Happy Halloween!

(She is not happy about the cape that goes to this costume.  I had to bribe her to wear it just once for a picture!  See the final photo of this post for a happier witch face)

Here are some preliminary Halloween photos from our house.

Just in case you were wondering, pictured, from left to right: Annabeth Chase (from the Lightning Thief), a bumblebee, a witch, and a nerd.  This nice calm picture does not reflect our crazy morning running around the house from top to bottom (literally) searching for all those last minute costume must-haves.

This year I have a nerd and a bird!  Ha ha.  This bird did not want to be parted from Mom, especially for a silly picture.

What crazy mother schedules a well check on Halloween?  Me, apparently.  After our crazy morning and school parade we hustled on over to the doctor.  I love this picture of my little bird checking out the fishies.

The doctor and his staff were dressed as Smurfs!  My kids are obviously embarrassed and horrified to be in pictures with such silly grown-ups.

He is thinking, I know what you are about to do to me, lady!  Why would I want to smile for a photo as if I don't!

We are trying really hard to maintain our goal of home lunches for an entire year.  Today we had no time to make them, so I picked a little something up on the way.  Not healthier, but I figured it could be a reward for all those healthy lunches every day this year!  The kids were thrilled.

Still trying to "get in the picture!"  My head is cut off a little because I asked this cute girl's friend to snap a photo (still too embarrassed to ask adults sometimes, especially that scary lunch lady).

Love these kiddos and their friends.

Now that's better!

Happy Halloween everyone!  Still praying for you East Coasters!

This Month's Goals - Month 7

This month I'm going to work on a few different things.

1 - Follow a consistent schedule.  I made myself a schedule last month as I was organizing.  In past years, I function best with a planned day.  Otherwise I get tunnel vision and waste time on whatever I'm focused on in the moment.  I tried a schedule in the summer and it didn't work.  I'm going to try focusing more energy on it this time in hopes that it will work and help me be more efficient, giving me more time for what matters most, especially my family!  I'm going to keep in the back of my mind that the schedule is a guideline and people always come first.

2 -  Pay better attention to how I show affection to my children through physical touch-- another of the five love languages.  This is not a hard thing for me with my little ones (so easy to shower little hugs and kisses on those little cheeks!), I just want to be more conscious and aware of how much affection my older kids are getting.  I've also become aware that some of my kids crave more physical affection than others (um, a little girl who wants to sit in my lap at every meal, who hangs on me when I'm changing diapers, you get the picture), and make sure I tailor this to each individual child's needs.

3 - For my own well filling:  drink 8 glasses of water a day and start a reading a book that pushes me intellectually and is outside my normal comfort zone.  :)

4 - For my husband:  hold his hand more.  :)

I also have something I'm going to work on from a religious perspective but it would probably bore you. :)

Have a wonderful Halloween!  I hope you weren't caught in the storm on the East Coast, and if you were, I hope you and your loved ones are okay (I thought of you constantly!).  As long as we are ok, I enjoy those crazy times when we have no power because we have some good bonding times together (even the time our house flooded one week before I was due with my fifth baby!).  How do you feel about crazy storms? 

Spooky Dinner

Every year we have a "spooky" dinner.  We have always held it the night of Halloween, but this year we decided to try having it on a different night.  The kids have always loved this tradition.  I love how my husband really gets into it, too.  In past years he has been the genius behind the food, except for the homemade root beer (made with dry ice in our plastic cauldron), which is my job (recipe here).  This year I prepared it with the kiddos before he got home from work.  Mostly, we rename normal foods with gross names.  But we also have a few just-for-Halloween treats.  This year we debuted our new brain jell-o mold with mixed results.  We usually have spaghetti (calling it brains) but this year we had cheese fondue, (yuuuumm) one of my favorites.  My kids helped a lot and my son made this cute menu all on his own. 

We told them to act crazy for the following photos, but they didn't really need any encouragement-- they were so excited.

MENU

1…..Coffin Carrots

2…..Witch’s Eyeballs

3…..Zombie Fingers

4…..Pus Stew

5…..Fresh Monster Brain

6…..Witch’s Fingers

7…..Toad Warts

8…..Bunnicula Veggies

9…..Bat Wings

10…..Severed Giants Toes

If you don’t like our menu, you’re always welcome to become part of it!

Notice: a pest aguia inc. and associates are not responsible for any illnesses, maladies, or any changing of shape that may occur when eating our products. When you walk into our facilities you must be aware you are on our property and are subject to what we may do to you including: torture, grinding, and other various things that, strangely, most customers do not like.

What are your Halloween traditions?

Portrait of a Boy at 18 Months

 Oops, there goes my balloon.

I couldn't get this little cutie to sit still for even a couple of seconds at times!  He is a busy, busy boy right now.  But I love it.  And he sure loves his mom.  It is his artwork you see in the background of these photos. 

