Our Busy Little World

May. 7, 2008 - Odds N Ends

You know you've been reading old books when your five year old comes up to you and says "Mother, may I have my water, for I do thirst?"

Hannah continues her habit of making us smile with her choice of words.  She loves coloring pages, and upon inspecting one particularly lovely one, she announced that it was "enormous pretty!"

Hannah also seems to be having a hard time figuring out the word chiropractor. I had an appointment one day, and each time she mentioned it, the word came out differently. Our two favorites were "are you going to the firecracker?" And "what doctor is it? The piletractor?"

Tonight, I wasn't feeling very well. I started to get a little woozy at the table (think I'm fighting a bug), and I turned toward Matt and said something to the effect that my head felt heavy, I thought I was getting a fever, and I felt like I was just going to flop over. Isabelle, who was sitting next to me, stared at me intensly.  I asked if she thought I was getting sick. She stared yet more deeply into my eyes for a moment, then a big grin spread across her face as she announced, in all confidence, "Allergies!"

When I'm feeling better I've got to post about our new school books for Autumn. I'm so excited about school this year! Instead of a package I hand picked everything out and we just can't wait to dig in!  But for now I have some pictures to catch up on, so enjoy:

Juliette found a blanket in the hamper, so she just crawled right in to rest!

Alyssa's graduated to a big high chair, and she's making it clear she'd much prefer "big girl" food to go with it - "no pabulum for me!"

Our good friends Matt and Hilary came out for a little visit - we were so thrilled to see them and had a wonderful time together!

Isn't it so sweet to catch up with dear friends?

Isabelle just loved Hilary - how could she not? She's beautiful as well as sweet and kind!

Ok, so I may have posed the hug, but I still thought it was cute.

Daddy picked these flowers out for Isabelle after her dance recital. She loves them so much that they are still in a vase by her bed, even though they're now completely dead and dried out! We've got to rescue them from the vase and find a good place to hang them!

We finally have some spring flowers bringing color to the yard!

 

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Apr. 30, 2008 - My New Blog Look

  Many thanks to Ali from Mission Field Designs for making my blog look so beautiful. It's lovely, Ali, thank you so much!

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Apr. 16, 2008 - Mission Work Suited To Toddlers

Years ago I had this strange feeling that God had either called me to work on the mission field, or to stay in the states and marry a cop. Weird, I know, but it turned out to be true. He has called me to serve Him right here, loving my husband and teaching my girls. I love the work He's given me - even on the days when it doesn't feel lovely. But it certainly hasn't erased my desire to serve others, particularly those of other cultures. I suppose that's one way He led us to adopt Naomi, for which we're forever thankful! I also love to read books for the girls of stories from around the world, so they don't grow up thinking our little spot on the planet is the only one.  But it's hard to figure out what this service can look like when I'm at home all day with the girls. Lately I've felt that we are lacking in teaching our girls to serve others. The girls do plenty of service around here, of course - chores to help mommy, holding a bottle for baby instead of playing, etc. But I was longing to allow them to use their gifts to bless others outside our family circle as well.These things must start in the home, but we desire for our family to be the aroma of Christ to others, too! Yet each time I hear about a ministry I think "how could a family with five toddlers do that?" Then God showed me something, through little snippets here and there, which reminded me of something my wonderful mom was faithful to teach me and my sisters to do- in fact it comprises my very first memory at around three years old. My mom used to take us to nursing homes to visit neighbors, relatives, and even people we didn't know who needed love. I realized at once how perfect this could be for our family right now - a ministry that toddlers really are just right for. There are so many lonely older people languishing in "homes" where they don't see the smile of a baby, hear the laugh of a toddler, and yes, even listen to the incessant (yet endearing) chatter of a five year old. There is a whole, rich culture of people that our society largely would forget, who should be the honored elders of our land. And our church does regular visits to a nursing home in our town. Why I didn't think of this before, I don't know, but I'm so excited to try to become a part of those visits or find another time our family can do this! We were talking about it at dinner tonight, and while I did dishes the girls all started drawing and coloring little presents to take to some "grandmas and grandpas" they don't know yet, but who might enjoy some cheerful little visitors.  God has blessed us with the chance to care for orphans - both by visiting and by adopting, and I am so thankful He's shown us a way we can bless our older neighbors, too! Hopefully soon I'll have some stories to post, but for now I was just excited that God gave us an idea of something our family can do here and now. He is so good to answer the prayers of our heart, stateside or abroad!

PS. Ok, I'm bummed because I just found out we definitely can't do the visits when our church does - the schedule just won't work! So it may be a little while before I have some stories to post, as I'll have to make some calls and figure this all out. But I still wanted to post this now, as I really think it can be a great way for us to minister to others alongside our little ones. I'd love to hear any of your stories about blessing others as a family!

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Apr. 15, 2008 - Check It Out!

Well, some of our dearest friends are getting all famous! Remember Christine? She blogs over at From Dates To Diapers and MommiesUnited now. She and her husband, Ray, are flying out to New York as they were invited to appear on The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet tomorrow. They'll be part of a finance section, discussing budgeting for their family with six little ones, groceries, saving money, etc. Please pray that God would use this to glorify His name through His people. And go check it out if you have a TV - I don't, unfortunately, so I need to find someone to record it for me!  I'm sure it will be well worth watching!

