I need to be scrubbing the front tub but instead I'm sitting on the couch, watching the girls. It feels nice to take a break. I've been breaking from a lot of things lately, blogging being one of them. I'm sure I'll be back with a vengeance next year. 

This morning reminded me what mornings are like when we are homeschooling. I forgot how nice it is to have slow mornings where things get accomplished. Now I'm anxious for August to get here. 

Except then I remember that in August Elaina will almost be nine, Claire will almost be eight, Eily will be six, and Nora will be halfway to four. And then I decide maybe I'm not so anxious. 

But either way, it's exciting to wonder what 2014 will bring. I hope you have a fantastic New Year's Eve!

The girls had their Christmas Parties at school today. I just kept hopping between the three. It was handy because I could pig out on chocolate candy and no class was the wiser. :)

One more exception

I forgot to add my blog book to the exception. It's a must. (Not really, but kind of.)

Rules for 2014 Resolution

1.  We are not to purchase anything new - unless it is found in new condition at a yard sale/thrift store, etc…

2. There are a few exceptions to Rule 1 :)
    These exceptions are: toiletries, cleaners, Jason's art supplies, etc…, Car parts (hopefully this won't be needed), and shoes.
I have some very strong feelings about wearing used shoes. BUT- the shoes have to be needed and sensible. No more how-adorable-we-have-to-have-them shoe purchases.
Toilet paper (duh)
Groceries (double duh)

3. At the end of each month I have to report how we've done, what money we've saved, etc…

4. Since this resolution is for our family and not yours, if we are to buy a gift for someone in your family, it will be new. Unless I find something totally perfect and in perfect condition at a used item store. Hey- it could happen!

5. Also, I will not tell the girls they can't get new items from others when it's their birthday, Family Day and Christmas. Like I said before, this applies to our family, not your family.


I think that's about it.

The time is drawing near. I'm still just super excited about this challenge and the positive effects I hope it has on my family.  Let me know if you have any other rule suggestions (real ones, Adam). I love having input.

Sunday Morning

A few thoughts before I make myself get out of bed and curl my hair. (Oh, the inhumanity!)

I love to hear all four of my daughters laughing and playing together. In my family, there are four girls. We never played together as a group, though. I was four when Leah was born. Rachel and I had a few games that we played with Leah where we used her as the orphaned child that needed rescued, or the younger orphaned younger sibling that needed our care, but that was really all. And I don't know that we ever played games that involved Sarah. When Sarah was born, I was almost eight and Rachel was almost ten. So to hear all four of my girls laughing and pretending and each of them playing an important role, well, it makes my heart very happy.

I have been in a very funky place, lately. It's been very hard for me to accomplish the little, day-to-day things, much less write a blog post. I can't put my finger on what is exactly wrong, but it seems to be a mix of depression, exhaustion, and sadness. Last night was very, very bad. The lowest of my low's. After we put the girls to bed, I crawled in beside Nora and softly scratched her hair. It was healing to lay beside her warm, little body. Her skin was so soft I could smell it. She would take her hand and gently swirl it on the top of my arm. This morning, I feel renewed, refreshed and re-energized.

I'm not going to lie. Sometimes the girls overwhelm me. At one point this week, all four were wailing -not crying- wailing at the same time. But when they are happy and calm, I'm reminded how amazing it is that I'm in this place in life. And my heart hurts for my family and friends who have lost children, who are praying so desperately to have children, who are still waiting to get married and start a family, or who's children have all grown up and moved away. How blessed I am to be living RIGHT NOW in our little, old house with all four of my children. They still need me. They still want to be cuddled. They still smell like babies. They still fit on my lap. They still mispronounce words. They still think I'm one of the two greatest things on the planet. And they are still so forgiving. Children are the most forgiving individuals. Sometimes I'm amazed at how quickly they forgive and forget. I need to take lessons from them.

And now I need to quit typing and start curling. Do you know how long it takes to curl five heads of hair?!

Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

BFF's

Eily has a (non-related)best friend and I COULD NOT be happier for her. I used to imagine what it would look like to see her laughing and playing with a girl her own age and let me tell you, today's lunch at school proved that it's a sight worth seeing. I think a play date at home is in our near future. 

