Tara's World

WFMW: Break the Dawdling

2011-10-19T07:34:00.001-05:00

I have an idea that has worked wonders for my dawdler and thought I'd share.

Toby (6, 1st grade) is a dawdler. He would literally take 8-12 minutes or more just to get his pajamas off in the mornings. DH asked me to come up with something to encourage him to get a move on! Truth be told, our first inclination was to punish for dawdling. I never really fleshed that out, but who wants to wake up to potential discipline every morning before school? So instead we're rewarding for being fast.

I created the "Toby's 10 and Under Time Sheet" and hung it on the wall. Toby has 10 minutes for each of three tasks (get dressed, eat breakfast, wash and brush) and then (because there were 4 slots on the premade sheet) he gets a bonus point if he does all three things under time. For the last two days Toby has been able to get his stuff done in far under the time allotted!! Added bonus? Aidan (8, 2nd grade) took it upon himself to run the timer and draw the stars on the chart. Aidan and Toby are my two who have the most friction. Aidan has been Toby's timekeeper AND chief cheerleader! Double bonus points for that! :) Most surprising thing? I didn't even specify an incentive. It's enough for Toby to get the points and stars on the chart.

So that's what works for me this week! See if you can find something that works for you at We Are That Family!

WFMW: Laundry update

2011-01-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

Back in the spring I started a laundry system to tame the monster that was my laundry room. I wrote about it *here*. I have since made a few tweaks to the system and have found that it works even better for us!

Here's what I do now. I still use the triple laundry sorter. I have made a few adjustments to the "laundry buddies".

Monday: Dad and Aidan
Tuesday: Mom and Toby
Wednesday: Evan and Avery

Basically I've split the uniform wearers up a little better and made a much more noticeable distinction between sizes. I have also given up on doing towels and such on Thursday and just throw them all in when needed; often I can do the entire towel stock on Tuesday or Wednesday thus being totally done with laundry from Thursday through Sunday! How many other families of six can say they don't do laundry four days out of seven?

And how many loads do I have to do Monday through Wednesday? Usually two or three. That's it. A couple loads a few days a week and then I'm free!!!

And THAT, my friend, works for me!

Lengthening the Leash

2011-01-05T14:38:00.002-06:00

I have a parenting theory; I never do for a child what that child can do for himself. For the past few months I've given my three-year-old daughter my library card and stood a few feet behind her while she checks out her books at the desk in the children's section of the library. This morning I decided to take it a step further. I was out of sight of the desk, yet my daughter was ready to check out her books. I gave her my card and told her to go check out her books (I did tell her to make sure she got her "ticket" receipt so I would know she completed her mission.) She took the card and confidently strode off in the direction of the check out desk.

My little daughter was positively beaming from ear to ear when she returned from her little errand! She then trotted off happily to an area of the library where older kids (elementary aged usually) sit and read. I guess she thought if she was old enough to check out her own library books without mommy right behind her she was old enough to sit where the big kids sit! :)

My Free Range Mom Moment

2010-10-02T08:09:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been enjoying the blog, Free Range Kids. The basic premise of her blog is that we hover (helicopter parent) over our children and they don't get to experience life as we did. Kids need to be free to experience a few bumps and scrapes. They need to get dirty and entertain themselves.

So, last night I had a "Free Range Kid Moment". Jim was planning on taking the boys to a family friend's house for a camp fire. Evan asked if he could ride his bike. The friend lives about a mile away. 90% of that mile is a medium busy street (though partway down it does have a sidewalk). For a brief second I was about to say no. Then my Free Range Parenting skills kicked in and I said he could do it. He is ten. When I was ten I rode all over town on my bike with no helmet and the only expectation was that I'd be home when the street lights came on! So, with his helmet on, I sent him on his way. I also told him that he had to call me when he got there, to which Jim asked, "should we send the cell with him?" I told Jim that Evan wouldn't need the cell. He could use the house phone at the friend's house just like we did! :)

I encourage you to read the blog Free Range Kids and think about how you can loosen the apron strings a little and let your kids have some freedom today!

Computer time for kids

2010-08-18T08:57:00.003-05:00

All summer I've been chasing my kids off the TV and off the computer. It drives me nuts. I devised a simple way to keep track of how much time each child spends online and which kid has had his online time!

I gave each child a post-it note with his name on it. I also wrote how much time each child has on this post-it. Evan (9) gets 30 mins/day. Aidan (6) gets 25, Toby (5) has 20 and Avery (3) has 15. These post-its are stuck to one side of the monitor. I also have a timer sitting on the computer desk. When the child has his time he moves his tag to the other side of the monitor and sets the timer.

No, there are no roll-over minutes. This ain't AT&T!

Also, if the child forgets to start the timer he gets booted off as soon as Mom figures it out. And if they go over their time? They lose it all the next day.

Yup. I'm so mean.

So far it's worked great!

VBS

2010-06-15T09:30:00.002-05:00

Just a couple quick bullet points.

1. I am so thankful for Vacation Bible School! The boys are all old enough to go this year, so for several weeks this summer they will be, in no particular order, Evangelical Free, Baptist and Presbyterian. I think Avery will also be old enough to be Presbyterian, but don't quote me on that. I just love the break in the routine, the lessons and songs the kids learn and the Truth that they are being taught.

2. I just got back from my pre-screening appointment at Mayo to determine if I'm a good candidate for a research study in the endocrine department. Turns out I am, so I'm now up for four overnight visits over the next four months. It's a paying gig, so we're not complaning.

3. Evan and I are taking a little vacation starting on Saturday! We're traveling to Florida to visit my sister/brother-in-law and Mickey Mouse. :) So exciting!

Time for my monthly posting!

2010-06-10T07:44:00.002-05:00

A bunch of women from our MOPS group got together the other night to celebrate the end of another ministry year. The conversation ranged from the state of various organizations to laundry. One of the things that women with pre-schoolers eventually have to deal with is how to school their kids. In my circle of friends it seems to be quite a difficult decision. Some of course see the sticker shock of private school and opt for public school. Some see the state of the public schools and opt for homeschooling. Some think they could never do homeschooling so opt to sacrifice in other ways to send their kids to private school. The circle continues on and on. So many women struggle with this decision that I am very thankful that my decision is made based on my husband's job at the best Christian school in town!!

When the conversation turns to the struggle of how to educate these little people, I always remember a conversation Evan and I had the summer after his kindergarten year. He came to me one day and asked if I could homeschool him for first grade. When I asked him why he wanted to be homeschooled he answered, "because I don't want a mean and bossy teacher!" My next question? "Are you new? If I homeschooled you you would definitely have a mean and bossy teacher!"

Works For Me Wednesday! I'm back!!!

2010-05-12T06:57:00.003-05:00

I'm coming out from my blogging rock to bring you an idea that has worked for our family this week. I have four kids. Naturally that produces a lot of laundry! I would let the laundry mound up, take a day (or two or three) and DO LAUNDRY. I would wash and dry and fold and wash and dry and fold and wash and dry and fold until I thought my machines would go on strike and the mounds of now clean laundry took over my house until I would get up the gumption to put them away. Sound familiar???

So, one night while awake instead of asleep I developed a plan. I know some larger families sort their laundry not by color but by person. I have a triple laundry sorter and many laundry baskets. I figured that if I did each person's laundry one day a week and towels on one day I would be doing laundry every day. Not so much fun. :) So, I doubled them up! Now my laundry schedule looks like this:

Monday: Dad and Avery
Tuesday: Mom and Toby
Wednesday: Evan and Aidan
Thursday: Towels, sheets, etc

Notice a couple of things. I have big clothes mixed with small clothes thus making for easy sorting once the things are done. I've split up Aidan and Toby who are just one size apart thus eliminating the "he has my shirt" "well it was in my drawer" mistakes. An added bonus that Jim appreciates is that since I'm only doing two people's laundry I have room and time to sort like into like as I fold thus saving him the step of sorting out his shirts, pants as he puts them away (this sentence isn't making much sense, but oh well, if you want to know more ask). And the most impressive part of all? I don't do laundry on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. :) Woo ho! So far this has worked very well for our family!

(Linked in with Works for me Wednesday here!)

Where I announce a winner!

2010-03-03T07:20:00.002-06:00

Thanks so much for all the great ideas and resources for my political fundraiser lunch! I think I was supposed to announce a winner to the contest sometime last Monday. I have a good excuse. Norovirus. That's all I'm going to say about that. Except that I'm really glad I only have four children and not nineteen or something. :)

So, I went to random.org which chose lucky number four! Mom2Fur is the lucky winner! I've contacted her via her blog and hope to hear from her soon. If for some reason she is unable to fulfill her role as winner I'll pick someone new. :)

Thanks for playing!

Works for Me Wednesday and GIVEAWAY!

2010-02-24T07:47:00.004-06:00

I have been involved in MOPS for over nine years. Yesterday our main speaker spoke on the importance of having girlfriends you can go to when you need to ask for help. Well, this morning I need help (and not just because I was up last night literally every 10-30 minutes with a newly three-year-old Avery with the stomach bug).

I'm linking to an earlier this week blog post in hopes that you can help me. See, Jim's invited a congressional candidate to host a fundraiser luncheon at our house!

You can read all about it *here*. Please comment either here or there with any fancy luncheon recipes you may have to be entered into a drawing for a fun kitchen gift!

Thanks!

(And of course you can always click on over *here* to look for more ideas for what Works for others!)

Hospitality, Review Preview and Giveaway!

2010-02-22T09:00:00.004-06:00

Recently Jim has gotten Evan interested in politics. They've been to caucuses, attended breakfasts to meet candidates (Aidan went, too) and most recently Jim volunteered our home to host a fundraiser luncheon for someone running for congress! Needless to say this has gotten me a little stressed about the menu! It has also gotten me thinking about different types of hospitality styles and recipes. I know some women have big fancy houses where they can cook gourmet meals and serve fancy drinks from their home bars. That is not me. We have a modest home where I cook home style meals and serve drinks in glasses that do not match. :)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been invited to host a review on my blog. The review could not come at a better time! I will be testing these and these. And here is where you come in!

I need some new recipe ideas; ideas suitable to serve to a future congressman at a fundraiser luncheon.

Leave me a comment with your favorite fancy, yet simple recipe and I'll randomly draw a name and send you a fun kitchen gift!

Edited to note: I will be putting together a kitchen gift package for you; it will not be coming from the above mentioned store! I will select a commenter at random on March 1. Let's get cooking!

Coming soon!

2010-02-16T16:40:00.003-06:00

Fun stuff to come soon! Let's just say I've been contacted by an online store to do a product review...and possibly a giveaway! :)

Texting While Driving-Anything

2010-02-04T07:27:00.004-06:00

Coming out of hiding (much like the groundhog!) to bring you a public service announcement about kids and cell phones. While this isn't a rampant problem right now here in the nation's icebox, it will be once we all thaw out!

A fellow MommyBlogger, FiddleDeeDee wrote this this morning. I'm copying it here with her permission. Please go to her blog *here* to read more of her writing!

I had a scare a couple of weeks ago. I was driving my van down my street, and as I came around a small curve, a young girl of about 10 was riding her bike straight towards me. I stopped, thinking that she would look up and get herself back up on the sidewalk. But she never looked up. Her eyes were cast down, and she was texting on her cell phone.

When I realized that she was going to run right into the front of my van, I honked my horn. The sound startled her enough so that she looked up just in time, and she swerved around me. And no, she was not wearing a helmet.

Had she hit me, even though I had stopped, she would have suffered a good deal of injury. Had she been heading toward someone who may have been distracted, or driving at a faster rate of speed, she could have been killed.

I couldn’t shake that thought. We have a number of residents who drive far faster than they should on our street, given that it is a very narrow street, and is shared by bicycles and children.

I knew where this little girl lived, but I did not know her parents. I debated going to her house and speaking with her parents. If it were my daughter, I would want to know. But, you just never know how something like that is going to be received.

A few days later, the little girl was playing outside at a neighbor’s house, a few houses down from us. I walked down and introduced myself to her. She knew immediately who I was, and that I was the lady in the van. I asked if I could speak to her, and she said yes. And I held her hand and talked to her about how dangerous the situation was that she placed herself in. I knew that the experience had impacted her, by the look of fear on her face when I honked my horn. She was very polite and remorseful, and I felt like I had gotten through to her. A few feet away, some of her little friends overheard our conversation, and I directed a brief “please don’t text while riding your bikes” speech. In my nicest mom voice. Which by the way, is not the voice that I would have used if I were giving the same speech to my own children.

I went back home feeling that I had done some good.

But then a few days ago, when I was leaving the house to go out, I saw another little 10 year old girl riding her bike down the street. This was one of the children that had overheard my texting speech. She was chatting on her cell phone, driving in the middle of the road, then up on the sidewalk, then back to the middle of the road. And then she stopped talking, looked down at her phone, and began texting.

I am a loud proponent of banning texting and even cell phone usage while driving an automobile. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would be an issue with children riding their bikes.

This is not going to be a judgment against parents that allow their children to carry cell phones. I know there are circumstances that call for it, I get that. But I wonder if these parents understand the danger that their children are putting themselves into by allowing them to carry cell phones while they are out riding their bikes.

I now regret my decision not to go down and speak to the first little girl’s parents. I’m going to give the moms and dads the benefit of the doubt, and believe that they have no idea their children are putting themselves in harms way.

But you can bet that I’m going to be taking to my keyboard to get the word out. Here, and in my neighborhood.

Have you seen anything similar in your neighborhood? I fear that I won’t hear anything in the media, until something tragic occurs.

Please. If your children carry cell phones, talk to them about the dangers of texting and driving.

2009-12-17T10:04:00.004-06:00

Hello dear neglected blog. I'm sorry. I have lots of excuses! :)

This morning I had three extra kids, and wanting to have something for them to do, I sent Jim to the store last night to purchase ingredients to make cinnamon Christmas tree ornaments.

Here's the recipe:

4 cups cinnamon (get the dollar store version, MUCH cheaper!)
2 big spoonfuls of cloves (or not, whatever)
3 cups applesauce
1/2 cup glue (more or less)

Mix the ingredients together. I was sneezing like a crazy lady as the cinnamon wafted up my nose. :)

Mix and mash and knead the dough. Roll it out in small batches and use cookie cutters to make shapes.

Put the ornaments on a cookie sheet, poke holes in them and let them dry. The recipe I found says to bake them at 200 for 6 hours or let them dry on the counter for four days! **Note, I did this this morning and it didn't take NEARLY 6 hours. Mine were dry in 1-2 depending on the thickness of the ornament. Check on them after about an hour, if they still have a little give when you squeeze them let them dry longer. If they're all dry, they're all dry.

We plan to leave some plain, paint some with craft paints and use some glitter on others.

If I ever had two batteries full of juice at the same time or the ability to load pictures on this borrowed bare bones computer I'd include pictures!

A word of warning, your house will smell REALLY strongly for hours after.

