The six of us

Two disciplines

2012-01-29T23:03:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel like God is showing you something so clearly and vividly that you just have to share it with someone? Well, I have something to share with you, that God has been clearly pointing out to me. This is going to get long, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in. It has to do with discipline.

I'm not talking about the discipline of getting up early...or eating right....or exercising...or spending time in the Word, although these are all good disciplines.

No, I'm talking about the disciplines of love and patience. What? You say those aren't 'disciplines'? Well, I would like to argue that point, and I think you'll see why in a minute. Let me start with an example, to make it easier.

You're sitting in a fancy restaurant, your kids are home with a babysitter. Your handsome husband is sitting across from you, dressed in that fuzzy green sweater that just makes you swoon (what???) Anyway....it's a candle-lit dinner over glasses of sparkling grape juice (okay, you can have wine in your day-dream, but this is MY day-dream). You're remembering together the days of your honeymoon, and suddenly, he reaches over and gently brushes your hair out of your face.

Let me ask you something. Do you love your husband at that moment? Of course you do!! What goon wouldn't?? It's easy to love in a situation like that! But now.....a different scenario.

It's a week-day evening. Your husband is a half hour late from work, you've been home with the kids all day by yourself....a long eleven hour day. The older kids are running around chasing each other, the baby is crying and holding onto your leg the whole time you're trying to make dinner, which is, needless to say, burning on the stove because the phone won't stop ringing. Oh, and you have a piano student coming in less than an hour. Your late husband walks in the door, and the first words out of his mouth are "Can I shower before dinner?"

Do you love your husband in this moment?? Hmmm....good question. You probably do not feel love. You feel like reaching over and shaking him and saying "Shower?? Shower?? Are you serious? Dinner is burning cause you're a half hour late, I'm going insane, and you want to SHOWER?? What for? I can still see the whites of your eyes behind all that chimney soot on your face. Just open your mouth wide at dinner so the soot doesn't go in your mouth, okay?"

But of course, you don't say that. Because you have enough...ahem, here it comes.....discipline....to know that you love this man, even if you don't feel like it at the moment. You have enough discipline to know that love is not based on a single emotion at a single moment in time. Love is primarily a decision that we make.....to care for somebody else, regardless of whether it's a 'for better' or a 'for worse' kind of moment.

Make sense?

I think you see where I'm getting at with this. Let me move on to patience.

Imagine it's a Sunday morning. You got plenty of rest the night before, your pregnant body feels good for a change, all your pregnancy hormones are completely lined up and functioning properly, and you managed to eat breakfast before the kids woke up. They run to you screaming "Mom, I didn't do it, HE did it!!!!" You calmly bend down, with patience in your voice and say "Well, let's talk about this calmly and work it out" You feel in control of things and on top of the world. Are you being patient? Of course you are.

But it's easy in a situation like that, when you're feeling 100%, and like you could go out and conquer the world. Let me offer you another scenario.

You tossed and turned all night long, trying to get comfortable. You wake up feeling like a truck ran over you. Your pregnancy hormones are...well, NOT lined up perfectly, and you feel like if anybody says anything to you, you'll probably just growl like a bear. So....when those kids come running up to you, crying and arguing and expecting you to fix the problem, you have every right in the world to growl and snap and get angry, right? Or......maybe not.

You see, patience is also a discipline.

A discipline is something that we train ourselves to do....even when it's not easy. I eat that apple on the counter instead of the chocolate bar, not because it's easy, but because it's what I've disciplined myself to do. I get on that elliptical and exercise those leg muscles not because it's easy, but because it's what I've trained myself to do.

The same holds true for love and patience. You show love to your husband even when you don't feel love....because you've disciplined yourself to know the truth....that love is a choice, not an emotion. You show patience to your kids even when you don't feel patient.....because that's what discipline is, something you've trained yourself to do time after time after time again.

So.......make a challenge for yourself, along with me. The next time you don't FEEL like responding patiently to your whining, unhappy children...make yourself do it anyway. Bite your tongue, count to ten, pray for help....and then smile and work out a solution with them. You'll feel so much better than if you yell and stomp your foot, even though that's probably what you feel like doing. The next time might be just as hard. And the time after that. But gradually, I think that it will start to get easier. A discipline. Just like getting up early in the morning gets easier after you've done it upteen times over again.

The people in our lives who just seem to be 'naturally' patient or loving....I truly believe that many of them have simply disciplined themselves to be that way.

Anyway, I don't share all this because it's something I've conquered in my own life. On the contrary, it's something I still struggle with, and I think that's why God has been pointing it out so clearly to me lately. Love.....even when you don't feel like it. Be patient.....not because it's easy, but because you've disciplined yourself to do the right thing.

It's one of my biggest challenges in 2012. Would you pray for me for the strength to grow more disciplined in these areas, and I'll do the same for you :)

P.S. (Although the situations in this post are not completely based on true stories, they are obviously based on real truths in my life, and you can rest assured that my husband will get just as much humor out of reading them as I did in writing them---he's a great kind of guy that way ;)

Africa Study

2012-01-24T22:32:00.000-05:00

I was working on a post about the 'rhythm of our homeschool days' But, it was getting waaaay too long. So, instead, here are some pictures of Cosette DOING home-schooling today :)

She's been studying Africa for a couple of weeks now in geography. Seriously, the child can now locate more countries accurately on the map than I can :/ Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mali, Kenya---I don't even know if I spelled all those correctly, but she points them all out without hesitation.

So, her school curriculum had an art assignment for her today. She learned that a traditional way of making baskets in Africa is to use grasses woven together.

Well.....we don't have any 'grasses woven together' in the Curtis household, so we had to make do with some substitutes. I think she got the idea, though, and had a blast getting messy in glue in the meantime ;)

The finished cloth basket is still drying on my counter. I love homeschooling and getting to watch my kids learn :)

A piece lost.......but not it's memory

2012-01-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

I remember it well. It was the Christmas that I was 13 years old. It was the first time I had received a 'grown up' stocking. You know----instead of the stocking full of candy, trinkets and such, it was full of 'grown up' type of gifts.

I reached in to the stocking, curiosity filling me, somehow knowing that this Christmas was different.

Out came woolen gloves and a matching ear warmer, covered with a pretty green pattern.

My mom looked at me and smiled. "I thought maybe you'd wear the ear warmer to keep your ears warm since you don't like when a hat messes up your hair. Keep those nice, Jaime, they're not cheap things."

Those same gloves and ear warmer are even today stuffed into the pocket of my maternity winter coat. The warmest, most dependable gloves I've owned, even after 16 years.

I reached into the stocking for the next gift. A simple index card. On it were words written in my mother's often silly type of personality. "Dear Jaime---Your wise and scheming mother spied the university cello teacher at a recent community event. I went up to talk to her, and she agreed to give you two cello lessons to help you decide if you really want to learn how to play. You're welcome-----Love, Mom

Cello lessons were a dream come true for me. One of the best gifts, written on an index card.

I reached in one more time. A little green box with a gold band on it. I opened it up, and there inside was a dainty gold ring, tiny little diamonds encircling a real opal in the middle. Opal is my birthstone---the glorious, beautiful month of October. It was the most dignified, significant piece of jewelry I'd ever owned.

Mom smiled at me. " I think you're old enough now to take care of it"

I've worn it often since then, and I've had it on 24/7, seven days a week since her funeral. It's never left my finger. I look at my left hand, and am instantly reminded of the love of my husband. I look at my right hand, and am instantly reminded of the love of my Mama.

That is, until this afternoon. Out of habit, I looked down at the ring, and realized in horror----"The opal!!! It's gone!!" And isntantly, I remembered snagging my finger on something that morning, feeling the pain, and yelling 'Ow!' I never even thought to check the ring at the time.

I ran into the living room, in serious distress, asking my husband if he remembered where I was when I yelled out earlier. No, he didn't even remember me yelling out. And I can't even remember what I was doing at the time. I just remember the pain on my finger, never realizing that a special part of myself was being torn away forever.

There's no chance I'll ever find the opal again, except by a miracle. As I sat there on the living room floor, missing my Mama more than ever, sweet little Leanna ran over to me and wrapped her arms around me in comfort. She didn't understand why I was upset, but she wanted to love her Mama anyway.

The love of my Mama, passed on to me.....passed on to my daughters....generation after generation. The opal is gone, and I'll miss it's signifigance and constant reminder to me of my Mom. But her love, her values, who she is, lives on through my own daughters. THEY will be the constant reminder to me of the love of a mother.

Day by Day

2012-01-18T13:21:00.000-05:00

I have not met to neglect my blog as frequently as I have been recently. It's just that, from before sun-up (literally), to well after sun-down....my days don't stop! Finding time to sit and do a quick blog post has been a challenge for me lately. But, we make time for what's important to us, right? And blogging is kind of like a breath of fresh air to me---a minute to stop, breathe, evaluate things, rejoice in the joyful chaos....and then move on :) So, here I am, for fifteen minutes ignoring the dozen other things on my to do list right now and updating here :)

There is never a lack of things to keep me busy around here......

Little girls who pat the floor next to them and invite you to sit down and read a story.

Food to prepare. That's my homemade bread waiting to be put in the freezer. Sometime I'll have to write a post on the kinds of food we prepare and eat around here, and our reasoning behind it---but that's another blog for another day :)

Messes to clean up. Ohhhh...........the messes! This is the one thing that sometimes I think is literally going to drive me insane. I can have myself and all three older kids cleaning up stuff, and when we turn around, Leanna has been quite busy making another new mess for us to attend to. This is hard for me with my first-born personality, who appreciates order and cleanliness. Nevertheless.....we continue to plow through the messes, one by one, day by day :)

Oh, and don't forget the cowboys waiting for me to play a game with them. Yes, they ARE camped out in front of the shower in the bathroom. I have no idea why. We have THREE table areas that they could have chosen from to play this game at, but no, they choose the bathroom floor. Go figure. I guess it's a cowboy thing ;)

The best part of peanut butter cookies.....

2012-01-14T09:50:00.000-05:00

....is licking the peanut butter off the spoon, of course!

Love the peanut butter on her nose in this one!

As she gets older, I hope I never forget the feeling of this little girl's arms wrapped tightly around my neck each morning when I get her out of bed, or her little hand patting my back as she gives me a hug. I am totally, 100% in love with her! :)

To everything it's season

2012-01-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

There is a season for everything, I know. One day, I will have a house full of teenagers, going here and there, with schedules and everybody's busy lives to keep up with.

But that's not now! Right now, I have a house full of babies and young children. We rejoice in the time that we can spend at home together, truly making our 'house' into a 'home'.

My attitude, my peace of mind, my priorities.....they're all a little clearer and better when I'm at home taking care of my family then when I'm out somewhere trying to get a bunch of stuff done and wearing out myself and my children.

So most days, I offer no apologies.....we stay home :) And as the years go by, I am slowly learning that a 'good' home is made up not primarily of clean floors, organized cupboards and carefully planned menus, (although none of these are bad things), but rather of a household of people learning to love each other and find rest in the Lord. I'm learning, on occasion, to ignore the toys on the floor, prop my feet up, and read stories to my babies. Because, what's that old saying? I'm rocking my baby, 'cause babies don't keep.....

A day in our home

My top three signs that you might be pregnant

2012-01-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Just in case there was any doubt left in your mind whatsoever, here are three additional ways to confirm that you might be pregnant.....

1. When you drop something (which is frequently), you will stubbornly stand for ten minutes trying to pick it up with your toes just so that you don't have to try to bend over.

2. It's bed-time, but you're already dreaming about what might be for breakfast in the morning.

3. You have suddenly found that the simple luxury of rolling over in bed at night has become a ten-step process. OH.....and don't forget that you might get stuck in the middle of rolling over at some point becasue of those awful round ligament pains and be suddenly stuck on your side in an awkward position for the rest of the night.

Yep, I answered 'yes' to all three of those.......golly, I think I might be pregnant! Of course, those little feet and elbows that keep poking my insides day and night were also a dead give away.... ;)

Cousins...

2012-01-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

I grew up with exactly four first cousins---two on my mom's side, two on my dad's side. And only one of them was close to my age ( love ya, Jenny!) Well, around here these days, my kids have no lack of cousins. This picture is only HALF of the cousins on Joel's side of the family :)

When Parenting requires more Grace

2012-01-04T22:06:00.000-05:00

I post often on this blog about the sweet, loving, cute, inspired moments that happen in our house. And well I should, because I want this blog to be an encouragment to you, an inspiration, something that you can read and feel uplifted, a bit 'lighter', so to speak. Truthfully speaking, those moments DO make up a large part of our lives together here in the Curtis house.

But let's be real for a minute. Life isn't always 'feel-good lovey-dovey' type of moments. Parenting is hard work. Sometimes it's just a 'bite the bullet', get through the next two hours kind of day. Thank God, we as parents often do things right-----but there are probably just as many times when we don't do things 'right'. But that's the beauty of parenting, right? Your child's success or failure in life isn't dependent on one solitary episode of good or bad parenting (thank goodness!)---rather, it's an accumulation of his/her responses to an entire lifetime of YOUR responses/discipline/care/love/nuture/etc,etc.

I was reminded of this today. Cosette was having a particularly hard day, for some reason. Twice, she 'blew up' at me and lost her temper. There was something that she wanted, or wanted to do, in one case----and I had to tell her no in both instances, for whatever reason. Now, I'll be willing to admit that I only kept up about 50 percent of my parenting responsibilities at this point. No, I did not back down, I did not let her have her own way just because she was whining and being disrespectful. However, I also did NOT carry it all the way through and require her to change her attitude, apologize, and give a more respectful response. I 'let the ball drop' at fifty percent.

Fortunately, God called this to my attention later on in the evening, and I was able to sit Cosette down and talk to her about the issues. We talked about how important it is for her to give correct responses to Mommy and Daddy, and how I was not at all pleased with her attitude today. We talked about how, if the same things happened tomorrow, there would be appropriate punishments given. And I think I saw a truly repentant heart from my daughter.

Does this mean that my 'fifty percent' response earlier in the day then was okay? Um....no. I still should have carried it through all the way. But, fortunately for me, my God is a God of grace, a God of second chances. I was able to take what might have been a poor learning experience for my daughter (I can get away with yelling at Mom and losing my temper), and turn it around into something positive.

As you face those moments in parenting when you're tempted to 'let the ball drop', or maybe you don't even know WHAT is the right thing to do at the moment, can I offer you a few encouragments?

1. Be consistent. Your child needs to know what is expected of him/her, and then you need to carry through on that, each and every time. If your child is not allowed to eat candy before dinner, then don't slip and 'break the rules' one day, because it will only make it harder the next day when you suddenly feel like being a little more of a 'responsible' parent.

2. Realize that every child is different. What worked for your sweet, compliant daughter seven years ago may not work for your energetic little boy today. I know. I speak from experience :) When Cosette was little, a gentle little flick on her knuckles and a 'no, no, don't touch that', was enough to send her sobbing and far, far away from whatever dangerous thing it was she was about to touch. And she would never touch it again. Noah Shaun, however.....well, you could discipline the child 100 times over, and he would still go back and do the same bad thing yet once again. And yet, consistency had to be maintained, and he DID eventually learn what he was and was not allowed to do. I have a feeling his stubborness and 'never give up' attitude will serve him well in some way later in life. However, due to this, Joel and I had to be creative in some of the different ways we taught and trained Noah as he grew. What 'worked' for his big sister wasn't always the best bet for him.

3. Treat every moment with love. Instead of seeing that temper tantrum, that sibling argument, that look of defiance, that tear stained face, that angry frown, as an interruption in your day, as something to be 'dealt with as quick as possible' so you can move on with whatever it is you're doing-----see it AS your day!! See it as an opportunity, a God-given moment to teach, to discipline, to correct, to love, to guide, to nurture. I've found that if I view my days in this way, some how, all my priorities fall into place a little easier.

And before I end this, I'd like to leave you with a laugh. Remember this day, an 'I'll never forget it' day in the life of my own parenting? A certain little boy dumped a bottle of baby powder all over my nursery. I stood there, dumb-founded, just not sure what to do. But, needless to say, I survived, He survived....my vacuum cleaner literally did NOT survive, but that's another story......you can re-read the whole crazy episode from over two years ago here.

Parenting.....it really is a day to day learning experience, isn't it? I'm so glad I know a God Who forgives, teaches, and gives more grace as needed :)

Last day of 2011----counting those blessings, as usual!

2011-12-31T20:07:00.001-05:00

In years past, I have enjoyed doing fun stuff on New Year's Eve. Having friends over for games and dessert, getting together at my grandmother's house, going to see a movie, evenings of air hockey and 'wii' in my parent's old basement.....all these are part of my memories of ways I've spent New Years in the past.

