What Seeds Are You Sowing?

This morning was one of those mornings where I thought I was going to ship my girls off to public school if I heard them argue one more time.  They were just. not. getting. along.  We were taking a break from studies and tidying up when I heard another argument break out.  Frustrated, I told them to separate and then meet me in the kitchen in 10 minutes.

A while back we ordered a book that a friend had recommended called "For Instruction In Righteousness".  There are some beautiful ideas in this book for using God's word to guide our families.  I decided to work with my girls on one of the ideas from the book.  So .  . .

When the girls met me in the kitchen I handed them two containers and had them go get some fresh dirt.  When they came back in the house I had them sit down and told them we were going to plant some seeds.  I handed them a packet labeled "Strife and Contention" with pictures of angry flowers.  (Since I only spent a few minutes making the packets it wasn't like they were perfect, but they worked.)  On the back of the packet the description read "Guaranteed to produce large, stinky blooms.  Long-lasting quality.  Ingredients: selfishness, anger, spite".

The look on their faces was pretty cute.  Giggles was alarmed that they might actually grow stinky flowers.  I urged them to open up the packet and get to work.  (The packet contained grains of rice.)

After they had planted their "seeds" I held up another packet labeled "Peace and Joy".

"Now, girls . . . this is what kind of flowers I want you to grow.  The description on the back here says that these flowers will smell sweet and be pleasing to the eye.  The ingredients are selflessness and humility."

They just stared at me for a second.

"Okay, start growing these flowers!" I urged, pointing to the "sweet" flowers.

Giggles looked confused, "We can't grow that; we planted the wrong seeds!"

This naturally led to a great discussion about what kind of "seeds" we plant each day.  I swear I've talked with them about this kind of thing before but have never seen such interest.  Gotta love hands-on teaching!  Some verses we studied after this were Proverbs 16:28, Proverbs 20:3, and Proverbs 17:14.

I hope that this might be a help to some other parent, because it certainly made a difference to us today!  :)

Lest I Forget . . .

My babe (Calico, age 2 1/2) has made some adorable statements lately.  A sampling:

Broccoli is "flower power".

Instead of simply being cold, we often hear, "I so feezing!"

Of course she wants to pray for dinner like everyone else, so on her last rotation her prayer went something like this . . . "Thank you for the God, and thank you for the Jesus."

I took a Sunday afternoon nap recently and was woken by my sweet girl and her handful of Polly Pockets.  While relaxing with her I yawned and she stuck a Polly Pocket in my mouth.  After I sputtered and told her not to put her toys in my mouth, she marched her Polly back to the other dolls and said, "Hi girls!  I just went swimming at the pool!"

Whenever she is asked about her age, her prompt reply is, "I am seven."  She thinks her 7-year-old sister, Giggles, is the coolest thing ever.

I was going on a quick trip to the store, sans kids, and had barely made it to the door when I heard a screech.  Calico came running to me, picked up some new (to her) Nike tennis shoes she had just gotten, and exclaimed, "Take me and my pretty shoes with you!"

During school the other day I was reviewing our science lesson with the girls.  I asked them, "Nicolas Capernicus rightly assumed that what was the center of the universe, that everything revolved around?  Before either girl could speak up, Calico shouted "me"!  (Side note: I really don't think she had a clue what we were talking about and just has excellent timing.)

One more.  In the above photo she had exclaimed, "I made a snowman!"  If you look closely, you can see the milk spill in the shape of . . . yes, a snowman.  :)

Camping's For the Birds!

Well, we finally did it.  The hubby and I braved the woods with our little crew of munchkins.  Thanks to an extremely kind friend we were lucky enough to have a camper to use.  We were also lucky enough to get to go with some good friends we met at co-op last year.  So. . .

We headed out bright and early Saturday morning.  Due to a last-minute change in vehicle, we ended up putting the dog in his kennel for the ride.  (He loves his kennel.)