Ten Questions answer one, question two

2009-11-18T08:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I posed the following question, "What's the one thing you would have done differently as a mom?"

My mom's response and one I hope to emulate was, "Spent more time making memories with my children and less time cleaning."

Today's question is, "Why did you choose to be with my father?"

Ten Questions, Part One

2009-11-17T07:31:00.002-06:00

Last night I was reading an article in an old Real Simple. Since the magazine was from May the article was fit for Mother's Day and gave ten questions to ask your mother. I'm planning on asking my mom all ten questions, perhaps sharing an answer or two here.

I'm also challenging you to ask your mother these questions if you can.

The first one is, "What's the one thing you would have done differently as a mom?"

Mystery Gift

2009-11-11T07:30:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday I took the three littles to Home Depot for their kids' workshop event. While Aidan, Toby and Avery were all making a trivet (yes, they all did 90+% of the work themselves, even Avery!) Evan was home alone. He's nine and we let him stay home alone once in a while; usually for no more than an hour or two.

When I got back he asked me if I'd ordered some flowers. "No, not that I know of, why?" "Some flower shop called and asked when they could deliver. I told them you'd call them back, the number is by the computer." I was shocked and proud of him for not accepting a delivery when I wasn't home (and that he had no knowledge of!)

So I asked Jim if he'd sent the flowers. He denied it (no surprise there!) Toby piped up from the table and told me that he'd ordered them! "Really?" "Yup, it was me." And he said it with this cute little face which was a cross between so serious because he was trying to convince me and a spark of mischief because he was trying to convince me! He kept up his story, elaborating as the day went on. When asked how he paid for the flowers he replied, "when I didn't have enough money they gave them to me for free!" And he decided that "Evan helped me make the phone call because I didn't know the number." (That morning Evan had a lesson in using the phone book to call a business.)

When the flowers finally arrived I was of course eager to read the card! It turns out that the lovely bouquet was an early birthday gift from my parents and brother. As I was pouring over how lovely they were Toby confessed, "I'm sorry I tried to trick you about buying the flowers." I hugged him and reassured him that it was okay and that I knew if he could he would have done it!

PSA time!

2009-10-24T09:22:00.001-05:00

PSA for Moms or anyone who's purchased Baby Einstein DVDs in the last 5 years. Baby Einstein is issuing a refund or exchange for their DVDs. The FTC has issued a complaint because of the movie's "educational" claims. Children under the age of 2 (the intended audience) are recommended to have zero screen time.

Print out the following form *at this link*, send in your movies and receive a B.E. book, CD or refund!

Unfortunately we have all VHS Baby Einsteins and can't take advantage of this. But we'd be willing to accept any donations from your refunds! :)

An old story revisited

2009-10-04T14:32:00.002-05:00

This morning our pastor spoke on a select few chapters of the book of Joshua. He briefly touched on the story of Jericho, but those brief moments were enough to bring back an unforgettable story from Evan's early pre-school years.

One spring our church offered a parenting class. Jim and I signed up, partly to try to gain new insights, but partly because they also offered free child care for the all day seminar! Evan and his friends had an entire unit that day on Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. They had the Bible story, they sang songs, they watched the Veggie Tale version of the story, they built a wall of cardboard and made horns to knock it down, the whole nine yards. By the end of the day the boys were thoroughly immersed in the tale of Joshua!

A few weeks later I was watching two boys about Evan's age who had also been in that class. With three boys in the three to four-year-old bracket eventually the noise and squirrliness level got to the point where I sent them outside. I gave them the following instructions, "go outside and march around the garage seven times shouting the entire time and see what happens!"

A little while later one of the boys came back in the house and told me that the garage window was broken! It turns out that God did not move the garage in the same way He moved the wall of Jericho so the boys took matters into their own hands. They found some plastic toy golf clubs and started trying to break down the "wall"!

Works for me Wednesday!

2009-09-30T09:23:00.002-05:00

Hello all! I'm back. Well, we'll see about that. I'm doing some part time day care here in the house of Kluth so I've been a little busy to blog. At any rate, this morning as I was working on getting Aidan's uniform together I thought, "this would make a good Works for me Wednesday" but it didn't dawn on me that it was actually Wednesday and that I could write it!

I actually got this idea from a more seasoned mom of many. Aidan and Toby are in nearly the same size pants. Evan and Aidan are both in unform and some of their shirts are really close to the same length. It's hard to tell from looking at them whos are whos and since sizes aren't universal that doesn't help either (I once put Aidan in an 8 and Evan in a 6 and the shirts fit both boys perfectly!)

So, the simple solution would be to label the boys' clothes, but how to do it so the clothes can be easily handed down to the next one without scribbling out the previous boy's name? Here's my solution: I put one dot on Evan's clothing tags, two on Aidan's and three in Toby's. Then as I pass Evan's down to Aidan or Aidan's down to Toby I just add a dot and the label is current! Makes quick work of sorting the laundry and getting it to the correct closet.

Hope this idea helps with hand me downs! Head over to *We Are That Family* for more ideas that may work for you!

Pray for Bethany

2009-09-10T21:26:00.001-05:00

Without lengthy introductions, I'm asking you to pray for a little baby girl named Bethany. You can read her story *here*. I can't say much else but to ask you to pray and pass her information along. Because of my own loss of twins at just 13 weeks gestation this family is particularly close to my own heart.

If anyone knows how to format code for a blog button for my sidebar let me know and we can talk about it!

Thanks,

An Avery Story

2009-09-08T15:10:00.003-05:00

In my life as a stay at home Mommy I have had many stories that I tell laughing hysterically only to a girlfriend, my mom or my husband. There are some that just should not be blogged about to protect the innocent even though the tale is JUST that funny!

If I knew how to categorize my posts into a nifty system on the side I would categorize this under "Things I'm not sure I should have blogged about".

One morning I was on the phone with Mel. Avery found a small square piece of cotton batting from a jewelery box. She lifted up her dress, pulled down her unders, placed the cotton in her unders and pulled them back up again, reminding me that perhaps it is time to insist on my own privacy in the bathroom not only with the boys! This few sentences long description does not do justice to the hilarity that it struck in my heart!

Monkey see, monkey do is an understatement!

September bullets

2009-09-04T15:07:00.002-05:00

* Aidan started kindergarten.
* Evan started 4th grade.
* Jim started year 15 of teaching.
* Avery's staying dry more than getting wet and had two poops in the potty today.
* I'm starting day care for 3-5 extra kids for the next six weeks.
* Toby LOVES doing his homeschool preschool.
* We got a hamster which takes our "no pets" household up to two cats (got rid of all the kittens) two fish and a hamster.
* Oh, and I've also really riled up a bunch of my facebook friends talking about health care reform!

August Update

2009-08-23T18:25:00.003-05:00

Here is a conversation Toby and I had tonight.

Me: Toby, what should I blog about tonight?
Toby: Blog about pickles.
Me: What about pickles?
Toby: Oh, you know, how weird they are, how weird pickle people are.

(Me typing furiously to capture all that!)

Aidan's idea was much easier:

"You should blog about how great your children are."

I've had a few facebook/comments asking about how Avery's potty training is going. I'd say we're about halfway there. Occasionally she initiates, she stayed dry at Sunday School this morning (her first time in a real class and not just nursery!) but still doen'st get it all the time. It's been about six days, so we're well on our way!

My goal is to have her basically done by September 9 when I start a temporary day care center at our house! I have two friends who need temporary part time care for their toddler and preschool aged children for the months of September and October. One family has a kindergartener who goes to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday. She also has a four-year-old and an eighteen month old. The other family has one school aged child (so I won't have her at all) as well as a four-year-old and eighteen month old. I'll have Aidan in the afternoons as well as Toby and Avery full time. So, if I can have one less in diapers I'm all for it!

School starts for Jim on Tuesday and the rest next week Wednesday.

WOO HOOOOOO!!!!!

3..2..1...

2009-08-17T19:19:00.001-05:00

Outrageous supply of unders? Check.

M&Ms? Check.

Dirty duds bucket? Check.

Fingernail polish? Check.

Sticker chart with stickers? Check.

Singing potty with fresh batteries? Check.

Let the Potty Training (Bare) Boot(y) Camp begin!

Oh, and caramel macchiato ice cream and moral support from a girlfriend? Check!

Your Laugh For The Day

2009-07-31T11:17:00.001-05:00

I saw the following sign outside the entry to the fairgrounds today:

No bicycle riding
skateboarding
rollerblading
dogs
on fairgrounds.

Of course. We wouldn't want the less talented dogs there to feel inferior!

Hey, I can blog this!

2009-07-30T14:21:00.002-05:00

The well has sort of run dry for possible blog topics lately. Sure, the kids are saying and doing really cute things, I'm reading books and seeing movies I could blog about, but my motivation is at a lull right now.

Until the following email came. I have a friend with five kids five and under. The newest ones are 4 month old twin girls. Knowing my history, you can guess that these little beauties have a special place in my heart. Ironically, the heart is the problem. Not mine, but one of the girls. Bethany and Grace are the baby twins, Faith, Noah and Asher are big sibs, Kady and Karl are Mom and Dad to the bunch.

Please lift this family up in your prayers. You've never seen such strength and hope in the Lord as you will with this Momma!

Here's Kady's email:

Hi Friends, I'm sorry that I haven't updated many of you on what's happened with Bethany. She has a very rare condition in infants called Mitral Arcade (or Congenital Mitral Regurgitation). She'll need Open Heart Surgery or possibly a transplant in months / years to come. Her condition is evidently "severe" or serious.. but the doctor feels good about her chances because of how hard she's fought thus far. We don't know how quickly she's been deteriorating so now we have a starting point to compare to. She is on 3 different medications at this point and seems to be tolerating them pretty well. We'll be seeing alot of the pediatric cardiology dept at Mayo and are thankful for their expertise and care. I'm planning on setting up a caring bridge site in the next week (hopefully).. in all of my spare time ;). Karl and I are confident that God's already got all of this figured out and His purposes are so much greater than anything we can imagine. Our prayer requests are for #1 a miracle if that's God's will, #2 her heart to grow stronger and last until she's a little older for surgery.. her chances are far better the older that she is. #3 that she won't have pain from all that her body is having to go through #4 for strength for our family and finally #5 for God to use her for His glory! Please feel free to share this with anyone.... the more prayer warriors the better :) In His Arms, Kady

Boys and Books

2009-07-15T07:16:00.000-05:00

This is a self-imposed backwards edition of WFMW. To find other ideas please head to "We Are That Family" today!

I do believe I've mentioned that Jim, Evan and I have been reading through the Harry Potter series. Evan and I are finished and Jim just hit a MAJOR point near the end of book six. That's all I'm going to say about that.

My rant here is about the quality of good books for kids Evan's age (he's heading into fourth grade). I haven't done the actual math, but I'm guessing that ninety percent of the books I pick up in the library are geared towards girls. They have a female main character dealing with female issues (hair, make-up, periods, babysitting and the cheerleading team). Or the female lead is off doing heroic things like slaying the dragon (which in my opinion should be a male lead, but that's another topic believe it or not).

So, that leaves ten percent of "literature" with a male protagonist. But how many of that ten percent leave us with a positive male role model taking his leadership position seriously? Evan wanted to read the "Diary Of A Whimpy Kid" series next so I checked them out of the library. In one afternoon he polished off a book and a half. I got through about thirty pages and declared them unfit for, well, anyone. Agreeing with me, Jim will be returning them to the library today. The main character, though a boy, is a middle school boy. These books are written at a second grade level at best. Children who are in middle school *should* be well beyond the level of these books (but again, that's a post for another time!). The main character also showcases blatant disrespect for his own father, his mom, his friend's father and all other adult/authority figures in his life. And that is just in the first thirty pages!

Here's my plea for help. I have a voracious reader with a heart bent towards Christian worldview. What books do you recommend for him? We'd also like the books to encourage boys and men in their God given leadership roles. We'd like him to have some positive reading for the rest of the summer.

So, what would you recommend? Oh, and no pressure here, but library day is Thursday at our house, so if you've got a suggestion please leave it!

We Have a Winner!

2009-07-12T12:46:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to M, the winner of my "Green Bag Lady" green bag giveaway! I contacted her to let her know she won and to get her address. I knew she lived here in the great state of Minnesota and learned that she is actually from the same town I am! So thanks, M, you saved me some postage!

If you'd still like your very own "Green Bag Lady" green bag I'm more than happy to mail you one. All I ask is $2 to cover shipping. Email me your info and we'll work on getting your bag to you ASAP!

Thanks to all for entering!

Works for me Wednesday complete with a GIVEAWAY!

2009-07-08T10:44:00.005-05:00

I found a fun blog by a lady who calls herself the "Green Bag Lady". She makes fabric shopping bags, has given away over five thousand of them and even posts the pattern for free so you can make your own.

And I've made bags! And more bags! In fact, my handmade bag count for yesterday reached about a dozen. I made bags like there's no tomorrow. I have hoards of fabric lying around, so I just started sewing them up into bags. And you know what? I'm going to give one away. Just leave a comment promising that you'll use whatever style and pattern I made and I'll send you one free of charge! :)

Free stuff. Works for me! Go to We Are That Family for more things that could work for you!

**Edited to note that I'll pick a winner on Saturday to give more people a chance to win!

**Edited a second time to add a link to the Green Bag Lady's blog. Sorry, I guess I'm out of practice in blogging! Here she is: www.greenbaglady.blogspot.com

The Experiment

2009-07-02T08:50:00.002-05:00

This summer Jim and I decided to conduct a little experiment. We, along with Evan, are reading through the Harry Potter series. School let out on May 20. Evan would be done except that we placed a rule on him that he could not be more than one book ahead of us.

We know the controversy about the books in the Christian circles where we run. I myself had an editorial published in a parenting magazine spouting off about the dangers of witches and wizards becoming commonplace and filling young minds with the idea that magic can solve your problems. And yet I myself wanted to read the books! So, we decided to read them together as a family. And we're discussing what we find and comparing it to Scripture. (And it's also a good lesson in self-control because we're learning things about the characters that we cannot share with others who aren't as far along as we are!)

So here we sit on July second. Jim is somewhere back in book five (something about not being able to sit around and read all day because he's working, excuses, excuses). Evan and I are each a couple hundred pages from finished with seven. And I still don't really know what to think. The books aren't as much about witchcraft (which I hereby acknowledge is a real thing very much alive in the world today) as they are about friendship and fighting for the greater good. It does seem that to get to the greater good requires much rule bending and breaking and sneaking around. The setting seems to be just that, the setting for a good story.

What do you think? Have you read the series? Would you let your children read them? Why or why not? (Have full license to discuss in the comments, but please let's play nicely and understand that different people may make different choices.)

