Life on Five

I'm alive. I know you all thought I must have passed on sometime last summer, or early autumn, when it had been months since my last post. But tonight, nearly a year to the day since my last post, I assure you that I am alive and well.  Well...I'm alive.  Let me tell you that it has taken some time for me to get used to living back in Illinois, in the country, a good fifteen minutes away from any civilization.  Most days, I love it. Some days, I don't.

Take, for instance, the day when hubby was out-of-country for work travel, and I decided to mow the lawn for him as a surprise.  Never mind that it's been a good three years since I sat on a riding mower; I was determined to do this. After all, my six-year-old drives the mowers at my in-laws' all the time. Surely he could help me figure out the one sitting in the dusty pole barn at the top of the hill. Never mind that I knew-yes, knew- that the shed was full of mice.  I am woman, hear me roar.  I was going to do this.  So, I called my mom and she came over to keep the kids entertained inside while I mowed. I took my Buddy with me up the hill, and we nearly tripped over a snake at the entrance.  Not a big deal. I don't like snakes, but hey, they eat mice.  I got a stick and flung him a little ways away so we could go inside in peace.  I kicked the mower a few times to make sure that there are no little critters hiding inside; after all, when the renters were using it beating it to death, mice made a home under the hood more than one time.  No evil critters scurried out, so I figured we were in the clear.  That was my first mistake.  As I sat down, I noticed a big poof of foam come out from under the seat.  About two seconds later, a mouse ran out-RIGHT UNDER MY SEAT-and, in my son's words, "lunged at" him and ran away to hide wherever it is that those little devils hide until they see me and then they run out and scare me half to death.   I screamed, my son screamed (poor kid, hubby says I'm making him into a wuss), and we ran out of the shed.  Quickly.  I tell you what, I haven't moved that fast in many a year.  Once I got over my initial case of heebie-jeebies, we got up our courage and decided that the coast must be clear, because what stupid mouse would stay in the seat and watch its partner in crime run to safety?  We must have hit the jackpot on stupid mice, because-yes, you guessed it-as soon as I sat down again, ANOTHER mouse ran out.  Repeat earlier scene of running and screaming.  Repeat earlier scene of heebie-jeebies and talking myself into trying a third time.  (After reading this post, one could never say that I'm undetermined.) This time, there was much kicking, seat-checking, and praying, and finally, when I sat down, nothing ran out.  My son (remember, he's six) gave me the instructions on how to start it up, and I followed them to a "T".  Unfortunately, what he didn't know about this particular mower is that there is a very specific combination having to do with the throttle, choke, and how to push and pull which one when.  Confused?  So was I.  Anyway, after about five tries, I gave up.  Instead of roar, I was saying, meow, and running back to my mommy in the house. Which reminds me...I'm in the market for a couple of kittens. 

But, alas, lest you think I hate my life...
The days I love it far outnumber the days I don't.  These are some of the memories that we have made as a family already in the short three months we've been back on our little homestead:

• filling our bird feeder and watching new birds come every morning-gold finches, indigo buntings, cardinals, rose-breasted grosbeaks, sparrows, purple finches, and we've even seen an oriole!
• catching lightening bugs in our pajamas after dark (we didn't have these in western Nebraska-what a treat to see the delight on my kids' faces as we experienced this for the first time together!)
• eating popsicles and ice cream treats out on our deck after swimming in the kiddie pool
• planting and watering eleven new fruit trees in our "pasture"
• washing the van with the hose and sponges out in our driveway
• jumping on the trampoline and spraying each other with the hose
• watching the construction on our new addition take place day by day
• dressing in long sleeves and long pants and picking black raspberries and blackberries out in our woods 
• standing on the deck and looking up at the stars after it's dark-and able to see every single one (okay, this memory is just me and hubby, but it counts)

...and these are just the memories we have made here, in our own home.  There are many, many more that we have made with family and friends.  God has blessed us abundantly, and for that reason, I have changed the name of the blog to "Five Acre Dream."  It really is our dream to live in the country, raise a gaggle of kids (how appropriate; I really do feel like a mama goose some days), grow/raise our own food, daily love Jesus more, and to minister to others along the way.  And this is only the beginning.

