Wednesday: What's Been Happening?

We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Eagar, AZ with our Whitty grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It's always so much fun to experience this holiday in a small town. This year the feeling was extra special because everyone was so grateful that the town's structures had been spared from the Wallow fire a few weeks earlier. Favorite activities were the parade, and incredible bbq (I did the cooking this year :) ) the amazing fireworks show and swimming in the lake. Miss A had a fancy tea party with her girl cousins. The boys constructed and RC car race track in the field next to the house, complete with moguls and a jump.

My incredibly and independently creative daughter made patriotic shirts and fabric hair flowers for all of the girls.

But for the boys, the highlight of the trip was pig butchering. Some family members up there had been raising pigs and they butchered them that weekend. My boys were in hog heaven. (Yes, pun intended!) I don't think we could have planned a better vacation for them. For my three boys, getting to help butcher the pigs was probably better than Disneyland.

And me? I spent a lot of time on this hammock with this view. What you don't see in the picture was the book that was in my hands the entire time I was on the hammock. Heaven!!

Tuesday's Terrific Tip

Here's one more reason to love your crock pot. Baked potatoes! I "baked" them in my crock pot last night and they tasted just like they came from the oven. No need to heat up the house.

Wash potatoes and prick with a fork. Wrap in foil. Put them in the crock pot and slow cook on high for 5-6 hours.

Five for Friday

Cooler weather is coming....cooler weather is coming....cooler weather is coming. If I keep saying it, maybe it will happen. I don't complain about the heat too much. I actually prefer it to frigid temperatures and snow.

But there are some things that I won't miss once cooler weather returns.

1. Brushing my teeth in warm water because that's all that's coming out of the tap.
2. Opening the door to a public building and feeling like I need to use my shirt as a potholder.
3. Avoiding the BBQ. You know it's hot when it is to hot to stand next to it and cook something.
4. Everyone being holed up in the house because it's too hot to play outside. There is no good way to burn off some energy in here.
5. The breeze that feels like a hairdryer blowing in my face.

Thoughtful Thursday

Keep calm and carry on. I've seen this thought posted around a lot these days. I love it. It's true that sometimes, keeping calm and carrying on is about all you can do. But I ran across these other thoughts. And while they may not be as inspirational, they are, in their own way, still a little true.

Wednesday: What's Happening?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MR.E!

I knew from the moment of your crazy, speedy, emergency birth that we would need to buckle up and enjoy the ride. So far, I've been right. But it's a ride I'm happy to be on and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Thank you for making me smile everyday.

Tuesday's Terrific Tip

This sounds a little sappy, but trust me, it helps. Find a picture of your kids that you love. (Yes, the kids that you love and a picture that you love. I need to work on my grammar!) Put that picture in a cute frame and place it in your kitchen. Then when you are slaving away cooking dinner you can glance over at that picture and remember who you are cooking for. It really works.

I remember reading this once, and it has stuck with me. "The fact that I have to cook each day suggests that we live in a time and place where food is abundant. If I have to plan meals, all that means is that we have a wide spectrum of possibilies to choose from. I get to exercise judgement and creativity on a daily basis in an activity that helps build unity, comfort and physical strenght to my family...Because each member of my family needs to eat, I have the opportunity as the cook to make a meaningful connection with each of them every single day. Remember, everything you have to do means you belong to someone."
(Being The Mom  by Emily Watts)

So enjoy being the cook! And find a way to remind yourself of the little and big people that you get to nourish every day.

Monday's Memory

We were headed to the beach. It was almost Christmas card season so I  wanted to take the "perfect family picture" on the beach. I shopped for coordinating outfits ahead of time. It took A LOT of shopping to find something in the same color scheme that would work for everyone. But I finally found the perfect outfits and even managed to bring all of it with us to California. But my next hurdle to the perfect family picture was the weather. It rained one day so no pictures. The next day was incredibly sunny. No pictures. By the third day I told my family to just put the clothes on and we'll take the pictures no matter what. Next hurdle: no matter how old you are the last thing you want to put on before heading out to the beach is anything other than a swimsuit. There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. By the time we got out to the beach it was windy and the light was all wrong. But there was no way I was going to get everyone to try it another day. So we did our best.

Did I end up getting the perfect family picture? You be the judge.

Umm....definitely not the "perfect family picture." Not even close. But the irony of the whole thing is that the same evening we were all walking on the pier and my sister snapped this picture of us.

It's certainly not color coordinated but it turned out to be the perfect family picture. It even made it onto the Christmas card.

Not picture perfect, but still perfectly us!

Five for Friday

I went to see the "The Help" last night with some friends. I loved it! I had already read the book so I was excited to see how the movie would turn out. I was not disappointed. I try to read books before seeing the movies based on those books. I don't like to read a book after seeing the movie because I don't get the chance to create my own images of characters and scenes in the story. In my humble opinion, movies don't always live up to the books. Some do, but most don't. "The Help" is one that did and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Here are 5 of my favorite movies that I love just as much as the books they were based on.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird

2. Of Mice and Men

3. Pride and Prejudice

4. Anne of Green Gables

5. Harry Potter

Thoughtful Thursday

My husband has turned me into a talk radio junkie. My favorite show these days is the Dave Ramsey show. I am reading his book, The Total Money Makeover. It is amazing. Even if you don't need any financial advice, (but who doesn't?) the book is so motivating in other areas. These quotes have been my favorites:

"Most people won't change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change."

"The enemy of 'the best' is not 'the worst.' The enemy of 'the best' is 'just fine.'"