Driving lessons

2009-06-18T07:44:00.001-05:00

This week is Vacation Bible School week at our church. We have had a fantastic time and I think the kids like it, too! :)

Our neighbors around the corner have been bringing their two boys, D and N to VBS with us. Last night due to circumstances beyond their control they needed me to transport their kids. In trade, they kept Avery for me (and also because I didn't have enough seats for my three boys, two neighbor boys and an Avery). Their boys are sweet and very cooperative. And they also give driving lessons.

Part of the fun of VBS is the music (and overloading on sweets just an hour or two before bedtime, but I digress). Each child takes home a CD of the music to listen to all week. I keep mine in the car and we get to listen to it to and from church. As my kids jam out they assign each other different instruments they hear and "be" those instruments. A common phrase you might hear is, "I'm the guitar, you be the piano".

Last night they were jamming out in our usual manner when I told them that they needed an audience and that I'd be the audience. They told me that I should clap and cheer once the songs were over. So I did. And a very nervous little voice came from behind me, "maybe you should just cheer and not clap while you're driving".

Do you know how hard it is to laugh your head off without letting a little guy know you're laughing???

The Update List

2009-06-04T08:42:00.002-05:00

So summer has started, well, summer started two weeks ago so I guess I'm a little behind. I have so many things I'd love to write a complete post about, but am lacking in time to do so, so here's my Cliff's Notes version. Enjoy.

Jim finished up his fourteenth year of teaching. We sound old, don't we?

The boys have befriended some little boys across the street. D is finishing up first grade and N is entering kindergarten next year. They're really sweet little boys and I'm looking forward to a summer of sharing our yard with them! And as a bonus, our street is pretty much local traffic only I'm able to let the older boys travel back and forth pretty much by themselves.

The boys also got to go to the dentist yesterday. Good reports all around. The only concern is that Aidan and Toby need to stop the finger/thumb sucking to avoid orthodontia in the future. Yup, made a sticker chart for that. Toby's totally on board because the reward is a donut! :)

Avery's doing well in her big girl bed. In fact, I made black out shades out of a navy blue twin flat sheet. Say it with me now, "red neck curtain". I think she's too scared of the dark to venture out of bed because in the morning and after nap she cries out, "I want my mamma" instead of getting out of bed. A little trauma never hurt when trying to train a kid to stay in bed, right?

I'm swimming along here. I'm mostly trying to implement this year's chore chart system and schedule. As usual, I'm my own worst enemy! As I type Aidan is making his own breakfast and offered to make me some. Avery cleared her own place at the table this morning without prompting and even put her spoon in the dishwasher. Evan is plowing through books at breakneck speed. Toby is, well, Toby. He cracks us up. We're starting to work on letter and number recognition with him.

Enough bragging on my family? We're overall doing well!

Please remember my friend's eight-year-old son in your prayers. He's hospitalized right now and that's about as far as I'd like to go on that without his Mom's permission.

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

2009-05-14T08:39:00.002-05:00

This morning Toby learned that we were going to run errands and thus he needed to go get dressed. In typical Toby fashion he asked, "where in the world are we going this morning?" as he danced and pranced around the living room in his birthday suit. I informed him that we had to go to Target because we need to buy gifts for open house season. Dead stop. Tone as serious as Toby can get it. "You mean we're selling our house again???"

Do I have to explain or do you get it?

Nice People Send Me Stuff

2009-05-08T15:50:00.002-05:00

In the past few months I've been on the receiving end of some pretty fantastic emails. Did you know I have connections to Nigerian royalty or that my name has been randomly drawn from the European lottery system? With a few simple clicks of the mouse I have had millions of euros deposited in my American bank account.

Sound too good to be true? Well, then, it probably is. But, what isn't too good to be true is the handful of REAL lotteries I've won! I've entered my name in several bloggy giveaways in the past month. I've won a "Myself Belt" which Avery will grow into hopefully next fall. I've won a "Hip Hop Baby" CD/DVD gift collection. While hip hop isn't my favorite the kids have been enjoying it! And my latest treasure arrived in the mail just today. Sophie who has spent countless hours coordinating the "Praise Baby" blog sent me a nice little thank you gift of a Casting Crowns CD and another CD by Krystal Meyers. All that just for writing a simple little post!

I'm looking forward to some new tunes!

And a special thank you to all the blogs who host fantastic giveaways! It's been fun!

Pieceless Puzzle

2009-04-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for a unique gift that is sure to elicit “Wows!” from everyone who sees it? Our parent company, Ceaco, is introducing the Pieceless Puzzle - a revolutionary new puzzle unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. “What exactly is a Pieceless Puzzle?”

Watch this video to find out more…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YrChGyQtQ

You can be the first on your block to own a Pieceless Puzzle. All you have to do is help us spread the word about it through blogs, online forums, and your email network.

Simply forward a link to your post or send a copy of your email, along with your name and complete mailing address (no P.O. boxes) to pr@gamewright.com

Please allow 4 weeks for delivery

Too funny to pass up

2009-04-30T07:50:00.000-05:00

I'll give credit to my brother in law, Jordan for this one.

It was once said that a black man would be president when pigs flew. Well behold 100 days into his presidency...... SWINE FLU!

A New Stage

2009-04-26T08:52:00.003-05:00

Last week we finally accomplished a goal I'd had since we moved back to town: buying the kids real beds. As we were setting up the bunk beds in Aidan and Toby's room Avery was banished to sitting on Toby's toddler bed to keep her from getting mashed under the gargantuan bunks (we bought them on Craig's list, they were homemade and are heavy enough to last until our children have grandchildren). Throughout the setting up process Avery kept saying, "I seep here, I seep here" which any mother of young children would be able to translate as "I want to sleep on a big girl bed, enough of the crib thankyouverymuch".

And just like that, she did. I moved the toddler bed into her room, got her blanket and pillow out of her crib, cuddled her into her new bed and bid her good night. The first night she got out of bed once to load the bed down with toys, but was quickly reminded to stay in her bed.

And so another Mothering Milestone quietly slips by. I no longer have any babes in cribs.

This summer we'll sell the crib and changing table set and let another new mother nestle her little bitty into a crib and mark a new milestone for her.

A Contest!

2009-04-08T08:49:00.003-05:00

The following is my entry in a writing contest held at Scribbit.

A Gentle Reminder

Every spring I remember a bit of advice passed on from a wiser older woman to my mother. I remember this bit of advice every time my little boys bring me dandelion bouquets with grubby little hands. Little eyes light up when I express my gratitude over a simple love offering. I have a steady stream of yellow flowers in my house all during the spring. Enjoy this story, written by my mother and passed on as great advice to me and all mothers of small children.

The Days of Dandelion Bouquets
(originally submitted by Sheila Simmons, Tara's mom)

When I was a young mother I took my little girl to a yard sale. The possessions of a very elderly lady were spread out on tables to be sold. My little girl picked up a tiny glass vase and said, "Mama, this is for you. I can pick dandelions for you to put in it."

I turned to look, and as I did a frail voice caught my attention. An elderly woman said to me, "Treasure that little vase and the little girl who wants it. The days of dandelion bouquets will pass by and be gone before you know it."

And she was right. My oldest son is just eight years old, but his days of dandelion bouquets are already gone. My five-year-old son is likely in his last season. I have just a few more springs of yellow flowers in my windowsill and then we'll be on to another season. Not better, not worse, just different. I think I'll miss dandelions when that season comes. But I'll remember.

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-08T08:23:00.002-05:00

Quite a while ago (it seems anyway) I blogged asking for advice about packing a family of 6 for a spring break trip. Well, the trip has come and the trip has gone and all that is left of the trip is some crumbs in the mini van, pictures and memories.

We left Saturday morning for the Chicago area. Despite having to buy a new tire and a power outage due to a spring blizzard, we had a great time! :)

Giving up on ideas of doing touristy things in Chicago due to the aforementioned blizzard, we headed out to Kentucky a little early of our original plan. Jim, Everett and I packed up our Fantastic Four and drove from Chicago to Georgetown, KY Sunday after church.

Arriving around 11 pm local time, we headed to bed pretty quickly.

Rather than bore you with the details, here's a quick run down of the highlights of the trip:

Kentucky Horse Park, Plum Tree restaurant, Creation museum (FANTASTIC!!), Cracker Barrel, wonderful hosts, lunch with old friends, replacing blinds broken by Avery, tuba lessons for Evan and Aidan, Toby starts a shell collection, introduction to Steak N' Shake, great finds at Goodwill, touching prayer meeting, learning that our kids really are as flexible and fantastic as I think!

There. Any questions???

(Oh, and my packing plan? Worked great. Driving across the country with the Fantastic Four without DVD/VCR/MP3/I-pod/video games? Not only possible, but a simply fabulous experience! You should try unplugging your kids next time you have a family vacation. I highly recommend it!)

The Packing Plan

2009-03-26T11:21:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago we decided to start looking into traveling with the Fantastic Four over Jim and Evan's Spring Break. We eventually settled on traveling to the Chicago area, picking up Jim's friend Everett and continuing on to Kentucky to meet/visit Everett's family. Did I mention that we'd be traveling with four kids??? As the Mommy, it falls to me to plan the logistics of getting everything that everyone could possibly need from point A to point B and then on to point C and back again. I have spent no small amount of time in considering all of this! And to make things more interesting? We're doing the road trip the old fashioned way. No TV/VCR/DVD/MP3 players/I-pods or video games. How much Benedryl does it take to put kids to sleep but not kill them???

I think I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve that I'd like to run past other seasoned traveling families.

First off, as I find good trip snacks and little toys I'm putting them in a bag on top of the fridge. I'm planning on packing one small gift bag per child of things to do in the car. These bags include stickers, books, small cars, and other non-noisy toys! I'll also keep a few things in a separate bag to pull out fresh for the long trip home. When we were in Sioux Falls last weekend the Aunties hit the goodie bag section of Wal-Mart's party supply aisle and loaded the kids up. I confiscated those toys pretty quickly and they're in the bag on top of the fridge! Shhhh, they don't need to know they're getting the same gift twice!

The second thing I'm hoping is a stroke of genius and not a bout of stupidity involves clothes for all four. My intention is to lay out clothes for everyone and pack them all together by days in one separate plastic bag per day. So, the kids will all share one suitcase which will contain seven different Wal-Mart type bags. All of the clothes for Monday will be in one bag, Tuesday in another etc. Then when it comes time to dress the kids we pull out that day's bag and everything we'll need for that day will be right there handy. There will also be one extra bag which will have a complete outfit per child in it.

So there you have it. Our traveling plans. Seasoned road trippers, what do you think???

A Quick Check In

2009-03-23T15:14:00.002-05:00

I have a minute or two to spare and thought I'd jot down a quick note for the two of you who have mocked me for not blogging. I loaded up the four young'uns last Thursday and drove them over two hundred miles to my sister's house in South Dakota. They were thrilled. And they were fantastic! We saw the Butterfly House, we played arcade games at a pizza joint, we hit the junk shops and we spent time with the relatives. Believe it or not, it was a fabulous time! I have traveled alone with the kids (does that even make sense?) several times and I always come away with a new appreciation for single parents. So if you're reading this and you're a single parent you get a big ol' round of applause from me. Good Job!!! Stay at home mom is a tough gig, but single parenting is an even tougher one.

Works For Me Wednesday!

2009-03-11T08:30:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! I just found the ultimate in cute just this morning, and since it's now Works For Me Wednesday I can share it!

WFMW has now moved to *We Are That Family*. Part of the reason I haven't posted WFMW lately is because I'm hesitant with the change. So, today I found the new site and found that besides directing you to *We Are That Family* nothing else has changed! :)

Okay, back to the kitchen cute. My pastor's wife's sister *Rebecca* actually posted about this at *her blog* today, so please go to her blog and read the entire post. Thank you.

The long and short of it is that she wanted some new kitchen towels to hang on her oven door. I can relate. I like them there, too! She searched high and low for some new ones and couldn't find them. I suggested to her that the tie on kitchen towels go to garage sales and thrift stores to die. She came up with something MUCH cuter. She found matching pot holder and kitchen towel pairs. She got out her good ol' sewing machine and stitched center of the towel down the center of the pot holder, sewed a button on and voila! New tie on kitchen towels. Really, *go to her blog*. You'll see a great picture of a clean stove and the cutest tie on kitchen towels in the world. :)

Finding a cute, cheap, creative idea REALLY works for me!

Two milestones

2009-03-03T09:17:00.004-06:00

Just a quick couple of pictures for you. First off, Avery turned two on the 23rd of February. We had some cupcakes for her birthday instead of making a big real cake.
And another milestone happened just this morning. Aidan loves making frozen waffles for breakfast for himself and the younger sibs. He asked me this morning if I'd purchased any during grocery day yesterday. I told him that I hadn't, but that I would next time I was at the store if he'd write it on the list. "But Mom, I can't spell waffle." I told him to draw a picture instead. He got all excited about drawing all the little squares and came up with this:"WOFL". Waffle. :) We have phonetic awareness! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run to the store. We're out of wofls.

Aidan Aiming High

2009-02-25T20:36:00.002-06:00

Tonight I had the honor of Aidan's company as I went to run an errand. Avery had mangled my reading glasses something awful and I was headed to the optician to get them straightened out. Again. On our travels I asked Aidan where he wanted to work when he grew up. "Oh, I don't want to work anywhere. I want to just walk along the streets and have holes in my jeans." I explained to him that being homeless didn't pay very well. He went on to explain that when he got done with college he'd have a job, so when he was grown up he wouldn't need one. Oh, that's much clearer, thank you, Aidan!

In continuing with our conversation I learned that he wanted to be a chef. At McDonald's, Burger King or Taco Bell. "Because once they see my cooking skills they'll really want to hire me." Yes, those establishments care if you can cook. Currently his repertoire consists of scrambled eggs, toast and frozen waffles.

And then he continued on with his long term goals. "No, I mean I want to be a clown." No comment.

Finally he settled on his ultimate career goal. "I think I just want to work in the circus. I want to be the guy who puts the bar on you at the Ferris wheel. You know, so you don't fall out of the seat."

So, my five year old wants to be a homeless bum, a chef, a clown and a carnie.

**Official disclaimer: There is nothing wrong with any of those jobs. If you are glorifying God in your chosen vocation, that's what is ultimately important!

Just hanging out

2009-02-19T17:13:00.004-06:00

So today was a big day for my kitchen. I finally got around to hanging "curtains" in the window above my sink!

Here is the window above the sink. Yes, those are vintage half aprons hanging by clothespins! I saw the idea originally somewhere online (if it is on your site, please let me know so I can give you the credit you deserve!)

And here is the view at my kitchen window.

I got the idea to "plant" pictures of the kidlets from Tiffany. She also has four kiddos, but she had all of hers in under three years!

Here is the completed look. And now my house tour is complete! Well, at least until we do something with the master bedroom....

First Ladies

2009-02-16T08:50:00.002-06:00

I read *this post* by one of my favorite bloggers, Antique Mommy, this morning.