 

He seemed just fine, but when we got to the campground we got him out and he had blood all over his head.    We weren't sure how it had happened but we tried to clean him up as best as we could.

For some reason we ended up getting to the site at the absolute hottest time of day.  I had planned to lay the little two down for naps, but it wasn't a reality with the heat.  So we wandered down to the beach to cool off.

After a bit we came back to the camp and finished setting everything up.  We had discovered a leak coming from the trailer when we started using the water, so we scratched the idea of water.  I have to say . . . at this point I was getting a little nervous.  Yeah, I know.  Everyone who reads this has probably camped in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a sleeping bag, but I hadn't.  We had a faucet with water outside the trailer so it was okay, just different.  

A big hit for all the girls was biking.

After dinner was the most anticipated (by the kids) part of the trip:  s'mores!!

That night we put Bubba and Calico down to sleep first, which went fairly well.  Our plan was to let the kids spread out in the camper and we would sleep outside in a tent.  When Spunky and Giggles came into the camper to sleep, they somehow woke Calico.  She started crying and woke Bubba.  He was the one I was most afraid to have woken up, because once he's awake he can stay awake for hours.  True to form, he laughed, and walked around the camper, and laughed some more . . . forever!  He didn't want the camper door shut with us outside, so I decided to lay next to him until he fell asleep.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem like either of us slept much that night.

The next morning we just relaxed and finally made it over to another beach.  

It was so cute seeing the little ones play in the sand.  

We went for a nice, scenic drive.

And came back to camp for a little bit of packing up while the kids played.  

What I loved:  seeing how happy the kiddos were, spending time with our friends

What I was challenged by: dirt, little sleep, cooking w/o easy water access, dirt, the dog bleeding, dirt

Yeah. I need to embrace dirt a little more.   

The day after we got home two girls went to the doctor and the dog went to the vet.  One girl had an ear infection, one had pinkeye.  The dog had cut the tips of his ears on his kennel, and there wasn't really anything the vet could do about it.  (Offered a surgery but said there was no guarantee it would help.)  The poor pup is still bleeding, and it's been a week.

Sigh.

I really feel like camping is something I need to like.  So, I'm working on it.  Everyone camps, right?  Until next time . . .  ;)

Summer 2012

While it may seem tempting as a homeschool mom schedule nothing during the summer, I can't seem to let it all go.  Call me crazy, but letting the kids choose their own activities twelve-plus hours a day has not worked in our favor!  They, and I, need some structure.

Last summer we did something fun by diving into the Little House on the Prairie Series.  Besides reading, we had friends over to create pioneer crafts.  We still have the bonnets we made in our dress-up box.  This summer the girls have been asking to do something similar, so we may read through the Anne of Green Gables books.  And just to help us do some of the things we really want to do, we're trying a fun new schedule.  It looks like this (along with our plans for this week):


MAKE IT MONDAY

Create wearable shoes from specific amounts of cardboard, fabric, and duct tape.  Here's the link to our inspiration.

TIME TO READ TUESDAY

Obvious one here . . . visit the library!

WORK IT WEDNESDAY

Organize the school room - clean out those desks.  :)

THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY

Take treats to Daddy's work and gifts to M.  (Our little friend who broke her leg last week.)

FRIEND FRIDAY

Invited the W. family over to play!

Happy Summer!

Soccer

This post was supposed to have been written a week ago, but by the end of the story you'll see why I'm kind of glad I waited.  Last Wednesday our three oldest kiddos got to participate in a soccer program at our new church.  It's fantastic.  They learn the skills and get to play in teams for an hour, then they come in and have a time of worship and learning.  So, here they are:

Spunky in action!

Giggles taking a much-needed break.

And then we have Bubba.

