Batman!

  There is no doubt I watched a lot of TV as a child.  I loved TV and especially loved superhero shows. I was born in 1969, so Batman, Spiderman, and Wonder Woman were staples of my early childhood years.

  Nowadays, super heroes are often substantially "edgier".  I appreciate that the superheroes of the 1970's were straight forward noble, though I realize they were also one dimensional.

  We are cautious about how much, and what, our children watch in the way of television.  We don't watch network television except for rare sporting events.  We have Netflix and allow some kids' programming and a few adult programs, but we're very careful.  I have found Netflix and DVD's to be a wonderful alternative to "normal" TV, because we watch what we want, when we want. We don't center our lives around when our "show" is on.  It is definitely a very different world from my early childhood, when no recording devices existed.

  Not surprisingly, perhaps, my fond memories of some childhood shows made me want to share those shows with our kids.  In some cases, I realized that the shows in question had dubious moral issues. Sometimes we just decided against a show, sometimes we talked through the issues.  Our kids have watched a few Wonder Woman episodes, for example.  She is smart, noble, and  caring but oh, that outfit. We've had many discussions about that outfit.  Not modest.  There is also the whole Greek mythology thing to contend with.  But I have allowed the kids to watch some of the WW episodes.

  But Batman was off limits, because Batman wasn't available on DVD, nor was it streamed  well from anywhere.  I have very fond memories of Batman, with the utter campiness, the silly "Pow" and "Biff" fights, and the ridiculous contraptions.  But there were apparently legal issues with putting Batman on DVD, so it languished in no man's land for decades.

 Earlier this year, it finally came out. The entire season was, drum roll please, $150.  I am not kidding.  $150!!!

  That was TOO much.  I actually had a pang of longing to buy them (like I said, fond memories) but quickly pulled myself together and decided firmly NO. 9 kids.  Gotta be careful financially.

  And then the library got them!  Problem solved. We ordered a couple of disks.  Our eldest 2 sons like them a lot, in particular.  I am surprised to note that some of the bad guys have immodestly dressed female sidekicks, but Batman always pontificates to them about turning away from evil, which is at least a good message.

  So I'm enjoying "sharing" Batman, without spending any money out of pocket. Win-win.

Fun Pictures

I'm a horse!  Or a pony.

I took the children to a nearby park for the first time. It was wondeful.

Daniel is our intrepid climber.

Fun!

FIRST time on a seesaw, I think.  Awesome.

Update on Facebook Limits

I wanted to mention that my decision to not look at Facebook 3 days a week was definitely a good move.  It is hard to NOT look at FB on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but I get more done those days.

I also am more careful on the other days to not just mindlessly surf Facebook.  I'm more cautious about wasting time on it.

So good call. It is hard sometimes to stay off of it when I'm tired and worn out but for me, this is a good decision.

Our House

This is our house.

This is our giant porch, covered in bicycles and toddler scooty toys.

             I really like our house.  I am extremely thankful that the Lord led us to this place.  It is big (5000 square feet if we include the basement!)  It is on quite a bit of land, so the kids can run around.  It has a pool, so we can teach our kids how to swim without hauling them off to the Y.

           But let me tell you about another house I like.  A couple of weeks ago, I visited a family from church who live in an A frame house about 30 minutes from us.  

            The A frame is SO different from ours, and I enjoyed touring it.  Our previous home to our current one was a Cape Cod and the upstairs of the Cape Cod had weird angled ceilings and lots of character. This A frame was the same except that the weird ceilings extend down to the first floor as well.  The living room is quirky. The upstairs bathroom is cool, with a skylight and oddly shaped ceiling. I liked it.  A lot.

          But I don't want an A frame. I want our house, because our house, while boring, is extremely efficient. Our house is a big rectangle.  We don't have a fancy roof line, or a 2 story entrance hall, or a turret (we used to joke we wanted a turret in our house.)

          If we had a smaller family, we might go with quirky.  But given that there are 11 of us roaming around, I value easily accessible floor space.  I value simple rooms where we can put up bookshelves without worrying about roof lines.  I appreciate a big attic where Kevin was able to put all kinds of insulation to reduce our overall heating costs.

        So I'm at the stage in life where I love looking at neat or quirky homes, but give me simple. And big.:-).

And...She's Mobile!

A friend visited this week and brought her 5 younger children, including a 7 month old baby boy who is crawling and pulling up.

I don't know if little M. inspired Rose or not, but in the last couple of days, Rose became mobile.

She doesn't crawl. She scoots on her bottom.  So far she isn't really fast but she can get anywhere she wants.

Mobility is always exciting but also super exhausting.  We are now going through the house, removing small choking hazards from the main rooms.  Kevin put up a baby gate today, which will help us keep Rose in our family room when we are busy and need her in a safe place.

So yes, it is super exciting.  Rose is mobile!

