Wrapping My Head Around The Holidays

It is anything but easy to jump from the chaos of the holiday season, with its own set of drama’s, tasks, stresses, reasons to smile and festivities, to the regularly scheduled program we call everyday life.  The holidays really start Thanksgiving weekend and extend through the beginning of next week for most.  Now that the vacation days are dwindling I am trying to wrap my head around all that has happened in this last month.  I still feel like I have to get the kids dressed up and head somewhere and there are still gifts to buy, things to wrap and people to see.  I can’t stop moving!  I came home a few days ago from our last round of traveling and I haven’t been able to sit down because the house needs gone through, the toys need sorted, the unpacking needed done and on and on and on…  I am exhausted, yet it is all self inflicted, so I can only blame the one in the mirror!  If things don’t get done now though they have to be tackled next week when I have school in the mix too?  I will make myself sit down at some point.  Hopefully.

The Trip Trap Train the girls like to set up when I am cleaning the floors and need to move the furniture.  They gave me a great 20 minute window.  One more thing checked off the list and closer to relaxing with the girls.  That is always my end goal. 

 

Marshmallows Roasting on an Open Fire…

My husband decided he wanted to start a new Christmas tradition of having a night by the fire.  Mind you, we have never successfully started a fire at our house because the one attempt made a couple of years back resulted in a house full of smoke and alarms going off.  But, with the chill outside and the holidays settling onto us he wanted to try again. 

The wood came in, the metal screen screeched as Brian slid the normally sedentary pieces over and he set the wood on the virgin rack.  With a deep breath he turned on the gas and lit the fire.  A fireball, as large as the fireplace opening itself, swallowed the air with a sound like I would expect out of a large fire breathing dragon.  He quickly turned the gas down a bit and then checked to make sure his eyebrows and arm hair were in fact still there.  The fire quickly turned into the serene background that it should be and the kids settled around. 

There were marshmallows, cups of home made hot cocoa with even more marshmallows, Frosty the Snowman, warm toes and lots of warm hearts.  It was a very fun and very late night for all of us.

May your holiday season be filled with love, happiness, family, friends, old traditions and new found hopes. 

No matter what you celebrate this time of year may it be joyful! 

Inventive Play Goes A Long Way

School is out, or almost out, and the kids will be home with you for a couple of weeks.  After the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the running around is over, some of you may find you are at a loss of things to do.  This never happens at my house because there is always somewhere we need to be or something we should be doing, but I have heard others talk about this crazy notion of boredom.  Well, get your thinking caps on parents and put those little bodies and/or minds to work!  Be inventive!

In the rare time we find moments to just sit and enjoy each others company the fun begins.  We have a cabinet full of games and the girls, being 6,4,4 and 2, are now getting old enough to really grasp concepts and game play.  Some we have played are Scrabble, Candy Land, Jenga, Racko, What’s Gnu?, Memory, Go Fish, UNO, Crazy Eights and Old Maid.  My husband has broken out the chess board with my 6 year old a couple of times too.

Some more inventive play can really get the family going and move those little bodies too!  We have gone on “trips around the world” in our special “car”, “train” or “bus” or “magic carpet” (really whatever you can make that you all can fit into).  When you step out of your amazing world traveling machine you are in a new part of the world discovering native animals and people and seeing sites specific to the area.  It is a great geography lesson and fun to use your imagination.  I did this with a two year old while holding twin infants in my arms and sitting on a child seat, so anyone can do it!  These days the four girls and I pile into the pop up tent turned “travel machine” and go.  You could do this through time as well and make it about history. 

Turning a room into a huge fort is always fun too.  Find the biggest blankets you have and go at it!  Leave it up for a day or two and it is fun for all. 

My husband and I had built up a coin collection so we told the girls to go and get their donation banks from their rooms.  I had a dry erase board and would ask level specific questions to each girl and when they got them right they would earn money toward their donation banks.  We emptied our change holder, the girls had fun and more money was donated.  A win all around.

Hide-and-go-seek is always fun, along with freeze tag.  How about some Mommy or Daddy Says game (these are eerily similar to Simon Says!). 

