Wretched beginning!

Blame my very long book that took three days to read, or the preparations for my mom's coming (I've moved Gillian downstairs, and arranged the upstairs room for my mom), or just my laziness, but I feel ashamed that we are already two weeks into 2011 and I haven't written even one post. My new year resolutions included my consistency in my blog. Don't distress; I'm not easily discouraged.

These past two weeks have been filled with work, lots of reading to my children and to myself, goal setting (many of them quite impossible), lunches and dinners with friends, and more work.

Last week I took upon myself to clean out and organize the boys' room, especially after noticing all the Christmas presents spread out all over the floor. That took a whole day, but in the end I was very pleased. When I clean out rooms, I always bring one box for trash and one for give-away. I do this very often, probably once a month, but of course after Christmas is a great time to get old things out of the house.

Next was Gillian's room. This project took me a whole week, the reason being that I wasn't just cleaning things out, but moving the rest downstairs. I wanted my mother to have the upstairs room for herself next to the boys. She would have the privacy of her own bathroom upstairs, as well as be near "her boy" Charlton. Gillian loves her room downstairs, and my mom's room feels very comfortable. Believe it or not, I had a whole box full of trash and two huge boxes to give away out of Gillian's room, and I still felt I could have given more away. We just have to see what she is going to use this next month. I also went into my room and got stuff out that I don't need or wear; I just wished Elijah had time to go through his closet and toss things out too. Maybe will add that to his already busy Saturday. Well, enough about work.
For Christmas, one of the many gifts that Santa gave Gillian and Jefferson was an alarm clock. Actually, they each got one. They have been wanting one for a long time, and I don't know why I hadn't bought them one already. Nevertheless, they got their wish for Christmas, and I'm so glad Santa granted it to them, because it has been a blessing to me and to them. Since school started last week, Gillian and Jefferson have woken up by themselves, made their beds and brushed their teeth without anyone telling them, and after dressing themselves, have come to wake me up. In some instances, Gillian has also made food for Charlton just so he wouldn't wake me up. To tell the truth sleeping in a bit longer is sweet, but that's not the reason I'm so happy about this change. I felt for a long time that they are all old enough to take care of themselves without me having to get their clothes out and reminding them to brush their teeth. I personally don't mind helping my children; I actually like it, and I think every mother does. However, I wasn't teaching my children independence. Now, they take pride in doing all things by themselves, and race to my room to show me who got ready faster. The funny things is that from the older three, James has already been ahead of my other two. He has already been waking up and dressing on his own for a long time. It goes to show that kids are capable of way more than what we think.

Last Monday, I was out shopping for a few things that I was going to need after switching the rooms. When I got back, I found three bags full of children's books in front of my door. There was no note, and although I kept looking for clues, in the end I couldn't figure out who had dropped them. Gillian brought me into my senses by saying "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's read them!" Truth be told, we spent the whole afternoon till dinner time, devouring them all. Sometimes I would read to all of them, and sometimes Gillian and Jefferson would read on their own, while I read to James and Charlton. In one of those moments, Gillian exclaimed "Ah, this is a good life!" Truer words have never been said!
That evening, I get a phone call from my friend Amy telling me she had dropped some books off. She later explained that her sister-in-law, whose children are older than ours, had brought her about ten bags full of books. When there was no more room in her house to store them, she thought that maybe she should give some of them to some of her friends. My name came immediately into her mind, and she followed her promptings. She then proceeded to tell me that if I didn't want them she wouldn't mind taking them to the library. I told her what we had done that afternoon and what Gillian had said, which made Amy say that she knew she had brought them to the right house. During the small talk that followed, she asked me where I had been that morning. I told her I had been shopping for bookshelves. We both had a laugh.