Peach Coglo

Weekending~April 29, 2012

Joining Amanda for weekending . . . .

What is with the funky movies?  I seem to be picking some interesting ones lately.  We saw Frogs and Toads.  It is a movie from the Netherlands.  It is very interesting seeing other countries' kid movies.  The kids look like actual kids.

Saturday was a marathon day at church.  The kids were at First Communion prep (a retreat) from 9am to 5pm.  We left early.  I must admit I had to do some attitude adjusting because the schedule just felt overwhelming even though it was planned with love and good intentions and everything worked out.  The kiddos are pretty excited and I think they understand a lot about the sacrament.  They participated whole-heartedly in the mass.  Something I never would have done, and probably wouldn't do now being the introvert that I am.

The kids made bread during the retreat, practiced looking reverential while processing, and talked about the banners they made for First Communion.  We go to a very welcoming and open church so it's nice to see the kiddos actually enjoy and understand the process.

Sunday was all ours. We cleaned, had some donuts.  The adults drank coffee because we were pretty tired.

Doran helped mow the lawn while I tended seedlings that are reticent to sprout.  Luckily our garlic is coming up and it was fascinating.  I've never seen garlic sprout before now.

Part of the day Greg spent baking-making pizza for our pizza-crazy Doran, pull-apart cinnamon bread, and a couple of loaves of regular bread, one of which we bestowed on our neighbor.

Then Greg and Eden folded basket after basket of clothes.

I went to the hobby store in search of some fun figurines for my terrariums.

Elijah's First Communion outfit is mostly complete.  He decided he wanted to wear a tie; orange was one of the colors he thought he would like, so orange it is.

Our lovely neighbor borrowed our rototiller and came back with 4 half-gallons of ice cream.  Then later he came with homemade fried rice, Chinese sausage and fried wonton.  Hmm we need to have him borrow more garden implements.  Thanks to our neighbor we had a very tasty dinner.

And that was our weekend.  How was yours?

What We Are Reduced to

when I forget to turn on the dishwasher.  Granted sometimes the kids are eating so much that we simply run out of dishes.  At those times, I wonder what they are eating and why so much?  And exactly where are they putting it all?  But most times I just forgot to turn on the dishwasher.

I am thinking this provides a nice problem-solving opportunity for the kids.  Here's Helena's solution:

 

There is a science experiment in this somewhere.

Does this ever happen to you?

Long Weekending ~ October 10, 2011

I am joining Amanda over at the habit of being for some long weekending.

This weekend was nice and long.

We kicked off the weekend with our usual Fish Friday meal and a fun viewing of George of the Jungle.  Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this movie.  It is an intentionally over-the-top parody, and doesn't taking  itself seriously.  Thomas Haden Church is always fun to watch too.   There was some potty humor which I could have done without.  Of course, Greg and the kids got a kick out of it, and I have to admit  that  I chuckled.

I was able to jet to my studio on Saturday and quasi-rescue a painting.  It's not done yet, but looks better than it did.   You never know how these things are going to turn out.  This one might call for some creative matting. We'll see.  I started another tomato painting.  I do love painting tomatoes.  I love painting and I especially love tomatoes.

The children had time for pastry from an old-fashioned bakery.   They constructed a new fairy house and left some Gorilla Munch out for the fairies.  The squirrels appreciated that meal.

Sunday we went to mass where Fr. Tom blessed the kidlets' stuffed animals blessed.  The blessing was in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.  St. Francis is one of my favorites.  I actually chose  his name for my "saint name" when I was confirmed so many years ago.  The blessing of the stuffed animals is always pretty sweet and fun.  Fr. Tom called them "keepers of secrets"-very sweet.

After mass, we headed off for some apple and pumpkin picking.  The recent monsoons have done a lot of damage to the apples.  There were mounds and mounds of apples on the ground. 

I am going to try making some apple jelly.  I need to find some cheesecloth quickly.  The pumpkins are going to have to wait to be carved as it is wicked hot outside.

After some time at the orchard, it was time for soccer for Doran, tennis for Elijah and knitting for me.  The cowl is coming along pretty well and the second leg of my legwarmers is moving along much faster than usual.

Monday was such a bonus.  Greg and I had toyed with the idea of hitting the beach, but opted to stay home and take care of house business.  Light switches were repaired, outlets replaced, sheetrock patched, and the garage roof is almost finished.  Greg took off the old shingles and nailed on the tar paper.  Adding the shingles will have to wait a day or two, but it's sealed now.  Maybe we'll go to the beach next weekend. 

