Before and After

Luke, what can I say about Luke?

He melts my heart a hundred times a day.

And I spent the whole day yesterday gazing at this picture.

(Try to view it full screen if you can.

His eyes are incredible!)

Leif is the cutest one year old on the planet.

(Certainly I can't just be prejudiced.)
But a little editing can even do his picture justice. I rarely change Levi's pictures to sepia tone because of his amazing blue eyes.
But this drama fits his personality perfectly! Ilex looks beautiful no matter the picture.

But why not try something fun?
Nice picture, but a bit dull and gray.
A little more pizazz, don't ya think?

This is one of my favorite pictures of Luke,

but I was disappointed in how washed out it looked.
Not anymore.
Or the handsome guy in sepia.
I am sure I'm breaking all sorts of rules with my editing, but it is so much fun to experiment. Sometimes I like the pictures to be sharper and more realistic. Sometimes I like extra color saturation, just for fun. Or a high-contrast sepia tone. Sure, why not? All I know is that I no longer wonder what I might do if I had gobs of free time.

Seriously, Someone Please Stop Me

The snow started falling at our house after church yesterday.

Unfortunately it didn't stick around long enough for us to get lunch in our bellies and snow clothes on all three boys. We decided to ride off on a little adventure and found a delightful spot for playing in the snow about a half hour east of town. Perfect!

This was Leif's first real snow encounter:

And he wasn't so sure about the whole thing:



But Luke and Levi had no problems making themselves at home.

After playing the the snow for a while,
we were hungry and ready to stop by the local A&W:

I remember eating at A&W as a kid. Dad loved to take us to the one in our town before it closed down. The three of us girls fought over using the little black phone at the booth to call in our order. Leif might not have thoroughly appreciated the snow, but this boy always appreciates food:

These adorable little cars were the treasures in the kids' meals.

They have the A&W logo on their trunks:

Here I am, applying some serious determination to my routine, and I find a new obsession. (Or at least a new facet of an old obsession.) Not only that, but I have a plethora of things to post! I have my book list for 2008, our collection of words, someone to tag with a blessing, my list of favorite books, updates on my routine, and who knows what else. I'll post more photos, showing before editing and after. I have so much to learn!

On top of it all, I had to go and smash my finger in the car door Saturday. And it would be my camera and mouse clicking finger. Luckily, my best friend and nurse was available for a drive-by consultation. She thought that I probably didn't need stitches, but it would hurt like the dickens for a couple days. Yep. Not even that will stop me, apparently.

Honestly though, I'm giving this routine thing all I've got. The boys have been in bed early the last three nights. My bedside table is piled with books that I've started to enjoy after a dry spell with Christmas and birthday celebrations. Levi and I are diving into ancient history, beginning The Story of the World today.

In the spirit of being flexible, the boys were playing so nicely upstairs that I decided to let them have play time before read aloud time. That might work better anyway. Let them play until things start to fall apart, then divert their attention with some good books. But that means it's work time for me. I've bills to pay, thank you notes to finish, and a house to clean. The Christmas (um, er, well New Year's) cards are going out in the mail today. Groceries will have to wait until Levi is at Tae Kwon Do. See you on the other side!

Forget Everything I Said

Forget everything I said about routines, booklists, keeping my house clean... I've discovered how to edit my photos. My husband will now have to quit his job. Someone will have to look after the children.

Reading Wrap-Up 2007

I thought it was high time I wrapped up the reading lists for 2007 and moved on.

This past year was the first year in many that I made a deliberate choice to read! I am somewhat stunned at the difference it made! Levi and I read many chapter books together. I will cherish those memories for a lifetime. Some of my books were humorous, some informative, some stretched my literary skills.

The Spring Reading Challenge was the first time I had made a specific list of books to read within a specific frame of time. It felt so good to get most of those books read and move forward with the Summer Reading Challenge. I again enjoyed the deliberate reading and decided to make my Autumn Intentional Reading List, even though Seasonal Soundings was no longer hosting a challenge. I finished all of the books on my list, other than The Closing of the American Mind and Much Ado About Nothing, and added one or two additional selections.

