Mama Moments

You see that, up there? That's my boy, about to catch the ball.
I should make it very, very clear to you that we are not a "sports family." Sure, my husband is obsessed with football.... but me?
I couldn't even tell you how many points a touchdown is.
(Yeah, he's ashamed of me.)

So, anyway, my kids did a stint with Tball and soccer
(I am NOT a sports mom, and have no desire to do that again.
We prefer bicycling, running, swimming, tennis, hiking, rafting, caving....)

I'm quite sure that, going into this game, my son had no idea how to play football.
All that to say, you can be thoroughly impressed with his catch and amazing play!

 I think he's even holding it right! Right? Who knows. But it worked!

Also, I should note that this is our Homeschool Fitness Friday class, organized and led by an amazing woman. This is not the screaming-parents, yelling-coaches, crying-children kind-of sports that we had previously experienced.

THIS I can do. THIS my kids enjoy. :D
This may make me rethink my position on team sports.

At the same time, my Middlest played Wiffleball. Before Friday, I had no idea what Wiffleball even was, so I'll explain briefly, in case you are as ignorant as I.

It is baseball.

I'm sure there's a difference, but not one as far as my untrained eye could detect!

Add to that, I was the assistant coach.
Go ahead and laugh.

More than anything, I let the "real coach" do his job, and I stood around yelling encouragements,
and generally embarrassing my son. 

He turned 8 today!!! WOOOOOOO! Happy Birthday, My Speedy Son!

I'll get the obligatory Halloween trick-or-treating pic out of the way, too.

My Papaw managed to get a picture of my family trick-or-treating

(while following us around from house to house, camera in hand. Serves me right!)  

I had no idea just how well my yellow and white cardy shows up! Wowzers!

 

Okay, now that my proud mama moments are out of the way, I'll dig deeper on the next post. ;)
I have stuff to say, y'all!

Paper sack art

This is my Middlest Boy, 7-year old Mr.T.
His artwork amazes me, continually. These are his superhero paper sack characters, done 100% by himself. On the top row, The Hulk and Thor. On the bottom, Iron Man and Captain America. He looked at a coloring book cover for inspiration.

Waffle Helpers

Aren't my helpers cute? I kinda like 'em!
I have another motive for posting these, though.
I repainted.
Again. Yes, AGAIN.
See those cupboards that were in the process of becoming teal and red? And the brownish kitchen (actually a very pretty color, that looked almost light purplish in the sun)?

Well, it's white now. ALL OF IT. The whole kitchen-- cupboards, walls, ....and the living room....the computer desk, window ledges, breakfast room, my room....the hutch, the closet door....yeah. It's all high-gloss bright white now.
Can you believe it? ?
My painting mood lasted several days. ;) I worked on it last weekend and made tremendous progress. I'm loving the bright lightness of it, and how the bold colors stand out against the clean "canvas." Pictures are a'comin soon! -- promise!

Morning at dark

I've been out the door by 5am every morning lately, to go running, and back before the sun gets up. First cup of coffee before light starts streaming through the door, and little people start rubbing sleepy eyes.
The mornings start 100 times better, when I can get my blood pumping and energy kick-started, before the fierce heat ravages my home.

Yes, Good Morning, Sunshine.

pirates abound

 (artwork inspired by David Shannon's book, Oh, David!)

Tea Party

Sewn Valentine's Day Card

I watched my 4-year old niece this past week, in addition to my four little ones. She did school with us, and easily followed along in our schedule. In the afternoons, we focused on arts & crafts, as usual.
With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we started on our family cards (the ones they'll mail to grandparents, give to cousins, etc)

My little guy (also 4-years old) has sewn before, but this was my niece's first time. I simply made white dots with a crayon, on their black paper, to show where they would need to poke in the needle. Of course, at this age, they needed constant supervision, and a little help when it got tangled. For the most part, though, they completed these solo!

This was one of the finished products. Impressive, yes? :D

They're very happy with their work, plus it's a great fine motor activity for little ones.

This little guy also made Valentine's cards, but was more interested in showing off his favorite toy, Bob.

He's my ham, the silly goofy one of the bunch, and lately he's taken to wearing a fedora. Every morning he asks me to paint his mustache on.

How can I resist this face?

His art even reflects his love for Bob. Lovelovelove it.

I'm in love with the little gangsta'!

I'd say my 1st grader is a pretty good artist!!

Body Paint

Well.
Remember the painting pics I just posted?
I got busy and forgot to bring that paint inside. My bad.

(Mistake #1)


Today we had our Family Time at the safari ~so much fun, way too expensive, so many pictures to post, and laughs that we captured~ then I went on to the store, and Fred stayed home with the boys.


