Peek-a-Boo

Yes, I'll admit it. Facebook is the reason for my not blogging since Halloween. Well, that and I have four kids, and we homeschool, and my husband works from home a lot, and I've been getting more organized with our schedules and things, and we've gone to the park a few times, and oh yeah, this week G had a fever for a few days. ha ha

I've also started journaling again for my kids. I've done it off and on over the years, starting with the calendar that all babies get when they're born. You know, that first year calendar where you put on the little stickers for their first food, first time they roll over, first word, etc. M and R both have one of those. G has one, I think. T, not so much. (Sorry T!) But I've also learned over the years that the calendars don't work so well for me. I was getting different ones each year and one year got really big ones without contemplating the storage problems they would produce.

So I switched to little journals. All the same size, just a different pattern for each kid. My plan is to get new ones every year and then as the kids grow and move away they can take a box of all their journals with them. Eighteen or so small journals should store much more easily than eighteen or so calendars.

I try to write in them on the day of the week when that child was born. Since all of my kids were born on different days, it works out great. But it also has me writing four times a week. Plus I have one for myself, so really five times. For someone who is notorious for having multiple stacks of paper containing multiple to-do things that "I really will get to this week", writing down something five times a week is not a small task. I've missed days but have been remarkably good (for me) at keeping up with it. And I figure even if I write in their books once a month, it's more than I've been doing and I know they - and I - will really enjoy reading back over them someday.

I've recorded that Maelan is great at designing things on Zazzle and that I'm proud of all her creations. And also that she's seen all three LOTR films, extended-versions, about four times now!

I've noted for Robin the day that he retired his treasured blue knit cap, and that he even placed it tenderly in a small Lane cedar box (the little "sampler" ones that they passed out to all the girls in my senior year of high school - do they still do that?). Robin retired his knit hat because it sprung about three unfixable holes - but he only did so after acquiring a black knit cap as a replacement.

I've captured for Gideon the fact that he has completed 40 of his 100 reading lessons and that he's doing great. I would not have started the book with him at this age except for the fact that he kept asking me what sound this letter made, or what word is this mom? So we tentatively began and he's loving it. R didn't care much about reading until he was almost 10 - kids are different! - and so this interest of Gideon's has been a nice surprise.

And I've written down for Tabitha her penchant for nonsensical phrases. The other day at the bank I was trying to hurry her out of the car and she didn't care for it. She said, in all earnestness, "Stop doing that! You're making my ears look soft!"

Life's been good and peaceful, which is a great blessing in this crazy political/economic situation of ours. Our move into the city has helped us refine a lot of things in life - patching up some frayed edges, settling into patterns and traditions that work for our family, narrowing down forays and adventures into things we can handle and do well without getting overloaded. We've got some changes coming up in the future to prepare for and meld into, and I feel like this time in Benbrook has helped us get ready for new days ahead. (No, we're not expecting ... though I wouldn't mind it if we were.) Kind of like packing for a trip. What exactly do we need to take in our suitcase and with what attitude are we going to approach the details of travel and the trip.

I guess that's about it. I have many thoughts running through my mind each day - social, political, philosophical. So much to say, so little time to write it. But I'm thankful I can record snippets now and again.(And thinking I should print these entries off in case the world wide web disintegrates someday!)

One of my favorite scriptures is John 21:25, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." Maybe Jesus keeps little journals ... and if so, it's gonna be *really* neat to look through them someday.