5 Little Monkeys

Eileen Christelow is the author of "Five Little Monkeys" and we really enjoy these books. So, I decided to use this theme for our new playroom! I'll post photos when my camera is working and when (of course) we move to the "Special House".

Cowboy... Take Me Away...

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly

I wanna sleep on the hard ground
In the comfort of your arms
On a pillow of bluebonnets
In a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me I said

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you

I wanna walk and not run
I wanna skip and not fall
I wanna look at the horizon
And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one
For miles and miles
Except for maybe you
And your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me
Yes it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you

I said I wanna touch the earth
I wanna break it in my hands
I wanna grow something wild and unruly
Oh it sounds so good to me

Cowboy take me away
Fly this girl as high as you can
Into the wild blue
Set me free oh I pray
Closer to heaven above and
Closer to you closer to you
Closer to you
Cowboy take me away.
Closer to you

This is how I am feeling tonight. Darrel has been working, and working and... working. He slept in until 11:00 and then I went to work from 3-10 pm and even though it was his day off, we didn't see much of each other. As I was driving home this song came on the radio and I thought, "Oh, Thank you Dixie Chicks. This is just what I needed to hear". In hopes of seeing my Cowboy when I got home I was feeling more joyful. Well, as expected he was laid out across the kids bed with all the kids asleep around him. Which is usually where he finds me when he comes home from work. So, I'm blogging and listening to the song again... One day soon he can take me away.

"Parents and Children Need Sacred Time Together"

I long for a simpler way of life. We don't have cable. Our four children sleep together in a queen-size bed. I visit the market once a week (for the most part) and shop in bulk. My cell phone does not have a camera or internet access. I don't disapprove of any of the "upgrades" to what I currently have. I just don't have them.

When I think about how important it is for parents and children to have sacred time together, I think of simple living. This is my goal in life. To create a home environment that fosters sacred time together. Playtime, chore time, meal time, learning, laughing and all the good stuff of life.

I want to teach and learn right along-side of my children. I want to make memories that will make a lasting impressions on them. When trials and troubles come in their lives, they will have these grounded, solid, foundation-based moments to remember that will see them through their storms.

We're working towards that home in the country. A garden. A flower patch. Open spaces. Beautiful landscapes. A place that you never want to leave unless you choose to and a place you can always come home to when you want to. No matter where we are physically, I hope Darrel and I can produce this type of environment for our children and grandchildren. I want to be remembered as the mother and grandmother who encouraged and provided sacred time together.



"Mitten Strings for God - Reflections For Mothers In A Hurry" is a book I found through a friend's blog this morning. I love the simplicity chapter beginning on page 34. The Author says,
"If I pause long enough to listen to my own inner voice, rather than heeding some external call to go, see, and do, I make better choices for us all."

This statement reminds me of Elder Oaks "Good Better and Best" talk from General Conference. As a mom, I (of all people in our family) need to be making better choices. "We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families" (Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,” Liahona, Nov 2007, 104–8).

I want to develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen my family.

Recently, a gentleman who came to repair our washer (that is still NOT fixed) read my sign in the laundry room that reads:
Less is More.
He said, "Okay?" With a puzzled look on his face. But it is true even though all around us screams "MORE, MORE, MORE!"

I am finally learning this after 32 years of living. By having less, I have more to give. Here is an example; I am involved in two preschool coops. I would not change this year's experience because I have learned a great lesson and my children love their friendships so much. However, I would not do it again next year. Why? At the end of the day, I feel that I have nothing to give. I thought more involvement would be better for them and better for me but, in actuality it has not been a benefit for all of us. I am more cranky, more irritated, less patient and less loving by the end of the day. It's just too much. Too much of a good thing. Next year, I will choose better and even the best use of our time together. We'll enjoy the outdoors, the indoors, new sites and locations as a family. We will still make new friends and enjoy them but it will be in a different setting. Not EVERY Tuesday and Thursday for 2-3 hours in different locations for 9 months. "Less is More" for me.

I love how Ms. Kenison says, "We can choose simplicity over complication." We do have a choice! Isn't it grand!

