On Wednesday (dusting day around here), I decided to clean my other house.
I spent a happy half hour taking everything out, dusting it, and carefully rearranging it.
Doing this reminded me of the way I used to feel when I cleaned house - calm and like I was establishing a little island of peace in my world. That was before I had children, of course, back when cleaning house was something I could do and actually feel like it was done afterward.
That’s a feeling I can only capture in this little world behind glass, where no one is actually living and making a mess. If only my real house was this clean and neat. So, perhaps a dollhouse is therapeutic in a way!
Original post by learningumbrella
I’m going to try and participate in the annual TV Turn-Off week, sponsored by Unplug Your Kids. This will be quite challenging for us, so I’m going to slowly cut back as we approach the challenge, and I’m going to think about what to have on hand to distract my little TV addict (the 2 year old). She “needs” her “Boots” (Dora) when she is in a certain cranky mood, and she’ll cry and ask over and over again. So I’m possibly setting myself up for a really horrid week. We’ll see.
My attitude toward TV is ambivalent. I don’t really believe that it is a complete evil for kids. All the really bad consequences (obesity, violence, etc) seem to come for excessive viewing time and bad content. I don’t think it is great for kids, either. And I don’t think that kids who go without TV are going to be […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Cathy created this meme, with an interesting back story of how she found it. So here I go.
Eight Questions About Our Lives Because Eight Questions Are Plenty
1. What is the best part of your life right now?
I have the time and ability to continue learning and growing, to pursue my own projects and creative endeavors, and to order and control much of my own life. I am also blessed with a wonderful family, a safe and comfortable home, and all the other blessings we start to take for granted.
2. What do you think the best part of the near future will be?
Watching my children grow. Finally not having to wash cloth diapers all the time! Soon, I won’t have anymore in diapers. Maybe (fingers crossed) moving on to a new vocation that will fit in with homeschooling my kids.
3. What are you most afraid of?
Like Cathy, my top fear is […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I feel like I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown, or at least a pretty bad bout of depression. An intense feeling of dissatisfaction with everything around me, paired with a gripping fatigue that just won’t let me do anything about it.
Earlier this week I wasn’t so tired - but I was really really angry. Somehow, I was just pissed at the world, and felt like I’d like to set my house on fire. I’m so tired of washing dishes, only to turn around and have to wash more. I’m tired of laundry, only to do it again. I’m tired of the mud the kids and the dog drag into the house. I’m tired of the fingerprints and paw prints on the windows. I’m tired of putting together art projects that make a big mess I have to clean up. I’m tired of cleaning bathrooms. I’m tired of picking […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Goodness I am behind my usual schedule! This weekend we had birthday parties and other stuff to do, and then Monday Carbon threw up and was sick, and then yesterday a wind storm blew a tarp off our roof into our power lines …
Somehow I feel like I am just keeping my chin above the water line right now. But to try and get back into the swing of things, here is my February planning post.
Preschool
We are reading all the Snow White and Snow Queen stories. We are making crafts for Valentine’s Day. And we are still reading books about Asia and doing projects related to Asia. I plan on doing some more origami, making a fish wind sock out of the sleeves of some old men’s shirts from the thrift store, practicing eating with chopsticks, and watching some kids Anime movies. I have a new math manipulative, a number […]
Original post by learningumbrella
A long weekend can be so nice! With 3 days off, we had time to both relax AND get some projects and chores done that needed doing. The reroof continues, and that had freaked out our dog enough that she chewed through her fence. We fixed that this weekend, and while the sun was out we took advantage and really cleaned up the kids’ play yard. They may miss their “mud pit”, but I’m going to be happy when they come inside a bit cleaner after their outdoor time. We also took a truck load of stuff to the Goodwill.
I had girls day out on Saturday (getting a personal best at bowling - 135!), which was a great get away for me.
The boys were all about crabs this weekend. Carbon got his new hermit crabs:
And DH had signed up for 4 live crabs, which he picked up down at the […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I was going to post about sugar (and how much of it I need to stop eating), but then I read this post at Mother Crone’s, and it made me think about unplugging and how much more I could get done …
Then I took the kids outside, cleaned up a bunch of roofing debris from our play yard, and then sat and read Madame Bovary while I watched them play. I was still feeling like I should do more, so I did a few chores, made lunch, put dinner in the crock pot, and did some “school” with the kids.
