Life In a Shoe

4 Moms, 35 Kids: the schedule

kimc — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:34 +0000

I was half-kidding when I asked my rhetorical question about instituting a new schedule before this post, but not because I wanted to impress you with our superior levels of productivity.

It's because this mom of nearly-10 has become shockingly undisciplined. After those early years of madcap panic trying to get through the days and weeks and months with all the members of the family receiving at least a meal a day and a bath a week, now I'm surrounded by helpers with able bodies and sound minds. I have 7 children who can tie their own shoes, and what's more they can find and tie shoes for those who can't.

I'm not telling you this in a show of false humility. There is some real humility, because I know we could make much better use of our time. But my main purpose in explaining this is to encourage mothers whose children are all or mostly below the age of shoe-tying. Your days will get easier. You will, someday, struggle more with the temptation to laziness than the temptation to fall into a teary heap on the kitchen floor because there's just not enough time in the day to do the absolute bare necessities.

The four of us promised to tell you about our schedules. Here's mine. We don't have strict times attached to each event because we don't usually watch the clock except at the beginning and end of the day. We just have a progression of events that will be done. Well, in theory at least. On a good day.

This is what our typical day looks like:

7:00 - Rise time. Help with Dad's coffee, breakfast and lunch, if necessary.

7:30 - Dad leaves. Other stuff starts:

Shower/dress - only those who rise early are allowed a morning shower. This doesn't stop the late risers from asking for an exception every single morning. When I say no, they typically make up for their laziness by spending an hour getting dressed, not realizing that it will therefore be an hour later in the day before they have free time to take a shower.

Bible - private reading for all. I usually read in my bedroom. If little ones join me, I read aloud with an admonition that they must be still and quiet or leave the room.

Jobs - clean up the house. Everyone has assigned areas and chores. This includes bedrooms, laundry, living areas, animals, etc. Most jobs get done and re-done throughout the day as necessary.

Breakfast - usually prepared by a volunteer or assigned to somebody who looks idle.

School - there is no time attached to this; it's simply the next thing on the list. But I will confess that it rarely starts before 10:00 and continues after lunch.

Lunch - some people eat lunch at noon. We scoff at such predictable behavior. We eat when we get hungry, or when we see somebody with a particularly appealing snack, or when the little kids get whiny.

2:00 - also known as the Hallelujah hour. A general shout goes up (Guess what time it is? Two o'clock!!!) and naps commence for the wee ones, quiet time for the bigger small people. "Quiet time" really means nap time for those who don't necessarily fall asleep but still get tired or cranky after a long day. Yes, that may include me. Quit snickering. You know you're just jealous.

Quiet Timers are allowed to choose one or two books and are required to be still and quiet for 60-90 minutes. I sometimes lie down with one of the littles while the big girls finish up their school.

Afternoon projects - This includes 1 hour of yard work. Right now we're working on clearing the woods around the house, and making beautiful progress in areas that we couldn't even walk through before. I rarely take part in this. The kids are probably going to either laugh or seethe at the term, "rarely" which indicates that I do, indeed, help on occasion.

Free time - Do you really need an explanation here? This is for those productive individuals who are done with jobs, Bible and school before dinner. Don't feel bad for them. Anyone who wants free time generally has it - the question is whether they are good little children who finish their work first, or bad little children who goof off all day and find themselves scrambling to finish their work before dinner.

6:30 - Our officially scheduled time for dinner, though we love to wait for Dad if he expects to be home any time before 7:30.

Dishes for the big ones, baths for the little people.

Family time - this often includes surfing the internet as a team event, and wild-eyed herds of children stampeding toward the sound of youtube. It sometimes includes Dad or Mom swatting at 6 or 8 people at a time and muttering, "Get off me! Let me breathe, people! I'll call you when the video is loaded!"

Family worship

Bed - The little ones are usually in bed by 9:30 or 10, while the big people in the house (11 and up) try to have lights out by 11 or so. I can hear the collective gasp out there. That's just what works for us these days. When all the kids were little and Dad came home every night at 5:15, bedtime was 8:00. If we did that now, some of them might not see him for days on end.

