Amazement Never Ceases

So this week we are on Fall Break, and I am doing our seasonal wardrobe swap. (And yes, this will take a full week for 7 people!) 

Incase you are not familiar with how this works for a large family, let me explain a little so it will make more sense. We save all the clothes our kids grow out of and hand them down to their same-sex siblings when they grow into them. I have finally mastered a systematic means of storing these clothes that makes for an easier swap. At the beginning of Fall (or Spring), each person's current wardrobe goes into storage. Kids get labeled by size and season and get moved to the basement closet while my husband's and mine are stored in separate bins in our closet. This keeps it simple and keeps clothes from getting all mixed up. Then I grab the appropriate size clothes box/bag from the basement and load up the drawers and closets. It works best to do one person per day. I make a list of any missing items (socks, shoes, outfits, or whatever) so I can go shopping the upcoming weekend and complete these Fall wardrobes.

I also use this time to pull out items that need to be donated or trashed so we don't hang in to things we don't "love".  I call each child down to the basement on their day to try on clothes and shoes. This has worked well for us the past 2 years (when I finally got organized!) and the only person we have to buy a whole lot for is Kolbe since he's the oldest and gets the fewest hand-me-downs. He only has one cousin older than him.  Marija never goes wanting because #1) girls hand-down way more clothes simply because they are girls and #2) two different families hand their girl's clothes down to her. 

Well, we have never had a problem with this until today. I decided to switch out Theresa's clothes first and made an astonishing discovery.  We have absolutely no 2T Fall/Winter clothes in the basement!! How could this be?!  Was Marija not 2 years old during the Winter at some point?!! And then it hit me.  No, she wasn't.  Well, not exactly.  Of course her age was 2, but she never wore size 2T in the winter because she had a huge growth spurt that summer and went straight from 2T Summer clothes to 3T Winter clothes.  Since then, she has generally been a size above her age number until this year (age 6), but even now we are pulling out the 7's for Winter. Thus, the reality that we own not one single Fall/Winter appropriate outfit for a 2T sized girl.  

Luckily, Theresa also fits in the 3T Winter clothes since she is actually 2 1/2 and has grown a lot this summer.  The real issue will come when Livvy turns 2 three days before the end of July and needs Fall/Winter clothes.  I figured we'd just cross that bridge when we get there and sadly shrugged it out of my thoughts for a while.  

Then, I came upstairs and realized something!  Our neighbor brought over 2 huge bags of 2T Fall/Winter clothes before Livvy was born that I haven't gone through yet!!  God provides what we need before we even know we need it sometimes.  I think that is pretty cool: )

God never ceases to amaze me in how he takes care of us! 

Matthew 6:25-34:

²⁵“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁸And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³²For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today."

I've been striving to live by this Scripture for many years.  It makes me smile when I see concrete examples of this promise our Savior gave us: )

Why I am Geeking-Out about "Angry Birds Star Wars II": Part One

As I sit here on my exercise ball wearing Livvy (who is now 7 weeks old) in a ring sling while drinking a much needed glass of water, I am pausing to reflect on the events of today.  September 19th...my two sons (ages 8 and almost 5) have been counting down to this date for the last several months.  Today, my friends, was the official release date for Angry Birds Star Wars II!  Now this may not strike excitement into the hearts of those who are reading this post, but in this nerdy house, it was a cause for celebration! hahaha; )

Now let me back up a little.  I know Angry Birds is a popular app on nearly every smart phone, but to Stephen (almost 5) it has become a spring board for some incredibly imaginative play and a world all its own.  He, of course, knows how to play the game on the iPad, but honestly that's not where he spends most of his time.  His Uncle Marshall brought home an Angry Birds build-it-yourself game from Hong-Kong about a year or so ago.  At the time, Steve was still a little too young to actually build it himself, but in the last several months he has developed quite a talent for it.  He spends lots of time and energy carefully stacking the blocks that came with it as well as some Dominos and large Lego's to make a "castle" for the pigs.  He then lines up the hard plastic angry birds behind the sling shot and proceeds to knock it down...complete with sound effects: )  This is adorable to watch, by the way.  I love to video him when he's not paying attention to capture the moments...yeah, that's a mom thing...

