Heart for Home blogged recently about the television. She wanted to know how other homeschool families deal with the television. I had been meaning to respond to her on this but I was delayed a few days, then last night we had an incident with the tv and I figured it was time to address it.

Let me start by saying that we do own a tv. It is in our bedroom and we have a vcr/dvd player hooked up to it. We live in the country so we have no television signal. The only things we can watch are movies or videos. We also have a dvd player installed in our suburban. I resisted this idea for a while, but when traveling 800 miles with 6 kids it is nice to have them entertained for a while. And even though at some point in my life I had visions of singing songs, license plate bingo, and other fun games, the reality is that tv makes traveling a lot easier.

That being said, I still make poor, uninformed choices about the movies my kids watch. My husband has said, "maybe we should just say that we don't watch movies." to which I replied, "we don't?" He then asked me what good comes from the kids watching Hollywood movies, and I said, "well pretty much nothing." And then I thought about all the bad and it seemed pretty bad.

So, is the tv inherently evil, I don't really think so. But is what is on tv evil, yes, I would say, most of the time there is very little of redeming value on television.

If you think of some of the movies that have been produced in the last several years.

Little Mermaid - disobey your father and you will find true love and acceptance

Mulan- disobey your father and you will find true love and save your country

The Incredibles- if this movie wasn't animated it would be rated PG 13 for violence and sexual overtones.

Ice Age- Evolution, evolution, evolution.....

I could go on and on,

Besides all of the poor values, violence, and potty humor conveyed in current media there is a deeper issue.

When kids sit in front of the tv on a regular basis they develop an appetite for entertainment. They become less creative, less willing to serve, less able to work together. Watching tv together as a family doesn't promote family togetherness. There is no interaction, there are no conflicts to resolve, they are just being entertained.

There are so many more worthwhile activities that our children could be doing, why would we want to fill their lives with something that has so little worth.

My goal for my children is that they become followers of Christ, leaders, disciples for Him. I want them to find joy in serving others not in serving themselves. In my opinion, a constant dose of tv and movies is not compatible with the life I would like my children to lead.

I would encourage those of you who are struggling with this issue, go through your movies. Do they promote the same ideas that you believe are right for your family? If so great, if not throw them away. Don't send mixed messages to your kids, what is okay for them to watch is not okay for them to mimic. If our message to our children is clear, it will be easier for them to follow, if it is cloudy they can easily become lost.

I would challenge you to find someone who grew up without tv or movies and ask them if they have any regrets? Then find someone who grew up with a tv in every room and full cable and ask them the same question.

This post is not meant to insult or criticize anyone, just to get you thinking.....

Today my oldest son turns ten. It is hard to believe that our sick little baby has grown into a strong, healthy, happy young man. He has never met an animal he didn't like or a person he didn't want to help. He has the sweetest spirit of anyone I know. He also loves being outside, riding his bike, fishing, hiking, or just sitting in the closest tree. He is a reflection of his father in many ways.

And whenever he turns up missing I know to check the local creek, where we usually find him, fully dressed, knee deep in water, with a pocket full of crawdads. He is truly 100% boy, but is growing up into a delightful young man.

We love you!

For those of you who are not related to me and read this blog feel free to skip this entry, I am sure you are all getting bored with the photos! These are for Dad!

This one was just too cute not to post!

She spent more time in the pool tonight and is getting used to the water. She lasted about 30 minutes and then got tired and went to bed. Tomorrow I think we will try her in her float again to see if she likes it!

There are many things that childbirth classes do not teach you. I could go on and on about how woefully unprepared I was when our first child came into this world. But as time wore on and the kids kept coming I became a little more adept at handling things. There is one thing, that I will never get used to...

Yesterday we were all in the pool. My two year old daughter who is absolutely fearless in the water decided it was time to swim without her life vest. So we took it off and she swam a few feet back and forth from a person to the steps and back. She was actually quite good at swimming. She did this for about 20 minutes. (What I wasn't noticing in all of this excitement was how much water she was swallowing)

 Finally I decided to have her swim to me, she had been swimming to my dad and her big sister. So she jumps off the steps and swims to me. I lift her up out of the water and then she burps this phenomenal burp right in my face.The smell from this was so disgusting that I almost threw up. Then I looked down in the water and she hasn't burped on me she has puked on me. Nice!

No matter how many kids I have, or how many times it happens I will never, ever get used to being thrown up on.

We are currently enjoying a little vacation in Florida with family. The kids are having a great time swimming and playing with cousins. Here are some of our pictures so far.

The Rope Swing

First swim in the pool

Yes, she is crying in this picture. She didn't really like the baby float as much as she liked being in her grandpa's arms.

Ice Cream and Movie Night at their Aunt's house

A little pre-movie gameboy action

Baby F and her Aunt

Pool Fun

Eyecorn has a great post about being overprotective with children in regards to friendships with other children. This is a subject that is very important to our family. I would love to blog about it when I am a bit more with it (I am currently on pain meds for a back problem).

I would love to hear some thoughts about this from my friends or my husband, he always has wise words in this area!

Good Night!

