Seven Quick Takes Sunday

It is a fairly cold, rainy Sunday, and here is what's on my mind lately:

1. I love computers, but they can also be very frustrating. I use ours all the time, but when I spend a long time typing something, and then can't find it in my "documents" folder a few days later...what's with that? Should I print out everything and file it in real file folders??? Or should I make it a habit to save everything to disk often? That's something I am really not good at, but maybe it's necessary. The funny part is, the particular document I lost was about home organization...

2. Speaking of organizing, I read a book recently (borrowed from my mom) on the subject written in 1981. Kind of like fly-lady and sidetracked home executives (for those of us who have tried/heard of those systems). But definitely pre-computer age. It has made me think of the benefits of computers, but also the benefits of paper filing systems. Also paper grocery lists and paper calenders...I have been doing so much on the computer, but I don't think it's always the most efficient. Especially since it is not my own personal computer but shared with the family.

3. We went to a Christmas party on Saturday, stayed up really late, and I am tired. And I don't handle being tired very well. I get cranky, just like my kids. So, enough on that point because I need to get to bed soon...

4. Christmas prep. We are slowly but surely getting ready for Christmas. Why is it that before Thanksgiving, Christmas seems so far away. But then, once you hear Christmas music for a few days on the radio, suddenly you realize how many people you have to shop for, mail cards to, etc... Why does that always happen? We have a felt Jesse tree (thank you Kathleen!) that we use with the kids, reading a Bible story and putting up a picture to represent that story each day before Christmas. That has been a real hit. Also, our advent candles are popular. Gene always reminds us to light them and sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel before dinner. We got our Christmas tree but don't have it (or any decorations) up yet.

5. I have read other blogs regarding snow...we haven't played in the snow yet. We have (well, I mean the kids) walked in a dusting of snow, eaten fresh snow off the car, and slipped on our sidewalk pretending to skate on the ice. But there hasn't been enough snow to play in. Luckily, no one is complaining. I'm sure we'll get our fair share of snow...like I have tried to explain to the kids, it isn't even really winter yet. They really don't understand waiting till December 22. So, I ditched that idea and proclaim with them that it really is winter, because there is snow. Lucy was excited the other day because it was snowing a little and it was "winter again!".

6. The two girls are sick with colds. Lucy is pretty bad, but handles it fairly well. She knows how to blow her nose and can mostly do it by herself, if I remind her. A couple days ago she came downstairs and pronounced that "We have got to get my nose to stop this!" And this morning, she reasoned that "Maybe I will be better in the spring". Hopefully...

7. We have stopped exercising until Christmas. We are really planning to train for another triathlon, but it is getting so darn busy that exercise is very low on the totem pole right now. And yet, I have said to Brendan more than once, "If I start getting cranky, please tell me to exercise". It really does make me feel better, physically and mentally...so why is it one of the first things to be dropped when life gets busy? I don't know...I'll think about that a while, and maybe try to go running this week.

That's all for now. Happy Christmas prep everybody!

Friends and Growing Up

We had Ben and Ellie over for the WHOLE DAY yesterday, and I can honestly say that the day was great! It is so nice to say that. The kids actually played together, talked together, etc with minimal bickering and tears...not to say that those things always happen when Ben and Ellie come over, but they usually happen often when ANYONE comes over...mostly because of the age of my kids and the kids who visit. But, things are looking up. Everyone is growing up, and it's so neat to see. Gene and Ben actually played Sorry for probably 3 hours total, spaced out between lunch, rest time, and dinner. And they would have kept playing... So that took care of two of them. Ellie and Lucy kind of did their own things, and I held Jane. Yes, she is still working on growing up. And she still needs her Mama a lot. But it was nice to just be with her, and not worry about what I should be doing. She is very upset when I can't hold her at her beck and call, so it's nice to give in once in a while.

Triathlon #1...come and gone

I just realize that because I so rarely post on this blog (and I am trying to remedy that!) I never posted about the triathlon this summer. To keep it short, we trained, we raced, and we finished! And not too shabbily, either. It was a great day, and now we are at least talking about training for another one this summer. Any family or friends are welcome to join us. I would recommend two books that I really enjoyed reading beforehand and found very motivating: The Idiots Guide to Triathlon Training, and The Big Fat Triathlete.

