Exercise Challenge

I have joined an internet exercise challenge and will be posting updates on Mondays. I saw a photo of myself the other day and let's just say I am twice the woman I want to be! Most of all I need to get in shape to take care of my babies well.

So here we go, the goal I am setting is 30 minutes every second day (I want to say daily, but I need to be realistic here!)

PS Thought for the day: Measure what you have by what the rich have, and you will be bitter. Measure what you have by what the poor have, and you will be arrogant. Measure what you have by what you honestly deserve - taking into account every sinful action and thought - and you will be humbled and blessed.

Update

It is HOT here today! Here's what we got up to:

And it is meant to be autumn!

Erin:
is doing beautifully. She is thriving at the moment with a slight change to the way we've been homeschooling. I've included more of me sitting down and modeling a task. This gives her the confidence to have a go and try different techniques without me being overly directive about what she is doing. Erin has always been hesitant to try new things if she thinks there is a possibility of 'failure' or unless she understands blow-by-blow how to do it. I am trying to encourage her to take risks and sitting down and taking small risks in front of her seems to be working wonders (even if that risk is simply trying to draw a preying mantis and having it turn out....well, it looked kinda 'insect-y' I guess!). I've noticed it spilling over into her play with her trying new and different things with her own games rather than simply sub-contracting (i.e. getting Billy to try it first!)

Billy:
is unbelievably grown up. He has been practicing his acrobatics on me of late. Often when I am changing Christopher's nappy he will climb up me and stand on my shoulders. There is the odd tumble but more often than not he is quite steady indeed! He made me laugh tonight when he put aside his not-quite-finished dessert and said "bed." and pulled off his bib. He loves the quiet and solitude of bed sometimes I think! He is making attempts at counting which is quite cute. He walks around saying "two, fwee, four, FIIIIIVE!" Try as we may, we cannot get him to say one!

Christopher:
is still excema free! Yay! We had colds last week (I think our immune systems were still down from all the illness we've been having) and Christopher got a slight cough. It kept him -and me - awake a few nights last week. It seems to be settling down though. He is now rolling quite well from back to tummy and tummy to back. It happened all at once last week. He seems to have lost interest again over the last few days and is very focussed on getting himself up and crawling! The baby moments pass so fast! Here's a quick pic of him outside on his rug. He does seem to be developing a habit of spitting the dummy and sucking his left index and middle fingers. We will see where that takes us!

The house:
is getting back on track after ANOTHER bout of illness. I am very close to putting us all on vegetables and water and herbal supplements just to cleanse us all out if this doesn't sort itself out soon. I have been a mad washer woman the last 48 hours taking advantage of the warm weather.

The garden:
yesterday I got stuck in to the horrible oyster plant growing near the garage door. It is an awful spiky thing and badly needed cutting back. I also weeded some of the front garden. I am planning on getting a truck load of mulch.

Craft:
I did some! I made a skirt for Erin's doll with Erin and did some more on a pair of satan PJ pants for me. I have also been knitting and cross stitching. I have made a specific day for craft and it really gets the creative juices flowing for the rest of the week.

Jess

Today's Art!

Today Erin and I drew together. We read a book that we both love (God's Wisdom For Little Girls by Elizabeth George) and she chose a specific page to look at together. The pictures are beautiful in this book and highly detailed so we chose one specific element to draw - the red teapot. So we drew together! My major aim was to encourage Erin to look at detail in illustrations and practise her pencil skills etc. I did the activity in order to model it to her. I had a ball! A few minutes in we were scribbling madly and chatting about colour, shading ('why are you scratching at the picture like that Mummy?'), teapots, shape, texture and showing Daddy our pictures!

Homeschooling at it's best, where I learn even more than she does!

The whole activity probably took about 20 minutes which is just right for a tired Mummy and a 3 1/2 year old girl's attention span. I do not really believe strapping children to chairs for hours makes them learn any better!

