Please come on out to our church on Februarty 17th for a GREAT show AND help an adopting family, the Glassers! Josh Childs absolutely kills me. If you like comedy, come prepared to bust a gut!!
For more info click here. Hope to see you there!!
Attention local friends!
Please come on out to our church on Februarty 17th for a GREAT show AND help an adopting family, the Glassers! Josh Childs absolutely kills me. If you like comedy, come prepared to bust a gut!!
For more info click here. Hope to see you there!!
Love changes everything
 |
| Stop and look at this picture. Look at this hand in comparison to her tiny body. |
This tiny little girl is a year and half older than Ashley. Thats right, she's NINE. And in this picture, at the age of nine, she weighed 10 lbs, 9 oz. Not because of some crazy health issues. But because of severe neglect. Like so many others, she was left in an orphanage simply because she has Down Syndrome. And in her country, she's viewed as worthless.
 |
| This was her adoption profile picture |
But God had bigger plans for her. A future and a hope. A family need only answer the call.
 |
This woman, Susanna, and her husband answered that call. |
 |
| August 2011. Katie meets her new Momma. |
Love intervened in this precious life.
 |
God is love. 1 John 4:8
This little girl wasn't even used to touch. Her senses couldn't handle it because she'd never had it. But before they'd even brought her home, love was breaking through.
Malnourished and dehydrated, she went home with her new Mommy and Daddy.
 |
| November 2011. Going home. |
Katie's stats when she came home two months ago (at the age of 9 1/2):
Weight – 10 pounds, 9 ounces
Length – 29 inches
Head circumference – 16 3/4 inches
Waist – 12 inches
Leg, hip to heel – 12 inches
Foot – almost 4 inches
Upper thigh circumference – 5 inches
Ankle circumference – 3 inches
Arm, shoulder to fingertip – 10 inches
Upper arm circumference – 3 1/4 inches
Wrist circumference – 2 3/4 inches
When they got her to the US, she was immediately taken to a hospital for nutritional rehabilitation.
I really really encourage you to read their story on Susanna's blog. (Click here.) Start with the first post of November 2011 and read forward from there. And get some tissues.
And how is this sweet tiny angel now?
This is Katie at one month:
A few days ago marked two months. TWO months. And these are Katie's stats now:
Weight –
Length –
Head circumference –
Waist –
Leg, hip to heel –
Foot –
Upper thigh circumference –
Ankle circumference –
Arm, shoulder to fingertip –
Upper arm circumference –
Wrist circumference –
Katie now. THIS is what love can do:
From this:
To this:
From this:
To this:
There's no telling the incredible plans that God has for Katie. There's no telling what would have happened to her. There's no telling the blessing she is to her family. There's no telling what God can do with someone who will answer the call.
There's no telling the wonders that love can do when given hands and feet.
Pictures and video used with permission from www.theblessingofverity.com
Thank you to Susanna and family, I'm honored to be able to share your story here.
Large Family Logistics
I'm not a big reader. Maybe its because I'm not really into fiction. Maybe its because I've already read everything we own and I'm bad about buying new books. Maybe its because I'm comparing myself to my husband who, if he could, would go about his entire day with kindle in one hand. Maybe its because I spend so much time reading "Llama llama red pajama," "The house that jack built," and books about Apple Tree Farm. (Little shout out to my fellow Usborne fans there.)
Regardless of why, I just don't read much. But I really want to. So for Christmas I decided I needed to ask for books. The books on my list: A love that multiples by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (stop laughing), a couple of Mary Ostyn I found on Amazon, The sane woman's guide to raising a large family and Family feasts for $75 a week. "Raising a family and saving money. That's what I want to read about," I thought.
But a friend of mine... no make that one of the coolest moms I know and would love to be more like!!!... had just told me about a book she read and said I really needed to read it. So I added it to my list. I started reading it first and now...
I think its safe to say this book is changing my life.
This has been a total eye opener for me. Super convicting but in a way I badly needed to be convicted. To explain to you each concept that has impressed upon me would take several blog posts, not just this one.
