My Day

Well, I should probably back up and share the weekend. Okay, so really it's best to start late last week. Yeah, that should be good. Remember the whole quiet-time thing? Not working. I would much rather have a battle at bedtime because--let's be honest--Daddy deals with those while I'm writing blog posts. We started that on Wednesday of last week and by Friday, I declared (in a very unloving voice) that she would most certainly be taking a nap tomorrow or we would both be unfit for polite society. Or something along those lines. No need to recall the exact verbiage.

I'm sure the lack of success had nothing to do with C's untimely case of croup. She woke up with a fever on Thursday morning and by Friday afternoon, we were in the doctor's office confirming the diagnosis. It also rained Friday afternoon; lots of it...about the time we were leaving the doctor's office. Not such a fun day for me. But then came bunko.

Can I just tell you how amazing it is to play bunko with a lady who was in the catering business for over 20 years?! The carbs, y'all, my goodness, the carbs!! She made some kind of cream cheese dip that made me drool. And homemade strawberry shortcake and key lime pie. That kind of calorie-load will erase a multitude of sins. Or at least cause you to shift your focus to a different variety of sins.

Saturday is kind of a blur because C was so puny. Oh, yes, the parental units were quite stir crazy (it was still raining), so we played Big Lots Lotto. Before we left the house, we each rolled three dice (A only got two, and C got none since she's not quite old enough to know she's being left out) and we could each spend the sum total of the dice at Big Lots. J was so sad that he had $12 to spend and could only find a box of Pop Rocks that he was interested in. A loaded up on princess goods...markers, notepads, stickers. When we got home, J was very disappointed that his pop rocks were not more entertaining than he had hoped. Don't get me wrong, he thoroughly enjoyed emptying the little packets into his mouth and then putting his open mouth near our ears so we could hear the candy sensation. I think he just thought the 3-year-old would get a bigger kick out of it. Hmm. She eventually warmed to the idea, but only after her own candy was gone.

Then Sunday, I had the honor and privilege of serving in our church nursery not one, not two, but three hours. With the 2-year-olds. We rely heavily on student help in the nursery and this was graduation weekend, which translates to lack-o-help in the nursery. I really didn't mind pitching in, but three hours with eight 2-year-olds is memorable to say the least. "No throwing. No climbing. No hitting. No screaming. No mouth." Someone should make a soundtrack.

J got to stay home with C. Which is why he learned about a spontaneous concert by one of his favorite artists happening that afternoon. He took A with him to a local church to hear Andy Gullahorn and Ross King. C and I hung out at home and rotated toys so the girls would have a fresh selection to start the week.

Monday morning, C was definitely feeling better. She hadn't run fever since Saturday. We made a quick run to HEB in the morning and then broke out the wading pool that afternoon. Note to self - do not leave the pool in the backyard all winter; very nasty scrubbing to be done come summer. C did not enjoy the pool as much as her sister, but it may have been due to the uncontrollable splashing and squealing on the part of her sister. She also did not enjoy the strawberry popsicle I offered her for snack. I tried to hand it to her and she took off in a lap around our patio, saying "no, no, no, no, no, no." After about five laps, I threw the popsicle in the sink and gave her plain ice. She enjoyed that much more.

Today is Tuesday and we took the day off from our usual visit to a friend's house to make sure C is out of the croup woods. We went to the park for a couple of hours this morning; fed some very assertive ducks. I had a very productive nap time, did a reading lesson with A, and thought I would get just one more thing done on my to-do list before starting supper. Had to call the credit card company to look into a rewards reimbursement. I refuse to go into the gory details because I don't think my blood pressure can handle the spike again today. But because I'm still outraged, here's the highlights: one hour and ten minutes, six people (one who didn't speak English and another who was very rude), finally find a solution to the problem, but "oh, sorry, we can't authorize the request because you aren't the primary card holder. Please have your husband call back and make the request." I had to send the girls outside because I didn't want to hear A's lecture later on "Stay calm. Ask for help nicely. Stay calm. Wait nicely for help. Stay calm."

When J got home and saw my beet-red face and frazzled hair, he agreed that supper out might be a good idea. Then we ran into Half-Price Books to pick up a new chapter book for A. I love the idea of being able to shop at a bookstore with my kids. C was even chanting, "book, book, book" as we walked the aisles. Except you have to imagine that with a heavy German accent, because it comes out more like, "boochk." I was putting her in bed and gave her a kiss, which she sweetly returned. She's gotten really sweet about kisses and readily planted one on my cheek, then sought out my other cheek and gave me another one in true French bisous style. Makes the bad credit card man melt away.

