Yesterday, the cord to my MacBook was yanked out and when that happens, because my charger is kinda broken, it takes me forever to get it put back in just right so that it will charge again. I was getting frustrated with it, probably making all sorts of annoyed noises, and Shannon says to me, "I hope it starts to charge. If it doesn't, it will be a mollerseat". I asked, "A what?" and he repeated, "A mollarseat". And I had to ask once again what he was saying. I hate it when this happens because sometimes Shannon will get really frustrated that I don't know what he's saying.
Finally he says, "You know, like if the house was on fire it would be a mollarseat".
"Ohhhhhhh, an emergency."
"Yah, a mollerseat"
I was (and still am) so impressed that instead of getting frustrated he just thought of a different way to explain it to me. He used to just keep repeating the word over and over and OVER and OVER. Getting louder and louder and more frustrated until he exploded. I could not stop telling him how proud of him I was and then we spent a few minutes practicing the correct pronunciation of the word "e-mer-gen-cy".
-sigh- I just love that little man.
Oh, and it is kind of funny that he thought my computer not charging would be an emergency. Hmmmm, I think he just knows his mom very well.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Future Learning
I can't believe my first year of educating my children is coming to a close (I like to believe I've been teaching them since they were born but you know what I mean). I think I have learned more than they have about so many things. I never knew how great it was going to be. Working through challenges with Shannon has been so fulfilling. He went from running away whenever I mentioned picking up a pencil, to writing on his own when I don't even ask him to. And watching Chloe go from toddler to scholar over this year has been incredible. I just can't believe how much she has blossomed. She can read! And count to 20! And she loves to open up random books and make up her own stories. I'm so proud of all of us. We have made some great strides this year, which is why I can't help but get excited for next year.
My hope for the rest of this year:
Language Arts
So, we could actually start on First Grade whenever I get the materials together and plan out a few weeks of lessons. I am working on a lot of stuff around the house right now and we have a few other things coming up in May but probably around June we'll transition into a tiny bit heavier work load. Another advantage to starting early is I have a feeling that sometime next year, we will be thinking about another baby. During week 8 - 16ish of my last pregnancy left me pretty useless so at least if that happens again I will be ahead of the game.
I have been thinking about next year's curriculum for some time now. I'm pretty excited. I haven't made all of the final decisions but I have decided that I will just buy materials for Shannon and then adapt what I can for Chloe. So far they have done pretty well at the same level. There are a few things that go over Chloe's head but for the most part she's pretty engaged. I can't believe that in the public school system she would still have two more years before starting kindergarten. That's just crazy talk. That girl wants to learn!
So stay tuned for the reveal of next year's learning materials and tools. Oooooooo. You're on the edge of your seat, I know it!
My hope for the rest of this year:
Language Arts
- Reading: Get through as many of the 100 Easy Lessons as possible and start reading easy/beginning reader books. I'm not too worried about him finishing out all of the lessons this year.
- Handwriting: I think we'll just keep copying lines from stories and maybe finish out the Mead book
- I have pretty much put the book away. The rest of the MCP Kindergarten book covers a basic intro to place value, measurement, addition, and subtraction. We started out this year using the first grade book but there were so many problems on each page that Shannon would just look at it and freak out. It was taking us an entire week to get through one lesson and it was not happy for anyone. So we jumped back to the K book. Basically, it covered the same material but less of it and at a slower pace. So, I will probably pull out a couple of worksheets from each of the remaining chapters and call it good for Kindergarten. Now that Shannon is way more comfortable with writing, the first grade book should be just fine.
- I have really been slacking in this area. I want to finish reading God's Love Story and finish our lap book that is taking forever because I keep losing focus. At this stage, I really think religious studies should just be who we are what we do. Catholicism is so much more then just another subject to cover. Our faith should be reflected in how we live our lives everyday.
- Soccer will go until mid - May and then we'll probably be starting swim lessons and possibly a soccer camp this summer.
- Many trips to Green Bluff. We always have a great time picking fruit so I'm excited for Green Bluff season. And we always seem to learn along the way.
- Nature walks, now that the weather is getting nice
- Trips to the library
- Lots of fun in the garden with Daddy
So, we could actually start on First Grade whenever I get the materials together and plan out a few weeks of lessons. I am working on a lot of stuff around the house right now and we have a few other things coming up in May but probably around June we'll transition into a tiny bit heavier work load. Another advantage to starting early is I have a feeling that sometime next year, we will be thinking about another baby. During week 8 - 16ish of my last pregnancy left me pretty useless so at least if that happens again I will be ahead of the game.
I have been thinking about next year's curriculum for some time now. I'm pretty excited. I haven't made all of the final decisions but I have decided that I will just buy materials for Shannon and then adapt what I can for Chloe. So far they have done pretty well at the same level. There are a few things that go over Chloe's head but for the most part she's pretty engaged. I can't believe that in the public school system she would still have two more years before starting kindergarten. That's just crazy talk. That girl wants to learn!
