Tampilkan postingan dengan label Family. Tampilkan semua postingan
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Kamis, 15 Juni 2017
Oregon Family Trip Day One
I'm going to ignore the static silence over here in my corner of the inter webs and just go for it.
A few weeks ago, my family of five plus my in-laws (and my parents for a part of it) travelled to Oregon for our 'big family vacation'. Except that I made sure everyone knew it's not a vacation with kids, it's a TRIP. Amiright?
Nate's only brother, Jon, lives in Oregon and this trip was based around Jon's wedding to Brittany. My first sister-in-law is the bomb dot com and I'm so excited to welcome her to the family. Another Mrs. Goolia....too bad she lives halfway across the world from me. We continually try to convince each other to 'just move here already', either to WI or OR, to squash that distance but so far neither of us is budging. ;)
Well, Oregon certainly SEEMED to be a million miles away from home during our initial day of travel, might has well have been halfway around the world. Let me break it down for you, since I know detailed travel posts are oh-so-interesting.
We woke up on Thursday, July 14th at 5am. Packing for a ten day trip that includes a wedding (fancy clothes!) and also hiking, exploring, being in different climates was not a joke and probably deserves it's own post. Next time I pack for such an event I should live-blog it or something, so that I can remember the process and what to pack/what not to bother packing. But for now let's just say that we were fully packed and multiple paper lists flew around the house last minute. We woke the kids at 6 and hopped in the van, with Tony and Lois, after Nate loaded an absurd amount of luggage into our beloved Honda Odyssey. You guys, we had one single BOB stroller, a gigantic red suitcase that we checked, then six 'carry on' suitcases that were bordering on the size restrictions, and also six swollen backpacks for the actual plane ride. In addition to the seven people in our van! I have no idea how Master Nate managed to fit everything into the back of the van but he did, so we were off to Chicago at this bright hour of the day.
The List. Mad I didn't get a picture of our trunk all loaded!
Traffic wasn't horrible, so I believe we arrived to O'Hare (ugghghghghghhhh, sorry but this airport is not my favorite) around 7:30. After a few minor speed bumps with finding the correct long-term parking lot, we hopped on the shuttle and got to the airport in one piece. Going up and down escalators with Truman and Cecelia each pulling their own new suitcases was a little terrifying. We did have to check the BOB because apparently it's 24 pounds and they only gate check a stroller less than 20 pounds. Porter screamed, 'Noooo! My BOB, MY BOB, MYYYYY BOBBBBBBBB,' all throughout security. But we emerged stronger than before....literally, because now we had to carry Porter through the airport or allow him to walk which takes approximately 1402831 times longer than just picking up the screaming babe.
We all decided to eat some breakfast since our flight didn't board until 10 am. McDonalds was the obvious choice, along with a supplemental Starbucks kick. I think I changed a poopy diaper after that and praised God for letting this happen before the flight (foreshadowing for the way home), and then we hung out by the gate for a bit. Porter spotted his BOB load under our plane and proceeded to lose his mind, yet again, the poor babe. The flight attendant said she won a bet about why Porter was screaming---she said kids cry over seeing their bags go under the plane all of the time, who would have thought?! Also, they announced that anyone who wanted to gate check their carry ons could do so and we immediately signed up for that stuff, because our bags already becoming a hassle.
We finally boarded and ended up sitting like this: me at a window, Porter in the middle seat, then Tony on the aisle side. Nate sat behind us with Truman and Cecelia flanking him, and then Lois was across the aisle from them. Tony and Lois flip flopped around between helping me with Porter and trying to catch a few zzzzs in their more quiet seat. I cannot say that I blame them and I am sort of pissy with Nate because he got the easy kids and therefore was able to watch real TV on his laptop, or some other sort of 'me time' entertainment.
Easy kids:
So we were all strapped in, ready to take off, and then we sat on the runway for almost an hour. Because: O'Hare, I guess. Porter was super interested in a new magnetic train book that Memaw sent him so this actually didn't suck as much as it sounds like. Finally we did take off and began our 4 hour and 15 minute journey in the sky. I considered this our second leg of a three leg expedition (first leg was driving to Chicago and getting through the airport, second was actually flying, third was getting the rental van and driving to our destination. One guess as to which was the most dreadful.)
During our flight, I had jam-packed Cecelia and Truman's backpacks with goodies. They each had their loveys, headphones, an electronic device with pre-loaded movies and shows, Mambas for chewing with pressure changes, granola bars, water bottles, new coloring books and crayons, educational activity books, books to read for real, Cecelia had a bunch of random stickers, and Truman had an Origami book to complete with Nate. Porter's goodies were in my bag, and included his loveys, headphones that he refused to wear, a Kindle with a few Thomas movies pre-loaded, the magnetic train book, Wikki-Stix that I enjoyed more than him, a huge pack of fruit snacks for ear popping, water, granola bars, pretzels, stickers, regular books to read, and a regular magician for ultimate entertainment. I wish! But really, age two might be the hardest age for flying----too old to sleep or nurse or cuddle, too young to stay focused on anything for too long (including screens) plus the insatiable desire to stay.moving.at.all.times. We had to buy Porter a plane ticked because this was three days after his second birthday, but in hindsight he would have needed that seat even six months ago----definitely not a lap baby anymore!
