Gift Ideas for my Family

It's awkward to make wishlists to share.  Feels like I'm asking for gifts, being greedy.  But family has asked for ideas so I thought it might be easier to share if I put it in blog format.  Let me know beforehand if it's something specific you want to give that might get duplicated by other family(I'll let them know it's taken).

Chance age 10- loves Star Wars, especially anything clones.  If anyone gave him cash he would spend it on more lego star wars kits(he has a big one he is saving up for).  This book "Clone Wars Adventures, Vol. 2"is on his list, costs $6.99 on amazon.  Cheap dollar tree ideas would be duct tape, bungee cords, Army men

Braxton age 7 is hard to buy for because he just doesn't ask for things!  Good problem to have, I know.  He has shown interest in those science kits you see everywhere.  He likes musical instruments.  Any cash given to him he will probably use to buy Star Wars or Monster Legos.  Cheap Dollar Tree ideas would be assorted tape, Army men.

Onaleigh age 4 is into fairies right now.  It all started with the disney Tinkerbell DVD's that we checked out from the library.  At night before she goes to sleep she looks at the fairy books we get from the library, her favorite books are by Cicely Mary Barker(they get the most time in her hands). On amazon I have seen that C.M. Barker has sticker, coloring, and paperdoll books, so those would be good ideas. She loves all things pink and girly.  She really likes getting cards in the mail so I think she would enjoy a card making kit. She would also love a Go Fish card deck.  She could use some cute hooks to hang her dress-up clothes on.  Cheap Dollar Tree ideas would be simple crafts(please NO craftfoam or playdough), jewlery, anything pink. Santa is bringing her How To Find Flower Fairies, Fairyopolis, & Flower Fairy Magical Doors.

Harm age 9mo loves everything that is not meant for him!  I prefer wood or cotton toys for him.  He likes cars, tipping over things his siblings stack for him, would probably enjoy some nice soft blocks.  A ball would also be a great gift for him.  Stacking or nesting cups. He is in need of one of those highchairs that strap into a regular kitchen chair or a regular highchair.  Used would be fine as long as it has a strap to buckle him in.
 
Chance and Braxton and even Onaleigh would like a DIY gift like this tent in a bag .  All the children seem to take after me and rash from any clothes or bibs that have polyester in the content. All of them love to be outside a neat sled, snowman kit, etc would be fun.  They have all been asking for a small shelf beside their bed to keep library books in, I have seen a DIY on how to make them and some are even just made out of spice racks.

Day at the Como Zoo

Saturday morning we got ourselves together and headed off to the Como Zoo in MN.  For the drive we listened to Winnie the Pooh on CD.  It's a small zoo, which is about all I can handle with a 5week old baby in tow.  First thing we spotted was the flamingos.  That pink was stunning. 

At this point I realised I forgot Harm's hat so we picked up one in the gift shop.  It was a bit too big but that worked out just fine.  He slept through the whole thing.

They have cute photo op type spots at the zoo.  It was a really busy day at the zoo so we only did one, the tortoise.

We saw bears, a lion, giraffes, zebras, very sleepy sea lions, and Onaleigh's favorite a gorilla.  We found our hands full so we didn't take many animal pics.

The kids had fun and so did I.

Time was running short so we made our way to Keith's favorite animals, the primates.  Chance got a kick out of the orangutans.  One had a plastic cup that a child must have thrown into their area.  Chance thought the monkey stole it.  He laughed and laughed.  Sadly the new gorilla forest habitat is still under construction so the gorillas were still in their small area.  I am so looking forward to them having more space.  I have always been bothered by gorillas in the zoo.  They look so human like that I hate that they are penned up.  Onaleigh was taken back by them.  She practically jumped out of her stroller when she saw them.  She watched and watched them.  In fact she didn't want to leave.  Had the zoo not been closing I would have let her stay till she was ready to move on.  So on the run we made it to the gift shop.  Chance got marbles, Onaleigh got a necklace, and Braxton got these little flashlights that go on your fingers.  I picked out a post card and a polar bear coin for my "smash book"(it's like an old school scrapbook).  We all made those souvenir penny things.  And off we went to the park outside the zoo.  The kids ran off the last of their energy and we took some pictures.



The weather was perfect.  I got to snuggle little Harm and hold hands with Braxton.  Chance got to check off his zoo trip in his Cub Scout book.  Onaleigh's wish to see a Hippo didn't happen.  We will be planning a trip to a zoo that has them sometime this summer.  I felt so blessed to have such a lovely day with my family.

Updates and jumping right into 2012

It's been awhile but that's okay I will jump right in!  It is 2012 and our family has grown.  Harm was born Apil 5th 2012. 

Chance 9 1/2yrs old.  He is doing great in his reading and math programs.  He finished one yrs worth of math this year already so we had to buy the next stage a couple months ago.  He loves to ride his bike whenever he gets a chance.  His dad and him ride all over town.  He loves to draw star wars characters and transformers.  He is still into building his inventions as well as other structures.  He is a great help to me around the house and with his younger siblings.  He has a strong sense of what is right and wrong.  I am so proud of him.