The Final List of Books Read in 2007:

A Year With C.S. Lewis
A Pioneer Sampler by Barbara Greenwood
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Belles on Their Toes by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Maggie Rose: Her Birthday Christmas by Ruth Sawyer
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Harriet Beecher Stowe and The Beecher Preachers by Jean Fritz
Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain
Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
The Family Pilgrim's Progress by Jean Watson/John Bunyan
A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison
The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Down the Garden Path by Beverly Nichols
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Cultural Literacy by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan/Helen L. Taylor
Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss
Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys Hunt
Ben and Me by Robert Lawson
I Dared to Call Him Father by Bilquis Sheikh
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
How to Photograph Your Baby by Nick Kelsh
Marva Collins' Way by Marva Collins and Civia Tamarkin
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Art of Civilized Conversation by Margaret Shepherd
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Cricket in Time Square by George Selden
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
She's Gonna Blow! by Julie Ann Barnhill
Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It by Robert Fulghum
The Little French Girl by Anne Douglas Sedgwick
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

(I've attempted to link each book to my book review where available.)

Whew! Seventeen of the books listed above were stories that I read aloud to Levi. It is incredible having that shared landscape in our imaginations.

In the next few days I'll be posting my book lists for 2008, and soon I will get around to finishing my favorite books list which I have not forgotten but has been shoved down the priority list recently.

Looks Okay On Paper

So, I've sat down and pencilled out what a day in my house might look like if I were following a specific routine. I don't want to be tied to the clock, but I had to have some idea of how much time each thing might take. It is amazing how lovely things look on paper. Wry grin. Why is it so much different in reality?

This post is insanely long, but I am the type of person who has to get her thoughts together in writing. I also work best with accountability. I'm pretending that you all will care if I get my act together. So, this is more for myself than my readers. Sorry about that. Feel free to ignore!!

Heidi's Attempt at a Weekday Routine:

7:00 Wake up, Shower, Read Bible
7:30 Boys watch video if they’re awake
Me: finish getting ready/put in a load of laundry/check email
8:00 Chores (Levi and Luke empty dishwasher), Breakfast prep
8:30 Breakfast
Circle Time notebook review, Devotions, or CD
9:00 Breakfast clean-up
Brush teeth, get dressed, straighten beds…
9:30 Read-aloud and/or ‘group lessons’ (Spanish, history, art, geography, Bible, etc.)
10:30 Playtime for boys (upstairs, porch, or outside) (listen to CDs if inside)
Me: Chores (or go for walk outside)
[OR appointments on Thursdays]
11:30 Lunch prep. Boys clean up toys and wash hands.
12:00 Lunch. Listen to CD.
12:30 Lunch clean-up
12:45 Read to Leif. Put him down for nap.
1:00 Levi—quiet time. (Read independently or listen to CD.)
Luke—lessons (phonics and writing) and picture books. Set him up for quiet time.
1:45 Levi—phonics, math, writing, grammar, other lessons or read-aloud.
(W, F)
3:30 Snack then Playtime
Me: Chores
5:00 Dinner prep, straighten up house, wash hands, set table…
6:00 Dinner
6:30 Clean-up
7:00 W—Swimming (Or other evening 'stuff')
F—Family time
8:00 Make sure house is straightened up, pajamas, brush teeth
8:30 Read aloud time
9:00 Luke and Leif to bed, Levi quiet reading time
Me: Chores
10:00 Me: Bed, reading
11:00 (Lights out. Up with whichever boy decides to not sleep this particular night…)
(M, TU, TH)
3:30 Playtime
Me: Dinner prep, chores
4:00 Big snack, straighten up house, get ready for Tae Kwon Do
4:45 Leave house
5:30 Home, dinner prep OR errands in town (groceries, bank, etc.)
(6:15 Pick up Levi, home at 7)
7:00 (or later) Dinner
7:30 Clean-up
7:45 Science with Dad or Family game if we have time
8:00ish Bed Routine

It seems as if I should have more than enough time for some things (lunch, for example), but I have found that completing lunch from start to finish takes forever with three little boys! I really want to say that lunch should take only a half hour at most, but that would be completely unrealistic.

The other thing is that I've scheduled 2-3 1/2 hours for my 'chores.' Unfortunately, the bulk of that is during playtime for my 3 little boys. I am sure many of you have an idea how fun it is to attempt 'real work' while a 1 year old, 3 1/2 year old, and 6 year old are playing together. Quite honestly, I really struggle with focusing on my own tasks when I am constantly interrupted, disrupted, and erupted (smile) with smelly diapers, bonked heads, complaints, and whatever else is needed by three little boys. I also want to have them play outside as much as possible, but that requires supervision from me--and no chores accomplished.

On my chores list are: all household cleaning/organizing, bookkeeping/household management, homeschool planning/record keeping/etc., laundry, meal planning... I do all the shopping, errands, kids' doctor and dentist appointments.

