Our big splurge.

DH recently splurged for me and let me buy a new steamer. It's the bright red Bissel 2x w/ attachments and a "spot shot" feature. It really does a great job. I haven't been this excited about cleaning in a long time. Nothing like a new toy to motivate me to get going again.

Today, our oldest asked me if he could "try it". Sure honey. Let me switch it to attachment and you can work on the stairs. Well, Si Guy evidently had dumped more dish soap on the stairs than I realized. Soon the tank was full, and we had bubbles coming out of the dry vent on my brand new steamer. I'm pretty sure it will all be okay. It just may take a few extra water only rinses to clear the hoses. It still has done a pretty fantastic job, and so has my son.

I never thought a ten year old would still ask for a chore. May it continue.

The Robin

There's a robin I've been watching this morning. It's outside our our dining area window, trying to pick up some string that fell on the ground from when we were tying branches. It gathers a bunch up in it's beak and takes off! Then it loses the string. Puzzled, the bird keeps coming back. It wants that string to build it's home. Too bad the string is still attached to the spool.

Sometimes I feel like that bird. I want to be free to build my home, but the materials I want are anchored down by something else. I can either find the tools to free what I want, or change my desires to suit what I have. It doesn't do any good to keep coming back to the same piece of string empty handed over and over again.

My kids sometimes feel that way too. They just want something so bad.....but are they willing to work for it? Even then, it doesn't mean they'll always get it. That robin has been working pretty hard all morning with nothing to show for it. Are they willing to look at the situation, and form a plan? Our older ones are getting better at this. Mostly though, we all need to learn to be content with the materials we have.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today when we got home from school, the first thing I did was fish out Chip's frog name tag from the sack. The frog theme is so appropriate for what these kids go through. They go in so star-struck by their teacher, so amazed by everything around them. They come out confident and with foundation for life-long learning. It's a big leap from one end to the other.

His siblings are happy he's home, or at least happy his markers are home. Princess D. has a whole notepad to fill. Si Guy has left his mark on the living room wall. He brought home a whole bag full of goodies for me to go through....from handwriting to a construction paper pig with button eyes.

He has a whole afternoon and morning before his brothers join him in the freedom of summer vacation. He's celebrating with frozen pizza and chips for lunch, and has big plans for wasting his afternoon too, starting with shoe fishing with a stick.

I love his teacher. She's so good at anticipating what the kids & parents need. She put a magnet on the back of his frog. Now it's proudly jumping across our fridge. HopefullyOur son leaped into kindergarten feet first, and now is hopping along to first grade. I'm so proud it hurts, just a little bit. Watching our kids grow is truly my greatest joy.

some days the cleaning up

that's just a normal part of mom-hood gets to me. I really don't mind cleaning the food from the carpet under the table, the bathroom floor after Mr. & Mrs. Noah take their bath after lunch, or changing diapers several times a day. I don't mind clearing the table, vacuuming the living room, or wiping markers off of walls weekly. What I do mind is doing the clean-up for "those who should know better."

It's finding the lost lunchbox, packing it and getting to school for the ten year old who left it under the couch instead of putting it away in the kitchen, or better yet, picking up the half eaten remnants from the living room floor when he "forgets" his lunch.
It's being told, yet again, by my kindie's teacher that he needs his blue folder...which is supposed to live in his backpack at all times, and cleaning the ketchup out of the carpet when he forgets to put it away.
It's digging through baskets for pants for an eight year old that watched t.v. instead of folding his laundry yesterday, or picking up his breakfast dishes from the front room....where no food is allowed.

Even Mr. M is not immune to those moments. This morning when Mr. M. left his shaving cream out on the bathroom counter, for Si Guy to put in his hair and decorate the bathroom with.

The worst thing though, is that when "she who should know better" is me, like when I forget to put the spices back on the spice rack, and our 2 & 3 yo "cook" with them all over the kitchen floor, when I lose track of where I left my drink and my 2yo finds it, when I realize I'm out of pants after giving Mr. & Mrs. Noah their bath. Sometimes I think each of my children has taken a small part of my memory along with them.

Or maybe it's just my head is so full of great plans for playing at the park, VBS, sidewalk chalk, reading stories, and all that other good stuff that it forgets the menial things of day to day. So my kids have a messy childhood, at least it's a fun one.

