O Christmas Tree

I have a confession to make: we have not put up our Christmas tree yet. In fact, we may not put up a Christmas tree this year at all.

One day this week Gracie was standing on the couch, looking out our front window at our neighbors' house across the street. "Mr. Tom and Miss Mary have their Christmas tree up already! And they have a wreath on their door!" She thinks Christmas is still ages away, so she seemed amazed that our neighbors have already started to decorate for the holidays.

I told Gracie that we were going to have our Christmas tree at Grandma and Papa's house this year. I know Gracie would love to have a tree here at home, too, but I just don't know how to keep Drew away from it. I have had suggestions from several friends: to buy a baby play yard or fence to keep him away from it, or to decorate the bottom half of the tree with non-breakable felt ornaments. Those both sound like good ideas, but I don't want to spend a lot of money on things we won't use for more than a month or two ... so, if you have any ideas for baby-proofing a Christmas tree, I would love to hear them.

SAD

I hate this time of year ... short days, overcast skies, not enough sunshine. Every year around this time I feel like I hit a wall. Daily activities suddenly seem to require too much energy. Preparing for the holidays seems completely overwhelming.

I feel so depressed and alone.

Popped

I just got home from the eye doctor. I told the nurse that it was like a mini vacation because I got to go to the doctor's office without taking Drew and Gracie with me.

I like the eye doctor that I saw today ... she took one look at my eyelid and said, "Bummer, huh?" When I agreed, she said, "You know, it's basically just a big zit, right?" Well, yes, I was aware of that. So she said she could "pop" it for me. Just what I wanted to hear. In fact, she did it this morning, so it's all done.

While the doctor gave me the shot in my eyelid, she said, "Yep, you're a mom," and then went on to tell me how she has never had a female patient faint when she gave them the shot but that guys seem to have a harder time with it.

My husband took one look at my eyelid when I got home and said, "Is it supposed to look better now?" I think it is swollen even more than it was, and I have a pretty black eye now. There was also some scar tissue so I don't know if it will ever look normal again. Sigh. At least it's gone for now.

Odds and Ends

I have to go to the eye doctor tomorrow. I have had a chalazion (a blocked oil gland) on my lower eyelid since July. As it has now grown to grotesque proportions, I am finally going to do something about it. Often, a chalazion will go away if you apply a warm compress to it for 10-15 minutes, two to four times a day. I really did try to use the warm compresses, but found it somewhat impractical. I can't see much without my glasses, but couldn't apply the warm compress with them on. With a one-year-old and a three-year-old running around the house, I had a hard time sitting still for that long without being able to see well what they were up to!

I really hate to take any kind of medication, even Tylenol, but sometimes I am too stubborn for my own good. The other day I had a headache for over nine hours before I finally gave in. My headache started around noon, and it was a long afternoon and evening because my husband had to work late (so he can stay with the kids tomorrow morning while I go to the eye doctor). I made it through dinner and got the kids to bed. Then I went straight to bed myself. After laying in bed for an hour with my head pounding, thinking that surely my headache would go away any minute, I finally took the Tylenol. It felt amazingly good to wake up headache-free the next morning!

On the subject of Drew and the baby wipes, my husband was partially right. I was so frustrated about it that I remembered to put the wipes up after each diaper change all day yesterday. Then, after a frustration-free day yesterday, I forgot again today. Ack! My husband's other suggestion was to use duct tape to tape the wipes box closed. What is it with men and duct tape?

Frustrated

I am so frustrated with Drew! He just scattered an entire box of wipes all over the floor of his room ... for the THIRD time today. I guess I am more frustrated with myself than with Drew, though. I had forgotten to put the wipes up out of his reach two of those times. The other time I had put them out of reach, but Gracie moved them back into reach. Still, he wouldn't have been able to make such a mess if I hadn't run downstairs to check my e-mail just then. Some days I feel like such a failure as a mom.

For my own sanity, I need to find a solution to the wipes problem. I need to have a place to put the wipes so that I can reach them when I need them for a diaper change, but where Drew can't reach them. Or maybe a child-proof wipes box would solve my problem. (Does such a thing exist?) My husband's less-than-helpful comment was that after Drew did this a few more times I probably wouldn't forget to put the wipes back out of his reach as often. I would rather not have to rely on my faulty memory!

Drew can't be the only one-year-old who likes get into everything. If you have any ideas on keeping him out of the baby wipes, PLEASE let me know!

Little van Gogh

This month our library is offering a series of four art classes for three- to five-year-olds, and Gracie had her first art class last week. When I took Gracie to the class I noticed that the teacher had a copy of van Gogh's painting, Starry Night. After class, I asked Gracie if they looked at any paintings by famous artists. She told me that they looked at a landscape by Vincent van Gogh (she hesitated on his last name) and that he didn't paint the sky straight. A minute or two later she commented that the sky is straight in our world, not whirly, so I asked her why she thought van Gogh painted the sky "whirly." Gracie said, "He painted the sky in cursive!" (We had talked about cursive handwriting earlier in the week, and I guess she was impressed by the loops in cursive writing. I thought it was a cute observation!)

Budget Checkup

This evening my husband and I sat down for our monthly budget "checkup." At the end of each month I add up how much money we spent in several categories, and then we sit down to compare it to our budget and look at how we did for the month. I like the fact that we sit down together to do this because it helps me stay motivated to keep up with the records. It also helps us both to be accountable for our spending.

We are finally settling in to the new budget we created in June. We have had a few unexpected expenses each month, but for the last two months we have met our budget, which is a good feeling!

Fall Fun

I can never decide whether fall or spring is my favorite season, but I am really enjoying fall this year. It may be because Drew is walking now, so it is easier for us to spend time outdoors together. We've also had some fun outings as a family this fall.

We took a tour of a replica of one of Christopher Columbus's ships, the Nina. It is supposed to be "the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built." I was amazed by how small the Nina was. I cannot imagine crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a ship that size, with the crew sleeping on deck (the cargo hold would have been full of provisions). I now have a much better appreciation for how much courage it must have taken to set out on a voyage in such a ship, especially into unknown waters.

Our trip to the apple orchard was also fun. We enjoyed exploring a big corn maze (my husband has an amazing sense of direction!) and took a hay-rack ride to pick a pumpkin. Gracie chose two miniature pumpkins, one for herself and one for Drew. My only complaint about the apple orchard was that each activity cost money. They even charged five dollars per child to play on the playground (we went to the park instead of paying to play). The best deal of the day was the hay-rack ride to pick pumpkins. The only charge was for the pumpkins, and the miniature ones were only a quarter each.

I think one of Drew's and Gracie's favorite things this fall has been raking the leaves in our own front yard. We have a huge silver maple tree in our front yard, so we have plenty of leaves! Drew and Gracie each have a small plastic rake and we have spent time outdoors raking leaves almost every day for the last week or two.

Sick

The other day I read the title of a post on Smart Not Cheap that made me laugh: "Rumors of my blog death are greatly exaggerated...." I'm glad Michelle is still blogging over there because I enjoy reading what she has to say.

