Hi again,

Just a little update today. Thanks to those of you that have been praying along with us.

The other day I received lists of documents needed and questions to answer for a home study. Never before have I felt so inadequate as a parent! (except for possibly when I was under a pile of babies a few years ago....) These are good questions to be getting asked, but it is quite humbling.

Honestly, after looking at the list of stuff, I'm amazed that anyone ever adopts at all.

We have received some important additional information about one of the possibilities we were looking into that was quite negative. I'm not sure if that's a totally closed door, but it's at least a flashing red light! The thing about what I heard that distressed me more than even the immediate bad thing about it, was that I assume that the people who ended up in a bad situation were probably some nice Christian families just like us that had their hearts in the right place, prayed, had all sorts of stuff fall into place in order for it to even be possible to adopt....and then it all blows up in their face. Where is God in all of that? I don't know. But it scares the SNOT out of me to think that you could somehow jump all the MANY hurdles in an adoption, and end up in a bad, bad, bad situation. Kind of blows that whole if-the-doors-open-it-must-be-God's-will theory right out of the water....

So, you know...plenty to percolate upon.

I did come across an interesting verse that instructs people to help widows and orphans within their gates. So I'm wondering if that specification is important at all....and who counts as being "within my gates." I don't have any widows or orphans at my house, but certainly I do have those people in my own community and at my own church. Just thinking, thinking, thinking.....

It's kind of terrifying, actually, to ask people to pray for you. Especially when it's about a potentially hot-button issue of "Should we adopt more kids when we already have six??"

Today was my day to start asking a few select real-life friends to join us in prayer about this issue. We don't feel like we want to just walk into church and ask everybody to pray about it yet. The potential of people's off-the-cuff reactions (whether positive or negative) feels too heavy to deal with right now. Emotional reactions to the issue of adoption are pretty common.....we've got enough emotions of our own without inviting a bunch more.

After sending out the first "please pray with us about this" email today (to our pastor) I just about burst into tears. I was gripped with fear that they might eventually say to us that they don't believe God wants us to adopt. What if everybody tells me that we're nuts, lowsy parents to the kids we have, and that nobody wants me bringing a bunch of orphaned children around?

Writing it down like that actually helps....because I see the fear for the nonsense that it is. I guess it's just terrifying to try to sort through hearing from God and hearing from everybody else. And when your heart feels like you need to do something, it wouldn't feel too good to have the doors close in your face. Especially when your mission has the potential to save lives....

When trying to unravel my thoughts and desires about adoption, it can be tempting to over-analyze. You can out-think yourself about just about anything if you work at it long enough. When I think about what the Bible says about God's heart for orphans, I have to ask myself, "Why on earth would I doubt that God wants me to do what God's Word tells me He wants done?"

Adoption On My Mind

I've mentioned it here before. We have a soft spot for adoption. We've talked about it and considered it on and off for at least 11 years. Once again we're at a point where we're wondering, "Is now the time?"

Aside from that we're asking ourselves what adoption path to take. There are a lot of possibilities. (kids from foster care, or kids from many nations around the world)

We're asking people that care to pray along with us for guidance on this. Would you like to join us?

Here is Part One and Part Two of an Oprah show about families that adopted kids from Liberia. This is one of the options we're considering. (we had the idea before we knew about the show)

Had a fun outing with my kids tonite, seeing a performance by the MadCap Puppet Theatre. This was a combination of human drama interacting with puppets, and kind of blurred the lines between puppetry and human performance in a very interesting way. The people in the show were extremely talented. Often the summer reading events are kind of rinky-dink, and sometimes are geared to very young kids. This one my kids really liked. (even the 14 year old said, "It was actually kind of cool...")

Afterwards we used our summer reading program coupon loot to get free ice cream at Brewster's. Yumm!

Does anybody know why blogger hasn't been letting me fill in titles for a few days? It's annoying!

Justice in the Burbs--Coming Soon!


I have mentioned Lisa Samson several times here, and link to her blog over in the blogroll. This video features Lisa and her husband Will talking about their upcoming book Justice in the Burbs. I am looking forward to it!

I've been working working working on my book for most of the day while the children have played all around me. I came up for air long enough to do some baking with them (pound cake--it was delicious!) and a little while later made a quick dinner that wasn't one of my best culinary creations.

Toward the end of the meal the kids were getting kind of crazy. One child had been sent to bed for complaining (remember the Bedtime Train?!), others were making fun of him or acting spazzy because they were excited about having dessert. (others were just acting crazy because they like to)

In the midst of the chaos my littlest kiddo comes over to me with his bowl of dinner in his hands. He looks up at me and says in a super sweet voice,

"Um...mommy? I don't want to eat any more of this because I don't want to throw up."

I laughed so hard I almost fell over.

A Compliment!

One more thing from today. At the hardware store I was called a "pretty girl" by an older man standing behind the counter.

I did my best to look modest and humble (while appreciative), but..... it honestly made my day! Pretty AND Girl all at once? What a blast!

When I told my husband about it he asked me why it doesn't make my day when he tells me I'm pretty. it does, I told him. But you hadn't told me so today! ;)

What is the world coming to?!

Have you heard the news story about the woman who was stabbed and dying in the convenience store? Shoppers stepped over her, did not offer to help in any way, and took photos with a cell phone.

I. Cannot. Fathom. such a thing. Apparently we live in a society that is comfortable turning it's back in the face of suffering humanity.

Wow.

Here's a butt-kickin' article on Christian mothers in "ministry." Sure to step on some toes, but good food for thought!

Help a Family in Need

Today I want to tell you about a family that you can help.

Kate Estes is mother of 7. She and her husband run HandsAndHearts.com. Their baby Noah has been very ill, resulting in many trials, medical bills, and he still has a lot of challenges ahead of him! Their four year old daughter was recently attacked by a rabid squirrel. Another child hurt his leg. And now their van is having troubles too! I know that other parents won't have a hard time imagining just a little of how difficult things must be for the Estes family. You can read more about the Estes family and the specifics of their current situation here.


Many members of the Christian homeschooling community have come together to create a benefit for the Estes family, to help them financially. There is an amazing collection of downloadable homeschool products, books to inspire you as homemakers, fun stuff, coupons, and more! All of these items are available to anyone that makes a donation of at least $27. 100% of the funds raised will go to the Estes family.

I do not have anything to gain by sharing this with you, except the joy of getting to help do something tangible to help this dear family!

You can go see all the specifics of this wonderful benefit here.


This special offer only lasts from July 5-13. Please feel free to spread the word to your friends, family, and other egroups that might like to get involved.

Picture Time!

You rarely see a photo of me here. But today I have this one to show. I am holding my great niece Sadie! Isn't she sweet? My adorable 11 year old daughter is at the far left of the photo. :)

Mom's Song

Book Giveaway!

For those of you with voracious readers in your home, you would probably be glad to check out this Ballantyne Christian Adventure Library. My 14 year old son has trouble staying in booksbecause he reads so fast. We'd love to win these!

A Fun Site

I've known about this site for a little while, but just got a chance to visit it yesterday. If you are interested in a fun, wholesome, interesting place to watch YouTube videos, this is it! Educational and entertaining!

Bits and Pieces

I challenged myself to spend one hour working on my book tonite. Did it! I would love to get it finished this summer, but it seems like a huge goal even though probably 80% or more of the book is already written in rough draft form. How do you know when it's good enough? When do you stop tweaking??

Finishing my book is just weighing on my mind, so I've told myself that I need to treat the project like a school assignment and just force myself to work on it until it's done.

My husband worked over 120 hours this week. I'm so thankful for a man that's willing to work! But it's been hard for him to be away from home so much, and although I am pretty good at keeping things going here on my own, I do get tired. At times when my husband has been away for a couple days or longer I often think of single parents and wonder how they manage to keep all the plates spinning without any of the relief that comes with a partner in the process.

My businesses are growing, so that's great! The growth is causing me to have to figure out how to handle various issues like when to reorder items, when to bring in new products, etc. Also, how to keep it all going plus add in homeschooling once August arrives. Ha! Should be interesting, to say the least.

We apparently have a leak somewhere in our water line on our property, which means that we have to fix it without any help from our water company. Ugh! I have been boiling our drinking water for over a week now, we have been waiting for days for someone to come and start digging up our yard, and my husband spent time in his smidgen of time at home trying to dig to the water line (3 feet under ground) in hopes that maybe he'd find the leak easily and we could fix it ourselves. Now we have piles of dirt in our yard, and have transplanted hostas that needed to move out of the way.