On the Potty Train

Monday morning marked the beginning of a new era for my little Cookie-one that doesn't include diapers, much to the delight of her mother!  Having no one else in the house presented me with the rare opportunity to focus solely on my youngest child, and I decided it was time to take advantage.  I moved the toy kitchen into the hallway next to the real kitchen so that she had something to entertain her while we stayed on the tiled floor.  We went straight to undies, and she had accidents all morning long. At nap time I put her in a diaper, and then in the afternoon went to undies again. By the end of the day, she was telling me when she needed to go, and the very last time she didn't go in her undies at all!  I was so proud of her!  I gave her a gummy bear each time she went on the toilet, even if she went in her undies first.  I stayed in the kitchen with her while she was awake, and as a result, my kitchen is nice and clean now!

Today we needed to be in the basement, so I took the potty chair downstairs with us.  She went nearly all morning without needing to go, and then when she did need to, she went in her undies just a little, but mostly in the toilet.  After lunch it was the same story.  I need to get her to drink more, I guess.  This evening we needed to go to the store, so I put a diaper on her and headed out.  She was really crabby the whole time that we were in Wal-Mart (that store makes me crabby, too!) and her diaper was wet by the time we were done.  She was crying so much of the time that I don't think I would have even understood her if she had told me that she needed to go, anyway.  Then we headed out to Subway to meet some friends for supper, and then to church for the monthly craft/"how-to" night with other ladies.  She told me when we were there that she needed to go, and she did!  On a big, regular toilet.  I was thrilled.  She was in a pull-up the rest of the evening and stayed dry.  I am just so proud of her, and so thankful that the Lord blessed me with such a smart little girl. 

Just Us Girls

I found out yesterday (Sunday) that it is not a good idea to take a toddler to a movie.  Especially right after her nap.  Especially when it's 90+ degrees outside and you have to stand in line out of the theater because there are so many people there.  And especially, especially not when she has no concept of being quiet so that other people can watch the movie. 

Oh well, we tried.  I thought it would be a good idea to take little Cookie to see Cars 2 at our local theater.  They were having a special 4:00 matinee, and I figured that we would be all rested up from naps and ready to roll.  Well, at 3:30 she was still sleeping, so I went to check on her and I think I accidentally woke her up before she was ready to be awake. Oops.  You'd think I was a rookie with a mistake like that.  Stupid creaky old doors.  We hurried up and put some snacks and drinks in a big purse, changed her diaper, and rushed out the door...into the heat.  Ugh.  Western Nebraska can sure get hot in the summer!  We drove by the theater and the line was out the door.  I was hoping we would get in...and we finally did, with only ten minutes to showtime.  That wouldn't have been a problem, but then they gave us these free drink bottles that they were filling for no charge at the concession counter...and even though I brought drinks, who can pass up free Dr. Pepper?!  So by the time we stood in line for the movie and our free drinks, we had missed the fun short movie at the beginning and could barely find a seat.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone move as slowly as the people behind that counter.  Seriously, folks, you're just filling drinks and dishing up popcorn, with an occasional candy thrown in.  It's not that hard. 

Sorry. Can you tell that I was more than a little annoyed? 

Anyway, then, it was so dark in the theater that I just stood near the back trying to let my eyes adjust when a kind lady told me there was a seat at the end of her row.  Luckily, it was the very back of the theater, so when we did have to get up and leave, we didn't disturb a bunch of people. 

Cookie was super good for the first twenty minutes or so.  She was loving the fruit punch in her drink bottle, and sat quietly eating popcorn and drinking her drink.  Then she decided she needed to get up and move around...all over my nine-month-pregnant belly.  Ouch.  Not fun for mama.  After about twenty more minutes of her trying to have her own way, I decided we had better leave.  The lady in front of me kept turning around and looking at me.  I wanted to ask her, "Hey, all these 8 year old boys with you...weren't they toddlers once? Don't you remember?"  But I didn't.  I just left instead. 

Cookie was extremely crabby for the rest of the night, and I put her in bed at 7:30.  It was gloriously quiet for the rest of the evening.  I watched another lame chick flick that shouldn't have made me cry, but with my hormone-induced moods, I cry at just about everything these days. 

I went to bed missing my hubby and kids, ready to sleep off the day and try again tomorrow. 

Now it's tomorrow, and I'm ready for the potty training to be done.  We've only been at it for five hours now.  *sigh*

Cookie and Me

I know it has been over a month since I last posted...no good excuses.  I'm still learning about "how to blog" and sometimes I just don't really even know what I want to write about.  Other times, I have so many ideas that I can't decide.

