When?

I remember life with three littles.  When the Spud was born, I had "three under three."  With a 2 1/2 year old, a 1 year old, and a newborn, the days just sort of blended into each other.  I felt tired all the time without really feeling like I had done anything all day.  Outings were exhausting and required the use of a double stroller and baby carrier.  Memories of this time are a bit hazy, but I am pretty sure that meals were very repetitive and came out of a box more than once a week.  I think it's safe to say that life was very busy. 

Yet somehow, in that first year of the Spud's life, I managed to write 184 blog posts.  Blogging was a kind of release for me, a stress reliever if you will.  I'm not sure when I did all that blogging.  It certainly wasn't naptime, as none of my children have been good nappers. 

I miss that sense of satisfaction that comes from typing out your heart and mind.  Lately blog posts have been sporadic at best, and I long to return to the days of the 184 blog posts. So I took a look at my life to see where on earth I could fit in this once-enjoyed passion of writing. (Hold on a second, I am sending the three oldest downstairs to "play nicely together" and scattering cereal on the living room floor for the baby in an attempt to keep them occupied while I write this...)

Here's my typical day. (and of course all SAHM's know that no day is "typical")  I try to get up around 6:30 am (hopefully before the baby and the breakfast-demanding kids).  If fortunate enough to arise before the flood of children storms the dining room, I make myself coffee and have my devotional time.  More often than not, the kids are already up;  so I find myself making everyone breakfast, feeding the baby, and reading my Bible in snatches in between.  It's not ideal, but at least it's happening.  The kids then "dress themselves" with a lot of help from me.  I also use this time to make bread (if we need it that day) and get some laundry going. 

By 9:00 am, we start school.  The kids are not at the age where they can do most of their school work on their own.  Bible, math, and reading are finished by 10:15 ish unless we get carried away with the books we are reading.  We take a quick break then with popcorn and drinks.  The kids read books or play with toys while I dive into coffee #2 and check facebook or something else equally important.  Handwriting, history, and science follow the break.  I then make lunch and change out laundry loads while the Drama Queen works on her grammar, creative writing, and spelling.

If all is going well, we will eat lunch by noon.  Somehow in the craziness of morning, Little Sprout has hopefully taken a nap as well.  After lunch, I finish up whatever school has not been completed and scramble around trying to "clean up school."  No matter how hard I try during the morning, we seem to make an awful mess during the school hours.  Popcorn and disappearing pencils have a lot to do with that.  By 1:30ish, we are ready to get out of the house, either making a trip to the library, the park, or somewhere with friends for a play date. 

After our outing (s), the kids do their chores while I try to get some housework done and start dinner.  This is the hardest part of the day for me (used to be the Pepsi Moment), and honestly I struggle a lot with motivation and energy during this time.  Dinner happens when the Nerd gets home from work, usually around 6:30 pm.  The evening activities usually are a little playtime for the kids, showers for the oldest three and a bath for the baby, teeth brushing (oh the joys!), story reading, and prayer time.  Once in a blue moon this actually goes smoothly, and the kids are asleep by 8:30 pm.  Ha!  Then I've got dinner dishes to do, laundry to fold, a baby to soothe, and school stuff to go over.  By 10:00 pm, I desperately need some down-time.  I'm too tired to focus on anything, especially writing and organizing my thoughts into a blog post.  The Nerd and I try to spend some "quality time" together before bed. 

This is a whole new kind of busy for me.  I'm still trying to figure out how to get everything in and still remain sane.  Maybe I can blog during lunch?

Eight Reasons

Dear Nerd, today is rather a big deal.  I've been blogging for a while now, and don't want to risk repeating myself on this all-important day.  Some searching in the archives revealed that I used this day in 2009 to write a lengthy post about how we met and (eventually) fell in love.  In 2010, I shared a nerdy poem.  The following year, I reminisced on the things that have happened to us in the seven years we had been married (mostly kids - everything else seems to have been eclipsed by them!)