Oh, hey, wing shot!
The flight was pretty good. Porter bounced from various activities and was totally enthralled with his apple juice and cookies from the attendant. We tried to convince him to nap but failed, and I know I was listening to a movie that American Airlines was playing for us. I didn't really *watch* it but I tried to follow along to one with Walter White from Breaking Bad, and the movie industry back in the day. Seemed interesting! Anyone know the title?
We landed in Portland around 1pm-ish, I think. There's a two hour time change which completely killed us after our trip, back in Milwaukee, but this day it didn't seem too bad. Next was retrieving our luggage while Tony went to hunt down Thrifty rental cars. The luggage was fine and Porter was oh-so-happy to reunite with his BOB. Nate and Lois and I hauled around all gajillion pieces of luggage and tried to find Tony, without much luck. Apparently Thrifty was one of the companies that requires a shuttle off the airport property. After that borderline ride (everyone was getting pretty hungry and exhausted by now, who knew that meals consisting of granola bars and candy wouldn't cut it?), we found Tony and our rental van. It seemed much smaller than our Odyssey, I believe it was a Chrysler? But we rented two five point harness car seats and one booster for Truman, installed those, played Tetris with our luggage to make it fit in the trunk, and we were off to Eugene from there. We considered waiting for my mom and dad to get their car and follow us down, but they were about an hour behind us and we were worried about hitting traffic so we decided to meet them at the hotel.
Making our way through the airport, happy as clams to be on these moving walkways.
Gathering luggage.
Thus begins our problematic leg of the journey, because Portland traffic at 2pm is NOT A FREAKING JOKE, people. Truly. Maybe it was just the perfect storm for everything combusting in our face at this point, but we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic for seriously 2 hours. Porter fell asleep for 20 minutes (so did the other two kids!), then woke up in hysterics, probably just so tired and hungry and over it that he couldn't deal. Listening to my baby scream non-stop, inconsolable, running out of tears was the worst. After those two hours of hell, we found a small town and stopped at Panera for a real meal (I feel like the town was maybe 50 miles outside of Portland or something awful). This was a quiet time in our journey, none of us were really verbal and couldn't form a sentence anyway. But the kids did appreciate some protein and non-granola bar food as did the adults.
This is the last picture I took on this day, symbolizing the car ride that hated us (and we hated it).
We decided to stretch our legs a bit by walking around a strip mall for maybe 30 minutes. Then back in the van we went. We had no traffic but still a solid hour and a half awaiting us by road. Finally, FINALLY, by the grace of the good Lord we arrived to our hotel in Eugene, Oregon at 6pm Eastern time. Which calculates to be fourteen hours of travel from door-to-door, and is the reason that we crumpled into pathetic balls of despair when we arrived at the hotel. There was some confusion with our rooms, the king suite Nate and I wanted for the addition of a pull out couch for the kids wasn't available next to Tony and Lois's room. And I really felt like we needed to be as close as possible to them if we had any chance of going out after the kids went to bed, so we ended up getting two queens that connected to my in-laws' room. Porter's pack-n-play took about an hour to arrive and then it was seriously microscopic, made for a seven pound infant or something. HILARIOUS!
We told the kids we would swim at the hotel pool when we arrived but there was just no freaking way. Instead we sort of unpacked and fed them some leftovers from lunch, chatted with Nate's aunt and cousins for a bit, and then put the kids to bed at 9pm (which was 11pm central time, OMG). My parents also came down to our room right before bedtime, just arriving from Portland, and the kids were so stinking happy to see them that I relaxed a little on the 'must do bedtime now!' stance I had earlier. Somehow Nate talked me into walking with his cousin, aunt, mom and my parents to get food after that. We stumbled upon Pita Pit in the little downtown Eugene and it was good but we were so exhausted I barely tasted it.
We crashed into bed with me sharing a bed with Cecelia, Truman with Nate, and Porter in the microscopic pack-n-play that made him exclaim over and over again, 'I don't fit!'.
(Stay tuned for nine more days of our trip! I'm not sure I will divide each day up into posts but this one was too long to combine).
Rabu, 24 Mei 2017
Family Christmas Photos
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! :) We had a great time with family in Chicago.
Here are more cute photos from our session with Lindsey Koch Photography.
Cousin Eddie! We hope to try this again next year. Maybe he will pose a little better for it? Ha!
A little behind the scenes of getting ready for pictures - I always lay out the outfits to make sure I like how they look together. Chimi approved!
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
See more cute pics from our photo session here.
