life of seven

Happy 4th

No, Gideon isn't torturing the dog; they are sharing some hot 4th of July fun together. I'm tempted to join them. Who knew that several wading pools, a sprinkler, and a water play table, with several rubber ducks thrown in for good measure, could prove such a delight?

I'm totally bummed because I forgot to bring my camera to our potluck last night, and grew even sorrier as the night wore on, with absolutely gorgeous cloudy weather, babies dressed up in bright patriotic colors, and finally small fireworks set off in the street. Next year. This year I'll be content with pictures of children splashing and having a terrific time in the water.

 

Summer Days and Reading

She's crawling everywhere, pulling up on things, climbing, letting go and standing on her own, and last Sunday I caught her pushing herself up to a standing position all by herself while playing in the grass. I've been trying to start a daily early morning walk with Clementine in the stroller. This was my usual blogging time (or sometime there in the morning), and so I still need to figure out how to squeeze the blog in while actually getting a bit of exercise. Because it really feels good. The walking and the writing.

Like all of us, Pepper tries to beat the heat. If the hose or the sprinkler is on, she is a happy dog. A spray of water is the most delightful reward and the normally serious Pepper lets her inward puppy come out whenever there is any water around.

Lego minifigs about, always. Some like they originally came, some reconfigured into a mix of different characters, some borrowing parts from others to create make-shift Indiana Jones' or whatever character is necessary for the story, and some deconstructed and left, waiting for the day when they will get reassembled into a playable little lego guy once again. Poor little guys.

I didn't write a reading post last week, so let me update where we are at:

I think I'll just skim past me because I, um, barely read a page last week. And by barely, I mean I can't think of a single book I even picked up and read out of.  As I hang my head in shame.

The other kids have been reading  The Wright Brothers  by David McCullough (Cate assures me this is one of the best books she's ever read, and Grace just now started it, and I really want to read it, too. Yes, actually read it, not just let it sit next to my bed for weeks);

John Adams (Also David McCullough)

Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Patterson)

Mine For Keeps (Jean Little)

More Lemony Snicket, always

More Shel Silverstein, always

Some random Childhood of Famous Americans

Anne of Green Gables (Evie and I, or I should probably just say, I, haven't been as consistent as I'd like reading this out loud every day, but starting today, I won't let that slide anymore)

More Curious George

And, we have started up The Horse and His Boy  in our "weekly/whenever everyone can make it/ nobody's out of town" book club with friends. We began reading through the Narnia series toward the beginning of the year together. This is probably the fourth time our family has read this series out loud together, not to mention the close to dozen times I read many of the books growing up. Great reading, always. Very deep story, especially when all the books are read in concession, like one very long book.

So, in summation of last week, we didn't quite hit our quotas I would have liked to, but overall, I feel like it was a pretty good week of reading, nonetheless.

No Guilt

About the "I love mom" sign? Grace taped a sign to me while I was washing dishes and tried to sneak away without me noticing but it didn't work and I asked what the sign said.

"I bet the sign says 'I love Mom!'" I exclaimed.

"No mom, that wouldn't even make sense unless I was wearing it," Grace explained patiently. True.

"Oh. Well, too bad." Instead, the sign said, "I love Tomorrowland" and Grace took it off me and taped it onto Clemmie's back.

Little did I realize my sweet empathetic Evie overheard the whole conversation, until I saw her with the sign you now see taped to her back.  

What a sweetheart. Wearing her sign, we wandered over to visit the neighbor's baby goats. I think they're about a month old now. I'm so glad the neighbors have a mini farm next door with animals my kids can hand feed. This means I don't have to feel guilty that we don't have farm animals.

Clementine and Her Siblings

Can you tell that this little nine month old (she won't be ten months until the tenth, so there!) loves being a part of her big brothers' and sisters' lives? Whatever it is they're doing, she tries her best to join in and figure out just what the "game" is. Oh my, is that water play table a huge hit. I thought Jude and Truman would be the main ones who would love it, but Evie and Clementine are equally as enamored with it. Clemmie, maybe even more so, since water is still a relatively new phenomenon to her. I mean, everything is a relatively new phenomenon to a nine month old, I suppose. Peas, strawberries, grass, mud, sticks, flowers (no, don't eat them!!), legos (especially don't eat those!), bumpy wagon rides, dogs. 

She squeals so loudly when she sees Pepper, and it sure sounds to me like she says "Dog! Dog!" It's close, but maybe it's not quite a real word yet. It always amazes me how quickly babies notice, and love, animals.

