our prodigy

You might not think it is very funny, but we have a little running joke about our youngest being a little bit on the slow side.  He didn't walk until about 16 months, he still doesn't talk much, and when you tell him to give something to someone in the family he will probably throw it in the garbage more often than not.  When another Finn moved into our ward last summer we teased that people will distinguish them by labeling them the smart Finn and the other one.  I really am not that worried about his taking his time with things, he is the fifth child after all, but when he does something even the slightest bit precocious I get really excited.  Yesterday I was quickly trying to vacuum the main level before we went on an errand.  I told him to go get his shoes, which he did (yea!) and brought them back to me.  I then told him I was going to finish up and then I would help him.  Two minutes later he came back with them on and I was astonished!  I couldn't he believe he had had the coordination to put on his own shoes and proceeded to do a little dance, sing a lively song about how awesome that was and we both clapped for joy.  While I finished up the vacuuming I was daydreaming about how I would blog about my kids all getting so big when even my baby could put on his own shoes, zipped around the dining room, then backed into the library and ran right into someone.  Aaack!  Ella -- I didn't hear you come home.  How long have you been here?  Did you by any chance put Phin's shoes on him?  Complete deflation.  Yes, of course he didn't put on his own shoes.  It was so funny!  She said that she could hear me the whole time being so elated, but I couldn't hear her trying to tell me I was mistaken over the roar of the vacuum.


Today at our RS presidency meeting my friend said that she saw my husband and the littles at the library last night during my class.  She was so gratified that Phin knew her now.  I turned to him and said, "Do you know Miss Clare?  Where is she?"  And he pointed to the dog.  Oh, well.  I'm sure it will soon be his time to blossom.


Matthew just took him to his office for a little bit.  He adores his daddy and was happy to say goodbye to me, but first he needed to give me a big smooch --  that pucker is something he has mastered and no one would want to miss.

rhythms

The tempo of my days has changed and I seem to have more time than I did when we didn't have much to do.  Getting up at 5:30 has its perks indeed ~~ I've been so productive before it's even 9 a.m.!  Ella was questioning this yesterday when we wondered why no one got any Personal Progress or Duty to God goals done this summer:  there wasn't anything pressing and thus nothing was actually accomplished.  Now when everyone has so much to do with schoolwork and what have you, the rest of our lives are clicking into place as well.  I was anxious about school starting again, but having a more concrete schedule is definitely an improvement from what my natural tendencies seem to be.


I know I've mentioned this before, but I  really like using cloth diapers which is something I didn't expect.  I was one day horrified by the idea of how big a mountain of disposable diapers just my family had created and so I switched when my fourth was a baby.  There were also the advantages of not using bleached paper, not buying a huge package of diapers every two weeks, not running out in a pinch, and many more that aren't coming to mind right at the moment, but there were also some unforeseen bonuses: such as right away I became aware of her natural rhythms in a way that had been impossible before and I felt more in tune and closer to her.  I have discussed this phenomenon with other cloth diapering moms and they have felt it, too.  

The sun is moving south.  I wouldn't have even been aware of it if I weren't hanging out my clothes to dry, but the spot where I liked to hang my whites to get really sparkly has diminished to a small piece of line for a tiny window of time because of where my biggest trees are and I have to move my diaper drying rack onto the driveway to get any nifty sun bleaching action at all.  I know this happens every year, but I couldn't tell you exactly what happens with the sun and the moon.  I must not have been paying attention.  Does everyone know all of these things already and I'm just out of touch?  I have always been intrigued by the amount of knowledge that our ancestors had about the movement of the sun, weather predictors, plant knowledge, etc.  Where did they get all of their information without so much as an encyclopedia or google in sight?  It was from experience and necessity and we have lost so much by moving indoors, our reliance on technology, and only buying whatever "they" are selling to us.  The light moved slowly at first, but now as the equinox approaches there are huge differences every afternoon.  I am in awe ~~ of the sun, the earth, and of how much that I don't know or understand.

Like why are bubbles so totally awesome and circular?  We're going to go blow some in the kitchen before I mop and Phin will dance around in delight popping as many as he can.  What amazes you?

good morning, good morning!

