The Start of My Week

I realized that I had gotten away from posting weekly updates on what we've done & accomplished so I thought today would be a good time to do an update of at least the last two days.

My hubby, his dad, his brother, & his BIL (his sister's brother) as well as our oldest son were all going to go shopping at Kittery Trading Post. My hubby has been saving for a while & slowly gathering supplies so he can begin reloading bullets & he wanted to buy a musket-loader rifle. Well, plans were changed last minute. My hubby & son still ended up going out together which was some good father-son time. They went out to eat at B's favorite place - "Old McDonald's" as he still calls it & then off to see the movie Happy Feet. B loved it. Hubby said it was more my speed than his.

That left me home with the other two so we headed off to church. We started attending a new one which we're really liking. It's actually the same church that our boys go to for Awana so we know some of the parents & kids already. Then on the first day there my hubby ran in to (well, not literally...) some old friends from high school so that was neat too. J loves playing in the nursery & I like that they have a 2 & 3 year old nursery for him. N endures sitting with me until he can go down for Children's Church - which he likes. I think he liked the 7Up he got this week more since we don't allow soda for kids in the house. :-)

When I left I decided to get some take-out for myself so I wouldn't have to cook. I ended up with a pizza. We came home & had lunch. J went down for his nap & I played on the computer while N watched a new Little Einstein video we got through NetFlix. He was thrilled as one episode had a train in it.

So the background....Just a small bit but I guess I'm feeling long winded tonight. :-)

I was reading the Sunday paper when I saw an article about a thrift store in a nearby town. They just built a new 6,000 square foot one that opened today. All of the merchandise left in their old store was 75% off so they wouldn't have to move it.

A bit more background as to why this peaked my interest.... About four or five years ago I began thinking about wearing dresses/skirts more often - moving towards exclusively. I tried it for a bit but did it in the winter with just nylons & tights. I was so cold I gave up. However, over the years I keep coming back to this.

I live in a house with all boys/men. There is a LOT of testosterone floating around here. Anytime I wore a dress/skirt, N would always tell me how pretty/beautiful I was. I also now have some leggings to wear underneath so that is helping with the cold issue. I seem to always decide to try this in the WINTER!

About two weeks ago I was visiting with another homeschool Mom & she told me that her two daughters just asked to go to just wearing skirts/dresses & she had been thinking the same thing. So in talking about we decided to go shopping.

Phew - long story - sorry. ;-)

So that was why I was excited about the sale & the new opening of the thrift store. We had originally planned to go to a Goodwill in a city 45 minutes away, but those planned fell through. So I called her last night & suggested we try this store today.

I had posted a while about about some changes we wanted to make in our family & this morning we implemented some more. I got up at 5:45. Now this is huge. I am SO not a morning person. Given the opportunity I would stay up until about 2am, sleep until about 9am & go happily about my day. However, I have three children who ARE morning people & a hubby who is one by necessity due to his job. My hubby mentioned a few weeks ago that if I were to get up & make breakfast for everyone in the morning, he would stay to eat with us. Normally I toss either granola bars/cereal bars or Pop-Tarts at the kids & call it good. :-) Hey, I never claimed to be "Mother of the Year!" This morning I got up early & made Cinnamon Toast Breakfast Cake. All the kids tried it (a new food!!!) and they all gave it "2 thumbs up!" This is huge for here. Daddy, unfortunately, did not leave enough time to join us so he had to eat his during his commute but also gave it a "make again" nod.

I then did a one mile walking tape (yeah for me!) & hit the shower. We headed out to meet our friends at 9am. Our first stop was the old thrift store. It been pretty well picked over & I didn't find much for myself. I did get two fleece vests for my two oldest, two books, a video, & a ABC bingo game - all for less than $5 - my kind of sale! I know that my friend & her girls had a much bigger armload! :-) Over at the new store I was able to find two skirts & one jumper. I'm happy to announce they are ALL denim. LOL In fact, the jumper has a teacher theme stitched on the front!

horribly. It was already around 11am when we did this & he normally goes down around noon. We were 45 minutes from home so I knew he'd sleep that & be good to go for the From there I headed to Wal-Mart to do our grocery shopping. This was pushing J's nap timeafternoon. We managed to get through the store relatively well. I even treated them to lunch at "Old McDonald's" (two days in a room for B I just realized!!). Sure enough, before we even left the town, J was sound asleep & zonked for the whole ride home. B even fell asleep! N was the only one to stay awake the whole way.