I did laundry (of course) and helped the kids tie-dye some shirts.  Well they were content to watch.   They will add the jack o'lantern faces to them later.  Then it was time to make out the week's breakfast, lunch and dinner menus.  I am feeling pretty, pretty organized. I take it where I can find it.

Since Greg was on the roof, all of the kids and I went to the grocery store-something I never do if I can help it.  Some packages of straws being knocked off the shelf reminded me of why I have this rule.  Actually, it wasn't the kids' fault.  I blame the three people blocking the aisle and it's intersection for that little mishap.  It was no big deal though.  I wasn't about to trade places with Greg on the roof.   If he can be on the roof, I can definitely hit the air-conditioned grocery store with four young 'uns.

We finished up our weekend with some ricotta gnocchi for dinner.  We were all pretty beat, well maybe not all of us.  For some reason Helena, Elijah and Doran had loads of energy.  Eden passed out in the couch pre-bath, and still in her clothes.  Greg and I weren't too far behind.

Time to start up the week.  I hope your weekend was a good one.

Like the Bees

I fee like these bees-so much to do in a little bit of time.  We had our first 7:45am choir rehearsal drop-off today.  I am trying to really adjust my attitude, as well as find the path of least resistance so I won't be dreading Thursdays.  Already, the kids aren't thrilled with the idea of arriving at school that early- well, Doran is. 

To top it off, last night a little had a nightmare so you know that meant interrupted sleep.  Regardless the day moves on.   Getting up at 5:30am is looking more and more necessary lately.  That is scary thought for a night owl like me. 

Today I'll do what I can from the list.  I still have to figure out this canning thing, find some art smocks, find another birthday present for another birthday party, fit in some yoga, reading and hopefully painting.  I also can't forget to take care of the youngest, and make some sort of food for dinner.  

So off I go.  What are you up to on these busy almost-Fall days?

 

What Happened to My Walls?!

I have been getting into my routines, designating certain days for cleaning certain parts of the house.  I have been trying to keep the clutter hotspots clear, and wiping down the bathrooms, and other surfaces daily.  It's a process; it will never be all done.  That is a fact I am trying to wrap my brain around lately.  It will never all be done. Things were coming along just fine, slowly but fine.

Then I turned around one day and saw this:

This actually wasn't too bad, just a certain little person's smudgy fingerprints (where do these come from?  They are everywhere!), some pencil and crayon markings.  This clean-up will be easy-peasy.

Then I made the mistake of walking into Doran's room.  I turned my head to the right . . . have mercy!!

Yeah that's permanent marker in addition to the washable paint.  To be fair, I had already had a quasi freak out over a little bit of marker writing he had done earlier, but he had since added to it.  Doran is quick when he wants to be and is adept at scrounging up and using Sharpies with lightening speed.

So I sighed and told myself that although it was permanent marker, I could probably get it off and that we are planning to paint a blackboard onto his wall anyway, so he can do all of the writing he wants to do-in chalk.

But then the full scale of Doran's creation hit.

Oh Doran, let's be sure to go over the paint with the marker.  Actually the dripping remined me of a Jackson Pollock.  Of course Doran is a much, much, much sweeter person.  ;-)

Parenthood itself, not to mention Autism, brings a lot of adventure and requires a lot of attitude adjustment-daily.  I had to breathe in my paper bag for a moment and be grateful that at least he hadn't dug holes into the wall, and even if he had, those could be patched. 

The paint can be washed off and the wall can be repainted-eventually.  I even realized that even though I plan to paint his wall with blackboard paint, he will probably paint over that too.  We try to teach Doran to paint on paper, not the walls or the floor.  We alternate keeping paint out of his room (which results in him sneaking it into his room) or letting him have a small amount or a certain type, hence the washable dot paint he used for his latest ouvre.  I am not sure there is any solution to this really except remembering that it's just a wall.  For the moments I forget, I will keep my paper bags handy.

Here's the almost-full effect.  My camera lens couldn't fit in all of it.

Have you had to make any attitude adjustments lately? 

Tomorrow: Photographic Friday and next week an interview and book giveaway from my buddy and author/illusrator J, C. Phillipps aka Julie.  Happy Thursday everyone!

So Very Close

Today is Wednesday and I am joining Ginny and a host of others for the weekly Yarn Along when we share what we have been creating and reading.  Please join in if you are so inclined.

I was thinking I would be done with Elijah's hat by today's Yarn Along, but no dice.  I am sooo very close though.  I don't want to jinx things, but I am hoping to bind off the elf hat this week.  As it seems to have been for a lot of folks, this week has been chaotic.  Why is it that May is becoming like December, and not in a good, relaxing way either?  I have decided that we as a society try to jam to much into this month with nobody putting on the brakes.  Thankfully, the First Grade Play has been moved from May to June this year.  I don't know what sparked the change, but I am eternally grateful.  They also have a special arrangement so parents of twins will be able to see both plays.  I am so thankful for that too-awesome!

