Slacker Update, and Lots of Misc

Sorry to all those waiting to hear, Erin started walking on her foot two evenings after the sliding incident. Whew! She is still kind of wobbly and seems to favor it sometimes. Makes me worry that there is something going on there still, but it could just be that she's an unsteady 13 month old.

The kids and I have been studying early American history which is extremely interesting. Last week we watched "Johnny Tremain." Adam had been asking about the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre, and I knew it would be a great introduction of the time. We've done some other reading and discussing since then. It's fun answering their questions and helping them learn more about it. I'm looking toward reading a lot more about it on my own, too.

President Samuelson encouraged all students at BYU to study the Constitution this year. You can read more about that here. Cool to see the whole school united in learning about it.

I took this quiz yesterday and did horribly. I beat the students by far, but still only got 65%. Shows how much sunk in from my AP American History and AP Government classes! I vow to improve.

We watched "Meet the Robinson's" last night. Very fun movie with a lot of great lessons. I highly recommend it. I have to share this quote shown at the end of the movie:

Around here, however, we don't look backward very long.

We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious... And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

-- Walt Disney

I love following the curiosities of my children. I consider myself curious as well, but it's so much more fun to have someone to be curious with. Keep moving forward!

The Amish Don't Know What They're Missing

I overheard someone say that today while waiting for Erin to get her leg x-rayed.

The kids and I were at the park this morning with some neighbors, and Melanie took Erin for a trip down one of the slides. They got to the bottom and Erin started crying a LOT. I walked over to get her, brought her back to the park bench, and tried to console her, but she was very upset. She finally settled down and cuddled up with me and her blankie and thumb. I was surprised that she cuddled so much and so long, until about 45 or so mintues later she acted like she wanted to get down... then quickly changed her mine. I quickly realized something was not right. I tried to get her to stand, but she wouldn't put any weight on her left leg. Uh oh.

I suddenly had visions of my then 1 year old sister in a cast to the top of her thigh, after she decided to play rodeo on the neighbors dog and got bucked off. Okay, okay, our brother and I put her on the dog, she didn't get bucked she fell, but she landed on the grass - the grass! But just going down the slide couldn't be too much worse.

But enough of that. Long story short, I left the kids at the park with a neighbor, raced home and got an appointment with a doc. X-rays didn't show a break, but he wants me to keep an eye on it because at her age something small could be hard to tell on an x-ray for a few days.

And the comment about the Amish? That was regarding how cool technology is nowadays, and he was right. The x-ray was available almost instantaneously. After it was done, we walked right back to the doctor's office downstairs, he came in the room, pulled the x-rays up on the screen, and could lighten and darken them to help check things out easier. Pretty darn amazing!

I'll be sure to let you know how things go with the baby. Poor little thing. Tonight she would crawl around, but wouldn't walk. She would stand, but you can tell she's doing it in such a way to not put pressure on the leg.

Review: Clearing Your Clutter with Feng Shui

If you read past posts of mine, you know keeping the house clean is a real issue for me. I've tried so many systems and schedules, till I realized one day that it was all the 'stuff' that was killing me and I needed to get rid of more 'stuff' before I could even start to feel ahead. Unfortunately, it is deeply engrained in my genes to hold tightly to whatever enters my home. While opening wedding presents my mom told me I should save the paper and bows. I'm not sure where the paper is, but I still haven't been able to toss that box of bows! Weeded it down, but many still there ("If I ever wrap a present ahead of time, I could dig through the box for a nice bow to top it off!").

Anyway, wandering through the library at the end of October I noticed this book on the shelf and thought what the heck, I'm always looking for good ideas. I knew nothing about feng shui (not entirely sure I know much more now) but I figured I would take that with a grain of salt and go digging for the good clearing clutter ideas.

What a find! Since I've been reading this I've found myself tossing and organizing like crazy. If I didn't have so many things to do besides, I could truly "ninja through [my] home like a white tornado, decluttering with glee" as Ms. Kingston mentions at one point in her book. As it stands, I'm just part-time ninja, or when-I-get-the-chance ninja, though still doing it with glee.

Here are some of her other words of wisdom as a record for myself, if nothing else:

"[When you hold on to clutter] you tend to look back rather than forward in your life... You have to release the past to create a better tomorrow."

"After clutter clearing you are likely to surprise yourself by wanting to do things you have put off for a long time."

"Write a list of all the things you would love to do if only your clutter were sorted, and let this be the inspiration for you to get on with it."

