Category: Life

Sandal Weather

So today is our LOOOOONGEST day of the week.

Typically we leave the house at 7:30am and then get home around 9:30pm. Today being Daylight Saving’s Time – it coulda been horrific, BUT….my in-laws decided to re-arrange the service schedule and only have one service at 11am today and that meant that we didn’t have to even wake up until 8am and then we left at 9:30am…..so SO nice.

On these LOOOOOOOONG days, we usually go over to Jon’s parents house and put the kids down (and ourselves) for an afternoon nap. I LOVE SUNDAY AFTERNOON NAPS…..when you eat a delicious lunch and then crawl into a cold bed and it gets all warm and snuggly and you feel so delicious…..Mmmmmm!

Any way, we all went down to their basement and crawled in our beds. it wasn’t a super nice day today, but it wasn’t a horridly dreary rainy wet day either. It was bright and dry and just a little chilly.

There are no windows in this basement and so it’s nice and dark. We went to sleep and when we woke up – BOY! Were we in for a huge shock.

There was almost 2 inches of snow on the ground. It was absolutely dumping big fat heavy clumpy drops of snow. It had started after we went to sleep. It was so bizarre to have woken up that morning, slipped some sandals on and thrown a sweater over your shoulders and headed off for the day and then to be needing snow boots, or at the very least, just a pair of shoes……

We drove home tonight wondering what the weather would be like out here, because we are further inland and……NOTHING. Not even a skiff of snow…..but one report said that the low tomorrow could be down at -14. And here we are just 2 weeks from Spring. Too funny!

What was the weather like today, where you’re from?

Just Get Busy, Already!

I feel like I’m constantly encouraging my kids to stay focused when it comes to helping oout around the house.

I hate feeling like the weight of the house cleaning rests entirely on my shoudlers and I don’t feel like I’m doing my little “angels” (and I use the term loosly) any favors by “just doing it all for them” and so…….this means that I am constantly feeling like I’m trying to figure out a way to encourage them to do their part.

I jokingly typed the word “force” instead of encourage and then had to erase it because that is SO not what I’m trying to accomplish with my kids….and this leads me right into a whole ‘nuther topic with a whole ‘nuther post for ‘nuther day…remind me of this sometimes soon, eh?

So, We’ve tried charts and and points and we’ve even tried reasoning with them. Ha Ha HA HA HA HA! That one didn’t work so well – *shrugs* but I tried.

My mom read a book recently and was so excited to tell me all about this amazing system that she had found and how it was changing her life and that blah, blah, blah, blah de de blah blah blah…..

I tuned out about that point. I really don’t hold much hope for really exciting systems. Especially if I have no idea how they would possibly work with MY family and MY husband and MY kids…..and….who are we kidding…..ME!

So, Things were getting better as far as house cleaning and keeping things tidy and I was excited with the forward/upward momentum that my life seemed to be having. Especially seeing as I was now working outside the home 4 out of 7 days a week.

And then………oh and then……my baby decided that sleep was for wusses and the kids went on strike and the husband freaked out about work and money and time and blah, blah, blah – I tuned him out too after a bit – and I was so tired that I slipped a bit further behind and then even a bit more behind and then even a bit more behind and well……I ended up feeling like things were hopeless.

So I asked my mom for the book and well….it turned out that there might be some merit to the system after all.

I sat down on Thursday to start planning things out the way the book says to and really if I were honest with you all….I half expected that by the time the kids came home from school on Thursday afternoon – that the house would already be moving back towards where it should be. Ha Ha Ha Ha HA!

Two phone calls, and a lunch appt later and I had written down exactly 4 cards for my new system and the house was in no better shape than it had been that morning.

BUT…..I sat down after they got home and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote. I must have filled in more than 200 cards, and I still think that I’ve got more cards to write up, but HEY! It’s a start.

And so I started using the system on Friday and it was okay!

This system by the Slob Sisters uses index cards to help you and one thing that they said in their book that has really hit me is that there is now way that I can get it ALL done right away but…..if I’ve done 4 or 5 cards, that is 4 or 5 jobs that I hadn’t previously done and I’m actually better off than if I had done nothing. So WIN, right?

