Let me know what you think!

This poem was near the beginning, and it made me want to weep…

My hands were busy through the day.
I didn’t have much time to play
The little games you asked me to,
I didn’t have much time for you.

I’d wash your clothes,
I’d sew and cook,
But when you’d bring your picture book,
And asked me please to share your fun,
I’d say, “A little later, son.”

I’d tuck you in all safe at night
And hear your prayers, turn out the light,
Then tiptoe softly to the door…
I wish I’d stayed a minute more.

For life is short, the years rush past.
A little boy grows up so fast.
No longer is he at your side,
His precious secrets to confide.

The picture books are put away.
There are no longer games to play.
No good-night kisses, no prayers to hear.
That all belongs to yesteryear.

My hands, once busy, now are still.
The days are long and hard to fill.
I wish I could go back and do
The little things you asked me to.

from
Being a Great Mom, Raising Great Kids by Sharon Jaynes (pg. 27)

Look back at my last post and see how much time I spent playing with my beautiful children. I’ll save you the time – it was right around 0.00 minutes.

When it comes to spending too much time doing dishes and laundry and not enough time playing with the kids, I am the worst offender. The thing is, I don’t even like doing dishes and laundry. But they have to be done at some time or another, and it seems to be my job to do them.

So, how do I juggle it all?

I want to have a clean house and clean clothes to wear and yummy food to serve my family. But most of all I want to have children who know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their mommy loves them and loves spending time with them. I don’t want them to grow up and remember me as the housekeeper. I want them to grow up and remember me giving my energies to them.

And I fear I’m failing miserably.

If nothing else, this poem is a grand reminder to me. Maybe tomorrow I’ll remember to put down the dishrag and wrestle around with Caleb, make Ava giggle, read a book with Gracie, and crawl around with Jaden.

I just don’t want to miss it.

But I have to tell you that it wasn’t necessarily a “typical” day. And here are the reasons why…

• Luke was home sick.
• I usually shower the night before, to have a jump on the day. Didn’t happen on Sunday night.
• Luke and I have been trying our darndest to read the Bible in the morning, before the kiddos wake up. That also didn’t happen.
• And more!

I was planning to do this day as “Part One” and a calmer day as “Part Two,” but as Luke said, “That’s like a soap opera with no drama.” Boring. So, I’ll just leave you with this one and say, some days are not exactly like this one.

I did not gloss over the messiness of my house or my ugly pajama selection. This is real life in words and pictures. So, buckle your seat belts. Here we go!

———————————————————————–
Sometime in the morning – The kids woke up and started playing nicely! (Praise the Lord!) Luke and I were pooped, so we stayed in bed a while longer.

8:21am – Dragged myself out of bed

8:30am – Whipped up some baked oatmeal (yum!) and put it in the oven while the kids played.

8:43am – Put in a video for the kids to watch while I showered. I don’t usually like to keep them in front of videos for long, but this mama needs her shower every day!

8:50am – Had to discipline Caleb for saying two naughty words. He probably learned them from Grandma Rumley. (HA – I’m TOTALLY kidding, Mom R! I just said that because he’s always telling you, “Grandma, that’s a naughty word!”)

9am – The kids all sat nicely and watched The Tale of Despereaux (from the library) while I showered. Or at least I assume they were being nice. Maybe they were killing each other, but I was having a relaxing time anyway.

9:01am – Oh, but first I had to sort through the suitcase (still packed from our weekend away) for a pair of clean undies.

9:05am – Showered and got dressed.

9:23am – Kids were still watching the video. Gotta love the zombie effect that videos can have on kids! I cleared off the table and got breakfast ready to go.

9:33am – Got Gracie’s blood sugar and insulin figured out, then we all ate breakfast, besides Luke, who was still conked out in bed.

9:45am – I started cleaning the kitchen while the big kids finished eating breakfast and got dressed. The house was destroyed from unloading after our weekend away. We also call this day of the week “Messy Monday” around here, because it always seems to be messy from the weekend, no matter what we were doing!

10am – I abandoned my cleaning efforts to get the kids dressed and ready for storytime at the library.

10:25am – I slapped some makeup on my face while the kids got their shoes on and got buckled in the van.

Somewhere in there I had to discipline Ava for hitting Caleb.