"Keeping things 'just in case' indicates a lack of trust in the future... The more you can learn to trust that life will take care of you, the more life will take care of you."

"Life is constant change. So when something comes into your life, enjoy it, use it well, and when it is time, let it go. It is that simple. Just because you own something, it doesn't mean that you have to keep it forever. You are just a temporary custodian of many things as they pass through your life."

"Get in the habit of leaving a trail of discarded clutter in your wake, and start to think of it as a sign of progression!"

"Everything you are holding on to through fear is blocking you having more love in your life; clearing it allows more love to start pouring in. Fear stops you from being who you truly are and doing what you came here to do; clutter clearing brings you greater clarity about your life purpose... Letting go of clutter leaves you free to be you, which is the greatest gift you can ever give yourself."

On books, "Your books symbolically represent your ideas and beliefs... Learn to let your books go when it is time." Besides all the obvious ones like cookbooks you don't use and textbooks you haven't used for years, "There are books that inspired you deeply years ago but whose concepts are now so much a part of you that you no longer need to read them anymore. Aim to end up with a collection of books that represents you as you are today and the intended 'you' of tomorrow."

"Sit down and make a list of the many things [you] want to do in [your] life that [you aren't] allowing [yourself] to do because of unfinished jobs."

"Working with a clear desk increases productivity, creativity, and job satisfaction... It is psychologically far more uplifting to start with a clear desk than with mounds of paperwork, which makes you feel defeated before you even start."

She goes a bit into physical, emotional, and spiritual clutter as well, but I think I'm doing okay there, with a big yikes at her discussion on colon cleansing (I'll stick with my basement, thanks). All the advice has been motivating so far. So much to do, so little time.

Fermenting

One thing I learned through high school and college English classes (not necessarily taught there, but learned through) is that it is nice to get your thoughts down about things and let them ferment for a while. Then when you go back, you can look at them with fresh eyes and see where things are lacking and/or need more explanation.

I have a few posts fermenting.

Seeing as how I'm a procrastinator, even a day of fermenting time was a blessing during school. This is nice to let things just sit as long as they need. The only problem with not having a deadline is forgetting they are there.

I never fancied myself a poet, but lately here and there I've had bits of poems jump into my head. How odd is that? One is about feet of all things. I believe that one day they'll appear on here (the poems, not the feet).

Do You Have Your Own Too?

It had been one of those days. You know, one of THOSE days. The light fixtures were barely intact from the kids bouncing off the walls. Every request/plea/beg fell on deaf ears. I headed numbly downstairs to check on the laundry, but flopped down on the steps almost to the bottom. And just sat. And stared. Very blankly. After a time I realized no one had followed me and no one was looking for me, so I kept sitting, enjoying the alone-ness of it.

I looked down and saw a book in my hand that for whatever reason I had grabbed on my way downstairs, called "You Can Childproof Your Home, but They'll Still Get In" (see it
here). My mother had given it to me for Christmas several months before but I had yet to crack it open. So I did. In the introduction I found:

Child development professionals categorize children into two main groups:

(A) Naturally compliant, obedient, well-mannered children
(B) Yours

"How did he know?" I thought sarcastically. "Maybe he sat behind us at church sometime. Or followed us through the grocery store." I read on.

The implication is rather obvious. If you are blessed with naturally compliant, obedient, well-mannered children, they were accidentally switched at the hospital. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. In a sense, you could look at it as though you won the lottery, and someone else even bought your ticket for you.

Most parents, however, end up with their own children. But don't panic quite yet. Bringing your own children home from the hospital doesn't mean they are destined to be incompliant, disobedient, and ill-mannered, but it does mean that you have to devote massive amounts of time and energy to avoid that outcome. Left to themselves, your children have a natural propensity to be self-centered, pugnacious, and ill-tempered and, if they are boys, wear oversized trousers with enough denim to fashion a Coleman tent.

This book is for all the parents who ended up with their own kids. It is not a professional parenting manual, as I am not a professional. I am just a dad. But I hope that you will find some insight and some helpful tips in my observations, reflections, ruminations, grousings, mutterings, stunned exclamations, incredulous questions, inane outbursts, bulging neck arteries, apologies, failures, and occasional successes.

By the time I finished I felt far less alone, yet the kids still hadn't found me.

I realized I KNOW families who have some of those switched kids. They are almost eerily well-behaved. "Stay here with me, sweetheart." And they DO! I've had glimpses of that, but never the real thing. If they have to be switched to get it, do I want it? Hmmm....