And here we are -anniversary number eight!  Happy Anniversary, Babe!  In honor of such an auspicious occasion, I am giving you eight reasons why our marriage works.  I couldn't think of a more fitting medium than stick figures, drawn with Sharpie.  And so, without further ado, why WE WORK:

 (why no, babe, this is not at all a subtle hint to show off your studliness more often.  Unless of course, you want to.  In fact, I think there's a sinkful of dishes ready for you whenever you are...)

 (yeah, I know, I get a little wordy.  Okay, a lot wordy.  just keep pretending that you're listening and we're good.)

 (true story)

(all while watching The Biggest Loser, no doubt)

 (see reason number one)

Potpourri of the Week #2

As usual my brain has been jumping all over the place this week and most likely driving my husband crazy. Potpourri of the Week is an opportunity for me to share with you where my brain has been - websites, blogs, books, outerspace, etc.  So let's get started....

1.  First up, I downloaded yet another free book to my Kindle with plans to read it in, oh say the next five years.  I realized that I have over 300 books now on there!  While skimming through the titles, I found Raising Kids With Love and Limits by Julie Barnhill.  A certain little someone has been making me question every "method" and "tactic" I have in my parenting arsenal lately; so I dug into this book.  So far, it has been - funny, heartwarming, useful, blunt, and convicting.  The honesty is refreshing.  I love this quote:  "So how to explain feeling (dare I admit, even looking) like a complete moron while standing in the middle of Target and trying to coerce a kid smaller than the circumference of our right thigh to listen and obey when we say no?"  For mommas of young ones who are constantly overthinking their parenting skills, I highly recommend this book.  And I've not even finished it yet!

2.  Next, along the same lines as it seems my brain (and heart!) have been consumed with mommyhood lately, I happened across this thought-provoking post by Rachel at Finding Joy.  "Where Did the Delight Go?" is a challenge to mothers everywhere to get back to enjoying their children instead of just viewing them as more work.  I don't think any of us consciously would label our children as work, but it is incredibly easy to get caught up in all the doing that children cause - laundry, messes, discipline, teaching, feeding, etc.  It becomes humdrum and ordinary and sometimes can make us resentful of the ones we were once so excited to mother and nuture.  But, Rachel says it a whole lot better than I do; so go check out her post.  I promise it's worth the read. 

3.  It has been over a month since our family embarked on the Feingold Elimination Diet.  Since then, I have been researching and studying food dyes, artificial flavors, and the preservatives that mess with my autistic child's brain and cause him to have such terrible meltdowns and space-outs.  The more information I uncover, the more I am appalled and ashamed that I allowed all of my children to ingest these terrible things for so long.  I am thankful in a way that my son's issues forced us to consider this radical change to our diet, because quite honestly I don't think I would have done the research otherwise.  Even if the elimination of petroleum food dyes and artificial flavors had not made a significant difference in the Beast's behavior, we cannot turn back now.  I cannot give these poisons to my kids, knowing what I know now.  Blogger Rebecca at Die, Food Dye devotes her energy to informing the public about these dangerous chemicals in hopes of making a change in America.  Read her recent post on who's doing it right and who's not in the food and medical industry.  I guarantee it will stop and make you think. 

4.  As always, I like to end on a light-hearted, not-so-much-deep-thinking note.  This post had me laughing hysterically yesterday.  The author's story and pictures resonated with me, as I have experienced something very similar with my boys.  I will warn you that there are potty words and anatomy words involved;  so if that kind of thing makes you uncomfortable or nervous, skip this one.  Otherwise, read on, and may I recommend not reading it at work or lunch or anyplace you may  be liable to distract everyone with your loud giggling. 

Carry on, everyone!  Have a great weekend!

Iphone Photo Phun - The Nerd and I

The Nerd and I, we know all kinds of ways to have fun.

Like last night, for instance.  We stood on opposite sides of the dining room table and folded four huge baskets of laundry.  Intensely exciting, as you might well imagine.

Other times, he'll sit at one end of the living room checking a bunch of stuff on his Iphone while I sit at the other end, doing the same.  Occasionally, we'll share something funny or profound that we come across, and since it's too much trouble to get up and show the person what is so stinkin' hilarious, we'll just text each other the link.  Yeah, 'cuz we're cool like that.  I'm pretty sure we are going to be the "fun parents" as the kiddos get older.

