ten going on sixteen

Claire and I recently went to get haircuts.  She only got a trim, but she asked Miss Jill to curl her hair into big curls before we headed home.  Miss Jill delivered.  After seeing the concoction of curls on my normally ponytailed tomboy's head, I informed Miss Jill that Josh might not let Claire return for more hairdos. :)

I'm encouraged to know that my child who constantly wears ponytails, camo hats, cut off jeans, and t-shirts, might have a hint of girly-ness in her after all.  

She comes by her tomboy ways honestly.  I'm pretty sure when I was in 5th grade, my mother thought I would never wear makeup, heels, or a dress except on my wedding day...and that was maybe iffy.  I loved going to car shows with my dad, playing football on the playground with the boys, and I thought playing Barbies was one of the silliest activities on the face of the earth.  

I'm still not a huge makeup-high heeled-dress wearing kind of a girl, but I can clean up appropriately when necessary.  I don't even mind as long as the heels are fairly comfortable.  Only time will tell with my eldest.  

menu plan: august 2013

I can't believe it's August already.  I scheduled this month in light of school starting on August 19.  I also scheduled a planned family dinner out this month.  I don't remember the last time that I planned dinner out for our entire family!  Don't be fooled.  We have a gift card. :)  Meredith and Amelia participated in a sausage stuffing contest {stuffed animal pigs being stuffed into pantyhose} at Germanfest, and they won 1st and 2nd places which earned them $25 total in gift certificates to a local pork place.  Needless to say, those dust collecting pig trophies currently hold a special place in my heart.  

August 1-3

1: alice springs chicken {new}

2: pork stir fry

3: no cooking

August 4-10

4: church picnic

5: maple roasted chicken and sweet potatoes

6: french toast

7: herb crusted chicken in cream sauce {late dinner}

8: amy's sensational summer salad

9: frozen pizza

10: deer and noodles

August 11-17

11: chicken patty sandwiches

12: drunken pork chops

13: ham and cheese sliders

14: almond chicken and rice

15: breakfast casserole/blueberry muffins {new}

16: sweet and spicy pork {new}

17: goulash

August 18-24

18: leftovers

19: twice baked potatoes/salad

20: spaghetti

21: deer steaks {late dinner}

22: parmesan crusted chicken breasts

23: dinner out...ummm, so excited about this!

24: grilled tex-mex nacho packets {new/a version of this}

August 25-31

25: baked fajitas

26: breakfast sandwiches

27: baked ravioli {new}

28: chicken patty sandwiches

29: homemade pizza

30: duck

31: no cooking

Happy cooking!!

eleven years

Whenever I look at photos from our wedding day, I can't help but think about all of the things that I've learned over the last eleven years.

When I was in high school, I remember wondering who I would marry someday.  I thought it would be so much fun to jump into the future and see a day in the life of future Jackie.  I wanted to see the name that I would sign on my checks at the grocery store.  {I find this extremely amusing because I'm pretty sure that I've never written a single check at the grocery store.}  I wanted to see my home, my car, my job, my life.  

I would have loved seeing my girls.  I would have been shocked to find that we have four.  I would have loved seeing Josh.  I would have been shocked {and excited!} to find out that he was my husband.  We met initially when I was 15, and I had such a crush on him. :)  I thought he was totally out of my league.  I would have loved seeing our home, but I would have been shocked to find that we only had one television.  I would have been completely unimpressed with the evolution of technology based on the lack of it in our home.  I probably wouldn't have realized that a large majority of people our age had flat screened televisions hanging on their walls.  I would have for sure been disappointed that I was driving a minivan instead of a Dodge Durango which was my future dream vehicle in 1995.  

When Josh and I got married, I thought I was ready for the life that was ahead of me.  I wasn't.  I don't think you ever are.  It's not possible to be prepared for life when you haven't lived much of it.  Experience is life lived.  

When I look at our wedding photos, I can't help but think that I was unknowingly two weeks away from landing my first teaching job, three weeks away from welcoming 24 students into a 5th grade classroom, and five weeks away from unexpectedly conceiving a child.  Oh my.  It overwhelms me just to think about it.  That summer seems like a lifetime ago, and yet where has the time gone?

During that four month period in 2002, I had graduated college, bought a house, gotten married, began my first year teaching, and gotten pregnant.  I remember people being shocked by all of the changes in my life, but honestly I just didn't know any different.  Life experience was certainly having its way with me.

There was so much going on during our first year of marriage that I don't remember a lot of it.  I remember not cooking much, mostly because I was so exhausted, overwhelmed, and inexperienced.  My mom came to my rescue and cleaned my messy house on more than one occasion because I just didn't even know how to keep on top of that 1200 square foot house {with no children in it yet}.  The thought kind of makes me laugh at this point.  There are certainly days when I still feel overwhelmed by my never-ending to-do list around here, but now I have daughters to help me instead of my mom.  I'm sure she appreciates the change of roles.