See the schedules for the other 3 moms and 25 kids:

Guess who else is blogging about a daily schedule? Simple Mom is re-running her classic post called 20 Tips for Finding your Routine with Kids.

Current status:

kimc — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:57:37 +0000

hungry
sleepy
29 weeks pregnant
excited about attending a local session of Dave Ramsey's FPU tonight!
rather enjoying the fact that I'm due during week 12 of a 13 week class.
anticipating the reaction to our new collaborative series, 4 Moms 35 Kids! The first post goes live tomorrow - be sure to visit all 4 moms!
really nervous about part 2 in the series above: live blogging a day in our house. Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Food log, day 1

kimc — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:15:55 +0000

My midwife asked me to keep a food log for her. She wants complete records for everything I eat for 5 days, though not necessarily consecutive days. She was a little amused when I pointed out that there was only room for 3 meals and 4 snacks each day. I guess I can use the back of the sheet.

Today seems like a good time to start because my chocolate stash is gone. Well, except for the last bit of Starbucks Java Chip ice cream. Oh, and that Hershey's bar I bought for hubby's lunch a looooong time ago. I keep forgetting to put it in the bag, and today I saw it peeking out of a basket on top of my dresser. er...hi, hunney...I love you...

Just because I'm such a terribly interesting person, I'm going to share it here. Actually, I'm going to keep track here because it's a plausible excuse to be on the computer. Not that I generally wait for an excuse, but it's always nice when one is offered.

If you're really interested in what I eat and how much, feel free to check back throughout the day for updates.

Breakfast:

Sausage, egg & cheese on an English muffin - we don't normally eat like this. Hubby bought and prepared a special Sunday breakfast and I ate some of the leftovers today. Also, I don't normally eat a hearty breakfast but I was sick yesterday and didn't eat much, so I woke up hungry. See? Excuses already. I told you I liked them.

Snacks:

10:00 AM

Cocoa-mocha (cocoa with instant coffee added) - unsolicited and made from scratch by a sweet daughter.

1:00 PM

Kefir, very lightly sweetened with honey - Oops. I got busy on our tax return (done! woo hoo!) and missed my second morning snack, and elevensies, and second breakfast. The kefir took care of my grumbling belly before the blood sugar sky dive event began. I'll still need something more substantial soon.

Lunch (2:00 PM):

1/2 cup macaroni & cheese - homemade, from scratch. A stroke of genius by one of my girls.

1 cup steamed broccoli w/homemade cheese sauce - these girls are making me look good!

Snacks:

4:00 PM

6 tortilla chips & salsa, 1/2 oz of cheddar cheese

5:00 PM

16 oz. milk

Dinner:

Hamburger stroganoff (made from scratch; no cream soup) served over rice; spinach salad; crock pot applesauce (just apples, spices and a bit of water, cooked til soft)

E-books!

kimc — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:17:35 +0000

You probably thought we forgot, but actually I'm just procrastinating. We still want to publish our 2 e-books, but we're caught up in the details.

Maybe you can help us.

One big detail for both books is the number of photos. We don't have any for the cookbook, and very few for Big Family, Small House. How important do you think photos are in an e-book? Do they just make the file bigger to download, or do they really add to the reading experience?

For the cookbook in particular, how important is it to have photos of the finished product? I can see how it would be helpful, but it would also really increase the file size and slow down the project. Should we invest the time? Maybe just a few photos here and there?

And what shall we call our cookbook? I have to admit, I'm rather pleased with it and I want the perfect title. It's over 50 of our favorite recipes. Most (but not all) are frugal and easy, and all are rated for difficulty so you'll know whether to turn your 9yo loose in the kitchen. I also included all the cheeky chitchat that you find when I post recipes to the blog.

So what would you call it? Something fun, something frugal, something kid-friendly but not just for kids...help!

Giveaway: Marie Madeline Studio!

kimc — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:24:02 +0000

Don't forget to come back on Thursday for the first installment of our fun new series, 4 Moms, 35 Kids!