So that was my day. Well, my weekend. I guess since tomorrow is Wednesday, then we've come full circle and that was my week. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Hands-On

Remember my self-exhortation about the differences between my two daughters? Here's a visual reminder:

Note the clean hands, clean painting smock, clean face of daughter #1. And, behold:
Note the facial application and thorough finger coverage of daughter #2. Oh, how I longed for A to squish the finger paint between her fingers, to smear it all over the paper and herself. Why? Why did I wish for that? Probably because, as is the case with most of life, making the mess is most of the fun and this too shall wash.

School Plans

In case you didn't know, I'm really excited about starting school in earnest with A this fall. I've been reading some great books recommended by trusted friends who have been homeschooling for years, trying to wrap my head around the different philosophies, methodologies, programs and curricula available. It's quite overwhelming. I feel very blessed to have so many wise Christian sisters who are further down this path already and can shed light on potential hazards and helps.

Some helpful reading I've been doing:

Top 100 Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy - great section that explains the general philosophies of homeschooling as well as quizzes to help you understand which style might work best with your family's needs and goals; then a fabulous wealth of info on all manner of curriculum and how they rate on criteria that are important to you

The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise - we've definitely gotten on board with the philosophy of classical Christian education and this book is soooo helpful! Detailed recommendations by grade and subject that are realistic and attainable. I felt infinitely better about starting with a 4-year-old after reading the appropriate parts of this book.

Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt - neat book about how to choose books for your children that will nurture their heart and mind; includes age-appropriate lists of titles to look for

So for this fall, my broad goals are learning to read and write. We're going to do one at a time, starting with reading. Then we'll start in on formal handwriting once she's comfortable with reading. For reading, I'm using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise (available at my local library) and we invested in a set of BOB Books beginning readers. I'll get all our other easy readers at the library, cross-referencing the recommendations in The Well-Trained Mind and Honey for a Child's Heart. We're going to read, read, read, read. I'll read aloud to her, she'll read aloud to me, and she'll read on her own. We've already been ramping up our reading time and I love that our house is littered with books.

For handwriting, I went with Zaner-Bloser's handwriting style (mainly because the book seemed very thorough for the price). I think this will be fairly straightforward, but that could be my naivete talking.

I plan to pepper in some math and science in the form of everyday, household exploration. We'll also read lots of library books with math and science stories/concepts, thanks to the incredible lists in my reference books. I sprang for Family Math for Young Children because I do not just randomly generate great math ideas, and while my husband does, I'm betting he won't be around when I need to pull a math lesson out of my hat. I'm also hoping to have fun with art using Baby Lambs Book of Art. Both of these books will span multiple years and children.

Last, but certainly not least, we will read the Bible and lots of books about the Bible. I was gifted a beautiful story Bible when A was born and am just now realizing how highly recommended and wonderful it is. We've also got a great church library that I hope to work through repeatedly. Somehow, I want to gather the family together for this part of our education. I'm not sure how it's going to look yet, but J is working with me on ideas of how to merge our schedules for this all-important responsibility. We want to start on character training too, so I got Character Building for Families. Review said it was naturally scripted, concise and easy to do with little prep. Sounds like a good way to tackle the most important part of our children's training, doesn't it?!

As usual, I have probably bitten off more than we can chew. That's part of the excitement, I think. I'm going to maintain the broad goals for reading and writing, and establishing a family time for imparting biblical wisdom. Anything else we do will be gravy. Rich, exciting, calorie-dense gravy that will also probably be full of messy lumps. After all, I'm learning right along with her.

Praise & Thanksgiving

We have great cause to celebrate at our house this week. God has answered our prayers about a significant milestone for J's work. I waited to blog about it because I didn't want to somehow jeopardize the negotiations. That either makes me really conceited, to think that my little blog reaches so far, or really paranoid, to think that the internet is that small. I tend toward the latter.

The back story is that J and his business partner have an incredible idea for a new iPhone app that has garnered the interest of an angel investor. They've spent many, many hours developing the business plan with help from a local small business incubator who was also smitten with the idea. The investor handed over a "deposit" during their first meeting. But then we hit a snag with some legal issues in a previous customer's contract. Long story short, we needed a signature in order to proceed and it was possible that the signature would be very expensive and time-consuming to secure.

After three weeks of praying for a quick, favorable answer, J got the needed signature yesterday afternoon--the same day he made the request. It did have a cost, but only a drop in the potential bucket. As a bonus, this previous customer that J was negotiating with asked to be the first customer when the new app is rolled out. Above and beyond what we could ask or imagine.

