It's never a good scene...

...when your last words to your children every time you leave the room are:

Make sure you keep your chin INSIDE the bucket if you have to throw up, OK?

Should be doing something else

Right now I have the charge of 8 children under the age of 7. I have multiple appointments and engagements today, and yet I'm sitting here on my laptop...unable to accomplish anything else but minding the gaggle of children. I might as well blog, right? :)

Actually, I have so many blog posts swirling around my head...our Memorial Day weekend, plus Lily's birthday and other various things. But the truth is that I am supposed to be putting the finishing touchs on the article I am writing for our ladies' paper...and I've felt guilty blathering on my blog about our mundane, daily activities, and not completing my assignment, instead. :)

But it's impossible to write when you aren't home (which we haven't been much this week) or when my children are bouncing around (much less 8 of them). As I haven't had many solitary moments this last week...the urge to blog won over. :)

So Happy (Belated) Memorial Day, and I hope you all are enjoying these last glorious days of May!

Ta-ta!

The Big 3-0

I am happy to report that the turning the big 3-0 wasn't that bad, and now the number is beginning to grow on me. (I guess that would be literally, right?)

So what?? Thirty is not old!

Anyhow, who could complain about turning 30 when you had the wonderful day that I had planned for me?!

My mom watched my kids for the day (thanks, Mom!) and Scott sent me to the salon for a manicure and pedicure...ahh, bliss!

Then we met for lunch at Panera, just the two of us, which was so nice! Normally, if we meet him for lunch, we end up at Chick-fil-a due to the enormously popular play area. But we had no dissenting voters for the play place, so Panera it was...and it was good!

Next, I spent the afternoon shopping. Alone. :) Always lots of fun. And I will have you know that I came home with not one, but TWO pairs of shoes for myself. What could be better than shoe shopping by yourself on your birthday? Both pairs were on sale or clearance, by the way.

Finally, my sister, mom, and husband planned a wonderful birthday party that evening...it was SO much fun! Thanks to all who attended, I felt very special! Like I said...how can one feel badly about turning 30 when I had such a lovely day!

Here are my sister and I with our babies, at the end of the night. I can't remember the last picture we had taken together.

The party was so cute...Katina planned a pink and brown theme with the cutest little favors, invitations, and cake to match! All of the details were so "squealing" adorable!! (as in, I squealed over every last, little pink and brown thing!)

(Oh the cake! I want some of it right now!)

And it was so much fun because there was a house full of people there. I love a house full of people!

And then Scott read a list that he wrote of "30 Wonderful Things about my Wife"....awwww...it was very, very sweet!

I was cracking up while sorting through the photos from the party. Apparently, Lily got a hold of the camera, as evidenced by the assortment of photos of the mid-sections of people, tabletops from the "dust layer" angle, close-up shots of her dessert, and photos of adults with their mouths open either mid-sentence, or mid-"chew"...lovely!! Here's my favorite one from my little photog from the evening...

My adorable, and ecstatic nephew, Noah

And lastly, here is my brother-in-law, displaying his amazing, balloon-rescue skillz at the end of the night. :)

Yup, it was a good birthday. And then to top it off, my friend, and fellow nursery teammate, Tina, staged a mini-party during our nursery shift yesterday at church. So nice!

I think I'm getting used to this 30-business. :)

23 Years Ago Today...

...I celebrated my 7th birthday. (you do the math)

Here is a photo from that day...

(Hey look! It's the CVS Chicks! My sister, Nanette, and I!)

And what is frightening is that I remember that birthday like it was yesterday...and my daughter is turning that same age tomorrow. Scary. :)

So far 30 has been just fine...even though I am technically still 29 until 7:05pm (but who's counting?).

Happy Friday everyone...I'm off to spend a fun day that my hubs planned for me!

(And Happy 30th birthday...a few days early... to one of the other CVS chicks pictured!)

Serene Sisterly Moment

Today after we got home from gallavanting around in the rain, I charged the children to go upstairs and get ready for naps/rest and that I would be up in a minute after I got the stuff in the house.

When I came up the steps, I was greeted with this sweet sight. Lily had gotten Gracie all ready for her nap- taken her potty, settled her in with a baby doll, blanket and everything. And was reading her a naptime story!

