Someone requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast, or maybe I told dd to make some -- I don't remember, but nevertheless, here they are!  We did forget to take photos of the finished product, but you can imagine what they looked like!

Here we have the butter melting:

...if well means that there was a lot of discussion and good ideas being bandied about!  The only thing I would change is that it would be a bit better if we didn't have a time limit, or extended it to two hours.  There was still so much to talk about.  But, I tend to want to talk too much so maybe the limits are better.

Last year our two oldest children participated in a book club with six other students.  It was a good experience.  They learned to really read a book and to articulate their thoughts about it in a group setting.  It wasn't very difficult for them, but I felt it was a very good academic exercise.  This school year they're in a book club again, but unfortunately, their own mother and another very busy mother are in charge of coming up with the questions for this month's club.  The book?  The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (do I even need to mention the author?).  I know I have a tendency toward perfectionism, but I am so bothered by the fact that I can't seem to get it together with this assignment.  It is a wonderful book, and very deep. I thoroughly enjoy doing the questions, but I am only on Letter XI and there are something like 32 total letters!  I am procrastinating by sitting here, but maybe now I will be motivated to come back and report that I am finished!!  I think I may need a bit of caffeine to get me through the night to finish!  There is just so much material, it is hard to decide what to include.  We are talking about younger high schoolers (freshmen and sophmores) here, but most rather mature spiritually.  Still, it is overwhelming.  The real problem is time.  And noise.  (Seven children have a way of making sounds now and again.)

Since I rarely post to this blog, I wonder if I am lazy, time-crunch, disinterested, or just not introspective enough to blog much?  I think I'm plenty introspective, but maybe reticent to share online?  I don't know.  I would love to have the habit of blogging but I am not happy with the look of the page and I don't know how to change it, nor do I know how to post photos.  If I could figure out how to do those things, I think I would blog more often.  It would be much more fun!

Last night I went to a mom's night out event at Mary's.  The speaker was another mom of seven who shared her experiences with juggling several students.  I learned a lot, and was confirmed in a lot.  I *know* all the answers, but it helps so much to hear another mom say it out loud.  I came away encouraged, feeling that I have essentially nothing to complain about regarding my children, homeschooling, or my husband.  It's nice to feel so blessed!!  My husband is wonderful and I am thankful for this little reprieve in life, feeling that things are going well.  I am a pessimist (realist) by nature and don't expect things to flow smoothly for long.  Maybe that is why I blog rarely?  Only when things are going well? 

Even though I have been homeschooling officially since 1996 and truly since my first child was born 15 years ago, I don't have any burning need to "share" with other homeschooling moms what I have learned or what my opinions are about various subjects within the homeschooling world.  If God brings a mom to me who is asking questions, then I gladly offer myself to her, but in general, I am not up to offering my views.  Selfish?  Maybe.  Scared?  That's more like it.  I'll get over it.

I do have an "article" floating in my mind, though, and I think I will rough-draft/brainstorm it here.

Last night some moms were asking how to get their children to not bicker, to not fight, to do their school work without serious intervention, etc.  I admit I don't have all the answers, but a lot of the time I was wondering why the subject of first-time obedience and spanking wasn't obvious.  I wonder why it seemed that their husbands are not involved in the running of the household, at least as "the law" - unseen as he may be during the day?  Husbands weren't mentioned (except once, and I am heartened to say it was on the subject of spanking), and the wives seemed truly discouraged with their situations. I felt sorry for them but kept thinking how "behind" they were in terms of training/discipline of their precious children.  I thank God for His word, which is abundantly clear on child training.  I am thankful to God for willing vessels (parents) who have gone before us and written books on the specific how-tos of training.  I am thankful that He made my husband and myself united and determined to do our part in the raising of our children. 

