Chaos Containment

Approaching the loft, my eyes widen.  The plastic castle has exploded, carnage abounds:  princesses, horses, a jewelled crown.  Testing my tether, I secure my line of retreat.

"I'm goin' in!"

__________________________

Linking up with Trifextra - 33 words including tether, loft and crown.  Also inspired by our current play room we have been calling "The Loft" -- Lots Of Fun Toys -- and the daily struggle to contain the chaos.

small things {glue guns}

small things #71 ... glue guns

I love my glue gun.  My rusty, trusty, trigger-happy, turquoise glue gun.

This morning I blew away a pile of odds and ends in need of some fixing ...

Lydia's poor, dismembered pencil-topper monkey - Ka-pow!

Norah's cutie-patootie magnet face - Poom!

Ashley's dusty foam frame (complete with cobwebs!) - Blam!

Three out of the four wings on my decrepit dragonfly napkin ring - 

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!

The unintentional floppy parts of Aaron's wannabe Teva sandals - 

Pow! and Phuwp!

Ma and her glue gun ... the Fixin'est Gun in the West!

Glue guns ... my crafty way of keeping my house together.  

One splootch at a time.

Bag O' Glass

I currently have a bag of glass sitting on my dining room table.

Which, of course, brings to mind this memorable Dan Aykroyd skit from SNL.


This bag of glass is as a result of one of my wall hangings leaping from its hook on the wall and plummeting to the tile floor below.  In the hustle and bustle of making dinner I managed to sweep up the broken pieces and dispose of them, but the cross-stitch, frame and remaining jagged shards were quickly slipped into a bag and deposited on the table until I could take care of it.

I haven't gotten to it yet.

This same dining room table is also currently a fort.  Every spare blanket in the house has been rubber-banded to the chairs creating a super-cool hide-out filled with books, pillows, stuffed animals (no Chainsaw Teddy Bears, of course) and a treasure trove of odds and ends.  Our dining room table has been a fort for over a week, even though it was scheduled for demolition days ago.  I know that once I get the blankets off, there will be a good 45 minutes of toy and book relocation and time has been tight.

So I just haven't tackled it yet.

I walked into the kitchen just a bit ago and noticed that there is a sizable collection of crumbs, dog hair, grass clippings and crunchiness along the baseboard under the dishwasher.  My eyes followed the baseboard around the rest of the kitchen floor and I shuddered to imagine the amount of nastiness that needs to be swept up. I know that it would just take me a minute, but quite honestly I don't feel like I have that minute to spare.

I'll have to clean that later.

I have a load of odds and ends sitting in the dryer.  It's been there for two days.  I tossed in the load of towels and napkins and completely forgot about them.  That is until I was looking for the napkins for dinner, which meant I resorted to pulling out some left-over Christmas ones.  Perfect.  I will take care of that load of laundry soon.  But only because the kids are running out of pants that fit!

I guess I'll get to it eventually.

We got our new couch four days ago.  On the very first afternoon it was here, I noticed that the chaise end of the couch sits in the sun for about an hour every day from around 2:00 to 3:00.  I told myself, "I'm going to park myself on that end of the couch, close my eyes and melt.  If only for 20 minutes.  It would totally recharge me."  I have yet to take advantage of that sunny spot.

I haven't squeezed that in yet.

As a mom, you now how it goes.  The tyranny of the urgent.  When the day starts at 6:21 and zooms along until bedtime, you face that pesky list of "gotta-do's" (feed kids, grocery shop, drive kids to school, keep up with little people) while many of those "someday I'll" projects get shuffled to the side.

There's a little girl that is wandering around the house right now looking for someone to play with.  She is eager for her sister to wake up so they can be silly together, but in order for our baby sissy to be silly and not cranky, she needs to sleep a little longer.  Even though I would love to sit here a bit longer and maybe toodle around Pinterest, I think I'll take advantage of this "just you and me" time and cuddle with my Ashley.

My one-on-one time with LeLe (like the sunshine warming the end of the couch) is fleeting.  As for the household chores, they'll still be there.  Guaranteed.

“Show me, LORD, my life’s end 
   and the number of my days; 
   let me know how fleeting my life is." (Psalm 39:4)


.... so that I'll be quick to enjoy the things that really matter.

I wrote this post last Friday afternoon ... I am happy to report that I did get to hang over the cushion of the chaise couch in the sunshine and play a game of Fluxx with Ashley.  I think she let me win.


This weekend the fort was dismantled with some help from Daddy and the bag of glass has been disposed of.  As for the crumbs ... they're still there.

Deck the Halls

Today is day six of my Musical Count-Down to Christmas and I have another old favorite to share with you.  Bing is back to sing "Deck the Halls", complete with a silly little wintery video:



Lyrics | - Deck the Halls lyrics

Inevitably, when I hear this song, I envision the final scene of "A Christmas Story".  The family has found their way to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner following the tragic destruction of their turkey dinner by the Bumpus hounds.  In a generous effort to cheer the family, the wait staff are attempting to sing Christmas songs.  The Parker family is in absolute stitches over the singers "fa-ra-ra-ra-ra-ing".  So I guess they were successful!

As I listened to this song today, I was caught up again in all the "la, la's".  And there are a lot of them.  Ninety-six, to be exact.

By the third verse, I'm a bit wore out from "la-ing".  We "la" and "la" and "la" some more.  Over and over and over again.