It was such a tender Mommy moment for so many reasons. First, the kids actually obeyed immediately. :) Lily obeyed so completely by reading Gracie her book too, which was more than I asked of her. And the result was a very sweet, satisfying time for everyone. The girls were enjoying one of their favorite books, and I was revelling in beholding successful results from the work of child training and homeschooling.

Isn't that what happens when we adults obey the Lord, too? Lately, we have been working with the children on the three aspects of obedience: immediate, complete, and sweet. This afternoon, the result of true obedience was wonderful! I think I have a small glimpse of how the Lord feels when my actions and attitude are likewise aligned.

The Sweet Reward

This morning I looked through so many coupons that my eyes began crossing, hoping to find certain coupons to pair with somes sales at a few different stores. Then I packed some quick lunches, loaded the kiddos up and we headed out. Why do I stick with my pre-set plans when the day turns out to be rainy??

After getting the children in and out at least 5 times (in the rain), dealing with umbrellas (which are counterproductive when children are involved), traipsing around a garden store (where mud is involved), eating lunch in a Home Depot cart (them, not me), surviving a bathroom break or two (always lovely in public), trying to score some deals (which requires undivided attention), we made our final stop at Cold Stone to pick up Lily's and my free birthday creations.

Let me tell you, now that I have warmed up, dried out, and the house is silent while everyone rests, there are three words that define the sweet reward for planning a crazy morning of errands, and they are:

Mud Pie Mojo

Need I say more?

Boy Talent

Here is a talent not commonly found in the female gender.

My son can walk around for weeks with this...

...shoved into his Bible case....

(pardon my smudgy table!)

...and you would never know that it was there. :)



That's an example of talent, my friends...and disregard for the papers, mind you...but talent nonetheless. Do you know what a little girl would have done? I will tell you because I have two.



She would have sashayed out of class with her purse one one arm, Bible case on the other, little white sweater slung over her shoulder, and her hat clutched in one hand. Meanwhile her other hand would be tightly gripping the lollipop she received for saying her memory verse. All of the while holding her 4 Jr. church papers, 2 memory verse papers, paper plate craft, cottonball sheep craft and a little while napkin holding two soggy goldfish crackers that she saved for you from snacktime. And she would be sending forth a flurry of words describing each and every one in detail and stressing the importance of preserving everything just so.



But my boy, on the other hand. He just shoves it all into his Bible case and is done with it. :)



Except for the snack and lollipop. He doesn't let them get lost in his Bible case.


Aaah, I love the low-maintainence aspect of menfolk.

Mother's Day

I was so busy last week that I didn't have time to talk about Mother's Day. How silly of me. :)


Our husbands and children treated Grandma, my mom, Katina and I to a fabulous Mother's Day lunch! They all worked together to make us dinner and dessert. Graeme got out the fancy china, and Scott and Graeme made Shrimp Alfredo, with side salads, and carrots and green beans. (The vegetables were healthy-Graeme's idea!)

Mmmm, what I wouldn't do for a bite or two of that right about now. Can it be Mother's Day everyday?!

My dad made a gorgeous cake (seriously, you should have seen it) entirely from scratch using a recipe from an old Hungarian cookbook. The oven temperature listed (of course, in Hungarian) referred to how hot you should have the "open flame" when baking the cake over the fire! It was delicious too, although I wasn't feeling well that day, and didn't get many photos.

Lily sang in church with the King's Kids...which was sweet. At church, there were photographers commissioned to take nice pictures of all of the mothers and their children, which was such a nice treat! Scott and the kids ordered a lovely corsage for me to wear and also gave me the book "Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe." I read it last week and laughed out loud several times! And the kids gave me cards and other little creations...including a magnet that Gracie and her Jr. Church teachers (aka Uncle Graeme and Auntie Katina) made in class...so cute! It joins my collection of similar little treasures!

