A Homemaker's Day Book

January 30, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Melted snow. I finally washed the car this week and wow, I forgot my car was red. It's kind of windy and slushy. I really like walking in slush. I like the splatter it makes. I remember this freak snow storm we had in El Paso, TX when I was 8 years old. It wasn't good ol' Nebraska snow I had been used to, but I love walking in the slush.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Children that can be easily bribed. Today was a terrible day. We've been running all week and yesterday was a constant test of strength from sun up to midnight. My children (with a little bribery) cleaned up almost the whole house today, AND did their school work, with no fighting and cheerful attitudes. *sniff* I love them!

FROM THE KITCHEN: Nothing. Nothing at all to write home to mom about. Mac and cheese, sausage and brussel sprouts. There's a culinary delight for you.

I AM READING: Finished The Sleeping Beauty Proposal. Now I'm reading....um...I forgot what it was. I'm on page 2.

I AM HEARING: Pirates of the Carribean marathon.

I AM CREATING: Rag quilts for the boys.

I AM GOING: Grocery shopping tomorrow, bill paying tomorrow, running errands, and cleaning the church.

I AM HOPING: To get the Lewis and Clark books I ordered for next year's curriculum. I cannot wait! Oh, and some camera lenses Curtis ordered.

AROUND THE HOUSE: Is pretty cleaned up. All the kids' rooms are clean, the laundry is under control, my bed is made and dishes are done. Pretty good!

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: The autistic brain. It's got to be working on a higher level than our normal, addled ones. Simeon was tested and confirmed high functioning autistic this week. Not a surprise, but this doesn't change anything either. I listened to them testing him on Tuesday. It was hard to watch. His speech is that of a 2 year olds and he will be 5 in May. He's got so much to say and we just can't understand him except for bits and pieces he does pronounce correctly. One of the questions he had to answer was to tell the tester what a carrot was. He told her a "bunny hotdog", which I thought was quite humorous. He couldn't get complex directions, like "show me the bunny and the monkey." He could point to one or the other, but didn't get two things at the same time. Today I thought I would try to work with him in a Pre-K workbook. He did great! Even held a pencil and colored a little bit! He even got the patterns!!!! When we got done though, he was so exhausted he went and laid down and slept for about an hour and a half. I don't know if I was ever so aware of how much he struggles all day to hold things together, even just to use words to talk to us. He's such a sweety though and I know it won't be too far in the future when I won't feel his small arms around my neck or his fingers in my ears, or him fascinated with playing with my hair. I got an email this week about a lady, Temple Grandin: “People who aren’t autistic always ask me about the moment I realized I could understand the way animals think. They think I must have had an epiphany. But it wasn’t like that.” So begins Dr. Temple Grandin’s story in her New York Times Best-Selling book, Animals in Translation. Her previous book Emergence: Labeled Autistic challenges the notion that people with autism cannot be successful in life. Grandin is living proof that her belief is true because she impacts everyone she meets. In addition to her traveling engagements, Grandin currently teaches classes in livestock behavior and facility design as a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University .

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: If you read last weeks plans, they never happened. This week doesn't have too much planned yet.

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU:I never thought I would see this in a million years!! Miss Snooty actually allowed Nemo on the bed with her and they snuggled!!! On my coat of course. Sadly, this is one of the last days I saw her on my bed since we got the dog, she refuses to come upstairs now.

A Homemaker's Day Book

January 23, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Snow, again! We had 3 beautiful 65 degree weather and got spoiled. It's freezing now, 12 degrees and feels like 7. I took Bella out for a walk a little bit ago and my ears froze.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Women and acts of service. Last night we did a service project at church: we collected used purses and filled them with cosmetic samples and I took them down the women's shelter today. It felt so good to do stuff like that, plus I found out what stuff the really needed, so that gives me more ideas for service for them.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Lunch: Pumpkin Soup, biscuits with orange-cherry jelly (homemade and tastes like heaven) and pears. Dinner: Mashed potatoes, "mock" chicken fried steak...it was awesome!! (new recipe) and corn. White gravy over it. I also made a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies too, but I froze half the batch for use later. No need for 80 cookies laying around, right?

