Friday, June 24, 2011

Friday Fun - 'Farm Friday'

It's Farm Friday at Jedel Graff family farm.  They invite kids of all ages to come out to the farm on the last Friday of every month to get a good dose of farm life.  You can spend your time cavorting with hens, goats, ponies, horses and a cat or two.  This was our first visit to the farm, and we had a very fine time, indeed.  A couple of comments, though.  There has been some miscommunication about a few things.  It is held on the last Friday of the month... not the third.  I think, initially, that when the info was sent out about this event a few months ago, it had been stated that it was the third Friday of every month.  I can tell from the Facebook activity that there are still a lot of folks that think that (as in, there were a lot of posts last week on the 17th).  It was also stated that there would be pony rides available.  When we arrived today, we were told that due to insurance reasons, they could no longer do that.  (Stupid bureaucracy!).  I wish I had known that before I told my kids they could ride ponies.  Lastly, the price per child is now $2.00 (at least today it was..??).  I was under the impression that it was $5.00 per child.  I came with a $20 (no change) expecting to pay for three kids plus extra for pony rides.  I gladly paid my $20 today because it goes to support a wonderful family farm - but hey, $$ is tight and I don't like spending extra money unnecessarily.  So - all that being said - I think some clarification on their site would be helpful.   I hope this clears it up for any of my friends who might attend in the future!

Now, on to the photos!









I have to add a comment here.  This is not my child (pictured above)- he is just another little boy visiting the farm.  All of my kids commented about playing in the mud.  Rylan did not want to get her shirt dirty.  Surprisingly, Jordan didn't want to get dirty either.  This may be why.....


This was last July.  I didn't take it.....very well.

Meanwhile... back on the farm....






"I solemnly swear, I am up to no good"
 







AHEM!!  (boys...)
 


I just loved being there today.  This is a wonderful family that has provided our community with a great opportunity to get up close and personal with farm life.  I loved the pace of the afternoon the most.  I just followed the kids around as they moved about the farm, taking pictures.  It was soooooo nice not to be on a time-table this afternoon!


Thursday, June 23, 2011

My 'white trash' moments will become treasures. In time...

Baby in the pool with just a swim diaper on? 

Yeah.... he's with me.

Three year old wading in the baby pool, fully clothed?

Yeah.... he's with me too.

Same three year old running around a swim meet with just a diaper on?

Um.  Yeah.  He's still with me.  But not for long.

Five year old in the baby pool, fully clothed as well?

YES.  She's with me too.  I'm so proud of our classy kids.


How to come prepared for a swim meet.

  1. Don't bring small children.  But if you must, do so at your own risk.
  2. Bring extra changes of clothes for every child.  Especially the child that will have explosive diarrhea in his diaper ten minutes after you arrive.  And not tell you about it.  Until the lovely brown streaks show up on his pants that alert you that 'something' is leaking.
  3. Don't change a child into his swim suit (because his shorts are now messy) and expect him to listen to you when you tell him NOT to get into the pool.  He won't.
  4. Bring tons of extra swim diapers.
  5. Bring at least five extra beach towels.
  6. Bring extra-large sunglasses so that 'maybe' you won't be recognized.
  7. Bring the camera.  You want to document this.  Really.
  8. Don't forget WHY you are at a swim meet.  You will have a child in the pool, swimming in a race, at least every 20 minutes.
  9. You can forget bringing a book, magazine, iPod and cell phone.  Unless of course you don't mind if one of your small children falls into the pool and drowns while you are distracted.
  10. Bring lots and lots and lots of snacks.
  11. Bring lots and lots and lots of waterbottles.  Because one of your children will think of them as squirt guns, and will use up all of the water - leaving none for anyone else to drink.  Thirsty, hot children are cranky children.
  12. Did I say DON'T bring small children?

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Grind Continues...

Well, back to running a full household.  Lots in store for this week.  Jordan has his first swim meet this coming Wednesday.  We saw his swim coach this morning, and she told him he will be swimming the 50 free, 50 backstroke and the 50 breast stroke.  Lucky thing is, all swim practice and swim lessons were cancelled for today because it is too cold and (somewhat) rainy.  Bad thing is, I found out after I made the drive at 6:45 am, with a very sleepy 11 year old, to get there.