You write up jobs on each card and label them daily jobs, weekly jobs, monthly jobs, seasonal jobs or yearly jobs….they can be anywhere in between there, but I’m shocked at how it seems so much more managable when you just finally file all your cards over the month and realize that while you might not get everything done right away….that you will eventually get caught up and things will definately be better off than you were.

The kids have bought into this whole idea….I’m actually combining the cards with points. If they complete the card they get a point….if they complete the card within the “approximated” time written on the card then they get two points.

Today we plowed through a TON of work in 3 hours and while there was a whole lot of “JUST GET BUSY’s” thrown around – somehow, somewhere it seemed to click that this was easy and managable and they could totally buy into this.

Jeremy even said to me, “Mom, did you see how many cards I’ve done. I never even knew that I could do this much work.”

He’s my BIGGEST whiner when it comes to helping out….followed closly by Geli who just doesn’t like to work – but to see how he was excited by this and how he felt that he could do this….

I can actually SEE this system working for us.

I love the fact that once I do a “monthly” job that I can remove the card from my pile and file it with next months cards. And once I do a job for the week…it goes into next week. It also helps with other things like appointments and remembering to bathe the kids regularly – as opposed to the whole, “Freak, you stink! When did you last take a shower? Do not pass go! Do not collect $200. Get your butt in that shower and get that funk off you.” system that we’ve been rocking recently. I can file Jeremy’s bath for Wednesday night and if I get the girls on opposite nights, then it’s not like we have a melt down because the hot water has run out.

I can really see this working, and I’ve even talked with the kids about helping me on Thursday this next week to get things done for this next week so that we can take Saturday off and just have a family day.

I’m sure that I’ll be updating on this, but….we may have found something that actually works. I seriously hope so. Regardless, my house is in WAY BETTER shape than it was this morning. It’s not perfect, and honestly I have a LONG way to go, but…..progress, baby! Progress!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

I am so looking forward to a time when things area bit slower in our lives. In fact, as I type that – I may need to just create some times that are free and slower so that we have some “down time”.

This week has felt a bit crazy, and yesterday I left the house at 9:30am and didn’t get home until 8:45pm….almost 12 hours of being out and caring for Siah out, as well.

I am SO NOT USED TO THAT.

Don’t get me wrong – the little dude is amazing. Such a trooper, and he is typically so happy and when it’s nap time – he just nurses and then sleeps on the floor on a blanket for an hour or two. It’s awesome. I couldn’t ask for an easier baby. BUT….he’s not just baby anymore and even though he’s happy – HE IS BUSY! And always climbing and getting into things. And that can be a bit wearing, especially if I’m trying to “accomplish” something.

I keep having to remind myself that “HE IS MY MOST IMPORTANT JOB RIGHT NOW!” That tends to pull things back into perspective for me.

We have just a few hours at home this morning and then we are headed off to pick up the girls from a birthday party from my sister’s house and then we are headed – once again – into town. We are going to spend some time with Nana and then sleep over at her house so we don’t have to do the LOOOOOOONG drive in, super early tomorrow morning.

I’m sitting here bloggin when there are so many other things that I could be doing. I just finished 25 minutes on the eliptical and so I am sweaty and sticky and stinky and that just needs to be dealt with. The house needs a tidy and we won’t be home until late Sunday night, so that has to be done today or we come home to some serious fabulous-ness for Monday morning. YUCK!

I also need to do some laundry and some other general tidy/cleaning and take a look at the grocery inventory to see whether or not we need to pick something up for Monday so that the kids aren’t whining about no food.

And so, I will go to get moving on my day.

I have a few questions for you guys though…Do you have a strategy for “down time”? Do you schedule it in? Do you take down time or no? How do you fit everything in and not be totally stressed out?

ps – February will be bringing a super-duper sale in the shop so be looking for it.

Feeling HUGELY Under Pressure

I feel like I’m under pressure to make EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT. COUNT.

I feel like if  I take some time as down time, then I’m not going to be able to get everything done and if I get behind on stuff then how will I ever manage to stay on top of it all….laundry, cleaning, organizing, planning….so much stuff to do….