So stay tuned for the reveal of next year's learning materials and tools. Oooooooo. You're on the edge of your seat, I know it!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Notebook: Week of 4/19
Language Arts
100 Easy Lessons 47-50: we slowed down a bit this week on the lessons but we attempted to read some books. Shannon made the transition pretty easily. Watching him attempt to sound out longer words is amazing. I usually help him but the fact that he tries is awesome.
Handwriting: we continued doing some copy work. And he has been doing a lot of writing on his own.
Math
We have been just doing math as it comes up. Lately, Shannon has been pointing out the speed limit signs, reading them to me and then telling me whether I can go faster or I have to slow down. And money, time, weather, the date, and other topics are also covered on a pretty regular basis.
Other
The weather was pretty nice this week so we spent a few days at the park. Shannon had soccer practice on thursday and then a game on Saturday where scored his first goal. Woo hoo!
And we went on a field trip to Spokane Family Farm. They had a customer appriciation day in celebration of their one year anniverasary. They spoiled us with bottomless milk and cookies and we went on a short tour of the farm to learn about the milking and bottling process.
100 Easy Lessons 47-50: we slowed down a bit this week on the lessons but we attempted to read some books. Shannon made the transition pretty easily. Watching him attempt to sound out longer words is amazing. I usually help him but the fact that he tries is awesome.
Handwriting: we continued doing some copy work. And he has been doing a lot of writing on his own.
Math
We have been just doing math as it comes up. Lately, Shannon has been pointing out the speed limit signs, reading them to me and then telling me whether I can go faster or I have to slow down. And money, time, weather, the date, and other topics are also covered on a pretty regular basis.
Other
The weather was pretty nice this week so we spent a few days at the park. Shannon had soccer practice on thursday and then a game on Saturday where scored his first goal. Woo hoo!
And we went on a field trip to Spokane Family Farm. They had a customer appriciation day in celebration of their one year anniverasary. They spoiled us with bottomless milk and cookies and we went on a short tour of the farm to learn about the milking and bottling process.
Shannon jumping down from the hay after I hollared at him to get down. And then getting out of a tree that he should not have been climbing. -sigh- Boys.
Chloe tried so hard to touch those ducks.
Cute baby piggies.
Athena with chocolate cookie all over her face. Hey, she's a customer too and she wanted to be appreciated.
Spring Cleaning: The Livingroom
I did it! I Spring Cleaned one entire room! I finally buckled down and actually used the three step process in the e-book, Spring Cleaning For Normal People: declutter, clean, organize. See, you're supposed to take everything out of the room and throw it all in a designated spot. I chose our bedroom. Then you clean the entire room. Then you put everything back, that is, everything that actually belongs in the room. This doesn't seem too difficult but my first attempts were ridiculous. I would pick something up and then decide to take the object to the room it belongs in. Well, this takes forever and is really not efficient. It is much faster to throw everything in a pile and deal with it all at once. My entire living room really only took a couple of hours. After I had it all done and put back, I still had two bins of stuff to sort through. That took about a half hour to sort through and put away. And my living room has never looked more fabulous.
As I was putting things back in place, I realized many things that simply did not need to be returned to their spot. Things that had lost meaning to me, or lost beauty, or lost usefulness. I think sometimes, we tend to put things back because it has become a tradition of sorts. "This thing goes here because we have always had it here." So I busted out of my rut. I used to keep a double frame in the cabinet. One side had my college graduation picture and the other had Stacey's college graduation picture. Well Stacey looks as handsome as ever in his picture but I have never liked that picture of me. EVER! But I felt like it just had to be there. Well, it's my living room and that picture is gone! We also had a few random baby pictures of Shannon in really odd frames that were each given to us by different people around the time of his birth. Now our walls our covered with beautiful photos of our family and all of our children so the beat up little novelty frames were also taken out.
The shelf below that holds all three baptism candles and white garments from our kids' baptisms. It also has the missal that was given to me by my parents when I made my first communion. And to the right, Chloe and Shannon's rosaries and rosary book.
And our family Bible sits on a desk in the corner of the room that you can't see in the pictures. My dad was Stacey's Confirmation sponsor and he gave this to Stacey after his Confirmation.
Now I can truly say that I find everything in our livingroom to be either useful or very beautiful.
Wish me luck as I attempt to complete this same process in every room in our house.
As I was putting things back in place, I realized many things that simply did not need to be returned to their spot. Things that had lost meaning to me, or lost beauty, or lost usefulness. I think sometimes, we tend to put things back because it has become a tradition of sorts. "This thing goes here because we have always had it here." So I busted out of my rut. I used to keep a double frame in the cabinet. One side had my college graduation picture and the other had Stacey's college graduation picture. Well Stacey looks as handsome as ever in his picture but I have never liked that picture of me. EVER! But I felt like it just had to be there. Well, it's my living room and that picture is gone! We also had a few random baby pictures of Shannon in really odd frames that were each given to us by different people around the time of his birth. Now our walls our covered with beautiful photos of our family and all of our children so the beat up little novelty frames were also taken out.
