A snapshot of our family this year; because of John's job as head of glasses.com, we have spent several nights huddled around our computer, checking out the new features and products on the site. Because of this family tradition, we took a literal snapshot, for our family Christmas card, in glasses from John's website.
I love to read 71toes.com and Shawni, the author of this amazing space, recently took a 'verbal snapshot' of all that's going on in her family's routine right now. I truly loved the post, and the idea...so now that I've credited her properly for her brilliance, I'd like to give it a shot myself.
Our daily routine consists of John and I waking between 5-5:30 (depending on the day of the week and how late the teenagers were up doing homework). We have made it a rule that we don't bring cel phones into bedrooms in our house, so our alarm clocks are set on our phones and John sets his on his desk in his office and I put mine in our walk-in closet. When they go off it forces us to get out of our beds to turn them off, which usually keeps us from snoozing and making our way back to the bed (that doesn't mean it hasn't happened though, 5 a.m. is awfully early). John heads into his office to work and study his scriptures. I either work out in the den or do housework/chores so I can work out when the kids leave for school.
at 6:30 John rounds us all up for scriptures. The two oldest have been up for about a half hour, showering and eating breakfast/making beds and lunches. I'm terrible at being the first one in the library but I've made a promise to myself I'd change this bad habit. I used to run scriptures for our family when John traveled all week, and now that he has led it again I have leaned on him too much and partnered with him too little. That will change this year. We gather by 6:40 and have song and prayer, then we recite scriptures, For the Strength of Youth, articles of faith, or right now we are learning the Family Proclomation (John has a great 'file card system' he uses so each of us work on parts and scriptures we need to and he does his memorization on his own). Then we read from the Book of Mormon. I've been really impressed with Molly lately, as she has truly begun to read the verses when its her turn and her fear of reading seems to be lessening - this is a huge step for her to be confident in front of her family and I'm truly so proud of her. Scriptures ends just before 7, and Mason runs out the door to catch the bus (many days lately he has driven the 3rd family car, but we are trying to discourage this as it wastes resources. The bus picks up and the bottom of our street, its silly for him to drive when the ride is right there).
That's when the mama bear starts her morning work. 'Lets get that binder work done :)! Everyone earn a token today :)!' I'm finding that if I just keep moving myself to the area of the house the kids are in the morning chores go much better for them. I work so hard not to 'ride them'. But I must admit that I do. I try to be encouraging but lots of times I'm just harping. Madi rarely earns her token. She just doesn't 'buy in' and she earns her own money babysitting so she doesn't care about getting allowance. I am glad she does get her bed made most days and she practices piano though not for the full 45 minutes needed. Porter is our STAR when it comes to binder work. he gets his things done pretty much every day and with time to spare so he can read his Harry Potter books (I think he is reading the series for the 3rd time this year right now). Molly tries but usually flies off into imaginary never land and in her happy playful spirit doesn't get enough done for a token. Lucy, depending on the day, does o.k. and I can't even comment on the two oldest; it has been a miserable failure for them so far. But I digress.
The Jr. High carpool picks up Bryn at 7:30 and the youngest 4 leave at 8:20. Our neighbor, Lily, is our daily reminder that its time to put shoes on, she walks with the kids and when the doorbell rings we know its her and time to brush hair, gather homework and head out the door.
dinner night continues to be my biggest daily effort
Dinner time has been such a difficult predicament for me this year. As the big kids get busier and John needs to work until a professionally appropriate hour, I have had to resort to a 'majority rules' dinner. I refuse to give in to the ease of sitting around our massive counter, and have made it mandatory that school night dinners be eaten at the table. It ebbs and flows, but on a good day I fix dinner and have it on the table just before 6. We pray and eat and then the big ones start leaving; Brynley to dance and Madi to swim team and on some nights Mason to rugby or Bryn and Mason to Youth at church. (the kids still have their dinner nights but in the interest of sitting at dinner together I have generally resorted to fixing dinner earlier in the day and then having the kids help set/clear/clean up from dinner. I figure I'll really push cooking with each kid in the summer, but having the social experience of eating together and interacting took precedent over being with each child on his/her night...plus again the older ones are rarely home long enough to take their turns-except Bryn usually does it without me cause her night is Molly's dance night-so I've had to be flexible on this one). John often comes in before we have left the table, so he gets to be with us for a few minutes as I try to talk to our kids and help them learn to talk to each other over dinner.