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Senin, 08 Mei 2017
family tradition
Apparently we have a little family tradition: each year, I make handmade Christmas cards with photos on them. Since this is my third Christmas on this blog, I have nicely chronicled posts about these labors of love cards: 2007, and 2008 if you care about these sorts of things. And last year, we had the fabulous Andrea Weiss---friend, budding photographer, and fellow pregnant lady---take our pics for these cards. Remember? Well why mess with good thing? We just had to rope her in to snap some pics of our little family, complete with a Christmas-related prop for Henry again. Although his full blown Santa costume was a hit last year, we certainly couldn't re-use the same suit again. We found something just as cute and every bit as hated by dear Henry: a hat that stays on by his ears. Oh, can't you tell by his face that he just loves it?
So which do you like best for our cards this year?
1. (I almost broke this swing with my pregnant arse, for real)
2. (don't you love how a ray of light is hitting my gut here, highlighting the bump? Actually, Henry's facial expression is my fave here).
3. (Henry looks stoned, we look cute)
4. (Love me some b&w action)
5. (silhouette of love....try not to barf)
6. (belly shots as requested by our dear photog:) )
7. (this one might be going on a new blog header in the future, for sure. Good thing I painted my nails so my hands don't look like the man hands....right?)
8. (or maybe we'll let him be the showboat of the family card and go really simple with this one)
9. (but can you beat a b&w Henry dog?)
This is not an option for our family card, but I just love it. I forced Andrea to take a belly shot with me because A. Although she is only 15 weeks along and I'm 25 weeks, I seriously think we are showing the same amount, and B. She is literally standing on her tip-toes in this shot to come up to my gigantor level. Such a little peanut that one!.
It's been fun to share our pregnancies so far and I'm SO happy for her and her hubby. They totally deserve this gift of a wonderful pregnancy and they are going to be fab parents. Between baby talk, PT talk (she is going to apply to the same grad school program Nate is attending!), and photography talk we have quite a bit in common. Just not our height.....that's a little different:)
Rabu, 19 April 2017
Large Family Preparations to Leave the House This too Has a Plan
- Make lists and notes
- Prepare as much in advance as possible
- Start early - it takes what it takes
- Be the manager, not the primary "do-er"
- Three examples
- Preparing to arrive home again
I was often asked how I prepared to leave the house with our family of 11, especially when our 9 children were all 12-years-old and younger. And people who know me knew that I would have a plan to implement! *chuckle* It was not complicated, it's just a matter of being proactive - being ON PURPOSE - in creating and implementing a plan. Like my sweet friend Wendy Jeub (mother of 16) said to me once, "Make a plan, implement the plan." Failing to plan is planning to fail. Here's my plan...
Make lists and notes
I make lists for just about everything in life, because I don't like to be unprepared when it's so preventable. I like to be comfortable, relaxed, and prepared when we're out and about.
Sometimes my lists take up two 8x10 pieces of paper (when leaving for a few days), and sometimes my list is only 2 items on a post-it note stuck to the table. But there is enough going on in our house and family before we leave to go somewhere that without notes to myself it's been fairly likely that things get missed, and this can negatively impact the entire outing. If you are digitally minded and have a smart phone, iPad or other such device, you can use the calendar and set reminders, put in check lists etc. I prefer paper and pen but the media is not really the issue here. Having a plan and putting it in writing before the time to leave comes is the issue.
Lots of things seem to come up in the last 5-30 minutes before we are striving to walk out the door. For example, some children seem to get stressed when there's commotion. Not necessarily chaos, but just people scurrying about getting their selves ready, and their things ready, getting him ready *chuckle*. I'm giving a lot of verbal directions to multiple people, his day s not going in it's usual, predictable routine, and I'm usually prompting people to move right along and stay on task because we're striving for a certain time frame. His stress level can bring on additional complications such as wet pants and therefore pee on the floor, requiring then a carpet clean up and a new outfit for him. We always have everyone use the bathroom before we leave so that we can try to avoid making bathroom stops (which take a lot of time with a large family) - this takes time at home, too. Sometimes someone needs an outfit change because we just realized that what they're wearing is inappropriate for varying reasons (weather, season, length of time we'll be out of the house, etc.) Finding shoes for someone that were not put on the shoe rack where they belong. One of our youngest 4 children usually needed a diaper change at the last second (how do they always seem to know right when we need to go out the door??) So - I make lists and notes to myself so that despite the business everything gets remembered that we will need. *smile*
I write down everything we need to pack to take with us. If we're leaving the house for 3 days, then I make categorized packing lists, simply grouping things on my 8x10-inch tablet in a way that helps me think through it simply and easily, and helps me me catch items that I missed. One giant list is hard to order in my mind, so I bunch things in to groups. Such as sleeping things: sleeping bags, pillows, pj's, diapers and pull-ups, special teddy bears for young ones or a familiar blanket, pack-n-plays, tooth brushes, hair brush and squirt bottle, hair holders, older girls overnight bags, alarm clocks, menstrual items if necessary, etc. Daytime items, such as: appropriate shoes, jackets, snacks, activities, outfits and underpants, bottles & formula if we have a real little one, etc. But most of the time, preparing to leave the house requires only a short list for a short outing - even only 2-5 items! But I don't want to forget them none-the-less.
