The Things I DON'T Do

With Christmas over and the decorations put away, I often take time in January to think about my goals for the coming months.  I don't like the word "resolution." There is a lot of pressure with resolutions.  If I make one wrong move, I feel like I've failed and might as well give up.  

Instead, I like to make goals.  Goals imply something I am working toward-- a series of baby steps in the direction of an end result.  Mistakes may set me back, but I can still pick up and try again.

Brian and I talked over the weekend about things we want to do this year and things we want to change both individually and together, but I don't want to talk about that now.  I love getting a peek into someone else's thought and plans, but sometimes it can inspire a bit of discouragement or comparison, too.  

I often have people say to me, "I don't know how you have six kids and manage to homeschool," or, "keep your house clean," or, "read."  The reality is, there are so many things I don't do.  I thought it would be fun to share a few of those things here instead:

1) I don't write daily...or even weekly... lesson plans.

Maybe this surprises the people who know my love of a list and a calendar, but I have never written a detailed lesson plan...or many lesson plans at all.  My method of school planning is big-picture.  I know what I want to accomplish in a year and we chip away in small chunks.  For example, in history, I know we need to cover post-Civil War through the present this year so in August we studied the Reconstruction Era.  In September, we read about the early 1900s.  In October, we focused on World War I.   I do not write out what needs to be done each day.

Each child also refers to their own weekly schedule, but that simply reminds them what subjects they need to cover each day, not the specifics of what they need to do. 

2) I don't wash my hair every day.

I used to have very oily hair that looked gross and limp if I didn't wash it, but as I got older, my hair started to dry out. After my pregnancy with Macie, my dry hair also became more wavy.  I have a lot of hair-- "massive amounts," in the words of the girl who cut my hair-- and I suddenly realized that I could save a lot of time by not washing and styling it every day. 

I have never used dry shampoo, but I spray on  homemade sea salt spray after I wash my hair, and I spray on a bit more on in-between days.  The salt helps dry out any stray moisture or yuck. 

3) I don't garden or raise chickens.

I have a very black thumb.  I can barely keep a hanging basket alive in the summer.  As much as I would like to feed my family fresh vegetables from our own garden, it is just not my thing.  Even if I could do it, there is a huge time commitment and I would rather devote my time to other things.  Instead, I gladly make good use of every gift of vegetables from my gardening friends or family.

The same goes for chickens.  We know at least four families who raise their own chickens and Maddie is dying to join them.  As much as I love fresh eggs and understand their health benefits, I am saying no for now.

4) I don't exercise.

For three years I was a regular runner. I ran 2 half-marathons and many more shorter races.  I ran through my pregnancy, up until the day my water broke.  I know other moms who find time to run with a baby, but it's not working for me.  Macie turns one this month and I don't see running in my near future either.  

My favorite time to run is early morning, but that's when she wakes to nurse.  Once my morning gets going, the rest of the day is full to the brim.  Over the summer and fall, I took a daily mile-and-a-half walk with Macie and either Brian or one of the kids, but now it is too dark and cold. Maybe I could find time to exercise another way, but I'm choosing not to make it a priority right now.  I will take the occasional run when I'm able, but  I won't put it on my regular to-do list for many more months. 

5) I don't use coupons.

I am frugal and like to save money, but I rarely use coupons.  I buy generic and watch for sales. We also love the effortlessness of Walmart Savings Catcher.  I say "we" because I am not even the one who uses the app.  Brian is. 

6) I don't take my kids to dance or sports practice.

We have made the decision for monetary and time purposes to forego weekly individual activities with our five older kids.  They all take a gym class.  They all go to church activities one evening a week.  They all sing in the local homeschool choir.  Maddie does attend a monthly book club and the others will occasionally go to a class or camp, but we are choosing to not have multiple outside commitments. 

7) I don't put my kids to bed at night.

I feel the most guilt about this one!  Our nightly routine involves the kids listening to audio books in their rooms before bed.  Everyone gets ready (teeth, pjs, etc.) and then go into the bedrooms to listen. Sometimes it's boys/girls, sometimes older/younger, sometimes all together. When a disc is over (usually after an hour-ish), they come back out to the living room to tell me goodnight and then they take themselves to bed.  I rarely tuck anyone in or turn out lights. 

