Simplicity

Yesterday was horrid. Ha ha ha. It seriously was. I was trying to do lots of things at once, trying to occupy my children with something other than me and the things that I usually do with them, and trying to keep them inside. Plus, Eissa was feeling really bad...totally clingy and I think just sick (she had some loose stools). All of the above...not a good combination. The equation for chaos for sure.

That's why I like a schedule...a routine. I'm talking about a schedule not just of naps and eating times, but of activities and such. I've talked about this before, but yesterday just reiterated this point to me. It was an off day.

I was just talking to someone about that this weekend actually. I was laughing about how it's so different to get used to that lots of things are so late here. I used the example of the 2 yr.-old's birthday party that we went to the other night that was at 7:30 at night. Note that I wasn't complaining about it or condemning them for doing it...not saying they were wrong and we are right, just saying that was one of the things to get used to. She stated that she thinks it's good to just go with the flow...that it makes kids more flexible. Although I agree with this to a certain point, I also know that as the norm., our kids do MUCH better if they get to bed at their bedtime.

The lady I was talking to 1) doesn't have small children anymore, so maybe she's forgotten exactly what it's like, and 2) never had this many small children (only has 2 children total and they are 4 years apart) (plus, as a side note, she may just think we are your stereotypical, anal, Type A Americans). I think that when you have children so close in age, and this many of them, you have to be a little more orderly and deliberate and purposeful in the things you do (even if you're not normally, by nature, routine and schedule type people). Not that we are anal about it at all...we still participate in activities, we still do lots of the things we would do even without children (we just take them along). As far as our kids go, they are not at all lacking in flexibility. I mean, come on...transition has been their lifestyles. New cities, new houses, new country, new language, new churches, new friends, new beds, new toys, saying goodbye to all of those things several times to embrace the new ones, travel galore, etc. Yeah, I'd dare say they've got flexibility down. So no...we never shun people and relationships for the sake of our schedule...but, at the same time, sometimes we just have to say no.

It's all about keeping it simple. Clutter is not good, whether it be in the organization of your home or the organization of your lives. I know families who do so many things that they don't enjoy each other and they don't really know each other. They do lots of things together, but don't really spend time together. They are too busy. If they have younger children, their kids tend to always be really fussy. If they have older children, they just really don't know them. They may not even understand this..."I'm with them all the time." Truth is that they are doing activities together all the time, but not really getting to know each other.

I love having this many children (and the thought of more), I love having them this close in age, and sometimes that requires that I love being disciplined enough to keep it simple...and I do love it. I first read about the 'simple life' as far as families go in a book by Elisabeth Elliot called, "The Shaping of a Christian Family." SUCH a great book. It just really made me think that sometimes we are too busy outside the home to be focused on the things that really matter inside the home...and too busy to be at peace. I'm not saying to not give focus to the ministry that God has placed on your heart outside the home. Of course even that is to be put in proper perspective and not above family. What I'm really talking about though has nothing to do with ministry...just extracurricular activities that oftentimes are not necessary and take away from the abundant family living that God has for your family. Really getting to know your children, really training them up to be the people God has for them to be, really enjoying each other. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do fun stuff either...I'm just talking about priorities and again...keeping it simple.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This is SUCH a small example...something that didn't have huge effects or anything at all. But, still...a perfect example to me to keep it simple and know when to say no and keep my focus:

Asas de Socorro had a breakfast for all the flight training staff, students, and their families the day they started, on the 13th. We all went and it was great. It was held in the hangar. The breakfast and the little "ceremony" was held in a little room on the side of the hangar. Mostly the kiddos were just running around in the hangar while the breakfast was being eaten and everyone was milling around mingling. Then the ceremony started and everyone was being introduced and the vision of the year was being addressed. It was very nice...although I really wasn't in there for much of it. The kids had moved outside to play and I was just keeping an eye on them. I was outside with them when one of my children started to get a little out of hand and was really having a bad attitude. I needed to correct it and stuck my head into that room really quickly just to get the car keys from Joel. At just that moment, they were introducing the students and their wives and I was asked to go up front with Joel. Keep in mind that all 3 of my children were outside. There was another lady that had been outside with me and I thought quickly that, O.K., I will run up there and stand with him for a split-second and I'm sure the kids will be fine with my friend watching them. Even though I thought this, it was still against my better judgment...but I stayed, even though I didn't quite feel right about it.

Well, I should've gone with my gut. Come to find out, my friend, for whatever reason, apparently hadn't stayed with the kiddos. It only took a second to go up to the front and be introduced and prayed for, but while they were praying, of course I opened my eyes (as all mothers do) to survey the situation around me...see if one of the kids had come in. I was actually about to skip out of the prayer when Steve brought Eissa in. I went over to him and he said, "She was in the toilet bowl." Horror or horrors, esp. if you know me and esp. if you know my "love" for public toilets (sarcasm). Of course, I immediately washed her down and we left since at that point my youngest daughter was now only wearing a diaper (it was actually a bit on the chilly side that day, esp. at the windy airport).

So, that's what I'm talking about. I should've/could've kept life simple, told them no...that I couldn't stay in that room...watched out for my focus, which at that point needed to be my children playing outside, etc. The end result of that would've been a much happier and much more at peace family who 1) had good attitudes after a bit of correction (my intent in going in the little room in the first place), 2) was able to stay at the breakfast, fully clothed and at peace, 3) avoided a stressful situation as a result of a nasty toilet and having to clean, 4) been able to better participate in the Asas' breakfast in general (meet all the new people, etc.)...and the list could go on and on.

I'm just trying to keep it simple. That's my point. There's always peace in that.

Now, some pictures...

At the Asas breakfast. That's me in the middle in the black (I take my own table with me everywhere I go...ha ha ha). Such great people in that room!
Mingling and eating.
My beautiful baby girl, still with her clothes on...obviously before the toilet playtime.
The staff being introduced.
Even though we have Portuguese class in the afternoon, we've revamped our routine (had to after that first week was a bit chaotic) and now have a nice schedule that we go by in the mornings before the lunch rush and we're off to class. Every morning I put a load of laundry in. Around 10am the girls go down for a nap (Eissa has always done that; Hadley just needed a nap sometime during the day, so I tried to put her down with Eissa in the mornings since obviously she can't sleep with Eissa in the afternoons anymore and it worked perfectly) and me and Grady get to work. He helps me cook lunch and we do laundry together. This was the first time he had done this job and he loved it...he now does it everyday.
First we bring in the laundry from the day before, then he does this job, then we take out this laundry to hang. He's a great worker. It's great time spent together, he gets satisfaction out of a job well done, it helps me, he learns to be a part of the team of this family, and he learns to just work in general (something that, in reality, he will be doing all his life). Good training ground, the washer. :-)
By the way, saw this one day and decided to let Grady have a go at it. It's a really cute clip.

P.S. Pray for me today. My body is doing weird things. I know there's always the chance that my body is preparing for labor, there is also the chance that it is labor (no labor yet...I'm just saying some people, for instance, have just cramps and don't even know that it's labor...my "normal" labor has not started yet though)...but there is also the chance that I'm just sick in some other way (an infection or something). I have been cramping though (again, not usually what I do in labor, so don't be anxious for a post about a baby...still 3 1/2 weeks 'til due date). Pray that I will feel better and be back to my normal self soon. Thanks.