A Homemaking Journey

May 31, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: It's raining softly. I love to listen to it.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Isaac. We changed his meds last month and he's slowly getting back to normal life. Tonight he cleaned his room, the school room and helped with laundry and took out the trash. He did it with a smile and quickly and all by himself! I'll try to not say this too loudly, but he's got such a pretty look to him lately. He's gotten a tan from playing outside and then his cheeks turn red in the heat, and it makes him just look....pretty. Ok, ok, let me add that he looks pretty because this is what he used to look like as a baby, so that's why I guess I could just stare at him all.day.long. *sigh*

FROM THE KITCHEN: Potato Salad, Cucumber Salad, melon, Roast beef sandwiches on homemade bread, and dinner was carrots and roasted chicken, with potato salad and cucumber salad. I love summer food!

I AM READING: It's My Ovaries, Stupid. Do you know that they affect 400 functions on the female body?!

I AM HEARING: Nothing. It's quiet. I should be goign to bed, but I can't because it's.....QUIET.

I AM CREATING: I made some of those little birds. Last week we saw UP from Disney, and I went to their site and downloaded some Adventure Books for the kids. I put those together for the kids tonight.

I AM GOING: No where, really. I stayed home from church today with two toddlers that were having meltdowns with no end in sight. This always makes my Sunday's seem slow.

I AM HOPING: We get a little more rain so it's free water for the garden. That the dog's face will heal (more about that later). That we have a good time tomorrow planning for a Survival Night at church later this month. That my parents make it safely home tomorrow.

AROUND THE HOUSE: I know you all have heard me complain and boob over the state of my house. Honestly, can't we go one day without the house looking like a disaster area?

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: Watching nice, fluffy clouds form llamas and ducks and turtles. In the distance.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Must. Get. On. Track. Again. We've been lazy about school and schedules, so I really want us to get back on track again, at least for another month before we have family visiting again.

A PICTURE THOUGHT FOR YOU: This is a picture from 2007. The plains just seem to have this incredible ability for making some huge supercells. They could be so dangerous and beautiful at the same time.

A Homemaker's Day Book

I've been wanting to do some stuff lately since it's been raining and well, I just recently found all my crafting supplies. I've been hearing about some free patterns you can get at some sites and I thought I would share them with you here. In honor of spring, I found some cute, CUTE things you can do: little birds, flowers and leaves, and pretty quilt patterns perfect for summer decor.

First up: The little Love Birds. I found this pattern HERE and they only take 15 minutes or so to make. I stuffed them with rice so they had a bit of weight for them. They have some other patterns on there for aprons, grocery totes, and a sewing machine cozy (as opposed to a raggedy, holey towel I have draped over mine).


I found several cute patterns at Amy Butler's site. (Click on the free patterns at the bottom) These are made with craft paper or fabrics. I think I want to try the paper iris' she has on there! It will go well with my birds.

Next up is free patterns from Burda fashions. Have Adobe Reader downloaded to get your full patterns printed.

I don't allow myself in fabric stores too often because well, we'd have no money left over. Back in February I went into a quilting store in North Platte and they had the cutest, neatest stuff in there! They had a huge rack with Moda Fabric fat squares and other cuts, all bound together for one really pretty project. So, while the fabric might not be free, here are some of their free patterns.

Hope this sends you out in a frenzy of inspiration and ideas. If anyone has some cool ideas or other sites you would like to share, please send your links and name (first name and last name initial is all I'll use) to ahomemakingjourney@yahoo.com, and I'll list them up here!