Apparently, we need to get out more.  So we did.  Friday night we had a "date night" at the bowling alley.  (I put date night in quotes because a. the baby was with us, and b. it was a church activity.)  Still.  It was loads of fun.  I should clarify here that neither the Nerd or myself are talented bowlers.  Unless you count bowling on the Wii, at which I am a pro.  Also, neither of us are really sure what proper bowling etiquette is.  Nonetheless, we joined up with a couple of young men from our church and bowled away.  (haha, young men = men in their early twenties, otherwise known as practically babies).
I am pleased to say that I came away with the high score of the night - from our lane, that is.  People started clapping as I celebrated my victory - the clapping quickly faded when they realized my score was only a 138.
Regardless, it was rather a good time. No one was seriously injured, and we never did accidentally send the baby down the lane.  We probably ought to do stuff like this more often.
Just look at that handsome man-face!  No way I'm gonna say no to spending more time with that! ;)

Changes

Did you all see I finally have a blog button? You can use the code in the box to the right to grab my button and add it to your blog if you like. Let me know if you do, and I'd love to add yours to my blog as well. We'll call it "Trading Buttons"...

More changes are coming to the blog as well as I am trying to switch directions a little, if you will. The main focuses of the blog will be our journey with autism, recipes and crafts, and homeschooling. If you're trying to find a previous post or label, use the "buttons" on the right side of the blog to find what you're looking for. I hope you'll stick around for all the changes!

Speaking of changes, there is a very unhappy and very stinky baby making eye contact with me right now...

Not a Barbie

I have always wanted to have Barbie hair. You know, long blonde piecey layers that look effortless even though you know it took hours to get it that way? And because of this desire, I have attempted time and again to grow out my hair and style it a la Barbie. A few years back though, I realized that it just wasn't for me. Short hair looked better on me and was a LOT easier to maintain. Plus, the Nerd actually preferred me with short hair so it seemed a no-brainer.

But then, during this last pregnancy, my hair grew super fast and was so shiny and healthy that I fooled myself into thinking I could try the Barbie hair once again. All during the pregnancy I wore it long and rejoiced in its shiny bounciness. Then Little Sprout arrived, and amidst the trenches of caring for a newborn plus three other littles, I started sporting a new look: the ponytail. After a few weeks of nothing but ponytails, the Nerd very kindly mentioned that it might be time to get my hair cut. No, my inner plastic fashion doll protested. It took me a while to grow this out - I'll just show him that it is completely manageable. Ha! That didn't work - every time I picked up the straightening iron, the baby started screeching or the kidlets took advantage of the unguarded kitchen.

I finally talked myself into getting my hair cut. I went to one of those websites where you upload a photo of yourself and then "try on" different hair styles and cuts. (by the way, I look wicked awesome in dreadlocks). A few days later, I popped in to my local salon, asked for an A-line cut, and got this:

I instantly loved it, and when I got home, the Nerd proclaimed that "this was it" and that I should never wear my hair any other way. The cut works well curly or straight and requires minimal time in the morning for styling. I love it!

I guess I'm just more of a Posh Spice than a Barbie. . . ;)

The Drama Queen Learns to Jump Rope

I love her little jackrabbit hop!

Five Question Friday - On Pointless Pillows and Patchy Purple Polish

I'm participating in Five Question Friday today. It makes for a good post and honestly the kids have not destroyed anything or done anything insanely ridiculous in the last few days (which we all know makes good reading. and a tired, frustrated mom.)

Here's this week's questions:

1. Do you apologize to your kids?

2. What color are your nails right now?

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".)

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?

5. Favorite website(s)?

--------------------------------------

1. Do you apologize to your kids?

I certainly have. I probably say, "Momma's really sorry she just yelled like that at you" at least every few days. Then there's the eat-crow-and-want-to crawl-into-a-hole apology when I make a promise to one of my kids and then am unable to follow through on it. :( So not fun. But hey, every time they hurt each other with words or punches I make them apologize to each other. It's not going to be real to them if they don't see it in Momma too!

