Today.....

This is what my house looked like today while we were trying to do some school work. Ruby was talking on her cell phone while her baby was in the front pack (hmmm, wonder who she is imitating)

Aaron had Erik jumping on his back during his math lesson.

You had to watch the Lego town while walking through the living room.

Ian was diligently working on a coloring badge for his Contenders of the Faith group.

Taylor was making math corrections while holding Libby.

Then Ben and Syndi came over to work on our American Revolution Unit Study. The children just seemed to have an abundance of energy today. Notice in the photo how hard Ian is working and concentrating and Erik's enthusiasm with the project. Guess which one is easier to homeschool?

I am so thankful for Syndi's planning and her patience. I love doing fun projects and the children really enjoy it, especially with Ben but I seem to lose steam halfway through the project whereas Syndi completes projects!! The children thanked her for a really fun day!

This photo was definitely not the best of the completed headdress' that they made as part of the Boston Tea Party Study but it so tells it like it is. Erik is definitely an individual (we tried to get him to add another feather so it did not look like bunny ears, but he liked it that way). Ben is in the middle of it all, Aaron is about to fall off the porch because he is so close to the edge, Ian is as happy as always, and Taylor has on her rendition of Indian attire, right down to the moccasins.

We had to make a trip to the doctor for Erik and he told the Doctor that he was playing with a really small snail. He said, "It was really, really, really small. It was tiny! It was as small as my mom's diamond." (Gee, Thanks.. My diamond is perfect, Thank you)

Tour of a Radio Station

My week has been so busy I honestly don't remember when we did the tour.

It took me an hour to get everyone ready to go.

It was about a 40 minute drive for me to get to the radio station.

It took another 10 minutes to get out of the van.

The tour lasted about 15minutes.

Our trip to Goodwill after the tour took about 2 hours! (gotta nurse, change the baby, take kids potty, etc.,)

Where does the time go?

I keep thinking I want to post something but by the time I take the picture I don't have time to upload them, then I have to feed the baby, then something else comes up and oh yeah I have been unsuccessfully trying to do laundry since the last post. I got caught up that day and then did a couple of loads then the dryer quit. Sean got that working and now the washer is on the fritz. UGH. My awesome husband is going to go to the laundry mat tomorrow morning and 'catch up'. The $200 part for the washer should be in 'early' next week.

I have the BEST friends.

I have wonderful friends!! All I had to do today for Aaron and Taylor's schooling was print out these pages from a unit study we are doing with Ben and Syndi.
Syndi called and said, "Just send them over at 11 and I will do it with them." Then Syndi called again and asked if they could stay for lunch and a few hours after just to play. It is no small feat feeding Aaron lunch which she graciously does several times a week.
It turns out that was not only a WONDERFUL break but very much needed. I have mastitis and thrush. Not to mention that because of the other above mentioned problems Liberty is not eating well and therefore decreasing my milk supply. UGH. I am exhausted and I ache all over.
My other dear friend Tami came out today and graded the last few days of lessons that I had not gotten to, held my fussy baby, cooked me dinner, made a birthday cake for her son, disciplined my children (when they needed it) and changed diapers. She also took all my children with her for an hour long drive to go to her house get me a breast pump and bring it back to me.
I am so lucky that God has blessed me with wonderful giving friends who take care of me.


Erik 'helped' me by sorting the papers I printed for Aaron and Taylor to take to Ben's today. He said that I printed 10,000 copies - I guess we will work more diligently on counting.

The PJ's that Erik is wearing were made by my mother in law for Ruby, but they were too big for her so Ian was going to get them. Since Ian already has footed PJ's Erik swiped them and is going to wear them until he cannot possibly squeeze into them anymore. If anyone knows where I can buy size 7 footed pajamas please let me know, I have searched far and wide for this desperate boy.

Becoming Wise

This morning when I woke up I heard someone in the living room. I went to investigate and found Ian sitting in the chair 'reading' the Bible. I asked him what he was doing up so early and he said," I am reading my Bible so that I can become wise."

Now that is a lesson we can all learn. Rise early, spend time in the Word with our Lord and tell others about it.

He even had 2 different Bibles to chose from that he was reading.

Ian is such a sweet boy but he is extremely accident prone, the other day he was at my friend Mary's house and ran through her kitchen and whacked his head on the corner of the counter. He regularly falls, has broken his leg, dislocated his elbow several times, got bitten by a dog, sometimes falls off his chair at dinner, and much more I am sure I don't remember right now.

Today was quite rough Erik was in a 'nasty' mood and that really has an impact on the rest of us. I sent him to bed right after dinner (on purpose) and when I went to tuck him in he said that he prayed to God to forgive him and to help him to be kind and helpful. He also said that he asked God into his heart. Talk about melting a mother's heart and making her feel bad for being so short and DONE for the day. We had a great talk about what that meant and about God's forgiveness and love.

God has a funny way of working because we are currently working on the memory verse Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. My words today were not sweet nor were they healing so at bedtime I had to humble myself and ask the children for forgiveness.

I am so thankful that we get to start new everyday.

When the Cat's away...

Sean headed off to Portland today. He won't be back until late Thursday. 6 kiddos at home one is only 1 month old and I am 'alone' for 3 days. We went to MOPS today and it was great to catch up with some friends and hear inspiration from moms who have been there, done that.