Growing Weary

Galatians 6:9New International Version (NIV)

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

  The Bible is full of great verses.  The one above has always seemed wise, but I didn't really understand it well.  I am a very compulsive, hardworking person and I didn't understand "growing weary of doing good."  I could imagine being lazy, or selfish, or sinful, which would lead to "not doing good".  But what does "growing weary" have to do with it?

I am now 45, and I understand.  Let me talk about ONE LITTLE THING -- fights between little people.

We have 9 children.  The first six each had ABOUT 18 months gap between successive babies.  Then between our 6th and 7th baby was a 3+ year gap (with 3 miscarriages between those births.)  #7 and #8 are 18 months apart again, and then #8 and #9 are just a bit over 2 years apart.

So we've had many 18 month gaps.  I don't know if that gap is particularly significant, but it sure seems like little people with that age span fight a lot.

So Sarah and Daniel are fighting a lot.  They quarrel over toys. They scream.  They hit.

And I've done this before.  Oh, so many times. I am weary of dealing with it constructively and wisely.  I just wish they'd get along.  They are so immature!  What is with that?  It is like they toddlers and preschoolers or something!  Oh right, they ARE toddlers and preschoolers.

I know in my brain that this is totally age appropriate behavior. They are learning boundaries, and learning to share, and learning that life does not revolve around them.  Great lessons.  Wonderful lessons.  Valuable lessons.

And I need to not grow weary in doing good. I need to keep working with my little ones just as well as I worked with our older ones when they were that age.

But I confess I'm at the point where I know more than ever that I need the Lord's strength to be a good mother in this area.  I'm just tired of it.  I don't want to deal with it anymore. I just want them to get along.  Barring that (which is impossible) I sometimes just want to let their interactions run a natural course. But the natural course is that the big one hits or hurts the small one and gets the toys in question, which isn't a good result.  So every time it happens, I need to pick myself up and deal with it.  Constructively and wisely.

Only God can give me that strength.  And He does.  And I know He will.  We've still got Rose coming up the pipeline and in a year she'll probably be screaming and hitting.  

Lord, please give me the strength to be a consistent, loving, wise, CONSISTENT mother.

Limiting Facebook Time

I joined Facebook many years ago when a friend's daughter was critically ill and she was posting updates on FB.

At the time, I was nervous it would take up too much time.  I have many many home responsibilities, and (like many people) am sometimes tempted to avoid some of my responsibilities by doing something fun.  I was concerned that FB would prove a significant temptation to waste time foolishly.

I was right.

And I was wrong.

Let me talk about why I was wrong.  FB really has been a blessing to me in keeping me in contact with many friends.

I am home a LOT.  A lot.  I find getting out with our 9 children to be challenging, so we don't go on frequent field trips or playdates together.  We also have a tremendous amount to do at home. Just keeping the clothes clean and under control, and cooking for the masses, and doing the daily housework, is a big job for all us "big people".  And by big people, I mean Kevin and me and the older 6 kids.

So wow, to have access to my friends on FB is a blessing.  It really is!  I have found friends whom I've not seen in decades.  It is so neat to keep in touch and know what is going on in their lives.  It is great that I can keep up with local friends whom I see occasionally, but not often.

I don't have hundreds of "friends", but I believe I have between 100 and 200 now. I'm also part of several FB groups, including Ohio homeschooling groups with members who provide ideas and feedback for homeschooling moms like me.

All this is awesome but yes, it can be a HUGE time sink.

I was reading a book on busyness a few weeks ago, and felt convicted of, yes, my Facebook time.

We have a couple of hours during the day which are Arsenic Hours (I like the way that phrase rolls off the tongue though of course it wouldn't if the "h" in hours wasn't silent.  But Arsenic Hours...all those lovely vowels.)

Ok, back to the blog.

There are times in the late afternoon and evening when our littles are nuts.  They are cranky, noisy, and whiny.  They scream a lot.  They are tired, but it isn't quite bed time. Or they are a little hungry, and dinner isn't ready yet.

Those are the times when I want to shut out the world as much as possible, and surf Facebook while I'm cuddling a cranky little person.  I feel like I can't even accomplish a TASK during those times because the littles are so difficult.

BUT, but, but, I can spend more face to face time with a Little (or a Big) during that time.

I can probably go downstairs with a cranky Little or two and work on an organizational project down there.

I can do SOMETHING.

So I felt I should limit my FB time, and came up with a near instant solution.

No Facebook on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. At all.

I know myself too well. If I just thought "well, I'll spend less time on Facebook", I would have trouble analyzing "less time".  So this is simple.  If it is MWF, I don't check FB at all.

I've been doing it for a little more than a week, and it IS good. I can still interact with my FB friends 4 days a week, but the other 3 days I am definitely getting more done.

So this is a good compromise for now.  If God pokes me to reduce my FB time even more, I will.