I am definitely guilty of accepting "just fine." It's true that sometimes it is easier to be mediocre. Making changes and trying for "the best" can be hard. I find that it is really easy to get complacent. I need to step back and force myself to honestly evaluate how I am doing in different areas of my life and not be content with "just fine." Because we all deserve the best.

Just something to think about on this thoughtful Thursday.

Wednesday: What's Happening?

PK received his Eagle Scout award in April. It was a great evening. We celebrated the fact that he finished something big. He has, unfortunately, not had the best track record when it comes to finishing things. So this was a major accomplishment for this boy! He has had some great scout leaders through the years and it was a neat opportunity for him to pay tribute to them as well.

Tuesday's Terrific Tip

With the start of school comes the daily deluge of paper. In my opinion, conquering paper clutter is the key to better organization. Like many homes, my kitchen is the hub of before-school and after-school activity. So the kitchen is where my paper system begins. I have this setup on one of the counters.

The left side holds file folders standing up. Each member of the family has a file folder. These folders hold papers that we need to refer to often. Carpool schedules, school calendars, projects in progress, scout calendars, any paper that you need to keep handy. The horizontal slots on the right are holding areas. The top slot is the active file. These are things that I need my husband to look at that day-- important mail, papers to review, sign, etc. The middle slot is a holding area for my husband. He can put his papers there and get to them when he is ready. The bottom slot is for papers that need to be scanned or filed.

After school, the kids are responsible to empty their backpacks and put their papers in a pile on the counter. Then I go through the pile. I pull out what needs to be saved-- flyers, calendars, etc, and file them in that child's individual folder. Papers that need to be signed and returned to school are signed right then and returned to the backpacks.  Then I put all of their completed work in their laundry room cubby. When that pile gets big (and when the child is NOT around) I go through the papers and save what is meaningful and throw the rest away. Art projects are hung on the wall for awile. Then I take a picture of them before they get filed or tossed.

To store cherished school papers, I have a plastic file box for each child with hanging folders for each grade. Items that are too big for the box get photographed and then tossed out. It sounds a little harsh but most of the time we display things for awhile and I find that I am more emotionally attached to these things than my children are. Many times I throw things out at the end of the school year. By that time the child is not as attached.

We have this setup in our laundry room. The binders and baskets on the top are for my husbands stuff. There is a basket for work papers, scout papers and personal papers. The top row of squares is for backpacks. The second row of squares is for school papers. The third row has a basket for each child. They keep whatever they want in these baskets. Swimming goggles in the summer, gloves in the winter, etc. It has been SO helpful to give each child a place to keep their "whatever."

Monday's Memory

The kids watched "The Aristocats" yesterday. It hasn't been seen at our house for several years. In fact, Mr. E had no idea what it was about. The olders told him that they used to watch it all the time and I think they were excited to watch it again. After watching the first few minutes of the movie, Mr. E exclaimed, "YOU GUYS used to watch THIS????!!!!" Yes, Mr. E, they did and if I hadn't have been there to witness it myself, I wouldn't have believed it etither. They watched it over and over and over. And I was pretty tired of listening to it.

But I will admit that I sang along while listening to it yesterday!

Here's my little Aristocats fans, PK, Miss A and PC

Thoughtful Thursday: Summer 2011

It was a good summer. Looking back it seemed pretty uneventful and yet there was still a lot going on. Mr. Whitty was in the middle of closing down his office. This was a big, big, bummer of a task and caused a lot of stress for both of us. It also caused a lot of penny pinching over the summer and only 1 quick family vacation over the 4th of July weekend. But the kids all ended up having a great time anyway. PK went to scout camp, the lake and several skate parks. PC went to scout camp, the lake, ice skating with friends, movies with friends, and swimming and swimming and swimming with friends. Miss A had 2 dream jobs this summer. The first was babysitting cousins on a houseboat at Lake Powell. The second was babysitting another set of cousins at a guest ranch in the mountains. She was in heaven. Mr. E spent lots of time playing and pool hopping with friends. He also was invited to movies, birthday parties and went to the lake for the first time. I guess I owe the parents of all of my children's friends a big THANK YOU for providing so much entertainment this summer.

And me, I spent some time on some organizing projects. I did a lot of reading. And I also spent a lot of time keeping the peace. Here are some of the things that I learned over the summer.

1. I am incredibly more motivated in June than I am in July. I am awesome in June! I keep the summer routine going strong with chores and projects and meals and games, etc. By the end of July you can find one child on the computer playing a game, one child on my laptop playing a game, one child on the Wii downstairs and another child watching TV upstairs. It really goes downhill from there. We get hot and cranky and just hang in there til school starts in August.

2. Having teenagers is a lot like having little kids. I found that even though 3 out of my 4 children are old enough to stay home alone, it was really hard for me to go anywhere. There was always the fight over who has to stay home with the youngest one. And there were about 20 calls to my on my cell phone as soon as I left the house. I'll admit that most of those calls were about who was fighting with who. I couldn't leave the house with a kitchen full of 13 year old boys "doing a little cooking". And I won't leave the 15 year old boys playing on the computer home alone either.

3. You can never have enough brownie mixes. (See reference above to the 13 year olds.)

4. When my two older boys were playing Words With Friends with each other on their ipods, I counted it as family together time. Even though they were in different rooms. I totally counted it.

5. Summer is a really hard time to pinch pennies. I think I will start a little summer savings fund for next year. Without older kids and no swimming pool, you really do run out of things to do.

6. A snowcone machine is worth its weight in gold.

7. Every year it is the same. At the beginning, I look forward to staying up late, sleeping in and kicking back and relaxing. By the end, I need the schedule and the routine. And every year, we marvel at how short summer seems to be!

Sixteen

A lot can happen in sixteen years.

And I am so very, very glad that it did.

Happy birthday PK!