I have always felt a little sorry for the First Ladies. As Antique Mommy noted they are thrust in to the limelight. How many little girls dream of being the First Lady as they are growing up? And last night as Jim and I watched President Obama and his wife leave their Valentine's Day date I noted that they weren't walking side by side (and I wondered who had the girls!) :) I get a little panicky when Jim starts talking about running for local office because I know that would change my cushy job as teacher's wife dramatically!

Guest Posting!

2009-02-13T07:50:00.002-06:00

A while back I was invited to be on a blogging panel for the Praise Baby. They are similar to the Baby Einstein series of videos but they use Christian praise music instead of classical selections. Today my post is up! You can go *here* to read what I had to say!

Well? What did you think???

Soup Update

2009-02-08T19:31:00.003-06:00

Several of you asked about the soup. All is well. I had put the soup in a small section of the deep freeze. It all fit in there so nicely! And then the bags all froze. And it turns out that things expand when they freeze. Who knew that??? :) So, we thawed them out a little, defrosted the entire monster and got everything cleaned up.

Thank you for your concern! We are blessed to have been able to salvage the nine meals and are looking forward to the freezer meal swap on Tuesday!

If it's not one thing...

2009-02-06T15:40:00.002-06:00

Woke up this morning with grand aspirations. I was going to tidy up the mess that "good enough" housekeeping for the last two weeks or more has left. And I succeeded. And then the boys woke Avery up about two hours before her nap was supposed to end. And that's when the stuff started hitting the fan.

I'm part of a freezer meal swap. A bunch (nine this month) of us make a bunch of batches of the same recipe and then we swap so everyone ends up with a variety of meals stocked in their freezer. It works great and my (most of) family (usually) enjoys the tasty treats. So, this month I made ten batches of taco soup and stacked them in the freezer where they, well, froze. Together. In a solid hunk of beans and meat and yum. Not only did they freeze together, they froze to the walls of the freezer (I have an antique deep freeze, remember?) So, I proceeded to empty the other sections of the freezer in an attempt to defrost this monstrosity of a beast and rescue my meals. After working on it for almost three hours now I'm no better off than I was when I started. In fact, I'm a lot worse for the wear. I won't go into the gory details here, but let's just say that my basement has seen better days!

Oh, and did I mention that Evan brought home a little (girl) friend from school today? Yup. So, they traipse in, we find a place for another set of winter gear, and Avery takes advantage of the situation by grabbing the cup of hot cocoa off the table and spilling it on the stairs. :) Yup. If it's not one thing it's her brother!

Tune in next time for another installment of, this life is crazy!

WFMW: Staying power

2009-02-04T07:57:00.006-06:00

And here is a Works For Me Wednesday that 9 years ago I was certain would never come! I have figured out a really easy way to get those cute plastic clippy barrettes to stay in Avery's baby fine fly away hair! Someone told me to wrap the back piece with thread and that would make it non-slip. Great, but then I would have to go to the basement, put away the toys from in front of my craft cupboard and dig through it to find the thread. Instead, I did this:

I took one of the tiny little ponytail holders and wrapped it around the back of the barrette! Works like a charm! The pony holder grips the hair so the weight of the barrette doesn't pull it out and also creates just enough resistance that Avery's attempts at pulling it out are thwarted (unless she gets really determined which she usually doesn't).

See, works great! :) Isn't she cute???

More Recipes!

2009-01-30T10:38:00.003-06:00

I am a member of another blog (which I should link to on the sidebar, maybe someday!). Anyway, it is a recipe blog and I've posted there today! **Edited to note, click on the previous sentence. You'll get to the recipe blog!**

And if you are of the praying sort please add the J family to your prayer list. Their little 2 year old L has been having unexplained seizures lately. They're in the long process of trying to figure out what's causing them.

Thanks!

WFMW: Time to clean!

2009-01-28T07:47:00.005-06:00

I was feeling pretty creatively dry this morning when my irl (that's in real life) friend, Leah, asked me what my WFMW post was going to be about. I told her I had no idea and that she should tell me what to write about! So thanks, Leah! This ones for you! :)

There are certain times I feel overwhelmed with housework (yes, hard to believe, I know). My sister and I sometimes refer to the work we do on those days as housekeeping "give a mouse a cookie" style. You know what I mean. I have to unload the dishwasher so I can clean off the counter. I clean off the counter and realize that I have to throw a bunch of wrappers away. Throwing the wrappers away will remind me to take out the trash. While taking out the trash I will trip over the shoes that need to be put away. Putting away the shoes will prompt me to tidy up the kids' rooms. Then laundry, then tidying up the playroom, then rotating laundry, then organizing the spice rack...they all snowball and you only started out by unloading the dishwasher! Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about here! Before you know it you've been working your tail off and have no idea what you've accomplished, but you're sure it was something!

Some days I do housework like that. Other days I try to be a little more intentional about finishing a room (easier in my smaller house). This is my more calm way of doing housework. I set a timer for 5, 10 or 15 minutes depending on how motivated I am. (Yes, for you flybabies, this idea is originally from FlyLady, just to give credit where credit is due!) I stay in one room and crank out as much work as I can do in the alloted time. When the timer goes off I move to another room with my timer clipped on my jean's pocket and start there. After just that little bit of concentrated time on one room you can stand back and be amazed at what you've accomplished!

At this point over 100 other bloggers are sharing what works for them. If my idea doesn't work for you, go over here and see if there is something else that will!

Avery's Closet

2009-01-23T11:00:00.000-06:00

The closet in the room we chose to be Avery's had four garments hanging in it when we first looked at the house. There were two little baby sweaters, obviously from an era gone, but not too far gone. Next to them hung two long satin formals. I choked back emotions as I realized that the baby girl I was planning on putting into this very bedroom would all to soon be picking out a formal for the prom.

And so, while her brothers are outside playing in the snow I'm going to go have a tea party with my baby girl, while she's still little enough to have tea parties.

WFMW: Cake in 5 minutes or less

2009-01-14T00:01:00.000-06:00

Ladies, I'm giving you fair warning. What I'm about to share with you WILL change your life. Maybe for the better, maybe not. Did you know that you may possibly be less than five minutes away from chocolate cake at any given moment??? It's true.

Simply take 4 tablespoons each of flour and sugar. Stir in 3 tablespoons of cocoa (not hot cocoa mix, but cocoa powder). Add 3 tablespoons of milk, 3 tablespoons of oil and an egg. Stir that all together until it is well blended. Add a handful of chocolate (or whatever) chips and a splash of vanilla. Nuke for 3 minutes. They say to use a coffee mug, but everything I've seen says that it will overflow all over your microwave if you do that. I use my Pampered Chef 4 cup glass measuring cup and it works just fine. If you've got some leftover frosting or cool whip put that on top when it's done. Delicious!

Go check on Shannon today. See if she's got anything that will work for you!

An historical note

2009-01-12T08:05:00.005-06:00

Perhaps you missed it. It was just half of a sentence in my house tour post. "The wooden rocking chair in the back right corner was my mom's great uncle's..." Well, I was mistaken and my family historian has made this additional note:

"I need to make note about 'The wooden rocking chair in the back right corner' of the living room. That rocker belonged to your Great Grandpa (Roy) Hatfield. I remember him sitting in it, watching the Friday Night Fights on tv with Dad in the big brick house in Braymer. Your Mom and I were supposed to be asleep in the next room in a double bed with a hand-made feather mattress that Grandma made. There were french doors with glass in them and I could see them sitting out there thru the glass.

The rocker is mission style furniture and, if I'm not mistaken, it is made of solid oak. Originally it had horsehair upholstery. Grandpa's nephew Raymond Hatfield recovered it for Grandma years after Grandpa died with whatever's on it now. If I find a picture of Grandma or Grandpa sitting in it, I'll send it to you - even better if one of them is rocking your Mom!"

So you have it. The rest of the story.

Edited to note: My mom's sister, my Aunt Teresa in Kansas sent me the above email about the chair. I had originally noted this, but blogger went crazy and lost it. Sorry!

House tour!

2009-01-09T11:10:00.010-06:00

Well, the time has come! Here are some pictures of our new house. Here's the living room. Note the convenient location of the master bedroom right there behind the white door! Love it.

No, wait, wrong picture. This is a picture of an old Indian house from the government a billion years ago on the plains of Nebraska. Jim took a bunch of pictures of it and wants to build one. :)

Ah, yes. ..that's more like it! The view of the living room from the dining room. The edge of my built in desk is in the lower right hand corner. The wooden rocking chair in the back right corner was my mom's great uncle's and the little wooden chair in front of it belonged to my mom and her sisters when they were little. The striped chair is on it's way out, we just have to find it a new home. I love the colors, the big picture window and the great natural sunlight streaming in during the afternoons!

Here's the dining room shot from the living room. My favorite piece is the cabinet/shelf thinger in the back right corner. We got it for $10 from some friends who moved away. What would you call that thing???

Now to head upstairs. The staircase is to the right...in the picture it is just behind the striped chair. Follow me...

Just at the top of the stairs and to the right is Evan's room. It's the smallest, but also has the most fun features. Somehow I ended up with a son interested in sports. We've done his room in "true penny" color which is basically orange. :)

We inherited the big cabinet on the right from the former owner of the house. It's monsterously huge and smells like the fancy candles she used to sell and store in it. And yes, he sleeps on a mattress on the floor. We're looking for great deals on a twin bed for his room. This is only temporary! His room is so tiny, but it's all his and he loves it!

Here's the hallway from Evan's room to the three littles' rooms. Avery's room is on the left of the built in bookshelf, Toby and Aidan share the room on the right of the shelf. And yes, the hallway is basically every bit as narrow as it seems in the picture. :)

My first attempt at decorating a little girl's room! We did a border with greens, yellows and of course purple in it. It also has little bugs and butterflies. Avery LOVES the "fu-fies".

What's a girl room without pink??? Jim found this pink somewhere. Since it's called "gracious rose" we figured it perfect to put in Avery Rose's bedroom!

Avery's dancing in her tutu by her closet door. Her idea. :)

Across the hall is Aidan and Toby's shared room. Toby wanted baseballs in his room.

Tater wanted camo. I think we reached a good compromise!

Former owner also had uppercase living sticker phrases all over the house. I rearranged some of the letters to form Tater and Toby's names on their door! I'd also like to focus your attention on the killer wallpaper border and fancy wallpaper faux stuff! Thank you. Thankyouverymuch!

And the final upstairs room (yes, you counted right, four rooms upstairs!!! Major selling point to Tara) is Jim's office. I only took a picture here to show you that Jim has a purple office. It's on the list of things to do...well, that and unpack it and organize it and clean it...

This house tour has dragged on long enough I think (or maybe it just seems like it since I've overloaded you on pictures). We'll take one more quick stop off in the basement but only because I have to show you something awesome!

First, the boring...movie room. The living room is upstairs, so we just call this little nook the movie room. And you'll note the hams on the couch! I have no idea what that gray pillar thing on the left is either.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...drumroll please!

Jim and I built that shelf with our own two hands and dang it, I'm proud of it! It makes me smile everytime I see it! The funny gray pillar thing is off screen to the right of the kitchen thinger. But look, toys, and they're organized and in labeled bins and everything!!!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my new house. I'd take a picture of the outside, but y'all it is really cold out there and I really don't want to freeze my fanny off. You'll see it in the spring. In the mean time, here's one quick shot of the outside to stave off your appetite for more of my house:

Yes. We brought the tractor with us. And yes, the whole expanse of what you see in the picture is ours. All the way back to the trees!

Works For Me Wednesday--Wound Care

2009-01-07T00:13:00.000-06:00

During the past month I have changed more band-aids than most parents do in their entire career as a parent. Toby has required up to four band-aid changes every day to deal with his atypical tuberculosis. I have discovered two VERY simple ways to make this multiple times a day occurrence less painful. The first is chocolate. He gets up to three chocolate chips based on how wiggly he was during the change. I keep a small container of these little bits in his wound care kit. Usually he gets three, but he knows that if he's wiggly or fights us at all he loses one or even two. (And he doesn't argue about it if he does lose one!)

The second tip I have is one that I personally consider sheer brilliance if I do say so myself. Before I put on a new bandage I fold a tiny portion of the long sticky end of the band-aid over on itself. That way there is a spot to grab onto when you have to remove it (instead of having to pick and pick and pick at it to grab it to take it off). A nurse did this on accident once during an immunization session and I took it and ran with it! I told her to do it every single time she put a band-aid on a kid. She, not having kids herself, nodded at the crazy mommy lady and went on her merry little way. Someday she'll understand...

And that, my dear readers, works for me. :) Shannon's got lots of other ideas over at her blog. Head over there and see if you can find something that works for you!

One down, three to go...

2009-01-05T19:11:00.005-06:00

This weekend marked a significant milestone in our parenting.

When we were discussing parenting children we decided that Jim would be responsible for the primary birds and bees lesson for the boys and I would appropriately educate any girls we had. And Evan James was born. And Aidan Michael was born. And Tobias Andrew was born. And I was feeling like I may just be able to slide through life without giving THE TALK to anyone when Avery Rose was born. Oh well, close call.

So, Evan had started asking questions and we had started dancing around THE actual TALK and until yesterday that plan worked out pretty well for us. However, we decided that whatever information Evan thought he had was likely flawed and that we should just bite the bullet and set him straight.

I was just getting into a nap after lunch clean up yesterday when Jim whomped me on the leg. "Where's that book we have with the illustrations of the human body?" "Huh? It should be on the shelf, if it's not there I have no idea." "Great, thanks. I'm teaching Evan about s @ x today." So much for that nap!

So, I putter around desperately wishing I were a fly on the wall listening to that conversation. I understood, however, that manly things were happening upstairs in Evan's bedroom and I knew I had to let them happen.

Bottom line, Evan had no idea that Daddies had to take part in the actual conception of a baby. And he was appropriately disgusted at the thought of the actual act of conception of a baby. So, now we have an appropriately educated eight year old with enough knowledge to be dangerous and STRICT instructions to keep his knowledge to himself!

Jim's take on the conversation is on his blog. He tells it better than I can.

In other kid cuteness...

I was out with Toby just by himself this evening. The following discussion took place:

"Mom, when R's dad dies I'll be his dad."

Toby and I had a lengthy discussion this evening about his Sunday School teachers' family. The end result? When Mr. SS Teacher dies, Toby will fill in as Mrs. SS Teacher's husband so those kids will have a daddy. I think it is important to note here that R is currently older than Toby (who is currently 3) and Mr. and Mrs. Sunday School Teachers are my age! Toby was very somber and serious throughout the entire discussion and man oh man did I do my best to seriously listen and converse about this topic!

So, overall we're having some great conversations here in Tara's World! And we're trying our darndest to keep a straight face through most of them.

Bye bye 2008

2008-12-31T08:25:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow begins the difficult task of trying to remember to write 2009 on our checks. And since we don't write many checks anymore compliments of the check card, that may take a while.

