If at First You Don't Succeed...

A few years ago a wonderful friend lent me the book A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot. At the time, I briefly read through it (much too briefly), sat it aside, and thought "nope, too much like a schedule - I don't want that structure!". I think it was my undisciplined, childish spirit yearning to remain free and not be shackled down with such matters. I returned the book and let it go...

The last few months I have been overwhelmed with housework, childcare, homeschooling, and the commitments of marriage. I became desperate. Two weeks ago, after a particularly trying day, I ordered this book and made a commitment to giving this "rule" a concious, honest-to-goodness effort. Boy, what a shock!

First off, as the author explained her state of mind that led to her forming of her own rule, I could have sworn someone was talking about me! Exactly, well, except I only have 4 children and she has 5! This realization is what led me on to very slowly peruse the first "P" - prayer. I realize just how much I have let my relationship with God slip. Sure I go to Mass every Sunday and pray with the boys each day, but I have been letting my own personal relationship with God go. I know this is why I have developed such a "bad attitude" lately concerning my duties as wife, mother, and teacher.

So I am in week one of a new start - and it is hard. It is hard to break old habits in order to build virtue, but I am giving it my all! And I am confident that God will help me out the rest of the way! Wish me luck!

Ten Random Facts Meme

Tagged by mom to almost four:

Ten Random Facts About Me:

1. I am one of the many fans eagerly awaiting the next Chicago Cubs World Series title - even appearance. For those who know nothing about baseball, the Cubs last victory was 1908. What can I say - I like the underdog!

2. I singed my hair in my 9th grade physical science class - actually I singed off my bangs almost entirely!

3. Combining my first two bits (baseball and injury), I also caught a line drive in the mouth when I was 8 years old and had to wear braces to hold my teeth in until the break in the bone healed.

4. I was a high school cheerleader - and if we ever have a daughter, I would NEVER let her be one!

5. I have an overwhelming fear of large bodies of water. That's why I don't see myself ever going on a cruise!

6. Any time I eat Italian food, I love to drink nice cold milk instead of wine. I've been told that this is very weird!

7. I would pick watching a great clean comedy over a sappy love story any day. The old Cary Grant "Arsenic and Old Lace" is my absolute favorite!

8. I love building toys (legos, Lincoln logs, etc.) and could sit and build with the boys for hours on end.

9. I find snakes very interesting and would not mind getting one as a pet for the boys, since I always wanted one but my mom said "absolutely not!".

10. The two things that I miss most about living in Houston are no snow (except for that amazing Christmas Eve 2 years back) and no Braums - a tremendous ice cream and dairy store chain that is all over Oklahoma, Kansas, and north Texas.


As I am still relatively new to the blogosphere, I don't know who else to tag - if I think of someone I will update this post!

In Brennan's World

Today we were illustrating "The Cow" by Stevenson for Brennan's Poetry book. Brennan first drew a cow eating grass and flowers in a meadow, just like the poem states. He then drew a horse because, well, horses stay with cows in meadows all of the time. I'm following this.

Then I see him draw what appears to be a black mountain on fire with an angry beast at the bottom. I asked him what that was and if it was a part of the poem. Brennan told me it was the angry bear in his volcano, and that they live next to the cow and horse in the meadow.

Only in a 5 year old's world! I love their imaginations!

A Cheerful Servant

Being World Missions Sunday, the visiting priest was talking about the importance of missions this evening at Mass. He also challenged everyone to think about what we do each day to serve others and not just ourselves. As I was about to half-heartedly dismiss this with "Hey! I'm a Mom! I spend ALL DAY serving others in lieu of myself!" God allowed the following thought to spring up in my mind - "Yeah, but do you serve cheerfully?". Whoa!

As I thought about this, I realized that while I may do a lot for others during my day, most of it is done grudgingly and with many a bitter thought or *sigh*. And as I mulled this over, I kept remembering that God loves a CHEERFUL giver. It is not what we do or give, but our attitude and the heart with which we give and do. It is the gentle smile and help offered to...

a 5 year old who is trying to clean up the spilled juice (for the 2nd time)
the 4 year old's missed trip to the bathroom (for the 3rd time)
the mess caused by the 2 year old just trying to help you make coffee
the baby who has cried all morning because he just wants to be held close by you.

It is not enough that each task is merely carried out in my day, but that each task is carried out with love. Because it is through my actions and reactions that these children will learn about how God loves, and I know that He doesn't sigh and pout because I haven't listened to Him again or had the same accident for the zillionth time. God loves...and he loves unconditionally over and over and over.

And I need to remember to do the same for my children. Cheerfully.

