hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

 Ah! It's Friday, another blissful week of going nowhere. For me, anyway. Almost four weeks went by recently where I didn't leave the house once, and I honestly didn't even notice. I had to think  really  hard about the last time I left the house. This arrangement works well for me. I love going nowhere.  My kids do not  love the hermit life. And I gotta say, the biggest drawback of quaren-twenty-till-who-knows-when is that the rest of my family is home nearly all the time too. Even as a homeschool family, I still got fairly regular breaks by pawning my kids off on friends or relatives for a day or two once in a while. This is a bit too much togetherness. Genuine alone time is scarce these days. But, I have an office with a door that closes; I work from home and reading is part of my job. I am one hundred percent aware what a blessing that is, and I never want to take it for granted.  The thought of so many people having to go to jobs, or other essential ac...

The only thing that could have made the first day of December better would have been waking up to a layer of snow instead of frost. I sat out on my porch swing with my coffee for over an hour just reveling in the cold. The girls had a barefoot race across the yard, in which Kit wore socks because obviously, that's what you do in a barefoot race. Don't question Kit's logic, you'll lose. Our one day of winter went well. I got some good research and writing done and committed to a 500 word a day writing challenge for the month. I may come to regret the last one. Kit made me hot chocolate, mainly so she could guarantee she got to make herself some too, but it was fantastic.  Speaking of Kit, she's 9 now. Yeah, four years of not blogging and now she's as old as Zak was when I first started blogging! She's doing amazing. I plan to write an update post for each of the kids, but in the meantime, I'll give you the highlights. Kit has made so much prog...

Four and a half years is a long time. There is no such thing as picking up where one left off after that long. I certainly never anticipated such a sabbatical, and that's putting a positive spin on it.  In my efforts to start writing again, I have debated and become paralyzed (which in turn made me put off any blogging for an additional year or so) about whether to restart blogging here or start up entirely new. Truth is I can't decide, so I'm going to try both. All three actually, since I also desperately want to continue my book blog as well.  Three blogs for three passions. This one for family happenings. The book blog for book reviews. And a new one for my other writing projects. I'm working hard at getting some things ready for submission for publication so I'd like to have a site to build that platform on.  It's somewhat overly ambitious, I know. Am I well enough to manage it? Let's just say there are going to be bumps along the way. I'...

A brief post about how well Kitty Bitty is doing.  Since Winston the Servicedoodle joined our family, we have seen some miraculous changes from our sweet girl! The biggest have happened in the last three weeks. One, she is now sleeping on the bottom bunk!! Not in our room!! I cannot even begin to explain how huge this is. Number two has to do with number two, and number one, as in she is out of diapers during the day!!! It took us until four and three-quarters, but hip hip hooray! She is a potty master! Mostly, she still has the occasional accident. I don't care, I'm so proud of her!! She is learning to use Winston for many things, and her desire to socially interact has exploded! She regularly talks to and plays with the other kids at the Kingdom Hall before and after our weekly bible meetings. When we have had company over, or been to events or other's homes, she engages so much sooner and her conversations are so much more natural, instead of short, gru...

Welcome to Fresh Brewed! Each week, if I can, I will write about a topic that relates to families. Then, at the bottom of the post is a Linky Tool so that you can link up your posts related to the topic for the week. It doesn't have to be a new post from the past week, if you have written about it in a previous post, link it! The topics will be broad enough to encompass many avenues of thought, but do please only post related posts. Opinion posts are welcome, but not bashing ones please. Please keep it respectful. There may be posts with vastly different viewpoints, or addressing points on vastly different areas of the topic. That's fantastic as every family is different and struggles with different circumstances. If you are not a blogger, but you have an interesting article to share, or read something another blogger posted, please feel free to leave a link in the comments section of the weekly post and a short description of how it relates to the topic.  Fresh Brewed W...

Here is another treasure from the backfiles. This started as an act of desperation on my part, I just needed her to be occupied so I could finish something, but it quickly became one of her favorite activities. If you have a chalkboard (we made ours on a half wall with chalkboard paint), all you need is a paintbrush, sponge, or washcloth, and a cup of water. Dip the brush in the water and have at it! Kit LOVES how the water turns the board black. So often, she will be at this so long that by the time she gets across the board, the first area she painted will be dry and a fresh pallet once again. You can get creative with the things you use as paintbrushes, but she has been completely happy with our basic art brushes from Walmart. I love watching her do this.