Complete Organizing Solutions has been featuring a series called, "Picture my memories" where in she discusses taking pictures of those items that we only hold onto for sentimental value. The things that are sitting in boxes, not being displayed (because we don't find them to be particularly beautiful) and not being used (because the item is not useful). I have a storage bin full of things from when I was a little girl that I am thinking of doing this with. I want to take pictures of everything, make the photos part of a scrap book and then donate the whole thing. I have already begun this process with a few things that were in our living room. The top shelf in the corner cabinet is dedicated to items from our wedding and a few things that seem to fit in with that theme. Our unity candle, ring barer pillow, and flower girl basket also used to be crammed onto that shelf but I have taken them out with the intention of taking some pictures and selling them on ebay. I have always wanted to make a wedding album but we really don't have a lot for decent photos from our wedding. So I think the pictures of these wedding accessories would fill in the space and create a beautiful album.
Now I can truly say that I find everything in our livingroom to be either useful or very beautiful.
Here is one last photo of Athena helping me clean.
Wish me luck as I attempt to complete this same process in every room in our house.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
From the Kitchen
I've been trying out a few awesome recipes from Kitchen Stewardship and I meant to take some pictures so I could post them but the food kept getting eaten before I had a chance. We made homemade granola bars. Mmmmmm. And I really want to try making our own yogurt. It is supposed to be really simple and it could save us some money. The kids love yogurt.
But I did manage to get a few photos of my latest gourmet recipe. I call it "Leftover mashed potatoes and vegetable puree". What? That doesn't sound appitizing? Well, Athena begs to differ.
But I did manage to get a few photos of my latest gourmet recipe. I call it "Leftover mashed potatoes and vegetable puree". What? That doesn't sound appitizing? Well, Athena begs to differ.
Notebook: Week of 4/11
Language Arts
100 Easy Lessons: 42 - 47
Shannon has been cruising through the lessons now. He really likes the story at the end of each lesson so that is his motivation to get through the first part. There were a couple days where we did two lessons in one day. He wanted to get the book out again in the evenings.
Handwriting
I got out a piece of paper and wrote a line from the story that we read, and he copied it onto the next line. He did it without any frustration. He also came into the office one afternoon and sat down at Stacey's desk and started to write onto an index card with a highlighter. He asked me how to spell one word but other then that he wrote the rest himself. It was pretty small print. Very impressive, Little Man.
Math
I put the book away for now and just started doing practical short lessons every other day. One day we got out a hand full of change and named the coins, gave them values, and added coins together. Another day, the kids were playing with the Melissa and Doug wooden clock so I sat down with them and taught them about the minute hand and gave them a little intro on telling time with hours and minutes. They were both really engaged.
Religion
We worked on their Things We See In Church lap books. They are slowly being completed.
Other
Stacey and the kids have been taking care of the seeds they planted three weeks ago. Here we have our beautiful carrots . . .
100 Easy Lessons: 42 - 47
Shannon has been cruising through the lessons now. He really likes the story at the end of each lesson so that is his motivation to get through the first part. There were a couple days where we did two lessons in one day. He wanted to get the book out again in the evenings.
Handwriting
I got out a piece of paper and wrote a line from the story that we read, and he copied it onto the next line. He did it without any frustration. He also came into the office one afternoon and sat down at Stacey's desk and started to write onto an index card with a highlighter. He asked me how to spell one word but other then that he wrote the rest himself. It was pretty small print. Very impressive, Little Man.
Math
I put the book away for now and just started doing practical short lessons every other day. One day we got out a hand full of change and named the coins, gave them values, and added coins together. Another day, the kids were playing with the Melissa and Doug wooden clock so I sat down with them and taught them about the minute hand and gave them a little intro on telling time with hours and minutes. They were both really engaged.
Religion
We worked on their Things We See In Church lap books. They are slowly being completed.
Other
Stacey and the kids have been taking care of the seeds they planted three weeks ago. Here we have our beautiful carrots . . .
. . . and then the habanero.
Look at that one crazy habanero plant sticking up. It is quite the over achiever.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Athena's First Birthdy
We had a great time celebrating with Athena's grandparents on both sides, her Great Granny (my dad's mom), her aunts and uncles and cousins. Two sets of aunts and uncles were absent because they live far away but all of the locals were able to make it. We also missed cousins Shelby and Madi who were at their dad's this weekend. We grilled up some burgers and dogs and had a great time with our families. I honestly don't know where the year went. She's so grown up. Happy Birthday Princess!!
And here's Chloe lounging in the sun
The cousins having some good ol' fashioned rolling-down-a-hill-in-a-wagon fun.
And this last one is Athena, the next day, wearing one of her new birthday presents from Aunt Shala. She looks like a little girl! She is a baby no longer. -sigh-
What was the plan again?
So, I planned to get up early again last week and I failed. Last Sunday night I stayed up until midnight finishing the roster for the Engaged Encounter weekend that was coming up. So I set my alarm for 6am but Athena was awake and wanting to nurse and just rather cranky. Monday night I stayed up late again, clipping Sunday's coupons and filing them. And, honestly, I don't even know what happened the next two nights. I spent most of every day clearing all the junk out of the house, separating it, and pricing it for Friday's yard sale. I finally got it all done Wednesday night. A pretty busy couple of days was approaching but I had a plan to get everything done:
Thursday morning: take stuff to Pamela's for the yard sale
Thursday afternoon: clean house
Friday morning: go to old navy for 50% off stuff and save and drop a few more things off at Pamela's
Friday afternoon: make list of groceries for Athena's birthday BBQ and make cupcakes
Friday night: drop kids off with sitter, pick Stacey up, have dinner with some friends, go to the Conan O'Brien show (so excited!), possibly have a few drinks with friends, pick kids up, go home.