At least one of our chickens has now laid two eggs! This is quite exciting for us since we were not expecting any eggs until October at least. Today's egg laying was even witnessed by my daughter, husband, and myself. Cool and gross all rolled into one! :)

I have several (at least) organization and household projects that I would like to get done before I start homeschooling. My suspicion is that these may not get done until public school starts up and I have some quieter time during the day. School will be in session for at least 10 days before my preschooler will be going to school, so I was kind of thinking that I probably wouldn't start homeschooling until preschool begins. So, there's a time buffer possibility there.

That's about the size of it. Til next time....

New Contest

Lots of great giveaways over at 5 Minutes for Mom!

So, I've been out of town....

and that's why I haven't been posting. We made a 14 hour trek to my husband's parent's home and were gone for a week. We got to meet our new great niece, and saw another niece get married. Also had dinner with a longtime friend (25 years!!!) and visited with some other old friends. So, overall a good trip.

Got home to some sad news, though. Liam, whose mom writes Sweet Salty, has passed on, as have three of the Morrison sextuplets. All of these babies have been on my mind and prayer list, and it was tough to see what had happened while I've been away from the computer.

Nothing else to report. What can a person say following news like that?

Born Into Brothels-movie review

I watched the documentary Born Into Brothels eariler this week. This film follows a photographer that lives in the Red Light district of Caluctta, India, and gets to know the families there--including the many children. She begins to teach the children photography, and then we get to see their lives through their own eyes.

Seeing how these children and their families live is one of those eye-opening experiences. I don't know how many times I found myself with my hand clasped over my mouth saying, "Oh. My. Goodness."

Generations of families are stuck in a life of crime, drug use, prostitution. Their children have all the charm, sweetness, intelligence, and wishes of children anywhere....except their realize what their life is going to become. I heard 10 year old girls talk about how the older women would ask her, "When are you going to join the line?" (meaning, start working prostitution for a living) The little girl's response? "I guess it won't be long now......"

It's a moving film, with some tragedy and inspiration both included. Worth watching.

Katy, Katy, Katy....

I can always count on Katy to provide subject matter for me to discuss! Today she asked:

hi there Dollymama...just wanted to check in...say hi...and ask you about your church out of sheer curiosity (and the fact that hubby and I are rethinking our church right now)...did you say that you were a member of an emerging church...I have no idea what that is and am currently "collecting" people's church experiences

OK. Well, if you ever send me your email I would send you a link to my church so you could go take a look and even listen to sermons. Just so you know, I have the comments set to moderated all the time now, so you can send your email without me having to publish it for the rest of the world to see. :)

I don't know if my church would count as emerging or not. I think we share some of the same goals as some emerging church stuff, such as striving to be relevant to a culture that thinks they don't need God or Jesus. However, we have a huge emphasis on uplifting the relationship between parents and kids, so that's different from most emerging church type stuff I think. (or so says my lead pastor, when I asked him if we were "emerging" :) )

Our church was started just a couple years ago and it's structure is based on a lot of cool ideas. Many of these ideas were inspired by or modeled after Andy Stanley's church. We do KidStuf on Sundays, which is loads of fun and helps parents and kids learn together. Never before have I known what my kids were learning about in church, or had any shared experience relating to the subject matter to inspire conversations about these things. Now we do, and that works very well for us.

For us, with a growing family, it was always a struggle for us to be a part of churches that laid on tons of pressure to "be faithful" by attending every. single. event. they had going on. If they planned it, we were expected to be there. While it can be nice at first to have lots of church activities, for us it lead to burnout, and then discouragement at realizing our church structure was kind of sucking the life out of us, asking us to not do the best thing for our kids (like get them to bed at a reasonable hour--we actually heard from the pulpit at one church that when you put your child's bedtime before a church service, you are teaching your children that God is not important to you...), and making it nearly impossible for the church attenders to have real relationships with each other since they were all so busy working at church. When we realized our choice was either to have no friends, or make friends while working the "fast track" at church, we took a hike. Now we have a church that only meets on Sunday mornings. No Sunday night. No prayer meeting. No weekly youth group. No weekly Bible study. Just room. to. breathe! We do have optional small groups available, and you sign on for those for a set period of time (like a year, 18 months, etc.). After that time is up, new groups are available, so hopefully you get to know some other people too. We did a small term group (7 weeks)that met weekly, an 18 month long group that met weekly, and now are only doing youth group (which is for parents and their teens!) which only meets monthly right now which is better for our current schedule.

Is it a perfect church? Nope. There's no such thing. But it's unique and meets a lot of the needs that we have.

Here are some of the particulars from our church, since you said you were interested:

Who We Are

Our church was started, because we saw the plight of American families. Ripped by divorce, financial instability, and relational conflict, we came to see that the way we were doing church actually made it tougher on families. We were telling parents that we could give their kids everything they needed morally and spiritually in just an hour or two each week, but we never had enough resources, volunteers, or time to make it happen. We also asked families to come to church many different times throughout the week…and scatter to different parts of the building. Parents had to “pry” what their kids were being taught out of them, often unsuccessfully.

So we started asking questions. What would a church look like that assumed a supporting role in the moral and spiritual development of kids (instead of the primary role)? What would a church look like that empowered parents to do what they are uniquely positioned to do: shape the hearts and character of their own children? What would a church look like that helped single parents who are strapped for time make the most of their time in their schedule and with their children? What would a church look like that pared down its programming and scheduling to something more “synchronized” and less “schizophrenic?”
We’re not simply different because we dress casually or use guitars and drums in our corporate worship (lots of people do that today). We’re different, because we believe that the way we’ve been doing church isn’t working anymore. We’re committed to making church work.

What We Believe

If you’re familiar with the Apostle’s Creed, you’ll recognize our statement of beliefs.
We believe in: The Bible as uniquely inspired by God, without error, and the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct. One God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, His Deity, virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial and bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father and His personal return to consummate history. The sinfulness of mankind and salvation only by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life. The resurrection of the dead; believers to everlasting life and unbelievers to everlasting judgment. The church as the body of Christ, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. We believe the church is comprised of all who have trusted by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Here’s how we put that into practice: In essential beliefs, we have unity. In non-essential beliefs, we have liberty. In all our beliefs, we show charity.

Our Values

Intimacy with God – We don’t want people to be religious. We want them to be intimate with God. We believe intimacy (in any relationship) requires three things: (1) unrushed and unstructured time, (2) transparency with our feelings, (3) mutual submission.

Strategic Service – We think too many churches are doing too many things. We ask people at our church to apply their hearts and hands to the place of greatest demand (our Sunday environments). We believe everyone needs to find a place of service.

Authentic Community - We believe accountability, care, and a sense of belonging are critical to balance and progress in our spiritual journey. These three things are best achieved within the context of a small group of like-minded, relationally-connected believers. That’s why we have groups instead of classes.

Relational Evangelism – Evangelism isn’t a program that a few people do. We believe that all believers have the responsibility of living out their faith within their sphere of influence.

Biblical Authority – We believe the Bible is our authority for how to live life and how to be free. Even though no one likes to have someone else tell them what to do, we believe that freedom can only come by living one’s life under the authority of the Bible (and what it teaches).

Passionate Walk – We believe the one thing God wants, more than anything else, from a person is that person’s heart. We want to see people following Jesus by giving God everything…and holding nothing back.

New Autism Resource

Timberdoodle has been one of my favorite homeschool resources for a decade. Now they have a special autism website that looks like it will be helpful for families and friends of autistic children. Check it out here.

Beating Back the Mess

My house is getting out of control. Although the main areas are generally clean, all around the edges we have a mighty pile-up of papers, boxes, junk, and stuff!

Yesterday my husband called from work to ask me to try to find something for him that is missing (and important!). Looking around at all the possible spots it could be, I felt really overwhelmed. Too many hidey-holes of clutter around here!!

I feel like there is just never enough time or energy for me to get a handle on everything and keep it nice. Obviously with eight people in my family, we ain't gonna be Martha Stewart..... But, I never quit trying to nip and tuck and improve things. Will it ever amount to an orderly home??

I spent a couple hours with the kids in my employ this morning, having them put things away, clear clutter, and generally spiff things up around here. The area we worked on looks good, but there's so many more.....

I've been taking some new vitamins for a couple weeks. I do think I have more energy, but not as much as I could really use.

Still haven't found that thing for my husband, either. But I burned the midnight oil last night, cleaning til 1am, so now am ready for a nap while the kids watch a movie. Do you know where the bank bag is?? If so, let me know! Thanks.

Autism Cases Going to Court

Here's an article about parents of autistic children getting their day in court. There are quite a few additional links pertaining to autism and vaccination there as well.

And Another Thing....

