I'll post this since I know a few prayer warriors are lurking week to week absorbing my life without comments...which is totally fine, but now we need you all to pray for a little boy.
A teacher friend of a family members had a student that fell out of a two story window. His parents evidently were helping a family move into this home. There is some bleeding that doctors are trying to figure out the source (primary focus) in addition to skull fractures and swelling. His name is Caleb and he's three.
I'll forward this to our church family for prayer - and I'm sure Monica, Giz and our friendly lurkers will do the same.
So, God heal Caleb from all injury. Thank you for sparing his life! Fill his parents and their entire family with faith and be near them through this difficult time - carry this burden for them. Please heal the bleeding and stop it at its source. Show yourself to be strong on their behalf. You are the God of miracles and we are thankful that we can come to you in faith and know that you hear our request for Caleb and his family. In Jesus name we ask these things knowing you love us and hear the prayers of faith being made for this family.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Good Reads
I found a good blog this evening...
www.ordinarymother.wordpress.com
I like how honest she is about God and motherhood.
Do you all know any good sites or blogs to get the mind and/or motivation going???
www.ordinarymother.wordpress.com
I like how honest she is about God and motherhood.
Do you all know any good sites or blogs to get the mind and/or motivation going???
Progessively Me
As I've posted recently, I am working on being my wonderful self - having purposefully killed the image of June Cleaver in my mind. And, the results are quite the opposite of what I had expected. The chaos in our home has subsided to a huge degree and in its place order has been established.
This process began with me realizing that I am gifted in some things (majority of them I thought had nothing to do with mothering) and for all else I needed to intentionally develop skills to achieve my personal goals. Since my goals shifted from an unrealistic image of motherhood to the reality of Lori being a good wife/mom, I could strive toward my goals with confidence because the goals were fully ME - who I am and how I would like my life to be structured.
After doing a bit of research I pulled some good pointers about having a big family and managing our household. I only searched under larger households because so many people have been telling us what a big family we are about to have (I hardly think of four kids as a "big" family, but what the hey...might as well get the structure down now before any additional babies join the fun). I put these pointers together with some I pulled from the Queen of Clean book my sister gave me for Mother's Day (thank you, thank you, Ang!!!) - aaaand, then one more helpful website (flylady.net) was added to the mix. The result is a flexible routine that fits my random personality - and for the first time the routine is working for ME, not me scrambling to do someone else's checklist.
This coming week, after I get over this virus, I will being compiling a household binder to keep my scatterbrained thoughts in one place. Topics will range from money and shopping lists to lesson plans for the kids and possible family outing destinations. I'll post on the success or ultimate failure of the binder system in the future.
Managing a household touches on so many topics. The binder system was the best way I could come up with to keep them all in order and in one place. On a week to week basis, I deal with finances, kids projects/lessons, family time, God/spiritual disciplines, keeping the house clean and fully stocked with supplies - these being household items such as light bulbs and soap to food, and my own projects for the house, like making curtains or diapers. I'm not sure a binder will be the right method to get organized but I need some sort of visual to get my mind in order and these varied topics flowing with ease in our home. How do you all keep these topics in order and accessible? Are they all placed together or are they separate in your thinking?
This process began with me realizing that I am gifted in some things (majority of them I thought had nothing to do with mothering) and for all else I needed to intentionally develop skills to achieve my personal goals. Since my goals shifted from an unrealistic image of motherhood to the reality of Lori being a good wife/mom, I could strive toward my goals with confidence because the goals were fully ME - who I am and how I would like my life to be structured.
After doing a bit of research I pulled some good pointers about having a big family and managing our household. I only searched under larger households because so many people have been telling us what a big family we are about to have (I hardly think of four kids as a "big" family, but what the hey...might as well get the structure down now before any additional babies join the fun). I put these pointers together with some I pulled from the Queen of Clean book my sister gave me for Mother's Day (thank you, thank you, Ang!!!) - aaaand, then one more helpful website (flylady.net) was added to the mix. The result is a flexible routine that fits my random personality - and for the first time the routine is working for ME, not me scrambling to do someone else's checklist.
This coming week, after I get over this virus, I will being compiling a household binder to keep my scatterbrained thoughts in one place. Topics will range from money and shopping lists to lesson plans for the kids and possible family outing destinations. I'll post on the success or ultimate failure of the binder system in the future.
