Tornado Victims

We have been following the news this week about the tornadoes and the victims. It has really challenged our family to be more prepared to be ready to help when something like this happens. Here is a link where you can donate money to help three different Christian families. One of the families not only lost their home but also their father/husband. The interview of their oldest son was so encouraging. What a testimony of a great job Mr. & Mrs. Lee did in raising a strong, Godly son! We need to be praying for comfort and peace for their family in the days ahead. I would imagine that when the shock of what they have been through starts to wear off that it is going to be very difficult.

Family...

A couple of weeks ago one of my sisters and her children came for a visit. We visited a local museum and the kids played hard outside while they were here. I don't know why I didn't take more pictures. I think because McKenzie usually does all of our pictures and she was bogged down with school work while they were here.

Malachi thinks Clayton is wonderful and he was glued to his side the whole time.


The girls the morning they left.

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The Saturday before Easter we usually do things like coloring eggs and Resurrection cookies. We always do Easter baskets for the kids on Saturday. It is easier not to have to do it on Sunday morning and helps keep Sunday morning more focused on the meaning of Easter.

One of his sisters talked him into wearing the apron! :)

My little Easter bunny.

All the kiddos before we left for church.

An after church attempt at a decent family picture. I wish Myles was looking! :)

Lunch and Easter egg hunt at grandma and pa's house.

Malachi with his "Pa".

Easter Idea

I got this idea from the Notgrass family. (Notgrass homeschool curriculum) We have had "Resurrection Eggs" since our oldest two were little. They have been used every Easter over the years. I thought this idea was something fun to do on Good Friday.

Resurrection Story Eggs
A fun way to discover the Resurrection story!
1. Purchase a package of inexpensive pastel plastic eggs.
2. Cut twelve strips of lined paper, each 1 ½ - 2 inches wide. (Younger writers may need wider paper.)
3. Copy one verse from Luke 24:1-12 on each strip, but do not include the verse numbers.
4. Fold up the strips and put one strip in each egg. Add a piece of candy or two!
5. Hide the eggs and have children find them.
6. As a family, put the verses in order, then read the story together

A Spring Sunday Afternoon

This is our favorite time of year. We have been busy planting our garden and some flowers. I got my love of flowers from my dad and his mother. Now that I am older, I often think of my dad's parents and wish that I could have known them. They raised nine children on a farm. I can only imagine the stories and advice that she could have shared with me! I wish I knew more about gardening, but I learn a little more each year.

This rose bush produces the most gorgeous pink roses all summer long, but it always gets black spot. I have tried sprays (which smell SO bad- I wish there was something a little less toxic!) but they don't work. Any gardeners out there with advice???

When we got home from church the children played outside all afternoon. At bedtime we brought in very dirty, tired children! They should all sleep well!

Hope you all have a good week!

Sen. Rand Paul Destroys Ms. Hogan and Department of Energy: Get Out of M...

Rand Paul IS pro-life. Click here for the link about his stand on abortion. I think he was only proving a point (in which he did a great job!) on the hypocrisy that liberals are pro-choice when it comes to life, but anti-choice on everything else.

Wednesday night ramblings

It is only Wednesday evening and I am already feeling like "What a week!" When I told McKenzie I was taking pictures for another post on what our days have been like she said, "Oh, mama... Do you have to be THAT real?" I guess I honestly have impure motives for venting on this post. My husband had a female co-worker the other day make a comment about not knowing how I have time to run every day. Another lady said, "Because she stays home. She has all the time in the world." That didn't set well with me! So... for the record....THIS is the reality of what a homeschooling mama does with her time.

Tuesday morning around 10:00 AM.... I had already nursed and bathed a baby, fixed breakfast for five other children (they cleaned up), washed three loads of laundry (one daughter hung two loads out), mopped all of the wood floors, made two phone calls... BUT, my bed still looked like this.......

because I was teaching a math lesson to a 2nd grader while a teething one year old was throwing cheerios from one end of my room to the other....

then when he bored with that he moved to crayons......

Of course, it is always fun to play in mommy's bathroom.......

and the math manipulative's are fun to throw too!

She was learning to multiply by '3', but in reality she was learning so much more. She was learning how to be patient with her little brother! She was learning that teething one year olds can be very difficult! After her lesson she learned how to serve by taking that one year old outside to play so that her mama could then move on to the 6th grader who needed help with her school work. (On a side note: Mariah had four teeth pulled the day before. She did great and got a milkshake when it was over!)

McKenzie had to dissect a cow's heart for school. Of all nights we had to have meat loaf for supper. It was very hard to sit down and eat that night! I don't enjoy the upper level Science and Math. Fortunately, Marc is always ready and willing to help! :)

I don't write all of this to complain. As exhausting as my life can be I truly wouldn't change it for anything! But PLEASE.... don't assume that we stay-at-home moms (especially those of us that also homeschool!!) have all the time in the world. It isn't always easy! But, the blessings way out weigh the negatives. I get hugs and kisses all day long. I have a four year old that tells me he loves me and I am pretty even when I am in my running clothes and have a ponytail. I get to "see" when the light bulb turns on for one of my children struggling with something in school. I get to mold and train them everyday. I get to hear the many funny things that they say! Like.... McKenzie has two dairy goats that she is milking. We have TONS of milk now. I am having to be really creative using it. Mariah asked me what was for supper the other night. When I told her quiche she looked like she wasn't thrilled. I asked her if she didn't like quiche. She said, "Well, it is just kind of awkward. We had quiche the other night." She cracks me up when she tries to use a word and uses it wrong. I am working on character things with her and Malachi right now. She told me the other day after we had had a long talk that "this is very difficult". When McKenzie was dissecting the cow's heart she told me she was going to go watch McKenzie "digest" the cow heart. Yes, I would miss out on a lot!