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Apr. 1, 2008 - Book Review

You all know I sometimes enjoy reviewing books and products I've been able to try out. Here's another one. I know this will apply more to some of you than others, but lately it's definitely applied to me. My dear husband recently encouraged me to start taking a few horseback riding lessons so I could have a couple of hours out of the house doing something I've always wanted to do. Well, I love it, and am thankful for the "time off", and the fact that I finally get to do something I've longed to learn for 28 years! But lo and behold, after five babies I have HORRIBLE balance, and I promptly fell of the horse I was trying so hard to ride! My midwife assures me this whole lack of balance thing is normal, but of course that didn't make me feel too much better. Since I can't ride very often, I started reading all I could (in those quiet evening hours) that might help me improve. This, in case anyone was wondering, is what convinced me (a very couch potato-ish person), to finally start exercising.  I've found that pilates is quite helpful to one's balance and posture (another thing I've needed desperately to improve for quite some time.)  I came across a little book called Applied Posture Riding, which is largely a book applying pilates-type exercises to one's riding. I contacted the author to obtain a copy, and she was kind enough to let me post about it here. The biggest drawbook to this book is the price, and I would have an easier time recommending it if the price were substantially lower, but as promised I wanted to share the points of this book I most appreciated, for there were definitely things I enjoyed:

1. It is simple - it's one of the shortest of the books I read, which at first put me off a bit. Later, however, I realized this was one reason I liked it more than others, as the longer books really tended to overwhelm, and by the time I finished the book, I forgot all the recommended exercises! This book and exercise program is simple enough to remember and do without getting bogged down by a million exercises!

2. It made use of the fitness ball. I've had a ball for years, and never really knew quite what to do with it besides sit on it. Again, the short book was much more helpful than the really big gym-ball workout book I borrowed. With the big one, I had no idea which of the seemingly hundreds of exercises to choose! This little Applied Posture Riding book made ball exercises simple by explaining (with pictures) the choicest ball exercises for my purpose.

3. Uniqueness of the exercises. There are some exercises in here that I haven't run across anywhere else, such as a bunch for the arms - being a fairly weak armed person, I think these will be of help to me.

4. I really liked all of the photographs - it's easier to see an illustration in a full color photo than in a rendering. While there are plenty of schools of thought in riding, and Wilson's is not *perfectly* in tune with all of them, the photographs nonetheless gave a bit of a mental picture of what one is going for. And the pictures of the exercises themselves were quite helpful while trying to learn to do them.

5. Simple equipment - some of the books I looked into made use of quite a bit of high-end gym equipment that really isn't available to me. This book simply uses a gym-ball (which my kids love owning anyway) and some exercise bands (I think these only cost a few dollars - I don't quite remember, as I've had some for years - just haven't used them much yet!) The rest of the exercises don't need any equipment at all. Just makes the exercise routine a bit more approachable at home.

All in all, I've been gravitating toward the pilates video that my sister sent me, but as I get more comfortable with exercise in general, I'm hoping to make more use of this book to good effect.

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Mar. 23, 2008 - Baptism

There was a baptism of three babies in church last week - always such a delight! Then we as the congregation said this lovely little excerpt from a French Reformed Baptism rite. I thought it was just wonderful, and I wanted to post it:

"Little children, for you Jesus Christ came to this earth, struggled and suffered; for your sake He crossed Gethsemane and went through the darkness of Calvary; for your sake He cried: 'It is finished,' for your sake He died and for your sake He overcame death; indeed for your sake, little children, and you - still - know nothing of it. And thus the word of the apostle is confirmed: 'We love God, for He loved us first.'"

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Feb. 14, 2008 - Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

I sure enjoyed having a contest for you all - thanks for joining in the fun! Now here is a somewhat lengthy mission statement I've been working on. Really, these could be so long, or short, specific or detailed, depending on the particular area of your life you wanted to write out your goals for. This one kind of overarches my life right now. This is my goal. While I certainly never fulfill it perfectly, it's nice to write down what I am seeking to do.

My mission is to be a woman (wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc) after God's own heart. Thus I will daily seek, first of all, to love my God above all else. (Dt. 6:5  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.) I will be thankful for Him and for all is kind blessings to me.

I will remember that I am a woman, and not forget the purpose for which women were lovingly fashioned. (Gen. 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.") I will remember that God made me specifically to marry Matthew and He has perfectly suited me for the task of being his wife. I will daily thank God for my wonderful husband and I will seek to bless Matt, respect him and show him sweet affection and comfort in all things. (Gen. 24:67 Then Isaac brought her (his new wife, Rebekah) into the tent  . . and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.) I will encourage him, pray for him, and while he is away at work and such, I will honor him by spending my time wisely in caring for our home and children. (Prov. 31:10-11 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.)

I will remember that motherhood is a high calling in God's eyes. I have been given the task of training up the young hearts and minds of the daughters God has given me. I will thank God each day for my children, remembering that they are blessings and not burdens (Ps. 127:3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.) I will remember the charge to teach them God's Word (Dt. 6:6-7 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.) And I will let this be my ultimate goal as I teach my children in our homeschool. I will remember my childrens' frame, as God remembers mine, and seek to not be easily angered. I will lovingly discipline and correct them when they sin, that they may learn true happiness by walking in God's way. (Pr. 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.) I will seek to be the woman I want my girls to be. I will remember that visible joy is the kind they understand and so I will seek to fill our days with laughter and enjoyment of God's world, for the joy of the Lord is our strength. I will seek to teach and show my girls Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice"!

As I am able, beyond serving my family, I will seek to bless and minister to others, especially by inviting others to share meals in our home. I will remember what God desires of a righteous wife, as seen in 1 Timothy 5:9-10 ". . . the wife of one husband,and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work."

I will remember that in all things I can do this only through Christ (Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.), and that he has equipped me for these good works (II Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.  II Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence)

I will remember to seek Him in His Word and in prayer, and to rest in Him for my strength. (Is. 30:15 For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel,"In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. . . )

Lastly I will seek to remember and remind my girls of these and so many other verses, which so beautifully show the life of a Christian:

Psalm 27:3-5; 7-8 "Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it."