Hopefully, I am not giving the impression that we don't have problems or "issues."  We do.  Just yesterday I was crying to my husband about my feelings of inadequacy in regards to my mothering/homeschooling.  Last night confirmed for me that God is here, we are not in dire straits, and that the sin of comparing (even if just to my imagined "ideal") is worse than anything I might be neglecting in my home.  I'm thankful for the mom who shared herself with us.  I'm glad I went.  But I still feel this nagging to say or write something truly helpful.  It will be challenging, yes.  But, for Christians, don't we want to run to God with our problems?  Not just in prayer and tears with our struggles (though He, of course, wants us to do that), but with hearts ready to find the answers in His word, hearts *willing* to do what is written there?  What has happened to the church?  Why do moms have to come to a mom's night out looking for such obvious answers?  Everyone is a sinner, we all have children who sin and we parents all sin (though we always choose to sin, it is not something we do without our own will involved).  But... but, why is it that now when I go to a MNO event, I am not hearing questions about what to do with the toddler while we do phonics with our first-grader, or how to help my child understand reducing fractions, or how to get dinner on the table on time, I am hearing things like, "How do I get my child do what I want?"  Like not look out the window and comment on the hummingbird constantly?  If my children talk about unrelated things during our school time, I tell them we can talk about that later and if they bring it up again, they are "in trouble."  They know so very well that what I say, I mean, that they don't bring it up again. 

Proverbs 22:15 -- Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.

I think the reason I hesitate to say anything about child discipline in these meetings is because it seems ridiculous to state the obvious.  If spanking is to be reserved for tantrums and extreme misbehavior, is it any wonder the behavior is allowed to become so extreme?  I strongly disagree that "learning disabilities" have anything to do with misbehavior, except with something like autism or some other extreme situation.  These parents seem to have "control" over certain situations and behaviors but not with others.  When spanking has "worked" with a particular issue, isn't it obvious that the child is capable of being trained in all things?  I fail to understand why the parents don't see what appears to be so clear.

My children are normal children.  They have bad attitudes, argue, want to have their own way, etc., but, and I stress this:  They do not challenge my or my husband's authority.  We are not at a loss when it comes to any behavior!  We have to take the time and emotional energy to train, but the children respond.  Immediately.  They may fail again, but their consciences are developed to the point that they don't want to be out of fellowship with their parents.  This started very very young, like at one year old! 

I know the anti-spankers are trying to find my address so they can send out child services to protect my children from "abuse" (their perceptions), but when the Bible ceases to be the first and final authority and teaching on all matters pertaining to life and godliness, then we see sweet, dedicated, but confused mothers asking what seems to me to be very obvious.

Is it their fault?  Not entirely. We, as Christians, have the responsibility to know our Bibles, regardless of how weak our pastors are and how inept and negligent they are at actually teaching the Bible, especially in critical "daily" areas (like child training and our responsibility to our children).  I feel sorry for women whose husbands are not teaching them and not learning and practicing for themselves the teachings of the Words of Life.  I feel sorry for the men who have been taught that women are so strong and don't need them, so they have no motivation to step in and actually "be the man."  I feel sorry for these men who truly *want* to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, as evidenced by their working long hours to support their families so their wives can stay home and homeschool the children but who are wiped out by the time they get home from work and they need their sanctuary by then and the children don't "get it" that Daddy is in charge and they better shape up and obey Mommy, OR ELSE!

My dear husband was saying, just yesterday, that he doesn't think God meant for women to have to bear such a burden as homeschooling several children, keeping everyone fed (and we know how many steps that takes to accomplish), plus everything else, which is a whole lot).  That the extended family's support is essential to the smooth and healthy functioning of a household, especially one in which homeschooling is taking place.  So why do we homeschool then, since we have no such support?  The same reason I stay home and don't go out and "contribute" to the family by working a wages-paying job and why we have seven children and not the standard one or two.  We all know the reasons; they don't need to be restated here.  This is long enough already (remember, this is brainstorming and a rough draft!).

If we have chosen a life with built-in burdens, doesn't it make sense to consciously eliminate whatever other burdens we have the power to change?  Proper discipline/training of our children is one such way to ensure that at least one area in our lives will bring buckets of joy to us weary, haggard, stressed-out, but oh so blessed mothers.

