1. I went with the family to the farm.  We left on Saturday morning after Eric’s bible study and came home last night.

2. I got to hang with just Eric running some errands.  We do some of our best talking while we drive…love that!

3. I actually read the ENTIRE text of Issue 2.  All of it.  The Zanesville paper included a 4-section insert with the text for Issues 1, 2 & 3.  Issue 1 was the front page.  Issue 3 was the back page.  The other 50+ pages was Issue 2.  It took most of Sunday afternoon, but I now know how I intend to vote next Tuesday and why.  Nice!  

4. I did not get good sleep because we all (except Eric, so far) have some nasty colds and my kids refused to sleep at Grandma’s house.  *sigh*

5. I had some really good chats with my MIL.

6. I took the kids down the barn where we helped give hay to cows, watched the calves being fed and waved to Uncle Alan on the tractors.  We  the farm!

7. After 7+ years of marriage (plus our dating time), I realized I finally know my way around my MIL’s kitchen!

8. I undid all the work I had completed on a knitting project, got the right-sized needles and started again.  It’s going much better now!

9. I missed the Buckeye game, which (I hear) was really good.  But honestly, I probably wouldn’t have stayed up for then end even if I’d been home.  So…oh well!

10. I put 2 of my 3 kids to bed in their clothes last night because they were that asleep by the time we got home.  Alex woke up enough to want his jammies, but the girls, we just laid in bed as they were.  And we were all in bed by 9:20.  Lovely!

11. I packed us to leave in about half an hour on Saturday morning.  I needed to fold some clothes and clean the kitchen first.  So when Eric got home at 9:15, I hadn’t even started packing. But we were driving out of our driveway at 9:50…go me!  (And I didn’t forget anything important…woohoo!)

And that’s pretty much what I did this weekend.  Happy Monday!

Can I tell you how much I love my MIL’s willingness to make Halloween costumes for us!?!  So here they are…

Two Pirates…

And a Parrot…

And the whole crew!

This week…Eric had to fly to CA for a class.  He was gone from Tuesday morning until Thursday night.  He doesn’t really like to travel for work.  And then the class wasn’t terribly useful to him.  Not really a great trip…though he did bring home a toy airplane for each twin, and those were a HUGE hit.  So it wasn’t all a waste!

This week…I took the kids to my parents’ house to hang while Eric was gone.  The original plan was to spend Tuesday night and come home on Wednesday, but we ended up staying until Thursday morning.  I’m not sure who enjoyed the time more – the kids or my parents!  And I was just glad not to have to survive 3-on-Me time for the entire time Eric was gone.  That’s a long time to be in charge without someone to spell you…makes me appreciate single moms even more.  Without a doubt…Supermom, I am not!

This week…Megan has not been sleeping well. I blame her ears.  It would seem that she doesn’t really respond to the pink stuff.  It’ll knock out the worse of two infections, but not the lighter one which just keeps getting worse, until we end up back at the doctor’s office a week after finishing the antibiotics.  Not fun.  SO…since we’ve done 4 straight days of the pink stuff and we still need ibuprofen to sleep…I just called to get the white stuff now.  And we’ll all start sleeping through the night again every night…I hope!

This week…lions and tigers and bears were loose in Zanesville.  Of course, we were in Cedarville when it happened.  But it’s kind of weird to watch stories about your area of life on the national news.  And for something as red-neck as that, of course…

This week…Megan has learned a TON of stuff.  She can tell you what a duck (qua), a doggie (oof) and a cow (mmmmm) say.  She can point to her belly, head, and feet when asked.  I am certain she called for her favorite toy (“ah-oo” = where are you?) when we asked her where it was the other day.  When you say to “love (someone),” she’ll either blow a kiss, complete with a “mwah” sound, or give that person a big-ol’ sloppy kiss on whatever part of their face she first manages to touch.  She danced the other night when Erin was singing, and she can do some of the motions to “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Only a Boy Named David,” among other songs.  Basically, this kid is amazing the snot out of me…though I admit that I’m totally biased…and it kind of scares me what she might come up with next. 