Here they are, the finished products:



This is actually Erin's second attempt. Her first was rather yellow and blue and zig zag shaped to be a red teapot but it was entirely her own decision to do over, part of the reason I was modeling the task. To be honest, even if she had stuck with the yellow and blue zig zag version it would have been a worth while activity. I am ridiculously proud of my teapot!

Oh, and while I am on the subject of homeschooling, I just want to recommend an article on Socialization that I just read. It articulates beautifully many of my beliefs on this subject!

Compassion in action

This morning I put a CD of nursery rhymes on for the kids to dance to while I put some clothes on (we were a bit slow to get moving and Mama's PJ's hang around for a while on those days!)

Billy came rushing to the bedroom obviously distressed repeating "Bed, bed!"

I followed him back to where the CD was playing to hear "There were ten in the bed..." playing.

He pointed to the CD player and said, in worried tones, "Fell OUT Mama!!"

Well, what was it I was saying about compassion?

LOL!!

"If you could instill in your children just one quality/characteristic (i.e. compassion, honesty, integrity, etc.)what would it be, and why?"

This question was posed on the "larger families" blog that I read. I've been thinking about it today, trying to narrow it down. My strongest, daily (several times a day actually) prayer is that my children will come to know Jesus on a personal level, but I don't know if that can be described as a character trait - more a relationship. There is so much I want to instill into my children. Respect for others, work ethic and attention to detail top the list, as do honesty, contentment, love of learning and a joyful spirit.

However, I have to say that compassion does top the list as a trait I wish to instill into my children.

Why? Because all other positive character traits hinge on this one attribute.

A person with compassion will not lie, cheat or steal. To do so would be like committing those acts against self, for someone with true compassion.

A person with a truly compassionate heart will defend the weak - but they will also have a heart for the bullies and thugs of this world and seek true justice for the sake of those who abuse as much as for those they abuse. Imagine the impact on society if all had this attitude.

A compassionate heart seeks wisdom and knowledge in order to positively touch more lives and care better for those in their care.

We sometimes see compassion as this warm, fuzzy trait. An attribute to be painted in pastels, the domain of Mummies bandaging scraped knees.

In truth, compassion can be an intense heat - one that sets the world on fire.

Compassion motivated Ghandi to protest in a way the world had never seen.

Compassion spured on Mother Teresa to transform the way people saw the unloved.

Compassion pushed Florence Nightingale to defy the culture of her times and start a revolution in the care of the sick.

Amy Carmichael freed child prostitutes from the temples, David Livingston stood against slavery, William Booth feed and preached to the unwanted and unloved.... the list goes on, and all were motivated by compassion.

But perhaps the greatest reason I want my children to have compassion, is because from compassion comes love. And the only thing greater than being loved, is to love another.

This I learned from them.

Update

Well it's been a rather full day today. In fact, it's been a rather full week!

Erin:
was THRILLED today to ride on her favorite steam powered carousel at the Heritage Farm Machinery Expo. She also rode it last year at the craft fair. The horses are all hand painted with their own names across their necks. Erin is certainly her Father's daughter. The whole time we were riding she was examining the workings to see how it worked and when we got off she got down on her hands and knees to look underneath. She was also thrilled to ride on a vintage, restored, horse-drawn manure spreader! I was very surprised actually as she jumped up quite happily and went for a saunter around on it without so much as a backward glance. She even "drove" for a bit! The animal nursery was also a hit with the Springer Spaniel puppies being the favorite. Erin has also begun reading this week. I noticed that she has begun to recognise some words on her own so we wrote some words that she knows and a few others that would be easy to sound out (cat, sat, mat etc.) on index cards. We then made sentences and read them and drew a few pictures of them ("The bat sat on Mummy" being one of the funnier ones!). We had a ball! She is now recognising even more words and is loving being able to read herself.