~~~
~~~
I've been stuck in what my friends and I refer to as "phase one" for a very long time now. What is phase one you ask? Its a season. A season of parenting. It is diapers, baby food, dreft, cleaning up small toys off the floor because if you don't they WILL be swallowed, sleepless nights, separation anxiety, tantrums, bottles and sippy cups, snotty noses and weird rashes, potty training, playgroups and trips to the park to save your sanity. This is phase one.
"Phase Two" is early elementary. Backpacks and homework, spelling words and reading logs, birthday parties and sleepovers. Its breaking up arguments and comforting hurt feelings. Phase two is fixing their own snack, brushing their own teeth and cleaning their own room. Its choir, ballet, and playing outside with the neighbors.
I'm not sure when phase three starts, but right now I've got two kids in phase one, two kids in phase two, and two kids who are the ages of phase two but the development of phase one... and that makes me tired just saying it.
All of that to say this: When you are in phase one, its hard to come up for air. And every time I feel like I'm catching my footing again, another baby comes and phase one starts all over. If even Michelle Duggar says that its difficult for her when she doesn't have the help of her teenagers, then how am I supposed to do it???
The only way I knew to keep my head above water was to take it one day at a time.
But the Lord is saying that His way for me is different.
In this book the author quotes Anne Ortlund (whom I love as well), "Yet if at any stage of life you feel you're 'flying by the seat of your pants,' taking each day as it comes without having anticipated it, planned for it, shaped it, and prayed over it, then take time off and get back to poring over your goals. Then you will control your days, instead of letting them control you." There's some good wisdom there. (I just need to figure out, what is this mystery she calls "time off"??? :) Just kidding. Kind of.)
Am I shaping my days? Am I raising my children with purpose and planning? What are my goals and am I reaching them?
Stop and evaluate, Amy. Its something the Lord has been trying to tell me since we settled into this house. The timing of this book has just been icing on the cake. Confirmation. In this book are some awesome tools to help me rise above phase 1, 2 or any other phase!! Tools to help me focus on the big picture and be purposeful with my days.
In the first chapter she outlines the Excellent Wife of Proverbs 31. (I could camp on that for weeks.) The rest of the book has thoughts, tips, tricks and principals for everything from when to take a shower, to instilling scripture in your children. How to raise children who love the Lord, work hard, and are prepared to "keep" their own homes. Making your home a place of refuge and refueling for your husband. Reaching out to the community, having friends, setting goals, homeschooling *sigh*, and staying fit. Preparing for days before they come. All things I needed to hear. Things I think all moms need to be encouraged in.
Its so refreshing.
Thank you, Lord for your direction and constant nudging. Keep my heart open to hear your voice and eyes open to see where you're leading. Give me the strength and wisdom to raise these half dozen little children, keep my home running smoothly and be an excellent helpmate to my husband. Mold me into a wife who's value is far above rubies.
I'm not sure when I'm going to tackle the other books. First I'm going to re-read this one.
A few dozen times.
"Phase Two" is early elementary. Backpacks and homework, spelling words and reading logs, birthday parties and sleepovers. Its breaking up arguments and comforting hurt feelings. Phase two is fixing their own snack, brushing their own teeth and cleaning their own room. Its choir, ballet, and playing outside with the neighbors.
I'm not sure when phase three starts, but right now I've got two kids in phase one, two kids in phase two, and two kids who are the ages of phase two but the development of phase one... and that makes me tired just saying it.
All of that to say this: When you are in phase one, its hard to come up for air. And every time I feel like I'm catching my footing again, another baby comes and phase one starts all over. If even Michelle Duggar says that its difficult for her when she doesn't have the help of her teenagers, then how am I supposed to do it???
The only way I knew to keep my head above water was to take it one day at a time.
But the Lord is saying that His way for me is different.
In this book the author quotes Anne Ortlund (whom I love as well), "Yet if at any stage of life you feel you're 'flying by the seat of your pants,' taking each day as it comes without having anticipated it, planned for it, shaped it, and prayed over it, then take time off and get back to poring over your goals. Then you will control your days, instead of letting them control you." There's some good wisdom there. (I just need to figure out, what is this mystery she calls "time off"??? :) Just kidding. Kind of.)
Am I shaping my days? Am I raising my children with purpose and planning? What are my goals and am I reaching them?