At 23 years old, I didn't know how steady that man standing beside me would be...no idea at all.  He's so steady.  So constant.  So predictable.  He doesn't waver about anything that really matters.  He's a generous provider, a thorough planner, and undeniably, my favorite person in the world to spend time with.  What an absolute blessing.  And other than the fact that I loved spending time with him, I'm pretty sure that I didn't truly know a lot of these things on our wedding day.

But I would learn.

At 23 years old, I had never cooked dinner 5 nights in a row, done more than 2 loads of laundry in a week, cleaned up a child's vomit, moved an entire household, bawled in complete helplessness over a sick child, had a gray hair, forced medication down a 5 year old's throat, completely lost my patience, changed 6,000 diapers, taken a child to the emergency room, read the same book what seemed like 63 times in the same afternoon, or fully appreciated the sound of silence at the end of a day.

In the last eleven years, I have experienced some of the most amazing things.  I've held four of the most lovely babies on the face of the planet.  I've felt overwhelming gratitude.  I've sang children to sleep.  I've owned and sold a business.  I've taught two children how to read.  I've heard the words "yuv you" from the lips of all of my children at age two and have decided that it never, ever gets old.  I've figured out how to survive as a wife and mother.

I've gained a whole lot of life experience in the last eleven years.  I know there is more to come, both ups and downs.  The gray hairs that have appeared on my head inform me that I do, indeed, have some experience.  The brown ones remind me that there is still a lot to learn.

These days are filled with more hard work, dishes, laundry, planning, and prayer than I could have thought possible when I imagined my future at age 16.  Yet when I take a step back and occasionally achieve a good night's sleep, they are also filled with more joy, thankfulness, and blessings.  I could not have ever imagined the goodness of these years, and while I had initially planned them differently, I truly wouldn't trade them for anything else.

What a true blessing it is to stand beside Josh and raise our four daughters.  What a true blessing it is to live this life.  Eleven years from now, we'll be in a whole different ball game.  Instead of just entering the tween years and ending the toddler years, we'll be ending the tween years and entering the college years.

There is nothing innately exciting about the eleventh year of marriage other than it's starting to sound like longevity.  Eleven is comfortable to me.  Eleven means that we're through the physically hardest days of parenting.  Eleven means that the emotionally hardest days are on their way.

Eleven is good.

our family chores

Training kids for chores is a whole lot of work.  It's also an enormous blessing to our family.  I've made chore charts for the kids for several years.  I think I started with Claire when she was 4.

I'm a huge believer in chores for kids.  They help make the mess; they should help clean it.  It also provides good training for when they leave the house as well as when parents are busy or ill and need some additional assistance.  

Chores within your home will look different depending on whether you have younger kids, older kids, kids in public/private school, or kids at home who homeschool.  Schedules and abilities will vary...be flexible.  It's a complete trial and error process until you can find something that works well for your family.  We've done it several different ways.  What I'm describing here is what is currently working for our family.  

I used to make new charts for the kids every few weeks so that the kids wouldn't get bored with their chores.  And then, I read about a woman who had her kids do the same chores for an entire year.  Wow!  Being someone who likes variety, I didn't know if this was for our family.  Then, I had Olivia, and I did my best to simplify virtually everything in my life...including chores.  

I decided to give the kids daily chores and weekly chores that they would do the entire year.  I knew that once I taught them how to do their chores, I wouldn't have to teach new chores again for a year.  Doing the same chores for the entire year would give them routine as well as allow them to master a specific chore/skill.  This year, I'm training in the summer so that everyone will be in their routine by the time the school year starts.

I typically choose chores for my kids that help our household run smoothly.  I try to think about what drives me most crazy by the time we make it to 1:00 in the afternoon {which is about the time we do chores}, and I base their daily chores on those things.  Usually, the entryway is a mess, there are toys/games/things all over the kitchen and family room, the main area of our kitchen and the bar area are covered in crumbs of food, the kitchen counter needs attention, etc.  You get the idea.  This year I added dinner/after dinner chores for everyone as well.  This is a first for us...prior to this year, I have always wanted the girls to be able to get all of their chores finished during our "chore time."  It's working well so far.

On a side note, this is the first time in a couple of years that no one has had a "mom's choice" chore.  I've had those on our charts a lot, and I'm always thankful for that specific chore.  I can choose anything I'd like, and there is usually something random that needs done.  Consider adding this to your own kids' charts if you need an extra idea.

I always give my kids a set of daily chores and a set of weekly chores.  I assign their weekly chores to specific days, or the kids would wait until the last day, and everything would turn into a huge fight.  

