Stuck in the middle

At this time in my life I feel like I am stuck in the middle in so many different ways.

I have a 14 year old and an infant. Most of my friends either have kids where their youngest is Seri's age and their others are off on their own, or they have a few children all under the age of 5. I end up either talking about college and Grandbabies or Diaper changes and preschool... And I feel in the middle. Not on either end of the spectrum, but in the vast in between stage that at this point feels like it is never going to end. As a parent I am going to be in the middle for a very long time.

As a person I feel in the middle of two different philosophies. The other day I was talking to a friend about Labor inducing herbs and told her she could pick them up at Marlene's. She replied "Oh, you mean the hippie store?" and I assured her that no, I meant Marlene's and procceded to describe the stores location, totally oblivious to the fact that we were talking about the same store. Never in my mind have I equated it with a hippie store. It's my favorite place to shop and if I shop there, then... Yes, my friends confirm, I am a hippie. Really they do say that about me, I swear. Unbelievable, I know.

Yet at the same time my friends that are actually in the "hippie" category I feel have many differences from me also. They tend to be a lot more liberal than I am. So, with them I fit in as far as beliefs on Home schooling, being self sufficient in raising our own food and intervention free birthing, but we differ on many political and religious subjects which are a huge part of who I am.

Then, with my conservative friends who are similar in religious and political views, I am of completely different opinion on those things I have in common with my "liberal, hippie" friends.

Is there no common ground for a homeschooling, non-vaccinating, chicken raising, home -birthing, active mormon, active republican who holds the idea of marriage between a man and woman sacred?

I so often feel like I have a dual personality. It is best to have this persona when with this group of people and then switch to this persona with this other group. Both personas being an accurate reflection of who I am but neither revealing the whole image.

Robotics

This is my second attempt at posting this entry. The first time after having spent fifteen minutes typing it one handed while baby K was nursing, he kicked it and I lost the whole dang thing. 

A week later I will try again. This time he is in  my lap sleeping so we may avoid the kick.

Michael was on a Lego robotics team this year. He seemed to switch between moments of loving it and moments of hating it depending on the day. I think we have narrowed it down to a few factors but they are out of our control and he over all wants to stay on the team. I laugh at those who say girls are indecisive!

 

The mat and challenges this year revolved around the Human body.  The boys came up with this robot which I thought performed the tasks amazingly well.

along with building a programming a robot they also have to think of a problem in today's society that is related to the subject of Human body and try to come up with a solution.  The boys went with robotic arms for people who have lost function of their arms and came up with an arm that would be controlled by a helmet apparatus that would relay information from the brain to the robotic arm.  all in all a really good start for a couple of 11-13 yr old kids.

for the first part of competition they explain their research project to the judges and show the judges the robot and explain why they choose the design that they did.

they then compete their robots in three different rounds of competition and are judged on how many tasks the robot was able to successfully complete using their programming.

after the first two rounds they were #1 and ended the competition #3 out of 27.

Love how in this picture our friends daughter is covering Matt’s eyes with her hands.

Kudos goes to whoever this judge was. He was the most entertaining and enthusiastic judge I have ever seen!  He even had a dance off competition with a few of the boys as they were cleaning up.  It’s guys like this that makes a mommas heart smile.

Olsonisms

A few nights ago a lady suggested that mom’s should write down all the cute things that are said in there families. I took heart as I know I have forgotten a lot of them that I swore I would never forget. Hey, at this point I think I have the potential of forgetting everything. So, here you go… Our “isms” of the past 24 hours.

Matt, after having stayed home with the kids while I was out- “Hey Jen, when did the babies start bathing themselves?” Apparently he had mentioned he would give them a bath and they went up and started their own, he dawdled as usual and supposed they were waiting for him… any mom can see the error of his logic, right?

he then asks the older kids why the babies were in the bath all by themselves and their reply was “They do that all the time”. Which is a true statement. If you can’t find the destructive duo they are either making a mess or have put themselves in the bath to clean one up.