Bubba absolutely fell apart last week at soccer.  At the beginning of the session I went out with the whole group of kids to do warm-ups with him.  Did he stay in one place to do jumping jacks?  No, he ran from child to child, kicking everyone's personal soccer balls and generally upsetting the other kids.  When they split into smaller groups he didn't want to go with the other five-year-olds.  When I walked over to the group another boy groaned and (using his real name, of course), moaned, "Do we have to have Bubba on our team?"  That, of course, made me want to go home and cry!  He gradually got more and more stressed out until he burst into tears and begged to go look at the railroad tracks.  (There are some railroad tracks just a short ways from the church.)  So this was a picture of him hanging out with Daddy, looking at the tracks.

Discouraged doesn't even come close to describing how Ethan and I felt on the way home that night.  We probably wouldn't have brought him back without the kind encouragement of a mom with an older autistic child. But we thought we'd give it a try.

Week two, last night, was a whole different story.  We started Bubba off with a buddy, a teen girl who must have an infinite amount of patience.  I was in a Bible study when Ethan texted a photo to me with the words, "You may not be able to see, but he's kicking the ball into the goal here!"  I thought I was going to jump out of my chair with joy!

By the end of the night, he was doing all the drills with the help of his new friend.  I get emotional even writing about it; it's such a big accomplishment.  This verse from Lamentations has been in my mind all day.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning,
great is Your faithfulness.


His mercies are new every morning!

Sister, Sister

Having never grown up with a sister, it was a huge delight when I discovered our second child was also a girl.  I dreamed of tea parties and secrets between the two little ones.  Friendship that would grow at the kitchen table and in the backyard . . . and last for a lifetime.  So it makes me especially happy when I see things like this:

It may be hard to read, but this was part of a beautifully decorated invitation from Spunky to Giggles.  An invitation to a slumber party, specifically.  It's been just over three months since they've shared a room but they were missing each other.  The invite included a list of things to bring, including a sleeping bag.  However, Giggles was a little put out that her big sister expected her to sleep on the floor!  So, the slumber party was short-lived.  :)

Someday I hope my girls will see what a privilege it is to have each other!

I So Scary.

It all started with a shriek and a cry coming from the staircase tonight.  I ran to see what what happening with Calico, who was supposed to be going upstairs with Giggles for a bath.  Big sis could only say, "I don't know what happened, she just seemed afraid and wouldn't go up there."

Calico reached for me, saying, "I want Mommy."  I asked my sweet, tear-stained baby to tell me all about it.  "I  so scary," she confided.

She seemed to do just fine during her bath, but when Daddy came in to say hi she whispered, "I so scary with the Cookie Monster."

What?!

This kiddo has never even seen an episode of Sesame Street, as far as I know.  When Daddy took her down the hall to get pajamas on she pointed fearfully to the attic access and mumbled about the Cookie Monster.  Then her sister opened her bedroom door as she was walking past and she screamed.  Poor girl.

Before being completely ready for bed Calico talked with me about dinosaurs and ghosts.  She pointed to the ceiling again with the dinosaurs.  I've never had a child this young so verbal about her fears.  She just barely turned two!

I tucked her in tonight between her two best stuffed friends, "Flop" the penguin and "Puppy" the dog.  We prayed together and asked God to give her peace.  I pray my little girl will have sweet dreams tonight.

Easter Egg-Stravaganza!

When I told Ethan we were invited to an egg hunt for children with autism and their families, he replied, "That is going to be the worst egg hunt ever!"  After laughing and agreeing, I did wonder what it would look like.  It was pretty fun, though.  The organizers had some great ideas.  For one, they included sensory bins with eggs in them.  For children who may not understand the idea of a hunt, they could sit at a table and rifle through Easter grass.  Bubba tried it out and found probably every chocolate in the bin in like seven seconds.  They also had a couple of bunnies the kids could pet and a whole bunch of people blowing bubbles for the kids to play in. 