We've been praying for a long time that God would provide income in such a way that J would be able to concentrate on school full-time. We can't say for sure that this new idea will do that, but it is very promising. Having the investor's check in hand and the legal roadblocks out of the way gives us hope that God has flung this door wide open for us to run through. J had already pulled out of school for this semester and knew he would probably take off next fall as well. We'll pray now that this is enough time to get the new product up and rolling, generating revenue without much continual intervention.

So praise God with us!! This is a huge answer to prayer! We look forward to seeing how God will work it all together to make us more like Him and bring glory to Himself. Stay tuned.

Big Day for My Little Girl

Today was a big day for my firstborn. It marks the beginning of two new chapters in her life, and the very sad, sad, sad end to one chapter in my life. Today was the first day we tried quiet time instead of a nap. That's right, Mommy, say goodbye to that blissful island oasis in the center of your day known as all-babies-sleeping-and-mommy-probably-is-too.

She's been having a really rough time staying in bed at bedtime and it just didn't feel right to keep punishing her for getting out of bed so many times. J and I talked it over and thought we'd give it a try to eliminate the nap and see if that helps. She did great during quiet time. I put her in my room with quiet toys, coloring books, and Beatrix Potter on cd. She only came out twice, both times to tell me the cd story had stopped unexpectedly. I set a timer for 90 minutes and she played really well the whole time. I was pretty impressed with how well it went. We'll see if we can keep it up and if it makes a difference at bedtime. Added bonus if she stays in bed later in the mornings; can I get an amen?!

After quiet time, we were blessed with another hour together while C snoozed on and on (yet another bonus of having loud sister across the house during nap). I had received my order of homeschool books yesterday and was ready to start doing reading lessons, so we jumped right in. She's been spelling words and sounding them out with letters on the fridge for about two weeks now, so I knew the climate was ripe for cultivating her interest in reading. Sure enough, she breezed through two reading lessons in about 15 minutes and then read her first book to me!! My baby can read! "Mat sat. Sam sat. Mat sat on Sam. Sam sat on Mat. Mat sat. Sam sat. The End." It really pulls on the ol' heart strings, doesn't it?

I know we've got a long road ahead of us before she is a fluent reader, but knowing how she loves words and their meanings, I'm really excited for her. I can't wait to see how her world is going to grow exponentially as she starts absorbing the written word. Learning to read is one of my primary goals for her over the next school year. I was planning to wait until fall to start, but I think we'll do well to dive in over the summer. I'm so excited! I don't think I've felt this way about reaching a milestone before. First foods, first tooth, even first words and steps...totally pale in comparison. Something about being able to open the door of reading and watch the implications, the possibilities dawn on her little brain.

Mind you, I will likely regret having taught her to read by this time next year when she can read every magazine headline in the checkout line. But I will bask in the wonder of this remarkable new discovery as long as I can, with each new word learned, each new book read. After all, mommy-no-more-naps needs something to look forward to.

Not so crazy

I finally found a natural recipe that I'm not so crazy about. It took me awhile to try because it's quite a leap...natural deodorant. I tried this recipe because I had all the ingredients on hand. Even saved my empty deodorant bottle (is it a bottle? can? jar? holder? what do you call that thing?). I knew I would have to refrigerate it because the coconut oil melts at 76 degrees and we keep our thermostat on 78. But I thought that maybe it would be refreshing to apply chilled deodorant.

Well, the first strike against it was the remembering to put it on. Once I'm out of the bedroom, I hit the ground running, meeting demands thrown at me by whoever is loudest. So I often forgot to use it until my pits reminded me that they were bare.

Then strike two and three came at the same time. I had put it on one day when I knew I'd just be around the house, trying to give it a good trial run before taking it public. I went in the bathroom and stopped in front of the mirror to re-do my pony tail. With arms above my head, I saw the verdict under both arms....huge oily circles on my gray t-shirt. It wasn't wet, I assure you. I think it must have been the coconut oil working itself into the cotton of my shirt. Of course, I looked like a sweaty construction worker with huge rings under my arms. I hadn't noticed before because I was wearing darker colors that camouflaged the circles. That shirt still needs to be laundered, but I haven't noticed any stains on other shirts. Nevertheless, homemade deodorant is dead to me. I've got to draw the line somewhere and I prefer to keep my dignity and modesty in tact, tucked out of sight under my arms, thank you very much.

