Are You Organized And Ready For Back To School?

A fresh new school year.  A great excuse to do some organizing.  I'm thinking along these lines: 

• What is going to make the mornings go smoother than last year? 
• School Lunches
• Quick, Healthy Breakfast Ideas
• What can I do now to anticipate the craziness of pre-suppertime when children turn into 4 eyed food vacuums, frothing from the mouth looking for their next crumb to devour.  (Food Prep)
• When and where will homework happen? 
• Chores? 
• How much TV time is acceptable? 
• Preparation for the next morning? 
•  How much of this is my job and how much of it should be the personal responsibility of the child - something to start teaching now if it hasn't happened yet. 

Let's focus on just one today.

Smooth Mornings.
Is that possible?  I'd say it can be, but it really does start with the parent(s).  We as parents HAVE to get up early enough to get ourselves ready first and then help get the bambinos out the door. 

Start figuring out how much time you need to get ready.  For me, if I shower at night, I can get ready in 15mins.  But if I get a shower in the morning, (ideal) I need a good 45 mins to 1 hour.

Then there is time with God (always a great start to any day).  How much time I need depends on what I plan on doing but let's say I would probably need 15-30 mins. each morning to start the day out right.   I can always add more later too, I just need to get on the right page first thing. 
So I need to get up at least 1 hour before my family needs to start getting ready. 

An evening routine would be ideal for a good start on the morning.  Like having clothes already picked out, ironed if needed.  Backpacks all packed except for lunchbags.  Homework books all signed, not to mention homework done!  My kids all get baths/showers the night before. I just can not add that to the morning...there's too many of us. We'd all have to get up by 4am just to make it to school on time. :)   All the kids would have to do is get up, make their beds, get dressed, deal with the teeth, face and hair, eat, grab and go!  (Sounds smooth and easy doesn't it?! We'll see.)

This year, I would like to try to fit in morning devotionals with the family.  We usually read the bible and pray together before bed, but seeing that connecting with God in the morning is a great, fresh start to the day, I figure the kids should get to do this too.  So, maybe when I get them breakfast, we can do a quick morning devo together. 

School lunches are a subject all on their own, however, in thinking about lunches I decided part of a smooth morning is good prep for lunches the night before.  I just bought some new plastic storage containers knowing I am going to need them for certain things I will send with my kids to school.  I even took a moment and labeled them with my name in hopes that if a container goes MIA they'll have at least a name to associate it with. 

Well there you have it.  My thoughts on what the ideal morning should look like.  Can't say that everyday will be a smooth one, but one can sure try planning ahead!

A Fresh Start

Cause me to hear Your loving kindness
in the morning, For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I
should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.
            Psalms 143:8 NKJV

It's been so long since I've last posted.  Between my computer being out of commission for almost a month and the busyness of summer I just haven't been able to connect with you.  The great part is that routine is around the corner and I've got lots to say, Ha ha. 

 

The verse above is one I memorized as a teen and have loved it ever since.  It's a good reminder for me to start my day with God and ask Him for direction for the day.  Too many days I get up with no aim for the day, yet lots to do.  I tend to touch on a few  things of unimportance  in the scheme of Eternity (like doing dishes and mopping a floor) and spend little or no time with God asking Him what today should look like.  By the way, when my "tasks" over take the day without consulting God, I find my days slip away, my importance seems small and smooth is found no where within that day. 

 

Try starting your day out with God.  This morning I opened my bible to the Psalms and read all the underlined verses that have meant something to me over the years.   What a great reminder of who my God is and what He has done. 

My life unwired

Man, I don't know why I've had such bad luck lately with computers but I have.  My Toshiba laptop has bit the dust a second time in only 11 months.  I can't say that this makes me happy.  It is covered by warranty, but I can't say that I was satisfied with their customer service and the $25.00 they make you pay to send it to them.   That would be $50 more that I'm out of pocket because their product keeps failing.  Not good.    I have to say, when I am not connected to the Internet, my life unwired, I feel disconnected and out of touch.  I want to share with you what's going on in Camp Chaos and encourage you in your endeavors, but with no computer, no connect-y! 

