Lists of things

Like so many other people out there, my life is full of lists. When I was a student, I used to write things down all the time so that I'd be sure to get things done, but these days most of my lists are internalized, flitting in an out of  my consciousness, sometimes surprising me when I recall, "oh yeah, I was gonna do that, wasn't I?" Occasionally I'll hone in on a list and accomplish a few things (like the artwork I recently completed) but it's always at the expense of other things.
What kind of lists do I have, you ask? Well let me tell you.

There is the really big projects that will never get done list:

• Finish Quilt(s) made of everyone's old holy jeans (the pile keeps growing!)

mine looks nothing like this good

• Have children's book written and illustrated and submitted to publishers ( get a good idea first :P)

• Make archives of all old artwork in my possession  (including photographing, color correcting photos, filing, and putting on my art blog or another suitable place, in case our house blows away in a tornado. (I've started this, and it's proving to be a BIG job!) 

yes, even little things like this scratch-art I did with Elora last summer

• Get all of our computer home movies organized and onto disks in case our computer implodes
• type up all of my old poetry and creative writing from school, as apparently my floppy disks are now obsolete. (Scan this stuff for book ideas!)
• photoscan all of my kids' artwork and projects then somehow organize into a compact record (Make photo book of them?)

 every once in a while I focus on this big list, and get a few things done, but I just can't devote that much time to these things on a regular basis.
 
Then there is the smaller yet always ongoing projects list:

• write on the back of all photos and put in photo album which is also labeled

• rotate pictures on the walls and keep up to date
• keep kids' baby books and scrapbooks up to date
• write in kids journals every time they do something memorable (I do this one more often if I worry that they might die in an accident sometime soon)
• work on artwork so that I can build up a portfolio and develop a distinctive style, then I can complete children's book goal from the big list.
• update blog and write in journal (these often work hand in hand, and help me to keep up on organizing my photos on the computer as well.)
• Actually read a book all the way through..this happens a lot more rarely that in did when I was single.

I'm pretty good at keeping up on this list, but it's always lurking in the back of my mind!


Then there are all the things I know I need to be doing with my kids! These are the things that suffer the most if I spend too much time focusing on bigger goals. Sigh.
Kids list:

• play games with the kids, like Concentration or Go Fish (easier when Elora was home because she likes this stuff!)
• get the kids to go outside by going out with them, walking or playing outside games (this one is the hardest for me!)
• read to the kids more often, especially the baby
• teach the kids letters, writing, numbers, etc. so they are more school ready- I was so much better at this with Elora, because she was really interested! With Josh, it's torture.
• sing to the kids so they know nursery rhymes and primary songs they don't hear elsewhere. (I'm proud to say, I'm doing great on this one!)

Then there is long term household chores list,that I need to do on a regular basis but I must admit it sometimes doesn't happen:

• clean bathrooms

so I googled "Dirty bathrooms" first. Yeah, I didn't want to look at those pictures any longer than I had to!

• mop floors
• vacuum carpets
• dust (snort, yeah right.)
• windows, etc.

Sadly, the daily household chores list is what takes up a ton of my time. Stuff like:

• get Elora ready for school, comb her hair, etc.
• daily dishes (no, we don't have a dish washer.)
• make breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner (thanks, Joseph!), then clean up the messy kids.
• dress everyone or make sure they dress themselves in the morning.
• sweep kitchen at least four times a day (and it still doesn't look like it.)
• clean up the big dinner mess every night (thanks, Joseph!)

and the "special" household chores list that aren't every day, but are still regular: 

• laundry

• pay bills
• grocery shopping (which takes all day, with the 40 minute drive to town, and always scheduling our other errands on the same day!)