When I read that title, I realized that I have not posted here for quite some time now. Given my track record with writing, it's pretty much a given that this blog of mine will die sooner or later. But today is not the day.

The last couple of weeks here have seemed long and tiring. First Drew was sick with a cold followed by an ear infection. Then Gracie got sick with the same thing (minus the ear infection). Finally, the day after both children were finally well, my husband got it. I am still trying to catch up with everything that didn't get done around the house while I was taking care of sick children.

When Gracie was at the doctor's office last week, I asked the pediatrician for his opinion on flu shots. He said he thinks they are beneficial. I ask him his opinion every year, and get a similar answer every year, but so far I have never taken my children for a flu shot. Sometimes I wish I wasn't responsible for making decisions like this. I guess I need to get busy and do some research on flu shots.

Extra Me

The other day Gracie was talking about dressing up for Halloween, and her ideas made me laugh. She told me I could dress up as a hula dancer. I told her that being a hula dancer sounded like fun, and then asked her if she was going to dress up as a hula dancer, too. She said, "No, I just want to be extra me." Extra Gracie. I'm not sure I can handle that! :)

We don't celebrate Halloween and Gracie has never gone trick-or-treating. Her idea of dressing like a hula dancer came from Meet Molly, one of the American Girl books we read recently, in which Molly and her friends dressed up as hula dancers for Halloween. Even though we aren't going to celebrate Halloween, we still may make hula costumes like Molly and her friends did because Gracie enjoys dressing up and acting out the stories that we read. :)

Little Things Matter

This morning I had some errands to run with Drew and Gracie along, and I realized that sometimes little things can be a big help and encouragement.

I had a package I needed to send via UPS. In the parking lot of the UPS Store I was carrying Drew and holding Gracie's hand, while she carried the package. (Gracie had asked if she could carry the package for me. She is such a good helper!) A gentleman asked me if I needed help carrying anything, and although I didn't need any help this time, I really appreciated the offer.

After sending the package, we went grocery shopping. When we were done shopping and the groceries were loaded into the car, I was getting ready to take the cart to the cart return when a woman came by and said she would take the cart for me.

These were two small things, but they made such a difference to me. They really made my day, and also made me realize that I need to look for little ways to help others. I shouldn't get so caught up in what I need to get done that I forget to offer a smile, a kind word, or a helping hand. The little things really do matter.

Christmas in September

Last weekend I was shopping at a home improvement store with my family and as we were walking through the store I noticed that they were already putting up displays of Christmas trees and ornaments. I do enjoy the holiday season, but it's only the middle of September! I think they are bringing out the decorations a little bit early.

Having said that, I must now confess that my husband bought my Christmas gift (and gave it to me) on Friday evening. I have been wanting a laptop computer ever since I dropped and broke my old one over a year ago. Choosing a new computer was a little bit hard for me, though. It's so much fun to look at the sleek, expensive computers with all the bells and whistles, but I'm still a little bit afraid that I will drop another computer. (I am a huge klutz!) I also know that since my main computer use consists of checking e-mail, surfing the Internet, and keeping track of our budget in Quicken, I don't really need a top-of-the-line computer. I ended up choosing the least expensive laptop that the store had, and I hope that it will last well if I take care of it.

Lapbooking Links

As Gracie gets closer to school age, I am starting to look for some fun "school" activities to do with her occasionally. This fall another mom recommended lapbooking to me. Gracie loves to cut, color, and glue things, so I think it will be a good fit for us.

Lapbooking on Squidoo provides a good introduction to lapbooking and has a lot of links.

Homeschool Share has some free lapbooking resources. I especially like their templates.

Homeschool Helper also has a nice lapbook page with some templates.

Lapbook Lessons has some free lapbooks.

Mini books

For purchased lapbooks, I like In the Hands of a Child. I hope to purchase their Type It In Template Pack sometime soon.

Sandy Lane Beach

My house has felt like a zoo for the past couple of weeks. Drew loves to explore, and has started getting into everything. This morning as I was packing my husband's lunch and doing some other morning chores, Gracie came running through saying, "We're playing on Sandy Lane Beach." Sandy Lane is the name of the beach in an interactive DVD game Gracie plays occasionally, so I thought she was just having fun with her imagination, as she often does.

On my next trip through the kitchen, I thought to myself, "hmmm ... the floor feels a little bit gritty. I definitely need to sweep the floor this morning!" Still, that's not anything too far out of the ordinary around my house.

A few minutes later, Gracie was laughing, saying "Drew got the salt shaker and put salt all over." Finally it dawned on me. Drew had scattered salt all over the kitchen and dining room floor. The salt was the grit I was feeling underfoot, and was the "sand" for Gracie's Sandy Lane Beach.

Just the start of a typical day around here lately.

Just When I Needed It

I'm slowly getting through the stack of books that I started reading all at once ... I am somewhere in the middle of six books right now (down from eight). The book I hope to finish reading next is called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. It talks about the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10:38-42.

I read the second chapter of the book today, and it was the encouragement I needed, just when I needed it. In it the author talks about the "Three Deadly Ds of Destruction," which are distraction, discouragement, and doubt. I have definitely been distracted and discouraged this week. It was encouraging to realize that I'm not the only one who asks, "Lord, don't you care?" ... that Jesus does care and that he wants me to come to him for rest.

Why?

Gracie's favorite question these days is "Why?" She asks why about almost everything. I love the fact that she is expressing her curiosity. Sometimes, though, she asks me a question, and as soon as I finish explaining it, she says "Tell me again, why?" Occasionally I turn it around and ask her to try to explain it to me.

I am reminded of a quote from the book I am currently reading, Home Education by Charlotte Mason:

"The child must think, get at the reason why of things for himself, every day of his life, and more each day than the day before. Children and parents both are given to invert this educational process. The child asks 'Why?' and the parent answers, rather proud of this evidence of thought in his child. There is some slight show of speculation even in wondering 'Why?' but it is the slightest and most superficial effort the thinking brain produces. Let the parent ask 'Why?' and the child produce the answer, if he can. After he has turned the matter over and over in his mind, there is no harm in telling him––and he will remember it––the reason why."

(I am really enjoying the book! It can be read online on the Ambleside Online web site.)

Sometimes Gracie asks why when I tell her to do something. When I was little, I told myself that I would never answer the question "Why?" with "Because I said so." Now that I'm a mom, I have said that more than once. Sometimes when I ask her to do something, there really isn't any compelling reason that she should do it except that I am her mother and I expect her to obey.

Sometimes Gracie's "Why?" just strikes me as funny. Today at lunch she kept sniffling and blowing her nose. Finally I concluded that she must have a problem, so I asked her about it. She said she had some paper up her nose. Fortunately, it was where I could see it, and she was able to blow it out easily. I then instructed her to never put objects up her nose. I should have anticipated her response: "Why?"

