A typical day

A typical day:
7:00a.--Noah wakes me by crawling out of his crib into my bed. I take him downstairs and have a bowl of cheerios, sharing a few bites with Noah. I brew a pot of coffee and do my hair (take it out of its braid, comb it, put it into a bun).
7:45--The girls I watch (K., 3 1/2, and A., 10 months) arrive. The older one is still in her p.j.s so I get her dressed for the day. Then I drink my coffee, supervise kiddos, and read the free newspaper that I found on my porch.
8:30--Elijah finally gets up and we eat breakfast--cinnamon raisin bagels, cream cheese, and o.j. After breakfast I find an old video of the BBC orchestra playing Beethoven's 5th, 1st and 2nd movements (our "piece of the week") on Youtube. The kids watch while I clean up the breakfast dishes. Then I give A. her breakfast and put her down for her nap. I do some more kitchen work, then read to/talk to/play with the remaining three for a while.
10:45--I have the kids pick up all the toys, put on shoes, use the bathroom, and we go outside. The big ones ride tricycles up and down the sidewalk, and Noah pushes a push toy. I water the plants on my front porch. Noah tries to escape a few times and giggles when I chase him. After a while we go back in (I couldn't take the heat, though the kids didn't seem to mind it).
12:00--I fix lunch. Peanut butter & strawberry jam sandwiches on whole wheat, and carrot sticks. We eat (carrot sticks first, to make sure they get eaten). By this time A. has woken up and joined us. After lunch I have the kids help clear the floor/move chairs, and I vacuum the main floor. The kids think vacuuming is very fun and exciting. We put on naptime diapers, read a story, and have a glass of milk. K., as she does every day lately, asks me to tell her where milk comes from. I say "from cows" just to tease her, but she says, "No, tell me the story," so I tell her the long version. I put K. down for her nap, feed A. her lunch, put Noah down for his nap, and put A. down for her nap.
1:30-3:30--a relaxing few hours with just Elijah to keep me company. I clean up from lunch, have another cup of coffee, check e-mail, etc.
3:30-4:00--K. gets up. Noah wakes up. A. wakes up. We read/talk/play/the usual.
4:45--the girls' mom picks them up. Once they leave, I cook dinner (chicken dijon, brown rice, green beans). We eat. Noah decides that he really likes green beans (has strongly disliked them until today). I have a cup of green tea. The boys drink the last drops (our tradition). Supervise kids--Noah in the evenings gets mildly fussy and needs a little more attention.
6:45--we get ready for a walk (shoes, hats, etc.) We are headed to a local rails-to-trails conversion. To get there we have to cut through a few parking lots, cross a busy street, cut through a couple more parking lots, go over a pedestrian bridge, and cross another busy street. Finally we are there. The trail is straight and level (as you would expect, seeing as it was once a railroad). It's well lined with trees, which keep it cool even on hot days. The sun is low in the west and slanting through the trees--very pretty. We go about a mile down the trail, and see runners, bikers, dogs, rabbits, and birds. Elijah collects handfuls of pebbles and tosses them into a creek, which Noah finds very funny. Now it's time to head home. We stop at Dairy Queen and wait in line, only to realize that they don't take debit cards. Fortunately, my bank is right down the street. I feel funny walking up to the drive-through ATM with a stroller, but I get over it. We go back to Dairy Queen and get ice cream (note to self: in the future, one small cup/cone/blizzard will be more than enough for all three of us). Then it's back through some parking lots, across the strip of grass, and home again. The sun is slipping behind the trees and it is now 9:00p.
9:20--the boys are changed and ready for bed. I take them upstairs to put them to sleep.
10:00--Noah is FINALLY asleep. I come downstairs, eat leftovers, and type this blog entry.

Well, that's a typical day in brief. I did leave out some things, like the diapers I changed--seven (yes, seven!!!) poopy diapers. And of course I mediated squabbles, supervised potty trips, nursed my little one, answered dozens of random questions, fielded phone calls, etc. etc. :) So...now it's past my bedtime and I still need to shower. If you have actually read all this, I am quite impressed. :)

Yes, I switched to cloth!

In response to a comment on another blog...

Yes, I finally did make the switch to cloth diapers. I'm keeping it simple with Chinese prefolds (a few bleached and a few unbleached) and I fasten with Snappis. For now I'm using some Gerber vinyl pull-up covers and they actually work really well except that the vinyl rips too easily, so I think I'll try to find some Dappi nylon pull-ups. I do have one Thirsties wrap cover in blue which is sooooo cute, but it's much more expensive, and doesn't work any better than the pull-ups, so not worth the extra $$$ in my opinion.