But this is now, and I have four small children, some of whom have chest colds and aren't feeling well. So, we decided to have a fairly 'low key' New Year's Eve today :) Sometimes with small children, 'less' is definitely better!
We started out the morning with sweet rolls for breakfast that Joel's sister had made for us for Christmas. They'd been in the freezer all week, and we were eager to dig in. Yummy! Here's my sweet girl at about 9:00 a.m. This was one of her rare cases of actually smiling today---poor girl just isn't feeling well.

Noah and I decided to take advantage of having Daddy at home and go on our long-awaited 'date'. Here we are, ready to head out the door. You can see from this picture that baby boy number five has really taken off in the growth area in recent days---either that, or I ate a few too many Christmas sweets ;)

Our date started out with chocolate milk at Burger King.

We continued it with lots of slides down the play-area, and a trip to Dollar General for some race cars and a pack of gum. I love having 'one on one' time with my kids every now and then!

Dad and Eli finally got a chance to put together that model airplane Eli's been itching to work on!

Cosette had fun making a bracelet on a new weaving loom a friend gave her for her birthday.

We had store-bought pizza for dinner---a big deal in our house :)

I guess this is Eli's 'pizza eating' face??

Some people, who shall remain nameless, prefer to eat the cheese off of their pizza before anything else!

Dessert....... (we weren't big on nutritional concerns today---end the year with a bang, haha ;)

Two clean boys, ready to snuggle up

All cozied up, watching 'Joseph, King of Dreams' Don't you just love the three of them laying out on their bellies like this?

And that has been our New Year's so far! The little ones are headed to bed by 8:30, which is actually a bit past their bedtime! Joel and I plan to end the New Year with a couple episodes of 'Monk', a plate of hot wings and a bottle of sparkling cider. A perfect ending to our year :)

Happy Seventh Birthday, Cosette!

2011-12-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

The tea party dishes are washed.....the wrapping paper picked up....the friends gone home....the birthday dinner eaten.....and I have one tired but happy birthday girl :) My sweet Cosette turned SEVEN today! It feels like her first birthday was just yesterday, when she smashed strawberry shortcake all over her face :) Well, she didn't do any smashing today....she had a very 'dignified' tea party with a few of her close friends and cousins. I had so many pictures to share, I thought it would be easiest to just share my slideshow from photobucket. I think there's a button there somewhere you can click if you want to see the whole album of pictures at once.

This Week, I am.....

2011-12-28T09:22:00.000-05:00

...... still here....just enjoying a calm, cozy week with my kiddos at home---no school, mornings full of playing in the snow and hot chocolate. We're trying to savor every minute, 'cause school starts again next Tuesday! I'll be back sometime soon with a seven year birthday post for Cosette :) Hope you all are having a blessed holiday season!

Christmas Blessings from our family to yours

2011-12-22T10:29:00.000-05:00

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Joel, Jaime, Cosette, Elias

Noah, Leanna and Baby Curtis

More gifts to count

2011-12-21T22:14:00.001-05:00

This gets easier the more my eyes are opened and I'm seeking out the gifts.....here's numbers 8-20. Only 980 more to go!

8---Little girls who dip each individual pea in the salad dressing before eating it.
9--- Peanut Butter Blossoms sitting on my counter
10---My late grandmother's b'day today, and remembering all of her love and care for us
11---'I love you too, Mama'....and sweet little lips puckering to kiss mine goodnight
12---Decent weather almost all month for my husband to work in
13---A little boy who could barely talk six months ago, singing his heart out in the shower
14---Walking into the living room and suddenly hearing my five year old reading out loud from the Book of Hebrews.
15---Anticipating stuffing the kids stockings
16---Preparing Christmas menus
17---Friends who give my son a ride to a birthday party so I can stay home with my little ones
18---Feeling this little guy moving inside of me
19---Finally knowing what this little guys name is---and then trying to keep it a secret :)
20---Super Heros

Are you counting your gifts?

Counting Down

2011-12-18T20:10:00.000-05:00

"Pantheism, seeing the natural world as divine, is a very different thing than seeing divine God present in all things. I know it here kneeling, the twilight so still: nature is not God but God revealing the weight of Himself, all His glory, through the looking glass of nature...........I pay tribute to God by paying attention. I raise one hand high. And another hand high. I bow the head down." -----Ann Voskamp, one thousand gifts.

The gift of 30 minutes to sit and read....take in God's Word.....and words of a woman much wiser than myself.....

She says it so well. Seeing God through everyday things, and realizing that the things, in and of themselves are not holy......it is God shining through Who is holy. And so, by looking at the gifts all around me....little gifts that I would normally miss........I see the love of God, His holiness, His goodness....all the more clearly.

Gifts of little boy shepherds, singing for their King. (Yep, that's mine, with the brown pillowcase on his head :)

Gifts of beauty for the eyes to behold....

Gifts of a Daddy who cares enough to spend time....

Gifts of a tower, so carefully built, yet ready to be knocked over...

Gifts of a little boy, learning new things.....

Gifts of food in abundance, to not only nourish but also build memories and joy together....

And those are my first seven 'gifts'......counting down to 1000.......will you take time this Advent season to join me?

Eight years

2011-12-13T09:31:00.000-05:00

Eight years ago today, I married the love of my life. Some people thought I was crazy at 21 to be 'tying the knot' so soon. But I never had any doubts, and I've only ever felt peace about it since then. The past eight years have been some of the most amazing of my life---and I can't think of any other way I would have rather spent my 20's! I love my husband more now than I did the day I married him---which seems incredible, 'cause I was pretty darn in love with the guy that night I walked down the aisle :) Here are some pictures of how our family has grown over the years.

Next year, baby number five will be added to this picture :) Happy Anniversary, Joel, I love you!

A snowy December Day

2011-12-07T17:48:00.000-05:00

We're enjoying this beautiful seasonal weather (finally!) out our front door this evening.

However, inside, matters look more like this...

Yes, he just finished jumping onto that cushion in the photo above. Mommy was being very 'lenient' this afternoon. Daddy wasn't too impressed when he got home :/

Leanna demonstrating how she is supposed to use her 'eyes' to enjoy the Christmas tree--NOT her hands!

Cosette had no idea she had flour smudged on her face today during cookie making until I took this picture and showed her :)

Family

2011-12-04T22:56:00.002-05:00

(Note: I edited these photos to get rid of the red-eye, but the computer wasn't cooperating for some reason, so my apologies if you have to ignore the red eye :/)

We had a post-Thanksgiving get together tonight. Or was it a pre-Christmas meal? Or was it a 'during Advent' meal? Yeah, I think that's what I'll call it---an 'Advent celebration' dinner :) We weren't able to get together with most of my family over the Thanksgiving weekend, so we decided to try to have a meal this evening. It still feels a bit 'empty' without my mom (and missing my Dad and Suzanne too!), but we still enjoyed being together and seeing all the Grandmas and Paps and Aunts and Uncles love on the littles :)

The Beauty of Advent is here!

Yes, we're wishing for some of that white stuff. Not a whole boat-load full, mind you. Just enough to cover the ground and make it feel festive :)

My house was full of people I love, which makes me happy! Here's my Pap, my Dad's dad.

My Grandma, my brother and his fiance, Brittany. They were all graciously smiling for me in this picture, although I could tell they were thinking "Enough with the camera already!" Come on guys, you had to know this would end up on the blog :)

My other Pap, my mom's Dad, my sister, and Cosette of course, making a silly face.

Trying to get the last of the ice cream!

Doing what boys do best, which is, um.......I'm not sure, I can't explain it, I'm not a boy!

Cosette getting some violin pointers from Miss Brittany. The kids can't wait 'till the day when they can call her 'Aunt' Brittany! :)

Leanna was seriously lovin' Aunt Kristin tonight.

Leanna loves to bring you a baby doll and then sit on the couch with you while you both 'take care of' your babies.

And that was our Advent celebration for the evening! Now go, and celebrate Immanuel, God with us.

A moment

2011-12-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

These are really bad quality photos, I know. But I also don't care. I was trying to capture a moment....and you try capturing a moment with your camera when you're the only one around and there's a toddler on your lap :)

Leanna had crawled up into my lap this morning and began spontaneously giving me kisses and rubbing my face and hair. Then she'd smile with the sweetest smile, as if to say "Gosh, I love you Mom!"

My heart was melting. It was a moment that I fear nobody else will understand just by looking at these pictures. The lighting is wrong, the zoom is all wrong, and I caught my awful, long side profile just perfectly :)

But I'll look at these pictures years from now and remember the moment. I may forget whatever 'important' thing I had been doing at that moment, but I will remember the feelings...the emotions....the happiness of having my baby girl on my lap, giving some love to her Mama.

Bad photos? Absolutely. A captured moment? You bet.

Sweet aromas

2011-11-30T23:08:00.001-05:00

Noah put his nose up to the cup and wrinkled it up. "Uggh, Mom!"

Eli put his nose up as well. "I know that smell mom, but I can't remember what it's called....is it called oil?"

I smiled and assured him that it was not oil. Daddy took the cup and very quickly proclaimed "Vinegar!"

We decide to add that cup to our 'don't like it' side.

Next round.......Noah takes the cup and smiles. Eli says "Mmmmm.....smells nice, like....sugar?" Nope, wrong again, but he has the right idea. Daddy smiles and says "It's cinnamon!"

That cup goes in the 'like it' side.

And so go the rounds....through garlic powder and cocoa powder.

Different smells.......some pleasant, some not so pleasant.

And we're reminded of how our prayers are like 'smells' to God. The Bible tells us that all of the prayers from His children are like 'sweet aromas' to His senses. He LOVES our prayers. Prayers from His children go in the 'like it' side, every time.

Zachariah and Elizabeth also prayed. They prayed hard for a baby boy. And God's immediate answer to their prayer was 'wait'. And so they waited...year after year after loooonnnnggg year.

But when a different answer came, when God finally said 'Yes', Zachariah was in no state of mind to believe. A baby...John......one who would prepare the way for the Messiah....was coming to them...a 'Yes' answer to their prayers....and he was too stubborn to believe.

God always hears our prayers......and He always 'likes' them. Are we ready to accept whatever answer God sends our way, be it "Yes", "No", "Wait" "Perhaps", etc, etc?

Two thousand years ago, God sent a 'Yes' answer to the Jewish people's prayers for a Messiah. The 'Yes' answer was in the form of a Baby Boy. As my children wait for 25 more days through all of Advent for the celebration of the birth of a Baby, we also eagerly await the 2nd coming of Christ....when once again God's answers to his children will be "Yes".

Advent, Day 4....we celebrated. What did your Day 4 look like?

Celebrate

2011-11-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

Advent began today---hands down my favorite time of the year. A time to celebrate 'coming'----the coming of the Messiah. A time to say 'no' to busy schedules, holiday obligations, and all the 'responsibilities' of the season. Instead, say 'yes' to quiet times of reflection and meditation with your family. Take this time to rejoice in a Savior who was coming...came....and is coming again. Emmanuel......God with us.

Didn't prepare ahead? Don't despair, it's not too late! Grab a few candles---any color and number will do. Traditional Advent celebrations call for three purple, one pink and one white. But, as you can see, we'll be adding a new white candle each evening----adding up to a total of 26 white candles----so the number and color don't really matter. Light a few candles and enjoy the peace of being together.

Didn't buy a devotional ahead of time? No problem! Many of you probably already have the greatest devotional of all times sitting on a shelf in your living room. Go grab your Bible and read a different section from the christmas story found in the Gospel of Matthew or Luke each evening.

And then pray that God would give you a spirit of reflection, peace, and true joy this holiday season.

To give Thanks

2011-11-25T00:02:00.000-05:00

I have to blog about these kinds of days as they happen. Otherwise, MORE days will happen....and I'll miss my chance to share. Thus, this is how it occurs that it is 11:30 and I should be going to sleep instead of blogging. But hey, we're taking the day off of school tomorrow, so I'll survive :)

We spent a beautiful and calm Thanksgiving Day here at home (we'll be eating with Joel's family this Saturday) I think it was one of the first Thanksgivings that our family has just been 'home', and I must say, I really enjoyed it. It was calm, quiet, and very relaxing. Here are some highlights from our day.

The morning started out at 7:15, with me still in my pj's, mixing up a batch of sweet rolls. I've hunted and hunted for years now for the 'perfect' sweet roll recipe, and was always disappointed. But leave it up to 'Our Best Bites' to come up with the best one yet! These sweet rolls were incredible. Ooey and Gooeyness abounded! :) They take a little time, but actually a little quicker than some other recipes I've tried. Let's just say that, our family, in addition to my Grandfather, who joined us for breakfast, had NO problem plowing through a pan of these. If you're interested, here is the recipe. We made an extra batch and walked some down to our two neighbor ladies. Since we've moved here, these neighbors have knitted a homemade blanket for each one of my children---definitely a keepsake they'll have for a long time! They are always so happy to see us when we drop in to say hi, and call the kids their 'ray of sunshine'. Such sweet ladies! We were happy to share our treats today :)

If you look closely, you'll notice that my older Indian is missing his front tooth---he pulled it yesterday. So far, both of my older kids LIKE pulling their own teeth---two scores for me!!!

By the way, while I fixed the meal, my kids listened to Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre 'Squanto'. This is a great presentation of the story, which we highly recommend!

At the last minute, I pulled out an old tablecloth of my grandmothers. Not exactly my style, but you need something special on Thanksgiving, right? Here are the boys waiting...well....not so patiently ;)

The kids were highly amused that I bought 'a Veggie Tales guy!!' from Food Lion. They had to give him a face before I chopped him up for dinner.

Since we're eating with Joel's family on Saturday (traditional meal), I thought I'd make this one a little 'non-traditional' Except for the roasted chicken, nothing else was quite 'normal'. We had those stuffed potato boats, butternut squash gratin, Ruby Tuesday style cheedar-garlic biscuits, and a new sweet potato recipe. It was all quite satisfying and good, and we decided that our 'non-traditional' meal might have to become a 'tradition' :) (Now you want to go watch Fiddler on the Roof, right?)

Two of the loves of my life, washing all the nasty dishes for me.

Yes, Eli added war paint as the day went along.

The after-dinner 'curl up in the chair with Dad and read' time.

We were all quite happy to see Aunt Kristin later in the day. She joined us for some movies and dessert.

And this final picture was taken last night---I just thought it was too sweet not to post :)

After losing my Mom last year, I realize that circumstances and things that we take for granted can change in an instant. Today, I am SO thankful for my family---my husband, my children, our baby on the way. But most of all, I am so thankful for the One Who will never change. My family is a gift from Him---and today, I say 'Thank-You!'

Thankful for 'Yay' moments

2011-11-21T14:08:00.000-05:00

On this, the week of Thanksgiving, I am thankful when projects or ideas turn out 'right'. Nothing urks me more than when I try a new recipe and everybody gives it a thumbs down. Or when I have a specific project in mind, and it just doesn't turn out the way I expected or hoped it would. I guess that's God working in me to be 'content in all circumstances'.....even when life doesn't go according to my neat, nice little plan :)
This week, however, I have had a couple of 'thumbs up' projects happen. My first 'yay' was when I found this adorable purple hat for Leanna at GoodWill for 99 cents. I washed it up, put it on her sweet little head, and she loved it.

Well, okay....she loved it for about three minutes. Then it was more like 'Enough already!'

Second 'yay'. I've had this dress that I got from GoodWill for months. It was a ladies size large, way too big for me, and, well, rather hideous looking. I always intended to do something with it, but never got around to it. Yesterday, feeling inspired, I chopped it up, sewed it up, hemmed it up...............

.....and made this cute skirt for Cosette :) And it fits, and I did it right on the first try, and.....I'm a happy sewing Mama ;)

Funny side note: In the picture of just the dress, see the white and blue speckled object in the bottom left corner? I took the picture from way up high to get the whole dress in, and when I looked at the photo, for the life of me I couldn't figure out WHAT that was in the bottm of the picture. Something on the floor? My sock? A......oh wait. I know what it is. It's my baby belly sticking into the photo, haha :)

Thankfulness is about....

2011-11-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

Celebrating the seasons. My husband said this was the most interesting use of dried peas he'd ever seen.

Homemade tents.

Rejoicing in the simple. Eli really wanted to take this picture. It was his lunch---just a baked potato with toppings, but he thought it looked 'so beautiful, Mom!' He didn't seem to mind that the picture turned out blurry.

Trying to capture little 18 month old girls who DO NOT hold still for longer than five seconds at a time. Ever. I'm much better at photographing 'still' objects ;)

Ahh....Five seconds of stillness. Much better!

