Settling In

Ever since our laptop has completely died, it's been a lot harder for me to get these blog posts up!  The problem with going too long in between posts is that pretty soon there is WAY too much to catch up on and it seems like an insurmountable task.  Thankfully, I've got a little bit of time on my hands this evening to give you a weekend update part two.

Well, folks -- it seems as though we are finally settling in to our new surroundings!  Aside from the simple passage of some time, there are a few other factors that I think have helped in our transition here over the last few weeks.  As we started our new family economy last month to tackle the financial aspect of avoiding the entitlement trap with our children, it became increasingly clear that a dual (or multi) armed approach would be necessary for truly succeeding in that goal.  After a particularly challenging Saturday about a month ago {Grace ended up being thrown in a cold shower  3 or 4 times before the day was over}, I had yet another crying breakdown to the kids as we forced them all to gather for a family meeting while the little ones were napping.  Earlier that week -- for Family Home Evening -- I had given a lesson on how we need to get back on track with reading the Book of Mormon as a family everyday.  I had come across a quote a few days before and as soon as I read it knew that THAT was the missing piece to the puzzle of how to have more peace in our home.

{I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness. 

-- President Marion G. Romney}

For my lesson that Monday, I tried to issue a challenge to see if we could make it a hundred days straight of reading together in order to earn a reward of some sort.  Everyone was on board with the plan, but then life went on and we discovered night after night that we had forgotten to do it, or had run out of time, or just plain skipped it because the kids were all acting too crazy.  Well, on that breakdown Saturday -- in the midst of my crying -- I managed to read them the quote once again and asked them for their help in figuring out a way to make this challenge happen.  Our ever-surprising-surprise, Grace, ended up suggesting the brilliant idea of having US read to THEM from the Book of Mormon each night before going to bed.  It was genius I tell you.  Especially since we're already in the habit of reading to them one by one every night anyway.  

Since that night, we have been reading something from the Book of Mormon first with each child  before moving on to the secular reading of the evening and it has been a miraculous success.  I kid you not -- the first week we started implementing this new plan was like one out of the twilight zone.  The kids were coming home from school in pleasant moods, getting chores down without complaint, and being kind and helpful to each other and me.  Obviously none of us are perfect and I can't say that everything has been completely hunky dory ever since, but the stark contrast of that first week in comparison to the previous weeks' struggles was enough to leave me humbled. The overwhelming result of our Book of Mormon challenge is that the children's behavior has been MUCH better than it was before.  And that's a good thing.  Hahaha.

Other highlights of the last couple of weeks include:

•   Gymnastics

 

I finally got around to signing the girls up for gymnastics.  They've been begging for it ever since we moved, and even more so since Ethan started soccer.  All three were initially wanting to join, but after a free trial class, Grace decided it wasn't really her thing.  {It is a bit hard to start from scratch with a sport like gymnastics as an almost-nine-year-old.}  Sophie and Jane on the other hand L-O-V-E it.  And I have to admit -- I love it, too.  :)

•  A Date Night

 

Scott and I decided it was high time last weekend to finally get out of the house and go on a real date.  We haven't gone out since we've moved here, and in fact, the last real date we had was probably back in MAY when we came out here for our house-hunting trip sans children.  We should probably try and go out more often.

• Running

A couple of Saturdays ago, I brought Ethan along with me for my long run of the day.  We did TEN miles.  He accompanied me by scooter for the first 6 miles and then after a brief water stop, he wanted to run with me for the last 4.  We ended up alternating half miles of running with half miles of walking, but still -- I was mega-impressed that he was up for it.  Of course, he will probably never let me sucker him into it ever again, but that's mostly because I am, unfortunately, out for the count.  Boo.  I've had so many problems with shin splints and other aches and pains as I've trained for the half-marathon this time around that I've decided it's time to stop being stubborn and listen to my body instead.  When my legs were still hurting several days after that 10 mile run {even with icing and stretching, etc.},  and the 3 mile run I forced myself to go on next was painful and torturous almost every step of the way, I made the executive decision to let this dream go.  I'm pretty bummed about not getting a new sticker to put on the new mini-van, but mostly I'm just relieved.  It's just not worth the pain.

