By the book baby

Evan is now our fourth 'normal' baby by the standard of what books say babies are supposed to do. Anna slept all the time, Erik (our only 'fat' baby) slept pretty well too, and Matthew was basically a napper and early to bed kid too. Martin.....began the no nap syndrom. Cecilia didn't sleep in her own bed until she was well over two, Benjamin slept at night but didn't do well during the day, Stefan the same and Ingrid.......ditto. Evan takes great naps and went to bed at 7:30 this evening! He keeps going to bed earlier and earlier! Wow. This might mean I will go to bed earlier too. Welcome back normal baby!

Enjoy being fat????

After sharing that I was getting a little weary of being fat and even getting fatter, the kid's piano teacher said to enjoy being fat. Very interesting comment. I suppose I haven't been as worried about my fattness this time around. I always seem to start getting fatter too. I find it ironic that despite my fatness and doing EVERYTHING they say to do to help the baby get enough nutrition yada yada yada, I have a baby who has the wettest, messiest diapers but doesn't gain weight that quickly and I just get fatter. Well, Horner babies just do not get huge on this mom and probably wouldn't for any other mother. He may be getting more than the last few kids but he isn't that much bigger. I suppose that means he is just right. Right for a Horner kid.

I WANT to go biking more often to fight the fat. The bike now has a flat tire which needs a new tube so I will have to wait till that gets fixed. It is a good thing I enjoy biking in the winter. Maybe by next summer I will be less fat.

Contest week 1

Everyone worked hard that is for sure. Some of the rooms were definitely more difficult than other rooms. Charley was the 'judge' and he did take this into account. We made a most improved category. For the future the prize is going to be five dollars to the room that is in the best shape and five dollars to the most improved room. We will do it again this next week. Martin was the winner this week and was also most amused by his dad telling him that there was no quarter round on the trim in his rooms and that he would have to count him down for that. Har har. The experiment was a success!

Contest revision

So far the contest is working. The work is pretty daunting though as the detail cleaning is sadly neglected. So dear husband has come up with a revision of the contest. Everyone will keep their assigned area and on Fridays he will determine the winner of the week. He might give a runner up prize too. There have been improvements but there is much left to do. I need to work on my area but am not included in the prize getting. I have my own idea of who is winning so far but I think for at least this week the prize needs to be given based on 'most improved' area. Stay tuned........

It's Crowded

My little Evan has bronchitis. Sigh. Of course, as all good mothers do, I googled bronchitis in infants and found that bronchitis is more common in infants who are in daycare and those living in crowded living situations. Yep. Our house certainly is big enough so that we might NOT be crowded but everyone loves Evan so they can't stay away from him! All of my kids school work is usually done in close proximity to the Evans and me so there too, every sneeze, cough and picked nose is not too far away from sharing with everyone else. I suppose this is how people years ago got sicker as their families were larger so they could share more. I am trying not to focus too much on the other scary things I read as it is the internet of course and not a physician. My understanding is that bronchitis in infants is usually a result of having RSV which most kids have before the age two. Some require hospitalization. Obviously that is the part which freaks me out and I should not borrow trouble and just keep working towards his improvement. These things are of course out of my control. God, sometimes I don't like lessons in trust but okay, I will proceed in faith and keep taking care of the little guy. Part of that care is banning all kissing of his cuteness, washing hands more often and cleaning surfaces more. Sounds impossible. Praying for the boy.

Contest

Sometimes it all boils down to bribery. Gazing about my house and wondering how to tackle it all, I decided to give the kids a contest. I assigned each child a different area to clean and they have till Friday to get it done. School work comes first and I can still ask them to do other things like cleaning the dishes together etc. Charley will be the judge of this contest. Included in their assigned area will be their bedrooms. It can't hurt can it? They are free to ask me for advice on how to improve their areas too. I asked them what they would do if someone stopped by unexpectedly and wanted to go upstairs to their rooms or to any area of the house for that matter. Hmmm......so they are on to the contest and we shall see what happens. Now to think of a prize.....

Sometimes I want to cry

Yes, I am whining again. This homeschooling thing can certainly be stressful at times. In this house at this moment I am juggling nursing the baby, trying to teach Benjamin to read and do math, Matthew is practicing the piano, Erik is working on his class work, Ingrid is perpetually sad this morning, Stefan is needy, and Martin and Cecilia will need their math graded soon. There are extraneous needs, like calling the health insurance about some coverage issues, paying bills etc, which are looming as well. I will stop now. I am focusing on my lack of patience at the moment and still trying to keep doing the next thing WITHOUT crying. Stefan still greeting me with, "I love you Mom." "I love you too Stefan." Ok Stefan, I will try to pull myself together here.........enough said. I think my stress builds from having to repeat myself over and over again when little people can't seem to understand me and also everyone talking at once. Duct tape......

