I couldn’t stop thinking about the cradle cap on the 2yo’s head last night. It isn’t like any cradle cap I’ve ever seen before. It is making his hair fall out in clumps if I mess with it at all. I must tell you that I have prayed about it. It makes me sick to think of him losing his cute little curls. So when I was thinking to myself that it is almost as if his hair was GLUED to his head, I believe God reminded me of something that happened a couple of weeks ago.
The 10yo had come in asking how to get super glue off his hands. I asked, “WHY do you have super glue on your hands?” He said, “It’s in the family room and I picked it up.” My heart was pounding. I asked if it was stuck to anything (like my leather sofa) and he said that no, it was just lying there. Whew! Call me crazy, but I think my 2yo super glued his hair. I never noticed because it looks a lot like sweaty hair and it’s covered by the rest of his hair. I tried some acetone and it may have helped a little. I may give it another go or wait for his hair to fall grow out.
After the crazy cap incident, I went outside and found that Satan’s saliva was trying to make its way into my house. I disposed of it, but I will not be a bit surprised if it’s on my bed in the morning.
After pitching the evil substance, I proceeded into the yard and had to practice the deep breathing skills I learned in grad school. I hate that we are one of THOSE families–the kind that leaves everything laying in the yard to rust. Why are there trash can lids by the trampoline? Because I started reading a chapter of a book on making the most of today (yesterday) and the first chapter is on having a good attitude, I chose not to wake the kids in a rage and insist they clean up the mess in their jammies. We did chores and school instead.
That’s when Daisy really became like one of the family. She hasn’t been feeling well post-surgery and let us know. I didn’t take a picture of her issuance, but I did take a picture of what I used to clean it up. I just love my SpotBot because I do not love cleaning carpet stains. The only problem is it’s rather loud. We were shouting our Bible memory verses above the noise. Hopefully that will keep the slime at bay.
After Bible time using the Window on the World book (love it), it was time for preschool. We read a perfectly adorable book called Harold and the Purple Crayon and then, according to my Artistic Pursuits curriculum that I also love, we were to use crayon or a marker to draw. Why did I give them an option?? Of course, both tots chose marker. Things went really well I thought. We drew precious pictures and kept the caps on the ends of the markers. But after tutoring the 6yo, I needed a good attitude again. I was breathing so deeply, I almost couldn’t take a picture.
I had sent one of the boys down to make sure all was well. The morale here is never send a boy to do a mom’s job. Someone decided to use a new art medium. What really bugs me is they left the cap off! My mute 2yo managed to say his sister’s name clear as a bell when I asked who did it, though he later admitted guilt with his ‘tee-hee’ yes. Fortunately, the SpotBot did the job on the marker mess, too. I should probably have one of these in every room.
After lunch, it was time for a play date. While the younger kids played, I used my Things software to get something done. I cleaned out my laundry closet and sorted through piles of belongings that you probably left here. Please arrange a time to pick up your underwear, yo-yo, sweatshirt, etc.
After the play date, it was time to head to dance. One good thing about my iCal reminders for things like this is when the reminder pops up on the iMac, my kids will tell me over and over and over again that I have to go to dance. No worries about forgetting! I actually got there a few minutes early just to get away from them.
Note the purple mark on the dancer. I love dance because I have an hour to read, websurf, and scrapbook. Today I worked on my vacation album using Creative Memories’ software. I must tell you that I will not link to them for you. I just did that on my last post at this point and lost everything. 🙂 I pledge to have a good attitude; I pledge to have a good attitude.
As we were leaving dance, my dd asked if the other 4yo girl was the only girl and had no brothers. I said that was right. I then asked if she liked having brothers. She said, “Yes, but they scare me sometimes.” ME TOO.
With dance done, it was time to make a pork chop and cauliflower dinner, teach the boys how to make the football video on iMovie they’ve been asking to make, and get more Things tasks accomplished. I made almond milk and crepes just in time for hubby to come home. Then it was time for basement ball–one of my favorite sports because I don’t participate. It is sure good to have him home! Let me know when the kids are in bed, honey, and I might have a really good attitude.
It wasn’t a health food day for sure; it was much more utilitarian than that. I made a mad dash this morning to Wal-Mart to buy shoes for my oldest. Turns out his shoes will mark the gym floor and I’ve had a week to buy new and I haven’t so there I was at Walmart buying the only size 5 1/2 for my pickiest shoe kid and praying they would work. And they did!