And often, I'm just too exhausted at the end of the day to write anything at all.  I am 35 weeks pregnant now (read: huge, uncomfortable, and cranky), and once the kids are in bed all I want to do is watch a movie or catch up on my blogs.  Anyway, that aside, I have decided that for the next few days I am going to write something about each day.  My hubby and two oldest kids are gone for the next week and a half, so I am getting some fabulous one-on-one time with my youngest daughter.  And, because I have no memory/brain cells, I have vowed to record our daily adventures here on the blog.  Just in case anyone else cares.

Yesterday we started our day by going to Bible study at church.  This summer we are doing it every other week for six weeks, and I am so glad.  The past couple of summers we haven't done one at all, and I really miss it.  I find that I need the accountability to stay in the Scriptures on a regular basis.  I have been so crazy lately (yes, blaming it on my baby again) that the only thing that keeps me grounded is Jesus.  Wait, what am I saying?  It doesn't matter if I'm pregnant or not, He is always the only one who can really keep me grounded.  So anyway, that was a really nice time of fellowship and sharing and learning about how to pray God's Word.  (We're doing Beth Moore's study called Living Free.)  One more thing about my Bible study ladies--they are so great!  Just months after we moved here, when I was expecting my third baby, they threw me a baby shower!  And they're doing it again!  For my fourth baby!  I can't believe it.  They are just too wonderful.  But, I digress...

After Bible study, we rushed home and grabbed our swimsuits, towels, swim diapers (only for Cookie) and sunscreen, filled up the gas tank, and headed out of town to a pool about forty minutes away.  Yes, we do have a pool in our little town, but the one we went to yesterday has more attractions.  A couple of waterslides, a giant tower that spews cold water over all the moms, and a baby pool with one of those mushrooms that my kids hate.  About six or seven of us made the trip.  It was a fun afternoon once I figured out that Cookie does NOT like to be in her swim tube.  I have this really neat little floaty thing that has a sunshade and everything, but she hated it.  She just wanted to be able to run around and do her own thing in the water.  Out of all my kids, she loves the pool the most!

Once I figured that I was sufficiently toasted and she was sufficiently worn out, I bribed her out of the pool with the promise of ice cream.  It worked, too.  She might only be 20 months old, but she knows a good thing when it's presented to her.  ("I-keem!")  So we drove to Sonic and enjoyed a milkshake in the backseat of the van.  Next up was Wal-Mart (exciting, I know...) because they have some things there that our store doesn't carry.  Now we were really tired and really ready to come home.

She fell asleep on the way, but that didn't deter me once we got to town.  I still went over and watered plants for a friend who is out of town (and wouldn't you know it, we got rain last night so I didn't even need to bother), attempted to check out some movies at the library (they turned out to be closed early on Friday nights), and finally just decided we needed to crash at home.  By this time, she was screaming-but once we re-hydrated with some Gatorade, life was good.  From there on out, it was pretty much just bath, supper, books, and bed.  She surprised me by staying awake longer in her crib than I thought she would.  I took a shower and watched a good old movie, Father of the Bride.  Of course, because I am crazy and hormonal, I cried through many parts of it.  But I also laughed at many parts.  Steve Martin can almost always make me laugh.

Today we began our day by cuddling in bed, until she asked for a drink so many times that I felt guilty staying there any longer.  ("Gink! Gink!")  During breakfast I checked out the ads for garage sales, and we were off.  We hit our local coffee shop for an iced latte and browsed the book store.  I went to one yard sale, saw absolutely nothing, and decided to message a friend to see if there was anything else good out there (she had been out earlier).  There wasn't anything worth driving around for, so we went to Wal-Mart (don't judge me, I never go two days in a row...it just happened) to get Cookie some sunglasses of her own.  She had major glasses envy before the other two left on their trip and I thought it would be fun to get her some.  Five frozen meals, a gallon of milk, two boxes of cereal, one dress, one box of hair ties ("Bows! Bows!"), one package of 2T/3T undies, several paint chips, and one pair of toddler sunglasses later, we were out the door.  I really wanted to get a good movie to watch tonight, so we hit the library for a few minutes and finally made it back home before lunch.  I even had time to clean the playroom before noon.