Owen was to begin swim lessons this morning as well.  It will be his first time.  I'm glad he doesn't have to get in the water this morning, though.  I don't want his first lesson to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.  It also doesn't help that he is so stubborn.  If it isn't something he wants to do, there is NO convincing him otherwise.  I will admit that this particular character trait of his has me awake at night.  What is going to happen when I begin formal lessons with him in a year or two?  I do remember having the same worries about Rylan - not for the stubbornness, but for her....flakiness?  She will begin 'something' and then promptly abandon it the second it gets a little difficult - no matter the subject matter.  I have to constantly encourage her to keep her resolve up so we can complete whatever it is.

Only two Dr. appts this week - counseling for me this morning and for Jordan tomorrow.  These dang Dr. appts.  They just always seem to throw the day's schedule in for a loop.  I try to work them in in such a way as to butt up against something else, which helps the flow.  My appt this morning is within walking distance, so Dean stays with the kids, feeds them breakfast, and takes off for work as soon as I get home.  We don't have anywhere else to be today, so it works out that he has the van for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow's appt. for Jordan is in Loveland, just a couple of miles away from the karate studio.  We go to his appt, and we hang out in the van watching a video or playing while Jordan is inside.  Then we eat the lunch I packed up earlier, drive over to the studio and Jordan and Rylan do their karate lesson while the little boys and I talk a walk around the neighborhood and visit a playround nearby.  It works out better this way than to have a gap in between things - that just drags it out even longer.  I still wish I could hold fast to my resolve to only have Dr. appts during the last week of the month, when we are taking a break from lessons.  It's the therapy appts that are the major culprit - they have to be every week or every other week... Jordan's is every three weeks now - which is a major blessing!

Well - I'm off to my therapy session - which I think is a great way to start off the week!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

I have survived...

I have survived my week of quasi-single parenthood.  Last Sunday Dean and Jordan left for boy scout camp.  They returned late this morning, bearing gifts of laundry and dusty camping gear.

Here was my week...

I DID enjoy a three hour blitz of The Closer (all-time favorite TV show) courtesy of the DVR on Sunday afternoon.  Why?  Because ALL THREE little ones took a three hour nap!!  Totally unheard of in this household.  And NO, I did not drug them.

I DIDN'T do any work towards getting any receipts entered into Microsoft Money.  I am currently working on entering May of 2010.  Every evening I would tell myself that I would start after the kids were in bed, and then I would promptly fall asleep myself.

I DID change approximately 70 diapers.

I DIDN'T make the kids brush their teeth every night.  Forgot.

I DID do two loads of laundry.  When I should have done about eight.  I'll be paying for that this weekend.

I DIDN'T find Jordan's library book that has been missing since April.  I will be purchasing a very expensive book this afternoon.

I DID manage to get Rylan to 4 swimming lessons, 1 cooking lesson, 2 karate lessons, and 1 pool party.

I DIDN'T get to one swimming lesson because of a Dr. appt for me, and 1 karate lesson because Colin fell fast asleep 10 minutes before we were ready to go.

I DID get 20 tomato plants in the garden.  Finally.

I DIDN'T forget to take out the trash on Monday.  The garbage collectors were very nice as they waited for me to drag out the trash can from the garage, after they had already passed my house.

I DID go to Mommy Bookclub on Thursday.  It was nice to get out with some friends.  I wish that we could have had a more in-depth discussion of the book, but the restaurant was a bit noisy.  Can't complain though - good food, good drinks (maybe too good ?? :), and good atmosphere.

I DIDN'T have to get up in the middle of the night to comfort the little ones during a series of thunderstorms that passed through early (2:30 am) Friday morning.  For that I am very thankful.

I DID finish my bookclub book on Monday, and even completed a blog entry about it.  It only took me three days of continued effort to get it written and polished.

I DIDN'T spend a lot of time on Facebook or keeping up with my favorite blogs.  In what little free time I had I spent reading my next book, Shelters of Stone, instead.

I DID walk with the boys in a double-stroller this morning during Rylan's karate lesson.  It was very nice indeed.  We went down to the Loveland Civic Center and walked around the lagoon and admired the different fountains.  Owen liked the whale fluke the best.