More Natural Stuff

So, I've gone natural with shampoo, conditioner, and face cleanser. I also wanted to try some natural household cleaners, so I started with homemade dish detergent and laundry detergent. I used this recipe for dish detergent and so far, it's working great. One time I noticed some residue left on the dishes after the dishwasher had run, but I can't say for certain if it was a result of the detergent or the person who did the rinsing (hint: it wasn't me). I'm very much a rinse-it-almost-clean kind of girl. I have yet to find the right combination of dishwasher and detergent that will actually clean dirty dishes without having to rinse them first. If someone out there knows this magical combination, please share it with me for the love of all that is dishpan hands!! As a general (and rather concise, wouldn't you say?) review, I rate this recipe as effective as commercial detergent and certainly cheaper, more simple and environmentally friendly to boot.

Equally cheap and green, this site has some great recipes for homemade laundry detergent. I chose the powdered one, mainly because I don't have any two- or five-gallon buckets that I want to leave lying about in my laundry room full of tempting goo for a toddler and preschooler to happen upon. I did sub Ivory soap for the Fels Naptha because I couldn't find the latter. I haven't noticed any problems with it dissolving in the washer, but next time I will use the fine side of my grater to grate the Ivory, just for my peace of mind. It seems to get the clothes just as clean as the liquid All that I was using. I'm still using Shout as a spray pre-treatment, especially on all of C's stains. I'm not sure if it's the Shout or the detergent that gets it all clean. But I know I'm saving a load of dough on laundry detergent!

Cheer it with me....Yyyyyeeaaa, GO NATURAL!

Squeakish

A has invented her own language. You can't understand it; lots of q's and w's. She has tried to educate her father and I on the finer points of communicating in this language, telling us how to say certain words. I imagine this is how an English-language learner feels because the sound of the words keeps changing every time we try to pronounce them.

Saturday morning as we all hung out in the driveway, J decided to give her language the name "Squeakish" since her nickname is Squeaker. She thought that was grand. She promptly declared herself a Squeakish-princess-who-runs-fast and gave us a coronation speech in Squeakish. She carried on for quite awhile, doing races with daddy and riding her toys. I did something that offended her delicate sensibilities, though, and she proceeded to let me have it in Squeakish.

Now I generally cannot tolerate a disrespectful preschooler and I knew what was spewing out of her heart even if the words didn't compute. But the whole scene was so absurd with her screwed-up face and outstretched hand and wacky words, that I couldn't help but collapse on the concrete laughing. The princess was none too pleased with this response and I'm pretty sure I was banished from the kingdom of Squeakish. I also had to apologize for laughing at her and ask her to forgive me. We did all that in English, though.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty laid back weekend this week. Saturday morning was family time, played outside together. J took the girls to run a few errands mid-morning and I got a much needed hour to finalize my curriculum order for our first year of homeschooling. Had a lunch of leftovers, then tried to take a nap. C wasn't cooperating for whatever reason. She fussed for a good half hour before finally falling asleep. Same thing happened on Friday; very frustrating because then A woke her up after she had only slept thirty minutes. Made for a long night at home group on Friday night. She did better on Saturday and we all made it out the door on time for some birthday party hopping. First to a party for one-year-old twins, then a second party for a little friend turning four. Loads of fun and sugar!

Sunday was church as usual. We were informed when we picked C up from nursery that she had snuck in a twenty minute snooze. We figured that meant we were good for another hour if we wanted to eat out, so we did. Of course, it took her a good thirty minutes of fussing again to take an afternoon nap, but she slept hard once she fell asleep. Finally had to open her door at 4:30pm so she'd wake up and be ready to go back to bed at bedtime! J worked with the girls in the garage painting something or other for my mother's day present. I spent the quiet time in the house catching up on emails, clearing my paper stacks from the kitchen counters and gearing up for a new week.

And here it is, Monday! C went to sleep without complaint today. Woo hoo! Don't want to make a habit of fussing to sleep. I think they were both pretty tired from the weekend as evidenced by a nap time long enough for me to get my work done and still have time to blog. I'll second that woo hoo! Registered A for swimming lessons this morning and ran a few errands. Laundry. Potted some mystery beans brought home from Sunday School a few weeks ago from their plastic cup into a real pot with dirt. Chatted with the neighbor about her new grandson. More laundry. Blew some bubbles. Made grilled cheese. Fought the great eat-your-fruit battle for the day. Tuned in to Little Einsteins. Put girls to bed. Updated the budget. Sent overdue emails. Wrote a blog post!! Time for more laundry. Thank you, Lord, for the calm and normal.

Who knew?!

In case you didn't believe me about all the belly button and banana peel jokes that go on around here in a given day...

If you didn't catch the original lyrics, I think the real moral comes at the end, "God is a belly button and he has belly button hair, too. He has banana peel slippers. Ooo." I don't know about you, but I'm glad my theology can handle a little belly button hair. Ew.

Official Video

Here ya go, only a couple of weeks late...

I think it was the chocolate milkshake that motivated her.