Life With Less

I've been reading minimalist blogs again, and dreaming of a life with less stuff.  Inspired, I went through a kitchen drawer after one post (determining that I NEED a drawer organizer thingy to keep my whisk and potato masher from becoming entwined), cleaned out a cupboard, and cleared all the counters.  I liked that advice, to clear off all the counters in the kitchen.  It's a small kitchen, and it looks like there is way more space now.  I put all the stuff I never use in the guest room- a holding place for a few months to determine if I miss anything terribly.  Then I get to make another trip to Goodwill!

As my sister (who recently visited) can attest, I'm really not a minimalist.  I have a lot of stuff.  Can you be a minimalist with 4-5 kids?  I have a lot of books, and a lot of blankets.  Boxes full of my husband's stuff (I'm not sure what exactly is in them), boxes of cds and vhs tapes, many boxes of clothes, and lots of swimming and beach paraphernalia.  So, I'm not a minimalist.  But can I call myself an "aspiring minimalist"?  I hope to eventually clear my closets of most of it.  Except the kids' clothes.  It's too valuable to me to be able to pass them down.  But they can certainly have less of them :).

On that note, we have pared down for Christmas this year.  No toys, just useful things the boys will appreciate.  This comes after my frustration of having bought toys for birthdays that were used for a couple of weeks and then never touched again.  The toy drawers are hardly touched, except to pull out everything in search of more cars.  I'm now an advocate for games and other things/activities that promote family involvement/time together.  And I adore the idea of experiences as gifts (unfortunately, most of the ones I would give are out of our price range right now).  Someday.

I Had Better Write Now, Before The Holiday Season Overtakes Me.

Sorry, no pictures to share right now.  My sister left me with a few, and I have a couple of our backyard makeover, but not on this computer at this moment.  I will try to post them.  But, when I wait for the time to find and upload the pics, I somehow don't get around to writing for a really long time...as you may have noticed.

So- recent events:  My awesome sister and bro-in-law came and magically transformed our tiny yard into something usable and pretty.  Yay!  Eating dinner out there with the tiki torches lit is now my children's favorite family activity.  We also went around and saw some fun stuff while they were here- like the Pali lookout, the Byodin Temple, and of course, we went to several beaches :).  Great fun, and I'm so glad they could come out!  Oh, and did I mention my sister also cleaned out my nursery (formerly the junk room) and made me get rid of a bunch of clothes from high school?!  It was great.  I love that room now.  And it was an inspiration.  I'm continuing to get rid of clothes I never wear, and going through the boys' clothes again too.  I'm also just putting random "things" into a large trash bag and stashing it in the closet to see if I'll miss them over the next 6 months.  If I don't need anything in the bags, I can get rid of them, right?!

Currently, I'm 34 weeks along, and no longer sleeping, due to a ramped up case of RLS.  It's okay, I have a new mantra. "6 more weeks, 6 more weeks."   Then I probably won't sleep for the next year anyway...

I'm also looking up fun traditions for Christmas (usually for hours in the middle of the night, since I can't sleep anyway.)  I'll make a list with links when I'm done :).  And, trying out Mark Bittman recipes.  I made homemade hummus today, and bean burgers.  The hummus was gone within minutes.  The burgers, on the other hand, were force fed to my children as I promised to try a different recipe next time.  The appeal was that they took 10 minutes to make, and I love fast and easy meals.  But I didn't have a food processor so I used my Vitamix, which made them too soupy, so I added cornmeal....yeah, well, they were edible...barely.

Everyone is well and happy.  We're very blessed.  I'm going to at least try (for the first time since I married Shawn) to produce a Christmas card/family news letter.  No promises.  I'm just going to actually make the attempt.

Still Here

I had a couple of blog posts, which are now very outdated, but Blogger wouldn't let me post them.  This is just a test to see if I can post now.

I don't have any decent pictures of anything.  I haven't pulled out a camera in three or four months.  I can't think of any news.  We're just plugging along.  We've been to the beach, gotten a few house projects done, had a great time with my in-laws when they came for fall break, and I'm in my last trimester, so I guess now I'm just trying to keep busy and not to be "waiting." 

I'm on the hunt for more Christmas traditions, and well, traditions in general.  Shawn's considering staying in the military, and if he does, we may be moving a lot more than I'd planned.  Traditions can help life to be more "normal" no matter where you are.

What I’ve been up to in the past few months.

Slowing down.  No more cooking club.  About to be done with voice lessons.  Seriously looking into minimalism as a lifestyle but skeptical about how “low I can go” on the personal possessions with a house full of children.  Still- I have been throwing inanimate objects out right and left.  I try to keep the ones that holler when I pick them up :).

Homeschooling.  Not tons of creative stuff right now.  Just getting through the basics.

Gymnastics.  Because that is pretty much what life revolves around right now—sad as that may be.

Growing a baby.  20 weeks along today.  Don't feel bad if you didn't know.  This is also an announcement.  Not my favorite picture, or shirt, and no makeup, but it would take so long to get one I like…

Playing interior decorator.  Well, just basically trying to make my house look nice and put together.  *Sigh* I have a feeling this is going to take a while.  