I want to take a nap.

Today, I'm watching four other children, besides Nora. It's been crazy, calm, exciting, messy, and exhausting. I never could get more than two kids to sleep at the same time but there was one hour where everything seemed to slow down and the commotion level was low. I think once the last child wakes up, we are going to go outside, despite the cold wind, and let our wiggles go wherever they lead us. I'm guessing they will lead us to the swing set and trampoline.
I've been prepping for next year's challenge. I'm still just as pumped and excited and nervous about it as I was before. I'm also still motivated and determined. I've had to laugh at myself, though. I keep thinking of all the things I need to buy before January. Kind of goes against the whole idea, doesn't it? I know I need to buy a calendar (one of my favorite end-of-year purchases) and the rest of the Christmas gifts. I hope to be posting the "list of rules and buyable items" soon.  I just need to sit down with Jason and go over it one last time.
I'm going to work two days a week at the local grocery store while the girls are in school. I have worked for this man on and off since I was 18 and so he's very willing to work with my situation and will basically let me set my own schedule. Nora is going to go play with two of her favorite cousins while I'm at work so I know she's going to be very excited. It's a win/win! Well, my cousin will make a little money from babysitting Nora, so really it's a win/win/win!

Something New & Nothing New

I don't usually make new year resolutions. I think the last time I truly made one was when I was a teenager. I discovered very quickly that I didn't keep them and most of the time, they felt forced and shallow.
This evening, I read a link that one of my friends had posted on Facebook. The catch line was Stuff, Do We Really Need More?  At first I passed it by but it wouldn't leave my brain so eventually I scrolled back up and clicked on the link.

Let me chase a rabbit for a minute. Last year, around this time, I decided to give up soft drinks.  At little bit of the motivation came from wanting to lose tummy fat but mostly, it was due to learning more and more about how food/drinks affect our bodies and how important it is to our health to avoid processed things/sugar/preservatives, etc…  Because I felt so convicted about stopping, it really wasn't that hard for me to stick to my resolve, and I haven't looked back since. The girls never really had coke to drink anyway, but it has been completely eliminated from their diets as well. I think Jason may have a Sprite every now and then but I don't nag him about it since he drinks them so infrequently. So, my point is this, it was easy (and in some ways, enjoyable) to quit because I had deep motivation and conviction about what I was doing. I also knew, it the deepest gut of my guts, that this time it would be easy for me to quit soft drinks. I had tried before and gone a little while but eventually would pick up the habit again. It was just different this time. I can't really explain it. It just seemed so simple and direct and obvious.

Back to the first topic. I clicked on the link and was directed to this website. The more I read, the more I was intrigued. The more I was intrigued, the more I was convicted. And the more I was convicted, the more excited I became. I got the same feeling that I had when I decided to quit drinking Dr Pepper. (All soft drinks apply, but that's really the only one that I ever drank.) It seemed so simple and direct. So obvious. So right.

I read the article to Jason who was immediately on board. This is his kind of thing, anyway. It will be much harder for me than it will be for him.
So, my friends, I am happy to announce that for the first time in almost 20 years, I am going to make a resolution.

We, the Jason Sacran family, will not buy anything new in 2014. 
Obviously, there are a few exceptions to the rule (like toilet paper) and I will be working on a post with those exceptions laid out so that you all can keep me on my toes. Every month, I will give a recap of the month and how the experience has changed us. We will be explaining it to the girls and I'm sure there will be times they will be frustrated, but they will also have a reason for the "no." We will appreciate any encouragement you can send our way. It going to be hard, but it going to be fun! 

It's the Artist's Life for Me

Jason has a good friend and fellow artist named, John Porter Laseter. Recently, John did an event where he painted 24 Plein Air paintings in 24 hours. To encourage and support his friend, Jason painted a nocturne from ten to eleven and I videoed most of the process. It was pretty cold that night and Jason and I both felt for John. At the same time, we were so glad that we could go inside after that one hour! You can find both John and Jason on Facebook if you want to follow along with their works and accomplishments.

My almost-eight-year-old cousin, Aaron, watched Jason's video and decided to turn it into an art lesson. Jason and I are VERY impressed with his efforts. Way to go, Aaron!!