While at Walmart, I couldn’t resist buying Pop-Tarts that had all the college football teams on them for my football crazy boys. I was glad to get a lot of other things on my list, too–like a lamp to replace the one that was broken on the entry table. You know…the one that sat next to the little picture the kids also broke.
Then it was a mad dash to homeschool P.E. It warms my heart how Miss E looks after her little brother. The big issue with P.E. is always when we get there (if the kids get there early, even the preschoolers can play; note that we were NOT early) and what toys to bring. P.E. is a day to learn sharing skills. Today we learned to share Mr. Potato Head and dress-up Larry Boy. Well, maybe we didn’t really learn it but we tried.
We packed up our toys, went home, did chores, ate lunch, and that’s when the real fun began. On Monday at Incredible Pizza, I warned my kids that the jars of slime they bought would NOT under ANY circumstances come into my house. The last times it did, it stuck to my rug and my sofa. Little did I realize that the stuff that I now refer to as Satan’s saliva could wreak havoc even if left outside. My 6yo thought it would be hilarious to smack himself in the forehead with the green slime. You guessed it! It stuck to his white-blonde hair like fake cheese to a McDonald’s burger.
I had just cut the child’s hair and when I mentioned that I would probably have to cut it out, the tears started flowing. So I whipped out my trusty IPhone and looked up how to get silly putty out of hair. That’s because in the stress of the moment, I couldn’t remember the name “slime.” Turns out that olive oil Pam removes it slicker than slime. Just spray it on and comb it out.
I’d saved the day but had to insist that the fortunate patient shower immediately to remove the greasy residue. He complied and just a few moments later I heard a crash. The shower door bumped into the vacuum which landed on the ceramic trash can and it was garbage. His question was, “How much do I have to pay for that?” See, I’ve been fining the kids for things they carelessly destroy. I told him this was a freebie as it wasn’t extreme negligence. It would have been hard to justify since his father destroyed another bathroom trash can last week. If he were getting an allowance from me, he would have been fined. But that was another week.
After cleaning up the mess, it was time to teach the kids how to edit the video we just taped last weekend. The kids were so excited to see the footage we shot and I was, too. Except all we had was more garbage. A jumbled, garbled mess. We suspect that the brand of tape was the problem. I will be buying more of the previous kind (Sony I think) and we will be re-shooting. My hubby said, “I guess it’s just the nature of the biz.”
The kids had friends over to play and I popped a pizza in the oven. Thank you God for pizza that bakes in just 12 minutes. I am uneasy about the fact that my kids prefer cheese pizza. I remember turning my nose up at parents who allowed their kids to be that picky. Just another example of how God turns me into everything I scorn.
It was back to the car for church class and football practice. After picking them up, it was time for basement clean-up (my latest in about 100 different efforts to get and keep the playroom clean) or there would be no dessert. There WAS dessert, thankfully. I decided to reward myself with a protein shake and an episode of the Biggest Loser in the family room. That’s where I found the collection of wooden letter pieces from Handwriting Without Tears. These pieces are supposed to teach children the basic letter parts so they can write. And it’s supposed to do it without tears. I guess without theirs, because I’ve shed quite a few over it. I have grown so weary of picking up these pieces that get scattered to every corner. How these emerged from a LOCKED file cabinet when I have the only keys I will never understand. Even the dog likes chewing on these things! I should have bagged the $50 train set and invested in wood pieces long ago. The evening ended with a bath for the two littles. I am trying baby oil and serious dandruff shampoo that is supposed to work on the cradle cap that takes the 2yo’s hair with it when it comes off.
So here’s what I’ve learned today. I have a really, really hard job. I need a raise.
Okay, so it is tough forcing myself to do this tonight at this late hour, but I was majorly distracted by the debate!
Today wasn’t so much about the kids, but about the dog. My poor little coney dog got spayed. She is really, really miserable with the cone on her head, but has to have it so she doesn’t chew her stitches out. They told me two days, but she is a determined dog. It may take longer!
I was overwhelmingly exhausted this morning so took a nap that took so long I felt horrible when I got up. Know that feeling? Next time I’ll set an alarm. My tummy was upset, too, so maybe I had a virus or it’s just because I HAVE SIX KIDS AND A DOG!
The big issues in having six kids really don’t wear me out. It’s the little things. Like this cute little picture I’ve had sitting on my entry table for quite some time. Someone decided it would be interesting and fun to make the picture back stop functioning. I can no longer have this little decorative art standing in my home. It has to lie down. Maybe that’s what happened to me this morning.
