Early Monday Morning

S has been very helpful and supportive with my homeschool concerns lately. He's home enough now to see for himself the problems I have with keeping Sweetheart on task and on schedule and not distracted and not losing things, etc. When he had his mowing business he was gone a lot. I'm thankful that preaching-as-a-second-job allows him to be home so much more. He's very helpful!

It always surprises me when I give one of the girls a direction and they are whining or begging for some other thing and he cuts in with, "Go do it!" to the girl. Ah. So nice and refreshing to cut all that jabber and just have them go obey.

I know I could/should cut them off every time and have them obey like that, but honestly it is very tiring to always be the one giving directions. I think that's one thing about homeschooling that's exhausting---the directing all the time. To be the one constantly re-directing, checking on, getting on to, encouraging, instructing, keeping on task....

Does that tire you out too?

Maybe that's just parenting.

It's easier to ignore them and just think, "I don't hear any sounds of violence coming from their room so things must be good." It's easier--but not better.

So he said he would get Sweetheart up at 6 every morning so she can have time to get ready and get her physical therapy done. Her stretches and exercises take 45 minutes twice a day--a real time sucker! This morning Bee happened to call for me at 6:15 and that was the first any of us knew it was morning. Thankfully, I got her up and she got going. In fact, she's in the living room getting Bee dressed now. So nice for her to have time to get her stuff done AND be helpful!

Mondays are choir days for us. Choir is about 30-45 minutes away. We have to pack school work, choir stuff, lunches, toys for Bee, and stuff for me to do. It's an endeavor let me tell you. And then when we get home there is more school work to do.

Which is why I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays we stay home. ***big smile***

But first I must make it through today where I set the timer for every single thing Sweetheart does to keep her on track, assign homework for what is not finished, keep after her to pick up after herself following any activity, while also teaching a 4th grader and managing a 1 year old.

A one year old who scratched me on Sunday morning. I said, "Why on earth did you do that?" and she said, "I a tiger."

Then when we got to church she ran 15-20 laps around the auditorium. We were hoping that would tire her out for during church but ha ha. Needless to say, I made use of the cry room on Sunday and there was crying. And I wasn't even trying to make her sit! I was letting her play! Some days it just isn't happening. She was in such a fine mood. After church she walked across the big field by our church and then when she got back to the car she was hanging from the door handles saying, "I a ooh-aah!" (monkey). Oh it was quite a morning. I should have known after I took this picture Sunday morning before church:

One day THIS one will be my 8th grader.

And you know what? I can't wait.

 Because I love every single one....

 ...of these girls....

...so stinkin' much!

Even early on a Monday morning.

Saturday Fun

It's pretty sad when you have to schedule time for family fun. We had so much to do this weekend, some of which did not get done (grocery shopping, finances....). But this is important stuff too.

We went strawberry picking at a nearby farm. 

Bee caught on very quickly which ones to pick. 

Little bit choosing good ones!

Sweetheart LOVES to eat strawberries. 

I had to really keep on top of Bee. She was quick. 

Add caption

 

You don't see the pictures of when Bee ran ahead down the row and into mud. Mama had to wade in to get her and we both had shoes that were caked with mud. I was just really happy I didn't fall in it!

Then we shopped a bit at their farmer's market (there see? I did go grocery shopping!) and went to eat lunch together. It was a nice Saturday morning.

And just in time too because a cold front came through Sunday morning and it was raining and cold the rest of the weekend.

Now we face Monday somewhat unprepared for the week. But that's OK. There are only 24 hours in a day! Lesson plans got done and S is going to get Sweetheart up early from now on so she can get a jump start on her day and NOT be behind all week.

Have a great Monday!

Daddy's Birthday

S turned 43 yesterday. We hadn't mentioned his birthday in front of him because we kind of wanted to surprise him by decorating the house and having dinner for him when he got home. (Why yes, me cooking IS a surprise! Not really... just kidding.)

But yesterday morning when we woke up, I didn't want him to feel unloved so I told him "Happy Birthday." Yep, he had completely forgotten it was his birthday. He even had planned to meet someone at church that night.

The girls decorated the dining room with streamers and birthday banners and set the table for dinner. Then we met Daddy at his work and got to eat lunch with him. That was nice. He works long days and we don't get to see him as much as we'd like to. After we dropped him back at work we went to buy his present. My plan was to get him a couple pairs of jeans and some shirts. He needs them and I knew he would appreciate them. But when we got out shopping, I suddenly had an idea.

An idea that caused us a lot of work!!!!

