It's the Little Things

   We try not to pointlessly add more "stuff" to our lives.  With 11 people in the house, it is a constant battle to not be overloaded with stuff.

  So, I seriously thought about buying this bib (and the other 4 that came with it) for months.  What is wonderful about these bibs?  Well, they have SNAPS.  3 of them.  That all fasten at once.

  Rose considered bibs her mortal enemy. We would put one on, and she would pull it off. We worked on training her to leave them on, but I'm busy and often she would get it off and then smear food all over herself and her clothing.  That of course meant she was a horrible mess and she often had to be changed.

 Finally, I broke down and got these bibs with snaps.

  And voila, she is now significantly cleaner at meal time.  She can't get these off. And since she can't, she's decided that life really is Ok with a bib on, and is at peace.

  I'm all for being thoughtful about new purchases, but sometimes something like bibs makes a big difference in reducing my workload.

Goofy Mom

  I'm not usually goofy. I'm a serious person by nature, and rarely just let loose and do something remotely crazy.

 But Kevin's mom brought over some funny costumes from her basement, and I tried on the clown costume to see if it fit me (answer -- yes, but it is a little on the small side.) Then I put on the wig and voila, Goofy Mom.

  The funniest reaction was Rose's.  She would stare intently at my face, then shoot a nervous look the crazy wig, then stare at my face, then look at the wig.  It was clear that the face and voice and smell were all familiar, but that wig freaked her out a bit. But there was no crying, so I danced into the living room for a picture before taking off the clown costume. 

 Normal Mom was back, and that relieved her little mind.

As a little postscript to the adventure, I put on the costume in the evening to show to Kevin. His response was a shocked look and "you look terrible".  :-)  I wasn't insulted because...I really did look terrible. I am not a clown person.

Book Review: Between a Rock and a Grace Place by Carol Kent

  This is the second book I've read by Carol Kent.  Her story is a sad and challenging one, but she has managed to find contentment in life and blessed many people through her books.

  The first is When I Lay My Isaac Down, which describes the incarceration of her only child, Jason, for first degree murder.  There was no question that Jason did commit the murder of his stepdaughters' biological father, because he was afraid the father was going to abuse the girls.   The various underlying issues that resulted in the murder are fascinating but ultimately it is all a tragedy, both for the man who died,  and his family, and for Jason and his family.

  This book, Between a Rock and a Grace Place, is full of personal stories (Carol's stories and others as well) and Scripture about persevering and finding contentment regardless of one's circumstances.

  I have to admit that I feel weird about the Kents' situation.  Weird and horrified and grieved.  I consider my children a huge responsibility and I suppose like most parents, I really want them to do well in adulthood. What "well" looks like, I don't know. I want them to follow the Lord. I want them to work jobs that are satisfying and useful -- whether that is in the workplace or at home as parents to children.

  The thought of all my kids ending up in prison due to first degree murder is just dreadful. Of course, I can pretty much guarantee that ALL my kids won't end up in prison like that, and it is almost certain that none will (Lord, please protect my kids from going nuts and murdering people!)  I don't know why the Kents had only one child and that's none of my business or concern, but they sort of put all their parenting eggs in one basket (to use a complicated metaphor) and until Jason was in his late 20's, he lived an exemplary life.  And then, murder, public and ugly trial, a life sentence, and a series of denied appeals.  So now the Kents are facing life without grandchildren (the wife and stepdaughters have moved on, apparently) and their son is stuck in prison 'til he dies.

  Yep, that is a hard thing to cope with.

 And it is a good message for me. I'm a perfectionist and I like things to be clean, neat, tidy, and good.  I dislike a messy house (though our house often IS messy) and get down about it.  Compared to what the Kents have gone through, I don't have anything to complain about.  But I still do. I still feel dissatisfied with life and fret about the difference between my ideal, and reality.

  Carol Kent's ideal is as far from reality as the earth is from the sun.  But she's content.  She's learned to thank the Lord for what she can. Jason has committed his life to Christ, and spends much of his time working with and discipling fellow prisoners.  That is good.

  I guess another point is that this life really is a blip in eternity.  To me, the thought of languishing in prison for decades until death is horrifying.  The death penalty seems easier. But we all need to embrace what the Lord has for us.  Sometimes it is pretty hard.  Sometimes is very hard.  Jason, of course, "deserves" his fate in that he stalked and murdered a man in cold blood, though his mental state was pretty wonky at the time.  But I still feel sad for him.  God is loving him, and using him, where is at.  That' s a great thing.

 

Pencil Thief

   Our Lydia likes to write stories at night.  We don't have laptops in the rooms, so she is "forced" to write them by hand.  I use the quotation marks because I don't think she minds very much.

   However, these are the famous triangular Ticonderoga pencils and they require a special pencil sharpener to be sharpened.

  Which is downstairs on the main floor.

  And we don't want kids wandering around after they are in their bedrooms at night.

  So the logical approach is to snaffle all the available pencils she can find every day, sharpen them up, and haul them up to her room.

  So sometimes it is hard to find a decent pencil around here!

 But who am I to argue with the creative impulse to write stories?

  More Ticonderoga pencils are on the way.  Thank you, Amazon.

Shoe Organization

Shoes are a challenge in our home, not surprisingly.  Eleven people have a lot of shoes, though we have fewer shoes than Imelda Marcos had all by herself :-).  WAY fewer shoes.  Some of our kids have literally one pair of shoes.

But still, lots of shoes.

I discovered this wonderful shoe organizer some time ago, but I recently bought a few more and utilized the setup more competently.  We now have 4 shoe organizers like this one.  It hangs from any closet rod.  I have one in my closet, 2 in the big girls' closet, and one in the main coat closet.  Obviously this organizer is up off the floor and allows for tidily storage of shoes.