Well, the good news is that I have a really good blender -- yippee!  The bad news is that I just blended the rubber stopper thing from the blender lid into our peanut butter, yogurt, spinach breakfast smoothie this morning.  I didn't even notice!  First, I thought it seemed to be having a harder time than usual to blend up the ice and even recalled for a moment the amusing story my friend Julie told me about blending up her little plastic stopper -- hilarious!  Then I idly wondered where my stopper was and bent down into the cupboard and did the thorough yet efficient hand sweep in the dark thing.  Next, I lovingly poured the jewel green nutritious deliciousness into everyone's glasses and demanded that they drink it all up or else!  I drank a little and noted absently that the flax seeds I had added seemed especially tenacious.  Wait a minute, that's not a flax seed, that is plastic.  Oh ~~ the lightbulb illuminates above my head ~~ that's where the stopper went.  I hurriedly yanked everyone's glasses out of their hands, scooped out the black plastic chunks, mournfully poured the rest of the "breakfast that actually wasn't cold cereal" down the drain, and got out the bowls with resignation.


In other morning news, Charles woke up at 5:38 which happens to be exactly two minutes before we leave for seminary -- and we were still on time!!!  I was looking all over for him in the basement, then was going to check if he was still in bed when I ran into him groggily making his way down the stairs.  After a promise that we could run back home before school, he put on his shoes and walked out the door.  Amazing.


Phin has a little cold, didn't sleep at all well, and is wiping snot on the couch at the moment.  Oh, now he has fallen asleep and looks super sweet.


How is your day going so far?

first day of fall depression

School started today and it makes me so sad.  Did the summer go faster than usual for everyone?  I can hardly stand it and I certainly wasn't taking any pictures of the big day.  It isn't really celebratory for me at all.  My friend, Lisa, was writing on facebook about all of her homeschool preparations and I suddenly started to rethink that whole topic, but then did what I usually do which is go with the flow.  This morning, however, the girls were annoying me quite a bit and the thought quickly crossed my mind that it might actually be nice to have them gone until I realized that they were only bugging me because they weren't getting ready for school and that contention is virtually nonexistent during summer vacation.  Perhaps you should brush your hair?  Did you brush your hair??  Have you brushed your hair yet???  Oh and the homework battles!  Just shoot me now.  It also means that the winter will be here soon.  My stomach hurts.

We did have a great summer.  There was a lot of hanging out and visiting; a few projects accomplished; no big exhausting voyages; and not even one single box of macaroni or package of ramen consumed = success!

Now I just need to think of some things to keep me busy.  Heaven knows there is plenty of neglected corners around here to keep me occupied through the dark days ahead.  I know --  I'll do something really fun like reorganize our files!

Oh, and did you brush your hair?

midsummer malaise

I never write in my blog.  I never take any photos.  One day slips into the next and summer will soon be over.  August!  really?  It slides by so quickly while I clutch at it uselessly -- wait!  Did we go swimming enough?  Have we learned anything?  Have we struck the balance between a nice break from the too-busy school year and not going completely into a humidity induced coma?  The kids keep very busy with this and that and I love having them all around me.  Two more years with all of us.  I guess I won't go there.  Cry, cry.

I have been able to read a lot.  I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle then watched Food Inc. last night, both of which put me in a complete stupor -- what do I do now???  It will be okay, slow baby steps to organic righteousness.  I recently saw someone comment on how they hate the term "green" and at first I took a rather negative view of that opinion, but it definitely started me thinking about how the term really has become very trite and now has certain baggage, if you will.  Every article on the subject touts the same idealistic measures and pretends that it is all new and fresh.  (Don't even get me started on the How to Save Money articles ~ "#1. Stop getting $6 lattes every morning and you will save 5 million dollars a year."  But what if I don't buy lattes?)  I get all excited about organic and green things which makes me want to immediately buy some of the cool and amazing products and I wind up finding myself on some website and ordering things which a. is not saving me any green and b. doesn't seem very environmental when you take into account the planes, trains, and brown trucks required to bring me the overly packaged green products.  Why just a couple of weeks ago I joyfully opened my box of three Gorgeously Green books (if I bought all three I got free shipping on Amazon -- the savings just add up like that!) and then I got my box full of organic shampoos and other toiletries, but there must be a better way.