So, wondering why I'm online now?  Remember that big ol dinosaur of a computer I had to "declutter" a couple of weeks ago?  I have resurrected it!  I stashed it in the attic of the garage because I didn't know how to get rid of it (can you just throw these things in the trash?) and the last time I thew away a computer in our weekly trash someone picked it and told me about all the pictures on it that I didn't remove.  (of my kids and life....scary!)
The computer is slow, unreliable and uncomfortable to use as I perch it on top of a table and sit erect at a non-desk, but I'm online, so I shouldn't complain.

My laptop should be back to me in a week or so, so hang in there, I'll be back at it full force soon enough.  I'm sure I'll have lots to share! 

Blessings to you all. 

Summer Survival with Kids

Summer was approaching and I knew that if I didn't come up with a plan to make it fun, it would slip by without any special memories and I would be a frazzled freakshow rocking in a corner somewhere saying "find a happy place, find a happy place." 

I decided that trying to make everyday wonderful would be a really ambitious goal, ha ha, and I probably would run out of ideas and not only fail my kids but I would feel I had failed myself as well, so I deemed every Friday this summer to be "Adventure Friday." (surely I can handle that, right?!)

Anyday I can sprinkle an "extra something"  in, even something as simple as sidewalk chalk, makes my kids smile, which in turn makes me smile.

Our  kids are young still and easy to please, so it's fun to do the little things with them.  I live in Maine, so some of these things are Maine-related. Feel free to come up with your own local fun! 

Here's my "Summer Survival with Kids" list.  The red ones mark the fun we've had so far!
(If you have older kids, it may be harder to make these "simple little things" work.  There has to be something "out there" that you can do with them to make memories.  Any suggestions are welcome, please comment!)

• Set up a painting station outside. (painted rocks, scrap wood, firewood - my daughter painted a flag on the butt end of a piece of firewood  - it turned out GREAT!)
• Go on a picnic somewhere. Basket, blanket and all! Bring a kite, some bubbles and a soccer ball. 
• Take the kids to a camp on the lake for the day 
• Write a letter and send stickers or something to a friend or family member 
• Go on a moose hunt in Baxter State Park 
• Take a drive to the Alagash and check it out
• Start reading a kids book series 
• In the fall, visit a corn maze 
• Make a trash can drum set out of 5 galon pails
• Yardsale 
• Do something special for a friend
• Blow up balloons, put notes in them and give them to friends or neighbors 
• Visit a zoo 
• Make a treasure hunt
• Go Camping 
• Take a Horse Carriage Ride 
• Mini Golf
• Go to the movies
• Set up a sprinkler
• Build a tree house
• Family game night 
• Go to a museum 
• Plant flowers from seed 
• Throw a party for no reason
• Tie dye t shirts
• Start a collection of something
• Go to uncle willys candy store
• Roast marshmallows on a campfire....even if it’s during the day!
• Redecorate bedrooms
• Homemade playdough
• Have a sleepover in the living room with a tent
• Water balloon fight
• Make something for a local charity
• Learn to facepaint
• Bird watch/feed birds
• Get a bike go for bike rides
• Legos or duplos or the other kind
• Sidewalk chalk grafiti
• Make some pintrest crafts
• Wash the car together
• Watch the clouds
• Crochet, knit or make braclets
• Star gazing
• Dress up fashion shoot/old time photo shoot
• Set up a progressive supper with other families
• Hang out in a hammock and laugh a little
• Get dollar store creepy crawlers and put in a sand box and have the kids be great explorers discovering fossils
•  Put streamers on dowels and turn on dance music for the kids to dance to
•  7 day club with the kids?

Working through it

Ever hear a bible story a gazillion times in your life but for some reason this one time stood out like a pimple on your cheek?  You couldn't just leave it alone, had to mess with it.   This is how I felt when I heard the parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. 

It's crazy how much this parable chapped me this time, but in the end, I was reminded of something so important that I was so glad I wrestled with it.

I always took this passage to simply mean "be a good steward" and "don't hoard your wealth for yourself" and I could agree with that. 

When it was presented to me (in church) the pastor pointed out the the Master didn't give equally to each Servant, he gave different amounts.
¹⁴ “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants^[a] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents,^[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Which leads me to the first irritating rub. Why wouldn't he have given equal amounts?  I relate this to the North American life I live in - there are very poor people and there are very rich people.  And I relate this to Christians in the North American way of life compared to many other countries like Haiti, Africa, Bolivia, etc.  why don't we all have the same to work with?