I DIDN'T get the cleaning projects finished like I had planned to.  Several days of fatigue continued to hamper my efforts.  Although I did manage to finally address the two bags of "stuff" that was cleaned out of the Subaru when we sold it and left it with the mechanic.  It's nice to have the counter space back.

I DID get my annual pelvic exam done.  I scheduled my first-ever mammogram for next month.  Early menopause was also discussed.  Uugh.  I also got a blood draw done to see what (if anything) is going on with my thyroid.  I have a list of supplements to purchase (Vitamin B complex, Fish oil, Vitamin D, GABA and 5HTP) to take to help me combat the fatigue, mood swings and stress I have been dealing with lately.

I DIDN'T get enough sleep.

I DID get the kids outside for plenty of sunshine and play every day.

A tough week, but very little drama and it really did fly by.  I am glad the big boys are home.  :)

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Want greener grass? Use fertilizer.



I just finished reading Swapping Lives, by Jane Green.  It was the book pick for this month in my Mommy Bookclub.  (not our official name, I just call us that because we all initially got together (four years ago this September) on an online forum for Northern Colorado moms).  Intended as a light summer read for the season, I would say that this book really stirred up some intense introspection for me - unlike any book I have read in awhile.  Yet- given the gist of the story, not for the reasons you might think.

The premise of the story is that a single, thirty-five year old English journalist (Vicky), buzzing about the London social scene, craves a different life.  She longs to be married to an attentive husband and have kids, a large dog and a large fancy house in the country.  With no prospects on the horizon, a plan develops where she will trade places (swap lives) with another woman for a period of one month.  Vicky will trade her fun-filled single life with Amber (a desperate suburban housewife), who craves to be reminded of what it is like to be single again (or at least have a break from family life), and find the answers to what she is looking for.

IMPORTANT!  No - I do not wish for a break from family life.  I don't wish to have my career back.  And I most certainly do not wish to be single again.

My introspection comes from other food-for-thought throughout the book.  Do I like having a busy suburban social life?  Do I really care about clothing and accessories?  Do I miss the freedom (from before kids) to go out and about with friends and do whatever?

Social life.  I certainly don't have the kind of social life that is mentioned in the book.  No league or charity luncheons, jewelry shows or yoga classes and shopping trips.  I do have a busy life, but it is more centered around activities for the kids - with the grown-up socializing happening around the fringe.  We go to the park to meet with other homeschoolers during the week, and the moms get to socialize there.  Lucky for me, there is no sense of competition here.  No one is checking out what anyone else is wearing, not a trace of make up is to be found, and most every one's hair is in a messy ponytail.  Perfect.  If there is any envy at all, it is in the food.  The kid's lunches to be more precise.  I envy the moms that have a vast array of fruits and vegetables all washed, diced, and ready to go.  Organic everything. (Okay, I don't envy that... I have my limits.  Or rather, my budget does...)  But, I suppose there are lots of sideways glances going on to check out what other kiddos are having for lunch.  Do I like being so busy?  No.  I struggle with how to fit it all in on a daily basis.  The schooling portion of our day always seems to get the short end of the stick.

Clothing.  Up until maybe a few months ago, I had no idea what Jimmy Choos were.  Shoes that cost that as much as my monthly mortgage are not attractive to me.   Chic lit that is all about fashion (clothing, shoes, handbags, etc...) is just not an enjoyable read for me because it is absolutely foreign to me.  So yes, that part of this book I did not like...  Some readers might think of it as a nice escape or a way to dream.  For me, I grew up always being just a couple steps behind with what was in style, so clothing has never been my thing because I felt like a dork.  The Sears catalogue defined my elementary years, my dad's old shirts defined Jr. High, and High school was what I could afford at the mall, given my pooled resources of what I earned and a clothing budget from my mom.  My closet was not exactly brimming.  As time went on, and I was on my own, I shopped Land's End and LL Bean almost exclusively.  I liked the soft cottons, the beautiful simplicity, and the suggestion that I could go on a hike and shop at the farmer's market and not even have to change.  In fact, a good portion of my closet still contains those pieces - a good testament to how well made they are.  Nowadays, I spend most of the clothing budget on the kids.  I think I may only buy one or two things for me a year - the exception being when I was pregnant - and that whole wardrobe was used three times over!  I hate jean shopping the most.  I have one pair - and they don't fit very well at all.  Post-pregnancy has not been kind to me, and I have a very complicated shape to fit.  I absolutely refuse to spend more than $50 on a pair of jeans.  I also can't stand the jean styles that are in fashion right now.  At least I cannot stand them on me.  Also, I would need the whole ensemble to make them work - the right tops, the right shoes (the right figure), and that is where I get pissed off.  Clothing should not have to be that complicated.  And then there is the time it takes to find the right outfit.  I don't have that time.  Clothing shopping with the kids is an absolute joke.  Forget trying anything on - just grab the hanger and hope it fits. 

