Making the Most of Milwaukee

This month I challenged myself to come up with 30 reasons why I loved my husband, and post one each day on Facebook. I successfully completed the challenge, and here are the 30 reasons in no particular order: 1. He always drives. This means that I get to kick back and relax (and possibly nap depending on the distance) whenever we're in the car. Also, he's a very safe and defensive driver. 2. He kisses me every morning before he goes to work, even though I'm usually still asleep. When you consider the potential for morning breath, drool, and ugly sleep face, it's a pretty selfless and sweet gesture. ;0) 3. He's smart AND wise. Justin would have you believe that, because he doesn't have a college degree that he's not as intelligent as the next person, but don't let him fool you. He knows so much about the world due to his experiences, and he'd say that's from making lots of mistakes throughout life. He is a quick learner, and really ...

I think art, in all of its forms, is often overlooked by Christians. We might pick apart the lyrics of a song, without hearing the beautiful melody. Or maybe we won't notice the exquisite beauty of a dancer's arabesque, because we're too busy looking at her outfit. Perhaps we can appreciate a painting on a canvas in an art museum, but not see the same talent when it's in the form of a tattoo. Speaking of tattoos, I always knew that I wanted one that would represent my children, but I couldn't think of anything that I really liked. Then, several weeks ago, I finally came up with a vision. I had an idea, but I needed a true artist to bring it to fruition. With the recommendation of my dear friend, Mo, I contacted a tattoo artist named Josh who turned the image in my mind into a beautiful piece of artwork. And that artwork is now displayed on my arm. And in case you were wondering what you are looking at: the blue flowers on top are irises. They are the flo...

I live a very ordinary life. When I think about my responsibilities as a wife and mother of four young children, it's a little daunting. And let's face it, mundane. Clean, plan meals, cook, feed the kids, wash dishes, do laundry, nurse the baby, change diapers, wipe butts, brush hair, dress kids, tie shoes, kiss booboos, discipline, go to school, go to the park, play, read books, say prayers... There's not much I do that's extraordinary to the untrained eye. On a rough day, when the kids are especially whiny or uncooperative or disobedient, the blessings aren't as easy to see. I get stressed and overwhelmed and irritable. Then I look a little closer. Everyday there are moments of pure bliss. And there is always something to be thankful for. Piper smiles at me like I'm the most important person in the world. Daddy can appease her for a time, but when she wants Mommy, no one else will do. It's a wonderful thing to be needed. Piper is our la...

I recently saw a meme that said something like, "I wish I were as fat as I was the first time I thought I was fat." That isn't exactly true, because I probably started thinking I was fat when I was prepubescent. I have no interest in being the size of a child. It's funny - not haha - that I remember thinking that if I wore a certain pair of leggings when I was 6 years old, I would look like another girl in my class who happened to have thinner legs. Isn't that nuts? And then I look at my own 6 year old daughter, and thank God that she thinks she's beautiful (because she is), and dances like a goofball (and wants me to record her) when she gets the chance. I absolutely love that she is just a kid with no signs of self-confidence issues whatsoever. Even though I've had body image issues my whole life, I do my best to convince my children otherwise. They see that my body is far from perfect, and I don't pretend that there is anything wrong with it. My...

In a day and age when people are constantly distracted by their phones, it's really great to have a conversation with someone face to face. Even when there's a group of people together, it's not uncommon for one person or everyone to be focused on their personal device. And to be clear, I'm just as guilty as anyone, even though I wish I weren't! Well, I got the privilege of spending a significant amount of my day chatting with two different friends at two different times today (yesterday). This morning, I went to Brookfield to get my hair touched up. I wanted it a little shorter in the back, so Joey (the stylist/friend) took care of that for me. Meanwhile, my friend Laura, who lives about 15 minutes away, watched my three older kids. After my appointment, I went over to her house to hang out for a bit while our kids continued to play together. We had a great conversation like we always do when we get together. Today we talked about a lot of Biblical/Spiritual re...

First of all, can I just say that I really like waking up to my kid alarm instead of the one on my phone. My kid alarm usually starts off with snuggles, and eventually turns into, "Mom, get up, I'm hungry." One drawback of the kid alarm is that it's not consistent, but generally it goes off after 7. This morning was pretty standard. There was some cleaning and laundry and playing involved. Then right before noon, my day kicked into high gear. I got all the kiddos in the van and took Deuce to school. Then Josie and I did school. The subject this week is the moon, in case you were interested. Justin got home early, so I was able to pick up Deuce without the other three munchkins. But, I had to hurry home to drop him off at home and pick up Josie to take her to her first Daisy meeting! It was nice for Josie to see some of her classmates from K4 last year. One little girl named Kaylie was very sweet. When she saw Josie, she was like, "hi Josie! Remember me?...

Not too long ago, Justin suggested that I watch a show on Netflix called "The Killing." At first, I admit I was turned off to it, based solely on its name. I figured it would be a violent and gory show. Well, I started watching it, and really liked it! It's a crime procedural drama, but unlike most other shows in that genre, there wasn't a new crime in every episode to be solved. Instead, there's a crime in the first episode, and then it took the next, like 25 shows to develop the characters - the victim's family, the detectives, and the suspects, and to solve the crime. There was a lot more emphasis on dealing with grief and stress of the victim's family that isn't normally addressed in shows where the attention is focused almost entirely on the ones solving the crime. Anyway, it was really great the first two seasons. The third season was just okay. It was still interesting, but it wrapped up too quickly (in comparison to the first two seasons) a...

