The Unbalanced, Chaotic and Tired Woman’s Daybook

Here’s today’s version

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Outside My Window ...
SNOWING… we should be out in it.  That’s for later.  Right now, we’ll enjoying it falling from inside, and enjoy the cozy feeling it gives!

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I am listening to…
The kids play Go Fish.  How did I manage to get Keenan to take over my hand? 🙂 And a tape of a concert Bryan and I went to whiel we were in college of Lemonade Stand.  The probably never ‘made it’, and I doubt are together anymore.  But they were awesome.  The kids danced non-stop for three songs.  (Ska… LOVER OF SKA… that’s me!)

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I am thinking of ...
All the bathroom / kitchen decisions made yesterday during the Hardware Store 5 hour marathon with children… hoping we made good choices!  Prepping for dinner, prepping for leading worship at Prayer Mountain tonight, what to pick up for a 1st b-day party this afternoon, whether to continue doing school work or skip due to all the prep work I need to do!

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I am thankful for …
Jesus, and his gentle, if painful at times, purifying process.  I am thankful for pajamas.  And microwaves to warm up coffee!

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From the kitchen …
Grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches about to be made, dishes pretty much finished. chicken thawing on the counter in hopes of me doing something creative with it.  (don’t count on it, chicken!)
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I am creating…
space in our day for play.  time to read and time for baths. more fat and cellulite.

Hey, I’m creating a BABY! you can’t much more creative than that! (Oh, that’s really God creating… and He is doing a wonderful job, as usual)

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I am wearing …
pajamas.  still. Sorry Fly Lady, I am NOT your girl!

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I am going…
to a 1st b-day party. Then on a walk in the snow… got to get that outside time!! 🙂 Then home for dinner.  Then to pick up babysitter and off to Prayer Mountain.
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Bringing beauty to my home …
We picked out some fabulous inexpensive lovelies yesterday for the bathroom… Wait till you see the before / after pics.

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I am reading  …

I was reading Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne , but hubby stole it from me, so I’ll have to wait to finish it.  Now I’m reading “Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv.  good thought provoking stuff.  Hence my “outside-very-day” goal…

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I am hoping …
to continue my relaxed attitude towards school, and that it won’ t result in unlearned children… just a more relaxed home

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Around the house …
The laundry is put away after almost a week.  Guess its time to start washing again.    Our bedroom has all the master bathroom stuff in it, and there is a thin layer of dust everywhere from all the gutting…
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One of my favorite things …
fresh snow covering dirty snow.

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A Few Plans For The Weekend:
Soccer.  Pick out music to play for a friend’s wedding.  Choose set for Sunday’s worship gathering.  clean enough of the house and then find time to read and relax in that portion of it.

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Outside Journal update

Today… there was no snow on the ground in Wasilla… plenty in the air though!  I really REALLY wanted them to be able to outside, and for us to go for a walk in the snow.  I love walking while it is snowing.  But Shand had to nap.  And after her nap, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays is when I teach piano… so… no outside time.  Just driving in the snow. sadness.

Tomorrow looks just as bleak for outside opportunities.  Bible Study, art class, and drag the kids with me (including the baby DURING NAP TIME) to Lowes and other Building Supply places to pick out counter tops, vinyl, tile, and something else I can’t remember.  THANK YOU for a friend who is handling most of this decision making, and I just have to be there to nod (and feed treats to Shand to keep her happy).  Then home… to breathe hopefully before piano lessons, and home to do dinner and drag kids to rehearsal befor Bryan can pick them up.

If you know ahead of time it will be “that kind of day” – it often isn’t so bad.  That’s what I’m rooting for.

Although, I’m wondering now, WHY I am blogging when I should be planning the service for Sunday and picking out stuff for rehearsal tomorrow night… hmm… best get on that!

Outside Journal

I’m reading the book “Last Child in the Woods” – I”m VERY slowly reading it!!

