Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Muddy Hands




 Yesterday was our first true day of summer break, our first day at home that the kids noticed they weren’t at school.  “Last week we would’ve been in school”, our 7 year old said. I love summer and all it has to offer. Every year I vow that we are going to have a great summer and I am not going to end with I wish we would’ve done more of…. Or try to cram all the things I wanted to do into the last 2 weeks of the summer. So yesterday I started planning our events. Looking at the camp forms I need to fill out putting them all on the calendar while coordinating them with the sports schedules. At the end of the day my table was still full of papers, the house was a disaster and after the older three spent the majority of their day playing their I-pods we all ended the day in crabby chaos!

So this morning I woke up thinking we will not do this all summer again, wasting days away doing nothing. I want the kids to have free time but we needed some structure, some responsibility, and less laziness.  Then while shredding my soap for laundry detergent, which sometimes I wonder why I do things like that, but that is another story in itself.  The task gave me a few minutes to think. I don’t know how many of you have read the book “Boys Life”, by Robert McCammon, but it is worth reading. The story sprang into my mind, one part specifically about the last day of school. I hadn’t read the book since high school, and thank my English teacher for putting on the reading list. I grabbed the book off the shelf and easily found the part I was thinking of in Part 2, chapter 1; The Last Day of School:

…..My own wings suddenly burst from my shoulder blades, unfurling like brown flags. They ripped through my shirt hungry for wind. I felt the delirium of freedom lighten my bones. As I began to rise, I had a few seconds of panic akin to the summer’s first jump into the cold waters of the public pool. My wings had been tight and dormant under my flesh since the end of August and though they might have twitched every once in a while around Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas vacation and Easter break, they had been asleep and only dreaming of this day. They felt heavy and ungainly, and I wondered-as I did every summer since our ritual had begun-how such things could read the air almost of their own accord. And then my wings filled up with wind and I felt their awesome muscular might. They gave a jerking motion, like the reaction after a sneeze. The second flap was more controlled and powerful; the third was as pretty as poetry. My wings began to beat in the current of air……

Does this explain the feeling of summer or what! “The delirium of freedom lightens my bones”, freedom to run, play, leave structure behind for awhile, and enjoy true childhood.
  
I wanted to throw all my camp paperwork away and quit all the sports and fly into summer along with the author. The book was written of the 1960’s, what the world thinks is being a kid in 2013 is different.  Those ideas make it hard to abandon it all completely and it would likely disappoint some in my household because that is what they are used too and enjoy.  So I did not throw away my registration forms and a schedule will still likely be made to give some order to the chaos. But I will remember this paragraph and give my kids a chance and encouragement to experience that old fashion summer. I want my kids to have the opportunity to say to their kids when looking at an old photo, “That is what I wore all summer long, shorts, no shoes and no shirt”, for the boys of course. Allow them more chances like last weekend at the lake when cousins ages 2-13 enjoyed working together for hours building a city in the sand.  To run around barefoot, climb trees, run through the sprinkler, explore, go camping even just in the back yard, and get dirty. Then after eating ice cream on the porch swing go to bed exhausted from all the playing that day. This may require me to let go of worry and control but I can work on that.  I will more often say as my mom did, “GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!”  Maybe I will even take a minute and allow my wings to sprout again and enjoy a few moments with them. These thoughts may be in a fantasy world like in the book, but for my kids’ sake I think it’s worth a try.

 This summer I vow to not weigh the success of our summer on how many outings we accomplished, but instead on how many days ended with muddy hands!

LET SUMMER BREAK BEGIN!!!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Updates & FOCUS Goals for week of May 13, 2013




What a great weekend only 3 soccer games, two birthday parties and mother’s day, it felt so relaxing! We had a party with friends for our #3 on Sat which was actually my husband’s birthday, but he wanted to have an air soft war so Dad enjoyed that too. Sun was his real birthday and mother’s day. They had an alligator exhibit at the zoo that he wanted to see. We had taco bell for lunch, my favorite fast food, and #3 really wanted to try the Doritos Tacos.