Bedtime routines depend on the night. Baths-again because John is busy and the big ones need to be dropped or picked up-happen sometimes as early as 4:30 if i am home and able, and the little girls are most nights in bed by 8:30.
One of my favorite times of day right now is nighttime family prayer. We usually gather in the little space in our basement where all the bedrooms meet. It is small for all of us to squeeze in, but I think that's why I like it. We pray before the little-est ones go into their beds, so that means we are often missing one or two-but we pray for them and do our very best to gather as many as we can. We are all together at morning prayer, so though I'd like us all at night, at least the pattern is set.
These are the best parts of our family this year. Other things that I love that are happening these days:
The kids check out books from the gift shop in BYU's fine arts Museum
Lucy learned to ski this year. She is timid, but with hot chocolate breaks and a very patient mother, she makes it through a full day.
Madi works it to win Cupcake Wars
I have Teenagers
The volume button at our house has been turned way UP this year. ITunes, IPods and even IPads are some of the sources of the music but Pandora and Playlist are the favorite methods for the kids to hear their favorites, and they hear their favorites all evening long every day they can. I have had to be a real stinky mother about 'switching the tunes' to 'study appropriate music' after 4 o'clock, it is a hated hour of the day in our home. 'Study music' is classical music, or music without words at least. John Schmidt radio on pandora is their favorite study music right now, but I like the mozart station (mozart wrote music to the beat of the human heart, and his melodies though brilliant were purposefully composed to be 'background noise' for socializing aristocrats at court. Thus, it is the perfect speed and volume to listen but still think...a brilliant study tool to be sure). Once dinner is over the tunes usually get cranked up again, only to be hushed around 8 so I can try to calm down the house and get the littler kids to bed. That's when the iPods come out, and the older two crank their tunes (when they are home) and become oblivious (and less productive) members of the household.Our daily routine consists of John and I waking between 5-5:30 (depending on the day of the week and how late the teenagers were up doing homework). We have made it a rule that we don't bring cel phones into bedrooms in our house, so our alarm clocks are set on our phones and John sets his on his desk in his office and I put mine in our walk-in closet. When they go off it forces us to get out of our beds to turn them off, which usually keeps us from snoozing and making our way back to the bed (that doesn't mean it hasn't happened though, 5 a.m. is awfully early). John heads into his office to work and study his scriptures. I either work out in the den or do housework/chores so I can work out when the kids leave for school.
at 6:30 John rounds us all up for scriptures. The two oldest have been up for about a half hour, showering and eating breakfast/making beds and lunches. I'm terrible at being the first one in the library but I've made a promise to myself I'd change this bad habit. I used to run scriptures for our family when John traveled all week, and now that he has led it again I have leaned on him too much and partnered with him too little. That will change this year. We gather by 6:40 and have song and prayer, then we recite scriptures, For the Strength of Youth, articles of faith, or right now we are learning the Family Proclomation (John has a great 'file card system' he uses so each of us work on parts and scriptures we need to and he does his memorization on his own). Then we read from the Book of Mormon. I've been really impressed with Molly lately, as she has truly begun to read the verses when its her turn and her fear of reading seems to be lessening - this is a huge step for her to be confident in front of her family and I'm truly so proud of her. Scriptures ends just before 7, and Mason runs out the door to catch the bus (many days lately he has driven the 3rd family car, but we are trying to discourage this as it wastes resources. The bus picks up and the bottom of our street, its silly for him to drive when the ride is right there).
The binder system has its pros and cons, for some its magic, for others not so much.
That's when the mama bear starts her morning work. 'Lets get that binder work done :)! Everyone earn a token today :)!' I'm finding that if I just keep moving myself to the area of the house the kids are in the morning chores go much better for them. I work so hard not to 'ride them'. But I must admit that I do. I try to be encouraging but lots of times I'm just harping. Madi rarely earns her token. She just doesn't 'buy in' and she earns her own money babysitting so she doesn't care about getting allowance. I am glad she does get her bed made most days and she practices piano though not for the full 45 minutes needed. Porter is our STAR when it comes to binder work. he gets his things done pretty much every day and with time to spare so he can read his Harry Potter books (I think he is reading the series for the 3rd time this year right now). Molly tries but usually flies off into imaginary never land and in her happy playful spirit doesn't get enough done for a token. Lucy, depending on the day, does o.k. and I can't even comment on the two oldest; it has been a miserable failure for them so far. But I digress.
