I love my new calendar

In our culture of mass consumption, I like the idea of simplifying life by using this strategy:

If you love it, keep it around. If you don't, get rid of it (or better yet, just say no to it in the first place).

With that in mind, I'm getting excited to replace the small, free Easter Seals calendar that I've been looking at all year with this one:
I keep a wall calendar in a prominent spot in the kitchen, and I write in and reference it frequently. I think I deserve something with beautiful pictures and large boxes to write in. I'm almost tempted to tear down the old one and use the new one early (as pictured above), as it technically has the last four months of this year on it. But the boxes are just a little too small.

Still, something small to look forward to that I know will bring a smile to my face whenever I look at it, especially at the beginning of each month.

Anything ugly sitting around in your house just waiting to be replaced by something you love?

P.S. It appears that blogging once a week is all I'm capable of right now. When things settle down a little, I hope to get back to it more frequently. Meanwhile I'm enjoying reading everyone else's blogs as often as I get a chance!

Little Mouse Update

Our little Mouse is filling out and looking less and less mouse-like by the day. Although I'm tired from waking up with him in the night, I really can't complain because he is such a good natured baby. He rarely cries unless he's hungry, he's always easy to soothe, and I can often lay him down when he's still awake and he'll go to sleep on his own. Life with three kids would be much harder if he was a difficult baby. He really is the sweetest, sweetest thing.

His situation is one that I'm still trying to get a feel for; his future is hard to predict.

It's nice when the birth family's commitment is easy to read; when they are either doing everything possible to get their child back, or they are doing nothing at all. When they make effort in some cases, but drop the ball in others ... well, it makes me worry. Perhaps their effort will be just enough to get their child back; but then what kind of parenting and situation will the child be going back to?

Just some thoughts. They may or may not be related to little Mouse.

Keep it Simple, Mamma

I enjoy crafting with my girls, but lately with the baby I've had less time, energy, and inspiration for it. Last night after a spontaneous coloring session, I realized that (duh) I don't need a big idea and lots of supplies and energy to craft with my kids. Rather than just foregoing crafting for now because I'm "too busy," it's better to choose a few different types of craft supplies that we have lying around, and to sit down at the table with the kids to get them started. Creativity comes naturally to them, they just need a few supplies to spark their ideas.

Another thing that helps is that there are tons of ready-made, printable craft ideas for kids online. DLTK is one great example (and if you have other favorites, please share)!

This morning Mia made the cornucopia craft from DLTK and the only help I gave her was to print off the papers, and to stay somewhat close by and show interest now and then. Dee amused herself by gluing small foam letters onto construction paper.

I sneaked* away about a half hour ago and they're still going strong with their creating. I love mornings like this, when the stars seem to align, everyone is getting along (for the most part), and I don't feel like a referee/entertainer person.

Happy Monday!

* I really want to stay "snuck" here, but Blogger's spell checker is telling me it's wrong and "sneaked" is right. I just checked Word and it seems to think both options are ok. Hmmm.

Potty Mouth

Lately Dee has taken a liking to the word "poopy." Sometimes she says it in a chant: "Poopy, poopy, poopy." Sometimes she uses it to get a rise out of her sister: She'll say "You're Poopy!" and then laugh and laugh.

I'm in a bit of a quandry here. At first I tried separating her from the situation and saying "We do not use potty words like that. You can stay in your room for a few minutes until you're ready to talk nicely." But it didn't seem to have much effect. In fact, she seemed to enjoy the attention, and she still especially seems to enjoy that it gets a rise out of Mia, who is very indignant about being called "poopy."

So my strategy for the last week or so has been to ignore it and encourage Mia to do the same. Often if Dee starts using the offending word I'll turn very briefly toward her and say, "We don't use potty words." Then I'll direct my attention and words to the other two kids and become absorbed in them, ignoring the stream of potty words as if to say to Dee, "You're not getting ANY more of my attention until you stop." It seems to work somewhat, but it hasn't totally stopped the potty mouth since Mia still gives a reaction.

