Daily Routine for Summer 2018

Per usual, our days are full.

Summer has it's own way of being full but is full none the less.
One of the first things I got into my head when I became a mom is that a routine that everyone can rely on is a major tool for peace and stability.
When the kids and I are on a good working routine we are all better rested, better exercised, better socialized, take better care of our belongings, and life is just smoother.
Perfect? No, of course not.
Don't let the lie of perfection creep in here.
Genuine peace and stability, though? You bet!

Here is what our 2018 summer routine looks like for a dad, a mom, a 5 year old girl, a 4 year old girl, and a nearly 3 year old boy...

7 dad and mom awake*
8:30 out of bed, eat breakfast, Adam leaves for work
9 put breakfast things away, brush teeth, get dressed if needed**
9:30 playtime or run errands
11:30 clean up or go home, wash hands, prep lunch
12 lunch, clean up, cartoon or kindle time
1 naps
3 up, eat a snack, playtime
5 daddy home: tackle him
6 clean up toys one last time, dinner, baths, watch a movie together if we stay home
7 boy goes to bed
8 girls go to bed
10 mom and dad go to bed

* I am not necessarily up. I'm terrible at getting out of bed before 8. I tend to stay put, read my bible, pray, and think about stuff till I can hear the kids get restless in their beds. They stay in bed till we let them get up.
** The kids don't wear pj's. The girls just wear stretchy shorts with a T shirt or cotton dress. Malachi wears a onesie or romper most days. All is comfy enough to sleep in and play in. If the clothing isn't visibly dirty, the kids stay in what they've got on. I think the longest run in the same outfit was three nights and four days. This also helps keep laundry waaaay down.

We don't follow this routine legalistically though.
For example, today we had our home inspection during our usual nap time hours, we kept a friend's baby for the day, and I went to a group exercise class.
So we picked up baby, made it to the class, went home for short, early naps, then ate lunch, went to the children's museum during our normal nap hours, and finally went home for chill time till dinner.
Those main hours of the day were all jumbled but we made it through.
On days like that I just try to make sure everyone alternates active times with a time of rest.
If we keep that pattern throughout a weird day, it's still a relatively peaceful day: minimal whining, fighting, sassing, clingyness.

When we keep our very real limitations in view, we can use what we do have and enjoy all the freedom that comes with it.

Summa' Time!!!!

It is officially summer!!
Wooooo hooo!

Larissa had her last day at school on Thursday

The school year has been so good on so many levels.

Larissa had such a growing experience getting to go to school every morning.
She made a lot of developmental progress and we all got to make a sweet connection with her teacher.
She left preschool just so excited for kindergarten.
She's actually having a hard time understanding the big summer break between the end of this school year and the start of the next.
I think she may still believe she's going to kindergarten on Monday.

McKinley and I enjoyed some more focused time together.
Malachi has made HUGE strides in his understanding and growth.
Our whole family benefited from the structure that comes with school of course.....but I am 100% excited about throwing that structure out the window for a couple months.

I surprised all of the kids by taking them swimming at Shakamak state park right after we picked L up from school.
We packed a lunch, threw on our suits, and hit the road.

I kiss on my kids.... a lot. 

We were all surprised to run into some friends there too.

Eventually some clouds rolled in and we had to roll out but it was our favorite start to what promises to be a memorable summer. 

Details to come... :) 

Life Update

Winter is starting to fade and we're feeling the little touches of spring here and there.

In our family, things are chugging right a long.
I feel know we are on the cusp of a very busy season that spans spring all the way into September.
It's kicking off with the mad rush to renew our foster care license which is a yearly beast of a process.

I am also planning events for my sister who is getting married.
I'm her maid of honor and more than happy to be planning bachelorette stuff (going camping!!), wedding shower stuff, and getting my own dress and things lined up.

Speaking of weddings, we have so many young couples that have gone through our ministry who are getting married. Adam will be busy completing marriage counseling. We like to take each couple out on a double date at some point too. Plus the actual weddings.