Fred let LittleLad stay alone in the backyard to dig, while he played ball in the front with the older kids. Fred's bad.


(Mistake #2)


When I pulled up, Fred simply said "grab your camera and follow me."
Hmm...


My 3-year old stripped down buck-naked, except for those white socks, and painted his entire body. Yes, even his back, tush, and boy parts.


At this point, what do you do?
"Don't ever do this again," I choked out while laughing hysterically.

Indoor Play and Artwork

Felt Board (aka Felt on the couch)

I said I was going to do artwork every evening, and I didn't lie... just slacked on posting on Day #2. ;) So I'll show you two things today, to make up for it.

But first... I'm coping with the cold days and high-energy boys by planning better. This article, at Heart of the Matter, spoke to me. I was trying to do too much at once, pulled in different directions and stressed out. The boys were indeed misbehaving, but at least part of it was the poor planning and lack of structure on my part. I had let our schedule get too lax. I had been sick. My own energy was weak, and I let a lot go.

Marble Run.

Best. Gift. Ever.

Now I'm back to planning plenty of "structured activities," with time for free play scattered in short intervals. By structured, I do NOT mean that they are sitting and doing crafts all day. My boys can only handle so much sitting. I simply mean that I give them something to do, so they don't use the time for demolition, as boys are prone to do.

Pull-Up Bars, bought several months ago at Wal-Mart, and worth every penny.

Now for my last two days' artwork.

Fairly quick permanent marker sketches on book pages.

A view overlooking the city

Girl in the wind

Have a great night! I'm off to the Candlelight service, in a few minutes.

Agonizing Throes of Threes

My sweet little toddler has turned into a defiant, rascally little bugger, almost overnight. And, because of the extra energy and emotion that it's taken to deal with this astoundingly naughty little boy, I've been much snappier with the other kids, too. ;/ Bad deal.

After a week of this nonsense, I'm feeling rather discouraged, angry at myself for not consistently responding well, and more than a little ticked that he's been such a snot. Mostly mad at myself. If this is a test, it's pretty small in the grand scheme of things, and I'm already failing it.

I did some yelling out loud, more in my head, took my deep breaths, and then still proceeded to need my own "time out" on the kitchen floor (trying to breath while my teeth were grinding.) And, instead of relying on God, having quiet time, or calling for support, I threw my own little pity party. "This isn't US!" "This isn't how it's supposed to be!!" "WHY are they fighting all the time?" "What did I do wrong?" Yes, I did. Right there on the floor. I might as well have been stamping my little foot.

And I wonder where he gets it from. {sigh}

I have been praying about it, usually at night, when the kids are asleep, and I can think loving thoughts about them again. And I'm finally coming up with some tactics. Tomorrow we have a plan. A new schedule. More outside time. More Daddy Time. Firepit planned. A new spot for the time-out chair. Oh, yes, I'm on the ball.

And I have a back-up plan, too! If things turn south, I'll run away. No joke. ;) My Man is home tomorrow (hallelujah, do you hear singing??) so I can run a lap around the neighborhood if my stress level elevates too high. Oh, speaking of stress rising-- My Little Lad saw my deep-breathing today and asked, quite seriously, if my head was going to explode. Perhaps I've mentioned the possibility too often?

I'm also reinstating my late-night art times. How on earth had I let that slide? Got too busy listing books to sell, finishing furniture (my computer desk, TV table, a desk for a friend...) Redoing furniture is fun, but just finishing it isn't "artsy" in my book. I missed my creative time badly.

So, first, you can pray that my boys will not kill each other through the winter. Why must boys wrestle nonstop? Outside it's fine and dandy; go ahead, knock each other down, climb trees, play in the mud-- but when we're stuck inside, they MUST learn to deal with it in a semi-decent way. I put the pull-up bars back in the doorways, but we really need a padded "ball-pit" room, and an indoor playground, complete with climbing wall (Michele, I'm relying on you to invite me over when you finish your room!!)

Second, you can help hold me accountable for my own behavior. I need to pray, seek advice for this new stage from more experienced moms, be consistent with my art "therapy," and take enough time away from them to remember how absolutely fabulous they are. That's a biggie; Fred's shift, plus our recent sickness, have thrown my social life out the window. I miss my friends. I miss being away from the kids, for at least a few hours a week. I NEED to miss them. I hope that makes some sense.

Ah, sigh. Confession helps the soul, too, I think. I know I'm not alone. And I know that anyone who would judge me, simply hasn't walked in these shoes.

So, here's my artwork for the night. My therapy, if you will.

progress:

maybe done?

Not sure if I'll end up painting this or not.

My goal (a bit half-heartedly, maybe) is to post a new piece of artwork every night. Which means I'll HAVE to draw or paint something every day, or at least add to a picture. Fingers crossed.