I think my favorite "gift" was one that came at just the right time. We finished up our school year just a day or two prior to Mother's Day. While I was glad to wrap things up, I still felt (probably as every other homeschooling mom can attest) like I missed some things, or didn't do as much as I could. I know it's silly and that Lily is doing well, but this is one of the "lies homeschooling moms believe" right?! So during church, Lily hands me a sweet, little note that she wrote for me on her tablet. Her handwriting and spelling were perfect and the words from her heart were so sweet! I almost cried. I harp on her too much about having neat handwriting, and I had fretted about how I hadn't done enough spelling with her last year. And then she hands me this perfect little note. It was like the Lord saying, "Lighten up with her. Look how well she is doing." And it was extra-special because it was a tenderhearted little note just for me!

God has been so good to this Mommy! I have always wanted to be a mother, and even though I have "celebrated" eight Mother's Days as one, I am still surprised and amazed that He has chosen to bless me with three, wonderful children! I feel very honored to be the mother of Lily, Joey, and Gracie. I pray that the Lord helps me to see them the way He does, not just on Mother's Day but everyday!

We're getting a cow!

No, not the kind that munches grass out back and gives us organic milk each day (but doesn't that sound nice in theory?). The kind that is dead, frozen, and wrapped in paper to put in my freezer. :)

I still kindof giggle about our soon-coming quarter-cow. It sounds so earthy and crunchy granola, which I like. But also a tad too farmish for me. :) However, the price is right and it's organic-fed, fresh, and local. So we're going to give it a try and see how it goes. We generally don't eat a whole lot of beef due to the price. I'm looking forward to having it "in stock" and experimenting with some new recipes.

Meanwhile, we are having fun joking about our cow...which is still standing alive, mooing somewhere at the present moment. I realize that all meat comes from a formerly alive animal. But when you come "a little closer" to the processs it leaves you with the same odd feeling I had when we would discuss our chickies over dinner...when chicken was the main course. Weird. :)

May- It's the New December

I love May, it's my birthmonth after all, and I always loved the fun excitement that we felt in the end of May when "summer freedom" was so close that we could almost taste it in the classroom. You know the days when there was a running countdown of "how many school days left, minus field day, awards ceremonies, and special activities." Now, I'm not sure exactly that there is only one reason why May is so exciting and crazy, but it never ceases to amaze me.

We have been crazy busy for weeks. I realize that everyone is busy, it's not as though we have been more busy than anyone else, but, I am still amazed, nonetheless. I am SO GLAD that we finished up school last week. I don't think I would have survived this week, or the rest of this month, if we were still doing school.

Actually, we have been in our house so little this week (from running around for this and that) that I almost feel like I have been on vacation for a week. Almost. My books/curricula/catalogs from the convention are still strewn about here. And I finally got the kids' winter clothes put away. Plus, I feel like I have accomplished several months worth of things this week...although strangely I can't remember what they are. :) And they don't include the house cleaning that I promised myself I would do "as soon as we finish up school." :) Homeschooling makes for a very unglamorous house.

Other than that, we're still plugging away and gearing up for another week that looks more crazy than this one. Happy Saturday everyone!

Joey, on Haircut Day

New Life

The kids discovered last week that their seeds had sprouted!

Praise the Lord for new life!

Reason #287 to be Thankful for My Daughters

Future Dish-washers of America

Amen.

Homeschool Overload

Scott and I went to our state's largest homeschool convention. We attended a smaller one last year that paled in size to this one. Although I am, personally, more interested in the speaker list at that convention this year, as well as their used book consignment sale- I have a lot of books to sell. So my sister and I may have to visit that one, if we still feel the need when it rolls around.

Anyhow, this place today was huge, and though we were fully warned of it's enormity, it was still a sight to behold. I was most interested in the amazing variety of great books (non-curriculum) that were there! There were wonderful books on every subject...I wanted to drool over each and every one. But that would have gotten messy, so I didn't. :) I was totally in love with the "real" books, to say the least.

Last year, Scott and I attended a few sessions together, and we both really enjoyed them. But this year, with the presence of more vendors and with some new curriculum choices to be made, I decided to focus solely on the vendor hall. However, Scott sat in on a few sessions, and they were the highlight of his day! I am so glad that I have a supportive "homeschool husband." He loved the sessions by Todd Wilson of The Family Man Ministries. He stopped by Todd's table after his first session for a little, secretive shopping and came away wearing this sticker...