*****

There is one more thing I am going to take off my plate.  Blogging.  After almost nine years of writing here, I have decided to spend time on other pursuits.  When I began, I was still in my twenties and we lived in a small townhouse. We had no pets, Gavin was five, and three of my kids were not even born!  What a journey.

My blog is staying right here. I plan to leave all  posts, links, and photos up for browsing.  I won't disappear either. I'm keeping my blog's Facebook page open, and I plan to continue posting a few thoughts and photos there.  

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you." 2 Corinthians 13:13

a Charlie Brown lunch

I talked about some happy Thanksgiving memories, but Thanksgiving 2014 will go down in our family history as a bad one.  On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Maddie woke up sick.  She had a slight fever and stayed on the couch most of the day watching movies, but by Wednesday lunchtime she was well enough to join us at the table.

Unfortunately, another kid woke up with a fever on Thanksgiving morning and a third developed one mid-morning.  Before cancelling the day's plans, we made a few calls to family who encouraged us to come to dinner anyway, saying they would risk exposure to germs since Maddie's case had been mild and quick.

Wrong move.  😬 On Friday morning we began putting up our Christmas tree and by afternoon, a full-blown case of the flu hit our house with high fevers, chills, sore throats, headaches, and body aches. This was the scene in our house while Brian was stringing the lights:




And despite all the festivity around him, this little guy only managed to put one ornament on the tree before he curled back up on the floor. 

It was bad.  Brian and I managed to finish the decorating before we succumbed, too, and it was days before anyone was well enough to cook dinner or go to work, let alone take care of the long Christmas to-do list. 

In those few hours between bouts of wretchedness that year, after Maddie got better and before aninyone else got sick, we made a happy memory.   On Wednesday afternoon, we served a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving lunch.

Today we did the same.  Today everyone is well and we are very thankful for it.

We popped some popcorn, toasted some bread, handed out gourmet jelly beans, and portioned out pretzel sticks.

Tomorrow we will feast on turkey and mashed potatoes, but today we enjoyed a few simple pleasures. 

Is there space for "twaddle?"

When I shared how our family uses the library, I implied that one reason I don't scan the shelves is to avoid twaddle-- poor quality, silly, or fluffy books.  

But...confession... I'm not totally offended by twaddle! 

I obviously steer away from books that are too mature for my readers (or listeners) and I discuss with my older kids the wisdom of setting a standard for content in the books they choose.  I sometimes push my younger boys to read books a little longer or complicated than they are comfortable choosing on their own, but I do not forbid them from easy, maybe even trivial, reading. 

Here's why: first of all, I know for myself that I often look to reading as an escape.  I have opportunities all throughout theday to stretch my brain, but reading is my way to relax.  I don't want to look up words or think deeply.  After Macie was born in January, one of my goals for the year was to read for pleasure. I declared that it was "not the year to tackle heavy classics or challenge myself intellectually."

Also, much of our family culture has been shaped by "twaddle-y" books.  Conversations are sparked by what we read.  No one would consider the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books classic literature, but we love them.  My kids say I am a twin of the "Mom" character in the books.  We both dance (and embarrass our kids) when we hear music and apparently "Mom" always gets her ideas from the magazine she subscribes to called Family Frolic. I get ideas from podcasts.  They know because I often listen out loud in the car while I am driving them to and fro... and then they see me implement the ideas at home.   I've been caught!  Maddie says that The Mom Hour is my Family Frolic. 

We enjoy other characters, too, and many quotes from the books are recited around the dinner table and are inserted into our real-life situations.  My boys particularly love how older brother, Roderick, watched the movie instead of read the book for his high school English assignment.  Unfortunately, he watched wrestling movie, Lords of the Ring, instead of the correct Lord of the Rings. 

I'm not saying that these types of books should replace classic or other thought-provoking literature, but I am saying there are pleasure benefits and relational benefits to fluffy books, too.

What are your thoughts?  Do you read twaddle?  Do you allow your kids to read it? 

Acknowledging the Hard

This post is difficult to write, not because I'm nervous about how it will be received, but in the sense that my words may be construed to mean something else entirely.  I believe what I'm about to say is true, but it is not an excuse to wallow in pity or make excuses for ourselves.