So anyway, Stephen has also acquired quite a varied collection of stuffed animal Angry Birds.  He has made his own "sling shot" out of an old sit-on-it-and-bounce ball thing that has a handle.  One day he asked me to tie some of my thick hemp string around the as the sling portion and there you go...one sling shot that couldn't actually work if its life depended on it, but that is no match for the imagination of an "almost 5" year old!!  He loads his stuffed Angry Birds in that thing and flies them out himself, then soars them around the room making the "correct" noise for each bird (as per the iPad game).  He named all of these stuffed animals to begin with, but once he found out that there were actual Angry Bird Toons (short films created to tell the story behind why the birds are angry at the pigs) and started watching them, he soon changed their names to match the "real" names from the short films.  He still calls his favorite one (the blue bird from Angry Birds Space) "Chap-chap down"...although the jury is still out on where he came up with that.

Now, back to today.  Kolbe has been jacked out of his mind at the fact that there was going to be an Angry Birds Star Wars II game coming out.  He managed to get Stephen pretty psyched about it too, even thought the Star Wars version of Angry Birds has been his least favorite of the series until now.  Kolbe loves it because it is Star Wars themed...and he is in a Star Wars craze right now.  Stephen just likes it because it's Angry Birds, so I guess it is a beautiful thing in that it brought their two loves together to a common interest. (*grin*)

I know this has been a pretty long back story, but I feel it was necessary to convey the value that Kolbe and Stephen place on this new game and why.  It is an outlet for them when they need a break from all else, and a reasonably educational means of having fun.  For the record, their screen time is limited each day and cannot begin until all school work is complete.  I like the fact that they have a strong interest in *something* so that we can clean out our local library on those topics and get them into some books!  Reading can actually be enjoyable if you are truly interested in the content! And in this age of technology, getting off the screens and into a book can be challenging...and I can understand that.  Why spend the time and effort reading when you can watch a 30 minute show or 2 hour movie with no effort? Well, by golly, I'm here to teach them why! : )

Now Livvy has woken up again, so I'm going to call it a night and take her to bed.  Tomorrow I will actually get to the reason for the title of this post.  It's going to be great! (Or at least I think so; )

The Surprising Benefits of Homeschooling

Stephen is perfectionistic.  If he can't do something "right", he won't do it at all.  And by that I mean he will attempt it, usually once, and upon failure he gives up.  We've been working with him on how to accept imperfection as a part of learning as well as a part of life, but it's still hard for him sometimes.  I can totally relate!

So this is the child that refused to use a crayon, marker, pencil, or any other type of writing utensil until he turned 4 because he couldn't do it "right".  He refused to scribble.  It was color in the lines or bust. One day he drew with a pencil all over a wall...I was so excited!! Finally, he was taking an interest in writing! And then I explained how paper should be the medium of choice in our house.  He now happily draws and doodles frequently.  He almost always wants me to display his artwork, so I do: )

Well, this year, he told me he wanted to start Kindergarten.  He is 4 but will turn 5 shortly after the school year starts.  Having a student with a late birthday while homeschooling yields a unique opportunity.  He can go into the grade that best meets his learning curve and education level instead of meaninglessly being put into a grade based on what day of the year he was born.  He knows and recognizes every letter of the alphabet, most of the phonograms, numbers from 1-12 and he loves being read to.  I feel like he would be challenged but confident as a kindergartner, but what about writing?  I figure if he's not getting it by the end of he year, we will just repeat it next year.

So today all of the kids were eager to begin school, so I told them to grab a book from their backpack and try it out.  Stephen, fate would have it, chose handwriting.  This particular book focuses on doodling, etc. to practice the correct pencil hold.  As we began, I tried to explain and show him how to hold his pencil, but he grew frustrated so I let it go.  After a few minutes, Kolbe (now in 3rd grade) became interested in what Stephen was doing and grabbed his own fine tip markers to "help" teach Stephen.  I was reluctant at first, thinking Kolbe was going to do all the exercises too quickly and precisely leaving Stephen feeling, again, like *he* can't do it...so someone else needs to do it for him.  But, I withheld my anxiety-laden reaction and calmly asked Kolbe to be sure he's only helping and not doing it for him, then went about my business helping someone else. 