Mornings at our house

2011-11-16T08:14:00.000-05:00

Some mornings are just worth sharing. I'm sitting here typing this up while my big kids do their morning chores, Noah brushes his teeth and Leanna finishes her banana. (Ugh...there's that rhyming thing again.) So, anyway, I thought I could grab ten extra blogging minutes or so to give you a smile :)

My boys were sleeping later than normal this morning, so I went in to wake them up. I opened the blinds, turned on the light, and saw this:

Being the loving mother that I am, I immediately ran to grab my camera. I honestly thought he was sound asleep. The lights had been out, he wasn't moving muscle. I thought "Good grief! Bunk Beds are dangerous!" But then, as I went over to try to gently wake him up and move him back up to his bed, he started to giggle, the little stinker!! He was wide awake the whole time :)

These were our breakfast this morning. Oh.My.Word. They were delicious! Whole wheat English muffins with cream cheese and a simple strawberry sauce. My kids gobbled them up!

The general recipe can be found here, but obviously I tweaked it a bit to make it work for what I had on hand in the fridge/freezer :) (Sorry for the blurry photo---I'm no good at food shots :)

And now, I think that my extra ten stolen minutes are up.....off to get school started!

The truth, for a laugh :)

2011-11-12T22:56:00.000-05:00

My cousin got married today, and it was a beautiful wedding. I'd love to show you pictures of how gorgeous she was, and their beautiful reception hall, and of my crazy kids dancing their legs off all night....but alas, I can't. I took my camera, but left the memory card at home :/

That's got to be worse than when I put the fresh zucchini in the freezer the other day, or when I just recently tried to put the lettuce in the pantry instead of the fridge.

Although, I don't think it is quite as bad as the other day when my daughter informed me that I was about to walk out of the house with a hole in the back of my pants. Or the other day, when Bible study was about to start, and I realized that I was still wearing my fuzzy pink socks from my pj's that morning.

You know how they say that pregnancy fries a few brain cells? Well, let's just say I've been dumping flax seed on everything lately...I think my brain could use those extra omega 3's :)

Sprucing up the laundry room

2011-11-09T21:24:00.000-05:00

Have you ever read the blog Better After? It's a whole collection of furniture/rooms, etc, that people have taken and 'fixed up'. They go from looking old and yucky to new and cool :)

Well, our own 'fixer-upper' room isn't quite as dramatic as any from that blog, but I must say, I was quite pleased with what a little paint can do! Joel decided to tackle our laundry area this past weekend. Our laundry room is really a former back porch which previous owners had made into part of the house, so it's long and skinny. We thought a little paint and work would add some new life to the space. I've been itching to show you all photos, and Joel just got most of the trim-work done tonight, so I finally have his permission to share :)

Here are our 'Before' photos

For anybody who knows me, you're probably already guessing that I hated the paneling in here. Well, here's what a little paint and new shelves can do:

(And yes, I'm well aware that there is personal clean laundry hanging in these photos---I was too tired to crop the pictures, and besides, it's a laundry room, after all :)

Library Day

2011-11-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

The books haven't quite made it to the shelf yet :)

My Mom bought that white and red bag for me to take to the library, and then laughed and said it was way too huge. She then presented me with the somewhat smaller green and blue bag. Oh, how she'd laugh now to know that it takes BOTH of her bags to get us to the library these days.

Don't you just love the smell of a book? I'm sorry, but e-books and kindles lack this fine quality!

My little guy, as in love with books as his older siblings.

A little early...no, more like right on time :)

2011-11-06T21:10:00.000-05:00

I kind of took a blog 'hiatus' there for a little while, sorry. That was unintentional! The problem for me at this time of the year is that my mind starts going about 100 miles per hour. I've got ideas going through my mind of Christmas gifts I want to make with the kids, new recipes we're going to try, how we're going to get the whole family together at some point since we don't have my mom here to help this year, how I'm going to make my home a beautiful, cozy place to be in December, ideas swarming in my head of new Advent possibilities and how we're going to make this year special for our family....keeping up my dear Mom's love of the season.

But, let me clarify. Have you ever seen the movie Christmas with the Kranks?

It's one of my favorite movies ever! I think it's all because of the scene where Tim Allen tries to eat a spoonful of canned peaches after receiving a Botox injection. Cracks me up every time, I'm telling you. But, I degress, as normal. My real point in this story is to tell you that our Holy season is NOT like that. All the ideas and inspirations running around in my head are GOOD things. We're not running around the week before Christmas, searching for the perfect Honey-baked ham for Christmas Eve dinner or suddenly rushing out because we forgot to buy a gift for somebody.

No, I love this time of year. The joy, the ideas, the inspirations I have swimming in my head are not because I'm going to make it crazy around here.....it's an inbred thing from my childhood. Christmas was a beautiful time at our house growing up. We managed to avoid the craziness of the holiday season and instead, I remember nights around the Advent candles, mom peeling orange after orange, roasted potatoes in the oven after a night of Christmas caroling...you get the idea.

And, I want to keep the beauty of it alive for my family. I want them to look back over this time, and the memories that they get will be of beauty, peace, love, joy, etc. Not of WalMart lines, crazy schedules and night after night of being up way too late. In just a few short weeks, we're going to celebrate Thanksgiving....and then Advent starts....what are YOU doing to find the joy this Holy Season?

Look below for some inspirations....

Need some fresh ideas for your Advent Season? Our family will be enjoying this beautiful idea from Ann VosKamp at 'A Holy Experience. Joel made one of these awesome Advent wreaths for our family this year :)

Doesn't this picture make you feel just inspired? No, I didn't take it :) My decorating ideas stop at a candle and a table cloth :) No, I'm of the belief that some of the greatest ideas in life are ones that are borrowed from those much wiser and talented :) But I'd LOVE to do more stuff like this this December. This came from Julie Mulligan at floral lifestyle.

Finally, looking for delicious food ideas? (Aren't you glad I didn't say 'yummy'? Yeah, I suppressed the Mommy in me.) Look no further than Our Best Bites. I've never been disappointed with a recipe from them, never. In fact, they had our caramel apple recipe from my last post :)

And that, my friends, is my re-entrance into blogging and inspirations for this soon-to-be Holy Season. Remember----don't stress!! It's not worth it. Years from now, you won't remember the stress (hopefully), but you WILL remember the joy of this time of year. Start a new Adven tradition with your family....invite a widowed neighbor over for your Thanksgiving meal......go Christmas Caroling...spread the 'Good news of great joy!'

(Hey, if I waited until December to remind you, you might not have had time to dump the stress and pick up the joy :)

You WILL be hungry......

2011-10-31T23:43:00.001-04:00

It started out looking like this....

And ended up looking something like this.....

And tasting something like these! :)

Caramel apple recipe can be found here on Our Best Bites

(Disclaimer: Yes, yes, of course we eat fruits and veggies in our house...and lean means.....and brown rice and barley soup and flax seed and all that other great stuff. But seriously, who wants to see me do a post about instant vs. long grain rice? Yeah, that's what I thought......

The mind of a three year old

2011-10-27T22:19:00.000-04:00

We were sitting at the lunch table today when Eli looked at me and said "Mom, is the baby kicking right now?" I informed him that no, the baby was not kicking. He then said "Well, if he starts kicking, let me know, 'cause I want to feel him!"

I assured him that I would certainly let him know if the baby started kicking. Then, I said this:

"But sweetie, you probably won't get to feel him kicking until after dinner tonight---he often sleeps alot during the afternoon."

As soon as I said this, Noah, who was also sitting right there, literally cracked up. He started to laugh this big, deep belly laugh, and threw his head back, looking simply delighted.

"The baby SLEEPS in your TUMMY, Mommy??!!!"

Oh, so that's what he found so funny. I suddenly had a cute picture in my mind of what Noah must be envisioning right then---a little tiny baby, wrapped up in a blanket, snuggled in a crib, asleep in his Mommy's tummy.

"Well, yeah, Bud. The baby sleeps and wakes up and kicks and sucks his thumb---all kinds of stuff!"

Noah: "Does he WALK in there, Mommy??"

**smile**

Seeing BLUE!!

2011-10-26T17:27:00.001-04:00

legos...scraped knees...soccer...bugs...muscles...super heros...We are thrilled to be having another sweet boy to raise for the Lord!

Take a guess....

2011-10-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

If you've been following me now for all five years of blogging, you had to have known that it was coming. After waiting with me through the excitement of the last two babies.....you had to have known that I love 'baby polls'---you know, as in, 'Girl or boy?'

This next baby is going to be a tie-breaker for our family. Are we going to be out-numbered by girls or boys? Which do I have to look forward to--a household dominated more by the noisy, rowdy boy, or the giggly, silly girl? (No, I'm not stereo-typing---I'm just telling it like it really IS in my house :)

We're hopefully going to find out next Wednesday, the 26th. Five days from now, I should know whether this little one I carry is a boy or a girl, and I'm like a child waiting for Christmas right now. Wednesday can't come soon enough! Then, maybe Joel and I will finally be motivated to start thinking about names!

So join in my fun (or at least make it even more exciting for me!) and make your guess on the poll at the top right-hand corner of my page.

Boy or Girl.......What do YOU think??

Snapshots of a fall school morning

2011-10-18T13:43:00.000-04:00

Cosette practices violin while Eli does his schoolwork

Noah's 'school'

Recess!! ;)

See the 'stick' in the left hand side of the photo? That's actually our future awesome pecan tree :)

Wise Words

2011-10-16T23:51:00.000-04:00

Our family attended the viewing and funeral for Joel's Great-uncle who passed away last week. He was 91!! Isn't that a wonderful old age?! I was wonderfully impressed with what an inspiring legacy he leaves behind---God-fearing children, grand-children, great-grand children, nieces, nephews, etc. He was one of those people that I regretted not having had the chance to meet in this life-time.

As we were standing waiting to go into the viewing on Friday evening, an older gentleman that we know stopped to talk to us. He was trying to sort out and remember just who Joel was, and how he was related, and which one of Dale and Rhoda's sons he was, etc. As we talked, he was admiring our family and enjoying the non-stop conversation that our kiddos were providing him with. Then, he looked at me, and said one simple thought that will stick with me for a long time.

"Enjoy them while you have them. They grow up so fast! You won't have 'em forever, you know!"

So often, I live my life like I WILL have my children little and with me forever. But I know I won't. They will grow and get older and eventually leave my nest. I have only a few short years with them this little, when Noah still loves snuggling in bed with me in the morning, when Leanna will bury her head in my shoulder for comfort, when Eli will still give me a goodnight kiss, and I'm still 'Mama' to Cosette. One day, my big, strapping young men will come walking in my kitchen door with a beautiful wife of their own and say "Hey Mom, what was that recipe you used to make? I was telling my wife about it and how good it was---could you teach her how to make it?" (I know this for a fact, because the exact same conversation has occurred between my own husband and his mother ;) I'll look at my tall sons, taller than me, and wonder where my little boys went.

So, for now, my house may not be perfect. I stay home more instead of saying 'yes' to lots of social activities, responsibilities and whatnot. Because, you see, my babies will only be little for a very short time. I won't have them 'mine' forever. This is my chance to mold them, teach them, train them, educate them, and steal about 200 kisses each day. I may fail at having a perfectly clean house, there are far fewer piano students walking through my doors than I'd dream of, becoming a gourmet chef and attending cooking school will probably just remain a fun, far-off dream---but I WILL not mess up with my children. I will live every day realizing that it is one less day that I now have with them as babies and small children. I will NOT look back with regret.

Whether you're a working parent, or a stay at home mom; whether you home-school your kids, or send them to public or private school; whether you live on a farm or in a big city; whether you eat gourmet from-scratch cooking each night or enjoy the convenient frozen pizza; whether your income is quite-sufficient, or sometimes quite lacking, the charge remains the same: Love those kids like there's no tomorrow!!

Can I hear an 'Amen', Moms and Dads??

It is a fact.....

2011-10-13T23:05:00.000-04:00

(following the 'It is a fact' blogging form from other blogs I've seen recently...)

.....that I love having lunch ready before lunch time. I've tried new recipes lately that allow me to make a big bowl of something in the wee morning hours, send part of it in Joel's lunch, and the kids and I eat the other part for lunch. We sent easy beef bolognese in Joel's lunch box yesterday.Today we're finishing off the rest of the cous-cous salad that I sent with him. I love a big bowl of egg salad or tuna salad ready to go at lunch time as well. Kill two birds with one stone, that's what I say.

.....that my house has not been as clean since I've been pregnant. It just hasn't. I've been following my mother's old advice of 'Fool the guest' to make it presentable for Bible Studies and such. In other words, pick up the toys, make sure your dishes are done and put away, make sure there's soap and clean hand towels in the bathrooms, and vacuum any major rug areas. Your guests will never know that you haven't mopped your floors in too long, or that scrubbing all the wooden slats on your window blinds is just an impossible dream. I'm proud to say that I've been keeping my house 'Fool the guests (and husband) clean' lately, and any other deep-cleaning just isn't important right now :)

....there are now 12 half gallons of our absolute favorite apple cider frozen in my freezer, just waiting occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, a major snow-storm, a 'just because it's cold and cozy' type of night...yeah, we LOVE apple cider

....I miss my mom. A lot.

.......that I officially begin my very last year of my 'twenties' next week. I thought I would be sad......but I'm not---at least, not yet :)

........that we will (hopefully) find out what this baby is in less than two weeks time! Which way will our family tip----pink bows and frilly ballet tutus, or legos and scuffed up knees? Hope to be able to tell you all on the 26th!

....that babies have an un-natural attraction to tubes of desitin. Leave one within arms reach, and your 17 month old WILL find it and either try to eat it or rub it all over their face.

........that homemade bread is just WAY better than store-bought bread, and totally worth the extra effort..... , ....that my computer crashed todaye and finish ing this from joels phone is really tricky! I eill posth again when I have a new laptop!

......

Fall is here (or, "Why hello, pumpkin bread!")

2011-10-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

Today, fall started around here. Oh, I know, fall actually officially starts on Sept. 21. But for me, the 'true' beginning of fall has always been marked by the fall festival that is held close to our house. The smell of apple cider, the beautiful leaves, the forest trail, seeing lots of people you know....it just shouts 'Fall is here', you know? I usually go home and feel compelled to bake something with pumpkin :)

Well, today, the whole family (including Joel), took the day off from our work and chores and grass mowing, etc, and spent the afternoon together at the festival. Here are a few high-lights:

Watching the husker shredder

A real indian wig-wam. This indian's very authentic clothing always makes me nervous :/

We watched the log splitters

Joel took the kids on a hay ride (Not sure why Joel looks tipsy in this picture---the worst he'd had to drink all day was a coffee :)

My beautiful family, waiting in line for the hay ride. When I told Eli that I didn't know he was going to be a cowboy today, he said "Mom, I'm going to be a cowboy EVERY day!"

Cosette loved watching the real artisans at work.

Noah and Eli got to make their own clay creature.

Okay, now, on to the best part.....the FOOD ;) I didn't even get pictures of MY favorties, like the apple butter bread, the homemade beef vegetable soup, or the cheddar cheese fries. But here's Noah eating a hot dog. When the yellow jackets tried to get a bite of his hotdog, he said "Mom, let's go home and eat!"

Funnel cake

And we even stole licks of our sister and brother's gigantic lollipops.

Then, all tuckered out, everybody came home to take naps, after which we ate a LOT of vegetables for dinner ;)

Catchable moments

2011-10-07T17:29:00.001-04:00

Just some 'must catch' moments around here.

I heard......'quiet' in the living room, and had to check it out. Always a happy thing to find two siblings playing nicely together!

Noah always wants to be included in the daily chore assignments---he loves to be allowed to run the vacuum cleaner all by himself!

My floors have never been so clean! ;)

And this? Well, this was one of Noah's 'less fine' moments. He ate the tops off of three pumpkin-chocolate chip bars that I was saving for dessert. Um....enough said there....

Eli's successful science experiment! Bean plants grown between two wet paper towels.

Oh, and if this isn't a 'catchable moment', I don't know what else is. Sunset from the beach a few weeks ago :)

Must.....take.......nap........

2011-10-05T22:18:00.001-04:00

I would love to stay up late right now and post about something inspiring, something intelligent, something even, say, just.....interesting.

But this pregnancy is draining me. Between taking care of the four other little ones, homeschooling the older two (takes up my whole morning), and just plain being pregnant, I've felt myself quite lacking of any real energy lately.

In fact, the other day, I sat down on the couch for a few minutes while the kids were napping, and woke up a bit later to find that I had fallen asleep while sitting straight up. My head wasn't even tilted any----just straight ahead, I was sound asleep.

Today, I sat down at the counter to read my Bible for a while, and got so sleepy that I literally laid my head down on the counter and took a nap for a 1/2 hour!