When it comes to concerts, I do not know why people attend bootie-shakers and refuse to shake (or even lift!) their booties! I felt so sorry for the entertainers at the Highland Games. Here they are, putting out tons of energy, giving us a great show in the blistering heat, sweat flying off of their bodies, and people are reluctant to clap, stand, or dance. I think it must be hard to provide an energetic show if the audience isn't giving something back.

Frankly, I went to the concert to ROCK! I don't get out much, y'no, and I wasn't about to miss my opportunity. So, if anyone from the concert reads this, I'm the thirtysomething woman that actually got up and danced the whole time Need Fire played. (there was a younger gal that joined me, so that was fun--sisters united in our mission to shake it!)

If anyone doubts the validity of "vibes" I want to tell you that they're definitely real. The woman sitting behind my husband and I was giving us the mental daggers because she didn't want anybody standing in front of her. I could feel it loud and clear! When I got up for the entire Need Fire concert I actually left my seat and went off to the side so I wouldn't block anybody's view. But as the night went on more people filtered into the open space at the front (near the stage) and were dancing. We were just in the second row, so even if we had been inclined to sit, we wouldn't have been able to see a thing. So, us sitting wasn't going to help her any. She kept shoving my husband's lawn chair into the back of his legs and clearing her throat just to make sure we got the message. A real fun-lovin' gal, she was!

So, if you see another blog with someone complaining of a guy in a red-orange kilt and his wife standing in her way of sucking the energy from the room at the Concert Under the Stars last Saturday, just let me know. I want to go by and say hi!

Honestly, I do want to be respectful of other people being able to enjoy the concert in their own way, but I was not willing to live with the memory that I had gone but forsaken having fun thanks to an old fuddy duddy. I'm thinking that people that want to sit and have nobody get up and dance at a concert probably should get front row seats or stay home.

(I've just made some cookies for my kiddos, and have been enjoying my new Need Fire CD all day. Fun!)

Save Time and Money with Menu Planning

Hey Gals!

I found out about a great new online service that helps you with menu planning (even healthy recipes and vegetarian menus!) and ready-to-print shopping lists! You can check it out and get some great freebies here.

Great Scots!

Hi all! My husband and I have just returned from a fun little getaway to the Glasgow Highland Games in Glasgow, KY. I took him to this festival as a birthday gift. Can you believe that this is our first time getting away without children EVER in 15 years of being parents?? Wow! We had our wonderful neighbor and long time babysitter stay with the kids while we went, so we knew they were in good hands. It was so nice to be at the stage where all of our kids are old enough to not be sad when we took off for a day and a half. A couple of years ago we would have walked out the door with tears in the background. Now they all just took it in stride.

The festival is a fun one if you enjoy Celtic/Scottish type things. We haven't gone to any events like this before but I knew my husband would love it. I borrowed a fab Utilikilt for him to wear and he looked positively yummy in it. ;)

We got to see lots of cool things like leather shields, bodhrans (my new favorite instrument), awesome hand-carved bows, knives and swords of various lengths and styles, and we got to drink homemade root beer (which is not very much like regular root beer). The people watching is the best, though, with lots of Rupert-type guys going around with amazing tattoos, braided beards and hair, huge wide belts, kilts, etc. I'll tell ya...if ever you thought kilts were for sissies, I dare you to go to a Highland Games festival and say that to someone's face. As the popular motto goes, "A Man in a Kilt is a Man-and-a-Half!" :)

My husband found a traditional wool kilt in an unusual orange/red plaid that we bought and looks great on him. I got some pretty, dangly earrings. We also had fun buying souvenirs for our kids.

The best part of the trip was the music! All day there were two music pavilions with artists and groups rotating through them. We got to see some awesome and fun music groups perform multiple times through the day, plus we went to a nighttime concert where we heard more. The ENERGY these people have is just.....fantastic!

We saw the Celtic Rock group Seven Nations. I guess they've been around for a pretty long time. Here's a youtube video of them:

We also got to hear Father, Son, and Friends. They sing more traditional Scottish music.

We also got to see the AWESOME, PRIMAL, TREMENDOUS group Albannach. WOW! This video can't possibly do justice to the sights and sounds of seeing these passionate performers blasting out their percussionistic delights! Fortunately we were able to purchase a DVD of Albannach performing live so that our kids could get to see a little of what it's all about. Hearing isn't enough!


My very favorite group was Need Fire. This is a great group to see in concert. Their fun personalities shine right through the performance, their music is catchy and fun for bouncing around, and they have a really nice polish to their live show. You can listen to clips of lots of their music here. I was so glad I was able to familiarize myself with their songs beforehand, because concerts are way more fun when you can sing along! :)

Some especially fun tidbits about this band: Lead singer and guitarist John is Dad to lead fiddler Dylan. Dylan is an amazingly talented 19 year old guy. He plays the fiddle, the piano, and the dirigidoo. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE to see bands using unexpected instruments. What a treat to hear the haunting, wacky sounds of dirigidoo combined with guitar, bagpipes, drums, and bass! Too. Cool. Dylan is a pretty cute kid with a fun personality, so I'm thinking it's probably a mighty good thing that he has his dad along to keep things with the girls under control. They get positively swoony over Dreamy Dylan. :)

Need Fire writes most of their own songs. I was impressed to see that many of my favorites were written by Dylan. Really, he's so impressively talented. It made me sorry that I didn't take my own 14 year old along to drink in the inspiration. At least I bought him a Need Fire t shirt and got all the guys to sign it. :)

Here are some YouTube videos of Need Fire.
This one is just a full length song:

Here are some concert vids:

What's for Dinner?

My four year old asked me tonite,
What are we having for dinner?

I told him, "Roast potatoes and ham."

He gave me a funny look and said,

"Gross potatoes?!"

A Great Money-Saving Deal You Won't Want to Miss!

An online friend of mine, Tawra Kellam, is having a huge sale on her wonderful, money-saving ebooks. Tawra runs the very helpful site, LivingOnADime.com, and she and her family are having this super sale in order to raise money because they need to move to a different home because of health problems.

This is a great opportunity for all of us to help others while helping ourselves with tons of new ideas on how we can save money in our everyday living!

This ebook package includes:

Menus On A Dime

Plan Ahead Leftovers

Quick Dinners

Money Management

Grocery Savings

Cleaning Cents

Kids Cents

Moving On A Dime

Debt Free Holidays

Gifts In A Jar

Pretty for Pennies

Plus they also have a bunch of bonus items from a variety of other businesses. It all adds up to $130 worth of products for just $35.

CLICK HERE to go to the sale!

Sad, But True

Ladies, here's a tip for you:

If the meal stunk the first time around, don't freeze the leftovers and think you'll be able to make a decent meal out of it the second time around.

For example: Tonite I pulled a mystery meal out of the freezer. I vaguely remembered it not being a big hit, but decided to thaw it out and see what's what.

So it was a pasta thing that looked like it lacked the right amount of sauce or something. I decided to see if the kids would like it anyhow, since most of them prefer no sauce, and I had no spaghetti sauce in the house.

My oldest son looks at me after taking a bite, and so as to not alert the younger kids to the fact that he hates it, silently mouths the words, "What on earth is this??"

So I go over to him and say, "Yeah, I suspected it might not be the best. What do you think it needs to make it taste good?"

A set up he couldn't refuse!

His reply? "Um....a miracle??"

He was right. I tossed it all. :)

90 Things

1. How old will you be in five years?
41 --woot!

2. Do you think you will be married by then?
I will have been married for 21 years by then!

3. How tall are you?
6'

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Going on a weekend getaway with my husband, meeting my brand new great-niece, and watching a different niece get married!

5. What was the last movie you saw?
I watched a 4400 episode on DVD last night. (getting tired of that show)

6. Who was the last person you called?
My mother-in-law, so that I could hear details about my great-niece! :)

7. Who was the last person to call you?
my husband probably

8. What was the last text message you received?
I don't do text messages.

9. Do you prefer to call or text?
call.

10. Do you have any pets?
I have six kids so don't need pets. But the kids have two hamsters and 4 chickens.

11. What were you doing at 12 am last night?
Sleeping.

12.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?
At Christmas (too long ago)

14. What color are your eyes?
dark brown

15. What time did you wake up today?
7:30am

16. What are you wearing right now?
gray t shirt, jeans, slip on shoes

17. What's your favorite Christmas song?
I don't like too many Christmas songs. I guess jazzy Christmas songs would be my favorite.

