Our Front Porch Swing

Creating A Home Office - When There Isn't One

2011-05-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

I have 2 goals for today.

1) To get at least 5 of my 'no-longer-needed' homeschool items listed on ebay. I've come to the realization I don't have the time to get everything listed at once, so if I do a few a day that may work. Only one problem....I've been up since 2:30 this morning. (yes I'm crazy, lol)

2) To clean off my computer desk. Not as easy as it sounds seeing as my husband and I each own a home business, on top of the fact that we don't have an office/den/spare room. So our setup is in the living room, in a very little alcove. I do about 1/2 of my crochet designing from there, so there's usually balls of yarn, handwritten notes, contracts & estimates for my hubby's tree removal biz, etc. It wasn't bad until tax time. I was an accounting major in college, so I do all of our taxes myself. This year, for some reason, I still haven't organized and put all the files downstairs.

We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping to get the majority of it done so I can move on to something else tomorrow.

30 Days To A Clean(er) House

2011-05-18T15:43:00.001-04:00

Here I am, exactly 30 days before my oldest child graduates high school. That means a graduation party is in order. The problem? I'm embarrassed to have anyone over. It has gotten so out of control in the past year or two, that I didn't even know where to start. And because I didn't know where to start, I wasn't do anything. But I've slowly been trying to get better. Now that I'm down to the wire, it's crunch time. I devised this plan in my head to start a new blog, where I could hold myself accountable, but didn't have to be embarrassed by someone I new actually finding out I'm not 'Suzie Homemaker'. Then I wondered, why? If these 'friends' that I worry about judging me can't support me, then are they really my friends after all.  So, I've changed my mind, and I'm going to let it all out on here.  After all, do I really have time for another blog???

I have figured out there is no way I will get my house in permanent order in 30 days, so I'm going to have a daily goal along with my long term goals, starting now. Hopefully I will post something short every day to keep track but between 6 children, homeschooling, laundry, dishes, and my own business, I don't feel like I have two extra minutes. But I'm aware that's my weak area....time management.

My long term goal is to regain permanent organization (with 3 more children than I had back when I was organized), teach my kids to help more, keep up with the chores, go back to using a dinner schedule, write up a new chore schedule for my kids, and more.

Each day I'm going to have a short term goal too. Today's goal is to re-clean the kitchen, which was done on Saturday. But somehow, between Saturday and today (Wed) it's cluttered again. I'm learning that daily I will need to 'pick up' as well as have scheduled 'cleaning' chores. There's a difference. If I can accomplish that I will move on to something new tomorrow.

I'd love to hear ideas if anyone has any.

Light Sensitivity

2011-04-16T14:53:00.000-04:00

I think, for me, the light sensitivity issues my girls have, is one of the hardest aspects of this journey with them. My other children love to be outdoors and they just don't. It hurts their eyes to the point that they just leave them closed. I once heard it described like this.

Imagine that initial reaction your eyes have when you're coming out of a dark movie theatre on a sunny day. That's what my girls see all the time. With no reprieve. There eyes are on constant overload from too much light. The picture below doesn't do that description justice, but I this picture when we first learned of our oldest's diagnosis. It helped me understand just how difficult things can be for them.

I can't imagine wanting to spend time outside if this is what I saw either. We try very hard to have them spend some time outdoors after dusk, when it is much easier for them to see, but sometimes I feel like we live indoors. The older Baby Sunshine gets the more she'll get used to it. That's how it was with Princess Cuddles. Now, with a little coaxing, she'll go outside during the day. Yes, sunglasses and a hat help, but only if you can get your one year old to wear them!

A Table for Two

2011-04-08T13:52:00.000-04:00

I have to tell you about my time out with hubby last night for our anniversary.

I had no idea where we were going. All he told me was that maybe if we left early we could walk around some of the shops near the restaurant. Because of getting the kids situated we didn't have a ton of time to shop, BUT he did pull into one store. A YARN SHOP!!! He took me yarn shopping for our anniversary!!! Have I mentioned I love my hubby?!?!?! LOL If we had more time I may have picked out more, but this is what I left with.

On to our dinner. I love Italian food, so he found this nice Italian restaurant about 1/2 hour from where we live. REAL Italian, not someone who sells lasagna & shells (although, on any given day, I'm all for that too) . For an appetizer we ordered bruschetta. I'm not a huge bruschetta fan, but this was amazing! They seared the bread on a charcoal-fired, outdoor grill. Heavenly!

Dinner was amazing (sorry, no pic). Many years ago, our hope was to go back to Ireland for our 10 year anniversary. That was planned at least 2 children ago, so let's just say, maybe another year. lol. So for dessert we decided on "Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake". Amazing!

Love spending time with my hubby. We have so much to be grateful for, and we love spending every moment we can with the kids, but it's so nice to be alone for a couple of hours. I look forward to many more anniversaries to come.

Celebrating

2011-04-07T04:50:00.000-04:00

Today hubby and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! Yay!! Ok, for some it may not seem like that long, but I'm considering it awesome. We've had our share of heartaches and struggles, but God has given us so much to be thankful for. I look forward to the next decade.

April 7, 2001

November 2010

Our plan was to go back to Ireland for our 10th anniversary (that's where we spent our honeymoon), but that was at least 2 children ago that we planned that. LOL So instead, we're celebrating by going out to dinner . . . . ALONE!!! haha - Not an easy feat when you have 6 children. We've actually learned to appreciate "date night" on a deeper level because it only happens once, or twice, a year. Now, what do I wear?!?!

What Makes A Family Large?

2011-04-06T14:43:00.004-04:00

I seemed to be doing fine. I had a 10 year old, a two year old, a one year old and I was 9 months pregnant. Then Princess Giggles was born and my world was turned upside down. I've blogged about it in the past, and won't torture you with more woes but, for those that don't know, it was all I could do to put dinner on the table and do the laundry. It seemed like 4 children had pushed me over the edge. Now, in the midst of my chaos, I was hearing similar things from others. "It was hardest going from 3 to 4." As hard as Princess Joy and Princess Sunshine have been, they still don't compare to the tears that were caused by my Princess Giggles (fitting name, right?!?)

I am leading up to a purpose here. The more I have, the easier it gets. But, I don't think many people agree with me. When I go out in public with my "brood" (as they've been called) I always get the same question. "Are they ALL yours???" They say it like I have 15 kids with me. I'm used to it, but it drives my husband nuts! It makes me wonder, by todays standards, what is a "large" family? Obviously six is a lot from the comments I get, but how about 4? I don't remember getting the comments when I only had 4. I did however get them when I had 5. Does that mean 4 children is ok, but 5 is "too many". I'm far from upset by this (it's so hard to tell how someone means something in this day of internet). I'm just curious.

My mother was one of 11, so to me 6 is small. I love my family size and wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Just wondering how others see a family of 8?

Perspective

2011-04-04T13:22:00.002-04:00

It's amazing how a few years can totally change how you see things. I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately, on a lot of levels. But much of it has been about my youngest, who is now the second child we have, that was born with low vision. It didn't seem quite as devastating the second time around, but most of all, now that I'm not "new" to this, I'm not wrought with feelings about what she will or won't be able to see, etc. The most recent was when I found an old pair of glasses that used to belong to Princess Cuddles. They were definately too big for Princess Sunshine, but I wanted to see if they would help her, so I put them on. I was astounded at her reaction. It was like she was opening her eyes for the first time. They were big with wonder, almost like she was really seeing each of us for the first time. At that point hubby & I both realized she'd probably be in glasses sooner rather than later. But I was equally shocked at my reaction. I was happy! This was a complete 180 from 7 years ago when Princess Cuddles got them. Back then, I wanted her to be able to see without them, not to mention, I was afraid people would tease her. This time, the joy was because I KNEW how much they could help her.

This whole ordeal got me thinking, and I started comparing how I see things now, to how I looked at them 5 years ago, 10 years ago, etc. It's your perspective on things. So, I decided to look it up. This is the definition I was looking for.

Perspective - the state of one's ideas, the facts know to one, etc.

It's the facts that I now know that have changes my perspective. I know how much help they can be, and I know I want her to have the best chance of seeing that she can. What other people think just doesn't matter anymore. Long story short(er), we took her and they did give her a prescription for glasses. She's a little on the younge side, and they probably would have waited another 6 months or so, if it hadn't been for the reaction she had to the other ones. Now all we need is for her to like them!

Anyone have any ideas on how to get a one year old to leave them on??? My other daughter just did. Never touched them. Princess Sunshine will only leave them on when she's outside. She's super light sensitive so the tinting makes her realize they help.

On a side note, I haven't been very active with this blog lately. That's another thing I've been pondering. I almost closed it down, but I really felt God led me to start it, so I'll work on keeping better tabs on it :P I've been feeling like I'm supposed to do some blogging about raising children with low vision, so bear with me if you can't relate. Those won't be my only posts.

My Conversation With God

2011-01-17T09:20:00.002-05:00

God has given me words of encouragement and spoken to me through different people, or scriptures, over the years. There are even times I just know He has spoken to me even though I didn't hear His voice. I can only count on one hand the number of times where I actually heard His audible voice like He was right there next to me. I haven't shared this story with many people, but it has been weighing on my heart that someone may need to hear it.

In March of 2003 I gave birth to my 3rd child. She was called a "toehead" more times than I can count. But by the time she was 4 months old we started to realize it was something more. Soon after she was diagnosed with albinism, which is a genetic condition where you have little or no pigment in your eyes, skin, or hair.

My disclaimer - While most people know the term "albino" I have a hard time with this word. This is my own personal opinion but, I feel, 'albinism' refers to the condition, whereas 'albino' refers to the person. She's my daughter first, not an albino. Ok, back to my story.....

Within that first year, I had a dream that God healed her. I know, without a doubt, that someday He will. Until then I pray, and wait. I'm learning as I go, but on one specific occasion God left me speachless. To this day I'm still speachless when I think of the conversation I had with Him.

I don't remember exactly how old my daughter was, but I think she was about 1 1/2 (so this was about 6 years ago). I remember sitting at my kitchen table praying, crying out to God to heal her. I wanted her to be able to see the deer in our backyard, or the butterflies, or any number of other things she can't see. Part of the conversation left me awestruck, and I still remember the words exactly.

This is what I told God.....

"You don't understand! A mother just wants to make things better for their children!"

To which God responded.....

"She's mine too, and I know what I'm doing."

My jaw about fell to the ground. My heart started to race. I didn't have any response. I was speachless. My heart still races when I think of that short, but direct conversation. My heart still breaks, and I could still cry, over the things she can't see. But I now have a peace about it that I didn't have that first year. I don't know why I never thought of her as HIS daughter too. Never dawned on me that He had a plan in all this. That He might actually use her/this as a testimony. So I wait. And I still pray. But I believe God's plan is so much greater than I can even fathom.

Uplifting Your Spouse.....Even When You Don't Think Anyone Is Watching

2011-01-05T12:47:00.002-05:00

What we say is so powerful. We need to be consciously aware of this. I am so aware when I hear people complaining about their spouse. Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect or exempt here. I don't bad mouth or complain about my husband, but, I've more than once, snapped at him in public because he didn't understand what I was trying to say.....or because I was tired.....or because.....well the list goes on. He has never snapped back, and only once, has he ever said to me that I needed to check myself because others were worrying that there was something wrong. I am so grateful God put us together. I strive to think before I speak. Needless to say, I'm still a work in progress.

Do you complain to your friends about your spouse? (I'm not looking for anyone to answer). Or do you say uplifting things even though they're not there to hear? This may make all the difference in your marriage. Here's why...

My husband, and a bunch of guy friends, get together on a semi regular basis for breakfast and fellowship. At one of these recent get togethers he decided he wanted to have a "chainsaw competition" with a friend of his. (don't laugh-lol). He decided he was going to take my camera, which has video on it, and have someone tape it. When he came home I loaded the video onto the computer for him. As he was watching I heard him say, "Oh wow, they forgot to turn it off when we were done. They got that on video?" He did not sound surprised in a bad way, just surprised. He called me over and told me to watch. I couldn't believe what I heard! He was complimenting me as a wife in front of all his friends! Not bragging, just complimenting. I can't tell you how much that meant. I've never thought he would complain to them, but I didn't consider he would build me up either.

That wasn't the only time. About a month later he was sending out a text message and I happened to be walking up behind him. Do you know what it said? "My wife rocks!" with a picture of his birthday gift attached to the text. You see, I had bought him a smoker/grill for his birthday. Something I knew he would like. But to him it was more. He felt I had paid attention to what he would like.

This got me thinking. It's about building each other up. Not tearing each other down. Especially with our words and actions. Words are SO powerful! We need to consciously think everytime we speak. And on the flip side of this, sometimes I think men need to hear these kinds of things even more. That's what I'm working on. Call it my personal challenge....think before I speak. And not just about your spouse. We should be think before we speak about anyone or anything.

~Kristine

2010-12-31T05:30:00.000-05:00

I am now the mother of an adult child!!! Happy 18th Birthday to my firstborn....