Thank you Natalie for bringing this treasure to light for me. It's a gem.

So, there you have it and here are some pictures that make me feel good inside.

Adorable Pettiskirts!

Daryl was invited to a "Fancy Nancy" birthday party and one of the adorable guests came dressed in one of these (not this exact one). Too cute! So of course, I'm going to call my mom and tell her we have yet another project! I can totally make this. Time??? Well, have you met my mom? Give that woman a needle, thread, and some fabric... WATCH OUT!!!

Now that I am about to have two girls in the house, we will require double the fluff.

BBC Classics

I read this in a friend's blog and found it very interesting. I am a fan of the BBC. I love English Humor and even though I have thought about reading some of these books I have only read 6 and most them were for school assignments and not for pleasure which really means, I didn't actually READ them. So, as a gift and goal to myself, I'd like to see how many of these books I can read (for enjoyment) before my turn here on earth is up (it will take me that long). Way to go, Erin for reading 53!

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?Instructions:Copy and paste, then put an 'x' after those you have read.Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x)
6 The Bible (x)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (x)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (x)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnet
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (x)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

As I said, my big total is 6. I hope to encourage my children to read and develop a love for reading. Currently we check hundreds of books out of the library each week but, sometimes they end up on the floor as roads and bridges for trucks and cars. I have a project on my list to create "Book Nooks" around the house. Cozy and comfortable spaces for reading books. I should move that one up on my list. I remember going to the library and racing to the beanbag corner. Maybe it was the beanbag I liked so much? Anyway, I know I enjoying reading and for me the setting or environment has a lot to do with it. It must be the Interior Designer in me.

I think about all that I am missing by not reading more good books. There is so much to experience through the mind of a great writer. Going to places you've never been, living in times you've never lived. Learning of history and people and experiences unique to many. I could really escape to a wonderful place without having to leave the house!

I can also recommit myself to "Afternoon Story Time". When we do it, it proves to be a great bonding time for us. Usually, around 1 or 2 o'clock I gather all the kids to the living room and we sit on the sofa together with a warm blanket. I pull over the Library bag of books and we read stories. As we finish one book, the kids announce "next book!" Pretty soon my boys are napping and my daughter has mellowed out considerably (she doesn't nap anymore). It has been a great time for us and a great way to spend an hour every afternoon.

Oh, How We Love To Clean...Really!

Instead of going to bed late I decided to go to bed early and get up early! This is a better concept.

CLEANING:
Yesterday, Darrel was home and lately the poor man has been working himself to death, so he's not here much. However, yesterday he was home and we spent the morning cleaning together! I don't know about other couples but for us (if I'm in a good mood) cleaning is one thing we really enjoy doing together. Now, if you have been to my house during this current pregnancy, you'll know that either
a. I have not been in a good mood
b. Darrel has been working A LOT
c. both a and b
because our house has not been it's cleanest or tidiest. We're both tired. We're both tending to the children and or working and cleaning has not been high on the priority list like it usually is. It's basically been survive... maintain... just get through the day type of mentality. Having said all that, yesterday was a fantastic cleaning day as we scrubbed, washed, folded, and sanitized. The kids entertained themselves and hardly interrupted us which was amazing and we were able to converse and discuss all that has been going on since we are basically like two ships passing in the night. It was a very enjoyable morning activity.

I still haven't implemented my cleaning schedule but I did put together a handy little, blue (my favorite color) "Cleaning Caddy" that really makes, the little bit of cleaning I do, fun! Oh, and by the way, my washer is still not working. The new belt is on but it makes a horrible knocking sound on the spin cycles and leaks water. They are coming today - AGAIN!

Absolutely DREAMY

Dreamy! Since I can't get the photo to post go here and look for post dated 2/26/09 "Scenes of Efficiency" to see what I am so taken by. I don't even consider this luxury... it's an all out NECESSITY in my house. I think I like ocean blue.



I've been without a washer for 15 days so... it's a bit depressing that I could use this set up to catch up. I'll be buried in my laundry room for at least three days of non-stop laundry action.

WASH * DRY * FOLD * REPEAT