The rest of the book is also worthwhile reading, but this introduction stuck with me longer than anything else. It taught another lesson I didn't expect - that a good laugh certainly goes a long way to keep mom sane.

And for the record, I'm very glad I have my own. My own insanity-inducing, mother-torturing children, but MY children.

Ahhhh, the Memories

Jamie's sister's husband Bobby told Adam that if he takes and passes a hunter's safety course he will take him hunting with him. Of course Adam has become even more hunting obsessed than he already was. We're not sure where he got this hunting gene, but it arrived somehow. Maybe something extra in the prenatal vitamins the doc preferred back that time around?

He loves to read about elk and deer, plays this Cabela's Big Game Hunter game, checks out hunting videos from the library, and can make the most amazing elk calls.

Since the invitation to go hunting, he and his friend have started a 'hunting club.' They pack all kinds of odd gear into their backpacks and either head to the backyard or the park to practice their stalking and hunting skills. Today it was the backyard. It was nice and quiet inside, so of course my trouble alarm went crazy. Sammy, Melanie, and Carolyn were all off playing at neighbor's houses. I glance in the front yard - bikes and scooters, no Adam or friends. I glance in the backyard - hmmmm... backpacks by the trees. All the signs point to them being here. I step out onto the deck and still don't see anything. Then, out pops a head from some sparse bushes and lilac greens in the far corner of the yard. "What do you want?" (I heckle the friends, they heckle me.)

"Oh! Just checking to see if you guys were out here."

Knowing that the friend was out hiding, I knew then where Adam was - doing the same in the raspberry patch. I step back inside and watch for a minute. Yep, saw him move a bit.

A bit later I hear elk calls coming from the backyard.

"Dang he's good," I thought.

They were having so much fun it made me want to play too. From inside the house I started doing my horrible version of an elk bugle back. I wasn't close enough to hear, but I'm sure they were significantly amused at my attempt. It worked though - the elk called back to me! Okay, so it was just the boys, but still. We called back and forth for a while, then I had more fun up my sleeve. I grabbed a walking stick one of the kids left hanging out in the kitchen and started knocking it around on a kitchen chair and the table, attempting to sound like knocking antlers around. (See? I've learned a few tricks from Adam's hunting videos.) Success again! The elk responded.

This went on for a while before I decided that Jamie probably would appreciate a clean up attempt before he gets home. Without the calling from inside the house, the calling outside escalated then died off.

On days like this I just have to wonder what kind of odd memories I'm giving my children. I'm sure the neighbors wonder too.

To Impress You All Even More

It's funny to hear that people actually read this. Not too many, but still, just funny. I've received a few, "Don't you need to settle down?" comments after the last post. Well, keep watching and see how many of those actually end up on the 'finished' list. So little time, so many things that use up that time.

Last night I started reading another, called The Book of Mormon: A Pattern for Parenting. I'm enjoying it so far.

And two more soon to be added to the 'now reading' list:

Long Way to Chicago - This month's book group book.

One I put on hold just tonight that I learned about from a neighbor, Parenting the Ephraim's Child. Here's a brief excerpt from the description. "Like those of the tribe of Ephraim, an Ephraim’s Child has great determination, energy, and a headstrong will. Ephraim’s Children are also often high maintenance, emotional, controlling, and aggravating. What other sources don’t tell you is that these children are a special and covenant people." It talks about different characteristics of these children, and shows how "each is actually a strength in need of refinement" and "demonstrate[s] how these qualities can be valuable tools in the Lord’s hands." I'm excited to read it.

Am I Out of Control or WHAT?

I was going to update the 'Books I'm Reading' section, and maybe I still will, but when I stepped back to look at all that I'm reading I decided this deserves it's on listing. Besides, since homeschooling officially began, my writing opportunities have definitely dropped in frequency, so you just have to take what you can get. And actually, I started writing this, had no time to finish, and now I've finished some that I had sitting here. Hate that! So I've got to include some of the recently reads.

Currently Reading:

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly - Just started this one earlier today. It's by the author of "Ella Enchanted." I happened upon it in the non-fiction children's section of the library during our last visit and thought it looked interesting. I've always wanted to be an author, but the whole fiction thing is beyond me.

The Candy Shop War - Jamie and I are reading this with the boys. Great story by the author of Fablehaven, Brandon Mull. I can't believe this guy sleeps at night for all the cool stories in his head. I heard the movie rights for this have been sold.