My Little Author

We were having an issue with Brennan scribbling little pictures all over his math and phonics workbook pages. I didn't want to make a big deal about it - after all he loves to draw - but it was getting to the point that it was interfering with the work on the page. It was about this time that I read a post on Rachel's website about her young son's school journal. A journal? What a great idea!

Since I have no qualms about copying other's ideas, I went out and bought a picture story pad (drawing page with 3 primary manuscript lines for writing). I told Brennan that he was not to draw on other workbook pages because he would get his chance every day after lunch to draw a picture in this book and it could be whatever he wants to draw about. When he finishes, we work together to write what the picture is about underneath. He has loved doing this! It is his favorite part of the school day! So far his book has been a collection of superheroes, treasure maps, soldiers, and battleships. And it has significantly decreased the doodles on his other work. I have also seen just how much improvement there has been in his phonics as we slowly sound out the words together. The other day he spelled out Darth Vader perfectly without help other than slowly saying each sound.

I am so glad that he enjoys this and hope that he continues to have such a love for drawing and writing.

About those Pork Chops

Last night we had the pork chops that didn't get made Monday night due to our power outage. The recipe is one from Danielle Bean's website that another reader sent in and it was fabulous! The only alteration that I made was I made my own apple pie filling instead of using canned by peeling and slicing 3 granny smith apples and mixing in lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Everyone loved it and my husband even commented on the wonderful smell when he entered the house after work.

I get so excited when we find a new really great recipe to add to our dinner cycle! Just had to share!

Principles of Engineering at Home

When people ask me what I do and I reply that I stay at home with the boys, the other question that will inevitably come up in some form is "What is your degree in?". Few people really know my answer because I actually taught before we had kids, but my degree is in chemical engineering.

Now there are many principles of engineering that I learned in school which I see in action on a daily basis. After all, much of engineering is being able to find a solution to a problem with the materials on hand - who else but moms have to rig up a broken toy/clothing/household item in a short amount of item (i.e. before child completely breaks down) with whatever is immediately on hand. Monday night however, I saw the perfect display of conservation of energy right in my own kitchen. (Conservation of energy being that when energy is lost, it has to go somewhere)

It was 4:30 pm and I was starting dinner. Brennan was sitting at the counter drawing, Nicholas and Philip were on stools next to me "cooking" with the tupperware, and Jonathan was sitting in the bouncy seat surveying the action. Thunderstorms immediately started up and then it happened - we lost all power. Lost our oven that was preheating, our stovetop that was browning pork chops, our microwave cooking frozen broccoli, and most importantly our light (boy was it dark outside too!). I stood frozen and said "well, there goes dinner!".

Did the boys notice? Care? Nope! Immediately my intuitive 5 year old runs for the emergency cabinet where we keep extra batteries, flashlights, and supplies. He excitedly hands out a flashlight to each of his brothers (minus the baby) and hands me the matches to "go light the candles in the family room". A quick look out the window at the rain water inching over the sidewalk and up the yard promptly brought requests for "my rain poncho" or "my umbrella". Never had I witnessed such a quick response to any situation. The boys were so wound up by all of this excitement and speculation of "when will the lights come back" and "how deep will the water get?" that even though we had power back at 6:48pm, we had trouble getting them settled for bed at 7:30pm.

Now if we could just harness that little boy energy and find some way to run the power with it...hmmm...

A Wasted Afternoon

This afternoon I had all 4 boys napping - at the same time. I had the roast and potatoes in the oven and the dinner rolls rising. It would have been the PERFECT time to go through those boxes of winter clothes or catch up on some cleaning.

Instead, I watched two season 1 episodes of Lost (rented from Blockbuster - my husband and I are now into the series and are trying to catch up!).

Stocking Up

I have yet to find a satisfactory way to complete our necessary grocery shopping. The problem is, that no matter what I try, this is a process that takes about 2 1/2 or 3 hours to complete from getting everyone's shoes on their feet to putting the last can away in the pantry. It is utterly exhausting. Some things that I have discovered in my many attempts to streamline the process:

1. I am MUCH more likely to cook if all ingredients are on hand - nothing irritates me more than to be missing just ONE ingredient in my recipe. I would almost rather be missing 2...or 3...or even all of the necessary ingredients than JUST ONE!

2. The most time consuming portion of the process is the fact that I have 4 tag-a-longs who love to "help". They are actually pretty good in the store, it is just that "help"...

3. While going on the weekends means dropping a boy (or 2 or 3), it also means dealing with more people in the store (which is also time consuming) and that means losing a few hours of our precious family time with Dad.