So we went to a local discount store and bought some patio chairs. The tables were not a good size and we already have a wooden table out on our patio. We bought a table cloth, a new welcome mat, a wind chime, something to hang on the wall, and a pretty citronella candle to go on the table.

Then we went home and started cleaning the patio. It was pretty bad. The girls have recently been playing a game that involves mud. Ahem. We threw a lot of stuff away and even got it out to the curb in time for the trash truck AND they took it all!

Then we set out all the new stuff and waited for Daddy to get home to show him his new, clean, relaxing patio. The girls were so excited.

There's a lot more I want to do out there, but this was a good start. Seriously, if you had seen the before, you would be more impressed.

I hope you had a good birthday S! Even though you had to work and all. We love you!

Bee worked hard on Daddy's card. She absolutely understood that she had made one just like her sisters. Daddy asked, "Is this one from you?" She nodded her head big and beamed.

In Which We Make Our House Work For Us Again

OK--no more whining. S and I put our heads together and finally came up with a solution for making this house work for us AND a place to put all the furniture. We were actually so perplexed I was praying about it last week. Then, the other day I was visiting with my mom and telling her the problem and BOOM...an epiphany! An answer to prayer: how to rearrange to meet all our current needs.

So now, instead of this:

Homeschool cabinet in corner of living room.

We have this:


An office for S!!! (That's some CHEAP Wal-Mart furniture there. Nobody sneeze or slam the door too hard!)
 

And instead of this:

One side of the front room.

We have this:

Wow! A place to hang our map! And you can't see it but our spelling board is hung up too!

 

And instead of this:

and this:

We have this:

Here's the middle of that front room with our new table:

Yes folks, we have a homeschool room again. And it feels good!!! The table is tall, with bar stool-like chairs so Baby Bee won't be able to reach it for a while. And now we don't have to set up the card table in the living room every day.

And S has an office to work in! It's so wonderful!

And that little extra room that used to once upon a time be my sewing room but more recently looked like this:

Now looks like this:

The girls' rooms are clean too. There only remains our room. One day, I'll get all that laundry put away. But for now we are just so excited to make these changes and USE our house the way we need to!

We've got 7 more weeks or so of school. How about you?

Maybe If We Move Out, Then Back In?

I've talked about this a little, but our house really isn't working for me right now.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm THANKFUL for our home. And really, I LIKE our home. But our family has changed a lot and our house is not keeping up.

In 2006 when we bought this house, we had a newly turned 7 year old who attended private school at our (then) church. We also had a 2 1/2 year old who went to day care a few hours a day at the same school and I worked part-time at that church as the secretary. S worked where he does now, plus was the youth minster part-time.

So when we moved in this house, we set it up for a working family with 2 kiddos who went to school and day care.

Flash forward to 2013:  We have three children, all of whom stay home 24/7 and homeschool. A mama who stays home 24/7 and teaches them and keeps house, and a Daddy who still works 2 jobs. Only now he's preaching instead of youth ministering. Which means he's home far more than he was then.

And of course you may know, dear readers, that I'm a bit of a re-arranger. I keep trying to find better ways for things to work in our ever-changing situations. Let me give you an example.

1. We got rid of TV service several years ago.
2. We only kept the TV for the Wii and movies on the VCR/DVD player.
3. So all those electronics are in the front room where S has his office and we keep our bookshelves.
4. We no longer have a homeschool room since we found out about Bee.
5. So now I use the TV armoire/cabinet for our homeschool cabinet. It's my answer to not having a room. Everything is in one place!
6. Now when we need to make more room in the front room for S to have an actual office to work on sermons, we don't have any more space.
7. Of course the TV et all should go in the TV cabinet.
8. But then where would our homeschool stuff go?

What I really need is just one more little extra room. Or a big one. Whichever.

Hold that. I actually do have one little extra room.

It used to be my sewing room. Then, just earlier this year, I put the homeschool cabinet in there, but that's in the living room now. Right now this little room has a lot of junk. Shelves we can't fit in Little Bit's room anymore because Bee's crib is in there now. Some of the shelves have things on them, some don't. And also my antique sewing machine cabinet, which I have always had a place for since we got married, is sitting out there.

I guess basically that room is furniture storage right now.

Do we have too much stuff? Well, yes. I truly think 95% of Americans have too much stuff. S built the shelves. His Daddy built one of them. The sewing machine was my grandmother's. It's not just junk I want to kick to the curb.

It's like a big giant rearranging puzzle THAT I CAN'T FIGURE OUT!!!

So either I need a different house, a room added on to this one, or a new idea.