Stop and evaluate, Amy. Its something the Lord has been trying to tell me since we settled into this house. The timing of this book has just been icing on the cake. Confirmation. In this book are some awesome tools to help me rise above phase 1, 2 or any other phase!! Tools to help me focus on the big picture and be purposeful with my days.
In the first chapter she outlines the Excellent Wife of Proverbs 31. (I could camp on that for weeks.) The rest of the book has thoughts, tips, tricks and principals for everything from when to take a shower, to instilling scripture in your children. How to raise children who love the Lord, work hard, and are prepared to "keep" their own homes. Making your home a place of refuge and refueling for your husband. Reaching out to the community, having friends, setting goals, homeschooling *sigh*, and staying fit. Preparing for days before they come. All things I needed to hear. Things I think all moms need to be encouraged in.
Its so refreshing.
Thank you, Lord for your direction and constant nudging. Keep my heart open to hear your voice and eyes open to see where you're leading. Give me the strength and wisdom to raise these half dozen little children, keep my home running smoothly and be an excellent helpmate to my husband. Mold me into a wife who's value is far above rubies.
I'm not sure when I'm going to tackle the other books. First I'm going to re-read this one.
A few dozen times.
Cleaners, detergents and soaps, oh my!
***I don't really know that anyone would anyway, but I ask kindly that you not link this post to pinterest. I don't really want the whole pinterest world being referred back to my personal, family blog, with pics of the kids and such. Maybe someday I'll have a snazzy craft blog and you can pin away! But until then, if you'd like to copy and paste the info to your own computer and pin it from there, feel free! You can even save the photo's from this post if you'd like. Thanks for understanding!***
I've always been a little nervous to make my own cleaning products. I was always afraid that I would inadvertently mix something that would create toxic fumes and poison my family. Or create a massive explosion under my sink. Or melt off my hand like Mario falling into the mystery lava. I realize thats a little extreme. But... ya know. It is scary.
But as I've started to do a little research (and I mean a LITTLE, I'm letting other mommy bloggers do all the work here ;)) I've realized most of this stuff is all made from the same small handful of products. Stuff like baking soda, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, castile, and essential oils.
All of you who've been making your own homemade, natural cleaners for years and are rolling your eyes with a collective "duh!", give me a break! I'm still learning!!!
As promised on FB, I'm going to share all of the recipes for the cleaners, detergents, and soaps I've been making! I've had so much fun making all of these. And on top of the whole safer/healthier/greener reasons, its going to save us so much money. And that was really the reason I wanted to start all of this to begin with.
Stainless Steel Cleaner
I'm using this one on all of my silver kitchen appliances. If you have even one child and a silver refrigerator, you know how that thing needs to be wiped down daily. (The fridge, not the child. Well... the child too.) My tea kettle is also stainless steel and it constantly has splatters from frying. I actually didn't even realize how dirty it was until I cleaned it with this stuff!
2 parts white vinegar
1 part water
a few drops of dawn dish soap
And if you need a little extra scrubbing power, spray the area, then sprinkle it with baking soda and let it sit for a minute. Then scrub. This is how I usually do it with my sink.
Countertop Cleaner
My counters are Corian. I felt like I'd tried everything under the sun to clean them and NOT leave streaks. The only thing that seemed to work was windex. But the Corian website says that windex will dull the surface after a while. *sigh* I researched it on the internet and everyone (even the makers) said that the only way to have it not streak is to dry it. Seriously? I have to clean my counters so many times a day, you want me to DRY them everytime too? I'll live with streaks, thank you.
Until now! I spray them down with this stuff, wipe them down with a wet, hot washcloth and voila! They dry with no streaks! Whoo hoo!!!
1 part rubbing alcohol
7 parts water
a few drops of Dawn
a few drops of lavendar essential oil (it makes it smell good AND its a natural antibacterial agent. double bonus)
Glass cleaner
I actually found a more "natural" recipe for this one, but like I said before, this is really more about cost for me than it is about being natural. We go through a ton of Windex over here. And this one works really good.
1/8 cup ammonia
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
1 drop of laundry detergent
Fill the rest of the bottle with water
Remember my fear of accidentally making an explosive? Well, don't mix this cleaner with vinegar. Or bleach. Ever.