• Last Paradise Ice run of the season

 

Ethan and I were probably the saddest to see the stand close for the season.  We got our last fix in for the year, though, and it was delish.  :)

•  Before and Afters

Those of you who know me well, know how much I live for projects.  Especially of the Before and After variety.  Since we've moved here, the Dining Room has been on my to-do list but has obviously been fairly low on it.  On Thursday I decided it was time to DO something about it and I started painting the wall.  To say that we didn't care for the previous look of the room is an understatement.  Nothing made me happier than painting the entire lower half white and then neutralizing the top up above.  It seriously made a world of difference in the room.

{Benjamin Moore color -- "Simply White" in a semi-gloss finish.  The paint was still wet here, which is making it look shinier than it actually is.}

{Ralph Lauren's "Antique Bone" on top.  The paint wasn't completely dry yet on top, so better pictures will be forthcoming once the room is cleaned and put together.}

In other Before and After news, I was super stoked to find a dresser for Grace this weekend at the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift store.  Especially since it was huge, solid wood and in pretty good condition with the drawers, AND only 15 bucks.  Score.  I already had paint out from doing the wainscoting in the Dining Room, so it was a quick fix to spray some primer on that bad boy and then slap a few coats of Simply White on the dresser to dress it on up for Grace's room.  The only thing left to do now is put some Polycrylic on it and haul it up the stairs.  I can't wait to take pictures of the finished product!

The Before

• Yard Work

And last but not least, we decided to take being homeowners seriously this weekend and finally got around to tackling our front and back yards.  When our trucks got here almost 3 months ago, we realized that the movers had left behind an entire shed of our stuff back in St. Louis.  As a result, we've been without a lawnmower since that time.  The first couple of months it was just easier to hire someone to cut the grass temporarily.  By the end of August, though, we decided it was time to get our own lawn mower and take care of our own business.  So, of course, we didn't end up actually getting one until just this past weekend.  Hahahaha.  Hashtag we are the worst.  Well, Christmas came a little early for Ethan, because he practically died from excitement when Scott got back from the Home Depot on Saturday with not only a lawn mower, but a leaf blower and an electric pruner as well. 

{I should have taken a before picture to make this look more impressive!  Hahaha.  Ethan did a ton of weeding and then pruned all the bushes for me while I bought a bunch of mums to plant and add a little color to our front entryway.  The next item up for business on the exterior is to change the paint colors of the doors, shutters, and other trim work.  I can't wait!} 

{Unrelated but worth documenting nonetheless.  I found this poster stuffed behind some boxes in the Dining Room when I started prepping it for painting.  I told Ethan I was going to frame it and hang it somewhere so he could see it everyday and be reminded of it.  Hahahaha.}

And that my friends is that.  It's late and I'm tired, so I think I'll sign off for now.  Until next time!

Weekend Update

Life has been busy around here {surprise, surprise}.  Nothing super exciting or out of the ordinary has occurred since last time I blogged, but I figured everyone is just dying for an update on all of the ordinary little nitty gritties of our everyday life.  Hahahaha.  This is what life looks like for us these days:

• Teen Beach Movie

Since Disney's World Premiere of it's brand-new movie, my children have probably watched it, lived it and loved it at least a hundred times.  Possibly more.  They've learned the choreography, they've learned the music, and they've learned every key line they'll need for the remake they plan on taping with their cousins the next time we're all together.  I kid you not.  Even ALEX has certain songs and dance moves memorized.  Hahahaha.  It is HILARIOUS.  There is nothing funnier than watching your 2 year old sing about "when you meet the girl you like."  I taped a snippet of him singing and dancing with the girls, but I can't find it which means it's probably been erased from my phone.  I will have to see if I can get an encore at some point.