It was a beautiful day out and we just did want we (our family) wanted on our own schedule, that doesn’t happen very often.  

Updates:

Extras:  My kids (and me) are sooooo ready for summer. The mornings are getting harder. I hate to hurry days because I know time goes too fast, but it just seems to drag on for them this year.
The oldest ended his 10 year career at Sunflower Soccer with an undefeated season and Sunflower Blast Champions. I was a little nervous because they played a team that they only beat 1-0 in the championship game, but #1 seed played in their favor as they didn’t have to play in the semi finals. It brought tears to my eyes the end of an era. You find as a mom there are many of those; they do get a little easier because you realize the next phase has its new adventures.

The 6th grade track meet went well. #2 held onto 2 of the 3 championships she had last year. 1st in the long jump and 2nd in the 100m with a photo finish (her mom still thinks they tied) unfortunately her relay team (in her handoff) dropped the baton. They allow them to pick it back up if they do not interfere with another runner. So she picked it up and got them back in the race. With a strong anchor her team was still able to pull off a tie for first place. I was proud of her composure and quick response to the dropped hand off, and full effort on the run!  I’m not sure who was more nervous her or me. My hands were shaking before each race. I was very proud of her!

Chickens:  They are in need of a new home again. Planning to move them outside this week with the weather skipping to summer they will be fine and thankful to be out of the garage. I am a little nervous about getting them there. They are bigger now and their peck packs a little more punch. I will definitely be waiting for my boy’s assistance this time!

 Weather:  Well we have gone from snow to a high of 94 today! Crazy weather this year honestly I prefer the cold over 100deg days. I refuse to turn on the air, our heat actually ran 2 days ago and there was a frost warning over night.  I want the doors and windows open at least a few weeks before the air goes on.  Really I only moved the winter coats to the downstairs closet last week!
Meals: With our schedule slowing down dinners are improving. Just having the time to eat dinner at home, all at the same time really opens your options.

House:  Laundry was back on last week. I had a continuing education lunch yesterday so I am a half day behind right now, but I think I can catch up by the end. With a birthday party come visitors. So my house was clean on Sat. night. This of course was only after a lot of yelling and finally some assistance from the kids. Hoping to keep up order, but with the last couple busy weeks of school I am expecting it to be challenging.

FOCUS Goals for week of May 13, 2013
New Goals, comments, and excuses are in purple below.

Goals for a Better Home
1. Personal Focus to better my relationship with God.
·         Start and end each day with prayer. Read two chapters in the Bible.   
·         Run if I can.  Still trying!
·         Read 1 chapter in Reasons to Believe.

2. Remove distractions at key times.
·         No computer 6:30-8:00am and 3:00-5:00pm   
·         Evaluate my options for volunteering and maybe a little extra income? What can I handle and still keep up like I want at home?

3. Add something to give more of me to my family.
·         Take a minute when everyone gets home each night to see what is going on with them and what needs to get done.
·        Better meals.

Goals for a Better House
1. Daily Check Points: Work harder on my Daily Check Points.
2. Weekly: Catch up on tasks and “to do list”.
Mon: Cont. Educ. Lunch. Post soccer scores from final weekend. Help with history project for #1!
Tues: Clean out chicken cage. Set up meeting for soccer review for next year. Laundry!
Weds: Clean! Figure out weekend plans I am nervous about getting everyone where they need to be this weekend. (Baseball, dance recital & graduations!) Laundry!
Thurs: Errands. Start prepping for end of year EVERYTHING, next week will be busy!!!
Fri: School activity day.

3. Monthly: Projects and deep cleaning on hold, cleaning when necessary right now.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Focus Goals May 5, 2013 & Updates


Science Fair Project #3


May is here! Ours started with a bit of winter. The end of season soccer tournament had highs in the 40’s winter coats, hats and gloves were worn instead of sun block. It may have been cold but still a fun day aside from the fighting in the car while waiting between the games.