Colossians 3:12-17 "Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Here's a fun short version. This one's not from the Bible (actually, can someone tell me who originally said it? I've seen it attributed to a few different people!), but I just love it.

I want to live well, laugh often and love much!

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Feb. 14, 2008 - Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Make sure to give an extra hug to all those special people in your life! Thank you to all who entered my mission statement contest, and a special thanks to those who were kind enough to share their mission statement. I was so blessed by them, and I'm sure everyone who had a chance to read them was encouraged and inspired as well!  As promised I will post the contest winner today. I entered everyone's name into a hat (those who posted their mission statements, three times) and Miss Isabelle closed her eyes and randomly picked out a winner. Drumroll please. . . . the winner is Dawn from my4sweetums. Congratulations, Dawn! I sent you an email, but do leave me a comment or email if it doesn't come through, so I can make sure to send you your prize. I hope you love your new pearls!

I was going to post my mission statement here as well, but it made the post a bit long. I know, I know, I often write long winded posts, but in any case I promise to put my mission statement up next!

 

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Feb. 12, 2008 - No Teep Jooey And Other Meandering Thoughts

Today was such a lovely day! It truly was - the ground is still covered in quite dirty snow (thanks to a huge windstorm last week), but it felt Spring-ier today. It was sunny and warm (42 degrees, or so). Alyssa and I took a bike ride and loved being outside.  Matt took the other girls grocery shopping (with his specialty - doughnuts!) and I thoroughly enjoyed the time to catch up on odds and ends around here. Later we rearranged the cribs, as Alyssa's really getting too big for a bassinet, weeded out all sorts of stuff, reorganized parts of our house, etc - overall it just made the house seem so much more peaceful! I've even started exercising lately (in part thanks to my little sister who sent me a pilates video). This is a feat which I've never accomplished on a regular basis, but it feels so good not to be exhausted even when I'm up half the night with a sick baby. I am just so thankful for this time, as I really went through a rough post-partum hormonal time after Alyssa. God is good to be the lifter of our heads!

The girls are getting so much older - Isabelle reads us stories now instead of only the other way around. Our morning routine is taking less time as the girls are able to do more of the dressing/dishwasher unloading/water glass filling things by themself. And it's encouraging to realize that lately I actually prefer to have them be dinner helpers, as their help is greatly missed when I don't use it. They've still been amusing me with their comments, so I shall post a few more:

Hannah (of course!) while snuggling and trying to wake up from a nap: "Mommy, I want you."

Me: "Well, you have me, baby. I want you, too and I love you."

Hannah: "Mommy . . . I'm so glad God gave you to me for my good little wife!"

Me: "hmmm, well not quite, but I'm glad God gave you to me too."

Later, after telling daddy the story, he said "oh, but she can't be your good little wife; she's my good little wife!"

Me: "I can be your good little Mother, Hannah"

Hannah: "Yes, you can be my good little mother . . . and my good little baker"

Leave it to Hannah to bring it all back to food!

And one from Juliette:

The girls all get very excited on their dinner helper night (on this night they also get to stay up late for special time with Matt and me.) They usually spend the afternoon chanting "I'm dinner helper, I get to stay up late!" Naomi, having fewer words that she's able to pronounce, usually shortens it to: "No sleep for Naomi!" She knows this really only means twenty minutes less sleep than the others, and even if she didn't know that, her big sisters waste no time in correcting her. Juliette, on the other hand, has never seemed to make the connection, although she thoroughly enjoys both staying up late with us and being dinner helper. Well, last week she finally connected it. She was SO excited after nap - she ran straight downstairs and picked out her favorite apron (which she calls the dinner helper). After I tied the "dinner helper" onto her, thus making her the official dinner helper, she began chanting "No sleep for Juliette". In her cute manner of speaking, this actually sounded like: "No teep Jooey, no teep Jooey." Thus went her happy refrain all evening. After we had tucked in all of her sisters, she proudly carried her favorite books to our big bed, to snuggle up and read. After this we had a little tickle game, pillow fight, and all the other traditional fun-after-bedtime stuff. She was quite pleased. We even extended her special time for ten extra minutes, before starting the sleepytime routine of blessings and such. But when we said it was time for bed and started to bless her, she became most distressed! She reiterated "no teep Jooey, no teep Jooey" to make sure we hadn't forgotten. At that unfortunate moment I realized she thought there would be literally no sleep for Juliette that night. So I explained it in my best two year old fashion, and even had her repeat after me the important part about "no teep Jooey" time being all done. She seemed to understand - she seemed relatively satisfied. Then we started to bless and tuck her and the refrain began again - so much for getting it! We finally had to give up and tuck in our little distressed daughter, who fell asleep that night murmuring "No teep Jooey, no teep Jooey, no teep Jooey  . . . "

Here are some pictures, too. Oh, and if you've read this far, remember there is only one day left to leave a comment on my contest post if you'd like to win some lovely pearl jewelry. I'm closing the contest tomorrow night, and shall pick a winner on Valentine's day. Hope you all enjoy a lovely week!

Alyssa enjoying daddy read some PG Wodehouse.Happy Birthday Naomi - big three year old girl!Loving her birthday surprises. . . Like her new dolly stroller and carrier!Enjoying some tea time - I LOVE having a little kitchen with a bar for the girls!Our neighbors were so kind as to pass on their daughters' old unicorn costumes . .. .What fun! There are only two, so they're much coveted sometimes! One day I heard Isabelle say "here Hannah, you may have mine." I was so proud of her for sharing! Then a few minutes later, she came downstairs dressed in her princess dress, whereupon she ordered Hannah into a crawling position so she could "ride" her!Lots of snow!And even bigger icicles . . . which, of course, all the girls wanted to lick!Lots of snow!Upon which to sled . . .Have you notice the theme of "lots of snow?" It's finally starting to melt a bit, but we sure enjoyed it - even the necessary shoveling involved! It took us fifteen minutes to get all the girls through the snowdrifts from our front yard to our backyard for sledding!