• Breakfast Time

Mornings have been HARD.  Mostly because I am not a morning person.   Ideally, I would get up half an hour before the kids in order to get a jump start on breakfast and the morning, but that has never once happened.  Instead, I set my alarm for 6:15 and then hit snooze for as long as I possibly can before I absolutely HAVE to start getting the kids up for school.  Which is usually around 6:45.  In my ongoing efforts to try and do a better job at feeding my family, I have been making a concerted effort since school started to provide something that is hardy and filling enough to last them through the morning.  To aid in this goal, it's been helpful to set out a breakfast "menu" schedule so I'm not scrambling to decide what to make every morning.  Sounds super sophisticated, right?  Hahaha.  It's not.  Monday and Wednesday are pancake days, Tuesday and Thursday are eggs or oatmeal days, and Friday is Free Space meaning cereal or anything else that is easy enough that they can do themselves.  For the pancakes, I try to power pack them with as much goodness as I can and have been using my blender to make whole wheat/oatmeal pancakes.  Having a dairy and egg allergy is a bit of a nuisance, and since Sophie's really are kind of gross and no one else will eat them, I end up making two separate batches every single time.  Here is the basic "recipe" in case anyone cares to try them out:

Blender Pancakes {using a Blendtec blender}
2 c. milk
2 heaping spoonfuls of greek yogurt (more protein) or regular yogurt
2 eggs
1 tsp salt  (surprisingly important -- it only takes forgetting it once to make you never forget again)
2 T. oil (I use sunflower oil -- it tastes a little more "buttery")
2 T. maple syrup (the real deal, not the fake stuff)
1 c. Wheat berries (I've been using Hard White Wheat) {you can substitute about 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour if you don't have wheat}
1 c. Steel Cut Oats (more protein) or regular oatmeal if I'm all out of the other kind
1 T. baking powder
Blend on high for a few minutes until you've got a pancake batter.  If it's a little runny you can add a bit more of the wheat or oats.  It's kind of an estimate.  If it's too thick, you can always add a little milk or water to it.  Makes about 18 pancakes.

Sophie's Blender Pancakes
1 1/2 c. water
2 T. oil
2 T. maple syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. vinegar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 to 3/4 cup Wheat berries
1/2 to 3/4 cup Steel cut oats
2 T. arrowroot powder {egg substitute}
Same blending directions.  Makes about 12 pancakes.  I made waffles for her last Saturday using some key substitutions and additions and I actually thought they were really good.  Instead of water I used apple cider, I added another couple of T. of oil to make them work as waffles, and I added a tsp. of cinnamon.  They were really good.

• Lunches

Lunches.  Sigh.  Here is part of the real reason why I feel the need to provide a substantive breakfast.  Part of getting their "morning check" on their economy charts is that the kids have to make their own lunches for school.  I don't think this is a super hard thing, but my kids can be REALLY lazy.  And particular.  And have odd issues with all kinds of things.  For instance, Ethan no longer likes my homemade bread to be used for actual sandwiches, Grace has jumped on that bandwagon as well, and Sophie never really packed sandwiches to begin with since she can't have peanut butter which is the easiest thing to make.  She brought turkey roll-ups for lunch almost everyday last year, but perhaps has OD'd on them, because she refuses to ever pack that anymore.  The result is that on any given day, I am just waiting for the school to call me and tell me that my kids are not bringing enough food for lunch.  "I'm not hungry at school!" claims Ethan, "My class eats lunch at 10:40 and that's too early!" says Grace, and "This is all I need!" screams Sophie on an almost daily basis.  After realizing that Ethan had only packed a can of oranges for school one day, I now try to make a point each day of making sure they have at least more than that.  In the end, though, they are usually only bringing a slice of bread {sometimes with butter, sometimes not} and one or two other "extras" from the pantry such as applesauce or pretzels with the occasional cheese stick thrown in for Ethan and Grace.  I have no idea if this is really enough, but on the days when I make Sophie's lunch for her in order to force her to pack some turkey and other filling things instead, she comes home from school with the food uneaten anyway.  Ethan, on the other hand, raves on a daily basis about the "share bin" in the cafeteria where kids can put school lunch items that are uneaten and untouched.  Apparently he's been getting milk out of there daily, and who knows what else.  Oh well, I guess we'll just see how the year progresses.