18. Where is your favorite place to be?
home

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?
away :)

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
Hawaii

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
I'll be basking in the fun of having a bunch of teenagers and young adults. :)

22. Do you tan or burn?
I generally stay out of the sun.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
I don't know, but I do remember never wanting any part of my arms or legs to be outside the covers, no matter how hot it was. (and we didn't have a/c either!!)

24. What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Dancing with my husband earlier today. It was hot...and fun!

25. How many TVs do you have?
One, and it doesn't even get TV channels. Just games and movies.

26. How big is your bed?
King.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Both.

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
with.

29. What color are your sheets?
blue/yellow, or off white

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three--one for my head, one for my legs, one for my arms. (I'm a high-maintenance sleeper, I guess)

31. What is your favorite season?
Spring or Fall (I probably lean a little more toward fall)

32. What do you like about fall?
The leaves, the sweater weather.

33. What do you like about winter?
Nothing!

34. What do you like about the summer?
Green!

35. What do you like about the spring?
The scent of spring air, and sunshine.

36. How many states have you lived in?
Two

37. How many cities/towns have you lived in?
4

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Not bare feet. (too dangerous with a million legos around!!)

39. Are you a social person?
Yes, although less so than I used to be. I can be perfectly happy alone for a pretty long time. It doesn't bother me to not leave the house for days on end.

40. What was the last thing you ate?
My vitamins!

41. What is your favorite restaurant?
Macaroni Grill (although they discontinued my very favorite dinner item!)

42. What is your favorite ice cream?
chocolate peanut butter (also known as Charlie Brown)

43. What is your favorite dessert?
something with chocolate

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?
Potato Cheese Soup

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
Raspberry, and my kind is made without sugar (no aspartame junk either).

47. Do you like coffee?
nope. Never got into that.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
Probably 2 quarts.

49. What do you drink in the morning?
Healthy Lemonade, or a fruit smoothie

50. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone?
I'm getting to like sleeping alone on nights when my husband works, but I also like snuggling up with my kids.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
On the right side

52. do you know how to play poker?
Nope, but I rock at Dutch Blitz!

53. Do you like to cuddle?
sometimes

54. Have you ever been to Canada?
Yep

55. Do you have an addictive personality?
For some things.

56. Do you eat out or at home more often?
Home almost always.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
No

59. Do you want any more kids?
That sounds like a trick question to me.

60. Do you speak any other languages?
nope

61. Have you ever gotten stitches?
yes, 20 in my face as a child (10 on my chin, 10 on my eyebrow)

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Several times, thanks to scary pregnancy issues. (not fun)

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
pool if it's chlorine free.

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats?
Window.

65. Do you know how to drive a stickshift?
Yes

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
Well, if it's extra money, then I guess clothes, although it's more a need than a favorite. I hate to shop.

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
wedding ring

68. What is your favorite TV show?
I have a few TV shows I enjoy: Lost, Brothers and Sisters, Six Feet Under (which is long gone now but was still a very daring show that I enjoyed a lot).

69. Can you roll your tongue?
yes

70. Who is the funniest person you know?
I don't know. My brother and oldest son come to mind.

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
not!

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
Jazzy Piano midi (and I love it, so there!)

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
I don't think so

74. What color are your bedroom walls?
Right now yellow with a horrid lavender being tested out because my husband thought it would look good. (it doesn't!)

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?
yes

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors opened or closed?
either

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
what a weird question

78. Do you flirt a lot?
I used to, but not anymore. My husband wouldn't appreciate it!

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
Honey mustard sauce!

80. What is your favorite food?
pizza or chicken fingers

81. Have you ever changed the oil on the side of the road?
No

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
Yes

83. Have you ever run out of gas?
no, but I've come close

84. What is your usual bedtime?
I aim to be in bed by 10

86. Do you read the newspaper?
just a local weekly newspaper

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
Alternative Medicine, and some other natural health type mags that I can't think of the names, and Better Homes and Gardens

88. Best comedian?
I don't do well with questions that want Best or Favorites, but I do enjoy Steve Martin

89. Do you watch soap operas?
No, unless nighttime dramas count

90. Do you dance in the car?
I dance while sitting in my seat! And I sing loud too. :)

Another Way to Earn $5

In the past I told you about Mom Product Reviews that were wanted. Now the same people are looking for reviews of healthy products. You can check it out and start earning money here.

The Bachelor--Yukk!

This recent season of The Bachelor is the first time I've ever watched the show, thanks to online viewing. I guess the concept of the show has probably been discussed bunches of times, but I've not kept up on it, so tonite's my turn.

Yukk!

First of all, I guess it must be pretty bad "out there" in the world for singles to find someone, because I have a hard time imagining a scenario where I would be willing to be treated like cattle, shuffled through "group dates" and having to prove my interest in a virtual stranger.

Secondly, I guess it must be pretty bad "out there" because all of those girls were going crazy for Andy, and frankly I thought he was a fake bore. If it wasn't for the circumstantial evidence of a fairly wide range of things going on in his life, it would be hard for me to not think of him as rather one-dimensional.

Third, how special could it possibly be to get "picked" by a guy you barely know to "marry" when just a few hours before that he wasn't sure if he would pick you? Honestly, if it were me, I'd let the guy know by that last date that if he wasn't already sure he wanted me, to please pick the other girl. It's not lucky to win that guy under those circumstances. It's sad.

And what's up with this whole asking the person to marry you? Nonsense! They barely know each other and set no date.

Like most reality TV shows, it seemed to me that The Bachelor does it's best to catch participants in emotionally trying situations, and exploits desperate young adults that should know better. If it weren't for the fact that half of marriages fail anyhow, I'd think it was irresponsible. But, I guess a couple that gets together on The Bachelor has as good a chance as anybody.

I think Andy and Tessa seem just right for each other--boring, fake, and annoying. Bevin dodged a bullet, methinks. Run, Bevin, run!

Homeschooling Decision Has Been Made...

I'll be homeschooling my 3rd and 5th graders next year. The Sonlight order is going out today. Let the adventure begin! (and let's hope I don't lose my mind in the process....)


**I would also like to say that there is no way I would have been able to consider (let alone look forward to) homeschooling again without Sonlight Curriculum. In the past when we used Sonlight it was a huge success. Every other thing I've done has had very mixed results, and I was rather frazzled trying to put it all together myself. It has been so great to contemplate homeschooling again knowing that I was going to get a complete set of Sonlight curriculum, where all the planning is done for me, and where I won't be looking for 3 Popsicle sticks and 7 cotton balls for a science experiment! It has been very freeing to throw away every homeschool catalog that has entered the house, and just spare myself from agonizing over every single subject and possibility for it. To me, Sonlight is a gift. I highly recommend it.

Katy, this is for you.

Katy asked in a recent comment about my opinion on immunizations, since she knows I tend toward natural health.

Well, that's not a question that will be real quick and simple to answer, but here you go:

Unlike a lot of other people in the pro or anti-immunization camps, I don't have a hard-and-fast opinion about this. Here are some of the things I believe:

-I don't believe that the current immunization schedule is set up for the good of children. I believe it is set up for the convenience of doctors offices, with the belief that it is easiest to get kids immunized when they are babies and their parents are running to the doctor's office every couple of months (or weeks). Basically, it's when they can get you there easiest. It's not because there is some magical risk for your child to get this disease or that when they hit 2 months old or whatever.

When our fourth child was born 3 months prematurely, weighing just 2.5 lbs., my husband and I got to see firsthand the medical thinking of "vaccinate now, think later." Because I had somehow missed having a hepatitis test during that pregnancy, they wanted to give our baby a Hep B shot right after he was born! This is a shot that is one-size-fits-all. They don't dose it like Tylenol according to weight. (it's funny how new parents will worry about whether or not they give the right amount of Tylenol, yet we're supposed to not care about the shots they get. Makes sense...not!) They just shoot 'em up, no matter how small they are. So, whatever chemicals, additives, etc. were in there, my child would have been getting 3 times more than regular newborn babies, when adjusted for his size! My husband had to get into a big fight with some idiot doctor about our son not getting a Hep B shot. All that we needed to do was do a quick blood test on me to show them that I did not have Hep B. Duh! They could have poisoned and killed our child with that shot, thanks to their nonsense mentality! I hate to think how many other premature babies sustain injury and suffer because of getting shots that should be delayed. (and, someone please explain to me how a newborn baby is in legitimate need for a Hep B shot anyhow....that doesn't make any sense!)