But now it’s “quiet time”, and I don’t want to read anymore of Madame and I can’t go into the room that has the sewing supplies because it also has a sleeping baby in it …
So I go back to the computer. I think I actually get plenty done, even with […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I have pledged over at Wardrobe Refashion to not buy any new clothes for 2 months. There are some wonderful and creative people over there who have taken the same pledge, and are now thrifting, altering, and sewing/knitting/creating from scratch. (There is an exception granted for shoes, underwear, and work uniforms).
My personal goals extend a little beyond this pledge. I also want to use up my stash of fabric, and from now on try to have an organic wardrobe. There are so many issues with where our clothes come from, and I want to focus this year on making my life match my values. What we eat, how we dress, what we buy, where we live, where we shop, how much we drive - it’s easy to talk about these issues but sometimes hard to live up to them.
The production of cotton uses large amounts of pesticides, some estimates even saying […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Well, the relative merits of reroofing the house in the winter were given a slap in the face last night, when water just poured down into our kitchen! Eeeek!
On a side note, my DH was playing a video game and had the absolute GALL to say “I’ll help you in a minute, after I finish this race” while I’m running around grabbing buckets and towels and climbing into the attic to rescue stuff. What’s more important here - his high score or our house? He apologized after, but with that smile that says he thinks it’s all just very amusing that he’s a jack ass. At least his faults took away some of my feelings of guilt since it’s my brother. I prefer to feel angry than guilty.
Anyway, back to the roof. My brother’s crew is not very experienced, and we’re basically giving them a practice run here. And we […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I did some planning before the holidays hit us, but I still don’t feel completely prepared to go into January. It’s probably not as bad as it feels, though. Here’s the plan so far:
Preschool
A few weeks ago Daycare Boy decided he was too old to take a nap anymore, and Daycare Girl has followed suit. They are now participating in PreSchool Time, and consequently I have had to find some easier worksheets and what not to keep them busy while I’m working with Carbon. This month I’ll have Daycare Boy working on his fine motor skills with scissor work and tracing sheets, and Daycare Girl working on number recognition. Carbon continues his handwriting, connect-the-dots, and write-to-read. We’ll be reading about Asia and Hermit Crabs together, and Carbon will be getting pet hermit crabs sometime this month. I have a new book of rhythm activities to do with kids, so we’ll […]
Original post by learningumbrella
With just 8 hours to spare, I have baked my 1000th cookie for the year! Woohoo!
I started this project as one of my New Year resolutions last year, with paired goals of baking 1000 cookies and sending $300 to The Fistula Foundation to help a woman in Africa receive life-changing surgery. I raised a third of my financial goal through the kind contributions of friends and family, and we sent the money off before Christmas. Now I’ve reached my cookie goal too! Here are the types of cookies I baked, with links to the recipes I posted:
Chocolate Chip
Chocolate Ginger Fingers
Almond Apricot Sandwiches
Sugar Cookies
No Bake Chocolate Cereal Balls
Toffee Caramel Drop Cookies
Teff Peanut Butter Balls
Pistachio Chocolate
Banana Peanut Butter
Carrot Cake Cookies
Glazed Orange Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Volcanoes
Pumpkin Whoopee Cookies
Apple Oatmeal
Thumbprints
Lebkuchen
Chocolate Caramel Sandwiches
Caramel Chocolate Chip
Gingerbread
Candy Cane Cookies
Peppermint Brownie Drops
Coconut Cherry Chocolate Drops
Chocolate Mint Pinwheels
Muddies
Almond Cherry Drops
Original post by learningumbrella
Happy Birthday today to my DH. Even though he says he feels old, he’s still a big kid. And this weekend we’re treating him like one!
This morning I finally got to give him the cool present I bought him: The Lego Imperial Star Destroyer! The directions look like a road atlas, and I think this project will take him some time! Now we have to find a safe place to leave a folding table set up … The cats … ? The kids … ? Hmmm.