Playing Outdoors

This week I have been reading Home Education (Volume 1 of the Original Home Schooling Series) by Charlotte Mason. One of the things that Miss Mason emphasized is the importance of allowing children to spend time outdoors each day for fresh air, exercise, and observing the natural world. I have been feeling a little bit guilty because I know Drew, Gracie, and I don't spend nearly enough time outside.

Two summers ago, before Drew was born, I was doing a little bit better at letting Gracie play outside each day, and she loved it. Last summer when Drew was just a baby, I didn't want to get him out in the hot summer sun too much. I had high hopes for this summer ... but then early in the summer we had a cookout in our backyard and Gracie got 13 chigger bites. Poor girl. After that, I was hesitant to let them play in our yard, and I haven't been very good about taking them to the park to play.

We did make it to the park today, and I hope we will make it more often now that the weather is cooling off a little bit. Drew and Gracie both played in the sand and got dirty ... just like kids should. Drew practiced his climbing skills on the slide, and they both enjoyed swinging on the swings and just running around.

I guess I'm just not an outdoor kind of girl, but I'm working on it.

When will I go to real school?

This morning as we were driving down the road, Gracie saw a school bus filling up at the gas station, and asked, "When will I go to real school?" Gracie knows that she will be homeschooled, but as she sees friends her age going off to preschool, and her older friends climbing aboard the big yellow bus, I think she feels like she is missing out on some grand adventure.

This is not the first time she has asked, and I am never quite sure what to tell her. How do I explain to a 3-1/2-year-old that spending her days with her mommy and her little brother, reading books together, doing chores, and experiencing life is about as real as it gets? How do I reassure her that she will learn to read and write and do math and have adventures and field trips and friends even though she will be homeschooled? Are there any books that explain to a young child how much fun homeschooling can be?

This morning I told Gracie that she would get to go to school at our dining room table until she was ready for college.

"Then will I get to go to real school?"

"Yes, Gracie. Then you will go to college." She seemed satisfied with that. For now.

2007 Reading List

I borrowed the idea from Becky's blog (What Becky Thinks) to keep a running list of the books I've read this year. I'm planning to use the same 1-10 rating scale that she uses, with 1 being the worst rating and 10 the best. Since I can barely remember what I read last week, let alone four or five months ago, I'll just start now and add books as I read them.

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (10)

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (10)

A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille (10)

Home Education (Volume 1 of the Original Home Schooling Series) by Charlotte M. Mason (10)

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life by Joanna Weaver (10)

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (10)

Just Beyond the Clouds by Karen Kingsbury (10)

Summer by Karen Kingsbury (9)

Having a Mary Spirit: Allowing God to Change Us from the Inside Out by Joanna Weaver (9)

Echoes by Kristen Heitzmann (9)

Aesop's Fables (8)

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker (9)

Finding Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn (8)

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay (9)

Rocketeers byMichael Belfiore (9)

Clutter's Last Stand by Don Aslett (10)

The Christmas Quilt by Thomas J. Davis (8)

Cleaning Up the Clutter by Emilie Barnes (6)

Homeschooling for Excellence by David and Micki Colfax (9)

Being Molly

A week or two ago my mom sent Gracie about a dozen American Girl books that she had bought at her library's used book sale. I had been thinking about reading some books to Gracie that were a little bit longer and more complex than the picture books we usually check out from the library, so these came at a good time. I think they will be fun stories for Gracie, and I like the fact that they give a picture of what life might have been like for a girl living in a different time period in our country's history. (I do occasionally have to skip a word or two (dumb, for example) that I don't want to be part of Gracie's vocabulary, though.)

We started reading about Molly, a nine-year-old girl living in 1944. Gracie has seemed to really enjoy listening to the stories, and it has been fun to watch her act them out in detail. I think Gracie's favorite book about Molly is Molly Saves the Day by Valerie Tripp. Molly Saves the Day is set at Camp Gowonagin, where Molly went for summer camp. For the last week Gracie has been draping blankets over chairs to make a tent and pretending that an empty laundry basket or diaper box is her canoe. It is funny to hear her narrate her actions as she acts out the story: "Molly climbed into her canoe..." and she's off on another adventure.

This afternoon I started reading Meet Josefina (set in New Mexico in 1824) to Gracie. We've only read two chapters so far, so it will be interesting to see if she relates as strongly to Josefina as she did to Molly.

Keeping up with the News

I am not good at keeping track of what is happening in the real world. As a stay-at-home mom, my kids keep me fairly busy. For a while I just didn't think that knowing what was going on was a priority for me.

This week I have been thinking a lot about A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. I have realized that I should never stop learning myself, especially since Drew and Gracie will be learning from my example as they grow up and I become a mentor to them.

One of the things that a mentor should encourage is helping his or her student learn to apply knowledge gained from the classics to situations in the real world, in a way that helps others. How will I be able to teach Drew and Gracie how to make real-world applications if I have no idea what is going on in the real world myself?

Having come to that realization, I began looking for the "perfect" news source. After some thought I realized that I was actually jumping right back on the "conveyor belt," looking for someone to tell me what to think. I need to just start reading and thinking about current events and the more I read and learn, the better I will be at evaluating what I read.

My husband always seems to know what is going on in the world, so I asked him where he looks for news. He said he usually looks at CNN or MSNBC, so those will be my starting place as I try to pay more attention to the world around me.

How do you keep up with the news? If you have a favorite news web site, please share it with me!

Getting Off of the Conveyor Belt

I have been asking my husband to read A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille ever since I finished reading it earlier this week. We plan to homeschool Drew and Gracie, and this book describes the kind of education I would like for them to have, so I thought it an important book for him to read. He finally picked it up this evening before dinner, and has barely set it down since. I'm sure he'll finish it tonight.

Near the beginning of the book, Van DeMille describes three systems of schooling: conveyor belt education, professional education, and leadership education. To describe these systems briefly, a conveyor belt education teaches a student what to think and emphasizes conformity to textbooks and standards; a professional education teaches a student when to think, applying knowledge in specialized situations; and a leadership education (what the author calls a Thomas Jefferson education) teaches a student how to think.

I am a product of a "conveyor belt" education. As a student, I was very good at memorizing the textbook and repeating it back for exams. I rarely had to think or form opinions for myself. I wish I had learned how to think instead.

I have long forgotten much of what I learned in school, and I know there are huge gaps in my education. I always excused these gaps before by claiming that the ability to look up information was more important than the knowledge itself. Now I'm not so sure that's true. If I'm not constantly learning about the world around me, about history and human nature, and making that knowledge a part of myself, a part of my life, I won't have a strong basis for any decisions I am called upon to make. This kind of education takes time. I can't look into a book to find out what I should think. If I don't work on my own education now, it won't be there to call upon when I need it, and I won't be able to set a good example for Drew and Gracie.

I am in the middle of reading a few books, but once I'm finished with them I plan to dive into the classics to see what I can learn from them. Stay tuned ...

It's really bugging me ...

My husband rented a movie to watch this evening after Drew and Gracie went to bed. When he turned on the TV, he noticed what looks like a small spider in the middle of the screen ... but it's on the inside. I hope it is not there to stay.

