Proud

Today is the 10th day in a row that we have completed all of our assigned school work for the day for all three kids. This is a huge accomplishment.  Everything from doctor’s appointments to crabby attitudes to perfectionist intentions have prohibited us from continuasly getting everyone’s work done every day.  I almost didn’t want to say this out loud for fear that it backfires on me. It’s taken almost one and half academic years to get to this point. Sure most days we finish everything or at least 2 kids does. It’s hard to school at home. There are a million distractions from vistiors to phone calls. The house always looks lived in because well that are a lot of people here all day every day.

I am most excited about having a break on Monday to just be a mom. How lame is that? I just want to play and read with my kids without the expectations of questioning their comprehension or trying to slip some math into the day. I just want to enjoy it and hopefully drink my coffee before it gets cold.

maybe it’s time to blog again

So to say the least…my life has been busy since the last time I blogged. I gave up Facebook for Lent and every time I see my kids do something crazy I think “that would make a great facebook status!”  What I like about facebook is how I can quickly capture a moment in time and go back to my regular life.  Writing my blog is a labor of love for me. I love writing. I love getting my thoughts out so I can process them.  Shoot I have dreams about student teaching still and I did that over 7 years ago. I wake up with ideas for Freshman English lesson plans.

So I decided to blog again. 

 

Here’s my updates:

 

We are in our second year of homeschooling. Right now it’s going well. We are productive and learning. I’m trying to make it more fun but I’m always concerned about how much they are learning. They are so that’s good. 🙂

We added another family member. Our family has 3 big girls and 3 little boys. Sometimes I am amazed they are all mine. 🙂

I haven’t run in a long time. I long for it. I really need to start back up but I’m so uncomfortable in my body. I need to work on that especially since we have a bunch of weddings to attend this summer. EEEK!!!

 

Every day is full of learning, playing, tears, messes, and not enough sleep.

I wish I weren’t so boring!

Chasing a thought…

I’m trying to figure out if God is leading me towards something or if I’m just trying to feel that He is. My heart is telling me to do it but I’m scared to leap. I’m praying for a sign. I’m praying for strength. I’m praying that I have as much faith in myself as He does.

Chasing a blog hop!

I’m going to try out this blog hop thing from my friend Michelle at Heartfelt Balance/ Handmade Life

So let’s start a hoppin’

Chasing a Martha house and a Mary heart…

My house is a wreck. We have winter clothes flying all over the place. We had mac and cheese on the floor. We started off the day with a sassy 8 year old and a 6 year old crying because it’s not her birthday yet (it’s tomorrow). I called my husband crying.  I need help. I have read about 3-4 different home management books. I’m in the process of starting all of them. But right now I need a jump start!  31 Days to Clean! sounds like the perfect way to start finding balance in my life.  It is an ebook written by Sarah Mae from Like a Warm Cup of Coffee and Raising Homemakers.

http://31daystoclean.com/

Check out 31 days to Clean and sign up for the May Cleaning challenge. I would love to have some of you joining me!

I’m excited to being my journey to a more spiritual momma and a cleaner home. And for $4.99 you can’t beat that with a stick!

So today I’m not just going to chase Martha and Mary but join them in working on 31 Days to Clean !

Chasing a new washer…

This summer Michael and I will celebrating our 10th anniversary or Love Day as we call it. Neither one of us lived on our own before getting married. On our Honeymoon we purchased our first (and current!) home so all of our appliances are 10 years old. Two years ago our dryer stopped drying. We were waiting for the other appliance to go but we were lucky. This past winter I posted on facebook how I was in need of an oven and a friend offered us her old one. We used our tax money to buy a new refrigerator to go along with our new kitchen floor. Two days ago I went to wash some clothes and the spin cycle wouldn’t kick on. In a large family, laundry piles up before breakfast and after bath time. On a regular day I do between 2-3 loads of laundry. Not having a washer is not an option for us. We were lucky enough to get an offer from a family member but we decided that it was wise for us to invest in a HE Washer. Between the water usage and energy savings we should be able to see some significant savings for what we are already doing.

So as I wait for the new washer to get delivered my new Oh Katy cloth diapers showed up. I love love love these diapers.  They fit Justin’s chubby little legs so well! I wish I could just put him in them full time but that would require a large checkbook! I couldn’t wait for Thursday to roll around so I could wash them for my little chunky butt to wear them so I wash them old school in a bucket! Just some hot water and a teaspoon of Rockin Green and a few minutes of scrub a dub dubing and my diapers were ready.