Saturday morning: Doula meeting way up north, run a few errands while in town, get groceries for BBQ, go home and celebrate Athena's first birthday with family.
So here's what really happened:
Thursday morning: dropped kids off at Granny's. My grandma just had knee surgery a week or so ago and my mom was over there helping her with things while she recovered. I took my stuff to Pamela's and came right back. That part of the plan worked great.
While I was out, the lady from the furniture store called to let me know that the bunk bed we wanted to purchase had come in and was ready for us. Dang! I knew this was the last day we would be able to get the bed until next week and really wanted to set it up. So I called Stacey and we set a plan for him to come home early on the bus and then take the van to the store while I stayed back with the kids.
This is where everything derailed. At around 5pm, I was watching some mindless TV and waiting for Stacey to get home until I thought I should probably get up and put all the seats down in the van so it would be ready to go. I stood up and immediately felt sick to my stomach. I laid back down on the floor for a minute, thinking I had just stood up too fast. So I tried to get up again. Same result. I pretty much just laid there hoping whatever it was, was temporary. I kinda crawled up the stairs and made my way to van, and mustered up enough energy to get the seats down. I then went back to lying on the floor for another hour and a half while Stacey went off to the store.
By the time Stacey got home I was feeling a little bit better. I got up and made the kids a very late dinner and helped Stacey put the bunk bed together. So cute! I then cleaned the entire kitchen and went to bed. Stacey and I had decided that it might be time to start weaning Athena, at least at night. Her frequent night nursing was really starting to wear me out. So Stacey took Athena to the guest room to sleep with him while I went to bed in our room. The theory is that when she wakes up, Stacey will comfort her back to sleep, instead of my breasts doing all the work.
When I walked into our room to go to bed, I suddenly felt sick again. I was hot from cleaning up the kitchen but I was also shaking. I started to read a book but couldn't keep my head up any longer. Suddenly I felt like my left breast was engorged. I thought, "Now this isn't supposed to happen yet. I've only just left Athena a couple of hours ago". I tried to fall asleep but I was shaking and sweating. I don't really know how many times I fell in and out of sleep but I heard the baby crying and thought I should go down to her as it would help the pain to nurse her. I walked down the stairs, shaking the whole way and realized I now had a whole new pain: a headache. I got into bed with Stacey and Athena and started nursing. Oh my word. I cannot articulate the pain. My entire body was aching and shaking but I recognized the true epicenter was my chest and my head. I was now convinced of two things: I had mastitis and I wanted to die (just a tad dramatic I know). And there was nothing I could do about it until the clinic opened. Even though I have never had it before, I have been a doula and a childbirth educator long enough to know what it is and what the symptoms are.
Stacey got up at some point and started getting ready for work I think. It's all a blur. I know he came and got Athena at some pint and said something about catching the 6:30 bus. And I yelled out, "Are you crazy??!! I can barely move!! I'm sick!!" And then I fell asleep for another 45 minutes. Stacey looked up the clinic hours for me and I went in at 8am. I was home by 8:30am with a diagnosis and a prescription. I finished the room assignments for the Engaged Encounter weekend. We all got in the car, went to the pharmacy, the post office, Starbucks (heck yes I still go to Starbucks when I feel like death), and then we dropped Stacey off at work. I actually felt okay when I wasn't moving. We then went up to the retreat center to drop off the final roster and the room assignment sheet. And then we went home. I tried my best to just sit in one place while I waited for my mom to come over. I made the kids cereal for lunch. They were pretty stoked about that. My mom showed up at about 1pm and I went to bed. I couldn't really sleep but just being able to lie perfectly still with a heat pad was very helpful. Oddly, the pain that was really bugging me then were my legs. I think it was from dehydration and shaking all night. So I kept the heating pad on them to try to get the blood circulating. At 3ish, I returned some phone calls and started getting ready for dinner.
The rest of the evening was awesome, in spite of the pain in the entire left side of my body. My fever and headache were gone and I stayed hydrated so I wasn't in terrible shape. I was pretty tired from having not slept all that much the night before. Conan was awesome. The entire show was very well done. Hilarious! We did go to a bar for about a half hour afterward but I was beat so we headed home. I slept pretty great that night. Athena and I slept in our room alone so we could have more space and I could be more comfortable.
The next morning, I was off to a meeting of the Inland Northwest Doula Network. Of course that went on longer then I really wanted it to so I didn't get home until 2pm. Luckily, I had already enlisted my mom's help. She made Athena's birthday cupcakes and she came over early with my dad to help me with last minute details. Shannon had a soccer game in Spokane so Stacey took him to that. We didn't know the time of the game when I scheduled the BBQ.
