So...we try to straighten it all up. For some reason, that brings out the worst in all of us. I get grumpy, the kids play innocent (What pink sock, Mom? It's not mine), and it seems to take forever. No one remembers bringing the red yarn downstairs. They pick up trash, only to put it on the table instead of in the trashcan!

So I keep looking for the strength of my oxen. I look for their gifts of creativity that leave scraps of yarn, paper, and glitter all over the place. And their intellectual development that leaves untold numbers of books EVERYWHERE. Erma Bombeck wrote so eloquently about this facet of life in a poem called, "Wet Oatmeal Kisses". Read it here:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hollow/1433/oatmeal.htm


She had it right. Thanks, Erma.

Cold Front

A cold front came through last night which means it was only 62 this morning. I know, not much of a cold front if you live in IL but for us, it feels great. I walked Spot for a while, then made Whole Grain Blender Waffles for the kids.

We hope to get lots of school done today including research for the fairs. Tonight is baseball practice and I plan to go to Runtex for new athletic shoes. Mine are worn and my feet are in pretty bad shape so I need new ones. Every time I am diligent about my walking they start to hurt again so I need to eliminate that hurdle and just get some really supportive shoes.

Otherwise, I hope this is a very uneventful day. Those are my favorites.

Motivation

Motivation is a funny thing. Just as I am getting motivated to get back on track with healthy living, I went to my homeschool mom's meeting last night. Each month our group of moms meet at N's home to talk about homeschooling, motherhood, etc. We always have a topic so our talk has structure and doesn't turn into idle "girl-talk". This month's topic was entering academic fairs. Our homeschool group has a fair in January which includes Science, History, Math, Art, and the spelling bee. We talked about how to enter, ideas, how to fit it into an already full school schedule.

So, today I am full of ideas and motivation about that. Like I needed another plate to juggle. However, this is such a good opportunity I really want my own children to participate. Last year I served as a judge for the Science Fair and I was so impressed by the quality of work done. So now, each of my children will be entering something. Bill is already entered in the spelling bee.

spelling of Spelling Bees, ***brag alert*** I must share our experience with the Spelling Bee five years ago. I gently required (forced is such a strong word!) Bethany to participate because she has always been an natural speller. Also, some part of me wanted to relive my own youth as I actually competed in UIL Spelling competitions in high school. I have quite a trophy collection. So, we studied for a few months, drilling hard words daily. The spelling bee was the day before her 9th birthday and she actually won first place in the homeschool bee. This sent her to the regional bee at a local middle school. So a few weeks later, we went to that. She won 3rd place against mostly middle schoolers! We were so proud of her. By the way, her downfall word was "tonsillitis". ***Brag time is over ***

So, Bill will be spelling. Rebecca is learning paragraph writing so she is working on a display board with her paragraphs, all related to the Middle Ages. Sounds like a History fair project to me. I think Bethany and Rebecca will want to enter the Art Fair since they are taking art and will have opportunity for good work time. So, I just need to figure out what Honour wants to do. But my motivation is high. Hopefully we can turn this into a wonderful learning experience for all of us. I'll keep you posted.

Juggling Plates

I often compare motherhood and our lifestyle to that of a plate juggler. I consider my plates to be schoolwork, housework, my business, exercise and eating well, laundry (too big to fit under regular housework :), and church or other community involvement.

In the summertime, when our schoolwork and my business are on hold, I do very well. I can keep the house straight, keep Mount Neverest of laundry at bay, and exercise fairly regularly. But come September, I start dropping plates. And they come crashing down with a resounding clatter. Up until three weeks ago, I had been exercising and eating so well, I had lost 8 pounds and was feeling pretty comfortable in my clothes and my body. Then time became scarce, I suffered mightily with allergies which dragged me down, and I quit exercising... And I started baking... And Halloween brought chocolate into the house.

Now I am starting over, having gained back 6 of those 8 pounds. In three weeks. Someday I'll go to clown school and figure out how they do that juggling. Until then, I need to get back out on the streets with the dog and walk. An article that came out last week in scientific journals says that people who walked their dogs lost an average of 14 pounds more than those who didn't.