Our kids all have birthdays during the warm months.
Birthdays are an on going challenge for me because I would prefer a more minimalist way of celebrating. I would prefer taking the kids on a outing they choose or just eating somewhere they like plus a surprise. It's just very hard to celebrate anything in a minimalist way when there are so many people who want to love on the birthday kid. Parties tend to stress me out and bring so much waste and clutter. But I totally want to give my kids a special day and to take a moment to celebrate that God brought them into this world. This is the back in forth my mind goes through. Birthdays are something that will probably just be tweaked from one to the next depending on what the family needs and what the birthday kid desires.

The girls and I are also planning a little gardening project. Our neighbors are always generous with their vegetable garden. The girls have LOVED being able to pick off a few tomatoes or an egg plant or zucchini. Inspired by their enjoyment of that, we are going to make our own garden. The plan is to grow a salad. I think a tomato plant or two and a few lettuce and spinach plants are all we will tackle this year. I'm excited for the girls to help with the work, care for the plants, pick what grows, and eat it with something Daddy grills up. I'm looking forward to savoring every minute.

We are going on a family vacation in June which is something I am really looking forward to.
Traveling with the kids is becoming something that is easier and easier to do and I hope to do lots of it with them.

Traveling is also becoming more doable since soon our ADOPTION should be complete!!!
Wooo hoooo!
Our son's adoption should be final within these next few months.
Speaking of parties, somewhere in there we'll be planning and throwing an open house to celebrate!

There will be a few more times here and there that either Adam or I will be traveling on our own.

Given all that and knowing it is all soon to start has made these last few weeks of winter very enjoyable.
The slow pace is about to fade with the snow.
I've used the tail end of winter to make lists and plans, streamline our house so it's easier to maintain, and read up homemaking wisdom for busy seasons.

It all comes down to I just love this life.
I love the slow and quick rhythms and seasons.
I love caring for and meeting my family members' needs through the changing times.
I love making a plan that has their best interest at heart.
I love growing our family, celebrating, working on things with them, partnering with my husband through everything, and enjoying the rich life the comes out of it all.

Taking this time to reflect and look forward has me all excited for whatever comes.
It is all for the glory of God.
I'm praying for God's joy, wisdom and peace.
I pray that He would give us discernment for times we need to take rest.
I pray that we won't be too busy to spend time with Him and to look outside ourselves to see the needs of others.

How do you prepare for life's busy times?
Especially when it comes to managing home and caring for the spiritual + emotional well-being of your family members?

Yard Sale Helpers

Last week our neighborhood put on its yearly yard sale.
I joined in our first summer here because we had quite a bit of furniture from our rental house (which had very little storage) that wasn't needed in the new house.
Our new house also came apparently partially furnished with the previous owners cast offs most of which wasn't worth keeping around.
It was a lot of work.
I had to be up sooooo early, price everything, lug out too many tables, make crazy change transactions (mostly in my head), and deal with all the leftovers afterward.
By the end of it all, it felt like a lot of time and energy with not much return.

I decided to jump in on the action again this year.
To make it all easier and more motivating for me and to hopefully bring in more reward I did a few key things:

1. "Would I rather have a dollar in my hand right now than this item?"
With the mentality that I craved more free space for our family and fewer space-sucking items, I cleared stuff out for weeks with the very motivating promise of eager bargain hunters  just searching for what I didn't want anymore.  
As I combed through closets, bins, drawers, cabinets, and even our attic I asked myself with each item I saw "Would I rather have a dollar than this thing?"

That one little question made it incredibly easy for me to make a quick, no-regret decisions.

2. Set a purpose for the $$$ you make from the sale
If a dollar isn't terribly motivating for you, set a purpose for the money you might make from the sale. If you are able to get rid of 100 items, each marked $1, that's $100!!! A purpose we set for our money was to buy our daughters a bunk bed for the room they share. You wouldn't believe how much that goal encouraged even them to throw out toys, shoes, and clothes for the sake of their own bunk bed.