2. What color are your nails right now?

Purple (like grape jelly). I painted them on Monday and already it has completely vanished off the index fingers of both hands. Sigh - between cheap polish and housework - they didn't stand a chance!

3. When you were growing up, how difficult was it for you to stay home from school sick? (As in, did you have to vomit or just say "I don't feel good".)

I was one of those weird nerdy kids that absolutely HATED missing school and would do everything in my power to make sure I got to school each day. If that meant hiding a fever or a persistent cough, I did! With my siblings, however, they had to definitely "prove" illness in order to get out of school. If we had a bad cold, tissues and cough drops were put in the backpacks, and we were sent off to school.

4. When is the last time you bought a new comforter for your bed?

At least three or four years - I really have no idea. If hubby had his way, there would be no comforter at all. The comforter gets too hot and heavy to sleep under; so its purpose is really just to make the bed look nice during the day. At night, we immediately take it down and put a lighter blanket in its place. I sometimes wonder - what's the point?, but it really is pretty. Besides, without the comforter and all those pointless pillows, I wouldn't have something to occupy ten minutes of each morning and evening.

5. Favorite website(s)?

Okay, here's a few that I regularly visit and use: (besides Facebook and Twitter!)

1. MADE - great ideas and patterns to make stuff - love it!

2. Etsy - my favorite kind of window shopping

3. Kitchen Stewardship - great, healthy recipes

4. Cake Wrecks - for much-needed laughs

5. Pixel of Ink - the reason why I have over 100 books on my Kindle, none of which I paid a single cent for.

Whew. It was hard to narrow those down.

Want to participate in Five Question Friday too? Or compare your answers to other people and see how normal (or ahem, not) you are? Check out Five Crooked Halos here.

Eleven Weeks

The Baby: So the little one is now the whopping size of a fig! Because we all have figs lying around in our produce drawers that we can quickly retrieve and exclaim, oh, that size! Little Sprout's bones are hardening, and he/she is testing out legs and arms in tiny movements. The diaphragm is forming also; so bring on the hiccups! I haven't felt any movements yet and probably won't for at least a few more weeks.

Me: This week was tough for me! With practically everyone in the house getting the stomach flu but me, I spent a lot of time cleaning up barf and trying not to barf myself. It didn't really mesh well with the whole morning sickness thing. I am definitely not handling sugar very well and regret every time I have some ice cream or a candy bar. My new craving this week is avocados. I love them - hopefully the cost of such tasty treats will go down soon so I can have them more often.

The Belly: It's growing for sure. The Drama Queen wants to know why the baby is only the size of a fig but momma's belly is so much bigger than that. Ahem. I took a little trip on Saturday to Burlington Coat Factory and purchased a few maternity clothing items, most notably a beautiful sundress at a steal. :) A wonderful friend has passed along her collection of maternity clothing to me as well. I may as well give in. I know I will be a lot more comfortable and not as tempted to live in sweats.

The Siblings: The Beast thinks about little Sprout the most. We could be at the grocery store or at the library, and he will suddenly command me to lift up my shirt so he can "see" the baby. (No worries - no shirt-lifting in public here: I can usually say "The baby's cold and needs to stay covered" and he is satisfied with that.) The Drama Queen has come up with two names she likes for the baby (which she is sure is a girl!) - CeeCee and Angela. Daily, I am working with the Spud on not launching himself at my belly every day as if it were a landing pad.

The Plans: I have been thinking about names of course. The Nerd has not even stopped to consider names at all; so I've been keeping a girl's name list and boy's name list on my Iphone and adding to them when I hear a name I like. The girl's name list is a lot longer! I also started a project for little Sprout this week. It's fun to work on something for the baby.

We have a long road trip coming up soon; that combined with pregnancy ought to be interesting. Despite the morning sickness and exhaustion, I am still enjoying this journey of pregnancy though, especially as little Sprout will probably be our last. So, here's to twenty-nine weeks more of fun and wonderful memories!