That problem aside, we have more fun for the weekend. The kids got him two new video games and a video game chair so he’s not sitting on the floor anymore. They like the chair a lot too, so we may have to get another one for them.
And how do you celebrate a totally-not-getting-old birthday? Well, how about indoor go-karts? We’re headed up to […]
Original post by learningumbrella
It’s time to plan my next month, although it almost feels silly to do a normal plan for December when it is already so full of holiday “stuff”. But maybe that’s the perfect reason to start off with a plan…
Carbon’s School
We’ve already started getting lax about pulling out the school boxes everyday. Once again, I’m really pleased with this entire box system, because it’s not a big deal if we only open them a few times a week - no need to adjust plans or fuss about being “behind”. I’m going to keep the boxes stocked, but not worry about getting any thing “done” this month. We’ve started making little phonics “books” out of index cards I staple together, and that plus handwriting will fill the Reading and Writing box. Math and Science will be full of connect-the-dot pages Carbon is enjoying and a stack of books about the North […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Five years ago, my husband and I were married on Veteran’s Day weekend, with the logic that it would give our guests an easier time traveling if they had the extra day off. But getting married on a three day weekend also means that we usually have a three day weekend around the time we’re celebrating our anniversary. To get away for four days this year, we only had to take one day off work.
We had a hard time deciding where to go. We both wanted something cozy and fairly private (so no bed and breakfasts), with things to do but also plenty of chance to just relax. In the end, we booked a room at the Lake Quinault Lodge. It was a really good choice, and I would love to go there again. Our room had a view of the lake, and was nice enough. But then the main […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I’ve been to several big stores in the last few days. Last weekend it was IKEA, which has to qualify as more than a shopping trip - it’s a family outing.
We found what we really needed (a loft bed for Carbon) and what I wanted to help get the kids toys more organized:
And I filled a cart with odds and ends (rugs for the kitchen, stuffed animals, a new french press for making coffee if the power goes out). DH and I were unable to agree on a bedframe for ourselves. The ones I really liked, he really disliked. The one he really liked I really disliked. We almost bought a very plain and boring frame just because it was the only one there we were both indifferent toward. Luckily we realized we were falling victim to shopping madness, and just didn’t get anything.
I really would like to have the […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Woman behind me in line: “Oh my God - how big is your family?”
What, we don’t all fill a cart with the huge cans of fruit cocktail and industrial size tubs of cream cheese and large bags of potatoes and oranges and rice? I understand her thought (I actually thought it looked like I was getting ready to head out to sea on a little sail boat), but the tone of mixed amazement and horror wasn’t appreciated.
Original post by learningumbrella
Embroidery:
Swapping:
Cooking:
Sewing hammocks for toys, and Carbon made one too:
And of course playing:
Original post by learningumbrella
It’s the first of November, and time for me to look ahead and plan another month! These planning posts may not be very interesting to you, but writing it all out here helps me to get organized, so I’ll do it anyway. (So there, faithful readers - see how selfish I really am?)
For Daycare:
Last month I did a really sad job of The Letter O, so this month we will do that again. We will glue Oatios cereal onto large cut outs of O, and make Octopi (is that how you spell the plural?) with gummy lifesavers glued on the tentacles for the “suckers”. Then we’ll move on to the Letter P, and make crowns for “princes and princesses” and some kind of pig craft as well as gluing pompoms onto a giant P.
The animal of the month will be the Turkey, so that I can double our reading and […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I am getting a huge stack of toy catalogs in the mail. It’s that time of year, of course.
As we’ve been doing daycare for a year now, we’ve acquired A LOT of toys, and I’ve also gone through a few times and made drastic reductions. I feel like I’m starting to get a grip on what is worth having and what is not, and we can get rid of the toys that just take up space without really being worth it. Even after we do that, however, we still have A LOT of toys!
Toys we couldn’t live without:
For babies: a few rattles, a “gym” with a variety of hanging items to clip onto plastic chains.
For toddlers: an activity table to stand at, a push car, big “easy grip” balls, big cars to push around, a shape sorter, the chatter box phone, big stacking toys.