Before we got married, my sister, seven years younger than myself, had a baby (out of wedlock).  My dh and I knew we were going to get married, but hadn't set a date yet (we didn't want to have a traditional wedding inviting folks, etc. -- different story for another time) so we didn't have a date in mind. When my sister was about to have her baby, in less-than-ideal circumstances, I BEGGED him (for a wee minute) to just get married and take her baby.  We were both committed Christians and I knew we could be good parents.  I felt a huge duty. Well, not only did my dh say no, but my sister was determined to prove everyone wrong and keep her baby. 

For the next six months, I just *wanted* a baby so badly.  I loved my nephew and just couldn't wait to have my own baby. 

We got married and then got pregnant on our wedding night.  We were both thrilled.  When we first met, our "plan" was to not have children for three years and I was going to get my nursing degree, so this was a big change in our original "plans."  Our plan did change by the time we got married, though.  We *wanted* to have a baby as soon as the Lord blessed my womb. 

I had a horrible birth experience with the first baby and *dreaded* anything pertaining to birth again and wanted to wait at least year before getting pregnant again.  I sincerely wanted to nurse my baby for a year, also.  (I didn't know it was possible to nurse and be pregnant at the same time.) 

When my cycles returned, my dh gave me permission to use "The Sponge" as birth control.  I figured it was the least invasive and non-permanent (I would never use the pill or IUD) and least expensive method... LOL.  Well, I went to the grocery store and (I love telling this story!) put the pink box on the conveyor belt, along with the rest of my groceries and then when I got home, I couldn't find it.  It wasn't in the car under the seats, nowhere in the house, it just wasn't there.  I thought it must have been left in the shopping cart.  But, guess what?  It wasn't listed on my receipt.  I *knew* I had put it on the conveyor belt with all my other groceries so -- what happened to it?  Well, my dh and I came to the conclusion that the Lord must have removed my box of "The Sponge" from my shopping order!

While we were looking and looking for it, my dh turned to me and said, "Well, I guess the Lord wants you to trust Him!"  I hated to admit it but that was the only explanation! ;)

I became pregnant with my second child when my first one was 13 months old, so I did get to nurse for a year, just as I had asked the Lord!

We so enjoyed being parents, and we saw God's provision so clearly that we never feared for the future as far as finances went.  We were never rich, or even ever beyond just having our bills paid.  It has never been our goal to have a certain "whatever" before having another child.  My husband agonizes over money all the time; don't get me wrong!  It's his job to do that and he knows it!  It's just that we have never thought it was *our* job to provide for more children aside from the grace of God and knowing His promise to provide.  We knew it was God's job to provide for His own, and He has! 

We like to tell people that as we have had more children, we have had more money, but we had the children FIRST!!  Never before!

I don't think I'm very good at blogging.  What is the value in it?  To have a creative outlet and be able to "talk" to "someone" about what is on my mind?  OK...I'll buy that.  Whenever I sit down to "blog," I have this feeling that no one in the entire world would enjoy reading my blog.  If I felt comfortable baring my entire soul to the "world" that would ever possibly read my blog, then I could bare my entire soul, but since I don't, I feel rather stilted with the whole thing.

This week on the Making It Home email list (does email have a hyphen after the "e" or not -- I'd like the know the official rule) we are supposed to be working on our music rooms or sitting rooms.  I have neither, so I have been very slowly working on my schoolroom (our schoolroom, to be precise, where no one actually "does" school).  Today I did a fair amount of detailed vacuuming but haven't been able to get to the books yet.  Perfectionism used to plague me but, thankfully, I was converted about 13 years ago when I began scrapbooking.  I realized that I couldn't fix every little problem on the scrapbook page without ruining the rest of it, which was perfectly (well, not perfectly, but satisfactorily enough) fine.  Perfectionism can paralyze a person, so I stopped being a perfectionist.  It was driving me crazy.  I still do my best, but not to the detriment of myself or my family - who deserve my best.  If I am "going the extra mile" and it means that I don't get needed sleep, or the dinner doesn't get made, then I am not really doing my role, am I?  So, I will do some more vacuuming when I can.