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Feb. 6, 2008 - Happy Tears And Random Foes

Such a lovely thing happened today that I had to write it down (well, type it down, of course). Matt had some notes and his Bible at the dinner table because he was trying to explain some things he'd been listening to in some James Jordan lectures (which he HIGHLY recommends!) While he was talking, Isabelle snuck his Bible away and was looking at the pages. All of a sudden she broke into the conversation by reading half a paragraph and asking a pretty clever question about what she had just read in Genesis. She's been reading very well lately, but I still had to do a double take to realize she'd just picked up a Bible, read it fluently, and understood what she'd read. I know that probably seems mundane, but I was so excited I got tears in my eyes - sort of a similar feeling to seeing our girls being baptized, it was just so beautiful to see my little daughter, who's a daughter of the King, reading the King's Words to us!

On a  sillier note, Hannah's said so many funny things lately that I've forgotten most of them. But I do remember two, and hopefully I didn't already post them.  She was telling me how happy she was that daddy worked at his job, and I was agreeing with her. Her reasoning went something like this: "I'm so glad for daddy's work, because if daddy didn't do his work, we wouldn't have a house, so we would live in the middle of the street and the cars would roll on us!"

Isabelle often runs about calling to her sisters "Quick, run, there's a dragon!" Or she'll grab a pretend "bow and arrows" and shoot the wicked dragon. Makes perfect sense from all those fairy tales. Then along comes Hannah. She runs for a bit, stops to glance furtively around her, then says in a tone of utter, yet frantic, seriousness - "We must run, hurry, I see it, run, there's a wicked antelope!" Oh yes, must watch out for those antelopes . . .

And lastly, don't forget to enter my contest - see the post below this one! All you have to do is leave a comment and you're entered to win some lovely pearls!

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Jan. 30, 2008 - Mission Statement Contest

Well it's finally here - the first blog contest on TwaddleMeNot! Lately I've been thinking about how difficult it can sometimes be to cheerfully go about the work God has set before me. Usually in those difficult times I find that I've forgotten the purpose in all I do. I know that wifehood and motherhood is a high and blessed calling, but I often need to be reminded of that when I'm "in the trenches" of diapers, runny noses, sin issues and other such day-to-day things. Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no vision the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." I know the Bible beautifully shows the "vision" of our lives: of motherhood, of sainthood. But I have often wanted to write a mission statement for my life that sort of encapsulates the beauty of the calling God has given me.  We all have a unique part in God's perfect plan, but we mothers have so many of the same missions day to day that I think we could all be blessed by being reminded of WHY we do this. So I decided to challenge myself to write a mission statement for my life. Would any of you like to join me?

Here's the fun part. For some reason this all inspired me to have a contest. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. One little comment and you will officially be entered in my contest (which will be a random drawing from a hat.)

But if you'd like to be entered thrice - yep, your name would go in the hat three times - please leave a comment with your personal mission statement as well. I'm sure we could all be so blessed reading eachother's vision statements, and I'd really like to bless someone through this contest.

Knowing the true purpose in our lives, I was thinking about the pearl of great price (I know, I go through a lot of mental gymnastics!), so as a prize for this contest, the winner may choose their favorite pearl necklace, earring set or bracelet - whatever one piece of jewelry you like best- from the ones on this page. I shall leave the contest open for about two weeks, and choose a winner on the 14th, so as to provide a fun Valentine surprise for someone! Oh, and please feel free to enter whatever your station in life - it's not just moms who need to be reminded of their purpose in God's plan! We all are such needed parts of His body and I'd be so blessed to read all of your hearts as to God's call on your life right now!

I hope this is something you might be blessed by, and if nothing else, I would love to challenge each of us to write down why we do what we do, so that we can read it when we are discouraged, and perhaps God will use it to bring us new energy for our blessed calling. I pray you're all blessed this day as you go about His work in your days!

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Jan. 23, 2008 - Fun Gadgets

A few years back I was able to travel with my church to Romania to help in an orphanage three summers running. These trips had a huge impact on my life, and I am so thankful for all God did through them. One of these days I'll have to write down some memories for you all. . . I'm sure if nothing else the trips were a large part of the reason I so badly wanted to adopt, and part of the way God brought Naomi into our family. But tonight I was remembering a very silly little detail - through these trips I got hooked on putting cream in my tea.  I know, that's totally not profound, but it really is good. I never even  liked tea very much until I tasted it with cream - yummy! So, as the title of this post is "fun gadgets", I have to tell you a discovery I made this week. Have you ever poured cream into your steaming hot cup of tea, only to find that this particular tea (usually citrus-y ones) makes the cream look all curdly? Well, I don't know about you, but curdly cream in my tea sort of grosses me out and rather ruins the calming effect of tea. So I made a lovely cup of Nutcracker Sweet tea the other day, only to watch this very phenomenon occur before my eyes. As Isabelle would say, bummer.  For some reason this made me think of homogenized milk, and I decided to try something. I took my little milk frothing wand and spun it a bit in the tea - voila! Homogenized tea/cream. So if ever you are plagued with curdly cream tea, check out this little gadget and perhaps all your tea troubles will disappear as mine did. That's my incredibly deep thought for the night. Cheers!

