Happy Thanksgiving, all!
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
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.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
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!
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!
Thursday, November 07, 2013
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!
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!!
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
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, October 13, 2013
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.
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.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
(hashtag alert- judge if you like) :)
Enjoy it.
Because it's happening.
#family #dailylife #blesings #joy #fourlittlegirls #onehansomehusband #mylife #thesedays
Because it's happening.
#family #dailylife #blesings #joy #fourlittlegirls #onehansomehusband #mylife #thesedays
Monday, October 07, 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
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.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
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.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
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. :)
Saturday, September 21, 2013
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!
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
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, September 14, 2013
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.
Friday, September 13, 2013
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!
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