It's a good thing we don't watch TV much. Just seeing it there is really bugging me!

Update: The spider (or whatever it is) has crawled up toward the top of the screen now ... so it is still alive in there. It's making me shiver just thinking about it.

One Thing at a Time

I am not very good at doing just one thing at a time. I start one thing and then somehow get distracted and start something else. My house is full of half-finished projects ... things that I started but didn't finish before my next great idea came along. My shelves are full of half-read books (although most of my half-read books come from the library these days). Right now I am in the middle of reading eight different books. Eight. Why did I start reading that many books at once?

At this moment there are 25 different web pages open in my web browser. Why can't I concentrate anymore? I have a feeling that I have allowed myself to get into a bad habit of hopping from one thing to another. I need to work on that.

For now, though, I'm off to finish reading one of my library books.

Invisible

Some days I feel completely invisible.

I started thinking about this on Sunday after church. My family has attended the same church almost every week for over eight years and if we stopped coming I'm not sure many people would notice or care. I don't feel connected to the people there.

Later Sunday afternoon I posted an introduction in a Yahoo group, and asked a couple of questions. I was very excited to join the group but so far I have not received a single response to my questions. I guess I will have to try again.

I know it is mostly my own fault. I am a very quiet person and I have a hard time getting involved and offering my opinions ... I mostly sit back, watching and listening. I need to find a way to get involved and connected with others because feeling invisible is not much fun.

Paper Dolls

Gracie loves paper dolls -- and I do, too. They're inexpensive and don't take up a lot of space. If she loses them, I can always print more. What's not to like?

The first paper dolls I made for Gracie were the Emily and Sherah dolls from Marilee's Paperdolls Page. (There are links to many other paper doll web sites on her page, as well.) They are still some of Gracie's favorites. I printed them out on several different colors of paper so Gracie can dress them in different colors.

This week I printed out some paper dolls from MakingFriends.com for Gracie. She loves all the different hairstyles and outfits that are available. Today I even printed out a paper doll and some outfits for one of my friends in graduate school. She is very busy and I thought she could use a break for a dose of three-year-old fun.

Gracie and I are always looking for new paper dolls so if you know of any good websites, please let us know!

Writing

This evening as I was rocking Drew I started reading Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. I haven't made it very far yet, but I ran across a quote that kind-of describes how I feel about writing:

"Calder sighed. If only thoughts didn't have to be broken down into words. Too much talk was hard to listen to, and writing, for him, was a brutal process. So much got left behind."

I imagine my biggest problem, however, is that I haven't spent enough time thinking and then working at putting those thoughts into words.

Old habits are hard to break ...

but I managed to leave my computer off all day today! (I did sneak a few minutes on my husband's computer first thing this morning to check some library book due dates and renew a couple of books online, though.) The only drawback is that I need to review our family's budget plan and spending for July and August and now that I have the computer on I'm too tired to do it. Maybe I'll work on it tomorrow.

This week I have been reading A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver Van DeMille. It talks about how the system of education in America is broken and how each individual needs to take responsibility for his or her own education. Van DeMille asserts that it is impossible for one person to educate another, but that a great teacher can inspire students to educate themselves and help them follow through. The two types of teachers are mentors and classics.

I borrowed this book from the library via Interlibrary Loan, and I am actually reading through it for a second time and taking notes before I have to return it. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it once I have had a chance to finish reading and digesting the information. It has been very inspiring to me ... I can't wait to get started improving my own education.

Turning the Computer Off

I am addicted to the computer. My computer is on all the time, wasting my time and the electricity it uses to run it. Sure, it's fun to take a minute or two to check my e-mail or read an article or two on the Internet several times throughout the day, but I think my time might be better spent reading a good book. So, starting tonight I plan to leave my computer off during the day and only turn it on for an hour or two each evening. (I wonder if I will be able to stick to this plan?)

Expired

I don't know if it's just my bad luck or only a problem at the two stores where I usually shop for groceries, but the last several times I have been grocery shopping, I have found packages of food on the shelf that were past their "sell by" date. The items range from bread and hot dogs a week past their marked dates, vegetable dip a month past its date, and several packages of cheese that expired last April. The item that bothered me most, though, was a package of infant vitamin drops that was several months past its "sell by" date ... it bothers me to think that if I hadn't been paying attention, I might have given Drew something that might not have been good for him.

I typically have Drew and Gracie along when I am doing my grocery shopping, so ideally, I would like to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible. I now find myself pausing to check the date on every single item that I put in my cart. I'm sure it makes my shopping trip last longer, but I don't know what else to do.

I have found expired items only once at one store, but it seems to be an ongoing problem at the other store. I filled out a comment card complaining about the expired items and received a telephone call from the store manager, who assured me that they are working to correct the problem. Several months later, however, I still typically find at least one expired item on every shopping trip. Short of boycotting the stores in my area and driving an extra fifteen minutes to shop elsewhere, what else can I do? Is this a problem for other people, or does it only happen to me?

Getting Ready

Some days it feels like a job just to go anywhere. It takes me at least half an hour to get Drew and Gracie ready and out the door (on a good day). I think it is because I have to do everything three times ... once for myself, and once each for Drew and Gracie.

I am usually pretty good at getting them out of their PJs and dressed first thing in the morning (although Drew has been known to spend an entire day in his PJs on occasion if we're staying home), but I do have to make sure my hair has been combed before we go, and then work the tangles out of Gracie's hair. (Drew's hair is fairly short so I don't have to do anything there.) Then, I have to go to the bathroom. Then Gracie. Then Drew needs his diaper changed. Finally I put on my shoes and socks, Gracie's shoes and socks, and Drew's shoes and socks. I make sure Drew and Gracie have had last-minute drinks and that they won't get hungry while we're gone. I check Drew's diaper one last time, and make sure Gracie doesn't need to go potty again. Finally, feeling utterly exhausted, I am ready to buckle them in their carseats and go.

And I only have two children. How do moms with more than two do it? And how do they make it look so easy?

Easily Intimidated

I am, I will admit, easily intimidated. That is part of the reason that I have been away from my blog for such a long time. I started to blog one day when I was sick (and so had time on my hands to sit) and wanted to try something new. Then someone else actually read a blog entry or two and I got scared. I started reading several excellent blogs and knew I would never measure up. All of a sudden, I felt like everything I wrote had to be perfect. I couldn't live up to my own expectations. It was somewhat paralyzing.

Today, I decided that I have been silly, so now, I am back to blogging for myself. I need practice writing ... I need practice thinking ... so I'm giving myself the assignment to write something every day. (We'll see how long that lasts!) I will say that even though I haven't been writing much, blogging has been good for me because I have been reading a lot more non-fiction and thinking about things a lot more than I did before. (You would not believe the number of blog entries that I thought about writing!) Until this summer, I read a lot of (mostly inspirational) romance novels (*blush*). I think I was using reading as a way to escape my everyday world. Once I started blogging, or at least thinking about blogging, I became excited about exploring new ideas, and I found that reading to learn new things is a lot more fun. I think I'm ready now to study and gain for myself the education that I was not mature enough to appreciate when I started college fifteen years ago.