3. Make space to keep items until the sale
When I decided it would be worth it for us to have a yard sale, I asked Adam if he would help me by parking his car in the driveway for the month so I could use his garage space to keep items together and out of the way until the sale. He had no problem with that. Having a designated space to toss things to while I combed through the house made it simple to get things out of our way and out of the reach of young hands. Also it kept young eyes from seeing and asking for the toys and clothes I was sure we didn't need and wouldn't miss.

4. Mark things the easy way: don't
Don't mark all your stuff! Other than bigger, well working items that really could go for $5, $10, or even $20, my time is too valuable to spend it marking individual items as 50 cents here and $1.50 there. There was no agonizing over what that unwanted item was worth to me. It was much better for me to just make two signs posted at the front of our driveway stating that everything was a dollar unless marked otherwise. So simple! So easy! And shoppers are usually way fine with paying a straight up dollar than negotiating over cents.

I've also heard of people not marking anything at all and just setting out a by donation box with very good results. Generally people are more generous than you would ask of them.

5. For the last hour, make everything 50% off
Would you rather get half of your initial asking price and get rid of everything or have to lug everything back into your house and make nothing for it? If the former, then mark it all down! When I made the price signs for our driveway, I wrote on the back that everything was half off. When I had about an hour left of my sale, it was easier than pie to simply turn the sign around and let the flood of shoppers fill the driveway, people handing me 50 cents over and over again and walking off with my unwanted stuff. It was great!

Bonus: If like me, you really don't want to shuffle around what's left at the end, cart it all out to the curb and put a for free sign on it. Others benefit without having to pay higher prices at Goodwill and I didn't have to run an extra errand. If anything is left, feel free to trash what you couldn't even give away.

Maybe it goes without saying, but our yard sale was incredibly successful.
The best I've ever put on.
We were able to make over $200, get rid of countless unnecessary items that were eating up extra living space, and the new bunk bed is scheduled to arrive in just a couple days.
Woot woot!

Also no yard sale is complete without....

A Terre Haute specialty and the best donuts you'll ever have!

Adam made sure I was well supplied. 

Summer Memories

This was just one more crazy wonderful summer for the books. 

I LOVE having kids around for summer days. 

Sure, there are the times I would do anything to have someone take them for a day or two (or three) so I could get some sanity back, but crazy really can be pretty wonderful. 

So this is what summer 2017 looked like with a 4, almost 3, and almost 2 year old....

Mid June we went on vacation with my family to the gulf. 

We rented a big house on the ocean together. 

It was about an hour's drive from New Orleans so we planned on spending a day there.

We were really looking forward to seeing it. 

Adam and I had heard some warnings about going with a young family from other young families but we only saw the G rated side of the town. 

We simply wondered around the french quarter, looking at whatever caught our attention. 

We enjoyed some beignets and after walking and getting SO hot I had the best iced cafe au lait of my life!

The girls really loved seeing the jazz musicians who played up and down the streets. 

I loved the architecture and styling.

Of course there was a ton of time on the beach.
It was just a short little walk away so we were able to go every day.

The girls have been so into playing in rainstorms this summer. 

Every time one pops up, they ask to go outside.

I think it's the umbrellas.

 Adam and I celebrated our 8th anniversary in June by going to the beautiful wedding of two friends.

 I loved getting a chance to get a little fancy together.
And goofy. Always goofy.

Happy 8 years, man. 

You're my favorite. 

Also is it just me or does this guy just get better and better with every passing year?

Seriously. 

Enter more water.
My kids and I are water loving human beings.
We swam at least once a week some where.
Anywhere.
This is a favorite swimming spot.

This pool is at Shakamak State Park.

It has a zero entry length and a kid pool. 

Ideal for our usual party of 4.

Plus I get to lay like a beached jellyfish soaking up the sun while I can. 

