2 weeks left!

I need to learn to blog shorter entries -- but do them more often. It's a problem of mine. Once I start "talking" I never seem to stop....

So far September has been a good, but uneventful months...
Thor's new desk, in the front row, of the 5th grade room....


Anika's new desk in the 2nd grade room .... interestingly in the BACK row....

Anika's new discovery... texting.



To be fair -- she only text messages her dad over in WY ... and 99% of the time she says the exact same thing.
"Hi dad. This is Anika. I love you."

:)

Pregnant??

OK -- so I realize being "plus size" and pregnant it isn't always the most obvious thing in the world -- and I'm not offended when people don't recognize immediately that the belly is a baby bump... but at 8 months pregnant... to me, anyway, I think it's looking a little more obvious. Apparently not....

I was at Target the other day picking up a few baby supplies that I had coupons for -- and a couple of baby shower gifts. As I'm in the baby shampoo and lotion isle a young cute VERY pregnant mom and what I'm assuming was her mother came down the isle. They were commenting about too many choices for baby soap, etc. and the "grandma" figure asked me, "is someone you know having a baby soon," as she glanced in my cart full of baby diapers, lotions, soaps, bibs, etc.

I replied "Yes... me."

"oh! When is your due date?"

"The end of September"

"OOH!... (pause) Is this your first baby?"

"No, this is our 4th." (smiling)

"OOOOHHHH... (pause, again) Well then you must know about all this stuff.... " And the grandma proceeded to ask a few questions about what toiletries I preferred, if I had nursed any of my babies; did I have a good experience at the hospital here, etc.

We chatted nicely for a few more minutes. Then she finished with this comment as I was walking away with my cart...

"I should have realized you were pregnant, look at the size of your boobs!"

(really? it was my "boobs" that gave it away???)

This cannot be AUGUST already?!

OK -- so I'm usually the scoffer when it comes to people lamenting time flying too fast -- but I'm just not ready for it to be August yet!!! The kids start school in less than 21 days!

But we have had a great - full summer... Maybe it's the transition from relaxed casual summer days spent by the Sioux Park pool and wandering through Storybook Island to a mom of a 10 yr old who went away to sleep away Bible camp for 5 days, then a day-camp at STARBASE ....

To steal an idea from a good friend... so i don't forget what fun we HAVE been having... this is how the Morrison's squeeze every drop of summer fun we can....

MAY:
Traveled to Rosholt for Graduation party for Abel (my nephew)
Campout at Devil's tower - Memorial Weekend with great friends

JUNE:
Spend a 1/2 a week sleeping in and doing NOTHING
Too cold to swim... tried Reptile Gardens (also too cold?!!)
Kids went to VBS at Zion Lutheran Church
Spent a fun week with brother James and family here
Went to Watiki, the park, out to eat, etc.
"camped" in Casper WY with Dirk - Father's Day weekend
Took a day trip on the ATVs up the Piedmont Fire Trails
Found out we are having a baby BOY in September

JULY:
Went to Yellowstone Park w/ Dirk in "Red" (our camper :)
Stayed in Casper for 3 more days with Dirk
Thor went to Camp Hallawasa in Custer, SD
Hills Alive Music Festival
Holli & kids stayed w/ us for the weekend!
Went to Old McD's Farm for one more day of fun!
Thor went to STARBASE
Hosted the Morrison Family Reunion to celebrate
Dirk's parent's 40th Anniversary, Tori's 6th bday
and Thor's 10th bdday; went to Reptile Gardens,
Dino Museum, and the Spearfish Water Park
Started painting (hired a good friend) the interior walls of the house!!
top two floors are done!! Lower level to be tackled later!
Went to the pool ONCE!!

We will see what fun August will bring!

Summer Daily Schedule

After months of reading Growing Kids God's Way, I should have been better prepared with a daily summer schedule ready before the kids even got of our school.... but leave it to me to wait until I was frustrated with how things were going (rather, NOT going!! ).


You will see no "errands" our "outings" in our schedule -- I don't tend to do those "outings" on a consistent schedule anyway -- so what works for us, is to fit those outings in during the "free times" of each day. If the kids happen to miss a bit of "chore time" I don't think they will be heart broken. What was most important to me was to have a PLAN for every minute we would be at home.