As a mom, I find myself in much the same way repeating tasks and feeling a tad bit worn out by them.

I wash dishes and then turn around to find the sink full again.
I go to the grocery store only to find the fridge empty.  And bright.
I fold the last of the laundry and find the hamper has begun to fill again.
I vacuum the floor and discover that nature has found its way back in.
I prepare a meal and within four hours those kids are hungry again!
I suds up little Lydia in the bath and find her toes are stinky once more.
I cut Aaron's hair and within a few weeks it's curling over his ears again.
I snuggle Ashley as she grieves some new injustice and then find Norah in need of a hug.
I make my bed and then climb in again at night.
I go to sleep only to wake up in the morning to face another day.

La, la, la, la, la ... indeed!

It is tempting at times to look around the house and think that my efforts are in vain.  Does it really matter if I tackle these tasks day after day?!?  In spite of the apparent redundancy of my energies, it does matter.  A lot.

My day may be full of ordinary and oft-repeated tasks, but they are the backbone for our home.  These chores help to make this house a haven for my family.  And anyone else who happens to find themselves under our roof.  That might include you. :)

These endless jobs are actually sacred in God's eyes.  His approval and validation of my attempts to create a home out of this house have the power to change my perspective regarding these mundane tasks.

Suddenly ...
Cleaning up today's umpteenth spill is a spiritual act of worship.
Comforting my little drama queen is a ministry to her heart.
And serving my family is an opportunity to love them with Jesus's love.

The days of a mom may feel a bit like an unending list of "la, la, la's".  But in truth, each day we have an opportunity to live a life that sings back to God of His goodness and faithfulness.  And seeing as God's love and compassion are endless, we have a lot of singing to do!

Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la!

Thankfulness {day seven}

Last week the kids were off school.  And, consequently, off balance!

It is glorious to have a break from the daily routine, to toss the schedule out the window and shake things up a bit!  I really do love when my kids are home for a break.  Our mornings are slower - no need to bustle and tussle out the door at eight thirty.   We set the course of the day - no one else's schedule dictating our mornings, afternoons and evenings.  We play a bit more - less "should-do's" and more "want-to's".

But all that freedom can make our household run a little off-kilter.  That's when it's doubly sweet to jump back into the predictable, plot able, programable plan each day.  Discovering again that a little routine goes a long way towards having a happy home!

Yesterday I sent the three big kids back to school.  They almost skipped out the door and I happily hummed as I watched them drive away.  Then I closed the door and smiled.  I still had two little people to care for, but as they quietly played and slept, I was able to put our home back on track.

It went a little something like this ...

Selecting "Christmas Medley" on my iPod,
Washing the breakfast dishes and wiping down kitchen counters,
Rummaging through the kitchen for all the parts for dinner,
Cleaning Petey's cage and refreshing all his dishes and water,
Sweeping the kitchen floor,
Taking down Lydia's birthday decorations (finally),
Stacking all the clean laundry for kids to put away,
Answering e-mails and leaving messages,
Making phone calls and wrapping up loose ends,
Helping Lydia with her new puzzle,
Freeing our Christmas tree from it's netting,
Filling the tree stand with water,
Vacuuming up the first of those pesky pine needles,
Feeding and cuddling Baby S.,
Snuggling with Lydia on the couch,
Preparing lunch for us girls ...

The beautiful humdrum of life!

It may have seemed like just an ordinary morning, but in reality it was sacred.  The holiness of haven-making ... creating a shelter for my family!

Today I am thankful for the natural rhythm of our lives and the opportunity to be home with my kids ... allowing me to make this a place of refuge and refreshment.

What If ...

Growing up, we read a lot of Shel Silverstein.  And honestly, I wasn't quite sure about that guy.  His drawings looked like something I could have done - a little bit childlike.  His poems were pure silliness (sometimes mixed with a little bit of creepiness) - perfect goofball humor for elementary-aged kids.  And his picture on the book jacket confirmed to me that he was a just a little bit different - what was with the furry beard and bald head?

But I was hooked on his words and can still remember some of my favorites ...

Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too

"Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me too, 

Went for a ride in a flying shoe ..."

The Beard

"My beard grows to my toes, 

I never wears no clothes, 

I wraps my hair, 

Around my bare, 

And down the road I goes."

The Hat

"Teddy said it was a hat, 

So I put it on. 

Now Dad is saying, "Where the heck's

the toilet plunger gone?"

Reading back through his books with my kids ...

I'm still not sure about that guy!  Still childlike, silly, creepy and goofy, but now I see how he appealed to the kids and the adults alike and managed to entertain us all and even educate us a little.  And give us all a good chuckle/shudder/snort!

One poem in particular, has truly stuck with me and I find myself repeating it back to myself periodically.

Whatif

By Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

and pranced and partied all night long

and sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I'm dumb in school?

Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?

Whatif I get beat up?

Whatif there's poison in my cup?

Whatif I start to cry?

Whatif I get sick and die?

Whatif I flunk that test?

Whatif green hair grows on my chest?

Whatif nobody likes me?

Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?

Whatif I don't grow taller?

Whatif my head starts getting smaller?

Whatif the fish won't bite?

Whatif the wind tears up my kite?

Whatif they start a war?

Whatif my parents get divorced?

Whatif the bus is late?

Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?

Whatif I tear my pants?

Whatif I never learn to dance?