The Jr. High carpool picks up Bryn at 7:30 and the youngest 4 leave at 8:20. Our neighbor, Lily, is our daily reminder that its time to put shoes on, she walks with the kids and when the doorbell rings we know its her and time to brush hair, gather homework and head out the door.
dinner night continues to be my biggest daily effortDinner time has been such a difficult predicament for me this year. As the big kids get busier and John needs to work until a professionally appropriate hour, I have had to resort to a 'majority rules' dinner. I refuse to give in to the ease of sitting around our massive counter, and have made it mandatory that school night dinners be eaten at the table. It ebbs and flows, but on a good day I fix dinner and have it on the table just before 6. We pray and eat and then the big ones start leaving; Brynley to dance and Madi to swim team and on some nights Mason to rugby or Bryn and Mason to Youth at church. (the kids still have their dinner nights but in the interest of sitting at dinner together I have generally resorted to fixing dinner earlier in the day and then having the kids help set/clear/clean up from dinner. I figure I'll really push cooking with each kid in the summer, but having the social experience of eating together and interacting took precedent over being with each child on his/her night...plus again the older ones are rarely home long enough to take their turns-except Bryn usually does it without me cause her night is Molly's dance night-so I've had to be flexible on this one). John often comes in before we have left the table, so he gets to be with us for a few minutes as I try to talk to our kids and help them learn to talk to each other over dinner.
Bedtime routines depend on the night. Baths-again because John is busy and the big ones need to be dropped or picked up-happen sometimes as early as 4:30 if i am home and able, and the little girls are most nights in bed by 8:30.
One of my favorite times of day right now is nighttime family prayer. We usually gather in the little space in our basement where all the bedrooms meet. It is small for all of us to squeeze in, but I think that's why I like it. We pray before the little-est ones go into their beds, so that means we are often missing one or two-but we pray for them and do our very best to gather as many as we can. We are all together at morning prayer, so though I'd like us all at night, at least the pattern is set.
These are the best parts of our family this year. Other things that I love that are happening these days:
The kids check out books from the gift shop in BYU's fine arts Museumwe have tried to take 'day trips' this year. Our most recent was to Utah County. We went to the museum, ate yummy JDawgs for lunch, and played around at an awesome toy store; Blickenstaff's. Its just for a day and we don't go far, but I love shoving our kids in the car and having some fun together!
Lucy learned to ski this year. She is timid, but with hot chocolate breaks and a very patient mother, she makes it through a full day.The snow has been terrible this winter, but at the very beginning of the year we enjoyed skiing several times as a family-Lucy and Molly began their skiing in 2011. Molly is a speed demon dare devil, Lucy very timid. John generally sticks with those that don't do the bunny hill, while I hang with Lu all day. Our hope is that with time, this will be the favorite family activity; the reason for living in the shadow of the Wasatch range.
Madi works it to win Cupcake Wars
I like it that the kids have an interest in cooking. Bryn and Madi have had 'cupcake wars' and Mason has learned the art of the chocolate chip cookie. It isn't gourmet, but I'm so glad they feel they can read a recipe and that cooking is a good way for them to pass their time.
A couple funny things that the kids do: That line from Napoleon Dynomite "Your mom goes to college" has been distorted into the family vernacular around here "Your mom does the dishes" "Your mom takes out the garbage" and "your mom folds the laundry" have been heard as well as MANY other "Your mom....." phrases float from the mouths of even our smallest Grahams.
"Kid History" is quoted on a regular basis. Our favorite line? "Silly _______, your name is Silly______..." as the face of the person who is 'silly' is stroked awkwardly by the sayer.
That's a pretty good snapshot, if not a long one, of our family life this year. I think it would be good if I did a 'personal snapshot' of what I learned in 2011, we'll see if I have time for another epistle!
A couple funny things that the kids do: That line from Napoleon Dynomite "Your mom goes to college" has been distorted into the family vernacular around here "Your mom does the dishes" "Your mom takes out the garbage" and "your mom folds the laundry" have been heard as well as MANY other "Your mom....." phrases float from the mouths of even our smallest Grahams.
"Kid History" is quoted on a regular basis. Our favorite line? "Silly _______, your name is Silly______..." as the face of the person who is 'silly' is stroked awkwardly by the sayer.
That's a pretty good snapshot, if not a long one, of our family life this year. I think it would be good if I did a 'personal snapshot' of what I learned in 2011, we'll see if I have time for another epistle!
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