The Ambitious Life

#HowIHandleIt - Halloween When my husband saw Halloween on the list he said, "Oh, that'll be fun." very sarcastically.  Because this seems to be one of the big battles within the church and it gets old having to state or defend my position (or your position, or anyone's position!).  Here's where I'm at though: I do not like Halloween. I really truly do not like Halloween. I do not like the celebration of fear and death. And since that is what most of decorations and whatnot are centered around I have a hard time with it. I feel like my kids should be able to go to the grocery store without getting scared. It just seems like public displays of fake graveyards, zombies, bloody corpses and skeletons are weird and show where we are at in our culture...but that's just be talking. I will be the first to admit that I've been super judgmental and legalistic about the holiday.  Like I might even question your brand of Christianity if you celebrate it...

#HowIHandleIt - Day 2 - Kids + Chores The problem with writing a blog about my life, is my life. I always seem to have so much going on that sitting down for a few minutes to write seems fleeting. Fortunately my phone will translate my words into text and I can sit here burping the baby and talking to myself and thus there will be words to read. One of the big changes we made around here lately is the way we do chores. Traditionally I would make a list every Saturday or Sunday of chores that need to be done before the next weekend. It never seemed like a lot and always seem pretty easy to fit everything into my week unless something crazy happens. What I noticed was my attention was always divided between the chores to get done, homeschooling stuff that needed my attention, and of course just focus time with the kids. So now my new plan is to make my list by Friday night. And instead of using one sheet of paper that is all mine, I use three. At the top of each...

#HowIHandleIt - Allowance Currently (which I think is important to say because as seasons change, these kinds of things change as well), we do not do allowance and we do not pay for 99% of chores.  Kids help with the chores and do what they are able to do based on their ages and abilities.  Since we are a family, we don't pay them to participate in the home.   One exception is that I will pay on occasion for something that needs to be done but isn't a normal chore to assign out if I just don't want to do it.  That could be something like cleaning out the van when it is extra dirty or having one of the girls put the boys laundry away.  Do I have to pay? Nope.  I can just assign it and expect it to be done, but they get excited about a little (and I mean a little!) bit of money so why not.  I also occasionally pay the girls for "baby sitting" - meaning they do their best to keep the boys under control upstairs while we do Bible study downstairs....

I am so excited about this challenge in October.  It is making me think a lot about our routines and days and I'm loving getting to share.  I've been posting on Instagram, but some of these things just seem like they need longer explanations plus I thought it'd be fun to keep them here as well. Here's the challenge: 2. Kids + Chores 3. Allowance 4. Halloween 5. Meal Planning 6. Daily Planning 7. Self-Discipline 8. Disappointment 9. Morning Routine 10. Self Care 11. Breakfast 12. Overwhelm 13. Exercise 14. Screen Time 15. The Budget 16. Evening Routine 17. Night-Before Prep 18. Lunches 19. Errands 20. Alone Time 21. Sibling Rivalry 22. Comparison 23. Sundays 24. Family Meetings 25. Busy Schedules 26. Date Night 27. Connecting with Kids 28. Friendships 29. Connecting with Spouse 30. Getting Ready for Guests 21. The Holidays Hoping to pull things over and MAYBE even have them all on here by the end of October! :)

Jacob, You are my little man.  I called you that the other day and you told me you were NOT a little man, you were a dude.  Ok dude, I love you.  You are a gentle giant some days and a fiery tornado others.  (Sometimes in the same day!)  You are loving and kind and patient and gentle.  You are also confident and loud and tough.  You are the tallest, biggest brother and you are rough and tumble.  You still like to be held and for momma to give you my full attention. You like to build and you get very involved in the girls imagination games.  You are NOT a fan of being left out.  You like to report all the things that are going on (even if we can see it happening!) and you make sure that everyone knows what the rules are.  But you are fun loving and have a great smile and laugh. I love you DUDE - you're such a sweet kid and I love being your mom. Love always, Momma For your birthday dinner we are having: PIZZA For your birt...

Levi, You are my wild man.  You are a fun loving, always on the go little man and I have a hard time keeping up with you.  You have more energy than anyone else in this family.  You tell stories with so much animation (and usually a really loud volume).  You are sweet and kind.  You are generally gentle with the little ones and look out for the people around you.  You have a bit of a fiery little temper but aimed in the right direction, that will serve you well. You are so good at puzzles and your favorite thing to do these days is a look and find book.  It's fun watching your brain at work.  You have done such a good job with school work this year and are giving it your best effort. You are fun and courageous.  You are gentle but sometimes very stubborn.  You are loud and crazy and wild.  Don't change ('cept maybe at bedtime). I love you and am so thankful to be your momma! Love, Momma For your birthday dinner we are h...