This week…I have almost completely reorganized my kids’ clothes in the crawlspace.  Each box now contains only one gender/size, plus a box for outerwear/hats/gloves/etc and a box for clothes made for us, mostly by Grandma Hogue.  And I found some clothes I had been missing.  I still have to pull out some of the clothes from Megan’s room to drop in the appropriate box, as she’s getting ready to move into 12-18m clothes.  But my basement is cleaner, my crawlspace is organized better, and my ability to find what I want is now greatly enhanced.  I LOVE bringing order to chaos!  It makes me happy.

Which makes me wonder…this week, what makes YOU happy?  Feel free to share!

In the interest of not losing steam on my “I want to blog more often” goal, I decided I’d better just do a quick post while I have 3 sleeping children.

1. We’ve been sick.  For over a week.  The Sunday of Megan’s birthday party, I got sick.  Apparently, I very generously handed it out that day, too.  By the middle of last week, Alex was sub-par.  Megan was close behind.  

Neither one slept well all week (ergo…neither did I). Megan was up 2-4 times a night. We’d find Alex just standing somewhere in the middle of the night, looking sad and pathetic. Finally at 4 am Saturday morning, he said his ear hurt.  Ohhhh…that finally explained it!  So off we went to the pediatrician on Saturday morning (definitely infected). Of course, Megan then tanked on Sunday night, and we were back at the doctor’s office on Monday morning for her infected ears.  So now, both are on medication, both are obviously better, and one of these days, I am really, really hoping to sleep through the entire night again.

2. Erin, by the way, is feeling very left out of this “sick” thing. She keeps asking for meds and telling me her ears hurt. Um…nice try.

3. Alex took his medicine happily on day 1.  After that, not so much.  I have been putting it into chocolate milk to get him to drink it.  Probably not the best, I know, but I can’t hold him down by myself to pour it down his throat, and even if I did that, I can’t make him swallow it anymore.  He just spits it back at me.  SO not worth it.  So that’s what I’ve come up with.  So question of the day…how do you get your kids to take medicine willingly?

4. I made apple butter today. LOTS of apple butter.  Eric found a great recipe…like the stuff you get at Amish restaurants.  Yummy!  No crockpots are involved, which is actually good because every crockpot recipe I’ve ever tried turned out gummy apple butter, more like grape jelly than anything else, and I’ve never liked them.  This stuff…I LIKE!  

5. At one point, the apple butter splattered on me while I was stirring it and slightly burned my arm. It hurt. 

6. I am seriously saddened by the current state of my house, but between sick kids, no sleep, not feeling great myself, and the apples pressuring me to do something with them, my chores just aren’t getting done.  I’m trying to take 10-15 minutes and address one problem area every day or so, which at least tidies 1/1000 of the disaster zone that is my house.  Like the dump-all counter by my fridge in the kitchen.  I cleaned that off the other day.  It felt good.  And Megan’s dresser.  I worked on it one day last week.  But still, I do hope to have some semblance of order in my house again soon.  I don’t work (or live) well in disarray.

7. I’ve been reading the book, Spiritual Parenting, while I walk on my treadmill in the morning.  SUPER good.  I really want to get a group of moms to read it with me because it’s seriously motivating and practical, and I wish I had someone to talk about it with.  Who knows…maybe I’ll try a read-along or something. 

8. I have two laundry baskets waiting to be folded and I MUST get to them before the kiddos wake up.  So I guess this will end my “catch-all” blog for today. 

Happy Tuesday!

We survived our major birthday weekend.  

The twins got to go to the farm on Friday morning to spend the day and the night with their Grandma and Grandpa.  It was their first night away from home by themselves…ever.  And they LOVED it.  LOVED IT.  Seriously, my MIL apologized that she really couldn’t say they missed us because they just seemed to be having too much fun to worry about our absence.  And I say…Perfect!  No need to apologize on that account…when did you say you wanted to keep them again?