-I think that it makes sense to learn about each disease that immunizations are available for, and then make an educated decision about how badly you want to avoid it. My favorite book on this subject is The Immunization Decision by Randall Neustaedter. It explains each disease, including normal scenario and worst-case scenario, how a person can get the disease, stats on how likely your child is to get the disease, etc. Then it explains what the vaccine for that disease will and won't do, rates of effectiveness, and risks and stats for having the vaccine. (for instance, the pertussis vaccine is one of the least effective ones) To me it was so much more helpful than having doctor's office staff act like your child would die within a few days of some terrible disease if he didn't get a shot "on time." Once you can learn what diseases, risks, and likelihoods of all the pros and cons, you can make a more educated decision and vaccinate or not with greater confidence. Many people that I know have read the book adopted more of a pick-and-choose approach to vaccination, getting some, not getting others, delaying some to later ages, or spreading out vaccinations a little more to give the child's system more time to recover from each shot.

That book also has some information on ways to handle the diseases if your child was to get it. Some are pretty easy to deal with at home, others would be a nightmare.

Other issues that this book brings up include how vaccine efficacy gets lower over time, although there is not one pat answer to how quickly this happens. When elderly people's immunity to some vaccinated illness wears off, they end up so much sicker than they would have been if they had just been allowed to get the illness once in their childhood. But, vaccinating repeatedly (booster shots) aren't always a healthy solution either.

The book tells about other countries, such as Japan, and their vaccination practices and how their rates of complications from vaccines are much lower than the US when they start vaccinations at 2 years of age instead of at birth.

The Immunization Decision is an older book now, one that I got when I just had one child. So there may be newer, better books out today for you to check into.

One thing you can do in making your decision is contact your local health dept. and get stats on how many cases of various diseases there have been per year for the last several years. Of course, this is no guarantee of the future, but at least gives you some solid numbers of what has happened in recent history. (For instance, If nobody has gotten polio in the entire USA since the 1970s, do you really think your child is going to be getting polio? If you see large outbreaks of pertussis each winter, you may feel more concerned about that one.)

I think your lifestyle makes a difference, too. When we were homeschooling and super health nuts, I didn't worry as much about my children being exposed to diseases. When my kids went to school and we weren't keeping up on being healthy eaters, I felt they had a different set of risks and so I made some difference choices about vaccines at that point. My kids haven't had the chicken pox vaccine, but if they get to be older teens and aren't immune to chicken pox by then, I would give them the option to get the shot at that point since chicken pox is generally a lot worse the older you are when you get it. I'd never, ever let a baby get a Hep B shot since they won't be doing needle drugs or having sex with anyone in their infancy, but it may be something to talk to them about as an option when they get older.

I have had friends that spent a lot of time with international students or who traveled internationally for missions work, so they approached immunizations with their particulars in mind. Makes sense to me.

-New vaccines are always a concern to me. Vaccinations are Big Business and Big Money, and it seems there is a rush to push new vaccines on parents as often as possible. The Roto Virus vaccine has TWICE now been released, and TWICE proven to turn kids intestines inside out. That is so heartbreaking and sad! Greed is what puts these vaccines out into the public without sufficient testing and research. And children suffer. It's hard for me to respect an industry like that.

-The ingredients in vaccines are a concern of mine. Most people now know to be concerned about mercury in vaccines, so some vaccines have taken mercury out. Sadly, they have generally replaces the mercury with aluminum. Sorry, but I don't want mercury OR aluminum going into my kids. The CDC's Pink Book comes out each year, and it used to (don't know if it does now) have a listing of every vaccine and manufacturer, and includes the ingredients. You can actually look down the list and find, for instance, a single measles shot without mercury or aluminum, if that's what you want. Your doctor would have to write a prescription for it, and your pharmacy would probably have to special order it, but you can definitely find a way to get the shots you want, avoiding the chemicals you don't want, if you look hard enough. I know of many parents that choose to vaccinate this a la carte way. Spending the $35 or whatever for your own copy of the Pink Book would be well worth it for the parent that wants to be armed with a lot of information that even your doctor isn't likely to know. You can take it with you to the office, show the doc what you want, and have it ordered.

-SIDS is a concern related to vaccines. Some studies have shown that more babies die of SIDS shortly after vaccination. I have also read studies that have shown that SIDS is actually very similar/the same as mercury poisoning. Could it be that mercury overload is what causes babies to go to sleep and never wake up? Again, those one-size-fits-all shots concern me. Heavy metals accumulate in the body, they don't just pass through. So, your child may do fine on their shots when they're born, or their 2 or 4 month shots, but you may see that as they get older, they suffer more. Other things I have read suggest that AUTISM often shows up after about 18 months of age, which is right around when many children have gotten another vaccine cocktail with their MMR shots. Could it be that these kid's bodies just can't handle any more mercury, and now they are poisoned so badly that they are autistic?

Some of the damage that the ingredients in vaccines can do is permanent. I have to ask myself, "Do I want to vaccinate against this bad enough to take this risk?" Sometimes the answer was yes, other times it was no.

Obviously I'm no scientist, and I'm not trying to convince anybody of anything. I'm just bringing up some points that you could do your own research on and see what you learn from there. I did most of my reading and thinking about vaccinations years ago. I've been so settled in my approach to it that I have a hard time remembering all of the issues that convinced me to do as I have done.

One thing that I have kept in mind when I've read anything about vaccinations, is the question, "What does the author have to gain by convincing me of their point?" When someone has big money attached to their message, you might just want to factor that in.

A valuable lesson I learned from early regrets in parenthood (my first child is almost 15 now!) is to learn what you can, and make a decision you can own. When I let the herd mentality dictate the choices I would make, I was heavy hearted and regretful later. Since then I have done my best to make decisions that made the most sense to me, even if it scared traditionalists or offended my super-all-natural friends. God gives you your own children, and He gave them YOU! Do the best you can, pray lots, and move forward. There isn't a perfect answer on a lot of this stuff.

Hope this helps, Katy! did you have your baby yet? It's no fair that you can come here and read my stuff, but I have no way of checking up on you!! :)

Kids...They Never Stop Surprising Me

Yesterday my almost-9-year-old asked me if we could go to the library so he could get some books to read. I mentioned that we have tons of great books right on our shelf that he could check out. (Apparently he did not realize that we had books that might be of interest to him)

A few minutes later he comes upstairs with a book about Hudson Taylor (famous missionary to China) that was given to my husband by his parents in 1978. (Same age as my son is now) He dug right in and started reading, and is now hooked! He's been going around with the book, periodically telling me what page he's on, sometimes reading a line or two to me in his stilted stop-and-start outloud reading voice of a second grader, or tells me things like, "So Hudson said that God told him to go to China, so he's going to GO!"

This is the child that a year ago seemed like reading was never going to click. And here he is picking a random book off the shelf and gobbling it up. Too fun. I'm loving this.

(and, yes, I'm thinking of all the awesome Sonlight books he might be reading new year if we homeschool......)

Foxy Mamma

I found out about these fun shirts from Couture Moms in a recent magazine review, and decided to buy myself a Mom-to-the-sixth-power shirt for Mother's Day. :)

It arrived the other day and I was so excited! It's very soft and looks great! The bling is very pretty and is a good size and placement.

I had to run some errands so decided to wear my new shirt and head out. The shirt looked so great that I decided to get a little more gussied-up than usual. Just a little mascara and lipstick. And I left my hair funky-curly because my husband loves it that way. (I normally straighten my hair)

Then I got going and called my husband at work to see if he would have time to meet me for lunch. He did.

So I met him there, and the look on his face said it all.... :) But it was nice that he said it in my ear, too. "You look so foxy, I could fall down and die!!"

Ha! Sounds like I better be careful when wearing my new secret weapon, eh? :)

Funny Kid

We are a family of eight fairly messy people, and our car reflects that. Lately we've had a lot of on-the-go eating (unusual for us) so there was a larger-than-usual collection of napkins, McD's bags, empty cups, etc. plus jackets, shopping items, etc. sitting in the front passenger's seat yesterday when I picked my 14 year old up from school.

As he was trying to get into the car I was scrambling to move the junk out of his way. He got in and I said (in my best drive-through attendant voice), "Welcome to Crapville. Can I take your order, please?"

Without missing a beat he replies, "Yes, thanks! I'd like two dirty napkins, a partially smashed cup, and am empty Zone bar wrapper, please."

That kid cracks me up.

Shrek 3 Review: Don't Bother

Like lots of kids around the country, ours were very excited about Shrek 3 coming out yesterday, so we decided to have a special treat and take all of 'em to the theater. Setting aside the excitement of trying to get seating together for 8 (we didn't), I'll tell you that we had a split of opinion between the kids and the parents.

The kids loved it, they said. Why? My husband and I have no idea.

The music wasn't as good as the first two movies.

The story line wasn't as good.

There was too much reliance on old jokes, that now fell flat.

The stuff that was new also fell flat.