So my new idea, is to try to go less often. My recent decluttering has freed up a lot of shelf space in our laundry room, so I am thinking that I might be able to really stock up on pantry and freezer items. This would limit my grocery tips to twice a month. I could then fill in the alternating weeks with a quick Saturday morning trip to the local Kroger for milk, produce, cheese, and bread - which is really all that I would have to get more often due to the fact that it tends to spoil over more than a week. That really shouldn't take too long, maybe a 45 minute trip, should it? And the other wouldn't be that much longer than it already is either.

Sorry for the rambling - I am just trying to think out loud here! Please share your tips that you have for completing this daunting task. I know it can be done - it is just a matter of finding what works most efficiently.

Apparently I'm Teaching the Wrong Subjects

As I was tucking Brennan into bed tonight, he said "Mom, I want to change schools tomorrow". I was a bit confused, as lessons have gone really well this week, so I asked him "Well, where do you want to go tomorrow?".

Brennan replied "to X-men school, so Professor X can teach me what my super power is".

I guess that falls under the elective category.

Happy Birthday Philip!

Our darling little Philip Benjamin is 2 years old today! It has been amazing to watch him develop from baby to boy this past year. He is so driven, so eager to keep up with his older brothers. He wants to learn his letters and read, he wants to learn to use the potty (although Mom is not ready to go there just yet!), and so desperately wants to play baseball too! Philip is so funny! He loves to make everyone else laugh. Philip cares so much for his baby brother. He always lets me know when Jonathan starts fussing. Philip loves the crucifix at church. He lets everyone know that "there is Jesus".

I think that Philip enjoyed it being "his day" today. After all, you don't get to choose things as often with 2 older brothers. He got to have lunch at McDonalds. He even got to watch "Larryboy and the Bad Apple" and we had spaghetti and brownies for dinner - one of his favorites!

Happy Birthday Philip - may you continue to blossom during the years to come!

I foresee paybacks in the not so distant future

The older boys love our baby Jonathan so much, for which I am very thankful. They want to pick him up and talk to him, or maybe just play patty cake with him. However, there are times that their "love" really keeps the baby from getting the rest he needs. I wonder how frustrating this must be for Jonathan.

*sigh*

I think that I will hold on to this thought and remind the older said boys when Jonathan wants to be with them and copy everything that they do (which at times may annoy them). Because that too will be done out of love.

A Jack of All Trades

It is amazing how motherhood brings out all sorts of talents that you never knew you still had. Like the ability to climb over the 6ft privacy fence. Like the ability to climb through the 14 inch square window that sits 4 feet off of the ground. Yet when your 4 year old accidentally locks everyone out of the house (everyone except the 4 month old still asleep in the master bedroom that is) and you don't have your cell phone on you... or any neighbors at home... or any other windows unlocked except that one small, high master bathroom window, you realize that you can still fit through that window. You can because you must. Sheer necessity makes the seemingly impossible possible!

In Hindsight, a Bad Idea

After a weekend of people visiting from out of town and a birthday party in addition to the normal classes at church and baseball game, it is NOT A GOOD IDEA to take 4 small boys shopping for winter clothes on Monday morning. Even if you do have a wonderfully patient brother and sister-in-law to help (I don't know what I would have done without them!).

On the up side, my husband and I will have sheets on our bed tonight that do not have a single hole in them!

Time to go fix dinner - Thank goodness there are leftovers in the fridge for tonight!

Our Contribution to Society

Hat tip to Suzanne

Battleship Pictures

Well, it is only a month later and I finally downloaded the pics from my camera - I hadn't done that for 3 months! Here are the boys on the Battleship Texas. We have a recurring theme here - they really liked sitting on the guns!
Here is Brennan...

And Nicholas...

And Philip...

And last but defintely not least, Jonathan (who slept like this the entire time - my arm hurt the next day).

Now I'm Inspired!

Motivated by Danielle Bean's talk topic for this week, I set out this afternoon to declutter our house. After all, the youngest 3 boys were napping, the oldest was happily building lego spaceships, and dinner was already in the crockpot, so what better time to begin! I was already familiar with Flylady, but had yet to do a 27 Fling Boogie. So, I set out to begin...

After just a quick trip through the family room, I already had 56 items! We even had stuff that was clearly TRASH sitting in toy buckets, on bookshelves, and in couch cushions. Next, I moved the toys that were supposed to be in boys' rooms back to the designated spot. Finally, I vacuumed and dusted shelves - what a difference! Even my husband commented on how great everything looked. The amazing thing is how much room we really have in our family room when it is in order! Every time I think that we need "just one more room" in our house, I forget that we wouldn't need that room if we would just curtail on the stuff! I grew up in a packrat household, so this is a difficult habit for me to break, yet seeing the result in the family room is motivating.

Now I just have the kitchen, dining room, study, 3 bedrooms, laundry room, garage...uh oh! I'm losing my motivation again!