Aug. 9, 2009 - Home Making
We are well into our busy season and Darin and I are counting down the days until November. ;-) We are homebodies deep down and all the going is really stretching us! It's funny...in high school and college I was always extremely busy. I was one of those girls who was too busy to do much dating. I loved it. It was easy to juggle everything since I was a single gal. Now that we have five kids and one on the way, I've had to readjust my mental frame of mind to realize that it's okay to not be so busy with outside activities because I have replaced the outside stuff with my children, husband, homeschooling and housework. It's really sad to me to hear other mothers denigrate the importance of what there is to be done at home in favor of outside activities.
I love what J.R. Miller wrote in Home-Making:
"We are fast moving on through this world. Soon all that will remain of us will be the memories of our lives. No part of our work will then afford such a true test of our living as the memorials we leave behind us in our homes. No other work that God gives any of us to do is so important, so sacred, so far-reaching in its influence, so delicate and easily marred as our home-making. This is the work of all our life that is most divine. The carpenter works in wood, the mason works in stone, the smith works in iron, the artist works on canvas, but the home-maker works on immortal lives. The wood or the stone or the iron or the canvas may be marred, and it will not matter greatly in fifty years; but let a tender human soul be marred in its early training, and ages hence the effects will still be seen. whatever else we slight, let it never be our home-making. If we do nothing else well in this world, let us at least build well within our own doors."
• 5 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 16, 2009 - Bizzeee, bizzeee, bizzeee!
Darin and I are entering a time of life that we never truly realized we would be entering. We started out a very busy family. Co-Op, tons of church activities, playdates & etc. After two or three years of that whirlwind we were happy to get off. The negative impact all that had on our family was not what Darin and I were looking for. A lot of people might say it was "normal kid stuff." We don't think there has to be such a thing as normal kid stuff. So we went the total opposite way and have been accused on more than one occaision of sheltering our kids too much. So be it. We have been able to focus on other "normal human stuff" with our kids - i.e. sin. It's been nice to have the time to work on character issues with our kids that we didn't have time for before because of all our running around.
But life with a big family constantly changes. The things we have been able to do for our older children we are probably not going to be able to do in the same way for the younger set. Ben is going to be playing football this fall which will take us out of the house three or four times each week. Add in AWANA at church on Sunday nights, chiropractor visits, piano lessons and other misc. committments and we're back in the busy life again. I went to DonnaYoung.org and downloaded some calendar pages for the rest of the year and filled them out. Once AWANA starts, we will have somewhere to be every day of the week!
We just don't want to be so busy outside the home, but Ben is at the age (he'll be a Freshman in high school this year) where he truly needs to start exploring his interests and working out just what he wants to do. Right now he has a list of things he wants to "be." We're hoping to help him narrow that down. One of the things on his list is Football Coach. So we're gonna let him go get all roughed up every week to see how he likes it. ;-)
It should be an interesting fall! The great thing is that everything seems to come to an end all at once in the first week of November. Good thing. I will be in the last month of pregnancy by then, doing my Jabba the Hut impersonation, and not moving too quickly. Just TRY to get me off the couch by then. ;-)
• 9 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 11, 2009 - Random
I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30. Darin woke me up at 11:30 to go to bed, but now I can't sleep. There's so much going on in my head. Thinking about our new baby. In NINE days we will know if this baby is a boy or girl. The name will be Stephen if it's a boy, but we're still haggling over a girl name. Darin still likes Beatrice. I like Helen. At this point, we're sick of talking about it. ;-) Really, in the past, when we've been able to settle on a name for a boy or girl first, the baby ends up being the gender of that name. It has worked with every baby so far. We'll see in nine days!
Ben is in Colorado with his Aunt, Uncle and Cuz. We miss him. Henry especially. Poor Henry. He's just 3 and doesn't get it. He thinks Ben should "come home now." So do I, but I guess we'll survive till he gets back. I know he's going to have a load of fun on this trip.
I'm craving a chai from Starbucks.
We are going to a new chiropractor! This guy is the cat's meow, man. We have benefitted from chiropractic adjustments for three years now and are excited, thinking that we will benefit even more with this new doctor. Darin has begun to experience some numbness and weakness in his hands and I am especially anxious for him to get better. Our new chiro said the section of spine that this is related to is in Darin's neck and also relates to heart issues and high blood pressure. Darin has been diagnosed with high blood pressure which we've kept in check with cod liver oil. I'm praying hard that these issues are worked out for him with this new chiropractor.
Today I was cleaning up in the office - toys everywhere. Sophia (19 mos) came in the room and backed into my lap for some cuddling. I can't resist that.