This morning the duo were watching Power Rangers when Dad walked in to see Sariah with the remote fast forwarding through scenes. He asked what she was doing and she responded “We are skipping all of the evil vampire parts because they scare us”. Good job sweetie.

Recently I have been trying to ensure that at least at dinner time we are all being nice to eachother. No hurtful words or blaming or snide comments designed to make someone else feel bad. Michael had made a comment towards Isaac and I reminded him that “We are not saying mean things. This is a happy meal”. He then responds, “Happy Meals don’t come with spaghetti and there is no toy”.

Michael just came down with an ugly green patch of something dried on to his stomach so I asked him what it was. He said "My scentsy wax". "Why did you put scentsy was on your stomach"? "Because I thought it would look like mold."

That’s it for now. I am sure the next 24 hours will bring a fresh batch.

Knowing where our food comes from.

Matt and I have always been a tad concerned about the way us Americans eat.  We were both ingrained with some really bad habits, fast food for one.

When our chickens began to lay we started talking about how nice it was to know where that food had come from and what had been done to it and the animal that created it.  It was a powerful feeling realizing that we could indeed be in charge of our food and have a say in how it is created.

With that start we began to wonder what other actions we could take to become more aware of our food and to cut out the middle man.

This lead me to Whistling train farm. http://www.whistlingtrainfarm.com/

Luckily their winter share season was starting that week and I was able to get in on it.  Each Wednesday I drive about ten minutes and pick up a bounty of fresh, just pulled out of the ground veggies.  This is a one week small share.

I remember thinking that the veggies were smaller than I was used to seeing in the store and they were dirty… Well, go figure :) There was a slight hesitation as I stood there looking at the small, dirty veggies.  Then I felt anger that I have been conditioned to see this as unappealing and to think of the modified, chemically loaded, preservative full, shipped from who-knows-where  stuff in the stores as desirable.

Our salads have never tasted so good! The kids eat one for every meal if allowed. I have eaten things I have never before seen nor tried.  I have held this veggie in my hands, knowing right where it was grown and how. Have actually peeled, prepared and cooked a variety of squashes in our meals and have felt strangely empowered by the experience. Hard to explain, but there is a certain satisfaction that comes from serving your children squash ( and not the frozen or canned prepared stuff either) and having them like it.

  We discovered that when serving Acorn squash, make a couple because T.J. will eat a whole one by himself!

sitting down to whole wheat buttered noodles with Tatsoi.

Shelley and her hubby are extremely friendly and Shelley keeps a blog telling you what you will get every week, how to cook it and recipes and info about the different types of veggies and growing them.

Once hooked on the veggies, I noticed they had milk. When talking to the farmer I discovered that they use and don’t sell their milk but a nearby farm, Meadowood, did. http://www.meadowwoodorganics.com/

They didn’t currently have milk shares available, but we could take our chances with their being extra milk in the retail fridge.  this is about a 20 min. drive for us and worth every second.  they have an adorable little store and not only offer Raw Jersey milk in old fashioned glass bottles but they also have raw cheese, chicken and duck eggs, prepared and packaged beef and ham, honey, and cheese and yogurt and sour cream cultures.  What more could a girl ask for?

The first time I went to both of these stores I was surprised to find that there was no one there to wait for me.  At Whistling train they have signs above the veggies that tell you how much of each item to take and you check of your name.  At Meadow wood you fill out a slip with what you took and leave your payment and slip in the cash box.  Wait a minute…  You mean you can actually run a fair business on the honesty code?  What a concept for us Americans.  We had experienced this a few times in Germany but never here.  It was liberating to discover that honesty and trust still do exist and I felt respected by the thought that these farmers knew I would always be fair and honest with them.  I love knowing that I am supporting their families and not a corporation.

