A City Life For Me

I have always had a list posted in my kitchen of my daily, weekly, and monthly household "chores."  It helped to keep me on track so I didn't forget things, and the goal was also that it would keep me from overdoing it all in one day.  When I was a mom of just little people (I had four under three years old when the twins were born), it was a sanity saver.  I work better and relax better in a clean and organized environment.  But sometimes my desire for cleanliness makes me a little "OCD" as my mom says.  Trying to do all of the jobs in one afternoon usually leads to a crying breakdown right about the time dinner needs to be cooking... Some days with little people feel as if the cycle will never end.  The kids make a mess.  You clean the mess.  Or you don't clean the mess and it eventually drives you nuts.  But recently I have entered a "sweet spot" where my kids are able to help with the chores.  Now, many times it still feels easier...

Last week was one of the busiest, overwhelming weeks in a long time.  I’m still trying to figure out the best schedule/order for homeschooling four kiddos on three grade levels, plus the addition of a precocious two year old who intervenes every 3 minutes.  We hosted a five-day Bible Club for the kids in our neighborhood, and we continued our free-coffee Friday outreach.  Saturday we had Bible Study, and Sunday was a full day at church.  Somewhere in there I need to fit piano lessons, Patch the Pirate Club devotions, art class, and monthly grocery shopping trip.  Not to mention that for the last nearly ten years the biggest place we have lived is 1,000 square feet…now we own a house with twice that plus a basement, porch, garage, and back yard.  (Huge blessing…huge responsibility!) We really did have a good week in Bible Club, but there was a lot to prepare and do for each day.  On Saturday I was sweeping and mopping the floors in preparation for...

Since coming home we have re-instituted the stay up late night.  The twins are old enough for this, and it seems like I get asked a dozen times each day who get to have stay up late night.  This is how it works… The purpose of SULN ( stay-up-late-night) is to allow each kiddo to have some one-on-one time with Mom and/or Dad.  It’s not a big production, or with five kids I would never get it done.  It’s not even supposed to be a really late SULN.  It’s just a little bit of time after the siblings have gone to bed.  Ideally it is 20-30 minutes, which makes it very doable for me.  The child who is having SULN gets to select the activity.  Sometimes we have a special snack too (but we try to avoid liquids because its right before bed). Some examples of SULN activities: Read several books Play a game (matching, Candy Land, Trouble, etc.) Do a puzzle Build a Lego item Watch silly YouTube clips (we stay away from full length movies though) ...

I came across the “ Okay to Wake ” clocks through a review and Amazon.  I didn’t purchase at the time because we were on deputation.  We have been through the gamut with time zone changes and different sleeping arrangements, and I knew that I wanted to establish new routines once we got home.  The first thing was a regular wake up time. I was all set to purchase two of these clocks, one for each of the kids rooms.  But I read several negative reviews, including complaints that the clock glowed all night before it turned green in the morning.  I didn’t want a bright light in the room, so this didn’t sit well with me. There is another brand of wake up signal that seemed to be made very cheaply and lots of people said it broke easily.  As I continued to read the reviews on Amazon, I came across one with a brilliant idea.  And I copied it. The idea with this product is that you set the alarm, but instead of a noise to wake the kids up, the light glows g...

As I’ve been looking at Henry these last couple of weeks I keep having flash backs to when Elaine was this age.  So many times I look at him and I see baby Elaine!  But then some people say he looks like Nolan or Nehemiah.  So here are some fun comparison pictures… Newborn Pics of the Kiddos:                  Elaine                                                           Nolan                      Liberty                  ...

This "twin trouble" story needs a little background.  We are in Virginia en route to Charlotte, NC.  We don't have a Wednesday night meeting, so we are taking our time and spending a couple of days at a Prophet's Chamber in Blackstone, VA.    As we left Ladysmith, VA we stopped and rescued a turtle from getting smooshed on the road.  We saw it, turned around to get it, and then watched as another car almost hit it.  The kids were uber excited about having a turtle in the car, but the poor guy was scared to death and locked tight in his shell for a long time.  At the gas station we got a box and "Tiny Tim" slowly came out of hiding.   We arrived at our destination and let Tiny Tim wander in the grass, fed him some strawberries and gave him a turtle bath of water to play in.  He really perked up!  In fact, as we peeked out the window after supper, we found him climbing out of the box onto the deck railing.  He ran around the...

He just couldn’t take his eyes off the big guys playing basketball, and he inched as close as he could to the court! …so the next day Daddy lifted him up to dunk his basketball, but he refused to relinquish the ball from his hands! Something makes me think he was told to sit still and fold his hands in class… Liberty got a new baby and accessories from Grandma Godby for her birthday.  She even found it in her heart to share with Nehemiah! Hanging from the slide together…this is a new “trick” they have discovered. My mother’s day card from Elaine!  She had help knowing the letters for the greeting, but the “Love, Elaine” part was all on her own!

Yesterday and today were pretty rough days in Mommyland.  We are training the twins in regular beds.  Some days they get it.  Some days they don’t.  It means no rest for Mommy right now.  But it can be kind of humorous too. Matching “shawls” for Christmas I had two blessed weeks of consistency.  Elaine learned digital numbers in Math, so we gave her an alarm clock.  She wasn’t allowed out of bed until 8:00 a.m., and 4:00 from naptime.  When Elaine got up, the other kids got up.  It did wonders for my schedule, my devotions, my planning.  I knew what to expect.  Even if they woke up early, they wouldn’t come out until a certain time. Cutest fireman ever. But then the second bunk bed arrived, and with it the crib bar’s restraint went away.  Now I have to teach two toddlers – at the same time – to control themselves and obey Mommy’s directives to “stay in bed!” Bath time is the cure-all.  New finger puppets make it even...

I wrote my last twinsie update at 12 months.  So much has changed since then!  Mostly it is that the twins became mobile, and I have been busy chasing them and hardly found a moment to sit down and journal here on this blog. I very much enjoyed the first year of twins.  I was told a lot of “horror” stories about having two babies at the same time.  There were definitely hairy moments, but overall it’s been fun!  But these last few weeks…they have given me a run for my money.  I am tired and exhausted.  My brain is mush.  I feel like this is the most difficult stage so far (but it’s also a very funny, enjoyable stage – on some days). Nehemiah is my total-boy baby.  He loves to jump on his siblings and just sit on them, waiting for them to wrestle.  He loves cars.  He loves dogs.  He loves electronics.  As in, my most difficult task every day is keeping Nehemiah away from the computer and my iPhone .  He also loves...