Braxton is 6yrs old and coming into his own as a little boy and big brother.  He is doing great with his school work.  He especially loves to work on the computer.  He has been doing Kindergarten this school year but soon it will be time to move him up to first grade work.  He is in Karate, which I hope will help him w/ focus but even more I hope it helps him gain more self confidence.  His imagination is huge.  I love his drawings.  The pictures and characters he draws do not come from TV shows or books but rather from his own mind.  Some days I wish I could go on a trip to his little world.

Onaleigh is 3yrs old.  She is transitioning really well into becoming a big sister.  I am amazed that she doesn't seem jealous of her new little brother at all.  In fact she adores him.  As long as you never refer to her as a "big" sister she is happy.  She insists that she is "little".  She loves to play outside,
play with her brothers, wear ribbons in her hair, and call herself a princess even while dressed head to toe in camo.  She can go from pink and sparkly to hand me down boy clothes and she is happy either way.  She is a bit of a broken record talking about wanting to go to grandpa's house, to Halloween, and any other place or time(like Halloween) that crosses her mind.  With the new baby in the house she has gotten to watch more TV.  As much as I hate to admit that.  Anyway her favorite show is Dragon Tales, I love listening to her sing the theme song.  She likes to paint and cook and is always my partner in crime. 

Harm is 5wks old now.  He was born at home.  We has another homebirth.  The 3 older children all got to be at the birth.  It was an amazing day.  Little turkey is a night owl.  We are all adjusting by staying up late and sleeping in.  He is starting to get more interactive, sometimes smileing back at us when we smile at him.  He doesn't care for waisted pants so sleepers, one pieces, and overalls is what he wears.  He is such a strong little boy always holding his head up to see the world.

My husband Keith has been my rock.  During the end of Harm's pregnancy I wasn't very mobile.  Harm liked to ride low in there.  And on top of that there is that hormonal rollercoster.  Then Harm was born and Keith was able to take 2wks off to take care off us.  Oh how I loved that and so did the children.  He cooked all the meals, all the cleaning, shopping, and all the homeschooling.  After he went back to work he made sure I had meals already precooked in the fridge for a couple weeks.  He is still doing a lot even 5wks after because of Harm's sleeping habits but things are starting to come into focus and I have been able to do more.

Then there is me.  I have been on a bit of a hormonal, emotional rollercoster.  All the joys of post partum.  But I feel like it's getting better.  The more I am able to get done around the house and the with the kids the better I feel.  I am very excited that Thursday this week with be 6wks since Harm was born.  That means I can start working out.  I need it to help improve my moods.  I know it's going to help a lot.  I got out this past week for the first time just the kids and I.  We made it to homeschool group.  That was great.  I loved seeing all our friends and getting hugs, gosh I need hugs.  They mean the world to me.  Been a bit lonely.  But that's a temporary thing while I get on my feet. 

Well it's pretty late now and I very much need to get to sleep. 

My biggest goal for this year to enjoy life as it is, to enjoy what I have and do what I can with what I already have.  I have been so blessed. 

Release...

My word, new years resolution, my intention for 2011 is "release". So much joy will come in this new year if I make room for it. It had pushed hard to come through this past year, I want to ease the way. 2010 was a very good year but too often I didn't allow myself to really feel it. Instead I held onto those overwhelmed feelings that really don't fit my life any more. I was so used to feeling that way that I created it inside me when if I really thought about what was going on it just wasn't real. I will release old unwanted trains of thought, I will release clutter. In those 2 things I will reclaim myself, my mind, my body, my home, my time. With less time focused on putting away/stashing junk and emotions I don't need I'll have all the time I want for enjoying all the Lord's blessings. I am so excited to play more with my kids! I am so excited to feel more at ease with myself. I'm excited to let life flow instead of trying to plug leaks. I can get that by finding our rhythm. I don't know if anyone will really get what this blog is about but that's okay. It's a powerful for me to write it. I can feel a light inside me glowing, getting brighter, ready to shine.

school school what happened to you?

Seems we are getting nothing done. I have to keep reminding myself this is December and this happens every yr. Sometime I wonder if we should just plan to take the whole month off! And I feel bad we haven't done more fun crafts and decorating. I often feel that way when we fly past a holiday w/out much attention. But hey we did make our paperchain count down to Christmas. That's a must in our house. The kids look forward to it every year.
But I am SO SO excitted for the new year!!! I love January, it feels like a fresh start. Almost like September. Okay I know that it sounds crazy but September is this month when school starts and you get so excited about the new school year. Well than January after Chridtmas break is like a 2nd wind. I'm really looking forward to instilling more routine into our days. Going to start small for the first month with set wakeup, meal, nap/quiet time, and bedtimes(For the kids as well as myself). I think from there we will fall into place. Also going to set some big internet use rules on myself for the new year. What about letting myself check my e-mail for 10min in the mornning and then not again online till school is done for the day. Otherwise the internet is like a black hole sucking all my time away. I also want to start doing at least one 27thing fling boogie a day to get rid of our cluter so we can reclaim our home and our free time. I need to think of more things to keep Onaleigh busy durring lesson time. Things like gluten free playdough, watercolor paints, and hey maybe a sensory table(really just a short plastic storage bin) with assorted fun ideas...water, rice, beans, stuff like that. I'm thinking it's time to try starting reading lessons with Braxton. Not so much because I want him reading but because I think it will help him get more out of his speech theropy. We'll keep it gentle. If he's not ready for book work than we'll stick to phonics games and songs. Chance is comming along in his lessons but we need to reenergise, January is a perfect oppertunity for that! LOL. Looking forward to planning more things with friends and doing more projects. 2011 is going to be a really great year!!!!