Puzzle-Mania is a fun project we do sometimes.  We take all 30 something of our wooden puzzles and dump all the pieces in the middle.  You have to mix them up well!  The kids love that part.  Then put all the empty puzzle trays all around the outside of the circle and put them all back together.  This takes a while, but it is a fun goal.  Every time one is finished it gets to go in the “done” pile. 

Doctor, restaurant, library, store, zoo, school, beauty parlor and many, many more!  You name it, you can play it.  These are fun things that can occupy hours of time and bank hours of time spent with each other.  Crafts are another great thing you can do with each other, but that list is far too long to add to this one.  I will write about the crafty play another day. 

I hope this helps some of you cope with the holiday vacation and winter season hibernation boredom you may face in the next few months to come.  There is ALWAYS something to do even when you have nothing to play with.  The kids will love the time with you and will remember when…

Happy Playing Friends!

"MINE" to "Yours"

I really try to stress “thank you” in my house.  Every time someone does something for you or gives you something you are to say Thank You!  Now, granted, this doesn’t always work.  In fact if I was honest with myself I would say it is a celebrated rare occasion when it is done without some sort of parental, or sisterly, prodding.  But, we do try.  Birthdays and Christmas are difficult times of year to keep up with this goal however.  You would think it would be easy.  Get something, say Thank You….  get something else, say Thank You.  Oh, how sweet it would be.

But, the reality is the ravenous gift mongers seem to come out in the kids and all I hear is “I want more”, “where is mine”, or my favorite, “is that all???” when they are standing in a pile up to their elbows in gifts. 

We have been talking so much this Christmas season about what Christmas is all about and why we celebrate it.  The girls are talking birthday cakes and ice cream for baby Jesus already.  With that comes the spirit of giving, helping, loving, forgiving and thanksgiving around this time of year.  This year we are not only giving gifts to the girls, but we are giving a “giving gift” to them.  They will be receiving a few things under the tree on Christmas morning for them to play with and enjoy, but there will also be an envelope wrapped with a small, unassuming, bow tucked under there.  I am sure when they open it up they will not understand, but what they are holding is the gift of giving to a little 9 year old girl named Mahlodi who lives in the Limpopo Province in South Africa.  She is one of many orphaned children due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  She now lives with her Aunt and needs help with those basic things our children don’t even think about as necessity.  We will be sending funds over every month until she graduates from school somewhere between 18-24 years old. We can celebrate birthdays, send care packages and ultimately visit her sometime in years to come. 

Through pictures we can watch her grow and my children can know that through things that we do over here we are helping Mahlodi on the other side of the world.  We did this through an organization called Horizon International, which is based here out of Indiana.  I think it is a great step in thanksgiving for our kids and better understanding of what we have here and what we can give others.

Maybe this year they will look at things a little differently, maybe not.  But, over years and years of watching and helping this little girl that is so desperate for even the simplest of materials and medical attention their eyes will widen and they will begin to understand.

Time for Two

Every now and then in the chaos of three kids talking to me while the other one is upset about something, making dinner, doing a craft, sorting mail and wiping the dogs muddy winter paws I stand up to my husband gently grabbing me and forcing a moment for just us.  I fight it sometimes, I do.  I don’t like to be stopped in my tracks when I have so many things I need to do at once, but he is right.  (Yes, I said that…)  We just take a moment and sit in the eye of the storm whirling around us and find some quiet place.  In those moments I am reminded that all of this started with just us. 

(Our honeymoon in Jamaica)

It was, for over eight years, just the two of us.  It is hard to remember when we would come home and just flop on the couch with our dinners and watch whatever we wanted.  The weekends were open doors to fun and mischief of one kind or another and mornings sometimes lasted into the afternoons.  It was great.

(A nap whenever we wanted)

Now our life is filled with endless tasks and exponentially less time for “us”.  But, somehow, we are closer now than we ever were then.  Maybe it was the numerous trials we have been through or the strength we have had to rely on in each other at times.  It has been almost 15 years that we have been together and most of the time it still feels like we are dating.  That is, of course, a blessing and a curse at times. 

(Busy Daddy reading to Journey)

Last weekend we made it out to a movie for a little date.  It wasn’t much, but it was a reminder of what once was typical and now is cherished.  We don’t get out too often with just us.  A few times a year maybe? There were always babies, finance issues, time issues, or just the downright inability to find someone that the girls would be comfortable with.  They have only ever been watched by their grandparents, but they live nearly two hours away and thankfully make the jaunt with happy hearts to see their granddaughters each time.  We used a neighbor once too and she did wonderful, but I felt so guilty that she was away from her own kids to watch mine.  So, yes, I would love to get out more, but that isn’t always a feasible option. 