Getting Crafty

Tonight I read some very refreshing comments about people with large families, and I noticed I haven't done this in a long while. I feel like I owe you an explanation. Remember the post I wrote last summer about landlords and knowing your rights? Since then, we have entered a lawsuit against our old landlords and the woman stalks our blogs now. I feel like I can't say anything without her reading my stuff looking for things she could use against me. It has been close to a year since this ordeal started and this has given me a lot of time to contemplate some things in my mind. I think one of the main "problems" Shiloah and I run into is the size of our family. We have instant judgement against us because of how many kids we have. 6?! They say. 7?! They say. Well, a couple things then spring to peoples minds: You have an addiction to kids. You're just sex crazy. You're trying to fill a void in your life. You're insane. You're selfish. You're poor. You're some kind of religious fruitcake.
We've heard it all. We've answered it all. Oh, and then don't get me started on what kind of wild fire the tabloids start with big families. John and Kate plus 8 had an affair or something. Pitt and Jolie are adopting another kid, or she's pregnant again. One word: Octo-mom. Mel Gibson just conceived his 8th kid...he said he wonders if that makes him Octo-dad. Anyway, as I have said before, I never felt so judged in my life as when this ordeal started with the rental house, and I can't help but feel a lot of it has to do with the size of my family.

The thing is, having any amount of kids is such a personal decision. As a friend so kindly pointed out recently, so is homeschooling your kids. I could tell you that I love little kids, that I hope one out of six won't forget me in the nursing home, that I love the noise and chaos kids in the home make, and yes, those are all things I contemplate, sometimes love and sometimes hate about having lots of kids. But really, the only reason I've ever been able to honestly come up with is just that, from the time I was little, I've just always loved and wished for a large family. At the age of 7 spending time divided between two sets of grandparents and half a dozen uncles and aunts was a high for me, and something I hoped would never change. I loved listening to their stories, their dramas, and their trials. I have that now! All contained under one roof!

My house is not an interior designer's dream, as my mother would attest. My furniture is dingy, and thanks to my 3 year old, now filled with 50 holes thanks to him stabbing it with a screwdriver. I no longer have pretties out because they'll just be broken, carried off, goobered up, or placed in an even more precarious place. My piano has one leg now. I think I have one dresser left with one functioning drawer in it. There are spots on the carpet, handprints on the walls, and shoes scattered all over the house. We can't go through one meal without a spilled drink. We can't get in the car without smelling something funky and upon a short search, come up with at least 2 sippy cups with sour milk. You could drive by my house on any day and see a kid yelling out the window, a naked toddler rolling around in the front lawn (because no one would SEE him in the backyard), dogs running out of two separate doors at the same time, frogs living in my porch bench, or hear the Surf's Up movie blasting from my house because Simeon had to watch it for the 5481st time.

Do I wish my house looked like the cute little country cottage I gaze at so lovingly in the store? Do I wish we could just have one meal on a pretty table with matching glass dishes? Do I wish I could have pretty flowers planted along the front of the house? Yes, Yes and YES!! I'm slowing giving up attractive for functional. Why bother getting glass dishes because too small and slippery hands will smash them all within a year. Why bother getting flowers planted because I'll probably forget to water them and they'll just die anyway.

I was crying to Curtis the other day that I felt so embarrassed because all of our stuff is broken, worn, falling apart, mismatched or just ugly now. It didn't used to be that way. Two kids ago, I had a beautiful house with matching furniture and each room flowed into the next. I'm down to one organized and matching room now, and it's not even a room we socialize in! It's the baby's room!!

I have learned that I will one day have a clean house and pretty things and stuff will stay nice. I have learned that if someone is coming over, they aren't usually there to judge my house, but rather to see me and my family, and hopefully leave feeling good about their house knowing that yes, their's with lots of kids looks just like my house with lots of kids.

If you do plan to come over, here's some of my reminders. Help yourself to a drink, the cups are in the dishwasher and should be clean, but there is a yellow one that had acrylic paints in it and it's clean, but just looks dirty. Don't go in the shoe closet, I don't know if you will come back out. If you find a book on my shelves, just beware I might exclaim I never knew I had that because I've probably not seen it in years since the shelves are reorganized on a weekly basis. Ignore the laundry pile in the laundry room. The towels on my couch cushions are not hiding stains, but rather "protecting" the cushions from stains (unless your kid reaches his sticky, peanut butter hands UNDER the towels to wipe his hands on my couch). The desk chair squeaks and I will not think you passed gas. I'm sorry the bathroom smells weird. I don't know why. I don't care if your kids stands on my coffee table, just as long as they don't jump off. That coffee table has not seen a centerpiece in 5 years and your kid table dancing in the middle of it is a good enough centerpiece for me.

