Today was an awesome day. I have talked with several people recently about how my kids are amazingly overwhelming. They overwhelm me, and I often think they must seriously overwhelm other people on a constant basis. They are continually feeding off each others energy... and they get so wound up so fast. Marek has a new (well, maybe it's just now getting incredibly annoying) extremely high-pitched girly scream. People always think it was Marek, but he can out scream her anytime now.

In the last few days Evan and I have looked at each other, I can't tell you how many times we say WHAT have we done WRONG. How did we get to this point? It's not like we don't discipline, or we don't give time outs, or give spanking after they have been warned repeatedly and in time out, or like we haven't lay down the rules, or anything like that. Perhaps people without kids (who don't really understand, even if they think they do) think that we have spoiled ungrateful kids.... but honestly I am not as worried about what other's think as worried about them turning into these two hellions that we can't control ourselves. So, anyway, I was relieved after a recent conversation that led to a more experienced older parent saying that he still asks himself everyday "where did I go wrong" even though his children are from age 9-18. At least I am not the only one.

This morning I woke up with a new attitude. We had things that we wanted to do, and I made absolutely certain that there was no question in the kids' minds.... if we don't work together to accomplish what we NEED to get done, to finish our chores, then we will not do the fun thing that we have planned for later. So today, we had a playdate planned after lunch with Christiana at Plow Creek. I am sure that I was more excited than anyone, because I just adore her (and her kids of course) but the kids were not privy to the information... because all I said was that we had a playdate and I wasn't telling them where until we were almost there.

So, believe it or not, they got dressed and brushed their teeth and we got hair all done and had blueberry pancakes and strawberries with orange juice, and then we went ahead and picked up the playroom and the bedroom. Actually THEY cleaned both rooms and made their beds. Then we went outside and took the chickens out. We put everything back "out" in the yard... (after Evan mows, all the toys are stacked up on the sidewalk and we have to put all the toys back.) and the kids played while I started working outside. I planted all but one last square of the garden, (I had 5 left) adding Pickling Cucumbers, Lavender, and Sweet Mint. Now I have ONE Square left. What to plant, what to plant. So anyway, I planted in the garden, added a perennial to the "new" triangle garden in front of the fence, and then hung out a load of clothes. Then I sold $15 worth of goodies from my "sale" tote and made the kids lunch before we took off to go to our playdate. So, a very successful morning.

The realization that I came to? I am a drill sergeant. At toddler boot camp. They have attitudes, and they have their own opinions, and it is my job to keep them on track, and perhaps in some ways to break them down in order to build them up. Being a drill sergeant is QUITE exhausting. From afar, a military drill sergeant's job looks cushy... but it must be EXHAUSTING. I know I am exhausted. Constantly trying to keep them on task. And you need to know, I am not that strict. My house is not immaculate. (FAR from it) But when I ask you to put your sopping wet stinky pee loaded PULL UP in the "diaper chomper" (code for Diaper Genie) please do not repeatedly leave it on the bathroom floor. I will tell Ardyn TWICE a DAY to put a pull-up where it goes. It frustrates me. Just the repeated keeping her on task, and Marek by association, is exhausting. And now there is the screaming fighting arguing over toys thing. But that's to be expected I guess. So, I guess I have to just come to the realization that I will have to be a drill sergeant. And hope that I continue to have enough energy to keep up with them.