•  After School Snacks

 As a result of the lunch issues, I have been making a point of trying to have a "real" snack waiting for them when they come home from school.  It has been a HUGE hit!  And has the added bonus of really staving off a lot of the craziness that begins to emerge when all the kids are home and bordering on the red zone because they're tired, hungry, and grumpy. 
 

 Yesterday's snack -- a vegetable platter with homemade ranch dip.  And I promise they really did love it and eat it up before moving on to a preview of the s'mores we were planning on making after dinner.

• Dinner

 While we're talking about all of our meals, I thought I'd document that -- for the most part -- the dinner hour is actually one of our more pleasant parts of the day.  Hahaha.  At least once everyone is sitting down and food is being shoveled into their faces.  Getting to that point, however, is almost always an ordeal.  Which makes it that much more interesting when they all start clamoring for their "compliments" during dinner time.  I don't know when exactly we started that tradition, but it's something that they really like to do.  And I like it, too.  Even if it is kind of hard sometimes to rack my brain for a sincere and legitimate compliment for each child in the family.  Hahahaha. 

• Family Economy

Our Family Economy has been running pretty smoothly!  There are definitely a few weak spots in the system {the Kitchen is the Achille's Heel of the whole operation}, but for the most part the kids have been pretty good about getting their checks done each day.  Okay scratch that.  Ethan and Grace have been pretty good about getting their checks done each day.  Poor Sophie has struggled.  Mostly because she just finished her second turn with the kitchen which resulted in her second time of getting no allowance for the week.  The Entitlement Trap recommends children joining in on the family economy once they are 8 and since Sophie is only 6, I definitely think that is part of her problem.  I don't know if the new system is quite motivational enough for her just yet.  The only reason we decided to let her join in with the older kids, anyway, was because she had been getting allowance in our old system and we didn't think she'd like the idea of being cut off completely.  Haha. The funny thing about Sophie is that when she's on, she's actually a really good little worker.  Especially when it comes to cleaning bathrooms which are her specialty.  I kid you not -- she begs to clean the bathroom every Saturday.  Hahaha.




 

• Pluggies

Kind of random, but Alex is cutting his back molars right now and has been a bit of a cranky mess.  He has also taken to chomping on his pacifiers so hard that he has now bit holes in all of them except for one.  And as luck would have it, we couldn't find it at bedtime tonight, so that was really fun.  Not.  Hahaha.  After listening to him cry for his pluggie for half an hour, I finally just gave in and gave him one of the hole-y ones.  And since it seems to cruel to deprive him of a comforting item in the midst of his teething trauma, I'm sure I will break down and buy him some more when I can run to the store tomorrow.  What can I say?  I'm a softie.

• Library Fines

In the short month and a half that we've belonged to our local library here, we have managed to rack up almost 50 dollars in fines.  What what say what?????  Unlike our St. Louis library, THIS library charges a dollar a day for overdue DVDs.  Having 7 checked out at once was not a good idea.  We will not be doing that ever again.

• Bedtime Routines

I totally jinxed myself by deciding to include this category, because after a couple of weeks of relatively smooth sailing, Grace decided to have a meltdown at bedtime tonight.  Thankfully, even that only lasted an hour and she went to sleep just fine right after.  Our typical routine these days involves putting Alex and Jane down between 6:30 and 7, with me reading to Jane before tucking her in.  Sophie's bedtime is 7:30 and Ethan and Grace are at 8.  Scott usually reads to Sophie and Ethan, and I  read to Grace.  Since school has started, I have successfully put a time limit on my reading of 5 minutes, which is why neither Sophie nor Ethan want me to do their reading.  {Scott is a much bigger softie than I am when it comes to reading aloud.  Hahaha.}

