Painting and Pickles

The past couple days have been interesting. As proof, I present to you this picture:

Do you know what these are? My children invented pickle popsicles. And they even included a bit of pickle juice with the water they put the pickle in. They were shocked to discover that they weren't very tasty...

All three of the kids did eat theirs, grimace and all. I think we should stick to carrots, strawberries and apples, eh?

And then the painting fun of yesterday. So I finished my school room. The red paint did go on eventually, five coats later and it does look great. BUT. I peeled the tape off the edges... and the paint came off the yellow walls with the tape and the red latex paint RIPPED off the walls. In some places, I cut it from the edge of the tape and smoothed it back down. Pathetic! Aggravation! Painting stinks! I'll prove it:

I'm not sure what words of comfort could possibly cheer me up, but I do have a sister coming to visit, and maybe SHE can fix this! Here's a backed up shot...

And maybe I'll post a video if I decide to fix the wall. Otherwise, I shall leave it looking horrible until it's learned it's lesson. And that could take it awhile.

Yesterday, I was making the Pioneer Woman's evil and deadly chocolate texas sheet cake, which can be found here. And I took a quick break as the cake was baking to peel the tape off the walls. When I came back from that frustrating quickie, I opened a new can of cocoa powder. Now, at almost 7,000 feet, you have to be careful how you open things that are sealed at much lower altitudes. So, not being an idiot or uninformed, I carefully, oh, so gently peeled back the sealed foil. Just as it opened the teeniest hole, WHOOSH!!! Cocoa powder everywhere. See the cabinet behind me? It went up on that, and up on the wall behind it almost to the ceiling. And we have 10ft ceilings in the living/dining area. There were chocolatey brown footprints all over, and if you want to know about wrinkles around your eyes and neck, just choose cocoa powder. The upside? When I went to wash my hair, it smelled like chocolate. =) For real! In fact, I didn't even know why at first and went sniffing around for the wonderful smell.
The other upside to the last few days was this:

And this:

I love to watch them out my kitchen window while I make dinner and see their smiles and hear their laughter. Makes a Mom so happy!

And then there were the helpers. Any job that involves a spray bottle is everyone's favorite chore. The kids got no reward for this, nor were they forced into it. The spray bottle is reward in and of itself.

Julia and Aidan cleaned the window for about half an hour and I can't say that the window improved in it's clarity, but I think it is less dirty and dusty!

And to finish, here's a couple pictures of my kitchen which, along with the living room, was my first and easiest painting project. So these rooms were the first to get a face lift. It seems to get worse each room we do...

So there you have the last few days here... A goodbye party for Marian tomorrow, a weekend and then we'll see about starting school. =) Woohoo!

Growth

Ahhh, the weekend is here. Saturday mornings the kids are allowed to watch parent-selected and approved entertainment media so we can SLEEP IN!! Also, the clever mama has cottage cheese and cold cereal on hand for "do it yourself" mornings so the kids can feed themselves a decent breakfast.

Julia: who does seem to love school, to my relief. At least, this week she does. She has been spending time sitting on Papa's lap looking at cars (he's eternally shopping for a new one) and yesterday she convinced him to look for pink cars! So he relented and looked up some youtube videos of pink cars. At least it's an Audi, but how could someone actually paint an Audi pink?? Julia can understand. =) She may be his little race car driver girl someday. But he might have to get used to pink race cars.

Last night, we popped open a small watermelon and the kids went to town...

Aidan eyes the mommy with the camera shoved into his face...

And Julia really dug in!

A good friend turned us on to a very cool co-op locally. It's an organic farm and you can sign up for their weekly harvest box. Inside, you get whatever is in season, year round! On their website, you can opt out of things you are allergic to, or simply don't like. But you can always add eggs, bread, honey and extra fruit. It's very cool and keeps us in fresh veggies once a week, supporting local growers and organic farming.

On to the painting... I promise, I tried to paint this week. But I was so unmotivated, I could hardly stand it. So I taped everything off and forced myself to start cutting in the edges. I gave Julia the roller this time, although this isn't her room, it's the school room. Here she is, helping...

And picking at paint on her knee. Notice the odd floor taping style? I taped the carpet, then pulled it back and taped it away from the wall and stuck another strip of tape behind that. It is SO HARD to keep the tape from drying to the wet wall with all that poofy carpet behind it. This seems to work, although I can't say I've tried to pull it off yet. Frankly, I don't care anymore. ;)

So three walls are cut in and painted as high as I can reach standing up, and it's been that way for three days, now. I did get an awesome idea from sister Calysta... Magnetic primer! So since one wall will be bright red, I think I'll primer it before with a couple layers then put the red on. I'll let you know how it goes! =) The reviews are iffy on how much it can hold, but I only plan to magnet papers of the kids' school work, nothing heavy.