So I am posting today to say that I went swimming this morning and it was hard! And that was just the warm-up. Honestly, the muscles in my arms need me to swim about three times a week in order to stay in working order (i.e. able to swim for a while without succumbing to fatigue)...but I definitely have too much going on to swim that often per week. So...we'll see. At least once a week is on the calendar for now, with a couple other days of weight lifting per week. My arms will just have to make do with that!

Funnies...

Sorry I haven't posted in so long...in the meantime, Gene and Lucy have had birthdays, too, but I don't have a chance to post pictures now. We'll get around to it:) Here are a couple things that have made me laugh recently:

Lucy, eating lunch one day (after we had talked about dipping bread sticks in spaghetti sauce, and how crackers could also be dipped in the sauce): "Or, you could dip your hot dog in your yogurt!" Yum.

Gene, not wanting to wear his jacket after he got 2 shots in each arm (what a way to celebrate turning 5!): "Well, they gave me a shot, so I won't get sick if I don't wear my jacket..."

And Janie is starting to take steps! She doesn't talk yet, other than grunting and screeching and the occasional "Mama", but she has taken a couple steps multiple times in the last few days!

Happy Birthday Jane!!

Jane turned one this month, and some pictures are below for your viewing pleasure. (If anyone has more pictures, I would love to add them to my meager collection...) We had a large family party in the evening of her birthday (September 4th) with cupcakes, balloons and a few presents mixed in with all the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends...She had a good time, and since then has been acting like a true toddler (well, except for the toddling part...she is not walking or even crawling yet) and not like a baby anymore! She is able to make it through the morning without a nap (though only when absolutely necessary!), understands when I talk to her (she can drop her pacifier into her crib after naptime without too much hesitation, and eat a vegetable before she gets a fruit or another favorite food), she can actually do things with toys besides hold them, drop them, and eat them; and she can say "pa-pa" when she wants to (which is, unfortunately for Brendan, not as often as he'd like!) She is beginning to learn the mechanics of walking with the walking wagon we have (she walked a whole block and a half last night, knees buckling and arms holding on for dear life...but she loved it and cried when I tried to pick her up). And she can climb the stairs! She was awfully quiet this morning and I found her up in the bathroom with Lucy! (Usually we still stay right behind her when she climbs, just in case).

She can say "more", "all done", and "please" in sign language, and we make her say them often...one of her favorite games is to say "all done" after a meal in which she has been dawdling with a few last bites for a while, and then as I go to wipe her hands clean she'll pick up a bite and put it in her mouth so that I'll have to stop wiping her- grrrr! But pretty funny, too, because it happens so often.

She has mastered the art of the "cup drop" and Lucy and Geno show their most helpful sides by almost always volunteering to pick it up for her. Hey, as long as it helps them grow in virtue I'm all for it...if they ever stop being so willing, Jane will learn quickly that she'll be "all done" with her milk if she purposefully drops it.

Here are some pictures of her party, and life with Janie these days:
Waiting to blow out her candle (or, actually, wishing the candle part would hurry up so she could jut eat the cupcake...)

Eating the candy off the top of the cupcake, and realizing how chewy gumdrops really are (luckily she doesn't have many teeth for them to get stuck in).
The number "1" on her bedroom door, to continue a Hendricks' family birthday tradition.
"What's in the bag, Brendan?"
"Peekaboo!" (She looked so comfortable in there, and she obviously thought it was pretty fun).
Janie dressed up in her finest to watch the Michigan game with Brendan...Gene generously let her hold his Teddy (whom she is also very fond of).
Modeling the dress that Lindsey and Donal picked out...she wore it to church last Sunday and was the best-dressed Cousino that day!

When Jane gets really excited about something, she opens her mouth wide and tilts her head back a little...and knows she is being a little ham. In the above picture, she had just maneuvered an alphabet letter into the plastic magnetic thingy that will say the letter sound out loud and play the alphabet song. It is tricky for her to get it in, but she likes to try, and was so proud when she got it!
"Oh yeah, I'm walking...just look at me. I could do this all day..." Way to go, Janie!

We Need School!