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Dec. 6, 2007 - Things We're Loving . . .

Well, busy as ever, the Christmas season is upon us. Acutally, it's the advent season, and if I've never mentioned this before, advent is my FAVORITE season of the year. In honor of my favorite season I'm posting some of my (and my girls')  favorite things right now:

Advent Family Worship, of course- the girls have definitely inherited my over-excitement for advent. Somehow the additions to family worship of turning off the lights, lighting candles (the girls love to take turns blowing them out), singing Christmas hymns and reading through our many different little editions of the Christmas story makes it so very exciting! I remember loving advent when I was a little girl, and I'm so glad my girls love it now.

TATRAS - I don't know how much is attributible to the program and how much is just the capacity of a little five-year-old mind for learning things, but it's been such a joy watching Isabelle learn to read. It's really amazing to me that a few weeks ago she was slowly sounding out her words and now she can read through so many books fluently! Actually, school in general is going well. The girls are enjoying getting stickers on their "Treasures in the Heart Charts" for memory verses learned, and we're keeping up with our little reading schedule pretty well. The only thing I'm not keeping up on is math, but being a Bluedorn fan I don't find formal math too necessary at this age! Isbelle is learning a tiny bit of "kindergarten french", and since Hannah likes to "do school" too, she walks around the house saying ""blubba dee booboo gaa" - do you know what I said? That's French!"

Arnold Lobel books - random, I know, but that man has written some funny books that are just delightful to read aloud! Our current favorite is probably The Great Blueness And Other Predicaments - it's just goofy and creative and it makes read aloud time so much fun.

Dinner Helper Nights - for years I've read these child training magazines that make me feel guilty for not having my kids help me in the kitchen more. But I have a little kitchen, I get easily flustered when cooking and I have a bunch of tiny toddlers, so it just didn't happen often. Recently I gave all the girls one day each week to be their special dinner helper day. They pick their favorite apron, love to help make dinner, and I don't get overwhelmed. And we've added a bonus: since we rarely get alone time with our daughters otherwise, the Dinner Helper gets to stay up fifteen minutes later than her sisters for special time with mom and dad. She gets to pick if she wants to read books, talk, play, sing or just snuggle. The girls LOVE it - all day on their day they walk about the house singing, "I'm dinner helper and I get to stay up late!"

Advent Sunday Parties - we've been trying to figure out the happy balance in having company whereby we don't relegate our children to the status of "should be seen and not heard", but we are also able to have some adult conversation without being constantly interrupted. To this end we're having little parties for each advent Sunday - inviting two couples each week from church whom we've been wanting to get to know better but sticking to mostly adults for a few weeks. They join us for a simple, yet lovely, dinner then we all gather in the living room for advent family worship and reading. We adults take turns reading aloud to the girls for a bit, so they are as much a part of it all as the rest of us, and get to enjoy the party. Later it's off to bed for them and the adults can enjoy some creme brulee together (the girls have yet to develop a taste for it, so their special dessert is frosted animal cookies!)

April Cornell - I have to give them a little plug because they carry lovely little dresses, gifts and home products and have shown such wonderful and kind customer service to me lately! They are fairly pricey, but have great sales and coupons with free shipping, and have some quite inexpensive but adorable gifts too. My favorites are their handmade rag dollies  (two of our girls are getting one for Christmas)  and little gift tags - we got one for each of the girls so we could write their special Christmas letter on it! They're even cuter than they look on the computer!

And lastly, are you ready for this? Sticky Notes! Yes, sticky notes. No joke at all - my mom found some apple sticky notes to send the girls and they were happily entertained all together for about thirty minutes "decorating" our tea room!

Ok, I'm done being long winded about goofy things. Here are some pictures of our week (I think I actually got one of each of the girls this time!):

The aforementioned sticky notes:

Lovely snow!

Cooking and getting ready for our first advent party:

Naomi's always the first to offer to help mommy with the dishes!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Bundled Bunny:

My little Christmas elf in the cutest sweater ever!

More baby bunny:

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Nov. 20, 2007 - Dumbledore's Line

A few months ago, a friend convinced me to try the Harry Potter series. Being the story-loving person that I am, I cannot stop in the middle of a good story. Thus I spent a month reading nothing but Harry Potter to finish the series. While I wouldn't read them to my kids at this point - and they've still got nothing on Narnia! - I quite enjoyed them and have decided the entire series was worth the read for this quote:

"We’re in a time when we must choose between what is right and what is easy."

This really describes what I've been pondering and working through lately. Here's one more quote for context (this one is from a great book a fellow blogger thankfully pointed me toward - Passionate Housewives, Desperate For God):

"Instead of learning to die to self and follow Christ wherever He may lead, many times we demand our own way. We feed the flesh until it has an uncontrollable appetite with a mind of its own - pulling us in the direction of whatever feels good for the moment - led by our own carnal desires. Ironically, it's an illusion, because the closer we get to what is supposed to "feel good" the worse we actually feel, the more we want, and the more our character suffers."