I wonder how many calories you burn juggling plates?

The Gift of time

On this early Sunday morning, the Lord's Day, I find myself at home alone with my youngest because he has a cold. He's not terribly ill, just enough to make him whiny since his throat hurts and his nose is stuffy. I wouldn't want to expose other kids so we stayed home from church while Dad took the others. This only happens about once or twice a year in our family but I always consider it a gift of unexpected time. The sick one usually is content to lay on the couch and read a few stories, then watch TV. It's the only time I allow kids TV on a Sunday morning so it seems like a real treat. Today's choice is BibleMan so I feel like he is redeemed for missing Sunday School :)

I've been trying desperately to streamline my time usage recently because I can't seem to get it all done. I love to read about Prairie Life (a la Laura Ingalls Wilder) mainly because of the slow pace they kept. Yes, they worked very hard but usually after dinnertime, all the chores were done and they enjoyed sitting around while Pa played his fiddle and Mom worked on the mending or knitting (still work but relaxing work nonetheless). I took up knitting again a couple of weeks ago after learning 3 yrs ago. I am still very much a beginner, only able to do a scarf at this point, but it is something I can take with me while waiting for kids at their various activities during the week or while chatting with my homeschool mom friends at the park on Friday. But the quiet evening of knitting at home is not for me in this season of life.

Yesterday we went to my Dad's for an impromptu visit since all but one child were available. We spent the afternoon on the lake in the breeze watching for turtles as they dipped back into the water and fish jumping up making ripples in the water. There is a beautiful little waterfall the kids like to play around and we let them get out there. The water was cool, about 70 degrees, but the sun was hot and it felt good on their tough little feet..that is until Rebecca fell on her bottom in the water. Then it wasn't fun any longer. As we putted around the lake and into little creeks, we saw a Great Blue Heron. We followed it into a little bay and watched it for a long time. Finally it flew off and we watched as he gracefully pulled his neck in and let his legs trail behind. They are such amazing creatures.

The free afternoon meant I needed to stay up late last night grading papers but sometimes you just HAVE to take that time as a break from work to enjoy your family and God's world. After losing my Mom two years ago to an unexpected stroke, I am ever aware that you never know how much time you have left with those you love. I want my children to have wonderful memories of their grandfather and there is nothing he likes more than sharing his boat and his love of the water with his grandchildren. All in all, it was a wonderful day and I consider today's time at home this morning as a gift from God for honoring him yesterday in our effort to build relationships.

Speaking of building relationships, W is setting up tea-for-two on the playroom floor so I think I'll join him. God Bless you all on this Lord's Day and remember to slow down just a little on this day.

Indian Summer

It's supposed to get to the mid 80's today and be a beautiful day. That is a fresh change from July's 100+ degree days but still a bit warm for November. So the kids are playing outside after breakfast like we do in the summer. We just have NO shade in our backyard so the sun gets pretty intense. My baking has turned toward breads this week. This morning for breakfast we had French Toast made from homemade whole wheat Italian bread I made on Wednesday. And last night we had Buttermilk Seeded bread from the Allrecipes.com site. I love browsing there. And the great thing is that there are reviews from real people who have tried them. I look for the recipes with lots and lots of reviews which usually means it is a pretty good recipe. Yesterday I went looking for my favorite Lemon Garlic Chicken made in the crockpot. I can't find my copy anywhere. Well, they had it so I printed it in 3 X 5 format on cardstock and I will tape it inside the cabinet where I set up my crock pot. I have blender recipes taped inside the cabinet by my blender (like the wonderful whole grain blender waffles I recently discovered in a library book). I have baking recipes by the baking cabinet. Otherwise I lose them in the mounds of papers in the kitchen and can't find my favorites.

Well, it's after 9:00 and I hear discontent in the yard so I better ring the proverbial school bell. We're reading about the Middle Ages, chivalry, the Crusades, and minstrelsy...all that wonderful stuff. Today the kids start Robin Hood.