 At the start of the summer, we learned that our son had several small cataracts in each eye.
His first surgery was in July on his left eye.
There was a bit of a complication when it became infected.
Our doctor was really concerned that it could be a specific type of infection that would be very aggressive and would leave him blind.
So she was very aggressive with antibiotics, extra checkups, and delayed surgery on the right eye.
It all healed up well and we just completed surgery on the right eye last week.

So far all is well and we are expecting to get him fitted for glasses when we go in for a checkup this week.

We've been able to go for a few short hikes at another favorite state park, Turkey Run

The girls are starting to be drawn off trail to climb on fallen limbs and big rocks.

That's pretty fun. 

I'm looking forward to longer walks and trickier paths with them.

The fourth of July was spent with Adam's family in his parents hometown.
We got to see the teeny little parade.

Cousin time. 

We all wish it could happen more often. 

Taking group photos like this with big kids who used to be tiny and little kids who used to only be wishes- it's enough to get all the moms misty eyed. 

We celebrated our July baby who turned 3!
Fun fact: Kenna cried each and every time she was sung to, even if it was just Adam and I.
Even when her South Carolina cousins sent her a happy birthday video.....oy vey.
She's not very fond of such concentrated attention.

Towards the end of July it got to be so hot, nearly in the 100's.

We walked to the park thinking nothing of it. 

By the time we got there though, the kids were too miserably hot too play. 

After several minutes of me telling them to buzz off and play and them stubbornly refusing (with good reason) I remembered a little creek at the side of the park. 

 Ahhhhh! So much better.

I don't know that we would have been able to walk home without this refreshing stream. 

Another day, another walk. 

We walked to get a smootie and surprise Daddy who was sermon writing at Java Haute. 

Every Wednesday for about a month we met a group a friends to swim.

Good times!!!

The kids could swim for up to 3 hours and the moms got to catch up. 

We would pack lunches and stay through the hottest part of the day heading home for naps when the little ones were at their wits end. 

 Then of course we got to send Larissa off to school.
She's starting in on her 2nd full week and things are going so well!

Here we are holding on to summer moments as long as we can in our own backyard. 

*sigh*

Love 'em. 

Homey Morning

This morning was like, great.
In a very basic, nothing going on, just room to do stuff and do NOTHING kind of way.
My family needs mornings like that.
I need mornings like that.

Usually when I wake up and before I get out of bed (sometimes even the night before) I try to pick a big goal for the day.
Our day needs a focus.
That's my trick for making sure we (my three very young children and I) stay active and productive but in a balanced way.
During colder months, my pool of choices usually include doing all the laundry, visiting the library, getting groceries, going to a fun thing like the children's museum, keeping an appointment, walking to the park, visit with friends, or going to a women's bible study.
During warmer months, I choose from many of those plus swimming, going for a hike, walking to a favorite creek to splash in, picking through yard sales, or spending the day with friends.

I pick one and only one focus to take up the bulk of our day.
While we go about doing whatever I've focused on, we do the daily little necessities and homemaking stuff as I go and as I have the energy/motivation.
Things like picking up, doing the dishes, special projects, organizing, etc.
I follow no cleaning schedule or anything.
Never could seem to stick to one.
But things get done as I notice it and it seems to work for us.

So with all those options, life is so not boring.
And I believe that staying reasonably busy is a blessing to both my kids and me.
It teaches them how to be part of our community, giving me tons of opportunities to teach them how to simply do life.
I'm comfortable taking my kids pretty much anywhere on my own because we all know what to expect from each other.
It's good for me to stay occupied whether it's inside or outside our house because I can tend towards the couch potato life......

But some days like today, it's a treat to get up slow, eat an easy breakfast, stay in pj's, and just be together.

No appointments.
No people.
No expectations.
No car.
No hustling.
No time constraints.

Thank goodness for getting stuff done but thank goodness for cozy-chill-stay-at-home days