Raising Up a Family to the Lord - I've got this as a talk on tape and love it. Not too far in, but I'm hoping this builds more on the same.

Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual-Spatial Learner - I learned about this one after being told Sammy is "very right-brained." Definitely interesting.

Smart Moves: Why Learning is not All in Your Head - Another one I'm reading for Sammy. I first heard about something called "Brain Gym," a concept of using exercises and stretches to turn on areas of your brain. From all that I gather, for "Smart Moves" those ideas were used and explained more, and furthered the concept. Not too far in.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves - We are listening to this on in the car right now. We've already listened to the first, Peter and the Starcatchers. Fun stories! Jim Dale (who read the Harry Potter series) recorded these ones as well.

And of all things...

Simplify: A Guide to Caring for the Soul - Simplify? Have you seen this list alone?? :) This isn't just on tossing things. It's also on being true to ourselves, kind to ourselves, and letting go (among even more things). I'm doing my best. We've all got to reach for something, eh?

Recently Read:

Goose Girl and Princess Academy - Wow, wow, wow. I am so amazed with Shannon Hale's writing. Great female characters, exciting story lines. I have myself on the list of about everything else of hers at the library.

The Read-Aloud Handbook - It was partially because of this one that I didn't finish writing this sooner. Had to finish it for this month's book group, especially since I was presenting it. Great motivator to read to your kids!

AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't intend to devote my entire blog to Carolyn, but she always has something up her sleeve to make me take notice. Usually it is her cuteness, her big chocolate brown eyes, freckles, and sweet grin, knowing if she turns on the charm she can weasel anything out of me. Today it was an earwig.

I was checking my e-mail a bit ago when she walked up and says, "Mommy, theah's something in ah house." (Sorry, I just have to try to write the cute way she talks. Translation: "Mommy, there's something in our house.") I turned to ask, "What is?", but before I can even take a breath to get it out I see an earwig crawling up her arm while she tries to keep it somewhat under control, but if you know anything about earwigs they are kind of fast and not very controllable. Then I took a really BIG breath (i.e. gasp!), and remembering an experience when my cousin, then about 2, walked in to his mother carrying a snakeskin very happily until his mother, my aunt, screamed and reacted very frightened, so he suddenly realized that it must be something he should be scared of too and would no longer touch it or get near it, even though we all know a snakeskin is perfectly harmless unless your 2 year old happens to wander in the house with one catching you totally off guard... So yah, that memory flashed through my mind and I just screamed inside instead of outloud and drawing on depths of calmness and using a really fake calm voice I said, "Oh look honey! You found an earwig! Doesn't he look neat?" By then he had succeeded in falling off her arm and was again running around on the floor, so again fakely calm, not wanting him to run under anything but again not wanting to make her afraid of it by freaking out or just squashing it (after all, she is kind of a bug lover) I said, "Let's get a nice big piece of paper and help him go back outside!"

I quickly got him to crawl on the paper, then headed for the back sliding glass door, all the while flipping and turning the paper so he wouldn't crawl off or crawl on ME, heaven forbid, because then the scream would most assuredly escape. Unfortunately, the blinds and door were closed, and I had to flip/turn the paper with one hand and scramble for the blind cord and door handle with the other, eyes always on the earwig. I finally got the door opened and went to fling him outside just as he succeeded in escaping the paper. He was back to the floor and on the run. Before I could get my paper to him again, Carolyn just reached on down, picked him up, struggled with him for a couple seconds while he tried to get away, then very calmly set him down outside. "Quick Mom! Close the doh-ah (door) so he can't get in again!" Whew! Our home is again safe, thanks to the bravery of my 3 year old, my knight in shining armor. Only, she was wearing a pink ballet outfit.

Carolyn Sue

"Charlotte's Web" is playing on the TV. Carolyn and I are sharing a pillow on the floor. She's watching. I'm reading.

Giggles erupt next to me while Wilbur gets a bath, then "Mom, I'm gonna get a pig like that."

"You are? What are you going to name him?"

"Wilbur!" More giggles.

She has quite the imaginary menagerie - a horse named Melango, a monkey named Titi (every time we go to the zoo she points him out and asks when we are going to get him), a dog named Mimi, and just recently, a bunny and a cat. So now I guess we can add a pig to that.

"Will your pig get scared of lightning too, like Wilbur?"

