House plans

I am thankful for our house.  But if I were building a house from scratch for our family & our purposes, I would make a few changes. No doubt everyone would! 

What would you change about your house?

I would put a window in every bathroom.  An easy swap would have been to swap the master bathroom & closet, so that the closet would be an interior room and the bathroom would be along the exterior wall. (Yes, I know plumbing costs would have increased ...)

I definitely would have put a mudroom between the garage and the house ... maybe including a shower ... so that the Farmer could change out of his hog clothes before walking through the house. 

I would have a laundry sink next to the washing machine. And, while I'm dreaming, I am remembering the light & airy (& large-ish) laundry room in a house I once visited.  There was a wall of windows, the washer/dryer & laundry sink, a desk, and space for the ironing board to be left up.  

I would have more space in the congested areas ... especially near the front door and the door to the garage.  And I would have more space where the kitchen table is.  The only space for it is right in front of our sliding glass door, so it's difficult to use that door, although the children do so non-stop. :)

I would not use sliding (or w-folded) mirror doors on closets.  The mirrors do add something, but almost all of our closet doors have broken off with use. 

I would have more built-ins and closets (wouldn't everyone?!).  I was spoiled by the deep futon closets in Japan.    I would have two coat closets (or a double closet) in the living area.  (We converted our coat closet to a toy/game closet years ago, so have no coat closet.) I am remembering the small closet turned into a butler's pantry in a home I once visited.  That would be super nice, though not necessary. :)

And, speaking of homes I have visited, I would love a guest suite over the garage!  Oh, and a game room in the basement with ping-pong, air hockey, foos ball, indoor basketball hoops arcade game, etc.  

In reality, all we really want before we get too old is a bedroom and full bath on the first floor, as well as stair railings that aren't about to fall over! :)  

And to pray that we can say:

"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."

Sleep

On the first day of summer vacation, I posted:

LM woke up at 6.37 AM. Send reinforcements!

It only went downhill from there.  I say "went" because I'm hopeful we've turned a slight corner (either due to training, prayer, or exhaustion!).

She has been up at 4 more mornings than I can count, silently standing by my bedside until I put her back to bed.  And at 5.  And at 6. 

She has fallen asleep at 4 pm more afternoons than I can remember, sleeping in her car seat in the garage one cool day while I sat nearby, and another day, sprawled with her lower body on the couch and upper body on the recliner foot rest (for 2.5 hours) until Jim came home and moved her fully to the couch, where she remained for over an hour. 

Some afternoons when she fell asleep at 4 pm, she slept through until 8 am, after a brief supper.  Some she was up at 4 am the next morning.  When I wake her from a nap, we all endure an hour of screaming, so we let her sleep. 

When she wakes at 4, I wake at 4 ... for good ... or for bad, as the case may be. :)

But when I explained, "When you wake up, you stay in your bed," she did it! And was proud of herself the next day!!  But she did lie in bed screaming my name, which woke me from a deep slumber ... 

We'll see how the rest of our summer goes.  Prayer appreciated for rest!!

Read-alouds

LM is currently working on her 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.  Recently on social media I learned of a girl who had reached 10,000 Books Before Kindergarten, and I told LG he probably had that many! I only wrote down each title once for him, but you know I read many books 10 times each. 

And he tolerated chapter books at a young age.  So I have read dozens and dozens of chapter books out loud to LG!  We have so many memories surrounding series and characters!

I spend what energy I have now reading to LM, so he has not had the benefit of continued read-alouds by mom.  

This summer I hope to change that.  And we already had a fun time reading Gooseberry Park!  Have you read this sweet story of four unexpected animal friends?  It's by Cynthia Rylant, author of Henry & Mudge etc.

It's a new era, though.  I am not listing books read to him for 1000 Books Before Kindergarten.  Neither am I listing them on the Summer Reading log.  This is the first year that he must read to himself in order for books to count for the library's Summer Reading program. 