We need to acknowledge the hard. 

I've admitted that life with a baby is hard, but this year has been hard in other ways, too. Buying a vehicle made finances a little tighter.  We started high school and had a bumpy start with our chosen curriculum.  In fact, we're still smoothing the bumps.  We've had to do extensive training, talking, and praying with two of the kids who have relationship issues with each other.  Another child has struggled with attitude over schoolwork. Brian has worked long hours.

I hesitate to share, even with my real-life friends. It's not necessarily pride or wanting people to see me as having it all together, but it is knowing there are people going through things far worse than what I'm going through.  And is it disloyal to my kids to say that their activities, growth, exuberance-- their very existence--  make some days difficult?   I choose this life, didn't I?

I believe it is important to acknowledge that what we are experiencing is hard.  We don't need to brush it off and paint a rosy picture for ourselves.  We need to understand that yes, this is hard.  The path I'm walking every day is not easy mentally or emotionally or physically.  Even if I've chosen it, or even if I believe it is precisely where God has placed me, it is hard. 

At the same time, I want to remember that hard is not the same as bad.  

"And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4 HCSB

One of my friends wrote recently about her strugges with singleness.  My mom wrote last year about the difficulties of walking the path of poor health with my dad . 

God has given each of us hard things.  He says in His Word, "My grace is sufficient for you. for power is perfected in weakness."

Let's each of acknowledge our hard and then let His grace wash over us.

3/4

Macie turned 9 months old yesterday.  She has been on the outside longer than I carried her inside.(She was born over two weeks "early" so she had a head start on life!)

She is no longer a skinny baby, struggling to maintain her weight.  At her well-check today she weighed 19 pounds, 10.5 ounces.

She is a mover. She speed-crawls through the house, finding and picking up all the teensy-tiny specks on the floor.  She pulls up and cruises around furniture so not much is out of her reach. 

She loves books, but finds paper books much more fascinating than board books.  If we can draw her away from those, her favorite books have pictures of babies or animals.  I enjoy reading her books that we saved from when the older kids were babies and toddlers.

She sleeps through the night or wakes up once to cuddle and nurse. (And on a rough night, sometimes she wakes up two or three times.)

She has three teeth and two more on the way.

She loves to eat.  We've practiced baby-led weaning from the beginning so she prefers to feed herself. The only food she has turned down is turnip greens.  She loves chicken, avocado, applesauce, carrots, green beans, oranges, beef, banana, chicken and rice soup, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, Cheerios, and bread. The recommendations have changed since my older kids were babies so Macie also enjoys a thin spread of natural peanut butter. Her absolute favorites, though, are pasta with meat sauce and broccoli!

She loves the bath but doesn't like to get dressed afterwards.  She loves music.  She loves, I mean loves, the vacuum cleaner.  She loves to screech and hear her own voice. She says "ma-ma" and "bye." She waves. She has a temper and doesn't like to be told no.  She doesn't like to sit still for a diaper change. She doesn't like her car seat straps. 

She is 3/4 of the way to a year!

In Which I Answer a Question About Homeschool Boredom

We invited a group of friends over after church one afternoon in August.  The after-lunch conversation turned to kids and school and the question was asked, "Do you get tired of teaching the same things to all of your kids?" 

My simple answer is I don't teach everyone the same things. Obviously they all need to learn to add and they need American history, spelling, and basic science, but there is great variation in how we achieve that learning.  It sounds selfish, but I do it for me.  I choose to teach them things I want to learn about, too, with books that look interesting to me! When we circle back around to an era in history I covered years ago with the older kids, I choose different library books to read and new ways to explore the subject.  In this way, we've covered astronomy, composers, nature study, ancient history, poetry, geography, grammar, missionary stories, hygiene, drawing, fractions. cooking, typing, creative writing, sewing, and the list goes on.

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know we read a lot. One of my favorite things we're doing this year is purposing to read 10 minutes a day for fun.  This doesn't include what we're reading for history,  Bible study or our own personal reading.  This special 10 minutes is my chance to share a book I want to read with my kids... just because.  I don't have to finish a chapter each session and I don't have to read seven days a week, but I can almost always eek out 10 minutes.  Right now we're working our way through Little House on the Prairie and plan to keep going until we finish the series.  Do you know I've never read past the third book with any of my kids?! 