(Our 5 year anniversary when we saw Wicked in Chicago)

We have created time at home though.  We try to get the kids down at eight and then the rest of the evening is ours.  We work on things together, we talk, we do bible study sometimes, watch a movie, work out and just be with each other.  I think that is why we haven’t grown a part through all of this.  We have always tried to make time for each other.  When one of us is weak the other is strong… usually. 

(Our seven year anniversary photo shoot that I surprised him with)

For those just starting out…  enjoy the time alone because it may not always be that way.

For those new families out there… don’t forget how the family started.  Spend time with your spouse even if there are things that need to be done all the time.  For many, having children is a dream and even the most perfect dreams have obstacles.

For the more experienced families, like us…  enjoy taking back some of that time that wasn’t available in recent years.  Do your best not to fall into a pattern of “friendliness” with your spouse that lacks all that made you want to be together in the first place.  Make time for the two of you even if it means a little less sleep, a little less social networking, or a bit of patience.  You, together, are the rock your children are leaning on.

For those veteran couples…  God Bless you… you made it!  Go on a date and toast to all of us following behind you.

Now go find the one that you started the journey with and take a moment today.

Keeping and Creating Christmas Traditions

I have always loved traditions.  They are something you can depend on, look forward to, reminisce about and maybe even pass on to others and more generations that follow. 

In the dark ages (I am referring to 1997) when Brian and I started dating, we had no idea what beautiful things our life together would create.  I struggled with what to get him that first Christmas we were together.  Then, I was passing a store window in Michigan and saw an intricate little pewter ornament.  I knew I should get him that exact one and engrave it to signify the start of many things to come.  I am pretty sure my mom gave me one of those “really?” looks, but I did it anyway.  I found a beautiful little wooden box and wrote a Christmas Promise letter to him.  A pool of uncertainty as to where the future would take us was lined with a subtle confidence that wherever that was we would be together. 

Every year when we get out the decorations for our home, after the lights and garland have adorned the tree, we read this letter that is tucked in a small wooden box with an intricately designed ornament engraved with our names and the year 1997.  Since that year we have gotten an ornament every year.  The animals have them from the year they came into our lives, we have a family one every year and grandma always gets the girls an ornament with their names on it with the year.  All of our ornaments are in bags with the years 1997-2011 marked on them.  We put them up in order and tell our story as we place them on the branches.  All seven moves we have made in that time span, the four children being born, the funny stories from holidays of the past and whatever else we remember. 

Our tree has only those ornaments on it.  The very few others we have decorate other parts of the house, but our tree is a special place for only those special memories. 

The girls love to come and sit by the tree and just look at it.  Skyla is compelled by it in the early dark mornings before school and hatches there while I make her breakfast. 

Other Christmas traditions have been created through the years.  The hallmark singing snowmen collection we have is fun to break out every year.  The girls press the buttons with nearly combative enthusiasm and then dance and dance.  Without a beat missed the song is repeated or another snowman is singing.  There are times when all four children think a different one should be played and then it is just a holly-jolly mash-up.

There is always milk and cookies put out, of course, on Christmas Eve.  They have to be Oreo’s though.  We never have Oreo’s in the house… except for in December!  The girls like the candy cane ones, but my husband will only go for original.

This is Lana two years ago with an O-r-e-o grin!

There are always pancakes on Christmas morning after presents and then we just play all morning with the new loot. 

The new tradition we started this year was the Northview Christmas Concert.  It was so fun and the girls did so well during an hour and a half of performances.  Trinity was entranced by the singing and pledged she would be up there one day.  Journey didn’t scream once, which was an answer to my prayers, and the other two sat quietly and watched in the darkened auditorium.  It was a beautiful night and I look forward to going again next year.