OK so....
Febreze
I realize this isn't technically a cleaner. But I really love febreze. Its awesome to freshen up carpets, curtains, couches, throw pillows.... Good stuff. And this is so easy to make, I figured I might as well!
1/8 cup of your favorite fabric softener (my fav is Downy Clean Breeze)
2 tablespoons baking soda
Fill the rest of the bottle with water
Antibacterial Spray
I didn't get a picture of this one yet.... because its in a hairspray bottle. ;) Once again, the point is to save money and if I go buy a bunch of pretty bottles, it kinda defeats the point. Anyway, this one was too easy not to make, but I think I'm going to just combine the concept with my Counter cleaner. It already has a little bit of Lavendar in it, I think I'm just going to add more instead of two different sprays.
1 cup water
20 drops lavendar essential oil
Hand Soap
Now, my first batch was kind of a failure. It was WAY runny. And because its green, it basically looked like a huge pot of snot. Sick. But I later found out its because I used Dove bar soap. And thats when I read that you can use this recipe for almost ANY bar of soap BUT Dove. Because its truly 1/4 moisturizer, it doesn't firm up the way other bars do. But since I now have a gallon of it, we're using it anyway!!!
1 8oz. bar of soap (some are around 4.25 ounces, I would just use 2 of those)
2 tablespoons glycerin
Grate the bar(s) of soap while you are heating up 1 gallon of water on the stove. Add the soap shavings to the water and stir till its all melted. Then add the glycerin. Let the mixture cool, uncovered, for 10-12 hours. If the mixture is too thick (which mine was NOT), you can add water slowly while mixing with a hand mixer/beater thingy. If its too runny, you have to heat it up again, add more glycerin, let it cool another 10-12 hours and pray that its thicker next time. Its a lot of work, I know, but once you get it down, just follow your same recipe each time.
Now, I had to search high and low for liquid glycerin. The site where I found this recipe said it could be found at any Grocery or drug store. THEY LIED. Ok, maybe they weren't lying but they don't live in my town, that's for sure. I tried Target, Kroger and Walgreens. Walgreens was the only one that told me they could order it but it was like $8 for 4 ounces. Uh, no thank you. I finally found some in the (duh) soap making aisle at Hobby Lobby. $3.47 for 8oz. Much better.
You know.... technically I could just add a little castile soap with water and put it in a pump and it would make a perfectly fine hand soap. But again, I'm really going for CHEAP here. Not trying to get all organicy. Its just a nice byproduct of some of these recipes.
Also, you should note that whatever the consistency of the liquid soap recipe above, it will not quite suds up the way that store soaps do. They add weird extra ingredients to make them lather up more than they naturally would becausedumb consumers people think that more bubbles mean they're getting cleaner. But I did find one recipe that I really like (and is way more complicated) for body wash that is supposedly really rich and lathery.
Is lathery a word? Is organicy?
Whatever, moving on...
Laundry Detergent!
I'm SUPER excited about this one because obviously, its the one we go through the fastest. Like, eight-people-in-our-family kind of fast. And I found like 439 million recipes for this online and from friends.
Yes. 439 million. :p
After looking over several I realized that its all basically some variation of the same recipe. So I decided to start with one that is tried and true by America's favorite large family, the Duggars. :)
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 cup Arm&Hammer super washing soda
1/2 cup borax
Grate bar of soap and add to a pot with the hot tap water. Continue to heat and stir until its all melted. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Stir in the melted soap, washing soda and Borax until its all dissolved. Then fill the bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let it sit overnight to thicken.
Because of the gel consistency and the need to add water and because you have to shake it before each use, I decided to use my "pumper" pitcher.
This recipe makes 10 gallons, but I halved it because I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket.
Next week I'll be making the next few things on my list: dishwasher detergent, body wash, and wrinkle releaser! But first have to pick up some epsom salts and guar gum. Whatever the heck that is. More posts coming soon! Happy cleaning!
I've always been a little nervous to make my own cleaning products. I was always afraid that I would inadvertently mix something that would create toxic fumes and poison my family. Or create a massive explosion under my sink. Or melt off my hand like Mario falling into the mystery lava. I realize thats a little extreme. But... ya know. It is scary.