Learning is a lifelong pursuit so why not make it a pleasure for everyone-- including, maybe especially, the teacher? 

Whether you homeschool or not, do you get tired of teaching your kids the same things over and over?

How do you choose what to teach?

What are some things you want to learn with your children?

Weekend Encouragement {a few thoughts and a pile of links}

We completed a full week of school on this first full week of September.  As in, we did our work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday without taking a break for a summer activity. Things went smoothly, and one student admitted a subject that was hated last week was now "okay."  


Still I battled feelings of discouragement.  As she moves closer to a year old, Macie is needing less sleep in the afternoon.  Her morning nap is solid and falls during our busiest school hours which is a help, but I crave the quiet time in the afternoons, too.  It's all good, and I may grow to love this new routine, especially as several of our afternoon extracurriculars begin again this fall. I'll be happy that she doesn't get grumpy if she misses a long rest time.  Transitions are difficult, though, and my body and mind are weary.

 As   summer winds down and all our friends are back to school, too, we're home more which is also a good thing, but I miss the hubbub of activity and the conversation with other moms. For years, I thought I was an introvert, but this summer made me suspect I'm more extroverted than I realized.

Brian's work season is slowing slightly, and we have been intentional about our evening walk.  Those, and an invitation from a friend to hang out and talk while our kids played yesterday after school, buoyed the end of my week.

I've also been encouraged by exchanging scriptures with various friends via text message. "A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples on a silver tray." (Proverbs 25:11 HCSB)  On Thursday, I asked if any reader on the blog's Facebook page would leave a comment with a scripture that brought encouragement to them. I was blessed all day by the responses.  Click here to find encouragement, too, and click below on the links to read other articles (by other people) that I loved this week.

Do It Afraid  by Sarah Mackenzie @ Amongst the Lovely Things 

About starting something hard: "So here we are, starting our calendar square in the face and running out of excuses to put off starting. I say just leap in. It isn't going to be perfect-- it won't even if you try to make it so, so just do your best and let God feed the 5,000 with your measly basket of loaves and  fish."   

To Think God Had This in Mind for My Family 15 Years Ago by Rachel @ Thriving Home

Timely for our family as in the last year as each of us has made new friendships, renewed some old ones, and explored "what it means to do life with others in Christ."

Start the Homeschool Year Off RIGHT by Homeschooling YOUR Way by Lea Ann Garfias @ Raising Arrows

This has nothing to do with ego, selfishness, or pushing God out of the picture but simply leaving behind the comparison game and teaching your children the way that works best for your family.

 

When Plans Fall Flat Before They Begin

That title sounds more dramatic than I intended, but it describes our experience with high school science so far.  This just may be the homeschool year that kicks my butt.  

There have been a few baby issues.  First it was a cold, then teething, then realizing she had insomnia caused by her continuing dairy insensitivity.  Good-bye again, cheese and butter! All that makes for a mama who is tired, distracted, and not her best self. 

Our primary stumbling block, though, has been high school.  More than the increase in work or the difficulty of the work itself, it is navigating new expectations.  I'm putting pressure on myself.  I'm putting pressure on Gavin.  He's putting pressure on himself.  We both need to take a deep breath and realize it's not as hard as we're making it. 

I mentioned in another post that we shelved what I had planned for science.   One of the joys of homeschooling is tailoring the work to our children's interests, but it doesn't mean they must love everything they do.  Algebra is not going away just because some of my kids hate math!  We're teaching them that sometimes in life you have to do something just because it has been given you to do. 

That being said, in the first weeks of school as we slowly began each subject, we avoided Gavin's science day after day until finally it was the only subject left to begin so we cracked open the book, The black and white pages with very little color, the experiment supply lists, and the lack of insight on what was important and what aspects could be skimmed over...it was too overwhelming.  Two weeks into school and we put the book back on the shelf and started a search for new science curriculum. 

At the same time, I was pondering where to plug in the 3-D printing class Gavin took over the summer.  I wanted to give him credit for the 15 hours of classroom time, but wasn't sure what it could "count" towards.  My mom sent me this link, telling me she thought it sounded like Gavin, and the pieces all clicked for me.