A few minutes later, I came back to check on the boys and discovered something.  Stephen was using a correct pencil hold!  Granted he was still holding the marker way too high, but it was correct formation. *shock. and. awe!* Kolbe explained to me how he taught his brother to hold his marker the correct way in order to color in the lines more easily.  So, I asked him to show him how to move down the marker closer to the tip.  He did and Stephen followed!  Stephen, a right-handed student, learned a correct pencil hold from his left-handed older brother!!  I love homeschooling!!!!

They went on to work together on coloring a stop sign.  Kolbe traced an outline around it to give Stephen room for error, and Stephen colored inside the lines (mostly) and didn't get upset!  They were both smiling, laughing and having fun...LEARNING!  This is a beautiful thing for a mother to see: )

Poker-face Parenting

Ok, so it's nearly been an eternity since I last posted on this blog, but no more!  I need an outlet for my ADD brain: )  All these wonderfully inspirational moments I give myself need to be put to words for clarification and removal from my ever flowing thoughts to make room for new ones, so here goes! *grin*

As a quick update, we now have 4 delightfully creative and active children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1.5 years.  (boy, girl, boy, girl)  Yes, we are open to growing that number...I will write a future post about the highly inappropriate things strangers say to me regarding our family size, but for now...moving on.  My husband just got hired on full-time in our neighboring state, so we will be moving soon.  "Soon" meaning when we find a house, buy said house and head down to live in said house 2 hours from where we are currently living.  Yes, I have already started packing.  We moved twice in one year (Easter, then Christmas) two years ago...I have learned from my mistakes; )  In the meantime, we are homeschooling two of our four children, and I am now a full-time mother.  For a while I was apprenticing with a local midwife (about a year and a half), but with our ever growing family, I felt it was prudent to put that interest on hold for a few (or 10) years.

So, back to my cool idea:  I have been really trying to better myself as a parent.  All the yelling and nagging just wasn't working for me, but try as I may, I was stuck in a rut.  Until I came across an event called CelebrateCalm...a parenting talk that was happening at a local church.  "Calm Parenting," I thought, "Sounds like my dream come true!"  So off went my husband and I to this meeting.

It was great!  Lots of laughs and good information.  Since then, I have bought every cd and dvd that Kirk Martin has cut (check out CelebrateCalm.com) and it helped *a lot* but I still wasn't where I wanted to be...I was lacking this "calm" that was supposedly right in my grasp.  We did the 40 Calm Challenge with Kirk Martin.  Helped me immeasurably!  But I still needed more.  I was really broken in my thought-process, having been raised as an only child by a single mother and a father who was married and divorced nearly 3 times.  My parents are totally awesome, by the way, and if you asked me, I would happily tell you how wonderful my childhood was.  But the reality remains the same: I was an only child from a broken home.  And here I was with my husband trying to raise 4 children under the age of 7!  Not working well, let me tell you.  I was one stressed-out Mama.

Finally, the 111,243rd time I listened to one of Kirk Martin's cd's, I heard him make a book recommendation: "ScreamFree Parenting" by Hal Runkel.  So I immediately paused the cd and bought the book on Half.com: )

Let me just say, that book has rocked my world!  THAT was exactly what I needed to hear (or read).  His philosophy put me off a bit at first, but as with any advice, I took what was applicable and would work for our family and left what wouldn't.  Now if only I could convince my husband to read it; )  *wink, wink*

Anyway, so I've been practicing at this "being the calm, centered adult" for my kids for the past several months with many, many, MANY failures!  But all in all it gets exponentially better every single day!  I feel less stressed, more in control (of myself), and more calm on the inside.  Anxiety still creeps up, but I am able to push it aside and use my reasoning skills rather quickly.  Lately, I have been thinking of this as my "parenting Poker-face".  I may feel like screaming and yelling and throwing a huge fit at (or at least in front of) my child(ren), but instead of doing it, I just use my Poker-face long enough to sit down, or walk away, or come up with a response instead of a reaction.  On the outside it looks like, "Wow, you are so amazingly calm!", but on the inside it's something like this, "AHHH! ^%#&!#*@^$##%*...!"  See, "Poker-face": )

This has been a major breakthrough for me, so I wanted to share it with someone...anyone who might happen across this blog. 