Then there is Malachi.... I took him on a walk yesterday and he said, "How old are you mommy?" When I told him he said, "Are you kidding?" When I had to correct him for something today he looked at me very seriously and said, "I want to make you really small." Tonight (when once again I was trying to use up some milk) I told everyone to eat a bowl of granola for supper. When it came time to get ready for bed I told Malachi I needed to brush his teeth. He said, "Why, I don't have supper on them. Do I have bret-fest on them?"

Yes, it is exhausting...... but there is nowhere else I would rather be!

A Merry Heart

It has been a long week! Myles hasn't felt well and he has had a constant "whine". It is so unnerving when you are trying to get things done! Last night I was cooking supper (and trying a new, unfamiliar recipe-which probably wasn't smart) and he was really fussy. McKenzie works on Thursday nights, so I asked Madeline to take him outside. They weren't out there long until I heard him screaming. He had gotten hurt and she was bringing him back to me. I heard Malachi turning the water on outside which means one thing.... he will be filthy! Marc walked in the door and I greeted him with "PLEASE take your babies where I can't hear them!!" He was sweet and took them for a walk while I finished fixing supper. This morning has been more of the same. Fussy baby that wants to be held and a house that looks like this. Two of the girls were moody and snipping at each other. I looked at Matthew and said, "Don't you just love girls?" He (who doesn't say a whole lot) said, "When I get married I am going to make sure my wife is on that mood balancing medicine." Oh, he has a lot to learn! :>)

Malachi wanted to"help" me fix breakfast. I really wanted him out of my way! He mixed and mixed the pancake batter!

He was quite pleased with himself!

Malachi is a very happy child and likes to have a good time. He had us all laughing at breakfast with his "Bubba" teeth. I was immediately reminded of the verse "A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones." Proverbs 17:22

I love checking for daily encouragements on facebook from "Above Rubies". Today's message was pretty timely as I was not having the greatest attitude about my day. (I love Nancy Campbell and hope to hear her in person one day!)

"Do you feel "victimized" in an area of your life today? Are you battling self-pity? Christ had every reason to wallow in self-pity and He was the ultimate victim! Yet he never behaved as a victim and He continued to pour Himself out for His family! With Him as our strength, no matter what we face, we can do the same!"

So, the laundry is still there, the homeschool lessons still need to be done, children are still irritable but I CAN choose to have a good attitude! And as Nancy would say, I am going to push my sleeves up and get to work!

Hope you all have a good day!

Picture Me Mommy!

Malachi loves church and he loves getting dressed for church. We used to laugh when he was younger because he ALWAYS got taken out during church for discipline, but he still loved going! After he gets dressed he often comes into my bathroom where I am getting ready and brushes his hair. He says he looks like "Bubbie" (Matthew). This past Sunday after he was ready he said, "Picture me mommy!" (Meaning, take my picture!) So, I "pictured him" on the front porch.

Meeting a blog friend and visiting with family...

A couple of weekends ago I got to meet a "blogger" in person! I have been reading "Kathy Mom of Many" for the last couple of years. I can't even remember how I stumbled upon her blog. I have several blogs that I like to keep up with, total strangers that you just enjoy taking a peek into their lives. It is a long story of how it all happened, but she and her husband (who live about 10 hours away) were traveling and stopped by to meet us. It was neat meeting them and we are looking forward to them coming back through this summer with their children. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of my sisters and her family moved out of state last year. They came home for Christmas, but I was sick with the flu and we didn't get to see them. They came last week and we met at our parent's house for a visit. The children were so excited to see them and were sad when the visit was over. I know McKenzie wants to do a post on her blog, so I will only post a few of the pictures! :)

This was the best picture of the two babies together. They wouldn't be still!

The boys played hard.

They wanted their own mamas!Much better... :)

The girls took tons of pictures outside.

It is late and we just got a weather announcement phone call (we live out where there aren't any weather sirens!) Bad weather is on it's way. I guess I will get off of here and go to bed!

Piano recitals, museums and other happenings...

Life has been busy lately. I have tons of pictures that I have wanted to post and just haven't been able to slow down long enough to do it! A couple of weekends ago the girls had their piano festival and spring recital. Festival is where they go and play for a judge and are critiqued. They are judged in piano theory, piano solo and hymns. All three girls got superior in all three categories. The judges are outside people and don't hesitate to criticize when needed. I was very proud of them, they worked hard. The next day they had their spring recital. My parents drove down to hear them play. When the recital was over we went to an air force Air and Space Museum. Mariah with her grandma (my mom.) Malachi loved the museum. Matthew dreams of flying one day. He was in heaven all afternoon!

Myles doesn't look too thrilled about his ride!

My dad

McKenzie being goofy.

He was just a little bit excited! :)

Matthew and my dad have similar personalities. They like reading the details of the exhibits.

McKenzie being goofy again. :) I think she was feeling good that festival and recital were over with. She had the extra stress of being a teacher this year and not only herself playing but her students too!

Well, I have lots of other things to post, but they will have to wait. I have a four year old that wants me to go outside and see our new kittens with him. Be watching for lots of pictures coming this week. I know you are all on the edge of your seats with anticipation! haha :)