Thirteen

And so it begins.

Happy birthday, to my dear eldest son.

We're blessed to know you.

Praise God for Good News!

I was so anxious about my follow up appointment this week, after the concern at last week's appointment.
Mr. Smith adjusted his lunch hour so he could go with me.  (Have I ever mentioned how much I appreciate my husband?  I hope so.)
Within one minute of beginning the ultrasound, the tech confirmed that I have PLENTY of fluid and there is no need to worry about it any further.
After that, it was just fun!
Going in, I had been planning on asking that the monitor be turned off.  I didn't want to risk any chance of detecting the gender, and I've never really liked the idea of seeing the baby this close to actually seeing the baby.  Seemed kind of like cheating or spoiling something good.
I was so wrong!
The only thing that happened was that I fell a hundred times more in love with this little being, and I'm a hundred times more excited to birth, meet, hold, and care for him or her.
We saw a chubby baby, clutching his or her foot in the grasp of tiny fingers, we saw a mouth making sucking motions and a tongue sticking out, perfect little feet.  We saw lots of hair on a "good sized" head (all of my babies have had "good sized" heads, keeps things interesting.)
Best of all, we saw a perfect, beating heart, free of any visible flaws, including the slight concern they detected at the 19 week ultrasound I had over the winter.
Prayers answered, weight lifted.
God is so good.

A Week in July

We had a really nice week around here, with the Fourth of July and a piano recital keeping us busy.

 The Fourth was hot, hot, unbearably hot.  It's so hard to break traditions though, so we headed out to our little hometown where they do the 4th of July up like no other day.  We started with the parade in the morning.  After multiple glitches, we weren't early enough to snag a coveted shady spot on the curb, so we settled in in the direct sun.  It was the hottest Fourth in recent history around here, and it only took me about 5 minutes to realize that there was no way I'd be sticking it out there.  I headed around the back of the dry cleaner's building that we were sitting in front of, and sat under the shade of their awning for the duration.

We came home to rest, but Mr. Smith decided to take an offer we had received from some earthly angels we know, for swimming in their in-ground pool.  He took the five older boys, and I stayed home with a napping Sebastian.  He thought they might swim for 1/2 hour, just to cool off.  They were gone over three hours.  These angels of ours take good care of us, and before they knew it there were hotdogs on the grill and cookies for all.  I savored my quiet time at home in the air conditioned comfort.

 I did manage to clean and prep some fruit and mini marshmallows for the boys to make fruit kabobs with when they got home.

 Always a hit.

We had crafted a bit the day before, so the house was festive.

 Then it was off to the fair.  The good thing about the heat was that there were no lines whatsoever for the rides, I don't think anyone could stand being there for very long.  The bad thing about the heat was, well, the heat.  It was really bad by that point in the day.  Again, I recognized my limits, and spent much of our time there sitting in the grass under a tent, drinking the best lemonade ever by the gallon.  It's a good thing Mr. Smith is so awesome.

 My mom and dad live near the park we were at.  All I had to do was make one phone call saying we were on our way, and minutes later we arrived to a feast.  She knew we'd be coming, but we weren't sure of the timing, so she had bought things like cold cuts, sub buns, salsa and chips, and cold desserts.  We feasted and rested for several hours over there, before heading out to the fireworks.  

It was a close call with rain, but they pulled them off, and it was a great show, as usual.  Sebastian was the only one not impressed.  He had fallen asleep and not quite come all the way to when they started.  We were quite close to ground zero and the "booms" terrified him.  He spent the entire 1/2 hour whimpering and clinging to his daddy.  Don't tell him I said this, but it was actually super cute.  He recovered, and to this day is telling us he likes the booms and the fireworks when we ask.

Overall, a really great day.

*****

 After the Fourth, we had our sights set on today, when we hosted a piano recital for the three families that our teacher teaches.  When I said I'd host, my friend Colleen, one of the other moms, insisted that she would bring all food and drinks.  It was a win-win for me, I didn't have to deal with any food prep, and my house is sparkling clean.  One of the things she brought was this awesome set of piano keys.  It's frosted sugar cookies and brownies.  So clever.