Now, Plow Creek was awesome, and Christiana is great. I feel like we have such similarities, especially in our interests and sense of humor, that I really like being able to just hang out with her and watch our kids go batty. Today they played in the house for quite a while. Then they wanted to go outside and it was a GORGEOUS day. We looked at the goslings, and the goats, and the scottish highland cattle across the pasture in the shade. Then we checked out the CSA garden, which was so cool, and right next the Christiana's house and yard. Their rhubarb patch is of course larger than my entire garden. It reminds me of Rhubarb at grandma's growing up on our farm. The best part was (even though it was WORK!) hiking up the hill. The coolest "cow path" (in my terminology) that had been compacted and had some pea gravel packed in. Then as you ascended the hill, the railroad ties set into the dirt for steps. it was narrow but beautiful and the kids were thrilled. I got a good workout (good news, my ankle did well) and at the top of the hill was the actual "community" with the pretty houses and the gorgeous grapevines and more chickens, and the community/church building, and the playground that the kids were entertained with for the afternoon. The trip back down was necessary when the kids started to get tired, and Ardyn tripped in the gravel at the top of the hill and had a meltdown over a scraped knee. Then we got about 5 steps down the hill and Marek said "Hold me." and so I carried him down, which ended up being easier because he was having a hard time going down the steps without being on his hands and knees.

Then we had to take off and head to Wal-mart because we had been without milk for longer than any good mamma would actually disclose. When we GOT to walmart Marek started having a massive meltdown right away "I don't WANT to go to Wal-Mart" and then the read faced screaming crocodile streaming tears began. He wouldn't stand, wouldn't walk, and I was like oh boy, here we go. I tried explaining, but he was too tired to be explained to. I ended up grabbing the babyhawk, and strapping him in, giving him a sucker, and Ardyn and I walked through the outside garden center in an attempt to calm him. This did not work, and then of course every person on the planet who doesn't understand babywearing, or shopping with a 2 year old, looks at me like I am the crazy hippy mamma strapping her kid in when he just so OBVIOUSLY wants to walk. So I ignored all their stares and marched through the inside garden center and then into the store with him still screaming. Eventually I got him to eat the sucker. When the sucker was done, he was about passed out, and he did pass out COLD and slept through the entire rest of the store. Ardyn, on the other hand, was exceptionally well behaved and also very helpful, putting things (that I asked her to!) into the cart, and holding the bags for the produce that we picked out, and helping me to put things up on the conveyor at checkout. This was a bonus and she got *squinkies* at her request. I wasn't thrilled at first about having to BUY her something to get her to be good, but in the end, she had been SO good and made the trip so much more bearable, I would have bought her more than squinkies if I had to :)

Meagan

Wonderful Day

What a wonderful beautiful day! Yay for spring weather! I am writing this post from MIL's iPad. She dropped it off and asked me to do a couple of things to it, and i am getting the feel of it. I love it of course, except the auto correct (which I would have to turn off. I am surprised that I am liking the on screen keyboard as much as I am. I can say, however, that I seriously miss the keypad on the righthand side.... I suppose there should be a way to choose a custom keyboard, right??? And what about shift lock?

Is there the ability to have more than one user? Oh the things to figure out.

So this vertigo is bothersome, but not yet completely kicking my ass. I have been doing the exercises when it becomes overwhelming, and am able to manage okay. I have a prescription for Dramamine II. I haven't taken any yet because I am pretty sure it is gonna knock my ass out. Today the kids and i worked in the yard. Basically ignoring the total chaos and turmoil that is inside the house! I spent the morning raking the yard, and then the rake (new last year) snapped in half. The wood handle just snapped clean through. Strange! So i proceeded to sweeping off the patio and sidewalks, clearing the garden off, putting the hose on the sink/reel, and then organizing. I assembled the wheeled deck box that Evan and I bought for our anniversary last August, and put it out front as well. I cleared off last year's growth from the perennials inside the fence and then was feeling worn out so we went to town to get a new rake and pick up my new dramamine prescription. Then we came home and took the cover off the sandbox and I finished raking and picking up the yard.

Grandpa and grandma came to take Ardyn to dance class and Marek and I went to stuff as many outside toys as we could into the back of the van. We got both cozy coupes, the hippo seesaw, one tricycle, the shopping cart, the bubble mower, and the toddler swing. Marek was thrilled! We came. Home again and Marek played with the toys outside while I picked up leaves into trash bags. Evan came home and helped and I was so relieved because I had been doing all this alone today and bending over to pick up leaves repeatedly and then standing. Up again was making me really dizzy and nauseous. We ran to town for supper with Marek. It was nice. He had a lot to say tonight without Ardyn around!