I remember those early days of my first pregnancy, when there was no baby napping in my room during the afternoon, and I could actually take a rest in my own bed, instead of with my head on the hard counter.....ahh, those were the days!

All that to say-----I'll do a real post later! Right now, it's early to bed for me----hopefully I can keep my eyes open long enough tomorrow to get some of my tulip bulbs planted :)

Our life

2011-10-01T20:57:00.001-04:00

We've been waiting for something in the mail now for about a week and a half. Take a look at my pictures and see if you can guess what it was.

Yeah, I'd say my boys were really in need of those new hair-trimmers, what do you think?

In addition to getting hair-cuts in the garage today, we also enjoyed some much cooler weather here and made sweet rolls! I tried a new recipe, and was really pleased with how they turned out. They don't have any yeast in them, so they didn't require any rising time---they only took like 20 minutes to get in the oven, whereas regular cinnamon rolls often take up to an hour to rise.They were also much more ooey and gooey than any other yeast rolls I'd tried. Yum!

We also finally got Leanna's one year pictures hung. What do you think of my 'Leanna wall'? :) Some good friends of ours who have a photography business took these photos for me, and I was SO pleased with the result.

And finally, have you ever wondered what the proper care of a baby looks like? Well, watch this video of Leanna and her baby doll to find out. Apparently, you let the baby have a tiny taste of milk while you sing a quick song, then try some of the milk for yourself, then throw your baby on the floor and leave it to fend for itself ;)

Steamed, Poached, Fried, Boiled, Scrambled...How do you like YOUR eggs?

2011-09-29T23:37:00.000-04:00

With Cosette, it was chocolate cake. I even sent Joel out to the store late one night for a chocolate cake mix because I was too tired to make one, but I HAD to have a slice---with nice thick frosting.

With Eli----Sorry, I don't remember.

With Noah---I developed a sudden and strong desire for olives that Thanksgiving, which is weird, because I never liked olives before that.

With Leanna---Graham Crackers with peanut butter and chocolate chips. I would consume, like, three or four whole graham crackers smeared with peanut butter every single afternoon. It's a wonder she wasn't born looking like one.

Now, with Baby number five---- Over medium eggs (steamed, NOT fried), with a slice of homemade bread and lots of butter. I have consumed more over-medium eggs in the past week than in a very long time. Which is also weird, because the thought of under-cooked eggs always disgusted me. You know, the whole "What if I get salmonella?" thing. And I'm still slightly concerned about that.....but one night, out of the blue, for no reason at all, an over-medium, slightly 'dippy' egg started calling my name, and that was it. I'm sunk. I eat them in the morning. I eat them at ten at night. I crave them in the afternoons, but usually use a little will-power then. Yesterday, I went shopping. I bought five dozen eggs. Yeah, FIVE dozen.

But seriously, I've been limiting myself to no more than one egg a day---and a little extra protein is good for me right now, right? :)

Fortunately, I've always had good cholesterol---and nice low blood pressure. Actually, it's been really low this time around--- 100/68 is an average. Maybe that's why I'm craving eggs :)

Thankful....

2011-09-26T21:09:00.000-04:00

I've felt the baby move for the first time the past couple of days. It's amazing, even the fifth time around. I'm still getting my brain wrapped around the idea of having another one in six short months. I know that when he/she gets here, it'll feel like our family was never complete before!

Noah is talking a good bit better these days....I finally found a pharmacy that would give the flu shot to a pregnant woman (long story!!).....I love to hear Cosette practicing her violin each morning while Eli does his schoolwork.....the trees up and down our street are turning a beautiful orange color, and I love it.....Beachy's delicious apple-cider will be ready in a few short weeks, and I plan on stuffing our freezer so we can have a jug like every week this winter.....I made cinnamon swirl bread and we devoured an entire loaf in one sitting....we're hoping to find out what this baby is in just a short month or so......and the list goes on.

So that's it. Just wanted to let you know that I'm here, loving life, hoping to get some pictures posted soon :)

Opening back up

2011-09-22T15:46:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have changed my blog music. Some of you may remember that I had that one particular song playing for the past year in honor of my Mom. So, you're askin: "Are you done grieving or something?" Um....no. I will never, ever be done grieving. For the rest of my life, I will also grieve that my mom is not here with me. There will probably never be a day that passes that I don't miss her and mourn the loss of her. But, a year has passed. And God has been speaking to my heart.

Not so much to 'move on'.....but to open up. To open my eyes and see that there are others suffering just as much and more around me every day.

A family in our community lost their husband/father this week. I never met him, but I feel and understand their loss. And I realize how blessed me and my siblings were to have our mom with us for all of our 'growing up' years.

A relative of Joel's is going through the trials of having a child with congenital heart defects. Nerve-wracking and stressful, and yet they are dealing with it with grace and understanding.

There are couples out there with empty arms, while I enjoy the hugs of my children each and every day.

So, you see.....no matter what your situation in life, there is almost always someone else who is going through something similar, who understands how you feel. And I want my eyes and my heart to be open to those who are suffering.

My grieving is not over....but my heart is slowly opening back up to those who also need a hug, a word of encouragement, or just a simple prayer.

One of my new song choices says "Everyone needs compassion..." How true. May at least some of that compassion come from me....

This and that, catching up

2011-09-20T15:13:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long wait between posts! Our family was at the beach on vacation last week, and I was too busy swimming and enjoying the sunshine to do any real blogging :) Joel's whole family went down together (minus one brother and his family who couldn't make it), so that made 22 of us---11 kids, and 11 adults! A full, but happy house. Like I said, we had a blast together, enjoyed the 85 degree weather....

and then came home to fall :( :) I have mixed feelings on the matter, haha :) However, I decided yesterday to just embrace the season in all it's coziness....and of course ended up in the kitchen.

I made creamed tuna and peas over toast for dinner. This is a serious 'comfort' food for me. My mom used to make it frequently, and it was always one of my favorites. And, peas being one of my least favorite vegetables, I find that it makes them a whole lot more tolerable!

Looks like somebody else enjoyed it too :)

I've been trying to find fairly simple things that Cosette can do 'all by herself' in the kitchen. She likes to make our salads for dinner, or sandwiches for lunch. Here she is trying her hand at dessert. She made chocolate pudding with oreos and whipped cream all by herself---I see a future chef :)

"Hmmm....let me try this....."

"Um, yep, that's good stuff!!"

On a closing note, I thought I'd share a tip with you all that we recently discovered. It came about because the CD player in our van broke. I was flipping through radio stations trying to find one to listen to one day, and came across a great classical music station. Now, my kids love listening to the music and trying to identify the different instruments. "I hear a cello!" "Is that the flute, Mom?" Great music training for them! We discovered on the way to and from the beach that it also works wonders at putting cranky babies right to sleep. Leanna would be fussing and irritable, and almost as soon as we turned on some soft instrumental music, her little eye-lids would start to droop and she'd soon be out of it. :)

Last tip, I promise. It's another 'car game' My kids love to have spelling bees in the van. I'll pick words that I know are appropriate for their spelling level, and call them out to them, one person at a time. Then THEY like to think up the hardest words they can and see if I can spell them :)

And I think that's the end of my 'keep your kids happy and well-educated in the car' tips :) Have a great Tuesday, folks!

Still here

2011-09-15T23:25:00.000-04:00

Hello, faithful blog readers. Don't worry, I haven't suddenly given up on writing here or anything! Believe me, it would take quite a bit for me to give up this little space of mine on the web. I've just been too busy with life-happenings to think of anything creative to say on here. I hope to be back the beginning of next week sometime with a real post, so don't give up on me yet, and stay tuned.... :)

A typical school day

2011-09-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

One of the nice things about homeschooling is that, since you're working one on one with your own child, their work can get done a good bit faster than if they were in a traditional classroom setting. By common sense, it takes more time to teach 20 students their multiplication tables than it does to teach just one student :)

So, we normally begin our school day after breakfast at 8:00 in the living room with Bible time. We spend 10 or 15 minutes on that, and then it's off to the school room.

Eli is first grade, and I always do his work with him first, while Cosette works on her Spanish, which she does on her own (an online course) Eli's work doesn't take long---an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Then, Cosette and I do her work....more like 2-2.5 hours. So, starting at 8.....say 3.5 hours of school for me, total....school does take up my whole morning.

So, you're asking.....what does my three year old do during the whole morning? Well, he does do a lot of playing, looking at books, building legos, making messes, etc. But, sometimes, he informs me that he wants to 'do 'chool too, Mommy!' Then, I find something for him to work on.

Like this. We call it, um.....'Green', by Noah :)

Lots of times, he asks to get out his 'shapes'

Today, he made this. I call it 'Learning fine motor skills, colors, and shape recognition. He just called it 'My man' :)

Snuggly

2011-09-07T14:10:00.001-04:00

The weather got a little cooler....and I pulled out some of Cosette's old snuggly pj's. I thought for sure they'd be too big on Leanna, but they fit her almost perfectly.

She was so cozy and cute in them this morning, we decided to leave them on her a little longer than normal. I think we let her walk around in these being cute until close to lunch time :) She was a welcome distraction amidst our normal home-schooling day of vowels, multiplication tables, and the study of elevation vs. depth :)

She even decided all on her own to try a little upside-down action :)

"I see you!"

That much closer

2011-09-04T14:44:00.000-04:00

Something happened to me on August 9th, 2010. I lost my Mama, yes. But something else happened---I had a change in perspective that I wasn't expecting. Maybe a better way of saying that is "I had a change in realization".

You see, before my Mom went home to be with Jesus (for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord), I believed in heaven, I rejoiced in heaven, and I had eternal hope that one day I would be there myself.

But after I lost Mom, my realization changed. Heaven changed from something I had hope in, to something I suddenly KNEW existed, without a shadow of a doubt, and a part of me even started longing for it. I don't mean in an unhealthy, mental kind of way....but after Mom left for there....it was almost like a teeny, tiny part of me was gone as well. NOW, now, I have reason to look forward to being there myself. Yes, I know, of course, Jesus is there too, and of course I always knew that---but He is ALSO here with me now, so.....the longing wasn't quite so bad. Everybody I loved was here with me on earth....the longing for Heaven wasn't the same. Does that make sense?

You know when you ask somebody who has lost a loved one 'How are you doing?' and they say something like "Well, it's been 8 months, and it still hurts"? Well, I always thought those people were talking figuratively. But I have now learned that they mean it LITERALLY hurts. I can have a dream about my mom, (almost every night, by the way), and wake up in a cold sweat, racing to catch my breath, and literal pains coursing through my body. I can think about that day in the hospital---the last 'I love you, Mom', giving her a last hug, watching that heart monitor plummet, knowing my Mom had just taken her last breath....and it HURTS. I get pains--I don't know what other word to use for it--from the tip of my head, right down to the tip of my toes. It literally hurts.

And I think that's why I see heaven in a whole different light now. It's where my Mama is. It's where we'll be reunited someday. It's where everything will finally be 'right' again. Remember the words of Paul? " For to depart and be with Christ is far better, but to be here with you is more necessary" (my paraphrase) That's how I feel. Torn in two. My heart is here---my husband, my kids, my family.....but part of me, a very small part of me--has already gone ahead. And so, heaven is that much more glorious.

I encourage you to look up this song by Phil Wickham and be blessed---it really spoke to me this morning. Here's my favorite verse.

Beautiful---by: Phil Wickham

When we arrive at eternity's shore

Where death is just a memory and tears are no more

We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring

Your bride will come together and we'll sing

You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

Someday, Mom......until then, missing you beyond words.....

And so the school year has begun....

2011-08-31T11:20:00.000-04:00

My little 'nature walkers'---out to record some nature on their clipboards :) Of course, when Noah saw Eli and Cosette getting clipboards the other day, HE had to have one too. Cosette drew a pigeon, a pumpkin, and a bird house. Eli drew a three-leaf clover, a dandelion and a moth. Noah yelled 'Stop!' about a dozen times so he could bend over and scribble on his clip board. All in all, a successful first nature walk :)

For your laughing pleasure....

2011-08-30T23:42:00.000-04:00

So, we're sitting in Ledo's pizza last night, having a 'first day of school celebration' with our kids. I think we had an 'end of the year' celebration there too....hmmmm......moving on....

Anyway, the kids were being very well behaved, not causing any problems, and I was really proud of them. Then, Cosette had to go potty. I was busy helping Leanna with something, so Joel walked with her to show her where the bathroom was and wait for her outside. They came back, and pretty soon, Eli had to go. My loving husband, being the great guy he is, jumped up again, and took Eli to use the potty. Well, you can all guess what happened after they came back....Yep, Noah had to go potty too. So, instead of sitting down, Joel just stayed up and marched Noah right to the potty.Well, needless to say, he had now passed the same group of people eating their dinner THREE different times with THREE different kids. Finally, they called out to him:

" Hey! Are these all your kids, or are you just the designated potty guy?"
Joel: "Oh no, they're all mine!"
"Got any more?"
Joel: Um, yep.....a baby back at the table and one in the oven!
"Hehe---Don't you know what causes that??"
Joel: "Of course, but if you saw my wife, you'd understand" :)

Hahaha!! I read that funny line somewhere and mentioned it to Joel, but I never thought he'd actually use it--made my night :) Love that man!

Now, WHAT to say to folks in the grocery store who so kindly inform me that I have my hands full....as if I hadn't noticed :) My votes are all out for the kind lady who actually helped me to my van one day and loaded all my groceries for me! Now THAT makes me smile :)

Eli's Baptism

2011-08-28T15:20:00.000-04:00

I'm posting these pictures of Eli's baptism quickly today because I know my Dad and Suzanne and other relatives who weren't there will be anxious to see them.

I was so proud of my little man---so thankful for his sweet, sincere heart. He asked Jesus into his heart a while ago, and he wanted everybody to know it! Joel and I felt that it would be wrong for us as parents to deny him the right of every believing Christian----to be baptized. I'm so thankful that we belong to a church that takes the faith of children seriously!

As he stepped into the water, he informed his Daddy that he didn't need any help. But as he got in, he looked up at Pastor Joe and said "I think I'll stand right here on this first step--it's kinda deep in here!" :) I love the proud expression on Joel's face in this picture.

Joel's parents on the left, my sister, and our family

Leanna peeking out from her perch on Daddy's shoulders

Love that I caught them both with the same, somber expression :)

Oh.....how'd this get in here? ;) My loving husband made this for me at my request after lunch---we both agreed it was actually better than the one we had at Arby's the other day :)

Seven quick takes.......and a Poll

2011-08-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

I have lots I'd love to post about, but I can't get my thoughts organized enough to do one major post on anything. I decided instead to do seven 'quick takes'---this way, I can talk about ALL the things I want to talk about, and not have a post three miles long (well, maybe not ;)

My Quick Takes

1. We start school on Monday. Cosette is in third grade, Eli in first. I will be trying to keep Noah out of trouble and busy doing 'constructive things', like coloring, play-dough, learning his letters, etc. I am so grateful once again for our curriculum, My Father's World. Lesson plan for the entire year all ready.....tons of cool books at our fingertips to read and use....everything from a Christian World-view...yes, please! We'll be celebrating the first day with pizza and wings for dinner :)

2. Eli is being baptized tomorrow. My first reaction was 'He's too young!' But my husband had a healthier perspective. You see, Eli asked to be baptized all on his own, without us suggesting it, and he was able to give a logical, correct reason as to why he should be baptized. And, based on that, Joel's response was "Who am I to tell him he can't be baptized? Jesus said to have faith like one of these little children...." Hmmm.....good point. So, tomorrow at our 10:30 service, my sweet Eli will be baptized :) Hopefully pictures to follow soon!

3. I tripped coming down the stairs on one of Leanna's toys yesterday and thought I sprained my ankle. It was throbbing, and I was literally crawling around the house all evening, or sitting around with it propped up and me full of Tylenol. I thought "Oh no, just what I need!" But I woke up this morning, and it hardly hurt at all! I've only thought about it once or twice all day.....thank you Jesus!

4. People used to tell my mom "Wow Karen, you have all these great new ideas!" She would say, "No, I just steal other people's great ideas." Well, I think I've officially inherited her gift. Clever ideas don't come to me just 'like that'---but I LOVE to steal other peoples. Remember Cosette's quilt a few posts back? I got the idea for that from another blog I read. I also love this idea, and I think I'm going to be trying to include it in our devotions this fall.

5. We are having these tomorrow after lunch. I know, I know---they're really bad for me, contain a bazillion calories, and will make losing the baby weight next year that much harder. But I don't care. See, when I start thinking about a particular food when I'm pregnant.....it's really hard for me to stop thinking about it. And these got into my mind and just won't leave. We'll be adding oreos, of course, because the shakes are just not un-healthy enough as it is :)

6. I am reading through The Mitford Series. There is absolutely nothing brainy, intelligent, or super-enlightening about them---but I love them! I found the first two on my Mom's shelves when we were going through her books, and I brought them home. They make me laugh out loud, literally, and anything that makes me laugh out loud is a winner!! Don't read them if you feel like reading something deeply thought-provoking. Read them if you feel like relaxing and having a good laugh.