We're insanely excited about this giveaway - can you tell?

And we think you'll be excited too. The very sweet Long ladies are a delight to work with. They treat every customer like a personal friend, and their enthusiasm for what they do is infectious.

See the skirt Kaitlyn designed for me with fabric from Marie Madeline? It's just the right length and width to wear low on my hips now, but still long enough to wear around my waist after the baby is born.

So guess what?

Marie Madeline Studio has invited us to host a giveaway!

One very happy winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to their shop!

THE GIVEAWAY

To enter, just visit the Marie Madeline shop and drink up all the happy colors. Then come back and tell us what you think you would choose if you won. I know it will be hard to choose. Just do your best! Don't feel limited to skirts - they have lovely bags, and over 300 fabric choices to let you design or make your own projects, patterns, and more.

BONUS ENTRIES

As usual, you can enter up to 3 more times by linking to this giveaway on your blog, Facebook and Twitter. Remember to leave a separate comment here for each entry and include a link to your post or your Facebook/Twitter username so we can verify your entry if you win!

We'll accept entries for a week, then announce a winner soon after.

Searching for answers?

kimc — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:17:20 +0000

If you're a blogger, you probably like to check your stats regularly. If you're really nosy, you might also keep an eye on what sort of search terms bring newcomers to your blog.

But I'm a helpful person, and rather than mock the searchers, I'd like to take a few minutes to answer their questions.

I think this one takes priority:

i am dying from hemlock

Oh my. Did you smoke it? If you did and you happen to be a rat, you have a 50/50 chance of survival. If you're human, your chances might be better - both Deanna and my brother survived, so that's 100%. But you might want to check with a doctor anyway.

While we're on the topic of dangerous plants which resemble lovely wildflowers (hemlock looks very much like Queen Anne's Lace) let me also warn you against Snow-On-The-Mountain and Jimsonweed. Hey, Tim M? The girls are really sorry, and they're very glad you didn't die or hallucinate too badly.

chicken pox party blogs

Can't help you there, but I might be interested if you find one in my area. I have 3 children who haven't been exposed yet.

stupid tax dave ramsey

Oh! Oh! Guess where hubby and I are going this Saturday? Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, here in San Antonio. And aside from our 7 year stupid tax, I feel like we paid the stupid tax 2 more times just getting our tickets to this event.

First, we paid an extra $25 each to skip the lines and sit closer to Big Dave. I told hubby that if Dave points at our section and uses us as an example of how not to spend your money, I hold him fully responsible.

Second, not 24 hours after we paid full price for our tickets, we received an email from DaveRamsey.com encouraging us to invite all our friends and family to buy tickets at 75% off. Grrrr. I feel smarter already, and I haven't even seen Dave yet.

tell me something very funny.

Once I caught a bat in a bath towel while totally naked. It was pretty funny after the fact. Actually, it was even funny at the time.

quotes about shoes and life

"Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes, because then you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes."

picture of small boy in cowboy hat

Like this?

He also tried to ride the horse minus the single article of clothing between his boots and hat. That didn't last long, but it sounded like this: "ow...ow...ow..."

homemade sausage seasoning

mmm...

"i have the biggest feet"

Nope, I win. I'm not telling what size. Just trust me on this.

how to fit 3 girls in 1 small bedroom

Just 3? Can you hear the laughter from my 8 girls, who all share a 12x11 room? They had 2 rooms but decided to move together so the other room could become the family library.

how to tie stonehenge with nursing

Let me know if you figure this one out, because I've always wondered about that too.

tanya lost a shoe

Well, I don't know Tanya but if she's missing a shoe it's probably somewhere in my house. That's where all the lost shoes are. But there's no point in her coming to look for it until she throws away the remaining shoe. That's when they always turn up.

flood of 99

Don't remind me. So. Much. Poop.

There. See? You've got questions, we've got answers.

4 Moms, 35 Kids

kimc — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:16:43 +0000

If you ever wondered how we moms of many do it, here's your chance to peek into 4 of our homes every Thursday. gulp...wait...whose idea was this?