Truman's hair in the middle picture...those are spider web clumps in it. Of course. Oh, that boy. Thank God for little boys. They sure make my life more interesting. For instance, without my boys, I doubt I would know, or care, what a droid is. And I know I would have never noticed that there are different colored light sabers in Star Wars- red, green, and blue, I believe. And I stand in awe of the sound effects boys can make. I never knew the human voice could sound like a machine gun, or a truck, or a sword blade, or a bomb, well before intelligible English could be spoken. Also, I think I figured out what the big deal is with legos: my boys don't as much want to play with dollhouses and miniatures ("those are girl toys!"), but legos, especially mini-figs, consist of that childlike, or maybe human-like, fascination with itty-bitty cuteness. Don't tell that to my boys.

I am sure Clementine will learn all these things, and a pile of others, from her big brothers. Maybe they will learn a thing or two from her, also.

Perfect timing

You didn't believe me when I said, "Mud," did you. And more rain is expected this afternoon, and throughout the week. It's a terrible time for construction (building the road to my parents' house) right now, but it's all for a great cause. I just have to make sure the children are wearing their boots when they go outside, because the command, "Stay out of the mud puddles" is not being heeded very well. That's fine. While the construction might seem like bad timing for me, it's perfect timing for my little ones. 

Home's Best (and Disney World is probably second)

I didn't take very many pictures with "my" camera. Keeping track of a camera in Disney World was less of a concern than keeping track of my children. And, as it was, we did, in fact lose Evie for about 15 minutes! It was at a water park, on the lazy river, when the rest of the family was being quite lazy, but she kept pushing further and further ahead, un tip, during one of my every five minute head counts ("one, two, three, four, five six, seven, okay good, everyone's here still" whew!) I realized I hadn't seen Evie in a while. We looked around but immediately discovered she wasn't within our vicinity.

Not sure if she was further down the lazy river or not, and having all the other kids with us, we quickly decided Ben should jump out and look for her while I tried not to panic/stayed in the water with the kids in case she was still near there.

Thankfully, Ben found her within minutes waiting under the "Lost Children" tent- the tent that I had seen coming in and wondered whether it was a joke or not. Apparently not.

Imagine how many children I would have lost if I had tried to keep track of my camera, too. (That was a joke.)

I didn't think about anything during the trip. I read about one sentence in Atlas Shrugged. I knit about a half a row. I put all my mental energy into avoiding wait times on the rides and trying to stay cool at every opportunity. The energy was well spent. Between fast passes and stroller passes (for those waiting with the children to short to ride) and getting to the park 20-30 minutes early, we were able to steer clear of heavy crowds and long lines. And making a beeline for every air conditioned store (Disney has a LOT of places to shop as you walk along, don't you worry about that), water mister, fan, and shade (Disney has plenty of those as well- do they ever want you to be comfortable and happy and have a wonderful time while you are there! It's actually mind-blowing.) ensured that the heat and humidity didn't kill us. Though it felt as though they tried.

Oh, and I tried to keep us fed. That's what else I had to concentrate on. I think we walked about ten miles a day. I have never seen myself or my children eat so much. We consumed huge quantities of cashews, fruit roll ups, beef jerky, trail mix, goldfish, cheez-its, almonds, and granola bars. That was in between meals.

It's hard to use words to describe Disney World. If you ever have a chance to go, no matter your age, or the age of your kids, or whether or not you think you like Disney in general, just go. You will love it. Their propaganda works wonders. I'm only sort of joking. For instance, going into the trip, none of us, particularly Ben, Cate, or me, cared for the movie Frozen, or the characters. But look at us now, posing for pictures with Princess Anna! We went to the Frozen sing-along twice! And now all of us accidentally sing "Let It Go!" under our breaths all day long!

Right, that's probably not selling it for you, is it? (And I still don't care for the movie, but I think the art from it is beautiful)

Somehow, from the very first moments there, walking down Main Street, USA, while classic tunes are playing, nostalgia and coziness begins to set in. Employees, excuse me, CAST MEMBERS are smiling,  waving, high five-ing, and calling you either Princess or Prince Charming. Everything smells wonderful, the flowers are growing, the shops are clean, and Mickey Mouse and his friends are standing around to pose with you in pictures. And as the day progresses through castles, and pirates dens, and forts, and tree houses, and songs, and fireworks, and as you walk back down Main Street headed home at night (yes, they make it slope downhill on your way out so that when you are worn out from the day your feet have an easier time trudging out to your car), same music playing as before, you discover that you actually ARE a Disney fan, and you just never knew it before.

I must make some breakfast for the fam, now. As wonderful as Disney feels, like something out of a dream, waking up to a reality of home, where spring is here and everything is growing and alive, our home sweet home is the very best. 

On Our Way

I believe the time has come-I hope Disney World is ready for our very big crew. I will post pictures if I'm able. See that half of Atlas Shrugged? Think I'll get a chance to read it in the next two weeks? I'm on the last few hundred pages, finally, and in a spurt of wishful thinking, I packed it in the suitcase. But I have a feeling not much reading will be happening. 