2010-12-29T11:40:00.000-05:00

As 2010 comes to a close, I have been looking back over the past year and all that has happened. My life has changed and I am learning to listen to God and follow the path He has for me. Here is a small recap of why I have disappeared much more than I wanted to this year.

In Feb. I gave birth to another beautiful little girl.
Now that I had a 2 year old and an infant, we struggled to finish out our school year.
I "broke" my 2 year old of her pacifier addiction. (what a nightmare!!!)
My new little girl does not like to sleep.
We took a much needed vacation this summer.
I officially opened my own crochet pattern business. It has consumed much of my time trying to get all my patterns in pdf format so I can sell them. (If I had listened to God I would have done it MANY years ago! But that's another blog story) If you crochet you can check it out at http://www.ambassadorcrochet.com/

Not great excuses, but all consumers of my time. As this year comes to a close I am at the realization that next year will bring it's own set of changes. There were so many things I wanted to blog about this year, but just couldn't sit down to get them typed up. Now I feel God leading me in a completely different direction. I have a couple of topics I feel led to blog about. The first being my 2 children who were born with low vision. I feel God wants me to share what I have learned, and what He has shown and taught me through this journey. I look forward to a new beginning in 2011.

~Kristine

Changing Course, Even When You're On the Right Track

2010-10-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

Do you ever feel like your on the right course, headed in the right direction, but for some reason there is something not right? That's how I've felt since the beginning of the school year. With a lot of prayer, and a step of faith, I changed a bunch of curriculums this year. I knew I was doing what God wanted me to, and was so excited to see where He would be taking us. But along the way I feel like I've had some bumps in the road.

I could never have imagined how hard it would be to complete a homeschool day with a 2 year old and an infant. It's proving much harder than I imagined. At some point in the last 4-6 weeks I wondered why I felt like I "had" to do school in the am. After all, isn't flexibility one of the benefits of homeschooling? So, for a couple of weeks we tried working in the afternoon when the 2 little ones were sleeping. That went much smoother but, because of ear infections, etc. I was in desperate need of some cat naps, so we fell back into our old ways.

More recently, I have one daughter that (I feel) is falling behind. She's always been a slower learner. (ex: she didn't talk until she was 3) But I feel like I am unable to give her the extra attention she really needs to catch up. The other children need my guidance and the two youngest are just too young to take care of themselves. So, I've really been wondering how to get back on track.

I've decided to work with the older 2 girls in the am which frees up my 6 year old to play with the 2 year old. Then in the afternoon when the 2 little ones are sleeping (hopefully they sleep), I'll work with her. I'm going to give it a couple weeks and see how it works.

If anyone else does alternate schedules, or something else works for you, I'd love to hear suggestions.

Disappearing Act

2010-10-06T14:28:00.000-04:00

I feel as though I've pulled a little bit of a disappearing act lately. I have thought of hundreds of things to blog about, but when I get to the computer I feel like I don't have the time to do it justice. Then I wonder if anyone else wants to read my thoughts, especially if they're just thrown together. So I write nothing. Then I have too many ideas and don't know where to start. Last week Jenna, over at Sugar, Spice, and Monkey Tales sent me a message telling me she missed my posts. I was honestly touched (sometimes I wonder who reads this - lol)

I felt last year that God was leading me to this point. (I'm trying to listen better). So, I started to pray about where to go with my blogging. I know he wants me to use this as a tool to lift up those who need a little help. Not that I have all the answers, but I feel like I have a story to tell. We've been blessed with miracles, and we've walked through pain. But one thing I know for sure is that God has been there every step of the way. I hope to be able to share some of my experiences in the next few weeks.

I also know that God is doing something in me. Things have changed and I know when I work through all He is doing in me, I will be a different person. I'm struggling to get where He wants me. Not because I don't want to change, but because I want instant results. Maybe, in the coming days, I'll be able to share what He's been doing.

Blog Award

2010-09-22T14:52:00.006-04:00

Last week I received my very first blog award from Jenna over at Sugar, Spice & Monkey Tails. Thank you so much! I promise to try harder to blog more often! :)

Rules for accepting the award:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

On that note here is a list of some amazing blogs that I look forward to reading! Enjoy getting to know them. I haven't been blogging much the past few weeks, or even months for that matter, so I'll see how many I can come up with.

A Spoonful of.....
Diddle Daddle Designs
Live, Love, Laugh
The Blessings of Modern Domestication
Training 6 Hearts 4 Him

It's not 15, but it will have to do :)
Thanks again, Jenna!

~Kristine

Help with Recurring Poison Ivy

2010-09-04T11:42:00.000-04:00

I'm searching for someone who can shed some light on my poison ivy issue. I have recurring poison ivy. This time it has reoccurred on my wrist (underneath my watch) and 3 dots on my eyelid. I know for a fact my eyelid and my watch have not been re-exposed. lol. Those 3 dots on my eye are in the same exact spot as 3 weeks ago. I threw my old watch away and didn't wear my new one until I was sure the poison ivy had been gone for almost a week. Both spots are on the same side of my body so I didn't transfer it by touching it.

My husband has his own tree removal business. I'm not sure about other times I've had it, but when I got it this time it was because the poison ivy vine around the tree was about 2" in diameter. He does his own laundry, but all he has to do is look at me and I get it. :).

I know this may come across as being harsh, but if you're going to comment and tell me I must have come in contact with it again, please save yourself the time. I have searched the internet and there are hundreds of sites with the same advice. (please don't take that personal). Out of all the searching I've done I only found one site, with a discussion board, of people just like me. They know for a fact they have not come in contact with it again (its been weeks, months, etc) but yet it has come back in the same exact spot.

This is a picture of my wrist. I only took it to show that my new watch is much bigger and the spot of poison ivy is the same size as my previous watch. If it was caused by this watch the diameter would be much wider.

Crochet, Yarn, and a Two Year Old

2010-09-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

I live 1/2 hour from the closest craft store, grocery store, warehouse club, etc. Because of the price of gas, I've been trying to consolidate trips into town. Hubby only gets paid every other week, so yesterday and today were shopping days for me (with all 5 girls in the car, I can't do it all in one trip). Yesterday we went to Target and A.C.Moore. Today we were venturing out to finish our shopping for the next two weeks. This is the conversation I had with my girls on the way to the store this morning.

Princess Giggles (5): "Where are we going?" (she already knew, she just likes to ask questions)

Me: "BJ's and Joann's."

Princess Cuddlebug (7): "We just went to A.C.Moore yesterday. What are you getting at Joann's?"

Princess Joy (2): "YARN!"

Needless to say, the entire car busted out laughing. It's pretty sad when my 2 year old knows what we're getting at the craft store.

Sharing Space

2010-08-30T15:43:00.000-04:00

When we got back from vacation a few weeks ago, I took everything except the beds out of my girls room. Princess Sunshine was still sleeping in our room, and the only way to get her into their room was to get my 2 year old into a bed, so the baby could have the crib.....which meant somehow fitting another bed in their room. We only have a small 3 bedroom house.  Here's where it gets a little tricky. We only have one son, who gets his own room, which means there are 5 girls in the other bedroom. The room is about 10' X 12' which is pretty small for 5 kids, beds, dressers, toys, etc.

So, I decided the easiest way to rearrange was to pull everything out into the living room. BIG mistake!!! I got the new bed set up, and I rearranged the furniture for optimal space, but I still haven't had time to go through the toys to see what I'll keep and what I'll get rid of. So, in my kitchen they sit. Now that we've started school they may sit there a bit longer. The longer the kids don't ask for them, the more I just want to get rid of them! :D I'm realizing just how little will/would make them happy. That's been my mission lately.....less is more. I've been clearing out to make extra room to live. It's a small house & I'm tired of all the "stuff".

The good thing is, for the most part, they never complain about sharing their space. They just know that this is the way it is. Period. They have space for their own personal things, but they'll never (at least in the present future) have their own room.

All this is to say, I believe this is why they are so close and get along so well. They've learned (and are still learning) that it's not just about them. They do have their moments, but I love listening to them play and include the little ones. They're even starting to include Princess Sunshine. Now that she's old enough to be entertained, they will gladly take her for a few minutes while I start dinner, laundry, etc.

So, expect to see more organizing posts in the weeks to come :)

Choosing Next Years Curriculum

2010-08-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

Looking for a new curriculum, for my girls, was so hard for me. I like things black & white. There's nothing wrong with the curriculum I've always used, so when God told me not to use my "normal" curriculum I started to panic. I started to think things like:

"I don't even know where to start looking."
"What if I choose the wrong one?"
"We don't have money to waste on things that aren't going to work."

But the feeling just wouldn't go away. I knew God wasn't going to let me off the hook this year. You see, I started to feel this was after I started school with them....last year! But I didn't want to waste what we had already invested in, so ignored the feeling. When last year ended, I started to look at homeschool catalogs. It was then that I started to feel so overwhelmed. So I started to pray about what God wanted us to use. I prayed A LOT. I had no idea what direction to go in....until I saw it.

Flying Creature of the Fifth Day by Apologia. As soon as I saw it I knew. You see, we live in the country. On a daily basis we see birds that others have never even seen. Not to mention the bugs! Believe it or not, my girls are facinated with them. As I read about the course I started to get excited, which was confirmation for me. Then I started to get excited about what else I could find.

Through the summer God has shown me where we need to be for this year. Up until now, I've had my 3 girls in different grade levels for every single subject. God has given me curriculums, for this year, that I can do with multi-age levels. So, Science, History, and Math will be consolidated for my oldest 2 girls, and maybe even my 6 year old. With a 2 year old and an infant, this will free up some of my time for them.

I don't know how it will all fall into place, but I feel such a relief to know that God is in control of this. All I had to do was take the first step....in faith!

Back to Basics

2010-08-24T14:11:00.001-04:00

Back to Basics . . . .
That's what God spoke to me over a year ago. I had no idea what it meant, but I suspected things were about to change. My husband had been wanting to downsize our "things" and I assumed this had something to do with that. Then, over the course of time, I realized God had something more for me. He told me change was coming. Again, I had no idea where that would lead.

This would take way to long to read if I gave you all the details, but let me sum up the past year:

God told me some friendships would be changing, and they did. I lost a couple key friends.
God told me to step down from the bible study at our church and our MOPS group.
I found out I was pregnant (I now have a 6 month old:)
God told me it was time to step out and try something new with my homeschooling.

I'm still not sure why those friends have been removed, but hopefully someday I will understand. As for the rest of the list... They may not seem like a huge deal, but to me they were. Why would God tell me not to do a bible study??? And, I had no idea how hard it would be to finish out last years school year with a 2 year old and an infant. (some days I didn't think we'd ever finish).

So, when he told me to step out and try something new, with regards to homeschooling the girls, I panicked. Other than being extra busy with the little ones, I didn't see anything wrong with the curriculum I have been using all along. Plus, why fix it if it isn't broke? Right?!?! I didn't do anything at first, mostly because I didn't want to choose the wrong curriculum, but I knew I needed to obey God. I knew the pull that I felt wouldn't go away until I took that first step. For those of you who may be hesitating....take that first step! I felt such a relief when I did. And after I took the first step, the second one was a little bit easier, and the third even easier than the first two.

I am now confident that I am exactly where God was leading me. I have rearranged our home school schedule so that I will have more time with the little ones. (I'll get into how I consolidated things in the next few days.)

Here's where God's Back to Basics worked into the picture. Two of my girls have been asking me, for a very long time, to teach them cooking and sewing. If I hadn't stepped out in faith, I would have ended up with another school year of 'too much work and not enough time' to teach them basic life skills that they are wanting to learn. I'm excited for what this year will bring. I'm sure God has even more for us, now that I've stepped out in faith.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-18T05:12:00.000-04:00

It didn't take her long to figure it out.

Forgiving vs. Forgeting

2010-08-13T10:56:00.001-04:00

With the pain of a broken friendship comes the time when you need to forgive. But forgiving is not the same as forgetting. It's much harder to forget that hurt that goes so deep. I recently realized this when I felt my blood pressure rising over the simplest thing....someone who heard the rumors about me will no longer even look at me. I guess it shouldn't bother me. After all, were they really a friend if they didn't even ask my side of the story? Needless to say, I felt myself grow agitated, and had no idea that this person could still indirectly do this to me. The pain is obviously much deeper than even I thought possible. I still have so many unshed tears. I don't take friendships lightly, so to have something thrown away so easily really bothers me. Don't get me wrong, there are 2 sides to every story. The hurt is not so much from what happened but the things that were said about me. They hurt greatly and I lost many 'friends' because of those hurtful words.

So, how do you forget? How do you get to a level of not letting it bother you? You see, we go to the same church, so its unavoidable to never have to see/hear about this person again. God has taught me much through this trial, but I still haven't learned how to let go of the hurt. I just keep praying that someday God will take the pain and replace it with understanding.

Schools Out!

2010-06-25T15:58:00.000-04:00

We made it! There were days I wasn't sure we'd ever get there. Between Princess Sunshine's birth, and 6 weeks of non-stop strep in my house, we got a little behind schedule. But, we made it! I'm so glad. It's been a very long year. At times I questioned if the year was a waste, but I know I'm where God wants me, so it can't be a total waste. I've been prayerfully considering what to use for a curriculum next year and I'm excited that God is dropping me helpful hints :). All I had to do was take that first step and then seek His guidance. I'm getting excited for next year!

