What to do?

I have three articles of clothing that do not fit me, yet as hard as I try I cannot get rid of them.  One is a beautiful skirt that I got at GAP when Aidan was a baby, it is a Size 0 (no I didn't forget the 1 in front of the 0, I was that SMALL, actually freakishly skinny), one is a cute sun dress that I wore to Nick's brother's wedding, but I can't wear dresses, I am constantly nursing someone and the third is a beautiful Hawaiian sarong, and I just don't wear sarongs.

So what can I do with these?  I have a few ideas, but I am not fully decided.  For the dress, I want to cut it at the waist-ish area and make it into a skirt and for the sarong I want to put it in the "play-room" above Téa's little reading chair, but maybe not.

Any ideas?

Questioning Consumption.

We've moved, we've downsized, I've donated, sold, traded.  I am happy with what we have.  But I constantly want MORE...NEW...BETTER.  Why?  If I showed you pictures of my children's closet and dressers you might faint, but yet I still find new that I have to have for them.  I see things and I want them.  Not because I need them, but purely desiring to have them.  Anything from a new Gymboree outfit for Téa, to new cloth diapers, to a new shirt/shoes/pants for me, or what about a new candle or frame or gadget.

The concept of living on THE COMPACT came to my attention for the first time about 6 or so months ago.   According to http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/, THE COMPACT, is to 1) to go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc; 2) to reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er); 3) to simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact).

I was intrigued, intrigued enough to go out to the garage where my husband was playing music and tell him of my new plan.  He laughed.  Maybe I didn't explain it good enough, maybe he knew how much I liked going shopping, maybe he didn't want to give up buying new things for himself, maybe he just thought I was NUTS.  Well I didn't go on THE COMPACT that day, nor the next, but I did stop shopping at WalMart for a month or so.

But while I was walking through Target the other day, my baby attached to me in the Ergo, I found myself, saying OOOHH, AAAHHH, I need, I want, that would be great for... Then remembering I had just downsized my family of six and our belongings to fit into our 1000sq ft house.  (Not a simple task, but doable!)  I think how much simpler life would be if I didn't even give myself the option to buy new.  Then I think about Christmas, what would we give, would our family and friends be angry that they didn't receive the item or items they desired because we weren't buying NEW?  Should I care?

Really this BLOG is my mind talking, racing actually.  Thanks for listening.

Happy Halloween!

This year Fall has flown into action, really without me knowing it. Right as Fall began we made the decision to move, so Fall decorations were put on hold. There has been no smell of Yankee Candles "Pumpkin Pie", no harvest-y colors filling the house, no pumpkins and no trips to the pumpkin patch, that was until Monday. Monday we were able to truly begin Fall. The SIX of us took a trip to the pumpkin patch and it being #1 two days before Halloween and #2 ABSOLUTELY FREEZING, we were the only ones there, it was AMAZING. This year we opted to paint out pumpkins, WOW, I must say it is way less mess, but not quite as rewarding. We have read The Pumpkin Gospel a trazillion times this week and the smell of Pumpkin Pie candles is filling my house. Halloween was fun, we attended a Harvest Party at Church the morning of and then hung out at Nick's aunt and uncles in the evening, they live in a high traffic neighborhood and we handed out candy to over 400 trick or treaters.

Two favorites!

#1

I absolutely adore Gymboree! But just recently I discovered their Hair Curlies, I am in love! And for what it's worth, I only shop sale, I can honestly say I have NEVER bought a full priced item from Gymboree!

#2School in our jammies!
Some wonder how on earth do I homeschool with four kids 5 and under. This is how...we do it in our jammies :) We have been homeschooling for six weeks and it is going awesome. I know that we are truly doing what the Lord had planned for us...each day it just feels so right to be home together.

6 weeks down...

 

how many to go?

Homeschooling is going great. We are falling into a good routine. Aidan is loving school, Coda and Téadora are loving their version of school. I am as excited about the curriculum as the day I picked it out. Let me tell you there is so much out there, do not, do not let it overwhelm you. Easier said than done, I know.

We have been using Sing, Spell, Read and Write for our Phonics/Language Arts and Saxon Homeschool for Math. Each day we do SSR&W and Saxon, along with our Calendar, Daily Bible Lesson (usually something in their AWANA books) and reading time. Most days we also find time for a craft and an outside activity.