I've got this little family, see, and they come first. :)

Wednesday

There's just not a lot to post about these days that you haven't already heard from me before. I mean, there is one thing I could write about but I'll spare you. It's gross. It's bad. It's nasty. It's taken over my life for the past two days and I'm not even involved. It's gross. It's time consuming. Oh yes, and, it's gross.  It involves hair. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Other than that, life is regular. We had parent/teacher conferences this afternoon. All three have all A's. (Eily actually has all 100's.) All on Honor Roll. All reading well above their level. All seem to behave while at school. Mrs. Pickatrz commented on how Elaina is such a deep thinker and the best listener in the class. Mrs. Young commented on how talented Claire is in Math and how quickly she figures out the answers . Mrs. Means commented on how sweet Eily was and how much she's opened up since the beginning of school.  Parent/Teacher conferences are fun when those are the types of reports you hear. :)

Jason is on his last big trip for this year. Hallelujah!!!  And then it's 5 weeks until thanksgiving, 9 weeks until Christmas and 10 weeks until 2014. Gracious! I think I'm going to go stick my head under the covers and be in denial for a while. I suggest you do the same. 

Jason Sacran Fine Art

I know most of you saw this picture on Facebook, but just in case, just in case you didn't, I'm posting it here on the ol' blog.  Jason painted this yesterday at a paint-out in Missouri. He's pretty talented, y'all.

Sunday

Nora woke up at four-thirty this morning with a fever. Sometimes, when my girls have fever, they become very talkative and chatty. Eily is always that way and the other girls do it from time to time. Last night, Nora took her turn; she was shaking from the fever but chatting and chatting about all the things that were flitting through her little mind. Finally, I put on "Barney" aka The Andy Griffith Show, and she fell asleep while watching. So this morning, she and I slept until ten-thirty and the older girls made themselves breakfast and played in the schoolroom- I think. To be honest, I don't know what they did because I was passed out solid.
Once I finally got out of bed, I had the girls clean their room and make their beds while I cleaned the kitchen. Yes, they can fix themselves breakfast but the aftermath is a bit shocking.  Then they all drew and colored in the schoolroom while I started laundry, swept, mopped, etc.... We ate lunch and then the younger two found themselves in the closet in their room (it's very big) playing Mama and Baby. Right now I can hear them giggling.
The older two didn't really know what to do. The were bored. They were tired. They wanted to paint. (NO)
So I used my extensive background and conducted my first class of Pasture Play and Adventure 101. I really didn't know that these types of adventures had to be taught; they came to naturally to me as a child. But the girls have grown up in a much different setting than I did so apparently they needed a little prompting. I explained about the excitement of orphans on the run, of "getting lost", of pretending to be The Boxcar Children. So they are on their adventure. They are feeling timid about braving the wild alone but they have packed a bag of some essential survival items. These items include tea cups and saucers, plastic forks, a blanket, a plastic medicine kit and a diaper bag.

God speed, little ones. And God bless. 

(hashtag alert- judge if you like) :)

Enjoy it. 

Because it's happening.

#family #dailylife  #blesings  #joy #fourlittlegirls  #onehansomehusband  #mylife  #thesedays

Routine

Life is back to normal. We get up, get dressed, get the kids fed and then usually I take the older three to school. We live about two minutes from the school so Jason stays home with Nora (unless she's already awake and then she insists on coming with me) while I drop off the girls.

 I come home and sometimes Jason goes straight to his studio (which is also about two minutes away from our house) but sometimes he lingers and we have breakfast together. Then I get started with my day. I put a load of laundry in the washer, I make the beds, I straighten the house and Nora helps me with it all. We clean the dishes. We fold the laundry. We hang the laundry on the clothesline and we always take a few minutes to swing while we are outside. I've been baking a lot, too. I've started making my own bread and I'm trying to keep healthy snacks in refrigerator for when the girls get home from school.

Once the girls are home, we finish homework and then they play, play, play.  We eat supper around 5:30pm and then, if it isn't raining, we usually end up in the yard throwing balls, climbing trees and running around getting dirty.