I used to "run my own life" but then I had children.  I still had a routine to the day and never let the little sweethearts "run me" but the truth is, I am a slave of Christ, and when I had children (seven), I necessarily had to put their needs above my own.  It seems that the needs of my chidren are many and increasing.  Even if  it is just to talk about what happened at the skating rink, taking the time to listen and give my feedback, it does mean that I am *not* doing something else that is "necessary" to do, at least eventually, like detail vacuuming, or mending, or organizing the pantry shelf after my lovely dd put away the groceries yesterday.

People used to say things to me like, "I don't know how you do it; I'm losing my mind with two children."  I would say, "If I was still trying to do all the things that I did when I was single or only had one or two children, I would go crazy, too.  But, the more children I have, the more of my own selfish pursuits have had to take a backseat."  Not that everything I have put aside was a self-indulgent, unprofitable pursuit, but certain activities that a person does without thinking  when they have 0, 1, or 2 children can become something that no longer fits into the lifestyle of a mother who is dedicated to caring for several young lambs.  It takes time to feed, clothe, interact with children (also known as paying attention and building relationships, not to mention teaching, hugging, and kissing--reading, too!), which creates a home for a family.  And we haven't even mentioned the husband stuff!  That also takes time and sacrifice.

Ah, sacrifice.  Let's talk about that another time. 

How's that for a "blog"?

It has been hard for me to incorporate "blogging" into my lifestyle, hence few entries. 

Lately I have been so encouraged by the e-mail list Making It Home http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MakingItHomeMagazine/.  This week we are decluttering our laundry rooms and trying to make them more pretty (or less ugly, in my case).  Our laundry area is in the garage, which isn't so terrible, but since it *is* in the garage, that is technically my hubby's space, which means it is not quite a visual masterpiece!  I can go out there and get rid of some unused cleaning supplies and even freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/ some items (like the thousand or so green scrubbies from Costco).  I haven't started yet because I am constantly reading my MIH e-mails (don't tell Mrs. Catherine!). 

Homemaking has been my main hobby for probably my whole conscious life.  When I was little, I "noticed" things, as my mother put it.  When I was about eight, my mother told my girlfriend, after I had vacuumed the front of the wall air conditioner (dust in the little holes, remember those types of air conditioners...are they stilll around?), "She is really starting to notice dirt."  Well, if it hadn't been my idea to "notice dirt," that praise from my mom would have surely encouraged me to notice it!! 

When I was single, and this might seem like maybe not so emotionally healthy to some of you (the others of you, well, we are kindred spirits, aren't we?), I would rush home from work on Fridays (I got off at noon Fridays) to CLEAN my apartment.  I loved it that I could get home to do the cleaning before my roommate got home later.  I know, I know...sort of weird, but I really just LOVED to clean.  There are reasons that I had such an obsession, and I acknowledge that there are "better" things to do than clean house, but I really did enjoy it immensely. 

I don't really "get" to clean much nowadays, because my children do much of the cleaning, by necessity.  First necessity is that I literally don't have time to clean all that needs cleaning, and second necessity is that my children need to know how to run a household, be part of a family/team that is in the business of accomplishing joint goals (the running of the household so we can be off to bigger and better things, but the house stuff must be done or we can't function, can we?).

Today is a "stay home" day, I hope, apart from the library trip and the chiropractor trip.  Oh, and my poor 11 yo son has been begging for a haircut (OK...I admit it, sometimes things get out of hand around here). 

My goals for today are to finish my morning routine, do SWR with four of my students (http://home.mindspring.com/~teachingkids/ is a good website to get acquainted with this superior language arts program), help dd with her quilt for the quilt show on Saturday, get dinner on, spend 30 minutes in my laundry room, and read aloud.  I know there are other things to do, but they are written on my formal list.

Onward and and homeward!!

