Happy New Year!

A New Year!  I don't think I have ever been so happy to see an old year out and a new year in.  It seems like 2010 was trial after trial.  I even ended the year with a big bang and a broken nose. 

 So happy to start a new.

What do I hope to do more of in 2011?

 Ride more.

 Bake, cook and enjoy the kitchen even more than I already do.

 Smile more!

 Entertain more!!  

Love him (even) more!

and ADORE  Him more.

For Those about to Rock

So, I wiped away the tears, pulled myself up by the bootstraps and walked my stubborn self to the rocking chair.  Of course, A was right there with me.  He had just started instigating his sisters.  It was a great way to diffuse the situation and try a new approach.
  During our first rocking session he brought up the first time he met us.  He asked me if I remembered.  He said he wasn't sure if we were the family for him, but once he saw the other children he knew we were.   He said he was so happy to have a family.
   The next day he gave me a warm hug and said, "Mommy, I love you with all my heart."
   On day 3 he started another conversation.   He told me he had never been rocked before.  Ever.
 It is so hard to attach to him.  He is usually taking the role of trouble maker.  He can sit quietly and contently until another child comes to me.  Then he'll need my attention!   Most of the time he'll do something he knows is not okay.  He'll ask for whatever the other child has- no matter what it is.  He doesn't want or need it.  He just can't have someone else have something that he is not having.  I find it very difficult to find much pleasure with him.

    But after just three days of rocking I'm finding that soft spot again.  It's funny, when he and his sister first became part of our family I always had in my mind that they came from a bad place.  They've seen things I have never seen.  They've lived a life I would never wish for anyone to live.
Be gentle.
Be patient.
Be kind.
Help him to feel secure- for the very first time.
     As difficult as he can be, I need to be reminded of who he is and where he came from.  He spent the first 4 years of his life sighting to survive.  Those survival strategies and behaviors are still very much alive and kicking in this little guy.  I need to remember that and carry on accordingly.  Deal with him in a loving way.  Help him to heal.
   All this in just 3 rocking sessions.
   To those about to rock.. be ready for some changes.  I can't wait to see where this journey takes us.

Rocking Mama Challenge

I have chosen to join the "Rocking Mama Challenge."  I have been following A Bushel and a Peck for a few months now.  She has giving me strength, encouragement and resources that I had not realized I so desperately needed.  We took her suggestion on taking sabbaticals.  That has sent us out in one way and brought us home in another.  I love her 50 points of Joy- but I have yet to sit down and write 5.  When I read her post on the Rocking Mama Challenge I knew it was time to start listening to the little whispers that I keep ignoring. ( I believe the Holy Spirit whispers to me- and often times I am not listening.)
   I actually wept when I read what the challenge was.  I wept because I felt so strongly that this is something I really do not want to do.  The day is spent disciplining "A" and when it's quiet, the last thing I want to do is sit and rock with him.   He has taken up so much of my time already.  Time away from my 4 others.  Time away from my husband.  Forget about a sabbatical- I'm too tired to do anything!
   But what if... What if I take just 15 minutes a day for 28 days. What if it helps him to attach?  What if it helps me to attach?  What if he calms down?  Then I would calm down. The entire family might calm down.  Perhaps the earth would rotate just a bit slower...
 Not much to lose, but so much to gain.
It's worth a try.

Happy Birthday!

I cannot go any further without a Happy Birthday to my special guy. !!  Happy Birthday, Jace!  15!   My absolute best all time favorite Christmas gift ever!  Born on Christmas morning!  Named after our Lord and Savior.  My little JaCe.  You are a special gift!

A Perfect House or a Comfortable Home?

Not so long ago, as I was browsing through decorating, home and garden blogs, I thought to myself, "I decorate pretty well.  I home make nicely.  I garden just fine.  I should blog.  Everyone would be interested in what I have going on over here at the Flying Pig Ranch. 

 I have a brand new camera and I know a thing or two about English Grammar.  

Sure, I can blog.

So I set up an account and begin...and stop. 

 I cannot get a decent picture of my home looking "blog worthy."  

How do these woman do it??  Their houses are amazing.  

They even have time to shop, talk fashion, and create amazing things from thrift shop finds. 

 How do they keep the children out of the pictures?    

 Here is what my kitchen looks like on any giving evening:

and our Living Room:

and our Laundry Room:

And here is what I was striving for- in my unrealistic "blogger mind."

(angels singing)

Kitchen:

House Beautiful

Living Room:

Sarah's House HGTV

and Laundry Room:

a google search

I will never get my home picture perfect.  I have a gorgeous husband and 5 incredible children.  We keep 2 dogs, 8 chickens, 1 parakeet and something like 200.000 bees.  

(again, the angels sing)

Words to live by:

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.

~ Dame Rose Macaulay

So, I have decided to continue living as I do, and blog on!

Trays! Glorious trays!

I love trays!  For years I had a major collection of old silver trays that just seemed to be sitting around collecting dust.  Once I took a few out and started putting little things on top, I discovered a whole new way to organize- and decorate at the same time!   

I love them in my kitchen.

This one isn't really a tray.  It's a marble slab.  I keep it next to my sink.  It holds my soaps and lotions and my flying pig is there to keep jewelry.  The honey and the coffee press? I can't figure out how they fit into the "next to the sink" category, but I know this is a place where they're safe from little hands!  

It works for me!

This one holds my everyday cooking ingredients like salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, garlic.  It stays right there so everything is always close by.  It's all neat and contained too.  

 Love it!

 Here I have a gallery tray that holds breakfast items- the toaster, butter, and tea.  You know all those little crumbs that spit out from beneath the toaster?  Ahh, there ya go- right into the pretty tray! 

 How cute!

Nice and neat and organized!  And ready for fall, I might add.

So go find some trays and use them.  They're great!

A Giveaway.

Not that I have the power to giveaway anything, yet!  But the Pioneer Woman does!
Here's the question:
If you could have dinner with one man throughout the history of time, whom would it be?
Here was my answer:
Jesus.  He would answer all my questions.  If the question said- besides Jesus then I would have to say John Travolta.  Not that the two can compare, but because maybe after dinner, John would take me dancing.
I long to dance with John Travolta..."More than a woman.  More than a woman to me."
My chances of winning the Le Creuset 7 1/2-Quart Round French Ovens are 3:28753.  
I may have a better chance at dancing with JT.