The "trying new food" thing didn't last the day though. We had chicken, couscous, & corn for dinner. N & B ended up in bed at 7pm since they wouldn't eat it. We did manage to get them to try one bite of each food. They even said they LIKED the chicken & N liked the corn - but they refused to eat more than the one bit. Oh well! I think they will be pretty hungry coming breakfast though. Not sure what I'll make tomorrow. I'm thinking dough boys.

We took the afternoon off. Tomorrow I head to my sister's for a few days (my BIL is having radiation surgery on a brain tumor that has recurred so please be in prayer for him on Thursday). I'm thinking of taking the whole week off & just either "unschooling" or taking the time to plan next year's curriculum. I guess we'll have to see what I decide to do tomorrow morning.

eBay issue solved & other stuff from my day

I managed to stuff the backpack in to the box my dh brought home last night. Phew! It took five paper grocery bags to wrap it up in. It was a paper shredder box & had graphics all over it. I think I used about 1/2 a roll of packing tape. I used Paypal to print my label. I packed up the boys & we headed out. It had been icy in the early morning but had warmed up enough so the roads were clear. I had some books on tape from the library so they were all relatively happy in the drive. J was getting tired & dozed some on the ride. My PO is about a 15 minute - in the next town. My town is too small to have one.

From there we went to the next town over & I returned a bunch of bottles. That got me $5 - sweet. N came & helped me bring them all in to the redemption center. He loves to help.

I woke this morning with a cold. Ugh! My dh thought he had to share I guess. I've been taking remedies all day (homeopathic) & it's helping. My sore throat is gone & my nose isn't dripping any more. Oddly enough my foot has been cramping a lot today. It's the same one I sprained this summer so I started taking the remedy for that too. Hopefully that will work. Otherwise I'll try to figure out a different one.

While out & about J decided to fall asleep. That meant when we got home - at his nap time - he didn't want his nap. I let him stay up & play. I fed them all lunch. Then I printed out my eBay information to add to my database. At which point I realized the winner of the auction had bought insurance. I didn't realize it & never put it on the package. [sigh] I called the post office after they reopened (they close for an hour at lunchtime). I headed back down & added the insurance. I seem to have one auction every so often that gives me a lot of headaches. This seems to be the one at this point. But it is now all set & ready to go.

I sent the two older ones to their rooms for quiet time. Then I curled up on the couch with J. That was a nice nap - except for the constant questioning from the two older ones. I think I need to define "quite time" a bit better then next time we do that. The phone rang at 4pm & I ignored it since J was still sleeping & I was so comfy. Then my answering machine kicked in & it was a woman wanting to book a wedding. Yippee!!! I have a small photography business. When my sister & I do craft fairs I bring my portfolio. She had talked to me at the last one. She called today to book & ask some questions. I'm psyched! They are a lot of work & slightly nerve wracking - until I get the photos back (remember I still use regular film), but it is fun. My sister works with me at the wedding to get the photos & she's a big help there. We are doing another craft fair on Saturday & I'm praying it goes REALLY well this time.

I made pasta for dinner. J loves it. N & B do not - this is part of their whole eating issues. We were able to get N to eat two pieces (I made rotini & elbows with sauce) & B ate one. N said they were good but wouldn't eat more. No Popsicle then. We are making slow progress on this thing. I have to keep looking at the final goal to stay strong.

This is how my boys ended the night - on the couch watching America's Funniest Home Videos.

eBay help!!

Just when I think I have the whole eBay thing figured out, I get stumped. I've been selling (and buying) since August of 2005. I thought I knew most of the in's & out's. However, I did one of my cardinal 'no-no's' this past week.....I listed a large item without having a box for it!!! Ugh!

I sold our L.L. Bean baby backpack - since my "baby" turns 3 in January! The auction closed on Sunday. I like having my auctions mailed out ASAP so that the person gets what they bought in a timely matter AND (more importantly) it's no longer cluttering up my trailer! However, I do NOT have any reasonable box for this thing anywhere.