 

 

While sister is napping....

the brothers will have a photo shoot with mom :)

Dark-eyed Brothers

One of Mommy's tie dye creations

Huh?!

one step forward....two steps back

Over the past week we have decluttered a lot of stuff; 5 - 33 gallon bags of clothing, HUGE box of shoes, toys, misc. housewares, 1 - 33 gallon bag of toys (the boys chose the toys to give to other kids that didn't have any, and they did this without a fuss :)
It feels good to declutter, it was needed obviously, but the more I declutter the more I realize how much JUNK, excess stuff, whatever you want to call it that WE have. I have my reasons for keeping some of the stuff; another child will wear it down the road, when Téa and Dillon are older they will use the two extra beds we have. However, there is some stuff that there is absolutely no need for...I do not need 5 30gallon plastic containers full of Christmas decorations, I do not need pictures frames that I have no room on the wall for, I do not need stuff in a filing cabinet that I haven't looked at in atleast 2 years, I do not need a lot of the stuff that I have.
We are moving to a much smaller house, even though it is suspose to just be temporary, we do not have a specific length of time we will be living there. I feel like the Lord is challenging us to live simpler, to not just accumulate stuff because we CAN. The Lord has called us to move back to Eureka, to live in a small home and to make good use out of what we have. I mean what is the point of saving all of this stuff, just for the *day* that we *might* be able to use it. I mean who needs 4 Pyrex cake pans, plus two metal ones, who needs 12 coffee/tea mugs that match our dishes, plus 10 or so others that don't match.
I feel motivated to continue decluttering, to live a simpler life...I guess I fear one day I will regret giving away something, silly, silly.

one step forward, two steps back

Over the past week we have decluttered a lot of stuff; 5 - 33 gallon bags of clothing, HUGE box of shoes, toys, misc. housewares, 1 - 33 gallon bag of toys (the boys chose the toys to give to other kids that didn't have any, and they did this without a fuss :)
It feels good to declutter, it was needed obviously, but the more I declutter the more I realize how much JUNK, excess stuff, whatever you want to call it that WE have. I have my reasons for keeping some of the stuff; another child will wear it down the road, when Téa and Dillon are older they will use the two extra beds we have. However, there is some stuff that there is absolutely no need for...I do not need 5 30gallon plastic containers full of Christmas decorations, I do not need pictures frames that I have no room on the wall for, I do not need stuff in a filing cabinet that I haven't looked at in atleast 2 years, I do not need a lot of the stuff that I have.
We are moving to a much smaller house, even though it is suspose to just be temporary, we do not have a specific length of time we will be living there. I feel like the Lord is challenging us to live simpler, to not just accumulate stuff because we CAN. The Lord has called us to move back to Eureka, to live in a small home and to make good use out of what we have. I mean what is the point of saving all of this stuff, just for the *day* that we *might* be able to use it. I mean who needs 4 Pyrex cake pans, plus two metal ones, who needs 12 coffee/tea mugs that match our dishes, plus 10 or so others that don't match.
I feel motivated to continue decluttering, to live a simpler life...I guess I fear one day I will regret giving away something, silly, silly.

Fun with Yoghurt and Playsilks

Breakfast youghurt, more fun that could be imagined :)

I had to show of Téa dressing up in her playsilks. These playsilks were hand-dyed by yours-truly. Playsilks are awesome, they can be used to make pretend dresses, capes, wings, used as blankets, smoochies, danced with, snuggled with, wrapped up with, the list goes on and on.

Busy life, constant changes

Life has been busy lately. I mean we are always *really* busy, we have a family with 4 kids five and under. But lately life has been even busier. Aidan is in Kindergarten, so in September we added daily homeschool time to our schedule, he plays soccer and Aidan and Coda are both involved in AWANA. On top of that we have been praying about making some major life changes. So here it goes, at the end of the month we will be moving back to Eureka. Nick is leaving his job with Advanced Security and will be working part time subcontracting for a communications company and the other time he will be studying like crazy for his C-7 Low Voltage Electrical License. After he obtains his license, which takes about three months, he will be completely self-employed. For the time being we will be living in Nick's grandmas house (she passed away about 3 years ago), it will be quite a challenge as it is quite small, but I look forward to meeting this challenge. We will also get to go back to our "home" Church, Eureka Nazarene and Nick will be leading worship there! All and all we are very excited about this next step in our lives.

Please keep us in your prayers!
P.S. We are still working on a business name and a few other details, when we have more info we will let everyone know. Who knows Nick might be able to fulfill your video surveillance or access control or communication needs!

Wordless Wednesday

Seven Months

Dillon is seven months old, seven months old, really?! YEP. He is sitting up all on his own, army crawling his way through the house and even eating a little something other than Mommy's Milk. Last week he ate boiled egg yolk mixed with a little Earth's Best baby cereal and loved it, he has continued to eat it daily. He is by far our longest and skinniest baby, he is about 17lbs and 27inches.

Were you...

Aidan has been constantly leaving the door open when he goes out to play. So yesterday I thought I would talk to him about it.

Me: Were you born in a barn?
Aidan: Jesus was.
Me: Ok? But were you born in a barn?
Aidan: Jesus was born in a barn, Dillon was born in the car. How come I wasn't born in a cool place?

I should, he should

I should be folding laundry and he should be napping. But instead he is building with blocks and I am taking pictures of him. Well, this is more fun anyway.

seven hours.

done. finished. whew. it fit.