Anywho, Toby's back up and kicking. We ended up not having to unpack and repack the wound. Why the change in treatment? Several days post-op I took him back in to get the wound cared for by the ENT doc. It took four adults to hold him down. I looked at them and asked, "and I'm supposed to do this how many times a day???" He said, "just drip peroxide on the packing. It will wick into the wound. Do that 2-4 times a day." Thank you very much! A week later Daddy took him in to have it unpacked. With a brief talking to Toby lay on the table without so much as a nurse holding his hand. :) So, now we're down to changing the bandaid several times a day and dripping peroxide on the wound. He's on the upswing. And the final diagnosis? Atypical tuberculosis. Something about rugrats eating dust bunnies in old houses. I don't understand either.

As Jim recently noted, Avery is talking up a storm. Her favorite thing to do in the van is call, "Mama...Mama...MAMA" until I answer her and then she proceeds to give her dissertation on some sort of topic that only she understands.

Others have noted and we agree with them that Evan has softened a bit around the edges. Don't tell his friends, but he's spent hours playing house with Avery this break! She gives him a baby doll and a dolly stroller, takes one for herself and they stroll around our basement. Very sweet. He's great with the other brothers as well. Despite the fact that we have Toys R Us in our basement they've discovered the cast-aside costume box and have entertained themselves for much of Christmas break running around with bare chests and plastic weapons playing Indians.

Aidan is still Aidan. Being the middle child he is very content to do what the others are doing. He was so proud of himself for doing "tons" of preschool work one morning. He's so happy to just do what the others are doing!

And finally, we have a big announcement from the our family! No, put your jaw back up, we're not pregnant. We've finally joined the world of high speed internet! The only problem is that in switching over I've lost my bookmarks. So, if you know I read your blog, or you wish I would, could you please leave me a comment with a link to it so I can??? Yes, that includes you Leah, Em, Jen, Mel....

Thanks a bunch and have a great 2009!

Big day for a little guy

2008-12-17T07:59:00.002-06:00

The Monday before Thanksgiving Toby woke up with a big swollen lump under his jaw. Figuring it was allergy related I gave him some ibuprofen and benedryl and started to wait it out. That Tuesday when he woke up it was bigger and had a purple tinge to it. Jim took him to the doctor where he got a shot of antibiotics, a blood draw and a prescription for some antibiotics. Ten days later, the thing is still not smaller, but that wasn't supposed to alarm us, after all, we were told that it could be a couple weeks before the swelling went down.

The swelling continued to not go down.

This past Friday Toby woke up wiht the big swollen lump under his jaw which also happened to be red, hot and hard. I took him in to the doctor where he got another blood draw, an appointment with ultrasound to look inside the lump and a referral to ENT (ear, nose and throat) to check it out.

So, Monday (just a couple days ago) he got the lump ultrasounded and had his appointment with ent which resulted in a treatment plan which involved an "incision and drain".

So, Tuesday (just yesterday) Toby went in for his first real surgery. I took him in at 8:00 and they did all the pre-op questions and forms. At 8:43 Grandpa showed up to make sure his Toby was going to be okay. At 8:44 they wheeled Toby off to the OR. Grandpa and I sat in the "holding tank" to wait for him to come back. Yes, everything turned out just fine. He came through the surgery with flying colors, came through the anesthesia with flying limbs (he was very delusional when he came out, shouting, kicking, screaming, pulling at the bandages, unconsolable, a shot of something in the iv and he settled down).

I took him home around 11:30. Once home he proceeded to eat seven mini-corn dogs and two hot ham and cheese sandwiches. I figured he would be fine! He went to bed last night at 5:30 and we saw or heard nothing out of him until 8:00 this morning!

So, now begins the fun. We leave the bandages as they are until Friday. Dr. ENT removes the bandages, cleans out the wound and re-packs it. Then my fun starts. Every day, several times a day, I (or someone appointed by me) will be unpacking the wound, scrubbing it out with peroxide and re-packing it.

Lovely.

So, how is your week going???

Nutritional Education

2008-12-14T21:01:00.003-06:00

This morning Toby stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning Tobs! What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ice cream." (He'd seen the box of rock salt in the same area as the cereal is kept. Since it has a picture of ice cream on the side we assume he thought it was some sort of ice cream cereal or something. Hard to know what goes on in the three-year-old brain.)

"Okay, you can have ice cream for breakfast!"

I then got out the ice cream, bowl and spoon for him. He looked at me like I was from Mars. Jim looked at me like I was from Mars. I dished up some ice cream for Toby, handed him a banana and a glass of grape juice and told him to dig in.

Aidan came down.

"Mo-o-o-o-m!!! Toby's eating ice cream for breakfast!!!"

"I know. Do you want some?"

"Uh, well, sure!"

So, I dish up the same breakfast for Aidan.

Evan came down soon after.

"Mom, you're giving them ice cream for breakfast?"

"Yup, do you want some?"

"Uh, no." He pours himself a bowl of cereal.

So, I gave half of the kids ice cream for breakfast. Avery slept in past the ice cream hour so she got oatmeal. Hopefully they'll remember the day that Mom gave them ice cream for breakfast. But just to make sure, maybe I should do it more often. Not on a regular basis of course, but a handful of times in the upcoming years. Just so they remember that I wasn't always intent on following the rules.

Does this count?

2008-12-11T11:26:00.002-06:00

The other day this was our menu for lunch:

mashed potatoes and gravy (I did add some cauliflower to the mashed potatoes, extra veggies!)
peaches
yogurt

Boring? Yes, but very kid friendly!

I'm running out of fresh ideas for lunches. What do your kids like? What do you remember having for lunch as a kid?

Christmas gifts

2008-12-11T08:28:00.002-06:00

Last night I had a Hallmark card moment with Evan. He was in the shower, I went into the bathroom and noticed that there was no sign of a towel or anything that could be used as a towel (I don't think he'd use the purple fuzzy bathmat!). I asked him what he was planning to do and he very politely asked me if I would please get him a towel. I did of course and brought it in to him. With him still safely behind the shower curtain I got, "thanks, Mom. You do a lot of stuff around the house that you don't really have to do, you buy us lots of Christmas gifts. You don't have to do any of that, so, well, thanks. I appreciate it."

What a great Christmas gift!

I was also in email conversation with my mom earlier in the week. The long and short of the conversation resulted in my offering to make a donation to a charity in their names rather than buying them something they don't really need and would just end up cluttering their smallish apartment. I emailed her a list of possible charities that *I* would choose, she chose something different. Mom, tell us all why you chose the Hospice of *Your old hometown*!

We have recently "adopted" a child through Compassion International (www.compassion.com). If I had someone ask me to pick a charity I'd make a special gift to our other "son" Adrian in Equador.

My question for discussion is this: If someone offered to donate to a charity in your name, what charity would you choose? Something political? Something that helps kids in Africa buy shoes? Something that helps kids next door buy shoes? A food shelf? A humane society? An elder care facility?

What would you do???

Reality

2008-12-04T07:29:00.002-06:00

Aside from hosting Works For Me Wednesday, Shannon also has a special guest blogger on Thursdays. In her "What I'd Like You To Know" series Shannon invites women who have had various experiences to share with the blogosphere how to help other women who are experiencing such things. She's invited women with multiples, infertility, women with large families and women with only one child to tell us the things that are helpful and the things that are hurtful to say when we encounter other women in that situation. Today she has asked Tara Mock to share about coping with post partum depression. You can read Tara's post here.

I am including the link to her discussion because I have experienced post partum depression. It was quietly lurking in the background after Evan and Aidan's births, but reared it's ugly head full force after Toby was born (and was a pretty difficult baby). While my ppd didn't look like this Tara's, it was evident to my friends and family that I needed some help in getting through it. And so, in a tear filled conversation with the nurse line at my OBs, I got started on the road to help.

I heard a talk at my MOPS group this fall that stated that women are more susceptible to bouts of depression at certain times of their lives. Those times include the onset of puberty, pre-menstrual, post partum, peri-menopausal, and menopause. So, basically from the time we're thirteen until the time we die! And here's the kicker, Christians are not exempt. Praying more, having more faith, spending more quiet time, that doesn't necessarily make a difference. Sometimes your brain needs some chemicals straightened out and sometimes that involves medication.

So, if you suspect you or someone you are close to could use some help getting through this valley, do them (and their family) a favor. Mention it to her. Offer to watch her kids so she can go to talk with her doctor. Make her dinner so she won't have to feed her family a frozen pizza, again. And most of all, pray for her, pray with her and encourage her that it will get better.

Taking Time to Make Time

2008-12-01T14:50:00.003-06:00

Since the move I've not really been cooking much. I attribute part of that to my crummy oven which I'm hoping to replace before too long, but the other part is that with the unpacking and getting settled in and the last week and a half of kids and adults being sick, I have just not been doing much in the kitchen department.

One of the bonus features of this new house is it's chest freezer. Imagine the deep freeze that your grandma had in the basement. Now go back in time about fifty years and imagine that freezer. That's the monster I have in MY basement! Today I began to fill it. It currently contains:

11 batches of chili ready to go for our freezer meal swap next week
4 batches of the gravy for beef tips and gravy (waiting for the 1/8 a cow coming in a week or two)
2 batches of the guts for mini cheddar meatloaves (waiting for the 1/8 a cow coming in a week or two)
2 batches of anniversary chicken
2 batches of taco meat
5 cups of browned ground beef ready for spaghetti sauce or whatever
4 quarts and 2 pints of instant oatmeal mix (storing this in the freezer for lack of anywhere else to put that much oatmeal!)

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but who knows??? :) And that's what I did today. What did you do???

Tater Takes A Turn

2008-12-01T07:38:00.001-06:00

Yup. Aidan's turn.

Thus far Evan is the only one not affected by whatever stomach virus we have had. Pray that he doesn't get it. He's a lousy patient! ;)

I'm buying stock in clorox wipes.

A fun giveaway

2008-11-29T07:38:00.005-06:00

I entered my name on a fun giveaway post with the stipulation that I would in turn host the same giveaway on my blog.

Here are the rules.
"I will make a handmade gift for the first 3 interested people who comment on this post and I have 365 days (ample time) to do it in. I can assure you, it won’t take that long to receive your gift…but it will be a surprise when you do…one of those “when you least expect it” moments. You must have a blog to join in and be willing to do the same for three other people."

So, I'm looking for the first three comments! You need to have a way for me to contact you in your comment so I can get your snail mail address so I can send your present! Yes, those who I know in real life are eligible as well!

EDITED TO NOTE: And, just to shake things up a bit, I've set the comments to "hide" so leave a comment, you never know if you're one of the first three...until I email you asking you for your address!! Also, you must be able and willing to keep the ball rolling with the Pay It Forward giveaway on your own blog!

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

2008-11-27T18:37:00.003-06:00

Hi, it's not Tara. It's Jim hijacking Tara's blog.

We would like you to know that 33 continues to be a disaster for the usual author of this blog. At about 12:20 a.m. she made her first of several offerings to the porcelain deity. I took the opportunity to head for the basement and sleep on the couch, insulated from the reality of what else is going on in my house.

So let's hear the menu for Thanksgiving:

Breakfast: cereal and pop-tarts as usual.

Lunch: Pancakes for those who can; saltines for those who can't. I make outstanding pancakes. You should try them.

Dinner: Pizza and green beans for those who can; oyster crackers for those who can't.

Thank God we did not try to drive to South Dakota yesterday. Avery's still hurling frequently and Tara's in rough shape as well. I have done most of the everything today including almost finished painting the boys' room.

Did someone say this was a vacation??

Jim, not...

33? So far, not so good!

2008-11-26T16:07:00.002-06:00

Last Friday I turned 33. Birthday wishes came in and a couple of fun gifts were had. (Hats off to Aunt Teresa! Love the bag and fun goodies inside! Kudos to everyone else also, fun stuff!!) Last Friday Mel and I took the five kids we have between us to our indoor playground. Last Friday Mel and Emily arranged for Emily to drive about 1 1/2 hours down to surprise me for my birthday! Yeah, Mel! Last Friday was opening night for the play Jim directed, so we postponed any celebrations so that Jim could, well, do the play. I rented a RedBox movie that was the girliest girly movie I could find, put the three littles to bed early, made buffalo popcorn chicken from the frozen department at Walmart and watched my movie. Alone. And ate my buffalo popcorn chicken alone without having to share even one little nibble. It was lovely.

Then something terrible happened. Saturday. I woke up on Saturday morning with the worst back pain I have ever had in my life. I said multiple times that I'd rather be having a baby than this pain. I was not able to stand up and breathe at the same time. Literally. I could not brush my own hair and could barely stand to have Jim do it for me. And Saturday was the matinee for the play. And we had already arranged for a sitter (and I wouldn't have missed it even if I WAS having a baby!). So, I hauled my sorry little self to the school with Aidan and watched the play. It was great, full of fun and mystery and comedy and even a few written in one liners about today's economy! :)

Sunday I could at least walk and breathe at the same time, though lifting the kidlets was pretty much out of the question. Sunday night Jim and I took the fam out to Applebee's for a high falutin' kind o' evening. We had a gift card of course, so the feeding of the five thousand only cost us $16. Woo hoo!

Monday Toby woke up with a swollen cheek. Weird. So I gave him some ibuprofen and benedryl and watched it. Nothing happened. Mommy instinct wasn't too terribly concerned since there wasn't a fever, no decrease in appetite or activity and his immunizations were up to date (and he probably hadn't been exposed to mumps anyway). Jim and I told ourselves that if it wasn't better in the morning then someone would take him in.

Tuesday...bump still there, seems to have more of a purple tinge than it used to. I go to MOPS and call the doc from there. We make an appointment for 2:45. Avery's MOPPETs worker tells me that she may not be feeling well because she was a little clingy today. Okay, duly noted, thankyouverymuch.

Tuesday after lunch. Begin the long afternoon of washing crib sheets, blankets, pillows, hair, and making sure that the beloved pink blanket is clean at all times. Call Jim and see if he can swing taking Toby to the doctor because dang it I cannot possibly take three kids to the doctor the littlest of whom happens to be a veritable fountain of yuck. Jim can manage. He doesn't do fountains of yuck well.

Tuesday afternoon passes with more yuck from Avery. This on top of a diagnosis for Toby. He has an infection in the submandibular gland. What the? That means he has to have a shot of a mega big antibiotic in his leg, a blood draw and a round of mega antibiotics for 10 days to culminate in another blood draw on Friday to see if the antibiotics are winning or if the infection is winning.

Tuesday night we decide that between the yuck fountain and the jaw infection we should maybe ought to consider canceling our trip to South Dakota to visit the relatives. Boo. :(

And Wednesday? Well, my back is still tender, not up to 100%. Avery has been napping for over four hours which is marvelous. Aidan and Toby are trying to slowly drive me to the loony bin. Jim and Evan are out somewhere in town cleaning some old guy's gutters.

