Swinging our feet

There is nothing cuter than a baby swinging her feet in happiness. Ingrid does this all the time. Older children do it too. Perhaps we adults should give it a try. I was sort of laughing, thinking of some shorter people who complain of chairs not being short enough to touch the ground. THEY can SWING THEIR FEET THOUGH. I am jealous. I was definitely a foot swinger as a little girl and frankly it was fun. Maybe we all need to get some taller chairs so we can swing our feet.......

I think I will actually be sad

I can not believe I am saying this but since there are only around 11 to 12 weeks of co-op left I am thinking of how I will be sad to stop for the summer. I know we have to stop as summer is nuttier usually than the school year. The kids seem to really be learning a lot lately and also seem to WANT to learn a lot. It is an atmosphere that seems to thrive on learning. They do not seem stressed out and one of my groups even challenged themselves to complete their book by the end of the school year. So far so good that seems to be clicking along. Keeping up with grading is a trick though and I should really devote an hour or two to that in the next few days.

In the meantime I need to read my brains out to keep up with them but I am enjoying that too. 'The Chosen' I think is one of my favorite books now. It certainly was the most interesting book that I have read recently and I would really like to read the rest of his books but of course I can't pull that off right now.

Teaching I am in my element so much that of course the house work stuff slides. Hopefully I can catch up on that too by next Monday morning!!! Ugh. I definitely enjoy seeing and hearing the kids discuss the books they have read and having a handle on different literary terms which was a goal for the year. Now to challenge them some more......

I best scoot to bed. I am more than exhausted but the day in general was good.

What a day.

It has certainly been a long and full day. The morning began very early with our geriatric dog wanting to go out and chase some animals. I gave up getting back to sleep shortly after that (5:30am) and drug myself out a little after 6:00. The kids needed to get up early anyway to be at choir practice. We were a few minutes late but not too bad.

The service was great as usual. Sang my funeral hymn, Sing with all the Saints in Glory, (I think that is the title but am not running down the stairs to confirm that), made it through the service with Ingrid keeping me plenty busy. Little Benjamin received his first communion this morning so that was a moment of excitement for both of us. He was all decked out in this suit which I discovered had quite a bit of donut on it from the last time he wore it. The choir descant went very well at the end of the service and dd Anna looked pleased. I did sniff a little knowing that my favorite setting to the liturgy will be on hiatus for awhile. Sniff.....sniff.....

After church and Bible class we headed off to Matthew's Court of Honor. I think it literally WAS his Court of Honor. He seemed to just shine all through it and obviously everyone there loves and appreciates him. He is now patrol leader of the Ferrets (what a name....) and his old patrol put on a skit entitled "Ten reasons we will miss Matt". Hilarious. They also had a skit where Matthew is sawing away at a log and someone asks the rest of the members why they weren't doing anything and they replied "Because Matt does everything for us in our patrol." Woot! He really should try out acting in some plays. He has confidence that I did not know he had, and a great sense of humor and enthusiasm. Several of his fellow Scouts were watching my reactions and seemed anxious to witness the look of pleasure on my face. I love this troop. The boys were all enthusiastic and seemed genuinely proud of their work and advancements. The leaders are great as well and very supportive of the boys.

Martin is sort of the Scouts mascot at the moment until the end of May when he will be old enough to join the troop officially. In the meantime he hangs out and boys treat very decently for being considerably younger than they are. I am sure he will love being a Scout there.

This evening, after dropping Anna Nana off to help at a friend's house, I came home to play some games with Martin, Cecilia and Benjamin, dinner, catechesis, and reading some to the kids and now I should be in bed. Ingrid fought sleep but perhaps will be in bed for a little while. Erik loves to say to me in the most pathetic voice "Po little Ingid, all alone up in her bed.....all alone.....Po Ingid...." Sweet child my eldest son. Knows how to rip my heart out. Some of you might be familiar with his dry sense of humor.

I am lamenting missing my good friend but should be able to see her more easily in a few days. Ingrid will get to meet her BFF too! Yippee!!!!

Now I must really hit the hay......zzzzzzzz.....

Teaching another child to read

I have begun this journey again. So far so good. We are also doing some math but just the very basics. I detect that this sweet little child is not going to take to reading as easily as some so I will have to keep working on that patience thing. I did have to laugh at the description of the product I chose to teach him with. It said something about how patience is needed in teaching children to read. Yes. Definitely. I am letting Stefan eavesdrop so perhaps his journey won't be as painful.

Two of my children did learn by eavesdropping which was a wonderful treat. Actually one of them heard LaRena explain the rules for about a week and she was up and running. The other did literally eaves drop and began to correct the three years older child during his lesson. Sigh.

I always see teaching a child to read as both a challenge but a relief when they figure it out. Everything is so much easier when they can read and they become more self entertaining. People have commented that my kids seem pretty content to play on their own and I am not sure why that is but being able to read is an added plus to peace in a household.