The most heart-warming part of the event for me was watching the brothers and sisters helping their autistic siblings.  For our kids it has burden but a much greater blessing to help Bubba.  His big sisters remind him to put his clothes on, flush the toilet, clear the table, shut the door, etc, etc, etc.  They cheer him on when he finishes a puzzle or colors a picture.   And someday his baby sister will probably do the same for him. 

Something I hadn't counted on; while watching the kids playing on the slides I talked with another mom for a bit.  We were pointing out our kids and as I motioned to Bubba, who was squealing and  wearing this doll beanie he occasionally likes to shove on his head, I felt as if I was seeing my son for the first time as an autistic child.  Not as my baby boy, but as a child with autism.  It was almost like an out-of-body experience.  I think that probably happens to all parents of special needs kids at some point.  I just stared at him for a minute and saw how joyful he was.  He didn't look anything like a "typical" kiddo, but he was clearly having the time of his life!

So Saturday did NOT end up being "the worst egg hunt ever".  It was, instead, enlightening.

I Am Extremely Magical

Or at least my kids think so.  Want to know why?  You may want to sit down.  I moved the outdoor slide into the living room!

Oh my.  You would have thought we'd announced we were going to Disneyland.  I'm talking about at least two hours of giggling and joyful shouts.  It was great.

Grandma also got points this week for finding a fun and unusual toy for them:  PigJax.  Yes, a game of jacks with little pigs.  Weird, but fun.  Giggles has enjoyed them so much I suggested maybe we re-decorate her room in pigs, just to tease her.  She was not in support.

It's the little things in life.

April Fools

After being inspired by Pinterest I set out to make an April Fools dinner my kids wouldn't forget.  We started with cupcakes.  They were SO excited!  Giggles stared at them for a minute and said, "That's not frosting, is it?"  I just let her try it.  She and Spunky figured out pretty quickly that it was really meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Little Calico dug right in with no comment, so I guess two years old is too young to know what food is supposed to look like.  Bubba had the best reaction of all.  He had the biggest smile on his face until he took his first bite.  Poor kid.  It took him forever to get around to eating it, but once he did he seemed to like it pretty well.  I've always made pizza-flavored meatloaf because my kids prefer it.

After eating cupcakes it was time for our dessert: grilled cheese sandwiches!  The kids were on to me by this point.  They loved the toasted pound cake with yellow frosting.  It really looked convincing. 

We've never had any April Fool's Day traditions before this, but I think this one is going to stick.  It's just too much fun!

My Life Verse

There are so many beautiful, life-changing verses in the Bible.  I've never been able to pick just one that has a particular meaning for my entire life, but there is one that keeps coming back to me and I read it again just recently.  It's found in the book of John; the third chapter. 

²⁷ John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.
(New King James)

Verse 30 is so amazing to me .  . . "He must increase, but I must decrease."  The New International Version words it this way, "He must become greater, I must become less." 

How has this been a comfort and strength in my life?

When Bubba has screamed endlessly and I just want to throw in the towel.  He must become greater, I must become less.

When I hurt my husband by a thoughtless comment, and I remember.  He must become greater, I must become less.

When I'm frustrated by my children, who are still learning and growing in their maturity.  He must become greater, I must become less. 

When I'm tempted and tried.  He must become greater, I must become less.

No matter the situation, the truth remains the same.  Why does this give me hope?  Because I don't have to carry the weight of perfection.  He is greater!

"Boo Wice" and Other Stories

The other night Ethan and I went out to help our friends prepare for the very first service in the church they are starting.  How will God work through it?  I can't wait to see.  It's exciting!

While we were out we left our little monkeys in the hands of teenage twin brothers who have babysat for us before.  The two of them do a great job with the kids. When they gave an account of the night, it came up that Bubba wouldn't eat his dinner.  (It was Louisiana red beans and rice.)  That's nothing new.  However, he did keep asking for "boo wice".  After a few attempts to understand him, Spunky finally asked if he wanted blue rice.  And strangely enough, that's what he wanted.  No, he's never had blue rice.  I have no idea where that came from, but they mixed a couple drops of food coloring in and he was as happy as could be!