OK, altogether now, "Awwwww"... what a sweet husband! :) I lovingly didn't take a picture of Scott's face, because, bless his heart, his allergies flared terribly the last two days and he was feeling badly all day. But what a sport, he carried on with the day anyhow. I love that guy.



This is the aftermath of the homeschool plundering and I am ashamed to say that I still have a few potential purchases yet to be made...







Isn't that bag just darling? Last year, we realized after seeing other older, wiser homeschool veterans pulling their purchases rather than cutting off the circulation in their arms and fingers like we did, that the wheeled bag is an absolute convention essential. Who knew? And what a better place to display some fashion, than in an enormous vendor hall (that still smelled of the farm show animals) with thousands of other homeschool crazies, right?!



As you can see, my basic curriculum-choosing philosophy consists of this: Buy as little curriculum as you can while buying as many real books as you can. :) Don't worry, I did restrain myself and didn't buy that many books, honest. One of those stacks is made up entirely of catalogs. My mind is still decompressing. Maybe tomorrow once my brain solidifies again, I can go through my stuff and figure out what I still need... and drool over what we bought. :)

Last Day

Thursday was the last day of our "embryology" :) experiment. We took the chickies to their new home...in a hutch near other real-live fowl. I'm sure they are a lot happier there. Not only are they surrounded by their own kind, but the nice lady that takes care of them knows MUCH more about their needs than we do! My kids really enjoyed this project, but thankfully, they weren't too sad about seeing them go. I guess it helps that we can go visit them as they get older.

Look how much bigger they got in just a week!

And **drumroll please** yesterday was also our official "last day of school" for the school year! Woo-hoo!! We are DONE! We started early and we are so glad to be finished for the year already. Of course, we will continue with certain things throughout the summer...reading, Scripture memorization, reading-aloud, and several other things. But at least we can say that we are DONE! Can you tell that I am a homeschooling mama who lives for the summer??

A Hymn from the Bells

The bells were playing this old hymn today, when we arrived at the library...


O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!



What awesome words. And how true the message.

Thought I would share.


(P.S. - I *heart* the bells.)

Featuring - "Lily"

Lately, Lily has gotten neglected by me in the "one-on-one time" department. She is my right-hand during the day, always helping and getting me this or that. My sister and I jokingly (kindof) call our firstborns our "slaves" because we send them here and there to do stuff for us all day. :) And Lily is such a good little slave.

I interrupt this blog post to announce that the ice cream truck has passed our house for the first time of the season. ::sigh:: I love spring. Have you noticed how green the grass is? OK, I'll stop now. Back to our featured presentation...

We are almost done with our school year (woo-hoo!) and she has done so well. Last month, she earned her very first King's Kids patch. I am proud of how hard she worked to memorize 40 goal cards and trade in all of those pins for a patch!




And she also recently completed her Book It! goals and turned in her last coupon for her final pizza at Pizza Hut and won this little "medal." She was soooo excited about the cheapy, little thing. :) She really is doing awesome in the area of reading (at least I think so, but then again, I have never taught a child to read before!)





Scott noticed Lily's need for some one-on-one with Mommy that didn't involve school, so he suggested we go out for a little "girl time." He let Lily make the plans and this was her list:

-nail salon
-Starbucks
-CVS..."so we can get some deals, Mommy!"

Can we say "too grown-up?!" Anyhow, I was quite pleased with her choices, myself, so off we went...

We got our nails done, here...

Of course.

And then we walked down to Starbucks and split a kid-friendly beverage.

Our next stop was Subway for lunch and Wally World for the deals, instead of CVS since I had already been there earlier in the week.

Waaah, my baby is growing up too fast...look how tall she is getting. Wah. Wah. Sob. Cry.

Oh well, at least she isn't too old to be tickled about receiving TWO smiley stickers at Wal*mart.

Maybe she isn't growing up too fast, after all.

The Living, and the...um...Non-Living

We planted some herb seeds the other day. It was a really fun project. One that left Mommy's neck in knots. You know the type. They involve dirt, water, and sharp pointy objects. :)

There was some digging in the soil...




And some watering...

And some planting...

