What I'm Pondering Tonight {Vaccines}

In a few short hours, I'll wake up and take my precious little daughter to the health department to be immunized.

Her first shots ever.

Tonight I'm second-guessing myself.

I realize that most of you reading this are probably, at this very moment, shaking your heads and saying "tsk, tsk" as you wonder how I could be so negligent as to not only put the health of my own dear Moriah in danger but also threaten the whole basis of Western civilization because I haven't immunized my child!

I also realize that some of you are probably wanting to shout at me, "No, Davene, don't do it!  Don't give in to the establishment!  Don't get her vaccinated!  You don't know what's in those shots!"

This is clearly a lose-lose case in the court of public opinion.

Not because I feel the need to defend myself to anyone who happens to be reading this, but because I'd like to have a record of my thoughts, let me write a few words about why we haven't had Moriah immunized yet...and why we are now.

When Josiah was born, we lived in California; and, not being aware of any reason to do otherwise, we followed the established timeline for immunizations for him.  As a result, he got A LOT of shots very early in his life.  After moving to Israel, we continued to get his shots very regularly...until it became apparent that his large-motor skill development was significantly behind the average for children his age.  Since we were evaluating EVERYTHING that could possibly be contributing to that, we looked at the possibility of a link between vaccinations and delayed development, including autism; and after doing quite a bit of research about it, we concluded that we would press the "pause" button on his shots until we figured out what was going on.  Eventually, he was diagnosed with the simple condition of hypotonia--low muscle tone--a condition that we were assured he would outgrow.  And so he did.

However, because of that, we decided that with our other children, we would have them vaccinated; but we would not follow the standard timing--instead, delaying the shots until quite a bit later than the normal ages at which they're given, and also separating the shots so that not so many strange ingredients were being injected into our children's bodies at the same time.  (I remember four shots being given at one appointment to Josiah back before we changed how we did things, but I've heard that more than four are routinely given in one appointment now.)

Because of my dad's (and uncle's and granddad's) experience in the medical field, and because of their long memories that stretch back to the days of epidemics, such as polio, and because of my own reading in the field of medical history, I have a great deal of respect and gratitude for those who developed vaccines and made them readily available to the masses.  I tremble when I think of what it must have been like to live in the days when an epidemic could sweep through a city and somewhat randomly knock out children left and right, either killing or severely injuring them.  How terribly helpless those mothers must have felt as they watched their children be stricken.  I have no desire to return to that day and age.

On the other hand, I have a degree of skepticism about certain parts of the modern medical field and the relationship between drug companies and health professionals.  I don't know enough to write more about that, except to say that motives can be a tricky thing to discern...and drug companies probably aren't telling the public all that they know.

With those two things in mind--my gratitude and my skepticism--I've chosen, with Jeff's approval, of course, to walk a middle road concerning my own children and their immunizations.

With Moriah, we had planned all along for her to eventually get some shots; but essentially it was a matter of procrastination for me, and months went by without me doing anything about it.  Jeff was beginning to worry about her health because we had NOT gotten her vaccinated.  But honestly I was still worried about what would happen to her health if we DID get her vaccinated.  He and I are always so unified, can't you tell?!  ;-)

Tonight I'm thinking about how I desperately want to do what is best for Moriah--not just in the area of immunizations, of course, but in so many deeper, more important areas.  I ache to do the right thing, the thing that will help her most, but sometimes it is such a challenge to know what that is!  I look at her sweet little face, so trusting...whether she's waiting for her grandma to feed her a bite of food and trusting that it will be good...

...or being carried by me into the unfamiliar environment of the health department and trusting that I'll take care of her.  To be so trusted is a weighty thing.

I hope I don't mess this one up.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday {She's Here!}

So happy to have Jeff's mom here with us again!!!  :)

Clever

I have very little time to blog tonight because we're preparing for the arrival from California of a VERY special guest tomorrow!  But tonight as I was tucking Shav into bed, he did something that made me pause and reach for the camera to capture the moment.  So I'll just blog this really quickly and then get back to work.  :)

First, let me say that I didn't even know Shav knew the Fuzzy Wuzzy rhyme; in fact, I'm still not sure where he heard it and when he learned it.  But the fact that he took that little rhyme and made up a second verse?  Well, all I'm saying is he's a clever one, for sure.  ;-)

Here, have a listen...