A few thoughts on "growth" that have been on my mind...

I read that grapes will always favor the production of new growth over fruit production and because of this, vinedressers must be ruthless in cutting back the new growth. Because the only reason a vinedresser has grape vines is for the fruit. Growth for it's own sake is nice, leafy and lovely, but fruitless. Growth for the sake of fruit, now there's something of value. And of course, I've been thinking about this in my own life. Growth for the sake of growth alone is a pointless endeavor. But to grow and be ruthlessly cut back in order for a large supply of fruit in my life is a much more worthwhile way to spend my time.

Ever since we've been sick for 3 and a half weeks, I've felt behind. Every activity I do isn't an accomplishment, it's a catch-up chore with thirty more to do after it. The school year is starting and I'm not ready for homeschool. My home is in the midst of painting projects which means furniture is all over the place, laundry is piling up and I just hope the kids will act up so I can assign them some bathroom cleaning and vacuuming. =) So even though so much is getting done and I can point to a million things I've worked on, the sense of accomplishment is missing.

So instead of focusing on accomplishments for their own sake, I need to remember the fruits that should be developing along the way. Like patience, for one. Instead of that "growth for growths sake" goal of finishing painting, I need to focus on being patient when the kids want to "help out". Help create a memory for them... "Remember when we helped Mama paint the house? Remember how I painted this room and she said I did a good job?". Maybe I should watch their little faces as they focus on doing their best to please me. It's really just a simple perspective shift, but oh, how hard it is to actually SHIFT!

I was reminded that the purpose of fruit is to glorify God. And there are lots of other fringe benefits to having fruit in our lives, but it's important to remember that glorifying Him is really what it's all about. I guess it is easy to get carried away putting my energy into growing when that energy should be spent producing fruit. So you know what that means! Time for the shears, the snip and chop of things that take my energy away from fruiting.

Lindsay O'Conner,(my inspiration for the growth thoughts) in her book If Mama Goes South, We're All Going With Her, talks at length about giving from nothing, growth, fulfillment and how to meet the demands of Motherhood with grace, joy and a wealth of resources and how to combat the inevitable stress, emptiness, loneliness and negativity that can come with being needed by everyone in your family. This book makes me cry every time I read the first chapter, I can identify so incredibly well with the emptiness, impotence and frustration in her little story of a Mama going south. But this book did not leave me the same person as when I picked it up. I wish that I was everything I purpose for myself, but at least I'm on a better track for becoming a woman, and wife and a mother that embraces my roles with gusto! With fervor! And secure in the knowledge that this is where God wants me and He can fill me to overflowing so I never need to fear being empty or having nothing to give.

Have a great weekend! =)

First Day of School

And the homeschooling mother sends her daughter off to school!

I've always wanted my kids to have some exposure to the Montessori method of learning, and in our very own "backyard" we have a private school with a properly trained Montessori teacher! So I conferred with the hubby and it was decided: Julia can go three mornings a week for her Kindergarten year. I'll school her the other two days and afternoons with the boys, but she'll get that great start I'm hoping for. Aidan can go next year.

Brothers want to be in on it, too! So far no jealousy, which is good.

And here she is, outside Ms. Beth's school before we dropped her off. She didn't cry or complain!

So today is day two of her new Kindergarten and both days she comes home telling me she did "nothing" and that it wasn't very fun and probably she won't go back. Then, later in the day I hear about stories of children around the world and the foods they eat; I hear about letters she drew; I hear about painting; I hear about dress-up; I hear about the calendar; and most of all I hear plans for what she's going to do tomorrow. =) Seems pretty typical to me!

Honestly, I'm a little worried that she's going to refuse to go at some point. Then I'm not sure what I'll do, since we are obviously homeschooling and she's got the option to stay home. But hopefully three mornings is enough to get invested and not so much time that she feels like she's away from Mom too much.

Still stressing about curriculum at this point. I need a good math curriculum! Badly! I want just the right mix of it all, and plenty of manipulatives, critical thinking and skill building. But I have no idea what any of these things are out there. Sigh... I did "ask Mom" and I've got some leads there, so maybe I won't be high and dry for long. I also want to learn sign language this year, but we're also going to start Spanish and I worry about being too ambitious.

I've got several lovely sets of books I ordered... I'll have to post pictures of those. Plus, I've got a couple sets of computer resources for school covering all subjects, including learning 16 languages, if we want!!! =) (Which, of course, we WANT to do right this minute!)