See, today is my home day.  Right now I have 2 days during the week that I am fully at home and while I realize that this would be a HUGE luxury for some, this is a HUGE change for me.  I am used to every day being a home day and there is a HUGE part of me that liked the slower pace of being at home. 

To be completely honest, there was also aonther part of me that was completely bored…and so it’s a good thing that I am now able to be busy, but I am still in the whole “adjustment period” of things.  If you’ve had a child go from being at home every day to going to pre-school or kindergarten and they come home and are so over-tired from the overstimulation of the day…..that’s where I’m about right now.

I come home absolutely exhausted whenever I’ve been working.  I don’t know how all you “working mom’s” do it.  I am finding that as with just about everything in life that I see both the positives and the negatives in our situation.  I do trust that it will eventually work it’s way out to a great routine, but this sorting things out and figuring out the new “normal” is a bit taxing – on me.  The kids seem to be doing good…Sunday’s are probably our hardest days just because of the length of the day, but again…we’ll work it all out soon enough.

I know that I need to add some sort of an exercise routine into my schedule life as it would probably help me out too.  Still working on a “schedule” – I hope I can figure one out soon.  I do so much better when I “know” what to expect, as opposed to just flailing around spontaneously…..although I recognie that a certain amount of spontanaiety can be a good thing especially if you tend to be a bit too controlled..not that I’m anything but completely balanced in that aspect…Ha Ha HA HA HA HA HA!

Oh well……Today I’ve managed to made a big pot of chicken veggie soup from the roast chicken that we had for dinner last night and that should last us for dinner tonight as well as for a couple of lunches. 

The kids have tomorrow as a ProD day and we are just going to take them into work with us.  It should be interesting!  They can play and watch videos and I just have to figure out what to take for us all for lunches tomorrow….fun!

And then…..Then we are going to hang out with our friends tomorrow night.  It’s been far too long since we have spent any time with them and it will be fun to just hang out and relax.  We can always use a little bit of downtime, and this is some of our most favorite ways to relax….hanging out with our friends…no agenda, just chillin’…

What are some of your favorite things to do to relax…either personally or as a family?

ps.  I added some of our pictures up over at Flickr so you can either click over HERE to check it out or click on the “Photos” button in the menu at the top.  There are about 6 new albums that you can click through – if you’re interested??

Hello…..ooo…oooo….oooo….oooo……oooo…oooo (can you hear the echo?)

Yah, I’m still here.

It’s been quite the week. I went in and stayed with my mother-in-law this past week. It was fun. We worked and ate and hung out and the week just seemed to fly past.

It’s always different to be away from my house and from Jon and the kids but I know that Jon is amaing with the kids and keeping things going and so that makes it all good.

This whole working thing is going to be a good thing I think………?

It’s definately going to take some planning and some serious organization to work out a really good schedule and to plan the meals and to keep on top of all the house stuff.

But, I think that being out of the house a few times a week will be good for me. I will actually feel like I’m accomplishing more than just another meal or the 1,874,352nd load of laundry….not that those things aren’t so exciting but…..well…..ya know…..I’ll just leave it at that.

Things shouldn’t be as crazy as they were last week normally….and I’ll looking forward to finding out what the new “normal” schedule will look like.

The drive home last night in traffic wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and I didn’t even have Siah with me to be able to take advantage of the HOV lane. And it still only took 1 hour to get home. It take 45mins. with no traffic….so not bad, eh?

Still it’s an hour, but with a cell phone to keep you company – it’s all good.

Now, I have a butt load of things to get done today and so I’m off to blow through this place in the hopes of a whirlwind cleaning situation.

I have a question for you though…..do you have any ideas for either crock pot meals or roasts or one dish meals that can be prepared beforhand….ready to be popped in at the right time?

I can adjust most meals to suit our non-dairy, non-wheat eating family but it helps to have some new ideas and to hear what YOUR favorites are. So, lemme know what works for you.

Happy New Year Y’all

Alright, so did ya party it up? I hope so….