The rest of the afternoon was a great time and it all worked out. Thank God for my parents. This was the first time, in my three years of being a stay at home mom, that I have been sick enough to keep Stacey home and be completely out of commission. I just can't believe how much I have been set back just from a day and a half of illness. I'm convinced that moms should simply not get sick. Or we should be able to call in a temp when we do. That would be awesome.
Thursday morning: take stuff to Pamela's for the yard sale
Thursday afternoon: clean house
Friday morning: go to old navy for 50% off stuff and save and drop a few more things off at Pamela's
Friday afternoon: make list of groceries for Athena's birthday BBQ and make cupcakes
Friday night: drop kids off with sitter, pick Stacey up, have dinner with some friends, go to the Conan O'Brien show (so excited!), possibly have a few drinks with friends, pick kids up, go home.
Saturday morning: Doula meeting way up north, run a few errands while in town, get groceries for BBQ, go home and celebrate Athena's first birthday with family.
So here's what really happened:
Thursday morning: dropped kids off at Granny's. My grandma just had knee surgery a week or so ago and my mom was over there helping her with things while she recovered. I took my stuff to Pamela's and came right back. That part of the plan worked great.
While I was out, the lady from the furniture store called to let me know that the bunk bed we wanted to purchase had come in and was ready for us. Dang! I knew this was the last day we would be able to get the bed until next week and really wanted to set it up. So I called Stacey and we set a plan for him to come home early on the bus and then take the van to the store while I stayed back with the kids.
This is where everything derailed. At around 5pm, I was watching some mindless TV and waiting for Stacey to get home until I thought I should probably get up and put all the seats down in the van so it would be ready to go. I stood up and immediately felt sick to my stomach. I laid back down on the floor for a minute, thinking I had just stood up too fast. So I tried to get up again. Same result. I pretty much just laid there hoping whatever it was, was temporary. I kinda crawled up the stairs and made my way to van, and mustered up enough energy to get the seats down. I then went back to lying on the floor for another hour and a half while Stacey went off to the store.
By the time Stacey got home I was feeling a little bit better. I got up and made the kids a very late dinner and helped Stacey put the bunk bed together. So cute! I then cleaned the entire kitchen and went to bed. Stacey and I had decided that it might be time to start weaning Athena, at least at night. Her frequent night nursing was really starting to wear me out. So Stacey took Athena to the guest room to sleep with him while I went to bed in our room. The theory is that when she wakes up, Stacey will comfort her back to sleep, instead of my breasts doing all the work.
When I walked into our room to go to bed, I suddenly felt sick again. I was hot from cleaning up the kitchen but I was also shaking. I started to read a book but couldn't keep my head up any longer. Suddenly I felt like my left breast was engorged. I thought, "Now this isn't supposed to happen yet. I've only just left Athena a couple of hours ago". I tried to fall asleep but I was shaking and sweating. I don't really know how many times I fell in and out of sleep but I heard the baby crying and thought I should go down to her as it would help the pain to nurse her. I walked down the stairs, shaking the whole way and realized I now had a whole new pain: a headache. I got into bed with Stacey and Athena and started nursing. Oh my word. I cannot articulate the pain. My entire body was aching and shaking but I recognized the true epicenter was my chest and my head. I was now convinced of two things: I had mastitis and I wanted to die (just a tad dramatic I know). And there was nothing I could do about it until the clinic opened. Even though I have never had it before, I have been a doula and a childbirth educator long enough to know what it is and what the symptoms are.
Stacey got up at some point and started getting ready for work I think. It's all a blur. I know he came and got Athena at some pint and said something about catching the 6:30 bus. And I yelled out, "Are you crazy??!! I can barely move!! I'm sick!!" And then I fell asleep for another 45 minutes. Stacey looked up the clinic hours for me and I went in at 8am. I was home by 8:30am with a diagnosis and a prescription. I finished the room assignments for the Engaged Encounter weekend. We all got in the car, went to the pharmacy, the post office, Starbucks (heck yes I still go to Starbucks when I feel like death), and then we dropped Stacey off at work. I actually felt okay when I wasn't moving. We then went up to the retreat center to drop off the final roster and the room assignment sheet. And then we went home. I tried my best to just sit in one place while I waited for my mom to come over. I made the kids cereal for lunch. They were pretty stoked about that. My mom showed up at about 1pm and I went to bed. I couldn't really sleep but just being able to lie perfectly still with a heat pad was very helpful. Oddly, the pain that was really bugging me then were my legs. I think it was from dehydration and shaking all night. So I kept the heating pad on them to try to get the blood circulating. At 3ish, I returned some phone calls and started getting ready for dinner.
The rest of the evening was awesome, in spite of the pain in the entire left side of my body. My fever and headache were gone and I stayed hydrated so I wasn't in terrible shape. I was pretty tired from having not slept all that much the night before. Conan was awesome. The entire show was very well done. Hilarious! We did go to a bar for about a half hour afterward but I was beat so we headed home. I slept pretty great that night. Athena and I slept in our room alone so we could have more space and I could be more comfortable.