On another note, the other reason I've been away from blogging for a while is that Drew started walking (running might be more accurate) a month or two ago. He is able to get into trouble so much more quickly and easily than he could before. I remember thinking when Gracie was a baby that it shouldn't make much difference if she was crawling or walking. After all, she would be mobile in both cases. I hadn't realized two things: (1) With crawling, her hands were mostly occupied so she couldn't carry things easily from one place to another, and (2) once she could stand up, she could reach higher and therefore get into more things than she could from her hands and knees. I already knew these things this time around, but somehow Drew's newfound ability to get into things still took me by surprise. During the day, I only get a few minutes here and there to check my e-mail or read a blog entry or two. I have to wait until after the kids are asleep to get any real time to sit and think ... and write.

Until tomorrow ...

Have you checked your credit report this year?

Last week I started trying to sort through and organize my file cabinet where I keep our bills and financial information. (If anyone has any tips for keeping these records organized, I would love to hear them!) For me, the filing cabinet seems to be somewhat of a black hole for papers ... they go in and never come out again. For example, I came across the old bills from a cell phone that we discontinued service on five years ago. Ugh. I don't think I need to keep those anymore!

However, I did come across the folder containing our credit reports from the past two years, and I am glad that I did because it reminded me that I need to get copies of our credit reports again soon. Checking your credit reports is easy and it is free. Just go to AnnualCreditReport.com and follow the instructions to get a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting companies, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

Checking your credit report each year is a good idea even if you think your credit report is clean. The first year I got our reports, I found that one of the credit reporting companies had combined my husband's credit report with that of another man with the same name (who had some negative items on his credit report). I am happy to say that one telephone call to the credit reporting company got the incorrect items removed without any problems, but if I would not have checked the credit reports, I might not have known.

Uh Oh!

At 14 months old, Drew doesn't say very many recognizable words, so each time he learns a new one, we celebrate. As of last weekend, his new favorite word is "uh oh!" On Friday evening after he was finished with his dinner, Drew sat in his high chair throwing bits of food onto the floor, and before he threw each piece, he said "uh oh!" I let him keep doing it for a few minutes because his little voice sounded so incredibly cute.

On Saturday afternoon he started saying "uh oh!" before launching toys over the gate and down the stairway. We put a stop to that rather quickly.

Then Sunday morning during church he stood up on the pew and looked at the person sitting on the pew behind us (who happened to be his pediatrician), said "uh oh!" and threw his toy at him. Uh oh, indeed! :)

Sleep Deprived

Some symptoms of sleep deprivation: tiredness, irritability, shorter attention span, poorer concentration and memory, inability to handle stress, less healthy immune system ... yes, that sounds like me.

I think I have been somewhat sleep deprived ever since Gracie was born (over 3 1/2 years ago). For me, getting enough sleep requires a balancing act -- I need to rest to stay healthy and sane -- but I also need the time to myself each day that I only get once the children are asleep.

Right now, I am desperate for Drew to begin sleeping through the night. After I got mastitis a second time recently, my husband has realized that I need more sleep to stay healthy, and has started to help out with some of Drew's night wakings for the past few nights. Now that Drew realizes that he is not going to see Mommy or get a midnight snack when he wakes up, he is sleeping better, and so am I.

I am also determined to get myself to bed at a reasonable time every night. This is such a struggle for me because there are so many things that I want to do ... books that I want to read, web sites that I want to surf, Blog entries that I want to write. Do I sleep? Or do I Blog? Obviously, sleep has won out over blogging lately for me!

So, what else can this tired Mommy do to get more sleep?

Phonebook Results from Google

I learned something interesting the other day. If you type a phone number into the search box on Google, it lists the person's name and address, and has a link to a Google map showing that address. I tried it out with my home phone number as well as several other phone numbers and it worked each time. (It did not work for my cell phone number, however.)

Drew and Gracie are still too young to use the Internet, but I find it a little bit scary that if in the future they give out even so little information as their phone number, a person could potentially find our name and address and even have a map to our home.

If you click on the Phonebook results link in the Google search results, it does have a link to request to remove your name from the list. I'm sure there are other places on the Internet besides Google that allow you to look up a name to go with a phone number, but I still found it startling that this information is so easy to find.

Gracie's Summer Reading List (Part 3)

Here is Gracie's reading list for the last two weeks. We have had a couple of busy weeks so we only read most of these books once or twice.

I think Gracie especially enjoys library days. We go to the story time and then choose a new stack of ten or twenty books. When we get home, we sit together on the couch and read through our entire stack of books. Then for the rest of the week we re-read the books that Gracie likes best.

This evening I got to wondering if maybe Gracie and I choose too many books. Maybe she would enjoy them more if we only chose four or five new ones each week. It just seems that by the time she chooses some and I choose some, we have a huge stack. At least she is being exposed to many different books each week, and we do take time to re-read and savor our favorites.

Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson
One-Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova
Nothing at All by Denys Cazet
Alfred's Alphabet Walk by Victoria Chess
Because Your Daddy Loves You by Andrew Clements
Ducks Fly by Lydia Dabcovich
Daisy Rabbit's Tree House by Penny Dale
My Drum by Kay Davies and Wendy Oldfield
Carl's Birthday by Alexandra Day
The Raggy Taggy Toys by Joyce Dunbar
Zoo's Who by Douglas Florian
Hush, Little Baby: A Folk Song with Pictures by Marla Frazee
Seeing by Helen Frost
King of the Mountain by Janie Spaht Gill
The Tub That Became a Boat by Janie Spaht Gill
The American Flag by Susan H. Gray
The Big Enough Helper by Nancy Hall
Shadows and Reflections by Tana Hoban
Kipper and Roly by Mick Inkpen
Little Kippers Sandcastle by Mick Inkpen
I Hear by Rachel Isadora
Albert the Running Bear Gets the Jitters by Barbara Isenberg and Susan Wolf
When Panda Came to Our House by Helen Zane Jensen
Rainbow Fish and Friends Hide-And-Seek by Susan Hill Long
My "e" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
My "h" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
My "i" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
My "n" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
My "w" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
The Hippo-Not-amus by Tony and Jan Payne
Chicken Bedtime is Really Early by Erica S. Perl
The Box with Red Wheels by Maud and Miska Petersham
Oh, Look! by Patricia Polacco
Sea Anemones by Lola M. Schaefer
Some Kids Are Blind by Lola M. Schaefer
Some Kids Use Wheelchairs by Lola M. Schaefer
Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book by Alexander Stadler
Fast Friends by James Stevenson
There's Nothing to Do! by James Stevenson
Good Night Twinklegator by Kazuko G. Stone
Sophie and Jack by Judy Taylor
Number Rhymes by Carol Thompson
I Was All Thumbs by Bernard Waber
Hide and Sleep by Melanie Walsh
I Can Ride It! by Shigeo Watanabe

New Shoes

Today I took Drew and Gracie to get new shoes. I am sure I pay way too much for kids' shoes, but I always take them to the Stride Rite store in town because I appreciate having someone who knows what they're doing measure my kids' feet. I really appreciate the people at the store I go to because they have never tried to sell me shoes when we didn't need them. They even talked me out of buying shoes for Gracie once -- she wasn't walking yet, but I really wanted to buy some cute shoes for my baby girl -- and they told me to come back in a couple of months when she started walking.