Since I know you're all dying to know what we've been reading, I'll fill you right in.  This summer we have delved into all things Harry Potter.  Ethan just finished the final book {he really took off with the 6th one and couldn't get through the last one fast enough} and Sophie has finished reading the 1st one and is halfway through the second.  Grace, however, has always been a tough sell on the series.  Perhaps because I love them so much and have tried to push her into reading them, or perhaps because she has already seen the first few movies and gets bored reading the books when she already know what's going to happen, but for whatever reason, she just has never gotten bit by the bug.  I bought the audio recording of Book One to listen to in the car this summer during some of our trips with the hopes that it would finally catch her interest and I was semi-successful in luring her in!  We are now in the third book, and she listens to the audio recording of the first book every single night to help her go to sleep.  However, we also have a battle almost every day with her wanting to just watch all the movies instead.   We've stuck to our guns, though, that if she wants to watch the movies she has to read the books first.  This is the deal we made with Ethan a few years ago when he started the series, and even though Grace has actually convinced us to let her watch the first 4 movies without having read the books first, we're holding fast for the last 3 in the series. 

• Bear Hunts

In the munchkin league, Alex has been OBSESSED with the book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and begs to read it all day long.  He is kind of hilarious.  He has the book practically memorized at this point and chants along with most of the text as we go on our bear hunts every single day.  I just love how my kids fixate on things.  Hahaha.

 

• Movie Night

Friday night is typically Movie Night in our household, but after a particularly horrendous day LAST Saturday, we told the kids their consequence was no movie night for this past Friday.  They were not too happy about that, but I think they also recognized how abominable their behavior had been and didn't put up that much of a fight. 

• Marshmallow Roasts

Since we didn't do Movie Night this week, I thought I'd come up with a replacement activity that would still allow the kids to have a fun night.  Mostly because I thought it sounded fun, too, but also because the kids were actually REALLY well behaved this past week.  No joke.  It was pretty awesome.  While I was out grocery shopping on Friday, I picked up a couple bags of marshmallows and some graham crackers and chocolate bars to christen our backyard fire pit with the making of some s'mores. The kids were SOOOOOO excited when I let them know after school.  The end result was a super fun night without any issues!  

Ethan enjoyed making the fire a little too much.  Hahaha.

I was a little nervous with this little guys near the fire pit, but he ended up being pretty good about staying out of harm's way.  And of course, I was right there beside him the whole time.

Scott made the kids' day by jumping on the tramp with them and performing some back flips.

Alex LOVED it on the sidelines.

• Running

I have been torturing myself with another go-round of training for a half marathon this fall.  Haha.  I've had more issues this time around with shin splints and other pains, but I've managed to mostly stick it out and finished a 9 mile run yesterday morning.  I was so lucky to find a running buddy almost as soon as we moved here, because there is NO way I could be doing these long runs on my own!

• Dividend Day   

Okay, so perhaps this is the one event that actually is out of the ordinary of our lives.  The kids have been looking forward to P&G's Dividend Day at King's Island ever since we've been back.  Walking around an amusement park for over 3 hours in the evening after running 9 miles in the morning probably wasn't at the top of my list of things I wanted to do yesterday, but I took one for the team and accompanied Scott and all the kids on our super fun outing.  The kids HAD A BLAST.  It was probably the funnest night of their lives in all actuality.  Ethan and Grace were both tall enough to ride the "real" rides this time around, and Scott took them while I stayed with the little ones and puttered around Planet Snoopy.  Even though I can't look at a roller coaster without experiencing a mini panic attack, and riding on the carousel makes me want to puke, I still had a great time seeing how much fun the kids were having and knowing that we are making memories for a life time.

 We ran into some friends right as we were about to leave, and ended up staying for another hour.  Alex is sitting next to his friend Claire.  :)

• Company

And finally, {another out of the ordinary event}, we were lucky to have company today in the form of Scott's family.  His parents drove up this morning with Adam and Susi along with Kristin and Hannah and Jonah.  When we told the kids this morning that cousins would be coming as well, you would have thought it was Christmas morning!  Even though the visit was short, it was still so fun to be with family.  We'll have to plan a family reunion again sometime soon.  :)


And THAT is that.  Our weekend/life update.  And just for the record, it took me all weekend long to finally finish it!  Until next time...