Tuesday

She looked so sweet sleeping one night.

We are having great weather today!
The kids have spent a lot of time outside, which is good for everyone!
It's Tuesday and that means home group tonight.  I love home group for lots of reasons, one of them being that it guarantees that at least one day a week, the downstairs gets picked up pretty well.  It doesn't say anything for what might fall out of a closet somewhere or what's going on upstairs but at least one floor is decent!
A couple of things to share:
*The kids' bathroom usually doesn't smell good at all.   I couldn't find anything to help until I stumbled on this suggestion:  cornstarch.  I sprinkled dumped cornstarch around the bottom of the toilet and dampened it then let it sit for a few hours.  It helped!  Didn't make the room smell like flowers yet but at least it doesn't knock you out when you go in.
*Getting enough fruits and veggies into the kids can be a challenge.  Some kids are more challenging than others around here.  So, sometimes I hide a fruit or vegetable.  Last week I pureed blueberries and milk then dumped them into pancake batter.  The pancakes were blue.  I can't say that everyone was thrilled to eat blue pancakes but they did eat them and decided they were good.  I also make pizza sauce out of diced tomatoes and baby food carrots.  Smoothies are good for hiding fruit, too.  None of these are a substitute for learning to eat healthy foods but they sure help.
Off to straighten up.  Enjoy the day!

This Day

We have been deep into school today.
Immigration in the late 1800s/early 1900s
John Adams
U.S. geography
watercolors
lapbooking
reading
I do love the things we can learn together.
It is not always (really never) such a nice, neat package, though.  Somebody (or everybody, or me) is grumpy, maybe not as motivated as I'd like them to be, etc...  Even though it's been a mixed-bag today, I'd rather not let that set the tone for the rest of the day...it's only a little after 3!
I believe gratitude is one of the things God uses to change our perspective, and I have been reminded of this many times this week in different ways.  So, I made myself begin to think of what I can be thankful for in this day, for "this is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Here's a few:
*the Richard Scarry book Lucy got for Christmas.  Why?  Because I have read it to Sam and Lucy repeatedly this week and they love looking for Mr. Frumble and Lowly (which Lucy pronounces "Wowy") and they always laugh at the same things.
*blueberry pancakes that I made with pureed blueberries,which all the kids liked (more on this later)
*the green paint in Sammy's hair- it makes me smile
*a basketball game tonight
*those minutes to read this morning in quiet that I thought I had lost
*my husband's leadership
*the laundry detergent that makes the house smell good as it does it's job
*Kayla's enthusiasm over lapbooks
*how Lucy says "woodles" for noodles
*Jack's laugh
*Sammy's lego ship- he was pretty happy with himself
*the unsolicited apology from a child
*the reminder to practice thankfulness

I had to go back and add this.  Her hair was so crazy when she woke up!

Not Getting Smaller

taken around Christmas

Sammy's still in his Buzz Lightyear foot jammies this morning.
"Mom, you know I'm not going to get any smaller, right?"
Believe me, I know.
"So when I grow up I'm still gonna live with you.  I don't want my own house."
I doubt it but OK.
"Because I won't want to let go of you."
I smiled.  Maybe even held back a tear or two.
He's been the one who holds on, in more ways than one, the tightest and the longest, who really likes a lap to sit in or arms to hold him.  He lets go a little more all the time but it makes sense to me, knowing Sammy, that he thinks he'll still want to hold on to me when he's all grown up.
He'll be ready to fly one day.  It will come sooner than I know.
But for now, I'll remember to take his hugs and his "hold me" whenever I can.

Just Because

Happiness...

Determination

She sat in the recliner, leaned back and comfy looking.
"You know, somedays I determine that I will smile all day.  Others, I determine that I will not say no.  Sometimes I determine that I will not yell.  But it never works out that way."
I felt a great tenderness towards her, as I determine these things, and others, for myself, too.  And no matter how hard I try, I often fail.
"Why do you think it never works out?"   I confess, I was sure a teachable moment had landed in my lap.
Her reply?  "Boys.  If there were no boys, I could do all of those things."
Hmmm.  Not quite the answer I expected but, I get it.  It is easy to blame our mood or our behavior on someone or something else.  I can't think how many times I have thought "if ____ were different, then I could ___."  Fill in the blanks with whatever you want.  Excuses are a dime a dozen but they quickly fall flat.
What comes out of my mouth is what is in my heart.
"...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  Luke 6:45
But what good news for my little girl and her mama that we have One who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and offers us great mercy in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4: 15-16)

An Old What?

He wanted me to keep reading.
I was imagining the clock in my mind and feeling the need to move on to math.
I started to say no, we're done for today.
"Oh come on, be an old dear!"
Yes.  That is what my nearly 10 year old said to me.
After we all had a good laugh, of course, I read on.

Friday Evening

It is Friday evening and I am looking forward to the last episode of "Cranford" tonight along with some Ben and Jerry's...a guilty pleasure that makes my kids roll their eyes and say "Mooommmmyyy!  That is NOT fair!"  Ha.  There are perks to being the mom.
Jack is playing basketball for the first time so we headed out to a game tonight.  I know nothing about the game but it was fun to watch.  He's getting the hang of it.  Lucy sang the whole way to the game, a mix of "Deck the Halls" and some other songs that I'm not too sure about.  At one point, she said, "One more guys!"  Sam was not impressed.  Kayla has been taking pictures all day.  She used her camera to record some of the movie "Little Women" as she watched.  Pretty sure that'd be illegal in the theaters.
Sammy and I read this book, "The Summer Snowman," before he went to bed.  I loved it.  So cute.  This author wrote the "Harry the Dirty Dog" books, too.  Check 'em out!
Have a good weekend!