Life Updates

    Well, hello blog world! A world I haven't been a part of in so many years. This was a world I was into for so long and loved writing and reading. But, then kids happened. It's funny how quickly they take up all my time. It seems I have very little to no time to myself. And, when I do have that precious allotted time, I tend to squander it, panicking about how to use it that it's pretty much gone once I've finally made my mind up. Do I clean up and organize a room? Do I read? Do I write? Do I do some crystal painting? Do I bake something? Do I try to do a little bit of everything? Yes! 

    Obviously, since it's been so long, I'll give some updates on where we're at and what we're up to. We are still here in Texas, and it'll be 9 years this summer since we've moved here. We've had a couple more babies since settling here. Atticus is 5 and Magnolia is 2. Atticus is a sweet, funny, smart, quiet, gentle, but also fiercely protective of his family and loves wrestling. He is cautious and careful and usually likes to know what is going to happen before he commits to something. He will sit for hours playing legos and creatively builds anything he can think of.

    Magnolia is sassy, strong, tough, feisty, funny, smart, fearless and loves to fight. She is a troublemaker and gets into everything, even things she knows she shouldn't. She can keep up with all her siblings and hates to be left out. She is very vocal over what she wants and gets angry if she can't get her way. She never stops unless she is asleep, otherwise, she is always moving, always climbing, always jumping. She keeps us on our toes. 

    Our other big kids are just that; big. Sahara will be 16 next month. Isla is 13 and Lyon is 11. All growing up without permission. Parenting is very different with grown kids. There's almost a tangible feeling of the umbilical cord being stretched as they get older and needing to have more space and more responsibility. It was a strange feeling of trying to figure out how to change my parenting styles to suit each one according to their ages as well as personalities. I find I'm still changing and definitely finding better ways and worse ways of parenting. :)

     I homeschool/hybrid school them all. It's not always roses and many times wish I didn't have to do as much, but right now, it's what is best for them and I'm able to, so that's what we do. Some days are easier than others. Therefore, my days mostly consist of schoolwork, cleaning and cooking, and getting kids to where they need to be. This could be a nightmarish life to some, but considering I'm a introvert and somewhat shy, this works well for me! Haha.

    Although, I have much more to say and update, I don't have the time right now since it's supper time, but I'll do my best to get back here in a couple days and finish up this surface stuff so I can start diving deeper into my thoughts. Bye!

Changes and updates

It's been a long time and I feel like a stranger on this blog as I write this. So much has changed in our lives. We are now living in Texas and Ja is working hard to earn his PhD. Meanwhile, I am homeschooling the kids for a third year in a row. I enjoy having them home with me and watching them learn. Some days are harder than others, but we just try to modify those days so no one is pulling their hair out! The girls are signed up for swimming lessons that begin tomorrow, and they can't wait to begin. They also have started Awanas and are liking that. I'm hoping they can make friends through these clubs, since we don't know anyone down here.

I really am enjoying it, here in Texas. It's sunny and hot and we spend time at the pool almost every day. There are palm trees everywhere and it truly feels like we are on vacation all the time. 

Although we enjoy Texas, it is so hard being away from family and friends. It can get lonely. It's helpful that Ja isn't at school all day every day, so we are able to do fun things throughout the week as a family. But, we are crossing our fingers that some of our family/friends will move down here soon!

Swimming at our apartment pool

These two are best friends. We walked out of church and when I looked behind, they were holding hands and chatting.

How Lyon watches TV. 😂

My sweet goofs

Oh Isla

Not sure how I let so many days go by without posting. My days seem to fly and run all together with me just barely hanging on and breathing. Always trying to catch up on something; laundry, homeschooling, cleaning, grocery shopping. It's all for the birds! But, tonight, I'm here. For a brief moment. With just a couple funny stories for you to giggle or wet your pants over. Whatever works for you!
Earlier today my two littles were fighting over a small notebook with spiderman on it. It is Isla's and Lyon would come and grab it, which would make Isla scream, "noooooooooo!" And this would make Lyon scream back, "miiiinnnnee!" After several attempts to smooth things over between the two of them, I finally told Isla to simply use her words. After a moment of silence I hear, "I don't love you, Baby Brother." Apparently I need to specify which words she should use!
And, later this evening while driving home, Isla is speaking a mile a minute. Literally does not stop talking for a full ten minutes. Finally she says, "Mom, I had a booger." I say, "you have a booger?" She replies, "no, I had a booger, but I got it out with my finger and didn't put it in my mouth! I put it on Baby Brother's carseat!" And what came out of my mouth after this statement is something I never thought I would respond with, "I'm so proud of you!" How low our expectations become when we have small children!

Oh Hello...