I have spoken with the husband on occasion and have really enjoyed our short conversations about life on his farm.  The wife is on facebook and is witty and fun.  I put us on a wait list for the milk shares when one of their cows delivers at the end of the month and she noticed that I had been buying milk on a weekly basis.  While they can’t get me on a milk share sooner she did request that I start paying at the milk share price rather than the retail price.  It was nice to know that they are in touch with their customers and make efforts like this to let us know they appreciate us.  Bet Safeway isn’t tracking or noticing how often I buy milk.

These are the exact chickens that we eat our eggs from:

They are now each laying one a day which gives us five eggs a day. We are hoping to add Americanas to our flock in the spring. They lay Easter colored eggs and I just think that will be cool.  Then we will have a plethora of eggs with plenty to sell to ya if you want em!

The other day while I was at the farm I called Matt and asked if we needed eggs as our chicks were laying sporadically and production wasn't high.  I had forgotten that we had recently been given some store bought eggs.  He responded with “Well, we have five of ours and two dozen of these white ones?”  He said White ones” with a tone that implied, why in the world would we have white eggs in our house?  It was funny.

Babies!!!!

I was privleged to share my pregnancy with eight other ladies in my ward.
Six were due right before me and two should be giving birth any day.
Now for those of you who are familiar with Mormon culture you know that us mormon ladies usually have our babies in "waves", but this was the largest wave I had ever seen or been a part of. it was so much fun to show up to all the activities and share and compare. Often times we would even have our own "Pregnant table" or "pregnant row".
Now that all of our babies are here it is just as much fun to see them all together and imagine how they will interact as they grow. The only draw back is that the nursing room is small and only has three chairs. The ward that meets before us had their own wave of seven at the same time.
At one meeting we were commenting on how many children were being born and how the majority of them were boys, when a little, old lady commented that it must be getting close to the time that the Lord is sending his most valiant missionaries in full force.
Now that makes you stop and think......
PS. Kaden is the long, scrawny one at the end