Accessories.  I am a sucker for organization - so I will admit that I am a sucker for purses.  I am also very, very picky.  My husband made the mistake of offering to take me shopping for one as a birthday present a couple of years ago.  After an hour of searching, I gave up.  Everything was too big, chunky, shiny, or just plain ugly.  About a year ago I came across a Miche handbag display at a local teacher's supply store (of all places).  I was smitten.  But I couldn't justify spending $$ on myself when we had workbooks to buy.  I finally made the purchase a few months ago.  I love it.  And I have received so many compliments on it (which is an absolute first for me)- and I hope I have steered a few ladies towards purchasing one.  They are great!!  If you don't know what makes them special, it's that the outer shell is magnetic and therefore removable.  So you can change the style of your purse by swapping shells in less that two seconds - without having to unload your purse.



As for other accessories - scarves, jewelry, belts.... um.... I never wear them?  The kids would pull at the jewelry, and everything else just gets in the way.

Dinner parties, play dates and luncheons.  We have attended just a handful of dinner parties in the time that we have been married.  Having infants will do that to you.  Going to dinner at a friend's house, who has small children as well, is the ideal scenario.  It gets easier and easier as the children are getting older.  I just wish we could do it more often!  Play dates happen on occasion.  In homeschooling circles - everyone else is doing the same thing (lessons), so sometimes getting kids together is tricky.  It is also hard because we have four kids.  Sometimes it is just Jordan, or Jordan and Rylan, but involving all four in a play date is a challenge.  Parks are ideal for this reason.  I know there is a lot going on socially in my circle of friends, (because Facebook tells me so...), but our dance card remains empty.  This is largely my fault. 

1.  I am very shy and am terrible about calling up a friend to invite her and/or her kids to do something.
2.  When a friend suggest that we need to get together for a play date, I fail to follow through.  See number one for reason why.
3.  I've been a yo-yo sickie for the past three months.
4.  I have a hard time achieving balance in life - and schooling/housekeeping pressures prevent me from taking the social stuff more seriously.
5.  We do get invited to a few things, but our busy schedule means that there is almost always a conflict.  Once you say 'no', a second invite isn't always forth-coming.

So - back to my thoughts on the book.  I liked that each woman experienced small epiphanies that their 'life' that they left behind for the sake of the experiment was, indeed, the one they wanted after all.  The suburban mom felt that the most poignant self-realization was that she was no longer in control of her life.  Her household help knew more about the day-to-day activities of the household than she did.  She let the social-climbers of the community dictate what she cared about.  I can identify with that.  I often feel like I am not in control of my life - and am living in a way I don't really want to live.  Running from one activity to the next (this June schedule is a perfect example of that), that I don't get to spend enough time with the kids (which I KNOW sounds ridiculous coming from a SAHM), and the unpredictability of each day frustrates all of us.  It makes me really sad when I get to the end of the day, and I realize that I never sat down to just read a story to Rylan or Owen, that I never got down on the floor to play with Colin, or took the time to go down to the local pond with Jordan so that he could fish.  And again, there is my failure to achieve balance.  All I think about is the kids - I don't take the time to take care of me, or dedicate time to just 'be' with Dean.  I've shelved a lot of my wants and needs for the sake of theirs.  My 'homework' from my therapy session is to find a way to do this.  No idea how, at the moment.  Get back to me in a couple of years.  Do I feel loss because I don't have a career anymore?  No.  That I am sure of.  I do take the time to get books from the library that interest me - books that cover different aspects of the human condition (you can see this reflected in the books that I have completed so far this year) - and a lot of ideas are percolating in my head.  I have always loved the social sciences - they were my favorite college classes.  The suburban mom who gets the chance to go back to work and actually 'do' something?  To feel part of the team?  Yeah, I can identify with that. There is a bit of wistfulness there, but not much.  My day will come, after the kids move on to their next phase in life.  In the meantime, I get to fine tune what it is I actually want to do - plus the job market will change so much between now and then, anyway.