10:37am – I lugged Jaden’s h-e-a-v-y carseat out to the car (have I mentioned lately that he’s getting chunky?!), and we left for storytime, which technically starts at 10:30am. (I think the librarians would be shocked if we ever got there early!).

10:45am – Storytime with our wonderful librarian, Miss Sandy!

I let the kids choose a couple of books and one video each. We checked out and headed out to the car.

11:47am – While loading the kids up, Grace whacked Caleb, and I promised discipline for later.

11:48am – We started to head home, and then stopped after about 50 feet, because Caleb dropped his favorite flashlight and needed to get out of his seat to get it and then get re-buckled.

11:57am – Called home on the new cell to make sure Luke’s alive. Yep, he even took a shower already!

12pm – Home! Checked the mail, pulled in the garage, and unloaded all the kiddos.

Took off shoes and coats, encouraged kids to put their own outdoor clothing away, and ended up putting half of it away myself. (“I don’t know how to hang up my coat!”)

Put a slumbering Jaden in his room to rest.

12:08pm – A nice perk to having hubby home sick: He disciplined Grace for me while I got to check my email!

12:12pm – Cleaned the kitchen more while the kiddos played.

12:30pm – Kids colored papers from storytime at the dining room table while I worked.

12:50pm – Prepared leftovers for lunch. (Did Grace’s diabetes stuff, too.)

1:06pm – Ate lunch! Cleared the table and put dishes in the dishwasher as people finished eating.

1:30pm – Got Jaden up to eat his lunch – 6 ounces of formula, plus baby food.

2pm – Done feeding Jaden. Put him on the floor to play.

2:04pm – Tucked Ava and Caleb in their beds for naptime.

2:07pm – Picked up dirty clothes to take to the laundry room.

2:07:10pm – Pulled paper out of Jaden’s mouth/hands on the way to the laundry room. (He LOVES to chew on paper!)

2:09pm – Started school with Gracie girl, who wasn’t feeling the greatest. Quite possibly the first time we’ve conducted all of school on the couch. (A perk to homeschooling!)

2:31pm – Put towels in the washer while Grace worked on a worksheet.

2:51pm – Grace needed a potty break and some discipline.

More school.

3:24pm – Grace colored in her Bible story book while I changed Jaden and put him down for a nap.

More school again.

4:16pm – Done with school. I tucked Gracie in bed for some rest, fully expecting Ava and Caleb to be about done with their naps.

4:17pm – I took my first potty break of the day and took some time to think about dinner and check all my online stuff (email, Google Reader, Twitter, other email account, etc.). Yep, basically wasted time online.

6pm – YES, 6pm! – The kids finally woke up from their nap! They must’ve been exhausted from the weekend! This is another one of those *not typical* parts of the day. My kids never take four hour naps anymore! Oh, but I’m not complaining!

6:25pm – Luke and I made tacos and homemade tortilla chips with guacamole and Spanish rice for dinner. Yum!

6:50pm – Got Jaden up and fed him his bottle.

7:02pm – Served dinner. (This actually is typical for us. Late dinners. I need to try to change that habit!)

7:12pm – Finally remembered to put the towels in the dryer.

7:13pm – Sat down to eat my dinner while feeding Jaden his baby food.

7:45pm – Finished feeding Jaden while the other kids got ready for bed (with Luke).

As I took Jaden out of his high chair, I found a little poop explosion up his back. Time for a bath!

Got done with J’s bath just in time for Bible story / prayer time as a family.

8:30pm – All the kids were down. *Sigh of relief.* So, I got to…
Clean more.
Read the daily Bible reading with Luke.
Clean more still.
Help Caleb fix his covers when he shouted “Mommy!”
And eat some mint M&M’s that I found in the cupboard.

9:40pm – Started budget night, in which Luke and I track all of our spending, pay bills (including a big extra chunk of $ to Sallie Mae to pay off student loans – YAY!), and plan our future spending. This is a Monday night occurrence.

11:08pm – Remembered that Jaden still had to eat his last feeding of the day (oops!), so got him up and Luke fed him a bottle while I showered (again) in preparation for the next day.

Got ready for bed.

11:38pm – Climbed in bed, prayed with Luke, and worked on some ideas floating around in my head for my “frugonomics” website.