Reading.  For the sake of my sanity.  And because the more stuff I throw out of my house, the less messy it gets and the more time I feel like I can spend reading.  Pretty much all homeschooling, pregnancy, and religious-type books.

And in the interest of organizing and minimalizing- we have redone the boys' closet.  Actually, I took everything out of their rooms except their beds.  No toys, no clothes.  They do each have a drawer up there where they can put their "treasures."  It's basically the only safe place in the house, where I won't come throw things out...but it has to fit.  This closet is downstairs--a spare one I happened to have hanging around in the laundry room.  Convenient huh?  And while it probably doesn't add much to the decor, these are the all clothes of 4 boys in one closet, right next to the washer and dryer.  No more endless trips up the stairs to gather all the dirty laundry, or getting down on all fours to inspect under the bed, only to tell the boys that shoving everything under the bed does NOT constitute cleaning the room! We pared clothes down, and may do it again; they don't wear half these clothes.  I put baby blankets and extra towels on the very top.  They each get one towel till I'm ready to wash them.  I had the hardest time getting them to stop using a new towel every day, so I finally just put them out of reach.

Midsummer Update

Cooking club every Friday has been a hit!  After deviled eggs we learned ants-on-a-log and fruit salad, dirt cups, personal pizzas and smoothies, and today was yogurt parfaits- because it was easy. 

 Science class has been fun too- for the kids.  I thought it was an overkill, but everyone apparently liked the 30 ft. homemade slip n' slide.  Crazy people.

And these are just bonus pictures, because life is fun.  Pushups with Dad, and the Polynesian Cultural Center (the main character of the night show).

Here's The Plan, Man

About the time I had several rowdy boys (not mine) jumping around on the furniture I decided we needed a little structure this summer.  The kids in the neighborhood are bored.  When they get bored, some of the kids get together and bully other kids, pick on each other, or just get cranky, and wild. 

So, today was COOKING CLUB.  Every Friday at 10:00.  And we had so much interest that I think we’ll have to split into two groups, an older group and a younger one.  I didn’t think the older boys would come in force like that.  We started with something simple: deviled eggs.  Easy right?  Try teaching10 kids how to make them while the baby screams and holds on to your legs.  (I finally sedated him with a bottle.)  But it all worked out with minimal mess, and they loved them.  I’ve had requests for pie and kabobs, but in order to preserve my waning sanity, next week is actually much easier than either.  I’ve noticed kids have a hard time waiting for things to cook or set, so before I try anything where they have a prolonged wait, I will have to think up some crafts to fill up the waiting time. 

I’m currently trying to decide on a time for story time in the park :), and art.  The outside/water games will be a little more random, and more organized pillow fights have been requested.  I’ve promised the kids I’d post a schedule on my door at the beginning of the week so they’ll know when stuff is happening, with a list of stuff they need to bring, if anything.  What have I gotten myself into?!  At least my kids are happy, and will probably have plenty to do.  Now excuse my while I scour the internet for creative ideas that will help me survive the summer.

A Fun Trip Home

We had an awesome, and effective, trip home.  It was great.  Two family reunions, so we pretty much got to see everybody (except my brother Kyle who is on a mission :)) and family pictures with my husband’s side of the family.  We did 5 generation pictures with my great grandma, and visited with her for a while.  Lots of fires, marshmallow roasts, four-wheeling, and trampoline jumping.  Massages from my mother-in-law, and the best company in the world.  I helped my sister clean so she could move and got to hang out with my adorable nieces, met my new nephew :), went to track districts, caught up with a couple of friends, helped clean out the basement, and generally had a great time. Time flew and it wasn’t nearly long enough, but I’ll take what I can get. 

On the way there we flew standby on a C-17 (military cargo plane).  A new experience for sure, and very different from a commercial flight.  The 13 hour drive to Idaho from Travis AFB was…well, much longer than 13 hours.  I would have to think about whether I’d do things the same way again.

On the way home we stopped at the Ramada Inn by the Spokane airport.  I picked it for three reasons: the shuttle to the airport, the swimming pool (with waterslide) and the in-house restaurant.  We didn’t have a car so we weren’t going to go somewhere else to eat, and I wanted the kids to be entertained.  They were only in the pool for about 3 hours, haha.  The food was great, for a hotel restaurant, and didn’t give me indigestion as many before have.  They also had enough food for my boys.  Often the “kid’s menu” comes with little enough food that the boys could each eat two of the meals.  The hotel had no problem with all of our family being in one room, and a crib was there for us.  I think it’s my new favorite stopover in Spokane.  Accommodating and convenient.

Flying Allegiant was much better than anticipated too.  We brought all our own food, and water, because their prices were ridiculous for both, but that was expected.  They seated our family together because we had little kids, the flight was on time, and they didn’t have a problem with my one-year-old constantly walking up and down the aisle.  (It was that or listen to him scream.)  It all worked out, and the price was great.

Time to plan the next vacation!