If this is a preview of 33, I'll skip it thankyouverymuch!

WFMW

2008-11-19T06:34:00.002-06:00

Yeseterday morning I was talking with my friend, Mel, and asked her what her plan was for the day. She said she was going to go to Walmart. I had a couple of things to get/return to Walmart and other errands in that area of town, so I offered her a trade. She would return my movie, sell my kid's too small winter coat, pick up my milk and chicken and return my light bulbs. I would watch her two kids. That's a total of three stops she could make speedy quick because she didn't have her two kids with her and three errands I wouldn't have to do with three kids in full winter gear. It took her approximately half a nanosecond to agree to the deal and she brought over her kidlets a little while later.

Remember how sometimes it is actually less work to have extra kids? Well, yesterday that was mostly the case. I got a bunch of housework done and also got the ugly 80s country blue floral wallpaper removed from my kitchen! With FIVE kids in the house ages 5 and under! Woo Hoo!

So, what works for me? Swapping errand running for child care! Shannon has lots of other ideas linked up at her place. Zip on over there and see if there is something for you today!

Adventures in moving

2008-11-15T15:16:00.003-06:00

Why I haven't blogged...

Hummm, I fell of the moving truck and have been in a coma for the past week? Nope. My computer has been in storage for a week and a half and I'm just now getting back online? Sadly, no, the computer was up and running within the first 24 hours. The truth? Moving has pooped me right on down to nothing. At the end of the evening when I would usually write my arms hurt too much from lifting of both kids and boxes that I simply cannot do more than move the mouse around clicking aimlessly on other peoples' blogs. :) Pathetic, I know.

The house is great. I love it. Jim has come around and loves it, too. We joke that we must be the only 30 somethings in America who are downsizing. Square foot for square foot the house IS actually bigger than our last house. It has more individual rooms, the rooms are just smaller than most of the other rooms so things that used to fit together no longer fit together! I've got junk flying out of the house on freecycle deals. Right now I'm trying to figure out a creative way to have a desk on the main level. There is a mini desk type area in the dining room. My computer monitor takes up half of it. The keyboard takes up a quarter of it. Various dumping ground junk takes up the rest. Not very conducive to work I tell you! Hello, Mac or Dell people? Send me a laptop. I'll love you forever. :) And while you're at it? Send me some high speed internet. I was on slow dial up before. Looking at my numbers I'm half the speed I was at the old house. Oh well. Money is earmarked for other things like groceries and other household stuff right now!

The kids have done phenomenally well with the move. Everyone is getting settled into their rooms. Evan has decided he's into football, specifically the Vikings, so he's going to have a football themed room. Aidan and Toby currently have a hot pink and black room with a SpongeBob lightswitch plate (teenaged girl here before). They'll end up with a camo decor. Avery has a white room with white trim, mostly white carpet and a white door. She's getting pink or purple on the bottom with a fun girly buggy butterfly border and white or yellow above it. Thank you goes to Lowes for having their in-stock wallpaper and borders on clearance for $5 and $3 a piece! I'm all stocked up. Now to get painting...

Well, Toby's the only one I have to take care of right now. Aidan and Evan went with Dad to go pick up the last remnants of our life in the country. Avery's asleep. I think Toby and I will go swap out some lightswitch covers. Knowing Toby all I'll have to do is make sure he doesn't stick the screwdriver in the sockets! :)

Bye bye guineas

2008-11-06T13:23:00.002-06:00

We move tomorrow. That fact was pretty real last night as we, and by we I mean Scam and Jim, moved out my washing machine and dryer and loaded them on the truck. Today I finish boxing up (and tossing out) more junk. The kids have been abducted by aliens. I hope after the move to unpack a box and find my real, nice, well behaved children again.

The two guinea hens we have left are on the deck. They're huge, ugly and I think they're saying goodbye. Every now and then one pecks on the window. And every now and then one poops on the deck. Sorry, Em!

So, I'm off to finish packing up the stuff we won't be using in the next 20 hours. Yikes! Just twenty short hours until we close on this chapter on our lives and open a new book. And part of those hours will be spent sleeping (hopefully).

Okay, I'm shutting down now. I'll see you from our new house in a few days!

November 5, 2008

2008-11-05T07:55:00.003-06:00

To my conservative readers: With the turn of the election, please remember to pray for our nation, our leaders, and yes, even our president-elect Obama. Pray that God will soften his heart and turn him towards Himself. Pray for the safety of our troops, pray for discernment for our president and his advisors. We still live in one nation, under God, indivisible.

And to my liberal readers: Don't blame me, I voted for McCain. :)

Edited to add a hilarious moment from my morning. Avery was toddling around the parlor/office area. She made a mad dash for the stairs, climbed up a few, turned around and hollered at the top of her little toddler voice, "bye bye, see ya!"

GO VOTE!!!

2008-11-04T00:30:00.000-06:00

Just a quick reminder to go vote today! And if you live near me, let me know if you want me to come watch your kidlets for you while you go take care of your duty as an American citizen!

I won something!!!

2008-11-03T20:10:00.002-06:00

A week or so ago I found a link to a link to a link to a website with a giveaway! There were several prizes available one of which was a free blog header design. Well, you're looking at that winner!

Melissa in the land down under (again with Australia!) worked tirelessly while I slept the night away. This morning I woke up to this beautiful design! I absolutely love it, but it is posing a bit of a problem. My good friend Mel also has the same problem. You see, whenever Mel gets a new pretty notebook (not the plain spiral ones, but the pretty journal-type ones) she hesitates to write in it for fear of messing it up! In trying to find just the right topic for my first "pretty" post, I couldn't figure something out to justify using up some of my pretty new blog!

Okay, so that doesn't make much sense. But, between the packing and the laundry and the packing and the wiping and the packing and the other myriad of things that this mamma has to get done in a day it was the best I could come up with! So, thanks again, Melissa. I love my new pretty blog and promise to write in it much more frequently once we move!

I've Gone International!

2008-10-28T16:31:00.002-05:00

Hello! If you're here from Tina's blog, welcome! Pull up a chair, sit back with a cup of something nice and warm to drink (since here in MN it's nearly freezing!) and enjoy! Take a trip through the archives if you're really bored. :)

And, if you're one of my regulars, I've gone international, Australia to be specific. And while I'd love to say I'm live blogging from the land down under alas, I am only appearing as a guest blogger on her blog! I've been reading Tina's blog for I have no idea how long now. She's witty and she also has a whole houseful of young'uns, five to be exact. So, if you're interested in seeing what else I have to say today you can head over here!

Tutu day!

2008-10-27T16:51:00.003-05:00

With Halloween coming the boys have been spending lots of time upstairs with their costume box. I will take them to a local church party and they can dress up, but I won't spend a dime on their costumes. They've had tons of fun playing with the wide variety of costumes. However, I notice that all of the costumes are distinctly "boy" costumes. And the costumes that *could* be for a little girl are simply too big. So, I broke my spend-no-money rule and invested in some tule and elastic to make Avery a tutu! I found the easier than pie instructions here, spent a whopping $5.80 on tule and elastic for results that can be seen here on Mel's blog. What, you don't think I'd make a princess fairy tutu for Avery and not one for her Little Miss A do you???

Edited to note that her Little Miss A is the one in the pink shirt and dark hair. Avery is the one with the purple shirt and the lighter hair.

She's a girl

2008-10-24T16:42:00.002-05:00

Evan had to make a model of a Little House on the Prairie house in a shoebox a few weeks ago. We have yet to disassemble it, but that doesn't seem to matter. Avery is sitting in front of it, taking the little lego people out of it, rearranging the lego and clay furniture, and making little toddler "conversations" for the people. It is so darn stinkin' cute! Any guesses what's on her Christmas or birthday list???

Don't read this blog unless you have lots of time!

2008-10-24T08:01:00.004-05:00

Every Saturday Shannon gives us some new things to read. Sometimes it is a fun article, sometimes it is a cool website she found and sometimes it is a particular blog entry from someone she reads. Last Saturday 6yearmed was on the list of things to read. I have no idea what else was on the list because I never made it back to Shannon's blog! Jim and I spent all of Saturday and Sunday fighting over the computer to catch up on every one of her entries! Danielle has chronicled her years of med school and all the other different levels of doctor-ness with excellent writing, poignant stories and a great dose of humor and reality. When you go read her blog bring with you a tissue. You'll be laughing so hard you'll cry in one entry and so touched by the raw humanity you'll cry some more at other entries.

You're welcome and I'm sorry you won't be getting anything else done today.

201!

2008-10-23T05:05:00.000-05:00

This is my 201st post! Happy 201st post, reader!

For my 201st post I would like to tell you how disgustingly easy I am to please. As you know, Jim and I are hauling the family back to town and giving up our rural life for a more in town life. When we moved out here we had to give up our in town phone number in exchange for the rural town number. Well, I called the phone company recently and discovered that our old number is still available! So, yeah for us, we get our old phone number back!

I know, pathetic the little things that thrill a SAHM. :)

Works For Me Wednesday

2008-10-22T07:53:00.004-05:00

I thought of this post actually two weeks ago, but with getting ready to move and all I forgot to post it last week! What works for me this week is making lunch ahead. I know many people make their kids' lunches the night before (and if you don't you totally should, it takes a ton of pressure off the morning!). I take it a step further and more nutty. Three weeks ago my favorite bread was on sale. I bought three loaves and made 32 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, put them in individual baggies and then back into the bread bag. Evan (and Jim) can now just whip out a sandwich, throw it in his lunch box, scrounge for sides and he's done! And the best part? I don't have to clean up a jelly mess every morning from where he made his own sandwich!

You might ask, "how lazy are you? It only takes five minutes to make a sandwich for heaven's sake!" Yes, it doesn't take long to make a sandwich. But, it only took me thirty minutes to make and clean up from making thirty-two sandwiches. Even if you're really fast I highly doubt you can do it in under a minute!

One thing to note if you're going to do PBJs ahead of time. You do have to spread the PB on both slices of bread so the J doesn't soak into the bread as it freezes and thaws. I used crunchy on one slice and then a really thin layer of creamy on the other slice, just enough to cover it.

You can also do meat and cheese and have the same results! Try ham and cheese on a bun, wrap it in foil and freeze it. Let them thaw for a few minutes, then pop them in the oven for a hot ham and cheese for dinner one night!

Works For Me!

A recipe for you!

2008-10-21T16:11:00.002-05:00

My good shopping buddy Mel and I were in our favorite store yesterday. It is not the cheapest store in town, but they provide the valuable service of taking care of our kidlets for us, so I'm willing to shell out a few extra bucks for groceries! We have shopped together for about eight years now and have quite the system going. Nine times out of ten we're able to manage to get a week's worth of groceries for two families into one cart and we have a grand ol' time doing it. Yesterday the cashier actually asked us if we share a day care or something because of our shopping habits!

Yesterday Mel pointed out a new produce item...broccoli slaw. It has broccoli, carrots and cabbage all chopped up into skinny teeny strips, mixed together and packaged into a nice little rectangle of veg. She decided to buy some and pass it off to her family as cole slaw. I read the suggested recipe on the back and decided to give that a go. They suggest mixing the broccoli veg mix with a chopped apple, a can of pineapple bits and some vinaigrette dressing. I'm making that for tonight and calling it "tooty fruity salad".

Maybe I should go back into bloggy hiding if the best I can do is make up stinkin' jokes...

I Should Be The Healthiest Woman in America

2008-10-10T09:23:00.003-05:00

All the laundry I do must be for my health. At least my family must think so. And I'm glad they're looking out for my best interests because you know what I found in the dirty laundry pile this morning. A clean shirt. STILL ON THE HANGER!!! Come on people, at least take it off the hanger if you're going to try to pass of a clean shirt as dirty! Even better would be to bunch it up a bit so I think it's dirty! :)

Another Toby gem showed up yesterday. We were watching PBS when Toby asked, "Mom, why can't I see my eyes?"

Works For Me Wednesday

2008-10-08T07:38:00.002-05:00

Today's Works for me Wednesday is about a personal decision that all parents must make. Some of us start before that little line on the pee stick turns pink, some don't even give it a thought until little junior is two or three. Yup, we all have to consider how, where and when we're going to educate our children! :)

I am part of a MOPS emailing group. Recently the question was raised "what preschools do you recommend? My son is three and not yet potty trained. Where can he go?" Several mommies praised their own choices of schooling, this preschool does this, this preschool does that, I couldn't be happier with my choice etc etc etc. I entered the conversation with the following response:

Evan went to preschool at a local church. The
price was right and it fit our needs. Aidan is doing "homeschool
preschool" this year because I didn't like the options in [my rural] area
and commuting to town just wasn't financially responsible. I think we'll
continue on this track even when we move back to town. The experience of
preschool just isn't worth it for our family. Also, the kindergarten teacher Evan had says she can't tell the difference between
kids who go to preschool and those who don't after about a week in
kindergarten.

So, there's another option for you! :) As for his "social needs" he
gets them during MOPPETS, Sunday School and plenty of other play dates
not only with kids his own age but of various ages as well.

In a nutshell, homeschool preschool works for our family!

I'm not even really good at homeschool preschool. I had grand visions of Aidan and me sitting at the dining room table with crayons, scissors and glue during the littler siblings' naptimes. Nope, I kick his heiney to bed with the rest of them right after lunch! And you know what? He still knows his letters, can count past thirty, voluntarily gets out his spelling and penmanship books to work on throughout the day and can even tell you which direction you're headed! So, my theory is that there isn't really such a thing as "pre-school getting them ready for kindergarten". He can stand in line, wait his turn, wipe his own heiney, use scissors correctly, and share. I know many children in older grades who can't do those things! I think he'll be more than ready to go to kindergarten next fall by doing his preschool work at home!

So, homeschool preschool works for me and my family. Click here to go find out some other things that work for some other families!

Why I'm a Bad Blogger: A List

2008-10-04T20:25:00.002-05:00

Hello, my name is Tara and I blog here sometimes. Since I haven't blogged in a really long time I thought I'd catch you up in a quick and easy format...the list.

1. We had relatives come from SD. My mom and dad, brother, sister and her three kids all came for the September birthdays! Yeah for relatives coming! It was a great time helping Evan turn 8 and Aidan turn 5. Mom and Dad stayed at the Herb Hotel (thanks!) while Adam, Wendy, Logan, Savannah and Makenah stayed here. Where di we put six extra people? Well, Avery moved into our room in the pack and play which freed up her room. Wendy and her three kids slept in there while Adam slept on the couch! Easy peasy. :)

2. No sooner did they arrive than I caught the plague. My voice? Shot. My lungs? Gone, I think I coughed them up sometime last week. Oooo, it was a terrible time to be the mommy. I still had to corral three kids at home all day, cook and make sure all the people who live here with me had clean underwear! Now? Residual cough, but everything else is pretty much up to speed.