I know some people use soap in the mouth when their kids use "bad" words. I'm not at the point where I feel like that's necessary, and I'm uncertain if it's the best tactic for me anyway.
"Poopy" seems a relatively innocent word ... I cringe to think of other words she could hear somewhere and start using indiscriminately!

Have you had to deal with "potty mouth" at your house? Or did your parents deal with it when you were young? I'd love to hear other parents' strategies and experiences!

Drop Everything And...

READ!

Do you remember D.E.A.R. from elementary school? I've also heard it called Sustained Silent Reading. Whatever it's called, it means taking a designated amount of time (often between five and fifteen minutes) at school to read silently for pleasure.

Because reading is a hot button issue for me, and because I'm a nerd, I've carried D.E.A.R. over into our home routine. Every night before we turn the lights out in the girls' bedroom, we let them have 10 minutes of quiet reading. I originally got the idea for this when I was reading The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, which I highly recommend to all parents and educators. It's a great read!

The girls have responded very well to D.E.A.R. It's been a good way to help them unwind before bed. Even Dee, who cannot read yet obviously and is not known for her ability to sit still, does well most of the time with it. She carries a big stack of books to her bed, pages through them one at a time, and is usually mad when the time is up because she hasn't made it through her stack. I think they also respond well because the alternative to D.E.A.R. is having the lights out and going to bed immediately, and what kid is going to choose that?

My goal is to raise kids who will secretly keep flashlights in their beds and stay up reading some nights because they absolutely cannot put a book down. Think it will work?

Paper CLUTTER!

I'm just wondering. Is there any way to stop the constant, ever increasing flow of paper that comes into my house? I shudder to think how many trees are felled just for the junk mail alone. I try to keep up with it by immediately sticking unwanted mail into the recycling bin, but inevitably I have more days where I stick it in the mail basket, to be sorted another day. Then when "another day" comes (every week or two), I resent the time I have to spend sorting through it and the clutter it makes in the meantime.

And, now that I have a child in elementary school, the amount of paper that comes home with her is also somewhat shocking. Every day I have worksheets to look at, announcements, reminders, etc. So every day I have to make decisions about what to throw away and what to keep (and if I'm keeping it just temporarily, where should I put it?). In addition, the papers that do get kept and filed (like bills, medical info, financial statements, etc.) have our file cabinet busting at the seams. How motivated am I to go through the file cabinet? Not much. Or at all.

I'm thinking the main points that will help here are 1) go through everything right away and 2) be extremely discriminating about what to keep. Both of those things I am working on, but the sheer volume just has me frustrated right now. Mostly I think I'm just venting.

If anyone has any ideas about how to keep the paper clutter at bay (or better yet, keep it from coming in the house to begin with), PLEASE share!

I'm Back!

Just thought I'd pop in and inform my five-ish regular readers that I'll be back to semi-regular posting soon (tomorrow?). It's been a busy couple of weeks with family birthday celebrations, being out of town, and then having house guests for almost a week. (Not to mention I'm not sleeping much.)

But I have a few thoughts to throw out, so I'll be here throwing them out soon. Hope you're all enjoying the fall - the weather is just about perfect here now, and I'm loving that!

Attachment

Little Mouse is doing well. He's probably nearing the six pound mark, and we're doing all of those little things that build bonding and attachment. Feeding, rocking, soothing, bathing, changing ... all the while staring down into that tiny, helpless, beautiful face.

People often say things to me such as, "I don't think I could ever do foster care, I would get too attached and not want to give the kids back." Or, "I guess you just have to try not to get too attached!"

Do I somehow have the abilty not to get attached, or am I emotionally more distant than other parents? I really hope not. To be a good parent - foster or otherwise - you absolutely have to be attached, don't you think? If you're not attached, even a baby can tell, and it will affect his or her development negatively. Every child needs and deserves a caregiver that is attached to them. And in the case of babies like Mouse, attachment comes very naturally and quickly. Some of the people I admire most are those who can truly attach to and love older foster kids, who often can be quite difficult to parent, not to mention become truly attached to. Those are some amazingly giving parents.