Everything seems well, and then

the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

Having a nervous nelly-belly, I remember a lot of those same Whatifs visiting me at night when I was growing up!


Lately, however, my Whatifs have taken on a different look.  A bit of a "What If Mommy Didn't" look.


I don't know about you other parents, but doesn't it seem like you spend an inordinate amount of time picking up, straightening up, and putting back around your house?  And more often than not, it's not your stuff?!?


On any given day, I have to wonder ...

• What if I didn't pick the shoes off the floor that almost just barely made it into the shoe bin?
• What if I didn't wipe the ginormous crumbs off the table that somehow fell off someone's plate?
• What if I didn't carry upstairs the 2 1/2 pairs of socks that someone left on the bottom step?
• What if I didn't scoop up the random pile of Legos from the dining room floor before vacuuming?
• What if I didn't hang up the sweatshirts that repeatedly jump off their hooks?
• What if I didn't wipe the crunchies off the kitchen bench ... the ones nobody else seems to mind sitting on?
• What if I didn't put the stool back where it belongs, instead of in the middle of the hall?
• What if I didn't wipe the nasty glob of toothpaste off the countertop ... right next to the gooey smear of hand soap?
• What if I didn't put the gallon of milk back in the fridge?
• What if I didn't clear the half dozen board books off the couch and from behind the pillows?
• What if I didn't hang up the sodden towel on the very available bathroom hook?
• What if I didn't gather into the trash all the semi-used Kleenex from someone's bed?
• What if I didn't pick up the baseball cap and glove and ball and bag from the dining room?
• What if I didn't re-straighten the pillows and blankets haphazardly strewn across the couch?
• What if I didn't hang up the pj's and toss the dirty undies in the hamper?
• What if I didn't re-shelve the library books that have escaped the bookshelf?

What if?  What if?  What if?


I think it's very likely that the kitchen would be grungy, the floor would be littered and the general cleanliness of our house would give me a twitch.  


But ... maybe, just maybe, I'm missing out on some very teachable moments with my kids.  I know that I don't give them enough credit for what they are able to do and I know that sometimes I don't give them enough opportunities to prove they can be responsible.  Too often I think that it's just easier for me to pick up the socks, toys, towels and books rather than setting that responsibility back on their little, but able shoulders.  In reality, it's a disservice to them for me to continue to clean up after them.


So ... here and now (raising my right hand) I am committing to handling this "What If?" problem a little differently.  Instead of picking up the Barbie or StarWars action figure and putting it away, I going to put it in my "Buy Back Bin".  Instead of re-hanging the towels or sweatshirts, I'll put them in my "Buy Back Bin".  Instead of saving the Legos from the vacuum and putting them away, I'll put them in my ... say it with me ... "Buy Back Bin".  Instead of tidying up the couch, throwing away the Kleenex or returning the milk to the fridge, I'll notify the guilty party and they can do it, plus a job from the "Great Learning Box".  There's the potential for this to be a little more work for me, but I have to remember that it's an investment in me not spending the rest of my life picking up after my kids!  Especially since they are all 100% capable of doing that job themselves.


With the number of items that I step over on a daily basis, I think I'm going to need a bigger "Buy Back Bin" and a few more chores in the "Great Learning Box"!  But, I think I'll also have a few more minutes in my day, a few less grumbles in my mind and heart, children learning the benefits of responsibility ... and a really clean house!


Want to join me in the "Wipe Out the What Ifs" crusade?  It promises to be rather liberating!


_____________________________________


I wrote this post on Saturday (in the throes of a "put your stuff away" mommy-tantrum!).  We had a brief pow-wow while sitting around the breakfast table and put the plan into immediate effect.  Currently the "Buy Back Bin" contains two shoes (that don't match), a pair of flip flops, some random toys, a light saber and someone's slightly damp bathroom towel.  But, I also have three kids who are significantly more aware of their own things (out of fear of losing them, no doubt) and a tidy-er home.  Now if we can just keep it up!

How Many Feet Do You Have?!?

We all have those areas of our houses that make us want to pull our hair out.  Okay ... to be perfectly honest, I have about a dozen of those little nooks and crannies in my home.

There's the drawer in the living room hutch that is jam packed with all sorts of odds and ends:  candles, old pictures, holiday cards, dice, a matryoshka doll and frame with Aaron's baby handprint ... just to name a few.  I'd go take a peek to see what else is in there, but it's a scary little drawer!  When I need something from there, I quickly pull it open, search around for the needed item, stuff everything back in and close it quickly while poking back in the junk that's trying to escape and try not to catch my finger in the drawer.

My closet is also a disaster zone, but the good news is that there is nice strong door holding it all in there.  If that door were to ever collapse under the pressure, there would be an avalanche of clothing, suitcases, dusty shoes, my foot massager/hot water bath gizmo, a file folder full of preschool activities I never revisited after organizing them two years ago, a box of things I'm collecting for GoodWill, and a bunch of random maternity clothes that missed out on being stored with the rest of my prego wardrobe.  Those really need to go.

My sister helped me organize my pantry several months ago but it looks like I need to schedule another appointment with my private organizer. :)  It's amazing how quickly I can fill up the shelves with bags of random "important" things and lose any semblance of order.  We currently have a grocery sack of fish paraphanelia perched precariously on the top shelf, right next to our stash of tea, a hodge-podge of place-mats and Pete's birdseed.  And that's just the top right corner.  Scary.  Now I just stuff in my pantry items when I get home from the grocery, carefully close the door (we don't want any seismic activity) and hope that the next time I need to get in there, I don't end up with a box of ziplock bags on my head.