So, save your pennies. Rent it when it comes out. Maybe next week's new Pirates movie will be better. What are the odds?

Having a Good Mother's Day So Far?

Me neither.

My daughter has hurt her arm and I think it might be broken. Looks like a trip to the Urgent Treatment Center or hospital is in the works for later today. I just love how we *just* got all of our medical bills paid off, and now we can start with a new batch. UGH

My 4 year old son woke me up calling for me at 3am. Then he got in my bed. And then my sleeping was over. Hence, it's 5:55am and I've been on the computer for awhile now. I'm sure how tired I am will hit me right about as I'm stuck in the middle of something medical for my sobbing, miserable daughter.

One bright spot: A perk of having my kids in school is that they come home on the Friday before Mother's Day with sweet gifts. My daughter wrote me a poem that states 3 times "you are smart and wonderful" as well as insightfully pointing out things like, "You pretend to not need the things you need" and other gems. My 8 year old son made me this cute card that had this little fill-in-the-blank page:

My Mother's Name is __________ (which he misspelled, adorably) but I call her _mom_.

She is about _5_ feet tall (I'm 6 feet tall so this was a chuckle) and has _brown_ hair and _brown_ eyes.

I love it when she cooks _checkn_. (chicken, folks!)

One thing we like to do together is _tok_. (talk)

He favorite color is _pink_ (I don't really have a favorite so that'll work) and her favorite music is _kid stuf_. (which is our church music for our kid's program. I do actually like it, although it's not my favorite. I play it a lot around the house, though, so good guess.)

My mother is very special. Let me tell you why. _becaues I love her._ (AW!!!)

Too sweet!

My two kindergarteners came home with flowers in plastic cups. Love that! They also had cards with their handprints in them. They say:

This is my hand.
My hand will do
A thousand loving things for you
And you will remember
When I am tall
That once my hand
Was just this small.

Made me cry!!

Sadly, the preschool teacher seems to have dropped the ball on Mother's Day. Bummer. I love those little class project cards and gifts.

Mother's Day Giveaways!

Better late than never, I guess. 5 Minutes for Mom is giving away lots of fun goodies for Mother's Day. Hurry to sign up!

Tis the Season...

to ask oneself, What will we do about school next year?

In other words, our annual will-we-or-will-we-not-homeschool-anybody-next-year debate is underway.

My 11 year old daughter is really wanting to be homeschooled, despite an abundance of friends (and the sometimes unpleasant drama that accompanies them) and activities. My 8 year old son always wants to be homeschooled.

Having one kid already through our middle school, my husband and I were already anticipating bypassing the middle school for our daughter. But, she has one more year of elementary school left, so it wasn't next year that I was planning on. Now she's given us a pretty good list of reasons why she'd rather be homeschooled and why she thinks it would be better for her. It's an impressive collection of comments and thoughts, actually. And so, here we are asking ourselves if we can do it.

For a time I liked homeschooling my kids. It was the time before I was overwhelmed with the needs of 3 babies in 3 years. Now we've had a breather of sorts for 4 years, and we're fresh out of babies here, so it stands to reason that homeschooling could just maybe be a positive thing that perhaps could somewhat resemble the ideal homeschool that lives in my imagination.

So I ask myself through most recent days, "Do I think I could do homeschooling on a day like today?" There have been a lot of tricky days lately since my husband has taken on some additional work hours. Today was nuts. (whether it was pro-school or pro-homeschool nuts, I'm not entirely sure) I had 3 kids staying home sick from school today, and I was thinking to myself how I hate the pressure of their limited number of days they can miss school, and how if I was homeschooling nobody would be missing a thing. Yeah, they might not have felt perfect, but that wouldn't stop them from listening to me read them a good book or doing their math.

If we homeschool next year it will probably just be two of the kids. (The 11 and almost 9 year olds) The younger ones still really love to go to school, all 3 of them are in speech therapy and need to continue, and I think I'm more comfortable with the idea of bringing people back home once they have the basics of reading, writing, and math down. Seems more manageable to me.

Although my recent years of homeschooling kind of went down in a blaze of...something... I guess I haven't totally given up hope. I still credit my years of homeschooling my oldest two children with our close relationship and their capable navigation of all the crud that comes their way in school and activities. I feel like having had my oldest child by my side for the first 10 years of his life was a great foundation for our relationship, for his love of learning, and for his moral development. Conversely, I am concerned about my younger children that have not had that time by my side and are now being regularly influenced by others. I know I'm not as close to the 3rd, 4th, or 5th children as I was with my first 2. (the 6th kid is getting a lot of Mom Time this year so I do feel like we're pretty close) My 4 year old son's recent introduction to various sexual information by a fellow preschooler brought this to my attention in a rather upsetting way.

Yes, we may not be able to shield them at all times. And kids learn naughty stuff even at VBS, Sunday School, and at family reunions (or homeschool activities!). I know that. So, it's not so much a knee-jerk thing about public school as it is just a wake up call that time's a-wastin', my kids are growing, and we don't get any do-overs in this life.

Would I love to spend my days with a quiet house, working on projects of my choosing, taking naps, or going out to lunch with my husband? Sure. But I'm not so sure that I'd be proud of that choice on down the line if it meant that I wasn't 100% sure it was the best choice for my kids. I know that the past year was a needed one. But if I had known it was the only semi-quiet year I would get for a long, long time....I think I would have spent it differently! Ideally I'd like one more year to get some more of my to-do list done, and to get things ordered in a way that might make me feel more ready for homeschooling again. Because, I think that ultimately we will probably go back to our original plan to homeschool, and not hop around with it year by year so much. (yes, it would still have some flex, but I think we'd like to be more in the direction of homeschool being the default rather than school being the default as it has been for 4 years now) There are just a few things that my daughter has said that make me wonder if there's more information between the lines that she's telling me, and that if I knew the rest I'd for sure want her home. Also, I can't help but wonder if I put her desire to be home off for a year, will I have missed an opening? Right now she's still young enough to like her mom...most of the time. If she turns into a snarly adolescent in the coming year, maybe she won't even want to be home any more. (not that I can't still make her do it.... I'm just wondering where her heart will be in another year)

Of course, they need a sane mother too. I'm still not sure how to reconcile all of these issues. I don't believe that there is one right answer to educational issues all the time. But, I'm always trying to be open to the voice of God, my own heart, and the needs of this family as I look at another school year.

The Ultimate Optimist

You know you're in the running for the World's Ultimate Optimist when you can go to bed saying,

"At least it wasn't on the carpet. And it didn't smell bad. And it happened before we were already asleep."

and you're talking about a child's vomit.

Yeah, well, there was more to come after we tucked ourselves into bed.

And today I've got a child going crazy with itchy legs thanks to hives. And there's no benadryl in the house. Nothing's ever simple, is it?

Notes From the Underbelly

If you like Scrubs and appreciate parent/pregnancy-related humor, you should check out Notes From The Underbelly. Lots of laughs in this new sitcom! You can watch in online here.

Thanks

Thanks to those of you that prayed for my son's surgery today. Everything went pretty well and I managed to (mostly) hold it together. I was doing really well and was in a good state of mind until about five people in a row came in to tell us scary things and then tell us not to be scared. UGH! I had done a good job of helping my little buddy understand what was going on and he was not afraid, but once people started telling him "Don't be afraid!" and "If you are feeling scared you can just squeeze my thumb..." uggh! THEN he started looking afraid and I got teary.... Fortunately he didn't see me crying. The nurse and anesthesiologist swooped him off to his room so I think things we mostly underway before he had much time to get freaked out.

When he woke up he was really upset and crying a lot which was expected (I guess it's normal) but it's hard to watch. Later he told me the air he had to breathe was stinky and he didn't like it and he was crying, and he also wanted to know why I didn't come with him. When you tell your child that parents aren't allowed to go with them for that, it seems like a weak excuse. I hadn't prepared him for having to go with the nurse alone because I wasn't even sure if that was the way they would do it, and once we got going with all the people coming to scare us with the details of everything that would be happening and could go wrong, I couldn't bear to ask about it since I knew it would make me cry just to squeak out the words.

Thankfully little ones are very resilient. Moreso than parents, I think!

I'm glad to have it behind me, but still feel like I have a whole bunch of tears held back behind a dam.

ONE Fundraising Campaign contest

Mary over at Owlhaven is running a little contest, giving away a copy of Bono's book On The Move. Go read all about it here.

Prayer Request

Just a quick pop in to say that my 4 year old son is having oral surgery tomorrow under general anesthesia. We would appreciate your prayers for safety for him and sanity for me. I've been very emotional about this and would like to be able to go along to the surgery center and put on a brave face so I don't scare my little buddy. Better yet, a peaceful spirit would be a good thing for me to have. I'm not much of a faker. :)

Thanks.