Did I always want to be a mom of four?  A stay-at-home-mom?  Homeschooling?  uuummmm.... No.

Funny enough, when I was in my early twenties, I thought it would be exciting to move to a big city, and live in a high-rise apartment and have an office job.  The access to shopping, cultural activities, restaurants... that could be really cool!  But.  I am an introvert at heart, and that whole scheme would never work for me.  I would hate it.

My life (as it is now) didn't just happen.  Choices, circumstances, events beyond my control all worked to shape it into what it is today.  I love what my life has become, though.  Even though (at times) I feel like we must resemble a herd of elephants on stampede whenever we enter a store, even though I constantly feel buried under piles of laundry, dirty dishes and unopened mail, I never pause to think that the grass might be greener somewhere else.  If you want it to be greener where you are presently at - just fertilize it with the good stuff.  Begin by taking the time to list what you appreciate about your present situation, what you need to change in order to make it better, and then follow through.  Greener grass will most surely follow.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Muffin Tin Monday and Mayhem


It's Monday... time to put the peanut butter away and feed the kids something different!  Owen is proudly showing off his plate.  We've got chicken nuggets, ketchup, Colby cheese stars with mini multi-grain Club crackers, vanilla yogurt with star sprinkles, baby carrots and cucumber slices and diced cantaloupe.  Cantaloupe has become a recent love of Owen's - he can't get enough of it.

Last Monday, our June calendar looked pristine.  Lots of empty, white boxes.  Only a few routine things were listed there, like school days, karate and boy scout camp.  By Wednesday, June 1st, our calendar looked like this:



WTF?

I am a firm believer in not over-scheduling kids.  One sports activity.  ONE.  (In our case, that would be karate).  But I am also a firm believer that kids need to know how to swim.  Lessons are completely out of the question during any other season than in the summer.  It is disgusting how much private swim lessons cost these days, and the 'small' group is more like LARGE group.  Summertime small-group swim lessons at the neighborhood pools are the only way to go for us.  So, unfortunately, the entire summer schedule is at the mercy of the lessons.  For Jordan, it means swim team.  He is beyond lessons, but his swimming skills are less-than-stellar, so for him, this is the answer.  Luckily, swim practice begins at 6:50 am and is over at 8:30... which is just in time for Rylan's lesson, at the same pool. 

What I am a sucker for is those one-day or short-session classes.  Archery.  Cooking.  Gardening.   I initially think - "Hey, it's just for six weeks.  That's not so bad!".  Oh, but it is bad.  In an already busy day, it is very, very bad.  It means that we will be lucky if we get in even an hour's worth of lessons - which will mean mostly workbook stuff and reading in the car.  Nothing 'meaty'.  It means living on whatever is in the snack box in the diaper bag.  I would love to be the uber-mom and have a cooler all packed and ready to go - just swing by a park as we are out and about.  Let's get real - I have no shame!  We're living off of the pretzel pieces we find on the floor of the minivan!

School schedule.  I schedule our school year to run from June1st through May 31st.  It has just kind of morphed into that.  You may have noticed that I now have tabs at the top of the page, one for Rylan and one for Jordan, that lists their subjects, the curriculum we use, and their schedule.  I have been tinkering with the schedule a lot lately because I suck at accountability.  I have to find a way to keep myself honest.  So, I came up with a spreadsheet to count up our hours.  I've looked at Homeschool Skedtrack, but I think it is more than we need - and honestly, I just need a way to count up the minutes.  Do I really think some person in a suit is going to come knocking at the door, asking for proof that we did the requisite time (694 hours)?  No, but I just know that in the past four years of homeschooling, we have not hit that mark as of yet.  And we need to.  So to make that happen, over that past year we've adopted a year-round schedule, a daily schedule that ensures that I've allotted time towards every curriculum element that I feel we need to, and that every child has a chance for some one-on-one time.

Now, if I could just figure out the 'me' time....