Oh, and I would want to be a great hostess and serve you a piece of wonderful and delicious chocolate cake, only my kids probably ate all the frosting off of it.

So, no, my house isn't perfect. I'm not perfect. Neither are my kids perfect. They argue, they whine, they get themselves into trouble for things like walking on the shed roof or smearing jelly on the TV. Are any of us perfect? Does anyone with a kid under the age of 8 have a museum like home? Don't we all have days that we hang out in our jammies and watch reality TV, eating bowls of comfort food? I think we all have days that get the better of us and leave us wallowing in some self doubt and self pity. The money doesn't stretch far enough, the food has run out before payday, my kid just stepped on a full capri sun and sprayed down the entire living room. These things happen! But you know what? All these things happened before I had kids. All these things happened when I just had 2 kids. No one is immune to these things!

Just Letting It All Hang Out

Ingredients:
2 6 oz. Key Lime yogurt
8 oz. whipped cream
1/3 c. boiling water
1 3 oz. box lime gelatin
Graham cracker pie crust

Directions:
Add the boiling water to the gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. Add the yogurt and whipped cream, stirring until blended. Pour into the pie crust and refrigerate for 3 hours. Try this with other flavors too!

Key Lime Pie

May 20, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: After three days of summer like weather with temperatures in the 90's, all good things must come to an end. We are getting a cold front in tonight that will drop the temperature down to 61 tomorrow. *sigh* I was so loving the hot weather.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: A wonderful husband who took time off of work today to help me put in a garden, and he did most of the work. I didn't even have to get my hands dirty. What a sweetie!!

FROM THE KITCHEN: Cowboy Beans and tortillas. I made a wonderful Key Lime Pie last night and never got to finish enjoying it since someone spilled it today. I'll post the recipe next.

I AM READING: Reader's Digest from May 2008. I dug it out of the bottom of the basket in my car. All my other books have been returned to the library and I keep forgetting to go for myself.

I AM HEARING: Dishwasher, wind, and Simeon making penguin sound effects.

I AM CREATING: Right now, nothing. I very much want to recover my couch and chair, so I've been studying directions on how to do that.

I AM GOING: Tomorrow we have no destinations awaiting our presence. I think we will hang around here and get stuff cleaned up, caught up on school, and do some menu planning.

I AM HOPING: To get the house organized by the time my parents come for a visit next week. I'm 3/4 way there. Yay!

AROUND THE HOUSE: We were outside all morning planting the garden, so of course the inside of the house has to get tore up. Can't ever keep it all clean at one time. The universe would implode or something if that ever happened.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: Nice spring showers. I will share a confession: I'm terrified of severe storms. I freak out with loud thunder, the smallest threat of a tornado, or down pouring rain or hail. Spring in Nebraska is hell for me. Living here for three years has somewhat lessened the terror, but I still have a little panic attack every time I see SEVERE WEATHER WARNING or watch the radars and see a supercell. Now, if it's just gently raining and the breeze is blowing slightly and I can open my windows and smell and hear the nice sounds of rain, then I'm okay and I think it's rather romantic.

Also, let me just note here, that where we live is on the outer edge of tornado alley, and most severe weather hits about 20 miles to 2 hours down the road from us, so I count my blessings every time we have a severe storm, that isn't really that severe. Unfortunately, this means someone down the way from us does end up getting it.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Paper routes! We have three this week when we normally only have two. Again, cleaning the house up in preparation for my parent's visit. Potty training a puppy...yes, we went insane again. Only this time, we took the dog in as a foster puppy. We are actively looking for a new home for her.

A PICTURE THOUGHT FOR YOU: I really wanted to get the kids' pictures taken when all the trees were in bloom with their flowers. This was taken out at the lake in a small fishing and camping area. I liked how they all worked for me that day, but the lens I had on the camera wasn't right for the portrait. I'm still happy it turned out okay though.