I also just finished The Lacuna, also by Barbara Kingsolver, (thanks mom!) and I loved it, but it made me all cranky about politics and people in general.  It did provide some insight about why people are all hesitant to be helpful and loving since I suppose that has the taint of communism.  Why can't people, on both sides of any issue, just follow the golden rule and be logical with regards to food, immigration, welfare, what have you?  That is all I ask.  Maybe I should stop reading and just watch BBC productions.  There is a lot less angst for me the farther one goes back in history and the more fictional the story.  Although, some of the things going on around us do seem to smack of science-fiction.

To calm myself down, I am reading Yearning for the Living God and it does all that and more.  Story after story of miracles and faith.  It does the heart good.  I need to be better, and I can with a little help.

So that is that.  The cicadas are loudly serenading me outside the window, the girls just got back from a bike ride, the boys are in the basement keeping cool, the husband is tying up the loose ends of a sabbatical year, and I suppose I should go buy some school supplies.  I don't want to.

reunited and it feels so good

Hooowhee -- it has been a long time since I've had a chance to write in the ole' blog.  We have been having fun with family!  First my parents came to visit and we had a great time divided pretty evenly between chilling and activity.  We went on walks, visited the Lincoln museum in Springfield (just as good the second time around!), swam, talked, languished in the heat...  Overall it was a wonderful visit and I wish so much that I could see them more often than once a year!  


The afternoon they left was followed by the arrival of 12 members of Matthew's family.  We had a very full house on one of the hottest days of the year and I was terribly worried about whether anyone could possibly get comfortable in our un-air conditoned house.  I think it was okay (crossed fingers).  The next morning we went to a steamy (humid, not sensual) rendition of As You Like It at the Illinois Shakespeare festival and marveled at the cast romping around in full costume and make-up without seeming to break a sweat.  Then lunch and the long trek to Nauvoo for three days.  It was also hot and busy there, but went by too quickly.  I was a little tense hoping everything would run smoothly, but kept telling myself to relax and just enjoy being together.  It was so fun seeing the cousins playing so easily together and I wish so much that we could see them more often than once every who knows how often!  We need to work on that.


So now we are back to just us getting the house back in order and enjoying the cooler weather that none of our guests had the pleasure of experiencing -- it's almost like God doesn't want more people moving to Illinois.

summer lovin'

It has been hot.  How hot is it?  Well, I will tell you.  One day last week I had to change my clothes three times in one afternoon because I had the audacity to vacuum my house.  I know!  I will try to restrain myself in the future.  It is just so humid, and the vacuum is like carting around a personal mini heater/oven, but it must be done on occasion so I gave in and just did it.  I was literally dripping.  Then I took a shower, but trying to use the hair dryer was a complete farce.  My hair got more and more damp until I finally had the good sense to blow the cool air.  It felt nicer, yet didn't do as well with the drying.  My carefully chosen outfits and perfect hair-dos weren't the only casualties -- the walls must have been absorbing quite a bit of moisture as well because the pictures that I so lovingly placed going up my staircase started to simply fall off the walls.  I would hear a crash and run to see yet another frame laying dented and debased in the front hallway with nary a stomping child in sight to blame for the destruction.  Velcro doesn't like humidity apparently.


Do you know what else doesn't like humidity?  Potatoes.  I always forget that.  Growing up in a dry climate, we always left our potatoes in the pantry and since I obviously can't do anything new and innovative, I tend to put mine in the pantry as well.  Besides, for some reason our refrigerator always seems to have excessive amounts of things that more indisputably require coolness -- like yogurt.  Who has room for a hulking bag of potatoes in there for heaven's sake?  Well, when potatoes don't like something they let you know.  And when they let you know it doesn't smell very nice.  And when they don't smell very nice your whole house doesn't smell very nice.  I thought it was just un-air-conditioned funky old house smell so I guess that it is good that there was a tangible reason.  It's been taken care of.  And there are some new diffusers diffusing.  The new smell o' the day is Charles' leftover camping stuff that someone brought over yesterday -- still sopping wet.  He got home Saturday.  Yes, that is an unforgettable scent.


On a more refreshing note, it is a mere 80˚ today and as dry as a... high council speaker.  Sorry I couldn't think of anything more dry.