blog
slime
The other day I saw a great photo on Pinterest of a little one’s hands covered in a rainbow of slime. I pinned it and showed it to Annesley. She decided we HAD to do it right away and told her papa in their Mentor Meeting (weekly snuggle and chat time) that he needed to get the ingredients so we could make it this week.
Well, tonight was the night! Walmart only had one bottle of clear glue, so we could only make a little bit, but it turned out perfect and we have been playing with it and having a blast.
Here are the directions we followed:
Perfect Slime
Equal Parts
Sta-Flo Liquid Starch
Elmer’s Clear School GlueStir together with a spoon, then dig in with your hands and squish and knead and squish and knead and squish and knead until it is the right consistency.
Separate it into the number of globs that you want to color. We did all four of our food coloring bottles. Mix in a few drops until the color is thoroughly mixed.
When done playing with put in an airtight container in the fridge.
Before stirring
Very wet squishing stage
Almost the right consistency
Food coloring added
How long can the snake get?
Fisher was up bright and early this morning to play with it again. I think we will be making this again and again. Now to find a fabulous bulk price on Elmer’s clear glue.
fiar: the glorious flight
We are having a wonderful school week so far. I think my kids are so ready for some order in their lives (and more importantly, for me to be fully present with them) that they are eating up our learning time. We started our Five In A Row read-aloud yesterday and thought The Glorious Flight has been on my shelf for years this is the first time I have read the famous story of Louis Bleirot who flew across the English Channel in 1909.
I am in love with this book.
1. It is so French. The sentence structure screams France (and while I don’t love France, I love books that exude a culture so thoroughly you can feel it).
2. Louis had gumption and determination and courage. My children need to be surrounded by examples of people doing hard things and not giving up the first, second, or gazillionth time.
3. Louis’ dream to fly became a family project.
Yesterday we read it and loved seeing Louis succeed at the cliffs of Dover. Today we read it again and found the English Channel on the map and talked about how Louis and his family could have given up when his first plane couldn’t fly at all or his fourth that moved around in circles on the pond or his sixth that got snagged on a rock. He could have given up after he finally got a plane in the air, but after just a few minutes would come crashing down, often injuring him.
But he didn’t. He persevered. He stayed true to his dream. He kept working and thinking and experimenting and DARING to do something no one had ever done.
Courage…we all need more of it.
potw: kindness
We are back at it with our weekly poems. I love sharing inspiring thoughts with my children and challenging them to memorize them each week!
Kindness
Drop a stone into the water
In a moment it is gone,
But there are a hundred ripples
Circling on and on and on.Say an unkind word this moment
In a moment it is gone,
But there are a hundred ripples
Circling on and on and on.Say a word of cheer and splendor
In a moment it is gone,
But there are a hundred ripples
Circling on and on and on.
Good lesson for all of us, me thinks. Those words that escape our lips need to be full of kindness and encouragement, especially with our family members.
sotw: ephesians 2:19-21
Last night we added something new into our nightly routine…a scripture of the week. We have actually done this in the past, but somehow this habit has been abandoned. I really want it to stick this time and I think if I post about it it will cement it more firmly in my head. So, each week I will share what scripture we are memorizing for the week.
Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.
I have always loved this scripture. As a child I longed to be part of something bigger than myself and this idea of being fellowcitizens with the saints and a member of the household of God buried itself deep in my soul and created in me a great desire to always be a member of His family and to fellowship His other children. I strive to teach my children about their place in God’s family, the greater Christian world generally, and in our church specifically. I love sharing the lives and courage of Christian martyrs throughout the centuries and inculcate in them a desire to serve the Lord with all their hearts just like John Bunyon, William Tyndale, John Lathrop, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
transformation: routine
Today is our first day of getting back into our learning routine. We had a big family council last night and made some decisions about jobs, stewardships, schedules, and today we are starting our new plan. I decided to start this week so that we are already into our routine before iFamily, Ten Boom Institute, and Gym start next week. I think all those changes in one week would completely derail all my efforts to make long-lasting improvements in the functioning of our home.
I updated all of our jobs in our nifty Home Routines app and we have been checking things off all morning. Now the girls are off to exercise and the little ones and I will finish up everything we need to get done before Morning Devotional and Learning Time.
