Spring bulbs

I have the same problem with plants that I do with yarn and books.   I dream of the result and perhaps go a little nutty with the plants in the yard.   I need to save the life of my houseplants which are getting 'hardened' for the winter on my front porch where they were drying off from the monsoon rains of late before coming into their winter homes. 

 Spring bulbs are so tempting with five plus acres of woods to scatter them through.   We went to my favorite nursery yesterday and picked up our troughs we made a few weeks ago.   I have so much playing in the dirt to do that I need to stop dreaming and go start doing.   I might even actually clean up the gardens this year so it won't be such a pain in the spring to begin again.   At least the small children love to be outside with me so the night schoolers can work on the inside.   The night school kids will have to help a bit with the potato digging this morning so it should be a very full day.  

Talking till you drop

I must go to bed.   I have very talkative small people here and everyone else needs something and talks.  Talk to mom, talk to mom, talk to mom.......   Cecilia wanted to play a game which required me to move and I sadly had to turn her down.   I pitched a two person game at her and her dad and am retreating.   I would love it if I could be able to have full days and full weeks like this every week but there has to be that energy thing to go with it.   Tomorrow I am having a friend and her short people over and play outside a bit while the older kids work on the schoolish stuff.   Hopefully I am out of bed by that time.    By eight o'clock this evening I did not want to answer another single question and was going to self combust.   I am now listening to my giggling eldest reading silly stuff.   Listening.......not talking.....much.    And now.....you are asleep too. 

Getting a grip

Today I am attempting once again to get on top of things around here.   Cracking the whip and getting the academics more organized and shockeroo....done.    Life is less daunting if one can find the 'want to' to get on top of these things.   I need to get on top of my kitchen cabinets and dedust a bit.....I need to get on top of a ladder and clean the light fixtures out.   Hmmm.......

This crazy pastor (Grobien) recommended some parenting book about achieving less whining, complaining etc., in the house hold and it is really not much more than the discipline program we learned at Camp T. back in the day.   I blogged about that once upon a time on my old blog, about how kids keep a score card on you and know if this adult or that adult means what they say the first time, the second time or maybe the adult will never do a thing about following through with their own instructions.    Yep.   I do need to revisit the follow through thing and it all takes energy.   We lose a bit of energy with each kid and when we recommit to following through and expecting obedience we fall asleep faster in the evening.   It is exhausting but worth it of course. 

 So thank you Pastor Grobien for the ten dollarish reminder of what I already know.   When I read the email and the information I was tempted to call him the next day and hold out the phone if he answered so he could hear my darling cherubs whining and bickering.......I didn't.    I got it.   

Found it

I went to the "want to" store and found some.    If I stand up and keep moving I can get rid of much dog hair, dirt and grime AND get clothes put away.    Sometimes I think that people walk through the house and just dump stuff willy nilly as they go.   Wait.......that IS what they do.   So today might be the day that the tupperware gets weeded out and the cabinet in the living room gets decluttered.   Nothing glamorous goes on here.   The glamor is in reading to short people and finding and making food which is better than you will ever find in any restaurant.   I think I will also take some short people out and plant some plants and bring in the house plants for the winter.    That is a LOT of want to.   We shall see how that goes.   That is some pretty awesome glamor if you ask me.  

Pep Talk

If I give myself a pep talk I might go do one of those miraculous clean ups of some room.   Life has been intense.   Cecilia's vocabulary book  had haphazard as a word.    That describes life lately.    It describes school despite night school.  I need to visit the want to store.  

Safety for the numbers

Another large family, broad age spread issue which I struggle with is the safety of the youngest kids when mom is away.     The older kids do tend to become immune to where the little ones are if mom has an appointment or is taking another kid to an appointment.   Tomorrow I am going to pick up my daughter for the weekend from college and the safety of my youngest two is of course of the utmost.   The older ones do fine together.    I am considering letting go of my ideas of the TV being a bad thing and going and getting a in van TV set up.   I found one for fifty but have no idea how to hook it up.    Driving long distances with potentially screaming children is also not a safe thing.   I wouldn't be surprised if all the younger kids will want to come with if I figure out how to do this.   It was just another inspirational moment of how to survive this large family thing without taxing my nerves more than they are already taxed.   My perfect parent syndrome can stand in the way sometimes.   Hopefully I can figure out how wise this decision is in the next 24 hours.

Another.....new plan

Yesterday was my anxiety school day, which seems to happen pretty regularly around here with the age spread of kids.   I think I have come up with a new evil plan which may work.   The difficulty around here has been older children who are resistant to getting up in the morning and hitting the books.   Then of course there is the struggle of who is going to watch the short people while I work with ANY of them.   So........I am letting my older kids sleep as long as they want and I am going to spend time with the younger set with their school work in the morning while they are fresh.   The older kids will also need to watch the Evans till I am done with the younger kids so I can actually teach them to read etc. 

Then.....the older children are going to have their school in the afternoon and evening.   Night school.    They seem to suffer from the ongoing illusion that when dad comes home from work, that they are done with school for the day.   I am hoping the dad can help with the short people putting them to bed, while I work with the older children.   This plan has potential.   Even if I can only pull off three nights of quality time with the older students, then they will get more done in quiet and my younger children will not be cheated of time with mom. 

I am also going to talk with another mom locally about trading watching our younger children once a week each, so she can teach her nine year old and then that would give me one other day and time too to attend to my older childrens' school work. 