If we're leaving to go to the park, then I write on my list: picnic lunch, waters, strollers, toddler harnesses (in case "littles" are refusing to stay close enough to us when not in the stroller, or if there are larger crowds than we anticipated and a toddler could get lost), sweatshirts (weather can change quickly in the Great North West and if everyone's really cold then we have to cut the outing short). I have forgotten each of these items at different times when I haven't written them down, and it's so paralyzing! Any of these forgotten items can either cancel or greatly shorten our planned outing - such a bummer.
I also put a star next to any items that require preparation time from me. Usually I'm packing things that need to be grabbed and put into the car. But a lunch needs time to be prepared, so I star that item. This helps me plan my timing accurately. Sometimes I'm making taco popcorn to take to a friend's house to enjoy while kids play, and that needs to be prepared in advance as well.
Another thing I do that helps me to make accurate lists is to make notes to myself about certain annual events and stick those on my calendar for next year so that I'm sure to remember things that I forgot that current year. When I get a new wall calendar each year, I go through it and write down things like family birthdays or annual events such as the county fair; and I move any post-it notes to myself to the new calendar, too. I'll make a note for the 4th of July so that I remember to pack bug spray, have the children wear matching tee-shirts so that they're all easier to keep track of, bring kids pj's so that they can go to sleep at our friend's house, etc. For the Easter Egg hunt in April I want to remember to have the kids wear rubber boots as the grass is usually still muddy from spring rains. To the county fair in August, I want to remember to have the kids wear their red shirts again for easy identification, bring the toddler harnesses, bring hats for all the kids as the sun is hard on everyone's eyes all day long, and bring water bottles to help kids keep hydrated without having to buy expensive fair beverages.
I also put a star next to any items that require preparation time from me. Usually I'm packing things that need to be grabbed and put into the car. But a lunch needs time to be prepared, so I star that item. This helps me plan my timing accurately. Sometimes I'm making taco popcorn to take to a friend's house to enjoy while kids play, and that needs to be prepared in advance as well.
Another thing I do that helps me to make accurate lists is to make notes to myself about certain annual events and stick those on my calendar for next year so that I'm sure to remember things that I forgot that current year. When I get a new wall calendar each year, I go through it and write down things like family birthdays or annual events such as the county fair; and I move any post-it notes to myself to the new calendar, too. I'll make a note for the 4th of July so that I remember to pack bug spray, have the children wear matching tee-shirts so that they're all easier to keep track of, bring kids pj's so that they can go to sleep at our friend's house, etc. For the Easter Egg hunt in April I want to remember to have the kids wear rubber boots as the grass is usually still muddy from spring rains. To the county fair in August, I want to remember to have the kids wear their red shirts again for easy identification, bring the toddler harnesses, bring hats for all the kids as the sun is hard on everyone's eyes all day long, and bring water bottles to help kids keep hydrated without having to buy expensive fair beverages.
Prepare as much in advance as possible
Also due to so many things happening simultaneously just before we leave the house, I like to prepare as much in advance as possible. Items brought to the van in advance, food prepared, diaper bags filled, and such. If I know that on Monday we're going to go to the library, then when we still used them I would try to put the strollers into the van even over the weekend if I think of it, or at least the morning of our outing. We can't go into the library without having the 4 youngest kids in the double strollers, so we cannot afford to forget them. If I had not thought to get the strollers into the van in advance of that day but I would think of it a couple of hours before we leave (and it would still very possible to forget them completely!), then I'd ask one of the older kids to go get the strollers in the garage and put them right by the garage doors so we'd have to trip over them to get to the van. *smile* Not likely to forget them, then.
If we're responsible to bring chips and pop to a picnic, then those just stay in the van after we purchase those from the store so they're sure to arrive at the picnic with us.
Diaper bags get re-filled with diapers and things upon arriving back at home having used them, and put back in to the van so that they're always there ready for our use; we never have to remember to bring them as they "live" in the van ready for us.
If I need to remember to return something to my parent's house when we go there next week, then I'll put that item into the van as soon as I think of it even if it's days in advance, so I'm sure not to forget it later. The less to try to remember at the last minute the better, and the simpler actually getting out the door becomes, and the happier we all are as we're preparing to leave. *smile*
I practice organization and preparedness for our vehicle as well, in case of emergency (food, water, band aids, flashlight, etc.), or if items are forgotten (baby bottle and formula, hair holders, sunscreen, etc.) or in case things come up unexpectedly (nuts for a snack because we're late for a meal, toddler harnesses live in the van all summer just in case, etc). This has helped me greatly countless times as well. But even being prepared in advance doesn't help us if we have not left an adequate amount of time for ourselves to get ready before we leave.