Whew! This is all such a big change from the past six months. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!
p.s. I made my bed!
sacred sabbaths: forgiveness
A woman at church today shared this thought:
Forgiveness is the closest we come to creation in this life. When we are able to let hatred, anger, judgment, and bitterness go, we create something beautiful.
I don’t know that I believe that forgiveness is actually closer to creation than creating bodies for God’s children, but I love the thought process this statement sent me on. Forgiveness and creation have never been connected in my heart before and this opens up a whole new way of thinking for me.
I can remember times I have forgiven others and through that experience beauty has been created, lives have been healed, new paths have been forged, and God has taught me deeply powerful truths. I remember times when I have been forgiven and yes, beauty has been created. I have been given this amazing life with a husband that loves me thoroughly through the power of forgiveness. I have friendships that have grown into life-sustaining forces in my life through the miracle of forgiveness. My heart has been transformed into a softer, more faithful heart by experiencing the atonement of my Savior.
Forgiveness does create beauty…such a lovely thought, isn’t it?
transformation: rules
I am NOT a rule follower. In fact, I don’t think my brain even interprets rules as rules, it seems to interpret them as suggestions or “a possibly good idea, evaluate for yourself”. Often, even the more mention of a rule drives my mind right into “what a stupid rule, why would anyone do that?” or “LUNACY!”.
But I keep wondering if perhaps a few rules in my life might help me. I don’t have a lot of hope that I can change nearly 40 years of rule breaking, but I am going to give it a try (folks, nothing else has worked, so I have nothing to lose here). I have been pondering some rules I could implement in my life that would actually make a difference for me and would not just set me on a self-destruction path of failure. I have been a teensy-bit tempted to make a loooonnnngggg list of everything flaw I have and the remedy for it, but I keep focusing on the 1% principle vs. the 100% devil and reminding myself to start small. Hence, babystep #1 and babystep #2.
Sooo, these are my rules to work on this week:
1. Kneeling prayer at the foot of our bed every night (instead of no prayer or prayer when I am snuggled under all the covers or prayer when I am nearly asleep).
2. Hanging up clothes on a hanger in the closet the second they come off my body (instead of draping them on my bed, bathtub, or hamper).
3. Making my bed right when I get out of it in the morning.
I have a whole honkin’ list of other stuff I need to improve on or completely change, but I am forcing myself to keep myself to these three for now. I should probably only choose one, but I am going to stick with three and see how it works for now.
Why these three things? Well, let me explain. With number one I am hoping to create connection with my husband and with God right before bed. I am really hoping for a side benefit – that my brain will be so focused on goodness and calmness that I will not be tempted to stay alert for several more hours reading or perusing the internet. This will help me get up earlier the next day as well. Number two…well, it is a big problem for me. I almost always take my clothes off and don’t take care of them, which leads to big messes in my bedroom. I am serious about developing some new habits in all areas of my life, but especially my bedroom, and this is a small thing that will bring big rewards right off the bat. Number three is a huge one for me. I rarely make my bed. It never occurs to me to make it. I do, however, love the look the look of my bed when it is made. I think that having an orderly bed will help me stay focused on keeping the rest of my room clean and will communicate a peaceful, calm energy that I need to be immersed in if I am ever to succeed in this transformation.
I have put it out there…now I need to make it happen.
Carpe diem!
transformation: step two
I did it. I looked deeply into the eyes of my children when they talked to me.
ALL DAY LONG.
I loved it. I could see things going on in Fisher’s cute lil’ head and I noticed how alive Annesley’s eyes are when she speaks. I connected with Blythe’s inner soul. Looking in their eyes led directly to Babystep #2, which I hesitantly posted yesterday with Babystep #1…to speak calmly. I actually succeeded at Babystep #2 as well…at least for most of the day. About 5:00 my voice started rising, but not too bad.
Nevertheless, I am going to keep Babystep #2 as my goal for today and of course, keep looking into their eyes.
Yesterday, I also got my kitchen and laundry room whipped into shape and many loads of laundry sorted, washed, dried, AND put away. Today it is time to tackle my bedroom. Maybe, just maybe, I can get it done and we can go to the lake.
transformation: step one
Oh my. Can you hear my long, low sigh.
That is the sound of reality hitting me square in the face.