Shav still seems to think many beginning consonants are optional, so let me write out the words he's saying so you can understand them.

Baldy Waldy was a bear.
Baldy Waldy had some hair.
Baldy Waldy isn't a Baldy Waldy anymore;
He's a Fuzzy Wuzzy!

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy isn't a Fuzzy Wuzzy anymore;
He's a Baldy Waldy!

You can guess how endlessly repetitive this cyclical rhyme can be.  As a matter of fact, Shav was laying on his bed repeating it while I was putting away laundry in his room, just before giving final goodnight hugs and kisses and turning out the light.  I honestly didn't even clue in to what he was saying for a little while; but when I actually listened, it made me smile.

Maybe I should stop and listen more often.  ;-)

Take a Wig and a Robe...

...add a few dramatic boys, and what do you get?

You get lots of silliness, that's what!!  :)

Almost Slipped My Mind

I almost forgot to record the things I wrote on Facebook during the month of October.  For this Information Packrat, it would be tragic to lose those snippets of daily life!  ;-)

Oct. 4 - "Mom's grumpy when she's not feeling well," David told Jeff last night at the dinner table. Which is one of the most true...and sad...and convicting things I've heard recently.   :(

Oct. 5 - "I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages." - Charles Spurgeon - In all honesty, I don't think I can say "I have learned..." But I can truthfully say, "I want to learn..."

Oct. 6 - Care to guess what the anguish of this morning centered around in my household? I'll tell you. It was the thought that Moriah will likely marry someone someday and go off and live somewhere else. To Tobin's mind, that was DREADFUL. He was even worried that her future husband might take her to...gasp...Antarctica! He has decided that he wants to live close by--he even has the piece of land picked out that he wants to build his house on--and he apparently thinks that all of his siblings should stay nearby, too. He was aghast at the thought that Moriah might not do that, all because of some guy, and he told me we should "keep her."  Well, I wasn't planning on getting rid of her anytime soon.  One of the joys of my life is seeing the love that flows between my children. Sometimes that love feels a little prickly, and it rubs like sandpaper...but sometimes it's smooth and deep and altogether beautiful. I cherish those moments. 

Oct. 9 - It wasn't as if I absolutely HAD to have a fire in the woodstove tonight, but the first fire of the season is so much fun - so cozy, so homey. Why wait any longer?  I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it: Josiah, as soon as he came up the steps from the library, exclaimed, "You built a fire?" and then went to stand beside it. I once considered the woodstove in our living room to be an eyesore, but I've since repented of that nonsense and have thanked God numerous times for the wonderful wood heat we have! 

Oct. 11 - Moments that filled my heart with deep joy today:
~ watching Josiah "chase" Moriah back and forth between my room and hers this morning, and hearing her squeal with laughter as he followed her,
~ walking with Moriah around the track at Oakdale Park this afternoon, while watching Josiah and David run around it and Tobin and Shav play on the playground, the little tassel on the hood of Moriah's purple sweater keeping time to the rhythm of her sweet little baby steps,
~ running hand in hand with Shav around the track, then pausing for walking breaks when he said we should, knowing that the thought of doing a full lap was too intimidating for him, but that if I was with him, he could do it,
~ watching Josiah and David caring for Moriah while I was with Shav--Moriah was having fun going up and down a ramp at the park, and her big brothers trailed along behind her like ducks in a row.
I feel immeasurably blessed to get to spend my days with these dear ones that I love so much!


Oct. 12 - The good news: Moriah has learned how to drink out of a straw. The bad news: every time I make a smoothie (which I always drink with a straw), she gestures and grunts until I let her have some...and then she usually ends up drinking most of it! I might need a bigger blender. 