Yesterday when we were at the park swinging, Ardyn got a big smile and looked up at the sky and said "God is so happy to see me today mom! He's smiling down at me with the sunshine!" awwww. Then today she was peeling green moss off the ground in the yard, and sitting in on the seat of the swing. Then she would push the moss on the swing, really high, and it would fall off and she would do it all over again. I asked her what she was doing, and she said I am pushing this moss really high on the swing, trying to send it flying up to God!" wow. I said "but God made that moss here on earth for us, why do you ink he would want it back?" she pondered and decided to keep it here.

Then tonight, On the way home from supper, Marek was singing in the van to himself. This is the first time I have heard him sing. He was singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but he would sing "Twinkle twinkle little star of Jesus." lol. Tonight when i rocked him to sleep he. Said "sing Jesus mommy!" too cute that kid! Both of them actually.

Well, I am gonna catch some Z's and avoid vertigo tonight :) hope you enjoyed these past two days of great weather here in IL or elsewhere! The strawberries are already growing nicely here in the garden!

Pictures speak louder than words... but let's do both!

Oh shit. I do have a blog.

Wow. How long's it been? Let's go check.... well, not as long as I thought. I think. he.

What have I been doing? You know, for the life of me I don't even remember. I think it's that lethal combo of child-rearing and laundry and dishes and well, summer in general.

Evan did get the Square Foot Garden (which I will from this point forward refer to as the SFG as it should be) finished and I then got the garden planted THE very next day. If you are not familiar with the SFG method, you should check out "The All New Square Foot Garden" by Mel Batholomew - just get it from your library or the inter-library loan system. That's what I did, and I loved it so instantly and so thoroughly that I used my swagbucks to get a copy sent to myself immediately from Amazon. Wow. It's so SIMPLE yet so complete and revolutionary. It's easy to start, easy to follow, and I am already so excited!

The signs of spring and soon to be summer are all around! I am really enjoying the new D3000 and the lenses, and am getting some cool pictures of the kids and also some nature here and there. We enjoy time at each set of grandparents, and some of these photos were taken on the farms.
Some days we get pretty ambitions and do things like making double batches of delicious crunchy coleslaw (Ardyn loves to crunch up the ramen noodles in the ziploc) and Ardyn also recently painted a birdhouse and helped me to make Recycled Bugs (from Milk Jugs) similar to (better than?!) those featured on the recent cover of Family Fun Magazine. We put them in the SFG, and they are adorable, except after the first rain the googley eyes slid right off, because I guess Tacky glue is not water resistant :( Oh well. Next we will have to repair them with super glue or hot glue. They are too stinkin cute!
We've really had a great time getting together with friends at the park and for playdates at different houses. There have been lots of great moments and funny "caught on camera" moments... lots of swimming and cozy coupes and sidewalk chalk (more eaten than written with!) and it's only mid-June!
I was pretty impressed this past week, we had a rainy day and it cooled off considerably, so we opened up the house and Ardyn and I baked Tollhouse Cookies. I used a modified recipe, decreasing the sugar and increasing the bown sugar... which makes for a moister and chewier cookies. They are DELICIOUS! So awesome in fact that I have practically eaten a dozen a day. Uh-oh! What was great? Watching Ardyn chop walnuts with an antique chopper like the one we used to "help" my mom with. She was SO excited to chop, but even more excited to stir in the chips and walnuts, and scoop the cookies onto the baking sheet. We used the opportunity to discuss how many cookies we would put on the sheet, and she learned what "a dozen" is. What really floored me? When I asked her to count the cookies, she counted to 13 without even flinching. When did she learn 11, 12, and 13? Something on TV I bet... Dora usually doesn't count that high... but Ardyn learned it somewhere! A Baker's Dozen!
Poor Marek. Right before we went camping (another post altogether!) he had this screaming fit that we unexpectedly tracked to a poopy diaper. And this poopy diaper was like no other poopy diaper.... well, except that it was EXACTLY identical to Ardyn's "allergic reaction to dairy" diapers. I was floored. Complete with burning red bottom that was instantly cracked and bleeding, and a rash that still hasn't completely cleared up- and that happened 15 days ago. He had several diapers that would incite immediate murderous screams... and then he officially went from a "once a day" very solid pooper, to a SEVERAL times a day, very loose diaper, red sore bottom pooper. And it hasn't let up yet. It's gone through several phases, but it still isn't right.