Billy:
is also florishing. The ducks were his personal favourite thing at the expo; closely followed by the tractors! He was quite distressed when he saw some rubber ducks being used in a display of a haritage pump. They were being swirled around in the tank and dunked under and he was quite concerned about their welfare! We had to explain to him that they liked the water LOL He was such a good boy spending most of his time in the pram being pushed around the different exhibits. He was pretty good for the most part. Yesterday when we went to church, Pauline, who teaches the children's Sabbath School, bought her new puppy with her. Billy was THRILLED! It took a bit of effort to teach him that squealing at the puppy would scare her, but he was getting there. We have made a bit of progress with the "grizzle" habit he'd picked up again. Jon has been making huge efforts to spend some "man-to-man" time with him and it really shows in Billy's behaviour overall.

Christopher:
is now excema free!! After a couple of months of putting off taking him to the doctor I finally took him last Tuesday. The cream she prescribed worked a charm and he was smooth and soft by Thursday! I now have a maintenance plan to keep it at bay and guess what? HE'S SLEEPING THROUGH AGAIN! Yay!! I have my happy baby back. He is determined to crawl rather than roll. He has proven he can roll from his tummy to his back but refuses to do it on a regular basis. He prefers to get Erin to roll him over. Don't ask me how he manages to get her to do it, but he does. We are having his dedication on the first Saturday in April at 11am. I will get around to calling everyone soon.

The house:
is pretty much on track after a weeks worth of throrough cleaning - although the laundry is still breeding a bit! I actually had time (made time?) to sew this week. Yay!

The garden:
WEEDS! I need to get out there.

Jess

making time and taking time

It takes me twice as long to do anything with the children around.

Today, Billy and I were putting laundry away. As he passed each item out of the basket to me he managed to unfold most of what I had painstakingly folded the night before. I could have sent him away. I could have popped him on a blanket with a toy and told him to play quietly until I was done. He would have sat there, he would have gone away if I had asked him and he could have waited until I was finished the housework. I would have finished in half the time. But I would have achieved a tenth of what I did this morning.

You see, as my son handed me each item in his, bumbling, toddler way, as I put each item carefully away I was doing laundry but I was also building. I was building a relationship with my son. I was teaching him that I enjoy his company as we giggled together, I was teaching him that his efforts of help and kindness would be accepted and applauded, I was teaching him that he could get my attention without whinging and grizzling at me or breaking the rules. I was also building my boy into a man. He was learning work ethic. He was learning to care for, maintain and organise clothing. He was learning that work is simply a part of life and if we all pitch in it is a lot more fun! He didn't walk away a man, but that time built a little more foundation for his future manhood.

If I had sent him away, I would have finished in half the time and probably had time to catch up on the kitchen organisation or the laundry that slipped while we weren't well. Beloved could have come home to a spotless home if I had parked his children in front of a DVD (wholesome and educational of course). If I had sent him away, a visitor could have stopped by and I could have invited them to sit in my spotless kitchen and shooed the children away to their games while I basked in their praise of my stellar housekeeping.

But instead, I chose to keep him by me and involve him.

I chose to build my household, not tear it down in favour of a shiny house (prov. 14:1)

I chose to build something eternal rather than polish a house that will one day be dust (Luke 12:22-34)

I chose to do that which is better (Luke 10:38-42)

I chose to bend the twig that will one day be a mighty tree (Prov 22:6)

So, it takes me twice as long to do anything with the children around - but I achieve ten times as much.

So down to the practical. All this is great in theory, but how do you do it?

Here are my top ten hints:

1. Where is your heart? If you are seeking other people's approval, measure that against the price you are paying. Is a spotless house worth palming your kids off and missing a million teaching opportunities? Is someone who would sniff at dirty dishes on the bench really someone you want to impress?

2. Is your relationship with your child(ren) priority? I read a great article about that earlier tonight actually I highly recommend you follow this link and download the first article in this list, 'Making Relationships with Your Children Priority' .

3 Do you have functional routines? It is a whole lot easier to put something off until later if there is actually an organised LATER! It is easier to make time for your children when the household is running smoothly.