In honor of the trip and the lots (lots) of walking I will do, and subsequently baby carrying, I have worked at finding and perfecting my favorite back carry. I believe this one is called Double Hammock with candy cane chest belt. So comfortable. Not too hard to do. But it does take a little while to get her up there perfectly. Once up, though, I think I'm good for a pretty long stretch. I like it. I'll give the carry the ultimate test: Disney World!

Snuggle

Oh, my heart. Sometimes big sisters are the coziest thing ever...can't...stay...awake...

Tongue-in-cheek list of goals

1. Reorganize every room in the house, even, and especially including, the closets.

2. Grocery shop- restock the cupboard, throw out the old food, get the pantry reorganized and functional again.

3. Help the girls sew a quilt, and if  it comes out great, make a second one so I can use up all my old fabric scraps.

4. While on the subject of fabric scraps, start up the doll business again and sew some dolls: one for Evie's birthday, and the rest for my easy shop. Extra doll clothes would be nice, as well. Teach Cate and Grace how to sew the dolls so we can do it together.

5. Learn to draw. I told you about this. I wish I could draw. Well, I would love to learn how this week.

6. Write a book. I've wanted to write a book all my life. I think this would be a good week to start it.

7. Help the girls finish their attic. Fixing the windows and painting the door is a good start. Find a welcome mat and a cozy chair at a thrift store.

8. Find a swing set or playground on craigslist There are many free ones as long as you can disassemble it, pick it up and reassemble. I've wanted to do this for forever.

9. Reorient my entire homeschooling curriculum. Order all those books I've been wanting to get for our school and get the children to read them. And catalog and organize our other books so that we can actually find what we need when we need it. While I'm at it, plan Jude's Kindergarten year in the fall.

9. Start an exercise program. My friend is trying to get me to join a masters swim class that meets three times a week from 5:30- 7:00 am. This would be a great way to start the day and I would be in such great shape if I did it.

10. Sew some summer clothing. Skirts and flowy peasant tops sound nice. Put the extras I don't need into my Etsy shop. First I need to buy some elastic but then I can get started.

11. Knit up the 3-4 sweater designs I have in my head. Also, finish up any lingering old projects stowed away in my closet that I'll find when I get through the closet organizing. 

12. Send an email to a friend I haven't talked to in a very very long time. This will take me an hour or two to try to get it to come out exactly like I'm wanting it to.

13. Plan not one but two birthday parties, for Gideon and Evie, whose birthdays are coming up in the next two weeks.

14. Have many meaningful conversations with the children and be very attentive to all their school work. Find a special project that each one wants to do with me this week and get it done. For instance, Evie wants to learn how to knit and sew. 

Now you know why I don't usually like to make to-do lists.

P.S. if you're wondering why I don't have more spiritual goals on my list, it is because one time while I was praying, and a list similar to the one you are reading here swirled around in my head, and I was feeling overwhelmed about how to add God into everything else as well, I felt Him tell me, "I don't want to be another annoying thing to cross off your to-do list." God makes my life better, not harder, yet I'd been thinking of Him kind of like a pestering child needing all kinds of things from me. My time with God is a pleasure, not a chore, and like all things that matter the most to us, takes top priority above all the things written down on a list. That's not to say that I don't believe in having goals such as specific Bible reading plans, but I don't like to put it down on the "dirty laundry" type of tasks. That's all.

 

Outside

Wow, to be outside again...this is the first day in forever where we were actually enjoying the fresh air for more than a few moments going from car to house, or at least it feels that way. I know it was the longest stretch Clementine has been outside, in her life, probably. At any rate, she sat on her blanket with her few toys around her and soaked in the sun. No, of course I didn't have her in direct sunlight, if you were wondering! It's as if a cheerful switch got turned on for her, me, and everyone, while we enjoyed the afternoon. Can you see it on our faces?

More painting got done. The floors are now a lovely shade of silver gray. The girls and I are loving the color scheme we picked out together. Of course it's their little room, but I'm flattered they both wanted and valued my opinion on the matter. The white walls and gray floors will go a long way toward making the cramped space feel light, clean, and cool. Something I'm reminding them of as summer approaches. It's sure to heat up like an oven in there, though thankfully there are outlets and they can plug in a fan. We're scouring craigslist now for little things the room needs: namely a sofa of some kind (we're thinking daybed, hoping they can occasionally have a mini campout there), bookshelves, and rugs. Most beautiful and cozy of all would be a large sheepskin rug like the one I scored at an antique shop last year that currently sits in our so called "Waldorf Room" in our house. Those sneaky girls tried to weasel it out of that room and get permission to put it in their attic but I saw where they were going with that idea and let them know that was not going to happen. But you never know, we may find another similar $500 sheepskin rug at a thrift store for a $45 bargain price.