Christmas snacks

Quite often I have to remind myself that sometimes we need some down time as a family and even if we aren't on schedule or I feel like we should still be working on our "to do" list, the kids need some fun time and some messy time!

The Christmas treat that we made was chocolate covered marshmallows and Christmas colored sprinkles. Talk about a sugar bomb!

Pioneer Day at Co-op

I very much enjoy the activities that we are able to participate in with our co-op. This year we were able to participate in pioneer day. The kids were allowed to dress up and participate in activities like candle making, indian craft, and a history lesson.

Super cute pictures!

Hi Mom! I know I'm cute! 

Happy Baby :-)

Getting some fresh air

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

Josiah

I am still trying to figure how this whole blog thing works. I finally figured out how to get Josiah's video on here. Sorry the quality is low.

Mountain View Christian Academy

Mountain View Christian Academy had it's first official field trip! This homeschool mom is still learning the ropes and I realized a little too late that I should have planned ahead for our field trip. I had heard from some church friends that the local pumpkin patch was only going to be open one more weekend so I tried to book a daytime tour but found out they were all booked. We ended up just going Saturday night during public hours.

It was beautiful going in the evening. The patch closed at 7p and the sunset was breathtaking. It was so enjoyable to watch the kids run and play in the field at sunset. I would love to live in the county someday!

Falling behind....again

It seems like no matter how much I try to stay on track with blogging it always gets away from me. A couple of things have happened since my last post.

1. Moriah starts table food!

It only took my five children to figure out that it is easier to feed a baby mashed up table food than to keep jars and jars of baby food on hand. I've even tried making all my own baby food but it never really worked out well for me. But this table food stuff is a good fit! I had to throw some parenting ideas out the window like 'try a food for five days to see if she has a reaction' and 'always start with rice cereal'. She would gag at rice cereal but would do great with a fork and a whole banana. We've also mastered apple sauce and sweet potatoes. Mashed potatoes and melted cheeses are also yum.

2. Josiah said his books of the Bible before the whole church. I have it on video but for some reason cannot upload it to my blog :( His award for his achievement is a grown up Bible with his name on the front of it.

God is my strength

As I sit down to write this I'm both exhausted and overwhelmed. I have been struggling this week. Thanks to a nursing baby who doesn't sleep through the night, a potty training two year old who refuses to poop in the potty, and three homeschool students who want mom's undivided attention, my patience is thin and my attitude crummy. Right now I'm clinging to the passage in 1 Cor. 7:24 that talks about living as God has called you. God has called me to be a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. Even though it is hard.

Today my house looks like it threw up. We made more messes then we cleaned up. I have laundry that will need to be rewashed if it sits in piles on the floor any longer. Our homeschool year so far has been sloppy.  I know veteran homeschool moms tell us newbies that it takes time to establish a routine but sometimes that advice isn't very helpful on a bad day. But God has called me to teach my children just as much as he has called me to have them. He is faithful to provide me with adequate grace for each new day. I was recently challenged during a Bible study to view this phase of my life with the thought that right now, God is calling me to obedience, not efficiency. Again that isn't very helpful when you are so far behind on dishes that you have nothing to cook with and if you did, you have nothing to eat it on. Like I said, it has been one of those weeks. But when I realized God was searching my heart (and wanted to help me get rid of that crummy attitude) and not judging me on the cleanliness of my home, it freed me. It freed me to sit and spend time with my children, to pull aside the toddler that has behaved so bad lately and snuggle with her, to take the time to train older children, and to do something fun instead of trying so hard to finish our 'to do' list by the end of the day. By doing that I relieved some of the stress and uptightness I had placed on our home. And when I do that it gives me a little bit of fresh air and just enough renewal to push on another day. God has called me to this and he wishes for me to praise Him even when times are tough. I just have to trust Him that when I "seek ye first the kingdom of God" and allow Him to work in me as an example to my children, He will help me care for the little things like laundry and dishes.

A Fresh Start

This Monday is going to be a fresh start for me. I need this quite often, usually once a month. If it has been a rough spell, I will have a fresh start two or three times that month. Sometimes my fresh start happens on a Monday but they also can happen on a Saturday or Sunday. Any other day and I just try to hang on until the weekend. We have had a lot of upsets to our schedule lately including special services at church and the cousins visiting.