7. Last thought, I promise. My sister-n-law's are going to laugh out loud when they read this. We have been having an on-going facebook discussion (brought about by a real life discussion) about the proper term for little girl's hair arrangements. For instance: What do you call a single bunch of hair at the back of the head? And what do you call two bunches of hair on opposite sides of the head? And what do you call them if they happen to be braided? We're of different opinions on this, as I'm sure you've already guessed. So, I'm curious.....leave me a comment and tell me what you know as a ponytail, a pigtail(s), and what makes the difference?

The finished product

2011-08-24T17:31:00.000-04:00

Well, I promised you I'd show you a picture of Cosette's finished quilt...and she just finished it this afternoon. The girl knows how to get a job done! :)

And in case you're wondering, she did almost everything completely by herself. She only got stuck once or twice, then I helped her pull out a few stitches and she was on her way again! So proud of her hard work!

During this project, she gained these skills on the sewing machine:

1. How to sew a straight stitch
2. How to make a 'knot' on the machine
3. How to sew a zig-zag stitch
4. How to thread the machine
5. How to thread the bobbin

She also learned how to 'knot' a quilt (the little pieces of thread in each square that are holding the quilt together :)

And now, she has a beautiful, cheery quilt to use all fall and winter :)

And that's how it goes......

2011-08-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

Noah dumped a whole shovel full of dirt on Cosette's head tonight (she was bent over at the time). Needless to say, HE looked quite pleased with himself. Needless to say, SHE screamed and stomped her foot and looked like the world was coming to an end. . Needless to say, she also made a huge deal out of having to take an 'extra' shower. Needless to say, she had quite a scolding on making such a big deal out of something and acting like she was two. Needless to say, I marched little Noah Shaun straight upstairs to bed with quite a stern face and quite a few 'We do NOT throw dirt on our sister's heads!' That's when Eli looked up at me and said, ever so sweetly with a smile on his face "Gee mom, I'm glad you're not mad at ME!" Needless to say, that's when I cracked up :)

And Joel often wonders why I can't remember trivial stuff like how old I am......really ;)

Beauty in the making

2011-08-20T20:29:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make. I don't do crafts. I mean, like, I am NOT a crafty Mama. Glue sticks, wiggly eyes, popsicle sticks, little pom-pom balls---all that stuff practically give me the hives. I was the little six year old in VBS craft class so many years ago upset because the glue was making me sticky, instead of enjoying the craft. Yeah. So, we have a very limited supply of craft materials at our house. Glue, construction paper, crayons, markers----it you can't make it with those things, then you probably don't need to ;)

However.........sewing is a whole different animal. When you sew, well.....you actually end up with something beautiful and useful, instead of,....something you're going to throw in the trash can next Tuesday. My Grandfather blessed our family with my Grandmother's super-awesome sewing machine late last winter. I've been wanting to teach Cosette how to use it ever since, and today, I finally got up the motivation. So, here, in pictures, is the beginnings of putting together a 'patchwork' quilt...........

First, pick out some samples of pretty material. The brighter, the better :) Oh, and if you can go to the store during nap-time when Daddy's at home with the younger kids, even better.

Then, of course, you need to cut them out.

Lay them out carefully in a beautiful pattern.

Then work hard all evening and amaze your Mama at how much you can get done :)

The finished product will be revealed at a later date :)

An unusual fear

2011-08-19T16:07:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm living my own reality show of 'Kids say the Darndest Things'
Today was a doozy, and I just had to share.

We've had these yellow jackets flying around outside our kitchen window---just one or two at a time. One of them got Noah the other day when he was outside playing, and then today, another one got Eli. We still can't find the nest (if there is one), but that's beside the point. The bee got Eli just below his eyebrow. After he had calmed down, he came to me with the ice on his eyelid, which had swollen quite a bit. He said:

"Gee Mom, I'm glad the bee didn't get me here (pointing to the middle of his forehead), cause that's where my brain is, and my brain has all my thoughts, and if the bee stung me there, all my thoughts would have fallen out!"

Hahahaha!!! It was really hard not to laugh, because his fear was legitimate. I think I finally convinced him that if a bee stung him there, his thoughts would certainly not fall out :)

I asked her to dance for the camera....

2011-08-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

....and this is what she did. One and a half little turns, and then she falls down. But hey, I'm her Mama, and I'm allowed to think that whatever she does is beyond cute. So here you go, Leanna's 'shortened' dance. (She usually spins around about ten times before falling down :)

Changing things up a bit

2011-08-16T07:52:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I think I'm kind of clueless. Example. For years now, I have been trying to have my 'quiet time' in the mornings. Here's the problem---my husband leaves for work at 6:45, so that means in order to fix his lunch, I need to be down to the kitchen by, like, 6:20, 6:30 at the latest. Which meant, if I wanted a quiet time in the mornings, I was needing to be up by like 5:45 or something. Ugh. I'm a morning person....but not THAT much of a morning person. Chasing four children around all day is hard enough without having to rise at the crack of dawn. So, I tried having my quiet times after Joel went to work. Problem with that is, the kids (especially my boys) usually wake up between 7 and 7:30, so half the time I was having my 'quiet time' with two little boys climbing all over me. Yeah---kind of breaks the whole spirit of things! Plus, in the mornings, my mind is always going 100 mph with things I need to do, get started for the day, etc, etc. So I'd end up losing my focus and not really concentrating. So what's a mom to do??

Then, after 6.5 years of having children, it finally hit me the other day. I said to myself "Dummy! (I'm allowed to say that to myself, but nobody else ;) Dummy...why don't you have your quiet time in the evenings? The kids will be in bed, the day is winding down, you are more relaxed, instead of thinking about 'everything that needs done today'." Joel is usually asleep before me, anyway, and I would use that time to read a book or blog or make a grocery list or whatever. But NOW, I've been using that time to read my Bible and pray and just....have quiet time!

I know, I know...it kind of goes against the whole 'starting your day with God' idea, that 'beautiful, peaceful morning time' that I always had in my mind. But let's face it, when you have little ones, you have to mix things up a little....find what works for you. And morning quiet times just weren't working.
So, for the past little while, my evenings have been spent in the Word. Instead of 'waking up' to it, I'm putting it in my mind before I go to sleep, and I've actually been able to concentrate better, stay awake easier, and appreciate the time with God more than I was before. And besides, when our new little one joins us next spring, I'm sure I'll be up late with him/her anyway :)

So that's my 'useful tip' for moms with little ones today. If your quiet time isn't 'working'-----change it a little! Find a different time of day, a different location, whatever you need to do to make it work!

"Your Word is a lamp unto my feet....."

Life

2011-08-14T17:04:00.000-04:00

I have been a bad blogger lately! Unfortunately, along with a deep desire NOT to cook or bake anything, my pregnancy has also brought along with it a lack of interest in my usual photo taking. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm just too tired? Well, whatever the case, it's too bad, because we had a lot of neat stuff happen this past week that I'd like to share pictures of, but most of them are on Joel's phone!
Fortunately, I did manage to take a few pictures here and there, so I'll just have to tell you about the week, and fill it in with visuals when I can :) (Note: I am sharing un-edited photos, because I'm just to tired to edit them---forgive me!)

It started off last Saturday with a surprise knock on our front door. Who was there? My Dad and Suzanne.....all the way from across the country!! Did I get a picture? Of course not :(

Well, anyway, it was nice to have them in this week, because on Tuesday (as you saw in my last post) we remembered the one year passing of my mom. Emotionally draining. A relief to have it past, in a way.

This random picture has nothing to do with anything....I just thought it was cute. I sent all three big kids upstairs (Leanna followed along, of course) to brush their teeth, and this is what I found when I went to check on them :)

We moved my sister into her new apartment on Wednesday and Thursday, and we are SO excited for her! I'm still waiting to see the 'fully finished' product with all the pictures and decorations hung. We threw her a surprise 'apartment warming shower' on Thursday evening, instead of our regular Bible Study.

She's gonna hate me for this one because I caught her by surprise and she wasn't smiling. Don't worry, she DOES smile :)

Then, on Friday, we had our first baby appointment--everything's fine :) Our normal practice has a new mid-wife, which we're thrilled about, and she seemed really nice and helpful. All my babies have been born with a mid-wife except Leanna. But even then, the doctor who delivered her did wonderful, and we had no complaints. We're hoping for an available mid-wife this time around, though.
After that, we packed up the kids and headed down to visit Joel's grandfather. Did I remember to take any pictures? Of course not :( But here's one of the big kids in the motel afterwards.

Two eyes peeking out from under a comfy hotel blanket.

Two incredibly SLEEPY eyes peeking out from under the blanket.

And finally, my first attempt at pigtails for Leanna the next morning. They didn't last long :/

We spent yesterday at the zoo, and finally arrived home last night about 8:30, tired but happy. Let's just say my little kids were less than beautifully behaved in church this morning after all the craziness of last week. We're all now collapsed on couches in the living room, enjoying a day of rest. Fortunately, this next week is looking to be a little less crazy :)

One Year

2011-08-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Remembering my beautiful Mama. 9/8/62-8/9/10. We love you Mama, and will never stop missing you!

You might be a parent if....

2011-08-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

You go in to take a shower and find miniature size, plastic army men staring up at you
You find yourself saying things like "No, you may not have a sip of my sweet tea. It is my sweet tea, only mine, and I am going to drink the whole thing all by myself" (No, that wasn't my three year old, it was me---how could you get that confused?? ;)
Your husband has to bring legos in from the yard before he can mow
You start to wipe a sticky spot off of the wall and end up following the sticky spot through the entire upstairs.
You have ever cleaned your entire bathroom floor with a baby wipe
You have ever cleaned your windowsills with a baby wipe
You have ever cleaned.....okay, let's just admit it, you clean EVERYTHING with a baby wipe :)
You have ever heard the bathroom referred to as the 'potty room'
More than 1/5 of your grocery budget each week goes for buying milk
You've forgotten that whole 'organization' system of laundry you used to have when you were a newly wed. Now, you just stuff as much laundry in the machine as you can, white OR colored, and hope it turns out clean
'Date night' now often means frozen dinners after the kids go to bed, as well as root beer drank out of wine glasses and a game of scrabble.
Your most common words at 7:30 in the evening are ''Now say 'aaagghhh'....Now say 'Eeeeee'---no, no, no, don't spit the toothpaste on ME!"
You're filling out a form at a doctor's office and answer the question of 'What are your hobbies?' like this..."I have four kids six and under and another on the way....I don't have time for hobbies!!"

So, how did you do? If you answered 'yes' to more than two questions above, I would seriously suggest you go check your house for some little children....they're probably hiding in your kitchen, drinking all of your milk ;)

A quick word of explanation

2011-08-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

I hate when my written word is mis-understood. But, unfortunately, that is the reality of putting my thoughts out there in written form for the whole wide world to read. Every now and then, I write something 'wrong', and people mis-understand what my actual point was. So......a quick word of explanation.

After posting my last post (read it if you haven't already), I've realized that many people were not getting my main point. So, let me state clearly (I hope) what the main point of my last post was.

1. First of all, I was NOT suggesting that anybody has been attacking Joel or I for our decision to have another child. We have received only positive and loving comments and words from family and friends. My last post was not a way of trying to 'defend' myself---nobody has been 'judging' my family---at least, not that we know of :) It was simply my point to show how silly that well-known number of '1.5' children is. Seriously? The idea that some nameless agency out there can determine what is best for my family, in our own, personal particular circumstances, unknown to them, is just ridiculous. You can't put a 'one size fits all' label on families---circumstances are different for each couple. And also, I don't buy into the whole 'large families leave too big of a foot-print' idea that some environmentalists seem to have.

2. Second of all, I was NOT trying to insinuate that if you have less children than I do, that you somehow made a wrong decision or something. Nope. That wasn't my point at all. How many children you have is totally up to you, your spouse, and God. My pastor's family has an even dozen. Do I ever see myself having that many? Nope. Not happening. However, I do NOT think that I am somehow less spiritual or something because I'm 'closing the door' sooner. Likewise, I will NOT look down on you if you have chosen to have less than five children---that's just silly too.

3. Third of all, I realize that many couples out there are longing, wishing, and praying for a baby--even just ONE baby. Why God chooses to allow some couples to have five, while others struggle to have just one, I will never know (at least not on this earth), but I have to trust that He is still the all-knowing, all-loving, compassionate Savior that knows and cares about each one of us. I thank God for allowing me to have as many children as I do---and I pray for comfort for those of you who are still on the journey of waiting.

Children are a gift from God, whether you have one or 19 like that well-known family :) OR....if you choose to have none at all and spend your lives serving your God and focusing completely on Him......then God bless you in your pursuits. I was not trying to hit upon some 'magical' number as 'perfect' or 'better'

Bottom Line? Joel and I have another baby on the way....that will make five for us....we're excited, thankful, and praising God for another little blessing running around our house. May we do our best to raise them to His glory.

Four......going on five

2011-08-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know the stats. The ones from the environmentalists that say that each couple should only have 2.5 (or is it 1.5?) children. And I've always wondered-----which last half do you get, the head or the feet?!! ;)
Okay, okay, in all seriousness, I know our family is now bordering on the 'larger' side. And you know what? It's a good thing that I don't care what all those environmentalists think :) I'm a stay at home mom----my 'job' is to raise these kids to be God-fearing, loving adults some day. I am more than thrilled to be adding another to our kit and kaboodle. I realize that there are many families who are longing for just one baby to hold and love.....and I feel so blessed, beyond what I deserve, to be looking forward to welcoming our 5th. I am not taking our blessings lightly, folks.
   And besides, I looked around at my kids this morning and thought how much I loved every one of them---and how different our family would be if one of them were not here. I saw sibling affection happening this morning, and it warmed my heart.


Downstairs, we had a fun game of 'Cadoo' happening at the kitchen table.

Add some yogurt and granola to the mix, and you've got one fun party! :)

Upstairs, we had a tea party going on.

See? It's kinda hard to catch moments like this if you only have 1.5 children ;)

Scavenger Hunt

2011-08-01T21:27:00.000-04:00

We sent our kids on a scavenger hunt around the house this afternoon when Joel got home from work. We told them that we had a gift for the family, and they would get clues as they completed the hunt.

At the end of the game, Eli and Noah had no idea what the gift was---but Cosette was starting to get an understanding grin on her face. She thought she knew the answer, but was afraid to say it out loud. Here are the clues we gave the kids:

1. We will have to wait a while for this gift.

2. You have had this kind of gift before

3. The gift is small.

4. The gift is often smelly

5. The gift may be bald

6. The gift will not be coming until March

Yep :) As we finally close what has been a sad year for our family.....as we anticipate the one year anniversary of losing my mom in just a few short days.....God has blessed us with joy instead.

"For I will turn their mourning into joy

And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow." Jer. 31:13b.

Baby Curtis Number 5----Girl or Boy? Only time will tell :)

A Biblical Framework for Children

2011-07-30T22:33:00.000-04:00

Our family has had the pleasure of attending our denominations annual conference this week-end. It was the first time we've been able to attend, because they've been too far away for us to drive to with all our little people in the past. I went this weekend not knowing exactly what to expect. (For those of you who are wondering, I grew up Nazarene, and still feel somewhat Nazarene at 'heart'. But Joel and I are now happy members of the Conservative Mennonite Conference.

We actually first started attending the church not because of denominational reasons, but simply because it seemed like the 'right' church for us to go to. It was (and is) a place where we could raise our family in the faith, be supported in our efforts, and also join in the ministry as we felt led. It just so happened that this church also belonged to the Conservative Mennonite Conference. But that all is side information, and irrelevant to the point of this post.

At the conference today, I was able to attend a workshop on building a Biblical Framework for Children. The leader of the workshop did an excellent job. Her main point was that we ought to be using children's young years----when they're so like 'sponges', soaking in everything----to really give them a good, solid Biblical Foundation.

And we're not really even talking about the general Sunday School stories of David and Goliath and Noah and the Ark. No, she was talking about digging deeper---challenge them, help them to learn! Do they know all the books of the Bible? Can they tell you the difference between the Major and Minor prophets? Do they know the Books of the Law, as opposed to the Books of History? Can they place Isaac, Abraham, Moses, and Paul on a Biblical Timeline in the right order? Can they show you the path of Pauls missionary journey? Can they show how water was used as a symbol of salvation throughout the Bible?