I AM READING: The Sleeping Beauty Proposal

I AM HEARING: Crying.

I AM CREATING: A budget for the year/month/tax return/school.

I AM GOING: Nowhere. Roads are too icy.

I AM HOPING: To get the house cleaned up, laundry caught up, shopping lists made, and school room organized.

AROUND THE HOUSE: School room looks like a bomb went off in here. Papers, clothes, toys are everywhere. Rest of the house is okay though and I cleaned the kitchen really good tonight.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: I felt like today was a wonderful day. Curtis and I worked out this morning with his new idea: a deck of cards. The black numbers are the number of pushups to do, the reds are situps. Face cards were arm exercises or leg exercises. Then we did some of the walking in place thing just for 15 minutes. I was able to do every one of the pushups and we did 30 cards!! (Situps aren't so good). We went to MOPS this morning and I had a good visit with the ladies there. I got to deliver those purses, and I gotta say, I love feeling like Santa Claus. I liked snuggling down in bed with the baby and napping with him this afternoon. I enjoyed the meals I made and was quite proud of them, they were all yummy. The kids have been happy and playing nicely together and they have a friend spending the night. I think the TV was on for only 1.5 hours today! That's got to be a new record!

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Get back on track for working out, budgeting for the year, and planning to not really do much except school and household stuff for the next week.

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU:

Can't get a pic. loaded tonight, sorry!

Dog Worshipping

This is Bella. We adopted her over the weekend. She's a papillon, 7 years old, house trained, very well behaved and a pretty happy little dog. I was excited to get her after our run of huge dogs that just were not fitting well with our family, but nervous because she is a little dog and my kids could be rough on dogs. So far she's held her own, even up against Missy whose a little bit bigger than Bella is.

Saturday we made a trip to Walmart to get some dog food and dog bowls. We have pretty much everything else, but the pink bowls I just couldn't resist. I resisted getting her a pink collar and leash, figuring she already had a collar. And she did, and the owner's even gave us a cute little pink leash to match her collar. While I was in that aisle at Walmart, I was amazed at what they had for dogs.

Clothes, sprays, spa treatments, designer collars, designer treats, frilly beds and high tech dog bowls, toys meant for nervousness, activity, tooth cleaning or snuggling, dog carriers and dog strollers. It was like a miniture baby aisle...or spa aisle, or exercise aisle. It was weird. It was overwhelming. It was interesting but also alarming. I even found dog food by Rachel Ray. I could have spent 30 minutes in that aisle and still not seen all there was. I'd also probably come out of that aisle 100.00 poorer too if I didn't control myself.

I grew up with dogs and have had dogs almost my entire adult life. The last three years have been hard since Justin passed away, and Katie a year before that. I miss having a dog, having a friendly nudge under the arm for petting, a pull on the arm as I walk them, the goofy grins and lopsided glances. I know that the new accessories seem to be the little toy dogs, dressed and primped and loved on like four legged babies. I read an article a while back about a family that drove around and around looking for a park for their children to play at and finally, after searching for an hour and a half, found a park....for dogs. It seems more people have dogs than babies, and while I appreciate a good doggy friend, I can't say they replace the same feeling I have for my children.

These thoughts make me think of Open Season, the movie about Boog, the bear, getting sent back to the woods to fend for himself just as hunting season opens in 3 days. Shaw, a hunter, starts seeing "conspiracies" with the dog, the deer, the bear and pretty much any other animals. "How many other animals are in on the conspiracy? God bless America! I hope the bald eagle hasn't turned!" Traversing the pet aisles in Walmart certainly gave good reason to consider a conspiracy theory.

I do have to say some of that stuff was really cute though. And I have to say Bella is really sweet too, and I know not too far in the distant future even my boys will be searching out treats and toys for spoiling Bella with. They just have that way of settling in and begging for attention, which we so willingly give over.