Then there is the goody drawer and silverware drawer, but I already lamented that mess!

Phew!  And that's not even taking into consideration all the kids' crazy nooks and crannies!  They are famous for stuffing small spaces with inordinate amounts of "treasures" and then stepping back and saying, "There!  Perfect!"  Most of those little pack-rat nests I have been willing to walk past, but if the mess starts creeping into our common living areas, I have to do something.  One such area is the laundry room.

The laundry room that houses so much more than just laundry!  Of course there's the washer and dryer and all the soaps and cleaners that go along with that.  With a little hunting you might find my dusty iron and ironing board ... maybe.  This is also were Gimi's house is nestled under a set of shelves full of crafts, and whole lot of other odds-n-ends:  citronella candles for summer nights, Easter eggs to hide in the spring, buckets of beads for the girls to make necklaces and my bucket of bathroom cleaning supplies.  What an interesting conglomeration of bits and pieces!

There is also a clothing rod that currently holds extra coats, snow pants, table clothes and a few random bags full of other random items.  Just below that is the vacuum and a box full of enough shoes to clad an entire kindergarten!  And just above that are ten little coat hooks covered with enough coats to keep that kindergarten class warm and cozy!  And that would be swell if this was a kindergarten class, but it's not. But if that's the case, why do our four kids need so many shoes and coats!?!

Brett and I tackled this little problem several weeks ago and discovered that while there was room for improvement, we couldn't actually get rid of much.  We just needed to organize it better.  Here is the before picture so that you can see that I wasn't making anything up:

Sorry I don't have a wide-lense camera
for the full effect!  There's an extra set of hooks
behind the door ... if you dare to take a peek!

We went through the shoes and tried to streamline what went in the shoe bin.  For each kid we tried to choose one pair of tennis shoes, dress shoes and slip on shoes.  Of course, that still amounted to a dozen pairs of shoes ... so it's hard to call that better. :)  We took the snow-boots and put them in a cardboard box and stored it on the shelf above the dryer.  That way those clunky guys are only out and about when we actually need them.

Next we had the kids each choose two coats:  a heavy one and a light one.  All the other sweatshirts and warm wraps went to live in the kids' closets.  This went a long way towards making the area feel more organized.  That meant that Lydia and Ashley each had two coat hooks for their coats and Aaron and Norah had a hook for each coat and one for their backpacks.  Completely do-able even for a kid in a hurry!

Finally we sorted and refreshed the current organizer on the back of the laundry room door.  I actually love this little hanger-guy.  It's an old shoe sorter that I picked up from Wal-Mart years ago.

Why there is a pool inner-tube in with the
winter stuff is a mystery to me, too,

It's perfect for all the little bits and pieces that we need.  In the summer we fill the sleeves with sun hats, baseball caps, sunscreen, bug spray, pool toys and visors.  Then, in the winter, we trade out the warm weather supplies for the cold weather parts:  hats, gloves, scarves, hand warmers and more of all the above.  Again ... we apparently have more than four children living here!  But at least they are organized.

Now our laundry room is a bit more functional and a bit less frustrating.  The door actually opens all the way instead of getting hung up on the coat that fell off the over-loaded hook or the back-pack that got dropped to the floor in a pile.

And now when you walk in there, you don't run the risk of getting ganged up on by a bunch of hoodies and held at glove-point! :)

Shhh ... Don't Tell the Kids

Two Sunday's ago we had a doozy of a night.  It was bouncy, boisterous and bonkers!  We had enjoyed a relatively relaxing afternoon which meant the kids were cooped up and just barely containing themselves and their endless energy.  We finished our traditional dinner of shakes and popcorn just in time to catch the last quarter of the Steeler's and Jet's game.  Brett settled into the couch.  Aaron perched on the edge of the couch and the girls orbited the couch.

Within moments, Brett had turned up the volume in order to hear over the squealing giggles of the girls who had decided that the family room floor, three feet from the TV, was the perfect place to wrestle.  Thus began the internal battle for Aaron:  watch the game or tussle with the girls?  Watch?  Or, tussle?  Watch? .... Or, tussle?  Hmmm ... tussle!  He headed into the fray and Brett turned the TV up a notch.

Soon the tussle evolved into "Keep Away".  Aaron had a little rubber football and the girls pried, tickled, pounced, and wrenched.  They strategized how to disarm Aaron (not literally ... but close!) and how to thwart his attempts to wriggle away.  There was a lot of shouting (happy shouting, but shouting, nonetheless), bursts of laughter and plenty of thuds and thumps.  Brett just clicked the volume button.

And where was I, you ask?  Good question - but you have to keep this little secret to yourself.

I was washing dishes.  Happily.  In my (relatively) quiet kitchen.  Alone.  :)

As I stood there sudsing up the cups and bowls, I was so grateful that I had a job that kept me busy somewhere away from all the chaos!  At one point, Brett came upstairs to check on me and I assured him (with a big smile on my face!) I was just fine doing the dishes.  My hands were toasty warm.  And my ears weren't in need of ear-plugs.  He was probably hoping I needed some help so that he could take a break from being the WWF referee ... no dice!

A few minutes later, Brett found me out in the garage sharpening pencils.  Happily.  Quietly.  Singly.