Sometimes. And other times I'm a total hypocrite, because the place is a total pigsty. Right now my kitchen table looks like this: Dishes, notebook, shirt, water bottles, coffee, sunscreen, shirt, lunch bag, dry erase board... For some reason, it doesn't bother me at the moment. There are other times when I walk into a room and practically go into anaphylactic shock because of the clutter. I think I've figured out why it bothers me sometimes, but not always. If an item has a known home, I don't stress too much. For example, the dishes don't usually stress me out, because I know that once I wash them (later today or tomorrow or next week), they all have specific homes, all in the same vicinity. Now, if there are a bunch of things in a big pile, and their homes are in a dozen different places, then I might need to close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself. The worst stress inducers are the things that don't belong anywhere, or th...

It's funny how a short time of playing a little game brightened my day today. It's not that my day was bad, because it wasn't. But a brief game of hide and seek certainly helped me make the most of it. I even wrote a silly poem about it. Don't judge; it's not very good. haha  Hide and Seek Close my eyes and count to ten It's their turn to hide again Ready or not, counting's done Playing with them is really fun Run upstairs to find my dears Pretend to look both far and near Toes peek out, blanket wiggles They can't stop their joyful giggles Pouncing, hugging, tickling, "Found you!" Eyes light up, more giggles too "Okay Mom, now you hide!" Parenting, what an awesome ride.

I just finished my most recent blog post about five minutes ago. Did you like it? What? You didn't read it? It was really long. I titled it "Almost Perfection." It was about the wonderful day I had yesterday. It took me over an hour to write it. What do you mean it's not there? Oh right. Because I got an error on the page, and even after saving my work, I still lost it all. Such a bummer! Oh well... Anyway, here's a quick rundown of what I wrote. * Went to church. * Went to Possibility Playground in Port Washington. It's awesome. * Culver's is expensive. * The weather was PERFECT. * I have really great friends. * Joe and Aaron make a cute "couple." * My kids had a blast. * I treated myself to a coffee frappuccino. * God is good! And that's the abridged version of my wonderful day! ;0)

For those who've never been to our home, please allow me to give you a descriptive tour. The house is small and white. It is one of the oldest houses on the block, built in 1910. When you walk up to the front porch, you might think This thing is a little lopsided. Hope it doesn't collapse on me.  The wood slats of the porch floor are a little worse for wear. In an attempt to spruce up the porch last year (read: polish a turd), Justin sanded and stained the wooden floor. The stain didn't take as well as we would've liked, but oh well. There's a horse and buggy silhouette on the white storm door. I don't know why. Also, there are lots of sticky hand prints on the storm window. The front wood door is old and white. When you open the door, and walk in, you will immediately find yourself in the living room. There is no foyer or entryway. It's just boom: living room. Nothing too exciting here. Hardwood floor, green walls, couches, ottoman and end tables. Th...

So, yesterday was the second day of homeschooling, and I may need to adjust things a bit. Josie has a tendency to lose her cool when she feels that she can't do something. And then after a while, I start to lose my patience, causing both of us to be stressed out. I really need to find the balance between pushing Josie to excel and allowing her to go at her own pace. The main source of frustration has been handwriting these last two days. Josie can write all of her letters for the most part, but when I asked her to practice a letter on handwriting paper, she couldn't do it. And she got increasingly flustered and frustrated when I had her keep trying. I ended up letting her practice with her finger in a tray of salt. She could form the letter (S is the letter of the week) with no problems until I drew a top line, a bottom line and a middle dotted line for her to write the letter on. Either the letter didn't come close to touching the lines appropriately (start at the top, c...

Piper, my sweet, smiley, laid back baby is turning five months old on Thursday! I cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly! Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to brag on my baby girl for a bit. It doesn't take much to get her to smile, and giggles usually aren't too far behind. I am so thankful that my fourth child is so easy going. She pretty much only cries when something is wrong. That is, when she's hungry, tired or poopy. I can't say that any of my children were colicky, but Piper just seems especially chill. She started sleeping through the night much earlier than the other three. And unlike the others, nursing was a breeze from the start! Plus she's got all those awesome rolls that add to her adorableness. 80) This afternoon I took Piper to her well-child visit. She is definitely thriving, as she is in the 86th percentile for height and weight. Dr. Claudia noted that she's slightly ahead of the curve in terms of movement. I mentioned t...

School is finally here! Deuce starts four year-old Kindergarten (K4) at Lincoln Elementary, and Josie starts Kindergarten curriculum at home tomorrow! I knew it would sneak up on me no matter how prepared I thought I'd be. And sure enough, I'm overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done before tomorrow afternoon. That is one advantage. Deuce is in the afternoon class, so I have the morning to finish up anything I don't get to tonight. Every morning, I'm going to do house work while the kids play. Hopefully, if I get my act together, we'll do some learny stuff in the mornings too. Then right after an early lunch, I'll shuttle everyone down the street to Deuce's school and drop him off. Then I'll rush the girls home, put Margo down for a nap, and do homeschool lessons with Josie until it's time to pack everyone up, and go pick up Deuce at 2:50! At least that's how a normal day will go. Tomorrow, Piper has a well child visit at 1:30, ri...