So they had a great time. And honestly, Friday went pretty well at our house, too.  Eric took a half-day off work and manned Megan while I did cakes.  I’m pretty sure Megan never once was concerned that the twins weren’t around.  She ate up all the two-on-one attention like she’d just been waiting for the last year for us to get our priorities straight and focus entirely on her.  Nice, right?

Saturday, we were up and to the farm by 10:30 or so.  The family came for a party around noon. Really, we had a great time just chatting and hanging out and laughing together.  And Alex really loved all of Megan’s presents.  I’m not sure Megan yet knows they are actually for her to play with.  Again…nice.

Anyway, we came home just in time for bedtime on Saturday night (having done baths and dinner before we left).  Then up for church on Sunday morning.  Then home so Megan could get down for a nap before my family arrived for her second party (thus, the second elephant cake if you missed my pic on FB).

Eric and I started working on cleaning up, getting the food ready, and finishing other random party prep.  And somewhere in there, it hit me.  I realized I was getting sick.  My head got a bit fuzzy, and my throat got a bit sore.  So that’s when I sort of down-shifted into survival mode.  But even still, we had a good time.  The cousins played and played.  Football was watched.  More cake and presents were had.  And my parents hung out to chat for a while after everyone else left, which was also really nice.  I miss time to just talk like that with them.

By the time they left, though, I was definitely feeling pretty crummy, so we didn’t make it to small group at church. We just did a family night and got to bed semi-close to bedtime.  And just like that, the birthday weekend was over.

And we had survived.  But really, we did more than that.  On Friday, I decided that I wanted to avoid auto-mode, that person I become when it’s about getting something done and not about the people I bowl over to get there.  And for once, it actually worked.  Okay, there was about a half-hour on Sunday afternoon when auto-mode kicked in.  But I really wanted to actually BE there for Megan’s parties and not just get through them.  I prayed to that end.  I really tried to keep my OCD in check and let things roll as they went.  I just knew that I didn’t want to look back on Monday evening, wishing I had done more than survive.

And now that it’s Monday night, I think I accomplished that goal.  The weekend was good.  Tiring, but good.  Yes, we survived it.  But we also lived it.  And that is good, too. 

So, one final time, happy birthday to my Megan! Can’t wait for next year! 

My sweet little Mega-Baby…you are officially ONE! I have absolutely loved getting to know your jolly little self over the last twelve months.  

You are my daredevil, my catch-me-if-you-can adventurer, my fearless explorer. I still feel a step behind you most of the time. Seriously, keeping track of you takes more energy and attention than I seem to have. You have yet to meet an obstacle you can’t get over or around (though sometimes you holler in frustration if it takes you more than one try to succeed at something!). One of your favorite places to be is on the couch, and thankfully, you’ve figured out how to get back off without falling on your head! Not that falling is a problem for you. You get knocked over, run over, pushed down by the twins multiple times a day. And when they aren’t “helping” you out, you manage to fall over, trip on nothing or get tangled up in adventures all by yourself! Really, if you make it to adult-hood in one piece, Lady Baby, I will be the most surprised of all!

In the last month, you’ve managed some major accomplishments, too. You finally got some teeth. I was beginning to wonder if that was ever going to happen (not that it kept you from eating everything in sight!). You started walking, too. Amazingly, you went from tentative half-steps to full movement in less than a week. What can I say…you’re impressive!

But more than that, you are just a bundle of happiness. Your giggles echo through the house. You love when I “chase” you up the stairs. You start up with a mischievous little grin on your face, breaking into hysterical laughter when I grab you up. You love having raspberries blown on your belly. You love peek-a-boo. You think we’re funny, and I think that you’re going to have a truly amazing sense of humor when you’re all grown up.

