Peace

This past week was a real downer of a week for me - introvert wise.  I like space and quiet and a bit of peace occasionally, and instead we had a double ear infection with the baby, and very little sleep, and some cranky toddler behavior and not one but THREE days of birthday stuff for the newly five year old.  "I've had too much birthday" he told me yesterday.  So overwhelmed.  We both were, my little mini-me and I.

So it's going to come as no surprise that I'm thrilled that a NEW week has started.  New, without any mistakes in it, and oh, I need a fresh start from the short temper and the stress.  So we're getting back on the horse today with a clean house, because if you're ever in need of a change that will quickly give you a different attitude - I have personally never found a more effective method than cleaning your house.  You wipe up the stickiness and the dust and the popcorn and you are, in fact, wiping your very heart clean.  And there you have it, at the end, a peaceful place.

Peace.  Silence.  Snow falling everywhere.

Oh, and bikes.  Because there was a birthday bike.

Teething

The nine month old is teething HARD and we're all incredibly sleep deprived and staggering around.  Oh, gosh, baby, stop crying and go to sleep.  Last night at some point in between doses of Tylenol and nursing and rocking she cut the tooth through the gums, hallelujah.  Still a temperature and great unhappiness, so we're off to the doctor today.  I'm anticipating the next few meals to be made entirely out of raw vegetables and sliced meat.

Tuesday

Every single Tuesday this happens; we hit the ground running and don't stop until we finally fall, exhausted, into bed.  Except today is even worse, if that's possible, because we're trying desperately to get out of the house and go to the Big City in order to get groceries, buy socks and underwear for the children, and renew our auto club membership.  All of this takes Time, and Time is of the essence here because we've got to be back here by one.  Which is why, if you were to peek in my kitchen right now you'd see me hustling around with a towel on my head, getting the children to eat their Red River cereal with maple syrup and Put On Clothes and pack the diaper bag and and and.

Whew.  Yesterday was a bit of a write-off.  I wanted there to be something I could accomplish but really it was just a day of moving one step forward and two back.  I even got the diapers hung on the line...and then it rained.  So, really, nothing worked out.

Oh, not that's not true.  I did get some work done on my son's new sweater.

Guilt Free Learning Notes

Here's what homeschooling is looking like these days!

With nicer weather coming on we're focusing a lot on getting outside - this winter's cramped indoor lifestyle has weighed heavily on our family, I'm afraid.  We visited a Mennonite farm last week, and this Saturday we have a horse drawn sleigh ride booked and next week, hopefully, a trip to the sugar bush.  We try and incorporate a little lesson, or at least some chatter, into each of these outings.  Nothing crazy intensive.

Closer to home I'm still trying to get the children out every day for some fresh air and exercise, which isn't really *school* per se, but is pretty beneficial.

We're reading aloud quite a bit; the current chapter book is The House At Pooh Corner, and we try and do a chapter a day.  The boy is totally sitting still for it, which is great!  We're also reading a chapter from a first grade A Beka reader, and this is the boy's favourite reading part and my least favourite.  The chapters are small, and are non-fiction and followed by a few questions.  I love the idea of encouraging active listening skills, and non-fiction is really appealing to both of us, but the writing style is just so...boring.  And the topics are boring, too.  I wish there was something cool and neat along the same lines, but we haven't found it yet.

I'm seeing big improvements over how he's forming his letters (so clear!) and the letters he remembers.  His pre-reading is coming along so well I wouldn't be surprised if we were looking at phonics work this September.

Finally, I'm doing my best to maintain the outings we have had over the winter - a Sat. craft day at the library, a library day with storytime on Tuesday, a Bible Club Tuesday night and a Wed. play group.  Lots of interaction with other children.  We're also doing the occasional craft; this week we made sun catchers and boy, was it fun.