And you might be asking "Why is this important? Aren't you just trying to make little snobs out of them?" Absolutely not. The idea of teaching them all this is not so that they can regurgitate impressive sounding information to awe people and make themselves sound smart. It's not to make us as parents proud. So what's the point?

God gave us the Bible. In fact, He gave us all of history as a way of showing us, and building up to, the Redemption offered through His Son. Scripture says that (loosely paraphrased) "all this (history) happened as an example for you today."

In giving children Bible stories like David Goliath and Noah and the Ark, we are only showing them part of the 'puzzle'. They deserve to know how all of the pieces fit together---to be able to see God's redemptive plan throughout history. A child who knows the whole Truth is more likely to remember it, accept it, and be able and confident to share it with others.

So, my challenge to you---teach your children! Read to them, memorize with them, spend time as a family learning things like Biblical Timelines and Paul's missionary journeys. Research some fun games to play together to help you learn and remember all this stuff! God's redemptive plan of Salvation is there---clear and ready for anybody who wishes to take the time to know it. Your children are your most treasured blessings---don't miss this opportunity!

Funny Moms

2011-07-26T22:29:00.000-04:00

"Tomorrow, tomorrow, don't wait for tomorrow, let God use your life today"

And so goes the closing song on the 'Funny Mom's' tape---a parody on the classic song that we all know. You'll be singing it all week now. You're welcome ;)

What? You've never watched 'Funny Mom's'? Oh my....we must remedy this. Go here and get yourself a copy!

This group of hilarious home-schooling moms put together the funniest, most heart-touching, 'hitting home' kind of skits/songs that any home-schooling mom could hope for. I laugh and laugh and laugh, every single time I watch it. It's just a group of silly moms singing silly songs about homeschooling---but they hit the nail on the head, so to speak. They touch on all those subjects that almost every single home-school mom has ever fretted over.

But it's not new. No, they made these tapes several years ago. The ones I own actually originally belonged to my mom. I remember she used to pull them out once or twice every school year, and we'd sit together in the basement rec-room and watch them and laugh our heads off. And mom would laugh so hard she'd cry! And, now that I'm a home-school mom myself, I understand even more why she found them so funny.

So, I hadn't watched them for years. But tonight, I really wanted to laugh. And I did. I laughed, and laughed, and laughed. But then, they got to the last song. That crazy, inspiring 'Tomorrow, tomorrow, don't wait for tomorrow, let God use your life today", and suddenly, I wasn't laughing anymore. I was crying.

Because I never knew watching those tapes with my mom all those years ago that I was making such a memory. I didn't know last summer this time that it was literally our last days with her. They're right. You can't live for tomorrow. You HAVE to let God use your life TODAY. I know it sounds corny and kind of 'cliche', but it's so true. Until you've lost someone as close to you as your mom, you can't begin to imagine the emotions that a song like that will bring up. You can't imagine how much you wish every day that you had just one more day with that loved one.

Find the joy. Hug your kids. Kiss your husband. Forget little spats, and the fact that you haven't cleaned your ceiling fans in years. Because frankly, in the end, it doesn't matter one tiny bit. But your kids? Your husband? Your loved ones? They're going into eternity with you some day. Invest in what really matters....let God use your life TODAY.

My banana girl

2011-07-21T16:32:00.001-04:00

So, when you're naming your child, you try to pick something that's nice, right? Nothing that's going to cause them to be bullied or made fun of, that type of thing. Or, consider my parent's example. My mom realllly wanted to name my brother 'Adam Seth Skidmore.' But then, she considered the initials. Yeah. That would have been cruel!

So, when Joel and I have picked names out, we've tried to cover all our grounds. Does the name sound good? Does it have a family back-ground to it? Are the initials okay? What does it mean?

However, with Leanna, there was one slight thing we couldn't foresee. She loves bananas. LOVES them. See the problem? Leanna......kinda rhymes with banana, haha :) Now, I constantly find myself saying "Leanna, do you want a banana?", and laughing at how silly it sounds :)

Wanna see just how much she loves her bananas? Well, she's willing to eat through the skin of one to get to the good stuff :)

Don't worry, I eventually helped her out a little.....after I got the cute pictures ;)

Birthday Boy

2011-07-18T10:30:00.000-04:00

Just popping in for a few minutes to do Noah's birthday post. I'm a few days late, but oh well, here it is :)

Noah Shaun Curtis has been turning our world upside down for over three years now. It all started one awful morning when I was just 12 weeks along in my pregnancy. Joel rushed me to the emergency room----we were sure we were losing our baby boy. But no, after hours of panic and awful anticipation, there was his beating heart and kicking legs up on the ultrasound screen, and I cried tears of joy. However, due to the complications, I spend much of the rest of the pregnancy on bed rest....

Fast forward several weeks. The placenta previa had taken 'care of itself' (we consider it a miracle to this day!!), and the doctor (not our usual doctor, a special one we were seeing for the complications), rolled the wand over my belly. "Hmmm.....the baby has two of the early characteristics of a Down Syndrome baby. I suggest you find out soon if he has any more characteristics of Down Syndrome so you can decide if you want to abort it." Words of DEATH!! Lies by the enemy--satan himself. Joel and I assured the doctor that it didn't matter to us either way, and we decided not to find out. This baby was ours to love, one way or the other.

Fast forward even more weeks.....my precious baby boy was finally born, safe and sound. Turns out he didn't have Down Syndrome. Of course, we would have loved him either way, but it made me even angrier at that doctor. People are so quick to throw life away, just because a baby might be 'different' than what you were expecting. Such. a. shame.

So, I watch as the nurse washes up my baby boy, scrubs his hair, diapers him, and then....she rolls him over. And Joel, me, and my sister (who was there at the time) gasp in horror. He has a 'knot' (for lack of a better word) the size of an egg on his left side. The nurse gets quiet and calls the mid-wife over. We spend the next two days in the hospital, trying to figure out what in the world this awful knot is. Thoughts of 'tumor', 'cancer', ran through my mind. They finally determined they had no idea what it was, and sent us to a specialist. The specialist looked him over, gave a little laugh and said "Oh, this is nothing but a harmless lymphangioma.
We thanked God once again for protecting our baby boy. The lymphangioma has since almost completely disappeared---you would never know it was ever there.

Fast forward even more months and years. Noah has never stopped turning our world upside down! He is smart, curious, and....into everything!! Inches of baby powder all over the bed-room.....hiding out eating stolen candy under the kitchen table.....coloring all over walls and tables.......taking months to potty train....he's responsible for all of this and more! I think this next picture accurately depicts what I'm talking about. I took it on his birthday morning.

Cake batter all over his face...toilet paper completely unwound...yep, that's my Noah alright!!

But, underneath all of his craziness, there is a sweet and gentle heart/spirit not unlike his Daddys, and that makes me smile :) He is such a loving, sweet little dude! I honestly don't know how we were ever a family without him! He is my joy in the morning, my prayer of thanks in the evening. Because not a day passes when I don't remember that he was my 'miracle baby', many times over! Here's a few pictures of my sweet boy on his birthday:

Noah Shaun, you are loved more than words can say!! Happy Birthday, little man!

Some thoughts

2011-07-13T23:06:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a one-night, two day 'mini vacation' with Joel. We stayed in a nice motel room, ate good food, talked and finished every single sentence we started, (parents of small children will realize what a miracle that is!!) and really just enjoyed time away. Then we came home this afternoon, picked our kids back up from Grandma's house, and spent the afternoon with them at the pool. I really needed a 'breather'. Life is stressful sometimes----for everybody-----and I was really feeling it lately. Sometimes you just need time to 're-group' and breathe a little. Plus, I just love spending time with my husband like that. I don't ever want to become so 'busy' with stuff that seems 'important'----only to find later that I've neglected the most important people in my life. Joel and I are having to learn how to say 'yes' to the things we really, really feel a calling to minister in, and 'no' to the things that are equally good----but would prevent us from putting the necessary time and effort into raising our kids for God's Glory. Because, no matter what other opportunities come our way, our family will always be our responsibility. And, if we mess up with our kids.....shame on us!! It's a tight line to walk----knowing when to say 'yes' and when to say 'no'. But, we are covering our lives, our ministries, our family, our kids, and our relationship in prayer, and knowing that God will help us to make wise decisions as parents.
We have a good bit going on the next couple of weeks----'good' things that we have decided to say 'yes' to :) I may be a little more silent on here than normal until things slow down again. But, I'll try to at least post pictures occasionally. Noah has a birthday coming up soon---and you KNOW I have to share those pictures with you :)

Sunday Games

2011-07-10T19:07:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's my husband under there. Don't worry, there were no injuries in today's games. Although, I'm not sure who is winning-- him......

....or the kids ;)

Beauty at home

2011-07-09T14:57:00.000-04:00

I am finally (maybe??), after 6.5 years of having children, learning the beauty and simplicity of being home. I've always been a 'go-getter'. I've always wanted lots of things going on..places to go...things to do...responsibilities to take care of...projects to work on. One semester at college, I took 21 credits (21!!!) just because the normal load of 12-14 didn't keep me 'busy' enough. My last semester at college, the summer of 2003, I was taking my last course (online), preparing my Senior Recital (think dozens of pages of memorized music), working a part time job as a grocery store cashier, working another part time job as a piano teacher at a local music school, teaching at a week long music camp for first and second graders, and, oh yeah......preparing to get married in December. It was one heck of a summer! And I loved it! Every minutes of it!

And, after getting married and having kids, it's like I never shifted to second gear. I was still in 'college mode', running, running, running.......trying to fill up my days going here and there, etc. I was missing how important it is for little people (and their Mama's!) to be at home. Taking care of the home. The Bible DOES say 'Be still and know that I am God'. It does NOT say 'Run around like crazy trying to prove your worth by all the different distractions in your life" I am truly coming to see and believe that where I need to be, at this point in my life....is home.

Houses need cleaned.
Families need good, nourishing food to help them thrive.
Clothes need washed.
Children need regular schedules, bed-times, and routines.
Dads and moms need to train and discipline their children in the familiar environment of 'home'

In other words, it's hard to be a 'keeper at home' when you're always everywhere BUT home! I am finally learning that. The beauty of fixing good meals for my family, keeping the family budget up and running, reading stories to my little ones on the porch, enjoying an evening family walk.....the list of things that are 'beautiful' at home goes on and on and on....

I read another post today that says all this better than I can. Go here to read her thoughts on the matter. And then cuddle up with your children.....and enjoy the beauty and simplicity of home.

Beauty

2011-07-07T10:49:00.000-04:00

Continuing to find beauty in my days....

Little girl dresses, washed and ready to be worn

Can't find beauty in this photo? Just think how nasty it would look if it were a sink full of dirty dishes :)

New hair-styles for pretty little girls

This little lady....

And this 'not-so-little-', 'starting-to-grow-up' lady :)

Yep, their Daddy is going to have his hands full in 15 30 years! ;)

Two godly woman.....two godly examples......a host of people to follow behind

2011-07-04T12:25:00.001-04:00

I just saw this post on Joshua Harris's site. For those of you who don't know, Joshua Harris is the Pastor of Covenant Life church, and a well-known author. His parents and family were big in the early home-schooling movement, and did a lot of positive things to promote it.

I remember reading on his blog last summer some time that his Mom, Sono Harris, had passed away. Obviously, I never had the privilege of meeting her, but it was still sad. How heart-breaking to lose such a godly woman, and one whose family had had such an influence on my own! If it weren't for the work of Greg and Sono Harris, I may never have been home-schooled.....I may not be homeschooling my own family today.

I remember standing in my Mom's kitchen last summer, talking to her about it. We were both so shocked and saddened by the loss for the Harris Family. My mom even posted as her Facebook Status something like this: "Praying for the Harris family today at the loss of their dear mother.....never met her myself, but she had such an influence on my life anyway!" We stood in my Mom's kitchen, talking over what a hard time the Harris family must be experiencing.

I had absolutely nooooooo idea that just a little over a month later, my own Mama would pass away as well. I just saw on Joshua Harris's site that today, July 4th, was the one year marker for the loss of his mom. And soon, 8-9-10, it will be the one year marker for the loss of my own Mama.

Both godly woman. One much more well known than the other. But both living their lives for Jesus, loving their families, and trying to make a difference in the world. And I had to smile, on this July 4th, wondering if my own Mama has had the honor of meeting Mrs. Harris yet. I can hear my mom now: "You were the subject of one of my last Facebook Posts! It's an honor!"

Two godly woman......both gone.....both missed terribly. But what a legacy they both left behind. Thank you Mama, for your example. I miss you terribly...........may I follow in your godly footsteps.

Catch up, finally :)

2011-06-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to post and update all week, but I just haven't been able to sit down and do so! So here, finally, is your photo update on what's happening here in our corner of the world :)

Cosette enjoys painting on her easel. I was blessed this morning when I found her and Noah painting together. She was graciously letting him 'help' her with the painting.

I love this photo of her coming up from taking care of her own little garden. Isn't she pretty? :)

This shows Eli's 'servant' heart. He is always ready to help out or 'surprise' me with a job well done. On this day, he had decided that he would clean 'all' of the shoes.

And finally, here is the kids Lemonade stand. They worked so hard, and sat out there for hours, literally. I was so happy that many kind people stopped for a cup of Lemonade :) Now the kids are trying to figure out what to do with the money they made :)

Cute...

2011-06-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

All of our kids have learned just a few sign language words when they were infants to help us with the 'communication' thing. Cosette knew how to say 'more, thank you, please,' etc. One of Leanna's favorites is 'please'. 'Please' in sign language is supposed to be tapping your hand right around your collar bone. Well, when there is something Leanna REALLY wants, like a cookie or more milk, she throws BOTH of her arms around her front-side and kind of gives herself a hug. We call it the 'double-please' :)

Too good not to share

2011-06-24T15:08:00.000-04:00

Every now and then I come across a post on someone else's blog that is just too good not to share. I found one today! Please, take the time to go read this post! If you're married.....if you're thinking about getting married.....it you'd just like to get married someday.....if you're struggling in your marriage.....read this post, from Heavenly Homemakers. It's really worth your time!

Blessings,

What I loved about today

2011-06-23T20:39:00.002-04:00

I don't ever want to forget what these days are like, at home with four little ones all around me.. So, today, I loved:

1. Watching Cosette smoothing over the freshly planted green bean rows all by herself. She is literally getting to the point where she really is a 'helper' :)

2. These two ladies. Aren't they beautiful?? :) This picture is a little fuzzy, but I loved it anyway. It really shows Leanna's personality right now. She wants to be 'close'---hugging you, in your arms, wrapped around your legs, whatever :) You can see that Cosette and I just hate that ;)

3. Playing 'throw this sack of potatoes in the trash can' game with Noah after dinner. He squeals and squeals and laughs, and then, when I get ready to 'throw the potatoes in the trash can', he laughs hysterically and says "No Mama, Me, Noah, Noah!" And I look at him as if I'm just realizing it's Noah, and NOT a sack of potatoes, and then I tickle him :) Love it, love it!!

4. Listening to Cosette practice her violin today. A friend just gave it to her, and she's loving learning the basics. I hardly heard a screech today :) Noah wants to play it too. He picks it up ever so carefully, but his arms aren't long enough. He would need an 1/8 or a 1/4 size, I think. This is all new territory for me, too, as I'm a pianist, not a violinist :)

5. Little boys turned into superheros simply by the addition of socks on their hands. Can you guess which one is the more serious super hero?

6. And finally, watching Leanna as she lay in her bed, almost asleep. Her eyes were closed ; the only indication that she wasn't completely in dream-land was her sweet little fingers twisting her curls :)

It's more about what (or WHO) I DO have!

2011-06-21T10:42:00.000-04:00

We were gone all day yesterday to a family gathering. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins, eating picnic food, riding scooters, etc. And then, we had to rush back to our area for Cosette's 6:30 soccer game. By the time we all got home, we were exhausted. When I woke up this morning, there were toys everywhere, dishes filling my sink from the food I had made yesterday, laundry up to the ceiling (and that's only a slight exaggeration!!), floors needed swept, the bathroom and tubs were full of little boy's dirty foot prints and all the trash cans were over-flowing with dirty diapers and yuckiness. Oh, and did I mention that I need to go grocery shopping?? Splendid. Just splendid. I could see what I'd be doing for the whole rest of the day.

I found myself standing at my sink, washing those dishes, missing my mom soooo much. This was just one of those days when I would have called her and asked her to please keep the kids for a few hours so I could find my house under all the mess. And she would have gladly done it. And I could see her face so clearly in my mind, and hear her voice, and I remembered days in the past when I was so pregnant, and she would come up and clean through my whole house for me. Tears rolled down my cheeks and splashed in the dish water.

