Crafting obsessively this week....
Knitting an adorable scarf for my 4-year-old neice, Katie, out of "Eyelash Yarn" in Confetti colours. She is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty (born of parents with black hair) and will look adorable in it.
Beading earrings, necklaces, bracelets, bookmarks, and cell phone jewelry. I am newly-obsessed with beads!
Quitting school for the year. We're done with our school year! (homeschool)
Blogging...or not! We've had visitors lately.
Enjoying my 14-year-old neice, Jessica, who has spent the week with us. Why doesn't everyone love teenagers? I am enjoying conversations that are above a preschool and elementary level.
Winning endlessly at Rook with Tim (dh) and Jessica.
Changing the baby, or needing to...so I have to go!
Have a great weekend!
Friday, April 29, 2005
Friday, April 22, 2005
Growing Up
Last week, Brittany (7) wanted to spend every minute of her day with me, in special Mother-Daughter time, but this week she is visiting her cousins and when I called to tell her goodnight, she scarcely had the time for a phone conversation. She said she's not really missing me much and could I please not come to get her tomorrow.
Brenden (9) will sometimes go to bed without remembering to give me a hug. Stone (5) gives me 5 hugs and 5 kisses every night. He will not sleep without them. I remember when Brenden had to have those hugs and kisses, too.
Who told these children that they could stop needing me so much?!
Brenden (9) will sometimes go to bed without remembering to give me a hug. Stone (5) gives me 5 hugs and 5 kisses every night. He will not sleep without them. I remember when Brenden had to have those hugs and kisses, too.
Who told these children that they could stop needing me so much?!
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
A Lesson from the Supernanny
With my Parenting Perfection (::cough::), I have no need of the Supernanny's help, but I do occasionally watch the show just in caseshe comes up with something that I do not do. Last night, I finally noticed that very thing I was searching for:
Supernanny always creates a schedule for the family
For several years, I've been a fan of routines, as in "morning routine," "lunch routine," and "evening routine" (learned from FlyLady ). My children have thrived under these routines. For example, 9yo Brenden has a morning routine of:
* Get dressed
* Make bed
* Eat breakfast
* Put away breakfast dishes
* Brush teeth
* Pick up 2 floors (hallway and boys' room)
* Be ready for school (homeschool) by 8:30am
We are pros (Perfect Pros, that is) at doing our routines, BUT.... there is no schedule to it, except that we need to be starting school by 8:30am. Which means that Brenden here will often stay up until 10pm at night,then want to sleep in past 8, which does not give him enough time for doing his morning routine.
And so he has a grumpy mama on his case.
A routine is an awesome help for a mother, but I've come to realize that a schedule is a necessity. Being a creative person, I abhor schedules, preferring to pick the daisies when I feel like picking them, and not because it is 3:42, Daisy Picking Time. Because of that love of freedom, we've had carefree days, but the days just sort of "go by," without much getting accomplished.
After Supernanny's suggestion, I sat down and made a schedule. One that allows flexibility (to pick the daisies) but keeps us on track so that each day is productive. Here is 9yo Brenden's schedule, for example:
8am Morning Routine (if you get up before now, you can watch t.v.)
8:30 Bible time
9 Schoolwork
10:15 Break
12 Lunch
12:30 Lunch Routine
1 Quiet Time: Finish schoolwork or read
2 Play quietly or with friends outside
3 Play loudly or with friends outside (baby is up from her nap =D)
5 Bath/Shower
5:30 Dinner
6 Evening Routine
6:30 Family Time
7:30 Computer Time
8:30 Reading in bed
I'll let you know how it goes, but for now, the kids are so excited to have a schedule. They keep looking at it and saying, as Brittany (7yo) just did a minute ago, "Mama, It's 2:53. Only 7 minutes until 3:00, our Play Time!"
It's a little harder for me to stay on schedule. I get easily sidetracked by the mailman, the baby's diaper changes, the rotting bananas, this blog....