All right, that's it--I would be happy to discuss further if any of you cloth-diapering fans have any comments or questions. :)

I love babies :)

Usually I wake in the mornings when Noah climbs out of his crib and into my bed. Well the other morning I guess I was sleeping a little more soundly than usual, because I woke to find Noah's chubby little arms wrapped tightly around my neck. He was struggling with all his might to lift my head off the pillow. He was grunting with the effort, "Oooooof! Eeeeerrrrf!" It was so adorable that I will confess, I pretended I was still asleep, so that he would keep doing it. But when he got tired of trying to lift my head, and instead tried to stick a finger up my nose, I got up in a hurry. :D

Now for a happy post. :)

Hi friends. I got tired of seeing the grouchy post at the top of the page whenever I would check for comments...so here's a happy one to replace it :)

My brother Jeshurun (college student in Texas, for those who don't know him) recently drove to Ontario to visit/work for a friend who has a farm up there. He tried to stop by my place for a visit on his way through Indiana, but was prevented due to the crazy flooding we had--he tried three different possible routes to get to Bloomington, but all three were flooded. So we didn't get to see him on his way up. But on his way back from Ontario, a couple of weeks later, he was able to stop here for a couple of days.

It's been nice to see him again. He's been busy both helping me with a project--installing ceiling fans--and working with pencil and graph paper to plan his next project. His next project is to help renovate a church building (his church will be purchasing a new building next week, and they are renovating a wing to house the pastor and his family). At the moment Jesh is working on the ceiling fan in my bedroom actually--so I won't be able to get to bed for a while I guess. Good excuse to brew some tea and eat more cookies...as if I haven't had enough caffeine and sugar today already. :)

After a few days of grouchiness about the state of my house, I have returned to my usual state of optimism. Yes, my basement smells musty, but thanks to the dehumidifier I found on Craigslist for a great price, the odor has greatly diminished, and the carpet is finally dry again. Yes, my dishwasher is malfunctioning, but I bet I can find a good one at a local used-appliance store, and they aren't all that difficult to replace (right??). Yes, I have a lot of unfinished projects around the house, and the unfinished trim in the living room/kitchen/entryway has been kind of bugging me, but I just discovered that I can run the miter saw in the basement at night without waking up the boys upstairs, so I bet I will be able to finish that project soon. Etc. etc.

Other nice things going on in my life: Noah has been the cutest thing lately. He is very affectionate and likes to laugh at things. I love hearing him laugh. I get the best laughs when I put lotion on his neck after his bath--he is very ticklish. Elijah is making good progress with potty training, and at random moments will tell me, "Mama? I love you most in the whole world." We've been enjoying Bryan Park and the farmer's market on a regular basis. And I have my sister's wedding to look forward to...and all of my plants look fantastic these days...and I have other nice things going on in my life too, but you get the idea. :)

Okay, I'm sleepy.

feeling overwhelmed

Hello folks. I have a computer overnight so I suppose I should make use of this opportunity to update my blog.

The last few days I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed. My basement flooded a couple of weeks ago, on an afternoon in which we had some torrential downpours. Fortunately it wasn't too bad--I just had a soggy carpet, and it was limited to one room, and nothing was damaged. But it was a big hassle to clean up. I comforted myself by telling myself that the flooding was a fluke event, not likely to reoccur (I have seriously never seen a downpour like the one we had that day).

Well I had just succeeded in getting the carpet completely dry, when it flooded AGAIN! And we hadn't even had that much rain. Well two times in two weeks was just too much for that poor carpet, and now it smells, well, musty. To be more precise, it kind of stinks. Can you imagine how embarrassing this is? I don't even really know what to do about it.

I think I really need a dehumidifier. But they're expensive. I'm looking around for a used one, and perhaps I will rent one over the weekend as a temporary measure.

I wonder if sprinkling baking soda over the carpet would help? I have lots of baking soda. Anyway, besides the carpet, I am just feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the work that this place needs. (Did I mention that my dishwasher is also smelling rather unpleasant? I think it may not be draining properly. Oh, and it's leaking, too.)

I'm learning that I'm capable of doing a lot of repairs and upgrades myself, which is good because I don't have a lot of money to hire professionals to take care of things. The problem is, since I'm not a professional, it can take me a lot of time to get things right (see the post about my bathroom sink for an example of this). Sadly, I don't have much spare time.

Perhaps it would help if I used the spare time that I do have to work on things, instead of updating my blog. :)

On the bright side, my wonderful brother Jeshurun will be stopping by next week on his way back to Texas from Ontario. If he has time, he will be helping me install ceiling fans. I am very excited about the possibility of having ceiling fans. And perhaps he will even have time to help me with something else, like replacing my dishwasher. But even if he doesn't have time, it will be nice to see him again, since I don't get to see my family all that often. :)

Okay, I've wasted those precious hours between the boys' bedtime and mine, updating Facebook and my blog. I guess I'll go sprinkle baking soda on the carpet with a flour sifter--this will be kind of fun--and then I'm off to bed.

EDITED to remove some of the whining. :) I'm feeling better now because the HOA has done some repairs to the gutters and drainage systems that should prevent future flooding. Also, the baking soda did help.

Just so you know...