I have most of my shoes located in the coat closet now.  The big girls have most of theirs in their closet, but if I find theirs kicking around, I put them in the coat closet too. The younger children's shoes are just tossed into a laundry tub and stored in a corner of the kitchen.

Little things like this really do help.  My shoes kept being stuffed in strange corners of the main floor, and I'd trip over them. Or Rosie would.

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

For all that I LOVE to read books, I usually don't like "the classics."  Many are gloomy or depressing. I get that many authors are plumbing the despair of the human condition, or making a point, or expressing outrage at the world system, but I usually read for fun.  I don't like depressing.

Fahrenheit 451 is a classic, I think. And to my total delight, I LOVE the book.  It is AWESOME.

It was written a long time ago, in the 1950's, and describes a dystopian society where "firemen" don't put out fires, they start fires to burn books.  I think many people who talk about the book talk about it in terms of book censorship, but the issues are way larger than that.  Essentially, the culture described in this book has embraced pleasure and simplicity and destroys books because no one wants to really THINK or grapple with difficult concepts.

It is a powerful book.  With lots of amazing ideas. AND, the prose is...wow...just...phenomenal.  Wow.  I mean really, Bradbury paints pictures with words like Van Gogh painted pictures with oils.

Given that my life consists largely of cleaning and cooking and disciplining 4 year olds and changing diapers, I relish times when my brain is engaged intellectually. This is an intellectual book in some ways, but also -- not really fun, I would say, but so fascinating it IS fun. I mean, we're not talking humor here. It's not amusing.  It is soul searching. It is penetrating.  It is good.

I read it because I've assigned the book to our big girls, who are working through a Christian based study guide produced by Progeny Press.

I think I'm more enamored with the book than the big girls are but that's Ok -- we don't always get to read books we love. And this book is worth reading.  Highly recommended.

Appointments and Busyness

  We deliberately keep our lives fairly simple.  Most people I know have their kids in a bunch of extra curriculars, but we do not.  Some LARGE families do soccer and karate and plays and all that, and of course that is fine. We have just decided being quiet and home much of the time is the best thing for our family.

  Weeks like this last one reinforce that decision, and weeks like this one stress me out. I worked 2 afternoons and had 3 prescheduled doctor appointments on Thursday and Friday.  Thursday morning, Lydia's finger brace broke so we had to make an emergency physical therapy appointment to get a new brace made.  Kevin kindly came home from work to take Lydia, and Kevin's mom graciously came over to watch the younger children, because I already had an orthodontics consult for Naomi and Joseph.  Regarding the orthodontics appointment, we need to figure out exactly what to do. We're praying and seeking wisdom as the course of treatment isn't 100% obvious.

I dislike the feeling of tearing around, rushing in and out, etc.  BUT, once again -- it is a blessing to have doctors and nurses and orthodontists and physical therapists and health insurance.  A blessing!

 When I went to work on Tuesday, I discovered to my shock that several people are being laid off from my company.  One is -- not a close friend, but a friend. So that was sad.  There was a going away luncheon on Wednesday and I talked with this lady for a while. Her entire career has consisted of short term stints (by short term, I mean  few years) at various companies and in various positions.  She keeps getting laid off. Her work ethic is fantastic, she is very pleasant, and everyone has only good things to say about her. But, the money dried up in one sector of the company, and they had to let her go.

  One other guy is retiring/laid off. He is 73!  Kevin knew him back when Kevin was just a wet behind the ears intern.

  I am thankful, once again, that Kevin has been blessed with much job stability. He keeps shifting to new positions within the Air Force, but he's never been threatened with a layoff.

  Friday morning, I took Rose and Angela in for well child checkups. Rose looks thin to me and indeed, she has gained only 4 or 5 oz in the last 3 months.  She is now just under 18.5 lbs.  The doctor and I talked through that.  Her height and head circumference are staying on the curve, and she's always been small, and I have lots of other thin children, so the doc is Ok with it.  I am going to try to add more fat and protein to her diet.  She does eat, but she's not a really enthusiastic eater.

Angela, age 8, gained only 2 lbs this year while adding 3 inches in height. She is also very thin and quite tall for her age.  She is a good eater but a busy girl.  So yeah, tall, thin kids are the norm around here.  I know some people don't bother with well childs for an 8 year old but I like a basic look see every year, to check for scoliosis if nothing else.

This coming week I'm already feeling stressed because I've got appointments Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Friday mornings!  Sigh. However, we'll get through this week and the schedule should ease up.  The M and T appointments are just for flu shot/flu mist.  Ideally, 6 kids could have gone in at once (3 got their vaccinations on Friday), but they couldn't fit all 6 in at the same time.  I know the pediatrician keeps running out of flu shots and mists, so I want to get it done while they still have them in stock.

I have a GREAT many friends who don't vaccinate.  It is very common in the homeschooling community.  Obviously we do vaccinate, a decision we made based on our personal study of the issues involved.  I am in favor of parental choice in this matter.  My belief is that once the government starts forcing mandatory shots on healthy people, we're walking into very dangerous waters.

Many people choose not to get the flu vaccine and indeed, I really can understand that. They are always guessing at the right strains to cover and people always get sick with some non covered strain.  But for us, with 3 people who get violently ill with the flu, I feel like it is a priority to make it happen. We still have rotten memories of the 2009 Swine Flu Epidemic.  Everyone got sick and I got the sickest. I spent 3 weeks in bed with horrible breathing from an unending asthma attack, and a follow up lung test showed potential damage, though I've been fine since then so I think I'm Ok. But that was nasty.

And that reminds me, I need to get a flu shot.