Supernanny always creates a schedule for the family
For several years, I've been a fan of routines, as in "morning routine," "lunch routine," and "evening routine" (learned from FlyLady ). My children have thrived under these routines. For example, 9yo Brenden has a morning routine of:
* Get dressed
* Make bed
* Eat breakfast
* Put away breakfast dishes
* Brush teeth
* Pick up 2 floors (hallway and boys' room)
* Be ready for school (homeschool) by 8:30am
We are pros (Perfect Pros, that is) at doing our routines, BUT.... there is no schedule to it, except that we need to be starting school by 8:30am. Which means that Brenden here will often stay up until 10pm at night,then want to sleep in past 8, which does not give him enough time for doing his morning routine.
And so he has a grumpy mama on his case.
A routine is an awesome help for a mother, but I've come to realize that a schedule is a necessity. Being a creative person, I abhor schedules, preferring to pick the daisies when I feel like picking them, and not because it is 3:42, Daisy Picking Time. Because of that love of freedom, we've had carefree days, but the days just sort of "go by," without much getting accomplished.
After Supernanny's suggestion, I sat down and made a schedule. One that allows flexibility (to pick the daisies) but keeps us on track so that each day is productive. Here is 9yo Brenden's schedule, for example:
8am Morning Routine (if you get up before now, you can watch t.v.)
8:30 Bible time
9 Schoolwork
10:15 Break
12 Lunch
12:30 Lunch Routine
1 Quiet Time: Finish schoolwork or read
2 Play quietly or with friends outside
3 Play loudly or with friends outside (baby is up from her nap =D)
5 Bath/Shower
5:30 Dinner
6 Evening Routine
6:30 Family Time
7:30 Computer Time
8:30 Reading in bed
I'll let you know how it goes, but for now, the kids are so excited to have a schedule. They keep looking at it and saying, as Brittany (7yo) just did a minute ago, "Mama, It's 2:53. Only 7 minutes until 3:00, our Play Time!"
It's a little harder for me to stay on schedule. I get easily sidetracked by the mailman, the baby's diaper changes, the rotting bananas, this blog....
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Presently Admired Links
Here are some links for you that I've been admiring lately. Click on the underlined word for the link:
1. Fried Cheesecake at Applebee's (droolingly mentioned in the below post)
2. I posted two new flood photos. In this one, you can see the boat that Tim used to rescue our chickens. My brave man! In this one, you can see how ugly chickens look when wet. ALL of that water is supposed to be dry land. You shouldn't even be able to see our river, which is normally a slow-moving, clear-enough-to-see-the-bass small river, way below the last line of trees.
3. K-Love Radio Station : I listen to it when I'm surfing the 'Net.
4. My newsletter. I know, I'm bragging here, since I said this is a list of links I've been "admiring" lately. I write a somewhat-monthly newsletter through Yahoo groups. The latest one has "My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets," "What's Happening in My House," a devotional (this one is often copied from my blog), etc. It's yet another way to reach out to other mothers who are trying their best to balance the home and the family along with life's imbalances.
5. I have this in my links to the right, but I'd like to give an even greater mention to a blog that inspires me daily: WindscrapsHer recent post, "Gentle," was Convi-i-icting to me. I am (...was) a hair-pulling mom, too.
6. When I am on the computer and want to look up a verse quickly, or when I want to search a word such as "morning" in an attempt to trick my night-owl self that getting up at dawn is godly, I go to the Blue Letter Bible.
1. Fried Cheesecake at Applebee's (droolingly mentioned in the below post)
2. I posted two new flood photos. In this one, you can see the boat that Tim used to rescue our chickens. My brave man! In this one, you can see how ugly chickens look when wet. ALL of that water is supposed to be dry land. You shouldn't even be able to see our river, which is normally a slow-moving, clear-enough-to-see-the-bass small river, way below the last line of trees.
3. K-Love Radio Station : I listen to it when I'm surfing the 'Net.
4. My newsletter. I know, I'm bragging here, since I said this is a list of links I've been "admiring" lately. I write a somewhat-monthly newsletter through Yahoo groups. The latest one has "My Favorite Kitchen Gadgets," "What's Happening in My House," a devotional (this one is often copied from my blog), etc. It's yet another way to reach out to other mothers who are trying their best to balance the home and the family along with life's imbalances.
5. I have this in my links to the right, but I'd like to give an even greater mention to a blog that inspires me daily: WindscrapsHer recent post, "Gentle," was Convi-i-icting to me. I am (...was) a hair-pulling mom, too.