 Owen and Peyton pulled off their duet beautifully, after months and months of giggling and/or fighting while practicing.  I managed not to get a shot of Blake at the piano, but I'm so very proud of him.  He played three songs, including Mozart's Rondo alla Turca, which he has been working on night and day for weeks.  He was the most advanced student at the recital today, and everyone appreciated his talent.  It was nice to see him in his moment to shine.

And once everything was quiet, we settled in for some down time.  I grabbed my knitting, and Blake grabbed my camera (his new hobby).  It's been a while since we've taken a picture of me, so I asked him to.  Apparently, this is what I look like at nearly 37 weeks.  Wow.  Sometimes lately Oliver will walk into a room that I'm in, almost running into me (he never stops moving and doesn't know the meaning of graceful, bless his heart), double-take at my belly, give it a quick rub, and simply say, "Whoa, your belly is huge", as if it just happened over night.  Yes, sweetheart, it is.

On a Tuesday Morning

You know what's really difficult?  Balance.

This baby is due in four weeks.  I have delivered three weeks early, eight days late, and everywhere in between.  Clearly, it is crunch time.

WAIT!  Crunch time?!  What on earth is that supposed to mean?

If there was ever a time to rest, isn't it now?  I'm eight months pregnant and it's July.  I should put my feet up, sip ice water, and finish knitting my current project, while patiently awaiting the arrival of our new blessing.

And yet, all I can think of is what I need to DO next.  Do, do, do, an impossible list of things to accomplish without enough hours in the day to do them, pregnant or not.

I tell myself to slow down, then my next thought is of all the things I have to get done in order to be able to slow down.

I've been feeling good, and this pregnancy has been uneventful.  I went yesterday for my 36 week check.  They do a "quick" ultrasound to make sure the baby's head is down.  I've never had a breech baby, so I wasn't worried.  Sure enough, head down.  Then the doctor started to check the fluid levels, and was very quiet for a few minutes.  He finally said that my fluid is low and that he was going to get a bigger ultrasound machine to get a better look.

Wait a second, this is not how my pregnancies work.  I don't have low fluid, or any other cause for concern.  I go in for my check, they say everything is fine, and I go on with my day.

He came back and scanned with the larger machine, searching out and measuring every little pocket of fluid he could find.  He was satisfied that we're at the low end of normal, and said we'll check again next week.  With a full ultrasound, looking at growth too.  I don't like having so many ultrasounds, it goes against my ideal of low intervention during pregnancy.

I don't like...
My ideal...
Go on with my day...

Really, is this what I sound like right now?  I have a healthy baby, kicking and growing, and the day that we meet him or her is ever closer.  I have lovely children who feel my tummy all day long, in hopes of getting kicked so they can squeal with joy.  I have a supportive husband, who can't wait for this baby, who loves us and takes care of us, while humoring my every whim.  I have competent doctors who are on top of everything, doing their best to ensure a safe and healthy entry to the world for our baby.

And I'm whining because something isn't going just as I planned.

You know what the doc told me to do when I left there yesterday?  Go home, drink lots of water, and rest on my left side whenever I can.  The nerve.  Hasn't he seen my to-do list?
What if the baby comes before I get it all done?!
What if?
Well, I suppose the baby will come, we'll swoon with joy and count our blessings.
Hmmm.

Today is a slow day.  I will rest.  Mr. Smith will be home tonight, and tomorrow for the holiday.  He will not let me do a thing, if I know him.  It is summertime.  We have a sprinkler and a swing set.  These days will pass quickly, whether I "allow" them to or not, and God's Will will be done.

I will remember my humble place as His servant, and put my own stubborn will aside.  I will pray for my baby.
And I will count my blessings.

7 Quick Takes Friday: Catching Up

one.