How long has it been since I have updated? Much too long! We are still alive, still outgrowing this tiny house we live in, and still so busy that all I want to do in my free time is sleep and watch the tv while my brain turns to mush. Having three small children is like owning a circus. Only, there is no money being made even if we make the largest spectacle out in public. Which we do. Every time we leave the house. 

We decided last weekend to make a trip to the mall as a family to do some school clothes shopping. Even though I am homeschooling the girls again this year, we do everything as if they were going to a public school. I went into the changing room with all the clowns kids while Ja exchanged a couple of things. While in the changing room I hear Sahara say, "Mom! Isla is picking things up off the ground!" This is not surprising in any way. Isla is forever picking up disgusting things off the ground, despite me lecturing her how gross it is, germs, blah blah blah. Nor is it surprising that Sahara is tattling. That is the story of my life right now. Anyways, I say, "Isla, don't pick things up off the ground. It's gross." Next I hear Sahara begin to teach Isla what exactly she picked up. "You know what that is, don't you, Isla? It's a booby strap holder." It was in fact, a strap to a bikini. I tried to explain to them what it was, but by that time, they were both laughing hysterically that the word, booby was just said. And, was continued to be said by the both of them for the next five minutes. "Booby!" (insert wild laughter). "Booby! Booby! Booby!" (insert more wild laughter). By this time, I had tried to hush them, to speak like ladies, to be polite, etc...but then, Lyon began to repeat his sisters and this only fueled the riotous laughter. This was when I gave up and began to laugh. I couldn't help it. Sometimes, you just have to laugh when someone says, "booby!"

And because it's been forever, you might have forgotten what we look like, so here's a few photos :)

So this happened! My Mr graduated!!

Daddy and Lyon

Teaching Sahara to play chess

Family pictures from fall 2014! Realized I never posted any. Going to have new ones taken again this fall.

Lyon-Fall 2014

Sahara-Fall 2014

Isla-Fall 2014

Morning snuggles

Hard Questions

Being a mother, I sometimes I get asked strange questions by my children. These don't always get answered, because some of them, I admit, I have never thought about or can even pretend to know the answer to. Some, I hope, are very hypothetical. Like what if a gorilla escaped from the zoo and found our house and knew how to open our window and came inside and found us? Believe it or not, this is a question that is often asked in our home.
Right now, Isla is very obsessed with the idea of bad guys so most questions are therefore posed about bad guys.
This is the string of questions that Isla asked me today. No answers were given in between them since they were spit out one after another without any pauses. "Mama, why do bad guys say, 'apple'?" "Why does Jesus being apples to bad guys?" (not sure what the heck she is talking about). "Why does Uncle Danny work?" "Why do I have diarrhea?" (She doesn't, by the way.)

Guest Post

If you are anything like our family, money does not flow abundantly. I often wish we could just clip it off the tree out back, but unfortunately, I have never found the budding money tree. Budgets are tight, especially with Christmas right around the corner.

My guest is Sage, who offered to help the beautiful readers of this blog save money on phone bills, which are quite ridiculous, if you ask me! I hope these tips can help you save some cash in time for the holidays! Thanks, Sage!

Great Ways To Lower Your Cell Phone Bills:

 

Figuring out ways to lower your monthly bills can be quite a challenge. You have regular, ongoing expenses that eat up your budget, leaving you with little or no money to spend on other things. Bills are going up, and yes, they are staying up. With the rise of the smartphone, cell phone bill is probably becoming the biggest expense you have. Good news is, there are simple ways you can save money on your phone bill.

Ditch the extra features and services:

Review your bill and watch out for features like road side assistance, phone insurance, custom ringtones, horoscope texts, games and other services you might not even know you have. Whether you're accidentally activating them or not, these all add to your monthly phone bill. Sticking to the basic service option is key to receiving a lower bill.

Don't use your cell for directory assistance and toll-free calls:

4-1-1 and 1-800 calls aren't exactly free when you make them from a cellphone. Call 1-800-GOOG-411 or 1-800-free411 instead (these are free services) or if you can, wait till you have access to a landline to make your call.

Get the most out of your minutes:

Minimize your data usage by using free apps and wi-fi whenever you can. Turn off your data connection and use Viber, Skype Mobile, Textfree, Google Voice, and Apple’s FaceTime app.

Shop for a family plan:

You can cut back on your minutes if you get your family and friends to split your plan with you as most providers allow if not free, then lower call rates within a small in-network group.

Pick a plan that is just right for you:

Analyze your usage patterns. If you don't make long distance calls, get a local-only plan. If you text a lot, switch to an unlimited text messaging plan. Better yet, use free apps to send texts like Textfree and Heywire. Also shop around for a plan that allows you to rollover unused minutes from the previous month to the next.