Please join us at each of our blogs (including here!) every Thursday. Try not to laugh too hard when we post about our daily schedules next week. And if I should happen to institute a new daily schedule on the Tuesday before that post, would you want to know or do you want to labor under the delusion that our household is always run in an orderly and efficient manner? It's just a hypothetical question, of course...

Contributors:

Connie is a Christian homeschooling mom to 8 rowdy children, wife for 25 years to one hunky golf pro, wiper of noses, writer of stories. She blogs regularly at Smockity Frocks.

Kimberly is a second generation homeschooling mom to her soon-to-be 10 children. She is married to an amazingly patient husband, who also happens to be a magnificent father. Their family's primary goal is to glorify God and to raise children who will do the same. For that reason they attempt to examine every decision that they make in the light of God’s word. Many of their decisions may seem strange to the world and they're good with that. Kimberly blogs at Raising Olives.

The Deputy Headmistress is is shy and blogs behind a pseudonym which she intended to be amusing and somewhat self-depreciatory. She and the Headmaster locked eyes in a high
school Sunday School class in 1979 when she was 17, and they have been merrily married since 1982, in spite of the fact that at 17 the DHM nearly got the HM beaten up by her other boyfriend, and at 20 she nearly got him arrested by a cop from church. Happily God helped her grow up, and He is gracious and forgiving, and so is the Headmaster.
They have seven wonderful Progeny both by birth and adoption, two handsome sons-in-law, one adorable grandson, and two precious unofficial foster sons, ages 5 and 3, who live with them about half the time. They have been homeschooling since 1988. The DHM, and
occasionally some of the Progeny, blog regularly about politics, family life, living in the country, books, music, cabbages, kings, and living the countercultural Christian life at The Common Room.

KimC (that's me) is a Christian, a wife, big sister to 13 sibs, and the slightly-crunchy homeschooling mom of 10 children: 9 on the outside and 1 on the inside. She lives with her very large family in a very small house in south Texas and finds peace in chocolate and blogging at Life in a Shoe: the methods and madness of one family of 12.

Her family shares their little house on the hill with dogs, gerbils, snakes, and tarantulas, and a 10 year old cat named Tim. The chickens stay outside. Usually.

So please join us and help spread the word!

Coming up this Thursday

kimc — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:31:21 +0000

I'm nearly 29 weeks pregnant, and this Thursday will be a prenatal checkup with a glucose screening. She'll also be drawing blood for labwork - ugh. I don't dread this nearly as much as usual because I've figured out that I rarely faint if we use a pediatric needle and I lie down while the blood is flowing.

This makes me much less embarrassed, since I feel like a wimp for fainting over a silly needle. Now I have proof - sort of - that it's not the needle that bothers me. It's my low blood pressure, which just slips down even lower when somebody takes blood from me. I suspect the pediatric needle isn't as necessary as the lying down, but I'm not about to request a bigger needle to check that theory.

Also this Thursday, I'll be announcing a group blogging project with 3 blog friends. We think you'll enjoy it, and we really hope so because we intend to enjoy it thoroughly. I'll admit up front that it was not my idea. I just had enough kids that they invited me to join them. Can you guess what it is? Maybe you've already seen the announcements on their blogs?

And since nobody begged to know what our next great giveaway is, I'm going to make you all wait til Thursday for that too. There. Let that be a lesson.

Winner: New Creation Women’s Apparel

kimc — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:18:04 +0000

With over 200 entries in our New Creation giveaway for a free skirt, it was hard to choose one entry, but the job is done.

Melinda, on February 20th, 2010 at 2:09 pm Said:

I would choose the dark blue denim maternity skirt.

And that's that.

Congratulations, Melinda! Thank you to everyone who entered - and please keep in mind that even if you didn't win, your enthusiasm makes it easier to find sponsors for future giveaways.

Speaking of future giveaways, just wait til you see what we have next. I think you're going to love it! Now that we've chosen a winner for this one, the question at hand is when to start the next giveaway...