Bathroom Reading - Volume One

How about catching up on a week with the temporarily insane (that's me, the Nerd, and the kiddos) in a concise, easy-to-read list? Perfect for bathroom reading - that is, if you trust your electronic device near the many hazards of the bathroom. I personally consider my Iphone a necessary item to take when headed to the bathroom facilities. It's a convenient place to catch up on Facebook, read a few blog entries, answer an email, etc. Of course, I have to pretend that there aren't little fingers reaching under the bathroom door while loud childish voices clamor for my attention. "Watcha doin' in there, Momma?" "I need you now, Momma!" "Are you poopin' so you can get a lollipop?"

Anyway. . .

1. Our brand-new vacuum cleaner was smoking when the Nerd tried to use it the other day. He took it completely apart, and as it turns out, the boys had managed to shove a baby wipe into the engine while he was cleaning out the filter.

2. It only takes one minute and forty-eight seconds for two little boys to run into the kitchen, open the refrigerator, take out the full carton of eggs and proceed to smash several of them on the living room carpet. I know this because I took that exact amount of time to take a quick load of laundry downstairs, and when I returned, the boys were shouting "Easter eggs! Easter eggs!" rather giddily and the Drama Queen was emphatically declaring that she had nothing to do with it.

3. We had three whole days of no accidents with the Beast in regards to potty training. We were making such amazing progress until the stomach flu hit on Thursday. Since then, it's been Pull-ups all the way, baby.

4. The stomach flu hit the Beast on Thursday and then claimed the Spud on Saturday. As I write this, both boys are doing better on the barf-side of things; but they refuse to eat anything and prefer lying around watching endless Thomas the Tank Engine and Dora episodes on Netflix.

5. Because of the nasty flu, I have been homebound the last few days. Many nights of staying up with the kiddos and boring boring days have led me to complete four books on my Kindle. Here's the scoop:

a. Riven by Jerry B. Jenkins. - good story line but the author takes FOREVER to get to the good stuff. I "speed-read" a lot of pages on that one and had to take a break from it for a little while.

b. It Happens Every Spring by Gary Chapman and Catherine Palmer. - great read! I felt it was a very honest look at Christian marriages today, and the author handled the big cast of characters well.

c. Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson. - what I like to call "chick fluff." There is no real substance at all to this one, which is okay for an "every-once-in-a-while" book. however, the author wrote it in first person, which was very annoying to me.

d. The Pastor's Wife by Jennifer Allee. - I liked this one, especially the story line. I did feel like things happened a little too fast in the book - six years of hurt is healed in less than six months? But overall I enjoyed it.

And that's your bathroom reading for this week! Tune in next week to see what household appliance suffers next! :)

Chocolate and Scissors

Last week, with the help of several Hersheys Bliss chocolate eggs and a pair of sharp scissors, I decided to give myself a set of bangs. (The chocolate eggs were necessary to give me the guts to do it, because as we all know once you cut bangs, there is no return).

Voila! a true moment of temporary insanity. But I like 'em - as soon as I get used to having hair in my face again, that is. :)

Found It Friday - Daisies

It's time again for a breath of fresh inspiration. Welcome to Found It Friday, where I (and other awesome bloggers) share how we were inspired by the simple yet beautiful flower called a daisy. In case you're joining us for the first time, each week I post a theme for inspiration. All participating bloggers come up with five things inspired by the theme. You can read more about how you can join in on the fun with this new meme here.

He loves me, he loves me not. . . let's explore this field of daisies together.

1. I love the cheerful effect that giant Gerber daisies have. I couldn't think of a more appropriate place for my daisies than my big sunny kitchen window. I bought adorable hourglass vases at IKEA, filled the bottoms with white rice, and then inserted the Gerber daisies (which I cut down to the height I wanted.) Instant happiness!

2. Perhaps if you love flowers but have trouble keeping them alive (I have no green thumb whatsoever!), this steel daisy chain may work perfectly in your garden. It is made entirely out of recycled propane tanks by Shining Sun Garden Works. Gorgeous!