It's a conundrum because in 2nd grade, his class worked up to 45 minutes per day of sustained independent reading (and then maintained at 30 minutes per day Monday - Thursday).  So I know he can read.  But reading to himself is not his preferred mode.  He prefers listening to me read or listening to Audible read or listening to Epic "Read to Me." 

While it was very satisfying to read aloud to him again & to finish our first read-aloud of the summer, I felt let-down not writing the title on a list somewhere, so I am recording our first summer read-aloud of 2022 here. :) I might record more. I might not. :)

Books on our list are:

the summer readers from Sonlight (Once Upon a Tim, Marc's Mission, Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure, and NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society)

and any we pull off our shelf 

or which you recommend.  Any recommendations?

Before Google

A few weeks ago, LG explained to friends who were with us that when Mommy was a little girl, it was the olden days.  LM immediately added, "In 1881."

That was definitely before Google!

On the 10th day of summer vacation, LG asked if he could use the iPad to research animal facts.  I promptly handed him an encyclopedia, to which he replied, "Are you sure there are spider facts in here?" :) 

His first task was to figure out where one would look in this big book to find the "spider" entry.  Looking things up in alphabetical order is not a skill that children have to practice *at all* these days ... not in a dictionary, not in a phone book, not in a card catalog, not anywhere. 

His next task was to search through the pages of information about spiders to find the one fact that he was looking for (as opposed to dictating his question to Google)!

I foresee a lot of encyclopedia fun this summer. :)

 

Loving & Serving Others Well

Some seasons are harder than others, and in this hard (for us) season, we have been blessed by many friends who have lent a hand.

One friend emailed:

I feel kind of inadequate to be of much help, but don't want that to prevent me from offering. As you look at your situation, how do you think I might be able to help?

It turns out that she was the one who had connections with a cleaning lady, when I replied very honestly & rather desperately, but without thinking it would be helpful, "I need recommendations for a cleaning lady."

A friend suggested: 

Maybe we should do "take them a meal" on your behalf.  

Thankfully, I have a simple meal plan that works well for our family.  True confession: I tried one of those meal subscription plans a year ago or so. It was decidedly NOT a good fit for our family because it took 30 minutes of sustained work to prepare each meal. I work better with a 3-minute meal plan (dump in the crockpot & place frozen veggies in microwave).  Also, my family apparently doesn't like the seasoning in such meals. :)  

In the past, we have been blessed by friends bringing meals and not just when we had a newborn.  Freezer meals by caring friends for anytime, also a friend dropping off food from town when she was coming this way.  But I don't feel the need for that right now.

Another friend replied after I vented to her on Messenger one rough morning:

I’m happy to listen anytime. If there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.

She also said she would pray that day for the request I had shared, and I was thrilled that afternoon to let her know how the Lord had specifically (& generously) answered our prayers!  

Another friend asked sincerely, 

"What can I do for you this summer?" and added, "I’m not able to help with childcare."  

I appreciated her clearly stating what was not possible for her.  We discussed what my summer looks like, and how the Lord is meeting some of my needs, and she offered a room in her home if I'm ever in town alone and just need a place for a quiet time or whatever.  What a creative way to help!  I will definitely keep her kind offer in mind.  I said, fully meaning it, "Prayer is really the best thing," and was moved when she replied, "I do pray for you every day."

I want to be generous like these friends, too, and I'm learning from them how to love others well.  

A month ago or so, on Sunday morning, as I was checking our children into our children's ministry area at church, I looked up and saw friends I hadn't seen in 2 or 3 years.  (This happens more than I would think ... grown children of church members, or missionaries, who visit regularly with their children who are our children's age, and with whom I have forged a connection.)  Although there was a lot of life we'd both love to catch up on, we each were herding our children in the right direction, and trying to get to the service or our own Sunday School class.  We hugged, she asked how we are, I gave a two sentence answer, and she said, "May I pray for you right now?" We shared a sweet moment of connection at the Throne, and then smiled and waved, and went on. Maybe we'll catch up in a year or two ... or, if not, in heaven ... but she ministered to me in the moment (literally one moment) she had.  