Me??? I hung out with Jon and Chris and we ate steak and crab legs and “Wii’d” it until approximately 11:30ish and then I tidied the kitchen….’cause I’m a party animal like that….it was AWESOME! Let me tell you…

And now..now, here we are 4 days into the New Year, and well…..there are some big changes that have happened and some more big ones still to come.

Jon and I are now on staff at the Life Center in Vancouver. At this point that means an hour’s commute….doesn’t that sound SO TOTALLY AWESOME!

We had our first day today and we had to leave the house by 8am and we didn’t get home until after 4pm. That was a LOOOOOOOONG day for us and it felt even longer for the kids.

We’ve been throwing around the idea of moving – not really “if” we would move, but more along the lines of “when” we should move…..tonight after dinner, the girls were talking and mentioning how LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG the day was and how if this was going to be “normal” then we should probably move in sooner rather than later.

We’ve been talking about staying put until the kids are finished school in June…..BUT….that’s 6 freaking months away and I might be just a little bit insane at that point…not to mention that I thrive on highly effective uses of time and energy and the thought of 2 hours of driving in a day just about kills me….fortunately we have decent phone plans and can make somewhat effective use the time so it’s not a COMPLETE waste…but still….it’s definately not the most effective use of time and energy and it makes me cringe a little…well…..a alot….so…..(you lik my use of periods there….it just means that I’m pausing in my thinking – work with me……’mkay?) we obviously have some thinking and forward planning to do.

So, ya…..well….Jon is still working doing Web Design and we have some planning and organizing and some decisions to make about that too…what to do? What to do? What to do?

It will all work out, but…….like my children who are still awake even though they were sent to bed 2.5 hours ago because they too are reeling a bit by all the change and tying to sort out what that means to them and how it will affect them – I am also trying to work out how this will all play itslf out. It’s a bit messier than I’d like. I don’t mean that it’s a messy situation, but that I like things neat and structured and this is a bit more of a fluid situation and I “get” to learn how to function within the fluidity….it’s a good challange for me and I like challenges…right?…..sure I do?

I will probably be working my thoughts out a bit in between all the other mindless drivel that I spew on you and so I welcome you along for the ride. It’s going to be fun and I have to say that for all my apprehension about the unknown, I know that its going to be good and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all plays out and to seeing where we are at in a few months.

So, that was my big New Years excitement….how about you?

Oh, I almost forgot….I am also a part of a Biggest Loser Challenge and so I’ll be moaning about weight loss over the next 3 months…and that should also be AWESOME!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I’d love to sit around and chat with ya all day today, BUT…….duty calls.

I’ve got to do something about my house. My bedroom looks like my dressers threw up – there are clothes EVERYWHERE. Does your room ever get like that? Plus I’ve got laundry to do – like OOOOOOODLES of laundry to do, and my kitchen…..OH MY GOODNESS! Don’t even get me started on my kitchen. I’ve been avoiding it hoping that the kitchen fairies would do something.

It doesn’t seem to be working. My kitchen fairies are WAY smarter then my mom’s kitchen fairies. (I’ll have to tell that story sometime soon – remind me, okay?)

We helped my grandparents move into a gorgeous townhome on Saturday, and then on Sunday we were off to Vancouver for the day. It’s been fun, but busy and now I’m paying for all that fun – with the disaster that’s left behind in it’s wake.

And the drama with the downstairs people……I’m a little too upset to laugh about it all right now, and even talking about it is getting me upset, but I’m sure I’ll be able to talk about it – heck, maybe evn laugh about it all soon. BUT NOT RIGHT NOW!

Let’s just leave it with mentioning that the neighbor’s fence was smashed in, their front door has been kicked in so badly that you can’t close or latch it or anything, we have a connecting door through to our house, they are talking drugs, having parties until 4am, with all sorts of creepy looking guys,we’ve called the cops and they say that they can do nothing……alright – I’m getting workedup again. I’ll come back when I’m not so upset….and not so busy.

BUT…..we are almost ready to choose a winner in the GIVEWAY.

Enter to win, and if you name is chosen, you get to pick one item from my store….ANY ONE ITEM, and I’ll send it to you for free! Just because!