4. Abolish the words "When I finish this I will...", "When the baby is sleeping through..", "Once we have finished this project...", "When they get older I will....", and all other excuses to put off building a relationship with your children. There is no excuse for neglecting the heart of a child (Matthew 18:6).

5. Are your expectations realistic? I always plan 48 hours worth of work for every day! I have had to learn to relax, let go and prioritise. If it does not directly affect the health, wellbeing and eternal welfare of my family, I can let it go!

6. Do you micro-manage? This is a very bad habit that is the downfall of many a homemaker! I have seen people re-fold socks because they weren't done right. Doing this to a child is like planting a seed then digging it up every day to see if it is growing! Teach a child to do a job (with CLEAR goals and requirements), set up their accountability (make an appointment to check it with them so they can show off to you or confess freely and ask for help - much more of a relationship builder than nagging and surprise inspections!), then let them do it THEIR WAY! This means biting your tongue and letting them make mistakes. Who knows, they may even find a better way to do it and YOU can learn something from THEM! And quit nagging the husband and telling him how to do his job of husband and Father (prov. 21:9,19) you'd be amazed how much time this frees up! LOL Godly submission is a real time saver.

7. Are you doing FOR or doing WITH? Many a tired Mama burns out doing a million things FOR their children and their sacrifice is barely noticed. Cupcakes baked WITH Mum are twice as sweet as those that appear on the plate! A child will appreciate your time and attention more than any other gift.

8. Reflect on your child's day from their point of view. What do you think they enjoyed? What do you think they learned? Kids do not need to be having a barrel of laughs every waking hour. This would give a rather skewed view of life! But the times they were sat down with a toy, was it a time for them to learn? Was it a time for them to enjoy peace, stay safe and/or learn obedience? Or were they just pushed aside so you could finish your task?

9. Have time assigned each day to sit with your children and let nothing encroach upon it. Don't be over ambitious. You are more likely to keep a ten minute commitment each day after breakfast than an hour of story reading after lunch each day. In our household, it doesn't matter WHAT needs cleaning, we find a clear spot to sit for songs and prayers each day. We rarely get up without a song, prayer, hug, smile and laugh to start the day.

10. Find your knees. Without a relationship with the Lord above, no relationship will flourish.

Invest in your children and it will be an eternal investment. Spend time teaching them in those vital early years and you will set them up for life. Trust them and adore them and be their biggest fan.

Remember, babies don't keep.

Update

It has taken me a while to get to this update as we have had a bit 0f sickness in the house and, well, I also had a big stack of novels that were crying out to be read!

Erin:
fell ill the day after I wrote the post below. Couldn't even hold down water for 24 hours the poor love! She managed to bounce back by about Monday though. Today she is sporting a swollen, bruised lip from rapid contact made with a toy box when she was dancing this morning! She has been very patient and helpful over the past week or so. She has also done a bit of cooking. She is getting quite adept and loves spending the time with Mum doing such clever (and yummy!) stuff.

Billy:
managed to avoid getting Erin's bug but he did have a nasty cold that lasted about a week. He had become addicted to the television and often plaintively pleads "D-D!! D-D!!" (DVD) so we are going cold turkey this week and not having any daytime tv. I'd much rather him hassle me to read to him!

Christopher:
is rolling over from his tummy to his back at times but seems far more interested in crawling. He has perfected the "plow" position (head down, bum up, peddle the legs like crazy in hope of getting somewhere!). I have my suspicions that once he gets his arms sorted out little if anything is going to be safe! He is in competition with his brother for title of "loudest in the house" now as he is singing, talking and yelling most of the time he is awake! He is going to the Dr. about his skin on Tuesday as he is still very itchy and it is spreading to his body. If he manages to de-mitten himself he ends up a bloody mess during the night.