And I read a few nature type blogs, and Charlotte Mason type blogs, and others that throw it in there now and then.  The underlying theme being… GO OUTSIDE!!  Which I’m all about.  Except I’m so tired of the cold.  The summer was… COLD and rainy.  Which makes this winter already seem unending.  BUT my kids (and I…) still need fresh air and time exploring and playing outside these walls.

SO… I’m going to try to keep track of our outside times here… Baby steps.  LITERALLY – I can’t do much in the truly active department, being pregnant and carting a 20 month old.  (I know some of you could :), but because of past complications, I lay pretty low when pregnant, especially once we get to this point!)

SO without further ado… outside time for

MONDAY: The boys carted buckets of broken tile and garbage and wood from the now almost-gutted bathroom.  (I told you baby steps!!)

TUESDAY: In the yard… with some resistance… and Shand caught me shooing them out, so she had to go too… which of course meant I had to go as well…  We picked up broken branches from around the yard and the wind storm last week (or the week before – no hurry!)

And the boys sled down the stairs…. no.  They aren’t covered with snow.  IT was a bumpy ride with a big bump at the bottom when they ran into the railing. 🙂  Producing much laughter and giggles.  And when they tired of that they slid down our little hill, which normally is lame, but with crusty icy snow was quite the slick ride.  Thankfully its short, otherwise the speed they would have gathered before crashing into fences and trees, and possibly flying over the edge of the retaining wall onto the cars may have been problematic.  All in all, a success.

WEDNESDAY: The plan is to be out in Wasilla with the cousins… He’s just 3, so I expect the boys to cart him and Shand around on the sled outside for a while.  We’ll see how they go.  I don’t even know if they have enough snow on the ground.

new inspiration

My problem with new inspiration is going beyond being inspired to ACTING OUT the inspiration.

I’m inspired to simplify. I’m inspired to get outside every day.   I’m inspired to create with the kids… or at least provide a good place for THEM to create.  I’m inspired to read and read with my children.  I’m inspired to observe my children and respond accordingly. I’m inspired to make three meals a day most days, and eat nutritionally.  Heck, I’m even inspired to exercise!! kind of. 🙂

And then there’s reality, where I’m stuck in my rut.  STUCK IN MY RUT.  And I wonder if third trimester pregnancy is the best time or the worst time form new paths.   Will the new baby help that all along (since supposedly the result is happier house, children, etc.) or will I long desperately for my old ruts.

Just thinking about my inspiration.  And writing about it.  And still not acting upon it.

Sibling Love

Don’t you just LOVE it when your kids play together.  Shand is at an age where she is really interacting with the boys, teasing, and chasing, and hoping to be chased back!!  its great.  And they do a great job of loving on her back and playing with her and putting up with a lot of mauling!!

In-laws and Crockpots

And they are related how?

Just in case anyone was wondering how I was doing in the cooking department… Got it today.  (thank you MIL for finding the sales!!)  its  a 6qt programmable one.  LOVELY !  And a great price.

Around Christmas time we decided we needed to spend some more time with the in-laws… geared around the kids, but we’ll be there too, so they aren’t overwhelmed with the babysitting and unable to enjoy the time.  Especially when number 4 comes along!!

SO, once a month, on a Monday, (unless we change it, which is allowed according to the rules!! ) we have a grandma-grandpa play date… followed or preceded by dinner.  This month we were supposed to go bowling, followed by home-made pizza.  But a certain little girl who was desperate for a nap, napped a REALLY long time, and then we realized we’d be in rush hour traffic, etc.  SO we switched it to Wii racing and home-made pizza.

It was a lovely time, and we are looking forward to this new tradition each month,  coming up with some creative things to do together.

It warms my heart to see them interacting.  Its good…

Significant events of a Tuesday

• Keenan gets his first Hardy Boys book from the library.  And he’s not just skimming.  (he’s still reading a little faster than I do… and I read fast… but it appears he isn’t skipping whole pages and paragraphs)
• We go on our first walk outside in what feels like a month, but Bryan assures me is only 2 weeks.  The cold stretch has broken… so much so that it is 32 degrees and raining?!?!?!  University campus,  schools and even the HIGHWAY are closed due to icy roads.  That is strange and HIGHLY unusual!!  not the ice, but that everything is closed.
• Our CROCKPOT DIED.  That’s right.  Our ham and bean soup was NOT cooking.  Sadness.  Great, great sadness.  We were going to buy nothing this month, in anticipation of renovations and buying new hearing aids… Bryan is working 4 extra 12 hr shifts… but.  BUT.  can I really do without my crockpot?  sigh.  I am at least going to wait for something to come on sale.
• I took down all the Christmas stuff.