I'm going to go to bed and pray for a new idea. There HAS to be a way to make this house work for us!

My brain hurts.
**************************************************

OK I'm back. I've been walking around the house in the dark trying to figure this out. Everyone is asleep and I'm the creeper who keeps popping into their doorways to stare at the furniture and see where I can put a bookshelf. I've got it figured out except one little bookshelf.

Seriously, can we just move out and then back in? Where is Ty Pennington when you need him?

The Wisdom of Little Bit

She's been using my camera again. She was experimenting with turning the light off and on in her room to make the dollhouse windows appear like night and day. And this is what I found...in this order:

Still sleeping...

Good morning!

Making Daddy's lunch...

Getting ready for work...

Here's your lunch dear...

Mmwah!

And then....

Wait...what???

What does she know? She's asleep at that time of day anyway!

Fitting

**I told you I'd share our 4th of July journal pages today, but I didn't get any pictures made. Here is what we did. 


I've said it before: floor plan matters more than square footage. I still believe that. This house we live in is small compared to today's new houses, but much bigger than many houses in this world. Still, we know that a family of 5 once lived here and fit all their belongings.

Of course, they eventually moved.

So, adding Baby Bee did squish us up a bit more. I know she's just a tiny baby, but even tiny babies have to have a place to live. I know that large families fit WAY more kids into their square footage than I am dealing with. Our girls have been allowed to keep more personal belongings than large family kids are allowed to keep--simply because they could.

Bee sleeps in our room right now and I'm pretty proud of figuring out a way to fit all that.

Bee's bed beside ours. The dresser is used as a changing table.

We'll keep her in there with us until that doesn't work anymore. Then she'll move in with Little Bit. (That would be in our old homeschool room. It's the bigger room.)

This is now Little Bit's bedroom. 

When that happens, Little Bit will need to get rid of some things. And some furniture will have to go out of her room.

But the bedrooms are not the problem.

Our front room (the first homeschool room we ever had...and former playroom)

now houses books. I like to call it the "library" like we are so rich we have a library. Also the pet birds are in there, a chair, and the armoire that holds our homeschool stuff.

There isn't room for a table in there anymore so it really isn't a "homeschool room". In fact, it's not good for much of anything except storing things. Besides the chair, there isn't any way to "use" that room.

And then there is the sewing room.

Wow. Things sure were neat then. See the curtained closet to the right?

I also made a bill paying nook in that room. There's the curtained closet again.

Well. I'm thinking. Still thinking. 

See, S needs a place to sit and study. 

The old study area I made for S. Baby Bee sleeps here now. :)

We need our homeschool stuff closer to the dining room. So I'm thinking (and this is just still in the thinking stage...) of moving that armoire to the sewing room. Which would mean all the sewing stuff has to go in the curtained closet. And a LOT of junk has to go. Then...there would be room in the library for a desk or table for S. 

Hmm. This is not about my rearranging problem (Hello. My name is Brenda and I'm a chronic re-arranger.) This is about making our house work for us. This is what we have. There HAS to be a way to make it work! 

And if it doesn't work, well...at least I will have cleaned out a lot of junk in the process, right? 

In Which I Don't Even Know Where to Start

Wow guys. Last week was a doozy. I haven't even finished processing all that has happened to us. All I know is God is good. And last week was not my favorite.

So last Sunday night was when I got up to go to the bathroom and passed out. Somehow, before I went out,  I managed to call out to S that I needed him. And miraculously....he heard me. Really--that's amazing in itself. Throwing up the blood kind of woke me up.

I got my first ever ambulance ride. S managed to call a friend to come get the big girls and get Baby Bee and himself to the ER right behind the ambulance. My sister joined us and then later my mom took her place. My parents were out of town and I think S called them about 4:30am. They got up and came right home. Anyway, we were in the ER for over 12 hours. Baby Bee was there the whole time with us and thankfully we had a private room with a door that shut. We were concerned about her catching something in the germy ER, but with the private room we felt better. We made good use of the hand sanitizer on the wall. It took S, my sister/mom, and myself to navigate all the tubes and wires and IVs, but I managed to nurse her 2 or 3 times in the ER. Blessing.

They came to get me Monday afternoon for a scope to see what was going on. It was then we learned that Baby Bee would not be able to stay with us in the room. Also, with the meds I would be on, I would not be able to nurse. My wonderful family jumped into action and bought an electric pump for me. Sister did the running to the store for whatever we needed. S had grabbed the "emergency" formula I had stashed in the kitchen cabinet before he left for the ER. I was going to throw it away or donate it all, but then my mom told a story about how she had to to the hospital when one of my sisters was little and my dad had to feed the baby in the car. So I paused...and stored it all. Along with the one sample bottle that came in the bag of free stuff. Providence.