Now on to the slew of pictures . . .

 Here's Spunky in a career class she took in our co-op learning to do web design. 

 Some of the girls from our co-op on a field trip to the science museum.

 Bubba strikes again!  He thought is was absolutely hilarious to put stickers on the dog.  Archer had no opinion.

 Our sweet girl getting her ears pierced! 

Game night with friends.

I'm super proud of my little reader, Giggles.  We were trying to figure out which Magic Treehouse books she still had to read and discovered that she read ALL of them this winter.  (Okay, all except two, because I didn't approve them.)  That's like 45 books.  She's bummed that the next book isn't supposed to come out until fall, so we're trying to find some alternatives.  We decided to start the illustrated classics.  She's currently reading Pollyanna.

Calico is keeping our hands full right now.  Two-year-olds are SO much fun!  Her daddy has been working with her to chew with her mouth closed, and the other night at dinner she got a reminder.  I wish I had a picture of her reaction.  She just stared at him for a second, then put one hand under her chin and one on top of her head before slowly and deliberately chewing (while staring defiantly).  I really think she was being sarcastic, although I've never seen someone that little exhibit that behavior.  We'll be keeping our eye on this one.  :)

Fun Day Monday

Sometimes this old mom breaks out of the routine.  Last night was one of those nights.  I can't remember why, but it just seemed like the late afternoon/evening was dragging on and on!  I knew the kids had some energy to get out, so we did relay races.  They lined up and took turns running a set course downstairs with a ribbon.  Since they didn't have another team to race, I timed their trials and then they tried to beat their fastest time.  The best part of this was watching Bubba.  He was absolutely hilarious.  Imagine giving the ribbon to a boisterous puppy and you'll get the idea.  Instead of tagging the couch (halfway point) he would take off in a different direction, roll with it, laugh like crazy.  It made the timed trials somewhat unpredictable.  :)

Next each child got a ribbon and we turned up the music.  They danced while I attempted to take pictures. 

After that we made miniature calzones.  The kids loved making their own.  You may notice Calico looking sad; I think she wanted to roll out the dough but couldn't quite get the hang of it. 

The finale of the night was curling up with a book.  We're reading through by "The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Speare.  It's part of our curriculum so the big girls were pretty interested.  The little two . . . not so much! 



Snowstorm in March

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the weather anymore, but I had mixed emotions when I opened the curtains to see some crazy snow coming down the first day of March.  The girls felt no uncertainty; it was pure joy to get another day to play!  They love jumping on the trampoline in it, and I've even caught the dog out there a time or two. 

Anyone else looking forward to spring?

Repentance and Reflection

I grew up Baptist.  That's all I've ever known.  And if someone had ever told me I'd be observing Lent someday I would have laughed.  Doesn't everyone know that's a Catholic holiday?!  Yet I feel drawn to this time of repentance and reflection.  What can I sacrifice to grow closer to Christ? 

I felt it would help me to be accountable if I wrote about this, even if no one else reads it, but I've decided to completely cut out desserts of any kind for the next 40 days.  (If you know me, you know that's a big deal.) I'm not entirely sure about fasting because I will be running and training again soon, and I need to research that some more.  I will be limiting facebook to just responding to messages I receive through email.  As a way to grow closer to Christ, I've also decided to memorize the sermon on the mount.  Ann Voscamp over at A Holy Experience has shared some lovely scripture memorization cards for this and a plan that takes the rest of the calendar year.  I hope to memorize it a bit quicker, but we'll see.  :)

A Time For Testing

I've been asked a lot about how homeschoolers do testing.  It really varies from state to state.  Some require certain tests to be taken and some none at all.  We are not required to turn in any kind of documentation in our state, but you will find that the vast majority of homeschoolers happily participate in standardized testing.  It's a great way to measure results and adjust your teaching to fit your child's unique needs.  It also protects the freedom we have because the results are so positive. 