We had a great day. Taylor bought some new Polly Pocket dolls with the $ she earned selling Christmas Wreaths. Aaron went for a hike with Ben, check it out on Syndi's Blog. Erik was thrilled to earn $1 for sweeping and mopping my kitchen and entryway floors. Taylor earned $5 for cleaning both bathrooms. I love to vacuum and got all the rest of the floors spic and span. Ahhh I love a clean house. We had another delicious meal from MOPS and after dinner we played a game and I headed them off to bed. I told the children I would read some of The Sugar Creek Gang to them and when I went into the living room to get the book I looked at the clock and it was only 6:40pm Hmmm I would have been a good idea to do a Pajama Ride but no, not without Sean. It is a little early for bed but I was not going to tell them that. I ended up reading the rest of the book and had lights out 2 hours later. What a fun story time and I still had time to do what I wanted and give my children what they wanted.

We are so lucky to have such a great babysitter. Caitlin even comes over just to see the kids. She stopped by today as we were all cleaning and she held the baby, did Erik's reading with him, kept Ian on task, reminded Taylor to be kind and loved on all the children. She is so responsible and helpful. What a true blessing to me and our family.

The kids and I cleaned house today. I really like my house clean and cannot stand the laundry piled all over the place especially when it is in baskets. I usually have the children lay it out on the foot stool as soon as it comes out of the dryer so it doesn't sit around in baskets and doesn't get as wrinkled. Alas, I did laundry (surprise) and I cut myself some slack. Since Sean is not home I wanted to indulge some guilty pleasures (see below) and I let the laundry pile up - there is always tomorrow.

Yes I finished off the Dryers Thin Mint ice cream. My friend told me there is a chocolate version of the Thin Mint. I must find that. I may have only gained 5 pounds during the pregnancy but am determined to double that in the first month post-partum. It is much harder for me to have discipline now because of all the yummy desserts and I don't have to watch it in order to have a smallish (HA) baby. I love reading blogs, surfing the web and checking up on Facebook. I am headed off to bed to read with the lights on (as long as I want, or can) then feed the baby in bed when she wakes up (again with the lights on and read my book) in the warmth of my bed. I am enjoying my time 'alone' today I'll let you know if I still like it by Thursday.

Ruby was very upset that Papa was not home to pray with her and play with her. It is so sweet to see the pure bliss she experiences with her papa. We all love him and wait for his safe return home.

Why?

Today, Sean and I attended a memorial service for our friends' almost 8 year old daughter. Pastor Bob said in his message that it is OK to ask why? Why do things like this happen? Why did it have to be 2 days before her birthday? Why to this wonderful family? Why do I not have words to comfort them? I don't have words to express the sorrow and loss I feel for them. I was amazed at the little girls' mother and her strength and dependence on God. I was reminded of Job when God allowed him to be tested and Job never wavered in his belief and faith in God. Nancy radiates the peace that only He can provide. Our prayers are with this wonderful faithful family in their time of trial and sorrow. We love you Tim and Nancy and Annie.

Milestones

Last week we had the boy scout den meeting that was canceled in December due to snow. Aaron was awarded his Bear rank. You can't tell from the picture but he was very excited and proud.

At the den meeting they played a game where the boys shot mini marshmallows through PVC pipe and the other scouts tried to catch the marshmallows in the cone. The first group to go were the Bears and Weeblos but Erik (a Tiger) was right in there shooting. He was also seeing how many he could eat then shoot. When it was the Tigers chance, Erik was the catcher. He is very competitive!

I really appreciate that when your boys earn rank (Erik earned his Bobcat, and Aaron earned his Bear) the den leaders have the whole family come up to receive the award. It is a lot of work for the parents to help the boys earn rank.

The tigers did a skit and Erik was looking for his watch under a lamp post (Mordecai and Renee) and the other scouts came and helped sow seeds of kindness by helping him look. At the end Erik said he lost his watch across the room but was looking under the lamp because the light was better there. It was really funny. He did a great job talking loud and remembering his lines.

Renee and Mordecai made the best looking lamp post around. Renee cracks me up with her dry sense of humor and quick wit and did not seem to mind a bit standing in front of a crowd with a lampshade on her head.

I was really proud that my mother in law was able to be at the Pack meeting and see the boys earn their awards. They both earned a lot of belt loops, and segments not to mention their ranks. It meant a lot to them that she was there.

Here are some other photos of grammy's visit. Ruby is looking so grown up and is such a great little helper.

January

it is 7:28am and I am sitting at the computer reading blogs, checking facebook and drinking coffee. It is really glorious. I am not a morning person but Liberty decided to get up at 6 and after nursing would not go back to bed I showered, made coffee, got the rice cooker ready to start with our oatmeal (love to recipe from Hillary's blog- I add grated apples to it and it tastes just like those packets of apple cinnamon oatmeal I remember as a kid)

It has been a while since I posted I guess I have some slack with a new baby and all. I just found out that we will not be going with Sean this week to a conference in Portland so we will really be on our own for 3 whole days. Funny how that works, I mean I have had meals delivered almost daily for the last month and we get our last one tonight! What a blessing it has been but now it's time to sink or swim. The children are really doing well but I am a little worried how Ruby is going to do without Papa around for 3 days, I guess it will be OK since she has Taylor to take care of her.

I am having a hard time with the nursing (strange that can happen with #7 but none of the others). I guess we will figure it out and all will be OK.

My mother in law was here for a week and it was wonderful!! The kids really enjoyed the fact that she did all of their chores for them, but I don't blame them she did all my chores for me and it was glorious. I only wish she lived closer so that we could see her more. She is such a selfless woman and gives me the freedom to be who I am and parent the way I see fit with out judging me. I hope that my son's wives will see me as a friend and I will be as helpful as she is to me.