I have been there so much lately! Somehow I've gotten so selfish with my time and focus, and it's made me miserable! I think it probably all started with the exhaustion and post-partum hormones playing havoc with my emotions, which is certainly valid enough. But it became too easy for me to be lazy in that, and perhaps use it as an excuse.  Then I wake up one day and realize I haven't had *time* to read God's Word and pray, but I've had time to watch a dvd, shop online, or some other easier and "more fun" thing. I haven't had the energy to excercise (which ironically, would probably give me the energy!), but I don't discipline myself to get to bed earlier. I tell my girls to be joyful, yet I have been selfish and grouchy! I want them to love singing to God and hearing His Word, yet I've been doing it by rote.  Whatever little free time I have, I find myself wishing for more, so I can do something for me. Truly I have become so selfish, and my poor husband and girls have had to live with a grumpy wife and mommy! And what seems most ironic of all is that when I am trying to make life more enjoyable for me, it always becomes less enjoyable! Thankfully I have a Good and Loving Father Who doesn't let me wallow in my selfishness for long. And He often works through my kind and loving husband who won't let me either! Said husband wisely hid the dvd player for the time being, giving me a *gentle* push to spend that one free hour of the day in a much more profitable way. I realized you really need to know yourself. One thing I know about myself is that I am horrible at focusing in prayer, so it's easy for me to not quite get around to it. About the only way that works well for me to stay focused is to write my prayers down, which is inevitably more time consuming, but such a refreshment to me. So I had a wonderful time of prayer this morning (which God made sure I would do by waking my daughter up nice and early!) and God was gracious to me. I begged Him to give me desire to repent, because in my laziness I didn't want to repent of being lazy! He is truly good, and I'll tell you why: because His Word is true and lovely and right and doesn't make a bit of sense to my silly human mind!

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Matthew 10:39

My sinful mind thinks that the more I do to please myself, the happier I will be - but it's a LIE! Nothing was outwardly different about today. I still had one baby who wanted to nurse and one baby with a poopy diaper blowout just when we sat down to school; the fireplace still decided to spit smoke into the living room; I still had five little girls with sins to correct; and so on . . . but somehow, unexplainably except in the wisdom of God (which seems often like foolishness to mankind) I was filled with joy. I sang with my girls with a happy heart. I had little or no time for only "me", but I loved the time I had with them. I found joy and satisfaction in this good work God has given me, because He helped me to stop trying to get out of my work for a few minutes of "me-time". Don't get me wrong - I have a wonderful husband who does bless me with times to simply rest and do something on my own. But my job, the sweet calling God has placed before me is more blessed. So, back to the quote at the beginning of this blog: it's always "easy" to look to please myself. And the choice isn't always between what is inherently wrong and what is right. But what is needed is to choose againt mere ease; the more difficult task of taking up a cross; that task which somehow becomes the lighter one, the more joyful one, the only one to bring the true joy of living. God, by Your grace keep me in that path!

Some baby Alyssa pictures:

Cutest baby ever (one of five, anyway!)Cutest hat ever! Thanks, Noel!Ever gone for a brisk bike-ride-in-the-snow-while-packing-a-baby? Quite lovely, I must say!Closer-up shot of cutest baby in the world!

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Nov. 12, 2007 - Babies And Pictures

My babies amuse me - I mean the two littlest ones. They're so small, yet they have such strong personalities that are already quite different from all of their sisters. Alyssa is my first baby with two distinct idiosyncrasies: she LOVES having her diaper changed (not just the end result- she actually loves the process, smiling and practically laughing the whole time!) and she cries when she wants to be talked to - literally. Occasionally she'll just cry and cry, so I instinctively feed her, change her, attempt to put her to bed,etc.  Finally I'll put her down on her back in exasperation, and say "what is so wrong?" At that point, and only at that point, she'll look up at me, smile and start talking in "baby coo". And as long as I continue to talk (or goo-goo) back with a smile, looking into her eyes (that part is essential to her), she's happy. If I look away or stop talking to her, she cries and cries yet again. Somehow I forget this each time, and still go through the whole process when she's moaning only because she wants someone to talk to her!

Juliette (though I should probably stop thinking of her as a baby) amuses me with her independence. The two sisters preceding her could not well be described as independent (though Isabelle was), so she's quite a novelty right now. She seems to think she controls her destiny, and she's politely insistent about this. I'll tell her it's time to come inside from playing, and she responds "No dee-doo" (her version of No, thank you). I tell her it's time to tidy up the toys, and she responds "No dee-doo". I tell her to give back a sister's toy which she snagged and of course she responds "No dee-doo".  Sometimes, when I've told her something that she REALLY didn't want to hear, I get the extended version of "No, dee-dee-dee-dee-doo." In the end, her path is still determined by what I said, but somehow I always get this phrase first rather than "yes, mom". Hmmm, I think I need to work on this, whilst trying not to be so amused by it.

Tonight was her night to claim the ever-coveted role of "Dinner Helper". After donning her favorite apron (the sheer blue one that actually stays up on her little torso), she proceeded to "help" me in the kitchen in whatever way she thought best (I sort of "gave her her head" on this one). She was quite convinced that she was doing what needed to be done. She unloaded the dishwasher: each time she grabbed a piece of silverware, she'd open some random drawer and toss it in with a look of utter satisfaction upon her face. One fork in the utensils drawer, one fork in the knife drawer, one fork in the measuring cup drawer . . . I'm not sure a fork ever ended up in the silverware drawer! Typically, I suppose, I would correct this, but it did keep her so happy for quite awhile tonight. Next she "helped" set the table - I'm so used to the older girls setting the whole table by themselves, that by the time I walked in to check on her she had about a million forks and plates on the table! Lastly, after "stirring" my enchiladas with a spatula she had found, she occupied herself quite nicely for ten minutes "opening" a can of olives. When daddy came down for dinner, she proudly showed him her apron and pronounced herself the dinner helper (or di-di me-mer, or some other little pronunciation). I may not have gotten too much dinner "help" tonight, but she was certainly quite pleased with herself!

And here are a few pictures from the week:

Bubble Baby

Last minute carnival "costumes" from the dollar store - four beautiful butterflies for $2.24!

Oops, I mean five

Love snuggling that baby! Alyssa doesn't look too sure about this though . . .

Juli was such a trooper with big smiles even though she was sick and feverish here.