The scope revealed a bleeding ulcer and a hole in a mid-sized vessel behind the ulcer. My hemoglobin level was a 6. For a woman who just gave birth, it should have been a 9 or 10. At 8, they usually do transfusions. I was there. It's a good thing my level was so low, because I think they would have all just chalked it up to having just given birth. My really low levels got them to looking for other causes. I got 4 units of blood before my level got up to a 10 three days later. I sure felt better with blood in my body! And I am very grateful for those blood donors. Providence.

My parents took all 3 girls home with them. I cannot adequately tell you how upset I was to be away from my baby. To not be able to care for her. To not be able to feed her. It was comforting and upsetting all at the same time to know she was taking the bottle just fine. My parents are 76. They've raised 3 kiddos, but certainly aren't used to getting up with a newborn. S and I worried a lot that first night. It's hard to hand over your 2 week old infant to anyone--even awesome grandparents. But she slept her usual schedule and did great. Providence and blessing.

Tuesday brought another procedure: this time to cauterize and plug up the holes in me. I wasn't nearly as scared that second time. Oh that first time was horrible. They came to get me with no warning and neither of us really even understood what procedure was about to take place. Then they park you in a bay staring at the wall all by yourself for 10-20 minutes. I prayed a lot. I cried a lot. I laughed to myself when I saw the towel on the end of my bed. It was there because Bee had peed all over the bed when S was changing her diaper a few hours earlier. I was going into my procedure with pee on the end of my bed. All I wanted was to get home to my baby--to my family. I wanted to be OK.

I'm not a crier. I try not to cry and be an irrational female in front of S. I know when I'm being stupid emotional about something (hormones anyone?) and I don't put that on display. But last week I was a blubbering mess. And my sweet husband listened and comforted and reminded me that God was in charge. The big girls would come visit and I hardly even felt like talking with them. I was pretty sick, I guess. S went and got Baby Bee on Tuesday night and I managed to find a way to hold her even with the IVs that hurt when I bent my arms. I felt so much more hopeful that night.

Wednesday morning brought the news we were hoping for: I could go home! I was out of the hospital by noon, but still couldn't nurse until the next day. I am so grateful to not be pumping anymore. I worried the whole time I was in the hospital that Bee would forget how to nurse and was getting used to that bottle. I mean, we had only been at it for 2 weeks. But Thursday morning proved all my worries a waste of time. She had not forgotten.

I don't know what I would do without this man.

S was told by his boss to take the rest of the week off and to not worry about work at all. So he has been with us every day, taking care of things. It has been so nice and so needed to have him here this week. I feel pretty much back to normal now. I haven't driven anywhere yet and I was really nervous getting up to go to the bathroom in the night the first night home. In fact, I haven't really wanted to be by myself at all. I guess you could say the whole thing really shook us up. I guess that's understandable.

Little Bit was playing in the hospital bed beside me. She set this up and showed me. That's Sweetheart, Little Bit, me, Baby Bee...and Daddy taking care of me. 

But what I know is this: I did not pass out when I was carrying Bee across a room. I did not pass out when I was alone. I did not pass out when I was driving. We now know I had been bleeding for the whole 2 weeks since Bee's birth. Last Friday as I was climbing onto the bed to take a nap while Bee was sleeping, I nearly blacked out. I thought, "Wow--I'm so tired I'm dizzy!" But I did not pass out that day. The Lord was truly watching out for me. His timing is perfect. Remember that S just quit his second job? The one that kept him busy every evening and on weekends? Yep. He was with me this week instead of worrying how he would get that job done. Again--perfect timing.

I have thought and thought about what all has happened this week. Some of it I've pieced together from S or my sister telling me what happened, because I don't remember all of it. It was a rotten week as far as fun weeks go, but we got to see many blessings and the providence of the Lord in our lives. My faith has increased and I am more grateful for small, everyday things.

And that's the story of last week. We are left with blessings, restored health, an intact family, and hospital bills for two different hospital stays in 3 week's time (Bee's birth and my ulcer). The bills will be amazing, I'm sure. But you know what? I have seen the Lord's providence and I know He is already way ahead of us.

And He is good.

While I Have Time to Type

No one is in my arms right now so I'm going to jump on here and spew out an update in random fashion. You with me?