Traditions come and go through the years.  But, I have a fairytale of a Christmas many, many years from now, surrounded by generations of my family as we set up the tree together.  I will reach over and pick up that small wooden box and start with…  This is my Christmas Promise and we will hang up that ornament marked with ours names from 1997.  We will pull the bags from each year since and dress the tree until not a point of a needle can be seen anymore.  We will have a full sized crate worth of hallmark snowmen by then playing in the other room with all the little hands repeatedly pressing the buttons and laughing.  I will look around with a huge smile, while nibbling on my Oreo with one hand and holding my husbands hand in the other, right before we all leave for the Christmas Concert at Church. 

A Breakthrough To Obvious

When you have four kids within four and a half years the responsibilities, duties, tasks, cleanup, teaching and everything else can get jumbled together in a multi colored, twisted, yarn ball that seems unlikely to ever get untangled.  I have had some moments lately where I feel this way, particularly with teaching at home. 

 

When Sky was young I could sit down with her everyday after the twins went down for nap, have one on one time and progress with her while we worked together.  It was just us, a quiet house and a small slice of time.  I found that I was still living in that fantasy world of progress with this go around with the twins who are now four.  I was successful with Skyla, of course I can do it with Trinity and Lana as well.  Right?  They have been in preschool for a year and a half and I have been trying to do things at home since even before that.  Journey, my 2 year old, is also in the mix though and she is, well, difficult to keep in one place and content sometimes.  I seem to have tried everything from waiting until Journey goes to bed, but then one of the others is too tired to learn.  I would try while she is awake, different times of the day and on and on.  It was exhausting and I was beginning to have anxiety over homework time, the girls were dreading it and this is the opposite of what I want for them.  I want them to love learning and have fun with it because it is fun to learn, explore and discover our world. 

(Skyla and her classmates learning about bugs on their trip to the Cincinnati Zoo)

Last week I hit my peak of frustrations with this when everyone was leaving school time in tears and aggravation (yes… even me sometimes).  I emailed their teacher to ask for advice.  This amazing woman called me right away and spoke with me about what was going on.  We talked for a while about what we could do, but it was one piece of advice that she gave me that lifted a heavy load off my shoulders.  She said to work with them one at a time and if it doesn’t get done then that is fine.  One at a time?  One at a time!!  I had thought about it before, but I just felt like there wouldn’t be time enough in the day.  I felt like I should be able to do tandem school work while occupying a toddler, making dinner and answering math questions of the first grader.  I should be able to do everything.  The truth is I could push through it, I could do it, but it wasn’t the best thing for the girls. 

That incredible teacher of theirs gave me the one thing I needed, but didn’t realize.  She gave me a breakthrough!  She gave me permission to take time one on one with the girls and give them the individual attention they crave and need.  They are different children after all with different needs, gifts and struggles and I need to address all of them.  That is my job.  I am first and foremost here for them and everything else can wait.  It can. 

In having all of the girls, especially in the world of twins who share everything and have been separated only a handful of times in their lives, it is difficult to individualize them sometimes.  Skyla had so much one on one time and Journey even has some when all of her sisters are at school, but Trinity and Lana have been grouped together since the beginning. 

(Trinity and Lana only a couple of days old)

So, my point in this is… if something isn’t working allow yourself a break.  Allow yourself permission to step back and look at things from an outside perspective and even ask someone else what you could do differently.  I took Lana into the office and worked with only her for a while.  What once was a huge meltdown moments before out in the bustle of the kitchen while trying to get her to make an “a” the right way (which she has done many times and just wouldn’t / couldn’t at the time) was now peaceful time with only mommy in a quiet place where I was not distracted and she wasn’t either.  She did a great job, I was proud of her and she was proud of herself.  That is worth everything. 

It all seems so logical an “of course Nellie!!!  Why did you not think about that?”, but when you have 27 hours worth of things to do in 24 hours and you somehow need to fit in sleep you can loose track of rational thinking sometimes.

I am again excited about our week to come and excited where this can lead my girls in their school work, but also in just having that private time with each of them to explore their little amazing minds. 

What situation in your life might need a second look?  Try asking someone sincerely what you might be able to do differently and maybe you can have a whole new perspective that was right in front of you the whole time, but you just didn’t see it. 

So Thankful On Thanksgiving

It was the day before Thanksgiving.  School was out, the bags were packed, cat sitter was lined up and 6 people and one large dog were cozy in the van and ready for the trek up to Michigan this year. 