I have noticed a funny thing in the last few weeks/months. The kids are regressing. Gene and Lucy are bored out of their minds at home, and it is starting to show in their behavior. It's not their fault (I take most of the blame...its my job to educate/entertain/etc...) but I have never noticed it to this extreme before. Gene has learned how to read, and has accumulated a wealth of information in the past 4.5 years, and Lucy knows her letters and numbers and such, but we haven't been home often for the last month (3 vacations) and before that we were getting ready and such. And before that, well, I don't know. All I know is I've almost forgotten how I used to teach them anything. We had a "school shelf" with Montessori based items on it, and we pulled it down to put up new shelves in preparation for starting a real Montessori preschool in the fall. I am spending most of my creative energies planning for school, so even though I see the kids acting bored (and I'm talking really bored...Gene was running around with a blanket on his head and shouting- he's always been a pretty mature kid) I don't have a lot of things for them to do. So...I put a few things that I was keeping for September out today from sheer desperation. I hope it helps.

To the Doctor We Go

I took Jane (now 10 months) to the doctor's last night, after hemming and hawing for a while. She had a fever on and off for 3 days, was terribly fussy at intervals, and was not sleeping great. When she woke up from her nap yesterday afternoon, she nursed as she normally does, but then as has been normal for the past few days, as soon as she pulled off (which was after the usual length of time) she started losing her marbles and bawling. What in the world? Teething? Why would she have nursed so well, and then fussed? So, that was the deciding factor in our visiting the doctor.

However, in my experience with doctors, and it is holding true for my kids as well, there is never any excitement. No one is ever hurt, there is no mysterious allergy causing a mysterious rash (if I had been posting a couple years ago I would have posted about Lucy's red spotty rash- it was just a a viral thing that eventually went away) and no one is ever sick. We never have ear infections or vomiting (well, okay, Lucy had the stomach flu once, but not a bad strain) and in the case in particular Janie showed absolutely no symptoms.

I know I should be grateful for a healthy family, and I really am, but sometimes I just want a diagnosis. Jane is fussy, therefore she is sick, and she needs this medicine. Boom ba da boom. Instead, Jane is not sick and it may be just teething, therefore take her home and give her Tylenol. Well, we did that and she is still a horrible wreck. But, that could just be because the tylenol wears off and I don't realize it... How is a parent to keep track of all this stuff? If I try, I get made fun of (by DH- lovingly, of course), and it's a heck of a lot of work to do. Who ingested what at what times, who pooped and peed at what hour of the day in which toilet, who is cranky because they missed a nap, who is cranky because they were woken up too early, who is cranky because they need my attention, etc etc etc. Now, I don't actually keep track of any of this on paper (at least most of the time) but if I don't at least try to do it in my head, then we are left not knowing exactly what is going on.

Anyway, Jane is sleeping now and for that I am truly grateful. Gotta go.

Triathalon here I come...!

Brendan and I are training for a triathalon this summer! I have wanted to do one since I was in college, but never actually considered it since life was full of school, getting married, having kids, etc. And then a few months ago Brendan told me that he wanted to do one. So I have been training the last few weeks with him (well, "with him" in spirit...it's practically impossible to actually work out together) and have discovered a few things along the way:

#1 I can run! I did track for one season in high school and was a sprinter. If I ran longer than 100 meters, I (silently) complained. I have always hated running long distance, and questioned how in the world my sister could run a marathon (twice!). The secret, for me, is running by myself. I am accountable to myself, and to a triathalon training book. I have no one pushing me, which usually makes me wimp out and just stop running. So, as a result, I have run up to 4 miles the last few Sundays, and last night I went out running after a full day of being with the kids, and ended up running almost non-stop for an hour. Pretty cool.

#2 I love working out "by the book". When the book says to do something, I do it. I decided to see how well I can do an actual triathalon if I do the training for it. It would be too easy to skip a day (or many days) here and there, or do a shorter workout, and then blame a wimpy triathalon race on that fact. If I am going to invest any time, energy, and money into this then I had better give it my all. I am definitely feeling optimistic right now, but I know life will come back with a vengeance and then I may feel differently.

What makes me feel better...?