I took myself to the living room, where we keep scrabble racks and tiles out on the mantle. On it, any family member is allowed to express their feelings about anything that's happening. Past sentences have said stuff like 'Summer beauty' 'Eli is five today!' 'Love my Man' 'The Joy of the Lord', that kind of thing.

Today, I laid out the tiles for "I need a maid". Excuse my immaturity---it's just how I felt!

Well, as I stood as the sink, finishing the dishes, I heard a little voice behind me. It was Cosette. She said "Mama, maybe you should check the scrabble tiles now and see what they say."

I walked to the living room, curiosity filling me. This is what I saw:

And she did. More than any normal six year old would have willingly helped out! So, it's not all about what I DON'T have anymore, but more about what I DO have, right? Thank you Lord, for my blessings.

And now, since Cosette has helped me to finish the bottom of the house, I'm done my break and headed upstairs to tackle THAT mess........... :)

Father's Day

2011-06-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

So today was Father's Day. I could go on and on about how I married the absolute best man in the entire world, how the kids and I love him like crazy, how he's every bit of a father I always knew he would be, plus more.....but you all already know that! (If it ever seems on here like I'm kind of obsessed with my husband, don't worry, you're not imagining things----I am :)

Okay, so, to celebrate Father's Day, I thought I'd instead tell you a funny story. A few evenings ago, we had to run out to the store after dinner for a couple of things. Cosette and I managed to sneak away for a few minutes by ourselves so she could pick out her gift for Joel for Father's day. She picked two 'fun size' packs of candy bars. She paid for them, and we snuck them to the van without Daddy seeing.

Later, she told me: "Mom, I was having trouble knowing where to put the candy bars until Sunday, so I just asked Daddy "Dad, if you had two packs of chocolate that you wanted to keep safe for a few days, what would you do with them? And daddy said he would put them on the counter in a shady spot. So that's what I'm gonna do. And don't worry, Mom, Dad doesn't suspect a thing!!"

So. Cute. Oh my, I tried hard not to laugh. Later, I asked Joel "So, you have any idea what your gift is from Cosette?" He just smiled :)

Here he is this morning opening his gift from her. It's not a great picture---she looks half asleep and he's making a funny face, but my camera batteries died right after this first picture :/

So grateful for my wonderful husband!

For Pap

2011-06-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

A video clip that I think my Pap will really like :) He and Grandma bought this horse for.....Eli, I think?.....a few years ago. Leanna really loves it. Don't worry, we don't let her fall off :)

Grumpy Words

2011-06-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

I have learned something in the past 7 1/2 years. I would like to share this piece of advice with you all. This is particularly important for moms with young children, but I'm sure it can apply to anybody in any situation. Here it is---my tip of the day.

"Don't say anything when you're tired and worn out"

When you've been up since 6:00 a.m., and it's now 11:30 p.m., and the baby is crying and not going to sleep, and you literally haven't had five minutes to yourself today, and the two year old ate an entire bowl of candy while hiding under the kitchen table, and......well yeah. When you've had one of those days, and your perspective is just completely lop-sided......... just don't say anything.

I speak from experience! I've had days like the one above (although, thankfully, none that bad this week...yet!) And then, when you're body is tired, and your emotions are worse than a roller coaster, you look at your poor, unsuspecting husband and say something uncaring like:

ALL I ever do is clean people's clothes! Do you know how sick I am of washing, drying, folding and putting away laundry?
Maybe I could keep up with everything better if you'd just help out more!
Our two year old really drove me up the wall today! I think we're failing with him!

And then, the next morning, after you've had a good night's sleep (say, four hours or more in a row ;) you see everything with a brighter perspective. And you realize that you don't really mind folding your family's laundry---that your husband DOES help out around the house----and that you are certainly NOT failing with your two year old, it just felt that way.

So.......just don't say anything. When the words are out of your mouth.....that's it. They can't be taken back. You can apologize, you can be forgiven, you and your spouse, by the grace of God can move on, but the words have already been spoken.

So, the next time you feel like shouting "There are kids running around everywhere and I'm about to loose my mind!!!!"---- instead, take a deep breath, turn the other way, and go count your blessings. Literally. Think about what you were about to say, whether it will help anybody, benefit anybody, or be 'edifying to the listener'. If not, then.....don't say it. :) As simple as that. Because, we all know that in the morning....everything looks brighter!

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Eph. 4:29

I post this because it's been such a hard lesson for me. When I'm tired and worn out, I don't fall asleep on the couch---I get grumpy! And I've had to learn over the years what that 'grumpy' feeling feels like, and how to keep my mouth shut tight when I feel that way! Tonight was such a night. It was a long day, the boys were rowdy, food prep took forever....and I felt the grumpy feeling coming on. But, Praise Jesus! I kept my mouth shut tight!! And now, the kids are in bed, I'm relaxing a little, and I feel so much better having said nothing that I would regret tomorrow morning.

Can I challenge you to do the same? :)

Reading Extravaganza

2011-06-12T21:38:00.000-04:00

If there's one thing Joel and I have always done with our kids, it's read. The librarians now just automatically go to the shelf when we walk in and pull off our huge pile of books we have on hold :) Well, a couple of months ago, our librarians gave Cosette info for a writing contest for kids. She worked really hard on a book for several weeks. She received notice just last week that she had won an honorable mention for 'Most Heartfelt Book'. We were so proud of her! Even though it was a two hour trip, we decided to take her to the Reading Extravaganza Day so she could pick up her award. They also had a TON of other really cool stuff happening at the library for the Extravaganza. Oh....and did I mention it was all FREE? Totally awesome! Our Day....in pictures.....:)

Cosette, receiving her award from 'The Queen of Hearts', and learning how to bow :)

Just so you can get a feel for how many people were there.

The library itself was so impressive and beautiful!

They had all kinds of fun activities set up for the kids on the lawn of the library. Here, Noah and Eli show off the book-worms they made.

Oh, and who can turn down a free Smiley cookie? Not Noah!

We even got to watch some Ukrainian Dancers

But I think the high-light of the day for everybody was the super-huge slide :)

Thank you, Carnegie Library, for an Awesome, fun day!

Conversations around our house lately

2011-06-11T00:15:00.000-04:00

I have to record some of these. I just don't want to forget them!

Eli: Hey Mom! I drew a picture of an Ocanut tree!
Me: A what tree?
Eli: An Ocanut tree!
Me: (Trying so hard not to laugh, but failing miserably) Do you mean a 'coconut' tree?
Eli: Oh.....I think so!

Me: Noah, Mommy's making a grocery list. Do you want anything special from the store?
Noah: Um....yes.
Me: What do you want?
Noah: Um......Cake!!

Eli: Can I have a special snack, Mommy?
Me: Well....what did you do to earn your special snack?
Eli: Um...I cleaned up my room today without you even asking!
Me: (Confused, because I had to ask him TWICE to clean up his room) You did??
Eli: Oh...um...I mean...without you even watching!

Cosette: Thanks for lunch, Mommy. I don't really like it, it's not my favorite...it would be better without the meat in it.....but otherwise, it's really good!

Me: Noah, are you eating candy? You're supposed to ask before you get candy
Noah: Oh
Me: Did you get candy without asking Mommy or Daddy?
Noah: (With a big grin on his face) Yep!....TWO!! (At least he's honest.....)

Bitter-Sweet

2011-06-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

This precious 'newborn' time is winding down. My 'baby' is a year old now! She's learning to walk...she says "Da-da, puppy, duck and kak-kak (quack quack :) Yes, she loves her toy duck :)
But the biggest way I know that she's growing up is because we are almost done with nursing. She's drinking big girl milk out of a big girl cup now, and doing just fine with it. Her Mama is happy.....and sad. Just a few more days of nursing before bed-time, and then we'll be....*sob*......all done!
I'll miss cuddling with her as she snuggles up. Yes, we cuddle while drinking the bottle before nap-time, but it's just not the same. I know not every Mama chooses to nurse, and that's perfectly fine. But for me and my babies....I'm so glad it worked out.
It was a pain sometimes.....always scheduling your day around when the baby needs to nurse. Not being able to teach Sunday School or help out much at church for a whole year because "the baby needs me during that time" It was also difficult to go anywhere....I could never be away from her for more than a couple of hours. And so, it had it's difficulties.
But, it was worth it. Obviously, right? I mean, when I've chosen to nurse four babies in a row.....the benefits out-weighed the aggravations without a question!
To sit there, for long amounts of time, resting and snuggling my baby, was one of the best ways that we 'bonded' this past year. To watch her sweet little eyes doze off to sleep as she nursed, to feel the warmth of her body against mine, to rub her soft brown hair.....it was a blessing.
From the moment they first handed her to me and she started nursing, I was in love. And for the whole past year, my life has been totally wrapped up in this little being....in sitting down to fill her tummy every few hours.
But now, we're almost done. And it has to be that way. She can't stay an infant forever, and I wouldn't want her to! But part of me aches....as much as I'll enjoy the 'freedom' of being done, I'll also miss it as well.
My baby is done nursing. Tears fill my eyes through the day as I think of it. But my huband told me last night "Look what a great job you did! She's healthy, she's smart....and it's because of all of your dedication over the past year"
Yes, I may be 'done' nursing her, but she'll always be the proof of all of my efforts and a 'job well done' :) I am SO in love with that girl! :)

Little souls

2011-06-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.
-- Jim Rohn

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
-- Charles R. Swindoll

Ten tiny little fingers that always want to play,

That never stop exploring the wonder of today.

Ten tiny little fingers that from the very start,

Will reach out for tomorrow yet always hold your heart.

-- Author Unknown

FAMILY----The only thing on this old earth that will last through eternity. Are you putting your efforts where they really count?

Living intentionally....and strawberry pie :)

2011-06-05T15:02:00.000-04:00

Wow. I see I haven't posted anything since Wednesday! These summer days are just passing me by too fast! Well, I shouldn't say that....we're not just mindlessly 'flying' through our days. They are just so filled with our kids, and all the joy and activities that come along with four children....that we are living and loving our life to the fullest. Soccer games....gardens...flowers....Bible Studies...bike rides....kids in the wading pool....babies learning how to walk....a new Sunday School class to teach.....loving my front porch and swing....and Joel and I are hoping to squeeze a date night in sometime soon too :) So, I leave you with one amusing thought for the day:

The newly-wed woman (i.e.--Me, about 7 1/2 years ago), upon lacking a proper recipe to make a strawberry pie, will search for endless hours through all of her recipe books AND the internet, comparing notes and trying to figure out the best and proper way to pre-bake a pie crust.

The well-seasoned mother (i.e.-- Me---7 1/2 years, four kids and three bazillion meals later), will pop the pie crust in the oven and say "Eh.....it'll be done when it's done :)

Life experience....it DOES count for something. Hoping for positive outcomes on that pie crust :)

Red and Ripe

2011-06-01T16:30:00.000-04:00

Picking strawberries out of your own garden with two of your favorite people in the world....summer doesn't get much more beautiful...

Lovin' our Leanna---One whole year!

2011-05-28T23:31:00.001-04:00

We celebrated my sweet Leanna's first birthday today! Her actual birthday isn't until Monday, but tonight worked better for everybody to get together. So much has happened for our family in the past year that it's hard to believe it's only been that long! Our sweet Leanna has been here with us a whole year now, and we love her more than words can say. So, without further 'ado', her birthday party....

Yep, that's her cake :)

The cake that was 'just for her' was cupcake size. She ate the entire thing! I think that's the most sugar she's ever had at one time!

And yes, of course, the rest of us ate cake too :) We sat outside on the deck because it was such a gorgeous evening! Well, that, AND I'm in love with my yard right now!

See why?

Here, Noah demonstrates the proper way to eat a cherry

Grandma Carol, my Dad's mom, signing Leanna's birthday picture frame

My brother---what a handsome guy :)

Showing off one of her new outfits from my Dad and Suzanne----they were here with us tonight in spirit :)

I love 'Aunt Kristin pictures' with my kids :)

My sister on the left, and on the right.....my future sister-in-law!!!!!!!!!!! My brother proposed two weeks ago on her birthday, and we couldn't be happier for them :)

And finally, Grandma and Grandpa, saying goodnight to the birthday girl, who had long since shed her hot dress :)

Happy Birthday, Leanna Rose! We love you!

( I just realized that there are no pictures of my husband on here......that's what happens when you're stuck behind the camera all night, I guess :(

The quest for the missing shoe (Or...why you should never go shopping with four children age six and under)

2011-05-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

So, I had one simple stop to make. We were going to run into the store, pick up stuff for Leanna's birthday cake, plus a handful of other things, and then be on our way. Not a big deal. I drug my sister along with me. (She frequently gets included on these 'fun' expeditions, poor thing) Anyway, we finished our shopping, got out to the car, strapped all the babies in their car-seats, and headed off down the road to Taco Bell for four 99-cent burrito things.

We arrived at Taco Bell, and Kristin got the baby and big kids out while I started to unhook Noah. But then I noticed....uh-oh, Noah's missing a shoe! When did he loose it? I looked everywhere around his seat and on the floor for the shoe. And, of course, he doesn't say much yet, so he can't tell us where he lost the shoe.

"Oh darn. I'm hungry! I don't really want to run back to the store we were just at....but it's his good pair of sandals!" So, back in the van everybody goes. I drive back to the store, look all around our parking place, the cart we were using, and even walk back into the store and re-trace our steps. I ask the cashier "Has anyone turned in a missing shoe?" She looks at me like I've got two heads. No shoe. Of course not. " Oh well. Guess we're stopping at WalMart for some new sandals!"

I walk back to the car, where I now have one crying baby, three very hungry kids, and one sister who was trying to keep them all alive and happy while I was shoe-searching.

We drive back down the road to Taco Bell again. I hop back out, and start to unstrap Noah, explaining that he'll just have to wear one shoe for a while. But then....well, you can all probably guess what happened next. I see it. His missing shoe. Right underneath the seat. Hardly hiding at all. It had been there the whole time. Don't ask me how I missed it. I had shook everything out, moved everything, looked under everything. Or so I thought. But there it was. One size ten brown Pooh-bear sandal.

I clapped my hands in delight, Noah smiled and wrapped his arms around me, and my sister gave me a look that said "Oh, gee, thanks for including me in this super-fun expedition!" :)

Meal Plan.....and little boys :)

2011-05-25T16:38:00.000-04:00

Ahhhhh....these two little boys. They'd like you to believe they're all sweet and innocent, sitting here on the swing reading books. But if you had peeked into our life today, you would have seen that, between the two of them, they managed to go through four different sets of clothes, tried to swipe a candy bar at the check-out lane, broke a picture, woke up their baby sister from nap time, and probably a whole host of other things I'm just too tired to remember now. Little boys......their cuteness saves them :)

Anyway.......I haven't posted a meal plan in a while, so I thought you all might like to see what we'll be eating this week. (Also a great way to get new meal ideas if you're stuck in the same-five-recipes rut yourself :) And yes, dear Thursday Sisters, you will see some of your recipes from last week in here too :)

Wednesday: Chicken-Green bean- stir fried rice, fresh watermelon, vanilla pie cups for dessert (simply make little mini pie-crust cups in a muffin pan and fill them with vanilla pudding, whipped cream and fresh raspberries)
Thursday : Sausage and Sweet Potato Bake, spinach-mandarin orange-pecan-poppyseed salad
Friday: Ultimate veggie pizza (a homemade whole wheat pizza crust topped with stir-fried zucchini, squash, tomatoes and red onion)
Saturday: Crusty Mexican Bean Bake, Green Beans
Sunday: 'Kerf' bean and veggie wraps
Monday: Corn Cheddar tomato Quiche, creamed peas, cheddar bay biscuits
Tuesday: Beef Enchiladas, a simple side salad

Definitely printing this one...

2011-05-22T22:55:00.002-04:00

I thought I would shock you all and actually post a picture of myself on here. We don't have very many pictures of me because ~~I hate having my picture taken~~ I'm always the one taking pictures. (I seriously am trying to get better about not complaining when my picture is being taken!!)

A friend of mine snapped this one of Leanna and I the other day at her daughter's birthday party, and I fell instantly in love!I thought it was too good not to share :)

A 'new normal'

2011-05-22T21:55:00.000-04:00

In Bible Study last Thursday evening, we were all talking about 'new normals' You know, when something unexpected or unwanted happens in your life, and you have to learn to live with a 'new normal'.

The first 'new normal' I could remember happening in my life was the summer I was 13. I had lived in the same house pretty much my whole life, but my family was getting ready to move. I didn't want to. We were only moving 20 minutes up the road, but to me, it might as well have been 2,000 miles. I was having to face my first 'new normal'

Little did I know, though, that the new house we were moving to was across the road from the house where my future husband was living! I often look back now and say that if my family hadn't moved, well....Joel Curtis may have never even noticed Jaime Skidmore....and the rest is history.