This summer we have some "projects" I want to get completed around the house. Hopefully my list is realistic and I can actually get some of them accomplished. We'll see.

Daddy's Girl

2010-06-22T13:43:00.005-04:00

Recently my computer was shut down wrong and Windows decided to lock me out. Long story short, after 2 weeks of trying to get back in, we ended up starting from scratch. We have an external harddrive and were hoping it did its job. Well, lets just say, we were a little disappointed. We lost quite a few pictures, and about 2 months of business estimates and contracts, for my hubbies business. Not a tragic loss, but I was disappointed because I lost some really good pics.

Anyway, in looking through the ones that made it, I found this one. This is my first born daughter, and she is such a daddy's girl! She thinks the world of him. I love reminiscing, and thought I would share it, seeing as it was Father's Day weekend!

You can find more great pics at Shutter Love Tuesdays

Stepping Out in Faith

2010-06-16T15:07:00.001-04:00

After we began the school year last fall, I felt God was telling me it was time for a different curriculum. Me, not wanting to change after I had started, just kept moving in the direction I had been headed. My problem is that, most of the time, I am a black & white person. I want to know where I'm going and when. Then the getting there won't be the hard part. So, to change curriculums mid-year did not sound like fun to me. After all, I've only ever used one curriculum, and I've been using it for the past four years. That would have meant (in my mind) taking time to look into a new curriculum(s) . . . . and then what would happen if I didn't like it or it wasn't working for the girls!?!?!

All these months later, I wish I had listened to God. I may not be struggling to finish the year if I had just stepped out in faith. So, when our computer crashed almost 3 weeks ago, it left me with some time to think about things. I knew what God had told me, but I forgot the most important part. He won't take the steps for us. If we don't take that first step how can He lead us? Just knowing He told us to do something isn't enough. We need to act on it.

I'm still not 100% what I'm using for a couple of subjects, but now that I'm moving in the right direction, I'm excited to see where God will lead us for next year.

~Kristine

A New Approach to Cleaning Clutter

2010-06-01T09:12:00.000-04:00

Every time I have a newborn in the house I struggle to keep up with the housework. I start to feel overwhelmed because there just aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done. Most days I'm doing good if I can get a load of laundry done and have dinner on the table before bedtime. Once I start to feel overwhelmed I don't do anything. If I don't have time to clean it to my satisfaction then I don't spend any time on it at all. Before you know it you're buried in housework. And for me, I'm embarrassed that it has gotten out of control. I know I'm not alone and here's another tip on making it work.

If you have one specific area that is an overwhelming problem, or one that you have the hardest time keeping clean, there's hope. For me it's our island. Everyone uses it as a dump all. If they don't want there little sisters to be able to reach, if it needs to be fixed, if you don't know where to put it, things going out, things coming in.....you get my point. It all gets put there. Not to mention, we've been considering moving. With that in mind I've been using my island as a staging area for things to get rid of, pack, etc. With 8 of us it feels like a never ending battle. Just when I get it clean its a mess within a day or two.

So here's my challenge to myself, and to you. Spend just 10 - 15 minutes everyday on that one spot. Now here is where it may be a challenge. It has to be EVERY day. Here's why. I tried this last week. I did great for about 4 days and noticed a huge improvement. Then we had a couple of busy days and it got pushed to the bottom of my list and didn't get done. In those 2 days I missed, I had undone my 4 days of work. So, I'm going to try again this week and see how I do. Last week proved to me that it needs to be every day not just on days the piles start stacking up. Anyone want to join me? I plan on posting my before and after pictures next week.

How to Tell if You are a MoM (Mother of Many)

2010-05-29T14:39:00.001-04:00

Found this article on http://www.megafamilies.com/. Because I could relate to almost all of them on some level, I thought I'd share it with others.

You know you are a MoM (Mother of Many) when:

1. You know where the bathroom is in any major store you visit.

2. Your car has more seatbelts than windows.

3. Your grocery budget is higher than your house payment.

4. You do most of your thinking and praying in the bathroom.

5. Creative decorating means lots of bookshelves and bunkbeds.

6. You no longer carry a purse, but use the diaper bag instead.

7. Your idea of good commercial building design means a comfy mother's lounge.

8. You constantly find yourself marveling how short the time is between birth and toddling, birth and schoolage, birth and graduation, etc.

9. Even your two year old knows that they must hold someone's hand in the grocery store.

10. You have a routine for stopping pacifiers, toilet training, cup training, and every childhood “phase”.

11. You have at least three witty replies to "Are they all yours?"

12. You just really wish people would not think they were clever for saying, "Don't you know what causes that?"

13. You have forgotten how many times you have been asked, "Are you Mormon or Catholic?"

14. You are still afraid to tell your husband how many more kids you want!

15. Your food storage takes up more room than your entire kitchen... And that is just for this week!

16. You have so much laundry that when you finally get to the bottom of the pile, it's actually stuck to the floor!

17. You spend a lot of time at church in the foyer or mother’s lounge, wondering why you can’t just stay home and listen to the baby fuss there!

18. You spend more money on diapers each month than you do on entertainment!

19. You instantly sympathize with any woman who is obviously pregnant in the middle of summer.

20. You are up to double digits in years that you have spent with a baby attached to you in one way or another!

21. Taking the kids grocery shopping with you makes you feel like a mother duck.

22. You hate carpools because you know who is going to get stuck doing the driving.

23. When you see photos of castles and grand mansions, all you can think is how many bedrooms it has (YES!), and how much space all those other rooms provide for the kids to mess up (NO WAY!).

24. You know that every time you move the couch or couch cushions, you will find Cheerios under them.... Even if you have not had Cheerios in the house!

25. You know the “law of crumbs”. “Any food item that will crumble will produce twice its own weight in crumbs.”

26. You know by experience that paint NEVER dries until it has been spread around in all the places you did NOT want it to be.

27. You know what to use to remove lipstick, shortening, and indelible marker from any surface.

28. You know how to get smashed raisins out of a carpet, and how to get bubblegum out of hair, and so do all your older kids.

29. You are certain one of your kids is sneaking rolls of toilet paper out of the house and selling them because you know there is no way they could be using that much of it, even if there ARE a lot of bottoms in your house.

30. When you go to order fast food, you order 6 hamburgers, one with ketchup only, one plain, one with no pickles or onions, two with no pickles, onions or mustard, and one with nothing but cheese, plus one fish sandwich, one chicken sandwich, one large hamburger, and one large hamburger with bacon. You then have to repeat yourself three times so the person at the window can get it right.

31. When your kids are learning a foreign language, you wonder how it is that they can find the words to insult each other faster than they can find the words to say “I'm sorry.”

32. If two kids bring home identical toys from their kid's meal, you know you have to put names on them first thing, or they will fight over whose is whose, even if both of them have one in their hand.

33. You spend a lot of time looking at the little kids, urging them on to the next step, while still wishing they could stay little just a bit longer.

34. You have a full baby book for your first two children, half of one for the next one, and nearly empty baby books or none at all for the later ones.

35. When the many-times-handed down clothing is finally too worn out to hand down again, you still have a hard time letting it go because it has so many good memories attached.

36. You don't have a wardrobe of “fat clothes” and “skinny clothes”. You have "regular clothes”, “pregnant clothes”, and “nursing clothes”.

37. When a child outgrows something, you put it away in a box in the closet or garage, even if you don't have a younger child of that gender, because you just know you are going to need it eventually!

38. Your idea of a great dining set is one that has lots of expansion leaves. When you see a corporate boardroom on TV, all you can think is what a great dining table the conference table would make.

39. You can list at least three different technological advances in diaper design which you, personally, have used on your kids.

40. You have at least one specialized medical skill because at least one of your kids has some kind of potentially risky condition which you deal with.

41. You sometimes wonder how it is that other moms get really nice gifts for holidays, and you end up with 6 pieces of cardboard with “I love you Mom your the best.” written on it in crooked writing. And you have a box in your closet that you put them in.

42. You cook dinner in pots large enough to bathe a baby in, and frequently lament over the insufficient size of convenience appliances like mixers, waffle irons, and crock pots – and you compromise by owning two of each.

43. Your car is large enough to hold the entire family, but if you go camping, you have to rent a trailer just to hold all the camping equipment.

44. You can't believe with the size of the larger RVs out there that they couldn't fit more beds into at least ONE of them, and you really wish they'd design one with two bathrooms!

45. If you see a home design with a Master Retreat room, you think what a great nursery it would make.

46. You can quote entire pages from Dr. Seuss without having to pause to think about it, and can sing any number of Raffi or Disney songs from memory.

47. You can think of more than three great Christmas gifts for a child of any age... Because you always have a child close to the age in question!

48. You have at least one story stored up for each of your kids which is guaranteed to embarrass them if you recount it in public.

49. You know, and are thankful, that when they get too old to send to their rooms, that possession of the car keys gives you the ultimate power!

50. When the first two kids move out, you can't believe how much smaller your family feels.

51. You think that a mini-van is just too small to be a practical family car - but you wish they'd make a shopping cart about that size!

52. Getting the whole family to fit into the Wal-Mart photo booth, and then getting a picture when nobody is crying, making bunny ears, blinking, or sticking their finger in their nose is a major triumph!

53. Your stretchmarks might better be described as "pleats".

54. Your kids don't need as many toys, because they always have someone to play with.

55. Other people dream of buying a Porche or other sports car, but all you can think is that it wouldn't be good for anything because it is not cheap enough for your husband to commute in, and it doesn't have enough seats for the family, and there's no WAY you are going to let your teenager drive that!

56. You have to take off your shoes to count all the kids.

Written by Laura Wheeler

Co-Owner of Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc, and Firelight Web Studio – Laura writes instructional materials, produces infosites, and builds affordable websites for her business startup clients. Her varied experience allows her to give exceptional service, and to produce instructions on a surprising range of topics. Laura is a busy mom of eight, homeschooler, and home business owner.

This article may be reprinted if it is unaltered, and if the signature line is included with the article..

Clipping Coupons

2010-05-28T12:51:00.000-04:00

Here's my Frugal Friday advice. Clip coupons. I know it sounds so simple, and those who don't do it probably think it won't save them enough to bother. But it will. When I first started cutting them out, I used to keep track to see if it was even worth the effort. And let me tell you, some days it takes effort. When I was keeping track of our savings I would count every dollar saved, whether by coupon or sale. When I was store hopping (that's for another post) I was saving anywhere from $200 - $400 a month. That's HUGE! Here's some easy tips on clipping coupons:

Invest in a coupon file system so you can find them easily.
Cut out more than you think you'll need. (You can always throw them away if you don't use them)
Don't buy something just because you have a coupon.
If something is on sale (that you use frequently), and you have more than one coupon, use them both. If it's an item you use regularly it's worth it to buy it for the extra savings. (Don't do this unless its something you use a lot, or something like canned goods that have a long shelf life)
Don't get hung up on shopping at just one store. Look through the sale flyers and see which store has the better sales for what you need to purchase.

I've added a bunch of coupon sites to my right sidebar. If you don't get the Sunday paper you can just go to these sites and print out the ones you want. Some of them require you to install a coupon reader. It downloads in just a minute and you'll be on your way to saving more.

Pacifier Addiction Withdrawals - Update

2010-05-28T05:01:00.000-04:00

I didn't want to bore everyone with daily updates, but I did want to continue, because I'm sure there is someone out there who needs encouragement that they can get through this. You can do it! Just have patience.

Day 4 - We made HUGE progress today. I noticed periods of time where she was actually playing and had forgotten about it. Not long periods, but progress non the less. Total crying time: Approx. 8 hours. YAY!!!

Day 5 - Much the same as Day 4. A few more periods of time without missing it, but not many more. I'm beginning to feel like its working though.

Day 6 - Today was MUCH better. She's still asking....and still crying, but she's going longer in between. Total crying time: Approx. 5 hours. WOOHOO!!!

Day 8 - I think we're going to make it. Lots of crying first thing when she gets up, lots of crying in the car, but other than that just a bunch of whining to see if I'll give in. She's truly ecstatic when naptime comes and I give it to her. We're down to about 2 - 3 hours of crying! YEAH!!!

I'm starting to think that maybe I was as addicted to it as she was :). After all I was giving it to her because I didn't like the pitch of her scream. Because it kept her quiet there was a benefit in it for the rest of us. But, around Day 6 I noticed a BIG improvement in her speech. Before, only about 50% of her words were clear, now it's about 75%. It's getting easier to have a conversation with her now.

Car rides are still the hardest.

I'll continue to update every few days on how it's going, but I don't think there will be any more drastic changes on a daily basis. If you're weaning your child, or thinking of doing it, just know you need to stick with it. You can do it!!!

Pacifier Addiction Withdrawals - Day 3

2010-05-27T05:26:00.000-04:00

SOOO tempted to give it back. I won't, but I'm losing my hair from pulling it all out. When we took the pacifier from Princess Smiles (who is now 8) it only took 3 days and then she stopped asking. Let me just assure you, this is NOT the case with Princess Joy. I'm not sure she'll ever stop asking at the rate she's going. LOL This is the face I get all the time when she's whining for it.

