Some Fun Videos

The boys skateboarding



An obstacle course in our backyard



And a fight at the mall

a week in San Jose

Sometimes God has surprises for us.  This week was one of those for me.  We went to San Jose to take part in a seminar on marriage and family.  It was a really special time for Scott and me to take time out and focus on what's really important.  Here are some highlights:

While Scott and I were in class, the kids worked on building a club house.

They found scraps from all the construction going on around the base.

They worked together to build their club.

Phew, it's hard work!

Making music with Scott during a rainy afternoon before dinner.



What joy!  I got to hold my little sleeping Koa through the morning sessions.



 Jack Kody shared about marriage and parenting.

It's been so long since I've been able to just sit and receive, I can't believe this actually worked out!

Jude took time out from playing for a nap with mom, too!

Meanwhile, on Friday the finishing touches were being made.

...and - the club house is finished!

yay!

The boys also had fun on the skateboard ramps each day.

Ezzy skateboarding.

Lemuel thinks my boys are his "primos," - cousins!  So cute!

The best part?  No cooking or cleaning or dishes ALL WEEK!  I love the food on the base!


I think we all needed this more than we knew.

Hermit crabs

Last night as Jude went to bed, he was a hermit crab. He pulled back the covers, burrowed into his hole, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

This morning, I woke up to hear a scurrying in my bed. It was Jude giggling and whispering to himself, then snuggling up against me, I heard his little voice, "And we were hermit crabs..." He was still a hermit crab!

Sometimes it works out like that.

Making a batch of playdoh first thing in the morning = 5 minutes.

Happy playtime for Jude and Ezra = 1 1/2 hours straight. Literally. Yep, it was worth it!


And, by the way, here are a few links that inspired me this week:

I totally related to this post, No More Complaining, "I Feel So Tired."   Tiredness is just a fact of life for me, so I might as well get over it and stop whining about it!

This post, Motivating Learners in Your Homeschool inspired me in my homeschool endeavors. 

And I love the way Misha described motherhood with all it's sacrifice in her article, Enough.  She also has a fantastic booklist of her Recent Favorites.  I added a bunch of these to my amazon wishlist!

And this article, Practicing the Art of Whisper, is just great.

Jennifer is reading Playful Parenting, too! - and has written reviews for chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 so far.

What's going on with Jude?

This is a journal entry from September 10:

Ever since I got back from my trip, Jude has been like a different kid. He's so clingy. He wants me to carry him everywhere and do everything for him. He wants nothing to do with Scott - only mommy. And he keeps shouting for things in a high-pitched, stressed-out voice, "I need JUICE!!" It is so frustrating, irritating, exasperating! I love this boy with all my heart, but I'm at my wits end with him.

Definitely I can see that when I went on that trip it caused some stress in little Jude's life.  Not only did I leave him, I brought the baby with me.  I chose Koa over him.  That's painful.  It's been tough to get that connection back with him.  The hard thing is, I know that what he needs is more connection, but his behavior is causing the opposite to happen.  And with three other children, including a baby, it's really hard to re-connect.  And honestly, I don't even know how to reconnect!

Well, I started reading a new book, Playful Parenting, and I had the breakthrough I've been praying for. I never realized before that play is such a powerful way to connect with our children. 

"Since fun and laughs are the currency of children's play, we may need some work on lightening up a bit.  When we get disconnected from children - and we do, again and again - play is our best bridge back to deep connection with them."

So, yesterday I determined to be more playful and see what would happen.  I needed to go grocery shopping and decided that I would take my little "tiger cubs" shopping.  When I took each one out of the van I gave them a little tug at the back of their necks with my mouth, the way a momma tiger carries her cubs.  Jude's eyes were twinkling.  He thought this was the greatest thing ever. Instead of buying food we were hunting, and our grocery bags were our meat.  The boys helped carry the bags into the car by carrying them in their mouths like little tigers.  It was hysterical.

"When we are exhausted or when we are at the end of our rope, we tend to think that play will be just more of an energy drain.  But when we engage playfully with our children, we find that sudenly we do have the energy, both for fun and for finding creative solutions to thorny problems."