A Homemaker's Day Book

I've been neglecting the blog for a few weeks, not intentionally, but life has just been really busy. A few weeks ago I had one week that only allowed me to be at home 2 days taht week. The next week wasn't much better, and now this week is adding up to be the same. While there have been some interesting things that have happened, one thing in particuluar really stands out to me. Ammon and his 1 year old-ness.

Today I took the kids out to the lake and brought our load of camera equipment: camera, lenses, filters, tripod, and only left behind the kitchen sink, it felt like. I didn't use any of the stuff I dragged out there except the camera and the lense I had on it. I think I need some instructions on how to use the camera...we've only had it for two years. Anyway, getting side tracked there. It was Ammon who I really enjoyed photographing. He looked at the camera at the right time, smiled at the right time, did cute things at the right time...like eating a stick and then getting a look on his face that was one of puzzlement, gross, and "I won't do that again." He's so short, so he toddled around looking for stuff his height to play with. He was fascinated with the dandelions. And he talks about stuff now. After having two kids with speech delays, it still amazes me when my baby of 14 months says stuff like yes, car, kitty, no, baba (for bubbles...amazingly not for an actual bottle), mama, dada, and Hannah. Joshua talked early too, and so did Hannah, but it's still so amazing to me to hear his voice form words.

Ammon learned to climb onto furniture. Today when I came into the living room, he was standing on the piano bench, Simeon was standing on a chair and Joshua was standing on the desk. Who do I save first?! Ammon cleans up his toys, asks questions with that little lift at the end of his babbles, tries to rip the ears off the cat. Toilets are fascinating, and so are the soap bottles in the tub. Diaper changes must be accomplished within 2.5 seconds because that's all the time he's deemed necessary for them. What's in must be out, what's up must be down, and what's folded neatly must be crumpled.

I laugh every time I lay him down because he's made himself a little nest in his bed out of his favorite boppy, some blankets and a cloth diaper. If only my other children went to be so easily. He's given up most of his morning naps now, so he barely lasts until lunch time before falling asleep in his food.

Last week we experimented with floods in the garden area and Ammon loved wandering around the backyard, in the mud, on the toys, testing a dirt clod or two. He was happy today to wander off down a trail, free and as fast as his little legs would carry him. I have to say he's doing quite well walking in shoes now.

Sometimes I think about how many negative comments I get for having "all those kids". What would life be like without this one soul? What would I have missed had he not joined our family? Today I held both Joshua and Ammon on my lap while they both drank sippy cups of milk, wondering what they will be like as grown men. Had they not come into our lives, I'm sure it'd be easy to say at any given time "you wouldn't have a sewing machine covered in red permenant marker, or crayon drawings on the wall, or a broken DVD player, 15 loads of laundry, chocolate milk stains on the headliner of the van, or you could be sleeping through the night." Once again, I'm reminded that they are only in our homes for such a short time. These years of being in the trenches of motherhood are but a blink in our life time.

Life at 1

May 7, 2009

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW: It was really pretty today, warm and breezy at 73 degrees. This afternoon at 4 it clouded over and got cold and we should be getting rain again tonight. I love to sit by the open windows smelling and hearing the rain. It's so peaceful.

I AM THANKFUL FOR: Spring. I love the flowers, the green grass, the baby leaves, playing in the mud. Wait, let me rephrase that. I like watching my KIDS play in the mud. Kinda grosses me out personally.

FROM THE KITCHEN: Sweet Potato Enchiladas. Sort of. I modified it. It was good, but very interesting.

I AM READING: Twilight Children. It's a book written by a child psychologist about two children and a stroke victim. It's nice to know that even professionals are sometimes at a loss as to what to do with very difficult situations.

I AM HEARING: Jesse trying to untie a sock filled with corn from the top of his bunk bed. I'm not asking either.

I AM CREATING: Another rag quilt. I completed Jesse's and now have Isaac's to finish.

I AM GOING: To MOPS tomorrow for the last meeting of the season.

I AM HOPING: To get the kids back on track for the summer program I have ready for them. We are going to an year round school schedule.