I was able to distract her for small amounts of time throughout the day - maybe 10 - 15 minutes 4 or 5 times. We're taking baby steps, but at least we're moving :)

Total crying time: Approx. 9 - 10 hours.

Hopefully we show better progress tomorrow.

Pacifier Addiction Withdrawals - Day 2

2010-05-26T08:09:00.001-04:00

Day 2 was not better than day 1. When she woke up I took it, and hid it, right away. Within 10 or 15 minutes she was crying for it. The entire day was like this. Crying, whining....whining, crying. Let's just say I'm almost bald from pulling my hair out. LOL I was determined to get through this, but not sure how much more I could take. Everyone was starting to complain of a headache from the constant crying, including her! I was sooo tempted to give in just for some peace and quiet, but realized that's what got us here in the first place. So, I stuck it out.

The lost pacifier was found in the afternoon by one of my older girls. She found it in the dirty laundry.....ewww! Thankfully, she brought it to me instead of giving it to Princess Joy. We made it! Somehow I'm not convinced this will get any easier anytime soon. We'll see.

Total crying time: Approx. 10-11 hours.

Pacifier Addiction Withdrawals - Day 1

2010-05-25T09:19:00.000-04:00

Let me just give you a quick overview as to how I got to this point in my life. Princess Joy is our 5th child. She was preceeded by her sister who was a VERY difficult baby. She cried 16 - 20 hours a day for the first year of her life. This made for 2 very weary parents. So, when Princess Joy entered the world, with some very similar traits, it was very difficult. The icing on the cake was that her screaming literally hurt our ears. If she started while we were holding her it felt like she was damaging our hearing. You know, the kind that it movies they show it breaking glass. She never broke any glass, but we didn't doubt that she could if given the opportunity. Not sure if it was the pitch of the cry or what, but we couldn't deal with it. So, we gave her a pacifier.

We soon discovered that it saved our eardrums, so we gave it to her whenever she would cry or scream. Well, in the past two years, we've had times where we've tried to break her of it, but she would get an ear infection, cold, etc. The crying would begin, and to save our hearing, we'd put it back in her mouth.

Now we have a two year old, who wants this thing in her mouth 24 hours a day. She cries for it all the time, and the pitch of her cry is no better than it was two years ago. Her world came to an abrupt halt, the other morning, when she lost it! The girls and I searched the entire house for it, to no avail. Six hours later, when my son got home from school, she was still crying for it. His finding skills are amazing, and anytime the girls are missing something he can find it for them. When he couldn't find it, I decided to suck it up and break her of it once and for all (after all she is 2 now). I was not driving 1/2 hour to the store to buy her a new one!

Bedtime came with a total of approx. 11 hours of crying/whining and me only pulling out a few hundred of my hairs throughout the day :). Then, as I was putting the kids in bed, I remembered I had a spare hiding! I quickly told myself 'NO! You made it through the first day. Just keep going.' But, to be totally honest, I felt a wave of compassion come over me. How hard this must be for her. She's had this thing all day, every day, for 2 years. So, I told my hubby I was going to give her the spare BUT only at naptime & bedtime. He laughed thinking I'd cave, but I knew I needed to stick to my guns. So, I gave it to her and told her she could only have it for bed, and then she had to give it to me the next morning. You should have seen the look on her face when I gave it to her. She was so excited!

(This is not a pic of her happy to have it back, just one with it hanging out of her mouth)

We started calling her pacifier the *blah*. When she was little she tried to say 'Pa' for short but it always came out blah. So that's what everyone in this house calls it. :)

Shutter Love Tuesday

2010-05-25T08:06:00.002-04:00

This has to be one of my favorite pictures. I don't have photoshop (or any other editing software), so this is 'au naturale'. It was the first picture I took that got me interested in photography as a hobby. With the wacky spring we've had my lilacs did do well, so I thought I'd reminice with this photo.

If you have a photo you want to share, check out:

The Indestructable Pacifier Teething Ring - Product Review

2010-05-23T16:34:00.004-04:00

OK, truth be told, my 2 year old daughter still has a pacifier. We're in the process of taking it, but that's for another blog posting. About a month ago, she started biting holes in her pacifiers, which I assume is because she's getting her 2 year molars. Anyway, she was going through a 2-pack of pacifiers in an afternoon. There are 2 reasons this is a problem for me.

1.) It gets expensive fast.
2.) I live 1/2 hour to the closest store.

So, on my next trip into town I found the RazBaby teething ring pacifier! I figured if it looked like a pacifier she might take it, and I hoped that she'd not want to use it as a pacifier because it's bigger and doesn't work the same. It worked amazing as far as a teething ring goes. It's indestructable! Never again will I need to buy another pacifier. I still have one problem though.....now she's using it as a regular pacifier. Because it's bigger I can't understand anything she says. I tell her to take it out of her mouth - which she does - but it didn't break the addiction. Oh well, at least it's not breaking my purse anymore :). It makes a great conversation piece too.

If you'd like to see what other kind of great baby products they have CLICK HERE.

Online Shopping + Frugal Friday = An Amazing Deal

2010-05-21T04:43:00.002-04:00

I've always been a window shopper. I'm not one to go walk around the store looking for a gift, etc. I'd much rather be home & look through a catalog, or online. Most of the time I will even buy it online.

When deciding whether to buy online or go to the store there is a lot to consider. I live 1/2 from the closest store, so its a 45 mile round trip for me. Not very practical. The gas to get there costs more than shipping charges. But even if you live close don't rule out shopping online. Here's my latest example:

When my daughter was born a friend gave me a gift card to a specific store at the mall. I never go to the mall . . . . and I mean never. I might have been 3 times in the past 2 years. So, I never think to go to this store, even with a gift card in my purse. Finally this morning I decided to check out their online store (I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner). Here's what I got:

5 pairs of shorts - ($10 each X 5 = $50 value)
1 pair of jeans - (1 pair = $15 value)
5 shirts - ($10 each X 5 = $50)
$5 shippin ALL the time.

$120 total +tax. This stuff is not ridiculously priced, but none the less, this is a TON of money. I wouldn't even consider spending this much all at once. But check out how it worked out.

5 pairs of shorts - ($5 each X 5 = $25)
1 pair of jeans - ($3.99)...I thought this was awesome :)
5 shirts ($5 each X 5 = $25)
$5 shipping

Ok, now I have the order down to $58.99. Here's another tip....
ALWAYS LOOK TO SEE IF THERE IS A PROMO CODE ONLINE.
In your internet search field put in the store name & promo code (or coupon code). There are sights out there that find them for you. You can get percentages off, free shipping, and more. I never place an order without checking for this first. I found a code for 15% off my order, which saved me another $8.10. Now my total was down to $50.89 +tax. Don't forget the only reason I was shopping at this particular store was my giftcard. Thanks to my amazing friend my giftcard was $50.

After they added in tax my total was $2.04. Yes, that's right!

$120 worth of clothes for $2.04! Now that's my kind of bargain!

I WON!!!

2010-05-19T05:02:00.001-04:00

I won this gift set from Gift-A-Cupcake! She was expecting her second baby and whoever came closest to the 'birth stats' won a set of bath items from Springdale Spa. It was me! And I have to tell you....I was even more excited when I used them. The scent is warm vanilla sugar and is amazing!

Gift-A-Cupcake offers these awesome gift baskets shaped like cupcakes. I recommend you go check them out HERE!

Cleaning Using the Three Step Method

2010-05-18T13:25:00.001-04:00

I haven't done Tip Tuesday in a while, so here's a new one.

I've read a few books on organizing, decluttering, etc. The best advice I ever heard was this....I call it the 3 step method.

Put it away
Throw it away
Give it away

The concept is to put everything into one of these categories. If it doesn't have a home then either throw it away or give it away. I know it sounds harsh, but its an excellent way to go about it. I'm not perfect at it - by any means - but I'm working on it.

I used to think, "I might need it someday" or "Once I get rid of it I'll need it." Then I heard someone say that if you are keeping things that you 'might' need or use someday then you are not trusting that God will provide it when you do need it. That totally changed my outlook. I'm working on decluttering. If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them.

Enter to WIN this HUGE GIVEAWAY

2010-05-15T05:42:00.001-04:00

Readers are Made on the Lap of a Parent is giving away 4 books, a personalized library bookbag, bookmarks, reading achievement awards and stickers!

This awesome giveaway features a personalized library book bag from HomeSpun Threads. The theme for the book bag is Fairy Tale Hero's. Your little princess could win a Princess and the Pea bag or your little prince could win the above Dragon or Prince bag. The books in this giveaway are the 4 shown above.

The contest ends Thursday, May 20th at midnight and the winners will be announced Friday May 21st.

Click on the link and enter to win!
http://onthelap.blogspot.com/2010/05/may-giveaway.html

Bed Bug Bumper - Product Review

2010-05-13T15:12:00.005-04:00

*DISCLAIMER* - This is a product review only. I am not advising you sleep with your child. Please do your own research on the pros & cons of co-sleeping before making that decision.

Here's a little background into how I came across the gobedbug.com website.

From the day my husband & I were married I always said I would never co-sleep with my children. I wasn't against it, it just wasn't for us. Then came our 6th child. It started the very night she was born. From 7pm - 4am she just wanted to be held. During the day she would sleep anywhere: crib, floor, car seat, it really didn't matter. But come bedtime and she would be up every 10 - 15 minutes if she was not in someones arms. Let me just say this got old fast. By the time she was a week old I couldn't function anymore. Then one night while absolutely unable to function I fell asleep with her on the couch. She only woke up once to nurse and that was it! I wondered if I was onto something. So I continued to sleep on the couch with her. I tried my best to be safe about it. I would sleep sitting up, with her cradled in my arms between me and the back of the couch. My back was suffering....but I was sleeping :)

I know there are many people who are dead set against sleeping with your child, whether it be for personal reasons or safety reasons. But let me just say that the safety of my other children, as well as my own safety, was at risk. I was falling asleep standing up while making lunches, holding the baby, etc. Not to mention the fact that as soon as I got in the car it was a struggle to stay awake behind the wheel. So please keep that in mind before giving judgement. Thanks! :)

Once I realized she was able to sleep at night, and it wasn't a matter of her days and nights being backwards, I started to look into products that might assist her (and I) in getting her on track (remember, I was against co-sleeping). I tried swaddling her tighter, I tried having her sleep in the car seat, I tried the womb bear/sleep sheep, I tried having her sleep with one of my shirts, and more. Nothing was working. Then I found the co-sleeper. The problem was that my husband and I were pretty sure she wanted body heat/cudding and that's why she was sleeping so good while being held. With a co-sleeper they are not technically next to you. I thought it was on the expensive side if it wasn't going to work.

While doing research on the pros and cons of co-sleeping (I was starting to give in to the sleep deprivation) I came across http://www.gobedbug.com/. They make foam bed rails that fit under your sheets but work like a regular guard rail. The whole reason they came up in my search was because they make one for co-sleeping. The cost was really reasonable ($20 + $6 shipping). I figured it was worth a try. After all, sleeping on the couch was getting old and my body was starting to feel it.

From the very first night we were only getting up once in the middle of the night. This was great considering she was only about 3 weeks old. I put her between me and the bed rail. It felt so good to get a decent night sleep. I'm still not totally comfortable sleeping with her, but now that I have a good month of semi-sleep, I've started working on transitioning her to her cradle. I recently heard somewhere that, when it comes to babies being able to regulate their own body temperature, women should really be pregnant for another 3 months. That would be the 'ideal' for the infant. I'm not sure whether this is true or not, but it seems to be the case here. She'll be 3 months old next week, and I'm already seeing a huge difference. In the mean time, during this transition, I'm very grateful I found go bed bug :). I feel safer than putting her between us and now I'm able to function during the day. If you have decided to co-sleep I highly recommend this item. You can visit them gobedbug by clicking HERE.

On top of the great product, the service was super fast. They also offer regular bed rails as well as additional products. Don't hesitate to go check them out.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T08:07:00.000-04:00

A Mother's Day Tribute

2010-05-09T05:40:00.001-04:00

My mother raised me on her own until I was 8 years old. At that time she married a wonderful man, who adopted me, and treated me as his own. She was only married to my dad for 9 years when he suddenly passed away. This time she was left with 4 children to raise on her own. Let me just tell you she is amazing! I wouldn't be the woman, or mother, I am today if it weren't for her love and guidance. She never gave up on me (that's for another blog entry), and for that I am forever grateful.

She is an amazing mother.

She is an amazing grandmother.

But most of all...

She is an amazing woman!

I thought it was quite fitting that she ended up getting married on Mother's Day weekend. I'm not sure why. Maybe because she's been an amazing mother and she deserves the perfect gift of happiness. Maybe it's just because so many have prayed, for so long, that someone would come into her life and give her a love like no other. I thank God for bringing her somone who loves her, makes her laugh, brings her joy, and puts a smile on her face. Now she'll get to be an amazing wife!

