Weekend Update + What Makes Me Happy

Weekend Update:

It was a great & productive weekend, and I was happy for that yesterday morning when I woke up. My to-do list is organized into days & my menus (snacks, lunches & dinners) are scheduled for the week.  I have also made sure we have our "One Fun Thing" planned each day as well as some other supplemental school activities.  I wrote these into our days in an effort to minimize the boys' screen time.

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PEACEFUL PARENTING: 

Peaceful parenting is going great.  I have had three no-yelling days in a row (a record, thus far!) and I can see the boys responding to each other differently because of it.

Yesterday Jack chose to share with Logan and when I asked him why, he said he remembered how he felt when Logan wouldn't share, and knew that if he shared with Logan now that later in the day his brother would be more likely to share with him.

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BEDTIME:

Going to bed at 9pm has officially become habit, and I am so pleased. I don't even fight with myself over it. I just climb the stairs, knowing that I get to crawl into that oh-so-cozy bed, read for a while, get plenty of sleep and wake up ready for whatever the day holds.

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HOMESCHOOLING: 

School with the boys is going beautifully.  We are 30 lessons into our 100 Lessons book, and it's amazing what they are reading & learning each day.  The reading has gotten a lot easier.  The first ten lessons or so had a huge learning curve and took each boy a long time to complete.  The lessons are now comfortable for us, and things are running smooth, thankfully.

We are working our way into our math curriculum, and I am anxious for the "real" work to begin. Right now it's mostly review (numbers, counting, ordering) but Jack's excited to start working on addition and subtraction.

Last night he did his own word problem at bedtime. "Mom, we started with five days this week. But we already did one, so now we only have four!"

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ORGANIZATION:

At the end of last week, I took on the humongous task of switching the boys' upstairs bedroom closet with the downstairs playroom closet.  I knew it would be a complete pain, but I am happy to report that less than a week later, it's complete, and I am so glad I did it.

We started out storing old clothes (baby sizes for some future Babyham & big boy sizes for Wyatt to grow into) and our holiday decorating Rubbermaid totes in the playroom closet simply because it was empty.  Soon the closet filled nearly to the brim.  

Meanwhile, the boys' toy collection was also growing, making it necessary for me to trade out bins of toys to keep the playroom maintainable.  And so it happened that every few weeks I was toting bins upstairs and lugging different bins downstairs and the whole thing was quite undesirable.  So much so that even though I knew switching bins would buy me a day of peaceful child play, I wouldn't do it because I dreaded how much work it was.

So I finally made the switch, sorting through every single item in each closet to be sure it warranted space in our house, and then labeling and moving each tote into its appropriate place.  

The boys are thrilled to have easier access to their toys, and I am content to know that every thing taking up precious space is worthy.

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What Makes Me Happy:

* Writing in my journal
Oh how that thing can relieve me of all that's on my mind.

* I have twins
I sometimes forget this little fact. I am so busy raising them (feeding them, teaching them, meeting their needs) that I have to be reminded of their twinness.  Pictures like this, with their bodies close together, or their clothes matching, or their faces holding the same expression remind me how lucky I am to be their mom.

* October
I just love the coziness that it brings.  Dark grey clouds outside, warm delicious candles burning inside.  Rain & wind & cold weather pounding against the windows while we enjoy pumpkin muffins fresh out of the oven.

The only bummer is we don't get to go to the pumpkin patch. Luckily we got the hook ups from our care package senders and there are pumpkins aplenty at the Cunningham's this year.  Wyatt's Little Bear had an impromptu photo shoot with some of them yesterday during snack time.  Lucky little guy.

* Snow on the mountain
It's coming. The snow.  Today I saw it on the mountain out my front window.  Meanwhile, I am enjoying the last of the fall colors.

* Simplicity
Joy for kids in Marshall? A huge puddle. That's it. That's all it takes. You should have heard the shouts and laughter as we headed to the park yesterday.

I find I need to be reminded that joy can be found in such beautifully simple things.  A hot cup of coffee, brothers reading to each other, a text message from my husband.  It's the little things that brighten my days.

* Boys being boys
The second we step out our front door, the twins begin begging to take off their big coats.  Yesterday it was 35 degrees outside, with a pretty strong wind. And yet.

"Mom, please. Mom can I take it off now? Mom, it's fine! Come on!" sigh.  Of course I relent and let them take them off.  I can tell they feel so cool running around in the freezing weather wearing nothing other than their Captain America sweatshirts.

Boys.  {...shaking my head with a smile on my face...}

* My companion
Wyatt walks alongside me (in Logan's old snow coat) and says, "I'm walking careful, mom."  And last night as I tucked him in bed, singing him the same old songs in our rocking chair, he whispered to me, "Can we hold hands mom?" as he took my pointer finger into his doughy pink fingers and squeezed it.  I managed to squeak out a "yes" under my tears, and he said, "That made you happy, mommy?"  I am cherishing everything about this guy lately.

* Light
It's getting darker.  Both outside my house and inside it.  Thankfully Josh knows how much bad light bothers me, so tonight he stopped doing homework to help me replace the bulbs in the living room.  Unfortunately, there's nothing either of us can do about the light outside.  It's a slow progression toward darkness from now until December 21st.  Today the sun rose at 9:49am, and it will set at 7:14pm.

I was happy to get the kids outside in the sunlight today.  And I will continue taking advantage of good weather to soak up some rays for as long as it lasts.  And when we can't get out anymore, at least I know we'll have great lighting inside!

* Inventions
The twins are big into inventions lately. This invention (tying their keys on a string) was to prevent them from being stolen.  Other inventions have graced the walls of my dining room (paper kites, Frankensteins & cars) as well as the playroom.  In addition to physical inventions, they have taken to drawing new creations in their daily school journals.  Those are really fun to see, too.

* Kids under foot
There are certain things in my life that I have craved without knowing.  One is falling asleep with Josh's hand over my shoulder.  I never knew that I fell asleep missing that, until I had it. Another is cooking in the kitchen while all three of my children are in there.  Last night as I made macaroni & cheese and hot dogs for dinner (super gourmet, I know!) all three boys poured through Wyatt's toy box, playing with the stacking cups, Mr. Potato Head, and the baby toy camera in turn on the floor behind me.  It made the house feel alive, and gave me a peaceful feeling of wholeness.

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"If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, 

the entire evening sky would be held in the palm of my hand."

The other morning the twins were up early and they wanted to go out and see the stars. So even though we were all in our pajamas, we bundled up and headed out.  There we stood, three in a row, looking up to the heavens, pointing out our favorite, brightest stars, breathing in the cold morning air, surrounded by dark stillness.  Since that morning, this quote has held new magic for me.

Truly, those boys, those amazing gifts from God, have given me more joy and more smiles than I can even fathom.  I really would hold the sky, in its entirety, in my hands.