Newest family member

My sister-in-law and brother's new baby is not as easy to console as some babies. She prefers to be held and moving around. So, my sister-in-law made use of her baby carrier. Isn't this the cutest picture. When I saw her sweet little face sticking out of the sling I had to snap a picture.

First Day of Summer

This morning I read that over 20,000 people gathered for the sunrise at Stonehenge. My boys are excited that today is the first day of summer. They think we should go play in water! I think that sounds like a good idea- that way we can also get some Vitamin D from the sunshine.

When the flowers are in bloom, the lightning bugs are thick in the evening, the sky is bright blue with fluffy white clouds, and I can see hope for our little garden to produce healthy foods, nature shines in all her glory. But where is the worship due? Should we raise our hand toward the rising sun in praise? Should we say a prayer to nature and recognize that we are nature, nature is god, so we are god? The truthful and clear answer is this:

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse;

Because the, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves,

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more then the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen

Romans 1:19-25

Sewing from a Pattern

I have it in my mind to learn the foreign language of sewing patterns. It really may as well be written in Chinese (which, coincidentally, I cannot read either). My hope is that, if i can learn to follow a pattern, I will have more success with my sewing endeavors. Sometimes, I try to slap skirts together without a pattern. Sometimes they come out decent, sometimes, they go in the trash. I'm starting with some boys' pajamas.

A friend offered to have me and the boys over for an afternoon so we could both sew. It was so nice and relaxing- maybe not as relaxing for the hostess since she made lunch. But I enjoyed the time, hearing the children laughing (and screaming) while they played. I got to stop her every few minutes and ask what a sentence in my pattern was trying to tell me and she very patiently explained. I think its hard! But that may change with practice...can anyone attest to that? It made so much sense when my friend would explain it in English. Anyway, we could only get so much done, being mom's and wives with things to do.

I'm hoping to recruit my mom as translator when I go to visit her. Then, maybe I can finish the pattern. I tried to sit down tonight and go to the next step...huh? I am a visual learner, youtube has taught me many "how-to" things (but be careful on there!) Maybe I will have them done for Christmas (at least one pair for each of the two older boys.)

Happy Father's Day!

Children's children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.
Proverbs 17:6

My sweet husband treats our children like they are blessings from God. He spends time with them like they were given to him as special presents. In return, their faces light up when they realize the next day is Saturday, and that he will be home all day. They love to do what he is doing. They even have fun doing chores together. I love to watch them all together.


Our son (then 5) made him a paper apron one Saturday morning. He wore it while making pancakes.
We see him working or using his time wisely every time he is at home (maybe the occasional catnap.) This was him working on our house over a year ago- he put a LOT of time into our home.

He likes to teach the boys about math by counting and sorting change.

Here, he is putting training wheels on our son's bike after we had a birthday hot dog roast.

We always have fun when he's around because of his cheerful nature. We all went to Kaleidoscope- isn't he nice to carry all my stuff so I could show the boys around?

My favorite thing he does for our family is to teach and read to us God's Word- the Bible. It is the most valuable training he can ever give them, and it will have eternal significance.

I know our boys will grow up to consider their father a special gift the Lord has given them.

Dad

I'm not just saying this because Father's Day is coming- I love my Dad! He's a loving man. He build us up with his words and would help if ever we needed him. (Even if you were bringing home "the one" to meet your parents and ran out of gas on the highway- he would come help.) I can remember the feeling of safety every time he was near. He always told us girls we looked nice or beautiful (still does) but didn't put any emphasis on our hairstyle or clothes-(except to very rarely tell me never to wear a that short skirt again :). I believe that helped us learn that beauty depends on your heart and not material adornments or physical appearance that would change or pass away. He speaks so highly of Mom and thinks of her best interest.
He made sacrifices along the way that helped shape our choices in life. There are so many thing he does that I'm so thankful for. Perhaps the greatest has been all the hours he's spent on his knees in prayer for us. I thank the Lord for letting me have him as my Dad.

Terrific Two's

My baby is turning two! What would our lives be like without him. He brings us so much laughter, SO much love, and SO much fun. Here are a few things I love about his little personality.

He watches his brothers closely. Sometimes, he does what they are doing, but has no idea why.

He hugs and kisses A Lot. He gets So excited when it is time to wrestle with Daddy. He usually goes to sleep peacefully. He often wakes up singing or yelling something indiscernible, but having fun while doing it.

He eats almost anything, although he has become more picky these last few weeks. He still thinks cleaning up is fun. If he sees something that needs to be done, he tries his best to do it. You can make him laugh so easily!

