How Our Family Uses-and LOVES-Audible!

I love reading, but if I'm honest since college I haven't read nearly as much as I'd like. Life is busy. Whether it's work, kids, extracurricular activities or laundry, by the end of the day turning on Netflix seems easier and let's face it easier is appealing at the end of the day. I kept hearing about people using Audible either for themselves as they commuted to work, or for their kids, but thought, "I don't have a commute, I'm a homeschooling mom." Or "I can read to my kids" and I do, but I cannot tell you how much I love Audible. 

In December I saw a deal on Living Social or Groupon that was similar to this one and decided to give Audible a try. We had three months to see if it would really be useful to our clan. We're now 6 months in and it has decidedly changed how I spend my time. But I'm getting ahead of myself! 

Honestly what pushed me over the edge was the busyness of life. I wanted to be reading aloud to my kids more than I was and they wanted me to be reading to them more, and I saw this as a way to meet that need without having to rearrange my schedule. Since I homeschool them and we're all together nearly 24/7, we have quiet time daily from 2-3:30 pm. During this time, everyone goes to their own space-a bedroom or the basement-and plays quietly by themselves. They have often used this time to listen to Adventures in Odyssey or Jonathan Park or books on CD from the library, but now they are bringing a Kindle or iPad and listening to Audible instead. They have gotten so wrapped up in an audiobook that they will stay past 3:30 and are often found listening other times of the day. 

The first several months I used our credits on children's book collections (the Ramona collection, Henry Huggins collection, etc) but would pick up other books with our Audible membership discount like A Cricket in Times Square, The Jungle Book, Blackstart of Kingston, My Side of the Mountain and many others. I love knowing that they are listening to books that I have chosen and then hearing one child recommend one to another child. Sometimes more than one of them is listening to the same book at the same time on different devices. It's really been wonderful to see them diving more deeply into books they might not have picked up on their own. 

Personally I wasn't sure it was going to be very useful, but I was content to use Audible to be filling my children's heads with good literature. However in April I was trying to read a Jane Austen book for book club and was not finding as much time to sit with my nose in a book as I had hoped and saw that I could get the audio version for less than $2. I spent the next few days listening to Emma as I prepared dinner, washed up pots and pans, folded laundry, drove to the store, and more. I followed that with a few other Austen works and just recently finished three of the Anne of Green Gables books that way. I have always wanted to read them, but have never actually done so until now. I just started David Copperfield and plan to check off many other Bucket List books this way. My favorite thing to do at night now is to crawl into bed, click off of Facebook or email and onto Audible, stick my earbuds in (my hubby falls asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow), and play 10 10 while I listen to someone read to me. It's really quite delightful. 

If you've ever considered Audible and have any questions, please let me know. I am no expert, but I am thoroughly enjoying it and highly recommend it! 

For more helpful information, this blog post is very helpful: http://www.plumfieldandpaideia.com/audible-reading-with-my-ears/

Feeling Bloggy

I haven't blogged in ages for a myriad of reasons, but I am feeling the itch and have several posts ruminating. So be on the lookout for the following:

Summer Fun Wrap Up

My Firstborn Turns Ten

School Plans and Goals

and maybe one about my some personal ups and downs...maybe...

Plus, we have another birthday next week, so there will be a post entitled Sam the Great Turns Eight

A couple friends who we don't get to visit often said they were missing the updates they could find here. That was all the encouragement I needed to squeeze in some writing time-the laundry can wait, right?

Burnt Blankies and Random Rashes

I've been a little quiet over here lately on the blogging front. Life has been rushing ahead at it's usual breakneck speed, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about it. Here's just a taste of what's been going on in our crazy house!

A few days ago, I was changing Maggie's diaper after her nap and I hear Will say, "Oh, no!" He runs into Maggie's room, in his typical dramatic style, and says, "Mom! My bluey! My bluey is stuck on the big lights! I was just trying to drop it down and it got stuck!" As I finished changing Maggie, a terrible smell wafts into the room. Something was burning. I rush out and find Will's precious blankie, named Bluey, because each of his older brothers has a blue stuffed animal with that name, melting and smoking on the chandelier. Thankfully, I could reach it and managed to peel it away without an actual fire breaking out. Unfortunately, Bluey was burned through in a couple places, and the whole ordeal scared my sweet four year old boy to the point that he was shaking and crying. It was so sad.

The good news is that he has rebounded well. We have always had a back-up Bluey, but since Will could tell them apart, he has always preferred the one that got torched, saying that the back-up looks mean, something about it's smile-he's such a funny kid! I went to Amazon, hoping that if I could order a new one the replacement might have a happy smile, like the original. Sadly, they no longer make the lovey that we have, but the newer version is close, so Will was excited to get it. Now my little guy sleeps with the back-up Bluey and his new "cute little Bluey."

The day that the new Bluey arrived, so did a rash. Saturday, after making a trip to Costco and to the library with the kids, I undressed Maggie for the bath and discovered that her arms were covered with a hive-like rash!