Another quandary about Julia and Aidan as well... I was assuming that Julia was in Kindergarten this year, only to discover that in NM public schools, children who are not five by September wait til the next year. So she'd be in Kindergarten next year. And I was also assuming that Aidan would be in Kindergarten next year, however, he will have been 4 years old for 5 months when he'd start Kindergarten next year, which is kinda pushing it for being so young! So I guess my kids aren't as stair-stepped as I thought. So what do I do? The reason I'm wondering is because Aidan is already sounding out 3 letter words. Julia still can't tell me the name and sound for all the letters in the alphabet. Aidan can say, sound and sign them.

Here's my "sort of" solution: I'll provide teaching and opportunity for learning, especially where they show interest or seem to be lacking. But since they are young enough, I can take it easy if any frustration even starts to rear it's ugly head. I also think that PLAY is critical in the development of children and want to make sure that they are all getting opportunity for unstructured, creative play. Is that balanced enough? Should I just let Aidan go for now? Or should I take advantage of his seeming interest and ability?

So many questions, so much at stake! =)

Boys Blue Bedroom

Isn't he cute? I love this; little boy in a white shirt and blue jeans, high and tight hair cut helping his mommy paint his room blue. I'm liking this! And so here's the story of the boys new blue bedroom.

Lucas desired a room painted all navy blue, the color of a night sky with stars and planets all around. So I consented to one wall and the ceiling blue, but two other lighter shades of blue must be included so I didn't have to deal with the "cave" feeling. (men and their cave behavior starts early, eh?) So we taped off and began painting.... Only to discover that I didn't quite have enough pale blue paint(Raindrop) to cover the wall.

So I bought some more, Marian finished it up for me and taped off the walls and began the second color of paint, Romantic Isle. We were worried that it was going to be too purple, but it looked perfect once it was all put together.

The picture above and the picture below are both the same color of paint, just different amounts of light shining on it. Below, you can see the pale blue looks almost white, but there's still a corner of the ceiling to compare it to.

Lucas continues to have fun! He did a really great job. He almost couldn't do it wrong.

Behold, all walls painted, ceiling too, touched up with a tiny watercolor paint brush in corners, etc.

And a quick tour introduced by Aidan!

And so the room is done and the furniture is moved in. Vinyl wall stickers of all the planets are ordered and on the way, and now my job is to start taping off the next room. I think painting is starting to lose its charm... =) Does look good, but it makes the rest of the house walls look SO GROSS!! Guess that will keep me motivated, eh?

Two Wolves and a Sheep

Politics warning: I plan to be candid about my views on this blog. And I do plan to talk about all the subjects near to my heart: marriage, kids, homeschool, religion, politics and hobbies. But I'll try to give warning for any who might stumble upon this post and get more than what they wanted to hear.

Ever heard the saying that Democracy is like two wolves and one sheep deciding what to have for dinner? Well, this saying has been on my mind since the recent events in California. The debate about gay marriage on the opposing side seems to focus on these issues: moral wrongdoing and also majority rule vs. constitutional protection of the minority from the majority. And on the advocating side, it appears that the issue is equal rights: I want to marry whom I love, just like heterosexual couples can.

My view is as follows: I believe that legislating morality is difficult, but should be done to protect peoples rights. For example, killing and stealing are illegal. Abuse, harassment, driving drunk and smoking in (most) public places are illegal. But all moral decisions that can be left up to the individual, should be. For example, what clothes to wear. Or maybe whether or not to consume alcohol. Or if or which religion to follow and how. How long to keep your grass or your hair. What standards and opinions to raise your children with.

I feel that to pass a law that denies, forbids and makes illegal something that was a right previously is wrong. I think that for two people to marry is up to them, a private decision. I am allowed to marry whom I love. It does not defraud me of anything, even should I disagree on my personal, moral grounds, for gays to marry. Regarding our constitution, I believe that one of its very valuable functions is to protect the rights of the minority when the majority would take it away. Case in point. I notice that Judge Walker is taking heat for being gay while ruling in their favor, but I guess it's obvious to everyone that every Judge is going to be gay or straight, making every Judge unfit to decide the case. Bit of a quandary...

On the spiritual side, I do not believe it's wise to try to vote in all my beliefs, mainly because that isn't how Jesus went about being an example. I haven't noticed Jesus doing any forcing of his will, and I don't feel qualified to take a role he refused. He did say to love our neighbor AS ourself, and he then gave an example of people that would see someone they thought was filthy and unclean and would pass right by them, never giving help or aid. No caveats, either. So as much as in me lies, I will try to live peaceably with all men, keeping true to what God has told me to do about my own life and try not to oppress those who have exercised their free will to make choices other than mine.