Managing a household touches on so many topics. The binder system was the best way I could come up with to keep them all in order and in one place. On a week to week basis, I deal with finances, kids projects/lessons, family time, God/spiritual disciplines, keeping the house clean and fully stocked with supplies - these being household items such as light bulbs and soap to food, and my own projects for the house, like making curtains or diapers. I'm not sure a binder will be the right method to get organized but I need some sort of visual to get my mind in order and these varied topics flowing with ease in our home. How do you all keep these topics in order and accessible? Are they all placed together or are they separate in your thinking?
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Bored Already?!?
I've been searching through some mom blogs covering the topic of frugality by finding a good blog and following the links. I stumbled upon on blog that was so sad. This new mom was ready to throw in the towel and return to work. Her little baby was going to full time daycare all because she didn't feel rewarded as a SAHM. And, she was bored. Bored with baby and bored with keeping the house. Bored.
Bored: "weariness, and disinterest in, life" - according to the Webster Dictionary. What I want to know is HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? This is the second, no, make that the third, mom I've either read about or talked with recently that just doesn't get the whole SAHM thing. I mean, if you really understand what a mother is - what her role is - then, how can you be bored? Bored enough to give up and go back to the now traditional way of mothering - via an underpaid substitute, i.e. daycare. Are things around the house really that uninteresting?
I have a million thoughts on this subject, but I'll spare you all a lengthy post of my ramblings and just ask this question, er, questions:
Do you find yourself bored as a mother? And, what do you think the role of a mother is within the family? What's our purpose for getting married and having all these babies?
I think our reasons for having a family - for becoming "Mama"- is going to drastically effect the "boredom factor" for each of us. But, I want to hear from you ladies first...
Bored: "weariness, and disinterest in, life" - according to the Webster Dictionary. What I want to know is HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? This is the second, no, make that the third, mom I've either read about or talked with recently that just doesn't get the whole SAHM thing. I mean, if you really understand what a mother is - what her role is - then, how can you be bored? Bored enough to give up and go back to the now traditional way of mothering - via an underpaid substitute, i.e. daycare. Are things around the house really that uninteresting?
I have a million thoughts on this subject, but I'll spare you all a lengthy post of my ramblings and just ask this question, er, questions:
Do you find yourself bored as a mother? And, what do you think the role of a mother is within the family? What's our purpose for getting married and having all these babies?
I think our reasons for having a family - for becoming "Mama"- is going to drastically effect the "boredom factor" for each of us. But, I want to hear from you ladies first...
Monday, May 21, 2007
June or Joan
As it turns out the wonderful housewife of the 1950's is JUNE Cleaver!!! Wow. So, Joan, June...whatever. Hmmm...I like the name June.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
My Wonderful Self
Today has been an extreme blah day. So blah in fact, I loaded up the kids in an attempt to escape the blahs at our house. This morning while doing my online banking, I noticed a certain husband who shall remain nameless spent $10.40 on "the most amazing pastrami sandwich I've eaten since I had one in New York" earlier this week. Upon this discovery, I decided to throw caution to the wind and splurge on the sub-food at McDonald's before heading to the park with the kids.
Ah, the park. The sunshine, the shade trees, the french fries scattered in the dirt under our picnic table - it was enough to chase away the blahs for the afternoon or at least for the hour and a half we were there sweating. - I've come to despise the Midwest's humid environment. Mom says my skin will look great when I'm old thanks to the moist air so, I suppose the trade off is worth all the discomfort. - Once the kids were red-faced and had damp hair, I loaded them up and headed home just in time to lay Jack and Sophie down for a late nap.
I distracted Isaac with art supplies (child-safe scissors, paper, crayons, and a glue stick) and managed to sit in a nearly quiet house for a few minutes - silence, plus the sound of paper being cut and an occasional question from the four year old across the table from me. "What did I spell?" - after reviewing the newly created word "PIOOOS" I had to honestly tell him I didn't know what the word was, "but good job writing those letters, buddy."
It felt great to escape the routine I established on purpose - just last week. How hilarious! I need to face the facts - I thrive in chaos. Sad, but true. BUT, I still have anal tendencies such as the laundry being sorted by color and type, how the bath towels are folded and keeping the refrigerator clean. WHATHEHECK! I am a procrastinating perfectionist - and have yet to figure out what that means for my day-to-day life. Routine?- doesn't happen. Chaos and clutter?- drives me nuts.