What am I doing?

I was asked an interesting question this week. I was asked what I have been doing lately. Hmmm.....I figured out the question meant 'what was I doing for myself'. Funny, I think I am satisfied without worrying too much WHAT I am doing for myself. What I do for myself generally is take care of my family. That is still doing something for myself. The question was initially perplexing because I thought it was pretty obvious what I have been doing. I truly enjoy spending time with my family. I can't say I love the clutter but overall I do a lot more with them than just do their laundry. We pray together, sing together, learn together, eat together, work together and the list goes on. When I look into their eyes I see another person who looks back into my eyes and I value what I see. I value their individuality. I am not ashamed of 'just' being their mom. True I do teach them too but this is not drudgery. We have our daily challenges which mostly amount to being frustrated by whining or not listening but that really is not that bad.

I think there is an assumption that people can not be happy unless they are somehow being fulfilled with something outside their families. I am not sure I am explaining this exactly right, but the emphasis on outside fulfillment just pulls the family apart. Even the kids do not HAVE to be constantly socially plugged in. It makes me very happy to hear my kids express that they miss each other when one is away. The nine of them all together will most likely not be all together much longer. Anna is already away at school but she is still part of our home family for now.

So what have I been doing???? What I am supposed to do or at least I thought so.

Satisfied???

Not usually. Sigh. There is stuff everywhere. Oh......this is whining again right? I keep telling myself to breathe and not worry with all the Krug all over. So the other game is to get something finished and try not to worry too much about what is NOT done. If I keep plugging away and my discipline is in seeing Benjamin EVERY day, then he will see progress. I am telling the poor boy that perhaps we can 'trick' Stefan and Ingrid into learning too if he helps me to help them. Who is tricking who here. Benjamin thinks it is funny. He can be so talented at the poor me's as his little brother knows how to get his goat and then the weeds grow before Benjamin's face and he can't discern what matters and doesn't and the whole day will go down the toilet for the poor boy. Focus Benjamin. Help ME focus Benjamin. We can do this. Ingrid..........don't be so sad please. She gets so two year old frustrated it breaks my heart. So I delegate someone to grab her, hug her, feed her and read to her instead of tolerating the endless crying and ignoring her. Sigh again. Not enough of me but I suppose the older ones will be WAY tolerant or perhaps too tolerant of screaming toddlers. They will definitely know the fact that toddlers scream sometimes and be able to laugh a little about that.

The Krug will be easily conquered a few months down the road when the Evan is older and can entertain himself for longer periods of time. He is sleeping on my shoulder at the moment and is nice and snuggly and I am reminding myself how fleeting this will be. I close my eyes and soak him in as Stefan, his older brother, chirps at me how he loves me. Sweetness and bliss. Perhaps if I keep my eyes closed I won't see the Krug as much. Right????? Sounds reasonable to me.

"Oh Benjamin, are you done writing Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben.......in your cute little pattern making lesson????? Time to move on.

Using what we have

We are continuing the 'game' of watching what we spend. It is not that we didn't used to pay attention as I think I have stated before. So far we are doing pretty well at basically using what we have here. We always buy in bulk from the Amish, things like oatmeal and wheat berries so we have plenty of supplies on hand for basic ingredients. Now the daily 'game' is peering in the refrigerator and seeing what bit of this and that needs used up. Today it was some leftover pumpkin puree and some applesauce. I threw them in a recipe for pumpkin biscuits and the applesauce worked just fine with the pumpkin. They are also, not surprisingly, almost completely eaten already. Tomorrow I plan to use up some cherries in my morning oatmeal. I figure pumpkin or cherries in oatmeal would taste a lot like pie. Yum. The kids are getting better at eating leftovers too. I actually like it that there is not as much in the fridge at a time. Everyone also has been more willing to cut up the pumpkin and squash so that I can use it for meals. It works!

Charley gave the kids another challenge. We are keeping track of the utility bills and he told them if they helped bring the bill down, that he would pay them the difference in the money saved as he would rather give our money to them than to the utility companies. Sounds like a plan!