But as I've started to do a little research (and I mean a LITTLE, I'm letting other mommy bloggers do all the work here ;)) I've realized most of this stuff is all made from the same small handful of products. Stuff like baking soda, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, castile, and essential oils.
All of you who've been making your own homemade, natural cleaners for years and are rolling your eyes with a collective "duh!", give me a break! I'm still learning!!!
As promised on FB, I'm going to share all of the recipes for the cleaners, detergents, and soaps I've been making! I've had so much fun making all of these. And on top of the whole safer/healthier/greener reasons, its going to save us so much money. And that was really the reason I wanted to start all of this to begin with.
 |
| From left to right.... |
Stainless Steel Cleaner
I'm using this one on all of my silver kitchen appliances. If you have even one child and a silver refrigerator, you know how that thing needs to be wiped down daily. (The fridge, not the child. Well... the child too.) My tea kettle is also stainless steel and it constantly has splatters from frying. I actually didn't even realize how dirty it was until I cleaned it with this stuff!
2 parts white vinegar
1 part water
a few drops of dawn dish soap
And if you need a little extra scrubbing power, spray the area, then sprinkle it with baking soda and let it sit for a minute. Then scrub. This is how I usually do it with my sink.
Countertop Cleaner
My counters are Corian. I felt like I'd tried everything under the sun to clean them and NOT leave streaks. The only thing that seemed to work was windex. But the Corian website says that windex will dull the surface after a while. *sigh* I researched it on the internet and everyone (even the makers) said that the only way to have it not streak is to dry it. Seriously? I have to clean my counters so many times a day, you want me to DRY them everytime too? I'll live with streaks, thank you.
Until now! I spray them down with this stuff, wipe them down with a wet, hot washcloth and voila! They dry with no streaks! Whoo hoo!!!
1 part rubbing alcohol
7 parts water
a few drops of Dawn
a few drops of lavendar essential oil (it makes it smell good AND its a natural antibacterial agent. double bonus)
Glass cleaner
I actually found a more "natural" recipe for this one, but like I said before, this is really more about cost for me than it is about being natural. We go through a ton of Windex over here. And this one works really good.
1/8 cup ammonia
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
1 drop of laundry detergent
Fill the rest of the bottle with water
Remember my fear of accidentally making an explosive? Well, don't mix this cleaner with vinegar. Or bleach. Ever.
OK so....
Febreze
I realize this isn't technically a cleaner. But I really love febreze. Its awesome to freshen up carpets, curtains, couches, throw pillows.... Good stuff. And this is so easy to make, I figured I might as well!
1/8 cup of your favorite fabric softener (my fav is Downy Clean Breeze)
2 tablespoons baking soda
Fill the rest of the bottle with water
Antibacterial Spray
I didn't get a picture of this one yet.... because its in a hairspray bottle. ;) Once again, the point is to save money and if I go buy a bunch of pretty bottles, it kinda defeats the point. Anyway, this one was too easy not to make, but I think I'm going to just combine the concept with my Counter cleaner. It already has a little bit of Lavendar in it, I think I'm just going to add more instead of two different sprays.
1 cup water
20 drops lavendar essential oil
Hand Soap
Now, my first batch was kind of a failure. It was WAY runny. And because its green, it basically looked like a huge pot of snot. Sick. But I later found out its because I used Dove bar soap. And thats when I read that you can use this recipe for almost ANY bar of soap BUT Dove. Because its truly 1/4 moisturizer, it doesn't firm up the way other bars do. But since I now have a gallon of it, we're using it anyway!!!
1 8oz. bar of soap (some are around 4.25 ounces, I would just use 2 of those)
2 tablespoons glycerin
Grate the bar(s) of soap while you are heating up 1 gallon of water on the stove. Add the soap shavings to the water and stir till its all melted. Then add the glycerin. Let the mixture cool, uncovered, for 10-12 hours. If the mixture is too thick (which mine was NOT), you can add water slowly while mixing with a hand mixer/beater thingy. If its too runny, you have to heat it up again, add more glycerin, let it cool another 10-12 hours and pray that its thicker next time. Its a lot of work, I know, but once you get it down, just follow your same recipe each time.
 |
| The snot batch |
 |
| My super cute assistant |
You know.... technically I could just add a little castile soap with water and put it in a pump and it would make a perfectly fine hand soap. But again, I'm really going for CHEAP here. Not trying to get all organicy. Its just a nice byproduct of some of these recipes.