Now Running The Mothering Triathlon: DOLLYMAMA!!!!

I have been running a triathlon here. My husband is away at work so I'm flying solo with the kids. Let's see what I'm made of, shall we?

First round: Drop oldest kid off at school at 6:30 pm for band concert. Return home to pick up 5 siblings and take back to concert. Find seating for 6 in crowded gymnasium bleachers. Sit through concert and small children asking in stage whispers,"Is it over yet??" after every song. Grand finale: Make a hasty exit with the entire group when the 5 year old declares, "I have to go POTTY!"

Second round: 12:45am. Wake up and enjoy a little game of My Kid Puked In My Bed (and on the carpet, and on the bathroom floor, and on me.....). Start the laundry brigade. Strip the bedding off the bed. Clean the carpet (if possible). Clean self. Clean kid. Go back to bed and try to sleep while feeling very, very paranoid that at any moment you will be showered with vomit again.

Third round: Who cares if it's Saturday? Get up at 6:10am in order to drive your kid to the drop off point for his band trip to an amusement park. Rotate pukie laundry. Notice that three other kids are already up. You might as well make some breakfast for them and plan to stay up now that you're already out of bed.

(Hopefully this is going to be the last of the thrills and chills for today. But what are the chances of that??)

Words from the Wise...

My mom left a comment on the previous post that reminded me of something funny. Here's what she said:

Long past due in my humble opinion! You have run yourself ragged feeding the troops for years! I think the dinner call and time limit is a great idea as well. Eat it or don't, it doesn't matter but there will be NOTHING else until the next meal even if they threaten to faint or die :). You go girl!!

My mom is not one to go around foisting her opinions on her children. In fact, I would say she shows superhuman strength when it comes to not saying things that I imagine she would like to say. :) She's amazing.

I can remember one time, though, when I had just 2 little ones and my mom came to visit. I think it was probably when I was about to deliver my third child. She was observing my crazy efforts to cater to my picky children's whims for meals and snacks, and finally offered this observation (very gently):

"Honey, I think you've taken the concept of Demand Feeding too far."

hahahahahahahahahHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHahahahahahaahaha

Too true!

I've laughed and laughed about that daring comment over the years. An understatement, to be sure!

I'm happy to report that meals are going fine. I have not have to send any complainers to bed yet, so that's great. I was serving lasagna last night and some of my kids don't like pasta with sauce on it, so I decided to refresh the concept of Not Complaining in their minds before it got to be dinner time. I said to my littlest one (4 years old), "Now, you don't want to complain about what we're eating, do you? Because what will happen if you complain?"

He sweetly looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said, "If I complain I get to go on the beddy-bye train."

BINGO!

No complainers, and they all ate and even complimented me on the meal. (even the one that hates sauce the most)

I also taught them the fine art of nicely asking for a small portion if the item is not something they enjoy eating, and the difference between asking in a nice way, and asking in a way that is a form of complaint. They did very well.

My daughter, the picky one, is even showing signs of progress. The first night's meal ended up being something she likes, so there was no challenge there. Then last night she was invited to go to a church supper with a friend of hers. I told her that if she went she would have to follow our rule of trying the food that is served before eating bread and butter or whatever. I was pleased to hear that she did actually give the spaghetti a try even without her mother there to make it happen.

The meal helpers jobs are coming along well too. it's kind of a pain to have to make the effort to round up each kid as it becomes time for their job, but overall I think they are fine with doing what they do. My two kindergarteners are enjoying wiping off the table and setting it. it's great for counting (how many forks do we need?) and sorting, etc.

In my enthusiasm about my 16lb weight loss I started thinking about losing more weight, I realized what all of you probably already know: You can lose a pound a week by decreasing your daily caloric intake by 500 calories. Considering that a lot of people consume way more than 500 calories of coffee, soda, and juice, I am thinking this should be fairly easy for a lot of you. (just think! Give up that little bit of beverages, and in a year you'd be down 52 pounds!!) Unfortunately (or not), I don't drink any coffee, soda, and almost no juice, so it's not as simple for me to cut those things out, but I decided to start keeping track of my calories in order to make sure that the eating stays on track for at least a pound weight loss every week. My workouts are extra.

So, today is day three of keeping a food journal. I have been surprised to see that actually I was already doing pretty well on eating even less than my goal. Yesterday I did feel hungry (and cranky!!) through the day because I knew lasagne was coming up for dinner and I wanted to be able to enjoy it. So, I skimped on the eating earlier and had a nice enjoyable dinner and all was well and still ok in the calories dept.

I don't like having to look at calorie info for every thing, and I do find that it makes me feel paranoid about every little thing I put in my mouth. I don't love that, but think this is probably worth doing for at least a few more days or a week. If I could lose 2 pounds a week that would be really groovy, and I'd be 20 pounds lighter before our trip in June.

Blah blah blah weight loss, blah blah blah boring. Ok, enough! Have a good day!

16 pounds is a much more impressive way to say it

I was thinking that by saying, "I lost three more pounds" it kind of lacked the WOW of
"HEY WORLD! I lost 16 pounds so far this year!!!" :)

It's only about a pound a week, but I'm happy with that. If I only lose a pound a week, I'll be mighty close to my target weight by the end of the year. Either way, I'm moving in the right direction and that's a good thing.

Last night's dinner here was so crazy that I don't know if I can explain it well enough. Although my kids know how to behave properly at church dinners, restaurants, or if we have friends visiting, they are fairly monstrous when we relax in our own little society.

First there is the whining. What is this food? What's it made of? Do I like this? I don't think I like this. Can I eat something different?

Then we have one eater whom, to call her picky, would be one of the grandest understatements in the history of the world. This is a child for whom picky eating is both a fine art as well as a prison of her own making.

With 5 boys, ages 14, 8, 7, 5, and 4, there is no end to weird noises, odd body language, getting up and down from their seats, belching, farting, and potty talk.

Last night was particularly bad in most categories. My husband and I started out trying to get one bad behavior under control, only to have 2 more pop up in it's place. It was ridiculous. He finally stomped away from the table to drive the oldest kid to a school activity, and I sat at the table giving the kids a lecture about how Today Is The Last Day You Are Going To Act Like Wild Hooligans At the Table.

After dinner I did some thinking about how I helped our family make changes in other areas that were out of control. (for MANY years our bedtime situation was completely insane, but now I can get 5 kids to bed in 5-7 minutes with very few problems) I remembered that the most successful thing I've done is to obsess about getting the first thing under control first. So, that's what we're doing.

Today I am launching my REVITALIZE DINNER plan.

First, for the wild meal behavior, we now have a reminder poster on out kitchen wall that reads:

You COMPLAIN??
You get a...
ONE WAY
ticket
on the
Bedtime Train!!!

Interestingly, many years ago when our second child (the picky one) started being picky, I wanted to implement a rule that if someone came to the table and complained about the food, that they would immediately head off to bed without the meal. Knowing that it would only have to happen once or twice to convince the kids I was serious, it was a rule I was willing to stick to. but my husband thought it was too harsh.

HA!

He bitterly regrets that decision now that we have 1-5 complainers at each and every meal. So now we are going with my plan. I fully expect that my grocery bill will be lowered for awhile, and that kids are going to be VERY ready for breakfast most days, because it is going to take some serious drill sergeant behavior on my part to keep up with this. But, have no fear--I'm going to win this one.

Once we get them to stop complaining, I'll have to figure out what comes next. What would you think is the next top priority?:

eating your food
not farting at the table (trust me, it's for comedic value, not because he can't help it)
basic table manners and etiquette
staying in your seat

Let me know what you think.

I have also made a Mealtime Helper poster that gives each child a meal-related job to do. Until now I have done all the work before, during, and after the meals, and it is ridiculous. Now I have kids set up to clear and wipe the table, set the table, unload/reload the dishwasher, do the handwash items, and help put away leftovers. This morning when I showed them the chart they were all excited about the jobs they'd been given.

Last, but not least, I have informed Miss Picky Eater that her days of eating her own special meal are coming to an end. For a few weeks or a month (depending on how well I remember, and how well it's going) she is going to have to eat one bite of each thing we have eating. (Then she can eat whatever alternative meal she was going to have.) After we get used to the one bite thing, it'll go up to two bites, etc. I have to believe that she is going to get to like more and more things, or even if she doesn't, that it'll do her body good to have some different forms of nutrition.