While the first four friends mentioned did not have a time crunch, either to serve or to ponder how to serve, the fifth one did, but it didn't stop her. I heard a women's ministry leader speak recently about emergency prayer care.  That's something else I want to grow in doing well, as my fifth friend did.  

How have you experienced others loving or serving you well?

 

Usborne Love

No, I don't sell Usborne books ;)  (but don't think I haven't been tempted, if only to get a discount when purchasing for our own use).  If you're looking for someone who does sell Usborne, I can give you my friend's name. :)

It's hard to imagine I haven't mentioned Usborne books except in passing (see these posts). 

Yes, Usborne books are pricey, but they are QUALITY (construction & stories) and they last.  

One of LG's baby gifts that is still used to this day is the Usborne Farmyard Tales book.  It came with a CD of the stories, which he promptly memorized (& which I grew tired of, so LM has never heard it - ha!).  Each page has one line at the top and two or three at the bottom.  The parent can read all, or the child can read the top and the parent read the bottom, or a beginning reader can just read the top line and the story will still make sense.  Brilliant!

On both children's daily summer docket is a line, "Work a puzzle." These Usborne puzzles are perfect for LM right now!  I think I bought this box of 3 (which comes with a book) right after the world shutdown in 3/2020.  In advance of her daily puzzle this summer, I purchased two more (for a total of 6 puzzles).  Working on them daily (even for less than a week), her skills are really improving!!  We have a few other hands-on Usborne books ... math fact wind-ups to use while waiting in a restaurant or doctor's office, small booklets that you write on with a dry erase pen for the same places, and a Laundry Helper book with felt clothing that you hang out to dry, put in the drawers or closet, and then dress the children in the book.

I love the story collection books on the right in the photo above.  Most of these type (and at least half our Usborne collection) came from the kids' consignment store when LG was commuting.  We had one with us this weekend in WI and it kept LG occupied.  To the left of those are the Hey Jack series.  I found the entire series at Goodwill one day when he was commuting.  They were 99 cents/book.  They were a favorite for a long time and introduced ways to handle difficulties that children face in playing with friends.  For early readers, they are great because no words are hyphenated at the end of a line, font is larger, and there's plenty of white space.

This section of our shelf has some really fun ones.  Look Inside books are a great winner here!  All Better has removable bandaids that the child can place on the right animal as you read.  Lifesize & Dinosaurs came from the thrift store.  "How Big is a Million" and "How Big was a Dinosaur" have pull-out posters, in addition to illustrations that help a child grasp big concepts.

The small books on the right are mostly Goodwill finds, several of them sold via Scholastic.  We love non-fiction!  The red and blue early readers sets were a very generous prize when I was mystery hostess at an Usborne book party once!  Both children love them!

The music books (Four Seasons & Quiet Time) are very well done.  The phonics collections are amazing and fun, too!  We have used them when working on certain speech sounds. :)

Little Helpers is the laundry book mentioned above.  What are germs? is memorized by almost all of us! Aesop's Stories for Little Children is a perfect adaptation to introduce Aesop to little ones.

This shelf is all Usborne also... some reference books and social-emotional ones.  At the Garage is one of the shine-a-light books.  One page is dark, but when you shine a flashlight on the back of the page, you can see the picture come to life. 

Are you an Usborne family? Do you have a favorite from Usborne?

Summer Camp Packing List

We are excited that Little Guy is registered for his first week of spend-the-night camp this summer! 

The camp sent a packing list of the usual predictable items ... mud clothes, swim trunks, soap, etc.

I have added a post-it note with:

• hearing aids
• hearing aid charger
• hearing aid dryer
• old hearing aids (as spare)
• dry case for old hearing aids
• batteries for old hearing aids

We have role-played water games & muddy play and how to protect hearing aids.  He is ultra responsible with them and does 99% of the care of his hearing aids at home.  We will pray & hope for the best!