The house:
is still recovering. I was out of commission this week a bit and the washing generated by a three year old with a tummy upset is rather huge! As a consequence I am behind in nearly everything, but still took the day off on Tuesday to play on the floor with the kids for most of it (OK, I also spent a lot of time reading by book, I confess!)

Garden:
Tomatoes, apples and weeds in abundance.

Jess

And it's only 3:30pm!

I think, sometimes, on here I give the impression that everything goes perfectly 99.9% of the time, the house runs smoothly with only a few little bumps in the road and my children are mostly well behaved, self aware, bright little buttons who always use their intelligence for good and not evil.

This is not the case:


This morning I got up (late after staying up VERY late the night before) and everything started smoothly.

First bump: I find I forgot to put a nappy on Erin at bedtime last night. Messy!

Second bump: the lamb that I got out of the freezer was still 98% frozen, no delux lamb roast meal tonight! Oh well, I will think of something else.

Third bump: Paid a bill online and got destracted shopping on e-bay - oops!! - but it doesn't matter, we can get back on track I'm sure. Have breakfast and songs and prayers.

Fourth bump: Christopher is LOUDLY protesting morning nap time after only 25 minutes rather than the usual 2 hours. OK, he can go in the hug-a-bub while we hang out the washing and pick some blackberries for tea.

Fifth bump: as we go outside a visitor arrives. I put aside the washing - that can happen any time! - and spend a couple of hour picking laurel berries and plums with a lovely lady who will make me some laurel jam in return! We are totally out of whack now but I decide to prioritise, and if I am careful with my use of time I can probably make some fresh pasta to make dinner special! So I rush around getting kids fed lunch and settled.

Starting to loose count of the bumps now, and they are coming in clusters!

Christopher is unsettled and it takes me some time to sort him out.

Billy chooses NOT to eat his lunch and goes to bed (wearing a disposible because I didn't get the nappy covers hung out and dried this morning).

Erin wants to do school work and I sit her down with the book she made the other day to finish illustrating it then go and check on Billy to see (and smell) the reason for his noise. He has removed his nappy and, well, you can imagine! I mutter a short prayer of thanks that the fastidious nature of Billy prevented any finger painting or (ugh!) tasting. I wasn't as lucky two years ago with his sister! I plonk him in the bath and clean up the mess.

Erin gets herself a book from her room and wakes Christopher in the process. He is only mildly protesting while I sort Billy out with some clothes.

I go and sort out Christopher and notice a strange thumping noise. Billy is in the study (yes, I left the baby gate open!) and is thumping a small heater with a large metal object (thankfully the heater was NOT plugged in!

The resulting nose from my 'redirection' (translation: muttering 'get out into the lounge room NOW!' through clenched teeth) sends Christopher into louder wails of anguish and tiredness.

Crying also makes Billy cough and vomit partially digested plum everywhere (he has an ultra sensitive gag reflex) including over a very nice blue teddy bear. I clean up Billy, the floor and the bear (with Erin running a blow by blow commentary on the action) and put the kids on my bed to watch playschool while I resettle Christopher.

I find that Christopher is in as much distress about the fact that he has exploded poo up the back of the nappy and over himself. I clean Christopher up and sit in here to write this as he feeds.

I think fresh pasta is off the menu.

I have managed to bake some Challah bread in with all of that, but I have defrosted 1 kg of mince that I now need to do something about. I also need to get Red bear hung out on the line without Billy seeing and back in again before the next bed time. I need to remake all the kids beds. I need to put away the clean, folded washing on the floor. I need to tidy the kitchen. I now have to go and do some of these things NOW!

And it's only 3:30pm! Surely nothing else can go wrong........