How fun is that?

Click here for all the details, and leave me a comment. You have until Tuesday at midnight my time (PST).

Don’t be shy! I’d love to be able to give something to YOU!

Some Thoughts on Community

The week of our vacation was eye opening in some different ways, and it actually really cemented some of what I want or am looking for in my life.

We had two large families – by today’s standards – in close quarters for 9 days, and we all did really well together.

It was like a huge family unit.

All our different strengths and weaknesses were apparent, and there was such a sense of love and unity and working toward togetherness…it was amazing.

This is not to say that everything we did, that everyone else agreed or even liked what we were doing, but that we trusted each other enough and loved each other enough, and truley believed that each of us had the best interests of the other at heart.

I think that in “society” today, we have such an sense of independance and isolation, and individualism and that we’ve lost a good part of the community or “village” mentality. I think that we have lost out on the support and help and the wise input from others in raising our families and also in growing and maturing ourselves.

I remember when I wa younger and lived in North Vancouver. We were a part of a local church, and there were many different people from all walks of life….young adults, singles, young marrieds, young families, parents of older kids, empty nesters, and the elderly. There was so much imput that all could have to offer and we as kids growing up in this close community knew that we always had someone close who could help us out or who we could talk to or that if we were doing something that we shouldn’t be doing, we knew that we had a hundred pair of eyes and ears watching our for us and over us.

I think that it created a very safe place to grow up in, and a very safe place to learn in and so many different views to learn from.

I think that there is something to say for having different views and insight on any given situation. It enables you to learn to think through different situations before coming up with a plan.

Our vacation was such an example of community or family at work. When I needed extra support with my kids, I always had another adult gently reminding my kids of what I had said, and I was able to offer the same support. I also love the fact, that there are different things that are important to different people, and that we can see be watching, what different things are important to different people and then you ven have the opportunity to watch and work out why those different things might be important, and you have the option of learning and growing from what they are doing. Not that you are trying to be exactly like them, but you can learn and adapt what others do to fit within your family life.

In dealing with Jeremy, specifically, I don’t feel like too many people understand him or where he’s coming from, or us and specifically us dealing with him.

Dealing with a child who has ADD can be utterly and completely ovrwheling, and tiring beyond all reason. And there are no signs that show that there in anything “wrong” with the child aside from the destruction that follows him, and the stressed out parent hovering closely by.

I spend so much of my time trying to protect both you from Jeremy and Jeremy from you.

It was amazing to me, that this past week – I was able to relax a little and to let others help me in parenting Jeremy. There were still moments that I stressed, and problems that had to be dealt with, but to feel that there was someone else that I trusted with him….that even if they didn’t completely understand Jeremy and what was “up with him” that they wanted to understand, and that they loved him and us and had our best interests at heart.

I couldn’t have said all that to you…..what I did know was that I felt safe. Safe to let Jeremy be Jeremy and safe to just be me.

Over the course of the week, Jeremy did do some things that were not acceptable. It is all related to the ADD, and dealing with things “NOW” without thinking through the consequences and having him dealing with Jason or Lise as opposed to me was interesting. It’s not that no one was upset (it wasn’t about being upset or not being upset), but that even in our upsettedness (is that even word) that there was a different way to deal with and/or explain things to Jeremy. I love that. I love that in love and trust there is safety.

I want to try and find a way to foster and grow a village for my family. I love the idea of many people pouring into my kids and even me, and I want to be a part of pouring into others in the same way.

How? How does this happen? I’m still working that through, but I think that honesty, openess and just being real – plays a big part of it.

The more open and real I am about my struggles, as oppsed to trying to put on the “perfect face” and trying to be “perfect” in front of everyone, the more others will grow to know and understand what I’m going through, and the more understanding and caring they will be.

I’m still working all this through, but it’s what I’m working towards.

Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

So, About that vacation…

We had the most wonderful week away with the most amazing friends.