 Then it's bath time and brushing teeth time. Many evenings at this point, we all gather in the living room and I read to the family. We are currently reading Prudence with the Millers, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, and Farmer Boy. Nora usually throws her choice in the mix, too. Last night it was Sammy the Seal but more often than not, it's Harry at the Sea.
We are working on potty training. It's going surprisingly well. She usually has an accident or two every morning, but then pretty much makes it to the potty on time, every time.

Life is nice and calm.  There's something about this house that encourages calmness. (Well, not in the day to day. It can get pretty loud over here when all the young ones are home.) It also encourages patience, frugalness, and a feeling of contentment.

 Sometimes Claire will say she doesn't like living here because there are spiders but I remind her that we had spiders at our other house, too and that also I haven't called the bug man, yet. But she smiles so big and plays so hard that I know she feels right at home here. We all do.

update: after I wrote this post, Nora and I packed a lunch for Jason and drove it over to him. I counted and it took 25 seconds to get there, not two minutes. And then I had to drive to the school and give the girls their jackets and it took a little over a minute. And now you know the truth.

A "Peach" of a Morning

End of the week

Today was a halfzies kind of day. I folded one of the two piles of laundry. I planted one of the two flower beds on the front porch. I organized one of the two bedrooms on my list. I stripped, washed and re-made two of the four beds in the house. And now I'm going to eat one of the two chocolate candy bars that Jason brought home for me. It just seems like the right thing to do.

Elaina turns 8!

Once again, computer crashed therefore small amount of photos therefore short video of basically the same photos. But regardless of all that, Elaina turned eight today! I took cupcakes to her class this afternoon and watched her blush as they all sang happy birthday. It seems like she had a great day.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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9-23

Yesterday was my 32nd birthday. It was really, really good.  Jason had lined up babysitting for the WHOLE day. We took the girls to school, came back and got ourselves and the house cleaned up, dropped Nora off at the babysitter's house, and took off. We ran a few errands in Fort Smith and then headed for Fayetteville. We stopped for lunch at Taziki's where Jason had stuffed grape leaves, salad, and soup and I had a basil pesto gyro. Then we went to a nearby town where we looked at some land we are considering buying. Below are two pictures of the plot.

 

 

We stayed there a while and visited with some friends that live a couple of houses over from the land and then we went into town and got pedicures. I have been trying for years to get Jason to get a pedicure with me. He liked the massage part but that's about all.

Then we went to Bravo's Italian Restaurant for supper and Lowe's for flowers. It was a nice, relaxing day. Apparently, it was just what I wanted. :)

 

Claire turns seven

In one hour and fourteen minutes, Claire will turn seven. Claire's birthdays always hit me the hardest. I think it's because when Elaina turns a new age, it's hard to believe but at the same time, she's supposed to be older; she's the firstborn. But when Claire turns these grown up ages, it's hard to comprehend that my second child is that old.

My computer crashed this summer and I lost all my photos. There were a few uploads on the Mac that I was able to pull pictures from but they are all from a three month time span. Oh well. What can you do?That's why the song is so short, though. I had a few more photos that I could have used, but the end of the song gets more and more tribal and honestly, it felt weird to have drums thumping and natives hollering in the background as a smiling picture of Claire goes sliding by. So I nixed a few of the ones that were a bit redundant and cut the song a little short. Next year I'll be more on top of things. 

Happy 7th Birthday, Clark Bar. We love you!

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Tuesday

We moved in yesterday evening. It was basically a smooth night. I accidentally left the shower things in Mom's car so that wasn't convenient, but this morning I went and picked them up and everyone is now nice and fresh. This evening, after supper, we all went out in the yard and threw a football and a little rubber ball, picked up some trash, rode bikes and just enjoyed each other's company. It felt wonderful to be able to play outside and not have little neighbors running up and trying to join in on the bonding. It felt wonderful to have plenty of yard in which to play. It felt wonderful to put all four girls to sleep in the same room, sweetly lined up in their beds. It felt wonderful to have everyone go to sleep with out any fuss. It feels wonderful to sit here beside Jason and enjoy our new home. Yes-in-deedy, I'm going to like living here. 

Saturday

We are still plugging away at the rent house. The kitchen is totally put together which feels like a giant hurdle has been crossed. I think I may go tomorrow afternoon and get the computer and wi-fi up and running. Then on Monday, we should be able to move our clothing and dressers over from my parents' house. 