Matt just read through a couple of the Narnia books yet again - have I ever mentioned how much we LOVE those stories?

Yummy, fingers . . .

Naomi hefting a big library book. We've so enjoyed "new" books each week as I've rediscovered the joys of a library.

My wonderful husband turned this . . .

Into this. Isn't it pretty?!

One last picture of Naomi - just because she looked so cute!

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Nov. 5, 2007 - Road Trips And Croquet Mallets

This is been such a busy week that I've not had a chance to sit and type down any stories. This is too bad, as I know I've forgotten some of the funniest comments by the girls!  We decided to take a day off of school and have a little road trip down to a town with some stores we don't have. We needed some space heaters and a couple of other odds and ends. Wondering if I was a bit nuts, I packed up my crew of girls - all five of them - and headed down south. This was our first outing, just the six of us girls, and it was a rather big outing to start with. I ended up being pleasantly surprised, however, as the girls did quite well (Daddy's done some nice store training for me!), and we all really enjoyed the day. We listened to stories on cd in the car while we drove and while we stopped to feed fussy Alyssa in the middle of a grainfield. We went to the three stores I was needing, and I noticed that my little "row of ducklings" (that's what I call it when I walk with the girls all holding hands in a row) is distinctly longer now. We definitely block an aisle, but it's worth it for the amusing/amused comments people make! After our errands, we finished up the outing at McDonalds. I sat with the little ones and watched while the big girls got to release some energy in the playland. We had a quiet drive back home while mommy got to listen to a "story" (a Trinity Fest talk by David Field) and attempt to keep the girls awake so they'd sleep at home. Thankfully it worked and we made it home in time for a late nap - hooray! I love coming home at naptime so I have a chance to unload the car and such.

The rest of the week we managed to finish up all the little school stories we'd missed so we're still on the right place in our schedule. I'm really pleased with how school is going this year. I was talking to a friend about how it's nice to know I can easily skip it if I have to, as the girls are so young, but we all love it. It gives the girls a routine they look forward to, and keeps them from mischief. And we're all learning interesting things together. Isabelle is reading more and more, and I don't think I can even take much credit for that - it just seems the pieces have fallen into place in her head. She made me chuckle the other day when she came up with a clever solution to her problem. She was doing her Animal Notebook page in which she was writing down some things she learned about elephants this week. In the place where she was to write down places where elephants are found living, she had written grasslands, and also wanted to write square (one of our books talks about a small "square" of African Savanna, and she knew there were elephants there). I usually let her spell things out phonetically unless she prefers help, but this time I had to go out of the room for a minute. I came back to find her missing, and upon looking for her, I found her rummaging through our toys. I started to inquire as to what she was doing, but she returned a moment later with a look of triumph on her face.  She sat back down to her animal paper holding a piece of a chunky wooden puzzle. "What are you doing?" I wondered aloud. She answered "Well, I wanted to spell "square" right, and I knew it must be the word on the square puzzle piece, so I had to find it." She did indeed spell square right . . . clever girl!

I'm sure this is getting to be a long blog entry with very little point to it, but I have to tell you one last thing. If you're ever in need of some amusement, I highly recommend giving a croquet set with four mallets and only three balls to a bunch of toddlers! Our friend passed a set along to us, and the girls have been begging to try it out. So while dinner was baking we headed out in our puffy jackets and attempted to set up the little wickets. A moment after telling the girls we were supposed to hit the balls through the wickets, I abandoned the attempt. I realized they'd never seen anyone play croquet, golf or anything of the sort, so I had all these girls holding their mallets in every which way you can imagine (except, of course, for the correct way). One handed, baseball bat style, wrong end up, you name it. And any time they did make contact with a ball, it just knocked a wicket down. So we put the wickets away and spent a hilarious half hour playing "croquet" on the sidewalk. We used sidewalk cracks and tees to hold the ball still, then I attempted to wrench their little hands into some semblence of the actual way you hold a mallet, and they gleefully whacked the ball as hard as they could. Then, of course they took off after it, squealing the whole way. With so many little girls, our sidewalk was a whirlwind of croquet mallets and croquet balls flying about, and little puffy-jacket girls running around squealing and laughing chasing the balls (as well as occasionally fighting over who's turn it was for which color ball, since, as I said, we were missing one and ducking to avoid being hit by someone else's ball and mallet). It was great for a laugh, that's all I have to say!

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Oct. 29, 2007 - Melissa Recommends

I'd like to recommend to you all a couple of things we've been enjoying lately. One is the audio version of a book we've loved for awhile. Canon Press put out a cd of Wise Words by Peter Leithart. It's a wonderful collection of eighteen fairy tales, each of which illustrates a Proverb.  We love to read them aloud, but as they are a bit longer than picture books, I often forget to grab this book off the shelf. Toby Sumpter did a great job reading these stories aloud, so now the girls can listen to them while I make dinner!

The other thing I've been really pleased with is the videos we've watched from Nest Family Learning. I actually became a distributor for them, so if you'd like to buy any of their things I'd be happy to help (shameless little plug there ). They have a ton of other products as well, but the ones I've particularly enjoyed and have the most desire to collect more of are the Animated Hero Classics biographies. The girls get to enjoy a movie and learn a true story at the same time - always a nice combo! In any case, please stop by and feel free to browse around my NestFamilyLearning site, as they do have so many wonderful products and movies for little ones.