Updates:

Extras:  The final science fair project went to school today! We had to skip baseball and PTO to get it done; my son follows my own tradition of procrastination. After a long weekend it was nice to have a reason to stay home.  The project became a family project. Input from siblings, mom, dad, and grandpa to get it done. We thought a 1 gallon water jug would break the bridges, wrong. We had to move outside with a 5 gallon bucket, weights, and water bottles. With lawn chairs set up to watch we all anxiously awaited the first sound of wood cracking. The photo above was taken by our 12 year old. It was much more fun than a PTO meeting.

Last weekend ended soccer for 3 of the 4. Our oldest has a tournament this weekend, but we do not coach his team so it’s a little more relaxing when he plays. No tournament champs, but our leagues ended well. #1’s team was undefeated, #2’s 1st in league (5W-2L-1T record), #3 2nd in league with a 5-3-0 record and number 4 though no score is officially kept finally won our first game since we moved to 6v6! It is bittersweet when the season ends. We miss the fun, but not the chaos. We must enjoy it all or we wouldn’t have been doing it two seasons a year for the past 10 years. We have lots of fun memories at the soccer complex. They are getting ready to build a new facility with real bathrooms. I don’t think it will be the same and our fondest memories will likely be of the good ole days of gravel parking and porta potty’s. 

Today we have the 6th grade track meet. I am so excited I love to go to track meets. I am nervous though too. #2 won all her events last year in the 5th grade, so a little pressure as returning champion. Especially in the 4x100 relay as their school smoked the competition last year! I still couldn’t talk her into the cross country race; I think she has some hidden talent in the distance events. She has speed too, so maybe an 800/1600m runner?  I am not pushing, but I would love to see it!

Chickens: All 17 still growing strong! I accomplished moving them into the garage last week, thank goodness! I think they have double in size and smell! We used an old stock tank to put them in until we can get the coop ready and overnight temperatures improve. I think they were as happy as me flying and running around the cage. The kids think they are trying to make paper mache because they like to scratch the paper and put it in their water.

Weather:  We did get snow last Thurs. a small amount of accumulation and as I said it was COLD and wet for the soccer tournament. Now that soccer is over, the weather is beautiful! Do I dare pack away the winter gear?  

Meals:  Lunches and dinners still improving. We had mushrooms that my husband and kids found in the pasture last night. They are a delicacy; I didn’t believe my husband the first time but googled it and he wasn’t joking. Morel mushrooms look it up!  We are already starting to eat late like in the summer, it’s hard to come in and cook when it’s nice out and still light. Only a few more weeks and it will be summer break so being up late won’t matter as much!

House:  Laundry is still bogging me down. I am more on track this week.  I cheated on my no spring cleaning and cleaned out the garage last week before I moved the chickens. There was one nice day before the snow, I had to take advantage the garage was a disaster! When I came in unfortunately the cleaning fairy didn’t visit and do the other work I skipped L

FOCUS Goals for week of May 5, 2013
New Goals, comments, and excuses are in purple below.

Goals for a Better Home
1. Personal Focus to better my relationship with God.
·         Start and end each day with prayer. Read two chapters in the Bible.   
·         Run if I can.  Still trying!
·         Read 1 chapter in Reasons to Believe.

2. Remove distractions at key times.
·         No computer 6:30-8:00am and 3:00-5:00pm   
·         No volunteering tasks until my family tasks are underway each day.   (This will be easier with soccer season over, maybe?)

3. Add something to give more of me to my family.
·         Take a minute when everyone gets home each night to see what is going on with them and what needs to get done.
·        Better meals. (Going better each week.)

Goals for a Better House
1. Daily Check Points: Work harder on my Daily Check Points.
2. Weekly: Catch up on tasks and “to do list”.
Mon: Catch up from the weekend. Science Fair. Laundry!
Tues: Clean out chicken cage. Track Meet. Soccer email for next year. Call for #3’s 10th birthday party. Laundry!
Weds: Clean! Send email for meeting about planning for the next season for the Soccer League. Laundry!
Thurs: Lunch for teacher appreciation. Meeting with architect for new soccer complex. Laundry!
Fri: Lunch for teacher appreciation. Organize for #3’s bday party and my husband’s birthday.

3. Monthly: Projects and deep cleaning on hold, cleaning when necessary right now.