What I Learned About Organization, Month 6

This was an interesting month.  I hit a major wall this month, and I'm pretty sure it had to do with staying up late with my husband to watch the end of one of the old seasons of a TV series we used to watch, like years ago.  (learning again, that when I'm tired, especially when I sleep past that magic time that day makes the day go smoothly, I'm sooo less effective as a parent and things fall apart around here!)  We enjoyed ourselves, but I'm going to try not to get sucked into the next season, see if I can avoid some grisly Jack Bauer torture scenes.

Here is what I learned this month:

1 - I've decided there are three critical times of day for me that affect the outcome of my whole entire day.  When I'm behind on one of these, things really snowball in a bad way.  One is the time I get up, the next is when I exercise, and the last is what time we have dinner.

2 - It is hard to get organized when I'm unorganized.  :)

3 - Some organization needs a simple framework.  I planned out activities and dates with my husband and kids for the whole year.  At first, it was a bit daunting to sit down and know where to start.  First I filled in all the set dates, like days off school.  I tried to decide how many bigger activities my time and budget would allow (for example, after looking into cultural events-- ahhh....there were so many great ones!  I want to expose the kids to so many wonderful things!  But one trip to the theater is a big chunk of money!). Then, for better or worse, I decided on one big activity a month, a date with one child per month, two dates with my husband, etc.  I planned in one story time at the library per month, instead of weekly, in order to give us time to explore and play close to home.  I planned which days of the week I'd dedicate to which activities, with the kids and around the house.  I decided I'd dedicate the weeks of the month's according to my priorities-- so my weekend to go out with my husband comes before my weekend doing something with the kids/as a family.  This helped give structure to my plan.  I made a list of activities for the year, keeping in mind our overall goals with  our motto Learn, Do, Be.  For example, I thought January would be the perfect month to practice our restaurant skills.  I scheduled a trip to the lake in August, when the water is warmest.  A trip to the homeless shelter in November.  None of these have to be set in stone, but this way I can be more purposeful about how we spend time together, and I can see a visual reminder of something we should be doing!

4 - Starting something is half the battle.  This was true for the things I planned, and also for quality time this month.  Spending time together has been the best part of my project, but I had a really hard time forcing myself to put down the laundry or dishes or whatever it was this month in order to have our quality time together.  Once I started doing something with the kids, though, it became enjoyable and easier, helping me push through a tempting rough patch.  (and getting out really helps me when I'm challenged this way because I'm not distracted by all my to-do's!  I made a new schedule for myself, filling it in, again, with a rough framework of have-to's and priorities and then filling in the gaps.

5 - Teamwork!  I was drawing a major blank on planning our family home evenings for the year.  So, imagine this, I asked my husband and he had a great idea.  Why not -- Learn, Do, Be?  So the first week of each month will be learning something religious, second week will be secular (from our list of things we want them to learn before leaving home), third week we'll actually put them into practice, primarily by "doing" things for others, and the last week we'll focus on the "be" part.  Just having a framework really helped the planning to breeze by!

6-  Simplifying can reduce my stress and protect my wallet, while making me more relaxed and fun to be around, giving those golden moments of happy unplanned times as a parent.

7 - Organization doesn't have to be fancy-- it just has to work for me.  I love this woman's approach to organization.  This is what I'm going to do-- I have a binder and a notebook (on her blog, see "Around the House" and then "Life Binder," neither one fancy)!

 8 - Sometimes I have to accept that some days are just going to be crazy!  No matter what I do!  I need to cultivate a sense of humor about these times so I can laugh rather than cry.  And talk to other moms who are going through the same thing.  So I can see that these days aren't forever.  And some things really are funny.  (one of the things I loved about I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch (Eyre) was her funny re-countings of some of their crazy times-- and I know that her children turned out great!  Wow was it nice to feel like I'm not alone, and some of these things really are funny.)

Doing this planning was a bit onerous, but once I got the hang of it, it was kind of fun!  I feel invigorated and excited for next month!  Now that I have the hard part behind me, things should go a bit smoother.

New goals for next month and a six month recap coming up!

How do you help yourself get organized?  I'm kind of loving yearly planning right now, I did it for scouts and it was awesome.  One big planning session, then sit back and enjoy my work with minor tweaks here and there.  And often I can use the same plan the next year. 

Gettin' in the Picture

Ok, I promised an update and I'm still working on it! 

But here is something I've been wanting to blog about anyway.  About getting in photos more often with my kids.  I love the heck out my kids!  And I want to capture that on film-- so they can remember just how much I loved them.  Because we have had some great times together.

Only, there are a couple of obstacles.  One is the way I look.  I had braces for 4 years, yes, count 'em, four years.  And I have all these crooked teeth.  Someday I want to get them fixed, but not yet.  Seems like doing my hair/make-up is kind of spotty many days.  And I'm not the most fashionable person-- I care, I really do-- but, lets just say-- baby and/or multiple toddlers with me 24/7 for the last 11 years!  And when it comes right down to it, usually I feel like something else should be a priority.  And no matter what I do with myself these days, I'm starting to look old.  Another one, that I always gain weight right after I have a baby (but I can't lose it because I'm nursing...even though it is hard for me, I figure the baby will be much happier if I have nursed him/her than if I can fit right into my pre-pregnancy clothes).  So I hate seeing myself in pictures with all those pounds to lose-- it reminds me how little control I have over how much I eat, especially sweets. 