Running away

this morning after having asked Sariah (the 4 year old) for the fourth time to quite playing and do her chores she burst into tears true to her dramatic nature and said "I don't want you for a mom anymore! I want a nice mom, not a mean one".
"Sariah, why do you think I am a mean mom?"
"Because you yell at me"
"why do I yeall at you?"
"Because I don't do my chores".
"So, what do you need to do if you don't want me to yell at you"?
"I don't care! I just dont want to live here anymore"!
I'm sorry to hear that. Why don't you go pack your suitcase and find another home that will love you more".
So, off she goes up the stairs, crying the whole way. Isaac asks why she is crying and upon her telling him her reasoning he bursts out into tears. "But we love you! Who will take care of you and love you! Where will you go?" and on and on and on....
Now let me take you back to a time when this same child was four and we had almost the exact same conversation word for word.
He ended up backing his bag and leaving the house and got as far as the front porch where he sat on the bench for a good ten minutes. As I remember it was cold that day also and he was in P.J's.
He was so distraught that I had to pull him aside and ensure him that we were pretending but not to let her know that. I reminded him of how he had done the same thing and was still a happy member of our family.
She puts a bow in her hair (couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to) and soberly walks down the stairs with suitcase in hand. After a tearfull goodbye to her family members she puts on her shoes (But of course, forgets her coat) and walks out the door.
At this point the older boys are stationed at the windows and I am rushing to put on coat and shoes to follow her. Upon going outside there is a moment of panic when I realize she is not there. Where the heck could she have gone in such a short amoount of time? I look down the side of the house fully expecting to see her, nope. Continue on down the side walk when I realize that she is knocking on the neighbors door. Wow, got to give this child kudos for having bravery!
The woman opens the door and then sends her on her way. She continues to walk down the sidewalk going to the next two houses. I so badly want to take a picture but can't abandon my post for fear of not knowing where she has gone. Just imagine the little girl with a pink suitcase in her jammies walking in the rain, carrying a pink princess suitcase... adorable, or pathetic...
Not sure if the next houses answer or not... I can't see them. Now you have to understand that our neighbors barely speak english and we have never met any of these people in the five years we have lived here. That's our neighborhood for you, but that's another blog entirely.
Now the couple that live on the corner and across the street are out loading their car and I am interested in seeing how she solves this one. She marches across the street right up to them and starts a conversation. At this point I am imagining the police being called and trying to decide how far I am going to let this little charade go.
Before I have a chance to decide I peak around the corner and see the woman take her hanc and her point to the house.
I run inside and ask the boys if they are coming back to which they respond "Yes!" from their upstairs window advantage point.
Sure enough there is a knock and a little Asian woman is asking if this is my daughter. With a smile I assure her that is and tell her that we are very sad because Sariah has chosen to run away (winking like crazy hoping this woman will understand and not call the cops). I ask Sariah if she would like to live with us after all and she runs to hug my legs.
After thanking the woman we all surround Sariah and she is so happy and relieved that she is crying and laughing at the same time. We assure her that we missed her and loved her and that we hope she will choose to remain a part of our family forever. Then the boys go to change her wet clothes and get her dry.
Concluding this adventure and bringing me to another....
I was looking at Seri's facebook over her shoulder one day and she was having a conversation about running away. Apparently she has run away twice. Both during that year we were having such problems with her. The teen years... what else can you say?
I look at her in astonishment. What? I had no idea you had ever run away. She then asks if I remember the time when she was reading all of those wilderness survival books and studying up on hunting and first aid and such. I respond that yes, I remember that phase. She then gives me a look that says "duh, well what do you think I was studying that for?" Well, I thought you were studying and actually listed it in your curriculum taking advantage of your interest.
Nope, she had waited till we were all asleep and left. "Did you crawl out your window"? Nope, she had walked out the front door in the middle of the night. You know, I now understand why my mother insisted that there are some things your parents just don't need to know. I was completely happy in my oblivion. Now instead I have visions of her walking down the main road in the middle of the night, being abducted or hurt or run over...
What is it about children and their ability to not see how good they have it and to want to run away?

Merry Christmas!

K. so Technically it’s now New Years, but it wouldn’t be a post on my blog if it was done in a timely manner now would it be?

First of all, I am truly appreciative of my best Christmas present, little Kaden.  Love how you can dress infants up in whatever you want to and they don’t say anything about it.  I had found a ton of Christmas outfits over the summer at garage sales and such and was so excited to deck the little man out in his festive attire.

We had been looking for a Christmas eve tradition. Typically we went over to my Aunts home, but last year was crazy and we didn’t. Instead we went to the candle light service at the Treat church and my family refused to let me do that ever again.  Growing up I used to go to a performance called the “Living Christmas Tree” and so in googling it I came across a performance in Tacoma.  It wasn’t on Christmas eve, but close enough.  Let’s just say it was amazing!  The lights and music and dancing, and the spirit felt there brought me to tears.  We will most definitely be going every year from now on!

After setting up the Christmas tree, which I can never decide if it is fun or torture, the children slept under it the first night.  Not sure where that tradition came from, but they beg for it every year.

Back when we had only a few children, surprised I can remember that far back……  Anyhow, I once had a perfect tree.  Tons of ornaments.  Each child had one for each year….  The tree was meticulously put together.  As we added more children it got stressful to add an ornament for each (and expensive) and the ornaments we did have were always being broken.  I have now gotten over most of my attachments to our ornaments and am happy just to have anything on the tree.

Last year we were in charge of decorating for the Ward Christmas party which left us with a ton of decorations.  This year after not being able to sell them on Craigslist I put them to good use.

I truly loved driving up and seeing how festive our home looked.  The only problem was that it was a very windy month and we lost a lot of the little ornaments that we had decorating the two trees in the yard.