Oct. 14 - For history this year, we are studying the second half of American history, which just happens to be my favorite place and period of history to study. Since we're beginning to talk about the Civil War, tonight as I was doing the supper dishes, I pulled out my CD of the soundtrack to Ken Burns' documentary about the Civil War and enjoyed the music from that time period. And then I got to the Sullivan Ballou letter. Do you think I could get through this without crying? Not a chance. It wasn't even an isn't-this-sad?-now-I-have-a-lump-in-my-throat kind of crying; it was a real-tears-rolling-down-my-cheeks-and-I'm-so-glad-no-one-else-is-around-to-see-me kind of crying. Listening to this reminded me of the book I'm reading aloud to the boys, Across Five Aprils. I've known all along that there was no way I'd be able to make it through that book without crying. After tonight's experience, I'm wondering just how many times I'll cry as I read it, how many (affectionate!) eye rolls my boys will give me, and whether or not I'll be able to finish it or will have to hand it over to Josiah to read it!!

Oct. 15 - There's one less bear roaming our area this morning. Jeff called me from work a little bit ago to let me know that one of his friends shot one--with a bow and arrow, no less! I don't know about you, but if I were going up against a bear, I'd rather have something a little, shall we say, stronger than a bow and arrow! ;-)--and we can have the meat from it. So, I'd better learn how to cook bear!  While Jeff was on the phone with me, he commented on how noisy it was here, and with good reason: Moriah was crying because I had gotten up from where I was sitting with her and she was apparently feeling lonely and abandoned , David was playing Gossec Gavotte on violin, and the other three were running around chasing each other with old sheets and acting like retiarii. Just a normal (noisy!) day in the Fisher household! Jeff has to go to the barber shop to get a little peace and quiet. 

Oct. 15 - Math according to Shav: he popped out of bed and came to the top of the steps just now and announced, "I want three more kisses--one on the forehead, one on the nose, and one on each cheek." Well, dear boy, I will gladly give you the kisses, but just so you know, that makes FOUR. 

Oct. 15 - This is the kind of thing I LOVE! It makes me want to check off how many of these I've read, then grab one I haven't read and start reading. RIGHT NOW. And ignore the dishes that are calling my name in the kitchen. But I'm going to be a good girl and ignore this chart. For now. ;-)

Oct. 19 - Feeling sentimental tonight after attending my 20th year high school reunion today. 

Dug around in an old photo album. Found this picture of the little Fisher family in April of 2003 when Josiah was 10 months old and we were living in Israel. Oh, the memories! I've had such a blessed life... 

Oct. 21 - "When we clean and order our homes, we are somehow also cleaning and ordering ourselves...How we hold the simplest of our tasks speaks loudly about how we hold life itself." ~ Gunilla Norris

Oct. 24 - Many years ago, I bought a book primarily because of the last name of the author: Second Wind by Margaret Anne Huffman. Like too many books I've bought over the years, this one sat on my shelf, unread...until a couple of nights ago when I, wanting something not too heavy, not too light, to read for a few minutes before falling asleep, plucked it off the shelf. In the first chapter, part of the prayer at the end stood out to me and lingers in my thoughts today: "Help me see, Lord, that interruptions are sometimes disguised invitations--invitations into the lives of those we love." Oh yes. If I could mentally replace the word "interruption" with the word "invitation," how much more patience and joy I could bestow on those doing the interrupting...I mean, inviting!! 

Oct. 24 - Today is a very special day: my mother (in this picture, she's holding me when I was just born) turns 72! At the moment, she's carrying wood from our woodpile into our woodshed - she has such a servant's heart. Later tonight, we'll celebrate by eating angel food cake...and since I'm feeling especially decadent, we'll drizzle homemade peach jam over it.  I'm so grateful that God chose her to be my mother!

Oct. 28 - "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove. I would fly away and be at rest." - Psalm 55:6

Oct. 29 - Several years ago, I heard John G. Elliott perform at a conference we attended, and his music stirred my heart--especially my favorite piece of his, "Yet I Will Rejoice." Since then, I have received email devotionals every so often from him, and the one I read this evening was especially good. He was writing about our reluctance to consider ourselves wicked; instead we apply that term only to other people who do REALLY bad things. And then he wrote what convicted my heart: "Oh, if only we would call ourselves 'wicked' when we DO wicked things!! How much easier it would be to humble ourselves if we would simply call things by the same name that God calls them!! Humility would produce a broken heart over our sin and repentance would sweep us into the healing river of God’s presence and our hearts would be revived and refreshed." I need to grow so much in this area--to stop sweeping my own sin under the carpet, but instead to admit it, repent from it, and receive the refreshing growth that comes as a result.