Third grade is the first year you can participate in the Iowa tests, and that's what we were planning to do.  However, the registration for them was last summer and I barely missed it.  So, there's an opportunity for the girls (yep, both) to take the Stanford Achievement exams this April, and we're going to do it.  I'm going to carve out some time that they can practice in peace, because this is what our schooling often looks like:

Okay, so if you look close you'll see that Giggles is actually reading a Magic Treehouse book, so this wasn't really schooltime.  :)  But it does accurately represent schooling with little ones around.  Lots of being loved on and learning patience.  Sometimes one of the big girls will take a quick break from their book work to read a story to Calico and she loves it.  Little sisters have it made! 

They Make Me Laugh

My sweet Giggles suprised me with this arrangment during nap/quiet time yesterday.  I laughed when I saw her arrangment of dolls sitting at desks, but was amazed when I realized she had set it up so each doll had created her own Valentine's Day picture!  She sure is imaginative. 

 I asked her about the doll in the far back left corner, and her answer was "She fell asleep in class".  :)

This girl has made me laugh a little bit lately by her particular habit.  She's the first of our children at barely two years old who has to straighten her blankies when we tuck her in.  She crawls all over the white blanket with flowers on it to make it completely flat, pulling on the corners and sides.  (I'm not sure how it got rumply again in this picture.)  Then we cover her with her green blankie and wrap her like a papoose.  It's her thing, and I love her for it!

Happy Heart Day!

In honor of Valentine's day, I have some special pictures to show you.

This was our latest science project; taking a peek at the heart of a sheep!  Yay.  As you can see, the girls are overjoyed.  :)  I was in my element, showing where the different parts were located, as the girls were making gagging sounds.  Perhaps second and third grade is a little young?  But no matter, we're studying anatomy this year so they better get used to it!

And now for a more traditional Valentine's picture:

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Pop!

I know.  Lame.

But, I personally thought our little superman lollipops were adorable.  The tag reads "Have a SUPER Valentine's Day!"  Thank you very much, Pinterest.  You're the best.

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Blog Award!

My sweet friend Jennifer over at Two Frogs and a Grasshopper was kind enough to bestow my little blog with the Liebster Award recently!

What's it all about?  Liebster is a German word that means dearest, beloved, or favorite.  (Ah, I'm so flattered!)  Here are the rules when given the award:

1.  You must link back to the person who bestowed the award.  (check!)
2.  You must give this award to five other bloggers with fewer than 200 readers.  Please let them know through a comment on their blog. (See below.)
3.  Post the beautiful award on your blog.  (check!)
4.  Bask in the glory bestowed upon you and appreciate all the amazing bloggers out there.  (Basking   away.)
5.  Spread the joy!  (I'll do my best.)

Here are five lovely blogs I frequent, in no particular order.  Check them out!

Our Story Goes For Miles

Stories of a big family, weekly menu plans, and thoughts on gratefulness.

She Says . . .

Stories about family, great recipes!

The Coleman Five

Organization, parenting, marriage, and decorating.

Beyond the Churchyard

Book reviews, helpful life tips, food for thought.

Amber Fischer Photography

Wonderful photos, fun commentary!

Special People of the Day

Today I want to write about two gals that I love:  my friend "T" and my sister-in-law, Melissa. 

I'll start with T.  We very randomly became friends over five years ago when she and her family were put into our small group.  I remember meeting them and wondering if we'd have anything in common besides our kids.  Turns out we do!  T. could easily have been raised in the same household as me.  We are both frugal and not really "material girls".  She is easily the top friend I confide in and thankfully still calls me a friend after knowing all my faults!  :)  Her friendship is a gift.

Now on to my sister Melissa.  I wish I could know her better; she doesn't live near us.  But I've always kind of been in awe of her.  She seems to succeed in everything she tries.   She has always been so encouraging to me and I love how much she loves my sweet babies.  Someday we must take a vacation to see her and the rest of the fam!