"Take some time for yourself" is something people like to say to young moms, or moms of young kids. But how to do that is the question. And, I'd like to counter it with another question: is it always necessary? Case in point: I'm sitting here with a lot of things to get done around me. The kitchen needs straightening after lunch, the laundry needs changing, the kitchen floor needs washing (the chore I do on Thursdays), dinner needs starting, etc. I have 45 minutes till the first kid will wake up, and all I feel like doing is going outside to enjoy the sun and read a book. It sounds just wonderful. However, if I do that, I know from experience that I will come in and feel worse than when I went out (however much I enjoyed the time outside) because nothing that I was supposed to do got done. The house will be messy when the kids get up, I'll fret about what to make for dinner, etc. And so, I ask again: is taking time for oneself always the best way to cheer up? What about just sucking it up and doing the stuff we're supposed to, serving our family and in the process serving the Lord by loving our neighbor. I always feel better (albeit a bit more tired perhaps, but that is nothing new) by doing what I have set aside for myself each day. And, with that end in mind, I need to leave this computer and go wash the dishes!

Sharing a Room- Pros and Cons

We have had Gene and Lucy in the same room since before Janie was born, and right now I am very frustrated with it. It's another one of those things I grew up thinking was great- sure, have all your kids share rooms...they'll learn how to share their stuff and their space...I did it for my younger years at least (we had three girls in one room for a while)...it will be good for them. What they don't tell you is how extremely frustrating it is when they are young and both in there together! They wake each other up in the morning, taking turns being the first to wake, and the result is at least one less-than-100% kid for the rest of the day (at least until nap time). We have a fan in the room to make some white noise, but it doesn't seem to matter. Am I just wanting too much? Kids have a much better chance of having a good day if they get enough sleep, but also if they are allowed to wake up on their own. Just think how you feel in the morning hearing the alarm go off, and how much different it is to wake up slowly and listen to the birds (just starting to come back to Michigan...though the first one we've heard is a crow...) I want the same for my kids, but I guess it just isn't feasible right now. Or, as a friend of mine does with her kids, I could train them to stay in bed absolutely quietly until I come to get them...I wonder if I could...?

Crafting and Mass

We've been doing craft projects this week- teaching the kids how to glue things onto other things...quite fun. We made some smocks from Brendan's old work shirts, threw an old sheet on a bench, and went to work. Tissue paper, colored pasta, and shapes cut from construction paper were transformed into dazzling "projects". Gene has a short attention span for anything crafty, but he gave each project a good 10 minutes or so before he had to go take a quick look in the mirror at his "smock turned alb"...and then the project was a goner. He had to say Mass. Lucy stuck with it a little longer- she loves to do anything crafty, but then she had to say Mass too. Now she is walking around the house singing alternately "Glory to God in the highest" and "God bless America", handing out corn chex. So I'll just go put the projects on the table to dry... they've forgotten all about them.

Back to Sanity

A much better day today...I don't quite know why. What defines how a day will go? Is it the amount of sleep I get? (I didn't sleep well, woke up very tired) Is it the amount of sleep the kids get? (They did sleep in a little, till 7). Is it what I have planned for the day, and how getting it done is progressing? (I washed the kitchen floor, and actually washed the bathroom floor, which I usually have a heck of a time getting done these days, don't ask me why) . Is it by God's grace? (I skipped my prayer time this morning, because DH went to an early meeting, so I wasn't exactly deserving of grace today, though I know it is "God's free gift to us") Somehow all these factors boiled down to one happy mom and three pretty happy kids by the end of lunch. I'm so grateful! Thank you Lord!

Catching Up

Hard to believe my last post was in May...since then we have HAD A BABY and she is now 4 months old- Jane Colette Cousino. She is great...smiley, sleeps well, eats fairly well, and an all-around good baby.

As for the rest of the family, we are all going stir-crazy. It's January, too cold to play outside much, and we're stuck at home so Jane can nap. That is my choice, to have her take good long naps instead of going out and have her take short car naps. But it makes the older kids and I rather restless.

No, I'll rephrase that. I am going CRAZY, and feel like I'm suffocating sometimes. I walk around the house picking up toys and refereeing squabbles, feeding kids and putting them down for naps. And back in their beds when they wake up too early (6 am this morning- what were they thinking! All three of them!) I get all the basics done, but that's it. The basics. Food, laundry, an occasional book-reading session. What about cleaning? What about exercise? What about quality time- with anybody?

I know this will change as it gets warmer and we can get outside. Jane won't sleep as much, and all in all at least parts of life will be easier. I am thinking of this part of my life as the great Hibernation...though we can't just sleep through it. And I don't want to sleep through it. The kids are fun (well, when they aren't cranky). Gene is 4 and learning more about letters, on the verge of reading. Lucy is 2 and just learning everything. I love being with them, it's finding the time to do it that's the challenge.