I know that the boys need to be responsible for as much as possible. I am at the stage, however, that having the boys do something (emptying the dishwasher, for example) takes more time and effort than doing it myself. My eldest child is imaginative, intelligent, and talkative--but focused, on task, methodical, systematic, and responsible he is not. It requires me being completely focused and consistent to teach him and expect these things of him. It certainly doesn't lighten my load any at this point.

I am also trying to figure out where to find time for my own creative or relaxing projects. Burn out is a real possibility if I don't leave time for myself. There is also nothing on my schedule for sustained exercise. I may have to try fitting something in with the kids such as a walk (not necessarily very aerobic with littles along) or a video (in our living room with the boys in the small space with me) rather than trying to do my chores during playtime.

Every time I read about or hear about someone who skates through life on 5 hours of sleep, I start feeling insanely jealous. Why, oh why, can't I survive on 5 hours of sleep? 3 more hours of time to myself! I get sick, cranky, lethargic, and unproductive when I don't get good sleep. And let me tell you, I've spent much of the last 6 years getting poor sleep. And it's not because I'm getting stuff accomplished. Nooooo. It is because the universe played a dirty trick on me and gave me 3 little boys who don't sleep much or well. Or maybe God has been trying to teach me something. I should hurry up and learn the lesson so I can get some sleep.

So, I've scheduled in 8 hours of sleep, but it will be a rare night that all 3 boys sleep straight through. And the hardest part of this schedule will be getting myself out of bed in the morning. Because I cherish my sleep. And I hate getting out of a warm bed.

Ack! I've just realized that I didn't plan time for baths. Right now, we don't have a specific schedule other than throwing one of the kids in the tub when they need some time alone or when they are really smelly or on Saturdays. I'll have to think about that one.

I'll try to follow this routine as much as possible this next week and let you know how it goes. It might need a great deal of tweaking.

Hurray for Pink

Our daughters are the most precious of our treasures, the dearest possessions of our homes and the objects of our most watchful love. ~Margaret E. Sangster

A good friend of mine allowed me to spend some time photographing her daughter. She was a great sport! The lighting was really tough (it was a gloomy, rainy day!) and I don't possess enough photography talent (or equipment) to get great photos in low light. It would also help if I took the time to figure out photoshop. Until then, we'll have to enjoy these photos. Isn't she a darling?!

Routine

I decided to incorporate my one little word with Project 2008. Each month I will be adding a word to Potential which represents my project for that month.

For January, I have chosen the word Routine. If there is anything in which I need to live up to my potential, it is establishing a calming, productive routine in this household. I must establish the routine, maintain focus, and stay on task.

I'll post throughout the month to let you know how my project is coming along.

Anyone out there joining me?

I'm still collecting the one little word from all my readers. If you leave a comment with your word in the next few days, I will add it to the list and post all of our words together.

De-lurking Challenge

One other thing: I love the friends and acquaintances I've made on this blogging journey. You are what makes this worth it!! I'm giving all my readers an opportunity to introduce themselves.

*Please* if you enjoy my blog on a regular basis (or even if this is your first time visiting), would you consider saying a quick 'hello' in the comments section? Even if you've commented in the past and feel like checking in... I'd love to say hello to friends that have been with me from the beginning, and meet those of you who are just now joining in or have been silent readers.

This post will be on the 'front page' for a week. I'd love to hear from you!

Verve. This Kid Has Got It

Levi has star power. He knew exactly when to show up. Six minutes past midnight on New Year's Day. In the first year of his life, his picture was in a newspaper twice and then a magazine. I was afraid that he would use up his 15 minutes of fame in, well, his first 15 minutes, but I shouldn't have worried. This kid has verve. And you haven't seen anything yet. Levi, thank you for making me a mother.


I wish I could share all of my favorite photos of this guy. There are so very many. I'm sure some of you will think 'enough already' but if you knew how many pictures I had to set aside...

Verve (vûrv) n.

1. Energy and enthusiasm in the expression of ideas, especially in artistic performance or composition.
2. Vitality; liveliness.

Levi is enthusiastic, vivacious, effusive, dramatic, intelligent, vibrant, imaginative, extroverted, curious, affectionate, chaotic, exhausting, thoughtful, verbose, intense, and entertaining~at the no-longer-my-baby age of six (going on twenty-six). (Just check out the funny things he has to say!)

Happy Birthday, Levi!