The traditional sciences (biology, chemistry, etc.) will wait as Gavin dives into The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay.  The subtitle says it all: From Lasers to Levers, Windmills to Wi-Fi,  a Visual Guide to the World of Machines.

I almost ordered a used copy of The New Way Things Work  at an incredible price, I might add, but I decided to pre-order (at full price) the new edition that comes out in October because the topics and technology covered are more up-to-date and include a section on 3-D printers. 

While we wait, we checked  How Machines Work: Zoo Break by the same author out of the library.  It is an incredibly fun, hands-on look at simple machines, and I had Gavin teach it to the younger kids. It was his idea to build an example of each simple machine with Duplo blocks as they read the book. They each (Gavin included) also illustrated a chart for their school portfolios. 

I'm sure there will be more bumps in our journey this school year, but this has put us on a more confident path.  Fellow mamas, don't be afraid to insist that your kids do hard things, but don't be afraid to change course if it's the better choice.

Bonus points if you can give us a name for this science course.  It goes beyond general science and I don't think it quite fits the description of physical science.  Help! 

Our New Little Habit

Between the flurry of extra activity, a plan for science that we shelved before we even started (more on that in a later post), and a summer virus that glued a few of my students to the couch, our school year has not started in a way I had pictured. 

We are implementing a new idea this year, though, a tiny habit that will stick despite the crazies of life. I am reading aloud for pleasure 10 minutes a day.  Inspired by Read Aloud Revival podcast, every day at lunch time I open a book and read to whoever will listen.  I'm only requiring that Ben and Alaine listen, but anyone is welcome, and most of the time, my older kids and teen stay, too.

Ten minutes a day...I can commit to that.  I don't have to finish a chapter or check books off of a list. This isn't working towards our history credit.  I just need to read for ten minutes, then put the book down and go about my day.  (It's worth clicking here to see how many books you could read by devoting just 10 minutes a day.)

We're starting with Little House in the Big Woods because my younger ones have never heard it and I'm planning to move all the way through the series. Ben, who has never loved to sit still and listen, doesn't complains because...ten minutes.  He even says that he is enjoying the book.  He has never said that about reading aloud a chapter book. Today when I read the part about Grandpa, the sled, and the pig, I watched out of the corner of my eye as Ben stopped with his sandwich mid-way to his mouth until he heard what was going to happen!  

Ten minutes.  Want to join me?

Podcasts for People Who Don't Listen to Podcasts

I am a committed podcast listener, but maybe you are not.  I didn't think I would be either until I listened to a podcast on a run a couple of years ago.  It felt like having a friend along and kept me occupied far longer than music on the long, slow, half-marathon training runs.  I can't do audio books without my mind wandering, but a podcast is different.  It's my way to politely eavesdrop on an interesting conversation.

Now I can scarcely find time to run since between school, laundry, and having a baby, running has slipped to the bottom of my priorities list, but I still keep up with my podcasts in the car, while doing dishes, or while nursing Macie.  

I don't deny that I have OCD tendencies (more accurately, OCPD) so I used to feel that if I listened to one episode of a podcast, I needed to listen to every episode of that particular podcast.  Lately I've been finding joy in sampling a wide variety of podcasts and only listening to the topics that grab my attention.  (Novel idea, huh?)

So maybe you don't think podcasts are for you, but if you are wanting to test the waters, these three episodes were my favorites from the past two weeks.

"Assigned Versus Free Reading", episode 46 of Read Aloud Revival

The highlights for me:

• a surprising thing that often happens with late readers
• What is light versus difficult reading?

"Crushing Misconceptions About Homelessness", episode 59 of Sorta Awesome

3 questions that were addressed:

• What are the best ways to help?
• Should people who help the homeless earn a salary?
• Is refusing to give money to someone on the street the "wise" thing to do?

"Resolving Sibling Conflict", episode 126 of God Centered Mom

Convicting words:

• As parents, we should focus on relationships and true reconciliation rather than simply squelching arguments.
• We need to model correct attitudes for our children before we can expect them to have proper attitudes.

Do you listen to podcasts?  Where?  In the car? Around the house?

Do you listen to audio books?

Why Having a Baby Is Hard...(and that's okay!)