Then it’s things like finding little pieces of dried fruit poured out on my family room carpet. Why? Especially when it’s like gold nuggets with the prices at Whole Foods.
I left the family room to visit the office and found someone had been “creating” with the tape. Lest you think I am complaining over minor things, please know that this was a VERY good day in the destructiveness department. There is only a deck of cards spread out all over the family room floor (and a few more fruit pieces) to contend with at the moment.
I am behind on schoolwork, but we are just about to finish our Firm Foundations Bible curriculum that I am crazy about. I am also keeping up fairly well with our new supplementary history curriculum, The Mystery of History. I can’t say enough good things about this curriculum. If you want quick but thorough or if you want to beef it up with activities, this is the curriculum for you. It’s designed for 4th-8th grade, but I’m using it with my kindergartener and 3rd grader with no problem (though the 3rd grader gets more out of it). As I’ve never taken a world history course, I love learning everything in an easy to understand, Christian context.
I am excited that I have an idea for an anti-procrastination article. I plan to write that up and post on one or both of my blogs sometime. Hopefully.
I thought I could do this last week, but the effort it took to keep all the balls in the air left no time to take Ali’s challenge as described in Aby Garvey’s blog. I was honestly thinking of bagging the whole thing and then I listened to a superb talk on helping children remember while I was working out this morning. I was practically in tears at the gym. That’s a danger of listening to podcasts I guess. The woman (the podcast never gave her name!) described journaling for herself as a Mom and for her children. I realized that the most precious memories I have are just slipping away from me.
So today, I am not only going to do a week in my life blog (which I will later turn into a scrapbook), but I am going to begin journaling. Yep, I’m busy! But that’s what I’ll want to read about later, right? Today’s big event was a homeschool trip to Incredible Pizza. I have never been to Homeschool Day at Incredible Pizza; therefore, fielding the incessant “What are we going to do there?” questions was a challenge. Turns out we learned science (one demonstration pictured above), creative writing, creative thinking, and math. That was all before we were allowed to play games which really messed with my two-year-old’s mind.
By the time we got to play and the money was gone, the poor little guy lost it. As he tried to break in to take another ride, I realized I could relate. We both needed a nap, but only one of us took one. Some cute things I want to remember from today are: E asking me how we were going to fit the money into the game card; B’s answer to my question of how to complete our creative story about a student cheating on a test. I said, “What kind of test was he cheating on?” B said, “An art test.”
I have twice had the pleasure of attending a Hearts at Home conference in Bloomington, Illinois. The opportunity to have time away from all the demands of motherhood to laugh and learn with other mothers from around the country was truly a blessing. I have taken home tips and resources on everything from home decorating, to sex in marriage, to discipline. I have homeschooling and non-homeschooling friends who look forward to it as their one getaway for the year.
This week I will be blogging for Hearts at Home in the effort to encourage you to attend one of their fabulous conferences in Rochester, MN (Nov. 7-8) or Bloomington, IL (Mar. 13-14). Quite honestly, it would be a dream come true for me to present at a Hearts at Home conference some day in the future! Until then, I will enjoy giving away a book on Friday to a lucky commenter on any of the following questions:
1. Why is it so challenging to keep your heart at home?
2. How do you keep your heart at home?
3. What do you do to keep your Mommy batteries recharged?
Today I teach children what really matters, sing to little ones when they play in the tub, act like there’s nothing to be afraid of, and dance with little partners to the radio. I work to settle the nastiest disputes, diagnose the most painful owies, write little love notes, and manage many different ‘do’s. I track allowances, listen to children to determine what makes them tick, and speak to them motivationally. I am a mother. And that’s everything I ever wanted to be.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
y heart was pounding. I asked if it was stuck to anything (like my leather sofa) and he said that no, it was just lying there. Whew! Call me crazy, but I think my 2yo super glued his hair. I never noticed because it looks a lot like sweaty hair and it’s covered by the rest of his hair. I tried some acetone and it may have helped a little. I may give it another go or wait for his hair to fall
that leaves everything laying in the yard to rust. Why are there trash can lids by the trampoline? Because I started reading a chapter of a book on making the most of today (yesterday) and the first chapter is on having a good attitude, I chose not to wake the kids in a rage and insist they clean up the mess in their jammies. We did chores and school instead.
one of my favorite sports because I don’t participate. It is sure good to have him home! Let me know when the kids are in bed, honey, and I might have a really good attitude.
