Before The End of Winter

I was perusing all my photos of Joshua for his 6 month post placement report when I found these. Erika took the pictures and orchestrated the snowman sentinels. It must have been a warm day in December because the boys are in their shirtsleeves.

 Micah was hoping his snowman would do the shoveling.

 If you don't have sunglasses, blue goggles will do.

 Do not take my picture. I am Mr. Grumpy Pants.

 Goggles straps double for a great big smile!

 Then there was a nose eating contest.

I'm guessing the size of the snowman was synonymous 

with the amount of help provided.

 Where are they going? What are they looking at?

Erika will be a great Mommy-Teacher some day.

 These three boys crack me up.

 As different as can be yet brothers in the truest sense of the word.

Thank you, Erika, for playing with the boys.

Pictures for the Week 3/4-3/10

We had a good week. The weather is beginning to tease us with signs of spring. Keeping the kids focused will get harder from here on out. Enjoy some more "imperfection."

 

Say What?

64 / 365

Response to "Clean your room!"

  The Nightly Fish

65 / 365

Trey is so faithful to take his medicine every night via the fish.

  Wrong!

66 / 365

On so many levels! :) 

Love three year olds who dare to be cool in every possible way.

  Bubbles

67 / 365

A little dish detergent and air equals lots of fun!

  White Belts

68 / 365

Karate outside in 50 degree weather today.

  First Robin

69 / 365

We saw our first robin today who posed for me. 

Spring is surely on the way!

 

The Farmer

70 / 365

Often this is how we see her between shifts. She works so hard!

Simple, Right?

Last night, I went crunchy. 

I think you could classify me as somewhere between granola and cheerios. 

With milk. Ahem. Almond milk.

The "Tell-All" feature on Facebook announced that the author of Simplicity Parenting was coming to our area.  Took exactly one millisecond to know that I had to be there because I like the ideals represented in being a simple parent. No, that's not right. Parenting simplistically. There, that's better.

You probably couldn't call me a groupie, but Simplicity Parenting is one of those books that is good to revisit on a regular basis to be reminded of the four tenants to keeping life on the level: Space, Rhythm, Schedule, Filter.

Kim John Payne, originally from Australia, is a soft spoken typical therapist type. Not one to pigeon hole people into stereotypes, I have no other description. Thanks Hollywood. That's what he was. And I hung on every word. 

His introductory remarks were fascinating because the premise for his life's work stemmed from early observations of kids and people around the world suffering from PTSD, Post traumatic Stress Disorder, before it was the buzzword that it is today.  He transferred these findings to the typical population when he noticed the crossover of symptoms related to stress.

Maybe that is why the book initially appealed to me. I have PTSD kids. Lots of them and the ideas in the book are strategies that have helped us move forward with our "kids in hard places."

Here are some nuggets I took away from the lecture:

1. Average kid has 150 toys (Needs 10)
2. The GIFT of boredom (The precursor to learning is frustration.)
3. "Neurological toxicity of the screen"
4. "Whatever is rare is precious."
5. We want to raise kids with a spirit of gratitude versus a sense of entitlement.
6. Is it KIND? Is it NECESSARY? Is it TRUE?
7. The power of less = power of discernment. (Favorite quote of the night. I will be thinking about this one all day.)
8. "There is an undeclared war childhood. Let us declare peace in our homes."

 As you can tell, Simplicity Parenting will most likely be a permanent fixture in my toolbox. Counter cultural at times, yes, but powerful when you bring your end goal into focus: Raising secure, independent, adaptable, joy-filled, Christ-centered adults.

Bubble Trouble

 Today while I was utterly and hopelessly distracted, 

serious fun was happening.

  Ingredients: Dish detergent, straws, little boys.

 Oh, the magic of science!

  To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction,

according to Newton.

 The best part? I found these pictures on my camera.

I can't believe I missed the wonder.

 The delight of childhood should never be squelched.

N'est-ce pas?

Imperfection

 Somewhere along the line, I began to realize that perfection is stifling.

I am so much happier now.

Only took 9 kids and an international adoption to push me over the edge.

I think......I was missing out...... on TONS of fun.

Now, everything is downright hilarious.

Enjoy a slice of my imperfect but joy-filled life! 