I'm a sixth-time mom, but experience does not make it easy.  I still worry about why my baby won't sleep or why my boys can't get through day without picking on each other.  I'm also not immune to other people's opinions, looks, and comments.  

I do feel like I have the benefit of perspective this go-round, though.  I know every stage and every trial only lasts for  a short season. Baby days turn into toddler days.  Arguing boys transform into teenagers with a new set of cares.

My advice to new or young moms (or older moms, like me) is to choose whatever sleep situation allows everyone to the get the most sleep.  Trying to force something that isn't working just leaves everyone miserable.  They won't always be waking up, won't always be in your room, won't always be needing you all night.  

Smile at the people in the grocery store who tell you your hands are full or who ask nosy questions or who glare when your child is whining in the juice aisle.

Don't worry about the days when the kids...or you!...watch too much TV.  Everyone can be more productive tomorrow.

Some days, maybe many days, will be lonely and you'll long to talk to someone besides the baby. Loneliness is a real thing, but kids grow up and you'll realize the monotonous days were worth it.

I'm going to repeat something I wrote on the blog seven years ago because it is still true today:

In [our] inner struggle to determine cloth or disposable, homeschool or public, organic or not, my bed or his own, have I put too much merit in trivialities?  In deciding whether to expose my little ones to vaccines or food dyes or television, have I remembered the crux of the matter?

Does Gavin know Jesus?  Is Maddie living for Him?  Will Owen and Benjamin [and Alaine and Macie] spend eternity in Heaven? 

In the end, that's what matters.

(Click here for other posts in this series.)

Why Having a Baby Is Hard...(and that's okay!)

I'm a sixth-time mom, but experience does not make it easy.  I still worry about why my baby won't sleep or why my boys can't get through day without picking on each other.  I'm also not immune to other people's opinions, looks, and comments.  

I do feel like I have the benefit of perspective this go-round, though.  I know every stage and every trial only lasts for  a short season. Baby days turn into toddler days.  Arguing boys transform into teenagers with a new set of cares.

My advice to new or young moms (or older moms, like me) is to choose whatever sleep situation allows everyone to the get the most sleep.  Trying to force something that isn't working just leaves everyone miserable.  They won't always be waking up, won't always be in your room, won't always be needing you all night.  

Smile at the people in the grocery store who tell you your hands are full or who ask nosy questions or who glare when your child is whining in the juice aisle.

Don't worry about the days when the kids...or you!...watch too much TV.  Everyone can be more productive tomorrow.

Some days, maybe many days, will be lonely and you'll long to talk to someone besides the baby. Loneliness is a real thing, but kids grow up and you'll realize the monotonous days were worth it.

I'm going to repeat something I wrote on the blog seven years ago because it is still true today:

In [our] inner struggle to determine cloth or disposable, homeschool or public, organic or not, my bed or his own, have I put too much merit in trivialities?  In deciding whether to expose my little ones to vaccines or food dyes or television, have I remembered the crux of the matter?

Does Gavin know Jesus?  Is Maddie living for Him?  Will Owen and Benjamin [and Alaine and Macie] spend eternity in Heaven? 

In the end, that's what matters.

(Click here for other posts in this series.)

The Evening Walk

I'll start off by clarifying that Macie is a "good" sleeper.  She loves her afternoon nap in a cool room, with a fan blowing for air and noise.  Most nights she sleeps all the way through or wakes to nurse once, going back to her bed as soon as she's done.  She went through a brief phase (thankfully!) when she thought 5 am was an acceptable wake time, but we're back to a more workable 6:30 or 7. However, bedtime is our kryponite.  

She gets tired and falls asleep by 7:30, but then she wakes up and wants to stay awake until we go to bed.  She's often cranky, and it's frustrating to a mama and daddy who are also tired at the end of the day. We've tried cutting her afternoon nap short, giving her a quick power nap in the early evening, or postponing her bedtime until a little later.  None of it has solved the problem.  We're still working on finding a pleasing scenario...one that gives all of us the rest and down time we need in the evenings.  

Until then, we're choosing another way to combat the frustrations without twiddling our thumbs and counting the minutes until we can attempt to put her to bed again.  