Also, you should note that whatever the consistency of the liquid soap recipe above, it will not quite suds up the way that store soaps do. They add weird extra ingredients to make them lather up more than they naturally would because
Is lathery a word? Is organicy?
Whatever, moving on...
Laundry Detergent!
I'm SUPER excited about this one because obviously, its the one we go through the fastest. Like, eight-people-in-our-family kind of fast. And I found like 439 million recipes for this online and from friends.
Yes. 439 million. :p
After looking over several I realized that its all basically some variation of the same recipe. So I decided to start with one that is tried and true by America's favorite large family, the Duggars. :)
4 cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 cup Arm&Hammer super washing soda
1/2 cup borax
 |
| This is what it looks like before it thickens. |
What results is a massive vat of nasty looking gelatinous goop. If you've got that, you're on track. I didn't get a picture... gross.
Stir it up up good and try to break up the thick jello-like chunks. Then with a funnel, scoop it into empty containers for storage. (I used milk jugs and old liquid detergent containers.) At this point you still have a concentrated mix that still needs to be halved with water! Wow, that's a lot of laundry detergent.
 |
| Add half of the concentrated detergent and half water. |
Because of the gel consistency and the need to add water and because you have to shake it before each use, I decided to use my "pumper" pitcher.
 |
| There you have it! |
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads) <-- Thats what I'M talkin' about!!
Whew. You made it. Thanks for reading all my recipes and soap making, money saving adventures! Please feel free to comment with thoughts, questions, or your own recipes!
Sneak Peek
Things are bubblin' and brewin' over here. Jake is gone out with a buddy, the kids are in bed, Pandora is cranking and I'm in the kitchen whipping up all kinds of homemade cleaner and soap recipes from pinterest!! At the moment I'm making body wash and laundry detergent, but there are many other cleaners on my list. I'm not sure what excites me more, the clean smell in my house right now or the knowledge of how much money I'm saving!!!
Once I'm done with all these cleaners and soaps, I'm going to post the full recipes. I hope these turn out okay because I'm having so much fun!!
 |
| This (hopefully) is a gallon of dove body wash made for $1.69! |
Once I'm done with all these cleaners and soaps, I'm going to post the full recipes. I hope these turn out okay because I'm having so much fun!!
Lullaby
I'm not sure if it was sarcasm or a genuine vote of confidence, but either way, it was pretty funny.
As I was putting Abby to bed tonight, I lingered in her room a little longer than usual. I'd already made my rounds with the other kiddos and she was last to be tucked in. So I laid on her bed, we talked a bit, prayed and then I sang 2 rounds of the lullaby song to her. But I really took my time, looking into her eyes, stroking her hair, and carrying each note a little longer to let her know how really loved she is. She just stared right back at me, into my eyes, never saying a word, just sucking her thumb.
After the last "go to sleep little ooooooooone," Abby slowly took her thumb out of her mouth and with the other hand, reached up, pat my shoulder and in very serious sounding half-whisper said, "Good job Mom."
Um... thanks. I think.
As I was putting Abby to bed tonight, I lingered in her room a little longer than usual. I'd already made my rounds with the other kiddos and she was last to be tucked in. So I laid on her bed, we talked a bit, prayed and then I sang 2 rounds of the lullaby song to her. But I really took my time, looking into her eyes, stroking her hair, and carrying each note a little longer to let her know how really loved she is. She just stared right back at me, into my eyes, never saying a word, just sucking her thumb.
After the last "go to sleep little ooooooooone," Abby slowly took her thumb out of her mouth and with the other hand, reached up, pat my shoulder and in very serious sounding half-whisper said, "Good job Mom."
Um... thanks. I think.
Farewell Christmas break
Its always a little bittersweet to me when Christmas break (or any other break) is over. I really really love having my kids all home. It can be stressful and at times, chaotic. But there's just something about having all your chicks under one roof. And its a little bit sad when they have to back to school.