Oct. 29 - Yesterday was a heavy-hearted day for me. Hearing of the death of Sam Whetzel, a local 12-year-old boy with leukemia who seemed to have rallied our entire town to stand with him and his family as he courageously fought his battle with cancer, was enough to cast a gloom over everything. It's silly, isn't it, that the sadness I was feeling for his family suddenly made my laundry pile feel insurmountable, my dirty dishes on the kitchen counter seemed to be stacked to the ceiling and would never get washed, a hole I found in Moriah's purple pants let me know that everything was falling down around my ears, and the fact that we didn't get to history yesterday meant I was a terrible homeschooling mom and was most likely ruining my kids. I knew it was grief that was leading to all my ridiculous overreactions, but simply knowing that didn't turn off my fountain of emotions. It was the kind of day that just needs to be gotten through, with much grace dispensed generously along the way. 

Last night I wanted to write down a count-my-blessings list, but it felt like it would take entirely too much effort to do so.
Tonight I'm ready.
I'm grateful for...
~ the elderly man yesterday in Finders Keepers (a local discount store) who watched the procession my children and I made through the aisle in front of him and then remarked to me, "How lucky you are! To have four sons and a daughter!"
~ another man in that store who overheard my discussion with the boys about the bag of candy corn we needed to buy and then kindly interrupted us to point us to a different area of the store where we could buy a bigger bag for a better price.
~ the evening we had here at home together tonight: a simple but delicious supper around the kitchen table, my parents sitting in rocking chairs in the living room and watching their grandchildren play, Moriah's happy mood and ability to be completely content just walking around and playing with this and that (she's been a little sick recently and has been extra-clingy, but tonight she was so pleasant), Josiah helping Jeff study for a test, David playing with LEGOs, Tobin making a design with perler beads, Shav still sitting at the table finishing his soup, me mixing up a batch of hot chocolate mix (how far into the winter will that batch last us?). After a while, my parents went home, Jeff and all the boys drifted toward the LEGOS and built all sorts of things, Moriah climbed the steps by herself and indicated that she was ready for bed, I sat down in the living room after I tucked her in bed and read aloud to the family from Across Five Aprils.
There is such comfort from being at home, surrounded by those I love; it was exactly what my soul needed. Thank You, Lord, for these blessings.

Oct. 31 - The camera of my heart was busy snapping photographs this afternoon as we enjoyed the simple pleasure of being outside on a gorgeous fall afternoon. Some of our Old Order neighbors came over, and my attention was particularly caught by their little boy Jason who is one month older than Shav. He stayed close to me for a little while, helping me put leaves into a bag for next year's garden mulch; but he got distracted by Moriah and wandered away, following her. He got down on his knees in the leaves, and she went right up to him and gave him one of her kisses--not a real kiss since she doesn't know how to do that yet, but a let-me-put-my-face-really-close-to-you-and-sniff-a-little-bit kind of Moriah kiss. It was precious and sweet in the pure innocence of childhood (NOT in any sense of a "ooo, who's your little boyfriend?" because I honestly don't like that at all), and my heart's camera went "click." Moriah can be pretty clingy to me sometimes, but to see her affection for Jason and his tenderness towards her made me smile. A while later, after the neighbors had gone, we were continuing to work at bagging leaves when suddenly, the wind started gusting very strongly, causing a fresh rain of leaves to fall from the trees and fly through the air. Josiah, David, and Tobin were DELIGHTED; and they raced to catch the leaves as they came towards the earth--a harder task than you might imagine. After each gust, they shouted, "Do it again, God! Do it again!" And He did, gust after gust, to the great joy of my boys. I, on the other hand, was wondering if we needed to take cover and whether the loud, creaking sounds I was hearing were the corners of my neighbor's barn roof beginning to blow off. My sons had no such concerns and were simply enjoying the feel of the wind, the sight of the leaves, and the joy of being alive on such a fine, warm day in the autumn. My heart went "click" as I watched my boys cavort across the yard with arms outstretched to catch the racing leaves, and I breathed a prayer of gratitude for these good gifts.