Bottom line:  I cringe just about every time I see myself in pictures, for some reason or other. 

(BUT guess what? My kids don't care if my teeth are crooked or I have a few pounds to lose.  They wouldn't trade the most beautiful, most wealthy, most powerful, most charming person in the world right now for their own mother!  Maybe that will change :) in just a few years)



Obstacle number 2: I am so super embarrassed to ask someone to take my picture!  I have really craved some pictures with my last two babies, but these two obstacles get in my way!

Obstacle number 3:  I have learned to love documenting the beauties of childhood, and especially my children's moments, behind the camera lens.  But that also means I have been out of the picture even more.  (and sometimes I have to remember to put it down so I can take part in the activity, and not just be a bystander)

So this blog post on the Power of Moms really resonated with me.  About "getting in the picture."  About getting over whatever it is, so my kids will have pictures of us together!  So they can see how much fun we had together, and how much we loved eachother. 

This blog especially inspires me to "get in the picture."  The love this little family has for eachother just oozes out of their photos.  There is so much joy-- and loving, happy looks.  (it helps that they are gorgeous)

Ok, see that picture below?  I could dissect all the things about myself that... ugggh.  But look how happy we look!

Do you "get in the picture" with your little ones?  What deters you, if you don't?   Take the "get in the picture" challenge with me!

Organization Update (Again?)

(Great read.  -- hey, it even works for Halloween! ha--  More about this book next week)

Um, I'm supposed to be organizing this month, and what I'm learning is that it is hard to get organized when I am unorganized!  Ha.

I sat in front of my computer on Monday and all was blank.  So I'm going to hunker down right now (I know my month should be over already!  aaaaaagggh!) and finish what I started, like, six weeks ago. 

I'm glad I didn't finish, though, because I've gotten some new insights on planning/organization.

It's all well and good to get organized and try to maximize one's day.  But what I've gotten here and here and here (see Of Regrets and Resolutions-- awesome!) is a little perspective.  There are so many good things to choose from in life.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could choose all of them.  And isn't there a lot of pressure right now to do it all?  As a culture we are infected with hurry sickness, myself included, to squeeze in as much as possible into life.  But what are we trying to squeeze in?  How much will the things we do today really matter when life is done?

Is more really better?  More toys just add more work in clutter.  More activities make us rush around with little time to think or connect or see other people around us that might need our help.

So as I prepare to attack my schedule and planning, I'm also going to be focusing on what to cut out.  Off the top of my head, I think I could check Facebook less (all the political updates are driving me crazy anyway) and substitute some real face time with people I care about.  Trying to stave off my continous snack attack would give me more time and a smaller waistline.  :)  Even if I give up one little five minute time waster (ahem, Instagram), I can make those five minutes meaningful to one of my children.

During a recent event, I found that all my children were happily occupied and I found myself beckoned by some beautiful craggy autumn trees through some underbrush to the bank of a small river, that glinted orange and yellow in the lazy afternoon sunlight.  I remembered -pause- that somewhere under the busy mom is a person who had (wait, has!) goals and dreams for my life.  I realized I need to be alone more often-- for a little clarity, in my own life and so I can better help those in my care.  Then one minute later my cute husband and baby came trundling along behind me, with little happy smiles on their faces.  Happy sigh.  Alone time over, but I'm lucky to have these dear people to keep me running!  I just need to make sure I'm running where I want to go, enjoying the journey, and not just the destination.

What do you cut out of your schedule in order to simplify?  What is your favorite quiet moment?  And how do you fend off guilt when you say "no?"   

As a side note, you can get I Never Planned to be a Witch (Eyre)-- I think-- for free on the Power of Moms website if you sign up for emails.  I have a link in my sidebar.  It is an encouraging, simple book that I really enjoyed and felt inspired by. 

Halloween Party

We had a Halloween Party with some cousins.  It was a wonderful day.  We enjoyed a beautiful and happy day together in the gorgeous weather before the weather melted into drizzly rain and chilly days a couple of days later.

Just toilet paper rolls and cupcake liners.

When my six year-old couldn't find her bee costume, her sister pulled out her sewing kit and made her a little skirt!  It was halfway done when I found her making it.  I was really impressed with that thoughtful act.  And look how cute it turned out!  With no help or input from me.

Little boy discovered this little "bike" and had a great time.  Whoever thought of putting no pedals on a toy for this age is a genius.

I just want to eat up this little boy!

Gourd bacci (sp?) ball was a hit.  Very funny.  After the boys played, my son and I played with my father-in-law and his woman.  Made for a good laugh! 

Weekend Update

This is how we started our weekend:

Don't worry.  We are fine.  I'll explain tomorrow.

Trying to squeeze in a little extra organization time for my project today.  How was your weekend?