Updates

So some updates!
Chance is now 8years old and having a good school year. Things seem to be clicking a lot more for him. He was baptised this past September and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. This seems to have had a very big effect on him. In his blessing it was said he would go on a mission one day. As each day passes I can see that in him more and more. He's very spiritual in all aspects of his life. He is a passionate kid. When he gets evcited about a topic he talks with his hands to make points. It hits me at these moments that he is growing up so fast.
Braxton will be turnning 5 this month! Wow. He is such a sweet kid. I need to help him with his self-esteem. Sometimes he can be so hard on himself. He is craving more school time with mom and I know if I can carve more time for that will make a world of a difference. Over the summer he went to speech camp at the local collage. And then this Fall he went again. He's been working on his s blends such as sp,st,sc/sk. He was going 2 times a week for an hour each and he LOVED it. I think having someones undivided atention means a lot esspecialy to a middle child. This last session is done and it will be 2months before the next session starts. So we will have to contimue to work on those s blends at home. He is very into his superheros right now. His 2 favorites are Batman and Spiderman. He says things sometimes that make me really pause and be in the moment. When he smiles it with his whole being.
Onaleigh will be 2 in a little over a month. And wow is she acting it, lol. He climbs a lot. Pushes chairs up to the counters to reach more trouble. No purse is safe! We pull her down or turn her away from one things she goes straight to another bit of trouble. Some of her words are POOP, mom, Chance, stop, bow(that's her word for dog), Dad(once in a great while). She will sometimes repeat words I say but I can't pick them out unless we are playing repeat. One of those words is Braxton. She and our dog Molly have a special bond. Molly will let Onaleigh snuggle her and she won't run.
Keith is working very hard at work. And also at home. He has been doing Chance's Math program with him in the evenings. Chance is loving it and I think Keith is feeling good about it too. I think eventully he will give this job to me. But he's getting more into our schooling. I can tell he feels good about it.
I have a new, old hobby. I got a Kindle for my Birthday. I used to read all the time but for awhile there I let the Internet take up the time I used to spend reading. It's great to get back into books Now. I'm averaging a book a week. I finnaly read Gone With The Wind, that's a book that has been on my want to read list for 15years now! Also been reading Wizard Of Oz books to the kids from the kindle. Currently I am reading "Simplicity Parenting". Looking forward to really getting into it, just started the book yesterday.
I was going to write more but I'm getting tired(it's 11:30pm). But I'll be back another day!

one of those days...remembering the little wins in the day

I am sitting here at 11:30 at night still in the PJ's I put on yesterday. That's right I never got dressed today, never brushed my teeth, nor my hair. My house is a mess. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Seems my 15month old wanted to be my best bud today, she was at my ankles all day. So I need to look back now at my day and think of what my accomplishments were and where were the positives. Lets see

-ran my dishwasher 2 times today, washed pots and pans

-did Chance's reading lesson with him today, I'm amazed at how much better he did than Monday(Tues was Homeschool group science class, so we skipped formal lessons that day since he got 3 1/2hrs class time that day).

-got some tips on helping Braxton's growing pains in his legs. I feel impowered, thanks to my crunchy facebook friends

-feed my kids their green smoothie today. It's so cool to watch them drink that and know how much spinach, kale, carrots, etc is in there. My 15mo old loved it so much she licked her bowl. She was such a mess that I just whipped her down. Decided not to give her a bath till after lunch since we were going to have spaghetti(made that too)

-gave Onaleigh a bath

-instead of putting DD down when she feel asleep today while nursing I just held her(over an hour). I caressed her hair, breathed her in and just enjoyed it. Thinking about how fast children grow and that sometimes you need to stop and hold on to the moment. It was a good memory made.

-sure we didn't get a lot of school done today but the boys got lots of outdoor time. As I worked on dishes today I watched them play in the sandbox. And when the neighbor girl came out I listened as the boys and her ran and laughed. Music to my ears.

-read scriptures to the kids

So yes I am going to bed in yesterdays pj's but I guess I got more done than I thought I did. And tomorrow is a new day, Earth Day. Tomorrow I'll get up and dressed. We'll do our breakfast smoothie and hit the books. Then we'll find someway to honor Earth Day. And if for some reason I get behind again, I'll remind myself of the little wins in the day. And I'll love myself. Good-friends, focus on what matters!