Fell asleep sometime before midnight with my pen in my hand (according to Luke). Whew! What a day!

Now it’s YOUR TURN! Show me what a day in your life looks like!

After lunch on Saturday, we loaded up the kids (and a van full of junk – it’s hard to travel light with 4 little kids!) and headed out east. That would be the east side of Michigan, not the east side of the US.

We were visiting our old/new friends, the Webbers!

Laura and I share a love of couponing. So, we were able to hit two stores this weekend together (sans kiddos), and we had a great time (and saved loads of moolah!).

The first store we visited was Kroger, which was a first for me! And, ahem, it was not your average Kroger – this is what Laura deemed Super Kroger, because they double up to $1 coupons every day. Folks, let me tell you, it was super.

Spent – $25.52
Saved – $171.91

Yes, we did take pictures of our groceries when we got back to her house. A little nerdy? Probably.

We also went to Meijer before church this morning to get in on some excellent deals that were only valid today.

Spent – $10.84 (on a gift card)
Saved – $44.36

I didn’t realize I could “roll” the Catalinas from this deal, so I ended up with $20 in Catalinas (coupons good “On Your Next Shopping Order”) for later. That’s pretty much a $9 moneymaker. On cheese. I love better-than-free cheese.

Lest you think ALL we did was shop…We also enjoyed watching the kids play with the many trains Bo has, visiting late into the evening, eating scrumptious food, and worshiping in church together this morning. It was just a fun weekend with friends.

I’ll end with a giggle…

Laura called Bo “Boaz” during dinner on Saturday evening.

Apparently our kids only know his name is “Bo,” because Grace said, “His middle name is ‘As?’”

Sweet, silly girl.

More friends!

Caleb and Hannah – friends! I’m thinking we should arrange a marriage between these two. They’d have a lot of fun together. How about it, Perrys?

And the girl of the hour! This is Gracie with her car and ribbon, after the race. *She doesn’t know it yet, but she actually got third place in speed. Someone made a mistake and gave the trophy to someone else. So they’re going to give her a trophy next Wednesday, I think.* Good job, Gracie Girl!

The Grace-Mobile. She decorated it all by herself!

So, next year Papa Liabenow is on the docket for helping make the Grand Prix car. We think it’ll be less stressful for us that way!

Jaden Christopher has given us (almost) nothing but joy and blessings in the 8 months since his birth. He has a laid-back, wonderful personality, and has been a great sleeper since very early on (a definite plus for Mom and Dad!).

He seems to be a go-getter like his big brother, as he’s crawling everywhere and pulling up to stand wherever he can. One day this week I’m pretty sure he hit his head at least five times, because while he’s physically able to stand, he’s not quite mature enough to know danger when he sees it! Caleb was walking at 9 months, so we’ll have to see if Jaden keeps up with that precedent!

Jaden’s favorite time of day is after his evening feeding (around 9pm), when his siblings are in bed and he gets to hang out with Mommy and Daddy and look in the window at his adorable reflection.

We are so proud of our Gracie-girl, who finished her entire Sparks book last week at AWANA.

(If that sentence sounds foreign to you, I’m sorry! AWANA is a program for children that our church participates in every Wednesday. It focuses on Scripture memorization, and each student gets a book with verses to memorize. A book should typically take approximately one school year to complete.)

I obviously knew she was going to complete the book, since we work together on the memorization. But what I was most excited about was the review. I was expecting her to take the rest of the year to go back through the book and review the verses. Uhm, nope. She did ALL of the review verses the same night she finished the book!

That means she has really committed the verses to long-term memory. How exciting!

Confession time…(It sounds like a rabbit trail, but stick with me here.)

In elementary school, I was a chubby kid who wasn’t good at sports or anything in particular. I didn’t think all that much of myself, and I certainly didn’t have a healthy view of myself as a child of God. So, I thrived on accomplishments.

The one thing I did have going for me was that I was a good student.

As I grew older, I strove for good grades and was probably considered a “teacher’s pet.” (Okay, okay, I was actually voted “Teacher’s Pet” in our senior class mock elections.) I ended up being the valedictorian of my small public school class. You can imagine what wonders that did for my self-esteem.

But you can also imagine what happened to my rickety self-image when I got to college and wasn’t the smartest girl in the hall, and I couldn’t always get an A+ on every assignment. If I couldn’t even achieve perfect student status, what was I worth?