"Unless someone like you cares a whole aweful lot, nothing is going to get better...it's not." -The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

It is our responsibility as parents to *model* appropriate behavior for our kids.  They learn more from watching us during our everyday lives and interactions than from 1,000+ words that we may say to them.

These resources, coupled with setting times throughout the day to pray (even if it's an "Our Father" on the go), has helped me become a better person, and, therefore, a better parent.  I think one reason God called me to the vocation of marriage and to have a large family is because that is how he has chosen to help me grow in holiness.  My husband and children can bring out ugliness in me that I didn't know was there!  Then once it is discovered, I can analyze it, deal with it and ask God to help me clean it out.  "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me," Psalm 51:10 (RSV).  I also have started praying more Novenas with praymorenovenas.com and this seems to help me stay focused on the bigger picture, instead of on my own drama.

Now, that previous paragraph got religious, I know.  If you are not religious, all the stuff prior to that will still help you a ton and they are neutral resources, religiously speaking.  But this is *my* blog, I'm Catholic, and I truly believe that the biggest part of my personal and parenting transformation has come from seeking God and His desires for my life.

Thanks for taking time to hang out with my ever-flowing thoughts: )  May the Peace of Christ be with you, always!

Another day in Paridise

Went to buy swing set; took forever at k-mart.  Kids were great: bought ball for stephen and k & m read books.  3 guys helped us out to the van and had to rearrange everything to make it fit.  Got almost home and s threw up...cottage cheese, cheetos, and turkey...mmmm.  Got stephen situated, took out his carseat to get to marija, she was very patient, as was kolbe.  they played in the yard on trampolin and with new ball and their umbrella while I got carseat apart to wash.  at some point stephen fell with no pants on and scraped his knee and leg all up and I scraped my arm trying to get to him, but he didn't cry.  He loves being outside.  This swingset will be a good thing...it's been an adventure already! 

Body Ecology Diet...pre-phase 1

If there is a such thing (which I'm certain there is not), we are in Pre-"Phase One" of the Body Ecology Diet.  Since our 5-year-old son is terribly inflicted with an overgrowth of yeast, we are all going on this diet together.  I feel that each of us will benefit greatly from eating healthier, regardless of if we actually have candidiasis or not.  If I have time, I'll write another post later about what candida is and how it affects our bodies and our lives. 

I thought that during the 40 days of Lent would be a good time to begin this diet, as it eliminates sugar in many forms, so that would be a great form of self-denial for us.  Well, little did I realize how extremely difficult it would be for me to say "no" to the sweet tooth!!  I thought the kids would have the hardest time with it, but quite the contrary!  Kolbe asks me frequently, "Mom, does this have sugar in it?  If so, I don't want it.  I want to my toe to get better!"

Well, he is my inspiration, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep him off those dangerous medications the dermatologists keep wanting him to take (and we have tried them, but there is no difference in his skin after taking them.  To me, the risk out weighs the benefit.)  We are now eliminating all the "junky-junk" from our diet (i.e.-candy, high-fructose corn syrup, etc.) and we'll be starting the real "phase one" of B.E.D. in about 2 weeks:-)

Keep us in your prayers!

What is "Normal" anyway?!

Catholic, Pro-Life, Capitalist, Idealist, Attachment Parenting, Babywearing, Breastfeeding, Homebirth, Midwifery, Herbs, Homeopathic Remedies, Upper Cervical (Chiropractic) Care, Raw Foods, 3 kids (wanting more), Creighton Model FertilityCare System, NaProTechnology, Subterranean Home, Self-Employed....but wait...there's more!

The list goes on of the many ways that our family doesn't "fit the mold" that our society has designed for us as "normal".  As I learned in sociology class: normal is relative.  My husband and I love and embrace being different!  We welcome questions regarding our views and why we are the way we are (most of the time).  Our journey has been a short and intense one, but isn't over yet by far!