This seems a better plan than throwing the kids on the bus.   I REALLY do NOT want to do that but if push comes to shove, some of them might have to.    Having seven kids at home has its challenges to be sure.   Here's hoping this plan helps.    

Ham bone soup invention

In the line of using up what we have on hand, I took the ham bone from the ham last weekend, added a large onion, approximately ten new potatoes chopped in bite size pieces, as many carrots as I could bear to peel and chop (I always peel store bought carrots.....I know you don't have to......), four stalks celery, and one winter squash steamed then scooped out and added to the soup.    Our neighbor could not stop raving about it so I figured I would share.    I never tackled adding spices as I was actually not home to eat this meal and needed to scoot out the door.  Moral of the story here?   Winter squash goes with everything.   Throw out your cook books and keep throwing stuff in.   How can it not work?????

Depression Era Cooking

We are exercising our creative muscle and simply looking around at what we have on hand in the pantry and then coming up with stuff to make out of it.   There have been some complaints about too many beans (Lol!) of any shape or form so today I am going to take the ham bone out of  the basement and make some potato soup out of it.   I should probably call it Colonist cooking as that is where we are in time in history.   A few kidlets will be sent out to hunt for potatoes.   Sounds like a plan.    We could also call it Economics, Health, Horticulture, Home Ec........desperation.......house keeping.......life.......

I am basically becoming more and more impressed by the lack of a need for cookbooks.    Experience in what works together just helps make the recipe out of my head.    It is the season to throw pumpkin in everything too so am remembering to just throw some in with each recipe.    No one knows the difference and it goes with almost everything.    Last night it jumped in our turkey pot pie, along with the leftover mashed potatoes and shazam!    Yum.    The more carrots the better too.   Perhaps it is orange vegetables which make this difference.   I laugh at recipes which call for 4 to 5 carrots.....um......why?????     Eat more orange stuff......

This house is old.   150 years old this year.   Old homes are dusty and dirty.   I am at my wits end with the dust and dirt.   My parental speech of the day was to take a moment and consider helping out without being told (aka as Karin the mom comedy hour).   Ten acres also breeds dust.   Farmer's fields near by and a highway.   Dirt and dust flying this way to make Karin nuts.   I can't keep up with it and books also seem to be like large pieces of ever encroaching dust.   I sneeze all day and I sneeze all night from...the....dust.    I have asthma kids who should have all this dust but can't figure out how to conquer it.   I am attempting this week to eliminate flat surfaces in which to pile books (dust) on and just go shelf by shelf and put stuff away.   When in the world are we supposed to do this AND the homeschooling thing????   Time to hide most of the toys, find their outdoor winter coats etc. and keep them out of the house if at all possible.   I can't make them stop eating but maybe they can eat outside????   Yes.   I might start digging a latrine so the mess that goes with that might stay outside too.  Sounds reasonable to me!   The digging might be therapeutic too.  One day at a time by the Grace of God.........

Kids Parenting take two!

I figured it out!!!!!!     Since said child can not stop asking what his sister is doing, I figured out a solution.    I am now going to ask the parenting child frequently what the other child is doing!!!    I'll make up a names......   "Steve, is Carrie ready for church?"    "Steve, has Carrie brushed her teeth yet today?"   "Steve, does Carrie have her glasses on and is she out of bed?"    "Steve, has Carrie done her chores today???"

I just tried this out.   It is beautiful.    Steve is very confused but he is  less worried about Carrie already.

 Karin is the new Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!!!!!!

Kids Parenting

I think I am going to lock two of my children in a room so they can settle their parenting issues once and for all.   The worry and concern they  have for each other blows my mind or I might want to blow my mind if they keep worrying and being concerned.   Stop it already!   Go to your happy place dears!!!!!!   There is a time and a place to contemplate your navels and now is one of those times.   Perhaps I should have prayed for spacey children?????    Breathe and go to your happy place Karin.  

My Irish Ire

I have had this weird pondering of quirks this week.  Quirks to me are just those weird things which are our struggles. weakness or even our enthusiasm.     For instance, my quirk I think is my Irish Ire.   I blame my Viking ancestors (or Adam) for that trip they took that year and acquired an Irish wife and put quick temper into our ancestral blood.  I am sure that is it.   At the time my ire rears its ugly head, I pretty much just want to set the record straight with whomever my ire has been raised by.   Usually that ire might be raised by the other person's quirk.   Sigh.   How is that for talking in circles.    I might even see my ire as enthusiasm or frustration justified by enthusiasm?????   Not good.   Taming my ire is a trick but am slowly learning to let time pass before addressing whatever is making me nuts.   Time (and Confession and Absolution) help me to get a better grip.  

So....what I have been also pondering are those cute little quirks of people I love.   Their quirks are probably not so ugly as mine.   They are that persons personality trait which does not mean they are proceeding with evil intent but their own enthusiasm.   What I am trying to say or doing a bad job explaining is that things which may drive me a bit bats about other people's personalities might just be their quirk or habit which they have and they are not really trying to be annoying but proceeding innocently along.   This little light bulb helps me to think of personality quirks instead of assuming evil intent.    We all have them.  

One friend's quirk is thinking the best of others.    What a nice quirk to have.   I think processing basic quirks of people might help me to do better in this department.   Sigh.   So ends another thought filled week.   Hope that was not too confusing.  

Slowly learning patience........