Things I'm Doing in My Spare Time

I've been waking up for the 4:00 feeding and since I have a biter, I can't possibly fall back to sleep, so there I lay, wide awake, cringing in pain till Ammon falls back to sleep thinking. Thinking, and thinking, and thinking.

At 4:00 a.m. I am thinking about these things:
Analyzing Curtis' dream from a few nights ago.
Analyzing my last dream.
Thinking of the next HFPE meeting for church.
Did I call ________________?
Taxes, when can I file them?
Taxes, when would I get them back?
Isaac needs a dog.
Ooh, a dog on Freecycle!
Yes, I think we need another dog.
What's wrong with Joshua? He's acting weird lately.
What would it be like to live in Arizona, Florida, or North Carolina?
What if Curtis went back in the military.
Ooh, remember those base houses in Ft. Sill? They were gorgeous!
Wish I could buy a house.
Should I pay off my car?
Wonder how Mom and Grandma are doing?
Remember that time I was at the dollar store and that guy rang everything up really fast and I was just in awe and I asked how he knew the amount owed so quickly, because I didn't know EVERYTHING WAS A DOLLAR?!?!! Yeah, that was funny.
Sunday night we need to listen to the marriage tapes, part 2. Wow those were interesting.
I need to reorganize the dish cupboard.
When can we haul off the ever growing heap of crap in the carport? Oh, they said April.
My couch looks like crap.
I need to do laundry.
The stove needs to be scrubbed.
Hannah needs a haircut.
She needs new clothes.
I really like Dances with Wolves.
Why do I keep breathing with my mouth open?
How much food do I have in the freezer?
Should I get a part time job?
I need to clean out the van.
Ok, in one hour I'm going to get up and read scriptures, say a prayer, work out, fix breakfast for everyone, take a shower and be ready to start school by 8:00.

I wake up in two hours after the alarm has gone off 5 times, missed the workout, never had time to read scriptures or pray, the kids ate cereal served by themselves and I've not taken a shower yet and school starts at 10.

If only thinking about all that crap actually got something done.......

A Homemaker's Daily Journal (Shiloah)

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: A quiet street.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My beautiful family.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Lentil Sausage and Potato Soup, homemade gluten free biscuits

I AM READING: Cheaper by the Dozen

I AM HEARING: Bewitched playing in the background and Bella chattering away.

I AM CREATING: Boxes filled with our stuff in prep for a move.

I AM GOING: to church tomorrow and am preparing today.

I AM HOPING: To get that big house I was looking at this week.

AROUND THE HOUSE: I see boxes and kids, boxes and kids...and the occasional stray toy.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: Naps...have been abnormally tired this week.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Working out again and hoping to pack and move!

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU:

My eldest daughter Cailynn is going to be 13 in less than two weeks. I pulled out her baby book today and was reminiscing. Time goes by so quickly. I'm so proud of my lovely daughter.

Humorous Moments

So, I get a crank call first thing this morning. This guy tells me he bought adult underpants from us and he was having some problems. I told him, "Sorry, we don't offer refunds." Last thing I need is a pair of skid mark stain undies returned to me.

He persists that he doesn't need a refund, just needs some help getting them on. I told him that isn't my department, but our customer service rep, Ben could help him with more specific directions. Ha ha ha.

It was Curtis- Dawn's silly hubby. :)


The other day we were out grocery shopping as a family. I was in the diet section of the store and grabbed a South Beach Diet bar off the shelf and read the ingredients aloud to Ben.

Bella (age 2) grabs the bar out of my hands and looks hard at the ingredients. She then reads them aloud to me, "Soup, Beans, Rice". That's our diet in a nutshell! LOL

A Homemaker's Day Book

January 15, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Snowing. It's been snowing for 24 hours now. And it's bitterly cold. Isn't there something serene about snow though? Have you ever noticed how quiet it gets when it snows?

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Other bloggers that have such inspiring sites. I learn a lot from them. Makes me wonder what I do for this one?

FROM THE KITCHEN: Chicken noodle soup and biscuits. Lunch was roasted chicken.