Baby Bee is what...11 or 12 days old? She is adorable and I am so in love. Things are already getting easier. She sleeps for longer stretches at night (if she hadn't done that "every 2 hours" thing for so many days, I probably wouldn't be appreciating things right now!), she's content in between, and she is just really easy. She doesn't cry that much or that hard.

Saturday we go for her 2 week appointment and I'm curious to see how much she weighs. Certainly seems she is eating enough to me! And she does seem to be plumping up. :)

*We made our big decision and S quit his second job. Oh dear. Kind of scary to lose that extra income, but we decided that having him home more was more important. As things were, for the last few years, he would walk in the door around 5:30, change clothes, and walk out the door to go mow. He would get home around 8:30 at night, eat supper, and the girls would go to bed. We didn't see much of him. Also, he mowed on Saturdays. We took lunch to him so we got to see him then, but still. I cannot even conceive of having him home every evening and getting to spend the weekends as family. I am so grateful. Now we just have to figure out how to live on less. Again. We've done it before and the Lord has always provided.

Reasons why it will be good:

1. Sweetheart will be 13 this summer. (!) We don't have that many more years with her. She's growing up fast.
2. Daddy needs to be home to instruct the girls in God's Word. Now he'll have more time for that.
3. Mama is grateful to be able to hand the baby to someone else for a bit in the evenings. You know you've been holding the baby a lot when you are excited to get up and go sweep or wash the dishes!
4. We don't want him to miss their childhoods. Poor or not--THIS is important.

I was making a pro/con list before we made the decision and S walked by and said, "The ONLY con is "less money." Hmm. He was right.

*I've taken meals to families over the years but I had truly forgotten how WONDERFUL it is to know someone is bringing you a meal. Wow. Next week there are no meals planned but S is able to go grocery shopping with me now, and the girls are VERY helpful both with cooking and with baby, so I know we can do it. Oh, and I wasn't a blubbery, crying mess the day S went back to work! THAT is a first for me. The day actually went quite well.

*We're taking a few more weeks off before we start back to school to wrap up last year, but we already started our summer reading. I know I already told you our plan on that, but may I just say that I am really enjoying the books I'm pre-reading for Sweetheart? Man. Maybe I just haven't read for pleasure in so many years, but I'm loving these books!

*I don't know how much weight I've lost, but I feel really skinny. Until I pull out "regular" clothes to try on. I think we'll just avoid those for a while longer and thus revel in my perceived skinniness. Sound like a plan?

*Still need to tell you about my summer plan for fun....maybe later today? Who knows?

You may now return to your regularly scheduled, orderly day---there's enough random here to last a lifetime.

The Blessing of Rain and My To Do List

Yes, we needed it, what with the drought and all. But that's not why the rain this weekend was such a blessing.

It's because when it rains like that, husband can't mow. Well, that might not be such a blessing for him because now he's all behind and his next Saturday will be really, really busy. But for me, we had him home all weekend and that was nice.

In between the rain, Little Bit made a swing for her new dollar store doll , dried her swing off, and had a lot of fun. :)

It was nice because he and Sweetheart ran some errands together. It was nice because he had time to get some paperwork ready so I can do our taxes. It was mostly nice because now our living room and kitchen are clean.

**Happy Sigh**

I cannot tell you what a difference it makes to my Monday morning to walk into this clean area of the house. I feel like the whole day will be better and I can get anything done.

Cluttery, messy rooms really can suck the energy right out of you before you even begin!

I recently downloaded the app Teux Deux after reading about it on Pioneer Woman's site. I really, really like this app. Whatever you don't cross off of your list automatically moves to the next day for you so you don't forget about it. Well, after a lot of not sleeping last week, my accumulated Saturday list was pretty long. But I did get some curtain liners in our window!

I will sew "real" curtains later but our blinds broke and we needed something in the window besides a sheet. Five dollars worth of muslin is much cheaper than new blinds! Maybe these will help block some light and cold/heat also when the new curtains are up.

Other things still on my list that I need to get done this week?

*Change cake order at bakery for anniversary party.
*Call doctor with insurance information.
*Pick up medicine at drugstore.
*Work on pillow for Sweetheart's room.
*Pile up giveaway stuff so friend can pick it up for her garage sale (to raise money for mission trip)
*Work on quilts.

That's just the stuff that's been rolling over on my list for the last few days. But when S asks, "What do you have going on tomorrow?" I usually just say, "School."

And let's face it, when school is done....some of that list is going to keep right on rolling over to tomorrow...and the next day...and the next....

Here's your pregnancy shot for the week (pre-curtain liner!):

Almost 6 months!