Category Archives: Homemaker’s Journal

Sep 10

What I Learned From The Power Outage

How I wish I had been better prepared. I should have had more ice, I wish I had purchased more canned goods. I lucked out and had just enough diapers for Agnes.

The power outage taught me a few things though…

  • Your eight year old will be the first one to freak out.
  • It is spooky in town at night when you can hear people and you can’t see them.
  • The town will go into a frenzy if there isn’t Wal-Mart available.
  • Yearly air shows are creepy if you don’t have power. We started thinking zombie apocalypse a little too quickly.
  • Night falls quickly, so don’t procrastinate.

Seriously, I really wish I had been better prepared…

  • All day on Friday I was thinking I should bake some cookies and bread. That would have been helpful on Saturday.
  • We need to own more candles. With the little toddler in the house who hates candles, I only have four. That isn’t quite enough when darkness falls.
  • Always charge your cell phone (which I hadn’t) and have enough gas in your car (which I didn’t).
  • I really need to keep more non-perishable items in the house, and powdered milk too.
  • You can never have enough juice boxes, granola bars, and crackers on hand. They will be the first thing to go with three hungry kiddos.
  • Make sure you have an ample supply of crayons, coloring books, reading materials, puzzles, and board games on hand.
  • Seriously use every bit of daylight you have.
  • Oh, and one more thing I NEED COFFEE!!! I’m not cheerful without it.

I was surprised though…

  • We pulled together quickly, stayed calm, and kept the kiddos calm too.
  • We rationed our supplies that we had on hand.
  • We were prepared for the outage to last much longer, and we were not worried.
  • We spent quality time together, and the kiddos had fun playing together.
  • It really wasn’t that bad, it was a nice break from my addiction to all things electronic.

We were really lucky though.  The weather was nice, and the power was back on late Saturday night. I’ve never seen everyone so happy. I have to say that even though it was a long weekend, it was a lot of fun. The kiddos played well together, and James and I got to spend a lot of time reading. We even snuck in a nap too. It was quiet in the evening, and nice to have all of the windows open in the house. We turned the power outage into an indoor camping adventure, and it was pretty fun.

I cleaned up the yard a bit on Saturday, and got the freezers cleaned out on Sunday. The kids even got a day off from school, so they were pretty happy about that. It will be good to get back to normal again, and seriously, I’m stocking up on candles.

 

 

 

Aug 25

Hello Weekend

Thank goodness we made it through the first week of school. The kids did great, and I even woke up on time. It was a long week though, even if it was only four days.

Thade is getting used to his new school, and Dylan absolutely loves kindergarten. All this morning Dylan has been asking when Monday will be here. He can’t wait to go back.

We also have the morning routine down,  and afternoon pick-up too. I was the most concerned with the afternoon pick-up at two different schools, but so far it is working out well. Agnes has been really good about the long wait. She is always ready to go and get her brothers.

The kids have been coming home starving… I’ve been in the kitchen around the clock, just trying to keep the little guys tummies full. Dylan was always my pickiest eater, but after a long day at school, he will eat anything that is on his plate.

The days have been quiet, and Agnes is starting to cheer up a bit. By Friday she wasn’t too upset when we had to take the boys to school. She has been sleeping better too, thanks to those early mornings.

Aug 23

Settling In

We’ve been getting used to the new morning routine this week. The kids are doing well at it too. We’ve been leaving at different times to see which time is the best to get everyone to school early, but not too early. Afternoon pick-up takes a bit, but Agnes has been pretty cooperative with the wait time.

Agnes and I have been settling into a routine at home too. It is strange just having her at home. Some days are good, some are a little challenging. She misses her brothers greatly, and she is constantly asking where they are. She has been pretty good about waking up extra early too.

This week I haven’t gotten much done at all. I’ve been working on a quilt for James, and doing some housework around here, no major projects though. Maybe I’ll be back to a better routine next week.

Aug 18

This Week

This week is a bit of a melancholy week, it is the last week of Summer break. I am in no way ready to go back to the set routine of the everyday, and neither is Thade. Dylan can’t wait though, he wishes kindergarten started this week instead of next.

Monday:

Early Monday morning, the kids were still sleeping in, so I finished another book. I’ve read everything in my collection, so I started looking around the house for more books. I found a few more books out of James’ collection that I haven’t read yet. Well, one I have, but it was so good I’m going to read it again.

I didn’t get to read too much because Monday involved non-stop errands. I was out of the house throughout the day, and we had to grocery shop too.

I finally got to sew a bit in the afternoon. I finished sewing all of the nine patch blocks that I pinned together yesterday.

I can’t wait to get some new fabric and get this quilt together.

Tuesday:

We had lots of rain. Serious, actual rain. It was cool, rainy, and cloudy all day. We stayed in and enjoyed a day at home.

I baked some breadsticks for lunch. I love to bake on rainy days. It is crazy my boys can finish off an entire batch at one setting.

I also got out more of my fabric stash to cut into 3×3’s. I have been sewing lots of nine patches this week. I think I’m up to thirty seven.

I gave the kiddos back to school hair-cuts. I also gave Agnes a little trim, how I wanted to give her bangs.

Wednesday:

I woke up to the start of a cluster headache, and I was not too happy about it. I decided to take my yucky noggin and three grouchy kids to the store for some migraine medicine and some new fabric too.

 

It wasn’t the best of trips, but I did find some fabric that I liked.

Thursday:

Day two of the cluster headache, and Agnes didn’t sleep again. Thade was worried about me in the morning, so he let me sleep in. He took Dylan downstairs so they could play in the living room. My boys are awesome.

 

This day just started off a bit wonky. By afternoon, it had turned into a mess,  and continued meltdown after meltdown until late in the evening.

Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow.

Friday:

Oh goodness, not a good day… Agnes was grumpy, Thade was grumpy, and Dylan was grumpy too. This was a very long, grumpy, gripey, miserable day.

I decided to work on Agnes’ quilt a bit, and I took the pieces upstairs to map out a pattern.

I still need to sew a few more patches, but I am loving the look of the quilt so far. There are pinks, purples, oranges, and light greens throughout the quilt. Now I need to make at least four more.

Saturday:

The boys were up and excited, and ready to go. They had a birthday party to go to in the afternoon, and by 8:00 a.m., they were already asking if they could get their shoes on and go.

We needed to grocery shop, so it was just Agnes and I at the store.

We did pretty good too. We got a weeks worth of groceries and checked-out in under forty minutes. The boys were happy to be at a party, and not grocery shopping.

I got a little bummed when I purchased juice boxes for the boys lunches. I still can’t believe that school starts in just a few days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 14

In Just Seven Days

It really just hit me, in seven days both of my boys will be in school, and it will just be Agnes and I at home.

It is going to be so quiet in the house. I know Agnes will miss her brothers, and it will be strange for me to have just the little gal at home.

Agnes has been asking about school a lot. She really wants to go to preschool, but you’ve got to be three. I’m not ready for that either.

This week we are ll trying to get back into the school routine too. I’ve got the kiddos going to bed earlier, even though they don’t like it, and we are up earlier too. I will miss these relaxed days so much when the next seven days roll around.