Little jugglers

Watching a local juggler and reading library books about juggling makes the Fuller boys want to learn how to juggle.

So a request was made for some juggling balls.

I always love a project that doesn't require a trip to the store for any supplies. This one used old socks and white rice. Just don't look too closely at the hand stitching.

Addendum

Just a few more thoughts about the pomodoro technique:

**In my last post I listed playing with my kids as one of my pomodoros, and it seemed like it got lumped in with all the other annoying/mundane tasks. Sad. So I just wanted to say that I do enjoy playing with them and don't consider it an annoying/mundane task, but sadly, sometimes I actually have to schedule a chunk of time just for them where I promise not to be interrupted or get distracted. That's why I think making it a pomodoro and doing it at least once, and hopefully several times throughout the day will be better for all of us.

**If you read the actual technique, you know that it is recommended that once the timer goes off, the task should be abandoned completely for a 5 minute break. This, to me, is why this technique is the opposite of overwhelming. It makes things so manageable.

"When the Pomodoro rings, this signals that the current activity is peremptorily (though temporarily) finished. You’re not allowed to keep on working “just for a few more minutes”,even if you’re convinced that in those few minutes you could complete the task at hand.The 3-5 minute break gives you the time you need to “disconnect” from your work.This allows the mind to assimilate what’s been learned in the last 25 minutes, and also provides you with the chance to do something good for your health, which will help you to do your best during the next Pomodoro."

**It will definitely take some creative application to make this work in a home setting, as all the suggestions and examples given seem to be geared toward making employees more productive in their full-time jobs. It is not unrealistic to expect someone who is at work, getting paid for doing their job to be more productive and try to minimize interruptions. It is a bit unrealistic to expect a mother with small children to work hard on tasks all day long, ignoring the interruptions, i mean children, who need her attention at random times throughout the day.

**What I'm going to try and do each day is make a list of tasks I want done. Then, instead of doing them here and there and half-heartedly all day long, which is what I have been doing, I will make each one a pomodoro to get them done efficiently and quickly. This will hopefully eliminate the guilt and feelings of unproductivity that I feel most days, because I will see things getting accomplished, and all the other time can be focused on taking care of the needs of the children, and my own needs, you know, like blogging & reading blogs, sewing, reading books, napping, cooking.

**This might not be the last post about this whole concept. Can you tell I'm really excited about it?

The Pomodoro Technique

Having just read this blog post today, I am now so interested in this idea of measuring time in "pomodoros" to become more efficient and productive. What is a pomodoro? In a nutshell, it is a 25 minute block of time, marked by an actual timer, in which you commit to do one specific task without interruption until said timer rings. Then you abandon that task, take a five minute break and move on to the next pomodoro.

I have previously confessed what a terrible housekeeper I am, and have been searching for a system of daily organizing and tidying that doesn't overwhelm me after one day. I have tried several and abandoned them all, mostly because I just don't like to become a slave to a specific schedule of cleaning.

But at the same time, I know that when my house is tidy, I feel more calm, content, and am less likely to lose my temper with my children and husband. They certainly deserve that on a daily basis.

That's why I went out today and bought myself a portable timer. I first began using the timer on my microwave, but couldn't hear it beep at the other end of my small house, go figure. Just today alone I finished 5 different planned pomodoros including 25 minutes each of laundry, kitchen detail, playing with my kids, and general tidying up and removing household clutter.

After just one day, I already feel more productive. I think even the most mundane and annoying tasks are better handled when there is a visible end. I look forward to implementing this even more in the coming weeks.

Check out the whole program here. It is a free download, and very helpful.

A family project

After the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, we were asked by our church leaders to pray for those affected; for peace in their hearts, that their suffering would be easier to bear, and that they would have patience in their trials. I'm absolutely certain the members of our church were not unique in offering these prayers; I imagine people all over the world were pleading with heaven for spiritual and temporal relief for these people.

I appreciated the reminder to make our prayers more about others and less about ourselves, and especially to teach our boys to think of others, even strangers suffering in faraway lands.

I wanted our family to participate not only in the spiritual relief through our prayers but also the temporal relief.

After reading several articles about how, immediately following the earthquakes, the LDS Church Humanitarian Services had sent thousands of hygiene kits to both Haiti and Chile, we decided that this is how we would participate. The website says that in a typical year they give out approximately 1 million of these kits each year.

Throughout the month of March, the boys completed many extra jobs around our house to earn money to pay for the supplies for one hygiene kit each. We purchased items little by little and then last week we assembled four kits and got them ready to ship.

I love this project, because these are items that we use everyday, so the boys can see the benefit of sending them to people in an emergency. It is a simple, relatively inexpensive way to provide service to those in need. Anyone can participate--Humanitarian Services is always accepting more kits and there is no minimum. You can ship them to the address given here, or take them to a local Bishops Storehouse.

Now the prayers offered around our house include pleas like this: "please bless the people in Haiti and Chile, and make sure our hygiene kits get there."