hair cut

Armed with some borrowed clippers, a 20 minute YouTube video, and my shaky confidence I decided my son needed a haircut.

I set out to keep the top long and trim up the sides and make the cutest little boy cut ever!

I even let Davin watch the YouTube video with me so he wouldn't be scared because he HATES getting his hair cut and I thought if I did it then maybe he wouldn't freak out. I will say this; he was a good sport for most of it.

I was supposed to start with the top and work my way down but I decided since I was leaving the top longer that I should start at the bottom. The first swipe of the clippers told me that was a horrible idea. Here I was with my son's beautiful blond hair and a GIANT short chunk missing. I watched all my glorious ideal picture perfect hair cutting plans fall to the floor. So what did I do? I did what anyone would do, I kept going. I decided before I started that my fall back was a Caesar cut and here we were one stroke in giving Davin a Caesar cut. I'm not totally hair illiterate, I used to cut Drew's hair once in a while and I never heard him complain J  

Davin started freaking out because I wasn’t using scissors about ¾ of the way through and it was a combination of hugs, promises of getting a bath that got us through the rest of our ordeal.

I learned a couple of valuable insights to pass on for the rest of you.

1- when you're given a list of things you need, it's a good idea to actually have those things on hand

2- "winging it" and "haircut" should not be used in the same context

3- always cut hair BEFORE bedtime- not 2 hours past bedtime

I will try again and I will be prepared next time. Davin's hair dared to challenge me and now I need to defeat it. 

On the plus side, I think I could probably pull off a fairly decent hair cut for Aaron if he ever got desperate.

The Great Apron Adventure

This is one of those crafts that in my experience does NOT pay to do it yourself.

First of all you need to know that this is way cuter in person though it is a little big. JoAnns had a huge sale for labor day weekend. Patterns were 99 cents and I had some major coupons for fabric. I saw some cute aprons on sale for like $15 a while back but I thought I could do it cheaper and that it would be fairly easy.

I was wrong!!!

Not only did it end up costing a little more than the aprons I saw on sale but it was a huge amount of time and effort put forth. I spent about 8 hours making this apron and it was not a hard task but it was a pain.

Unless you have done maybe 20 of these just for practice I would say just go ahead and buy a freaking apron. It was truly an adventure, it was a long, tedious, expensive adventure. My sweet husband spent his evening taking care of our children and made dinner to let me finish this project. All I have to say is.... this apron better last me a life time because I feel likeI have a lot invested in it.

I did learn a new valuable skill though; I learned how to make ruffles!

potty training- the final frontier

I honestly don't remember much about my own potty training. I remember having 2 accidents and as I recall; I had an accident because I either didn't realize I had to go until the last minute or there wasn't a chance to go and I couldn't hold it. I don't know how it feels to be a little boy but I do my best to make this a simple process.

BUT DAVIN.....

Good gracious son, lets get our potty on already!
He has made some progress, he will go on command if you ask him. That doesn't mean however that he won't go in between. He also has never gone #2 in the potty... ever!
I thought perhaps if I made his diapers more uncomfy by swtiching to cloth then he would be more motivated but as it turns out he could care less and I really hate cleaning toddler cloth diapers. I will be investing in a diaper sprayer when Faith gets to be that big.
I have tried rewards and negative reinforcement! I have been frustraited and patient. Davin is almost 3 years old and he is VERY VERY ready but in his mind he just isn't ready. He wants to be big and to do this but he just lacks the drive to follow through with it. I hope this isn't a life pattern. I recently told him he couldn't turn 3 until he is potty trained. He says he likes to be 2. Nice huh?
Yes, I do realize that he has all the tools and will just do it when he is ready. It is frustraiting on my part to know that he knows how but is in fact CHOOSING not to do this!!!
Just today he asked to wear underwear and we talked about how he needs to potty in the toilet and he understood me. A little later I asked him to sit on the potty and he refused. Instead of the battle I decided to give him 5 minutes and then make him go and try. In those 5 short minutes he had an accident. I had asked to go and I feel like he chose to have an accident! Who does that?!?!?!?! As a mom who has never actually had to potty train a child (since cole potty trained himself) I am out of ideas and I'm having to seriously pray about my own attitude in this matter because I'm out of tolerance in some cases as well.

a reflection

On my facebook I commented that I felt like June Cleaver on steroids.
The 1st question I got was "who is June Cleaver?" and the second question was "why?"