He tries to get involved in our family Bible study times. If the other boys are answering questions or raising their hands, he joins in.

There is so much more. He's just a blessing from the Lord.

Word of Faith?

Have you been taught that if you're sick, its due to your lack of faith? We had a young friend, dying of cancer and tormented to think he could be healed if only his faith was stronger. Have you heard that we can "release" the power of God, or "speak" things into existence? I've heard people afraid to speak about the truth if it was negative. They believed that if they spoke only positive things, it would change a situation. I find this man's message to be powerful. I think his testimony is more potent than any false healing claims. He says that God wouldn't have to break a sweat to heal us, but He had to die to save us. We should consider that a greater gift than even a physical healing. There are 3 parts to this message on youtube. I think part 4 is best of all. Or, you can the whole thing on his website (I posted it below-couldn't get the video to download on my blog.) Don't let someone confuse your spiritual life. Use the Bible to test everything.

http://justinpeters.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=3&Itemid=14

Raspberry pickers

My husband took the boys to pick raspberries at a friend's house. When they walked in the door (dripping dark purple juice on the floor), they were so happy and proud! There are more than what's in this one jar. I canned most of them up tonight.

As you can see, he did not muzzle the oxen while they were treading grain- a.k.a they ate as they picked. How sweet they are!

My 6yo thought I might want some ideas to blog about. He grabbed the camera and this is what he came up with:

Daddy's Bible.

A loaf of cinnamon raisin bread

And The Crown of Kuros. This is the fourth book in a series called The Terrestria Chronicles by Ed Dunlop. We have enjoyed reading them to the boys. It has a clear message of salvation, righteousness, good and bad, and serving the Lord. We appreciate that they are not filled with witchcraft or even glorify bad attitudes. I would recommend these so far to any boys 9 and over. Girls may like them too, but they are more for boys. There is so much in them that our boys cannot yet understand, but I'm sure we'll read them again in a couple years.  (Update: there are some places in the series that could be called withcraft.  In a later book, a clearly evil character can morph into other things to confuse and deceive the main character.  This kind of sorcery is never confused with good by the reader and paints a clear picture of how Satan may appear as an andel of light to get his way with us.  Still, I thought I'd warn you. I may not have the perfect definition of "witchcraft".  I guess it is like magic when the main character can pull out his Book and it turns into a sword- but the author does a good job painting the picture with that the "sword of the Spirit is the Word of God".  I didn't end up reading them all, with everything there is to be done.  They were of more interest to my husband than to me, but I did like what I heard of them.)

Homemade yoghurt!

The first time I tried to make yoghurt, it did not work out. I gave it another try, and it worked this time! It was easy. The yoghurt is as thick as store bought. We add honey or a scoop of strawberry preserves to it. I guess the true test will be if it works for me again.

Planning for Summer Learning and Beyond

I have been working with 6yo on reading, writing, and math. We have not had “school” every day consistently- but we’re easing into a pattern for next school year. When he was 3, I bought the whole k-4 A Beka curriculum! He was already ahead of most of it- but I wanted to start “school”! It didn’t quite pan out the way I planned. These last 2 or 3 years have been “school” for me. I’ve been learning so many things about homemaking, home schooling, and mothering in general. Anyway, I sold all the curriculum and began a slow journey into the research of others. If you’re thinking of homeshooling, let me just warn you, there is a PLETHERA of choices out there! I can see that there may be many curriculum changes from year to year and child to child.
For now, I have been very pleased with Spell to Write and Read. (It comes from a Writing Road to Reading approach.) At first, I was overwhelmed with how to teach it. But I began to take it a step at a time and it is working out wonderfully. My son could read early on, but this has greatly benefited his writing and reading. We learn all the phonogram (70) and all the spelling “rules”. And he writes his own spelling book. It takes some one on one time. But its worth it. It is designed to be a K-12th grade program all in one. He doesn’t jump up and down when we do it, but once we get started , he enjoys it. 4yo is also learning his phonograms and to write a few letters (I chose to start with cursive).

We are almost done with our first Math-U-See book, the “Primer”. His favorites are the telling time worksheets. I’m not sure if I love Math-U-See, but I will give it some more time. I have no complaints about it- ask again next year. I am open to suggestions.

We will be taking a break from these programs and switching our focus for the summer. I’m hoping to have Bible/prayer/singing, piano (for 6yo), Rod and Staff workbooks (for 4yo), and art projects for the summer. I have a nice piano curriculum called Pianimals I bought used. Its neat, but we got out of the habit. Most of all, though, I want to gear up for the fall! We’ll need to stick to our schedule and be consistent!