If I ever doubt my kids need me.......

all I have to do is try to take an afternoon nap. Besides being jumped on, having the covers pulled off, the light switch flipped, my bedroom suddenly smelling like applesauce.......
"Mo-om. Mo-om?'
"rrf."
"Are you done with your nap yet?"
"Mo-om? What's for snack?"
"Mom, can we go Game Stop?"
"Mom, I was taking the ree-sie-k-ling out and Si escaped out into the back yard!"

Now keep in mind I'm not napping while home alone. I would like the house to remain standing, so Mr. M is home. He's an involved father. He loves the kids. He helps with the housework. I have no idea why they come to me to report the ants on the wall or the fridge being open when he's right there, ready and willing! It must be the magic of being mom.
Of course, today he's watching the NBA playoffs. So maybe it wasn't the best day to try and fit in a nap.

It's May. It's May.

The overbooked month of May, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thankfully it's not a train. This Saturday will be Chip's last football game, and Princess D's last soccer game. Next Monday Si Guy will be a whopping 2 years old! Next week is Mr. M's week with the life sucking pager, otherwise known as "single mom week" around here. After that is the last two days of school, a dance recital, our oldest's last two soccer games, then on to summer....The second week of June is VBS and after that I can really relax and enjoy being a mom...well, unless we move.

Move? Why would we move? Our house is in the perfect location, four doors from the elementary school we adore. Our neighbors are all great people. We're close to highways, shopping, and within walking distance of a park. Darn disappearing landlord. His office hasn't been staffed in over a month, and he isn't answering his phone. That just makes us feel a bit insecure. There's a place Mr. M is looking at today that has cheaper rent and is much closer to where he works. The schools are okay there. It's still close to shopping, and the land-lady answers her phone. We figured we better go ahead and look into it. We may not get it. There is competition...but we thought we should try.

The idea of moving kind of scares me for other reasons too. It means I'll be venturing back into home schooling. I already promised our oldest I wouldn't make him go to a new school for just one year, that he could merge in sixth grade when everyone would be new to the building. Our older daughter is supposed to be starting kindergarten, but I'm not comfortable with a mandatory full day program. Now the kindergarten thing I've done before. It's a lot of fun...but I had a preschool to help me out. 5th grade? The changeling? Now that's uncharted territory. Wherever God and my husband lead, I will follow. They both want all things to work for our family's good, so I know whatever happens we'll end up on higher ground.

Rebound day.

It seems like after any day I've been truly productive, the next day I get zilch done. Today is no exception. Today I have watched Chip and Princess D build a worm home out of mud, held Si Guy, and watched the youngest three take a bath after playing in the mud. Sure I've maintained the usual dish clearing and food prep chores, but for the most part I haven't really made much forward progress. Building worm homes seemed more important.

Yesterday after we went to church, I came home fix lunch and mow the front and back yard. The back yard hadn't been mowed yet, and despite my friends suggestions of tying balloons to the smaller children or mowing it into a maze, I just stuck to the traditional full cut pattern. Why wasn't my dear husband mowing the lawn? He's allergic to it. It's okay. He cleaned the kitchen instead. I'd rather mow any day.
Once I was done mowing we decided a field trip to Lowes was in order, to get bags for leaves and such and some new anvil clippers. Taking six children into any store can be an adventure. Ones with "car carts" help in some ways, but not in others....shopping with the herd is a topic for a whole different post someday.

Once we returned home, I made breakfast for dinner for the kids, and called in to Outback for our takeout to picked up around 8ish, when hopefully the children would all be corralled in their rooms, so Daddy and I could watch the Celtics win in peace. (Okay, Daddy was rooting for Orlando, but it was Mother's Day!) Lesson learned: Outback take out is nowhere near as good as eating there. They forgot DH veggies, and didn't seem to care whether the food was hot or even fresh. My lobster tail smelled fishy from being "on level, and yes, I ate it anyway, but it tasted kind of strong too. I'm still fine today, so at least it wasn't poisoned. (Hey, I'm not going to pay an extra $8 for something and not eat it....and we both were too tired to take it back to complain.) The steaks were perfect though. I guess that's what counts.

IN the background of our romanntic dinner was our reminder of why Kid's Park is such a great place.
"Can I have the bread?"
"What's that, can I see?"
"Why can't we have some?"