This spring and summer he has had a real issue with drinking standing water. Seriously, I knew that it wasn't GOOD but that kid can find water in the most unexpected places, like the plug in the base of the little tykes basketball hoop... the lid to the sandbox, that compartment in the back of the cozy coupe.... It got so bad that as I was running around the yard emptying all the water, he was running around drinking what he could get to behind my back. It was futile, so I started taking pictures. Over a couple of months, I got quite a few. Between shoving every stick, rock, leaf, and clump of dirt in his mouth, and drinking every bit of water he could find... I just figured it was a boy thing and that I was wasting my time trying to prevent it. My mom, however, made it clear that it was dangerous, that he could get salmonella or eColi, and that I should be parenting instead of taking pictures. Ah. Moms. So... when the whole diarrhea started, I worried that he had something... and the nurses at the pediatrician's office confirmed my worries by giving me an order for stool samples (x3) and specimen jars, and I quote "I am positive that he has some type of parasite. You can not drink standing water without getting something." So. Mom starts to feel like a terrible parent (but still a good photographer, thank GOODNESS!) and starts happily collecting stool samples and running them to the hospital lab. And then, the results came back CLEAR. Yep. No parasite. Not such a bad mamma after all, eh? (seriously, just lucky or mom's intuition?) It's not like he was drinking out of dirty PUDDLES. Just plastic toys that hadn't had the water standing there for more than like 5 hours after the previous night's rain. What I discovered is that not only will he drink from toys, but he prefers to drink out of the pool instead of getting into it, and if I fill the pool or water the plants and get water on the sidewalk... he will crouch down, bend over and drink the water OFF the sidewalk. There really isn't much that will stop him. Now, check out my fab photography skills, which also showcase my terrible parenting skills ;)
Get that Kid a DRINK!!!! So next we will take him back to the allergist to see if we can have him tested for more things (food) that he could possibly be allergic to. I don't want him to have an allergy, but 15 days of unexplained diaper rash and diarrhea that is EXACTLY like Ardyn's has me worried!

Today.... and a Review: Family Tools PEGS system

I love typing when a 1 year old is trying to jam the tines of a fork into the keyboard on my laptop. Fun times. It's kinda like our own version of 5-finger fillet (where you stab the knife on the table between your fingers. Ick.)

It's a little dreary outside, but not really. Basically it's nice, but not sunny. It's only 10:30 though, so that could still change. Yesterday was SUCH a busy day. It was fun, but today I am sore and tired and did I mention SORE?!