What better way to catch up on a bunch of neglected posting, than with 7 Quick Takes, right?  Maybe I'll take care of all the things I meant to say in one fell swoop, and then we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

two.

Way back on Friday, June 8th, we joined up with the thousands of other people in nearly 200 cities across the country, to rally for our religious freedom.  It was kind of a huge undertaking for me, being in the heart of a big city which I am not accustomed to navigating (especially on my own, in my gigantic van with a brood of kids in tow), but I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do, so we went.  It was educational, motivating, and a true display of faith and patriotism, and the older boys will not soon forget it.  I'm so glad we participated.  We even came home with a souvenir:

three.

Our gardens are growing nicely.  The strawberries that we planted last year have multiplied, and are giving us bigger berries and more of them.  I love to see the boys head back to the berry patch and just pick and eat.  Makes me forget we live in the city.

The blueberry bushes that did nothing last year did produce some fruit this year, but we're still waiting for it to ripen, and what's there seems to be getting eaten a little at a time by something.  I know blueberry bushes are slow to become happy in a location, and develop over a period of years, so I'm still hopeful that we'll get fruit from them in the future.

We also planted one raspberry bush last year, and it is spreading like crazy!  We have yet to see any fruit on them, but it's early yet and they are covered in flowers.

We also have roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, green onions and sugar snap peas, all coming along.  The boys planted their own garden with pumpkins and watermelon.

four.

My (current) baby is TWO!  Sebastian turned two on Father's Day.  This is what you look like in your birthday pictures, when Grandma and Grandpa gift you with a water table minutes before you blow out your candles:

five.

Two days later it was Isaac's turn, now he's four.

He is a very happy four-year-old.

six.

Last weekend I attended our local Catholic Homeschool Conference.  It was such a good experience, and I feel refreshed and ready to plan our coming year.  We've wrapped up this year for the most part, and are enjoying our summer break.  I've got 6 weeks before this baby comes, and I plan to use every minute of that time getting ready (for baby and school!).

seven.

Oliver.  Just Oliver.

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Not Because I Meant to...

...take a break, that is.  Just a whole lot of everyday life going on over here.

It's all good, and I'll be back soon.

Getting Crafty: A GPS Holder

Before our recent vacation, we decided it was time to invest in a GPS.  I know next to nothing about electronic devices, but I know this thing is worth its weight in gold.  It's been so useful, not only on vacation, but for getting around town to sporting events at unfamiliar fields, etc.
I figured out, after leaving it in the car during a track meet on a hot day, that it shouldn't be left in the car during anything on a hot day.  It had shut down, and gave us a "due to extreme and dangerous temperatures" warning when we turned it back on.  I'm sure this is somewhere in the directions for usage, but I probably didn't read those thoroughly...
Anyhow, I figured it should come with us when we get out of the van, but it didn't come with any kind of case, and my purse can be a treacherous place.  So I decided to make a simple holder that we can slip it into when it's not in use.
I had a little bit of this vehicle fabric in my stash, and thought it was perfect for a navigation device :).

I sewed it to this gingham with two layers of batting in between, for cushioning the GPS.  The two scraps of blue gingham are from an old curtain valance, and it already had the hem in it for a rod, which saved me a step.

From here I quilted each piece with simple diagonal lines.

And then sewed them right sides together, just around the green fabric.  I stopped short of the blue, to preserve those openings in the hem, and left the top open.  I turned it right side out and added a length of ribbon from my stash for a simple closure.

 It worked out great!

This was a satisfying little project!

We had such a good day today, and it all started with my morning declaration:

"Boys, we are unplugged.  Until further notice."

No t.v., video games, computers, or hand-held devices of any kind.
(Wait, what?  Oh no, that doesn't count for me and my computer!  That would be cah-razy.)

It's not that they spend a whole lot of time doing those things anyway, it's just that they spend too much time asking about doing those things.  They are boys afterall, and there are six of them.  I can easily be asked a dozen times in a day about electronics in one way or another.  It gets old.