My dh brought a box home from work today - it was about 2-3 inches too short lengthwise. I tried one on Monday that his grandpa had - too shallow by a good five inches. I tried making a box out of cut-up priority mail boxes today. Not good. I finally called my dad tonight - the man who can find anything - and gave him the dimensions I need. He thinks he has one for me. If he does, I have to drive over there tomorrow to get it - an hour one way. I'm figuring I'll be making NO money on this thing at all!!!!

In case you are wondering, it's about 40 inches long, 20 inches high & 20 inches wide. Any ideas???

PS: I retried the box my dh brought home & it worked!!! It bulged just a bit on the end. So that is out in the mail!!! Except I just realized they wanted insurance on it & I didn't add that so I'll have to call the PO when it opens again in 30 minutes. I may have to make another trip out to add that. I'm kicking myself since it would have been free if I had done it through PayPal the first time around. Oh well!

Ordinary Days

Today was one of those nice ordinary days. Nothing special happened. Lots of noise occurred. Happy children abounded - for the most part. I didn't blow my cool too often. It was nice. [big grin!]

I have to brag about my oldest son for a bit. B is ten. Some days he acts it & most he doesn't. I say this in a loving manner. His age seems to mean his brain shuts off on occasion. However, he showed amazing maturity today - at least I think so.

We have been working on the extreme picky eating behavior of our two oldest boys now for about a month. VERY slow progress is being made. A happy occasion occurred last Friday when our last hold out on pizza - yes, pizza! - finally succumbed (with a lot of help from Mom & Grammy!) to trying it. N screamed he would not eat it & then (once it was in his mouth & he chewed) deemed it "good!" It was pretty funny to see.

However, I'm digressing. Last night I made homemade beef stew & homemade bread (whole wheat) for dinner. Our new rule is they have to try what we have as a family dinner or no dinner. We never used to eat a family dinner. I would make the boys a separate meal early (around 5pm) & then something else for my dh & myself. We decided to change that (something my dh has been wanting me to do for a long time) and so they have been going to bed hungry on more than one occasion. Their appetites in the A.M. are pretty amazing. [big grin!] So last night we wanted each of the other boys to try one small bite of carrot. I'm talking a third of a baby carrot. It was tiny! N managed it okay. B outright refused. Then we saw J (who is 2) copying what B had done (covering mouth, shaking head 'no', etc.) and J is our best eater! DH decided that as a punishment B could not watch any TV or play on the PC today.

My boys don't watch TV all day - obviously - we do have school time. [grin] But I do let them watch for about an hour or so in the morning - while I'm waking up & again at lunchtime & then in the evenings. I had completely forgotten about dh telling B no TV. At one point I had told B to go in the living room as he was underfoot in the kitchen. I had also thought it odd he had sat at the table this am reading a book instead of lounging on the couch. That's when he told me he couldn't. HE had remembered his punishment all on his own.

Yes, he didn't try the food. No matter what our coaxing is like, he still isn't going to do it unless he wants to. However, he took his punishment well. He even did well when dh got home tonight & the rest of us where in the living room. I was on the PC. DH & the other two boys were watching America's Funniest Home Videos - one of B's favorite shows. No complaining. He did good with it. I'm sure he felt some withdrawals from it all, but he did well.

Of course, what he doesn't know is I now realize how much more creative he is without ANY TV at all during the day. More changes will be coming in regards to that! He did his schoolwork easily today in the time I gave him, he read an extra dozen easy reader/picture books & started a drawing notebook. I was certainly happy.

Update on our Changes

Okay, so I posted that we were going to implement changes & we have - to some degree. Do I see huge amazing changes in my kids? No, not yet, but I do see some positive changes. We still need to work on it & will probably always be working on it. Some positives from our week though...