So I just wanted to advocate for the civil rights of all humans, knowing that if this world were ruled by gay's, I sincerely hope they would still grant me the right to marry a man. Let's be fair, doing unto others as we'd have them do unto us. I do value my right to marry, to live out a religion of my choice, to homeschool, raise kids as I see fit, etc. I don't want to be found stepping up and taking special action to prevent others from making personal, private choices for their lives.

Chicken Mayhem

My husband hates chickens and has been firm in his emphatic "NO!" every time they would come up. But a man who can buy cars more often than he changes his toothbrush, well, I can't say I feared pushing the issue. So I pushed.

I laid my plans, bought the wood and asked him questions every two seconds (where's the hammer? do you have a staple gun? do we need screws? how and where should I put up a cross brace? etc). And because of my importunity, he took my case. You see how much he loves me!

Well, we have chickens. And yes, they are just as stupid as all the people, blogs and websites have claimed. However, even my husband gets a chuckle out of them from time to time. These are not meat birds, nor are they a money-making venture. These are simply a way to have fresh eggs so we don't have to go to the store quite as often. We are egg fiends around here! Plus, it's just kinda fun. =)

Here are the kids in late May with our five girls. We got three Australorps(black) and two Ameracaunas(brown). The Australorps were a huge fav of mine after reading all about them, they lay over 300 eggs a year, are friendly, not too broody, winter hardy, you get the drift. And the Ameracaunas I got for a bit of change and interest. They only lay moderately and small eggs at that. But I have to say, cheek and chin whiskers and all, they are really friendly!

We began to build the coop after the chicks began to fly out of their box. It's the only way I get things done, I have to force my own hand! So I built the coop with help from Shane and Marian along the way.

After we put this together on the driveway, we carried it to the far corner of the yard and later I stained it for sun/water protection.

We placed their coop over luxuriant weeds and grass, but in about a week they reduced it to dust and poop. However, I was quickly beating fence posts into the ground with my husbands 33lb bench press weights. So I got the fence up and now the girls can roam without ruining our yard or the soles of my husbands shoes.

I'm in the process of coaxing raspberries to live and become hearty in this high desert, hence the shovel and fertilizer... we'll see how that goes. But here's a shot of the coop nestled in the corner of the yard next to my raised garden bed. Now, there are plants in the raised bed, but I ran out of "oomph" in getting it filled with dirt. Maybe next year the dirt will be higher. I can only get to so many projects at once!

Lucas took a shot of me with one of the Australorps, who protested vociferously about being embraced. But at least we can pretend for a moment that she's domesticated!

And in typical fashion, here I am on the phone doing whatever it is I'm doing. This chick is BCOS, Brynna Cora Olivia Stafford. I call her "my girl". She's so sweet and follows me around like we're buds. She has the most charming beard and cheek tufts that stick out on the sides.

Check out all her majesty! This was the best pic of her face from the batch Lucas took.

Here is the best pix of the day, though. I found this gem amongst the pictures Lucas took of blurry chickens, my feet, clouds and the compost heap. This is actually a typical view for Lucas, since the wild sunflowers are way over his head. Some are over mine, but none of them are backdropped against the sky like this. I love it and made it my desktop!

That's our chicken escapades so far. They should be old enough to lay eggs come October, so we'll be sure to take pictures of that! Our brown girls lay green eggs, our black girls lay brown. So we'll have lots of color! And when the girls are full grown, we expect some pretty large birds. And maybe we can teach them a few tricks! =)

Sick Sick Sick

Well, when starting a blog, I suppose one can just jump right in!

Today marks the beginning of week 4 of flu, cold, cough, fever, ear aches and body aches for me and my brood. I did finally go to the doctor, just to make sure we aren't all dying. And sure enough, we just have mild germs, barely worth a prescription(which didn't get filled). So we continue on, using natural remedies like sleep, fluids, "ruh ruh" C (a sister's childhood term for "vitamin") and a few other fringy things.

Of course, this vermin or germ is holding us back from big plans; we have a Kindergardener starting on the 17th with her part-time Montessori class. And so that is when Homeschool will also being for the boys(1st grade and PreK). Which means we need to get the school room ready. But it is currently a bedroom. So we need to move the bunk beds out. But first we need to paint the room the bunk beds are going into. Then we'll paint the school room. THEN we'll get it ready!

Today my 3 year old told me "You are my Mom, but first I need a drink." I felt good about his priorities.

In the next few days, I plan to post pictures and updates on the current projects underway, namely chickens and house painting. But as I've already mentioned, I'm good at starting. It's the follow through that lacks.