So that was that, they knew better than to even ask, and then they forgot about it altogether.
They played outside.
They made a model of a Roman Road.
They concocted their own formula for cement.
They produced journals and drew comics.
They read.
They rode bikes.
They threw around a baseball.
They played kickball.
They practiced piano.
They revisited their old lapbooks, reminiscing about the making of each one.
They ate ice cream.
Owen taught Sebastian to say "shovel" and "shoe".

I can't wait to see what they come up with tomorrow.  This ban may last longer than they realize.

7 Quick Takes Friday

one.

Two things happened here at relatively the same time:  The weather got warm, and Sebastian started wanting milk in his sippy cup.  These two things wouldn't be related, if almost-two-year-olds were capable of reasoning and would take care of their sippy cups and place them in the sink when finished.  Not the case though.  They wind up under toddler beds, behind my desk, under the couch in the basement, and just generally spread all over the place.  It never seems to be less than 12 hours before I find it, and by then it's all over.  One of them was so far gone that when I opened it to wash it, I put the lid right back on and it went straight to the trash.  Could. Not. Bear. To. Smell. It.
Yet still, I fill it up and watch him toddle away with it tucked under his arm...



two.

I had kind of a bad day today.  When I'm this pregnant, my motto becomes:
When all else fails, take a nap.
So I did.



three.

Have y'all read these books?  The Mr. and I are reading our way through them now.  He's finished the first and on to the second, I'm just a quarter or so of the way through Pierced by a Sword.  So far, we're both loving them.  I'll wait until we're finished to write a full recommendation, although I doubt we'll be disappointed.



four.

If you're in the mood for a miracle (and if you're not, what the heck is wrong with you?!), click on over to this blog for a few minutes.  I've been following the events that have transpired over the last two weeks, since their baby boy had a terrible accident.  Truly uplifting:  Both the strength of their faith, and the story of his amazing recovery.



five.

So I mentioned last week that we were looking into an addition on our home, and I think I indicated that it could be a possibility in the near future.  Well it's not, and that's totally okay.  It's one of those things that would have been really exciting if it had worked out, but once it was clear that it wasn't going to, we were both a little relieved.  Good, responsible, grown-up decisions are our goal these days, and this was one of them :).  Even though doubling the size of our house as we welcome this new little one would have been awesome!  All in due time.  We'll get there, and we'll do it the right way.  Eventually.



six.

Another quick plug for something I'm excited about right now, but will eventually get into more detail on:  The Institute for Excellence in Writing PAL Program.  I'm doing this with Oliver right now, and we both love, love, love it.  (Okay, that might be more me.  He likes it and sits through it, which is saying a lot!)  We've only been working on it for a couple of weeks, and we're kind of moving like molasses through the lessons, but I love what I see.  I'm planning on purchasing more IEW products for the older kids at our local Homeschool Conference this month.  I can't wait to dig into those materials too.



seven.

My absolute favorite picture of the week, and I didn't even take it.  I'm so glad that Mr. Smith grabs the camera when I'm lazy and/or distracted.

That's an upside down/backwards batting helmet that he found and put on himself.  He was ready to go (and quite proud of himself.)


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Memorial Day 2012 - In Pictures

Breaking It Down: Laundry, Simplified

For as many things as there are under my care that I'm continuously trying to improve on, there is one major category that I actually feel like I have a good grip on:   
The Laundry.