This was Drew's first pair of shoes, and it was really funny to see his reaction to them. First, he curled his toes under so it was really hard to get his new shoes on. Once he finally had shoes on for the first time, he acted like he didn't know what to do with his feet. For a few minutes he wouldn't move them at all. Then, holding onto my fingers, he started walking backward. When he finally took a few steps forward, he was lifted each foot high in a very exaggerated motion. It was so cute to watch. I imagine he will get used to his new shoes once he wears them a little bit.

What Style of Mom are You?

I was going through a stack of papers last night and ran across an article entitled What Style of Mom are You? that I had torn out of the May 2006 issue of Babytalk magazine. It contains excerpts from the book MotherStyles: Using Personality Types to Learn to Parent From Your Strengths by Janet Penley with Diane Eble.

I was encouraged by the article because it pointed out that all moms are not the same. We all have our own personalities and our own strengths and weaknesses. I may not do everything exactly the same way my best friend or my neighbor down the street does things, but that doesn't mean I love my kids any less. I like the idea that instead of competing with other moms or feeling guilty because I seem in my own mind to never measure up, I can use my strengths (and the gifts God has given me) to be the best mom I can be.

The styles of mothering are based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality types. (If you don't know your type, the MotherStyles website has a short quiz to help you guess at your type.) I am probably an ISTJ (or maybe an INTJ ... I got both results on the MBTI at different times in college), and a couple of things I learned about ISTJ moms totally fit me. First, it said "I have a serious love affair with to-do lists." That is so funny because I was going to blog about my to-do lists sometime in the near future. The "stay-sane" tip for ISTJ moms like me is to give myself some uninterrupted quiet time each day. No wonder I crave quiet time so much!

I probably will spend a few minutes over the next few days reading the MotherStyles blog, and maybe I'll pick up the book at the library sometime soon.

Vaccinations

Earlier this week I took Drew to the Health Department for another round of shots. Although neither Drew nor Gracie have had any bad reactions to shots (so far), taking them for their shots always makes me nervous.

I think there are a number of reasons I'm nervous about them getting shots. First, the shot clinics at the Health Department is always VERY busy. I always come away hoping that the nurses filling the syringes got the right ones for my baby. I'm sure they do it enough that they have the system down pat and don't make mistakes, but still, it makes me nervous.

What makes me more nervous, though, is the question of whether Drew and Gracie really need all (or any) of the many recommended vaccinations. When Gracie was a baby, I didn't really question it. I just took her to the Health Department at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months, and let them give her whatever shots they recommended. I winced when they gave her 6 shots in one day when she was 12 months old (2 in each leg and 1 in each arm), but allowed it because I was told at the Health Department that doctors recommended that a child get all six shots at once. (I have later come to the conclusion that this recommendation is probably from a "public health" viewpoint -- if you give a child as many shots at once as possible (and require fewer visits) they're more likely to be fully vaccinated.) I mentioned it to her pediatrician afterward, and he said it was not necessary to get them all at once. And it seems like they keep adding "required" vaccinations -- between the time that Gracie got her shots and now, they have added two more vaccinations to the list of recommendations.

Recently I have read on several message boards and Yahoo groups about mothers who do not have their children vaccinated at all. Their viewpoint, that I am allowing people to pump terrible toxins into my children's bodies, is frightening to me.

Obviously, I love Drew and Gracie very much and want to do what is best for them to keep them healthy. I just feel like I don't have enough information to make an informed decision. I trust our pediatrician very much, and I did ask him after Drew was born what he thought about vaccinations. He said that there are not many people who do not vaccinate their children and that I should take Drew for all of the recommended shots. His opinion was that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Someday, though, I would like to do some research for myself.

Gracie's Summer Reading List (Part 2)

We'll be going to the library again tomorrow, so I thought I would post an update to Gracie's reading list. There are some nonfiction titles as well as picture books this week because our library's reading program has a challenge to read books from different numbered ranges of the Dewey Decimal system.

Gracie has had definite favorites each week -- look for Gracie's Picks to be posted soon.

How's the Weather? A Look at Weather and How it Changes by Melvin and Gilda Berger
Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla
Rebecca's Nap by Fred Burstein
Cowboy Sam by Edna Walker Chandler
Inclined Planes by Michael Dahl
-it as in Sit by Kelly Doudna
The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn
Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
Little Toot and the Loch Ness Monster by Hardie Gramatky
Astronauts Today by Rosanna Hansen
What's it Like to be a Baby Polar Bear? by Honor Head
Angelina and Alice by Katharine Holabird
Angelina at the Fair by Katharine Holabird
My "d" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure
Freddie Visits the Doctor by Nicola Smee
Spacebusters: The Race to the Moon by Philip Wilkinson

House Hunting

My husband and I have both been feeling restless lately, and I think my husband's restlessness is the main reason he is interested in looking for a new house. Yesterday for Father's Day we went to look at two houses. One was probably in the same price range as our current house. The other was probably out of our price range entirely (unless we want to sign up for 30 years of debt). My husband, at 6 feet 6 inches, is too tall for either one of the houses. When we were looking for our current house, he told me that any house where he would bump his head on a ceiling or doorway was automatically out of the running. I had forgotten how many houses we disqualified when we were looking the first time around because of low doorways. But I don't blame him ... who wants to have to think about ducking (or else get a bump on the head) each time they walk through their home?

Gracie had never been to an open house before, but her reactions were cute. "Oh, look at this room," and later, "This kitchen is really nice." One of the houses must have had a family with young girls because there was a play room with a dress up box. We asked Gracie which house she liked best, and she said she liked the house with the dress up box. How do you explain to a three-year-old that the dress up box doesn't come with the house?

I think (I hope) that my husband is not really serious about buying a new house any time soon. He knows it takes me a long time to get used to the idea of change, so he likes to test the waters with outrageous suggestions, but he usually takes his time in actually acting on them. And I am surprised at how quickly my attitude changes when he makes his suggestions. A few weeks ago I was horrified by the thought of ever moving from our current house. (I do love it here!) But now I am at least open to looking at some other houses and getting a feel for what we like and how much it might cost.

Now back to the subject of houses and debt. After we re-did our budget, my husband and I decided to pay a little bit extra on our mortgage each month, to try to pay it off sooner. When I went to the bank to change our automatic payment, the teller tried to convince me that a mortgage is "good debt" and that I shouldn't be so anxious to pay it off. I guess it probably is better than some other kinds of debt, but wouldn't it be better to be out of debt entirely? Wouldn't it make more sense to earn interest rather than to pay interest? Am I missing something here?