This is how Journey rides.  Blanky in one hand listening to her movie.

We arrived in the early evening, saw family, met a new girlfriend (always fun!) had an inflatable bed debacle that is far too long to get into but included four inflatable beds, four sleepy children that needed three of them, one missing air pump, one that my mom ran out for but we didn’t have batteries required, one pump borrowed from our neighbors that held a charge for about 5 seconds (literally), one very winded daddy after self inflating one of them and a partridge in a pair tree!  But, there were many laughs and memories made in the hours long process. 

This was taken at about midnight one night in a dark room.  The flash didn't even stir her, but she was so cute all balled up on her pillow!

My family heads to Frankenmuth MI for our Thanksgiving feast.  We get there early, wait in line and then feast on four courses of deliciousness served by a staff adorned in pioneer clothes and accessories.  It is Thanksgiving tradition in Michigan. 

Waiting in the long line!

My brother with his nieces.  I spent more time with my brother on this trip than I have the last ten years combined.  It was great to spend time with him, get to know him a bit better.

Journey is finishing up the ice cream at the end.  I am pretty sure it was her favorite part.

Lana, Skyla and Trinity eating up their ice cream.

My parents (pictured here), us, my brother and his girlfriend and my sister made a party of 11 this year. 

It was a great time and I am so thankful for so many people and things in my life today.  But wait!  There is more! 

This Thanksgiving I was given a very special gift.  I was given time with someone I love and have missed greatly.  When I was only a year old my dad passed away as a result of a terrible accident.  We stayed in contact with my dad’s family for a while, but then when I was around 7 years old my grandparents moved down to Florida along with my aunt and two uncles.  I had another uncle and aunt that lived in northern Michigan, but we hardly ever saw them before and then not at all after.  Over the years I haven’t seen much of my dad’s side of the family.  A random drop-in the summer I was 16 years old and then my aunt and uncle from Michigan came to our wedding.  I have talked with my grandma on the phone over the years and she was always SO positive and loving.  I honestly haven’t heard anyone tell me that they love me and how proud they are of me so many times as when I would talk to her.  My grandpa on that side passed about five years ago.  I kept trying to get down to Florida to see them all, but things would get in the way.  I was usually pregnant, or we couldn’t afford the trip, we were moving or we had little babies.  It was always something.

Through the awesome powers of Facebook I have been able to reconnect with family and found that my Grandma was staying up in Michigan.  I knew I was going up for Thanksgiving and wanted to see if it was possible to see her.  Wednesday night, at last minute, I connected with my aunt and uncle and we set up a meeting in Frankenmuth.  I was very nervous and excited to be able to see her after so many years and for her to see her great grandchildren. 

I caught up with my Uncle after we ate our Thanksgiving meal and then he brought me to my grandma.  She looks nothing like she used to, her mind isn’t sharp and she stays in her wheelchair these days.  But, when I saw her it was comfort that hit me.  She smiled brilliantly and looked in my eyes and said “I love you”.    

She was so tender and happy.

Grandma with all the girls

For 86 years old she still has a sparkle in her smile that is magical to be around.  We all talked for a while and grandma was very interested in the children.  She loved to watch them play and she wanted to hold my hand.  It was such a blessing to see her and the others.



She loved being with the girls

My Grandma

The girls did so well being patient while I visited.

I got to hear about all my cousins and their children and even those down in Florida.  Grandma is staying in Michigan now permanently.  I am hoping to see more of that side of my family in the times to come.  I have really missed them all over the years and it was just amazing to see some of them again… especially my grandma.



Time for goodbye

BIG hugs!

We said our goodbyes and walked around the very cute town, did some shopping, looked at the horses and went back to the house.  The rest of the days and nights of our stay passed and then we were on the road again only to turn around and go back up in three weeks for a couple days of Christmas celebration.  Ahhh...  the holidays!

The girls watched a special show and had their popcorn balls as a snack... BIG mistake.  We will never again be getting brightly candy coated popcorn balls.  They were hard as a rock and made a huge mess!)

Grandpa and the girls made some cookies on our last day as a fun snack.

So... though the travel is long and complicated, the air beds are tricky, the popcorn balls are a hot mess and the stench of family drama can be sour there are always things to be Thankful for.  I hope you enjoyed a beautiful holiday with those you love.