That night Kai, Ezzy and Koa all fell asleep, but Jude was still awake.  This is a situation that could potentially frustrate me, but I decided to keep the playfulness going just to see what would happen.  We started out playing tigers again.  He was the baby tiger, I was the mommy and Scott was the daddy.  Then we were hawks and the daddy hawk taught him how to fly and the mommy hawk fed him some worms.  Then we were hermit crabs.  Again he was the baby and Scott and I were the parents.  We had to hide in our shells a lot.  Next we were bears, but this time he was a "big boy bear."  His voice changed a little bit, he was being more confident and doing more things as a big boy bear.  Then I suggested that the big boy bear was tired.  He went to lay down by Koa, still as the "big boy bear" whispering that the big boy bear wouldn't wake up the baby.

Jude's face as I entered his world of imaginary play was incredible.  Eyes alive, alert, engaged.  Facial expression serious, concentrated, intense, fully engrossed in what he was imagining.  He was seriously happy - like I haven't seen him in quite some time. 

Now today he seems to have a deeper contentment, he seems more brave, more able to risk being a "big boy" and know that I'll be here, buiding trust back with me.

A friend came by who's known to be a big Jude fan.  Since my trip Jude has been very grumpy and mean with this friend who used to be his pal.  Well, today Jude was being friendly, silly and engaging once more.  "Wow, he's getting back to like he was before,"  he said.  Yes, he is.   I think my Jude is back to stay.
 

Counting Blessings on a Monday

198.  A relatively successful church attendance for the family.
199.  The way Kai takes charge and organizes his day, filling it with fun and productive activities.
200.  Play-fighting with lots of laughter.
201.  The silliness of these boys.
202.  Prayers and advice at women's Bible study.
203.  Hide and go seek at the park.
204.  Writing in my journal consistently again.
205.  Your powerful majestic lightning and thunder.
206.  bookshelves
207.  re-arranging furniture.
209.  benadryl
210.  Walking with my neighbor.
212.  My neighbor starting to homeschool.
214.  Provision
215.  rain, rain and more rain.
217.  Our awesome backyard.
219.  Getting our brakes fixed on the car so quickly.
221.  Christians in Jaco.
222.  Our amazing hermit crabs that are somehow still alive.
223.  Never having to even think about trash or stress about dishes because my husband is so on top of it.
225.  Feeling a flow with homeschool.
226.  Finally, a flexible schedule that Kai likes and sticks to.
227.  Little boys washing dishes.
228.  Koa learning to swim.
229.  Finding a little soccer club for Kai and he loves it.
230.  One-on-one time with Jude.

Rainbow Rice

Another Pink and Green Mama Activity!  This one is too fun and easy not to share.  I think this is probably one of the best activities I've done.  

Just put some rice in a ziploc bag.  Add a few squirts of hand sanitizer (or rubbing alcohol will work too) and a few squirts of food coloring.  Squish it all up to dye the rice.

 Here are all our colors drying in their bags.  They dried really fast.

I poured the colors into a clear container, look how cool it looks!

Jude was thrilled with this!

 

Add some toys and get ready for lots of imaginative, sensory play!

Mixing it up is so much fun!

 

Here's a video of Jude playing in the rice.

Fun with food coloring

Just add a few drops of food coloring to water in clear containers.  I gave my kids a couple different kinds of medicine droppers to play with and they had fun for a long time mixing and adding colors.

Ezzy poured the water in containers.

 

Then he added a few drops of food coloring to each one.

Begin mixing with droppers.  Kai played too.

But this activity really captivated Ezzy's (almost 5) attention the longest.

7 quick takes

1. Simplify Saturday This post is great about getting rid of stuff! We're moving in about a month, so I'm working on packing up (again). Also knowing we will probably be moving to a much smaller space I'm trying to get inspired to simplify, simplify, simplify!


2. Evidence that Little Touches Do Mean So Much I'm learning this through my second son, Ezra. I don't know too much about love languages, but I am pretty sure his is touch. He has been a snuggle bug since the day he was born. I can see how much he needs touch during his day - it just seems to reassure him and improve his behavior. I need to be intentional about giving him lots of loving touches.

3. Playing I love this post by Veronica. She talks passionately about the importance of children and how they are often overlooked in society or pushed to the side. Her love for her son and creativity in playing with him is inspirational!