One great thing about being pregnant is when the nesting instinct takes hold.  I have just been waiting and waiting for this to happen...and it finally has. :)  I think it is a combination of nesting and only having one child to run around after, but I got a lot done today.  I started at the front of my house and just cleaned room by room.  First I would pick up and put away everything that was laying around.  If it went into another room, I took it into that room and put it away...and went RIGHT BACK to the room I was working on.  It might sound funny, but this is hard for me to do.  I see things in that room that need to be put away, and I have to consciously make myself ignore them and wait until I'm on that room to put them away.  So after everything was put away, I would dust the room (even the doors/trim!), and then vacuum.  I also did some picture hanging in my son's room because we had just put his bed up on a loft and there were a couple of things that had to be re-arranged.  I also hung up new house numbers on the front of our house.  I'm pretty handy with a power drill, if I may say so myself.  I worked all through Cookie's nap and then for about another hour after she was up.  In that time I finished the front porch, the play room, the living room, dining room, bathroom, hallway, and my son's room.  I also got the girls' room all picked up, but haven't done any dusting or vacuuming in there yet.  Monday I will tackle the kitchen and our bedroom.  And down the stairs to the basement bathroom.  Ugh.  The greatest thing about cleaning with only one child here is that my house is still clean at the end of the day!  Although...there might be a few pizza crumbs on my couch now. 

I decided a frozen pizza sounded great for supper (I know, I'm so gourmet), so we had that and watched some Andy Griffith on Netflix.  I bought the kind that comes with frozen cookie dough too, and we enjoyed some fresh cookies after the pizza.  It was a night of very healthy eating around here.

We were just sitting down to read some books before bed when the tornado siren went off.  We spent the next hour or so in the basement (I'm a chicken) listening to the radio, sending texts, and checking facebook to see what was happening "out there."  We got some baseball-sized hail (thankfully no broken windows this time!) but no tornadoes touched down here.  God is so good to protect us.  I was thankful when we were able to come back upstairs.  Little Cookie was just worn out and went to bed without a sound.

Now I've spent a LOOOONG time writing a blog post that is super long and probably boring, but someday, years from now, I will come back and read it and remember what I did on this day with my little girl.  My philosophy for the next few days is to be productive, but to savor the moments.  I am balancing that with not over-doing it.  I don't really want to go into labor yet, especially not with my husband hours away. 

I am looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight, a refreshing morning at church, and a fun afternoon with my sweet Cookie tomorrow.  Maybe we'll go see Cars 2...just because we can.

Wally World

A few thoughts on Wal-Mart...

1. Why do people call it Wally World?  Is it because they are trying to give the impression that this is a fun place to go, instead of a mother's nightmare?
2. One thing that I do like about going to our local store is that I usually see a lot of people I know.  Especially, apparently, if it's 8:30 on a Monday night.  I saw two other mom friends and one told me that she had seen like three other people she knew.  I guess we all had the same great idea about putting our kids in bed and hitting the door.  And Wal-Mart is the most exciting place we have to go here in our small Nebraska town...
3. Why can't people put their carts away in the cart returns?  Or push them out the exit into the cart area just outside the door?  Tonight as I was leaving, a cart was blocking the exit.  The person who left it there had to walk a mere ten additional feet to get the cart out of other people's way and into the cart return area.  Then, when I got to my van, I found a cart directly behind my van!  What the heck, people?!  I know that you don't realize that the van owner is a big, tired, cranky, pregnant lady...but- I AM!  And I have to push your cart, along with my own, back to the cart return just so I can back out my van.  *sigh*
4. Why does milk cost more at the store where you supposedly "Save More,[and] Live Better," than it does at my local Safeway?  I paid $4.00 for a gallon of milk tonight!  The price was nearly enough to put me into labor.  And it's not time yet, so that would have been really bad.  But really, who wants to go to two different stores just to get a better price on milk?  *sigh again*
5. All in all, in spite of my complaints, I really am thankful that I can just hop in my van and, in 7 minutes, be at a store where I can buy (almost) whatever I need to get through the rest of the week/complete my project/etc.  I just have to remember to have the right attitude when I'm there, in the midst of the Wally-World-ness.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day always sneaks up on me. I'm not really sure why. And yes, I do know that it was last Sunday. I'm just late blogging about it because...well...I'm late blogging about everything. Plans to change that soon.  But I digress.

This year, I decided I wanted to do something homemade for my mom and mother-in-law on Mother's Day.  Because of the wonders of Google Reader, I am able to view the creative genius of hundreds of other women and never have to come up with my own ideas. It's great for a busy mom like myself.  I found this tutorial, and I knew right away that it would be perfect for my moms. 