This pregnancy has left me highly sensitive to noise. Hmmmmm. Not a good thing with five other kids in the house! My impulse is to take all of them up to our bed and for us to all nap the day away. But you know, they don't want to take naps all day! LoL In fact, we are in a phase where the boys cannot stop roughhousing, and they are all very testy with each other and each seems to want to be the parent of all the others. I have to call out to God for every bit of patience He can spare. Spending hours at the pool three times each week has helped a little because it wears them out, but I'm concerned about their hearts. Darin and I keep telling each other, "just be water over the rock. Water over the rock. Make their rough edges smooth."
My niece has been able to hook up with her birth father's family and I'm so glad for her.
Okay. I think I can probably go to sleep now. Yawwwwwwwn.
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jul. 7, 2009 - 10 Years Ago
On the 4th of July we bought a month-long membership to our local Community Activity Center. We're taking the month off from school - sorta - so we thought it would be a fun thing for the kids. They've got the indoor/outdoor pool thing going with all the slides, lazy river and stuff.
When we arrived at the pool, Darin and I couldn't believe the TATOOS all over the place! We live in a fairly conservative suburb of Dallas. Anywhere ya go, you're gonna see khaki shorts and boat shoes. It's inevitable. Little did we realize what everyone was covering up with their khakis! Oh my. I mean, these people kind of scared us a little. And it wasn't just the men. It was the women, too. I think we saw just about every symbol of the Chinese alphabet. The only thing missing was the heart tatoo with "Mom" written in the middle. But I guess that was another generation.
As I looked around, I noticed that all of the peeps with tatoos looked to be in their early 30's. They mostly had one or two very young kids. They were in the same place Darin I were in....er....10 years ago.
It just made me think of all the things that can happen in 10 years. 10 years ago it was not at all common, as far as I know, for women to cover themselves with tatoos like I saw at the pool on Saturday. I mean, really. I wish I had pictures!!!!!
10 years ago, Darin and I only had two children. A three and one year old.
10 years ago, Darin and I were at the beginnings of understanding what it really means to live our lives for Christ. Thank God, He's still teaching us all that.
10 years ago, although Darin and I loved our babies, we did not truly understand yet what REAL blessings they are.
10 years ago, Darin was still finding his way in the Web World. He taught himself everything he knows. He's our first homeschooler in the family. Now he's a pro and has even written a book with a friend about it.
10 years ago, we were just gearing up to begin homeschooling Ben. I started with him when he was 4 because I was just so darn excited. We did Preschool three times a week until I got pregnant with Jack. Then we took it down to two days. ;-) Oh, am I ever glad to be out of the homeschooling newbie stage. Life is so much more manageable these days.
10 years ago, my car was a 2-door Honda Civic. Today I tool around in a Chevy Suburban and once this baby is born, it will officially be FULL.
10 years ago we were able to sing Prince's "1999" and really mean it. Although, really, I never partied "like it's 1999" because I got pregnant with Jack in October and I slept from then on. But we had fun singing it!
Okay, okay. I guess I could go on forever. It's just interesting, thinking of all that happens in 10 years. Gets me started thinking about 10 years from NOW. Oyve. I don't want to go there yet! :-)
• 3 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
May. 21, 2009 - Poison Ivy
Well. It's been weird around here the last week and a half. Back on May 9th, our family got together with the rest of Darin's family for a photo session in a beautiful park close by. We had a great time, but the entire time, Henry wanted to get and get over to the waterfall to play. It was a busy day in that park. TONS of people were there getting their pictures taken, and the waterfall was a hot spot. Our photographer took us to a gorgeous bridge where we took most of our pics. So we were finally done, and Henry and I braved the irritation of the other photographers to go stand on the edge of the waterfall for just a minute! :-) Henry had a leaf he wanted to throw in so he could watch it go down the falls. He couldn't quite get it into the water. It kept landing just short, in the weeds. So I retrieved his leaf for him each time, until he finally got the leaf in. Woohoo! Success. :-)
The problem is that I got poison ivy from that little jaunt by the water, and I don't just get poison ivy. It gets me! The last time I had it, it was on my legs, arms, face, stomach....everywhere. I went to the dr. for it and she gave me a steroid pill. I was back two days later and she gave me the pill AND a steroid shot. My friend's neighbor thought that I was a burn victim. The nurses at the doctor's office were afraid they would be the one asked to be my nurse. When my doctor wanted me to get a blood allergy test, the phlebotomist (my next door neighbor!) was afraid to touch me. God bless them all. I would have been freaked out, too! But just so everyone knows....it's a bloodstream thing. The poison is passed around our bodies through our blood. Not contact. :-)
Anyway, after the shot and pill combo, I spent two days being wide awake, but the stuff was gone. This time, it was only on my arms and a little tiny bit on my chest and stomach, so I thought I could handle it on my own. I especially wanted to do this because I really didn't want to take drugs while pregnant. I could just kick myself. I tried just about every home remedy I could get my hands on, but ended up at the doctor's office on Wednesday afternoon with a low grade fever and infected poison ivy. Waaaah! So now I'm taking oral steroids for a week, an antibiotic for the infection, and have to take Claritin for 2 months. My doctor said this will be a slooooowwww recovery and I believe her. After two days on the antibiotics, I don't feel all that much better. I am frustrated with not being able to do much! Thank God that Darin was able to stay home today and help me take care of everything around here. What peace of mind that brought! It was also nice to have some meals stashed in the freezer that we've been able to use. God is good.
• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Apr. 9, 2009 - Misc.
My older brother came for a visit this past week. OH MY GOODNESS. What a nice time we had. I come from a family of six and he is10 years older than me. He left home when I was in 2nd grade, and I haven't seen too much of him since. When I was a teen, he was beginning his family. When I was starting my family, he was on the tail end of raising his....busy, busy, busy. Now he's a Papaw and has time to travel to see his little sister! Love it. I almost cried when we went to church together and sang the hymns and praise songs standing side by side. Is that corny? Whatever. I loved it.
Here's a picture of him and my sister-in-law, Shirley, holding my babies. This is when we went to pick-up our goat's milk and fresh eggs. The kids love to go visit the goats and feed them leaves from the bushes that grow by their pen.
Oh my. I just tried to download those great once in a lifetime pictures, but they're gone. NOTE TO SELF: Do not allow 8-year-old to play with camera anymore.
In other news, I did it. Someone sent me one of those cheesy questionnaires that are so fun to fill out. In the one I got, we could only answer the questions with one word.
When it came to this question: Hobbies?
I took the plunge and typed: Family.
GASP! REALLY? Yes. Really. I know that these days that is total sacrilege, but yes, really, I love doing things for and with my family. Why can't that be my hobby? Yes, I do stuff like cross stitch and knitting, but that's for during those times when Darin is reading a good book to us in the evenings, or when we sit down together in the afternoons to listen to one of our favorite men, John MacArthur. Really, it keeps me from falling asleep, which is what I tend to do if I'm sitting still.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 15, 2009 - Imperfect Motherhood
The other day I was talking with an acquaintance who has three children. We both homeschool our kids, so we were talking shop. She looked around at my five kids and asked, "How do you do it all?"
My reply was pretty quick. "I don't do it all." She literally shook her head and gave me one of those disgusted sounds. She was not happy with my answer.
Another day, I was chatting with a new friend at Starbucks about schoolish things. She was struggling to find the right curriculum combination. Her oldest is the same age as my oldest. After she finished her tale, I filled her in on my own quest for Ben. Poor guy. I constantly apologize to him for having to be the oldest - the guinea pig. When I finished, I learned very quickly that she had called the meeting at Starbucks because she thought I was going to give her the equation she needed in her struggle. When I finished talking she said, "Well. You're in the same situation I am. You don't know either!"
It's strange. There's the crowd out there who thinks I'm completely insane because Darin and I have five kids. They shake their heads at me and wonder how I could ever have time to love all my kids equally. Then there's the crowd who thinks that just because I've given birth five times, that I have all the answers to parenting, marriage and homeschooling. I break these ladies' hearts all the time because just like them, I learn as I go, yet they think that I have some magic formula that will make their days hum.
Every new baby brings new experiences that I've never dealt with. Every grade level for my oldest brings new territory to explore and learn from. Circumstances that surround our school days are never static. One week we're dealing with our Daddy working long hours. The next week, I've got a cold, the next week no one wants to do their work, the next week...and so on. It's all new. Life constantly changes, and yet we somehow make it through. Chores and schoolwork get done. We have fun together. We make it to church together. And so how do we do even that?
The first is that we don't sweat the small stuff. I was so serious when I told my friend that I don't do everything. I don't. I just don't. Laundry, house cleaning, cooking dinner....that stuff is optional, my friends. It's a-okay to dig a pair of jeans and a t-shirt out of the dryer for the day. It's perfectly dandy to forget to dust the mantle for awhile. No one will have an asthma attack over it. PB&J on those hectic days is grand.