I kind of feel like the 'Jaime' of our first house is a totally different 'Jaime' than the girl who grew up across from Joel's family, went to college, got married, had babies.......it's like I'm a totally different person now.

I hadn't driven past our old house for years....maybe since before I was married, I can't remember. So, after our discussion last Thursday evening, when I found out we were going to be down that way today, I asked Joel if he'd mind leaving a few minutes early and driving past. I had to look twice to make sure it was the same house! The huuuuge pine tree that used to be smack dab in the middle of the yard was gone. The siding was light beige instead of white, and the shutters were green, not black. The clothes line was gone, and there was a new little railing around the front porch. But it looked very nice, and, yes....it was my old house. The old house was still there, and a flood of memories came rushing back. I pulled out my camera and snapped a picture.

And there you have it. The house I grew up in. Or, rather, the house I lived in when I was a little girl, before I grew up :)

My mama pulled my first tooth here. It was here that we brought my baby brother and sister home from the hospital. It was here that I sat at the piano on summer evenings, playing my little lessons with the front door open. It was here that I learned to ride a bike. It was here that we brought our puppy home---my faithful, wild Precious puppy, who remained with our family for another nine years. It was here that our family was all together, healthy and happy, with no idea that Mom would be gone a mere 14 years after moving from that house.

The new house that we moved into....growing up......getting married.......those are all 'new normals' that I got used to. They were happy 'new normals'. But this losing my Mama.....it is a 'new normal' I will never get used to. For the rest of my life, I will look back on my first 28 years as 'the way things were supposed to be, when they were right'. Life goes on.....good things are happening.....but they're happening without my Mama.

Leanna has her first birthday in a week.....our first 'first birthday' without Mom. A new normal. It's yucky, and it stinks, and I will feel her absence at Leanna's party like a hole in my heart.

I miss my Mom every day.......but I am a Mama now, to four beautiful children.......and everyday we are building up our own set of memories. I only pray that I can be as good a Mom as my own Mama was.

Amusing

2011-05-21T22:01:00.000-04:00

We were having family devotions this morning after breakfast. I asked the kids if they knew which mountain Moses climbed to get the Ten Commandments from God. Cosette quickly responded with: "Mt. Everest?" Haha. You just never know what's going to come out of their mouth next! Especially Eli. No matter how often we drill him on proper social etiquette, he always manages to say the most impolite things. He told a neighbor lady the other day "Hey, you have lots of gold shiny stuff in your mouth!" At his birthday party , he told Cosette "Thanks for the card Cosette, even though I didn't really like it" Aagghh!! What's a Mama to do? :)

The other thing that amuses me with children is how much they want to 'help'. And how often their 'helping' is actually hindering :) But, nevertheless, of course we let them help. How else would they actually learn how to do things?

For example, when Joel saw these pictures of the boys, he laughed and said ''They are really bad at sweeping up that grass!" But they were so tickled to be 'helping out' after Joel had mowed the lawn. And they 'swept and swept' for a long time with all their little might :)

Not sure why Noah is still wearing a bike helmet in this picture.

I love that they're both wearing red shirts in this picture---they look just like tweedle dee and tweedle dum :)

She was quite delighted when I gave her a bowl with a little bit of vanilla ice cream in it. I think some of it may have actually made it into her mouth :)

School year in review

2011-05-19T23:42:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is our last day of school for the year. I will officially have a graduated second grader, a graduated kindergartener, a graduated two-year-older who enjoyed making messes during school, and a graduated nurser (well, almost----she's kinda rebelling against the cow's milk right now)

There were some days (okay, many days) where I had the thought of "I don't think I can do this! I wonder if the local private school has any openings......" But then, I'd remember that it's not all about ME, it's all about GOD. And if I simply asked, He'd give me the grace to get through each day, which He did. And not only 'get through'----I loved so much about having school with the kids this year! And, while there was the occasional 'melt down' for Cosette over her math lesson, (she IS her mother's daughter, after all) I think that all in all they both enjoyed the year as well.

I was just reflecting on some of the things that we had the most fun with this year....

One of the high-lights was definitely seeing Eli learn how to read. And boy, can the boy read! ;) He reads everything----from signs to cereal boxes to our devotional book. I am so, so, so proud of him. He's only five, you know. (Couldn't help it, had to say it....I'll stop bragging now :) I know I've mentioned this book on here before, but I highly recommend "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons." Will it work for everybody? Of course not----it's only a book, not a miracle! But, it's worked well for our two oldest, and I think it would probably work for a LOT of other children as well.

Another high-light was sitting on the couch with Cosette each morning to do her Spanish lesson. I knew Spanish fairly well in college, but I'd lost a lot of it since then. It's been fun to sit with her and re-learn some stuff, and have fun trying our new skill out on each other through the day. "Cosette, tienes hambre?" "Si, mama, tengo mucho hambre" We laughed one day when her (adult) language course wanted her to learn how to say '' Would you like red wine or white wine?" We switched the wording to "Red milk or white milk?" and decided that red milk must be strawberry :)

Watching Noah learn stuff 'behind my back' was also a high-light of the year. I would frequently find him curled up on the couch, looking at library books while the big kids did school. Today, he came to me with our number train, pointed to the number '2' and said 'two', and held up two fingers! Now, this may not seem like a big deal to those of you who have two year olds who talk up a storm each day, but for Noah, each new word he learns is a happy day!

Okay, can I just admit right here what my most favorite part of each school day was? It was about 7:00 a.m. each morning, after Joel leaves for work, the boys are still asleep, and Cosette is in her room reading or doing chores. Leanna and I snuggle up on my bed together for her first morning nursing. I read my Bible or pray while she nurses happily. Then when she's done, we snuggle and cuddle and laugh and tickle and play "Where's Leanna? Boo!" And sometimes she gives me kisses. It's just the frosting on the cake, you know? And you say "But that's not school!" I beg to differ! I'm teaching my child to love....to play....to communicate with words to another human being...to know what it feels like to love and be loved. And that is education at it's finest.

And so, while our formal 'book studies' are over for the summer, there is so much more education that will happen around here during the next three months....

We'll play and run and soak in the sunshine. We'll plant a garden and blueberry bushes. We'll study the plants as they grow and (hopefully) enjoy a harvest of fruits and vegetables.

We'll go on walks to the park and little boys will build strong muscles on the jungle gym.

We'll play on our soccer teams, and the kids will learn the value of team-manship and good exercise.

We'll read together, laugh together, play together, work together. Leanna will learn to walk, Eli will work on pronouncing his 'r's', Cosette will keep up her Spanish lessons, and Noah will hopefully learn a new word or two :) Oh, and we plan on going through stacks...and I mean stacks.....of library books. Look out, librarian ladies, it's summer at the Curtis household!!

Good-bye, school year, Hello, summer learning.....

No question about it

2011-05-18T21:30:00.001-04:00

"He who finds a wife finds a good thing

And obtains favor from the Lord" Proverbs 18: 22

At least, that's the way it should be, right?

Are you a blessing to your husband?

Do you see it as one of your life's callings to love him, serve him, rejoice over him, and honor him?

Do you greet him with a smile when he comes in the door?

Do you mention how much you appreciate all he does, or are you too busy

complaining about the dirty socks he left on the floor?

Are you loving your children, realizing that each day he leaves them with you to go to work,

he's showing his faith in you to be their leader, trainer, educator and Mama?

Do you quietly slip your hand into his as you walk through the grocery store, proud that

this man walking by your side chose you so long ago?

Do you pray for him each and every day, asking God to keep him safe, be with Him,

and allow him to be a minister to others?

Do you quietly ignore and pretend not to notice when one time out of ten
he skips the salad at dinner, or do you fault him for it and his 'unhealthy choice' (guilty!!)

Do you comb your hair, put on clean clothes, and maybe even a little make-up
most days, because your husband would appreciate someone pretty to look at
when he gets home, instead of something the cat drug in?

Do you cultivate a quiet and loving spirit in your heart, making your home a peaceful and safe place to be?

Do you make him rejoice each and every day all over again that he chose you so long ago,
that he gets to spend his life with you......that he has 'found a wife'?

No? I'm not surprised. I'm still working on it too. But even if God never calls you into the mission field, even if He never calls you to adopt a child, or go into full time ministry, or...whatever.......this one thing you can be sure of. You are your husband's wife. This ministry in your life is sure...it's not a question. Your husband has 'found a good thing'........don't take the calling too lightly :)

Do your work as unto the Lord....

2011-05-15T15:10:00.001-04:00

I cringed as Noah practically 'threw' the dirty plates into the sink. I was just waiting on one to shatter. And I realized how I would have to rinse them all off later and load them into the dishwasher. But he was helping. He was doing his 'chore', and he was mighty proud of himself.

And it occurred to me that I've never really shared on here how our family does 'chores'. I realize that many mamas have themselves more organized than I might, or who have crafty 'chore charts' and such.....but I am simply sharing what works for our family. It's not necessarily the 'best way' out there, but it's at least one way. Maybe it will get your creative juices flowing on how to get your smaller children helping out around the house. Now, grant it, all of my kids are small, and I've never had teenagers yet, so that is a totally un-walked path for me so far. I will have to handle that new challenge when I get there :) So, anyway, here goes.....

Each morning, my older two children are responsible for two things---get themselves dressed, and take care of dirty sheets/blankets on their bed, and get them to the hamper. This is mostly an issue for Eli, who doesn't want to wear pull-ups to bed anymore, but still occasionally has an accident during the night. After that is done, they can come downstairs for breakfast.

   After we've had breakfast and family devotions, then each child gets their morning chore assigned to them. The chore changes each morning, based on what I need to have done around the house. Usually, though, Cosette and Eli are responsible for things like gathering the trash and putting in clean trash bags in the bathrooms, filling the hand soaps, putting away any clean laundry, sweeping up the bathroom floor, gathering the dirty laundry, stuff like that. Noah often does stuff like put the breakfast plates in the sink, put the library books on the shelf, etc. They know to expect the chore assignment right after breakfast. I simply say "Eli, your job this morning is two fill the hand soaps.'', or whatever. After their chores are done, then we are free to start school.

    In the afternoons, after quiet times, they also get an afternoon chore assigned. This may be a slighty harder chore, like vacuuming the living room rug, shining a window, folding some laundry, or drying some dishes. Noah's afternoon chore may be as simple as picking up some toys.

   Oh, I forgot to mention that each child is also responsible on a daily basis to keep their rooms cleaned up. Cosette is much better at this than the boys----rarely does she need any help or reminding. Eli and Noah, however, often have to be reminded, and sometimes their room is soooo messy that it requires a mama's helping hand. But that's all part of training, right? I tell Eli "If your room looks significantly better in ten minutes, then I will help you finish the rest. But if it still looks the same, then you will have to keep working on your own."

      And that's it----it's as simple as that! I don't give stickers, or money, or anything like that. (Not that incentives are wrong, I've just been trying to simplify this part of our lives.) They are expected to do their work quickly, right away, and with a 'happy face'. Sometimes there are also little things that I ask them to do during the day, like help clear or set the table, put away the school books, or play with Leanna while I start dinner.

And that's what works well for us. It's enough to teach them the value of hard work, and it's also getting to the point that it's also a good help for me too! Yay for big kids! I'd love to hear how all you mamas out there handle chores at your houses.....

Beauty is as beauty does....

2011-05-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7

God's Word spoke richly to me this morning. What a beautiful passage to remind me of God's goodness as I started out my day. Do you start your day out with God? I highly recommend it. :) There were many things that went 'wrong' with my day today, and I could have focused on them and turned sour myself. (Believe me, I do that alllllll the time) But today, I chose to focus on this passage of Scripture, on God's great love for me, and on hopefully displaying this same love to my children. And, in keeping this Scripture in my brain all day long, I was able to find all the beauty around me....

The first source of beauty came in my daughter....where else?

I hope you don't get bored with all of these photos. I just couldn't resist. She was wearing her new butterfly- strawberry outfit, and the sun was so gorgeous and warm....it was calling me to do a photo shoot on the front steps! Okay, her outfit wasn't exactly 'new-new'---it was from GoodWill. And she didn't exactly need any new summer clothes......but I'm a sucker for $2.00 cute baby clothes from GoodWill! Hey, I guess my husband is just glad I'm not a sucker for $50.00 cute baby clothes from an expensive baby store ;)

I know, I know....she's the cutest thing walking the face of the planet right now....but feel free to remind me again, I don't mind :)

"Hmmmm.....don't mean to be rude, but you're blocking my light, mom, and I'm trying to get a little sun...."

Where's Leanna?? Peekaboo!

And another new trick---pointing! At least it's cute when you're only 11 months!

The second source of beauty was flowers. We're planting our flower beds, ordering new tulip bulbs for next spring...Cosette is just as excited as I am!

And the last source of beauty came in laughter.

Eli asked if he could have a snack after nap-time. I told him he could share a banana with Noah. I assumed that he would break it in half, giving one to him and the other to Noah. But I turned around to find this:

First a bite for you.....

Then a bite for me! They ate the whole banana this way :)

Mother's Day Blessings

2011-05-08T19:25:00.000-04:00

So, the first Mother's Day without my mom was sad. Every part of me ached to wrap my warms around her and say 'I love you'. Our pastor's wife had the blessed idea to set up a table in the back where we could set up 'memory' displays in honor of our mother's---living OR gone ahead. So that was nice----a way to honor my Mom, even though she wasn't here to see it.

However, as much as I missed my Mama, my life was still blessed to over-flowing this weekend. My husband made lunch for us this afternoon (yummy quesadillas, at my request!), and we were able to enjoy it with my in-laws. It was such a blessing to have Joel's mom here with us on this day when I was missing my own mom so much. My sister also ate with us----we were sharing 'mom' memories with each other as the day went along. Then, later in the afternoon after our guests had left, the kids helped Joel to plant some new blueberry bushes in our yard.

And also, yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching my kids at their first soccer practices/games. This was fun, fun, fun! The morning started out cold and rainy, but it got gradually sunny and warmer as the day wore on. Here are some pictures of my little people:

Daddy is coaching Cosette's team. This was AFTER we had convinced Cosette that purple tights are not meant to be worn under your soccer uniform!

Cosette did not enjoy the first game of the day much, as she was cold and got knocked in the face at one point. However, as it got warmer, she started to have more fun. AYSO does just six players on a team for this age group, so each player gets lots of field and ball time, which is great.

Eli's jersey is red. He is so handsome in it---a mini Joel! :)

Think Noah looks sad in this picture with Grandma? He was so upset that he wasn't allowed to play in the game that he sat on his ball like this for a long time. I hope he's old enough to play next year! Poor guy!

My little Leanna Rose sat on her blanket happily, eating cheerios and soaking in the sunshine.

Yep, it was a week-end full of my four Mother's Day blessings---Cosette Elise, Elias Jacob, Noah Shaun and Leanna Rose. Love these four little people!

Growing up

2011-05-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to find that children do that. They grow up. And, as much as I love the tiny baby in my arms, each new stage they reach is exciting and awesome in itself. There are some days when I just feel so honored...blessed...joyful to be able to be 'Mama' to these little ones. My husband works so hard so that I can be home with my children every day, and I am so grateful for that. As I sat at the lunch table today, eating and laughing with the four of them, I felt an over-whelming sense of joy at what I do. These little people are my ministry right now. They will grow up...they will go to college, get married, get jobs, move away, buy homes of their own, etc, etc. But for right now.....this moment in time.....they are mine to enjoy, teach, train and love. What a blessing!

This little girl seems to have joined the 'growing up' wagon a little too fast for my liking! I turned the corner today, and there she stood by the wall, all by herself. Nothing to hold on to. She was just standing there all by herself, as if she'd done it a million times before. I have a feeling walking is right around the corner.
(That's a play ketchup bottle in her hand, by the way :)

And this one....so pretty in yellow! She has decided to grow her bangs out. She has had bangs since she was a tiny little girl, and now she looks so grown up with out them :)

Five Years!

2011-05-04T12:50:00.002-04:00

My Eli is turning five today. FIVE!! Before becoming a Mom, it totally escaped my notice how important a birthday also is to the Mother! Every time one of my kids birthdays rolls around, I'm probably the only person thinking about their actual birth day :) Eli was TEN days late---my only late baby---and we were so relieved when he finally came! In honor of his birthday, here are a few video clips from his first five years :) (You'll want to turn my music off at the bottom of the page before you watch these )

I LOVE this one. Joel sounds like such a proud, loving Daddy:)

I know, I know....he's just sleeping. What's the big deal? But he's MY son sleeping, so that's makes it exciting for me :)

His 'Bob the builder' song.

I LOVE his high little voice in this one as he quotes his memory work. He was probably about three.

Happy Birthday, Eli Jacob!