6. When I am on the computer and want to look up a verse quickly, or when I want to search a word such as "morning" in an attempt to trick my night-owl self that getting up at dawn is godly, I go to the Blue Letter Bible.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
My Day Today - April 12, 2005
Scheduling...my days on paper, but my life is not cooperating with the schedules I make
Rescheduling...my schedule when the last one didn't work, then rescheduling again...and again. Life is random with 4 children in the home.
Enjoying...a visit from my brother Calvin, his perfect wife, Jenny, and my adorable neice and nephew.
Missing...our Stone when he visited his cousin for 5 nights last week. He's only 5, so he said, " I missed-ed you." I missed-ed him, too.
Going...to a fantastic women's conference last Friday and Saturday nights, put on by Extraordinary Women and hosted in my home church, Olive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.
Chatting...until midnight in an Applebee's restaurant over coffee and fried cheesecake (with ice cream!) with two friends, my sister-in-law, and my mom. Memories!
Laughing...at Jenny's joke:
A woman is standing in front of a mirror and says to her husband,
"I look fat. My belly is sagging. My neck is getting wrinkled.
Look! Even my backside is getting larger."
Her husband says, "Well, at least nothing is wrong with your eyesight."
Remembering...at the women's conference, that my life matters so much to God.
So does yours!
Rescheduling...my schedule when the last one didn't work, then rescheduling again...and again. Life is random with 4 children in the home.
Enjoying...a visit from my brother Calvin, his perfect wife, Jenny, and my adorable neice and nephew.
Missing...our Stone when he visited his cousin for 5 nights last week. He's only 5, so he said, " I missed-ed you." I missed-ed him, too.
Going...to a fantastic women's conference last Friday and Saturday nights, put on by Extraordinary Women and hosted in my home church, Olive Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.
Chatting...until midnight in an Applebee's restaurant over coffee and fried cheesecake (with ice cream!) with two friends, my sister-in-law, and my mom. Memories!
Laughing...at Jenny's joke:
A woman is standing in front of a mirror and says to her husband,
"I look fat. My belly is sagging. My neck is getting wrinkled.
Look! Even my backside is getting larger."
Her husband says, "Well, at least nothing is wrong with your eyesight."
Remembering...at the women's conference, that my life matters so much to God.
So does yours!
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Link: Baby Name Wizard
Check out this fascinating site: Baby Name Wizard
Type in someone's name s-l-o-w-l-y to get the best effect. I discovered that my name, Lori, has totally fallen out of favor with the world, but peaked in popularity right when I was born, in 1970. And Tim's name has been consistently popular. Not fair.
Type in someone's name s-l-o-w-l-y to get the best effect. I discovered that my name, Lori, has totally fallen out of favor with the world, but peaked in popularity right when I was born, in 1970. And Tim's name has been consistently popular. Not fair.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
A Mother's Calling
One of my favorite blog posts includes this quote from Martin Luther, which speaks volumes to me as a mother:
Our natural reason looks at marriage and turns up its nose and says, “Alas! Must I rock the baby? Wash its diapers? Make its bed? Smell its stench? Stay at nights with it? Take care of it when it cries? Heal its rashes and sores? And on top of that care for my spouse, provide labor at my trade, take care of this and take care of that? Do this and do that? And endure this and endure that? Why should I make such a prisoner of myself?”
What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful and despised duties in the spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels.
Its says, “O God, I confess I am not worthy to rock that little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of a child and [my spouse]. How is it that I without any merit have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? Oh, how gladly will I do so. Though the duty should be even more insignificant and despised, neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor will distress me for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”
~ as posted here, on the Backwater Report blog. You can read Luther's entire essay, "The Estate of Marriage," here
Our natural reason looks at marriage and turns up its nose and says, “Alas! Must I rock the baby? Wash its diapers? Make its bed? Smell its stench? Stay at nights with it? Take care of it when it cries? Heal its rashes and sores? And on top of that care for my spouse, provide labor at my trade, take care of this and take care of that? Do this and do that? And endure this and endure that? Why should I make such a prisoner of myself?”
What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful and despised duties in the spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels.