Where am I going with this besides explaining the lack of knitting this week?  Well, things are so busy around here that I dove back into Sink Reflections by The FlyLady.  There is a lot going on around here on a normal day with all kinds of tasks and interruptions.  Then you add May.  I realized I was in some serious need for a written routine.  It can't be denied.  I don't do everything The FlyLady recommends, but even following a quarter of her advice has improved things already.  She has much wisdom when it comes to self-care as well as the care of the home and family.  I started writing out and following my routines and things already feel calmer even if they aren't in reality.  That's half of the "battle" anyway-one's perspective and feelings about a situation or challenge.

In addition to Sink Reflections, I am also reading Three Tales of My Father's Dragon with the kiddos.  It is a charming and fast-paced book.  I am also delving into a few painting books.  Since I am trying to paint more (and I have never been to art school), I am using this as one of my painting teachers.  I love nothing more than using and capturing light and intense color in my watercolors.  It ain't easy and this book provides a start for my study.  Speaking of art, Doran and I read Come Look With Me: Discovering African American Art for Children.  I love the way this book series approaches art.  There were a lot of cool artists in the book that I had never encountered-pretty amazing.

Well not everyone wants to read right now in my house.  This was Eden's response when I asked what she wanted to read.

What are you reading and making this week?

Slight Snow

Well I got my wish. We received a little bit of snow yesterday. It wasn't a whole heap, just a dusting. However, there was enough to cover the mud and brown grass, and make things all pretty again. Also, there was no shoveling required! This was a pretty good deal I think.

This is perfect weather for some Eden cuddling, knitting, and some toy removal. I have been reading Simplicity Parenting. It gets a bit into the science of our fast-paced lives and how commercialism affects our children's play and creativity, as well as everyone's time. I am more than tired of spending my time herding overgrown piles of toys, coercing the children to do it or feeling guilty because I am not doing either. So onto some serious editing today.

Have a great day everyone!

One Hot Fabric Mess

I don't mean to scare anybody, but look at this.

In my basement, I have a storage tub overflowing with fabric. It's sad. It's one hot mess. I can't even tell what I have in my stash. This has been bothering me for a while. At first the fabric fit in the tub, but I still couldn't tell what I had. Back in those days at least I could close the lid on the tub. Now the lid is pushed aside because we all know there is no hope of getting that bad boy snapped back onto the tub.

So I have sparkly star fabric Doran picked out, fabric I like too much to cut yet and some pretty things I continually forget that I have. The stash has grown as I have saved scraps and won a giveaway. Now that some of my children have started sewing they are rifling through this unorganized pile. This cannot last.

I keep waiting for the perfect shelving solution-perfect looking and perfectly priced. Well that ain't happenin'. I gave in and got some chrome-plated shelves. They are made of some sort of metal, or so the box claims. I was dreaming of wood. Well at least these were on sale. I have a feeling that this is much better than the current situation.

This is the bag of fabric I won through a SouleMama and Banberry Place giveaway, more on this in another post. This bag of goodies is sitting on top of a garbage bag full of fabric scraps and old baby clothes that I will be using for quilts and different projects. I didn't have the heart to show you the bag in its entirety.

So taking the advice from creative moms, I am getting organized so that a) my basement will be more peaceful, b) when I have a second, I'll be able to do a bit of my projects without spending all of my time looking for fabric or a tool, and c) I just want to do this.

It's bad; there is my no-longer used lid, Thomas and Playmobil paraphernalia, and some sort of huge sheet of paper. What gives?

I'll be sure to share The After. You all have been sweet to suffer through this mess. I hope I didn't scare anyone, but I needed to share a little of my fabric cray-cray. It will be sane soon.

How about you; do you have any organizing challenges or cray-cray going on at your house?

Have a lovely day.

 

 

A Simple Invention

As you already know, Elijah is constantly inventing and creating things.  He can find a use for anything.  While I am trying to declutter and reduce the stuff coming into our house, he is holding onto old straws, scraps of paper, and empty toilet paper holders.  I was trying to recycle an accordian straw he had stored away in his room.   He was insistent that I not get rid of it.  "I know I can find a use for it later Mom."  Turns out he could use the straw as a whistle.  The boy was right.  He comes up with some very neat stuff, but I am at a loss for helping him organize it all and make decisions about what to keep and what to bring in the house in the first place.  It's hard for a six year old; it's hard for anybody.  It's definitely hard for a six year old collector-of-all-things.  So it's a challenge.  I want to encourage Elijah and all of the children to create, repurpose things and reuse them, but I also don't want my house looking like the set of Sanford & Son.  Can't you just hear the theme music now?