This past week, the construction workers finally started on mom's new kitchen. Nora has enjoyed chatting with the four men as they work and sharing their peanut butter crackers during break time. Yesterday, we left as they were leveling with string. When we got home, we found this by the front door. 

Love my babies. 

Making progress

Slowly but surely we are making progress. Tomorrow should be the most dramatic day as far as "moving in" goes. We've almost emptied one of our two storage buildings and if I get those boxes sorted and put away, we should be able to sleep there tomorrow night. Woo Hoo for new adventures!

More...

Bradley "Jack" Irby

After two hours of playing peek-a-boo, Captain Jack finally decided to make an appearance. He's cute, tiny, soft, and has the largest eyes and longest eyelashes I've ever seen on a newborn.
Mmmmm. Love him.

Last picture as a family of two.

Sweet, sweet baby.

It was hard to give him back.

Nephew on the way!

Baby Jack is coming some time today. Stay tuned for baby pictures. I'm guessing he has red hair. :)

Rent House- Before

Welp. I have some before shots of the rental house. It's ok if you shudder because you can take comfort in the fact that the house does not look anything like these pictures now. It's all pretty and shiny and very soon will be clean.

We had to replace some of the ceiling tiles in what will be the schoolroom. I was going to paint this room but my stamina has run out and really, the walls will be mostly covered by bookshelves and maps.

This picture is from the back of the hallway looking in towards the kitchen and dining room.

This is the living room. We painted it a nice non-color called Night Mist. It's purdy.

This is the bathroom. Ha! Just seeing if you were paying attention. This is the kitchen and those green cabinets will be a fresh white eventually. The paneling in this area will be painted white, also. The lower cabinets will stay unpainted. And the attic stairs won't stay down. :)

This is the fun screen door that leads from the dining room to the laundry room. Jason and Lyndol put new walls in here and Alisa painted the floor.

AAAHHHHHHHH!!!! That's all I have to say about this color.

This is the back bathroom and I won't do much in here besides give the walls a coat of white paint.

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Sorry. I can't help it. This is the girls' bedroom. It is a beautiful, crisp, lovely, white color now.

There was some old paisley wallpaper on this wall. Right now, it's just white but I have some wallpaper picked out to purchase at a much later date.

Welcome to the front bathroom. I'm going to take the door off the cabinet so it's just shelves and paint it white. The paneling will also be painted white.

This is an inside shot of the laundry room, halfway through construction.

Lyndol and Alisa had the wood floors refinished and they are BEAUTIFUL. They look brand new.

We've made a lot of progress since these photos were taken and I'm getting really excited to be able to show you after pictures! The plan is for some of the moving in to take place next week. Hooray!

A Story

I stopped by Grandma's house on the way home from picking up the girls, and filled her in on all the details of the day. She told me that when she started first grade, she was five and her sister, Eloise, was in the eleventh grade. Grandma was really nervous and kept telling the teacher she was sick and that she needed her sister, so someone would go find Aunt Eloise and bring her to Grandma or vice versa. After the fourth day of this, instead of taking her to Aunt Eloise, they took her to the nurse and gave her baking soda to help with the sickness. Grandma said she was never "sick" again. 

First day of school 2013-2014

Oh my goodness. Another year of school has started and will be behind us before we know it. I was originally planning on homeschooling this year. I had bought the books, printed the schedules and prepped myself as much as possible. 

And then our house sold. 

And I'm certainly not complaining about our house selling; that's an answered prayer. It just really threw a wrench in my planning and quite honestly, my sanity. I've really been struggling this past month to keep my head above water, to parent as I ought, to stay on top of the banking and bills, and still smile and have a nice disposition. 

Last night was especially horrible and I finally just started bawling. Thank goodness it happened at my parent's house and not in our old house where I would have just been alone with the girls. Mom and Dad quickly took over (I think they saw it coming and were just waiting in the shadows for the bell to go off) and got the older three girls in bed. Dad walked me out of the bedroom and Mom started rocking Nora. I just cried and cried and Dad comforted me in the way he has since I was a tiny little thing. Because he fathered four daughters, ol' Dad has had a lot of practice in comforting wailing women. 