I'm also giving her a time limit on getting the bites done (5 minutes) because I am not willing to have everyone's meal ruined with a whole bunch of drama.

And, if she doesn't want to be a good sport about it, I have a nice long list of privileges to take away, starting with talking on the phone to her friends. It's a good long list, so I am pretty sure she'll see things my way.

Diplomacy is one of my strong points. You should have heard the super-positive spin I put on this plan when I told her about it last night before she went to bed. She didn't even look miserable about it. (which only leaves me wondering if she doesn't believe that I'm going to follow through, or that she is plotting some way to try to thwart me)

Of course, my husband won't be a dinner tonite, so I'll be running this mission on my own. Should be exciting, don't you think??

Mom My Ride

This video is hilarious. Enjoy!

So now we know that when business gets busy, Dollymama readers get ignored. Sorry, folks! I can't do it all.

I've been meaning to put my two cents worth in on a movie our family watched. Like a lot of other families, we were looking forward to the DVD release of Happy Feet. I'm going to be a fuddy duddy and say that I do not consider Happy Feet to be good family-friendly entertainment. Waaaaaay too many references about sex. We will not watch it again.

Last night we watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" which explains the problem of global warming. I think that for a lot of people who may have been brought up without much consciousness about environmental issues (like me), this movie is an important one. It is interesting and explains how global warming happens and what the results are in our world today and what can happen to our world in the future if we don't make a change.

I was disappointed that there wasn't any practical information given on what we can do as individuals to make a difference. Fortunately, there is a web site that tells some very simple, basic things we can all do. The information can be found here.

The only thing I thought was kind of ridiculous about the film was it's political jabs. Yes, I'm sure that the current administration could have done more to help curb the problem, but a president doesn't have the luxury of focusing on one pet project all the time like Al Gore does. If he had left politics out of it I would have appreciated it. I think it dilutes his message.

I've been reading soem good books lately:

Unto The Least of These by Nathan Shaw is an excellent book about the need for Christians to care for widows and the fatherless. One of the things I most appreciated about this book was information about Bible times and history that confirmed my belief that divorced people qualify as widows and the fatherless as well. I borrowed this book from a gal at church whose husband abandoned her and their three children, mainly so that I could understand and empathize with them better. Now that I am reading it, though, I see that we are surrounded today by widows and orphans that desperately need healing and God's love (and God's love ministered to them by God's people!). I am also thinking this through from the perspective of someone considering adopting children that are fatherless. Really, our society is full of people who have these wounds, so I think it makes sense for as many compassionate people as possible to become more understanding of how to best help them. Read this book!

I am also enjoying a re-read of Anna Quindlen's Loud and Clear, which is a collection of her essays. I just love the way she makes me think a little (or a lot) harder about subjects I had already made up my mind about.

I have accepted a gig as columnist over at sahm.com in the Moms of Many category. You can go see my name in lights there if it gives you a thrill. :)

Today I went to work out for the first time in about a month. Between spring break, kids and me being sick, and just being too darn lazy to get over there, the weeks had flown by. BY know what? I lost 3 lbs. while I was away, so I guess my eating is helping anyhow. We're going to a family wedding in June so I'd like to drop off a some more weight between now and then. Must. Keep. Working. Out. and. Eating. Less!

I'm a Rock Star

This is the time of year when my husband and I start deciding what to do for each of the children for school next year. We homeschooled for about a decade, and have have some combination of kids in school for the past 4 years. So, homeschooling is always an option if we feel the individual kid needs it.

I go back and forth between feeling like I can or cannot do a good job homeschooling my kids ever again. Mainly, now that our "baby" is 4 years old, it seems that the hardest part of trying to homeschool with babies underfoot is over, so I think it could be done if we needed to. Now that life seems more manageable, I find myself thinking more and more about the benefits of homeschooling, and feeling like the time for it will come again.

The other day when I went to my daughter's class to take treats to share with her class while we celebrated her 11th birthday, her teacher said to me, "You've got to read what your daughter wrote."

She handed me a portfolio piece that my daughter had recently written. They were supposed to write a reflective piece about someone that had helped them learn. This is what she wrote:

Dear Mom,

I am writing this to tell you how much you helped me with reading and writing. The thing that helped me the most was the "Children Learning Book."* I can remember that you would sound it out then I would sound it out. or when you would give me some paper and tell me words to write and that helped me because I can write long stories that rate a 4 in the grades. Also you helped me understand things in the books we read. If you did not teach me I would be the oldest person in preschool. You have done so many things that have helped me now. Mom, you are the reason why I get straight A's in school. It is because of you and your nifty, little ideas that got me back on track.

I'll be the first to admit that at first I tried to avoid reading and writing and I wanted to stop. I used to think reading was horrible and I despised it. Thinking back it was a huge struggle for me to read and so I turn away from writing just the same as I did reading. I thought it was a waste of time and energy. But you helped me by putting the "Children Learning Book" in my face and tried to help me read and after that I devoted myself to it after I knew how. Now every day I dash down to that same book and read, read, read. Now I know that reading and writing are very important in the massive world of learning. Finally I could write with elaborations and details because you kept putting that learning book in my face.

I used to spell words horribly. I would spell words like "y z w m" and it never made a word at all. it was a mumbo jumbo mess of "words." Thinking back I thought every thing I wrote was a word, but I was wrong. My reading was also stopped by that writing jam. What influenced my change? It was your box of rice.** You opened it up and wrote "c a t" then you told me to write it and say it and I did. This helped me have a picture in my mind of what the word looked like, and I remembered it in my head and for some reason it helped me spell the word perfectly, with no mistakes. Now I can write words like that with little trouble. Or some times I can go find the words I needed in books. You have helped me become an independent person. Now I know that there are other places than the rice box to find words when I need help.

My goal is to be able to read and write very well so I can go to colege and get a job. And if I can read and write then maybe they will double my pay or give me a promotion. This all points down to you, the one that has put the book in my face, the one who got out the box of rice. You are the one that helped me get to my goal of being a successful person in life.

To sum it up I would like to thank you for all the things you have done for me and for all the hard work you have done to help me. I want you to remember that you are the reason I am what I am and you are the one who has helped me with my reading and writing. You are the one who put me up when I was far down in a never-ending hole until you filled the hole up with a million gallons of dirt that brought me back up. Thank you, Mommy; you are the best mom of the world. One time I want to thank you for every thing.

Your daughter, _____

WOW! WOW! Isn't that amazing??? I'll tell you....affirmations like this make me feel like a million bucks! And, to know that my child still remembers and appreciates so much from her few shorts years that she was homeschooled just made my day! She remembers things that I had forgotten.

I myself have risen up to call my own mother "blessed" many times, but I had no expectations of being on the receiving end of such a thing for a long, long time. What a breath of fresh air!!


*The book she is talking about is Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons." It is my favorite resource for teaching kids to read. It's inexpensive, simple, and quick. Much better than spending hundreds of dollars on a phonics curriculum.

**She is talking about a Tupperware container I had that had uncooked rice in it. The container was probably 8"x12" and shallow. The kids would use their finger to "write" letters or words in the rice. They would also say the letters out loud while they did this. The idea is that by moving, saying, hearing, and feeling the letters, it will stick better in their brain. Sounds like it worked for her!

Ok, Well, scratch that...

My MIL just called to say they aren't going to be able to get here. She's been getting progressively sicker since they left home yesterday afternoon. They stayed overnight at a hotel but are now heading back to their home. I'm sorry she's sick and that we will miss getting to see them, but this is does simplify my day a little bit.

Now I will do my penance by re-joining Flylady. Here I go!

In Times Like These....

I wonder why I didn't listen to the Flylady.

My in-laws are due to arrive here later today.

The kids were on spring break all last week so I'm way behind on everything.

The house is not ready.

Their room is not ready.

I have several errands I need to do this morning.

And my youngest child kept me up all night because he has been running a fever. Now I get to take a sick child around with me while I get things done!

Sounds like the start of an "exciting" day, don't you agree?

A little bit 'o culture

One of the things I love about Netflix is the wide variety of films and cultural experiences I can share with my children.

Tonite we are watching Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion performance from 2000. It's been fun to share this with them, since our opportunities to see CDS are fairly limited here in Kentucky. :)

Now I have several would-be contortionists and balancing acts going on in my family room.....

Aside from that, our chickens are probably at least three times larger than they were when we got them less than two weeks ago. It is very cold out so they are still living indoors. Our house is starting to smell rather barn-like. As soon as it gets warm they are going out. They are cute, but definitely outgrowing the live-in space we have available.

Win a Dyson Vacuum!

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting another great contest--this time for a Dyson Slim Vacuum! Check it out here.