Here it is. I have completely forgotten how to run a home. It has been so long since I have tried to be an effective home manager (and I was never that stellar to begin with) that I can’t even wrap my head around how to do it. Get out of bed at a decent hour? No clue how to do it. Get loads of laundry done, meals prepared, dishes done, floors swept and mopped, carpets vacuumed, dusting done, and errands run? Again, no clue. I mean this. I am lost. I feel like I got my breast lump last April and my life stopped. Then in February when my hip was injured, it really stopped. I mean, I kept doing THINGS, but I stopped functioning like a normal human being. I went into survival mode where only the most pressing, most obvious things get noticed and only the most critical of those most obvious things get done.
Somehow we are still here and we have eaten and have clothes on our bods, but I haven’t been doing it. The kids have made egg sandwiches, pancakes, and pasta for the past several months. Before that, friends brought in meals and on the other nights we ate freezer meals. The yard has deteriorated into something akin to a garbage dump and my bedroom has a meandering path through the piles of stuff that have built up over the past several months.
It is time for a new beginning. A new world where I am up early(-ish) and working on the tasks that my grandmother did everyday…you know, like breakfast, snacks, dishes, floors, laundry, etc. A world where my children know they can count on me.
This feels like a huge transition. I’m not even sure I know how to be with my children anymore. I was in bed for the whole spring and they have played outside for most of the summer. I have been with them for little chunks of time and usually one at a time. Now, we are starting back into our school routine and it feels like a foreign land. My patience has never been so low, my voice so tight, or my inability to love deeply so glaringly obvious.
But I am finally ready to open myself to the learning and growth that needs to happen in my soul so I can go back become the mother they need me to be. Seventeen months out of commission is more than long enough and it is time to start repairing relationships, conquer bad learn new habits, and give myself fully to mothering and home management.
Today is day one of the change. My babystep for today is to look my children in the eye when they speak to me. I want to add another babystep, but I know that is probably a big mistake, but I will do it anyway…babystep #2 is to have a calm voice when I reply. Of course, I have a long list of home management tasks I want to accomplish as well…but I need to remember where I have been these past months and not make my list a gazillion miles long because then I will flat-out fail and what I need is success in small things.
some firsts
My hip is healing. It is ever so slow and hard to quantify, but it is healing. This very gradual process has been difficult for me to wrap my head around. I am used to something being fine or not fine. A sprained ankle hurting like heck and then being all better. A bone being broken and then being all put back together again. This teensy-tiny incremental healing is a whole new thing for me and is incredibly difficult for me to explain to others.
Sample conversation:
Person: Are you getting better?
Me: YES!
Person: Great! I’m so happy for you.
Me: Yes, me too.
Person: Why aren’t you sitting down to eat with us?
Me: It still hurts to sit.
Person: I thought you said you were better.
Me: No, I said I am getting better.
Person: But you can’t sit? I thought you said those ozone injections were working.
Me: Yes, they are working, but it is slow. See this cartilage isn’t supposed to be able to heal at all, so the fact that I am standing here talking to you is super cool, but it is slow progress.
Person: I think you need to do something else. You should be better by now, what has it been, like six months.
Me: Yes, six long months. But I am doing SO much better. I can go places and walk well and smile without a grimace on my face and sit temporarily and I jumped off the bridge and I went kayaking and I can vacuum and I have hope it will completely heal eventually.
Person: Well, that is all good, but it still seems you should be better by now. Can’t they do something?!?
The “they” is what always gets us, isn’t it? THEY should be able to fix everything with a pill or a procedure or a SOMETHING that will make everything all better right. this. minute.
But, ’tis not to be. I have had an opportunity to experience a different sort of healing. A healing that takes time (what seems like eons of time!) and isn’t all that measurable on a day to day basis. I can’t fix this and neither can anyone else (except God – He can do anything, but for some reason, He has chosen not to miraculously heal this stubborn piece of cartilage) and so I have to learn to wait and to trust and to be okay with the journey.
Big lessons.
Anyway, back to the title of the post. I have recently had some firsts! Yesterday I drove a long ways…like two-ish hours! On Sunday I sat on our pew at church for about 35 minutes. Monday I went to the library for our first library trip in six months and I did the grocery shopping. Super-exciting. Progress is being made. My hip feels more stable, less painful, more mobile, less popping out of place, and better, much better.
Yesterday I had a vision of me riding my bike, fast as the wind, before winter sets in. I am going to keep that vision in the forefront of my mind and I think it is going to come true.
Join me in that hope?
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