I also have our environment prepared to enable us to successfully get from the house to the van as time efficiently and successfully as possible. When I say to the kids, "Okay! It's time to go, let's clean up!" With my direction they start picking up toys, straitening couch cushions, Karen (when she was 13) would pick up the twin babies and take them to the garage to get their shoes and coats on, and help Spencer (when he was 2) follow her to the garage to do the same. The "middle kids" when they were ages 9, 6, and 5 would run to the garage to get shoes and coats on. I checked my list on the table for last minute items I need to get and Melanie (12 at the time) helped me bring all that down stairs while I grabbed my purse and took Tyler (at age 3) down with me to help him get ready.
Down in the garage the older kids help younger kids get shoes and coats on, and if kids are especially rowdy that day then I'll have them all sit down on the carpet in one place while they wait to go to the van. And they all take turns using the bathroom if they haven't done so yet.
We keep the kids shoes on a huge shoe rack (a heavy-duty, plastic shelf unit for the garage, from Costco), with the shoes generally in order (one of our children's weekly job is to straiten the shoe rack, finding all the pairs and putting them together so that we can easily find them when it's time to leave).
We have the children's coats on a hanging rack also in our garage "mud room" so that we can quickly and easily put everything on out there (and when we come home shoes and coats get put away in the mud room and put away before they head inside).
When it was appropriate we had a pack-n-play out in the garage as a place where we could put the youngest ones that was safe and clean, so that they were not wandering around aimlessly, getting in to trouble, or leaving the garage to the street. (In the back of the photo is the pack-n-play)
And we require and teach the children to stay on the large carpeted area in the garage mud room, to help them be successful in obedience, and to help kids remember not to run out of the garage to the street. When I do open the garage door and encourage the kids to go get into the van, they are expected to go strait to the van and get in and buckle their seat belt immediately. No running around the van or into the cul-de-sac where I would have to then waste time corralling them all back. And no causing problems with siblings inside the van or climbing over the van seats which would eventually rip the car upholstery. Straight to seat belts. *smile*
If we're responsible to bring chips and pop to a picnic, then those just stay in the van after we purchase those from the store so they're sure to arrive at the picnic with us.
Diaper bags get re-filled with diapers and things upon arriving back at home having used them, and put back in to the van so that they're always there ready for our use; we never have to remember to bring them as they "live" in the van ready for us.
If I need to remember to return something to my parent's house when we go there next week, then I'll put that item into the van as soon as I think of it even if it's days in advance, so I'm sure not to forget it later. The less to try to remember at the last minute the better, and the simpler actually getting out the door becomes, and the happier we all are as we're preparing to leave. *smile*
I practice organization and preparedness for our vehicle as well, in case of emergency (food, water, band aids, flashlight, etc.), or if items are forgotten (baby bottle and formula, hair holders, sunscreen, etc.) or in case things come up unexpectedly (nuts for a snack because we're late for a meal, toddler harnesses live in the van all summer just in case, etc). This has helped me greatly countless times as well. But even being prepared in advance doesn't help us if we have not left an adequate amount of time for ourselves to get ready before we leave.
I also have our environment prepared to enable us to successfully get from the house to the van as time efficiently and successfully as possible. When I say to the kids, "Okay! It's time to go, let's clean up!" With my direction they start picking up toys, straitening couch cushions, Karen (when she was 13) would pick up the twin babies and take them to the garage to get their shoes and coats on, and help Spencer (when he was 2) follow her to the garage to do the same. The "middle kids" when they were ages 9, 6, and 5 would run to the garage to get shoes and coats on. I checked my list on the table for last minute items I need to get and Melanie (12 at the time) helped me bring all that down stairs while I grabbed my purse and took Tyler (at age 3) down with me to help him get ready.
Down in the garage the older kids help younger kids get shoes and coats on, and if kids are especially rowdy that day then I'll have them all sit down on the carpet in one place while they wait to go to the van. And they all take turns using the bathroom if they haven't done so yet.
We keep the kids shoes on a huge shoe rack (a heavy-duty, plastic shelf unit for the garage, from Costco), with the shoes generally in order (one of our children's weekly job is to straiten the shoe rack, finding all the pairs and putting them together so that we can easily find them when it's time to leave).
We have the children's coats on a hanging rack also in our garage "mud room" so that we can quickly and easily put everything on out there (and when we come home shoes and coats get put away in the mud room and put away before they head inside).
