In Which My Family Are Acrobats

Because getting ice cream at Broom's Bloom isn't exciting enough, we had to see if Daddy can hold all five children at once. Turns out he can. Show off. :) 

I love these faces.

5 Ways to Save 15 minutes

Morning is, for some reason, my busiest time of day. My kids wake up early (which I like for the most part) and my husband leaves by 7am. I find that if I get behind in the morning, I spend several hours trying to catch up. Here are 5 things that I have found can be helpful in keeping the morning from spinning out of control:

1. Play some classical music. It seems to do a good job of bringing some peace and tranquility into the house, and children seem a little less determined to scream over it. Sometimes. Either way, it helps me to keep a calm frame of mind, which goes quite a ways toward helping the children to do the same.
2. Have a breakfast plan. I don't like having cereal each and every morning, but it just is quicker and easier. To cook anything, though, always seemed to take so long to search through the cupboards before I can get things started. Now, I know that Monday is oatmeal, so I can set a few things out the night before. If I want to cook on Sunday morning, I can at least have an idea the night before of what to do or even set something up in the Crock Pot. And Thursday is pancake or waffle day - batter made the night before (sensing the trend?). Even if the "night before" plan doesn't happen, it relieves some headspace to be able to look at a schedule and not have to think about what to make - just do what your schedule says.
3. Make your to-do list the night before. I'm bad about this, but I find that if I take my list to bed with me and note things down - appointments, things that need to get done that day, etc - it's easier for me to fall asleep because I'm not trying to hold it all in my head, and I don't need to worry about finding some quiet "thinking" time to create my list while children are brawling over teeth-brushing access or the four year old needs help getting dressed.
4. Spend some time in the Word and prayer. For Christians, this should be a non-issue, but we've all been guilty of thinking, "There's so much to do, I'm behind all ready. Let's get rolling and I'll get to it later" now and then. Yet, the Israelites gave the first fruits of their labors, and so must we, and that includes our time.  It's not a magic formula that ensures that if we spend a half an hour with God in the morning, all will go swimmingly, but when we do meet with Him, He speaks to us, changes us, and enables us to move into the trials of the day (be they big or small) with His power and grace. I'd say we all need a little more of God's power and grace.
5. Be prepared to let something go. Everything is in order. The planning is meticulous. It's full steam ahead. But then...your husband has a dead battery. A toddler has wet the bed. Someone is sick. Two children declare war on each other and they are taking no prisoners. Whatever. Everyone has the Morning of Dread once in a while, and there is no way to plan for them. So, be flexible. Be prepared that the playdate or appointment will be canceled, you won't be able to go to the store or homeschool will be a little more video-based than normal. Do what you can do, but don't be so tied to your plan that it becomes your tyrant. Make it work for you.

What helps your morning/day go that little bit smoother?

Link Love

Interesting article on eating

How do I, and the world around me, feel about motherhood?

Great tips for what you can add to your compost pile.

Encouraging words from a mom who know what she's talking about.

I'm thinking I'll be making one or two of these skeeter traps if we're are going to enjoy a summer outdoors.

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Baby Knitting - Coming Home Sweater

I loved making this sweater! So sweet, easy and free - not only was this version of the pattern free, but I had the yarn in my stash. Buttons the same as here.

 

 I totally foresee making these in all sizes and colors, so I suspect I'll be purchasing the full pattern collection. A worthy investment, I think.

Children's Chores - Gayner style

I have had several conversations with other moms at various times and places regarding the role of chores in their families lives - conversations that have involved how old, what chores, and how much (me doing at least as much asking as answering!). One thing I've realized is that there are as many ways to tackle family chores as there are families. Here's how we do it:

• I have a list of several daily chores for each child posted in the kitchen. Each child is responsible to make sure each thing is done after breakfast, before they run off to play or do other things for the day. If I find them at other things, I ask, "Are you finished your chores?" and am greeted with a "Yes, Mom" or "Oh, I forgot about...!" Honestly, they are not excellent about remembering all their chores, but for me, it's been more about creating an expectation of what they are meant to do. I'm trusting that, in time, the self-discipline will come.
• Some of the daily chores we include are emptying the dishwasher (7 year old with 2 year old), feeding the dog and picking up his deposits in the yard (5 year old), running the sweeper (9 year old) and putting away any books that had been left out (4 year old). That's in addition to making beds, putting away any folded laundry, and brushing teeth.
• When I make the lists, I go over them with each child so they fully understand the expectation. That way, it saves on the fight in the morning of how to do it and how they thought it was someone else's job. It's all there in black and white for them to consult, not down to my whim of what needs doing, which can change each day. Though I will ask a child to occasionally help me out with something that's not on the list if they finish their chores early, that's not a standard thing and I am diligent to express my thanks for going above and beyond. They need to know they are appreciated.
• While they do their chores, I do mine. I take care of the stuff like the big vacuuming, a full cleaning of the bathrooms, a full cleaning of the kitchen, dusting and paperwork - one each weekday. That way, the stuff that I really want done a certain way gets done and they see that Mom has her work to do, just like them.
• On Saturday, we do what has come to be known as "Cup Chores". Basically, I've written a bunch of chores on slips of paper, things like brush the dog, organize a dresser drawer, or wipe the baseboards in one room. Each kid pulls a different chore from the cup and does it. When the cup is empty, the kids are done. The older girls don't need much instruction on most of them, but I'll occasionally work with Noah on a job if he doesn't have much experience with it. Ellie tends to assist one of her sisters or plays with Dan and keeps him out of the way. This has been great for us - the kids love it and we don't have the "I always do this chore!" problem. It also gives them experience doing/learning different responsibilities.
• We've made the decision not to pay our kids for their chores. There are several reasons behind this: we want them to learn to serve as an act of love and not for remuneration, they are totally irresponsible with money - we'd likely find it stuffed down heating vents, and I'm not sure we can afford it. My hope is that by the time the kids are able to work for pay (babysitting or yard work, etc), the training they've received at home as far as work ethic will make them in high demand for paying jobs.

So, that's what it looks like for us. It's not perfect, and there were some hiccups when we first started, but overall, it works really well for our family and the stage we're in. No doubt, as they get older and our family grows and changes, we will be looking for new methods to keep things in order.
I'd love to hear what other families do for chores - please share!

Summer School

We homeschool, and like lots of homeschoolers, we do things a little differently. One of those things has been to do school over the summer. I know it sounds mean to keep the little cherubs indoors during the best parts of the year slaving away over their workbooks, but I've learned that turning them loose seems to equate madness, bickering and almost complete stupidity. Don't get me wrong - I love my children, but I've seen what unfettered freedom can do to them. It's no good thing.
So, summer school. But it's gonna look a little different to the summer school I remember (you know, remedial, boring and generally summer-ruining). It's going to be structured but relaxed, fun yet meaningful. The kids are even excited about it, which kinda shocked me. So here's the plan...

First, the girls will be doing a fun, inductive Bible study (How to Study the Bible) that they've had some experience with 3 days a week, and some writing assignments from the Institute for Excellence in Writing the other 2 days. All the kids will spend some time working in the garden each day, be it weeding, feeding, pruning or harvesting.  It'll be a great opportunity for them to learn to care for these plants we have (maybe they'll be less inclined to rip them apart, anyway) and even do some pest/weed identification and elimination. The big girls will have a reading list that they can work from and spend some time recording thoughts and information in a reading notebook (inspiration found here), while Noah continues with his phonics book.

Now, for my favorite part. I am compiling a list of hymnwriters that the girls will read about, get to know, learn the music of and present on. With their piano teacher's help, they will (hopefully) be able to play a hymn by said writer in 2-3 weeks. For instance, the first on the list is currently Isaac Watts, who wrote "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross". Both girls will do some reading on their writer, but one will concentrate on practicing the music while the other prepares an oral presentation, which they will both have ready in 2 or 3 weeks to give to the family. Abi already knows this particular piece and Anna should have little trouble picking it up, so Anna will play and Abi will speak. Then, with the next writer, their roles will swap.

I'm really excited about all of this, though the plans are still coming together. Hopefully, we'll be ready to start next week. We've even moved our schoolroom downstairs a couple weeks ago, which means we can work downstairs when it's too hot to be upstairs or outside, and we can work in the afternoon when the little ones are in bed without fear of disturbing them.

So, that's the plan. Like all plans, it's up for renegotiation and last minute changes when needed. Coupled with this idea for directing our time in the morning, I have high hopes for a fun and productive summer!

Baby Knitting - Blue Pebble Vest

I've made this sweater vest a couple of times, now, and it never gets old. Not for me anyway.

 Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers. Buttons from this etsy shop.

Love for the little boy who will one day wear it and anticipation of his arrival: all me.