Move your services into one provider:

Bundle your cell phone, landline, cable/satellite, and internet into one plan for the best price.

Snag a discount:

Take advantage of corporate/employee discounts. There are also students and senior discounts, special offers from credit cards, coupons. Or you can take your own initiative and just ask for a better deal.

Go no-contract or prepaid:

How much do you really use your phone? If you only use it for occasional calls or texts, then a prepaid plan may be the most economical option for you. http://www.no-contract-plans.com">No Contract Plans.com

offers free information on various popular no-contract plans, specs, reviews, pros and cons all in one place, so if you’re in the market for a new phone or service plan, you can compare plans and find the one that fits you best at http://www.no-contract-plans.com.

Was there ever a time when mobile phones are considered "non-essentials"? Telephone companies sure take advantage of the fact that cell phones are fast becoming must-have items, what with all their enticing offers and promos, everything just seems to sound too good a deal to pass up. But if you can save a few bucks on your phone bill, wouldn't you like to grab the opportunity to tuck away extra cash for something other than your utility bill?

BIO: A frugal living enthusiast, wife and mother, Sage Harman runs http://www.no-contract-plans.com, a site dedicated to providing free information to consumers trying to find viable no-contract phone and internet plans.

Mommy Successes, Wait, No; Failures, Wait, No, What?

Ever have one of those days where all those lovely mommy ideals, those beautiful successes actually happen, and you suddenly realize that maybe they weren't successes at all? Have any idea what I'm talking about?
Let me back up...

I have been trying to get Isla to be potty trained for months and months. She has had nothing to do with it, until last week. She is now in full time panties mode, except at night. I thought that would be great. And, truly, it is. Really. But, there are some days where I think, oh goodness, I just want to put a diaper back on her! Asking her if she has to go potty every 20 minutes can get old pretty fast. Driving anywhere, being anywhere, I feel like my blood pressure must be through the roof because I'm worried she will have an accident in the middle of home depot or in her Sunday school room, or in the car seat. And, when she does say yes to the most-asked-question of the day, I have seriously .5 seconds to get her to a toilet. This is completely impossible, especially when I am trying to hold her hand, hold the baby, holler for Sahara to run, and lug a twenty pound diaper bag filled with four hundred pairs of panties and sixty different outfits for each child. Like I said, impossible. At home, it's a bit better, but why is it that she has to go as soon as I sit down to feed the baby? And, as much as the tiny potty has helped her start her potty training, it's no good when she decides to dump the contents of it, herself into the big potty. Gets kinda messy, if you know what I mean. See, success=fail.

Another example? Finally painting the laundry room that has needed a coat of paint for three years. How can this be a fail, you ask? Easy. The house that you stayed up til 2am cleaning, (because, let's face it, that's the only time you have to actually get any cleaning done, with the satisfaction of keeping it clean for more than thirty minutes, and waking up to a clean home, which, I don't know about you, but my mood is completely based upon the cleanliness/filthiness of my home), is a complete disaster, because you spent three hours painting, not going right behind the children and putting everything back after they play with it for five minutes. Success=fail.

Or, when I decided that I really needed to start pumping and keeping bags of milk in the freezer in case we spontaneously wanted to go out on a date, (this only happens probably three times a year-that's when I've lost my mind, and Ja notices that I might eat one of the children if I don't get alone time). Or, I think I need some milk frozen in case something happens to one of the girls so that I can't be with the baby for a few hours. Or, God forbid something happens to me that I can't feed him anymore-is it just me that thinks these horrible scenarios, or is that every mother that suddenly realizes that horrible things happen all the time and we must prepare for every imaginable thing that might occur, most likely, never? So, I pump and pump and build up quite a supply, feel great about the mother that I am, and then when I go to give him a bottle, I realize he doesn't know how to take a bottle. He hates it, screams, can't figure out how to get the milk out, gets frustrated, and now I have a ton of milk and will have to either teach him how to suck on a bottle, or use it all on baby oatmeal. Success=fail.

One last success, fail. Whatever you want to call it. A haircut. Yep, finally spent money on my hair, thinking that it would make me feel so much better as a mother, wife, woman. It turned out great. Looks good. Success, right? Wrong. Realized that it still has to go up in a bun or it gets ripped out by tiny fingers on a very cute baby. Having hair wrapped around a baby finger is something that every mother dreads. Who wants to tell their child that their finger had to be cut off because your hair cut off the circulation to it? Plus, it hurts like the dickens when a full handful of hair gets ripped out of your head. It hurts and the number of bald spots I now have, is quite embarrassing. So up in a messy bun, it goes. Success=fail.

Next success/fail that I fear is coming soon: Sahara learning how to read, and then realizing just how many parts of a book I skip at bedtime. Now tell me, it's not just me, right?