When it was appropriate we had a pack-n-play out in the garage as a place where we could put the youngest ones that was safe and clean, so that they were not wandering around aimlessly, getting in to trouble, or leaving the garage to the street. (In the back of the photo is the pack-n-play)
And we require and teach the children to stay on the large carpeted area in the garage mud room, to help them be successful in obedience, and to help kids remember not to run out of the garage to the street. When I do open the garage door and encourage the kids to go get into the van, they are expected to go strait to the van and get in and buckle their seat belt immediately. No running around the van or into the cul-de-sac where I would have to then waste time corralling them all back. And no causing problems with siblings inside the van or climbing over the van seats which would eventually rip the car upholstery. Straight to seat belts. *smile*
Start early - it takes what it takes
I used to make plans for our timing by saying that it should only take 15 minutes to get us all ready and in to the car - but the fact was it took longer than that, and I was only successful at being punctual to arrive places when I planned for the amount of time it actually took. When we had lots of "littles" it took more like 30-40 minutes from the time we started getting ready to go (cleaning up, gathering items, getting everyone's shoes on, using the bathroom, etc.) to the time we were driving out of the drive way. It doesn't matter how long I think it should take, and then get frustrated when it's taking way longer and then we're late. It takes what it takes, so I need to plan for that and just go with it. *smile*
In order to determine if I need to get up earlier than usual in the morning if we're leaving, I need to figure out our timing for the next morning, the night before. When they were all little I knew it took 9o minutes to get all of the youngest 7 children up by myself in the morning, get them dressed, groomed, any wet beds stripped, call older kids back to pick their clothes up from the floor and such, and to get everyone up to the table for breakfast. It doesn't matter if I think it should take less time, it always took 90 minutes. I knew how long it took me to have my Bible time in the morning, to shower, to prepare the house for the day, make breakfast, and check my to-do list and email, before then getting all of the children up in the morning. It will also take time to pack a picnic lunch for us all, to gather all of our sweatshirts, etc. I take all of this in to consideration and then determine what time to wake up in the morning if it's different than my usual time, and then we're sure to be on time. There's really no need to be perpetually late to things if one prepares in advance (generally of course - we can't always be prepared for every thing). We need to just accept the fact that it takes what it takes, and go with that. And now I do not try to do everything all by myself, by the way; I employ the whole family to get the whole family ready! *smile*
Be the manager, not the primary "do-er"
It is impossible for me to do everything myself to get the whole family ready, and simultaneously manage kids who are unoccupied; and it's important for the kids to participate in the functioning of the family, to serve, to be patient, to be creative with little ones who need help, and to be productively occupied. Everyone can help get shoes, get socks, help younger siblings, bring things down stairs, gather sweatshirts, or even just have the job of sitting and "guarding" the pile of stuff to go to the van. *chuckle* It takes all of my time, energy, and attention to be directing everyone to what they can be doing, to be monitoring that and managing behavior. My job is to be the Manager of my Home, not the primary "do-er".
Three examples
Here are 3 examples of types of planning we used to do to leave the house. I've been asked specifically about all 3 of these, so here's a glimpse into how we would do things at the Shupe household.
Church - Preparations were not too revolutionary really, they just take a plan like everything else. I actually begin the week before by making sure we have everything we need for our Shupe Surprise Sunday morning breakfast that daddy makes for us each week. It's an egg, sausage, and hashbrowns skillet called Shupe Surprise only because the kids know that I don't eat anything with the word "surprise" in it. *laugh* So they named this one for me. It does vary a bit each week and is a bit of a surprise in a way as my husband is a creative chef, cooking with the "some of this and some of that" method, but it always tastes great. We intentionally choose a high-protein and fat breakfast which will help everyone easily make it through the service without feeling hungry and tired, until we get home again for lunch.
Bob and I get up in the morning early enough to have a shower, prep for the day by checking email and plans on the calendar for errands and grocery shopping, opening up the window blinds, and sometime eating a bit of something to help hold us off until the hot breakfast is ready. We have time to talk about things as we go (not being too rushed), and see the teenage girls who are showering themselves right after us. Then we jump in to getting the youngest 7 children up.
The children's clothes are organized in our all-kids-clothing closet, and the boy's church clothes have their own basket (slacks and button down shirts and belts) so selecting an outfit for church is quick and easy. The girls dresses are hanging and also easy to select from. The oldest 3 daughters dress themselves, and I select clothes for our 6 youngest ones. I also try to remember to get out those youngest 6 children's church shoes and socks for them so that they're ready when the boys come piling in to the garage. This way I can also be sure that they wear church attire and do not grab play socks ans shoes to go with their slacks. *hmm* When I wake the kids the teenage girls and I do the youngest children's hair and teeth for them, supervise getting dressed in a timely way, and put away pj's while the children watch a documentary and wait for breakfast while daddy cooks.
When we had mostly all very little ones we would sit them all straight up to the table after getting dressed and doing hair and teeth, which also saved a great deal of time not having to clean up the toys that they can get out in a short amount of time just before we leave the house. So the littlest ones would pretty much get up, get ready, sit up for breakfast and eat, and then go strait to the van with everyone else. The older children would have been choosing easy-to-put-away activities such as books or computer learning to occupy their time until breakfast is ready.
Once I have the 7 youngest children done then I dress myself (if I do it earlier my church clothes get all wrinkly and might have water on them from hair and teeth) and eat breakfast. Then while the children are eating, Bob dresses himself for church while I manage the children at the breakfast table, and our oldest 2 daughters begin cleaning up the kitchen and loading dishes.