The next morning, I was off to a meeting of the Inland Northwest Doula Network. Of course that went on longer then I really wanted it to so I didn't get home until 2pm. Luckily, I had already enlisted my mom's help. She made Athena's birthday cupcakes and she came over early with my dad to help me with last minute details. Shannon had a soccer game in Spokane so Stacey took him to that. We didn't know the time of the game when I scheduled the BBQ.
The rest of the afternoon was a great time and it all worked out. Thank God for my parents. This was the first time, in my three years of being a stay at home mom, that I have been sick enough to keep Stacey home and be completely out of commission. I just can't believe how much I have been set back just from a day and a half of illness. I'm convinced that moms should simply not get sick. Or we should be able to call in a temp when we do. That would be awesome.
Easter 2010
I can't believe I haven't posted any Easter pics. Well, I didn't get very many but here's a few.
The kids had a grand time looking for eggs in Mema and Papa's front yard. Stacey was in charge of getting the kds dressed that morning and I must say he did a fabulous job.
Well, that's it. I really need to get better at taking the camera out more often.
The kids had a grand time looking for eggs in Mema and Papa's front yard. Stacey was in charge of getting the kds dressed that morning and I must say he did a fabulous job.
Well, that's it. I really need to get better at taking the camera out more often.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
An early riser experiment
I posted last thursday about how my current waking and going to bed schedule was not conducive to being joyful and productive. So I began an experiment this past Monday. I woke up at 5am, every morning. I thought it would be interesting to see how I felt and to see what the heck goes on around here at 5am. It turns out my husband gets up and goes running and then comes home and does push ups and sit ups on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. No kidding? So that's what he's been up to. First thing in the morning, I would go down to the office and get some nice quiet prayer time in. Then I would take a shower and grab a cup of coffee. Then I would spend any extra time before kids awake, reading, surfing the internet, or completing any administrative tasks that needed to be done. Bill paying and whatnot.
I didn't feel tired in the afternnon, I wasn't dragging throughout the day. I was surprised at how great I felt and how productive I was. I plan to simply get up early again next week and then after that incorporate some sort of workout routine in the morning as well. Baby steps.
The only day that failed was wednesday because Athena woke up at like 5:15 and I didn't get her back down until 6:30 and by then Shannon was awake and everything was thrown off. I ended up snapping at Shannon almost first thing because I felt bumbarded with requests first thing in the morning. I guess I'm not perfect. Dang it!
I didn't feel tired in the afternnon, I wasn't dragging throughout the day. I was surprised at how great I felt and how productive I was. I plan to simply get up early again next week and then after that incorporate some sort of workout routine in the morning as well. Baby steps.
The only day that failed was wednesday because Athena woke up at like 5:15 and I didn't get her back down until 6:30 and by then Shannon was awake and everything was thrown off. I ended up snapping at Shannon almost first thing because I felt bumbarded with requests first thing in the morning. I guess I'm not perfect. Dang it!
Domestic Makeover
A couple of weeks ago, I heard myself saying, "Why can't I ever find anything?" and "Nothing is where it is supposed to be!" I realized that nothing had a proper place to be so that was probably why I couldn't find anything.
I have never really Spring cleaned our house before. To be fair, we are not pack rats at all. So, we don't have 5 years of pile up over here but we do have some stuff that can go. I downloaded an e-book from Simple Mom called Spring Cleaning for Normal People and it was very inspiring. Last Monday, I realized a few of my zones had been neglected so I went through the house, doing a light cleanup and throw out of each room. That evening I downloaded the e-book and to my surprise that was the same task that the book instructed to do on the first day of Spring Cleaning. The book has a 10-day program to get the whole house down. She has you focus on one room of your house each day or two days for larger areas. Since that was last Monday my house should be totally clean now right? Wrong!
I believe I have domestic ADD. I started to work on Shannon's room first for some reason and then I kept wandering over to Chloe's room to do some stuff in there, then I would go put something away in the guest room and realize I wanted to clean out some stuff in there as well. So after nearly two weeks, I am not even close to being done but I did get a lot accomplished. Something that always frustrated me was that we keep stuff in random closets so we never know where to find anything. I was determined to only have Chloe/Athena related stuff in their closet and Shannon related stuff in his closet. I did break this rule a little bit becaue Shannon has the largest closet in the house and he doesn't really have a lot of stuff. So in the main section of the closet, I kept it strictly Shannon and I continue to store a few baby items, that we won't need for a couple more years, in there as well. And my snowboard. We finally got a shelf and bar for the guest room closet so I was able to move all of Stacey's military stuff out of Shanon's room and into the guest room. So Shannnon's room is done. I do want to get him a more grownup bedding set now that he is turnign into quite the little man. He has had the same one for four years so I think it is reasonable to get a new one.
The girls room was not very hard to tackle. We've had our eye on a bunk bed for their room for some time now and we fnally went down and ourchased it this past monday. I can't wait until it comes in. It's a twin over double so I figure the girls can sleep together in the double until Chloe feels comfortable sleeping on the top bunk. I also moved the dresser out of the closet and in the spot where the crib used to be, to make the closet roomier. In the process of cleaning the rooms out, I also found myself with 3 large storage bins of clothes and other items to be sold, tossed, given away. My friend, Pamela, is having a yard sale next friday and I already took the toddler bed, the changing table pad, the toddler bedding, and two crib mattresses over there. I hope to get all of the clothes sorted out this weekend so I can take it all over there next week. I will post some pics of the kids' rooms as soon as I get the bunk bed setup in about a week.