I AM READING: Simple Abundance Companion

I AM HEARING: Joshua asking/screaming for cookies. I was going to make some this afternoon but got a migraine instead.

I AM CREATING: The Boston Tea Party lapbooks with the kids for school. They look like giant tea bags. I love doing the lapbooks.

I AM GOING: Grocery shopping tomorrow.

I AM HOPING: To get some good jelly made. I made a double batch of Orange-Cherry jelly and all of it turned to syrup.

AROUND THE HOUSE: "Cleaned" with little things shoved against the walls. At least I can walk through the living room. I hate when the house looks like this. It drives me nuts. I will take regular clutter all over the floor rather than the little things everywhere. If I didn't feel like throwing up, I'd clean it up.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: It's been a struggle this week to find some of these things. I've let my perceptions of things get me down, plus I've allowed myself to get offended and upset over some things that are out of my control. Let me think....*finger tapping my forehead*........AHA!!!! Got one.
Curtis and I started working out to a video in the morning. It's been fun to do this together. He's made me laugh really hard as we make fun of the video instructor, but her workout is no joke. I had a dream about it this morning and actually woke myself up laughing.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: I can't believe it went so fast. Plans this weekend are to clean out a storage room in the basement and get some stuff organized. I wish we had better weather to have a garage sale, but I don't think anyone is coming out in 4 degree weather.

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU: This was taken of the kids 3 years ago. I think it's so interesting that it can be freezing outside and the kids still love to play in the snow. This is Hannah, Isaac, Benjamin, and Jesse.

Real Life Super Hero

With very little to do for entertainment purposes in the winter in Nebraska, thank goodness for the internet. I don't know how I would survive. So, I thought I would share with you some of the things I've come across. Ok, places I've been that waste my time, but at least I get a good laugh out of them.

First up: Real life Super Hero. There's a whole database of them sorted out by city and state. Not trying to offend anyone here, but could/would any of you traipse around your town in a cape fending off crimes?

First, here's a video of one. Watch out for those strollers in the parks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c87kpoBmYPg

Next, the database:
http://www.worldsuperheroregistry.com/world_superhero_registry_gallery.htm

Finally, an article, which had me laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Holy Spandex!!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5404186.ece

Enjoy!!!

A Homemaker's Day Book

January 9, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Cold, windy, rainy. Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My health. We all just got over the stomach flu and it's so amazing to realize how GOOD one feels after being ill.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Corn chowder with pepper bacon and croissants for dinner. Chocolate chip cookies were snack today. (Total comfort food for a nasty day).

I AM READING: Ginny, the dog who rescues cats

I AM HEARING: The hum of the computer and children's sleepy breathing. (Same as last week...hmm...sensing a trend)

I AM CREATING: Tye dye shirts with Isaac. I forgot how fun that was. I made some once in high school with my boyfriend.

I AM GOING: To drop the boys and Curtis off tomorrow on a corner in town with a map and the boys have to try and figure out how to get home using the map.

I AM HOPING: To get all the stuff done, printed, prepared and packed for church on Sunday.

AROUND THE HOUSE: It's actually pretty cleaned up tonight. The little boys dragged out all their cars and rug today, Ammon dumped his bucket of toys and Simeon is into smashing stuff: crackers, popcorn, chips, etc. The rest of us got to clean it all up. Tonight, since it's Friday we are vegging on the computer and tv. Curtis is watching 007 with Pierce Brosnan and I watched Grey's Anatomy and ER.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: I learned a few lessons this week. 1. I feel like all my friends are far away and there are a few times that I really wish I had friends that are closer to just go hang out with. Then, I realized, why? Shouldn't my best friends be my family, my children, my husband? I really tried to change my mindset about that and the last few nights I've really enjoyed conversations Curtis and I had. We even dreamed up a few things: building a little old fashioned school house in our backyard when we buy our own house. Having said all this, there is still something nice about hanging out with your best buddy or sister just to take a break. 2. It's very hard not to judge people when you don't feel supported yourself. 3. My older boys are growing up and I really enjoy having semi-serious or interesting conversations with them. 4. I wish I had a dog again.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: We started a lesson plan for The Sons of Liberty. This is so fascinating to me so I'm trying to drum it up to be as interesting for the kids too. We had a great lesson/discussion today. I'm also planning an HFPE night for church on the 22nd.