Now, my husband may be snickering even as he reads this, he does live here after all, and has witnessed every miserable fail there's been in the laundry department... but all things considered, I think we're doing all right.  When we got married 13+ years ago, I had never (never!) done a load of laundry.  It's taken many years to develop my current system, and trust me, there were years of empty drawers, indistinguishable piles of dirty and clean, moldy onesies, not a pair of socks to be found... you get the picture.  Years.  It's not perfect, but it's a working system that serves this big family well.  Here are five of the key elements:

1.  Limit dressers!

We have 8 (soon to be 9) people in this house, and we have exactly 3 dressers.  It took me a long time to come to this realization, but I finally figured out that they're just not necessary.  In fact, they make things a whole lot more difficult.  I had a dresser that I used for years for the kids that had 10 drawers.  I thought it was great for children's clothing because it had many small drawers for small items.  Then one day it hit me, exactly how many times I had to open and close each one of those little drawers each week!  It was an older dresser, as were all of the others in our home, bought used or inherited, and the drawers didn't slide too easily, making it quite tedious to put clothes away each day.  Then there's the fact that no child in my house could EVER properly close a drawer after opening it.  They always managed to look sloppy, with half-closed drawers with clothing peeking out of one or more of them.  And don't get me started on the tops of the dressers.  Can we say CLUTTER MAGNET?

So we made some adjustments.  I also knew that we weren't making good use of the space under the beds, so I picked up four under-bed storage bins on wheels, and designated one to each of boys #2, 3, 4 and 5 (ages 10 down to 3).  They're easy to pull out and drop clothes into.  They fit nicely under the beds, hold a season worth of clothes, and are out of sight, freeing up space in the bedroom for other things.

We even stopped bothering with the lids, it's easier.

For Mr. Smith and our oldest son (age 12), we have an open shelving unit in the laundry room in the basement.  They're both fine with getting dressed in the basement, and theirs is the bulkiest of the laundry, which I'm now saved from having to haul upstairs to put away.  We have a small dresser next to their shelves, to keep their socks, underwear, t-shirts, ties, belts, etc. in.  I'm able to fold their clothes as they come out of the dryer, and set them right onto their shelves immediately.

In our bedroom I have one large dresser for all of my clothes, and a smaller dresser for baby clothes.  It's handy to me to have the babies' clothing in my room, since I'm the one putting it away and dressing them each day.

Admittedly, we do not hang many of our clothes.  We don't own an abundance of particularly dressy items, and just have one section in the boy's closet for suits and dresses.

2.  Don't have too many clothes circulating at once.

I try to be really careful with each change of season, to take out only the amount of clothes necessary to get each person through a week.  We do keep a lot of extra clothing in storage in the basement (the frugal part of me won't let those go, knowing how many kids are up-and-coming to fit into those, and how quickly things get worn out), but I don't want the boy in a size 6 to have access to every article of size 6 clothing in the house at any given time.  The under-bed storage helps with this, as those bins can't hold much more than the basics.  Having just enough clothing out also keeps me accountable on laundry -- We can't let the piles of dirty clothes build or no one will have anything to wear in a week's time.  We just did the clothing switchover for summer, and each boy basically has:

• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 long-sleeved shirts
• 1 hooded sweatshirt
• 1 pair of khaki pants
• 2 church shirts
• 4-6 pairs of shorts
• 6-8 t-shirts
• sports uniforms/clothes
• 2-3 pairs of pajamas

Now I do totally get it that this may only be possible with boys.  Girls seem to have a need for more types of clothing, and tend to care more about what they're wearing and how often they change.  My boys are pretty easy this way.

*Note:  The younger the boy, the more clothing they have out.  My older boys can easily wear an outfit 2 days in a row, but the younger ones tend to get messy much faster.

3.  SORT, SORT, SORT.

Several years ago, I read a tip about sorting laundry and implemented it right away.  We've never looked back.  I got four hampers and wrote in permanent marker down the sides of them:  DARKS, LIGHTS, WHITES, TOWELS.  These are kept next to the washer and dryer.

We keep one more hamper outside the bathroom for all dirty towels, and dirty clothes go down the chute.  No dirty clothing on the main floor, and no wet towels down the chute to mix in with clothing and create the possibility of mildew.