My three little ones are sick. Sore throats, fevers, ears, noses, you name it, they've got it. I am getting dizzy trying to remember who I gave medicine to and when! The baby was up all last night a didn't sleep much today. She is soooo tired. I am hoping she sleeps some tonight and praying I can get them to the Dr's in the morning.

If that is not enough, my children's sinful nature has been rearing it's ugly head the past few days. Too little consistency and structure on my part and now I am facing the consequences.

If the blogging is sparse over the next few days it is because I am giving these issues my undivided attention.

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my littlest sick one....

my biggest sick one......

Today my husband turns 38!

We are holding up a sign for you that says Happy Birthday Dad. It is hard to read because of the sun.

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Dear Dad-

Dad is cool and he can do something with a hammer and a saw and something else and the kitchen and all the stuff he can do. I wish Daddy could wake up in the morning and get me a special suit. He always knows when I go to bed.

Love Jumpin Jack

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Dear Dad-

I really do miss you but I want you to know have a Happy Birthday!

I hope to see you soon. Below is a picture of my birthday gift to you. Just your size! 

Love T-man

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Dear Dad-

I love you! I can't wait until you come home and can feed me cereal.

Love Baby F

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Dear Dad-

I love you very much. Happy Birthday! Don't get dehydrated!

Roses are red

Violets are Blue

You Love Me

And I Love You

Love McFarden

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Dear Dad-

Dad, I love you.

Love P.Lizzy

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Dear Dad-

I hope you have a good day. I hope you are doing fine. I love you.

Love Genius

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Dear Son in Law-

We miss you very much. I am having a wonderful time with your fantastic family. Have a wonderful birthday. Looking forward to your return.

Love KSH/ MIL

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Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday dear Dad

Happy Birthday to You

WE LOVE YOU! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Here are our pictures from this week, so far...

Making a birthday card for dad, shhhhh

Nate says hi!

Boys on bikes!

Flowers from my husband... this picture is a few weeks old, but I forgot to post it earlier!

My neighbor saw all the photos being taken and he wanted to be included!

Coming

Going

The whole half dozen!

P.Lizzy insisted on holding our neighbor Mr. C.

Sisters

Apparently, I was in trouble for not posting a picture of me... this is the only one I have for now. I'll try to get a better one later.

Today I am five months old. My favorite things to do are eating, drooling, smiling, and sleeping. I haven't started cereal yet, but maybe soon. I love to roll on the floor and I am starting to like my carseat more, but I would still rather be held in your arms.

I love you daddy and can't wait to see you again!

Today my little six year old rode a two-wheeler!  He had been perfectly happy cruising around the neighborhood with his brothers and friends on his bike with training wheels. Then, this weekend, our next door neighbor (who is 5) decided that he didn't want training wheels on his bike. So this morning, my son asked me to take the training wheels off his bike. In my mind I ran through about 20 reasons why I shouldn't take them off, but the main one being that with Dad gone, when he fell off his bike and I needed to take him to the ER I would need to find a sitter for the other 5 kids. Then I remember that my sitter was already scheduled to come today, so why not. I removed the training wheels and he stumbled around the bike trying to pick it up. For some reason, this bike doesn't have a kick stand. Then he asked for help getting it to the street. I was thinking to myself, this is going to be a long day. Then he says, "mom, I'm going to need a little help." So as I go to put my hand on his back and start running down the street with him, he just takes off all by himself. He continued to ride the rest of the day, with no spills and he even rode up and down the hills in the neighborhood. The best part was that his dad called just after he started riding so he got to share in our excitement!

In this picture he is asking me if I got the picture!

Picking up speed

Making a turn

Jumping Jack didn't want to get left out of the photos!

A question to ponder....

If your 4 year old looks at books with your 5 month old, can you count that as school?

Well, another week has passed and we survived! Things are going pretty smoothly with dad gone. Last night my almost 10 year old son came in my room telling me he couldn't sleep because he just couldn't stand the thought of his dad spending his birthday alone. What a sensitive kid! I reminded him that we had made and mailed some birthday cards to dad and that hopefully someone over there would make him a birthday cake.

I have found the hardest thing about the deployment this week was dinner. I have lost all motivation to cook. My husband will eat anything... even if he doesn't like it. The only things he absolutely hates are brussel sprouts and hot dogs, and he will eat those if necessary. So needless to say, it is fun to cook when my husband is around. Unfortunately my kids inherited my pickyness. They would be happy to eat chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and cereal for the rest of their lives. So on the nights when I have made a "real" dinner, they pick at it and the rest goes in the fridge to sit for several days until I toss it, because I don't do leftovers! The nights when I have served bagel bites, fries, and corn, they go on and on about what a great meal I have prepared! HA! So my motivation for putting any effort into dinner is zero! I told this to my husband and his response was something like this, "it won't kill them to live off of fish sticks for a few months. Just go to the store and stock up on frozen meals." What a great guy. If it was me, I would have gone on and on about the hazards of fried foods and white bread and how we should be drinking our fruit smoothies every day for lunch. But he just released me from the pressure of cooking! Yipee! I realize that I am fortunate to be married to someone who, even when he is a million miles a way, can make my life just a bit easier. So from now on I will not feel guilty when I don't make a gourmet meal for the kids, and I will look forward to visiting my parents in a few weeks, because my dad will eat anything!