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU: Today is my mom's birthday. I laugh everytime I see this picture because mom is not a cat person, and Missy (the cat) is not necessarily a human person, but they didn't mind sharing the couch that day as long each other kept to their own cushion. *Sigh* Look how nice my couch looked. It was new in that picture.

Wrapping 101

Just before Christmas I took the boys aside and told them it was time they learn to wrap presents. Their first practice in wrapping was their presents they bought for the sibling name draw. I thought it went okay. I know that wrapping takes practice, and well, I don't even hold a candle to my mom's present wrapping. The night I set out to have this "class" with the boys, Curtis exclaims that boys cannot wrap presents. I did not agree, and in my mind, the boys WILL learn to wrap presents nicely so they don't have to spoil the gift for their wives by making them wrap her own present. (This year Curtis got someone to wrap my gift for him from his work).

Well, here is Isaac's first opportunity to put his new skills to work: a friend's birthday party. Isaac begged me to take him shopping and as we got home, I told him he can use his new wrapping skills to wrap his friend's present.

Here we go:
Concentration on folding properly:


Sticky tape:


This corner goes here, and this one folds there:


Notice the tube of paper. Needed to make sure we had enough for the gift. And then the baby got to it and finished mauling the paper. This is when Curtis remarks again that boys should not be wrapping gifts:


Done!


I think it turned out pretty good for one of the first tries. Not Martha Stewart quality, but definately Homer Simpson quality, which isn't bad becasue he usually had good intent.

On a side note that probably has nothing to do with wrapping presents, I once wanted to build a rabbit hutch. My mentality was that my dad was a carpenter, so I should be able to have some skill in that area too, right? It looked like something Homer Simpson made: bent nails, crooked, nothing matched up, I under estimated the weight of wood I was using, and well, I spent 60.00 to end up with a pile of cut up wood, nails and wire; crap basically. Looked something like this:


So, long story short, my son gets his skills from me. I finally came to terms with my inability to be a perfect perfectionist. I was so proud of Isaac though, for trying and accepting it wasn't a perfectly wrapped gift. He presented it happily at the birthday party, and well, who will ever remember what the paper looked like? It was the gift and thought that counted.

A Homemaker's Day Book

January 1, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: Cold today, some snow left on the ground. It was mostly sunny, however, I never did actually leave the house today.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: My children and their simple sweetness, a good husband, and that I live in times of health, freedom and easy comforts.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Crumbs? I didn't cook today. My kids lived off of snacks and ate our gingerbread house from the New Year's Eve party. Tonight was pizza.

I AM READING: The Good Old Days-They Were Terrible (hence the "what I am thankful for..."

I AM HEARING: The hum of the computer and children's sleepy breathing.

I AM CREATING: An organized and cleaned up home.

I AM GOING: Possibly to the gas station for a soda...the craving...it's...getting...to...me.....HELP!!!!

I AM HOPING: For a new job for Curtis, but I'm very grateful for the job he does have and if the other's don't pan out, we still have this one.

AROUND THE HOUSE: Christmas break! Yay! Today the kids made a huge "bed" for themselves in the living room and watched Prince Caspian. Mostly today we watched movies. I don't think any of us is feeling too good. Tomorrow: back to work: laundry, dishes, cookig, vacuuming, preparing for school lessons and running errands.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: Watching Ammon eat, drink, play, practice standing, crawling and smiling. Aren't babies intoxicating sometimes?

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Finish getting the house back in order after Christmas break and ready to get back to school work. Curtis starts back, the kids start back and I intend to finish a course I started.

A PICTURE THOUGHT TO SHARE WITH YOU:


This is the first family picture we have taken in at least 4 years.


Thanks to SimpleFolk blog for the idea of the Day Book. It's nice to slow down and think about these things. I hope to make it a habit.