I Love You, Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

FROM FOOTBALL PLAYER

TO PROM QUEEN

FOR NOW I'LL TRY TO ENJOY THE "TRYING MY PATIENCE" TWO'S :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T06:38:00.003-04:00

I WON!!!

2010-04-24T16:17:00.002-04:00

I won this great set of mixing bowls from a giveaway that Kimmie @ Over the Moon with Joy did. They were donated by http://www.cookware.com/. I was so excited! But you need to hear why...

At Christmas time we always get a real tree. This past Christmas was no exception. So, we all go & pick out our tree, come home and set it up, only to find out our tree stand has a crack in it. Well, it was late on a Sunday night, so....What do you do??? Well, if you're my husband, you go into the cabinet and pull out my largest mixing bowl. Then you shove it in the tree stand (after all you can't hold up a tree with just a mixing bowl you know!). So we used the stand to support the tree, but used my bowl for the water. Needless to say, the bowl cracked. I was not a happy camper, until I realized (and told my dear hubby), "Hey, now I get to go buy new mixing bowls!" Well, I'm not a huge fan of shopping, so I never got around to buying myself some new ones. Then along came Kimmie's giveaway. And, well, the rest is history. I now have a brand new set of PINK mixing bowls. My girls were thrilled. You see, in their minds, there is now one mixing bowl for each girl in our family :)

I should have posted this a couple of weeks ago. Thanks, Kimmie & Princess Sunshine for pulling my name!

Sell It - Frugal Friday

2010-04-23T07:11:00.003-04:00

I recently heard on the radio that the average household has $25,000 worth of "stuff" they either don't want or don't use! Are you serious? All I could think was, "WOW! That's a lot of money!" So, here's my Frugal Friday tip. Start spring cleaning and get rid of what you're not using.

I'm a huge eBay fan. At one point, years ago, my husband used to tell me he was going to have to start nailing things down if he didn't want me to sell them :). But in all seriousness.....Why do we keep things that aren't being used? If we sold the items that are just hanging around, for even 1/4 of their worth, we would have over $6,000!!! This makes me want to re-evalute what I keep & why I keep it. Some things may have sentimental value, etc. but if they're just collecting dust.....

If there is something you want to purchase, and can't afford to, this may motivate you. I tend to use the money I make selling items to purchase my homeschool curriculum for the upcoming year. I don't like it to come out of our living expenses, so this works perfect. It does take some effort to sell your items, so if you don't want to take the time, by all means you can donate it too. You'd still be organizing and decluttering while helping a good cause.

Earth Day Giveaway

2010-04-22T12:45:00.001-04:00

Enter to win this great Earth Day package. Go to Readers Are Made On the Lap of A Parent to enter. Here's a picture of just one of the items you can win....

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-21T12:47:00.000-04:00

My newest pattern that is for sale in my etsy store.

Want More Comments on Your Blog?

2010-04-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

More and more I'm noticing I can't leave comments on some great blogs! If it's someone that I do not know personally - outside of the blogging world - I have no way of letting them know I think it's great. So, I decided maybe I'd post this and see if it helps. If you wish more people were responding to your posts, try this and see if you start getting more comments.

Go into your 'Settings' tab
Click on 'Comments'
Third section down is 'Comment Form Placment'
Make sure it is 'Full page' (not embedded below post)
Go all the way to the bottom & click 'Save Settings'

Try it and let me know if you see a difference in the number of comments you're getting.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T11:30:00.002-04:00

Dan & I celebrated our 9th anniversary last week.

He got me this Judas tree (also known as a Red Bud). They are absolutely beautiful. The bark flowers purple buds and then the buds turn to leaves. I was so excited.

I've admired these trees for a long time and now I have one :).

I've Been Featured!

2010-04-09T12:36:00.003-04:00

I know this is my personal blog, and not my crochet blog, but I'm so excited! Julie, over at RedHenStudios, had a blog entry today that included one of my afghans, which made my day :). I think this is a first for me and I'm honored, considering it's my own design. Here's the design she featured, but go over to her blog and check it out.

Thanks again, Julie!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T08:24:00.000-04:00

The babies are here!

(No, we don't have cows. It's the farm down the street.)

The Missing Socks

2010-04-01T08:10:00.001-04:00

I always heard that the washing machine eats socks and leaves you with all these mismatched pairs. Well, don't throw them away until you read my story.....

My girls socks started disappearing about the time they turned 4 and 5 (maybe a little younger). Because they wear the same size, they share clothes, so it was hard for me to 'point the finger', so to speak. After all, no one was really admitting to their disappearance. lol So, I just went out and bought more. Well, let me assure you, this gets old fast. How many times a year should I need to replace socks? Then daughter #3's socks started disappearing too. Maybe it's a conspiracy. Then, I started to think that maybe my machine was eating them after all. When we had depleted our stock of matching socks I would go out and buy more, with growing frustration every time.

Then I started noticing something. About a month after throwing away a sock its match would appear, out of nowhere, in the clean laundry. hmmm.....That's odd. The more I paid attention, the more I realized the socks were showing up at a later date. Obviously I could no longer blame the washing machine, so I turned to my beautiful girls for answers. After many shrugs of the shoulders, and "I don't know"s, I decided to play Sherlock Holmes. Once I started paying attention to their behaviors it all started to make sense. Their socks weren't making it into the dirty laundry. I was finding them in the shoe basket near the entrance door, stuffed between the mattress and the bed, in the bookcase....you name it.

Now that I knew I didn't have to throw away the 'extras' I started saving them. At one point I literally had half a laundry basket of unmatched socks. I was still listening to "I don't have any socks" all the time. I was frustrated.....to say the least. How was I going to get them to actually put the socks in the laundry, so I could wash them. Then an idea hit me. Make them match up the socks! Maybe if they saw how much work it was to sift through half a laundry basket full of them to find a match they might think about where to put them when they take them off.

That was a few months ago. Now, I match up the socks that come out of the laundry in pairs. Anything that doesn't match I give to them. They now have a laundry bag I keep all the mismatched ones in, instead of the laundry basket (we're making progress). It is then their job to match up the extras. It isn't 100% but it's so much better than it was a few months ago. We've gone from 1/2 a basketful to this....

Happy Sock Hunting!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-31T09:19:00.000-04:00

I have a handful of photos I've taken, that I love.

This happens to be one of them :)

Tip Tuesday

2010-03-30T05:20:00.000-04:00

My friend Rebecca at The Blessings of Modern Domestication does what she calls "Tip Tuesday". She has some great tips every week so check out her blog. This week, I thought I'd do one.

Here's a quick tip for organizing your freezer. Use boxes. It may seem simple but it makes a huge difference when you're looking for something.

Here's what part of mine looked like before. I took all the veggies and put them in a box. I took all the packaged chicken, hamburg, and other meats, and put them in a seperate box (not pictured). Then I put all the french fries, and other miscellaneous things in yet another box. Now when I need a bag of carrots I can go grab one instead of searching through all the items. Here's what this half looked like when I was done.

Maybe you can't tell from the pictures, but it makes a huge difference. Try it and see for yourself. Let me know if you have other great organizing tips.

~Kristine

Back to Reality

2010-03-29T13:05:00.000-04:00

For the first 3 weeks after out little Princess Sunshine was born I was amazed. I couldn't believe how well I was doing keeping up with everything and still having time to do the things I love. I crocheted 2 hats for her and started a couple other projects, I sewed a nursing coverup, I read 2 books....I was amazed! I didn't realize 6 kids would be easier than 5. I was keeping up with laundry, cooking dinner, and my house wasn't any more disorganized than normal (if anything I was getting more done). I really couldn't figure it out, to the point where I kept trying to understand how this was so easy. And then it hit me!

I had decided last summer to start school early with the girls (I homeschool), for the specific reason that I wanted to take a month off when I had the baby. Here I was thinking I had my world under control, when it was all really just because I was saving myself hours worth of school work every day. I knew at that moment that I would not be as in control the following week when we started up assignments again. So, I decided to do half days the first week so I didn't shock my system. LOL

So far, so good. I don't have a spotless house and I'm not doing 2 loads of laundry every day like I used to, but we're surviving. If I ever do have time to myself again, the first thing I may do is type up the dozen or so crochet patterns that I have created. For some reason, in those crazy first few weeks, I thought maybe I could type them up while nursing my new baby girl. Never dawned on me it's a little difficult to type with one hand. lol I wouldn't change this time in my life for anything. It goes by so quickly that I want to enjoy every moment before it's gone.

Frugal Friday and Power Shopping

2010-03-26T13:19:00.004-04:00

POWER SHOP!

Ok, so it's definately not what you think! Frugal Friday is about saving money, not spending it. So, here's my Frugal Friday tip. Power walk while you shop. Let me explain. When I'm ready to go shopping (grocery, dept. store, etc.) I make my list and I take all 5 girls with me (they are all under the age of 8). People think I'm nuts, but let me tell you.....this works. I've have learned over the years that kids have a time limit. They will behave in the store for so long, and then every mother knows what happens. They start to whine, have temper tantrums, act up, walk away from you, etc. This is exactly why I take my kids. They have their timers too. And they start ticking from the moment I walk into a store. So, here's what I do.

I make sure I have my list & I go as far as to try to put similar items together so I don't have to go back to an isle because I forgot something. (ex: frozen items, meats, etc.)
I take all my kids with me. (It's not that bad once you get used to it.)
When I get to the store I power shop! Walk as fast as you can through the store to get everything on your list. Sometimes I walk so fast my girls actually have to run to catch up to me :).
Do not stop to look at something that is not on your list!

I'm sure some of you are laughing at me :) but let me tell you this works for a number of reasons.

You will save money because you are not browsing while you shop.
Your kids timers will be ticking, so if you're smart you'll get out of there before their time is up.
You'll be getting just a little bit of excercise because of the fast pace you're keeping through the store.

Try it! I can go through Sam's or BJ's - with all 5 kids in tow - and spend $185 in 20 minutes. I know that doesn't sound like saving money, but that is for a family of 8 - for 2 weeks.

~Kristine

Free Dunkin' Donuts Sample

2010-03-25T14:21:00.001-04:00

I LOVE Dunkin' Donuts coffee. We head there every Sunday after church and have some 'family time'. So, when I saw this posted on a friends blog I thought I'd pass on the good news to my fellow bloggers. Plus, FREE is great!

Enjoy!

Time for Action

2010-03-25T10:39:00.001-04:00

For quite some time now - probably the last few months - I have been feeling like things need to change. Not in a bad way, but I need to make the changes. No one else can do it for me, and they won't just happen on their own. Then yesterday, I was reading my friend Kate's blog, and it totally confirmed what I needed to do. I've been thinking, for a couple months, about the changes I need to make, and how to go about getting the results I want, but that's not getting it done. It's time for me to take action!

OK, here's the story.....
Five and a half years ago, (I'm going back this far in hopes that my story will help someone), I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. That's when our world changed. The next 1 1/2 years was pure torture. My husband used to say, "If she was first, she would have been last." It may sound cruel to some, but she was a very difficult baby. For the first 15 months she was alive she would scream from 10pm to 4am every single night. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her.....so we would sleep from 8:30pm (when our other children went to bed) until 10pm when she woke up screaming. Then when she fell asleep at 4am, we would go back to sleep until 5:30 when everyone had to get up for the day. We did this for over a year. I never knew the ill effects of sleep deprivation until then. I had no patience for my other children and no motivation to do anything. Even when I was 'awake' I just didn't have the energy. My hubby and I both gained 20 lbs. that year. So, because of these circumstances, I was keeping up with laundry and getting dinner on the table. Everything else took a back burner, including keeping up with my home. When she was about 2 1/2 I realized that I needed to get my house back in order. That worked for a short time, until the next baby came along. So, here I am 5 1/2 years later, still suffering the effects of long term sleep deprivation, among other things. It's been a roller coaster. I'll do good for a while, then, because of a busy week or something else, I'd let things slide & we'd be right back to where we started.

OK, back to where my story. God has been telling me to take action and get control of my homemaking skills! The problem is, I've been working on the plans in my head but have yet to make the move. Then yesterday I read Kate's blog, and she was talking about similar things. I believe she even she even said she's going to use her blog to hold her accountable. That's when the lightbulb went on for me. I've been trying to figure out a focus for my blog. So, I'm going to jump on her bandwagon (so to speak) and use mine for much of the same thing. I'll still blog about homeschooling, fun adventures with my girls, etc., but I believe we are not alone. With the help of other mom's who struggle with the same thing we can do this. I've read books on organization. Now it's time to put them to good use. I'll start sharing some of the tips I remember and hopefully others have tips too.

~Kristine

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-24T09:42:00.000-04:00

An oldie, but a goodie.

This picture is 4 years old....but one of my favorites.

These are my 2 oldest girls. They truly love spending time together.

25 Laps Around the House

2010-03-19T14:38:00.000-04:00

I've got the itch . . . . . I've wanted to excercise since our newest addition was about a week old. I decided that was a little too soon, so I waited until she was 2 weeks old. I felt great and wanted to do something.....anything. So, I decided to give some floor excercises a go. BAD idea! My back was just not ready and I could immediately tell that it was not a very smart idea on my part. So I waited another week and tried again (I'm stubborn, & sometimes I don't learn the first time:). This time I only did it for about half the amount of time as my first go around. That was on Wednesday, and I felt pretty good. Well, today it is absolutely gorgeous out. So, as the girls were outside playing, and my new little one was sleeping, I decided I wanted to go for a walk.