One night we woke up to this mysterious banging and couldn’t figure out what it was.  It was coming from outside and was very rhythmic…  We finally found out that it was these ornaments banging against the garage door with the wind. Our bedroom is right above the garage….  Once we figured out what it was we were able to sleep right through it.

One night I decided I wanted to hold an old fashioned caroling party and so I did.  It was so much fun. Not that many people showed up. Two of my reliable friends came, thanks by the way!  We weren’t sure what the reaction would be from our neighborhood as our neighbors never really communicate with each other and most are Russian, Indian or Asian. 

We stuck to singing to houses that were decorated and ended up only singing to two houses that were obviously home but wouldn’t answer the door.  The other ten or so houses were really enjoying it and it was so much fun to spread holiday cheer.  Sariah was so cute at one house that the little Asian guy gave her a twenty dollar bill!

Instead of our traditional sugar cookies, we made rice krispy wreaths because mom thought these would taste better, and they did! Thanks to the Tylers for the inspiration.

We did end up at my Aunt and Uncles home for Christmas eve and we had a great time playing games and chatting. I do enjoy my extended family.

We were up until 4 wrapping and thankfully the children slept until 8.

TJ started trying to climb into his stocking to see what was left.

He was then content to sit with his sucker while his presents surrounded him and his siblings were opening all of theirs…

My Job

Yesterday Sariah and I were folding laundry and she all of the sudden said, "When I grow up I want to be a worker woman". Not really knowing what she was talking about I probbed deeper. She then replied that she wanted to go to work like Daddy does every day. I was a tad surprised as she has been my most nurturing child and has always talked about "when she has babies"... I asked her if she didn't want to grow up and have babies like Mommy. Then she hesitated....

In this moment of hesitation my mind drifted back to a time when Seri was about 4. I was having a conversation whith a friend who was saying that she had once asked her young daughter what the girl thought her mommy's job was. My friends heart dropped when the daughter replied "to clean our house and sweep a lot.". My friend would have described her job as taking care of her children and in this one moment felt as if her actions had decided what job she performed was more important in her child's eyes.

So, tempting the fact that I may hear those same words from my childs mouth, I asked her.... "What do you think Mommy's job is?" How my heart jumped for joy when she replied with a huge smile "To take care of your babies!".

Then came the clinch line "and keep them from making messes..."

Share The Love

 

 

Being an only child sucks. For me at least.  I remember begging my mother to have another child so I could have a sibling. Always being envious of those who had siblings.  Even today I really wish I had a sibling I was close to whom I could call and chat with, share the holidays with, etc…..  I suppose this is one of the factors that contributed to my desire to have a large family.  A desire to give my children those relationships and experiences that I will never have being an only child.

I enjoy watching their relationships and dynamics change and I often day dream about what their relationships will consist of when they are older.

One of the benefits to home schooling is that the children really have the opportunity to spend a lot of time together, learning, playing, growing.  I think this gives them a unique perspective and sense of empathy for one another.

So here are just a few pics of the younger ones to show their love for one another.

I love how TJ has his hand in the raisin container while fast asleep and the joy on his face when he looks at his baby brother warms this mommies heart.

Nugget of wisdom

Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or do without….

I think when it comes to kids clothes I always want to get the most life out of them that I can.

Fortunately my children seem to grow up more than they grow out at the beginning which enables me to employ these tips.

#1. Cut the feet off of footed pj’s when your child gets too long. You can usually get a whole nother year out of em.  (wow, check out that grammar :)

 

I usually cut them right below the elastic so it still holds its shape and this way you don’t even have to hem them if you don’t want to.

Yes, that’s TJ in purple PJ’s. Stop laughing now.

#2 When your girls out grow their jeans, especially if they are the cute embroidered kind, it is  super easy to turn it into a skirt!  Cut off the legs at desired length, undo the inside leg seam, lay flat and sew in a triangular patch from the reserved leg to cover the whole in front and back. Wa La!

Sorry, the hem job hasn’t been done on these……