I thought when the process was over I would be thinking, I will NEVER do this again. But I wasn't, actually I was thinking, yeah, I could do this once a month. The day was nice, Téa was my side-kick, played with her baby and the potty on the kitchen floor, had her first experience with Playdough and took two naps (which is odd for her), Dillon napped, nursed and hung out, either in his saucer or the Ergo, and the boys were in heaven, I let them play in the dirt and ride bikes all day long. And guess what, I finished, I made twenty dinners in one day, I started at 11am and ended at 6pm. So seven hours, not bad, since I was caring for four children and cooking 20 meals. On a normal night one dinner takes me close to an hour, so hey I am up 14 hours already!

All the produce cut up, this was the first step!

YAY! One down, 19 to go.

And I am done!

I wanted to tell everyone that I do not have an extra freezer or even a really big freezer. I have a normal size freezer and I had some stuff already in it, some frozen juice, two loaves of bread, frozen chicken breasts, Eggo waffles and a few other things. My freezer is filled to the brim, but in about 30 days it will be ready to be filled again.

Happy Half Year....

DILLON!

We are so blessed to have you be a part of our family. Each day you bring joy to our lives. Your smile is contagious, you strength surpasses your age and you have the wondrous ability to warm each of our hearts!
I told Nick just last night that I don't want Dillon to get bigger, I want him to stay a baby forever. But then in the same breath, I told him how it will be so neat when all our four are riding bikes or playing soccer together.

Lord, I thank you for Dillon. I thank you for entrusting him to us. His smile warms my heart, his smell melts me, I love him more and more each day. I pray that you watch over him, I pray that he comes to know you at an early age. Lord, be with him wherever he goes, AMEN.

Meal planning squared.

Meal planning to the next level or crazy as my step-dad said. Tomorrow I am embarking on a new journey, an in-home, labor intensive journey. I will be assembling twenty freezer meals, yes TWENTY. For a long while I have wanted to take meal planning to the next level, but never did and it was for good reason. Our family is primarily vegetarian and all the freezer meal menus were for meat-eating families. So I bugged and bugged and poked and prodded the ladies at Saving Dinner and viola, TWENTY VEGETARIAN DINNERS, complete with start to finish instructions, shopping lists and recipes. Hooray!

So today I went to three stores to get all that I needed, such are the joys of living in a small area, not one store has everything you need. The kids were wonderfully behaved, they toughed through almost two hours at Fred Meyer. Then I did the next two store while everyone was asleep. I am wiped out and the preparing hasn't even begun. Cool thing... I got everything I need for about $125.

Well I am off to bed. Please say a prayer for well-behaved children tomorrow, so I can complete this task without wanting to rip out my hair, haha.

Fun at the fair.

Mommy and Dillon


So the boys wanted to go on a ride with Dad, so with Dillon already on my front, we added Téa to the back, boy did I get some funny looks!

Love the face Aidan!

We went to Santa Rosa for a week. We had a blast, the boys went to Dino Camp, Kristy and I tie dyed, we welcomed E home from Africa and had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Tyler and Sergio. However, like always I did not get done near what I wanted to while down there, I think it is a combination of having four kids, it taking an hour to drive anywhere and just having tons on my t0-do list.
We went to the county fair, which isn't too small for where we live and there was an awesome Rodeo. The boys enjoyed going on some rides. Dillon slept almost the whole time in the Ergo and Téa enjoyed pulling Daddy's hair from the backpack. It was a nice family day!

Splurge.

I, ummm, well, yes, sort of, well ok, it was me, I SPLURGED! I have had so many in my five years of being a mom. I have a few that serve some sort of purpose, but none that would serve my needs now. It's perfect, expensive, but perfect.

It is made by Skip*Hop. I had decided awhile back that I really wanted it, it was definitely not a need, but a want. So Nick and I came up with a plan, I get rid of FIVE bags or purses that I don't use AND I make the money myself and I can buy the $80-or so diaper bag. I met all my requirements, so while visiting Sonoma County this past week I bought it. I have yet to put it to use, but once I do I will surely post action pictures.

He's Five!

Captian Aidan that is! Each year I am in awe of how fast time goes by. Five years ago I became a mom, five years ago God entrusted this little baby to me (and Nick :0), five years ago my life began to mean something and five years ago I fell in love in a way that I never thought possible.
Aidan is wonderful kid, he is full of life, he is a clown, he likes to make people laugh, but he is not made of steel, he melts with a mean-look, he loves to snuggle, he love to hug, kiss and take care of his littler brothers and sister. He loves to pretend, one day he is Captain Jack, then the Red Power Ranger, a tiger (which according to him could never be related to a cat!), a T-Rex dinosaur...and the best part is, we all get to play along in his pretending.
We let Aidan pick where we are going to go to dinner tonight and I was shocked (NOT) when he said McDonald's! The Close's are joining us for our gourmet meal at the Crescent City McDonald's.
On Saturday we had a HUGE party for Aidan (which my camera broke 1/4 of the way through)! We all had a blast, Nick built a "pirate ship" in the front yard, the kids all had eye patches, they ran around with plastic swords and pirate bubbles. We opened presents, ate our "treasure chest" cake and demolished the pinata. All in all it was an awesome day, pictures to come!

*Aidan's shirt was painted by a WAHM (work at home mom), she is amazingly talented, if you want her info let me know!