So I was going through old drafts, "cleaning house" so to speak, and I found this precious gem that got left behind. It was just the pictures, I hadn't written anything with it yet, don't even remember what if anything I was going to. Several things I love about these pictures.  One, she has baby hands and toes in them, her hands and feet are growing and looking like big girl feet lately, and usually have several colors of fingernail polish on alternating nails.  Two, the dress in these pics doesn't fit her anymore, but, we have the exact same dress in a size 5, which heartbreakingly, does not look as gigantic on her as it feels like it should.  Three, she still runs barefoot everywhere...at least some things haven't changed.

I know, I know...It's about time!! Well, here you go. A very picture heavy, explanation light catch-up post. Our handsome boy at five months old! He's a year now, can't believe it! Kit loves her matching necklace! Helping Kitty Bitty through a thunderstorm. He whizzed through Puppy Two class at only 7 months old! Story time and snuggles. Just dozing at IHOP. Snuggling on Mama's feet watching Kit jump at a bouncy house park. Winston's "You gonna give me french fries?" face. The blue strap across his nose is something many people ask about. It is called a "Gentle Lead". It is exactly like the bridle on a horse's face, but without any kind of mouth bit. The lead goes around his muzzle and be hind his ears where it clips securely, but he can still eat, drink, yawn, and bark if necessary. The leash clips on u...

"It's not the fall that kills you." We've all heard this line. (Especially us Sherlock fans!!) I completely agree. It's not the fall that kills me. It's the summer. The unyieldingly hot, suffocatingly humid, seemingly endless Deep South summers. This past one, I experienced the worst mental emotional collapse I have ever had. I lost almost all function as a person. I was on the brink of a very ugly precipice. With the last possible energy I could muster, I asked for help. And help came. Well, I went to it really. I was referred to a psychiatrist, after a couple visits and some medicine trial and error, she is helping me get back on track. Away from the precipice, and up and moving like a person again. A very slow person, but a person again nonetheless. My battles with depression over the years were even less under my control than I had ever realized. It wasn't something I could fix on my own. I didn't know the ...

Caring for an aging and ailing family member is immensely hard. It consumes so much energy, attention, and yes, money as well.  Caring for a child with special needs can and often is just as immensely hard, and is often a much longer journey. While I primarily focus on caring for an aging parent in this post, almost all of the points apply to caring for a child with special needs as well, and the accompanying printable list is just as useful for these parents as well. Support can be a difficult resource to find at times, and respite even more elusive. It has been a year now since our role as full-time caregivers to an elderly parent ended. We have still not fully recovered. We are still floating in bits and pieces in the aftermath of a storm that pulled our family in so many directions at once we felt parts tearing and then smashing into each other again. For a family who has some time to prepare for a loved one's illness, it can be incredibly hard to care for tha...

So this was an awesome Pinterest find that I was able to put together in less than 15 minutes! I happened to have all the supplies already which made it all the more awesome! Supplies: 1 Clear storage container (the lid for mine was white, so I simply turned the container upside down.) 1 string of twinkle lights (I used white, but different colors would create cool different effects) A strip of wax paper the length of the container (this makes the surface opaque, which diffuses the light more evenly) White duct tape ( any color would do, I just like the cleaner look of the white.) Use small strips of tape to secure the twinkle lights evenly arranged on the bottom of the container, or in my case to the lid, since that was going to be the bottom of our light box. Leave the length of wire with the plug loose and make sure you have arranged the lights so as to have the plug where you will have ease of access to an outlet. Secure the lid onto the cont...

I may have seemed cool, calm, and collected, but inside I was writhing with anxiety. What if ... what if ... what if ... Four years old...five...six. Still in Velcro or zip-up shoes.  Other kids are supposed to know this by now!  Other kids DO know this by now!! We are falling behind! So what if he can read and do second grade math! He can't tie his shoes! I can't even get him interested! Seven years old. Another mom expresses concern about her own son's lack of interest and asks if it's something we are going to focus on.  "I'm not too worried. When he is ready he'll let me know. He won't be twenty and still not know how to tie his shoes." I was reassuring myself as much as her. Eight years old. "Mom, can I have some tie shoes?"  YES!!  Imaginary fist pumps in the air! "Of course you can."  Like many things, he only needed me to show him a couple of times, and boom, he got ...