For the 2-5 year olds:
Wooden blocks, duplos, […]
Original post by learningumbrella
With kids in the house, everything seems to get food, fingerprints, paint, milk, vomit, or something else on it. My furniture is all stained in some way, and I am very thankful that I have hardwood floors rather than carpet that would also be stained. I would love to get rid of my sofa, as it is stained, broken, uncomfortable, ugly, embarrassing, and at times stinky. I would love to have a home full of nice things, that said something nice about me when people saw it.
But would it be worth it to buy a new sofa? How long would it look nice? What if I kept it covered most of the time so that the kids couldn’t get it dirty? Am I just doing a poor job supervising the kids and really they shouldn’t be getting everything dirty? Does everyone’s house look like this while they have little kids? […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how stress takes over our lives. We happen to be in the midst of more stress right now, and at a point where we can readjust some things. To boil it down to the most basic, I’m stressed about: 1)Time/labor 2) Money 3) Space/organization of stuff.
Time/labor: who always ends up washing the dishes? (me) when do I have time to get to projects that have been sitting for a while? Are we overbooked? When do I get to just have fun? When can I have “me” time?
Money: Why does everything cost so much? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a new mini-van? Why did I borrow so much money for school? Argh - finance charges! Who went over budget this month? Debt is horrible - how did this happen? Etc, etc.
Space/organization: We still have too much stuff for the space we have, and […]
Original post by learningumbrella
They are very sad that they can’t run through the sprinkler anymore. Playing soccer and Tball in the rain or the mud is less appealing. And I’m not super eager to take the babies out in the rain for a walk.
So, what can bored kids do when it’s raining outside?
Well, there is the (evil) lure of the TV. Especially since I just got cable, and suddenly we have Nickelodeon and Disney and “On Demand”. Hypatia says “boots, boots”, and she really means that she wants to watch Dora the Explorer. They’d do that all day until they turned into Zombies. But I don’t think a little of it will hurt them, kept in moderation. Carbon learns spanish from Dora, and Hypatia is also picking up words (but hers are the english ones: “map” “backpack” etc.). So, TV for say, 1 hour a day (this can creep to 2 hours, but […]
Original post by learningumbrella
September is gone, and it really feels like October has come in with a cold and wet bang. So it’s definitely time for me to think about what we’re going to do this month! (Uh, maybe I should have thought about it a tad bit earlier, actually).
My sister’s school work:
J. is still doing human anatomy, using Janice Van Cleave. She’s supposed to be done with Pre-Columbian American History (I don’t think she really is though, so some assignments will hang over from last month). And the new unit study will be the Evolution of Man. I’m horribly behind on giving her a new organizer with the assignments written in it, so I’ll need to email her the new months assignments today, and try to get that organizer made and mailed to her soon.
Carbon’s School
We’re almost done with our Night Sky exploration, and he’s showing an interest now in how mountains […]
Original post by learningumbrella
I am so tired! Despite having a cold, I was pretty busy all weekend. Luckily, my cold seems to have passed on without my having to rest much, so I’ll start my week off without that little bonus.
My weekend involved getting my driver’s license renewed, 5 days late. I’ve never been late with something like this before, and I walked in to the DOL really nervous that I was going to be questioned or chastised. Nope - they didn’t care. A life of following the rules has not prepared me properly for just doing what you can, but apparently most people fall within some kind of “fudge zone” of the actual deadline. The best part of this little errand is that my picture is not as bad as it was on my old license (which was horrible - I looked absolutely horrible). Bye bye, ugly old license.
I also had to […]
Original post by learningumbrella
Things seem to be going much more smoothly around here. I looked at my organizer this week, and realized I haven’t written anything down or used it at all in weeks! And it’s not that my house is a mess or my life full of undone things - it’s getting done without lists!
Carbon’s school boxes are one of the things that are really working well. I love this method - it’s the most trouble free system I’ve ever seen. When I think of an idea, I load it into the back of the box. If I think of a fun math idea, say using marshmallows and cupcake papers with numbers written in them, I just go stick that into the Math and Science box. Or, OK, there is one list - if I need the supplies I write it on my shopping list on the fridge. Anytime I need to […]
Original post by learningumbrella
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