And some dreaming of fresh, mid-summer pico de gallo seasoned with the cilantro which will hopefully grow from these seeds...

And labeling...which Mommy primarily took care of because the wind kept blowing everything away, and I just wanted this project D-O-N-E before someone became entirely coated in mud. :)

And we managed to come up with these...

Lily planted some bean seeds during her science class on Wednesday. In one pot, the bean seeds are planted in soil, and in the other pot they are planted in "ghost crystals." (Does that make them hydroponic? Must research.) The crystals grow when we water them. Pretty neat.

And here are the marigolds that the children planted at the farm show many moons ago. They are growing well, but beg me every day to re-plant them either out-of-doors, or in bigger pots. I haven't obliged them yet. I have three, little mouthes to feed. And they should be thankful that they are getting water from us on a daily basis.

Between the beans, herbs, flowers, chicks, and children, I am feeling the pressure to sustain living things on many levels. :) Maybe that is why my neck is in knots??

And, um, speaking of the chicks. We didn't "sustain life" very well in one, particular case.

One of the chicks (I think it was John Thomas...isn't it sick that I know which one it was??) was born with what I think was a deformity (which is pretty common). I described it over the phone to my chicken-expert-friend, and she said that it was probably nothing to worry about and gave me some instructions on how to handle things. (Notice I am being vague here? I'm trying to spare you the gorey details. Your welcome.)

But after a day or so, I was beginning to think that the matter was more serious than originally determined. Little JT was beginning to worry me. Although he was acting fine.

So my sister and her hubs brought their kids over to "see the chicks!" Woo-wee, what a fun night! Our kids loved showing off "their" chicks and the cousins loved seeing them.

Katina and I ran to CVS to get our deals... (For you CVS crazies like me: I spent $5.88 OOP, rolled over $50.87 ECBs, added $18.49 ECBs, left with $49.42 ECBs (some from last week), and came home with $126+ in merchandise...pretty cool, huh?)

...and when we came back, Katina and Sophia ran down to see the chicks one last time. But it was not the sweet farewell they had anticipated.

Little JT lay in the middle of the brooder, flat on his BACK with his feet straight down, stone-cold, DEAD!

I kid you not, the position he died in looked like a cartoon. Picture the Road Runner after Wile E. Coyote does something to frighten the RR and he falls over in a faint. That's what the little chickie looked like!

Thankfully, the next morning when I broke the news to the children there were no tears. I think the fact that he looked like there was something wrong with him from the beginning helped make his death more plausible.

Of course, I wanted to send away all of the chickies at the very instant that we found him dead. But Scott reassured me that they are doing fine and that we will hang on to them for a few more days. There have been no more fatalities. Although my hearts stops for a split second every time I go down to check on them.

And my teasing hubs "got me" really good yesterday. When he came home from work, Joey and he went down to "check on the chicks" together. So when they came up, I asked how they were doing. And Scott replied, "Oh fine. One...or maybe two, are just sleeping on their back."

In the split second it took me to whirl around, I gasped so deeply that I think I breathed in all of the available air in the kitchen. Only to be met with a sinister grin on my hubs face.

He was SO not funny.

And he had better tread very, very carefully. Because I haven't forgotten that one. :) Although I am not nearly as good at "getting him" as he is.

Regardless, seven chicks persist.

As do a myriad of plant life.

And a few cute kids. :)

Mommy Thoughts

Last week, Scott and I went on a church bus trip to Sight & Sound's, Abraham and Sarah. (If you go to our church and haven't been on a bus trip, you really should, they are so much fun!) This was the first time we had been to the Living Waters Theater and it was wonderful...the quality was the same as the larger Millennium theater but everything was closer and more "real." Plus the story followed a few basic characters, which I prefer...by the end of the show, you feel like you truly know them. I especially enjoyed our Sunday School lessons several months ago on the life of Abraham, so this show was a special treat.

The main theme of our SS lessons was Abraham and Sarah's faithfulness to God. Their obvious and costly mistakes are plainly recorded for us in Scripture, but the Lord remembers them in the NT by their walk of faith.