"Each according to his ability" We all have different strengths and weaknesses, if we were all the same, it would be quite boring, I guess.  (AND You'll find in many cases that the Christians that don't have much of anything are MUCH less distracted and able to focus more on Jesus....who's better off?)
My conclusion had to be "this is just the way it is.  We're not all equal.  That's life here on earth."

The next part really made me think.  The guys with the 5 talents and 2 talents "went at once and put his money to work" and gained double. 
My question was....what did they do to "put it to work"?   Some versions said they "traded with them." Traded what?   I chewed on this part for a while too.  I want to "put it to work" but what does that look like?

This is where my pastor reminded me that we tend to focus on the money portion, but this also pertains to every good gift the Master (God) gives. Talents - physical abilites, intellect, spirtitual gifts AND money are to all be used to the best of our abilities. 

1 Talent guy burried his.  Ah, smart guy!  Can't lose the money that way.  (so I thought)  Nope.  He got a major tongue lashing and was cast into the utter darkness.  WHAT?!  What did I miss? 

 "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground."

One of my pastors (after I emailed them both on this for more info) pointed out that the 1 Talent guy was condemned for fearful inactivity.  With help from the Intrepreters Bible he said "This guy obviously doesn't know the merciful, gracious, generous heart of the Father or His Son, Jesus...Many religious types today don't either, and will have received their best blessings only here on earth (their talent cautiously buried), while being thrown 'Into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth' awaits their eternal destiny."

We could hammer this part to death, but the gist of what I got out of it was don't keep what God has given you out of fear of losing it, rather use it to it's full potential for God knowing he will bless it.

This is where the light bulb moment was for me.  I have a hard time remembering that this passage isn't just about money.  So after I chewed on it for a few days God showed me just how wealthy we are by having 4 little talents (our children) to invest into so they will in turn bring forth a harvest for the Master.  When I was finally able to see this, I was both elated in how much God has entrusted us with and at the same time am humbled by where we need to pick up the pace of our efforts. 

It may look differently for you, but whether you have lots of money to work with, children to invest into or a brian that barely fits your head, we are called to work it to it's fullest potenial for God's purposes, not our selfish gain. 

I hope you can look around you today and see how much the Master has entrusted to you today and I encourage you to use it wisely.  Every good and perfect gift comes from above.  Count your blessings...name them one by one!  Your cup will overflow when you do this, I promise. 

Today's list of "To Do's"

Looks very much like the last 2 days of To-Do's.  Bo-ring.  Clean, tidy, laundry, yard sale prep and paint birdhouses. 

Doesn't that just make your heart jump!  

The great part is I'm having a couple of friends over to help with the yard sale prep and I'm redeeming that from bo-ring to par-tay! 

Here's a face that's always ready to  par-tay!

Lol.  This kid cracks me up.   Enjoy your day!

Routines are a good thing. Why are they so hard for me to embrase?!

I wish I were a little more routine-ly and a little less fly by the seat of my pants-y.  It would make getting things done a little easier.  :)

I've got a lot to do this week. So I'm sharing my To Do List with you all to keep me accountable. 

The Daily Routine:

• Get up, dressed to the shoes, make up on, dragon breath eliminated.
• Feed the kids, deminish their dragon breath as well.
• Dishes washed and put away
• Table and counters washed down
• Floors Swept
• Entry Way Vacuumed
• Loads of Laundry (like 5 or so!)
• Bathrooms wiped down
• Plan for supper

This weeks list to work on:

• a craft fair to prepare for
• a parade float to help with
• kids to spend time with
• sign orders to fill 
• a garage to clean for a sale on Saturday. 

Better get busy! 

**UPDATE**

Wow, it's been one soggy day but I was able to accomplish much.  I did all of the daily routine listed above and I worked a little on each of the items for This Weeks List.  Didn't get really far with a couple of them, but I at least researched or worked a bit on them.  I put away 7 loads of laundry too.  That has to account for something!  Now, what to do with the appliances in the basement that are sitting in water from all of this rain?!
Supper is on and I'm tired.  Time for a coffee and some serious veg time.