3. We bought a house! Despite the fact that I was surely dying of the plague we managed to write an offer (and it was accepted!) on what I consider to be the perfect house for our family. It is a FIVE bedroom house much closer to work and school for Jim and Evan, two living areas so I can have a pretty living room and a separate play room for the kids. It has a double garage with actual working garage doors. And the best thing? It sits on a full acre of fenced in yard. Perfect for growing children who need to run and romp! Provided that about three dominoes ahead of our own domino fall, we're moving in on November 7th.

4. So, I've been packing like a crazy woman. Jim took a full trailer of junk to the dump this morning. SP who lived here before us left us a tremendous amount of "debris" aka: junk. So, we hauled it all out of here lest Jay and Emily who are buying our house curse us for leaving them SP's junk. :)

5. I'm sure there are other reasons for my not blogging, but I can't think of them right now. Tonight Evan and I got to start building a dioramma of Little House on the Prairie in a shoebox. He's so excited about it! "After all, Mom, it's not everyday you get to build a model of a house!" Can I save it for Aidan to use when he's in third grade??? Sadly, I did not get to buy new shoes in order to get a shoebox for this project. Sigh. What a responsible Mommy I am that I had one and even knew where it was. I guess when Aidan's in third grade I'll have to do better!

So, that's what I've been up to. How have you been?

Should this be a problem?

2008-09-24T16:41:00.003-05:00

The majority of today was spent packing. No, we don't have a house picked out yet (Em!) but we've got an offer out on a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. In town (mostly), a full acre of fenced yard, decent sized living area and, get this, FIVE bedrooms! They're not massive, but they're nothing to sneeze at either. So, with the reality of moving day in about six weeks looming over my head I've spent my afternoon today upstairs cleaning up and clearing out the kids' bedrooms. Given one hour each I could have them totally emptied out and that includes disassembling the crib. Give me a helper or two and we could make quicker work of them than that!

So, housework on the main level has gone completely by the wayside. Why can't the upstairs AND the downstairs be tidy and clean at the same time???

Anyway, before my major project upstairs I was cleaning up the dining room after lunch. Aidan (barely 5) took Avery (19 mos) out on the deck (since she's good with stairs I figure, why not?). A few minutes later he calls into the house:

"Mom, Avery's off the deck. And she's heading, she's heading west."

And yes, for those inquiring minds who want to know, she was!

Iron Jawed Angels

2008-09-18T07:18:00.002-05:00

I saw an email last night about what life was like in 1905. No Coke, no tv, and just a handful of cars were just a few of the things that have changed in just one hundred (and three) years. Less than one hundred years ago there was another difference in the United States. Women were not allowed to vote. Last night Jim and I watched the movie, Iron Jawed Angels. It is an HBO portrayal of the suffering that a group of young women endured to give me a voice in the government which I am under. I urge you, women readers especially, to find a copy of Iron Jawed Angels and watch it. I found mine at the library. I am willing to bet that if this small MN town can find me a copy, your local library can find you a copy as well. Click over to your local library's homepage and search for this movie. Reserve it sitting at your computer (yes, even you over there in your jammies) and watch it.

Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and hundreds of other women silently protested outside the White House all day every day asking President Wilson to bring women the vote. They stood through Washington DC rain, snow and bitter winds, but they stood. When the United States entered WWI and the country rallied around President Wilson these women still stood, asking him to bring the democracy to women that he was supporting in Germany. While on the picket lines the mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers and granddaughters were beaten, spat upon, jeered and violently thrown into prison. Their charge for standing peacefully in front of the White House gates? Blocking traffic.

As a result of her outrage against their unjust treatment, Alice Paul was thrown into solitary confinement and when she refused to eat was transferred to the mental ward in the prison. There she endured abuse, neglect and a feeding tube shoved into her stomach. And we're talking 1919 prison medicine here, not 2008 gentle flex tubing and anesthesia.

On November 3 of this year we are moving out of our house. We don't know where we're going as of now. We could be in our home, or we could be in a temporary housing situation. Either way, you can bet that on November 4 I will be exercising my right to vote. I will not be too busy, too tired, or too ignorant of the candidates to vote. I will not say that I have to stay home with the kids, or that I have to work. (US law provides employees with up to two hours on election day to go vote.) I will figure out where to go and what documentation I need to bring with me. I am an American woman for whom hundreds of women less than one hundred years ago fought to give full democracy to.

On November 4, 2008 you will find me at the polls. Where will you be?

Hunting

2008-09-16T08:25:00.003-05:00

Quick update here. Our house is sold! And we close 7 weeks from yesterday! And, thus far, at that point we'll be a little bit homeless! We've got some possiblities, but many are those foreclosures you're hearing so much about. Great deals, mostly, but one thing they don't tell you up front is that a house that a bank owns takes FOREVER to buy. You'd think that the bank would want to unload such a millstone, but you'd be dead wrong. Why? Nobody can tell us.

So, we are looking into some creative ways to have a roof over our heads while waiting on the Lord to provide a house for us to really have. If you know of anyone who will need some housesitting or something like that for a few weeks in November, PLEASE let me know!

Potty Training Boot(y) Camp

2008-09-15T08:02:00.002-05:00

I am part of a MOPS email group in my area. Recently the topic of potty training came up and while I am not a potty training expert by any stretch of the imagination, I have potty trained three boys and given this advice to other Moms so I thought I'd share my ideas with the rest of you! So, welcome to "Tara's Potty Training Boot(y) Camp"! Pull up a (potty) chair, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Many parents have tried potty training for a while and then gone back and forth from diapers to pull ups to unders to pull ups to diapers. No wonder the kidlets are confused! (Yes, I did that with ALL THREE BOYS!!!) First, I would give it a short break. Give him a few days to just revert to diapers totally and completely. But, talk about it. "You use a diaper now, but in a few days you'll be out of diapers and will have to use unders like Daddy does!" "Remember, when you're potty trained you can have gum!" (Or whatever incentive you'll give to a mostly potty trained kiddo). "You're not quite big enough right now, but pretty soon you'll put your poops and peeps in the potty!" (We call them that, of course use whatever vocab you use.) "Oh no, I've only got three more diapers! After that we'll have to use unders." (I use pull ups at night so I just call them night time or nap time diapers.)

Also during this time make sure you're getting obedience in other areas. If you're telling him to pick up his toys and getting a big fit you shouldn't expect that he'll obey when you tell him to sit on the potty.

Clear your schedule for a few days for Potty Training Boot(y) Camp. You don't want to have to feel like you need to put him back in diapers for Sunday School, MOPS, grocery shopping or play dates. Make sure you have at least two to three days to dedicate to the project. Gear yourself up for it too! Stock up on M&Ms, jelly beans or whatever else would be a treat. Stock up on incentive treats for the kid, too! :) At first, give him one for just sitting on the potty (you could set a timer for a minute to make sure it's a good try). After a while he gets one for peeing. We also up the ante and give two for a poop!

My kids were a HUGE fan of the sticker chart. Do a google search for "free potty training chart" and you'll get some. Draw a little picture on the bottom of the paper of the incentive (we took the potty trainee out for donuts with a full chart.) One sticker for a pee, two for a poop. Talk about the incentive every time you get a sticker on that chart!

During potty training boot(y) camp I dress the kidlet in a t-shirt and underwear. NO PULL UPS! You want him to feel the wet and feel uncomfortable. Have him check frequently (by touching his pants) to make sure he's still dry! The goal is to stay clean and dry. Reward him for staying dry as well as for peeing on the potty. Yup, tons of treats during Potty Training Boot(y) Camp!

One thing I notice with a lot of parents is that they ask their child if they want to go sit on the potty or ask them if they have to go. "Humm, lets see, I'm playing with my toys and you wonder if I want to stop what I'm doing and go in and sit on the boring ol' potty....um, nope!" Tell your child it's time to go to the potty, don't ask him if he needs to go. (This carries over into the rest of parenting too, but that's another topic.)

I set a timer to go off every 30 minutes all day long. When the timer goes off tell him it's time go to sit on the potty. Be sure to give lots of drinks and salty snacks which will encourage thirst which will encourage needing to go potty! After a few days lengthen the time on the timer. When you're really feeling brave eliminate the timer all together and let them take the reigns.

Eventually he'll pee on the potty. At that point you have a potty party! Now, some kids get freaked out when Mom starts clapping and shouting so take your own kid into consideration. Most Moms I know have a potty song of sorts. Ours is simple. "Pee pee in the potty! Pee pee in the potty! Pee pee in the potty! Woo!" Done in a chanty sort of voice while shaking a little booty and a big round of applause at the end.

He'll get it. Keep at it. Try to stay positive and when he has an accident try to encourage him that he'll get it next time, no big deal. Also, have him clean up the mess to the best of his ability. "Oh man, you're wet! What should you do? Okay, take off your unders and put them in the laundry (we had an ice cream bucket dedicated for Potty Training Boot(y) Camp accidents). Get some clean unders out of your drawer and put them on."

We have a "diaper drawer" in the living room which I filled with clean unders and pants for Potty Training Boot(y) Camp. I'm also sure to change the name from "diaper drawer" to "unders drawer".

By the time naptime comes around that first morning everyone is ready for a break. I put my kids back in a pull up for nap at first, but right away after nap back to Camp! :)

I've found that once they get the feeling of pooping on the potty they pretty much never go back. Try to hit the potty around the time you notice that he's pooping during the day or watch for clues that he's going and try to catch him and take him to the potty.

Once you've got a couple days under your belt it may be time to venture out into the world. I put training underwear (NO PULL UPS) on them with plastic pants. Have him carry a small backpack or bag with extra clothes (and wipes and a plastic bag for the wet clothes) just in case. Give him that responsibility. He's a big boy now.

Once you've had Potty Training Boot(y) Camp for a few days you may experience a battle of the wills. This is typically when Moms guess that their kids are just not ready and give up. If you're even the slightest bit sure that they're ready and that it is just a matter of wills, press on my friend, press on.

And there you have it. That's how we do it around here. I've heard that girls are easier to train. Anybody willing to share differences you noticed between training boys and girls???

Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy

2008-09-13T19:37:00.005-05:00

Yesterday and today Mel and I had a garage sale. No small feat with at least three baby/toddler people and one to three kids under five years old. Yes, that is a total of at least three kids and up to six (and I may have missed one!) at any given moment. It went well, but not the point of this post. :)

The housework has sort of taken a back seat to this endeavor. Tonight I plunked the boys down in the tub and started in on their room. I needed to finish getting out the winter things since Minnesota has entered upon the weird season of freezing in the mornings while roasting by noon. I hate dressing the kids in this season! Still, not the point of this post.

In all my loving wife-ness, I decided to give Jim a choice tonight. Would he prefer to have me finish up the boys' bath and leave their room a disaster while he did other things that needed to be done, or would he rather have me work on the boys' room while he finished bathtime?

I came downstairs to find that Jim had brought in a new bathtub toy.

Yes, that's a toad. In the bathtub. With my three sons.

I am going upstairs. I have a bedroom to clean.

Cooperation

2008-09-01T20:57:00.003-05:00

Evan and Aidan's birthdays are just 5 days apart. Since Aidan was a scheduled c-section I had the option to have him scheduled on Evan's birthday. Everyone I spoke to told me to let them have their own birthdays. Well, turns out that they would have (at this point anyway) loved to share a birthday! They have to share a birthday party anyway because I am NOT planning and executing two separate kid birthday parties within a week of each other!

This year they've been hitting the legos with a passion seldom seen in small children. At least twice in the past few weeks I've fed them breakfast, they've headed upstairs to Legoland and I've not seen them again until dinner (with one forced break for lunch). They have a huge bedroom (which they share with Toby). Most of their toys are in the closet which leaves the entire floor space open for playing. Having a lego theme for their birthday party was an easy choice (and one they could readily agree on!)

Above is the picture I'm going to use for the invitation. The untrained eye would not notice that the creation in front of them is actually a lego party. Yes, complete with lego ladies, a table full of pizza and a dragon eating one of the guests. Hopefully our lego party does not have any casualties. :)

Happy LABOR Day!

2008-09-01T08:03:00.002-05:00

I saw this meme on the infamous Rocks In My Dryer blog this morning. I thought I'd play along simply because I know my subject matter has been, well, literally lacking these days. But, before we start the fun, a quick house update. The people who are buying our house have a buyer for theirs! They have one inspection to successfully get completed and then we can move! We start the house shopping on Tuesday. Pray for a quick and peaceful shopping trip!

Now, on to the fun!

How long were your labors?

Kid #1, 17 hours.
Kid #2, 0 hours
Kid #3, 0 hours.
Kid #4, 2 hours.

I sorta cheat. I have had 3 scheduled c-sections. Baby 4 I actually went into labor and was in actual labor for a couple hours before the c-section.

How did you know you were in labor?

Kid #1, The doctors told me. I was induced.
Kid #2, See above
Kid #3, See above
Kid #4, Contractions every 3-5 minutes made it sort of obvious. Initially I was having contractions on and off for days. I finally went in to be checked just before the biggest blizzard of 2007. I drove myself to the hospital. The doctor came in to check me and commented, "I can tell we're in labor here just by the way you're gripping the bedrails!" I was in surgery about 1 1/2 hours later.

Where did you deliver?

Baby #1 at a very clinical teaching hospital. They induced on my due date because I was gestational diabetic.
The rest of them were delivered at a smaller county hospital in town. They have an excellent birth center and I cannot help but wonder if having Evan there initially would have prevented the induction to nowhere. Oh well, I've got four beautiful babies and since you can't take it back, I'll wear my scar with honor.

Drugs?

Nope. Just a strap of leather and some whiskey. OF COURSE I HAD DRUGS!!!

C-section?

I'm sure answering this part would just insult your intelligence.

Who delivered?

Doctors. I can't remember any of their names except the last one was Dr. White. I think.

If you want to play along with this meme, just cut and paste the questions into your own blog, and leave your link with Shannon.

WFMW: Homemade Pedialyte

2008-08-26T11:05:00.006-05:00

I've spent the last 10 days with sick kids. It started with Avery and spiraled and swirled and shuffled through the whole passel o'young'uns. Finally, in a crecendo of bodily fluids it hit Aidan and Evan right smack dab in the tummy in my van and in the parking lot of Shopko. Ahem. As I was saying. I bought pedialyte. I figured that there was a homemade version out there, but in the state I was in I was in no state to try to find it myself! So, to my loyal WFMW readers, here it is:

Homemade Pedialyte

1 quart sterile water
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
You can flavor with kool-aid powder, though I think I'd just add a splash of apple or white grape juice to the individual cup.

That is all. Water, sugar, salt and baking soda. You've probably got all those ingredients in your cupboard and can whip up a batch of this to keep your sick little ones hydrated for pennies instead of paying $4-$6 or more for the store bought stuff.

(This is not intended to be medical advice, if your mommy instinct tells you to take your baby in to the doctor, please listen!)

Shannon's been on break from blogging, but is back this week for Works For Me Wednesday! Click on over there for LOTS of more great practical ideas like this one!