It started one Saturday evening.  The older kids had settled into watching a movie... and Macie woke up, raring to go for another couple of hours.  The humidity was low, the temperature was mild, and there was a light breeze so Brian and I put on our shoes and I popped Macie into the sling for a walk.

We walked and walked and talked and talked.  We covered three slow leisurely miles as we discussed jobs, parenting, movies, the past, the future, church, and the scenery.   Macie hummed as we strolled.  We took a phone call from the kids wondering why we were still outside.  When we returned home, Macie snuggled into bed with zero issues, and both Brian and I benefited from the fresh air and felt renewed from the conversation and exercise.

A few nights later, Brian was working late, and Macie repeated her late nap ritual.  Ben was feeling discouraged from an argument with a sibling so this time I asked him to put on his shoes and take a walk with me.  We didn't go as far, but the walk opened him up to conversation.  He shared his hurt and moved on to happy topics, too, like the birds he could see and the objects discarded along the road.  (A fork?!) 

Now everyone is waiting for their chance to be asked to take the evening walk. 

5 Things I'm Loving Right Now

{This post contains Amazon affiliate links and a bunch of other links, too!  All opinions are my own.}

1) Binge-watching The Great British Baking Show in the afternoon with my kids while Macie naps.  I think we watched the entire 10-episode series in three afternoons!  (It leaves Amazon Video tomorrow so we were in a bit of a hurry.) 

2) Target t-shirts.  Last summer I was pregnant, and the summer before that I weighed less and wasn't nursing a baby.  My clothing needs are unique this year so when I found a basic t-shirt that felt good and didn't stretch out of shape even after my baby pulled and tugged on it all day, I bought ten of them.  Yes, ten.

3) Free online learning sources.  I plan for Ben and Alaine to take "art lessons" next school year with The Art Club Online (specifically Lessons 1-10).  In the meantime, this summer, all the kids have been drawing with Art for Kids Hub. I'm also interested in exploring two sites my sister-in-law told me about last week: A. Pintura: Art Detective (a mystery game about fine art) and  Classics for Kids (with games, worksheets, audio, and more about composers).

4) Summer meals. When I planned meals for the summer, my goals were to avoid the oven and to eat dairy-free.  Despite the repetition, we love what we're eating this summer.  I'm spending less time in the kitchen and, ironically, the simplest meals are getting the biggest compliments from my family.

5) Thinkbaby sunscreen. The words sunblock and sunscreen are often used interchangeably, but this is technically a sunblock because the only active ingredient is zinc oxide  It earned a 1 (out of 10) on EWG's Sunscreen Guide.  I hate the smell of sunscreen, but this one has a pleasant fruity smell-- not at all offensive.  The price is reasonable, too!  And of course, most importantly, it kept Macie's skin from coloring when we spent an afternoon at the beach last week.  (If you are looking for a drugstore sunscreen that won't break the bank, Banana Boat Sport Performance Lotion  is not a bad choice.  It earned a 4 on EWG's Sunscreen Guide-- not ideal, but not awful.) 

How YouTube Is Transforming Our Mornings

Let me start by saying I'm almost too embarrassed to post this.  It doesn't feel right to admit that we start our day in front of a screen.  But let me back up and tell you about our summer mornings.  

I might sit on my bed nursing Macie while the kids get up.  The boys tend to wake first and they eat breakfast and sometimes watch Wild Kratts on TV.  Then the girls get up and join the boys.  If I'm still in my room, the kids start playing Legos until I remind them to get dressed and do their chores before they have free time.  An hour later we realize Alaine never ate breakfast and no one emptied the dishwasher.  A few kids argue about who gets to play magnetic darts first and I spend the hours nagging about what's not getting done instead of investing in quality time with my kids! The morning slips away before I've had a shower, and when I peek into the bedrooms around lunchtime, I notice an unmade bed. 

Maybe the answer is to make a morning schedule and to require more responsibility and accountability, but we're choosing another way.

Now as soon as the kids come out of their rooms in the morning, Owen holds Macie while I make my bed.  Then we all congregate in the living room.  Macie nurses or plays on the floor while the rest of us watch Good Mythical Morning together. Good Mythical Morning is a clean, talkshow-esque YouTube channel that puts out a funny 10-15 minute video every morning.  (Their ninth season is ending on Friday, but there are scads of old shows we can catch up on.  Season 10 begins August 1.) 