Over the next few weeks I hope to find my own balance to being just Me (Hello, Mom! I finally get it: "I'm just me." - yeah, heard it since I was 17 and now it has finally taken root). I need to kill all my pre-conceived ideas of what a stay-at-home mother of four should look like (Joan Cleaver - 1950's housewife). This doesn't mean lowering my standards but it does mean changing my standards to fit within the scope of reality. All of you are wonderful people, beyond me in organization and cleanliness, but still wonderful - just not Me. I guess this is the point at which I stop the comparisons to all you wonderfuls and strike out on my own - to be my own sort of wonderful.
Maybe one day young mothers will compare themselves to me, "Yeah, I want to structure my life like that wonderful, Midwest suburbian mother of who knows how many children. You know, the one with the really great skin."
So, here's to Joan Cleaver. May she rest in peace!!!
Ah, the park. The sunshine, the shade trees, the french fries scattered in the dirt under our picnic table - it was enough to chase away the blahs for the afternoon or at least for the hour and a half we were there sweating. - I've come to despise the Midwest's humid environment. Mom says my skin will look great when I'm old thanks to the moist air so, I suppose the trade off is worth all the discomfort. - Once the kids were red-faced and had damp hair, I loaded them up and headed home just in time to lay Jack and Sophie down for a late nap.
I distracted Isaac with art supplies (child-safe scissors, paper, crayons, and a glue stick) and managed to sit in a nearly quiet house for a few minutes - silence, plus the sound of paper being cut and an occasional question from the four year old across the table from me. "What did I spell?" - after reviewing the newly created word "PIOOOS" I had to honestly tell him I didn't know what the word was, "but good job writing those letters, buddy."
It felt great to escape the routine I established on purpose - just last week. How hilarious! I need to face the facts - I thrive in chaos. Sad, but true. BUT, I still have anal tendencies such as the laundry being sorted by color and type, how the bath towels are folded and keeping the refrigerator clean. WHATHEHECK! I am a procrastinating perfectionist - and have yet to figure out what that means for my day-to-day life. Routine?- doesn't happen. Chaos and clutter?- drives me nuts.
Over the next few weeks I hope to find my own balance to being just Me (Hello, Mom! I finally get it: "I'm just me." - yeah, heard it since I was 17 and now it has finally taken root). I need to kill all my pre-conceived ideas of what a stay-at-home mother of four should look like (Joan Cleaver - 1950's housewife). This doesn't mean lowering my standards but it does mean changing my standards to fit within the scope of reality. All of you are wonderful people, beyond me in organization and cleanliness, but still wonderful - just not Me. I guess this is the point at which I stop the comparisons to all you wonderfuls and strike out on my own - to be my own sort of wonderful.
Maybe one day young mothers will compare themselves to me, "Yeah, I want to structure my life like that wonderful, Midwest suburbian mother of who knows how many children. You know, the one with the really great skin."
So, here's to Joan Cleaver. May she rest in peace!!!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Ever Changing Job Description
I've made a very valuable observation as I've been trying to established a nice, little routine in our home. Since first becoming a SAHM a few years ago I have seen a steady growth in the amount of tasks that are falling under my list of responsibilities alone rather than being shared by both Brian and I. I don't know if this is because I'm getting better at "doing it all" or if I'm being suckered into letting Brian off the hook all too often.
We used to share meal prep and clean up, diapers, kids' baths and the deep cleaning of the kitchen and bathrooms. Now, if I ask for help in these areas I get a wide range of reactions from Bri - all indicating that I'm slacking on "my job". What I can't figure out is the point at which all these tasks became part of my job description! Then, today I had a revelation when I saw the exploding trash can left in the kitchen (again).
It has, by mere default, been B's job to take the trash out as he leaves for work on trash day each week. But, the past couple of weeks I've had to scramble to find appropriate attire in order to dash outside so I can beat the trash collector to our large, outdoor can so all our gross trash will be disposed of and not sit alongside our house - rotting in the can for an extra week. What's amazing is that our full, often overflowing, smelly trash can is usually, ingeniously positioned in the middle of the kitchen floor each week so a certain husband will have to literally trip over the thing to get out the door...yet for the past few weeks the trash has remained in our kitchen and the neighbors have seen a less than desirable side of me in the early morning hours on trash day. The grand revelation you may ask? - that if I take that trash out for another week this will be added to my task list!!! Don't you get it, people?!?!?! It will become MY JOB!