Walking has always been my favorite. Whether I take a walk with my family or by myself I've always enjoyed it. But, for the most part, I don't take walks anymore. My husband works crazy hours, and because we live on a windy road with no street lights for two miles in either direction, it limits when I can go. I used to take the girls with me, but once I had the 3rd girl it became to much. I had to push 2 in a stroller and carry the other one because of the hills, no sidewalks, crazy drivers, etc....

Back to my story....
While outside with the girls today I had an idea. I could walk around my house. Maybe you've done this and it's not new to you, or maybe you think I'm crazy. Either way, I was excited. So I started doing laps. One side of my house has a walkout basement, so I have 3 level sides and one side with a hill down and then a small hill up. Perfect for me, seeing as I'm really not supposed to be excercising yet anyway :). So, I kept up my laps. The girls had no clue until about lap 20, when all of a sudden my 8 year old stopped me and said....."What are you doing?" To which I responded, "Walking." I guess that was a boring answer because her only response was "Oh" and she took off, in the other direction, to find her sisters. I'm looking forward to more spring days now that I have somewhere to walk.

Celebration Giveaway

2010-03-17T19:17:00.001-04:00

My friend Kimmie, at Over the Moon with Joy has this great giveaway! She's giving away this set of pink mixing bowls in celebration of their latest adoption from Ethiopia.

Go over, check out Kimmie's blog, and enter your name in this great giveaway. While you're there you can read all about her huge heart for adoption!

My Irish Twins

2010-03-17T09:40:00.003-04:00

Irish twins are "two children born to the same mother within 12 months of each other." Technically my girls missed being irish twins by 2 months (they're 14 months apart). But, I have learned over the years that those two months don't really matter. My girls are very close and affectionate with each other, and have a sibling bond that I don't know if I've ever encountered before. I have often told people it's like living with twins, to the point where they even finish each others sentences. They have been in the same size clothes since the younger one was 6 months old, and ever since they became the same height, I often get asked if they are twins. Most recently, their newest adventure is dressing alike, in hopes that people will actually think they are. Well, yesterday was their newest "we have to do things together" adventure. They lost the same tooth, on the same day. They literally had me pull them out one right after the other. They thought it was the funniest thing ever.

My hope is that someday they will include their "Irish triplet" in their escapades :).

(irish triplets: three children in three years)

My Irish Triplets (7, 6, & 5 years old)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ten Rules for Happier Living

2010-03-13T12:29:00.002-05:00

I read this in a book this morning and thought we could all use a little reminder. Sometimes it's the littlest things that will bring us the greatest joy.

10 Rules for Happier Living

Give something away - no strings attached.
Do a kindness - and forget it.
Spend a few minutes with the aged - their experience is priceless guidance.
Look intently into the face of a baby - and marvel.
Laugh often - it's life's lubricant.
Give thanks - a thousand times a day is not enough.
Pray - or you will lose the way.
Work - with vim and vigor.
Plan as though you'll live forever - because you will.
Live as though you'll die tomorrow - because you will, on some tomorrow.

~Kristine

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

These beautiful days have me wishing spring would come faster. So, I had to search for something that would remind me of spring.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T12:38:00.000-05:00

I am going to have so much fun making things for her :)

Diapers - Frugal Friday

2010-02-26T08:33:00.000-05:00

My children have always been on the large side at birth. Almost all of them weighed 9+ lbs (or very close to it). Three of them were so large that in the hospital I had the nurses looking for a package of size 1 diapers because they didn't fit into the standard newborn size that the hospital gives you. I always laughed. So, with this pregnancy, as with the rest of them, I went for my 3rd trimester ultrasound and they told me I was looking at another 8 1/2 - 9 lb. baby. I wasn't really surprised, but I will admit I was a little disappointed, seeing as I had been praying for a 'normal' size baby to deliver. So, when it was time to start stocking up and preparing for this little girl I naturally went and bought size 1 diapers. I didn't even consider the newborn size.

Here I am, with a 6 day old baby that still fits into newborn diapers! She went through the package the hospital gave us and my wonderful husband went out and bought another package of 'peanut diapers' for her. (I've taken to calling her 'peanut' seeing as she's the smallest newborn I've ever had :).

All that was for my Frugal Friday tip ..... Save money on diapers!

Obviously the first week or two babies grow very quickly. But after that there are tons of ways to save money on diapers.

Buy them by the case
Use coupons
Use a warehouse club that will give you a discount on the case, plus you can use one of there coupons and a manufacturers coupon all at the same time
If you have an abundance of coupons that will expire before you will use them buy a bunch of small packages and use a coupon for every one. This is also effective if you're not sure you will use a whole case before the baby outgrows them.
If you're not stuck on a specific brand (like me:) some generic may work well for you. You won't have coupons but may save just as much in the long run.

If you have any other suggestions I'm all ears. I've had as many as 3 in diapers all at the same time, so I'm open to any money saver ideas you may have.

Princess Sunshine

2010-02-24T14:12:00.001-05:00

Princess Sunshine

Arrived: Feb. 20

12:42 am

7lbs. 4oz.

22 inches

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-17T11:17:00.001-05:00

My 4 girls

A Heart for Adoption

2010-02-14T19:58:00.001-05:00

My friend Kimmie from Over the Moon with Joy has an amazing heart for orphans. They have 7 children (6 have been adopted) and are in the process of adopting their next daughter from Ethiopia. I would like to help them raise the money they need to bring this little girl home to her new family. I will donate all proceeds from the sales of either my patterns, and the afghan(s) I have for sale, to their adoption fund. If you would like to help Kimmie out you can purchase any of my patterns directly in my etsy store. Make sure you visit Kimmie and tell her you made a purchase from me (Kristine) to help support her and/or leave me a note when you checkout in my store. I'll make sure the funds go directly to bringing this little girl home to her new family. Here is a picture of some of the items I have added. I will be adding more soon.

Bubble Textured pattern

Fan Squares pattern

Quick & Easy Blocks pattern

Shades of Blue pattern

Post-Stitch Heart afghan or pattern

Preemie Basket-Weave pattern

Quilt Blocks pattern

Textured Star pattern

Purple Patchwork pattern

Winter Warmth afghan or pattern

Autumn Bloom Afghan is for sale.

Pattern will be available shortly.

Frugal Friday - Buying in Bulk

2010-02-12T15:23:00.003-05:00

You can save money if you buy in bulk. I know some of you are thinking that I have a large family, so it makes sense for me to buy in bulk. But, I buy in bulk even on items we don't use a ton of.

For example: I buy egg noodles & elbow macaroni in 5 lb. bags. If it doesn't come is a zipper seal bag I put it in gallon size storage bags. Most items that are non-perishable come in smaller packages on the inside, so you don't waste it once it's open. Companies are even making many perishables now with resealable bags to make it more convenient for storing the extra.

I also recommend buying cereal at a warehouse club, especially if you and/or your children eat it daily (or even a few times a week). Here's why....You get two bags inside that box. The part that most people miss is that the bags are larger than that single box of cereal you buy at the grocery store. Take LIFE for example. Most days, this would probably be my son's choice of cereal so I keep it in stock. If you buy a box of Life in the grocery store it is anywhere from $2.75 (on sale) to $4.99 (at a more expensive store). Here's what you may miss. Most grocery store boxes are approx. 22 oz. When you buy a warehouse box you get 2 bags, that are 31 oz. each, for about $6.49. It's almost like getting a 3rd box at the grocery store free (but you don't need to wait for the sale).

There are many other items that, if you pay attention, are a value to you wallet. Sometimes the math goes beyond the price....you may need to break it down by ounces, etc.

A Struggling Reader

2010-02-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

This little girl has definately had her struggles. From birth she didn't sleep more than 4-5 hours in a 24 hours period. (We survived 1 1/2 years of that). She has done everything 'late' from walking at 18 months to not saying a word until after she turned 3 years old. She does not like change to the point where she shows signs of mild anxiety when something changes.

And, did I mention she's very strong willed? My hubby used to joke and say there's no way she got it from him, it had to be passed down from me. I've decided it must be a combination of the both of us put together, because she's got me beat by a long shot. LOL. When you combine these 2 things......watch out!

She started out the school year very gung-ho. After all, she has two older sisters whom she watches. She's a slower learner than the other two so it's taking her a while to catch on to things, but she's getting them. I'm ok with that, but it has not been easy for her. She is struggling to grasp the concept of phonics. Letters and sounds are fine, but putting them together isn't working for her. On days like today, when that strong will kicks in, we battle. Not because she needs to learn it right now. I fully believe she'll get it with time and practice. I just want her to try. It's the effort I care about, not how fast we make progress. On days like today, it's the stubborness that drives me nuts! She decided she didn't want to try to sound out a word and down-right refused, to the point where she wouldn't even tell me what a specific letter sound made. Some days I just can't tell whether she can't do it or she won't do it. I've only had one other day as hard as this one. I told her she wasn't getting up until she at least tried and gave it an effort. (If you ever try this - it won't work if you're frustrated - then they just get frustrated). I left her there to think about it while I worked with the other girls. She sat there adamant that she wasn't going to do it for at least an hour. Then, out of the clear blue, she told me what the word was, and asked if she could be done for the day. ugh! Needless to say I was glad she could read the word without help, but my suspisions were right. Today it wasn't that she couldn't do it - she just wouldn't do it. I'm glad I didn't 'lose my temper' or get frustrated. That would have only made it worse. Praying tomorrow is a better day with a fresh perspective.

The Waiting Game

2010-02-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

For those that don't know me, I'm a black and white kinda girl. I just like to know what I'm dealing with, no matter what it is. Major things are not a big deal to me. (For example: our wedding photographer cancelled less than a month before my wedding and I was calm about it. I didn't see what getting worked up about it would do). Here's my downfall.....it's the small stuff that drives me crazy. Yes, I do believe I'm backwards but for some reason that's the way I'm wired.

I like to know what's going to happen and then I can deal with it. Doesn't matter if it's something 'big' or not. It's the not knowing that can drive me nuts at times. Maybe some would say it's a control thing, but I don't think so. I don't need it my way, I just want some time to prepare and/or deal with whatever it is.

With that being said, one of those issues for me is, when will this baby come? Mind you, I'm not sick of being pregnant, I don't just 'want it over with', or anything like that. I'm one of those people who have fairly easy pregnancies and I genuinely like being pregnant. It's the waiting game that can bug me. I just want to know when. For the most part it doesn't matter if it's early, on time, or late. I just like to be prepared....mark it on my calendar, so to speak. Don't get me wrong. I know it's in God's timing and His timing is perfect, but can't I get the date so I can write it on the calendar?

And then today God showed me something. When our children have a birthday (or anyone for that matter) we don't tell them what we got them for a present, do we? No. We like to surprise them. If we told them it would take the fun & suspense out of the time we put into our gift giving. God wants the same for us. This baby will come when God is ready to give me this precious gift, and not a moment sooner. Too bad I couldn't wait a couple weeks longer. She would make the perfect birthday gift for me.....

Frugal Friday

2010-02-05T14:04:00.001-05:00

Over the year or two I've noticed our food bill going up with each shopping excursion. As our family gets bigger it gets harder and harder to stay within a budget. I've tried different things to see where we can cut our costs. Some have worked, and some haven't. So, I've decided to share what has worked for our family.

One of the first things I did was create a dinner calendar. I downloaded a calendar straight from Microsoft. You don't need anything fancy. Just 12 months and one block for each day of the month. I make it out at least 2 weeks in advance, sometimes even 3. I started doing two weeks at a time because my hubby only gets paid 2x a month and I was struggling at the end of the pay period to have enough for another trip to the store. I found that by making this out in advance, I can buy items I use more often in bigger containers (which ends up costing less per oz.).

You then can look at the calendar, make a list of items you will need, and shop only from that list. By not 'winging it' you will make less trips to the store & if you really stick to your list you will spend less.

I'm not strict with this list. If I'm running late one day I will look to a day that has something quick I can make. I'll just switch the two dinners to make it work for me. This will also help make dinner at a consistent time each night. I used to start searching at 5:00 for something to make. We eat at 6:00, so this quickly became a problem.

For a brief period right around the holidays I stopped making a schedule. I found my stress level at dinner time was much higher. It didn't take me long to get back in the groove again. Now that I've been doing it a while I can definately see the benefits.

If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them. I'm always looking for more ways to cut back.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-03T13:53:00.001-05:00

Battling Fear

2010-02-02T14:25:00.002-05:00

I'm not one who battles fear normally. I usually think of myself as pretty calm and rational. But from the moment I found out I was pregnant again I have been fighting this fear of labor and delivery. For the most part, I have very uneventful pregnancies but the deliveries are the opposite. Most people don't know that I struggle with this, and I don't say anything, but this fear is very real. I have been feeling the need to blog about it.....so maybe I'm not alone after all.