We laughed, and chatted, and fished, and swam, and eat and didn’t sleep very much (that was us, not them – and not for all the good reasons *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* – nope, Siah decided to wake up once an hour every hour, and we were in a cabin with Jeremy, and I just wanted him to sleep, so I nursed him in bed with us, and well….that was the closest to just wanting to let him cry it out that I’ve got in a long time. I know that I could do that, but really, I’m not just ready yet, mmmkay….moving on!)

So, like I was saying, there was lots of fishing….

Fishin' Boy

And lots of Rope Swinging….

Working the Rope Swing

And we did a little Canoeing….

Mommy's helper

Lots of happy smiling children….

Emily & Xani

Snuggling….

Snugglin' with Lala

A little bit of…..well, I don’t know what to call this, but ihe’s just so cute!

Yah!

I have lots of pictures up and you can just click here to see them all.

Our time away was wonderful on so many levels, but it really made me aware of the need for “community”.

That is the “something really cool that I want to share”. It’s not earth shattering, but it’s just really been somthing that I’ve been thinking about and mulling over and it’s been stirring inside of me for a while and well…..I’m still trying to work it all out.

But…….I have some little monkeys that are pulling on my pants legs, which makes me think that I’ve been on my computer long enough, so I’ll be back to share my “musings” a bit later.

Letting it go….letting it ALLLLLLLLLLLL go!

So, ummmmm….thanks for letting me vent yesterday. Not like you really had a choice, because I kinda did it without asking, but for any and all who did read, and just nodded your heads and carried on…..yah….that’s about what I needed.

I needed to get it out there and then I spent the rest of the day processing and today – I am in a much better frame of mind.

I have some clarity about some things….things of which I will speak of shortly or soon or in the not too distant future, but for now….it is enough to say that I am back in the state of “being content where I am at.”

In other, completely unrelated news…Jon is giving Siah a bath because he asked for one. This kid (read that to say baby, not kid) loves the water, and I had just sat down to try and blather on and on here, and he headed straight for the bathroom, which usually means a little toilet fishing, and with certain bigger little boys who sometimes forget to flush…..not that I’m mentioning names or anything…..that can be a scary, scary thing.

So, I cut him off at the path, and he pointed towards the bath…which had water in it from J popping in for fun this afternoon. I told ‘Siah that if he wanted to have a bath that he’d had to talk to daddy. then I said, “bath” a few times and took him out and closed the door. I had JUST sat back down and he took off, bookin’ it at warp speed – well as fast as 1 foot tall chubby legs will carry you – towards my room and bathroom….this is where he “normally” has a bath….I ran to get him before he went toilet fishing in my bathroom, and when I picked him up he looked at me and said, “ba..”

So I asked him “what to do want?” and he said it again….”ba..”

So I took him out to Jon and told him to tell Daddy what he wanted and he looked right at Jon and smiled HUGE and said it again.

It’s so cute to see him start to say little words. He understands more than he is speaking, but the little words are so cute.

In less cute news, Jeremy tried to ummmmmm….use the toilet from a standing position and well…it ended badly and I had a bunch of smeary cleaning to do……Needless to say, he got quite the talking about the evils of sky dumping and why it would cost him HUGE if he ever did it again.

Geli choked down a whole plate of “meatless” tacos that she didn’t really like….which is AMAZING because to get her to try ANYTHING new is a serious challenge let alone eat something that she doesn’t like with out too much complaining….that is the key here…..without TOO MUCH COMPLAINING. There was some complaining, but not enough that it made our ears bleed.

Xani is reading everything in site, and is making it quite difficult to keep her in books. She just finished “Hinds Feet On High PLaces” and is going to be starting “Pilgrims Progress in the next couple of days…..She has a serious reading addiction, although I’m not really upset…..read, baby, read.

Jon has got so much work that he is trying to not stress out, and well…..sometimes that’s hard. Who knew that too much work could be almost as stressful as too little….who knew???!?!?!?

I’m…..well…..I’m trying to get us all ready and organized for a vacation that coming up before too long….ya know…with menu’s and bags and all the “gear” that is needed for vacationing with a baby and 3 other kids…..and I’m trying to ONLY BRING what it necessary, and not TOO much.

Alright…that’s it for now…