Cloth diapers questions from the mailbag

kimc — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:20:22 +0000

Since we made the switch from disposable diapers to cloth last year, I've received a lot of questions from other cloth newbies and mothers considering cloth.

Since the mothers who ask these questions thought my answers might be helpful, I've decided to share my answers here too. Feel free to jump in if you have anything to add to my cloth diaper q&a.

Good drying rack for diapers?

I read that you don't use an electric dryer. I have one, but would like to air dry my diapers to make them last (for more children, hopefully!). Do you have a suggestion for a sturdy/large-enough-to-hold-a-couple-day's-worth-of-diapers drying rack? The one I had before was your run-of-the-mill Wal-Mart variety that ended up breaking on me and didn't always hold my entire load of diapers at once.

answer:

For a drying rack, I love my 2 racks from IKEA. One is nearly 6 feet tall and holds 2-3 loads of laundry - I can't seem to find it on their website but it's called the Antonius clothes dryer, and costs $37.99.

They also have a smaller drying rack that holds about as much as the walmart variety you mentioned but seems to hold up much better. It's $6.99. You can get one similar to the smaller model at The Container Store for about $20. I know, that's a huge price difference, but the quality is better and you're more likely to have one nearby. Even at $20, I think it's well worth it - it's a great, simple design that folds down flat in one second flat so you can store it behind the sofa, etc.

How to store dirty diapers?

What do you use to store your diapers in before you wash them. Have you ever heard of/researched the type of bag I referred to above...Planet Wise Wet/dry bag? It is 16.5 x 27 inches, which seems large, but maybe I am nuts for thinking this will work for everyday use at home??

answer:

We store our dirty diapers in one of those diaper genie buckets, found at a yard sale for $2. I pulled out the insides, so it's just a bucket with a flip-top lid. A trash can with a flip top lid would do nicely too.

Many people are very happy with wetbags, so that's certainly an option, though I've only used our wetbags in the diaper bag. Make sure you get one that seals well to keep both wetness and odor inside. Most can be turned inside out and tossed in the washer when you wash diapers.

My sister uses a standard 5 gallon bucket with the lid set loosely on top so it's not a struggle every time.

Whatever you use, make sure it has plenty of room to hold all your diapers between washings. You'll probably find that you change a bit more often with cloth diapers than disposables, so it may take a little more room than you expect. It's also important not to pack the diapers too firmly between washes. Ventilation keeps them from developing extra stink that can be hard to remove.

How to keep the stink away?

I do not want to bleach my diapers this time around, but I am worried that the stink will eventually overtake them. I can hang them out in the sun for the first few months (baby's due in July), but even here in northern Georgia - it gets too cold in the winter to be hanging the diapers out all the time. Does Charlie's Soap truly keep the stink away? I thought I read that you had to seek out other ways to deter it. What tricks have you learned?

answer:

I did (and do) have problems with stink, but I blame our extremely hard water and our washer, which is definitely having issues. If we prewash with cold, then wash twice in hot with just a bit of detergent, and if we wash every 2 days and don't let the bucket get packed too full, we do alright.

Best diaper cover?

What diaper cover have you been most satisfied with (please don't tell me about any that you've sewn yourself... remember - I'm not there yet!

answer:

Regarding my favorite diaper cover, I think Proraps are probably the best buy and most people prefer velcro to snaps, which is exactly what Proraps offer. But honestly - we have trouble with velcro in our house. I prefer anything with snaps. The fit isn't so infinitely adjustable, but it's good enough for us and far more durable.

We started out with prefolds, snappies and Prorap covers. They worked very well for us aside from the fuzzies in the velcro, but since I'm pregnant and we always wind up with 2 in diapers, I decided to switch to Coolababy all-in-one pocket diapers from ebay. They fit newborn through toddler so we won't need 2 separate diaper stashes. There are certainly other nicer choices, but these are very affordable (especially if you buy 24 at a time) and very easy to use.

Got questions? I'm no expert, but I'll try to answer them.