3. The Drama Queen and I were so inspired by the shape of daisies that we made our own monogrammed daisy hair clippies. (tutorial)

4. Daisies are just lovely at weddings! Here is a very chic and easy way to make your wedding favors memorable - just add a sweet daisy to the top of a standard wedding bubbles container. (daisy wedding ideas)

5. And speaking of sweet, make edible daisies like these charming beauties to decorate cupcakes for your next garden party or bridal shower. (Puffed-Up Petal Cupcakes by Wilton)

And finally, as a little bonus this week, I made a daisy-inspired treasury at Etsy, highlighting items featuring fresh yellows and clean whites. It's easy (and addicting!) to make your own treasuries at Etsy.com. It's strangely exhilarating to organize a group of your favorite things and make it look beautiful. You can see my entire treasury here.

So, show me your daisy love! Link up with your Found It Friday daisy post below, and be sure to visit everyone else's posts to kick up the creativity this weekend!

Next week's inspiration is: Sand and Surf . Start gathering your wonderful finds now and wow us with a beautiful post next week!

(and if you came visiting through Follow Me, Chickadee Fridays, welcome! I am so glad you dropped by!)

Found It Friday - Summer Picnic

It's time for the second edition of "Found It Friday" - a fun meme in which an inspiration is given and readers participate by sharing five things related to that inspiration. Please join in by writing your own post about this week's inspiration - summer picnics - and then linking up here. I am looking forward to seeing what you think of when you think of summer picnics and hoping to glean some great ideas for the upcoming Fourth of July festivities!

1. Picnicking means planning some activities for the young ones. Mine happen to love sidewalk chalk and bubbles! Above is a photo of homemade sidewalk chalk. (tutorial at Mad Maggie Designs)

2. Be sure to have plenty of drinks at your picnic! We always have lemonade and soda, but my favorite is iced tea. I found this new Cherry Pomegranate black tea at the local grocery store and finished it off in one day! And I love that it is made by a company based in Lancaster County, PA, near my childhood neighborhood. I grew up drinking Turkey Hill teas and lemonades and eating their delicious ice cream. (tea by Turkey Hill)

3. Sometimes it's just way too hot outside to have a picnic. In that case, don't abandon the picnic plans! Just bring your picnic indoors. Spread out a tablecloth on the living room floor, serve up your regular picnic fare, and turn on Animal Planet.

4. You need to have the proper utensils at your picnic, especially if you are serving up baked beans or sizzling steaks from the grill. Why not make your own incredibly cute and useful picnic utensil container? (tutorial at Clearly IStamp)

5. Or, for a fancier picnic, you may want to make some picnic flatware rolls. Especially if you've got sewing skills! Each one rolls up with its own set of flatware so they can be handily stored in the picnic basket. The best part is choosing the fabric - I do love the sunny lemon and verdant greenery fabric used here. (tutorial at make it do)

I am totally ready for some summer picnics now! Go ahead and link up your summer picnic post below and be sure to visit the other posts for summery inspiration!

next week's inspiration is: daisies!

Change It is A'comin'

Posting has been a little sparse these days. I am not sure exactly why - there are dozens of posts written in my head - but somehow they never seem to make it to the blog.

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about my blog and am making some major changes to it. As you may have noticed, I have changed the look of my blog first. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind; so the look of my blog could change again. :)

I am no longer posting to my crafty blog The Scrappy Frog. All the tutorials there will still be available for your crafting bliss, but from now on, if I have a craft or home decor tutorial to share, it will be here on Temporary Insanity. I hope to have something crafty or artfully delicious at least once a week.

Of course, there will still be the posts about my crazy family and their daily antics. I have enough fodder from the past weekend to write several posts! I also will be focusing some posts on our journey with Davey's testing and Aspergers and Early Intervention preschool.

I am even thinking of starting my own meme! Ha, we'll see what comes to fruition, but at any rate, there are many changes coming to Temporary Insanity. Let me know what you think of the general look (so far, it's still in progress).

As for the name, it's not going anywhere. Temporary Insanity is still my plea - perhaps even more so these days...