And then he went to Sonic and brought back ice cream. See? He knows what he's doing.

Anyway, today was a new day and not just any old day. It was the first day of school at a new school in a new town! Did I forget to mention that we decided to send the girls to public school for a year? Oh, sorry. Well, due to a lot of factors, we did. I'm excited for them to have this experience, but I can't wait to get to be their teacher again and get back into our regular curriculum. I'm already making plans for next year. 

So...back to today. Everyone was so excited. There was a little drama this morning with the what to wear/how shall I fix my hair scenarios, but we made it out the door right on time. 

Elaina (7) Second Grade
Claire(6) First Grade
Eily(5) Kindergarten

Claire complained of a stomach ache on the way to school and was convinced it was NOT due to nerves, but rather, a result of her breakfast. Funny thing though, as soon as started towards the school building, that stomach ache vanished. Elaina was also feeling a little nauseous but she was pretty sure it was all nerve related. I agreed.  I walked with each girl to her classroom and took a picture of her at her desk. Elaina was nervous but her teacher knew where Renee, one of Elaina's best friends, was and walked Elaina to meet her so that they could visit before the bell rang. I really appreciated Mrs. Pickartz effort to make her feel at ease. 

By the time I got Elaina settled, Claire had already left for her own classroom down the hallway and was busy at her desk. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Young and she seems very kind and very friendly. The boy beside Claire is Jacob, and Claire said he is very nice.

My last stop was to deliver little Eily to her classroom. She is in Mrs. Means class. When Eily first heard this information, she was terribly upset. She calmed down once she learned that a person's name does not describe their personality. She was so nervous at first and just stayed balled up in her chair until her cousin, Clayton, walked in. As soon as she saw his familiar face, she hopped right up and began unloading her backpack. I snuck out while she was distracted but I wanted so bad to stay and be a fly on the wall. 

The day flew by. Jessica (Clayton's mama), came over and we peeled and cut up a lot of fresh peaches that we had picked on Saturday. Then I made a peach pie and it by the time it was baking, it was already time to go get the girls. 

They each had a great day. They took turns in the car telling me every detail they could remember about their day and their little voices kept getting more and more animated. Eily got to go to the library and watch a Clifford movie; Claire got to go to Art class today; Elaina also went to the library and was one of the few students chosen as the most well-behaved for the day. Eily said her nap felt like it lasted five seconds. All three said their PE was just a play day since it was the first day of school. Elaina broke her pencil in half and was embarrassed for a little while. Claire made a friend named Brooklyn. Elaina made a friend named Zion. Eily made a friend but she doesn't know what her name is. 

When we got home, we went through each backpack and I signed all the paperwork and we worked on Elaina's homework and spelling words. So far, easy peasy. Eily had homework, too. She was supposed to work on learning the circle shape, the number one and the words AM and I. I didn't even bother quizzing her. She's got this. I did go over Elaina's spelling words with her and she just messed up on one word so I feel confident that by Friday, she'll know them all just fine. 

It was a good day and I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Independence Day 2013

Yes, I know, these are a little late. I have several posts yet to come that are from this past summer. Sometimes it takes a while to get around to uploading the pictures. And really, I have more pictures from this day on the big camera but it's in a box somewhere. Maybe that post will show up sometime around Thanksgiving. 

Fun fact: We no longer live in this house. Woo Hoo!

It proved very hard to get a nice picture of Nora.

Even though her eyes are closed, this is my favorite picture of Elaina.

After I had fulfilled my picture taking urges, we loaded up and headed for Aunt Leah and Uncle David's house. Once we got there, the girls started getting very hyper and silly and begged me to take photos of their crazy poses. 

I'm pretty sure I have another picture of Claire from a few years ago making this same face and pose. 

We had a big day going to the water park (and freezing!) and then out to eat for supper. Finally, it was just an our or so from dark so we set off a few of the daytime fireworks. 

This was just too cute. I'm pretty sure we were laughing at the  chicken that lays an egg. They've changed it since I was a lass. 

I mean, look at that egg. Yowza!

Leah and David live in a cul-de-sac and it was the perfect spot. There were fireworks in the sky all around us. We ended the night with a popsicle and a bath. It was a great 4th of July!