So, yes, I have two rooms down, and many many more to go. The decluttering is getting easier. I started to follow the mantra, "If I don't find it useful or beautiful, get rid of it". Something I have always had a hard with is getting rid of things that other people have given us as gifts. But, I just have to do it. I cannot possibly keep every nick knack that has ever entered these walls. I think the gift givers will understand . . . right?
In addition to the Spring Cleaning book, I also downloaded Simplifying Your Domestic Church and my friend Cherri recommended A Mother's Rule of Life. SYDC starts right off with gettign rid of clutter so I stopped there and started working on that. I am really enjoying MROL. She really focuses on what it all means. Being a wife, a mother, and a servant of God. This really spoke to me because I sometimes get the feeling that my sngle, childfree, friends, think my lfie must be a drag. If I just made a list of the tasks I completed on a daily basis and boiled my purpose down t those things, they would be right. "Dear diary, today I scrubbed my toilets and changed Athena's diaper. Life is good". But when I do these tnings with a greater purpose in mind, I am not only more productive but fullfilled and proud of my accomplishments. So, that book is pretty stinkin' awesome and I highly recomend it.
So that is the Spring Cleaning update. By the way, Simple Mom is beginning a Spring Cleaning series this Monday so if you want to get your own domestic church all sparkly, follow along.
I have never really Spring cleaned our house before. To be fair, we are not pack rats at all. So, we don't have 5 years of pile up over here but we do have some stuff that can go. I downloaded an e-book from Simple Mom called Spring Cleaning for Normal People and it was very inspiring. Last Monday, I realized a few of my zones had been neglected so I went through the house, doing a light cleanup and throw out of each room. That evening I downloaded the e-book and to my surprise that was the same task that the book instructed to do on the first day of Spring Cleaning. The book has a 10-day program to get the whole house down. She has you focus on one room of your house each day or two days for larger areas. Since that was last Monday my house should be totally clean now right? Wrong!
I believe I have domestic ADD. I started to work on Shannon's room first for some reason and then I kept wandering over to Chloe's room to do some stuff in there, then I would go put something away in the guest room and realize I wanted to clean out some stuff in there as well. So after nearly two weeks, I am not even close to being done but I did get a lot accomplished. Something that always frustrated me was that we keep stuff in random closets so we never know where to find anything. I was determined to only have Chloe/Athena related stuff in their closet and Shannon related stuff in his closet. I did break this rule a little bit becaue Shannon has the largest closet in the house and he doesn't really have a lot of stuff. So in the main section of the closet, I kept it strictly Shannon and I continue to store a few baby items, that we won't need for a couple more years, in there as well. And my snowboard. We finally got a shelf and bar for the guest room closet so I was able to move all of Stacey's military stuff out of Shanon's room and into the guest room. So Shannnon's room is done. I do want to get him a more grownup bedding set now that he is turnign into quite the little man. He has had the same one for four years so I think it is reasonable to get a new one.
The girls room was not very hard to tackle. We've had our eye on a bunk bed for their room for some time now and we fnally went down and ourchased it this past monday. I can't wait until it comes in. It's a twin over double so I figure the girls can sleep together in the double until Chloe feels comfortable sleeping on the top bunk. I also moved the dresser out of the closet and in the spot where the crib used to be, to make the closet roomier. In the process of cleaning the rooms out, I also found myself with 3 large storage bins of clothes and other items to be sold, tossed, given away. My friend, Pamela, is having a yard sale next friday and I already took the toddler bed, the changing table pad, the toddler bedding, and two crib mattresses over there. I hope to get all of the clothes sorted out this weekend so I can take it all over there next week. I will post some pics of the kids' rooms as soon as I get the bunk bed setup in about a week.
So, yes, I have two rooms down, and many many more to go. The decluttering is getting easier. I started to follow the mantra, "If I don't find it useful or beautiful, get rid of it". Something I have always had a hard with is getting rid of things that other people have given us as gifts. But, I just have to do it. I cannot possibly keep every nick knack that has ever entered these walls. I think the gift givers will understand . . . right?
In addition to the Spring Cleaning book, I also downloaded Simplifying Your Domestic Church and my friend Cherri recommended A Mother's Rule of Life. SYDC starts right off with gettign rid of clutter so I stopped there and started working on that. I am really enjoying MROL. She really focuses on what it all means. Being a wife, a mother, and a servant of God. This really spoke to me because I sometimes get the feeling that my sngle, childfree, friends, think my lfie must be a drag. If I just made a list of the tasks I completed on a daily basis and boiled my purpose down t those things, they would be right. "Dear diary, today I scrubbed my toilets and changed Athena's diaper. Life is good". But when I do these tnings with a greater purpose in mind, I am not only more productive but fullfilled and proud of my accomplishments. So, that book is pretty stinkin' awesome and I highly recomend it.