Obviously, I had to somehow form a healthy view of myself through Biblical truth – that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of God, and I am His precious child (no matter how much I achieve, or don’t achieve). I truly can’t remember how that happened. It definitely wasn’t a one-time change, but a change of heart occurring over time. I’m pretty sure motherhood helped shape me tremendously.

Okay, now I am on a rabbit trail.

Anywho, here is my concern. Grace is so much like me. She is a great student. She gets SO excited when she does well in school.

And I’m sure all of that is pretty “normal.”

But how do I help shape her view of herself in a healthy, Biblical way? How do I help her know that her value is in her status as a daughter of God, not in her grades? What can I do to help her know that truth from a young age?

Anyone willing to weigh in here?

Many people are still asking about Emily, and I haven’t known quite what to say. So, I asked Emily to update us on her progress. Here is her email…

I have completed my first round of check-up appointments. All major activities (driving, back to work, etc.) hang on my surgeon’s approval. I just met with the surgeon this afternoon with mostly good results. I am off all medications! I have to be monitored for 1 month for seizures though. If I am seizure free after that, life returns to normal! Woohoo! I am allowed to ski, but I have to wear a helmet as a blow to my noggin’ could cause a seizure. (All this worry about seizures…) I am free to return to work, but I will have some therapy continuing so I will return on a graduated schedule. I’m hoping to be back half-time February 1 and full-time March 1. I made up those dates so it might not happen just like that, but that’s what I’m thinking right now.

Here’s the answer to prayer (or at least Dan and I are thinking it might be): My doctor is very pleased with how well the surgery and recovery has gone. He is especially impressed with my attitude throughout the process. He is getting more and more patients coming through GR for AVM treatment. Sometimes patients have a hard time dealing with the surgery, recovery and such. He wants to know if I’d be willing to talk with other AVM patients about my story to help them though. YES! Can we say “Answer to prayer?” Most of you know, but one thing Dan and I were constantly praying for throughout my hospital stay is that we can use our experience for God’s glory. It was most definitely God’s strength that got me though, not my own. I’m very excited about this potential opportunity.

Thank you for all the prayers and support!

Yesterday, I was feeding Jaden a cereal/applesauce mixture when I needed to go administer some discipline for one of the girls. When I came back, this is what I found. Sweet Caleb thought he should help his brother finish his breakfast. I’m not sure how much breakfast he actually got in his mouth, though.

{Written 1/7/10}

I have to admit that I was very skeptical while on my to Walgreens last night. I am so used to the sale items being out of stock, and I expected to walk out of the store empty-handed.

Not so!

They were very well stocked, and I was thrilled to get some GREAT deals!

I had 9 of the $2.50/1 Electrasol coupons from this week’s inserts, which I L-O-V-E. That could be my favorite coupon ever. Walgreens has a deal going on this week – Electrasol is on sale for $3.49, and when you buy one, you receive a $1 Register Reward (a manufacturer’s coupon good for $ off your next purchase). So, the very kind cashier did separate transactions for each of my boxes of Electrasol. I paid $1.20 for each box (after coupons and tax), and received a $1 Register Reward. Not bad!

To make that good deal even better, you’ll notice that each box had 25 tabs instead of the usual 20. That means I got 45 “extra” tabs – more than two regular boxes worth! So, I got 11 boxes worth of tabs for $1.80 after sales, coupons, and Register Rewards!

The Bayer blood glucose meters were an even better deal. I did two transactions – a Breeze and a Contour in one transaction, which were free plus tax after “free product” coupons. This earned me $13 in Register Rewards. I would have done the same transaction again, but they only had one Contour meter in the store, so I just bought another Breeze meter (free plus tax after coupon) to earn another $5 Register Reward. HUGE moneymaker!

Then the Glade candles…The 2oz candles are on sale 2/$5, and you earn a $3 Register Reward when you buy two. I also had a $3/2 coupon. So, I paid $2 plus tax out of pocket and earned a $3 Register Reward. (Another moneymaker!)

So, the totals…

Spent $15.80
Earned $30 in Register Rewards
$14.20 moneymaker!

And some people say coupons aren’t worth their time. P’shaw.

{Written 1/7/10}