My Little Princess

Titus at 8 Months

Back to School and it feels like a whirlwind!

Sorry guys, no pictures this time. I feel like I'm going crazy. Some might argue that I already am. :-) Luke is in Jr. High this year and I just don't feel on top of things. Brian has to drop him off before work in the morning, I could drop him off, but Titus is typically sleeping at that time and the other 2 are needing to get ready and get out the door as well, so it is a bit easier. Except that I have to have breakfast completely ready by 7am and lunches made by 7:25am, because that is when they leave.
Jesse and Stephen leave the house at 8am, some times with lunches, sometimes not. I think they would prefer sack lunch each day, but right now it still saves alot of money to get the free school lunch. I do send a sack lunch on the days they only offer junk foods. The day time is pretty easy, I have really been trying to be more productive while the kids are napping- which is really only 1 hour a day that they are both down. We collected a bunch of pallets and are planning to use them to build everything we need for our kitchen- cupboards, shelves, pantry, doors, etc. So far so good. My mom came down and we built a door for my laundry closet, I know, I need to post pictures! I started a window seat for the dining room last week, haven't gotten too far. I was going to work on it today while the kids were down, but it was about 90 degrees outside and I wussed out.
Naomi needs to get up from her nap at 3pm, (or she doesn't sleep at night- because she would nap until 5pm if I let her!) then Jesse and Stephen get home at 3:30pm. Dinner is normally started around 4pm, but now Luke is in Cross Country so he gets done at 4:30pm, so I have to have dinner going and mostly done because it takes me 20 minutes to pick him up. Then he's in Band so needs to practice his tenor saxophone and all 3 are still in piano (I told them they had to be in piano until they graduate high school) so they have to practice. Homework needs to be done and chores- it truly makes my life easier if they do their chores! I changed it once again- they know rotate: Wash dishes, dry dishes, clear table, take out trash, vacuum, fold laundry. Then they have one jar chore, which typically doesn't take long- things like "swish toilet" or "wipe off stove"
Then Brian comes home from work.

Monday they have boy scouts, which I need to have a snack ready for.
Tuesday Piano lessons, gone from 3pm-5pm
Wednesday Youth group, AWANA, ladies Bible study
Thursday typically free- thankfully!
Friday every other Friday is YAMS (Young Adults Married and Single)
Saturday I don't know, but it seems to be super busy!
Sunday Sunday School, Church, lunch, naps, church, bed.

I've never been a super organized person. I am about some things- like the towel cupboard (I hate it when they stuff the towels in!) and when I get groceries I like all the fruits together, frozen together, canned together, etc. and I liked them bagged that way.
But then at home I have always struggled keeping the dishes done and laundry- I despise it!!
I love to cook but hate to clean. Perhaps hate is too strong of a word... I'm just never "motivated".
Well, a few months ago I was listening to Dr. Laura and she said something like "No one does things because they're motivated. They do things because they are disciplined. If we all waited for 'motivation' nothing would ever be accomplished." That hit home. I am perfectly capable of doing these things- why don't they get done? I can blame my kids... I have 5 after all.
But I can't now. Titus is napping well, moving around and content. Naomi loves to help me and it really doesn't take much longer to have her "help". It really doesn't. And they do nap together for at least an hour each day.
For a long time I was helped by Flylady. I need to do that again. I have gotten rid of my 2009 things for this year (because the toilet overflowed and went into the basement and we decided to tear out the carpet/subfloor which meant I had to clear it out- and thanks to Laura I was brutal and got rid of TONS of stuff!) and I read most of "Get Rid of 50 Things, Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life". Which was another big help. So now I'm down to not much stuff- but have to stay on top of paper work (ugg!), dishes, laundry and typical cleaning stuff. Oh and working on the kitchen...
And throwing a whole new schedule on top of it all is wearing me out!!
There. There is my ramblings for the day. I have to get Naomi up now and start dinner.

Going for a walk

We've been really busy this summer, working on the house, etc. Today we decided to take a walk- and I actually took a picture and am posting it! Amazing! :-)

Talent Show at School

Jesse playing "Snowfall".

Luke playing "Zip a Dee Do Dah".



Stephen playing "Mack the Knife".



Naomi dancing to the music!

The Wisdom of Jesse

Jesse came home from school one day last week and said excitedly: "Mom! I have the best homework ever!!" My first guess was "none?" But I was wrong. And he did have alot of fun doing this. He had to finish the sayings:

As you shall make your bed so shall you... eat breakfast and go to school.

Better be safe than... incinerated.

Strike while the... chance comes.

It's always darkest before... the sun comes up.

Never under estimate the power of... the Dark Side.

You can lead a horse to water but... he's scared.