Of course, I found this only a couple of days before Mother's Day, so by the time I actually got the towels done, it was Monday (yes, the one after the holiday) before they were in the mail.  Luckily for me, both my mom and m.i.l. are incredibly understanding ladies.  Also, I don't think they've ever received anything in the mail from me in time for the actual event.  Sigh.  Some day, I will be organized.  I hope.

So, carefully following the directions in the tutorial, I made a shopping list and noted exactly what I'd need to make these beautiful gifts. 

Okay, not really. I just glanced at the tutorial, thought to myself that I'd pick up some towels and some ribbons, and that I'd use fabric I had laying around my sewing area.  Well.  I got home with my towels, a few spools of ribbon, and no fabric, and once I looked at the tutorial and actually read the instructions, realized that my plan would not work.  I ended up exchanging one set of towels and getting new ribbon and buying fabric specifically for the project.   I had a couple extra trips to Wal-Mart and the fabric store on Saturday (yes, this would be the day before Mother's Day).  On the upside, the leftover ribbon and fabric will do many more sets of towels! 

The completed set for my mother-in-law!

These towels and ribbon were really easy to work with.  I just bought three fat quarters at the quilt shop and used them for the fabric.  As soon as I saw these bright, springy colors, I thought of my mother-in-law. That's what I love about this project; you can really customize it to the taste of the giftee.  Is that even a word?  Giftee?  Sorry.  Anyway...the only thing I did really differently than the tutorial was to just cut a strip of fabric 2 1/2 inches wide, and then I laid it across the towel and cut it to match.  That way, I was sure it fit.  The grosgrain ribbon sort of just stuck to the towels because of the nature of the fabric, so that made it very easy to keep them straight during sewing. 

I just hope they don't fall apart during their first washing!

The set that I did for my mom was a little different.  I used a different type of towel, and the ribbon was satin, so it was harder to get it to stay in place.  I had to resort to...gasp...pinning.  You would think that I would just learn my lesson about pinning, after all the sewing I have messed up as a result of not pinning because I want to save time.  Not so.  But I did pin these.  And they turned out very nicely.

I love the soft, muted colors of these fabrics.

My mom instantly came to mind when I found these fabrics!  Her house is decorated with soft colors like these, and the effect is so soothing.  It's a very relaxing home.  I wanted to make something that would fit in with that scheme.  

These were a little tricky because of the pattern on the white towels.  The lines are not exactly straight with the hem (thanks a lot, Wal-Mart), so I had to decide if I wanted to follow the lines or the hem.  I decided to go with the lines, since the last line was covered up and the hem's crookedness probably wouldn't be as noticeable as the crookedness of a line compared to the ribbon.  Does that make sense?  Anyway....they were still really fun to do.  I used the same ribbon on the top of all of these, so that made the sewing faster than the other set when I had to change thread a few times.  

Mom's set!

I encourage you to check out the tutorial if this is something that you have thought about doing but have never had the chance to try!  It's really not hard.  If you can cut and sew a straight line, you can do this.  And the finished product makes it look a lot more difficult than it is.  So you look like a sewing genius.  I am going to try it with some plain diapers and make burp cloths next.  I will let you know how they turn out!

Holding My Possessions Loosely

My sweet five year old son taught me an important lesson today.  I really shouldn't be surprised; he oftentimes speaks with wisdom beyond his years.

This morning I was talking to my husband about donating to a needy family a couch that is in our basement and really never gets used.  He was all for the idea. I then mentioned that they have a 3 year old son who could use some toys, and almost before I finished my sentence, my son was on his way to the playroom to fill up a bag with toys.  He brought it back to me to show me what he had chosen, and I had to hold my tongue from protesting.  A couple of things he had been given for birthdays or Christmas, and even though he had outgrown them, to me, they had sentimental value.  I smiled and told him that they would make the little boy very happy, and he had never looked happier.  I went into the kitchen to continue making my breakfast, and as I thought about what had happened, I was convicted by the Holy Spirit about my reservations.  Why would I ever try to subdue the generosity of my child?  Jesus spoke often of loving others more than yourself, and of giving away possessions in order not to feel tied to worldly things.  Don't I want my son, who has professed faith in Christ at such a young age, to be more like Him?   I also certainly want to encourage the Fruits of the Spirit in my children: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  My son's willingness to give away perfectly good toys to a total stranger gives just a glimpse of the softness of his heart.  I often pray that I might be as generous and unselfish as he.