I came across a curriculum based on Bible reading called Student of the Word. I was very impressed with its foundation. There is a lot of Bible reading involved, even for the young ones. That is a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming. It is like a unit study with the Bible as its center. So, if you are reading in Genesis about creation, you study creation and evolution for science, for example. I’m not sure if I will use it for all subjects (except English and math), or as a guide for Bible reading, but it is impressive in many ways. I love the concept of unit studies, but - Goodness Sakes! They seem abundantly time consuming for the teacher! We’ll find our happy balance, Lord willing. For now, we'll focus some on playing!

All I'm saying is...I Can Breathe!

I guess I had allergies last week. I believe I’ve gotten them with each pregnancy- yuk! It was miserable. My father in law took the time to put some (fresh raw, still-on-the-comb, from his hives) honey in a jar for me to chew on. Have you heard that it is supposed to help with allergies? I don’t especially enjoy chewing it (some people do), but I thought I’d give it a try since he went to the trouble. A few hours later, my congestion and itchy eyes were cleared up after 3 nights of restless sleep. I still have a little scratchiness in my throat and “stuff”, but I sure can breath and I’m not miserable. It is almost all gone. Now, MAYBE it was already clearing up on its own. I have no way of conducting scientific research on it. However, if you have allergies, its at lest worth a try. It is pretty yummy- at least while there’s still honey in it. After you suck out all the honey, its like chewing crumbly gum. It won’t hurt to swallow the comb, in fact, its said to be healthy. I chewed it for a few minutes and spit it out. Ahhh! Fresh air!

Servant's Heart

The boys were excited to go to the annual youth fishing derby. 6yo caught the biggest fish for his age category, so he won a new fishing rod. After he caught 2 fish- although it was fun for him- he got distracted by the nearby sand and decided to make sand castles instead.

The other two also got prizes, but they didn’t catch anything. 4yo was beaming when they drew his name and loaded his arms with these goodies. 1yo was glad to show me what he got, too.

I have a friend who was there with her family. She has a servant’s heart like few people do. Her and her husband are both that way. Tonight she offered to walk all around with 1yo while my husband and I each helped the other boys fish. Seems like a small thing. But she does things like that all the time -and is she ever pleasant to be around. They would open their home to any person to visit anytime; they would offer a meal even if it meant they would have less for themselves; they would offer a car, bed, clothes, etc; they would lend out anything without worry about getting it back; and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen them sit and relax while someone else was working. “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9 Hospitality is so important, but it takes effort and sometimes sacrifice! Our spirits are lifted when they simply offer their services- and we try not to take advantage of them!

For my friend, putting others first also includes her husband and children. Sometimes we moms find it more rewarding to serve people outside our families because the rewards can seem greater. She doesn’t seek rewards or praise, she just serves without a lazy bone in her body. I think of her often when I’m going about my daily duties, or when I’m slacking off. Its good to have friends whose behavior challenges me to be more like Christ would want me to be.

I’m not trying to praise any one person, I know many friends and relatives with wonderful attributes, and many of them are servants. She was just on my mind after tonight. The best part is, the glory goes to the Lord. It is no mystery where her strength comes from. She loves to hear about and talk about the Word.

Hard worker

Time to Bake Bread

We were almost out of bread so it was time to make more.

Here is our grain mill. In goes the wheat kernels. My father in law is big on ear protection, so he got me those ear cover things. I may lose a few points in coolness when I wear them, but maybe I'll still be able to hear when I'm older. Its really not TOO loud, but I do keep it in our pantry rather than in the kitchen to keep the noise down throughout the house.

The result of a little noise and a minute or two is soft, fresh whole wheat flour.
If there is any left over after making the bread, I put it in the freezer so it won't go to waist. I put in about 10 1/2 C wheat kernels, which grinds into about 17 C flour.

From one kitchen gadget to the next- they do all the work for me! In go the ingredients. Stand back and watch the mixer knead a pile of dough. (Update: Of all the whole wheat bread recipes I've tasted or made, I now have a favorite.  I don't think I can post it for copyright reasons.  It is from the Bread Beckers cookbook- the 5 loaf recipe.  This recipe had never failed me.  I always end up putting a little more flour in than the recipe calls for- just until the dough starts to pull itself from the sides.  I've also never used the optional lecithin in the recipe. If you are needing a good recipe- its worth it!) For today this is the recipe I used:
6 C hot water
1/3 C oil
1/4 c sugar
1/3 C vital wheat gluten
2T salt
4T yeast
about 16C flour

Voila- here is the final product. Today, it is 3 loaves of bread, one loaf of cheesy onion bread, and a pizza crust to freeze. Yeah!