The sweet part of the "bittersweet" is that I have the time needed to clean this place up again! I really need those hours when they are in school and I'm able to really keep cleaning with no distractions-- haha, well, fewer, I still have a 2 year old and a baby!!
I was in public school until 4th grade and then homeschooled until I graduated. I loved homeschooling. Jake was in private school until 6th and then homeschooled from there. And I really thought I would homeschool all of my children. But we know there is wisdom in seeking the right solution for each child, each year. And this is the way it needs to be for now.
School life is just so crazy. Its so stressful getting everybody up in the mornings (it breaks my heart having to wake up children who are so cozy in their beds), rushing around to get ready, making sure we don't forget anything, and then sending them off in the cold to be away from home for hours. :( Then I rush around as quick as I can cleaning, doing laundry and dishes, cooking (ahead of time for dinner), and taking care of the babies. On my end, the time goes by so fast because of all that needs to be done. By the time the kids get home, they have just a little playtime with their siblings before homework, dinner, baths and early to bed because they have to get up early the next day and start all over.
Sometimes I think homeschooling would be easier. Oh to have the time to teach all of my little women the things I long to teach them and they are eager to learn. Homekeeping skills, cooking, sewing... Then I have weeks like the last two (Christmas break) and realize, I'd have to be like 400% more organized to do all that, juggle little ones and actually give them a decent education as well! As for Micah and Abby, they get so many therapies as part of their school day. Things I couldn't provide here and if they homeschooled, I'd have to load everyone up to take them to therapy....*sigh* No thank you.
And I really do love the school Ashley and Emily are in. Our amazing church school. Riding to school with their daddy each day, learning in rooms they practically grew up in, with friends they've known forever and teachers who love the Lord and guide them in wisdom and truth. Memorizing scripture and hearing Gods word preached with freedom. I love it. And for this season, this is where the Lord has them.
But maybe someday I'll have all my chicks under one roof for the school day. We'll see.
For now, 2 have started back and 2 more start back tomorrow. And there's a huge pile of laundry that's threatening to take over my bonus room. Farewell Christmas break, hello housework catch-up.
The sweet part of the "bittersweet" is that I have the time needed to clean this place up again! I really need those hours when they are in school and I'm able to really keep cleaning with no distractions-- haha, well, fewer, I still have a 2 year old and a baby!!
I was in public school until 4th grade and then homeschooled until I graduated. I loved homeschooling. Jake was in private school until 6th and then homeschooled from there. And I really thought I would homeschool all of my children. But we know there is wisdom in seeking the right solution for each child, each year. And this is the way it needs to be for now.
School life is just so crazy. Its so stressful getting everybody up in the mornings (it breaks my heart having to wake up children who are so cozy in their beds), rushing around to get ready, making sure we don't forget anything, and then sending them off in the cold to be away from home for hours. :( Then I rush around as quick as I can cleaning, doing laundry and dishes, cooking (ahead of time for dinner), and taking care of the babies. On my end, the time goes by so fast because of all that needs to be done. By the time the kids get home, they have just a little playtime with their siblings before homework, dinner, baths and early to bed because they have to get up early the next day and start all over.
Sometimes I think homeschooling would be easier. Oh to have the time to teach all of my little women the things I long to teach them and they are eager to learn. Homekeeping skills, cooking, sewing... Then I have weeks like the last two (Christmas break) and realize, I'd have to be like 400% more organized to do all that, juggle little ones and actually give them a decent education as well! As for Micah and Abby, they get so many therapies as part of their school day. Things I couldn't provide here and if they homeschooled, I'd have to load everyone up to take them to therapy....*sigh* No thank you.
And I really do love the school Ashley and Emily are in. Our amazing church school. Riding to school with their daddy each day, learning in rooms they practically grew up in, with friends they've known forever and teachers who love the Lord and guide them in wisdom and truth. Memorizing scripture and hearing Gods word preached with freedom. I love it. And for this season, this is where the Lord has them.
But maybe someday I'll have all my chicks under one roof for the school day. We'll see.
For now, 2 have started back and 2 more start back tomorrow. And there's a huge pile of laundry that's threatening to take over my bonus room. Farewell Christmas break, hello housework catch-up.
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