(Oh, and if you're here for the first time, welcome! Sorry I don't have everything nicely organized on the sidebar, you know how it is with the kids and all. Feel free to snoop through the archives though! And if you know how to organize all that, let me know!)

Six Years Ago Today

2008-08-26T02:42:00.001-05:00

Six years ago today I woke up. The day was bright, but my heart was not. I made a doctor's appointment for late morning to be examined because I was bleeding, not just spotting, but bleeding. Six years ago today I miscarried. I was thirteen weeks, one day pregnant.

Over a month earlier I started spotting. I went to the ER and it was there that the journey began. I had an ultrasound and it was then that I found out that I was carrying two little blessings! I saw two little jellybeans wiggling on the screen and two little hearts thump thumping away. Jim and I began to tell our friends and family of the twins. Evan's response was, "two babies? We'd better call the doctor!" He was not quite two years old at the time! Over the next few weeks we rejoiced in the fact that we were going to grow our family VERY quickly! I joined online groups for moms of twins. I went to a Mothers of Multiples group meeting (where all I learned was how to play Bunco). I researched what I would need double of and even went so far as to purchase a twin stroller and matching car seats for our little bitty bitties. I found a good deal and was confident in my body's ability to carry twins.

On the morning of my twelve week gestation mark I remember waking up and literally breathing a sigh of relief. Miscarriages only happen under twelve weeks, and so I woke up glad to be carrying the twins and naively looking forward to continuing to carry two babies. My goal was to carry them till February figuring I'd deliver sometime in the middle of February. My due date was March 3 of 2003. 3/3/03 :) I figured that since I'd hit the 12 week mark with two in utero that it would be smooth sailing from then on. Of course, I might deliver early, but surely it would only be a little early. I never imagined that I would be anything more than a mother of twins with an older singleton (and who knows who else after them!).

August 23 was a Friday. I was shopping with my girlfriend when I felt a little gush. I went to the bathroom with my heart in my throat. I think I knew then that it was the beginning of the end. I called the doctor's office as soon as they opened on Monday morning and requested (probably not so politely) to be seen at the first available appointment. I dropped Evan off with friend Kelly and went to the appointment. After a few questions by the nurse practitioner I hopped upon the table for her to try to find a heartbeat with the little doppler thing. She didn't find one. She also didn't offer any trite answers like, "its still early" or "sometimes the baby is hiding". She simply got on the phone with the ultrasound department and made me an appointment.

I went out to the ultrasound desk to register knowing in my heart that one of the babies was gone. Surely we would find one little jellybean wiggling around on the screen. The ultrasound tech (the same one who discovered the twins) squirted the goop on my belly and began the exam. She kept the screen turned away from me the entire time so I merely watched the ceiling waiting for her to tell me that one of the babies was dead, but that there was still one dancing around in there. After a while she turned off her machine and said that she had to go talk to the doctor. At that point I was fairly certain that they were both gone. It's always a bad sign when they have to go talk to the doctor and don't talk to the patient. They sent me back to the waiting room and after a while I was called back to talk to the nurse practitioner. She told me that both of the babies were gone. They measured seven and eight weeks gestation, so had evidently died several weeks earlier. My body just hadn't gotten the message. She told me to go home and just "let nature take it's course" but that if I started bleeding too heavily or wanted to have a d/c to get it over with to come back in and they'd take care of it.

Not sure what else to do, I went home and started making phone calls. Jim was at in service gearing up for a new school year. I called the secretary at the school and left a message to have him call me (this before our cell phone days). I called my mom at work. I called Kelly and asked if she could keep Evan a little longer (she graciously did). I called my best girlfriend Mel. That afternoon turned into a little bit of a blur of tears and wandering the house wondering what to do next.

Eventually Jim picked Evan up from the sitters, we had dinner and settled down to our evening. That evening turned into a blur of cramping, contracting, hemmoraging, a call to Kelly to come to the house to stay with Evan, an ER visit, a plummeting through the floor blood pressure, questions, pokes, IVs, prods, a stretcher ride to the OR with my hands holding my soon to be empty belly, a gentle nurse anesthetist stroking my cheek as I went under the anesthesia and finally, waking up in the recovery room not pregnant.

Because it was late (around midnight) when I went in I was given a room on the post op floor for observation. Because of the trillions of liters of fluids they'd pumped into me in the ER I slept very little and kept my night nurse hopping with my requests for a bedpan every hour on the hour. She was great. She brought in two little white keepsake pillows and some trite poetry someone had donated to the unit for women in my situation. She talked with me or let me talk or just went about her job quickly and quietly. It really is true what people say about the nurses, they run the hospital. A bad nurse would have made the situation all the more unbearable and I am forever grateful for the good care I had from the nursing staff.

The next morning I woke up (can it be waking up if you never really slept?) and the doctor came in to chat. He actually pulled up a chair and sat down at the bedside which I think was a really caring thing to do. I asked if they could tell if the twins were identical or fraternal, boys or girls. He merely shook his head; adding to the questions that would plague me for months to come.

My physical healing came pretty quickly. The doctor did such a good job with the d/c that I was physically back to normal within a week or two. Naturally, the emotional healing took a little longer. I cannot say that I can pinpoint when I felt better, but as time has a way of doing, it healed all things, including the loss of twins.

So, now six years have passed since that one event. I have learned some thing as a result of that experience. I believe I have learned not to take a healthy pregnancy for granted. I have gone on to have three other healthy, happy, full term babies. If the twins had lived I would not have the spunk of a 'Tater, the fun of a Toby or the blessing of an Avery. I belive I am able to comfort other grieving mommies with the comfort I have received. The outpouring of support after the loss was just tremendous. I have a box full of cards, notes and keepsakes. I am honored to be called upon for advice when friends have other friends experiencing loss. I am glad to be able to give them suggestions on things to do and say and not do and not say.

Should you find yourself on the grieving end of a miscarriage, please know that the hurt and pain does get better. I will not tell you that "at least you can get pregnant", "at least it was early", or "there must have been something wrong with it". I will tell you that while you may never get "over it" you will get through it. You have to take the time to grieve this loss in your life, however that looks for you. Cry, write a letter to the baby, talk to someone, read books about grieving mommies, plant a tree or make a donation to your hospital of some keepsakes for other mommies who are leaving the hospital with empty arms. Take some time to grieve. And eventually, you will be able to string one good day after another until the loss fades to a memory.

A Tote-ally big problem

2008-08-23T14:59:00.004-05:00

I have just a couple of areas of what we might call a "collection". I once won a contest for having the most pairs of shoes (20-something). I also recently lost a bet with Jim over how many pairs shoes I actually had (though if we hadn't counted slippers which I'd inherited from his mom and shoes I'd planned on getting rid of anyway I would have totally won.) It cost me two hours of working in the garage on things that were dirty. Being a not so much outside sort of girl, he REALLY won the bet!

I also have a bit of a bag collection. I have totes, purses, diaper bags, library bags, little bags for just a wallet, big bags for a weekend away and everything in between. One of my favorite things about going away for a weekend is picking the bag that will fit everything just right with no extra wasted space. I'll pack a diaper bag (with just diapering supplies), a food bag, a things-to-do-in-the-car-for-the-kids-that-will-hopefully-buy-me-a-moment's-peace bag and a purse for myself in addition to the suitcases for the clothes and stuff. I'll sometimes even bring along an empty collapsable bag to pack dirty laundry in! Most of my bags were free from events or really cheap from garage sales and thrift stores. I love nothing better than to find a cute bag that totally suits me for under a dollar or two.

Well, I've been storing my bag collection in a rubbermaid tub in the basement for the past year. I'm finding out, however, that this is a REALLY bad idea. Why? Well, while we don't have a wet basement, per se, we have a dampish basement. And when fabric items are constantly exposed to a dampish basement fabric items start to get black dusty like stuff on them. Yup. My collection is infested with mildew.

Now, maybe all is not lost. Once I'm caught up with laundry from four kids being sick for a week (and they were) I'm planning on spraying all my bags with some magic and washing them in the washing machine. Hopefully I'll be able to write another post soon and inform you all that all is well in bag land and we'll all live happily ever after!

If not, look for me at garage sales. I'll be hitting them hard and heavy in the coming weeks in an attempt at re-building my stash!

(And if any of my readers happen to work in a bag production sort of business, let me know. I'll gladly accept donations...)

Conversations that you'd never expect...unless you have boys

2008-08-17T07:59:00.002-05:00

Mom, upon finding scissors with crusty boogers on them: Aidan, did you cut up boogers with the scissors?
Aidan: They're not boogers. They're bloody boogers.
Mom: Why were you cutting them up with the scissors?
Aidan: Because I didn't want to leave them on the towel that was hanging over there.
Mom: Aidan, go clean the scissors. (Mom exits and puts all towels in sight in the laundry.)

Finally, Tara's back!

2008-08-16T14:15:00.002-05:00

I think the reason I've not been blogging lately is because I don't think much has happened. I wake up, feed a bunch of kids, drink coffee, wash dishes, dress kids, change diapers, do laundry, feed more kids, wash more dishes, drink more coffee, change more diapers, do more laundry etc etc etc ad naseum. Last week we shook things up a bit. I bit the bullet and booked us two hotel rooms!!! In a hotel with a pool! I also got us some tickets to the Science Museum of Minnesota! Woo hoo, we went on vacation! :)

Last Wednesday after lunch we loaded the van up and headed to the Cities (for my non-MN reader, yes, you, over there, that would be the Twin Cities aka: the Minneapolis and St. Paul area). We checked into our hotel and I took the boys to the pool while Jim stayed in the rooms with Avery so she could theoretically nap. I was brilliant enough to have the foresight to book adjoining rooms so Avery could go to bed in one while the rest of us could watch TV or just hang out in the other. After a dip in the pool and a quick shower, we met our friends Ben and Emily and their two kidlets for dinner. In Wisconsin. Now, having very little knowledge of Cities geography when Emily suggested that we have dinner at a diner in Wisconsin I thought she'd lost her marbles. Turns out that we were only about 15 minutes from Wisconsin. So, we had dinner in Wisconsin! The joint had decent food, but wasn't the most family friendly place in town. The kids did fine, but we were all anxious to get back to the hotel and more swimming!

Thursday morning we were treated to an extended continental breakfast in the restaurant adjoining the hotel and then we were off for the Science Museum. Jim and the kids had a lot of fun exploring the various science-y things while I pushed Avery around in the stroller. I am sure Avery was grateful for the few toddler friendly exhibit areas where she was able to get out and play a bit, too. We splurged on tickets for the Star Wars exhibit which my little Jedi nerds in training loved. The boys all got to try their hands at building a hover craft out of legos (and electromagnets) and all the males attempted to drive an actual hover craft which was a lot harder than it looked. :) Avery loved part of a movie presentation where a droid with huge expressive eyes jabbered at the audience. She jabbered right back at that robot! Turns out I believe the droid was speaking "Avery" and not just jibberish! Toby's highlight of the day was found in the dinosaur exhibit though not for the dinos themselves. He was over the moon with delight at seeing a display of the palentologist's tools. Toby the tool man, that's him! Evan and Aidan both loved the Star Wars exhibit for the props and costumes from the movies.

We headed back to town Thursday afternoon stopping to drop off our borrowed stroller and to pick up our computer (which had picked up a nasty virus that eventually started flashing inappropriate pictures across the screen). Jim and I put the kids to bed fairly early to try to get everyone caught up on their sleep. Didn't work, but at least we tried!

On to the current...Evan and I went back to school shopping today! Now armed with new folders, pencils and a ton of other junk, Evan is prepared to begin the third grade in just a few more days. Aidan asked me if he could go back to school shopping with Evan and me next year. I think I shocked him when I said, "yes because you'll be going shopping for kindergarten next year!" Man, how the time does fly by.

Loggin' boys

2008-08-06T09:43:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Jim and Evan went to Auntie Alice and Uncle Roy's farm to chop down some of their dead trees. If we don't end up selling this house the plan is to put in a wood burning stove so they were out gathering up firewood to keep us warm during the long cold Minne-snow-ta winters.

Evan learned a lot. He learned how to wrap a chain around a dead branch to pull it down. Uncle Roy taught him this. Part of wrapping a chain around a dead branch involves being lifted up 10-12 feet in the air in the front end loader. Glad I wasn't there!

He learned how to load six foot lengths of log into the trailer in an organized fashion. He learned how to toss the kindling branches into a brush pile and to differentiate between brush and usable logs. He also learned how to cuss. :)

"Mom, did you know Uncle Roy says, 'what the he!!?'"
"Okay, but we don't say that word in our house."
"Why not?"
"Well, it's a swear word." (When used in that manner of course.)
"Man, there sure are a lot of swear words!"

I think the other swear words he knows are butt, stupid and heck. :)

Not Bad!

2008-08-03T15:17:00.002-05:00

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Not bad for a little ol' Iowa girl!

What you can't see here is the eastern states. I tallied up that I've been in 28. :) I've got some traveling to do! Anyone want to send me a trip to their state so I can cross more off the list??? :)

Tara's World

WFMW: Break the Dawdling

WFMW: Laundry update

Lengthening the Leash

My Free Range Mom Moment

Computer time for kids

VBS

Time for my monthly posting!

Works For Me Wednesday! I'm back!!!

Where I announce a winner!

Works for Me Wednesday and GIVEAWAY!

Hospitality, Review Preview and Giveaway!

Coming soon!

Texting While Driving-Anything

Ten Questions answer one, question two

Ten Questions, Part One

Mystery Gift

PSA time!

An old story revisited

Works for me Wednesday!

Pray for Bethany

An Avery Story

September bullets

August Update

3..2..1...

Your Laugh For The Day

Hey, I can blog this!

Boys and Books

We Have a Winner!

Works for me Wednesday complete with a *GIVEAWAY!*

The Experiment

Driving lessons

The Update List

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

Nice People Send Me Stuff

Pieceless Puzzle

Too funny to pass up

A New Stage

A Contest!

Spring Break 2009

The Packing Plan

A Quick Check In

Works For Me Wednesday!

Two milestones

Aidan Aiming High

Just hanging out

First Ladies

Guest Posting!

Soup Update

If it's not one thing...

WFMW: Staying power

More Recipes!

WFMW: Time to clean!

Avery's Closet

WFMW: Cake in 5 minutes or less

An historical note

House tour!

Works For Me Wednesday--Wound Care

One down, three to go...

Bye bye 2008

Big day for a little guy

Nutritional Education

Does this count?

Christmas gifts

Reality

Taking Time to Make Time

Tater Takes A Turn

A fun giveaway

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

33? So far, not so good!

WFMW

Adventures in moving

Bye bye guineas

November 5, 2008

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I won something!!!

I've Gone International!

Tutu day!

She's a girl

Don't read this blog unless you have lots of time!

Works for me Wednesday complete with a GIVEAWAY!