By my dear, sweet husband slacking ever-so-slightly and me coming along each morning and taking up his slack , I am in fact taking on HIS responsibilities one by one...so then a month from now when I ask him to not forget the trash he is wondering why I can't do MY JOB!!! Isn't that a HUGE revelation?!?!?! So, how did I become the do-it-all-queen with a male assistant rather than an equal partner? By taking on tasks as needed over and over and over and oops, it has become my job!
Now, I must admit that most of my responsibilities stem from the fact that I stay at home with the kids. I do feel that Brian works very hard all day long and I should do the same. At times my to-do list overflows on into the evenings - not a problem. But, my beef is with the fact that now nearly everything that needs to be accomplished day-to-day falls under my job description - leaving me to seek out help with my male counterpart.
Okay, okay - think of it like this...
If everything wasn't "my job" both Brian and I would set out to accomplish what needs to be done - such as cleaning up dinner, wiping down the kids, getting them to bed. But, when every freakin' task is mine alone to get done I find myself being such a nag - "Hey, babe could you get Jack, he's smearing cheese in his hair", "Sweetie, can you hand me those dishes on the table and get Jack, he's throwing cheese at Sophie", "Bri, can you PLEASE take the cheese from Jack, and get that chunk out of Sophie's hair", "Brian, argh!!! - I'll do it myself!"
How are responsibilities split in your home? Do you define them, do you do it all yourself only calling on hubby for assistance, or have you figured out the key to tricking him into doing it all himself only calling on you to assist? And, for those of you that have balance in this area of marriage and family life, please write a book or something for the rest of us.
We used to share meal prep and clean up, diapers, kids' baths and the deep cleaning of the kitchen and bathrooms. Now, if I ask for help in these areas I get a wide range of reactions from Bri - all indicating that I'm slacking on "my job". What I can't figure out is the point at which all these tasks became part of my job description! Then, today I had a revelation when I saw the exploding trash can left in the kitchen (again).
It has, by mere default, been B's job to take the trash out as he leaves for work on trash day each week. But, the past couple of weeks I've had to scramble to find appropriate attire in order to dash outside so I can beat the trash collector to our large, outdoor can so all our gross trash will be disposed of and not sit alongside our house - rotting in the can for an extra week. What's amazing is that our full, often overflowing, smelly trash can is usually, ingeniously positioned in the middle of the kitchen floor each week so a certain husband will have to literally trip over the thing to get out the door...yet for the past few weeks the trash has remained in our kitchen and the neighbors have seen a less than desirable side of me in the early morning hours on trash day. The grand revelation you may ask? - that if I take that trash out for another week this will be added to my task list!!! Don't you get it, people?!?!?! It will become MY JOB!
By my dear, sweet husband slacking ever-so-slightly and me coming along each morning and taking up his slack , I am in fact taking on HIS responsibilities one by one...so then a month from now when I ask him to not forget the trash he is wondering why I can't do MY JOB!!! Isn't that a HUGE revelation?!?!?! So, how did I become the do-it-all-queen with a male assistant rather than an equal partner? By taking on tasks as needed over and over and over and oops, it has become my job!
Now, I must admit that most of my responsibilities stem from the fact that I stay at home with the kids. I do feel that Brian works very hard all day long and I should do the same. At times my to-do list overflows on into the evenings - not a problem. But, my beef is with the fact that now nearly everything that needs to be accomplished day-to-day falls under my job description - leaving me to seek out help with my male counterpart.
Okay, okay - think of it like this...
If everything wasn't "my job" both Brian and I would set out to accomplish what needs to be done - such as cleaning up dinner, wiping down the kids, getting them to bed. But, when every freakin' task is mine alone to get done I find myself being such a nag - "Hey, babe could you get Jack, he's smearing cheese in his hair", "Sweetie, can you hand me those dishes on the table and get Jack, he's throwing cheese at Sophie", "Bri, can you PLEASE take the cheese from Jack, and get that chunk out of Sophie's hair", "Brian, argh!!! - I'll do it myself!"
How are responsibilities split in your home? Do you define them, do you do it all yourself only calling on hubby for assistance, or have you figured out the key to tricking him into doing it all himself only calling on you to assist? And, for those of you that have balance in this area of marriage and family life, please write a book or something for the rest of us.
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