Now he was on to me!  Little jobs that keep me busy, productive, purposeful ... and alone.  The trick to being a sane Mommy?  For 20 minutes of the 960 minutes they are awake each day, I look for jobs that they want no part of or that they can't really participate in ... and enjoy them!

Here are a few other of my favorite, solitary tasks:

Wiping out the refrigerator,
Shoveling snow,
Sweeping the porch,
Vacuuming the house, (the added bonus of not being able to hear them trying to get your attention!)
Raking leaves,
Purging the kids' stuff, (they don't want to be around much when Mommy gets organizing ... they might get put to work!)
Folding laundry,
Tidying the basement, and
Washing windows.

And you Dads have a few of these, too!  Brett's favorites would be mowing the lawn and weed eating (see vacuuming perk above), scooping dog dirt (too smelly), roasting coffee beans (too stinky, smoky and noisy) and working on the swamp cooler (too high).  I know Daddy's desperate for a little alone time when he's up on the roof!

I'm certain that you have your own "Daddy's/Mommy's busy" tasks that actually give you a break from the kids.  Send them along ... and you can be sure that I won't tell the kids.

It will be our little secret! :)

Going Green ... -ish

Everywhere you look there is a push to be more ecologically-mindful ... "green" cleaning products, Happy Meal bags in place of those boxes we grew up with, curbside recycling and re-usable shopping bags.  All good ideas.  And all pretty do-able.  Our family is trying in little baby steps to reduce the carbon footprint our family makes ... but it's not always easy and we haven't always done it very well.

I'm quite certain that we have been responsible for a large portion of the Mesa County landfill due to four kids in diapers.  They haven't named a trash hill after us ... yet.  I think that I would be rather horrified to see all those stinky little diapers in one place!  But ... I just couldn't do cloth diapers.  I tip my hat to you all you moms (and dads) who successfully use cloth diapers.  I used them one day ... maybe even more like one afternoon.  Too wet.  Too stinky.  Too ewww.

But ... now that we are on the brink of diaperlessness (that really should be a word!) I hope to see our garbage cans significantly less full.  That would be a wonderful start to my 2011 ... potty-trained Liddy and no more diapers!  Happy New Year to me!

We also have some kids who really enjoy their showers.  Really.  Enjoy them.  I can already see the need for a timer in the bathroom just so they have an inkling of how long they have been in there ... and they're only seven and eight years old.  What size water tank will we need when we have four teenagers?!?  I, too, love a long, hot shower, but seeing as my actual opportunities to have a shower are sparse (think:  multiples of four) I rationalize that I'm not really using that much that often.  Yeah.  That's not so bad, right?  Right?

Then you take into consideration the fact that we will be hauling our 12th dried-up Christmas tree out the back door ... and maybe we're not looking too green right now.

But, wait ... we are doing our part.  Remember what I said about "baby steps"...

Here are a few of the ways our house is caring for our planet:

• We have signed up with CRI here in Grand Junction for curbside recycling.  For $2.50 a month, they pick up just about everything.  We have three bins in our garage: paper, paperboard and plastic/tin.  They also take cardboard and glass.  We have seen an enormous change in our trash bags just by being able to recycle all the cereal boxes and pasta boxes.  Most weeks, we are down to one trashcan ... for our family of six.  I highly recommend checking out their site ... or finding something similar in your area.
• We re-use almost all our plastic bags.  The grocery sacks we use for smaller trashcans in the bathrooms and bedrooms and for dog dirt clean-up.  The plastic bags from store-bought bread, the newspaper and other packaging we use for dirty diaper containment.  We re-use our ziplock bags, too.  For our wedding, my mom made us a nifty bag drier.  We still use it daily.

Wash, Rinse, Dry and Use Again!

• For the kids lunches, we use insulated lunch sacks and lots of little plastic tubs and containers for their food items.  Just about everything comes home to be washed and used again.  We even use their little water bottles again and again.  I fill the bottles half-way with water and stick them in the freezer.  In the morning, I fill it the rest of the way and pop it in their bag.  It keeps things cold and they can drink it for lunch.  Double-duty use and no waste!
• We have accumulated a lot of fabric bags to use at the grocery store.  I stuff all of them in the largest bag and store it under Lydia's seat in the van.  Then I always have them when I get to the store.  I also re-use the thin produce bags by emptying them when I get home and putting them back in one of my fabric bags.  Think: "Baby steps"!  Also ... Kroeger & Target stores give back 5 cents for every fabric bag used ... 5 cents back in my pocket!
• We pass clothes on and around and back around!  We are hand-me-over professionals!  At each season change, Brett hefts a half-dozen boxes out of the attic and dumps them in the family room.  Then we sit and sort out the clothes to go back into storage, the clothes for the new season and the clothes to give away.  This winter, we only had to buy four skirts and three dresses for the girls.  The rest we have acquired from friends and family.  Is it a pain to keep track of all the clothes?  A little.  Is it a hassle to store them all?  Not really ... the attic doesn't seem to mind.  Is it fun to pull out the bins and see all the "new" clothes? Yes!  It's almost like Christmas in June to pull out the summer dresses and shorts and remember "when Norah used to wear this sundress ... ahhhh".  And now that we are officially moving on to bigger kids, we get the blessing of passing on our gently used clothes to other young families that need them.  The love just goes around and around!