Don't bite the hand that... plays in the mud.

No news is... two words.

You can't teach an old dog... new words.

If you lie down with the dogs... you'll get up with the dogs.

Love all, trust... the geek.

The pen is mightier than the... big brother that sits next to me.

An idle mind... is useless.

Where there's smoke..., there's a BBQ.

Happy the bride who... marries a nerd.

A penny saved is... a bigger collection.

Two's company, Three's... company, four's company, Five's.

Don't put off tomorrow... what you can put off today.

None are so blind as... a rocking horse.

Children should be seen and... not forgot.

If at first you don't succeed... pound your fist into the ground and cry.

You get out of something... what you forgot to take out.

When the blind leadeth the blind..., lead them.

Crocheted Bedspread

January 2007 my Granny had a stroke, fell, smacked her head and laid in her house for a couple days before someone found her. She was in a type of coma by then, she would respond now and then by squeezing someone's hand or looking at people. My parents were gracious enough to fly me down there so I could see her before she died. I hadn't seen her for about 9 years- I had been pregnant with Stephen at the time, now I was pregnant with Naomi. I am so thankful I was able to be there.
My granny crocheted alot, when I left there my family sent me home with a huge suitcase stuffed full of yarn, crochet patterns, hooks, etc. I went through a couple books and found the pattern to this bedspread. I finished it right before Titus was born- I had started it sometime in the fall of 2007. I got through half of the blanket before I had to go buy some yarn and then I still mixed it with some that Granny had.


Here's the summery of my trip that I sent to some friends after I returned:
I went down to Redding on Sunday, was met there by my Aunt, 2 cousins and then my parents showed up at the airport too right after I got off the plane. The trip had been ok- though leaving Billings was really rough- bumping and moving the whole time. I don't think the baby liked it too much, when we took off the baby started moving all around. But
didn't seem to be bothered with the rest of the flights.
The first night there, just my dad and aunt went in to see Granny, she was in ICU. My dad had a really hard time with it, he couldn't be in there very long, my aunt seems to have the same problem and my mom
can't because she has to care for the kids. A neighbor, Trudie, called that night and wanted to let us know that she had shared the gospel w/ Granny on several occasions.
I was able to sit with her a long time on Mon and Tues. Monday was hard, I talked a little bit, but every time I tried to I just would cry. Tues I was better, I sat a long time with her and read the book of 1 John and some Psalms. I talked about how to accept Christ as savior and prayed with her.
She slept the whole time. They took her off everything, except morphine Monday afternoon.
Wednesday I went in again and told her I had to go home, etc, and kissed her forehead and she turned toward me right away. She opened her eyes and looked at me, I think she wanted to say something, but she just couldn't. She didn't look comfortable (had been throwing the blankets off her- laying there naked, I was a little irritated they didn't have her in a gown, she would not have liked that) so my mom called the nurse in and I was telling him what to do (because I'm good at that you know!) and Granny kept looking at me. (I don't think she had ever seen me be assertive. Something I've learned to be in the last 9 years.) He didn't think she was uncomfortable, but I know she was. I put some chapstick on her and lotioned her face, she turned so I could lotion both sides. I talked about how I had looked at her photo albums the night before and saw all the pictures of when she was a dancer (her family was very wealthy and by 12 she had the most beautiful professional photos w/ her dance
partner, and news paper articles on how they were the entertainment at classy social events. As she got older there were hollywood headshots- she was even in a Marilyn Monroe movie!) and I told her how beautiful she was- and there was a slight hint of a smile! LOL
It was really hard to leave her that day, but I'm sure once she got some pain killers she rested again. I did pray with her again before I left. I felt better about seeing her though, I needed to talk to her about the Lord, I just needed to do that before she passed and God let me.
I got some of her jewelry. Most of it was inexpensive, she loved it, so she had tons! But I did get a really pretty ring, but get this, it's PINK! lol. She was a little lady, so they all fit my little fingers.
It was amusing going through her stuff (we looked everywhere trying to find a key to a safe- never did find it, they had to bust it open)- her socks were all stacked by color, bras were lined upright like at Victoria's Secret. I opened on drawer and there must have been 100 panty hose-- plastic packages lined up on one side, egg shaped one in a box on the other side. THen I opened the next drawer and there was a ton of ziplock bags w/ more panty hose- and notes in them. One read: "has runs above the knee, do not wear with black skirt that has slits above the knee." he he he- they all had stuff like that. She wrote
notes like that on everything.
Everything was perfectly organized- the whole bathroom was dedicated to makeup. One drawer full of brow/eye liner and lip liners. I guess it took her 3 hours to get done up in the morning. I don't think there was a day in her life when she didn't fix herself up.