"No, he will sleep in the house with me."

"Oooooh, of course."

Always in her sweet little 3-year-old world, happy and full of life, completely heart-broken and even almost surprised when someone or something mistreats her. Like she can't believe anything bad could enter her fairy land.

"Can I have some hot chocolate milk?"

"Can I hold your pig when you get it?"

"Yah."

"Okay, let's go get some."

She is happy to be who she is, not realizing there is any other person to be. And I am delighted to be a part of her world.

A Drippy Walk

We are just one big adventure after another. Today's was much less eventful, though.

While sharing yesterday's adventure with some friends in the neighborhood, one of them asked if we had seen a remote control airplane, since her husband had been flying one, it headed off that direction, and never returned. Lo and behold, I HAD seen what looked like the tail end of an airplane but it was on the other side of the swampy so I didn't investigate.

So this morning I rounded up the kids to see if we could see if that was the airplane. Heading out we realized it was a little drizzly outside, but after a 4-1 vote (after all, Adam is a baseball player and they are afraid of rain) we decided to go for it. We stopped by Jason's to see if he wanted to go on a "drippy walk" with us.

It was actually quite nice and refreshing. They baby didn't even mind it a bit, packed along in the baby front pack. Rocks are so pretty when they are wet! Everything smelled fresh and clean. Here and there it got a bit "drippier," but never too awful. We even visited the spot where Melanie took her plunge. I need to remember the camera next time we head over there!

Sometimes I think I'm a big lunatic for attempting the ideas I come up with (i.e. yesterday), but today it was well worth it.

Oh, we never did find any sign of what I thought could have been the airplane, but there was also a more noticeable washer and dryer missing, so maybe another clean up crew went through.

Our 100 Year of Scouting Adventure

Happy 100 Years of Scouting today! Well yesterday, August 1st.

In our BSA council they've been advertising today as World-Wide Do a Good Turn Day. There is a group of scoutss that camped on Brownsea Island that as the sun rose this morning, renewed their committment to scouting and did a good turn.

Being the good scout that I AM, I rounded up the two cub scouts that live in my house (Adam and Sammy), and my three little girl cub scout wanna-be's (Melanie, Carolyn, and of course Erin) to go do a good turn. But I cannot stop there, as it is born within me to want to help other people have great scouting experiences as well. I called Adam's friend (Jason) and Sammy's friend (Cody) to see if they wanted to come along. Jason did, Cody didn't, but Cody's sister, Elizabeth, who is Adam's age, did want to. I knew it would be a bit of a challenge to keep everyone together and 'friendly,' but with promised rewards I knew we could do it.

We wanted to go clean up along a path near our neighborhood that I've heard is pretty trash-filled. It used to be a train track, but it hasn't been used as such for years so last year the city paved a nice walking/bike path with dirt along each side. We set out with lots of bags and water. Not very far into it, we realized some other good turners had been along not necessarily today but at some point previous to us, as there really wasn't that much to be found. Still, there were things here and there and it was a nice walk. Sammy even found an old railroad spike.

The kids kept telling me there were swampy areas ahead with lots of junk in them, and when we made it to them, yah, lots of pop cans and water bottles tossed in. The other good turners must have seen the swampyness as a challenge, but not us! We found some big sticks and went fishing. At least the swamps weren't too big - at the widest point maybe 4 feet wide, and a foot deep tops and overgrown with trees and bushes around. For quite a while the swamp runs along both sides of the path, with the path raised above it about a foot. Carolyn found a little toy frog at one point she wanted to toss in the trash, but I told her it was okay to leave it since some little kid probably left it there as a friend for the frogs that live there. As she was replacing it I heard a soft kind of, "Uh...!" I didn't turn at first, until my brain registered a half-panickyishness (did you know I like to make up words?) to it. I was surprised to see Melanie's bike tire laying down and sticking out of part of the swamp and overgrowth - can't see Melanie, and no more noises. I quickly got over to it, and could see that somehow Melanie had driven off the path and her bike took her right down into the slime. She still wasn't saying anything, but was struggling on top of the bike to get up and out of the mess. Thank goodness she was okay, but pretty covered in mud and other yummy stuff. I am still amazed that there were no tears involved.

After rounding up Adam and Jason, who had of course chosen right then to ride way ahead of us all, I got all the good turners turned back around for an immediate trek home and a big clean up.

So there's our Scouting Commemoration Adventure. Yes, I took pictures after we got home.