Out of the 5 deliveries I've had, only one was 'normal'. The other 4 had complications, each one with a different issue. Unfortunately, my deliveries seem to get harder the more I have, so the thought of having another one has been scary for me. Very early on in this pregnancy I told my doctor "I just want to be a statistic." She looked at me funny. Then I explained myself. Statistics have shown that the more children a woman has, the early she goes into labor and the quicker her labors are. I have defied those odds with all of mine. She said that I needed to tell myself over and over, (and I quote) "Say 'I am average' and then believe it." I took those words to heart that day and have repeated it over and over.

Then a friend suggested I read the book "HypnoBirthing". I'm not into hypnosis (and told her that) but she said there were a lot of good suggestions in the book. I decided to read the book. I would take from it what I could and leave the rest. By page 3 I knew exactly why I was supposed to read the book. Fear creates stress and tension. When you have stress and/or tension it is counterproductive to your contractions and will actually slow your labor down. (Put aside the 'problems' I've had, I've also had very long labors). I'm still working on it, but from that point on I started to feel some relief about my upcoming delivery.

Today I got home from my dr. appt. and really felt like I was supposed to open the Bible and read something. I picked it up and opened it. What I was looking for was in Proverbs but as the Bible opened I looked down. God wanted me to see something else.....The very first thing my eyes saw were:

"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid."

Psalm 118: 6

From this moment on I'm going to keep reciting that over and over to myself. I'm planning on God doing something amazing. I have some great testimonies from this pregnancy already and I can't wait to see the testimony that comes from putting my trust in Him.

Jackpot !!!

2010-01-29T15:43:00.001-05:00

One of the things I have challenged myself to this year was to not buy anything at the craft store (primarily yarn & pattern books), but use up what I already have. The idea was to save money and de-stash my stash. I did give myself a small budget in case I needed something to finish a project, but other than that I'm going to see if I can make this work. My weakness is yarn, especially if it's on sale. I have an 18 gallon tote in my closet, plus a draw organizer full, so I have plenty to start with. But in the back of my mind I wondered if any of it would work with the projects I have planned.

I'm going to change topics for a minute but stay with me. It will come together.

Many of you know this, but some may not. I am due with baby #6 in the next few weeks. The other day I decided to go down in the basement to pull out the baby clothes and wash them. Because this is girl #5 I have plenty of clothes. I've learned over the years to label bins by size & season to make things easier. Plus, I also have all the bins in size order to make it easier to find the sizes I am looking for. (I'm not quite this organized with other areas of my home :). So, I get down in the basement, go over to the kids clothes and on the very top of the infant stuff there is a bin with no label. My thought was......"Hmmm??? There's nothing smaller than 0-3 months. Why would I not have put a size label on this?" I opened it up and I was like a kid in a candy store.

It was an 18 gallon tote of yarn, plus I found at least one crochet hook in there! As you can see by the picture I have tons of pink (don't forget I have 4 girls), but I didn't even remember putting it there. This has made my de-stashing much more fun. I thought I was going to find baby clothes. Now I have something to look forward to. I wonder what other bins of yarn I've forgotten about. This year may not be half bad after all......

Learning to be Organized.....Again

2010-01-27T09:21:00.000-05:00

First let me give you some background. When I was growing up, even into my late teens, I was a 'neat freak'. My sister & I shared a room and I can remember drawing an imaginary line down the center of the room so her 'stuff' was on her side & mine could be nice and clean. At some point after that things changed for me and it became more of a struggle. Maybe because I always wanted to keep things for that 'just in case' time/moment when I might need them. But, as you know, the older you get...the more you accumulate. But it wasn't always about the stuff. It just wasn't coming natural to me anymore.

So.....I'll jump forward to married life. Now you add 30 years of 'stuff' for both of us and what do you get? Double stuff :). We weaned out tons and gave away what we could. We actually did really well. We also had a homegroup that met every Friday at our home, so I had a reason to have the house spotless by Friday afternoon, every single week.

Then our 4th child was born. It all fell apart from that point on. Whatever glue that was left holding my organization together disintigrated. For those that don't know our story....let's just say she was a difficult baby (that's an understatement). She would cry 12-18 hours a day. Every night she would scream from 10:30pm-3:30am. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her. Just about every night when my husband would come home I would be in tears (I could still cry, the memories are that strong). I would wake up every morning and tell God...."I know you won't give me more than I can handle, but I don't think you're paying attention. I can't handle this!!!" I couldn't just take a nap during the day because I also had a 1 year old daughter & a 2 year old daughter. Friends and family became reluctant to call my house because they would have to compete with her screaming. Because this went on for 15 months, I had nothing left to give my house. I don't mean my family, I mean my physical dwelling. I was lucky to be able to keep up with the laundry and have a meal on the table at dinnertime. I resorted to casseroles because I could throw all the ingredients into one dish and bake it. I had no energy for anything else. Nothing left to give.

Around the time she turned 2 1/2 or so I remember thinking..."Ok, things are semi back to normal around here. I need to get my house back in order now." It was a long process. After all, I now had almost 3 years of habits that had formed (if you want to call them that). So, I began the process. Slowly. It seemed like I just couldn't get caught up. But, to cut myself a little bit of slack, I did have 4 children (3 of them under the age of 4), plus 3 years worth of catching up to do.

And then...I found out I was pregnant again. I was determined that things weren't going to happen the same way with this one. But, as it turns out, she was another difficult baby. At 15 months old we found out she had food allergies, which were causing her issues. Once we pulled her off of the foods she was allergic to & things settled with her I started getting things back in order...again.

Now here I am again. 8 months pregnant and wondering how I'm ever going to get back to where I was 5 years ago. I want my house back! I know it will never be perfect, but I want to be able to have someone knock on the door and not have to look around to see if I can let them it :). I'm determined to make it work. That was one of my new year's resolutions (that I wasn't going to make - for fear of breaking it).

Today will be Day 1. I'm going to pick myself up and try again. I have the knowledge, now I just need to apply it. I have to realize this isn't going to be an overnight miracle, but a slow process. Hopefully, by blogging about the tips I've learned over the years, it will be that constant reminder to hold myself accountable to what I have learned and what I want to accomplish.

Going Rouge: An American Life ~ by Sarah Palin

2010-01-19T09:13:00.005-05:00

I am currently reading Going Rouge by Sarah Palin. First, I have a disclaimer. I am not a political person! I am not reading this because I was 'into' the presidential campaign either. The only reason I picked up this book was because of everything I've heard from her regarding her take on her children & family. I wanted to see for myself what she had to say.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. She's funny and down to earth. She writes in a way, as if to say, she has nothing to hide. She gives her side of the accusations thrown around during the presidential campaign, but never comes after her accusers. Because I am not into politics I have a very hard time following them. Her style of writing makes it bearable to read and easier to understand.

The downfall.....If you're expecting to pick this up and read it in a weekend you might want to think again. It's not a short book. But then again, have you ever read an autobiography that was? I haven't. There is an upside to it though. The chapters are broken down so you can read for 15 minutes a day and not be lost when you pick it back up (which I like).

Whether you're a fan of Sarah Palin or just a fan of someone who would drop everything to put their family first you might want to put this on your 'things I want to read' list. If you're not a fan of hers, but willing to listen to what she has to say, you might be open to learning more about her and actually enjoy the book too.

All in all, I would recommend this book. If you don't want to spend the money on a hardcover book you can always rent it from the library (that's what I did). There's always eBay too. And when you're done you can resell it and get your money back :)

Random Dozen

2010-01-15T12:55:00.002-05:00

I haven't done this in a while, so I thought it would be fun. Here goes.....

1. When was the last time you craved a food--what was it, and did you cave?

MILK - PREGNANCY CRAVINGS ARE WEIRD :)

2. M & M's or Skittles?

NEITHER

3. Have you ever read the Bible completely through?

YES - BUT ONLY ONCE

4. How long does it take you to really wake up in the morning?

ABOUT 10 SECONDS (YES, I'M SERIOUS)

5. Have you ever been on a cruise? If not, would you like to?

NO & NO

6. Who is your favorite actress?

HMMM....DON'T KNOW IF I REALLY HAVE ONE.

7. ______ is something that I will just never understand.

COMPUTER VIRUSES - WHY CAN'T PEOPLE USE THEIR SKILLS FOR GOOD???

8. How much of a technology junkie are you?

NOT MUCH.

9. Do you enjoy selecting greeting cards for people, or is it more of a cultural "have to" for you?

I ONLY ENJOY IT WHEN I CAN ACTUALLY FIND SOMETHING THAT 'FITS'. I WON'T BUY ONE JUST TO BUY ONE.

10. When was the last time you got a new style/haircut?

ABOUT 8 YEARS AGO.

11. What do you enjoy shopping for most?

LITTLE GIRL CLOTHES, YARN

12. What's the last thing you think of before you leave the house?

DO I HAVE ALL THE KIDS???

At the End of the Day

2010-01-14T12:48:00.003-05:00

This is a year full of excitement for my family. But it has also brought some challenges and struggles, and we're only 2 weeks into the new year. I have recently been struggling over things that are being said about me - most recently on facebook. I want so bad to defend myself, defend my family. There are two sides to every story (always remember this). But, that's not what God has in mind. He told me to be silent. Ugh...not really what I wanted to hear :). For me that's easier said than done. As I type this I could cry over this whole situation. But, it's at times like these (when I'm on the verge of tears) that I'm reminded of Jesus, and all those who betrayed Him, all at the same time. I can't even imagine.

So, I prayed some more. I over and over heard God tell me to be the silent one. And then, I heard Him tell me that, I had to defend my actions to noone other than HIM. We are not perfect - after all, we are human - but we are forgiven. If my actions and motives are right, in the sight of God, then what else really matters. At the end of the day, at the end of my life, He will judge me, and the ONLY one I am accountable to is HIM.

If you are struggling with judgement, like I am, take heart. Jesus knows what it feels like and He did it for us. As much as I believe what God has spoken to me, and know it will be ok, it stills brings so much pain. So, I'll keep praying he replaces my tears with joy.

Princess Smiles turns 8

2010-01-07T09:16:00.004-05:00

My baby girl (well, she's not so baby anymore) turns 8 today. I was remembering a conversation I had with her when she was about 4 or 5 years old. She was telling me how her favorite princess was Princess Jasmine (from Aladdin). At the time I cringed. "Great" I thought. "She has to pick the half dressed, rebellious one, to be her favorite". I tried to stay calm, after all she was only about 4, right!?!? I wanted to try to convince her that there were better princesses she could have as her 'role model'. But instead, I asked her, "Why is Jasmine your favorite?" She very plainly exclaimed, "Because she's always smiling!" I hope I never forget that conversation. Her beauty wasn't important, her smile was. It showed me that my little girl saw what was truly important.

As I reflect back on that conversation it makes me think. Can I be like my daughter? Or, can I not see the beauty on the inside because I'm too busy seeing what's on the outside? I have learned a lot from my children. Maybe there was more to this lesson than I first realized all those year ago.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-01-06T09:32:00.004-05:00

FOR TODAY (1/6/10)...

Outside my window...tons of turkeys, eating our birdfood.
I am thinking...I would like to get a lot accomplished today.
I am thankful for...the woodstove that heats our home.
From the kitchen...baking a birthday cake for my little girl who will be 8 tomorrow.
I am wearing...jeans & a t-shirt.
I am creating...an afghan for my brothers baby (due in Feb.)
I am going...to the grocery store.
I am reading...Going Rouge by Sarah Palin.
I am hoping...to stick with my goals for this year.
I am hearing...my girls laughing.
Around the house...I still see my Christmas tree & decorations.
One of my favorite things...going out to breakfast.
A few plans for the rest of the week... my daughters birthday, start my taxes, & more.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...(add your picture here)

Original post from: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-04T14:55:00.004-05:00

I've always believed New Year's resolutions were a waste. Most people don't follow through with them (in my opinion), and therefore, why bother. I always just thought, "If you want to do something....do it now, today, don't wait for a new year". But I've recently begun to think differently. A new year can mean a fresh start, especially if the previous year was a difficult one. For some, the new year can be a time to refresh your thoughts, your mind, and your determination.

Websters defines resolution as the following.....a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something. The keywords in that definition are "determination" & "firm". Without the determination we are almost guaranteed to fail (I said almost....some may not).

Last year was a year of listening for me. I knew God was telling me change was coming. Change in friendships, change in home life, change in myself, & more. I know God is faithful, but I struggled. The loss of a couple key friendships, that I thought of as blessings, broke my heart more than those friends will ever know. But I knew I was on the path God wanted me on, and for that reason alone I continued on.

Then, as new years came upon us, my husband and I were talking about 'resolutions' and what the new year would bring for us. When I told him what I wanted to change about myself (I want to be a better wife, a better mother, have more patience), he told me not to 'beat myself up'. But I had to reassure him. These are the areas God wants me to work on.

So, as I begin this new year, I do have resolutions. But those resolutions are more about my determination to follow God's lead and do the best I can. If I stumble along the way. that doesn't necessarily mean I have failed. It means I need to stand firm and have the determination to try again.