Fun stuff

Fun thing coming up - a sleigh ride!  We've invited our friends and congregation to join us on a horse drawn sleigh ride at a nearby farm.  I am really looking forward to it, and then hopefully we'll also get out to the sugar bush this month or the next.  I try not to plan too many activities like this, not just because of the expense but also because they require a lot of planning to achieve, and I have a lot going on (for me, at least).  The thrift store is also putting on a spring fashion show next month that I am in charge of, and we're doing a joint Good Friday service as well.  Lots on the plate.  Despite this, we have had to start looking at our summer plans because they involve a lot of travelling.

The first big trip is a two day drive for David's pastoral meeting and we're all going to go as a family, which should be, um, interesting.  I think we'll break it up with an overnight stay with family who live en route.  I'm actually starting to plan that one because I only have a month and a half before it comes.  I'm getting 'quiet bags' together for the children to keep them occupied in the car, and planning a route and looking at restaurants where the children can eat for free.  It won't be a long trip, 4 or 5 days, but long enough in a small car.

Rough Days, new books, etc.

The dreary weather has just gone on Too Long at this point, and everyone in this house is moping and flopping about trying to stay awake and not snap at each other in utter, utter frustration.

With that pretty picture painted, we had an alright day.  Usually I write in the early morning so this is unusual but we've been so tired in the mornings it just didn't work out.  And I'm actually glad about that because this morning the clouds were heavily dropping sleet and rain and the porch was icy and David had pulled a muscle and the children were fractious.  NOW, on the other hand, the children are eating frozen strawberries like they're going out of style and watching cartoons and the baby is asleep and the sleet has stopped and ALSO, I have frozen pizzas for supper.  All is right with the world.

We painted sun catchers this morning, and went to the library and I put a bare minimum of effort into the house and now I am going to sit and watch cooking shows with a big afghan.

A service day

Although I'd like to think that my husband and I share in all aspects of ministry, really it is him who does the majority of 'church work' and I've slowly developed my own ministries of community outreach.  It's not easy to do this - there are a lot of days when I don't *want* to wash my hair, put on a clean sweater and go outside.  When it's cold and early, or when it's late in the afternoon and I'm tired, or during pregnancy.  I sometimes feel bad that I leave David at home with three grouchy children, or sometimes sick ones.  But we've purposed to make this a priority; I write it in on our schedule and in my own planner so there isn't the option to skip.

So here's what I do - I attend a United church women's coffee hour, and I go to a stitching group.  I think of these as 'non-negotiable ministry opportunities', and my goal is to talk to people, to be seen as a member of the community and to fellowship.  I want the women I meet to recognize me and to know that I am not unapproachable.

David is so supportive of these opportunities and recognizes that they are my way of serving in this season of life.  I can't do evening activities with three small children and I can't travel far or hold a job or volunteer, but I can meet these women where they are and be there for them.

Mild weather

The weather over the past two days has been so blessedly mild that David and the children have cleared off the decks and stairs and made pathways to everything and the roof is pouring melted snow and everything seems fresh.  It's only the middle of March, and what's more I read in the paper the other day  that winter was going to hang on and spring would start late again this year, but I cannot believe it when I look outside.  I even had the window open yesterday.  I might hang up a wash on the clothesline today if I can get to it.

If I can get to it!  Ha!  The list of things to do today is mighty and strong but it will be conquered!  Or possibly not, but then I am determined if THAT happens that I will be peaceful about it all.  Less whining, more doing.

Oh, and I finished knitting my lovely cowl that is mostly wool and thick and beautiful just in time for this nice weather when I can't possibly wear it.  So now it's definitely time to start something light and airy so that winter can return.

Tiny Houses

We've lived in the parsonage for a year and a half.  When we moved here it was a challenge for me; I didn't have any pictures of what the interior looked like, and of course we were moving half a country away and didn't know anyone in this area so it's not like we could call up a friend and ask them to swing by and take a look at the place for us.  I knew it was small, that's about it, although I was told it had a 'good sized' kitchen.