Now I have 3 huge piles of clothes waiting and growing from here until Thursday. I simply can not wait until my washer is here. It is so funny the things we look forward to as adults. Lately I’ve been putting in some time and effort into my prayers (daily Rosary is my new routine) and my housekeeping (hanging a curtain rod and working on the pantry) and I have to admit I’d a lot happier now. It’s like I’ve finally accepted my vocation and calling from God. I am a mother and a keeper of the home and I’m really happy about that. I’m so blessed in so many ways that I can’t even begin to list them. As I work on my Mother’s Rule it is becoming easier and more fulfilling. Even though I have been a stay at home mother for over 6 years now it’s like God is really trusting me to do His work for him. Being the mom of 5 definitely isn’t for every one but it has been written so for me.

Chasing praise…

We have been struggling for about a year now with our first son’s behavior. It’s been a year of climbing, running, dodging, and praying. He’s pulled his elbow out of the socket at least 3 times and has been to the ER twice. Some days I pray for nap time and then pray for good night time. I love that little guy but he just is too spunky for me! My girls were so laid back and would listen to me. They were capable of sitting for a few minutes and my little buddy won’t stop for anything but food! A few months back we contacted Help Me Grow about his speech and behavior issues. From different tests and multiple doctor appointment it was determined that he was unable to hear very well. He must have an ear infections that we were unaware of that never cleared up causing the hearing loss. About 2 weeks ago he had tubes put in and he has been communicating much more. He still is having some speech issues but it’s a great start! Now we are working with a school psychologist about his behavior. It’s been very hard on me because I feel like I have failed as a mother to keep him safe and to help him grow.

She told us that our assignment for the next 2 weeks was to praise each child every 15 minutes for a few days then go to longer gaps but to keep the praise up. The more praise the better! She said this will help all of the kids work hard for our good attention. Then we made Praise Books for each child to display to her/his friends and family. Every good deal deserves a sticker! The girls are very competitive so they ran around the house doing anything and everything to earn a sticker.

For bad behavior we are not to react to it. This is going to be hard for me. Somedays I’m good and I can ignore it and I blame myself for not putting whatever it was that got broken or ruined away. But some days I’m a ball full of emotions from crying to screaming. That breaks me down so much. I am so tired at the end of the day from all of it.

But today is a new day. I am armed with Praise books for the kids and a new book for me- A Mother’s Rule. With both of those in my back pocket I am hoping the next two weeks create a happier mommy and a well behaving little buddy.

Chasing super mom…

Just because I have 5 kids does not make me a super mom.

Just because I drive a mini van does not make me a super mom.

Just because I have a home management book does not mean I’m a super mom.

 

I am far from it. I don’t pretend to know it all. I just know what I know and I learn from my experiences. Lately I’ve been getting lots of experiences.

My oldest son is 2 and a half years old. For the most part of the past year he has been a whirl wind of crazy. Nothing is too high for him to climb and nothing is safe from being thrown on the ground. Many tears have been shed trying to figure out what to do around here to keep some order. My son has the sweetest smile and gorgeous blonde curly hair. Don’t let him fool you.  He is a tiny loveable decluttering disaster! When I feel like I have too much and I need to declutter he is the first one to break something so I have something to get rid of.

Sometimes I wish I was supermom. I wish I could just be let go of the household chores and just enjoy my little tornado. But I can’t. I wish I had a cape that would allow me to just shake it and poof my house is clean and dinner is made.

But I am not supermom.

I have bad days. My kids have bad days. Sometimes you’ll call me or see me out in public and we are having bad days. Shoot you might catch me on a day when I haven’t showered and might even be wearing the same comfy clothes from the day before. And that’s okay. Next time you see or call me I might be clean and using my nice voice all day long. I’m allowed to have “dirty Mondays” (no cleaning no showering just fun days!) or “dirty Fridays” or “dirty first week of March.” And that’s okay. You are allowed to have them too. Just don’t give me the stink eye when I’m having one. Or my children has one. I promise I won’t give you the stink eye. And I won’t even make a comment about you having your hands full because I know your hands are full but your heart is even fuller.

Not every day is a perfect day. But every day is a gift from God. He gives us 24 hours a day to get done what needs to be done. Then He does that again the next day. By the end of the week He even gives us a rest day.

I may never be a super mom but I can become a better mom with every parenting choice I make.

Tomorrow is another day to enjoy my precious children. Tomorrow is another day to get the chores done.

Tonight I choose to be super mom. I choose to get my rest so I can be on top of my game tomorrow.

Super moms most certainly sleep because regular moms sure don’t.