Happy Birthday Calico!

Our precious baby has turned two and I want to record a little of what she has been up to for her birthday.

It's traditional for Ethan's parents to take our kiddos to Build-A-Bear on their birthdays.  This was her first time.  She chose the penguin from Happy Feet and named it "Flop". 

This morning she had an entire fake conversation with Grandma (my mom) on her cell phone.  It ended with "I luff you too.  See ya 'morrow!"  For the record, we could probably get rid of all her toys as long as we let her keep her cell phones.  She has four.

She wanted to brush my hair before her naptime.  This was a first.  She complemented me on my barrette, saying how "pity" it was.  While brushing my hair, she kept leaning over my shoulder and asking "Are you byoo-fow, Mommy?  Are you byoo-fow?"

Why do they have to grow up so fast?!

Introvert or What?

The other day a sweet, newer friend of mine invited me to coffee with some other moms.  And I wanted to go, but something held me back.

Help me out here . . . does anyone else ever feel this way?

I don't know what the hesitation is, but my thoughts usually go something like this . . .

I'd like to go out, but there's that downstairs closet that needs cleaning out.  And I really need to finish one of those paintings.  I promised Giggles I'd sew her teddy bear back together.  It's been ages since I scrubbed the bathtub.   Lesson plans need to be worked on.  Blah, blah, blah. 

Getting out of the house is vital when you're a stay-at-home mom!  Why in the world do I resist it?  I often think of those poor wives who moved west with their husband to settle.  Can you imagine day after day; no phone, no next-door neighbors, no internet.  Oh, yeah, and no town.  I'm thinking it may have been kind of difficult. 

It's like there's a weight of responsibility bearing down on me.  I don't feel like I deserve a break, and to be totally honest, I really don't feel like it's the right thing to do.  Yes, getting out makes you a better wife and mom.  Yes, it's healthy.  And yes, everyone deserves a chance for some relaxing, agenda-free girl time.  I get it in my head, but it's a process to start living it.  Again, can anyone relate?

Special Person of the Day

I knew I'd get behind on this. 
Didn't think it'd happen two weeks after I started it.  ;)

Well.  A special little girl turned NINE last week and this is for her. 

This is the girl that makes my bed and cleans the kitchen without being asked.  She made beautiful earrings for me with beads and paperclips for Christmas this year.  She loves to toss the football with her daddy and go to the library with me.  If Ethan and I had tried to dream up the perfect big sister for our other kids, we wouldn't have been able to imagine such a great girl.  Love you lots, Spunky!

(hanging with her baby sis!)

Bubba's Reign of Terror

As I write this I'm sitting outside my son's room, listening to him scream.  I normally would be doing last-minute house tidying and preparing dinner, but this has been a difficult day.  It's the third day like this and I think I'm about to lose it.  I am so incredibly thankful for a husband who is easygoing about dinner being ready. 

It seems like a wise idea to document this for when we see the specialist.  The last two days have convinced me that he needs something to change, although I'm at a loss for what that could be.  Here's what's going on:

His manic stage:  Ethan and I refer to this when we see behavior that looks as if he's just eaten a barrel of sugar.  What does it look like?  Racing through the house.  Pulling books out of bookcases.  Dumping toy containers.  Pulling dishes from the cupboard and throwing them. Opening the puppy's kennel to let him out.  Laughing hysterically.  Flushing things down the toilet that don't belong there.  Turning on water faucets and leaving the room.  Throwing random things (even large furniture) down the stairs.  Going through folded laundry and scattering it.

Screaming:  Self-explanatory.  :)  I guess I should say that screaming sessions can last for an hour.