"Why aren't you in your room where you're supposed to be. It's after eight."
"It's Mother's Day. We want to be with you! Now can I pleeease have a bite?"
"This is our dinner. We made you bacon and eggs and muffins."
"But I'm still hungry."
"Have a big breakfast in the morning. Good-night."
Two bites of garlic mashed potatoes and a snatched piece of buttered bread later they disappear into their rooms.

After dinner, Mr. M rubs my feet while I lay across the couch watching basketball. Life is good, and so are my kids....most of the time. But really, I think today is what mothering is all about.

Happy Mother's Day.

I have had a wonderful Mother's Day so far. My oldest is cleaning his room, cheerfully. Bob was baptized at service this morning. (Nothing like seeing a child who can reason say yes, I do accept Christ on my own!) My daughters made little colored flowerpots w/ "gems" on them, and thus far, Si Guy hasn't thrown a tantrum or destroyed anything yet today.
My husband is getting the dishes caught up. Next on my agenda is mowing the lawn. We're grilling chicken for dinner. It's quite the perfect day indeed.

Momma is having a rock star day, or not.

This morning, I woke up vowing to get the house back in order, have cheerful children and a grateful, non-stressed attitude. It was raining. Surely I could stay off the computer, entertain the kids, and clean. I had the dishwasher running an the front living area picked up. The girls were dressed and in their right minds on the computer, "sharing" their turn. Si guy was entranced by PBS kids morning line up. It was all going so well! Then the phone rang.
"This is pediatric dentist specialists calling about Princess P's appointment...."
Guess mommy isn't a rock star after all. How could I forget an an appointment I just scheduled last week?
"We have an opening at 2:45."
"Ok." (Anything to avoid those missed appointment fees.)
I hang up the phone and mentally calculate where I'd be at 3:10. Time to call the big guns, Mr. M.
"Honey, I need you." I am half sobbing into the phone.
"What? What is it?" He's kind of freaked. I don't make these kinds of calls often.
"I forgot Princess P's and SI's dentist appointments this morning. They've rescheduled them for 2:45. Can you be home for the big boys by 3:10?"
Big sigh of relief or "oh brother." "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you. I'm so sorry. I was just trying to get the house caught up."
"It's okay." Click. One mildly annoyed husband, but one who will do anything for his wife to the rescue. Check. Now my heart can stop pounding.
I look around. I have one room under control. The house is started, but I know it will never really be finished. At least I still have the cheerful children. Knock on wood they stay that way.

AWANA Awards/Auction

Sunday night was our awards night for AWANA. All of our boys finished a book. Bob received his Sparkie Plaque for completing all three Sparks books. Princess D is officially promoted to Sparks. Princess P has moved from Puggles to Cubbies. I am so proud of them all.

The real highlight of the evening for me was after at home after the TnT (Truth in Training) auction. Our oldest had purchased several items, and was appraising his loot on the couch.
"Chip, come here. I have a new football for you."
"Bob, have this water gun and this soaker."
"Si, guy...here's a rice krispie treat."....

He had spent his hard earned Awana bucks on gifts for his siblings, just because he wanted them to feel included. I think he got the message.

May the joy you spread boomerang back to you!

This morning we had a meeting for the preschool division of our VBS. I am so excited about this year's theme....Australia! and trains! And sharing the love of Christ! Depending on him again and again. I was surrounded by people I admire, women I am honored to count amongst my friends. My preschool age kids ran amuck in the gym under the authority of an older home schooled girl. It cracked me up to see our three year old playing kickball. Si guy was a little intimidated by the older kids, so he hung out w/ mom, cuddling quietly on my lap. Apparently his friend R felt the same way. She stayed pretty close to mom too.
I get snack duty for all the preschoolers, and I like it that way. Princess P's food challenges are quite a list. I'm touched our church cares so much about including all the kids as much as possible, especially at these younger ages.
I also have the privilege of teaching the four year old class. I've always enjoyed working with preschoolers, but the bulk of my work in the past has been with twos and threes. Those fours are smart! I have to admit I'm kind of scared. I generally prefer to have more "behind the scenes" roles, or at least be the "shadow teacher" who helps more than leads. I just have to remind myself I can do all things through Christ. I have the materials in my car. I'll bring them in to work on after the destructive duo is in bed. It's only a little over a month until we board the Boomerang Express! "People get ready....there's a train a comin."