When everyone is done eating breakfast we go strait to the van to leave for church. We've planned to arrive at church 30 minutes early so that we have time to visit with our church family before the service begins. We have very little time to visit after the service because the children are all tired and hungry and we really need to get them home for lunch and a 2-hour naps for the youngest 4. Planning to arrive so early also enables us to have some grace time if we are running late due to unexpected things at home. If we leave the house later than desired then we only miss the visiting time, but not the beginning of the service. As you can probably imagine, and may have experienced yourselves, it's not very inconspicuous to have our family of 11 enter the services late. *chuckle* If we are able to leave the house even earlier than we planned, then we get to go on a little drive through the farm land in "our valley", which is beautiful. This time is so relaxing, and the children really enjoy it, too. This is a great incentive for us all to be on task in the morning on Sundays so we get to have the blessing of this time in the van.
This plan has worked really great for us for a long time. Of course you can choose your own "plan of attack" for getting ready for church - but having a plan is instrumental when there are so many people.
Three days away - When we go to the annual homeschool conference we look forward to every year here in Washington state, or when we go camping for a long weekend, I begin making packing lists to be gone for this duration of time about a week in advance. I just start brainstorming my packing lists, grouped in to categories that break the list down for me and help me to see it more clearly, as I mentioned earlier. This gives me several days to be remembering more items for the list as I go through our days, experiencing everything that we do and use or could need so that I can add those items and not forget anything (ideally). I'm sort of in pre-packing mode in the back of my mind that week, trying to always be aware of what I use during the day and what I could need to bring for our family while we're away.
I begin the actual packing process a day or two before we leave. I ask Bob to load the van for us with items that are bulky and do not need to go into a bag. Things like strollers and/or pack-n-plays. Then I get out duffel bags and backpacks and decide who's things will be packed together into single bags, and how to bet orchestrate clothes, etc. I think through who will be eating what, what activities we will be participating in, and what our family may be responsible for bringing for others. The more I can pack in advance the better, and the more that can get in to the car in advance, the more relaxed I can be the day that we are planning to leave. And, the less likely it is that someone will desire to have something that I've so carefully packed, and remove that thing unbeknownst to me! (Not a happy mama *chuckle*)
I also keep my packing lists with us while we're gone so that when we pack to come home again I can re-pack from that same list, preventing us from leaving items behind. This has been a great tool for me, and has helped me remember easy-to-forget things like alarm clocks, toiletry bags, and jackets when we head for home. *smile*
Another unique place we plan to leave the house for, usually annually, is to have professional photos taken (for free!).
I begin the actual packing process a day or two before we leave. I ask Bob to load the van for us with items that are bulky and do not need to go into a bag. Things like strollers and/or pack-n-plays. Then I get out duffel bags and backpacks and decide who's things will be packed together into single bags, and how to bet orchestrate clothes, etc. I think through who will be eating what, what activities we will be participating in, and what our family may be responsible for bringing for others. The more I can pack in advance the better, and the more that can get in to the car in advance, the more relaxed I can be the day that we are planning to leave. And, the less likely it is that someone will desire to have something that I've so carefully packed, and remove that thing unbeknownst to me! (Not a happy mama *chuckle*)
I also keep my packing lists with us while we're gone so that when we pack to come home again I can re-pack from that same list, preventing us from leaving items behind. This has been a great tool for me, and has helped me remember easy-to-forget things like alarm clocks, toiletry bags, and jackets when we head for home. *smile*
Another unique place we plan to leave the house for, usually annually, is to have professional photos taken (for free!).
Professional photo shoot - This happens to be an example I've already done an entire blog post on if you would like to read about that and see the pictures. I share about all of the preparations we make to ensure (as much as possible) a successful photo.
Preparing to arrive home again
This may sound funny, but I do actually prepare to arrive home again! We all appreciate walking in to an orderly home which feels relaxing and ready for the next thing on the agenda. By this I mean before we left the house earlier we had the toys cleaned-up, family room orderly, and kitchen all cleaned up. We need to be able to prepare lunch in our tiny kitchen immediately upon arrival home and we cannot do so with breakfast dishes and pans everywhere from the morning. I do not want to clean up just so that I can prepare lunch; what a waste of time. And after lunch kids will go down for naps. I do not want to spend the first 30-60 minutes of those 2 hours cleaning up the morning's mess; I would like to have those entire 2 hours of play-alone time to be productive and to sit down for a little while. I need this time to re-fuel for the rest of the day. When we proactively plan our time for when we get home, to be able to then get in to the things we need to do or would like to do, we maximize our time.
Now I don't want you to see this post as a whole list of to-do's that will stress you out! *smile* *hugs* I hope you might get some ideas of how you could approach getting out the door smoothly. And primarily I hope to help you learn a new way of thinking about your approach in order to help mainstream managing a lot of kids and keep the family on time and prepared. Preparing to leave the house does not have to be stressful or completely full of "C'mon-c'mon-c'mon!" We don't have to be perpetually late every where we go, I don't have to leave the house without make up on because I ran out of time, or forget to bring items that we need in order to make our journey pleasant and enjoyable. Remember: Make a plan, implement the plan. *smile* By making lists or notes to myself, preparing as much in advance as I can, starting early, managing the children instead of being the primary "do-er", and cleaning up the house before we leave, we can have a very enjoyable time out of the house, and look forward to arriving home again in a little while.