We headed to Princeton for lunch at Pizza Hut with my friend Dorene. We used to run the Princeton Computer User group together. But now we both have other interests and commitments and it seems that the group itself is slowing and potentially disbanding. But I still love Dorene and was happy to see her and eat with her. We talked horses and all sorts of other things.
Then we met my friend Stacey to take pics of her tutus and hair clips and dresses, which she sells at Guys and Gals Salon. I had just recently created a Facebook page for Guys and Gals, and Stacey wanted one for Bows by Stacey, so last night I set to work on that. It turned out GREAT (check it out and see what you think!) The fun part about this is that instead of being paid to do things like this, my friends and I swap services. So I get things like free tans, free haircuts, and free bows for doing a little work for my friends to help them out. I don't have any problems promoting their little businesses, because they both do AWESOME work and they re so nice.
Everything Stacey makes is so durable and she has impeccable taste and an eye for color. Kelly is the most awesome hairdresser! She is the only person on the planet that I trust to say "do whatever you want" and it always turns out FABULOUS. I have never been disappointed in a color or cut she has given me.
So after working on Stacey's Facebook photos, the kids and I came home and started working in the yard. Elizabeth and Kelsea and Jadeyn stopped over for a while and the kids played while EK and I chatted. I started dumping all the bags of my square foot garden "soil-less" mixture into the bed. Evan recently started the garden for me, after what seemed like FOREVER of planning and waiting for it. The soil-less mixture consists of 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 compost. Then the compost itself is made up of three "thirds" of different types of compost. I have Mushroom Compost, Manure, and Compost. So that was alot of work to carry, open, pour, and mix 10 cubic feet of planting medium. Ardyn helped by watering it down for me and then I would stir, then she would mist, and I would stir. It went surprisingly well. I did a few things differently than the SFG book recommends, but I wasn't about to mix it on a tarp and drag it over to it's location. Duh. So I just dumped and mixed it in the box, and it turned out great. I would say the consistency is very similar to Jiffy Mix, with compost added :)
Then we watered all our containers and our steppables that we have planted, and Ardyn helped me to plant two windowboxes. I had planned on hanging them under the kitchen windows, and I would be able to see them and enjoy them from the kitchen sink, as well as open the windows and just water them with the sink sprayer.... but I realized late last night that the Pussy Willow Tree is covering half of one of the windows. Doh! So I am not sure what to do about that. It gets trimmed each year, and it hasn't been trimmed this season yet, but I am not sure we can trim it back THAT much without it looking ridiculous, and the last thing I want to do is draw attention to it with a gorgeous flower box!
It's funny, but I feel like we have a sort of "compound" inside our fence. The front yard has everything inside the fence, because then I can work on things with the kids in close proximity, and safe. Inside the fence is the patio furniture, the sandbox, and all their toys, and also the clothesline, the SFGarden, and my composter. It's a little silly to most people I suppose. But it has to be close or I would never be able to get any of these things done with kids around. I have tried to make naptime be the time in which I work on flower beds OUTSIDE of the fence, and it worked well so far, except that the past week and a half I have had so much sinus and allergy stuff going on that all I have wanted to do is nap with them. So I have a ton to do on the east and west sides of the house but haven't gotten to it. I did get all the dead stuff out of the back side and the northwest corner, and filled all that with new mulch, before the sinus crap really started in. That's good. I also got landscape barrier laid on the west side, and Evan mulched it, but there is nothing planted there. I don't even want to think about the status of the pond and the east side of the house.

I do have a good handle on laundry these days, because I got rid of my mesh laundry sorters (I have always hated those stupid things, they fall apart and don't hold enough for this family) and replaced them with white hampers. I saw that they now make "sorting hampers" but they are only $1 less than a regular hamper, and they are much smaller, too small for us. So a couple of weeks ago I bought EIGHT hampers, all rectangular, and labeled each one (sharpie marker on colored index cards, adhered with clear packing tape) and they are working AWESOME. They work great for sorting, and when the load is clean, I can carry it up in it's designated sorting hamper, fold it, and put it away. Of course as I say this I have a hamper of diapers to sort and fold, a hamper of towels and rags to fold, and two baskets of kid clothes to put away. But I do have a good handle on laundry these days. :)
Another thing we have been doing is called P.E.G.S. When at the Hearts at Home Conference, we saw a booth for the Family Tools PEGS system and I was instantly intrigued. For some reason I couldn't get them to give me a PRICE on anything, and a friend said later that perhaps the people working the booth at the time didn't KNOW the price. Well, I found out later that my friend Sarah had purchased one, and she recently started using hers and raved about it. I decided to check it out and we got one too, and I also got the Choose a Chore and the Pick a Privlege Jars also. PEGS stands for Practical Encouragement and Guidance System. Basically you get several sheets of round circular "chips" that have holes in the top, and hang on the pegboard. (which is included in the kit)
There are circles for various chores, including basic things like making beds, brushing teeth and hair, and getting dressed. Because we bought the two-child system, we received duplicates of all these chips. There are then blank chips to make your own chores/responsibilities. You receive "clock" chips which you can customize to have things done by specific times. For example, I have made a "naptime" and a "bedtime" chip, and really no matter what time nap and bedtimes turn out to be, the chips will continue to work for me.