A few moments later I notice that Will's arms look very similar to Maggie's. Yikes. Just like that our two week streak of everyone going to church together on Sunday came to a screeching halt!

Sunday morning, Maggie's rash had spread to her legs and face. Monday morning, Jon got out of the shower and started calling for me. He had something similar on his arms and legs. Before lunch, Sam had it on his face.

Since we had friends who had recently had strep and two of the kids complained of sore throats, I took them in to the doctor on Tuesday.

The strep tests came back negative and the doctor declared it a viral rash. As of today, the boys are almost completely clear of their rashes, and Maggie just has some traces on her legs and face. I thought last winter with the boys thumb infections was weird, but this one might top it...maybe.

Merry Messy

Does anyone else find places like this scattered around their house during the holiday season?

I stick things on top of the dryer to get them out of the way until we need them. 

Some of the containers that I keep the Christmas presents in are still out until I can finish getting everything where I want it.

Presents are stashed up on top of a bookshelf to keep out of reach of little hands. This one is a first for me. I usually just throw things in my closet, but with my daughter, who is known to get into everything all.the.time, I figured I should keep gifts out of her reach.

Things that need mailed or delivered or put away piled on the counter.

This time of year is so busy that I could really use some magical elves to clean up around here or do the mundane tasks--laundry, dishes, cooking--so that I could just enjoy the fun projects and crafts with the kiddos. However, since the elves are busy working up at the North Pole, I guess I'll just keep looking past the piles! ;)

How do you keep things organized during this time if year? Or do you have messy stashes, too?

A Work in Progress

My husband and my oldest, Jon, recently went to church time where the focus was on making your life count. Ironically, while they were gone I was incredibly lazy and watched more t.v. than I'm willing to admit. Towards the end of the week, God grabbed my heart and reminded me that my moments make up my days which make up my life...is this the life I want to live? One of watching this series on Netflix followed by that series on Amazon Prime? I was reading a blog that talked about reading quality books with our kids and how we model for them with our actions. I was reminded that I will never be the kind of woman that I hope to be unless I start making better decisions now. Most of the summer I have spent my kids' nap times watching television. Meanwhile, I have a list of books that I want to read. I have a list of projects I want to complete. I have a list of things I want to do with my kids. We're over half way through July...time to get going.

This week, I determined to use nap time for working on projects or reading books. It was great. Honestly, I did not miss that time in front of the t.v. at all. I read two books in a series that I have been wanting to read and can't wait to start the last one. I accomplished several projects for school in the fall, and I even took the older boys to Kings Island one afternoon while my mom graciously watched the littler two. I still have many projects left on my list, but the feeling of progress is priceless.

I'm realizing the truth in sayings I've heard millions of times before: If you don't have goals, what are you working toward? I am thinking and praying through specific goals for our home and my life. Friends of mine have shared that they talk through family goals with their spouse. I like that idea. I'd also love to sit down with my older two boys individually and set some goals for the school year-not just academic goals but all aspects.

Also, as I realize that I am far from perfect and will most likely stumble again as I travel this path, I love the saying that, "God doesn't call us to perfection, he calls us to obedience." We will fail. Our children will also fail. Am I modeling how to fail graciously? I am I sharing with them my mistakes and how I am trying to overcome them in His strength? Or do I hide those mistakes from them and try to act like I've got it all together? Hopefully, we can graciously grow together as we walk through our days in His grace, mercy and love.

Great, Not Great

My crazy three year old, Will, is constantly cracking me up. One of the things he says when I'm smiling and talking about something enthusiastically is, "Is it great, Mom?" And, on the other side, when he knows that I am upset, he'll say, "Is it not great?" Cracks me up. I wish you could hear him. Anyway, in the past I had a post or two about things that work for us, and things that don't. Many of you chimed in and shared great ideas or testimonials that helped me out a ton. So, I thought we'd try again, but this time I've renamed it, a la Will. :)

What's Great:

A system for drying our wet stuff after the pool:

My oldest is on the swim team this year, which is wonderful, but that means daily wet suits and towels. Plus, we go to our neighborhood pool often, and with a family of six that means more wet swimsuits and towels. I saw this idea on Pinterest and implemented it almost immediately. It is simple-a tension shower rod, and some S hooks. I bought the shower rod at Walmart and the hooks from Amazon. In total, it cost me $16, but it was worth every penny. The kids, with the exception of my daughter, who is one, know to hang their stuff up right away, and we sort and put them away whenever we need to use the shower. Typically, I fold the towels (if they've only been used a time or two) and hand the swimsuits to their owners to put back in their drawers. Maybe next summer I will get the boys to fold the towels and distribute the suits on their own. For now, I am just thrilled that I am not finding wet bathing suits on the floor of their rooms! 

~Doing laundry on one day from start to finish.