We officially started school in July but have only been going two or three days a week. Now it is time to step it up a notch and get back in the swing of things. Rebuilding a routine is always necessary when trying to return your household to normal. I love the ebook Return of the Routine from 

southernhodgepodge. I have read through it many times and it always helps me get started again. And it's free!

So here's to a new week and a fresh start...

Did I mention I'm going to start potty training my 2 year old tomorrow?

It's going to be a long week.

Camping with the family

We are enjoying the company of my sister-in-law and her three kids right now. Over the weekend we took a family camping trip. All of us had been camping in the last couple of years but this trip was special for my in-laws because it was the first time they had been camping as a family since their three kids had started their families. Two son-in-laws were missing but all eight grandchildren were present.

Anah was a dirt magnet the entire trip. We cleaned her up for meals but she was always dirty within minutes of getting down from the table. This is one of her cleaner pictures :-)

Josiah also learned how to ride his bike without training wheels on this vacation.

Moriah sleeping around the campfire.

1/2 a year!!

What!? I haven't posted since January? That was a month before Moriah was born! I can't believe I never even got around to posting a newborn baby picture. Now here it is August and I am trying to get back into a schedule. It helps that Moriah is six months old tomorrow and that we have already started into our homeschool schedule.

My new goal (now that I feel I might be able to start adding little things back into our lives) is to post on my blog once a week. It might be photos of a day at the park, a field trip, a science experiment, or just my kids being cute but I would love to reconnect with some farther away family and find a creative outlet so I don't go crazy! :-)

Oh, here is a cute picture.....

Late Christmas activities

Christmas was really busy around our house and I had bought gingerbread cookies for the kids to decorate but we never got around to it. Normally we do a gingerbread house but they are kinda a pain in the rear. Frosting does not hold the walls of the house together. Last year I hot glued the house, which helped but it was difficult to let each kid decorate a part. These gingerbread men came three to one pack which was just perfect for our family.

The boys went quickly and used up most of the candy. They also needed the most help using their icing to decorate.

Bekah took her time and decorated her entire cookie all by herself :)

Permission to eat!

34 Weeks

I seriously considered not posting this picture but it is getting close enough to the end that pregnancy photos are getting few and far between :) Right now I'm wearing what fits not necessarily what is fashionable in the maternity world.

This picture was taken at exactly 34 weeks. I had a Dr.'s appt. a couple of days earlier and I measured almost full term already. The general consensus is that I won't make it out of January even though my due date is February 21st.

My Girls

Normally, I'm not very motivated to write. I'm horrible at journaling. I'm one of those people that has to "be in the mood" for the words to come. I have to experiencing it emotionally, right now. Today is one of those days. Even though I am very pregnant, I woke up rested this morning. Nothing hurts horrible today, and both my little girls are being angels. It is the kind of day I am thankful that our next baby is a girl. It's the kind of day where God has given me the patience to teach them how to clean up the spilled juice, not explode and yell. It is the kind of day where I can see how beautiful my girls are on the inside and out; the kind of day where I realize the magnitude of raising little girls to be godly young women. And I break down and cry over the fact that God has entrusted me with such a task. I couldn't feel more honored to be their momma, to be one one that can teach them to be compassionate towards others, to love and care for each other, to be homemakers and someday to be mommies. My mind swirls with all the things I could possible teach them: basic, physical things like reading, cooking, keeping the house, laundry, dishes and the non-physical things like loving God, to be obedient, to care and be emotionally invested in their family. Now a list maker like myself would love to be able to make a list once and totally complete of all the things I need to teach them. Then I can look over it every day making sure I don't forget or leave anything out. Such a list would not only be overwhelming and discouraging but would be impossible to accomplish. I have learned that I need to turn every day over to God and ask him to teach me foremost, then guide me as I teach my girls what they need to learn for THAT DAY. Not a whole lifetime of lessons, just what's needed for today. And what's needed for this particular day? For my girls to know that mommy loves them so much I would give my life for them, that they are stunningly beautiful on the inside and out, and that it is a good day to be kind.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!