No Limit

Up until a couple of months ago, our library limited the number of books a patron could check out at one time to 25. I was always right at the limit -- after all, I usually check out books for myself and my husband as well as for Drew and Gracie. Actually, when I say right at the limit, I mean 25 books plus or minus five (or so). I occasionally pushed the limit, and the librarians didn't seem to mind too much.

Then one day I let Gracie choose some books and she ended up picking more than I thought she would. I knew I would be *way* over the limit. I mentioned it to the librarian when I went to check out, and she said they no longer had a limit.

No limit. Hmmmm. That is probably a dangerous thing for a book lover like me. My husband is convinced that I am attempting to check out the entire library at one time, bringing the books into the house one bag at a time, one day at a time. Right now I have 48 books checked out. And I'm getting ready to go to the library when I finish this post to pick up another book. (I am returning four books ... but you never know what else will look interesting when I get there!)

Below is the list of books that I have recently read, am currently reading, or will be reading soon. Maybe I'll blog about them sometime soon.

Nonfiction

Why Johnny Can't Read by Rudolf Flesch
Hard Times in Paradise by David and Micki Colfax
Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
The Hurried Child by David Elkind
The Power of Play by David Elkind
Einstein by Walter Isaacson
Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling by Diana Waring
Farm: A Year in the Life of an American Farmer by Richard Rhodes

Fiction

Snitch by Rene Gutteridge
In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols
River's Edge by Marie Bostwick

What are you reading right now? I would love some suggestions!

So Much to Blog About, So Little Time

I started this blog one day when I was sick, a few weeks ago. Since I was sick, I ignored my regularly scheduled duties in favor of something that only required sitting and thinking. I originally intended to log into a blog that I created two or three years ago -- it only had one entry before it fell by the wayside -- but I couldn't remember the password. I thought this blog would probably be a one-time deal, too. After all, I'm not much of a writer and I don't usually have much to say.

To my surprise, I think of new things that I want to write about almost every day. I have a long list of topics waiting for me in a notebook upstairs, and another shorter list on a scratch pad in front of the computer. My problem now is finding time to sneak off to the computer to write.

Most days, I don't really know where my time goes. By evening time, I feel exhausted and don't have a lot to show for my day. I am home all the time (except when I'm not). My house is kind-of messy, so I'm not spending all of my time cleaning. I love to read, but I haven't finished reading a book for several days, so I'm not spending all of my time with my nose in a book (at least this week ... although the fact that I haven't finished a book could be due to the fact that I have started reading four or five and keep jumping from book to book). I have read several books to Drew and Gracie. I have spent a lot of time keeping Drew from chewing on power cords, replacing the outlet plug covers he pulls out of outlets, and keeping Gracie's crayons off of the floor so that Drew doesn't eat them. I have washed some dishes, done some laundry, cooked some meals. And tomorrow I'll be doing it all again. Sometimes it's discouraging to not have any visible proof that I have done something worthwhile all day.

Maybe I'll get to some of those topics on my list eventually. But for now, I have to go. Drew is headed for the power cords again.

Gracie's Summer Reading List

Drew, Gracie, and I went to the library again today. Gracie is well on her way to her goal of having 45 books read to her. Below is the list of picture books we have read so far this summer (in order by author's last name). I plan to update this list each week.

I also plan to write entries about some of her favorite stories. I'm not an expert on children's books -- just a mom who loves to read with her children -- but I think it will be fun to share the books we have enjoyed with others.

A Children's Book About Being Messy by Joy Berry
When Will I Read? by Miriam Cohen
Sharing is Fun by Joanna Cole
Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
Fire Station Number 4: The Daily Life of Firefighters by Mary T. Fortney
My Pet Zoo by Janie Spaht Gill
Chuck E. Gets a Sister by Kiki
The Babysitter Comes Over by Kiki
The New Bike by Kiki
Snuggle Wuggle by Jonathan London
The Biggest, Smallest, Fastest, Tallest Things You've Ever Heard Of by Robert Lopshire
Goodbye, Hello by Shen Roddie
The Bookshop Dog by Cynthia Rylant
Cousins by Lola M. Schaefer
Sisters by Lola M. Schaefer
Start and Stop by Lola M. Schaefer
Freddie Goes to Playgroup by Nicola Smee
Freddie Goes to the Beach by Nicola Smee
Mrs. Minetta's Car Pool by Elizabeth Spurr
The Stowaway by James Stevenson
Fire Trucks by Darlene R. Stille
Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope
Barney's Night Before Christmas by Stephen White
Summertime in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

What's For Dinner?

I think "What's for dinner?" is my least favorite question ever. I am definitely burned out on grocery shopping and cooking. I'm even burned out on eating. Can't we just cancel all meals until further notice? (Just kidding ... mostly!)

My husband wants to look for a larger house for our family. In order to decide how much we can afford (and with some encouragement from Michelle's blog, Smart Not Cheap) I am in the middle of re-doing our budget. I do this every year or so, and at first it is fun to create a plan and work to keep it. Then after a few months I begin to relax, or get behind on record keeping, and everything begins to slide. The two areas that get out of control first for me are eating out and groceries.

I think to help me control my spending at the grocery store and still have food in the house (so eating out is not necessary) I need to start creating a meal plan and grocery list each week. In the next few days I am planning to look for some meal planning resources to help me with this project.

I've looked briefly at web sites like Saving Dinner and at books like Once-a-Month Cooking by Mary-Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson, but there are some picky eaters in my family and I think it would take as much effort for me to modify another system to fit my family as it would to create something from scratch.

I'm always looking for nutritious, simple, and quick meals for my family. (With a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old usually in the kitchen helping me, simple might be my most important criteria right now!) What are some of your family's favorite meals? Do you have a weekly or monthly meal plan?

I'm really looking forward to having a plan. When I go shopping I'll be able to stick to my list. I won't buy things we don't need. Things we have won't go to waste. And I'll no longer dread hearing the question, "What's for Dinner?"

My First Comment

I was so excited when I checked my blog this morning to find that someone had taken the time to leave me a comment. I especially appreciated the links to Michelle's web site, One of a Kind Wisconsin and to her blog, which both contain some reviews of children's books. I enjoyed browsing her sites this morning. I haven't had time to read all of her childrens' book reviews yet, but I am definitely going to have to check out Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky to read to Drew and Gracie the next time we go to the library. Thank you, Michelle!

Actually, I was just as amazed that someone besides me actually took the time to read part of my blog! A few days after I created my blog I added the code for Google Analytics so that I could see how many people had viewed my blog. I haven't been blogging for long -- so far I have only had four unique visitors (including myself) -- but it is interesting to see the statistics.

Eventually I hope to write some book reviews, expand my lists of favorite links, and provide some information that is interesting or useful -- at least to me. I'm primarily blogging just to share what goes on in my world, and some of the things that I am interested in.

What makes you stop to read a blog? What makes you come back? What information would you find interesting or useful?