Oct. 31 - The end of October has come and, with it, the end of David's first official joke-a-day month. He's eager to do more, so we'll see how that unfolds... :) Meanwhile, THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who clicked over, watched his videos, (hopefully) smiled at his jokes, maybe left a comment, etc. It meant SO MUCH to him to receive affirmation from you. (Not to mention how much it warmed my heart to see my boy so happy...) We are very grateful!! :)

Let Me Tell You about My Mom

The evening before she turned 72, my mom did this.

Not very dignified of her, was it?  ;-)

To tell you the truth, I was thrilled to see her acting this way...and so were my boys.  David remembered when Grandma had played balloon ball with him some years ago, and he was eager for a repeat performance.

Connecting the generations, adding fullness of life to my parents in their older years, making happy memories together--this is why we live here.

As I mentioned earlier, we had angel food cake for my mother's birthday.

Some traditions are too good to ever change.  :)

After supper, I showed Mother the picture of her and I that I had put on Facebook, and she smiled and laughed as she read the kind comments people left there, wishing her a happy birthday.

Before my parents headed down the hill to their house that night, I snagged the opportunity to have a picture taken with my two favorite girls...  :)

...and then took one of just the two of them.

There's a lot of love between those two.  :)

Some of you may already know that my mother has Alzheimer's Disease.  I haven't written much about it, wanting to respect my parents' privacy and let them tell their own story, so to speak; but during this past year, they've reached a new level of openness and are, I believe, becoming an incredible example to those around them of how to faithfully love and care for each other, whether times are easy or hard.  So I feel more freedom to write about this area of life.

There is so much I could write about this Alzheimer's journey.  So much.  But for tonight, I'll mention only a few things.

My mother has a fairly strong family history of Alzheimer's, with her dad being her closest relative to be afflicted with it.  Since we knew that Alzheimer's has a genetic link, we've "always" been aware that she might develop it; and for quite a few years of her middle-age-and-up life, there were many times of wondering, "Is this it?  Is she developing Alzheimer's?"  But about 10 years ago, my dad realized that yes, the things he was seeing in her were almost certainly because of Alzheimer's, rather than the "normal" forgetfulness that comes with aging.  I had my revelation of that 9 years ago, when my parents came to visit us in Israel in the fall of 2004; being around her that week made me see things in a new light, and I became convinced that we were indeed dealing with Alzheimer's.

Before I go on, let me say that out of everyone in the whole wide world, I don't think God could have found anyone more suited to care for my mom than my dad.  Dad, being a medical doctor, was aware, through the years, of every medical advance that came down the pike; and he immediately utilized virtually every treatment he heard of to try to help Mom.  Besides that, Dad has been interested in nutrition, natural remedies, alternative treatments, etc. so every time he heard about something in those areas that was showing some success in treating Alzheimer's, he investigated and often got Mom involved in those treatments as well.  On top of his strengths in traditional medicine and alternative therapies, my dad is also blessed with a kind, caring, loyal, compassionate nature.  For MANY years, he used those characteristics to care for the patients in his medical practice.  Now his practice is reduced to basically one patient (along with occasional calls for medical advice for his children and grandchildren!) ;-), and he is doing a superb job of loving and caring for Mother.  I appreciate him more than I can express.

* I should add that my dad also works occasionally at a nearby medical clinic that provides care for the conservative and Older Order Mennonite communities, so technically he does have more than one patient.  :)

For having had Alzheimer's for 10 years, my mom is still in amazing shape and is able to function fairly well--so well, in fact, that if you were to spend a short amount of time with her, you might not even realize that she has this disease.  A longer amount of time would convince you though.

As time has gone by, Mother has lost the ability to do certain things--cook meals, for example, since the numerous steps that cooking requires are too challenging for her mind to follow, and that is one of the reasons why they eat their evening meals with us.  But we rejoice in the abilities she retains.  For example, she...
~ plays the piano regularly for church.  Dad has to tell her what to play and when to play it, and the Sunday mornings when she plays are filled with frequent questions from her and answers from him.  But when she sits at the piano with the music in front of her, her fingers start to dance over those oh-so-familiar 88 keys; and if you were to hear her, you might not believe she even has Alzheimer's!
~ carries wood from the woodpile into the woodshed.  She LOVES to do this--really and truly loves it--probably because it reminds her of her childhood when she worked with wood with her daddy.  With my days full of mothering, homeschooling, and homemaking, it is a huge blessing for me that she takes on this task--and does it so cheerily!  (And, by the way, my boys do some work with the wood, too, and even Jeff on his days off carries in some wood.  But the biggest wood-worker this year is definitely my mom.)
~ picks up sticks from under the trees.  We use those sticks for kindling, and my mom's labor in this way makes it so much easier for me to start fires in our woodstove.  This is another job that she LOVES to do.
~ makes stevia-sweetened iced tea for us.  Almost every evening, she faithfully carries up a gallon of tea for us to enjoy, and Jeff and I are so thankful for this!
~ helps with the dishes sometimes.  Another job she loves to do.
~ loves my kids (and Jeff and I, too, of course!).  She might not remember their names (although she does always seem to remember Moriah's!), but she recognizes them as belonging to us and she loves them deeply.