...I am now computerless. :) I've been using a borrowed computer for the last...uh...six months? And it is now finally returning to its owner, so I will be without a computer until I find a new one of my own. I will still be checking e-mail a couple of times a week but I don't know if I'll have time to update my blog, so be forewarned, entries will be a bit sparse for a while. :)

I hope all who read this are doing well. Stay in touch!

Baked Oatmeal

I've often wished I could properly appreciate oatmeal, as I know it's such a healthy breakfast, and the kids really enjoy it. But I could never really get into it...too sticky and goopy and bland. WELL...finally the other day I tried this baked oatmeal recipe, and wow, it's great! I love that I can prepare it the night before, and just pop it into the oven in the morning for a hot breakfast.

Baked Oatmeal
1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar (or less)
4 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 cups regular oats

Blend all ingredients. Pour into a greased baking dish.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, sprinkle 1 tbsp of brown sugar on top, and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or till firm in the middle. Serve hot.

My boys eat theirs in a bowl, crumbled up, with milk.  I like mine with a bit of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar, or some honey.

This recipe is highly adaptable. You can add nuts and raisins or dates or dried cranberries, if you like that sort of thing. Or apples and extra cinnamon and a bit of cloves and nutmeg.  Or pumpkin and some pumpkin pie spice.  Whatever floats your boat!

The baked oatmeal in the photo above had the following modifications: I doubled the recipe, then substituted 1/2 cup flax seed meal and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut for 1 cup of the oats.  I also added a bit of cloves and ginger, and a diced apple.  It was great!

May 28th

I suppose I'm due for a post. There isn't much exciting going on here. The girls I watch were out of town for a week and a half, so the boys and I enjoyed our "time off." I got some organizing and cleaning done. I also completed my reusable bag made out of plastic grocery bags. It looks pretty neat. If I ever find the USB cord for the camera, I'll upload a picture.

Elijah has a cold and asthma again. He just went through this a couple of weeks ago. He is not at all himself, poor thing. The weather today is beautiful, though, so I loaded the boys in the double stroller and we went for a long walk. I stopped by the utility place and paid my water bill--saved myself a 41 cent stamp! Woo-hoo! When we got home, we had a picnic out in back of our place. The meal was not particularly exciting--tuna sandwiches to be precise--but it was nice to sit on a soft blanket in the cool evening, to watch the birds and the trees, and to spot the first clover blossoms scattered throughout the lawn.

I'm excited to hear of Mercy's engagement. I miss my family quite a bit, so it will be nice to travel to Texas for the wedding.

Hmm...well I suppose that's all for now. Oh, I've been learning recently that I have a few readers who have never commented (and thus I was not aware of their presence). So, hello, anonymous readers! *waves*

Racist Incidents Give Obama Campaigners Pause

Sadly, I think most white Americans (at least the ones I know) are unaware that this kind of blatant racism is still alive and well in the United States. I have certainly witnessed more than I care to have witnessed, and it saddens me greatly to know that my children will most likely experience this kind of racism for themselves.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014.html?sid=ST2008051301359

I think most of the racism my kids will encounter is the kind based in ignorance rather than malice, i.e. "You are such an articulate young man!" "So, do you play basketball?" "Hey bro, do you know where I can score some weed?" which is bad enough...but the odds are, they will also encounter the more malicious stuff at some point in their lives. I wish I knew how best to prepare them for it. :(

On a lighter note, I am out of coffee!!!! Aaaaahhhh! Must run to the store before the girls I watch arrive!!!!

The Story of Stuff

I keep coming across recommendations for the little 20-minute video "The Story of Stuff" but I've never gotten around to watching it, till now. I just watched it and appreciated it enough that I thought I would recommend it here. Check it out:

www.thestoryofstuff.com

If you're not already on the same page as the creator of this video, Ms. Leonard, you might not like everything that she has to say, but it's worth a watch anyway. The most surprising tidbit, to me: only 1% of stuff purchased in the United States is still in use 6 months later. The rest has been consumed or trashed. Yikes!

The older I get, the more of an environmentalist I become (tho the seeds were sown by Mr. Blok, a science teacher from long ago). My latest "eco-nut" project--crocheting a re-usable shopping bag out of strips cut from disposable plastic shopping bags. I get such a kick out of knowing that I'm taking something disposable and petroleum-based, and turning it into something re-useable and not half bad-looking, either. I promise to post a picture when I get it finished--but it might be a while before it's done, because it will take like 50 bags to make it, and I only have a dozen in the house, so I'm collecting them from friends (trying to get all matching bags, LOL).

On a semi-related note, I've decided that my sewing projects from here on out will be made from recycled clothing. I have a chest full of denim cut from old jeans that is designated for rugs and quilts. Denim makes a very heavy and warm quilt, quite nice for cold Indiana winter nights, especially when the mama of the house keeps the temperature quite low (to save on both energy and $$$). If any of my Indiana readers (do I even have any?) have any old/holey/stained jeans to pass my way, I would be happy to recycle them into something useful. :D

Well, three of my children are asleep, and the other has been kidnapped (kidding, kidding) by his dad for a walk, so I should use this rare quiet moment to get some housework done.