I'd love to hear some of your family strategies for preparing to leave the house! I am learning more great organization and planning strategies from you guys all the time, and often find myself saying to our children, "I just learned this great strategy from one of our readers..." *smile* Keep up the great sharing! *hugs*
Blessings on your efforts for your family,
You may also be interested in reading my posts:
Charts and Lists That Save My Sanity
Scheduling: What To Do With Summer?
Scheduling: What To Do With Summer?
Rabu, 05 April 2017
Family Photos 2015 Help on card choice please!
Dear Readers,
We have received our family photos from Andrea and I would like to enlist your help in selecting a favorite for our Christmas cards. As I'm watching news coverage for the mass shootings in Paris, it feels a little silly to even discuss something as frivolous as family photos. And yet, I want to share anyway because my family is pretty much the most important thing to me in this (really horrible, really appalling, and also really beautiful) world. The photos make me smile and hopefully they make you smile, too. We could all use a smile about now.
A little about the photo shoot itself: we scheduled this about two months prior and then I stalked the weather like none other as the event approached. I stressed about our outfit choices, about my hair and makeup, about the behavior of my children and their ability to smile at the camera and look pleasant. I was classic Julia with this photoshoot, totally high strung and worried about how it would all work out. The weather was fantastic for November 8th, it was sunny and we didn't actually need our snow gear like I had feared. And the kids? They sort of blew me away with how they owned the camera. You'll see below that we did, indeed, get some good ones.
We were going to meet Andrea at a new-to-us park for the photos because a few weeks ago the leaves there were incredible. Then we drove by the park the day before the photo shoot and nixed the location right away, depressing bare trees abounded and we came up with a plan B.
Nate and I immediately decided that we might as well do the pictures at our house this year, mostly in the back yard but probably wandering around the 'parkway' which is county property full of trees and bushes and fairly open spaces. We haven't had family pictures taken since Porter's newborn shoot at our house, which was also at our house. My brain was already thinking of some great comparison shots from the past 1.5 years when we decided on our location, and as a bonus? We could pull Henry outside for a picture or two then let him retreat back inside if three kids and one animal proved too much chaos to handle. (yes, it was wild there for a bit).
I had two possible outfits for each kid and settled on final options for Nate and myself (after a failed Target run last minute to find me a new sweater or something 'fun' to wear, no dice). I used my new IIID foundation makeup and You Tube'd how to actually curl my hair now that it's longer, and deemed myself 'GOOD ENOUGH'. I then had to wake Cecelia and also Porter from their naps for our 3:30pm start time and it was a little touchy for the first few moments of getting the children dressed and mentally prepped for family photos. I basically let Truman pick which shirt he wanted to wear out of my two options, and then Nate selected Porter's top, and I always sort of knew I wanted Cecelia in the new denim Gap dress I scored on consignment. Actually both Truman and Cecelia had their options of 'new' outfits due to consignment store finds, and both of Porter's options were Truman's hand-me-downs ;)
So anyway, Andrea came over and we headed outside to the backyard and started snapping away. I had a bowl of candy (non-chocolate, will never make that mistake again after a few unfortunate brown drool incidents!) ready for bribery, and here are the results.
Henry got in one picture and that was it! This was behind our house, behind our back yard. Searching for a little bit of color and I love this area so much.
Our three kids, all of the heart eyes. Of course, Porter was a bit iffy when I wasn't holding him but it's a very 'Porter' face that you'll see below.
Contenders for my favorites, especially the close up one on the right:
Front porch shots, love these a lot. Porter demanded to hold a gourd and CC followed suit. Thanks for the festive props, kids!
Andrea found this rock wall for a few solo shots of each child. Really love them all so much my heart can barely take it.
And then a big leafy area with a bit more color. I like these a lot, and the big one on the bottom of this collage would be perfection if it weren't for Porter's 'deer in headlights' face. Or maybe that makes it completely perfect? ;)
Getting a little wild throwing leaves around, the kids were totally loose and having a ball by this point.
Leaves everywhere!
I wanted a shot with my girl, as she was getting cold and needed to be held a bit. Oh, my sweet Cecelia, you are something.
Then Truman wanted to lay down and rest (yes, seriously) and Cecelia laid right next to him. These kids are absolute clones with their smiles sometimes.
I plopped Porter down and really love these shots of our trio.
Next came a parent-only shot, because when do Nate and I get to have a photo alone? The kids were literally running in circles around us here, confused about why they weren't in the picture.
And my cold little girl all bundled up in my favorite blanket (that belongs to my in-laws, specifically borrowed for this shoot).
Any favorites? I need to pick one or two for our cards and hopefully soon!
End thoughts: family photos can be alarmingly stressful and totally unnecessarily so. But they are really worth it with these images that I will look back on fondly, remembering the chaos of the little kid years with rose colored glasses. I can't help but wonder how much the kids will change in the next year, and isn't that the crazy part about family pictures? They seem outdated in no time, but I truly love the older shots of our growing family, too. Photos are my favorite, I can't help it.
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