The Baby Girls' Summer Clothes

Bins of "Clothes to Grown Into"

Winter Clothes to Keep Our Baby Girls Warm

• We re-use a lot of our decorations from year to year.  I have a bin in the garage with the seasonal door hangings and other knick-knacks.  (Christmas has it's own wing in the attic, however.)  I haven't bought a Fall wreath in years ... I just spruce up what I have and enjoy it for the few months it's up, then it's back in the bin until next September.
• We have replaced many of our house-hold light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.  While they do cost more up front, they use less energy and last longer than regular light bulbs.  We really can't tell much of a difference in the type of light ... although they do take a little while to warm up when you first turn them on.  While I wouldn't recommend them in the bathroom (not your most complimentary light for a glowing complexion), they work great in our living room and kitchen.
• We use cloth napkins for our meals.  I have a bin of napkins in our pantry ... a set of colors for each season.  We keep the napkins in a little basket to use from meal to meal.  I will be the first to admit that the kids' napkins get pretty nasty pretty fast ... but that's why adults use a different color.  Keeping the colors separate keeps us safe from trying to wipe our hands on a napkin that is crunchy, crumbly and creepy. :)
• We also re-use our gift bags and tissue paper.  I haven't purchased anything to wrap gifts in for birthdays and special days in .... um ... well, years.  I have a cabinet in the basement where we store the gift bags and a drawer where we keep the re-folded tissue paper.  We do buy Christmas paper and bows ... but we have the rest of the year covered!  This year, Brett was great about recycling all the Christmas wrapping and packages.  Way to be green!
• This past spring I was introduced to Norwex.  This is by far my "greenest" attempt at being ecologically-minded.  I bought the travel pack, antibac cloths and the window cloth and I use them for a variety of cleaning projects in our home.  Seeing as I have four different cloths to use, I marked the tags with:  "K" for kitchen, "D" for dusting, "W" for windows and "H" for miscellaneous house cleaning.  I simply wet the antibac cloth with tap water and wipe down windows, mirrors, counter tops and faucets and then wipe them dry with the window cloth.  I was astounded at how clean our mirrors were the first time I used it ... they actually sparkled!  For dusting, I use the "D" rag and the microfibers gather up all the dust.  When they get filthy, I toss them in the washing machine.  No chemicals and nothing to throw away.

So ... that's what we are doing to try to make up for the Kellum Diaper Monument at the landfill south of town!  While it might not seem like much, I hope that we are making a little bit of difference.  One little cloth napkin at a time!

How are you practicing the 3 R's?

Maybe you just need some inspiration from Jack Johnson!

Getting Back to Normal ... Whatever That Is!

The Christmas craziness has begun to subside around the house.  We found homes for most of the goodies from our stockings:  a bowl for the chocolate coins, our new toothbrushes in the bathroom (Lydia used hers as she trudged upstairs), and the notepads and sticky notes are on the school shelf.  Now the dining room table is finally cleared of all snowflakes and crumbs and we set out all the packaging and wrapping paper to be recycled.  The washing machine is thumping and doing the fourth load of laundry.  Next I'll strip beds and wash towels and get everybody settled back in their usual rooms.

Brett was back to work on Monday and my mom and sister went home on Tuesday.  In that sense, we are getting back to the normalcy of me and the kids being home together.  Back to naps.  Back to chores.  Back to figuring out how to "play well with others."  The big kids go back to school next Tuesday and I'm sure they will be relieved to return to their normal routine, too!

The kitchen is still quite Christmasy ... mainly in the realm of sweets and treats.  Oh, my.  Who knew that we could acquire so many bags of cookies, breads and delicious delights?!  The trouble is that they are delicious and my willpower has now reached its very threshold.   Each time I go in the kitchen, they call from their bags and tins, "Oh, Morgan ... we're over here!  And we're tasty!  Just one little taste?  Yeah!!  She's going to choose one of us ... oh, or two of us!  Yipee!!"  Ugh.  It is imperative that we clear out these goodies so that I will fit in my clothes in 2011.  I hate to pitch anything, but eating it all is really not an option.  Hmmm ... I guess we'll downsize tins and try not to feel too badly about the goodies that get the boot!  I guess if you feel like your Christmas pantry is a bit bare and you WANT a re-fill, let me know! :)

We have officially moved on from the traditional Christmas music ... right back to "Dynamite", I might add!  Proof that it is indeed our family's theme song!  I guess I'll have to delete my Holiday stations from Pandora ... and look forward to listening to them again next year.  Or maybe in June if I need a little pick-me-up!

We will probably take down most of our Christmas decorations this weekend, but I will keep our snowmen and pinecones out a bit longer.  I like having a little transition from a fully decorated, Holiday house to the seemingly naked look of an undecorated home ... hence the job of a few Frosty the Snowmen!  We'd hate for the house to seem empty and bare! :)

We have a delightful collection of Christmas cards and letter and pictures to sort through.  I love taking a few days following the holidays to go back through the cards and notes and make sure that we have current addresses and re-read notes.  Then I take all the photos and glue little magnets on the back to hang on our refrigerator.  Each January I update the photos of our family and friends on the fridge and it's a delight to see how everyone has grown and changed!  The past several years, I have sent our Christmas card fronts to St. Jude's Ranch.  A super simple way to make a difference! :)

We're back to just the six of us around the kitchen table and it's kinda nice to simplify the plans for dinner.  And breakfast.  And lunch.  Sloppy Joes in place of a 12-layer lasagna.  Carrots and dip in place of a perfectly dressed salad.  A bowl of cereal in place of cinnamon rolls.  Of course, within a week or so I'll be itching to have guests again.  Hmmmm ... maybe we'll need to have a Martin Luther King, Jr. dinner. :)  What sort of menu would that entail, I wonder.