The twins are still pretty high on your list of “people you want to hang out with,” though you’re starting to dislike having toys taken from you (which does happen on a regular basis). Any toy they have, you think is the next best thing. And you are often inspiring screams and tantrums by stealing juice glasses they leave within your reach. But as much as you adore your siblings, you love your Daddy best of all, there is no denying. Every day when he comes home, you get yourself to the garage door as fast as your toddler steps can go and barely wait for him to get to you before you dive off the steps into his arms.  You call him, “DA!,” and I am pretty sure that you’re going to get anything you want from him for a long, long time!

We call you lots of things: Megan, Meggle-Beggle, Mega-Boo, Meggie (that one’s Erin’s favorite), and Megs.  But you are most definitely my Megan Marie.  You are a special, sweet Lady, and your Momma loves you very, very much.  Happy 1st Birthday!

Man, do I feel behind.

Just yesterday, I glanced quickly at my last few months of posts.  Or should I say…lack thereof.  It’s really quite sad how rarely I blog these days. I need to do it more. It’s good for me to get stuff out of my head.  And I miss the online connections that I used to have.  So why don’t I blog more (or do better with chores and kids activities and just staying on top of stuff)?

Well, of course, I’m busy.  Yes, of course, I have 3 kids under 3.  Yes, we’re dealing with colds and lack of sleep and a couple of deadlines and Megan’s first birthday this week and just general life.

But really, that’s no excuse. None of it is. Because, frankly, I have lots of time in my day. I have LOTS of time in my day to get done the little things I need to do. If I’m honest, I have to admit I’m just wasting the time that I have been given.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while, really. And I’ve batted around a few ideas that just help me get more together. Here’s some of what I’ve been thinking…

– Create a 10-Minute Task list.  The more I think about it, the more I realize that most tasks can be done in (or broken down into blocks of) 10 minutes (give or take).  So instead of writing an impossible-to-complete To-Do list every day, I wonder if I might get more done by choosing a handful of 10 minute tasks to focus on.  Not “Clean off the counters” but “unload the dishwasher” + “load the dishwasher” + “wipe off the counters.”  That way I could cross of each small task as I go and before the end of the day, the counters would actually get clean. 

– One Load a Day.  I know lots of people who do one load of laundry, all the way through, every day. And it works for them. I tend to be a LAUNDRY DAY kind of person.  And it works for me, most of the time. (Okay, except for the folding…man, do I wish I could get the dried stuff folded and put away!)  Still, I wonder if doing a load every day would help.  As someone who doesn’t do it, it seems like it would be depressing because it would make an mountainous task go on forever…on purpose.  But maybe that’s just me. Still, it’s something I’m considering.

– Keeping Track.  I haven’t done this one yet because I really, really am afraid of what I’ll find out about myself.  But I’m seriously considering doing an honest inventory of how I spend my day.  You know, break it down by hour or even 15-minute blocks.  And force myself to record what I do all day. How many times a day do I really sit down to “just check my email” which turns in to 30 minutes of doofing.  In that 30 minutes I could have done 3 10-minutes tasks, right?   Yeah, this one’s definitely scary, but it might be just what I need.

– Just do it. Today, we drove to Springfield to meet my parents at a restaurant for lunch.  We all left our respective places and connected for about 90 minutes over lunch. It wasn’t something I planned out (I set it up yesterday & this morning) because sometimes just doing it when I think of it keeps me from talking myself out of doing stuff that I know I need to do.  Like calling a friend or sending a thank-you or taking time to pray and read my Bible.  

I’m sure there are lots more great ideas out there.  And I am totally open to suggestions of anything you’ve tried that has worked for you.  But the fact that “life is crazy” right now just no longer seems a valid excuse.  When is life NOT going to be crazy?  And without going all OCD on myself and my family, I know it’s really possible for me to get things more together than they are right now. 

I guess I just need to buckle down and start somewhere.  Which is why I’m going to go make my bed…right now, before I check Facebook!