Once our non-morning people have laughed themselves awake, we watch Five Minute Family Devotional. Five Minute Family Devotional, another YouTube channel, reviews men and women from the Bible chronologically.  It ends with 1-2 discussion questions and a suggested prayer topic. The channel releases several episodes per week.  So far there are eleven of a total twenty-five.  (The channel is a division of JellyTelly, which is part of  What's in the Bible? {affiliate link}, a brand we love!)

All told, our viewing lasts less than a half hour, but it centers us and puts us all in one place to begin the day. I'm available to make sure everyone has eaten and begun their morning routine and chores, and it  makes it easy to move on studying the body on Mondays or read books with Alaine on the other days.  (I'm sharing some of our favorite picture book on the blog's Facebook page a few times a week.)

Best of all, it gives me an opportunity to laugh and share with all my kids...and make a few memories, too!

(Click here for other posts in this series.)

The Sorta Lazy Days of Summer

{This post contains Amazon affiliate links.}

Every year I go into summer thinking that this is the year we will have loads of free time and endless quiet afternoons at home...and then life happens.  Of course, we wouldn't have it any other way.  While I do enjoy days with nothing on the calendar, I appreciate them so much more when they are sandwiched between busier days, days when we visit our friends or go out for ice cream or drive to the beach.

On our first week off from school in May, we had five separate events in the span of three days! While we hope not to keep up that pace, the days and weeks are slowly filling with both in-home and away plans.

• Brian and two of the boys are going to a baseball game with my dad.  Maddie and I (without the baby!) are attending a local theater production of Mary Poppins.  Several of us are attending my sister's choir recital...
  
  
• We're going to the beach (even though I'm still sand-phobic).  We're borrowing a beach umbrella and using a bit of this sunblock.  It has zinc oxide, the only active sunblock ingredient approved by the FDA for babies younger than 6 months, and probably a safer choice for everyone!
  
  
• I'm slipping school planning into the cracks.  Can I say that I am only mildly less intimidated by high school than I was a few months ago?  But I made some choices and I made an Amazon order yesterday!
  
  
• We're getting our health credit out of the way.  We're using My Body by Patty Carratello. Alaine (5) and Ben (7) are the students and Owen (9) and Maddie (11) are acting as the teachers.  We have a large cut-out body taped to a door in our house whom they've named  Bobby the Body. Our "students" color and add an organ or two every Monday!  The "teachers" read the text to them while they work. They've also put together a floor-size body puzzle.  

• We're doing other puzzles, too, which means we are eating meals around the kitchen counter or in the living room or even on the floor. Everyone loves the novelty of it.
  

• Some of the kids are taking care of plants.  Maddie has daffodils.  Gavin has sunflowers and Alaine has zinnias.  Ben has wild strawberries and basil. Owen has my "black thumb."
  
  
• Ben has taken off with independent reading.  He started with the Young Cam Jansen series by David Adler at the end of the school year, then progressed to the regular Cam Jansen book series.  When he started going through two in a day and ran out of library books well before "library day," he scoured our home shelves and started the Ramona series.  He is beginning the fourth book today.
  
  
• I'm trying to be intentional to read with Alaine on the mornings when we're home.  She sometimes falls between the cracks of big kids and baby, but she loves our one-on-one time. We've enjoyed the Library Mouse series this week. We're also making our way through the Mrs. Noodlekugel series.  We're getting lots of inspiration from this list of 100 picture books to read this summer.  I plan to share some of our favorite on the blog's Facebook page.
  
  
• Our yard is big and Brian cuts it using his equipment from work.  He is teaching Gavin to do some of the trimming with a push mower, though, or to touch it up on weeks when the grass is growing out of control. Owen is begging to learn, too!
  
  
• We're playing host to a Sunday school party, a weekday brunch, and various visiting friends.
  
  
• We're taking an hour on random weekend evening when everyone is home to play a family game. Our current favorites are Big Picture Apples to Apples and Wits and Wagers Family Edition.
  
  
• And who are we kidding?  We're watching TV.  We are new to Amazon Prime and we've spent probably too much time exploring what's available for free on Prime Video.  

What are your summer plans?