The "finale" of the show carried the same theme and was marked by the song, "Find Us Faithful" which incidentally, we sang, as a graduating class, almost twelve years ago. It's funny because as poignant as the words of that song are, they hold almost a totally different meaning to me over a decade later. (Thankfully, the maturation process continued despite what I thought about myself at that time. LOL!)


Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful


Now when I read those words, I think of my children and the daily walk. What kind of a mother am I on a daily basis? Do my children see firey devotion every day? Or a snappy, tired Mommy who is just trying to make it through that day?

The last two years of homeschooling have taught me one thing crystal clear, and that is: homeschooling with babies and preschoolers is an exceptionally hard task! Mothering, in general, is exceedingly taxing. There is not one day that goes by that I am not tempted to flounder in exasperated exhaustion from one more question, one more spill to clean up, one more "Mommmieeeeeee!", one more phone call, one more nose to wipe, one more direction my brain is pulled while trying to keep on task! :)

The other day as I was "listening" my way through I Samuel and sweating on my treadmill, the Lord encouraged me with a great truth about these preschool years.

Hannah.

Hannah raised Samuel and then turned him over to Eli, probably when Samuel was a preschooler. Eli, though a man of God, was not a great father, but somehow Samuel "turned out" well, as opposed to Eli's wicked sons.

Why?

Because of his faithful mother's training in the preschool years, perhaps? Do you think she was a bit nervous to hand her precious, only son over to a priest whose own boys already had a bad reputation? Yet, faithful Hannah trusted God and worked diligently in those few, crucial years that she had. I am sure she continued praying for Samuel and influencing him as she could in the following years. But her greatest impact was made in the dawn of his life.

What an encouragement to me as a mother of little ones! On days when I'm trying to get through a reading lesson, while the baby spills puzzle pieces all over the floor, the couch cushions resemble a fort in the living room, the countertop is an explosion of paperwork, Mt. Dishmore resides in my sink, there is a mysterious substance on my bathroom floor, and someone has just had a collision with a brother's forehead and has a bleeding lip...Hannah comes to mind. How I handle those tense moments and seemingly endless days does matter. I am making a difference, even if it doesn't seem like it.

The lack of verbal affirmation in motherhood is something that I didn't notice in the early days, or years, really. But over time, I'm realizing that not hearing positive feedback really has an adverse affect on a mommy. It's hard to be home all day long, without another adult telling you that you are doing a good job, or encouraging your efforts.

However, we mommies are "surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses." We have Hannah and Sarah, and others to remember. Ladies, just like you and me, who trusted God and saw results after many years of steadfast loyalty and service. They had frustrating and tiring days, too. And now they are up in heaven as the Mother's Cheerleading Section, inspiring us on, and emboldening our walk and service for Him!

It is the desire of my heart that my children are able to look back and see a testimony of faithfulness in their mother's life. It is only going to come from daily sacrificing myself to the will of the Lord and the needs of those around me. May I find encouagement in those who "have gone on before me...who have left a heritage of faithfulness and stirring testament to God's sustaining grace!"

Our brood of chickies....

...numbers eight now! I think that will be the final count, also. And that's really not a bad hatch-rate at about 75%.


We had a few chicks hatch on Tuesday night into Wednesday. And then a few more on Wednesday morning. While Lily and I were at the science center, another one hatched. We thought that the total was going to stand at seven. But lo and behold, last night very late...a little stowaway came out! Now that "Harry" is dried out a bit and fluffing up, he has joined his siblings in the brooder.







Lily named three of the chicks:
Elizabeth Abigail (her and Gracie's middle names)
Emily and
Lucy






Joey named "his" chicks:
John Thomas (in tribute to both of his grandfathers)
Edwards (as in Mr. Edwards) and
Harry






Gracie wanted to name one of her chicks after herself. But when she pronounces her name, it sounds more like "Jakie"...so one of hers is Jakie and the other is Strawberry Shortcake. :)

I am soooo glad that we are done with the smelly incubator. The yuckiness of it was getting to me yesterday. Now I just have to clean up the shell carnage and pack it up.

This one (allegedly "Elizabeth Abigail") was very noisy while Lily was holding "her." (Sorry for the sideways video...my camera auto-aligns.)

We'll probably enjoy the chicks for a few more days, and then send them to their fowl mother. :)