It is 5:30 now and we are still in the thick of things, but I wanted to stop and tell you about this. I was changing the sheets just now (MY sheets. Erin was so interested in playschool she didn't make the toilet :S) while my older two played in a 'cave' made out of a quilt, and arm chair and an ironing board. All of a sudden I was captured by the soft fold in the side of the neck of Christopher. I just had to nibble it! Amidst the baby giggles and that soft sweet smell they have, Billy joined us. We had a hilarious game of hide the boys for about three minutes with the top sheet, resulting in Erin joining us and a repeat performance with the doona. Tea is not done. The kitchen is a mess. Erin's bed needs making. The lounge room looks like a bomb has hit. But I just had to stop and tell you.

My worst day with them, is better than my best day without them.

I have to go now. Christopher threw up on the bed when we were playing and I need to check that it washed off properly now it is dry and I'm not sure what the older two are doing..........

I haddn't realised it had been so long!

Time is just slipping away from me. I have had Mum here for a week and I tend to get out of routine (in a good way! she often takes over the washing :)) which means that I simply forget to do stuff. As usual there are not a lot of changes here but heaps all at the same time. I have cut my hair to shoulder length (that meant taking about 20-25cm off) to get a handle on the split ends that have been irritating me. I mustn't look that different because it took Jon over 8 hours to notice and not one friend I have seen since has commented. So either it isn't that noticeable or it looks awful!!! I think it is just not that noticeable as I usually have my hair up anyway.

Erin:
has a bit of a cold at the moment which means her nose is sore from wiping and she is tired and a bit grumpy. She is still very precious though! She started her "job book" last week on her "unbirthday" (we celebrated her turning three and a half) and she has three or four jobs to do before each meal (i.e. before breakfast she gets dressed, makes her bed (with my help), picks up the books that are invariably all over the bed and floor and puts them away and has her hair brushed and put up). We put a tick each time all the jobs are done before the meal. The long term goal is to have her self motivated and only needing the accountability of me checking her book every now and then. I don't want her growing up and going out into the world still reliant on Mum nagging her to get stuff done plus the look of pride and self confidence on her face when she gets a tick is a reward in itself.

Billy:
has scraped most of the skin from up the inside of his legs after a mis-adventure climbing (and dancing on) the dog kennel! It is healing well but he still has to be reminded often not to climb up there. He is generally pushing the boundaries at the moment because for a few days over the last week I was very destracted and grumpy. It always shows in the kids and it shows in him first. I let him get away with stuff when I am tired and it soon spirals out of control. He was very cute this morning though. When he was told to come and sit down for songs and prayers he came singing his version of "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of his lungs "DESUS la eeee nah nor baeee ewwweeee SO eeeooooo aaa ooooeeeeeeeeaaaa...." we have to work on getting some more consonants in that boys vocabulary! LOL Then during songs and prayer he 'helped' Christopher do the actions. Then when he had a drink of juice later that day he came and babbled and Christopher and pointed at the cup and - in their own special language - asked if he wanted some!

Christopher:
if he could talk, his words at the moment would be "not happy Jan!" The eczema is really bothering him. He still has smiles and laughter in between the bouts of unhappyness - but after sleeping through from VERY early in the piece, I know he isn't happy when he is awake every ten to fifteen minutes from midnight to about 3am Sunday. Bi-carb soda in his bath makes a big difference and paw paw ointment. I am going to try going off sugar for a bit and see what that does. I want to give it a little more time before taking him to a dr. about it.

The house:
has slipped a bit due to my tiredness and being out last Thursday (cleaning day!). But because I have re-vamped my routines (this needs to be done as the kids grow and life changes) it is still all under control. If we were to get a visitor right now they would not instantly assume on entry to the house that they have caught me at a very bad time. There is a big pile of ironing with the ironing board set up in the lounge that announces my intention to iron one day soon (it has been making the announcement in vain for a few days now though!) There are a few dishes on the kitchen bench, but not an overwhelming amount and the floors could do with a quick vacuum. So it just looks like the home of a slightly frazzled Mum of three small children!

The garden:
is producing fruit (nashi and plums) and we picked our first ripe tomato (a cherry tom about the size of a pea!). The weeds are ALMOST as tall as the plants though!

Jess