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Oct. 11, 2007 - Life Lessons From Little Babies And Storybooks

Well, I think I learned a good lesson today  - funny how God can use the most mundane or simple things to teach us something very important. I've been slowly reading through Keeping Our Children's Hearts by Teri Maxwell, and one of the things she talks about is the importance of smiling at our little ones. While the need to do this so much more convicted me when I read the book, I don't think this lesson really sunk in until today. I will admit it takes conscious effort for me to smile - especially when I'm tired (which is often, it seems!) I don't do it naturally. And I don't know if I've mentioned this, but my Naomi is a little watcher. She watches me like a hawk, no matter what I'm doing. I can feel her penetrating gaze, and sometimes it makes me nervous (oh goodness, am I doing well here? Because if not, she'll spot it!) Today I was changing Alyssa's diaper, with Nao standing on the stepstool, and watching me (she usually watches my face, not what I'm doing). Alyssa has just reached the age where she smiles quite often if she's smiled at. So of course, we all want to make her smile. While I was changing her diaper this afternoon, I was beaming down at her with a huge smile - somehow it comes naturally to smile at wee babies who are just learning (adorably) to smile back. As I was grinning away at her, I felt Naomi's little eyes, and was struck with a pang of guilt that I don't beam and smile in her little face nearly as often!

Flash forward to our storytime: We were reading an old Eloise Wilkin Golden Book called Guess Who Lives Here. On the page where the book gives you "clues" about the mommy, this is how it describes her: "Somebody lives in this house. She has curly hair and she smiles very often. . . " As I read that I asked myself if it could describe me. So often it doesn't, but I truly want it to. I long for God's joy to be ever present in my heart, and ever clear on my face. When I don't *feel* like smiling (feelings can be such deceptive little stinkers, can't they?), I want to learn the discipline of smiling anyway, and at the same time asking God to put that happy smile into my heart as well. So much of this Christian walk (and warfare) seems to be doing what is right even when we don't *feel* like it. Not as under grudging compulsion, for that would make us hypocrites. But as God says, we show we love Him when we obey. One way for me to obey is to give my children the simple, visible and loving joy of a smile - even when it's not easy. As I sought to smile more and more at my girls tonight - especially my older ones (as with the babies it's so easy, somehow) it was amazing to see how much more joyful they were - and how many loving smiles I received in return!

Now for some more smiles in picture form - some posed, some caught by surprise, but it's been awhile, so there might be quite a few:

Pretty baby - actually the pictures never do justice to her cuteness for some reason.

 Fun and tickles with daddy

Attempting to climb a cherry tree

Autumn walks

Nothing better than a plastic shopping cart to collect autumn treasures - sticks, leaves and such.

These boots are made for walking . . .

I managed to get a great action shot of Hannah in focus for once.

Love the leaves!

Also love our new circle time rug

Mommy and Belle

I've officially started making cookies (never have before, believe it or not), and found the perfect place to keep them.

It's funny how I go through hair phases with the girls. I'm currently loving piggy tails for the blondies . . .

. . . and more freedom for Naomi's lovely fluffy curls (again, the picture doesn't do justice to how cute her hair looks in person - in my own humble opinion of course!)

Also loving my Moby D wrap (Alyssa's sleeping in there!) - thanks Christine!

 

 

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Oct. 9, 2007 - Quote For The Night

Hi all - sorry it's been so long since I've written anything!  It's been a very busy couple of weeks with family visiting (good times!), getting apples picked and firewood stacked, setting my oven on fire (in my opinion the most embarassing way to meet all the firemen in a small town!), catching a couple of colds, sorting out our school days and a few other odds and ends!  I feel like I barely have time for anything lately, and I need to get to bed pretty quickly tonight, but I wanted to post something I read in The Treasury Of David by C H Spurgeon. I am very much enjoying his writings on the Psalms, and loving having a more purposeful time reading the Word. I highly recommend this book for any who would love to study the Psalms more deeply. Anyway, this quote (from his thoughts on Psalm 1) really struck me as I am one who loves her routines. I've reminded myself of it many times over the past few weeks and days, when it gets so busy that I don't have time for what I had planned on that day - it's a joy to remember that my day went exactly as God wanted it to.

"The ungodly have their stated days, stated times, certain works, and certain places; to which they stick so closely, that if their neighbors were perishing with hunger, they could not be torn from them. But the blessed man, being free at all times, in all places, for every work, and to every person, will serve you whenever an opportunity is offered him. "

I pray God will make me a person who serves at any opportunity - particularly serving my family and others when it may not be easy or convenient, but is God's rich work for me at that moment. May you all be blessed this week as you serve Him where He's placed you!

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Oct. 1, 2007 - Isabelle's Love Language

Recently I had an epiphany regarding my eldest daughter.  I remembered reading something in The Five Love Languages about how children need to receive love in all the different *languages* as they don't develop their main love language till they're around five or seven.  Well it hit me that I think I know what Isabelle's is.  That girl spends probably hours each day (or at least each week) writing little letters, drawing little pictures, making *envelopes* and presents for her sisters, her grandmas, mommy and daddy, aunties, friends - all her loved ones.  It's instinctive to her - she'll even write down a prayer so she can *give* a prayer for someone to that person.  So the light went on in my head that her love language is probably gift giving.  I don't know why it took me so long to think of this idea, but I picked a little note card I knew she liked and wrote her a "love" letter - trying to use only words she could read, so she could read it by herself whenever she liked. I just told her I was proud of her, I loved her, some sweet things I had seen her do, etc.  Oh, you should have seen this girl BEAM as she received, then read her treasured card! She carried it around all day and showed it to anyone who would look. It was amazing to see how giddy she was - made me feel bad for not thinking to do that before! It works in school, too. When she writes her letters, she loves when I tell her how pretty they look. But she LOVES when I write a little star and note for her about how well she worked on them.  Now I just have to remind myself to try to show love to her in this way more often. . . .

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