        In the morning, or sometimes the night before, I have the older two boys bring down their laundry. I gather the rest, and Pete and I bring it downstairs. If I am on top of changing the loads around, I can have most of the laundry ready to fold by our nap/quiet time. Then I sit and turn on a show on Netflix, currently Call the Midwife, and fold, fold, fold. Typically, I can have it all folded by the time the little ones are up. The putting away part is sometimes tricky. Jon and Sam are responsible for putting their own away now. I usually put away Will and Maggie's clothes as soon as I can after they wake up. That just leaves the grown up clothes...sadly, this is a NOT GREAT. Often I stick our basket in our room, and get back to the kiddos or dinner, etc. and plan to put ours away before bed. It continually gets pushed off. Even as I type, a basket sits in our bedroom waiting. I spend so little time in our room, besides the obvious sleeping time, that it is the farthest thing from my mind. Does anyone have a tried and true method of getting all the laundry put away? Or do I just need to be more disciplined...

~The Treehouse 

My amazing hubby decided to build our kids a treehouse. It has been quite the project. Many of the kids, our own and several neighborhood friends, have gotten in on the action of building it. Overall, it has been really fun to see it come together. My only complaint is that it has taken many Saturdays to build. All in all though, it has been worth the time and effort to see them playing up there! :)

What's NOT Great:

~Remembering to have my kids practice piano

This picture is from the spring...back when I would remember to tell my kids to practice piano. The consistency of our schedule during the school year made it much easier to remember to have the kids practice daily. Thankfully, our piano teacher is gracious and says as long as they play even once or twice a week during the summer they can just tread water and not lose ground over these summer months. 

~My ability to put things on the wall and get them to stay

My attempts at hanging our dry erase board in our school room! Much to my husband's dismay, I tried to hang our huge dry erase board on the wall without drywall screws. It fell right off. Yikes. I have am now waiting for him to help me find the studs or something like that...apparently I need an education on hanging heavy items. 

Those holes above are where our curtains used to hang in our living room. Ignore the lower set, they were supposed to be covered by the curtains I hung up on the higher set. Then one of my kiddos wrapped himself if the curtains and fell over, pulling the whole thing out of the wall. :( Anyone want to come help me patch the drywall and rehang them? For now we are enjoying the extra sunlight?!?

~Conserving Water

Conserving water is great, but my kids apparently are not great at doing it. They had been playing in the sprinkler with a neighbor, I went in to put my littler two down for naps, they came in and went off to read. THIRTY minutes later I realized the sprinkler was still on in our backyard! *shaking my head* 

So, what's great and not great in your corner of the world?

Head Above the Water

We all have limits. As we are all different, the limits we have are unique to each of us. It's good to know what they are. For instance, Sam, my six year old, can't swim yet. He knows that he can't swim, so he doesn't go into the part of the pool that is above his head. I'm fairly certain that is the long and short of the phrase "head above the water." We need oxygen and can't get it when our head isn't above the water, therefore, we need to have our heads above the water.

Last year I had moments of bobbing up and down, barely able to catch my breath. I've blogged about the difficulties of my pregnancy, Maggie's early arrival (in our timing, obviously she came just when God ordained!), my thyroid problems, and just the general craziness of life with four small children, so I won't go into all those details again. I bring those things up just to say that I finally feel like I am starting to be able to keep up with the spinning plates. Every now and then one falls, but thankfully we replaced the ceramic plates with Correlle, so they are much more durable! Besides thyroid medicine, my children growing slightly more independent, and huge dose of the grace of God, I want to share a few of the things that have helped me get my feet back on the ground.

1. Asking for help/communicating my needs/accepting help. Amazingly, my friends and my husband are not mind readers. Just explaining when I could use help has made such a huge difference. Whether it's my husband pitching in more than usual with helping around the house, or a friend offering to drive both ways for a play date so that I don't have to wake sleeping kiddos, every little bit helps. This season is full and it's okay to ask for help. In fact, it's probably necessary.

2. Saying no. I am such a people pleaser. If someone needs help, I want to offer. If they are looking for volunteers at church, I want to jump in and help. Sometimes that is good, but I need to wait and pray before I agree to anything extra these days. If I want to do the jobs that are already on my plate well, I need to say no much more often than yes to any new tasks. I keep reminding myself that this is a season, and in another season, I can volunteer and help others then. Right now, my family is my first priority.

3. Lowering my standards.  That sounds horrible, but I think we all have unrealistic standards at times. For me, when it comes to homeschooling, I often have very high expectations for what we will accomplish. In the kitchen, I have lofty goals of trying new recipes. Around the house, I dream of organization and cleanliness. Perhaps simplifying is better than lowering standards. I just need to remind myself that the kids don't need to do every educational craft and file folder game and science experiment. One new recipe a week is more than enough with four young kids at home. And as for the house, well, let's just shoot for somewhat tidy and not a crazy mess! ;)

These are simple truths, but they are things that I need to constantly remind myself of, so I thought perhaps someone else out there needed to be reminded as well. If not, well, kudos to you for being more together than I am! I'll close with one more truth that I hold dear:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9