It was a good school day overall. I actually have energy left and a sleeping baby to boot so should scoot off to declutter something before she wakes up.

Oh, last but certainly not least....we are looking forward to said child's (Benjamin) first communion this Sunday. Yay! I am excited for him and he too is excited and brings it up at random times during the day. I need to go hunt his suit.

Support a mom and wife need.

I would post the link to a post by Concordian Sisters but I suppose a reader could look for it. It is hard to maneuver with infant in arms. I don't really remember the title but it was just a few days ago about a wife and mother's need for support and what happens when it doesn't happen. Well I suppose I could elaborate that if I had advice to give to any husband or extended family member, it would be that a woman does need to hear that she is doing something right. This is especially true after a LONG day with kids who might have been less than charming or exercised their sin muscle a bit too much. Days can be long and what I see moms blog about are things like how amazed they are that they got only a little bit done that day or having blog titles like "the laundry is never done". I don't believe these are bon bon eating, slothful soap watchers but rather moms who REALLY take their vocations seriously and faithfully serve their families. Life for a mom is very task oriented and let me tell you, a compliment or message of appreciation can certainly brighten their day. It might even make the difference if given on a regular basis, of keeping the mom from coming unglued. I heard a mom express recently that she wondered if people thought she were incompetent after a certain patronizing comment was made to her and my heart wrenched. Moms are very sensitive to anything that may hint of being an evaluation of their ability to mom. Sometimes we misunderstand of course a person's intent but really being a mom is open season for random comments. First time moms have the BIGGEST target and I wince at well meaning people who say weird things to new moms. I think I am now more practiced at laughing at such things as some people think Ingrid is my first. These condescending comments are really quite hilarious as I might slip out a comment about how my sixth or seventh child was really far happier to do thus and such......

But.....family members, please do not forget to thank the mom/wife for all she does. Our only performance review comes in the form of either complaint or thankfulness. A mom could certainly be tempted to feel like a failure otherwise......failure is not a good feeling.....

T.I.R.E.D.!!!!!

So I have been making some attempts to get Ingrid in her cute little bed as I am no longer sleeping with her as in I am not able to get to sleep with her hanging out with me for all the wiggling etc. Some nights this goes well but last night was ridiculous. I must have had a hair too much caffeine yesterday as I seemed buzzed. Today I must exercise my patience muscle in several areas so I will have to concentrate hard on keeping the crazies (children) busy and quiet, and keep my mouth in control somehow too (Lord have mercy.....). When I am tired this is what HAS to happen. I am so very weak when fatigue sets in......

Catechesis at my house

is like an exercise routine.

could be compared to watching monkeys in a zoo...

a test of my agility.....

a test of my patience.....

never boring....

nothing like a church service......

It generally goes like this if you can picture it. Children eventually show up for catechesis and we attempt to begin. Someone usually has some level of drama is stating "Make haste oh God to deliver me" and then the 5 month old, two year old and even the six year old see how close they can sit next to me. This may seem sweet but in the meantime I need to juggle papers, the TDP, my hymnal and there may also be all the other hymnals and Bibles that my two year old thought I may need during Catechesis. Plop goes a hymnal on the floor and then here comes an elbow to cause me to have to shift the TDP so I can continue reading. There is an amazing amount of shifting of the book so I can read it. I would like to see a Pastor try to keep reading with a five month olds hand groping to see what he has in his hand and at the same time watching all the rest of the random behavior going on. Actually I am very glad they don't have to do that because at least the reading seems to keep going at a steady rate and I can usually hear most of it at church. Somehow we make it through. My exercise routine does include a lot of book saving though by shifting books to safer positions while the little elbows are flying around. True you all could say that I should just have perfect little angels sitting quietly during Catechesis but I am a professed far from perfect mommy and though I do give it my best effort, two year olds elbows are hard to control. If I do too much in the line of trying to stop the flopping two year old he may raise his face to the heavens and let out a squeal. Oh joy. Then I have to decide if I should stop everything and stop that behavior or ignore. But then......the two year old's other six parents might decide they need to take care of the problem and we are interrupted.....again.

So goes Catechesis at my house. At least we get to it most days of the week and I am glad there aren't any video cameras around and rarely any unexpected visitors during these gyrations.

Warmer and brighter spirits

Despite a lot of extraneous stressors lurking around, the past few days have been good for me. It is so nice to not be cold, not be shoving wood in the wood stove, not listening to the fans of the woodstove, and just enjoying the sunshine peaking through between the rain. I enjoyed a walk yesterday evening with Cindy and I did not even mind a little mud to slip in. I am sure it is too optimistic to think that this weather will last. I understand the gas futures crowd is counting on some more severe cold weather mid-February. How cheery.