Here are our chore lists for this year:

Claire {10 years old}

daily 

make bed, pick up bedroom floor, load dishwasher after dinner, wash pots and pans

weekly

Sunday: make dinner with Meredith

Monday: one load of laundry {pinks...I know you're not surprised to know that we have a full load of pinks :)}

Tuesday: sweep and steam the entire kitchen floor, clean the bathroom

Wednesday: vacuum all carpeted rooms

{This year, I allowed Claire to choose the days of the week in which she wanted her weekly chores.  I know she is going to have more school work this year, so she will have the flexibility to "make up" her weekly chores on Thursday and Friday if she doesn't get them done on the first couple of days of the week.  We'll see how it goes once school starts.}

Meredith {8 years old}

daily

make bed, pick up bedroom floor, sweep main area of kitchen and under bar, pick up entryway/hallway, kitchen counter clean up with Mom, wipe table and main counter after dinner

weekly

Sunday: make dinner with Claire

Tuesday: sweep entryway and hallway

Thursday: one load of laundry {light colored towels}

Amelia {5 years old}

daily

make bed, pick up bedroom floor, pick up family room floor and kitchen floor, pick up 50 toys/things in the playroom, set dinner table, clear dinner table with Mom

weekly

Tuesday: dust family room

Wednesday: load of laundry with Mom {dark colored towels}

Me

daily

make bed, pick up bedroom floor, declutter kitchen

weekly

Monday: kitchen {The kitchen usually gets a bit crazy over the weekend, so Monday is a good day to get it back in order.}

Tuesday: straighten/clean master bathroom

Wednesday: declutter laundry room, office, hanging rack in entryway

Thursday: lesson plans/school prep

Friday: wipe cabinets/appliances, prep laundry

Saturday: laundry

  

If everyone gets to work, usually they can finish their chores in about 30 minutes.  The complaining, moaning, and distractions usually add to the time.  Some days, my kids really get right to work and are done in a flash...other days, not so much.  As of now, I'm pretty much walking along side of Amelia to keep her on task while she's learning.  She gets overwhelmed easily, but if I'm helping her, it's not so bad.  

While I'm really good at getting my kids to complete their chores, I'm not the best at getting my own completed.  I've been doing better in recent weeks, but honestly, the laundry room and the office are huge collecting spaces in our home.  We're working on it.  I try not to get too overwhelmed and just try to put out the biggest fire at the time.  

Here are some good links for chore chart printables or fill-in printables to make your own:

http://www.designfinch.com/2011/07/31/sunday-planning/ {I'm using one from this list for Claire and myself this year.}

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/6a/9a/95/6a9a953c46a238cd327918ee3ef6b1c6.jpg {I'm using this for Meredith and Amelia.}

http://blog.worldlabel.com/2012/organizing-labels-for-more-stuff.html {I used these last year.}

http://www.howdoesshe.com/1-free-organizational-printables/

I always print them, laminate them, and hang them near the kitchen.  

Happy cleaning!

a little pat on the back

I was just sitting here looking through pictures and thinking about things I don't want to forget.

Of course, several times throughout the day, I hold Olivia.  So often, when I pick her up, she either rubs my back or pats my back.  I'm fully aware that she does it to me just because I do it to her, but it is just one of the sweetest things.  

Love that sweet baby.  

oliviaisms

Josh had late shift last night, so the girls and I were dining alone.  I rarely sit down and eat with them when Josh isn't home.  

But, I had actually planned a dinner for the evening, so I sat down and ate with them.  Everyone was in a really great mood, and no one complained about the food.  Well, maybe Amelia complained about the food, but I didn't notice because she complains every night about the food.  I digress.  

Anyway, so we had a great dinner.  The girls were laughing with each other and telling stories.  And it seems like the end of our meals always turn into making silly faces at Olivia and trying to get her to do funny things.  

Tonight, Olivia was just jabbering away, saying absolutely nothing decipherable {as usual}.  Amelia looked right at her and said, "Olivia, your words make absolutely no sense!"  This reminded me of another dinner conversation shortly before Olivia was born about her possibly being Chinese and us not being able to understand her.  And then I thought, maybe she IS speaking Chinese and that's why we can't understand her.  Just something I'm currently pondering.

So, as a little background to the next part of the conversation, Olivia's favorite word is no.  All day long.  I'm sure I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that she says it at least 200 times a day.  She often says it once very firmly and loudly, and then follows that up with several short, trailing off nos.  

Conversation between A and O:

A: Olivia!  Do you know what a cow says?!

O: NO!!  {As in, don't ask me these types of questions; I have no time for your silly cows! Think Grumpy Cat style.}

A: Olivia, a cow says "moooooo"!

O: {in the same tone that Amelia just said mooooo}  Nooooooooooo!

Hysterical laughter followed.  Love these girls.   

just breathing

Well, here were are.  It's summertime.

We pushed our way through the last couple of weeks of school, and we survived.  We finished May 17, and it was such a great feeling!!

As a homeschool mom, I absolutely love summer.  It is such a blessing to not have to keep everyone on task.

We're playing games.  We're playing outside.  We're playing with water balloons.  We're playing in the garden.  We're playing with the garden hose.  We're playing at the park.

We're staying up late.  We're sleeping in.  We're eating lunches outside.

Oh, and we're potty training.  Overall, it's going well...more on this later!

If I haven't commented on your blog recently, it's because I haven't been reading it!  Sorry.  I'll catch up eventually.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!