A few years ago, I was talking with Mom and asking her, in essence, how she felt about the future.  I wish I could have recorded her reply.  With so much peace and calm assurance in her voice, she told me that she isn't afraid of the future.  She said that, when she was younger, she had watched the members of her family care, with an abundance of love and patience, for those who had developed Alzheimer's; and she knew that we would care for her in such a way.  Her acceptance, confidence, and security was astonishing and blessed my heart so much.

Despite the downward progression of the disease and the way it's almost entirely eliminated her short-term memory, my mother continues to have an amazing spirit about her.  She is so grateful.  Every night before they leave our house after dinner, she pauses for a moment to thank me for the food and for the time together.  Every night.  

She is cheerful and cooperative.  If I go down to her house and ask her if she'd like to come up to carry in wood, she smiles brightly and says, "Oh, yes!"

If she wakes up from a nap on Friday afternoon and thinks that it's Sunday morning and starts putting on church clothes, she responds with good humor to being corrected, and laughs as she tells me about it.

She is open about having Alzheimer's and is willing to tell people about it.  She's accepted it and sometimes brings it up in conversation.

She is warm and loving, affectionate, joyful, and most of all appreciative.  I cannot emphasize this enough: her level of gratitude is probably higher than that of anyone I've ever known.  She is SO thankful for Dad and cheerfully leans on him to, in a sense, be her brain.

Alzheimer's isn't a disease I would wish on anyone; and if you've ever been close to someone who had it, you already know the unique challenges it brings.  But I've learned that as we--and our parents--age, we don't really get to choose the path our bodies and minds will take.  Since God has laid out this path in front of us, we will walk it, trusting Him for the strength to face each day and each new stage of the disease.  

And over and over, I'll remember that my dearly loved mother is just about the best Alzheimer's patient in the history of the world!  :)  And I'll whisper "thank You, God" again and again for that.

Josiah & David's Room {Bringing Order from Chaos}

One night, I had had enough.  E-N-O-U-G-H, I tell you!  

The constant state of messiness in Josiah and David's room was driving me NUTS, and I knew it was bothering them, too.  After all, who wants to live in a room that has so much clutter on the floor that you can't even find a clear spot to set up a game or create a battle scene with LEGOs?  And who wants to have such a mess in the bottom of your closet that you literally can't find two shoes that match because there's a huge heap of STUFF that doesn't belong there and when you dive in to find some shoes, all you come up with is one flip-flop and one croc, and you have to leave in two minutes to go somewhere and WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?  And who wants to grab a pair of pants to pull on in the chilly fall morning, but then discover that they're an inch too short...and then pull out another pair, only to discover, when you put them on, that they're two inches too short?  And who wants to have to pay a fine at the library because you've lost one of their books, which you find months later stuck between the bedroom wall and the back of the dresser?  (True stories, all!)

The mess had gotten so bad that I knew it was truly beyond the ability of Josiah and David to clean up.  There was simply too much stuff, so the old adage, "A place for everything, and everything in its place," couldn't possibly work.  The boys needed my help to get rid of lots of items and then figure out where the remaining ones could go.  The hope then was that the work of maintaining a clean, organized bedroom could be done by them (and, I'm happy to report, even though I'm skipping ahead in the story to do so, they have for about a week so far!).  :)

Late one night, I couldn't stand it any longer, so I threw my to-do list with its numerous jobs into the fireplace and focused on only one task: cleaning up their room.  Here was the state of their room at that time:

Even though I knew it was a MAJOR project we were undertaking, I decided to go ahead and make it even bigger by moving the beds while we were at it.  Josiah, David, and I managed to unbunk (debunk?) their beds while Jeff was gone at work; and the boys were so eager that evening to show him what we had accomplished.  :)  Even though moving the furniture meant more work, it actually gave me MUCH more enthusiasm for the project.  Why?  Well, just because it's fun to change the furniture around!  :)

The boys and I did a little of the work that night, but then devoted most of the following day to our project...and when I say "most of the day," I mean we even skipped doing our regular school work so that every minute Moriah was in bed, I could be working in Josiah and David's room.  You can imagine that when I asked Josiah and David if it was OK with them if we didn't have school that day so that I could help them with their room, they were quite enthusiastic in their shouts of joy!  :)

One thing I want to remember from that clean-up day is that as lunchtime approached, I was making good progress in their room and didn't want to stop my work; but I knew the boys would be hungry soon and would need some lunch.  I decided to ask Josiah to take charge of lunch, assisted by David.  The boys have helped me with various food preparation tasks before, of course; but this was the first time Josiah was in charge, and do you know what?  He loved it!!  :)  Both he and David did a super job of getting out food--peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was the main dish--and meeting the needs of their younger brothers, and they did it with such a great attitude.  It warmed my heart to hear them work cheerfully in the kitchen while I was upstairs working just as cheerfully in their bedroom.  It also made me laugh a little when they sat down to eat and realized they needed to pray.  They started to say the Lord's Prayer together, but couldn't quite remember the words; I wish I would have written down what they came up with because it was really cute.  But then after they fumbled through that, one of them--Josiah, I believe--prayed a regular prayer, and then they happily gobbled up their brother-prepared lunches.  I'm thinking I need to put Josiah and David in charge of lunches more often!  :)

Most of the work was accomplished in the first twenty-four hours after my original video, but there were a few tasks that I ended up finishing a day or two after that.  In the end, however, the room--the entire room--every nook and cranny of it (except a little storage closet that opens from their room and leads up to the attic and holds luggage and other random items)--was clean, neat, and organized.

I'm not sure who was more delighted with it: Josiah, David, or me!  :)

Today--a week after our project--I snapped some pictures of their room which is, happily, still neat and organized.  :)

One thing I did to help keep it neat was to eliminate everything under their beds except one storage box under each one.  The one under David's bed holds LEGOs, and the one under Josiah's has weapons.  (Yes, in a household that includes four boys, you need a weapons box.)  :)  One homemaking tip I've learned is that even if you HAVE space, you don't have to FILL it; and under their beds is a perfect example of this.  With just one storage box each, it's super simple to figure out what goes where--and get it there!

You would not believe the amount of stress that has been taken off my shoulders, knowing that the clothes in the dresser and in the closet actually fit Josiah and David!  I used to dread them calling down to me in the morning, "Mom, I can't find my choir t-shirt.  Do you know where it is?" or "All I have to wear is shorts, but it's too cold.  Where are my pants?" or "I can't find any clean underwear!"  Now I get far fewer calls like that.  (Well, maybe I still hear the underwear one, but that's usually because they haven't emptied their laundry bins yet.)  ;-)

The night we began the project, David was feeling a little troubled by the thought of me getting rid of a lot of his stuff!  He is a packrat, just like I was when I was his age, and he was nervous that I would throw out something (or a lot of somethings!) that were really important to him.  We had a big talk about it that night, and I tried to find the balance of reassuring him that I wasn't going to throw away all his precious stuff while also challenging him that he needed to throw away some of his precious stuff!  :)  The next day as we were working together, I was so proud of him because he really did a great job of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, and he narrowed down his possessions even more than I thought he would.

The main reason we arranged the room in such an odd way with the beds positioned this way is all because of this:

Those square feet of empty floor space, blocked by the beds so that Moriah can't get into them, are prize real estate!  Great battles have been fought there already.  Creative building projects have been started.  LEGOs have flown through various galaxies.  It's absolutely amazing what happens when you have clear space!

Let me repeat that last line:  it's absolutely amazing what happens when you have clear space.

I am as happy as can be that, at the current time, Josiah and David's room is an example of that; and I am going to try my hardest to keep it that way!!  :)