So that is the Spring Cleaning update. By the way, Simple Mom is beginning a Spring Cleaning series this Monday so if you want to get your own domestic church all sparkly, follow along.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Farm Fun
I wanted to share a pic of the latest addition to my folks' farm. Meet Fred Bacon. My parents have him set up in a nice cozy pen right next to the chickens. It was hard to get a good shot of Fred. He kept pretty close to the fence.
Eggs . . .
. . . And Bacon!
Notebook: Week of 3/22
Language
100 Easy Lessons 35 - 40
Shannon was on such a reading high that we just stuck with that this week. I want to get to the library soon to pick up some easy readers and see how he does.
Chloe was attempting to read the program during the Chrism Mass today and she did quite well on some parts. What a smarty.
Science with guest lecturer: Daddy
Stacey woke up last friday not feeling very well. The poor guy was probably burnt out from wokring a million hours everyday and then being abandoned by his wife every evening for one thing or another. And then sleeping with a teething baby. Oye. But after he got a few extra hours of sleep in and some general relaxing, he put the kids to work planting seeds in the middle of the kitchen.
This is the first year that we are attempting to plant anything other than a few flowers out front. I'm really curious to see what comes up. Stacey has been flipping through gardening magazines and seed catalogs with the kids in the evenings. And he let them pick out a few veggies to plant. And of course the kids are learning along the way.
That was about it for last week. Pretty laid back. And we're taking Holy Week off so I probably won't have much to report next week either.
100 Easy Lessons 35 - 40
Shannon was on such a reading high that we just stuck with that this week. I want to get to the library soon to pick up some easy readers and see how he does.
Chloe was attempting to read the program during the Chrism Mass today and she did quite well on some parts. What a smarty.
Science with guest lecturer: Daddy
Stacey woke up last friday not feeling very well. The poor guy was probably burnt out from wokring a million hours everyday and then being abandoned by his wife every evening for one thing or another. And then sleeping with a teething baby. Oye. But after he got a few extra hours of sleep in and some general relaxing, he put the kids to work planting seeds in the middle of the kitchen.
This is the first year that we are attempting to plant anything other than a few flowers out front. I'm really curious to see what comes up. Stacey has been flipping through gardening magazines and seed catalogs with the kids in the evenings. And he let them pick out a few veggies to plant. And of course the kids are learning along the way.
That was about it for last week. Pretty laid back. And we're taking Holy Week off so I probably won't have much to report next week either.
What the . . .
I was searching the bedrooms where I had last seen Athena heading when I heard a thumping sound coming from the bathroom . . .
Funny, I don't even remember calling a plumber.
Funny, I don't even remember calling a plumber.
Free board games. W00T!
I went to Toys R Us last night and got some nearly free stuff. Allow me to brag . . . er . . . share.
Twister $8.99
Operation $8.99
Connect Four $8.99
I then used these coupons: $5 off Operation, $4 off Twister, $4 off Connect Four
Then I received a $5 gift card for spending over $20 on Hasbro games
Then I mailed in a rebate form to get $3 back on each game.
So I paid 16.31 out of pocket and got a $5 gift card and $9 back in rebates.
That's like paying $2.31 for three awesome board games.
Rock on. I will store these away until an occasion presents itself.
Twister $8.99
Operation $8.99
Connect Four $8.99
I then used these coupons: $5 off Operation, $4 off Twister, $4 off Connect Four
Then I received a $5 gift card for spending over $20 on Hasbro games
Then I mailed in a rebate form to get $3 back on each game.
So I paid 16.31 out of pocket and got a $5 gift card and $9 back in rebates.
That's like paying $2.31 for three awesome board games.
Rock on. I will store these away until an occasion presents itself.
Cranky Mama
I am cranky this morning and not being a very loving mama. I am not a morning person but I think I need to tweek my weekday schedule a bit or I am never going to get out of this rut. Along side the crankiness, several of the first items on my daily schedule consistently do not get done because I get up late (and cranky) and want to jump right into other stuff as to not fall behind. I recently came across blog post that got me thinking about making small changes for the better. Here are a few things I want to try that will hopefully allow me to accomplish two goals: be more productive and less cranky.
To be fare, I woke up this past Sunday with a bit of a cold so I haven't been feeling 100% but I think a proper routine would allow me to function better, even while under the weather.
- make sure kitchen is clean (for the most part) before I go to bed. Trying to get breakfast on the table when the table is still nasty from dinner and there aren't any clean bowls or spoons is a typical early morning cause of stress. And so easily preventable.
- Get enough sleep. aka: stop staying up until 1am doing stuff that is not that important and can wait until the next day.
- Wake up before the kids. I have a harsh knee jerk reaction to the one responsible for waking me up in the morning, especially when I stayed up way too late. I would rather that thing be an alarm clock than one of my kids.
- Start an early morning routine of exercise, followed by prayer, shower, and coffee. All before the first tiny foot walks down the hall.
To be fare, I woke up this past Sunday with a bit of a cold so I haven't been feeling 100% but I think a proper routine would allow me to function better, even while under the weather.
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