It will be good to get back to our normal daily routine.  You know ... dressed before 10 am, not snacking our way through the day and eating meals we're not really hungry for, going to bed at a reasonable hour (instead of playing Wii until 10:30) and getting up to work-out instead of just thinking about it.  (See the kitchen problem above.)

Brett will be relieved to see our budget return to its normal in's and out's.  A regular trip to the grocery (instead of three - one just for eggnog), just one visit to Wal-Mart for the necessities (instead of two ... with gifts to purchase), a trip to Sam's club just for food (instead of electronics) and eating at home instead of dining out!

Each day we tackle another little part of the house and return our daily lives back to our usual routine.  But not everything at once!  Too quick a transition might be a bit too traumatic! :)  The tree still twinkles in the corner and if you look at the floor you will still see traces of packing peanuts, pine needles and an errant piece of tape and wrapping paper.  I'm still choosing to veg on the couch with my kids instead of doing too much housework and a cookie after dinner is still a wonderful idea.  We're getting closer to normal around here.  (If there is such a thing!)  We're just not in too much of a hurry to get there!  :)

The Great Learning Box

Do you have that house chore that you hate to do? ... oh, sorry ... we don't use the H-word in our house.  How about a chore that you detest, despise, dislike, abhor, find intolerable, recoil from, loath or are disinclined to do? :)  I do.

I am not a duster.  I only dust when it becomes absolutely necessary (the kids are writing their names in it) or when I'm trading out Christmas decorations.  Yep ... not much of a duster!  I also don't like to clean out the window sills ... yuck.  It grosses me out to wipe out the cobwebs and dead bugs.  Blech.  I am also a tad bit repelled :) by wiping down the bannisters.  And, boy, do our handrails need it.  The kids seem to confuse the bannisters with the bathroom sink.  By the time they get to the bathroom to wash up after dinner, their hands are clean, but the railings aren't. :)

Now ... did you know that if you have a task that you feel a bit aversion toward, that you also have at your disposable a great tool for discipline?!?  Not only do you get your point across to your kiddos about obedience and respect ... but you also get your house clean!  I got this idea from two different sources ... so you know it's good!  We had a speaker come to MOPS a few years back that introduced the idea and then I read Lisa Whelchel's book, Creative Correction, and she had it in there, too.  Me being me, I have expanded the idea a bit and catered it to our home and our family.  Here's the scoop:

The Great Learning Box

Choose two different colored papers.  You'll need 3-4 sheets of each.  We have one set that is plain, white computer paper and the other is a craft paper that has red writing on one side while the other side is blank.  Keeping the papers separate, cut them into about 2 inch squares.  Take one pile of squares and begin writing down all the chores that you cause you revulsion. :)  The more tedious the better!  We call these our "Bummers".


Here are some of ours:
Spot cleaning the floor,
Wipe down bannisters,
Wipe down doorknobs,
Dust furniture (in specific rooms),
Pick up sticks outside,
Dust window sills,
Gather trash,
Dust heat registers,
Sweep front steps/back patio,
Wash specific windows,
Wipe down toilet flushes,
Wipe down sinks/faucets,
Shake rugs,
Beat pillows,
Straighten family room,
Wipe down counters, sinks, tables,
Sweep kitchen,
Dust picture frames,
Sort laundry,
Pick up dog doo,
Dust baseboards,
Tidy outside toys,
Wipe down kitchen chairs,
Wipe down kitchen cabinets and knobs,
... You get the idea!

Next on the other set of paper, write down small rewards.  We call these our "Yahoos".

Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Sweet treat,
25 cents,
Bear hug,
Smooch,
10 minutes screen time (tv, video games, computer),
10 minutes extra book time,
10 minutes extra time before bed,
... Any small things your kids would love!

Now find a little box or jar that you can toss all the papers in and give them a shake.

We learn a lot with this little box :)

Now you have at your disposal a great system for rewarding and correcting your kids ... and getting your pillows fluffed, too!

Here's how it works:  Anytime that I catch my kids serving or taking on a necessary task without being asked, using good manners or doing something Yahoo-worthy, they get to pull out a red piece of paper and then they get whatever is written there.  You can be certain that they are a tad bit disappointed when they pull out "Smooch", but maybe next time it'll be screen time. :)  

As for correcting my kids, when they disobey, talk-back, are rude or do anything else that would be considered a "Bummer", they get to pull out a white piece of paper and do whatever task is written there.  Sometimes, depending on the age of the offender, I have them re-draw.  The job then needs to be done immediately (Sorry, your buddies will have to wait outside while you gather trash.) and completely (Oops ... that still looks dirty.  Try again!) or they are liable to get another job.  We have found that the kids are usually more compliant and respectful after a job (or two) ... I think that it gives them time to think about their offense and also get some of their grumbling out of their system.  And if not ... well ... there is always some task somewhere in the house that could use some attention!