Warmer weather inspires me to tackle the work that is not done around here. I become more efficient (I am sure that makes my dh happy) with plans and cleaning etc., and it seems like I get more done. Weird. In the summer I actually look forward to some time inside and cooler weather. I must just be fickle. This is certainly not a deep thoughtful post and frankly there has not been too much excitement around and hope that there will not be any excitement to report in the very near future. That is all for today!

Found....a little too late

I was waiting for Anna to run into a shop to pick up something and dear little Ingrid starting crying so naturally I tried to find her Binky so she would be happier. I never found the Binky but I happened to glance into the empty car seat next to Ingrid's and THERE IT WAS!!!! Martin's glasses lens!!!! This car seat was stored in the garage where Martin lost the lens to begin with. I guess we never thought to look that far up!!!! We had just put the seat in the car over the weekend. So we now have an extra lens and spent 30 dollars a little prematurely but I suppose for his sake not fast enough. Life is pretty funny at times.....

After a very nice yesterday

Between church, an interesting Bonhoeffer discussion, and a lovely evening out and at our home with friends, yesterday was a breath of fresh air. I need all the fresh air I can get..... Other highlights from yesterday were getting the taxes basically done (federal) (thanks dh)(they owe us), getting the house cleaner than it was for Bonhoeffer discussion people so now I don't need to mess with that so much today, the baby slept for three hours on her own (woo hoo!). and the sun shone but I did not manage a walk.....

Mondays are NOT my favorite day. At least the mornings can be tiresome so I am hoping things go smoothly today. I should try to squeeze in a walk this morning too to help me not fall apart literally. This kid raising thing/vocation thing amongst other things does whittle away at me and my weak little countenance struggles at times so I know I need to get cracking here and move on to the next thing.

Oh.....me being a bear of little brain, I am trying to figure out how to be more clear explaining my little brain thoughts......I am JUST not good at that. I used to be and now I think I suffer from fear factor of not being understood......there you have it.

Saturday (night) and I ain't got nobody....

Sure they are referring to something else but doesn't that mean that you do have somebody???? At any rate I am pondering how many somebodies I have around here and how Saturdays are very fuzzy days as every one of the somebodies has a different idea of what Saturdays are for. I myself have a clear cut agenda but the water gets muddied as each of their agendas are revealed. I am plotting a plan to make my Saturdays more predictable and not so muddied. I think everyone in this crazy family needs a predictable Saturday. But....how to help that along is my burning question for my brain today. Next Saturday is but a week away.........

Good news is always nice

Anna was accepted to the Jacob's School of Music. I am very pleased for her. We have been quietly waiting and it is certainly nice to learn this in a timely fashion so we know how to proceed. I am excited for her and then of course there is the mom thing of trying not to panic as life keeps spinning along. The year is rushing forward and I will have to join the 'kids flying the nest' club. Rats. But on the other hand it is right for life to keep plugging along and I can say with all honesty that there is much to look forward to so will try not to get too bogged down with feeling blue.

Seven more to go and I know I am not done with the Annabanana either. My brain sure can use a break at times of processing the next thing necessary on all of their roads toward flying the nest. Can you say homework???? Mom keeping up after the homework doers???? Mom TRYING to keep patience with the homework doers.

Better run back upstairs and see what is going on......

We will try her birthday out again tomorrow

I think Cecilia was sick on her birthday last year. I will have to check out last year's blog writings to confirm that. At any rate, she is nice and sick this year and I would say not too whiny about all the coughing and temperature. We did not even attempt to give her birthday gift to her as the day was also very busy with co-op stuff and church. She slumped around the house and did manage to blow out some candles on some cupcakes we made for her to share with the rest of the kids in co-op.

I spent my little time available with her giving her cough syrup and Tylenol. I always like to reflect a little on when each child was born on their bdays. At least that is what comes to mind when I stare at them in their pj's and I am tucking them in. She has been a cutie pie all along and is growing up quite a bit especially the last few years. Sigh.

So if she is feeling a little better tomorrow I will whip her up a cake and hope to spend some time with her. I do need to go glasses shopping for Martin.....again. We will be in search of dork glasses that will be indestructible. He has broken or lost parts of his glasses three times in the last month..... I guess the first year of glasses was like that for my older son as well. His blew off his face into the grass while biking. Martin's was your basic cartoon, stepped on a rake and hit his face and the lens went flying......somewhere......sort of loss.

Happy Birthday Cecilia!

Sickos

I thought everyone was on the mend but they all woke up sicker. Hmmmm....I have only a touch of the problem but today seems to be crawling by with kids creeping around being only mildly responsible. I am VERY much looking forward to spring at this point. I have my weight issue to whittle away on and that is pretty hard when you can't take the little person with you. I keep dreaming of hoeing the garden and knowing it will do some good. I love hoeing have I mentioned that?

Cough, cough.......lots of coughing. Yes mom, they are sick. Cough, cough, cough......