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Chasing home management…

I love taking care of my home. It’s my little safe place in the world that I get to decorate all for myself. However with 5 kids under 9 (my oldest is now 8 and my youngest is 7 months), it’s only really clean between 11 PM and 7 AM- most of the time.  I’ve been desperately trying to get a handle on my home management now that I’m working 8 hours a week. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but working 2 half days has really taken a toll on my house in addition to all of the recent activities of my family.  I feel like I’m always 2 days behind in everything. I really really dislike feeling out of control.  So I decided to start making my own home management notebook.

What? Not everyone has a home management notebook? Shocking stuff I know! Some times I think most people live like an episode of Hoarders or Clean House (which is what I watch when I feel out of control and then I realize a few toys on the ground isn’t so bad). Our basement recently flooded so I’m taking that as God’s way of saying declutter!

Recently most of my home management inspiration has come from Large Family Logistics and most recently Time Warp Wife. I love both blogs so much! They have reminded me so much about how home management is such a lost art. Martha Stewart made it cool again to be so involved in the home and to make things from scratch. Being more involved in my home doesn’t mean I’m going to spend every day on my hands and knees scrubbing everything. It means I’m going to take pride in my home and my family to give them the best that I can.

Okay so that doesn’t mean I was a slacker before. Sure my house has been known to look like Toys R Us exploded in my living room and you could probably eat off of my floor because there was a whole bag of pretzels on it at one time. Taking pride in my home and family means I’m going to take a conscious effort to improve my homemaker skills. Every day I’m going to work a little bit harder at scrubbing the crayon off the walls. I’m going to plan out how I want each room to look. I’m going to declutter and give away what I can so that it can make someone else happy instead of bringing me stress.

So starting tomorrow I’m going to wake up with a smile on my face and I’m going to be grateful for the opportunity to make my home special. I’m going to wake up to a sparkly bathroom that I just scrubbed down from top to bottom (the bathroom should always sparkle because people who use your bathroom have the time to look at how well you clean while they are busy using your bathroom!). After my work meeting I’m going to focus on my kitchen as it is the heart of our home. I will then work on finding the balance of family, faith, and home.

Chasing a clean laundry room…

Tomorrow is my first official laundry day. Normally I just do a load or two every day and it’s just crazy!  Now the book I’m reading Large Family Logistics suggests doing 4 by 4 meaning 4 loads washed, dried, and put away by 4 pm. To me this just sounds crazy overwhelming! I’ve never done laundry on only one day ever. I usually just toss in a load of every color and wash.  I’m curious to know if having a laundry day will help me to feel more in control of the laundry or just make me spin into a dirty shame spiral of clothes.

So tomorrow I’m going to wake up early and make friends with my laundry room. I’m going to start the diapers and then clean up the laundry room. Now our laundry room is kind of creepy. It’s not pretty at all. I really wished it looked pretty like the ones on tv but it’s not. It’s a cold floor with a washer, dryer, an old table for folding clothes, some under the stairs storage room, and a litter box. Glamorous I know. But tomorrow it will be my favorite room in the house.

Another key point was to be happy while doing the laundry. Ridiculously sounding as it is I am excited to try to put it into practice. Why should we be happy and joyful about laundry? Well our great grandmothers didn’t have fancy washers and dryers like we have. They had to boil their clothes or take them down to the river to wash. I’m complaining about walking down 10 stairs and there are women today who do their laundry by hand in the river. There is no reason why I can’t march my behind downstairs to start a load, dry a load, and fold it before bringing it upstairs. I think I self sabotage myself about putting the laundry away longer than it actually takes to put it away.

So here is my exciting Saturday:

715 wake up, let puppy out, turn on the coffee pot, and start the diapers in the washer.

745 put diapers in dryer and then start a load of clothes

9oo put away diapers, move clothes to dryer, start load of linens. (I wash sheets every other week regularly but I probably change them a few times a week since we have a toddler who is potty training)

1030 Fold clothes and move linens to dryer

1100 Clean up laundry room. Make it easy to access

During all of this I plan on making a laundry cheat sheet for my 8 year old and my husband. Both know how to read but fail to read the directions frequently. I fully intend on taking Sunday “off”. There will be no set chores to be done. Of course I’m going to pick up the toys or mop up a spill but I want to spend my time enjoying my family. I need to remind myself on the days that my house looks like a disaster that the children are only young once and one day when my house is clean for more than 3 hours during the day I’m going to be sad. No one ever says “I wish I would have scrubbed the toilet more.” but they do wish they would have played more Candyland or sledded down the hill until only hot chocolate could warm you up.

So what are your exciting Saturday plans?