As for us, we are definitely getting attached, even though we know in the back of our minds that we might be facing a very painful goodbye eventually. After having experienced foster care for a few years and knowing that we really have no control over the timetable or how things play out, we've gotten better about not worrying about it. If and when Mouse leaves, we will pass through that floodgate of tears when we get to it. Meanwhile, we are firmly in the "It's worth it" camp.

Daddy's Birthday Chimes

Mr. J recently passed his birthday, and the girls and I had a lot of fun making this flower pot wind chime for him:
Since the weather has been so pleasant and we're spending a lot of time out in the yard (Mr. J most of all), it seemed appropriate. I got the idea from the Let's Explore blog, one of my favorite places to find fun kids' activities.
And now, since it's already a few minutes past my new bedtime of 10 p.m. (such is life with a newborn), that's all for now. I hope you're all having a pleasant day.

Rainbow Toast

A couple of weeks ago, Mia came home very excited to tell me about Rainbow Toast, a snack she had made at school. She wanted to make it again (and again and again) over the next couple of days. It's pretty easy, so I obliged.

First, you pour a little bit of milk (a few tablespoons?) into small containers. Then, you add food coloring.
Get out a paintbrush and paint your bread with the colored milk.
When you're satisfied with your painting, toast the bread, then slather it with butter:Rainbow toast!

Books - 2009, Quarter 3

I didn't read as many books as usual this quarter, largely due to this first one:

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - I'm so glad I can finally say I made it through an entire Dickens' novel (aside from A Christmas Carol). A beautiful, heart-wrenching book. I blogged about it here.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris - This was pure pleasure for me to read. Loved it.

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale - A very quick, fun read. Written for probably the junior high crowd.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez - Oh yeah. This is the other reason I didn't read as many books this time. What can I say about this very long book? It's strange. The plot is jagged, many of the characters have the same names, there's magic and realism and it's almost impossible to distinguish between the two. It's kind of a trip. I kept reading because I had already invested so much time in it, and I wanted to see the several generation long family saga through to the end. I'm not sure I would invest the time again. But if you go online and look at some of the reviews, people either LOVE it and think it is an absolute masterpiece ... or, kind of like me, they don't fully "get" it.

A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages by Kristin Chenoweth - I love the musical, Wicked!, which I saw this past summer, and Kristin Chenoweth helped create the brilliant character of Glinda (and played her in the original cast). This book is an autobiography of Kristen's life. She has had quite an interesting journey, and the book is a light, funny read, with a few thought provoking moments sprinkled in.

I'm already deep into Quarter 4's books, and I hope I can continue to find a few minutes to read here and there amidst the chaos of having three kids at home.

I've been MIA for good reason! And, I need a few ideas.

Earlier this week I went to the hospital and picked up our new foster baby. He's the teeniest baby I've ever cared for weighing in at under five pounds. Those are his teeny tiny feet pictured above. Because of his size, and his little high pitched cry, I'm just going to call him Mouse on here for now.

After Mouse came, the week suddenly got very busy. Mouse needed to be seen by social workers, the doctor, and his birth mom (for a supervised visit), which meant extra driving. Between that, my girls' regularly scheduled school/activities, and the lack of sleep, I've had to let quite a few things slide (such as blogging, and cleaning the house).

I'm not sure how long Mouse will stay, but I'm enjoying him while he's here. He is so incredibly precious. He came at a time when I had decided I was going to start a whole bunch of new sewing and other projects. I had also decided I had a bit more time to give, and I was going to look into some volunteering. So much for that. But you know what? This is probably the most significant volunteering and giving of myself that I can do right now, and although it can be exhausting, it's very rewarding too.

I do have one area in which I could use some feedback though. What are some of your favorite very easy to throw together meals? I really can't spend the kind of time that I sometimes spend in the kitchen right now, but I'm not a big fan of processed food and we can't afford to order take out every night. So, any ideas would be greatly appreciated. My sleep-deprived brain appreciates all the help it can get in this category right now!

Thanks!