I encourage you to have the determination to follow through with whatever your resolutions may be. Don't consider yourself a failure if you stumble or fall. Just pick yourself up & try again.

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-16T13:45:00.009-05:00

A friend recently posted about things they do as a family for Christmas. So, I thought this would be the perfect time to share my own. There are many things we do this time of year that I would classify as a 'family tradition' but there is one that I'm so glad we implemented.

The first year we were married I had read an article about a military family who, being low on funds, had adopted this tradition. At the time funds weren't low but I was very discouraged with how commercialized Christmas had become. I was looking for a way to downsize Christmas without giving up gift-giving all together. When I told my husband my idea, he was all for it. Now that our family is much bigger, it helps financially to know I won't go overboard.

It's plain and simple. 3 gifts. Jesus received 3 gifts from the wise men and in turn we give each of our children 3 gifts, to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas. If you ask them, they know exactly why we do this. They know we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. The focus then turns to gift-giving instead of gift-receiving. I love hearing their ideas for something my husband might like or even one of their siblings. And they're usually right on.

Over the years I have realized there are added benefits to this tradition.

You don't overload your house with toys that won't be played with in a month or two.

You don't overspend.

It has helped our children learn to not be greedy. They actually think about what they want instead of making a list a mile long - and actually, up until this year, they never asked for anything.

They appreciate what they get just a little bit more.

You are teaching your children that it's not about what they get - it's the thought that counts.

You are keeping Christmas focused on the birth of Our Savior.

This is one tradition I'm so glad we started. I'd love to hear some of yours. We're always looking to make new memories with our kids.

~Kristine

Friendship

2009-12-10T13:34:00.006-05:00

I have not written anything in a long time. I wasn't sure what to say, if anything. Life was busy, but who's isn't these day? So I wrote nothing. But recently I have felt to pick up my blog again, unsure of where to start. And then it hit me.....

I started this blog because I felt God was changing things up in my life. One of those things being friendships. I have had a hard time, more than once this year, over the loss of, what I felt, was a good friendship. I tend to take things personally even though I try not to. It just breaks my heart that a friend would willingly end a friendship without trying to work things out. Because I think too much I wanted to know what the true meaning of friendship was. I decided a good place to start was Websters, which says:

a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard

a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile

Those definitions lead me to believe I have lost two friendships, which was not really what I wanted to hear. So I decided a better place to turn was to the bible. The very first verse that came to mind was:

A friend loves at all times. ~Proverbs 17:17

Which leads me back to my struggle......Have I lost these friends for good? I do trust God and I know He will help me walk through this, but it doesn't make the path any easier. It does, however, have me turning to Him for guidance and direction.........Maybe I should have been blogging all along.

Changing Seasons

2009-10-06T12:37:00.003-04:00

After being without our computer for more than 2 weeks I've had some extra time to pray, contemplate, and look into some new ventures. I had been considering changing curriculums for one of our daughters who has low vision. In talking with a friend (thanks Kimmie) and doing some serious praying I've been looking into changing our curriculum for all the girls. The hard part for me is to change mid-year. In my mind - I like to prepare things ahead of time - it makes more sense to start fresh with something new. But as I seek out our options I don't think God wants me to wait another year. So I continue to pray and seek His guidance, so I can be where he wants me to be. It feels like life is changing with the seasons. I pray God makes our home as beautiful as the New England colors outside my window.

Just For Fun....

2009-09-09T08:42:00.005-04:00

My friend Kimmie from Over the Moon With Joy
who is a follower of Jenni (One Thing)...
who is a follower of Linda (2nd Cup of Coffee)-
who created this little meme...
...sucked me in.

1. When you go to Wowmart, what one thing do you get every single time, besides a funky-wheeled squeaking cart full of frustration?
Diapers
2. What is something that people are currently "into" that you just don't get or appreciate?
Flip-Flops

3. What is something that really hoists your sail that other people might feel "ho-hum" about?
Crocheting

4. Favorite song to sing in the shower or car?
Depends on my mood. Usually country. Sometimes worship.

5. A really great salad must have this ingredient:
Cucumbers

6. Advice in a nutshell to new bloggers (one or two sentences):
Be yourself, share your heart, and make friends along the way.

7. What was the alternate name that your parents almost named you?
Christy

8. What in your life are you waiting for?
To have a cleaner house, be a better wife/mother, & to be transformed into the woman God wants me to be. (I'm still waiting:)

9. You get a package in the mail. What is it, and who is it from?
Something I won on Ebay...

10. Today--what song represents you?
hmmm......so many to choose from. I'll have to get back to you with just one.

12. How are you going to (or how did you) choose the clothes you're wearing today? What do they say about you in general or specifically how you're feeling today?
Jeans & a tee because that's what I like to wear when not leaving the house :).

Hope you'll play along too! Copy the original text for the meme over @
2nd Cup of Coffee

Learning from our Mistakes

2009-08-28T15:02:00.003-04:00

I have always believed - and even shared with my children - that "mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them". If you don't learn then why or what needs to change for you to learn from the mistake? It always seemed like a fairly easy lesson to teach my children. Then our youngest entered the picture.

She is a joy, a blessing, and a delight........but sometimes she's far from easy. I'll give you a little background. She's been walking since she was 8 months old and it opened up a whole word of things to get into. I know this sounds normal, but for us it feels a little extreme. All our other children were quiet, compliant, and yes, even easy. I call her "Joy" - that's what she brings with her. Joy also tests my limits. She's a climber.......climbs on couches, up bunk bed ladders, tables, and more. No matter how many times she's told 'no' and removed from the object she's scaling she will jump right back at it in no time flat. Almost 2 weeks ago she was sitting at the kitchen table with one of her older sisters. I thought they were coloring nicely until I heard the bang. She decided to try to reach across the table for something and her foot slipped of the table bench. When she fell she hit the kitchen chair before the floor. She actually broke her collar bone (remember she's only 17 months old). Since that happened 12 days ago (but who's counting) she has fallen from the same bench 3 more times - one of those times actually landing on her bad arm. I'm just wondering when she's going to learn from this? I'm so glad she brings us joy......when she's not climbing of course :).

Oh....To Be A Princess

2009-08-08T14:32:00.003-04:00

One of our vacation days we took the kids to StoryLand in NH. I knew they were the perfect age & it would be a fun day. My girls are definately girly girls. They play dress up, pretend they're at the ball, and much, much more. When they met Cinderella they were quick to point out why this lady was "not the real Cinderella". They gave me an entire list of things the park had done wrong with picking out their version of this princess, but for some reason they were not bothered in the least by this imposter. They enjoyed meeting her and getting their picture taken with her but, to my surprise, the hightlight of their day was getting to ride in the pumpkin coach. Maybe it was because in all of their imaginative play they had never been able to experience it for real. Whatever their reason I will never forget their excitement.

New Beginnings

2009-07-03T09:53:00.003-04:00

I have felt for some time that God has been leading me in a new direction. Just some of the things I have felt God nudging me to do are:

I have known for quite some time that it was time for me to take a step back from some of the responsibilities I had committed myself to.
It is time to reorganize my house and do some cleaning out - so to speak.
I have also felt as if I will be reaching out and making new friends. (This is a stretch for me because I am quiet until I get to know someone).
Have a new focus for my household. (Ex: more responsibility for the kids, more focus for me so I stick to a schedule, etc...)

It was amazing to me that once I made the committment to following this path God was taking me down everything started to fall into place. I will be updating and letting you know about all that is happening soon enough, but I just want to encourage you that God may not give you the answers you are looking for until you agree to his wishes without questions. One thing I learned through this - and I'm glad it didn't take me too long to figure it out - is that God will be patient with us until we 'get it', so to speak. I look forward to sharing more with you in the week(s) to come.

Laughter

2009-06-16T13:46:00.004-04:00

Laughter does not come easy for me. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a miserable person. I enjoy my life very much, but I have a hard time finding laughter in the midst of life, especially when it throws me a curve ball. As God works on me I'm noticing my children are much more able to laugh at a frustrating moment than I am. I've decided I want to see life through the eyes of a child. My children have been such a great inspiration as I learn to find laughter in the little moments.

Outdoor Learning

2009-06-08T12:31:00.005-04:00

As we finish up the homeschooling year the girls seemed to have a little "spring fever". It was a very long winter here in New England. Once the warmer weather arrived there were more than a few days that we took school outside. From studying the wildlife to nature walks they always love the outdoors approach. It is always a favorite and the kids learn and take in everything around them. Here are some pictures from our adventures. We are looking forward to more warm sunny days. The learning never has to stop when you close the book.

One of my daughters named this baby turtle "Claws". She was very disappointed a few days later when I made her release him so he could go home to his mother.

Tap Dancing 101

2009-05-09T14:16:00.005-04:00

With a house full of girls I still get amazed at how much they love to dance & sing. Baby Giggles wants to dance sooo bad.....to the point where I have to pull her off the dance floor at her sisters practices. With recital time right around the corner the older 3 have been hard practicing. Yesterday they decided to practice in the kitchen & I just happened to catch this on video. If you have sound it makes it that much cuter......she was so happy no one stopped her attempts this time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35243761@N03/3514545278/

Memorable Moments in Homeschooling

2009-04-24T08:47:00.003-04:00

Last week was a very busy week. I had numerous committments and tried very hard not to let them interfere with our schooling. I think I took multi-tasking to a new level and tried to do "my things" while trying to teach the girls. On one of these particularly crazy days my 1st grader was waiting very patiently - as patiently as a 6 year old can be - for my help. When I came to help her she was sound asleep on her school book. It was at that moment I realized I needed to slow down - and maybe just take a nap with her :). It amazes me how much we can learn from our children - if we are willing to learn.

Crochet

2009-04-10T04:37:00.008-04:00

I love to crochet. It is so relaxing. I just wish I had more time to spend on it. My mother taught me when I was 5, but it wasn't until after I was married that I picked it up again. Believe it or not, after a few tries, it was almost like riding a bike. After many years of searching for 'just the right patterns' and not being able to find what I wanted I decided to try designing my own. It was difficult for me to try it. I like to know how things are going to turn out....and I don't like to make mistakes, so to go out on a limb and try something that doesn't have a pattern was a stretch for me. I'm glad I did. If nothing else it has taught me it's ok to try something new.....even if you do fail. Most of my patterns are basic, and so far all are baby afghans, but I'm always trying to take my designs one step further.

If you would like the pattern to any of them just send me a message. I'll be more than happy to share them with you. I will eventually try to add them to the blog. The only exception is the very first picture. I started making this from a pattern I bought, but the directions were wrong, so I improvised & created some of it freehand. But because of copyright laws on the part I did use I cannot share that pattern. All the rest are baby afghans that I have made for friends.

This basket-weave afghan was my very first design. A friend of mine had a preemie (10 weeks early) and I could not find a preemie pattern I liked. So this pushed my hand at designing. If you like it the instructions do include re-sizing info.

2009-04-08T16:56:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Dan & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. I look back on all that has happened in those years & I stand (or sit) in amazement. We have created wonderful memories, children, and an everygrowing bond. I love him more than the day we married & I thank God for bringing us together.

"They a re no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not serperate." -Matthew 19:6

Spring has arrived

2009-04-02T14:33:00.003-04:00

I went in search of some new spring photos to take. Here are a few I found.

New life is always a beautiful thing.

Motherhood

2009-04-01T13:11:00.005-04:00

Motherhood - I love it! There is nothing I would rather do with my life. I have recently stepped back from some activities just to spend more time at home with my children. After a few weeks of my newfound "freedom" - so to speak - a friend told me I needed to "take a break from taking a break". At the time I thought 'nope, I'm loving this' and I wished there was more time on my plate I could free up. So, the more I ponder my friends statement the more sad it makes me. If I was given the option of going out for a cup of coffee with a friend or going for ice cream with my husband & kids I'm happy to say I'd choose the latter. No offense to my friends but I'm glad I don't "need a break" from my family. I hope & pray I'm not alone. I believe our husbands & our children need to know that, aside from God, they are the most important people in our lives. I'm still a work in progress but I pray God shows me the path HE wants me to take.

Photographs

2009-03-30T10:06:00.006-04:00

My very first post! I had decided to put this project on hold for a while. I was very busy & felt the need to step back and review my commitments. Then we all ended up with the stomach bug, which circulated through our house for 2 weeks. A friend of mine encouraged me to pick it back up and gave me some pointers on getting going. (Thanks Kimmie).

The last year of so I have picked up photography as my new hobby. I love it. There are so many of God's creations that I want to take pictures of. I don't have photoshop or any other photo editing program yet, so everything you see is un-edited, but I hope you can enjoy them with me just the same. I figured I start my blog with some of my favorites.

Butterfly - This is the photo that started my love for photography.

One of our daughters has low vision and is unable to track fast moving objects. (Primarily animals & insects). They don't stay still longer enough. We saw this butterfly one day & I decided to run in and grab the camera. When I came out it was on my lilac bush. It stuck around long enough for one picture & it was perfect for her to see the true beauty of a butterfly - up close & personal. From this picture my passion grew to help her see the smallest of flowers - to the deer too far away for her to see. Below are just some of my other favorites.