But back to my baby boy's interesting inventions.  This latest one I call cuff links for napkins.  He decided that paper napkins don't stay together properly.  (This reminds me that I need to whip up some more cloth napkins for our stash; we go through the ones we have with amazing speed.)  Anyway, with a simple office supply and his brain, Elijah created his napkin cuff.

 

"This helps me use my napkin better mama."  Well, okay then.  Elijah did indeed use this napkin, and I can kind of see what he means about the napkin slipping around without this cuff link.  It does look nice and neat.

 
Back view

So how about you, how do you encourage and support your children's (and maybe your) projects, without turning your house into a version of Fred Sanford's palace?  Cue the theme music.

Inside the Vent

As many of you know, we are a family living with autism.  With that reality, we experience frustration, but also fun - often simultaneously.  Such was the situation with the vent in Doran's room.  Many children with autism have obsessions or perseverate on one thing or another.  Doran has been rather occupied with vents for about eight years now.  He can spot them a mile away no matter the design or placement in a room or building for that matter.  Lately, he has been fiddling around with his vent in his room.  Practically every time the air or heat comes on, Doran scrambles to lie down in from of the vent so he can feel the air rush out onto his face. 

Because Doran is nine years old and we would like for him to have some independence, Greg and I allow him some time in his room alone.  He often needs time away from his siblings and the noise and chaos they can create.  I can relate.  Sometimes I need to hide too!  We check on him to make sure he is not into too much mischief or to engage him so he doesn't get too far into himself.  Mostly, he comes out when he is ready to be around the bustle of the house.  This little system usually works well.  There are times, though, when he gets too quiet, and we aren't quick enough to catch everything. 

One night, I heard "clink, pause, clink, pause" for about five minutes.  I couldn't quite figure out from where the noise originated.  Since no one was screaming in pain, the baby was asleep, and I was exhausted, I let it go.  A few seconds later  "clink, pause, clink, pause", and it hit me.  Doran!  Well Mr. Man was in his room pushing money from his owl bank into his vent.  Boy was I annoyed.  I told him to stop and took the bank he was working with out of his room.  "Clink, pause, clink, pause", another bank!  I took that one out.  "Clink, pause", okay fine!  I took every bank (for some reason he has a lot of coin banks) and every bit of spare change I saw floating around Doran's room out.  I was so irritated.  I thought to myself, "This child is nine.  I am tired.  Why won't he just stop?!"  Well, he can't.  So I moved on. 

Greg and I aren't able to watch Doran every minute of the day.  We have tried, believe me.  It isn't good for him, us, or the other children.  So we begrudgingly let this one go hoping that if we ignored this behavior it would stop.  No such luck.  He even put his Barnes and Noble gift card in the vent.  That wasn't so funny.  However, I calmed myself down by remembering that Greg could probably fish it out and if not, we had a receipt.  If by chance, the receipt didn't work, then that's life; it's only a gift card.  So there Vent Maestro, I reframed my perspective! 

The vent situation started to become funny.  Sometimes we succeeded in ignoring Doran's behavior, sometimes not.  I would tell Doran to stop pushing things in his vent.  He would stop, but usually in a day or two he would go back to it and the next time he was sure to be quieter about it.  It was the old cat and mouse game.  I would hear him tripping over himself in his room when he heard my footsteps approaching.  He cracked me up with his attempt to look innocent.  Ironically, I was happy because he was trying to sneak around.  Supposedly he is not supposed to be able to be sneaky or plan his sneakiness due to his autism.   :-)  Finally, I decided his room was getting too warm and the amount of energy that I worried was being wasted was driving me to distraction.   Wednesday Greg went in.

Holy Toledo!  We hit the motherlode!
 

You can see some of Doran's artwork on the walls.  He seems to enjoy interior design.

So that's where those puzzle pieces went.  There are his therapist's sight word cards too.  Luckily he can already read them. ;-)

Greg dug and dug.  He came up with money, candy wrappers, more card games, his Barnes and Noble gift card, and all sorts of things.  It was kind of like one of those clown bags, where the clown pulls out keys, books, flowers vases full of water and flowers, a live animal and then the kitchen sink.  As we looked over all of this stuff,  the situation became more and more ridiculous and funny.  Boy does Doran persevere.  He had to work hard to get some of those things through those tiny slots.  No wonder he was so quiet.  I figure it was good for his concentration and fine motor skills.  So the vent is cleaned out and cooled air flows freely into his room - until next time.