Strawberry Preserves!

Do you ever find that if you want to try something new, you have to wait until the children go to bed for the night? I have canned once with my mom years ago, but never on my own (and Mom did all the thinking.) I came upon a lot of strawberries that couldn't be put off. In order to concentrate- and sort out all the different information I was reading- I waited until after bedtime. Problem was, I was tired, too!

It took me a few hours so by the time I turned in for the night, all I had the energy to do was double check the stove to make sure the burners were off. I wanted to wait to hear that gratifying "pop" of the last two jars, but just couldn't. (I still got to hear them both as they each woke me up.) So, here are my results- 10 jars of sweet preserves!

I tried two different recipes. You can see my first attempt left chunks of strawberries at the top of the jar. The second recipe called for less sugar and mashed up the strawberries. I'm hoping to use these on pancakes, in oatmeal, and of coarse on homemade bread! I don't think I'll make a habit of canning preserves, jams, or jellies because of all that SUGAR! I have just one more thing to check off my list of "new things to learn, for fun and for usefulness."

Here is the second recipe I used:
6 Cups mashed up strawberries (I tossed them in the blender shortly)
2.3- 2.6 oz. powdered pectin
4 cups sugar
(This turned out a little runny instead of jelling much. That's just fine for me. But, I guess it needs a little more pectin next time.)

What to do while husband's away

He doesn't stay away overnight very often, but when he does I get lonely. This last time, I decided to do something out of the ordinary to challenge my brain. Can you believe I built some shelves? I made a lot of mistakes. My sister told me about this website with plans for building different things. I picked one and there you have it. I'm not sure if I can vouch for everything on the site, but if you need some ideas for building- here it is: http://www.knock-offwood.com/2010/03/plans-simple-bookcases-in-4-sizes-willy.html Since we didn't have a truck to bring home the wood, I had the guy at the store go ahead and cut the pieces. He was very helpful and friendly. However, next time I will cut them myself. Many of the pieces ended up being just a bit off, making the whole shelf a bit off.

Its not painted yet(only primed). I don't see a chance to do so coming up this week, so I went ahead and put it to use. Hopefully I'll build something else useful someday.


Here's our raggedy garden. I just got some nice tomatoes and peppers (my mom grew) planted last night. We planted the first round too early. Most of them were either eaten up, or over watered by the endless rain we had. We also have some herbs growing by the sidewalk- cilantro, parsley, thyme, dill, and chamomile. Out of our 34 bean plants that sprouted, only about 4 of them are still growing. We'll see what are little harvest will come up with!

Time for myself?

As a wife and mother, I have often received advice to take time for myself. It can be very refreshing and can prepare you to dive right back into motherly and wifely duties. OR, if a woman is not careful, it can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness, and self-pity. Its really easy to slip into the pattern of taking time for yourself- the lifestyle of taking time for yourself. Doing "nice" things for yourself, to make you feel good and forget your worries, can easily get out of hand. (I'm not talking about exercising-unless its done for vanity's sake.) The Bible tells all Christians, moms included, to spend our time and resources in a godly way. So, what would a biblical wife and mother look like?

A while back, I quickly put the verses of Proverbs 31 into categories to weigh the habits of a virtuous woman. I am no Bible scholar, so with that in mind, this is what I came up with...

feeding the family-13,15
clothing the family-13,21
laboring for the family/not being lazy or weak-13,14,15,16,17,18,19,24,25,27,31
good deeds/character-20,25,26,30
blessing/help to her husband-11,12,23
HERSELF-22(clothed)
results of her virtues-28,29,30,31,10

I found that her worth was embedded in being a servant with her life. Only one verse tells about this model of a woman doing anything for herself. And no verse speaks of her external beauty. In today's society, if a wife is not up with the latest fashions she is said to have "let herself go". It can be a good thing to "let ourselves go" in a sense, so we don't get in the way of the work the Lord has for us. I'm no beauty queen, so it is not too difficult for me to spend only a small amount of time and money on my appearance. But it is difficult for me to give all my time and energy for what seems like endless household tasks that pop right back up before me as soon as I'm done! I could be doing so many other things!-or nothing at all! I am already so selfish with my time, I don't need anyone encouraging me to do less work.

I have to admit, I have a long way to go to even begin to look like this woman. But I'll NEVER get there if I make a habit of "taking time for myself," in a worldly sense, rather making a habit of giving my time to serve my family and others. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it. I better get started.