Word of my blog is finally out to friends and family. I started this blog in hopes of keeping my husband- who is deployed- updated on the going ons around here, but it has turned into a bit more. I guess, at times, I can't keep my opinions to myself, and since my husband isn't around I need to bounce my thoughts and ideas off of someone. This blog has become the place for me to do that.

But now my family is reading it- ACK! Relax mom, I am just kidding. Now I am so limited in what I can write about. I mean, I can't write about how when I was a child I was not allowed to watch Star Wars, had no refined sugar, that I was given a tiny carton of milk as a reward for behaving at church, or that I thought having Chex for breakfast was a special treat. I just wouldn't want to offend my parents, of course. My mother is also the grammar queen. In high school she would proof read all my papers and remind me to use commas- all the time. And now that she is reading this she is probably groaning at all the grammar errors I make on a regular basis. To this I say- You should have homeschooled me!  

Plus, if I am to actually come up with some profound thought or idea that I would like to implement- people who know me might actually hold me accountable!

Seriously though, I have great parents who put up with a lot from my brother, sister, and me. Since marrying a military guy, we haven't always been able to live near our families so I hope this blog will give them a little peek into our lives.

A year ago this little girl wouldn't let anyone hold her but her mom, dad, and big sister. Last week at church she let our care group leader carry her in, she allowed another mom to hold her all through worship, and now runs to the front door to great our neighbors with a hug.

my shy one year old

my outgoing and loving two year old

I like quiet. I like it so much that when I am in my car alone, sometimes I don't listen to anything... just the quiet. In earlier days, my husband and I would argue over quiet. He likes music playing in the backgroud at our house, I like quiet. Now we have six kids, and they are loud! They are rarely quiet. So, needless to say I have learned to live with a certain level of noise. But I often dream of having that perfect family. You know, the kind that all the kids are well mannered, well dressed, obedient and of course, quiet. This family does not exist, but I still find myself dreaming of the day...

The hardest time at my house comes between 6:30pm and 8pm. During that hour and a half there is usually someone crying, two kids fighting, one jumping on the furniture, a dirty diaper and of course there are baths, dishes to clean, and teeth to brush. Now that I am doing this alone, I have found that a hard time has become impossible. But not tonight. Tonight all the kids managed to get cleaned and dressed in pjs without a huge fuss. And then as I sat in my chair feeding the baby I looked around to see my dream come true. My oldest was reading on the couch to my four year old son. My oldest son was snuggled up in a chair reading to my two year old daughter. And my six year old son was sitting on the floor with a pile of books reading to himself. This went on for thirty minutes! It seemed like forever. As the baby finished eating, she slowy drifted off to sleep in my arms. There was no fighting, no yelling, no jumping on furniture or running up and down the stairs. Then they all brushed their teeth and went to bed, happily. I know these moments are few and far between because my children are still young and we are working hard to instill godly attitudes and behaviors in them. But I am thankful that for one night I was able to see some fruit.  

So tomorrow when I am disciplining my four year old for the tenth time I will remember Proverbs 29:17, Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart. The road is not easy but most of the time the best things in life are hard.

The church picnic was a ton of fun. They had so much food, and the kids actually ate, which is not common at big events, they usually just want to get to the playing part. After lunch the kids all went down to the lake. They had such a great time. There were inner tube races, water balloon toss, tug-o-war, and other games. The little kids had a great time playing in the sand and in the water with Emma. Some moms went down and watched the kids while I stayed up in the grass in the shade with Baby F. She was so tired but just wouldn't fall asleep. After about 2 hours she finally fell asleep for about 15 minutes. That was enough to keep her going for the rest of the time there. We left at about 4pm because I knew the little kids weren't going to make it much longer. We came home, cleaned out the car and had dinner. P. Lizzy went to bed at 6:30 because she missed both naps. I hope she sleeps until at least 7 tomorrow morning. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the picnic because I was holding the baby most of the time but here are a few.

Well, we have survived another week without Dad. This week was very busy for the kids so it went by quickly. T-man had his second breakdown last night. We were sitting down to eat chicken pot pie (made for us by a friend) and he started to cry. I said, "are you sad about dad?" He nodded. I asked him if it was because Dad loves chicken pot pie... and he said yes. Isn't it funny how the little things can trigger a memory? Then our four year old said the prayer and at the end he said, "please help daddy not to be dead." Then he looked at me and asked if daddy was dead and I assured him he was very much alive and at work some place far away. That answer seemed to be sufficient for him. Which was good. Other than that, the kids are doing pretty well considering. I have a girl coming twice a week to help out and the kids love her. Today she took them all to the pool, they stayed for about 3 hours. I am so thankful for all the help I am receiving from church friends and neighbors. They are making deployment easier. This weekend should be busy as well. My neighbor got her grill together so we are all going over there for a cookout tomorrow night. Then on Sunday we have church and then the church picnic. It should be a lot of fun! I'll post pictures on Monday, if I remember to bring the camera!