The second, and last principle I work extra hard at applying to my days is discipline. My biggest fault is that I love to get things done on that dang "mental list of things to do." When we first started this journey, if it seemed we weren't going to be able to cross everything off that list, I could feel myself start to get tense. But that's when everyone else starts to get tense and tempers flare cause you know what they say - if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!
So I've disciplined myself to stick to the goal - the vision - the mission statement that Darin and I agreed on when we started homeschooling. Rather than crumbling into a heap and giving up, I've learned to move on to the next thing, then the next, and the next. Giving up is not an option. Freaking out is not an option. Choosing self-control always gets more done than losing it.
And that's all. Once we can all accept imperfection, we'll all be a much happier bunch. ;-)
• 6 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Feb. 7, 2009 - What a Wonderful World
It's been rough around here for me since 2009 started! So far, I've had a chest cold, a stomach thingy, and a head cold. I can finally feel myself coming out of the fog. Back when I had the stomach thingy, I really did wonder if I was dying. ;-)
But here I am, wading through a ton of email and trying to get caught up with life agan. Man, is my house sticky! Until I can get back here, I thought I would share this YouTube video that The Bluedorns shared in their most recent e-newsletter.
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Jan. 17, 2009 - Lovely, Love My Family
I'm not a big fan of Yo Gabba Gabba, but I love this song that was on their show. It's my newest favorite. :-)
Here are the words:
All we need, all we need. All we need.
Spread the love around, yeah
Sometimes when I am sitting by myself
Those quiet moments when not with no one else
I’m mesmerized by all the many good things in my life
I think about the time when I was younger
And the older that I get the more that I feel wiser
With the love of friends and
Get stronger and it carries me on through
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
Sometimes when I am
The sun shines bright and I feel peace like nowhere else
I know I'm in good health and life keeps going, I keep moving, I’m alright
I go to school and educate my mind, and the way the world is spinning
makes me want to turn around and start all over, hit the reset and go back in time.
Oh baby love me
Oh spread the love around, yeah
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Dec. 28, 2008 - Chicken Invaders
I have a weakness. It's a computer game called Chicken Invaders. A couple years back when my little bro was here for a visit, he got all of us hooked - except my husband, Darin. He thinks it's a silly game. But that didn't stop him from getting it for ME for Christmas this year. Oyve. What I think Darin has forgotten is that we have had this game in our possession before, and I puposefully deleted it from all the computers in the house. I just had to. I was addicted. If there was any sort of lull in the day - no matter how long or short - I always ended up drifting over to the computer to play for a bit. So I nipped the problem in the bud and deleted it. Game Over, man.
But now it's back. I think I'm old enough to handle the challenge of the addiction now. We don't allow computer games during the week. Only during the weekends, with a time limit. I'm not allowing myself to pull out the "I'm the mommy, I can play whenever I want" routine. No playing during the week applies to me, too!
I'm a member of a Charlotte Mason yahoogroup. Really, I'm a huge lurker, but at least I'm an active lurker - I read and digest every conversation. So good. Everyone is chatting about "Habit" right now. One of the ladies wrote in today, and I just have to share with you a snippet of what she wrote because it spoke to me about all the good habits I'm trying to instill in my kids, and beat into myself in an attempt at proving that an old dawg can learn new tricks. Here goes:
________________________________________________________________
Quoting CM:
“It is necessary that the mother be always on the alert to nip in the bud the bad habit her children may be in the act of picking up from servants or from other children." (inserting my own commentary here. I cannot let the servants-thing pass without a sigh! SIGH)
How often do I hear "Why can't I? So-and-so does it!" Trying to be the child's ally and not just saying "Because I said so!" is challenging and really gets my brain working. When I take time and work with the child to find solutions, there is less friction and my mind does not persist in the same ruts and feel so tired of covering the same road.
Again, quoting CM:
"Tact, watchfulness, and persistence are the qualities she must cultivate in herself; and, with these, she will be astonished at the readiness with which the child picks up the new habit. "
Without tact, I'm a nag.
Without watchfulness, I'm inconsistent.
Without persistence, I'm weak.
________________________________________________________________________________
So good. Consistency is the key. Persistence is the only way to stay consistent. Asking God for passion for the job He's given me is the only way I can stay persistent. The ONLY way. Outside of God's inspiration, the only things I want to do is read, take naps and keep a perfectly clean house. Inside God's will - that passion He's placed in my heart - I want to "lay down my life" (John 15:13)for my husband and children.
Now that I have a handle on that Chicken Invaders has no hold over me. ;-)
• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Last Page | Next Page
.gif)