So I have all these lists, but I'm realizing my day is often filled up with things that weren't even on a list, and I wonder, what did I do today? Maybe I need to add these things to my daily list, so at least I feel like I accomplished something.
A typical day might include the daily chores list above, as well as:

• breakfast, then wash dishes that I didn't have time for the night before.
• nurse baby several times a day and feed baby other food at meals (while nursing the baby check email, facebook, and blog, since he won't let me read a book while I feed him)-seriously, he will hit a book out of my hand or kick it repeatedly-then after I put the baby down forget I was going to do some other stuff and stay on the computer for an hour.
• leave computer on so I can play music and periodically check FB, so I can feel like I see other people during the day ;)
• change baby's diaper several times a day
• lunch
• find a random project I have to take care of right now, like clearing off a counter space, organizing bills, clearing off someone's dresser (cough-Joseph's-cough), rotating kids clothes to the next size up, writing a really long blog post, etc.
• Argue with Josh all morning that he can't get on the computer and waste time on pbskids.org, then give in and let him anyway while I try to get Jonah to take a much-needed  nap.
• try for an hour to get Jonah to take a nap, and then he still might get up, while I fall asleep in his room for half an hour.
• if the baby isn't down for a nap yet, nurse him and accidentally fall asleep, or get on the computer again while I hold him.
• Possibly achieve something from one of the other goals list, like scanning art or play a game with Josh
• answer a phone call from someone (cough-Kiera-cough) and talk for over an hour, thus not finishing the project I just started working on, or not playing with Josh.
• walk to the mailbox (may take half an hour or longer sometimes, if the kids come and get distracted).
• get kids to pick up toys, blankets, couch cushions, or whatever else they destroyed during the day.
• fight with kids to brush their teeth, get on pj's etc. 
• spend forever on "bedtime" reading stories and singing, but I don't want to shorten bedtime routine because I at least feel like I did something nurturing with my kids for the day.
• watch a tv show on hulu or a movie with Joseph, while he falls asleep on the couch. (we like Castle, Psych, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Warehouse 13, Raising Hope, Monk reruns and a few others)
• play on pinterest or facebook for another half hour for no apparent reason except it's fun to sit in the living room by myself.
• go to bed and realize I could've been reading a book or doing something productive for the last half an hour, or getting more sleep, but I forgot.

(Am I boring you yet?)
When I see everything in list form like this, it simultaneously makes it seem more overwhelming, and easier to organize, since it's written out before me! Every day I feel like I didn't do anything, yet I did a lot. Does anyone else feel this way? I have to keep reminding myself that the "personal goals" need to take a back seat to being a good parent; I don't want to regret missing my kids' childhoods because I had too many other things to do!
Hmm, I guess it's all about balance. When Elora was a baby, I spent all day focused on her: I never watched tv (we got bad reception) I didn't get on the computer during the day (we had dial-up), didn't drive anywhere or see anyone because Joseph needed the car all day,  and I never did artwork or read books on my own. I'm well aware that all this attention probably played a big part in her being at the top of her kindergarten class this year (and the top of the first grade class as well!) but I wasn't very happy not doing anything to help develop myself.
Sometimes I worry that I occasionally spend too much time doing selfish things nowadays. But while I sometimes have wasted days (hmmm, like today?) I at least feel like I have more balance in my life most of the time, and I"m pretty happy with what I've got!
How about you? What kind of stuff do you wish you could get done every day?

Artistic Days

 I've been trying to make some goals to work on my art more often. I wanted to do a portrait of Elijah, since he didn't have one yet for our wall. I also need to do a new one for Joshua, since his is from when he was two years old! I want to work on learning watercolor more, a goal which will probably not be fully realized until I live somewhere where I can take a class on it or something...but I can still practice. And I wanted to find more subjects on which to use my markers.
I was pleased to get a few of these done in the last few weeks!
First, here is Elijah's portrait. When we took these pictures a few weeks ago, I knew I'd found the perfect photos to use! The photo of this drawing isn't crooked, I just didn't draw it perfectly rectangular.

5x7ish" pencil. I can't even explain how much better it looks in real life

A week or two before that, I did a watercolor of an old photo from the last time we went to Moab. It's not great (I really hate how the person turned out) but it was good practice, and it was fun trying out the pen with the watercolor again.

5x7" watercolor

Finally I finished a drawing I was really pleased with. This was with marker and pen. I was working from a drawing I did about 10 years ago, as well as some photos of logs on the beach on Bainbridge, WA. Then I found some photos of sunsets online, and combined some of my favorites. This one too looks better in life than in this digital reproduction.