Its says, “O God, I confess I am not worthy to rock that little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of a child and [my spouse]. How is it that I without any merit have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? Oh, how gladly will I do so. Though the duty should be even more insignificant and despised, neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor will distress me for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”
~ as posted here, on the Backwater Report blog. You can read Luther's entire essay, "The Estate of Marriage," here
Heard in Our House
"You know, we don't ever need to buy groceries. Nana will just bring us food." ~ 5yo son, as he is eating strawberry shortcake that my mom brought over
Monday, April 04, 2005
The Flood of 2005
Our backyard. The boat is the one Tim used to rescue the chickens. Their pen was over 12' high and was to the left of that "bush" (a Lemon Tree) in the near center). Our home is built on this 10' hill, thank God.
Lori Seaborg 2005
Flood Update
In case you're worried...you don't seem to be, but just in case...I'm letting you know that we made it through the flood okay. It flooded to 22 feet. The record is 22.8', so this was a big one!
Our Earth-loving-artist-neighbor lost an amazing sculpture that he'd worked weeks on, a really ugly alligator he made out of a log, a broken-down Volvo, some power tools, and a freezer full of food.
Our four-dogs-and-a-brother-in-Iraq neighbor lost a basement full of furniture and clothing. He also lost a really gross futon mattress that floated across our yard and wrapped itself around a tree. I was happy to show him where it was this morning when he asked, although I was surprised that he'd ever want to see it again.
The T-family (all five members' names start with "T", plus the dog, Toby) lost a 10' section of porch railing which floated four houses down. The flood missed going into the interior of their house by 1" (that's one inch!). They lost an air conditioner, yards of lattice, and several odd items.
We lost 2 lawn chairs and some beach toys. We also lost a chicken (one of the best layers, of course) and our hen house came crashing down.
Today I took a tromp through the wooded lot next to ours with the neighbor from the opposite side of the woods. We found two 4' pieces of picket fencing (mine), 2 kayaks (the 4-dog neighbor's), a beer carton (nobody's), a pink cup (ours), 2 smashed lawn chairs (ours), a chair (the searching-neighbor), a mattress spring (ours, but the 4-dog neighbor took it while I silently let him think the piece of trash was his), 3 planks of wood (ours, from our chicken pen), a wooden staircase three steps high (only God knows)... and I finally quit looking.
There are 3 really good things about having two major natural disasters in a six-month span of time (Hurricane Ivan then this flood):
1.) It brings out the neighborly-ness in neighbors,
2.) We are reminded of God's power
3.) Life is never dull here.
...Just in case you were worried.
Our Earth-loving-artist-neighbor lost an amazing sculpture that he'd worked weeks on, a really ugly alligator he made out of a log, a broken-down Volvo, some power tools, and a freezer full of food.
Our four-dogs-and-a-brother-in-Iraq neighbor lost a basement full of furniture and clothing. He also lost a really gross futon mattress that floated across our yard and wrapped itself around a tree. I was happy to show him where it was this morning when he asked, although I was surprised that he'd ever want to see it again.
The T-family (all five members' names start with "T", plus the dog, Toby) lost a 10' section of porch railing which floated four houses down. The flood missed going into the interior of their house by 1" (that's one inch!). They lost an air conditioner, yards of lattice, and several odd items.
We lost 2 lawn chairs and some beach toys. We also lost a chicken (one of the best layers, of course) and our hen house came crashing down.
Today I took a tromp through the wooded lot next to ours with the neighbor from the opposite side of the woods. We found two 4' pieces of picket fencing (mine), 2 kayaks (the 4-dog neighbor's), a beer carton (nobody's), a pink cup (ours), 2 smashed lawn chairs (ours), a chair (the searching-neighbor), a mattress spring (ours, but the 4-dog neighbor took it while I silently let him think the piece of trash was his), 3 planks of wood (ours, from our chicken pen), a wooden staircase three steps high (only God knows)... and I finally quit looking.
There are 3 really good things about having two major natural disasters in a six-month span of time (Hurricane Ivan then this flood):
1.) It brings out the neighborly-ness in neighbors,
2.) We are reminded of God's power
3.) Life is never dull here.