Even if I don't have time to run loads, I try to keep up on the sorting.  I take the incoming laundry one piece at a time, and this is where I do anything it might need done to it:  Right-side-outing, stain treating, pocket checking, setting aside for mending.  Then it goes into it's designated hamper.  This way when I do have time to run a load, I don't have to put any thought or time into it.  If it's in a hamper, it's ready to hit the washer.  By having everything sorted into the hampers, I also keep a good gauge on what my next load should be.  For example, we don't have as many whites as the other loads, so I know that if that WHITES hamper is full, people are going to start complaining about no clean socks or underwear, and I better run that one next.

One more element to sorting, and this is key:

Hamper = Dirty

Basket = Clean

This is another lesson learned after many, many frustrations.  I used to use baskets exclusively, and sure enough, clean would at some point get mixed with dirty.  Of course, this means chucking the whole thing and re-washing everything in the mix.  Everyone in the house knows that hampers are for dirty, and baskets are for clean.

4.  Don't be fussy.

It feels presumptuous for me to advise someone else not to "be fussy", when I could be totally wrong on this subject and off-base in my thinking.  But then I think, I have been at this a long time and this is truly how I feel, so I'll say it, and anyone is free to take it or leave it.  

I don't lose sleep over stains.
I don't worry about my 4-year-old continuing to wear a cotton shirt that has a small hole in the belly.
I don't mind that we don't have a wide variety of clothing to wear, or that we don't always look fashionable or wealthy.

I always make sure we wear our best to Mass, family get-togethers, and field trips.  Other than that, my kids are kids.  I will not spend hours researching ways to get a particular stain off of a t-shirt.  That boy will probably still wear that shirt, just not to church.  We're home so much of the time anyway, and so much of their lives is play, I just don't worry about the everyday clothes.  It's one of those things I've learned to let go of, knowing that there's more to life.


5.  Get the kids to help.

Over here, the kids:

     -Put all clothing down the chute.
Each morning I have the 6- and 8-year-olds hunt around the bedrooms, hallway, and bathroom for stray articles of clothing, and put them where they belong.

     -Bring laundry from chute to washer/dryer area.
One flaw in our house:  The laundry chute lands halfway across the basement from the washer/dryer hook-ups.

     -Haul dirty towels to laundry room.
A couple of times a week, Blake brings the hamper of towels from upstairs and empties it into the TOWEL hamper in the laundry room, then replaces it upstairs.

     -Put their own clothes away.
Because I'm making an effort now to fold laundry straight out of the dryer as often as possible, I needed a good way to get the folded stuff from the laundry room to its designated storage.  If I folded it all into one basket, I was finding that once upstairs, it was easier for me to just separate each child's clothes and put them away myself, rather than asking them to go into the basket to retrieve their items which were mixed in with others.  So I had Mr. Smith hang a shelf next to the washer and dryer, above the sorting hampers, and we placed four small tubs there.  Each one is labeled for one of the boys who keep their clothes upstairs in the under-bed bins.  They are big enough to hold one boy's items from one or two loads, but small enough that they can handle carrying them upstairs on their own.  They put their clothes away, and replace the empty tub back on the shelf.

     -Carry all other clean laundry upstairs for me.
Especially now, since I'm pregnant, my big, strong 12-year-old is priceless for this.

     -Put all clean/folded towels away.
This is an easy job for even the smaller boys.


Blake can start a load in the washer, but I don't have him do it very often.  He switches loads to the dryer for me all the time.  I prefer to do all the sorting myself, since that is my time to catch anything that needs attention, and frankly, I don't trust anyone else to do that!

I haven't gotten into the bedding end of things here, but basically, I wash all the bedding at once, as often as I see fit.  Sometimes it goes longer than I'd like, but that's life.  On those days, the boys strip their beds, I strip mine, and it all goes to a big pile on the laundry room floor.  I work my way through that first, and then move on to the regular laundry.

I think that covers everything worth covering from my perspective!  It's important to remember that gaining a little bit of control over a big chore like laundry makes it a much more enjoyable part of our lives.  Again, this is not a perfect system, but it works for us, and I hope it might help someone else out there who's struggling with their own laundry!

This post is linked up at Real Mom Resources.  

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