Just a few more thoughts about making this work:

• We use Clorox wipes for cleaning most surfaces.  I can trust Ashley to use them safely and I don't have to worry about spray bottles or harsh chemicals.
• If the kids are having trouble with each other, I will have them choose a job to do together, side by side, possible holding hands.  :)  By the end of the prescribed task, they are almost always on better terms with each other as shown by the giggling and silliness.  If they are still having trouble ... then it's back to the box!
• We have found that when the big kids (some times all of them at the same time) are at work, Lydia wants to help out.  Great!  She is learning from example how to wipe down door knobs, etc.  I'm sure she will have her fair share of jobs soon enough!
• It's important to check their work and if it's not done well, they need to do it again.  This tool box also helps to teach responsibility and trustworthiness ... all good character traits!
• I love that when I'm frustrated by one of my kid's areas of disobedience (for the Nth time!), sending them off to do a job gives me time to cool my head, too.  After they're finished scrubbing I'm much more likely to correct my kids with patience rather than anger.  We all win!

Now ... there are two extra slips of paper that I have included in our box.  They read, "Mercy".  If the offending child draws a "Mercy" slip, they get a hug instead of a job and a sigh of relief.  This is a great way to teach our kids about God's mercy for us ... we don't get what we deserve if we are trusting in God for His grace.

Mom ... I Forgot My __________ .

This morning, after traipsing home from dropping the kids off at school, I found a message on the machine from my recently dropped-off son.

"Uh, Mom?  I forgot my book bag ... again.  Uh ... could you bring it up? ...(pause)... That would, uh, that would make me real happy."  Click.

Well ... seeing as I'm a good mom :) and want to make my son happy :) :) I drove his ziplock book bag to school.  For the second time in two weeks.   It really isn't that big a deal, but I didn't feel that it was a very good portent of the coming weeks.  I had a vision of me making daily visits to the school, book bag in hand with a sheepish boy claiming said book-bag and a 3rd grade teacher wondering what sort of disorganized mayhem we live in.  Well ... while our house isn't a total mess, there are certainly areas that could use some improvement.  For example, the school shelf.  See ... it wasn't entirely his fault.  This is what he had to work with:

yes ... that's a spool of curling ribbon ... it needs to find it's true home!

We have a saying in our house when it's time to clean up, "Put it where it lives."  The implied significance being that everything has it's place and if it doesn't have a home, either we need to find it one or toss it out.  This was the problem that I was facing with the school shelf.  Most everything had a home (crayons, markers, pencils, etc.) but the papers and notebooks and folders were homeless ... and causing some trouble.

Now, seeing as I had just spent $40 on our couch, I knew that my organization budget was a little on the slim side.  So ... armed with an empty peach box, an extra piece of cardboard, an exacto knife, some craft paper and my rusty, trusty glue gun ... I set out to find our school stuff a home ... and not spend a cent!  Here is my step-by-step process to a nifty organizer box.

First I cut the extra cardboard so that it would fit snugly in the box as a divider.  I folded the sides and bottom so that I would have something to glue to the box.  See the picture for a better description.  I did two of these dividers with the purpose of having three sections, one each for Aaron, Norah & Ashley.  In retrospect I would have covered these with something pretty, but seeing as I hadn't thought that far in advance upon gluing ... they are brown. :(  Oh, well ... they are still functional.

I glued along the sides and bottom
to make it secure.

Next I chose some fun paper to cover the outside of the box.  I have a store-house of 12x12 inch paper downstairs (thanks to my mom-in-law!) so I chose some pages that were girly and some that would be okay for a boy ... and yet made sure they looked fun together.  I then folded the paper around the edges of the box and glued them in place starting with the middle portion and then moving round the sides making sure to keep the edges of the paper lined up and glued securely.

Here I have started covering the box.

Finally, I added a little embellishment by printing their names on printer paper and then gluing those to three different decorative papers that complimented their particular pattern.  I then glued those names to the front of the box, designating each kid's slot.  Ta-dah!

Doesn't that look cute?  And functional, too!

Here is our new and improved school shelf:

I wonder how long it will stay so pretty? :)

A few other school shelf pointers I would add:

• We have several boxes (as you can see) that we have divided up for storing crayons, markers, stamping supplies and miscellaneous school supplies.  We have labeled each box so that there will be limited confusion.
• The middle shelf houses a variety of things:  dictionaries, frequently used resource books, spiral-bound notebooks the kids use for journalling and the kids' Bibles.  We keep all the coloring books and activity books (which seem to reproduce all by themselves!) in a bin in the pantry which helps to keep them from crawling out and taking over the kitchen table.
• We have a wire tray that the kids use to put all their papers that come home from school.  I am convinced that in a given year, we have cleared an entire forest as a result of the number of papers that come home ... but that's for another post! :)  This wire basket is cleaned out (i.e. to the recycling bin for most and to the memory box for a few precious things) every couple of weeks.  This saves me from having lots of random pages floating around the kitchen.  I typically let the kids pick their top two favorite school projects and then I choose one or two and then the rest go away!
• If the kids have a large project (specifically in art) that they don't want to toss, I take a picture of them holding it.  That way we have a memory of their creative project (forever!) but I don't have to figure out how to store the 4 foot x 4 foot collage made from magazine clippings!
• I just saw a "recipe" for a bulletin board in a FamilyFun Magazine.  I think I will make one to hang in the kitchen for visual reminders.  Hopefully it will help us to fight the "out of sight, out of mind" monster!  I'll let you know!

Hope this helps as you traverse the rest of the school year ... and that you won't be making too many return trips for forgotten papers, books and folders.