4. I am having trouble getting to sleep at a decent hour. It's like after the kids go to bed I just get this burst of energy and there's so many things I want to do - all the things I can't do when four little ones need me constantly! I know need to start winding myself down earlier and getting a decent sleep. Anyways, I thought this was funny: Assuming God is a morning person and satan is a night owl My husband can testify, I am so not a morning person!!!


5. Carrying my kids This post by Tracie encouraged me to get out my sling and give it another try! I have not been able to get Koa comfortable in any of the various slings I have accumulated, so I put them away for a little bit. Reading this helped me remember how much I enjoyed carrying my other kids around and so I thought I would give it another try!

6. At the Heart of Homeschooling I'm still getting into a groove with this homeschooling business. It's tricky. I feel like I have so much to learn. I really enjoyed this post about having a heart for your children. It's not just for homeschooling moms, but for any parent. She also shares a "View from Down the Road," as her children are in college and she can see positive results of her efforts with her children while they were small.


7. Scott is going to Jaco this weekend with our friend who works in project development. I'm excited for him to go, but boo hoo for me, home alone with the kids :( Luckily a few girls are going to come stay with me, so I think we'll make it a fun time. Here's a video of one of the projects we may work with in Jaco:

A Canon 7D short: El Hueco from gnarly bay productions, Inc. on Vimeo.

more 7 quick takes here.

City Life

Living in a city is not my ideal life. The traffic, the exhaust, the noise, the crowds. It can really start to get to you. Especially with small children I have trouble finding things we can do as a family (without spending money). We found a park near our house a few weeks ago that is truly an oasis from the city and we've been going every Sunday. I'm so glad we've found a family activity that we can all enjoy. I think it's so important that children have a chance to get out in nature and enjoy God's beauty. It's just good for their little bodies and souls to drink in the beauty of creation.

Learning to Enjoy

As I'm starting my 5th week of homeschool, one of the benefits I'm experiencing is a greater enjoyment of my children. So, I've been asking myself why that is and I think these are some reasons.

Starting homeschool and committing to be a full-time mom without any outside commitments has allowed me to focus my energy, gifts, talents - all that I am into this "job." I like Jamie Martin's phrase, "Intentional, professional motherhood." Without other distractions I can completely focus on my children and home and I'm finding this brings a greater sense of enjoyment for me personally. My children aren't in the way of something I'm trying to do - they ARE what I'm trying to do! It's much more fun that way.

making brownies

paint with water

a homemade volcano

This focus leads to the next benefit - an increased closeness with my children. Spending all this quality time together, I find I'm learning new things about each one. I'm getting to know them in ways I didn't before. And as I get to know them and gain a greater understanding of their personality and character I find I'm enjoying them so much more. They make me laugh and I actually have fun with them. Isn't it true the people you have the most fun with generally are the people you know the best that you've spent a lot of time with? I'm finding it's true with my children too!

Learning together with my kids is also something I'm finding I really enjoy! Allowing that natural curiosity to lead and discover new things creates a bond and a closeness that feels really good. It helps me to delight in my children.

water color play
more color play

Finally, something recently that has caused me to enjoy my kids more is the death of our over-used portable DVD player. This was a week without any visual entertainment. It took a little time to adjust, but we have read way more books, the boys have played together more and I've gotten more creative. All these things lead to a great enjoyment of my children.

homemade dough and dinosaur fun

I think that if I'm honest, I would say that enjoying my kids i s not what comes naturally. My natural tendency is to feel frustrated, irritated, even angry and overwhelmed. But, I'm learning there are things I can do to help me not just "survive" these days of small children, but to truly enjoy them. I want to live with no regrets and also hopefully lay a foundation for positive relationships into the teen and adult years.

I had some reservations writing this post, because I don't want to sound like I have it all together or things are perfect - far from it! I'm not saying everything is a joy and delight. But I am saying I have an increased enjoyment, for these reasons, and I'm so thankful for it. I'm also not saying these are the only ways to enjoy your children, I'm just sharing what I'm experiencing right now and I'm loving it.

"twinkle twinkle" recorded by Kai

What about you? What are things that increase your enjoyment of your children? I'd love to hear from you!