Less sleep:  This is interesting because autistic children usually have sleeping problems anyway.  But up to this point I've been able to at least lay him down in his bed and he will stay fairly quiet while the other children are sleeping or resting.  During nap I try to get some time away to just be alone for a bit.  Wednesday, yesterday, and today he was so loud in his room he woke his baby sister.  He was pounding the walls and slamming his door. 

Ok, so as I was writing this it occured to me that people who don't know our other kids may assume that we just allow this behavior, or maybe with Bubba we allow it because he's autistic.  SO not true.  He does have consequences for his behavior, however, he doesn't react the way other children do.  It's hard to describe unless you've seen it first-hand.  I've been bitten, slapped, and hit by flying objects numerous times while disciplining him. When he's in the manic mode he will laugh hysterically no matter what you do.   It's just a constant, constant struggle. 

Aaaahhh, that's good to at least write about this.  Please pray for us as we try to find a solution for these behaviors.

A New Room for Spunky!

My dear sweet girl is NINE years old today!  We sent her off last night and hurried to get her new room in shape.  Here are the before pictures of Calico's nursery . . .

And here are the after pictures . . .

These aren't the best pictures because I took them with my phone.  I forgot to get the complete picture of the canopy, but we just took some tulle and pinned it to the ceiling.  I'm thrilled with the finished room, but more importantly, so is our girl!

New Artwork

I don't know why I just don't paint all of the time.  I mean, it makes me happy and sometimes people buy the completed projects, so why not?  But I think all creative people get in a rut once in a while, right? 

Anyhow, some of the latest projects.  I would love to have more scripture around my home, so I decided to start putting it into the paintings.  This one is for sale, but in the meantime it's fun to have on the wall!

The following picture is for a VERY special upcoming project.  Little Miss Spunky is turning nine years old this Wednesday and she's getting a big surprise.  Her baby sister is almost two, so we're going to redecorate the baby's room and give it to her sister!  Spunky has never had her own room and she has shown a lot of responsibility in the past year.  The best part of this is that she has no idea what's coming.  She's going to play at a friend's house Tuesday night while we scramble to move furniture, hang curtains, etc.  Her favorite colors are turquoise and lime, so that will set the tone for the rest of the room. 

She has no particular interest in peacocks, but it was different and fun.  I can't wait to post pictures of the completed room!

The Veritas Conflict

Claire Rivers finds an acceptance letter to Harvard in her mailbox and begins a journey that is divinely appointed.  There's an unseen battle raging at the prestigious university for the hearts and minds of the students.  And it's a lot bigger than it first appears.  It's not just an attack on Harvard's Christian heritage, but a plan for societal corruption. 

This book was kind of awesome.  I highly recommend it.  If you need a good reminder of how important prayer is, this is the book to read!

New Year, New Bible Reading Plan

I have to share a link to a Bible reading plan that Ethan and I have been following for then last week.  It's really different from any I've followed before, but I like the variety.  We've found that it takes us about 30 - 45 minutes in the morning to complete.  (Well worth the lost sleep time, by the way!)  I don't know about any of you, but I am a complete mess when I neglect my time with my Father.  He is so good!

Here's the link:

http://www.sohmer.net/media/professor_grant_horners_bible_reading_system.pdf

A Different Approach

Next week our life will be getting a little bit busier as we start up with our homeschooling co-op again.  It will be a big change for me as I'm going to be teaching a dance class for the co-op.  The girls are all between the ages of 7 and 11.   I am super excited. 

This is going to be a unique class.  The director of the co-op gave me an update to the class list last week, and there are two sisters who have no arms.  Yes, that's right.  In my wildest dreams, I wouldn't have imagined this.  I think it will be a good challenge for me, to be more creative with the choreography.  And I think it will be good for the other girls in the class.  Prayers for our group are appreciated!

Decorating with Christmas Gifts

Thought I'd share a picture of a quilt that was given to us this Christmas.  At first I really wasn't sure about it, but I think when it's filled with pictures it will be fun.  Finally . . . our walls are getting covered!  ;)