I think I may have mentioned that my hubby and I are taking real estate classes in the evenings.  Since we have been taking them for four weeks now, I have gotten pretty behind with some household chores (not that I was all that caught up).  Actually, I have had some ongoing projects that I haven't been able to work on and I would like to make some headway on those (see my Projects category). 

We can start our next series any Tuesday, so my dear hubby said that we could start next week so I can make progress on my "Things To Do" list.

I also intend to fully employ my older children to help with these projects!  Right now I have my son (almost 15) cleaning off my armoire so that I can start (finish) painting it.

This drink is very good to cleanse the small and large intestines.  The recipe calls for using it first thing in the morning every day for 60 days, then every other day forever.  Taste-wise, it is rather yucky, but the results are more than worth it.

2 T. filtered water

2 T. unfiltered apple juice

2 T. chlorophyll

2 T. aloe vera juice (cleanses the small intestine)

2 capsules cascara sagrada (this is non habit-forming)

1 heaping teaspoon psyllium hulls

Mix with a Braun-type blender and drink immediately.  Follow with a large glass of water.  Wait about 30 minutes before having a meal.  Avoid soda, artificial sweeteners, pork, drinking between meals, and be sure to take digestive enzymes with each meal.

Hmmm...seems easy enough.  I prattle on about something, then go back and read it.  I seriously doubt anyone would want to read about my daily life, except maybe myself!

Let's see, today I awoke to hubby asking if I was awake yet (I wasn't), then stumbling into the kitchen for my every-other-day "cleansing drink."  (See recipe section, when I get it going.)  Then I had breakfast (sprouted wheat toast with almond butter and a "proper" cup of tea--see my favorite links for what this means).  After that, my wonderful one and only daughter had just washed her long beautiful hair (see photos when I get them up) and I offered to trim it for her, finally. After that, I washed my own not-as-long-and-not-as beautiful hair (again, see photos section) and got ready for the day.

My oldest son (he's one of six sons we have been blessed with) was filming today (he's making a movie--future Christian filmmaker) and one of his friends was coming over to film his part.  That came off well, they got finished in about two hours this time, as opposed to six hours on other days!  I had dinner planned so felt "free" to work on my quilt wall hanging: http://www.debbiemumm.com/potm/04/february/quilting/februarypotmquilting.asp

Today I got the quilting finished and even picked out the buttons and their placement on the jars.  My mom has a bunch of old buttons, many of which belonged to her mother, who loved to sew even more than I do, and I asked if I could go through them so that this "heirloom" might have a bit of the generations in it.  The buttons that she gave me were fabulous!  (OK...I know I'm a bit off-kilter to get so happy about old buttons....) 

My husband is very depressed about the sad state of our finances...again.  We go through horrendous ups and downs and now is a very low "down."  I have complete trust in the Lord to provide--after all, it's His job.  I do, however, cry out to Him daily to provide again, as it is so burdensome to my heart to see my poor husband suffer so.  He takes his role as provider so seriously.  So, please Lord, please!  Bring us some money!  Put it on the hearts of the people who owe us money to pay us! 

This is yet another season of waiting for the provision of the Lord.  My hubby and I are taking real estate classes because he really wants to change careers.  People have been telling him for years that he would be great at that business, and the truth is, he really would.  It's been hard to make the transition when the money is coming in, because the work was keeping him more than busy at the time.  Now, however, he is less than busy with work and we are taking the classes.  Any type of business, other than running the house and homeschooling, is just not my thing, but I do so want to support my husband.  I am sure that knowing at least the basics will enable me to be the help-meet that I was created to be. 

Neither of us would ever have me put aside my role as a wife and mother (and homeschooler) to do real estate, but right now it is no hardship for me to attend these classes.  The content is boring boring boring, but...lots of things have to be endured.  We have hopes and prayers that this business can take us into the sunset of our lives.  Even though it is very difficult to transition careers at any age, at almost 53, it is harder, especially after building a business for over 15 years and it fizzling out after all that time.