For those of you who think this might be a "nice idea" but you just couldn't manage to get it done... let me give you this word of encouragement... My kids have done this for 2 summers previously... and it wasn't all sunshine and roses the first time we started the schedule. But since the kids had been in school, they were used to a predictable routine... The little ones sometimes have a harder time working into a new routine. The best advice I've heard (and used successfully!) is to take a week at a time to introduce the schedule slowly... Start with the morning routine first... and stick to your guns mommies!! When that goes pretty well for 5-6 days... start adding the Afternoon schedule. Most families I know already have an evening routine, but this is a good chance to tweak that routine if you want to make any changes for the better in your evening home time.

You may notice pretty big amounts of "free time" each day. Thor especially does very well with outside free time. However, I do have to give encouragement to Anika when it comes to outside playtime. She is beginning to love garden work, so helping her focus on things she enjoys to do makes it easier. When they start to get bored, they will get themselves into trouble -- so I try to be proactive and make more/less plans to "guide" the free time. Planning outings each week, at least 2-3 has helped too. When they really only have 2 afternoons a week at home, they appreciate our own yard and neighborhood more.

So here it is... our flexible routine for Summer Days...

7:30am: mom get up, dress, "mom time"
8:00 - kids up (no later than 8) - breakfast
Morning Chores: (total time is 30 min. or less for both)
Everyday: dress, brush teeth,make bed, clean in own room for 10 min.
Chores for Allowance: taking out trash, clean own bathrooms, vacuum, etc.
9:00/9:30: Morning Free Time
Thor - outside
Girls - 30 min. of TV time
10;00: Outside Play time
11:30: Lunch & help clean up
12:30: Quiet Time
Thor & Anika: in room, reading, quiet projects
Liv: in mom's bed - nap time or rest time
Mom: FREE time! :)
2:00 Afternoon Free Time
Thor: 30 min TV, computer or PSP time
Anika: Mom time (one on one time w/ me to do project or read together)
Liv: still napping (hopefully!!)
3:00 snack time if needed
3:15: Resume Afternoon Free time
4:30: Mom prep for supper
5:30: Supper - help clean up
6:00: evening chore time: (smaller chore jobs like doing supper dishes, doing laundry, etc.)
7:00 p.m. Family time: movie we ALL like; games; reading, etc.
8:00 Bath Time
8:15 Girls Bedtime
9:00 Thor's Bedtime
Mom FREE Time!

this one is for you Jen... :)

So at lunch with the sweetest group of mommies a girl could ever know...the topic of food/shopping came up. Miss Jen found a bug in her strawberries... and has been in trauma ever since. When I jumped into the conversation mid-stream I said... "i'm usually kinda happy when I find buggy things in my produce. it assures me that there aren't so soaked in pesticides...." I guess I missed the point of the "story"... that it is kinda un-nerving to find a large BLACK bug in a freshly purchased box of berries. I did have to follow the comment up with, I prefer to find bugs that I would imagine seeing in the FIELD of growing strawberries... not a bug that came from a dirty truck, or other handling situation.

This brought up the topic of pesticides and the myriad of toxic stuff that is on our produce especially... and the "dirty produce list" I pulled out of my wallet. So... as promised, I am posting the list of dirtiest and cleanest produce...

These are the BEST produce to buy at any store, not necessarily organic:
1.Onions
2. Avacados
3. Sweet Corn
4.Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas (frozen)
8. kiwi fruit
9. Banana
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Papaya

These are the WORST, contain the highest levels of pesticides and would be produce options you might want to consider purchasing organic or from other sources that don't use much/any pesticides:
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Pears
9. Grapes (imported)
10. Spinach
11. Lettuce
12. Potoates

happy shopping girls!! :)

How old is Anika??

Just to clarify.... Anika had her 7th birthday 2 weeks ago.

Her Aunty Jan commented recently in regards to Anika's personality quirks, that she does not know she is NOT a grown up!!

Here are a few of our most recent conversations that provide further proof.

Conversation #1 started at Subway as we discussed the possibility of going to the end-of-the-year school party... a 'dance.'

Anika: Mom, I was just thinking about all the dresses I have, and none of them are sparkly enough. I want a new dress for the dance because I want a boy to be attracted to me so that he will ask me to dance.

(speechless... in shock... ahhhh... how do we address this.... this is FAR too early in life to have to cover these topics!!!!)