Since we were living in a much larger house at the time, I thought a lot about this - wondering whether we should pay to ship certain items or not, about the cost of replacing an old, beat up sofa with another old, equally beat up sofa, that sort of thing.  I wondered about these things, and we ended up renting a seventeen foot moving truck and somehow fitting a medium sized house into it and travelling two days to here, unloading it, and somehow fitting it inside this very tiny house.

I'm not very good at estimating size, but I would imagine our old house was probably close to 2000 square feet, if you include the basement, and this house is probably 1000 square feet.  Over the time we've been here, we've fit into it pretty comfortably, in fact my husband and I are confident that if we had a small basement, or even a nice, big shed for storage, we could happily say that this house was big enough for a family of five.  

One of my hobbies is wandering around the minimalist blogs and looking at people who fit large families, or any family, really, into tiny little houses.  They have all these fantastic techniques to do it, too and it's really inspirational, but of course we can't use half of them because this house doesn't belong to us and we can't structurally change it, and even if we could it would be too expensive.  But we've reduced a lot of our belongings and that's something you can do with any budget.  Really, though, we've mostly just found ways of storing stuff - under the beds, under the sofa, in every crack available, the stuff that we need to live our lives.

It's unlikely that this will be our last church, and therefore our last parsonage.  There will be other houses to fit five people into, bigger people, and maybe even smaller houses.  I have friends who live with their families in big, beautiful homes with many bedrooms and of course on occasion I wonder what that would be like.  But when I probe that feeling to it's root what I'm really asking for is a place to just tuck all of my stuff out of sight - I have these things, and I don't want to have to look at them, and a big house allows me to own them but also ignore them, while a small house makes me choose.

And on a less philosophical note there are other benefits to a small house.  It's easier to clean, it's harder to lose things in, when my young children go to another room to play I don't need to trail after them because I can hear them just fine from where I am, there are no stairs to gate (a real benefit now that the baby is scooting about).  And there are negatives; if I burn something you can't escape it, there is no privacy, when the cats run about crazily after dark you think it will wake the children.

And I suppose, if push came to shove, and David and I suddenly built a house, we would build a bigger house.  I suppose.  But it would never be as big as the average house size that everyone talks about, the giant (to me) four bedroom monstrosities sitting on suburban lots everywhere.  That's too big for anyone.

Saturday

Saturday in a minister's family is sort of like a combination of the calm before the storm and the running, jumping and falling part of jumping off a diving board.  Everything but hitting the water.  It was really unusual for us, this Saturday, because not only were we not home, which we almost always are on Saturday, but we were at a MOVIE, with only TWO children!  Some friends offered to watch our two year old, and we took the four year old and the baby to the movie The Drop Box, which was, by the way, amazing.  I love documentaries anyway - they're my favourite film genre, and I love something inspirational without being sappy, so it was right up my alley.  And the boy sat so nicely and David and I just switched off who held the baby and bounced in the wings.

Afterwards we picked up some groceries and drove home in a little snowstorm and felt all was right with the world.  Supper is braised pork loin with lots of broth and chili garlic paste and ginger and sesame oil and then these children are going to bed.  Tomorrow is a pancake breakfast at the church, hallelujah, I don't have to make a meal.

Busy

A snowy, wintery day after a few mild ones is such a depressing thought, isn't it?  Here you get all gung-ho, so certain that spring is coming and soon you won't be wrapped from toes to nose every time you go outside, and then along comes winter again.  Sigh.

We're having a busy day - we go to the library on Tuesdays (a dedicated library day has been a lifesaver for me and for our homeschooling) and I have to return books.  Then lunch and stitching group for me, and then home to get ready for a supper at the church, followed by meetings, and then bed.  I won't have a chance to breathe.  My general rule is ONE big thing a day, and I know that doing all of this is going to leave me a bit of a wreck by the end.