 Cora loves to try on hats.

I LOVE embarrassing my kids. We were waiting in line and caught sight of this poor guy who was sent to the store for a single purchase. One lone toilet seat. My kids were dying but I thought it was so funny that I had to take a picture. He caught the flash. Then I had to look like I was taking a picture of something else....

 We grow big icicles around here.

 "Mama, I found an F in my waffle!"

 Arm wrestling and nail polish?

 For me, a contradiction.

I think I showed you this box a few weeks/months ago? It still sits there. A slice of 6 lives that I cannot bring myself to go through.

 Jackpot. 

We have a current total of 17 prescriptions. 

I managed to re-fill four in one trip.

 The boys are into cars lately. I find them everywhere.

 The bench that will never be a bench to sit upon?

Weekends look like this:

 Dairy farmers know how to stop, drop, and roll.....

 Who said only "girls know how to have fun"?

 Cutting is still a very popular sport.

What are you guys doing? 

We're monkeys.

Oh.

I should have known.

There you have it. My imperfect life. It's the best ever!!!

The Threshold

Last week was one great big puzzle.

I felt like I was standing on the threshold of a huge doorway. 

Stuck.

Couldn't come in.

Couldn't go out.

Plain old stuck.

About lots of things like:

•  Should we get a second opinion for Joshua's heart condition?

•  Life launching. One into life and one into college. Where will they go?
•  Sending another one to public high school next year?
•  Changing how we do school at home?
•  What to do about the dead van with the bum wheel?
•  Getting out of debt once and for all?
•  Helping my husband find a solution to a stressful job?
•  Other big life decisions....

We all have times when we are at a loss as to what to do. Remaining stuck doesn't seem like a very good option. Moving and changing usually means that we are at least searching for a solution.

An amazing friend wrote to me today: 

"Action conquers fear."  As parents, we are afraid that if we tinker, we could make things worse.  But we could also take away the chance of making things better if we are paralyzed by that fear.

Then I remembered this: 

"Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." Revelation 3:20 

Those two things pretty much booted me through the door towards some serious knee time, asking our Father for His advice because obviously He already knows the PLAN!

Amen?

Pictures of the Week 2/26-3/3

 Started to be a stretch to figure out what to take pictures of. 

Food and people is about all I got.

 Taco Salad

57 / 365

We eat taco salad year round usually on Sunday 

after church because it is quick to pull together.

 The Writing On The Wall

58 / 365

We are studying Daniel this week.

  Bad Boy

59 / 365

Trying out little brother's karate gear.

  Near Miss

60 / 365

I'm not thinking any of my boys are going to make the basketball team...

  My Beautiful Boy

61 / 365

Not a baby anymore.

  Driving?

62 / 365

Not sure I am ready for this.

They Are Friends

63 / 365

Jerrod: "I love my sister. She's really cool to hang out with." 

Amazing, since she's been there all along. :)

Me and the Boys

My girls deserted me from Tuesday to Friday. They had themselves a grand old vacation. An overnight was offered that turned into two and then three nights thanks to Old Man Winter making his return. How was that you ask?

Quiet.

I love having different combos of kids. Gaining perspective on family dynamics means I can pinpoint issues during a break in routine.

The little boys are good at keeping themselves busy. 

One of the days I took as a vacation day and everyone played.

Look who got into the sparing equipment?

Beat 'em up mister!

Confession of a dumb Mom: When I signed my kids up for Kung Fu karate, I did NOT realize they were actually going to hit each other. I thought it was about the exercise, self control, and more like"pretend" fighting and self defense moves. I have no idea how I missed that.

You can Stop.Laughing.Now.

Even big boys like to play. 

I had no idea he could get his leg that high. 

Wow!

The extra taste of winter means using this some more.

Boys!

My stay at home man builds beautiful fires for me on stormy days.

Why am I showing you a picture of a clean refrigerator?

Because somehow I need to redeem my brilliance.

After the karate debacle.

Where my girls are hitting each other.

And my son is hitting my girls.

Oh bother.

The jello spilled dripping and seeping into every crevice.

The son who made the jello wanted to play a computer game.

There you go.

Clean fridge.

The girls finally came home. 

Not so quiet now.

Thank goodness!