Eventual response sounded something like this
Mom: Well, I'm not sure you will be allowed to dance with a boy? You might be too young. IF we go to the dance, you can only dance in groups with all your friends.


Conversation #2: As we were driving to church in the car. Anika is "mothering" (or is it "smothering") Liv and Thor.

Thor: ANIKA!! You are NOT the mother...

Anika: Well, I'm ALMOST a mom... you know there isn't much difference between a 7 yr old and a 37 yr old.

(reference to Me, the real mom who is somewhere around 37... )


Conversation #3: On our way to Wednesday night church, the current Bible Study theme has been on marriage. Thor was requesting to stay home for the evening... and I joked with him that he might be too old for the "kids" class and I might send him out to the grown ups room so he can learn about marriage.

Anika: Ooooh! I want to go to the marriage class... you know mom, my favorite part of a movie is the romantic parts!!

Spring is Here!! and a Snow storm is on the Way!

Seriously... I've been a terrible blogger for the last 3 months. As most of you have read or know otherwise, being pregnant for the 4th time is creating a 'bare minimum' type lifestyle at our home. Unfortunately that means blogging does not make the cut 99% of the time. The remaining 1% of the time I might have time, I'm probably already sleeping, so it doens't happen anyway!!

So -- no pictures up yet from the Winter family ski trip...
No pics from Easter
No pics from Liv's 3rd Birthday party
None from Anika's 7th Birthday party

YET... someday, I promise they will be up!

We did have a great time this last month of April... (wait, the whole month is GONE??) 2 birthdays and a visit from Grandparents and Aunt Carrie Morrison made for a festive "fun" filled month!

Liv has become quite the little lady as she starts her 3rd year. She and I have been going through the adventure of "Growing Kids God's Way" at our churches Mom's Coffee (Bible study). As much as she may NOT appreciate it, it is giving me much better parenting tools... and in many other ways, relax about things that I know she will be able to grow into as long as I have the foundation set right from the beginning. We have a few "areas" we are both working on... One of which is helping train her the appropriate response(s) when she doesnt' like the answer I give her (usually when it's a "no") or when shie is being compelled to do something she really doesn't want to do. As with Anika at this age... there has been LOTS of drama... OH the drama. This is exactly why I said I would never have girl babies (when i was in my late teens and early twenties).

However, having girls is SOOOO much fun in so many other ways, I've just been determined to find healthy ways from them to work through the drama without it being a total burden on everyone else around them.

I have a few (not so fond) memories as a child and having one of my brothers get right down in my face and speak very quietly to me ... as I was having a drama moment of my own I suppose .... He was saying something to the effect that if I started to cry and make a fuss that my mom would hear... and then she would make me go back inside, and I wouldn't be able to stay out and do whatever adventure we were having outside. I recall this occasion very clearly that I REALLY did NOT want to have to go back inside with mom... I'd probably have to do some cleaning or other chores, as it seemed that is all that mom ever did! I was motivated by my desire to have something better... and my (much) older brother wasn't going to put up with a whining, crying 'baby' sister along on his adventure. So... I learned to "suck it up."

Being a mother of two girls now, I've learned a few things about teaching young girls to "suck it up." I do not have the same motivational factor as a mom, that my older brother had on me... perhaps another friend or other person close to my girls could be short and matter-of-fact with them... as a mom, I've had to learn a kinder and gentler approach.

I started early with Anika, getting down on her level, and speaking calmly to her, directing her to take a deep breath. Then I would talk her through whatever seemed to be upsetting her... assuring her we will "figure it out." On other occasions, there is nothing to figure out... she just had to make the choice to be "OK" or even happy about the situtaion that she was not in favor of being OK about... certainly not happy about....

One of the fruits of the Spirit is Self-control - Galatians 5:22-23. It's not about asking my girls to deny true feelings... or to bury situations that should not be ignored... but there are times when they need to obey me, and obeying me includes having a good attitude about what they are being asked to do. (or not do)

So... here is one "funny" to end this diatribe!

The other morning as Liv, Anika and I were snuggleing in bed for a couple of minutes before we got up for breakfast... Anika and Liv had brought thier dolls into my bed ... and Anika was doing a pretend baby cry... telling Liv her baby needed her, because she was crying. This was Liv's response:

Holding baby under the armpits, and speaking calmly, she said "take a deep breath." And that was the end of the situation for Liv... she was ready for breakfast!!