• My oldest son ate pizza tonight for dinner. I think I've mentioned briefly how I have always made one meal for my dh & I & one for the two older boys? The youngest will either eat what my hubby & I eat or what the older ones eat. He is SO not picky at all! My dh has been after me for a LONG time to stop this practice & we finally implemented it this week. Twice now they have had to eat what we eat. Tonight - for the first time - B tried & kind of liked pizza. I made it with a very thin crust, very little sauce, & lots of cheese! I WISH I had videotaped him eating it! I seriously think we could have won $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos! However, after eating half of it he declared it "tasted weird" & wouldn't finish it. N wouldn't even try it. J LOVES it & ate almost two slices. Previously I was worried about N hurling in the AM - which he has done in the past when he hasn't eaten dinner. He didn't to it earlier in the week so I'm hoping he doesn't do it in the AM either! To me this is a huge change as I'm finally sticking to "the rules" as we have presented them to the boys. I think if N starts to see I mean business, he may start trying more new foods. My next step is to start doing something similar to De'Etta's tickets or beads or something like that for them. (thanks for that idea De'Etta!!!).
  
• I'm getting TONS less whining & vocals from B, my oldest, when I ask him/tell him to do something for me. He hasn't stopped it totally but it has definitely lessened in amount.
• I've learned I need to start catching them "doing good" rather than always getting them in the bad moments - again the tickets will come in handy here. I'm thinking that each 10 will equal 10 minutes of computer or video time. They can save up for longer time periods. I'm also going to buy some goodies I think to have on hand - especially for J since he doesn't use the computer yet.
• I'm realizing that I need a good night's sleep to be able to get through the day without loosing it. Of course, I'm still up now at almost 11pm writing on my blog, but tomorrow IS Saturday so no school! :-)

Thanks to everyone for their comments & encouragements. It has helped me a great deal!!!!

Change is in the Air

Fall is such a short-lived season here in the northeast. It's been very windy & cold & rainy over the last few days. In fact, tonight while I was coming home there was even a bit of snow mixed in with the rain. It's so windy that I'll be surprised if we don't loose power tonight. Although, I thought we would have lost it last night as well & we didn't. I did, however, use all the light sticks I had bought yesterday at the dollar store JUST for that purpose last night. Well, it did look pretty in here! Of course, this does mean I have none for tonight! Better dig out the batteries for the flashlights instead.

I actually didn't start writing this post, however, to talk about Maine weather. It's easy enough to do, but that's not my purpose. My purpose is the changes I plan to make with my family & myself. If any of you out there who read my blog have noticed my side bar, you may have seen a lot of parenting/child raising books listed there this month.

This isn't anything new that I have been looking in to. I didn't have black-outs over my eyes, but I did think my kids were slightly better than the average. I've finally realized they aren't. (big grin) I have children who say "no" to me on a daily basis when I ask them to do things, children who whine & scream & cry when they don't get their own way, children who dictate what we eat (or rather what they won't!). I've finally realized that enough is enough. My oldest is 10. I don't have a lot of time left with him at home & of an age where he will willingly take instruction, correction, & rebuking from me & his father.

I'm really liking Reb Bradley's book, Child Training Tips: What I wish I knew when my children were younger. He talks about not allowing children to question (constant "why") your commands. That they should obey on the first time & without question. If they begin to show they can do this, then on occasion you can answer their "why" about it. This hits home for me as I have children who do this on a constant & seemingly endless basis. It can literally make me loose it in about 30 seconds. Which also brings me to another point I just read - you should never have to yell or scream a request in order to get through to them. I seem to also do this quite a bit! (Which is why I am also enjoying Homeschooling With a Meek & Quiet Spirit).

There just seems to me a lot that can be changed right now. The time is ripe for change in our household. I have felt the Lord really working on me over the last year to make changes in my own life as well. I do not have a personal devotion time as I would like. I have felt Him calling me to get up earlier in the morning & go to bed earlier at night - to be able to spend time with my husband. I have felt the need to be a better Mother really hitting home hard lately.

So - the change is coming here at the Berry Patch. In fact, I told my three kiddos tonight that we will be having a meeting in the morning & we will be going over the new house rules & the new way I want them to behave. This will also include our new punishments for not obeying. Now I need to just pray I stay strong about it all and, more importantly, stay consistent.

Please pray for my kiddos, myself, & my hubby. It's certainly going to be an interesting time here in the next few weeks, but I know it will all be worth it at the end.