11x14" marker and ink

This is the original drawing that I loved so much from 2001. I actually like some of the composition better in this original one (like the angles of the logs) , but for the color version I was trying to look at pictures of real logs so it'd be more realistic.

Pen, 8.5x5.5"

Eli the magical clapping baby

Eli has learned to clap. Yay!

Random April

Drip drip drop little April showers...

This last month we've taken a lot of pictures, but I haven't had time to post about things, so now I present a hodgepodge of April's images, with just a smattering of March.In completely random order, just to keep you on your toes.

Look! You can see me taking pictures of Eli! I thought this was cool.

Earlier this month we went to walk around Buffalo lake, where last year we took some picnic pictures and maternity shots. It's not really green yet, but we got some fun pictures this time too. Elora and Jonah were playing around the old car, and I had fun trying out different effects on the photos:

I love how the blue of the sky looks in this bright one

 

I think black and white works well for these as well!

But I loved these old faded ones best of all.

This is from that same day, just a few yards away. I love how this almost looks like a painting.

 In March, Joseph and I actually went on a date! We went to see the Hunger Games (we read it a year ago), and we brought Eli with us. He was being a little scrumbly bum and not cooperating at the theater, so I stood in the entrance with him through most of the movie, but I could still see the screen so I didn't mind. We took some pictures before the movie..I thought I was standing at a good angle, but instead I turned out looking frumpy. At least Eli and Joseph look cute!

Afterward, we went to a fifties themed diner called, "Arnolds." Eli loved it! Each table had a quarter operated jukebox and there was music playing the whole time. Elijah was bopping and giggling the whole time. The food was sort of meh, but the atmosphere was fun!

I love that they made the sign font just like on "Happy Days." The parking lot wasn't that exciting though.

Joseph being ruggedly handsome.

yeah, daddy-o!

 This month Jonah officially became a big boy..he's potty trained! Well, at least for the day. He still needs to work on naps and bedtime for now. Unfortunately, this means that when we drive somewhere that he might fall asleep on the way, we should probably still give him a pull-up, just in case. (The two hour trip to the dentist this weekend taught us that.)
This was Jonah putting his own underwear on. Not bad, right? :)

What? You don't like my loincloth?

A few weeks ago we went to the park in Faith. Elora climbed to the very top of a tree and couldn't get down! I had to stand under the tree and tell her how to get down step by step. She was pretty high!

yes mommy, I know there is a power line right next to me. Why are you freaking out?

Oh wait. How do I get down now?

While there, I was trying to get a picture of all the kids swinging in a row, but there was always at least one person out of sync when I took the shot. This was the best one...look at Eli's cute smile!

Whaz up!

Oh, and of course the biggest event of April: Easter! We went to town for the egg hunt there, and it was freezing and windy! Everyone was out of there pretty quickly after it was over. The kids took shelter in the car to start in on their candy.

Afterwards, we decorated our eggs at home.

Yeah, I saw the marker idea on Pinterest.

We had our own hunt Easter morning,

and Eli loved his basket.



















Or at least the grass.

After church we had a special treat, when some friends from church invited us to their house to spend the day with them and their grandchildren. Every one had a lot of fun! Elora loved the trampoline, and hit herself in the face with her knee, resulting in her fifth lost tooth. Good thing it was already really loose! Josh liked it for a while too, but eventually became the scared kid that everyone is annoyed at, telling them all to stop jumping so he can get up.

She's flying away!

Finally, two of the most recent and my most favorite pictures from April. Joseph playing in the water with Eli, and Joseph flying a kite with the kids. Joseph has been trying to schedule a half hour of "daddy time" with each kid every week. They get to pick the activity, and spend time with daddy. Usually it goes pretty good, though we've discovered Joshua freaks out whenever daddy has his time with someone else...he will literally scream and cry the entire time if they go in a room and lock the door without him. So we need to work on that! But some of the best "daddy times" are these unscheduled moments when the kids and daddy just have fun together!

I have way too many of these pictures that I'd love to frame and hang..I don't have anymore wall space!

There it goes!