The "Big Owner"

Gracie says some funny things sometimes. The other day she was playing with her daddy, and he pretended to be a "Big Ogre" and eat her up. I came into the room to her giggles and a request for me to save her from the "Big Owner." Ever since then, my husband has been the Big Owner, and Drew has been the Little Owner. Oh, and Gracie is the Little Snack and I am the Big Snack. We are so silly.

Some other cute Gracie sayings: One day my husband was trying to get her to come so he could help her with her shoes. He told her to "Bring those little toes over here." Gracie said, "It would be easier to bring all of me." :)

And the last one for now: Gracie sometimes has a hard time being quiet during church, so I often give her a pen and paper to draw with in hopes that it will help her stay quiet. One Sunday morning, she was singing "Happy Mother's Day to you" ... to the tune of "Happy Birthday to you." (Now, I did think that was very sweet, except that it happened to be during a particularly quiet part of the service and it was the week after Mother's Day.) When my husband asked her to be quiet, she replied, "It's hard to draw without a song."

Science Links

Access to Energy

Gracie's First Bicycle

Last night we got Gracie a bicycle -- a red 16 inch bicycle with Dora the Explorer on it, complete with training wheels and a small purple Backpack fastened in the middle of the handlebars with Velcro. I had been wanting to get Gracie a bicycle for a while, but now that she has one, I am beginning to realize that I wanted her to have it more than she really wanted it. When we took her to the park this afternoon to practice riding her bicycle, she spent a few minutes pedaling but then wanted to go swing. I guess I am hurrying her, getting her a bicycle before she is really ready for it ... but I do hope that she comes to enjoy it with time.

Even though I spend all day every day with Drew and Gracie, they can still surprise me sometimes. Yesterday we took Drew and Gracie to a carnival that was hosted by a church in town. I rode with Gracie on the carousel and my husband took her on the ferris wheel. I was pretty sure she would love the carousel (she did), but I thought she might be scared on the ferris wheel. (I don't like heights so I would have been scared!) To my surprise and delight, her face was beaming the entire time she was on the ferris wheel, and when she got off she exclaimed that she went "way up high" and that she wanted to do it again.

It is delightful to get to know these unique little people, my children, as they grow. I am glad that Gracie is trying new things. I sometimes find it challenging to strike a balance between providing opportunities for them to learn and to experience new things, and pushing them into new things that they are not interested in or ready for. And sometimes I project what *I* am ready for them to do or what *I* want onto them.

I just hope that Gracie will learn to love riding her new bicycle eventually!

Saturday Morning Workout

I just got in from my Saturday morning workout -- mowing the lawn! I enjoy the exercise, but I enjoy the uninterrupted 1 1/2 hour break from my children even more. Drew and Gracie enjoy playing with their Daddy while I'm outside mowing, and it is the only time during the week that I can count on to have time entirely to myself.

Most stay-at-home moms can probably relate to the feeling of being "on-the-job" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One time I compared it to living at my place of employment; getting no evenings, weekends, sick days or holidays off; and being required to take one or two "co-workers" (a.k.a. the children) with me any time I wanted to leave.

I need a break sometimes, but I tend to feel guilty about saying that. At least when I'm out for my "Saturday morning workout" I get a break, get exercise, and get the lawn mowed -- all at the same time!

Summer Reading Program

Our library's summer reading program starts on Monday. I am so excited! I remember participating in summer reading programs when I was growing up and now I get to help Drew and Gracie learn to love the library. They both have been on outings to the library with me almost every week since birth, so going to the library is nothing new for them.

This will be Gracie's second year in the summer reading program. Drew is still too young to sign up and get prizes, but he enjoys listening when I read to Gracie. Our typical method of choosing books is to wander up and down the aisle of picture books and pull books off the shelf at random. We tend to get an interesting selection this way. In the last few months Gracie has shown more interest in choosing her own books, and she will often pick books that we have read together before.

I am always looking for suggestions of books that are "must reads," either picture books, or read-alouds suitable for young children. What are some of your favorite books for children?

Digital Scrapbooking Links

RAKScraps

Hummie's World

Simply Sarah Designs -- Sarah has some beautiful freebies on her blog!

DigiScrapDepot.com

Raspberry Road Designs

Homemaking Links

FlyLady is my hero!

Homeschool Links

Curriculum Links

Robinson Curriculum

Ambleside Online

An Old-Fashioned Education


Homeschool Forms and Record Keeping

DonnaYoung.org

Homeschool Tracker

Dream Home

I think my husband is getting restless. Lately he has been talking about looking for a new house. I think the house we live in now is just fine and I would be content to live here for the rest of my life, but it is fun to dream. I think if we do move someday, I would like to build a house so that it can be exactly what we want.

Last weekend he showed me this website with houses that are efficient to heat and cool. I think it is my new dream home! I guess we better start saving our pennies!

What would your dream home be like?

Preschool -- Necessary?

I have two children: a one-year-old son and a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter -- call them Drew and Gracie. People have started asking me if Gracie will be starting preschool this fall. I just smile and say she will be staying home with me. I realize that she would probably enjoy preschool, and would possibly even learn some things that she would not learn at home. I even had one friend tell me that I would be doing her a disservice (by inhibiting her social development) if I keep her home. But I am not convinced.

When did preschool become a normal -- perhaps even necessary -- thing for our children to do? A few days ago I was thinking about it and I realized that almost all of my friends' children have gone to preschool for at least a year before starting kindergarten. I guess I'm feeling a little bit uncomfortable by doing something different.

What do you think? Is preschool necessary? What would Gracie gain by going to preschool that she could not learn by being home with me?

Birthday Cake

We will be celebrating my son's first birthday soon, so tomorrow I am planning to bake my very favorite chocolate cake: Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake. I made it for the first time for my mother-in-law's birthday a few months after my husband and I got married, and eight years later it is still my favorite.

What is your favorite kind of birthday cake?

Out of Town

What is it about packing that makes me hate it so intensely? It's not that hard to put clothes and toiletries into a bag. I even have a packing list to check items off as I pack them. And yet every time I'm faced with packing for a trip, I get so upset about it that I would almost rather stay home than pack.

Maybe it's the fact that I know I will be facing days that don't follow my normal, predictable routine. Maybe I'm afraid I will forget something vital. (I almost always manage to forget *something* but I'm still alive!) Tonight it might be because, due to the fact that I've been sick this week, I don't have enough clothes clean to make it through the weekend and I'll be up half of the night doing laundry just so I *can* pack. I really don't know. Maybe I'll spend some more time thinking about it.

But for now, I'm off to pack.

When Mommy is Sick

Sometimes even Mommies get sick. Hard to believe, but true! This has been one of those weeks ... Monday night I came down with a fever, chills, aches ... Tuesday night I decided it might possibly be mastitis (I am nursing my nearly-one-year-old) and on Wednesday I started taking an antibiotic for it. I am on the mend now, but most of my daily chores around the house did not get done while I was sick, so I have a lot of catching up to do. So what am I doing? Recuperating by starting a blog!

Who takes care of Mommy when she gets sick?