There are also jobs that are considered "household" jobs, and you get one of each of those chips, so that the jobs can be assigned and rotated between siblings as necessary. Things like getting the mail, taking out the trash, recycling, taking care of pets, shaking rugs, setting the table, etc.

Then there are "A B and C" chips. A is for Attitude. B is for Behavior. C is fo Communication. There are Red "NO" chips that are circles with a slash through them, and then there are green "Good" chips. I can use these chips to show how their ABC's have been throughout the day.

Now, let me start by saying that I haven't read the manual yet. Typical me. Start the process however I damn well feel like it. Basically I haven't had the moment's peace to sit down and read it. It's in my "to read" stack. (ugh.) So there are many ways to approach this, some probably better than mine.

For us, I use it to show Ardyn that there are things we are expected to do on a daily basis, WITHOUT ARGUING and WHINING. It's working. She does not cry when I brush her hair. Because she knows that it has to be done. It's routine. The chip is on the board. I had been trying to discuss this with her for MONTHS and it never got through to her that you just have to brush your hair every day. When the board went up.... it was instant. She has learned and added lots of new chores. She sets the table. She picks up her toys. She puts her own shoes away and hangs her coat on the hook designated with her initial. She makes her bed. She puts all her dirty clothes in the hamper. Many of these things happen without prompting. Putting dirty clothes in the hamper and putting shoes in her closet shoe-holder are becoming natural to her, and she automatically does them, most of the time without even being asked or reminded. Sometimes she reminds ME!
It has also made "naptime" or quiet time much nicer, because she knows that she has to first go potty, then climb into her bed. She flips the chips and there are NO arguments. Bedtime is great too.

Now, about the ABC's. Basically if she gets into behavior that starts to head towards a time out, we warn with "do you want a red X?" and she does NOT want one on her pegboard. If she gets a time out, she gets a red X first, in the appropriate ABC category, and then she sits in time out. When she is done with time out, she is very very upset and generally wants to "get that red X off the board" as soon as possible. This is where the "choose a chore" jar comes into play. She picks a chore disk from the jar, and we hang it next to the Red X. (it's not really an X, but that's what we call it.) If the chore can be completed immediately, she usually does. If not, we leave it up there with the Red X until the chore is completed. When the chore is done, we replace the red X with a green circle to show that she has corrected her bad behavior with a chore. These are "additional chores" and she has recently done chores like "disinfect all the doorknobs" and "clean the fronts and tops of the washer and dryer." Another one that was my favorite was "check and fill all hand soap dispensers" which came at just the right time as ours were all empty! She of course feels very important and enjoys it. You should have seen the grin on her face while we filled the soap pumps and she returned them to their designated sink spots. Thrilled. (and mom was thrilled too!)


It helps me to instill responsibility in her. It helps her to realize that she has things that she needs to do in order to be a part of this family and help things run smoothly at home. And it really does take a load off me when I don't have to run around gathering up shoes and coats and toys all day long. She is a big help.

The pick a privlege jar is important, and I feel badly that we haven't used it enough yet. It's got things like "go for ice cream" or "watch a movie" or "paint or color" or "get out the playdoh." These are things that we might do now and then, and it's easy to use them as rewards because she enjoys them so much. There are things like "go for a walk" or "ride your bike" and these are all things she loves to do.

So, the Family Tools system is pretty cool. :) I am loving it. Ardyn calls it the "Keep Mommy Happy Game." And I NEVER said that to her. That's entirely her name for it. LOL.

That's all for now friends. I am sore from all that lifting and squatting and mixing of dirt yesterday. Oy. Off to get a few things done today I guess!