Our Week Away

I had hoped to make this more photos than words, as photos are much more interesting than anything I have to say, but photos will have to wait. I haven't been able to download them all yet, and the ones I have got are not very good/interesting. That does not reflect our week accurately at all!
We spent the first phase of our trip in Akron visiting the Wilsons. Let me just say that they are totally worth the 7+hour trip it takes to get there. (Many are surprised at how long it takes us, but combine children who view every rest area & toilet as a field trip with a driver who follows the speed limit uber-faithfully, and it take some time). We always have fun with them, we are always encouraged by them, and we always learn from them. Fun came in the form of the several hikes we took and playing in the yard, encouragement came in our chats and the opportunity to worship with them at church, and the learning pretty much happens all the time. Two things that stand out for me are how to mediate sibling disputes by teaching them to appeal appropriately to the authority (ie, mom and dad), and the need for the kids to absorb some of their book collection into their bedrooms. The day after we got home, we picked up 2 bookshelves from yard sales. Thanks, wonderful Wilson family! :)

Phase 2 of the Gayner Family Getaway moved us about halfway back east and landing in the Deep Creek area. We stayed in a cabin at Herrington Manor State Park, and it was a perfect fit for what we wanted. Normally, we're campers, but the 6-month-pregnant lady was looking for a little more comfort (weak, I know), and this cabin was excellent. It actually had more than enough beds for all of us, electricity, a proper kitchen and bathroom - no traipsing to the shower block in the middle of the night! That alone is worth it. Also, when you stay in one of the Herrington Manor/Swallow Falls sites, you get an hour's free canoeing, which just happened to be the highlight of the trip for everyone. We hiked, we boated, we played at the beach, we sunburned, we campfired and we s'mored.
In short, we vacationed, and it was just wonderful.

taking stock

• I took the kids strawberry picking last week. We filled two 5 quart buckets of strawberries so fast that the kids started picking berries for some of the other berry pickers in the field. That was fun.
• I made this cake at the weekend with some of the berries, though I substituted sour cream for the yogurt. So. Good. You must try it.
• We have a robin's nest in our yard again. Last week it had 5 eggs in it. Now there are none. I suspect the black snake in the shed had something to do with it.
• Toby's company picnic was last weekend. Our children ate about a dozen snow cones between them and almost as much cotton candy. They bounced on the bouncy castle until there was no air left, rode ponies until the ponies gave up and ate until there was no more food. We were the very last people there - standard Gayner procedure.
• The buttons I'd ordered for some baby sweaters have finally arrived - the very first thing I bought from etsy! Expect to see more finished projects next week...
• I found this tutorial for making friendship bracelets. I made three looms for the two big girls and myself. Now we're bracelet-making fools! It's so addictive - the girls have plans for all the people they'll make them for and have a go a making necklaces, as well, while I have plans on making sturdier looms out of plastic material and making up sets to give as gifts.
• Today finishes up pretty much all of our school work for the year. Yay! We can now close the book on grades 4, 3 and K. I'll be sharing my grand plans for summer school (fun summer school) in a couple weeks.
• Tomorrow morning we head west for a week. First a few days of catching up with some of our very favorite people, then cabin-camping at Deep Creek. I'm giddy.

Have a great week!

Make your own...laundry detergent?

I've been making my laundry detergent off and on for a couple years now. I like how cheap it is, how well it cleans our clothes (and believe me, we put it through its paces!) and how little we need to throw away. Those big plastic jugs take up some room!
For a long time, I've been using SouleMama's detergent recipe and been very content. It's simple, inexpensive, the ingredients are easy to find and does what it's supposed to. I wanted to have a go at a liquid detergent, however - I generally prefer how it dissolves in the machine. So, off to handy dandy Pinterest to see if some clever soul out there has figured out how to do it. I was not disappointed.

This is the first recipe I found and liked - after all, I had half the ingredients already. It looked pretty straight forward. I also stumbled upon this recipe, which included oxyclean. I've never used oxyclean before, but it sounded pretty good, though the detergent was a powder. So, when it came time to make my detergent one quiet Saturday morning, I decided to try for the best of both worlds and make the liquid with the addition of oxyclean. Now if you're a chemical person (which I am not, but my husband is), you can probably guess what happened. I melted the soap - fine. Added the powders - no problem. Brought the mixture to a boil - and that's when it happened. Evidently, one of the things oxyclean does is fizz. A lot. As the mixture began to boil over, I lifted the pot, hoping that the absence of heat would allow it to stop bubbling all over the place. No such luck. This stuff went everywhere - all over the stove, into the oven, over the counter. In trying to get it to the sink to try to control the mess, it made it's way to the floor and splattered all over several cabinets. It took longer to clean up the mess than to make the stuff to begin with (isn't that always the way?).
Once my chemistry lab/kitchen was cleaned up and under control, I was able to contain and use the detergent, and you know what? I like it. It was worth the mess and fuss to reuse the plastic containers with something that works well without costing loads. I definitely plan on using it again when we run out.
One suggestion, though: Follow the ingredients carefully and don't get clever trying to mix and match recipes on your first try. Not unless you like cleaning splatters on your kitchen cabinets for the week to come. That's not really my idea of a party, but hey - whatever floats your boat, right?