Have a great Wednesday!  Mine has started off stupendous.  I woke up early with Bryan (that is 6:00am for us) and

• finished off the Christmas decorations / ornaments
• had a cup of coffee with my Bible and time with my Father
• cuddled with Keenan when he got up and he felt the baby kicking,
• now I am on the computer, its 7:50, and the two youngest are still sleeping.

Its going to be a GREAT day!! 🙂

Reevaluating the New Year

So.  I had no ‘new years’ post.  I don’t think I post most of the normal times every one else does… but I BWO (blog without obligation) and I wasn’t ready to share.

Not that I’m now ready in the sense I have it all figured out.  But I am ready to share some of my thought process.  I have realized I am in a very scattered time of life.  And am accepting of that, but at the same time still seeking to find those quiet moments of oasis and reflection and prayer amidst it all.  Getting up early only works so well when you don’t always get a good night sleep and the majority of the time, the kids suddenly start waking up earlier, pushing your “wake up early” to a “wake up when its still night” time.  IF you really want that moment of quiet.

Back to the reevaluating.  Having read many of what others are saying, I have been inspired in a few things:

1. One change at a time, and CONTINUE evaluating… it shouldn’t be a JAN 1 thing only.
2. Ask God for a word for the year.  I think 🙂 mine is ‘peace’ and until further notice from the One who matters, I am going with it.  So I am looking up Scriptures, and meditating on all that means, could mean, should mean, etc. to me.  To our family.
3. I am taking this to our family.  As a family… (these are fun things to do with a 5 and 9 year old, distracted by the 20 month old)… we are listening.  Practicing listening prayer.   2 or 3 times a week.  Its not fantastic.  Sometimes it seems like a waste of time.  Sometimes its frustrating.  Now and then, it seems maybe we were actually listening.  And sometimes God speaks.  And its all worth it.
4. And my own wisdom for me 🙂 Have low expectations about everything except for God and His Grace.  And that includes the expectations of what I think that will look like!!

So this new year has begun, amidst games and projects and a crazy birthday party, with more quiet times, more cuddles and loving, and more early mornings.  This is all I am looking for this month.

Maybe I’ll reevaluate monthly.

rite of passage

Keenan, our nine year old, is watching Star Wars with his dad tonight.  He is BEYOND excited!! Thad is crushed, though Bryan and him will have a Daddy date tomorrow, so he is excited about that.  And he couldn’t sleep (who could blame him… the CD just wasn’t cutting it) so he is out here watching Sponge Bob on the laptop! 🙂

It is way too late for them to be watching TV.  But we had to wait for Bryan to get home from work (usually 8pm) and then his Dad was over to look at our leaking boiler pipes to see if it was emergency worthy or could wait till tomorrow.  sigh.  Seeing as it is currently -10, I’m hoping the boiler doesn’t shut itself off like it did earlier in the day.  I hadn’t realized the temp had dropped so low in the house, since I was overdressed, slippered, and running around after children!

Exciting times.

TEMPTATION? finished…

yeah.  It’s good… as in… I ATE the temptation.   I REALLY had too much… I had to eat enough graham crackers to go under the good half cup of cream cheese frosting.  But hey… its gone now, because I FINISHED them!

Now I just need to deal with the leftover choc fondue, and peanut butter fondue, and choc butter cream frosting…

THEN we’ll work on the nutter butters and licorice… (and all this from a birthday cake…)

Finally… the chocolate and candy we brought back or was sent from Australia.  Is it ANY wonder I am so addicted to sugar?  This poor child in my belly has NO CHANCE against the sugar addiction… its started already, I am sure.