The giant rubber ducky draws quite a crowd

Yeliu park

Enjoyed a visit from Kelsey and Dave

Hiking with...cows?

Sum-Up

How do you sum-up a year?  There are the moves and vacations and milestones, but how about the less tangibles?

Things we've struggled with:

-bedtime (getting everyone calmed down and staying in bed without resorting to ugliness)

-church (keeping our cool when all four kids are climbing on us, snatching things from one another, using loud voices or running away)

-weekends (occupying the kids while still get the mountain of laundry, housework, cooking, lesson prep, etc. done)

-how to react when one sibling is mean to another, and how to be consistent when it happens many times a day

-keeping up with our school work, setting priorities, finding a balance

-making meals that meet my requirement of whole foods that kids will eat that I can prep in 30-40 minutes and don't have to think about ahead of time.

Things we've tried:

-Our latest bedtime solution is that we put all four kids in the same room, flipped the breaker so there are no lights, removed all toys and books.  I sit outside the door and attempt to study.  If something requires that I go into the room, there are consequences for the culprit: the girls pay me money or a job, the boys get "glued" to their bed (me laying on them for 30 seconds--they don't like it).

-For church, occasionally we have Claire sit with a teacher or grandma, and she is inevitably well behaved.  The boys?  We're hoping a morning meeting time next year will help.

-Something we are trying on the weekends is dividing up the time into two-hour segments and alternating who is with the kids.  So, we still have some time we can count on to get things done, but the person watching the kids doesn't get too tired, either.  As a result, I've been in a better mood on the weekends and enjoy the kids more, most of the time.

-I'm being very strict with myself as far as my schedule, when I go to bed, when I get up, what I do each hour of the day, each day of the week.  Unfortunately, that ends up only covering the very basics, and I'll catch up on the rest next year, right?

-I've reduced us to about seven meals that can incorporate any vegetables we get in our delivery and meet the requirements above.

M: burritos, T: pasta, W: stew, Th: stir-fry, F: pizza, Weekends: leftovers, sandwiches or soup

I haven't had time to read much this year because my focus has been Chinese, but three books I can highly, highly recommend:

Screamfree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool by Hal Edward Runkel 

Even if you don't scream at your kids (or grandkids), you probably react to them in some kind of way you don't like sometimes.  This book explains how growing up yourself can change a lot of dynamics at home.  I've held very tightly to it since I read it.  The catch phrase for me was "You are not responsible for your kids.  You are responsible to your kids."

Remembering Hanzi, How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Chinese Characters by James W. Heisig and Timothy W. Richardson

I happened upon this book in the library, and their method clicked with me in a way nothing has for my 19 years of learning Chinese (yes, I've been at it that long).  I've spent so much time spinning my wheels when it comes to learning Chinese characters and finally, finally, they are sticking.  And, I'm excited to memorize them every night--it's the part of the homework I do first.  Highly effective for me.  I started the book in October, and I'm already past 1000 characters (some of which I had learned before but could no longer write from memory).

The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life by Terryl Givens and Fiona Givens

A beautiful book that expresses how I feel about life in a way that resonates with my soul and I think would resonate with anyone's, whether they are a "believer" or not.

Things we've let go of this year (but do hope to regain next year):

-Keeping up the yard or the house.  We maybe get the kids to clean up enough to vacuum on a Friday night if there is something they really want to do on Saturday.  Other than that, we've split everything up between the two of us: I do food, dishes and laundry; he does floors, bathrooms and trash.

-Keeping up with family and friends.  We each talk to our parents about once a week, but other phone calls rarely happen.  Hope you are reading our blog. :)

-Social time with friends here. We try to be friendly, but other than an occasional church activity that we can justify because we are speaking Chinese or some school event where the kids are involved, we really aren't having people over or going out with friends.

-Personal time for reading, web surfing, watching shows, etc.

So, what should I do with my life next year?  "Going back to school" has been a lot of fun, and being away from the kids during the day has given me some perspective on life and its stages.  I've felt guided down this path, but that doesn't mean I know where it will lead.  The kids are still young and need a lot from me, but our options will open up a lot next year as to how to arrange everyone's time (except Jonathan--he might be really busy at work--we'll see.)  Always a new chapter ahead...