...Just in case you were worried.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
A Flooding Day
My last post was about a rainy day, "a lovely day," I said, "my kind of day." Well, sometimes rain is not so lovely. That "lovely" rain turned into a national-news-deserving flood, just 8" below our record flood for the area. It certainly was not a funny April Fool's Day joke! Below is an email I sent out during the storm:
"We live on Fish River (Fairhope, AL - between Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL and just up from Gulf Shores, AL). Our river has already flooded 22' over its banks today. Our house is up 28' from the river, so we're fine, but some of our neighbors' homes have already flooded. These are houses that, just 7 months ago, suffered damage from Hurricane Ivan and were since remodeled. Some neighbors' houses are on stilts and right now those houses are literally islands (with the neighbors in them!)!
We are getting hugely ignored from even the local news so there was no warning about this, other than that there was going to be some thunderstorms today. Please pray for our neighbors and for us, too, for safety and all. The neighbors say it has never flooded this far in the past 10+ years, even in Hurricanes Ivan and Danny.
You all might like knowing that at 6:30am, my Hero Husband rowed our rowboat out across our flooded backyard and saved 9 of my 10 chickens. We woke up to the water already up to the level of their perch, which is 10' above the river. I immediately became a frantic mess, so worried about "my girls." I wished for chickens for over 12 years before we could move to the country, so I love those dumb birds! It was too dangerous to swim out to their pen, though, with the swift current and the lightning.
That's how Tim ended up in the boat. By the time he got there, the water was over the perch and the hens were clinging sideways to the chicken wire surrounding their pen (we have an open-air pen, with only chicken wire around it). One perished before he got to them. Two have lost 1/2 of their feathers from the struggle. And all look hilarious as they are wet and worried. Like Noah, Tim put the chickens in the boat. On the way back, though, the rope broke that was anchoring him to a tree on dry land. The current was terribly swift -- too swift to row. There was a real danger of Tim and the hens and the boat being carried away. Tim clung to a tree, trying to get the boat to move closer to land. I called a neighbor on the phone meanwhile. The neighbor finally came -- I thought he'd come with a kayak or a rope, but instead he just dove into the water and pulled the boat, Tim , and the chickens to safety! (he's an artist, kind of eccentric, you know)
It hasn't stopped raining yet and won't for a few more hours,they say, so please do pray for us and for our neighbors."
"We live on Fish River (Fairhope, AL - between Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL and just up from Gulf Shores, AL). Our river has already flooded 22' over its banks today. Our house is up 28' from the river, so we're fine, but some of our neighbors' homes have already flooded. These are houses that, just 7 months ago, suffered damage from Hurricane Ivan and were since remodeled. Some neighbors' houses are on stilts and right now those houses are literally islands (with the neighbors in them!)!
We are getting hugely ignored from even the local news so there was no warning about this, other than that there was going to be some thunderstorms today. Please pray for our neighbors and for us, too, for safety and all. The neighbors say it has never flooded this far in the past 10+ years, even in Hurricanes Ivan and Danny.
You all might like knowing that at 6:30am, my Hero Husband rowed our rowboat out across our flooded backyard and saved 9 of my 10 chickens. We woke up to the water already up to the level of their perch, which is 10' above the river. I immediately became a frantic mess, so worried about "my girls." I wished for chickens for over 12 years before we could move to the country, so I love those dumb birds! It was too dangerous to swim out to their pen, though, with the swift current and the lightning.
That's how Tim ended up in the boat. By the time he got there, the water was over the perch and the hens were clinging sideways to the chicken wire surrounding their pen (we have an open-air pen, with only chicken wire around it). One perished before he got to them. Two have lost 1/2 of their feathers from the struggle. And all look hilarious as they are wet and worried. Like Noah, Tim put the chickens in the boat. On the way back, though, the rope broke that was anchoring him to a tree on dry land. The current was terribly swift -- too swift to row. There was a real danger of Tim and the hens and the boat being carried away. Tim clung to a tree, trying to get the boat to move closer to land. I called a neighbor on the phone meanwhile. The neighbor finally came -- I thought he'd come with a kayak or a rope, but instead he just dove into the water and pulled the boat, Tim , and the chickens to safety! (he's an artist, kind of eccentric, you know)
It hasn't stopped raining yet and won't for a few more hours,they say, so please do pray for us and for our neighbors."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
