That Tricky Balance

The schedule is always busy these days and balancing that is tricky.  I find myself surrendering it to God and asking for His leading and His wisdom.  After all, our family schedule is not a god to be served, but a tool for us to seize the opportunities He brings our way.  

Lately, Blossom1 has been in full swing of college assignments, work, and Fair Queen duties. And I coordinate many of these events that she's a part of.  Fair Queen guidelines require that she is chaperoned by me or the Rugged Mountain Man at all times, so while she's certainly gained independence at this stage of her life, I'm still ON. 

But what about the other Blossoms? Of course, they've tagged along for a number of events.  Her latest presentations in the local elementary schools just aren't really feasible for my three lovely blond tag-alongs though.  

I've always been a WITH type of parent though, because more is caught than taught.

Holding tightly to our parenting philosophy in this time has taken a bit of creativity.  I'm seeing that parenting teenagers at the same time as elementary and middle school age children necessarily mean I have to choose one age group over the other.  Sometimes the schedule makes it feel like that though.  

Last week, Blossom1 needed to sojourn to a more rural part of our school district.  I rounded up ALL the Blossoms to enjoy the beautiful scenic van ride along the Mighty Susquehanna River.  Then, we dropped them off at a very cool local park, complete with a cell phone and schoolwork.  Blossom2 (who is now FIFTEEN) spearheaded some lovely sunshine time while Blossom1 promoted the Fair to 200 kiddos!  When we were all finished, we gleefully swung by the park, picked up the rest of our contingent and headed to our favorite Goodwill store for a fabulous all-girlie thrifting session.  It was quality time at its finest!  School was accomplished, our souls soaked up the sunshine, and our hearts were happy.  

The younger Blossoms stayed home this morning during Blossom1's two presentations.  When we got home, I dumped out the scraps from our Dress Up A Vegetable activity and let Blossom3 and Blossom4 take a break from bookwork to dress up a cucumber.  It was so simple but their smiles were so big!  My mama heart was happy.

Tomorrow Blossom1 will present to another 200 kiddos.  I'm thinking a good trip to the library for the three younger Blossoms may be in order.  What's better than books and quiet and a little school in a different location?  Ohhhhh, and maybe frosties afterward?  

Maybe balancing parenting so many different age groups and schedules is still doable with a little thought.  

Good Things Lately

Reflecting on the good things - the blessings - is something that keeps me going; something I often write about in my journal. It's also a reason I love going back through old blog posts.  Here are some blessings from the past few weeks!

~ Blossom3 got her cast off last Friday!  I am so thankful that her wrist fracture is healing so well! More than that though is how proud I am of how she's been such a trooper through the whole process.  She's been demonstrating a maturity that I'm not sure I'd noticed in her prior to this experience.  Character growth is worth celebrating!

~ Green is popping out everywhere all over the Hollow.  Spring is coming!

~ Speaking of which, I heard the peepers when I walked out of Ladies Bible Study last night.  It's one of my favorite spring sounds!

~ Blossom2 finished second overall high scorer in Bible Quiz in all of Pennsylvania and Delaware the other weekend.  It's incredible to see her hard work pay off.  All that pacing and speed quoting is worth it.  More importantly, it's deeply moving to my heart to see the three older Blossoms digging in so deep in the Word of God.

~ Blossom4 has been improving in her work ethic with her schoolwork lately and that's a big relief to me.  As the Rugged Mountain Man says, "You've weathered this storm with all the other girlies.  You'll get her through this."  He's right; thank the Lord!  And the Lord is working in my relationship with Blossom4.  Frustration can be so difficult between a mom and her kiddo, so I'm thankful that the Lord is working in my heart and in hers.  The fruit is coming!!!

~ Spring jaunts are the best! I'm especially thankful for some one-on-one time with Blossom4 while the older girls are away at Fine Arts practice.

~ My new stove has a power boil feature!  This is cracking me up that I'm putting this on my list of blessings lately, but its speed makes me happy when I have a boatload of other things to do!

~ Blossom1 has had some really cool opportunities lately.  She's been doing presentations in local elementary school assemblies to promote Fair participation.  They have required some logistics and planning on my part, in addition to the public speaking/presentation on her part.  I am just so relieved that they have been going well.  Every time we get in the van afterward, we look at each other with a sigh of relief and say, "THANK THE LORD that went well!"

It's something I always feel challenged to do.  

Be quick to pray, but be quick to thank God when the answers come.

Math and Comparison

I’m sitting here, typing on a hand me down iPad Air 1 that feels like a timely blessing, even if it isn’t brand-spankin’ new.  Y’all know I’m good with things that aren’t brand-spankin’ new.  

Blossom2 has Nutella pop tarts and Coffee Shortbread Sandwich cookies in the works.  She’s already cranked out a bunch of her college US History course this morning.  Two little Blossoms are working on math at the dining room table with me. Right now, sitting between them is the most efficient way to switch back and forth between their questions, especially with their math.  Blossom1 is at her laptop, working on a PowerPoint about Japan for one of her college classes... with ear buds in.  

This is basically the tenor of our days ~ steadily working through each task, but understanding that each girl’s rhythm isn’t going to look like the other girls’ rhythm.  Blossom1 and Blossom2 understand this better than the Little Blossoms do, but the Little Blossoms will get there.  As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy.  This is as true as it ever was.  

They can be (finally) contentedly plugging away, glance over at what their sister just finished and start to whine and fret about what they still have to accomplish before the school day is done.  I try to stress that each sister is in a different grade and their assignments have absolutely no bearing on another’s assignments.  My mom told me the exact same thing.  I had to come to terms with it, just as they do.  

There’s something to be said for knowing what your job is and putting your nose to the grindstone, regardless of what anyone else is doing.  That concept applies to so much more than schoolwork.  We’ll keep plodding along, building character and finishing schoolwork, day by day.

Blossom2's Baking Addiction

Blossom2 LOVES to try new recipes and bake us tasty treats.  Whether it's a hobby, interest, or career in the making, we're not sure.  But we're GLAD to be on the receiving end.  

These coffee sandwich cookies were top-notch bakery goodness.

How am I supposed to cut down on junk food, when she's cranking out treats like Caramel Cream Pie, Homemade Nutter Butters and Miniature Lemon Tarts?  

As usual, I love seeing our girls develop and follow their passions.

Apparently, I'm supposed to order cream horn molds so she can try cannolis next.  I'm not sure I feel like arguing!

That Reminder App

I love hearing ways that technology works for people.  

Lately, the Reminder app on my phone has been especially useful.  

For years, Sunday dinner has been hickly-pickly simply because I never remembered to get the meat out to thaw on Saturday!  After taking my sister's advice to utilize this app more fully, I now set a reminder when I create the weekly menu.  I immediately jump on my phone and set a reminder to pull the meat out to thaw on Saturday.  This has become a real lifesaver for our weekends, when our schedule is a lot different from our weekdays.  

The Little Blossoms need to remember to gather eggs.  They were forgetting and I was forgetting to remind them and the Rugged Mountain Man was just getting frustrated at having to enforce such a ridiculously small micro farm detail.  There's a daily reminder for that now too.

And how 'bout those pesky free trials ending three months from now?  I don't want to forget to cancel them before I get charged.  You guessed it.  I've got a reminder set for that!

What about those random flossers I need to remember to get when I stop in at the Dollar Tree next time?  I've got a running list on the Reminder app for those things and places on my phone too.  

The Reminder app is working hard for me.  I love using technology for good!