To answer the first question; June cleaver is the mom in a sitcom that ran from 1957-1963. It is about your typical all american family.

 June Cleaver is this ideal wife and mom. She stays home and cooks and cleans and never gets stressed and always has it together. She's there whenever you need her and she is always one step ahead of her children. She's the kind of wife and mom and that any man and child would want and every woman wanted to be.

So... why would I say that I feel like June cleaver on steroids?
Let me give you a glimpse into my regular activities. Daily; I home school, go to school full time, keep my house clean, keep up with 3 kids and 2 dogs, and take care of my family. Other activities in my life that happen at various regular intervals include AWANA, hosting a core group (bible study), home school co-op where the kids can get some social interaction, 2 monthly groups for moms, book club, and helping with various women's ministry functions (this fall is women's retreat and my job is hospitality).
The crazy thing about all that and my cause for identifying with June cleaver is that I'm actually pulling it all off!

I'm still learning so much about home organization and child training and time management but we are doing really well. I know that so many other moms do the same stuff and even more but if you had asked me when we first got married if I could picture myself in this successful domestic role I would have thought you were nuts. I never really knew where I fit in as far as what kind of adult I would be. Life just sort of happened to us in the last 5 or so years and I have been running to keep up ever since. I love that I am in my element right now. This IS me, this is what I'm supposed to do and I'm good at it. The only other setting I feel this good in is when I'm working in special ed. I love it when God makes life so clear. Sometimes it's an uphill battle and we walk that path on our knees but it's a lot easier when you know that at least it's the right path.

Home Organization- laundry overhaul

I went to a bible study this week. It's called Keepers Of The Home; made up of all women they cover things that apply to our daily lives as a wife and mom. I love this study and regrettably it has been too long since I last attended.
The topic this month was home organization- more specifically laundry. Most people know how much I HATE HATE HATE laundry!
It overwhelms me.
I thought this might be an entertaining and helpful topic since I know I am not the only one who struggles with laundry.
It was explained to me that everyone has a system. Your system may not work well but it is a system.
My current system:
            I throw the dirty clothes into whatever unseen place I can until it’s gets on my nerves too much. Them I round up all the dirty clothes and block the doorway to the garage where my laundry area is and I wash… and wash… and wash some more. Then all the clean clothes get piled either on the couch or in my room where we pick out of the pile until we start the process all over again. Out of all those loads of laundry I probably put away the first 2-3 loads and then I give up. It has already taken me so long to wash and dry and pile I need to move on to other things in my life. I do have other housework, kids to raise, homework to do, and errands to run; who has time to stay chained to the laundry for a day or more?

The new system:
            We are minimizing what we have. It was suggested that our children really only need 5 play outfits and 2 dress outfits.  1 large towel for each member of the family, 1 hand towel per bathroom per day, and 1 wash cloth each. Adults only need 2-3 pair of pants or shorts and maybe 5-7 every day shirts and again a few nice dressy outfits.

I’m not that great at letting go so my plan is to cut down in the following ways.

·         Boys- 7 shirts and pairs of shorts, 2 pairs of pants for the summer and 1 nice dress outfit for each season. 1 pair of sandals, 1 pair of tennis shoes, 1 pair of swim trunks, 2-3 sweat shirts. The boys have the same socks- I had already thought to combine them and they live in a plastic bin for both boys to share. We only have 1 color in 1 style for them, it makes folding a LOT easier!

·         Aaron- 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of denim shorts, 2 pairs of khaki shorts, 5 tee shirts, 3 collared shirts 7 under shirts, 2-3 favorite sweatshirts. 4 work uniforms per season.

·         I don’t have much… typically I like 2-3 pairs of shorts and 2-3 pairs of jeans. I like to have my shirt options but will cut down to 7-10 shirts. I only have a couple of skirts. My clothes are seriously not a problem here.