AROUND THE HOUSE: Cleaned the house from top to bottom yesterday. I'm sure anyone can relate to this: you just deep cleaned last week and this week it's nasty again?

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS: All the laundry done.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: Get the garden put in, sprout my tomatoes and peppers, start an African garden out of dog/cat food bags and a hanging garden.

A PICTURE THOUGHT FOR YOU: My computer got fried last month and so I don't have any good pictures to share this week. I'm still looking for the USB cord.

A Homemaker's Day Book

Round is a shape, right? After watching and listening to Shiloah's experience with weight loss, it became blaringly apparent that I needed to do something for myself. You don't just have six kids and expect to remain the 115 lb. waif you used to be. I always dreaded being the mother that kept ten pounds after every baby, and guess what? That's what I did. After every baby the weight came off slower and slower, until now, I feel like it just never left. Something has to change. I don't like looking at myself anymore. Not that I fawned over myself in the mirror in the first place, but this is not what I remember looking like.

Today I decided this was it. I would start back to our excercise routine this week. Shiloah did the "From Couch to 5K in 6 Weeks" when she began running. Something that we have discussed over the past year while she has pushed herself through drastic diet changes and exercise routines, was emotional health, and in particular, how your emotional health effects your weight. I can see it in my own life. I can see it in my husband's life. While I feel like I've worked through some pretty major emotional hurdles over the last three years, I know I'm not completely "cured".

I decided to map out 3.1 miles tonight through the neighborhood. I drove (in a car) down a dirt road at the end of our street, up a hill, turned around and came back past our house. That was one mile. I started to feel like I was having an asthma attack. I got down to the two mile mark. I broke out in hives on my legs. I got to the two and half mile mark and got hives around my torso. I know that hives can be an emotional issue, so I sat in my car thinking for a few minutes, called Shiloah and discussed the issue, and then went inside to make dinner.

After dinner I decided that NO. I was not going to let some little hives and an imagined asthma attack stop me from exercising. I tied on my shoes, tightened my bra, put on some exercise pants and instead of struggling through the whole neighborhood, embarassing myself in front of the neighbors, I decided to go up to a 3 mile bike path. (Isn't that convenient? Already mapped out for you).

The boys came with me and we alternately walked and ran 3 miles in 40 minutes. They didn't give up and more importantly, I didn't give up. My face was red as a beet and I must have sounded like a heavy breathing horse, but I did it! And, no asthma attack and no more hives. This is what I figured out the cause was for the asthma and hives (which come to think of it now, has happened a lot in the past...like every time I had a PT test in the military). I hated basic training, and what I dreaded most was the exercise. There was never a chance to stop and rest. You had to run through that stomach cramp, leg cramp, and dehydration. You weren't allowed to walk, not unless you wanted to draw the wrath of the drill sergeant. And you had to run in step, which was horribly difficult for me and earned me the nickname Dookeystomper. I couldn't march either. I just didn't have the coordination. Remember Seinfeld and Elaine dancing? George said it looked like a dry heave in reverse? Yeah...that's me and my "moves". What exactly was I afraid of tonight? This: some 6'2 big dude with a Scottish accent running beside me yelling "Get in step!!! Do not disgrace me! Come on, you're embarassing me! You Dookeystomper! Get to the back of formation!!!!!" Think of Chef Ramsey berating you for running instead of cooking. Come to think of, my drill instructor kinda looked like Chef Ramsey. So, if that doesn't create instant hives, I don't know what will.

What Shiloah pointed out to me tonight was that it was really nice that I could run as fast, slow or not at all as much as I wanted. I didn't have anyone saying when or where or how long. I made those decisions. I thought I was going to pass out for the first mile. I was heaving, panting and parts of my body I didn't know I had were jiggling. This was all the more incentive to keep going and keep this up. I don't need this extra weight,and honestly, what am I holding onto it for? As we came back down the mile and a half though, the running was easier, my breath was coming easier and I could run for longer periods than when I started. It was actually kind of fun and I feel pretty good.

Now tomorrow....we'll see how I feel getting out of bed or just trying to walk.

Getting in Shape