·         2 bath towels and washcloths per person, 9 hand towels, 7 kitchen towels and washcloths- these are changed daily if not more as needed.

I seriously have WAY more stuff than all that. How else could my current laundry system work? The plan is to do 1-2 loads of laundry per day, no they won’t usually be full loads and it will include cloth diapers.

From talking to other moms who have done this I gather that it will take the kids and I about 10 minutes per day to just get it done. The boys will now start helping with the laundry where they can as is appropriate. Cole is in charge of his pants, and the big towels. Davin is in charge of folding all the hand/kitchen towels and washcloths.

I actually taught them how to fold these today and they rocked! They were so proud to have helped!

Today I am going through my washing tirade. The clothes have been piled and we have been picking out of the pile for about a week now. Since I’m stuck at home with no car seats and don‘t have any excuses I decided to try to tackle this project. I’m purging! I have actually taken the summer clothes out of storage and picked through what I wanted and set aside 7 pairs of shorts and shirts for Cole. I actually lost Davin’s summer clothes when we moved and thanks to my general lack of organization I was able to scrounge up 5 pairs of shorts and 5 tee-shirts from random places for him. I see 2 new outfits in his future. I am still washing and still have probably about 5 loads to do. The kids are set and from here on out I am simply setting their clothes aside. Cole’s will go into the 4T bin and Davin’s will go to donation.
I still need to round up Aaron’s and my clothes and purge the unneeded  ones, most of the remaining dirty and clean unfolded laundry is ours. We are just about set on towels. Right now I have 2 blue towels for the boys 1 pink for faith and 3 white ones set aside. As I get funds I want to make more of those hooded towels I mentioned in a previous blog and replace the towels so there are 6 hooded towels in 3 different light colors (so I can wash them together) Aaron and I have 2 soft fluffy towels and will probably obtain 2 more in a similar style… eventually. For now we will make do with what we have. I have no rhyme or reason to the wash rags so matching wash rags are eventually in our future. I want to get all white hand towels so they can be bleached and will be easy to organize.

So that’s where I stand. I will upload before and after pictures as I continue this adventure.

Joe Lando and the Federal Gnomes

Have you ever wondered where all your socks go as the disappear over time? Have you ever lost something REALLY valuable? How about the caps to bottles and the twisty tie that goes on your bread?

Ladies and Gentlemen I have the answer!

A couple of years ago I lost $200 cash. I set it down in a "safe place" and we never saw it again. We hoped to find it when we moved but it never did turn up. We decided that someone needed to take responsibility and logically we blamed some random garden gnomes. But what use would garden gno

mes have for expensive items and cash? Alas!  It MUST be federal gnomes. (everyone knows that the govt has to have created something to help with the national debt) The federal gnomes also claimed my wedding rings for a time but after much negotiation (weeks of frantic searching) the rings were returned (in my bathrobe). We (and by that I mean I) have lost a few things since then and had to blame the gnomes.

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Joe Lando (Now)

Joe Lando (then)

Where did Joe Lando come into all this? Who is Joe Lando? Shortly after we got Direct TV there was a Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman marathon on tv. I hadn't seen it in years and I enjoyed reminiscing in this once loved tv series. Aaron was pretty sure he was getting punished for some unknown wrongness he had committed and he took every opportunity to make fun of the show, it's actors, and the characters. Joe Lando plays Sully on Dr. Quinn and when they were promoting the marathon he did many of the commercials for it. Let me just tell you that I really prefer to see Joe Lando in iconic Native American garb with long unkempt hair. We decided that he didn't have much of a career and that what he did have (Dr. Quinn) was long depreciated. Joe Lando must have a hobby.... but what could he be doing these days? The only thing that we could think of is that he must secretly sneak into all the American homes and steal worthless things like (but not limited to) socks, trinkets, puzzle pieces, and pens.

Next time something goes missing in your home call the government or Joe Lando. Beware though because both parties collect keys and cards from your wallet and you don't want to annoy the gnomes or Joe Lando.