Yes! Saving summer clothes!

We eat a lot of blueberries and cherries in the summer.  I just love fresh fruit right off the vine, but I do not love the stains the juice leaves on my children's clothes.
I have thrown away sweet little summer dresses for lack of a good fruit stain remover.
The other day somebody (not naming names) gave Pops a handful of cherries in his brand new Old Navy Polo Shirt.  I did not drive all the way over to the main land to Old Navy to throw away a shirt after only one use! I was determined to find a solution, and I did.
I just wanted to share it with you, because I have now used it for cherries and blueberries and it totally worked like magic.  Maybe you already know this trick, so just act like it is the best news ever.  Are you ready?

Boiling water.  Yup, that is all.
Seems strange, hot water normally sets in a stain right?  That is what I thought.  I poured water right out of the tea kettle and the stains disappeared like magic.
Do you have any cool cleaning tricks you'd like to share?

Keepin 'Em Busy

I remember the days when I thought it couldn't be possible to homeschool more than one grade at a time.  I wondered how exactly one was to keep little guys busy so a math lesson could be taught without a toilet flooding.  I knew I didn't want to resort to using the television as a baby sitter, tempting as it may be.    I thought I must need special toys (helpful though, they are) or magic tricks or something.

It didn't take long to figure out that it doesn't take much to keep little ones occupied long enough to teach a math lesson or two.

a full 45 minutes this lil bird played in the flour, pouring it back and forth between a couple of bowls, "helping mom cook."  He loved the texture of the flour between his fingers, toes, and apparently, eyelashes.

You don't have to find a baby sitter to bake bread, teach a math lesson, or sew.

There are so many exciting things to do, and many of them are right in the kitchen.

Today Pops stayed busy long enough for me to cook dinner by "washing the dishes" standing on the stool at the sink with a pot of water and a couple of measuring spoons.  Sure, he splashed water on the floor and counter, but I just dry it with a towel and count it as mopping. I know that he is learning so much by exploring, helping mom, and not watching mindless t.v. (or flooding toilets) plus, it's darn near free, and extremely adorable, in my opinion.

Bucket much prefers measuring cups and spoons to fancy toys.  

What are your favorite activities for keeping little ones busy?

What a Helper!

My Boy loves to cook, what a blessing that is!  He offered to make breakfast today, as he does almost every day.  

He really loves working in the kitchen and he happens to have 2 uncles mastering the art of culinary...

(I'm not supposed to mention that the smoke alarm went off for so long that I had to take the battery out. (~:)

I think that children are capable of way more than is expected of them now days.  So many people my age (did I mention I am almost 30?) are completely lazy and irresponsible, and I think it is in part due to lack of experience.  My kids love being helpers, and they get such a sense of accomplishment for a job well done, plus they are better prepared for life.  Sure, I have to let go of my perfectionist expectations, but it is so worth it.  What a joy it is to have my children working alongside me, and what a blessing for Boy (not to mention his future wife!) to know how to cook a meal.

 

Encouragement for Mothers

The Puritan Thomas Manton, in the introduction to the Westminster Confession of Faith, tells of the importance of women in family worship and management:

"Especially women should be careful of this duty; because as they are most about their children, and have early and frequent opportunities to instruct them, so this is the principal service they can do to God in this world...  And doubtless many an excellent magistrate hath been sent into the Common-wealth, and many an excellent pastor into the Church, and many a precious saint to heaven, through the happy preparataions of a holy education, perhaps by a woman that thought herself useless and unserviceable to the Church.  Would parents but... labor to affect the hearts of their children with the great matters of everlasting life, and to acquant them with the substance of the doctrine of Christ, and, when they find in them the knowledge and love of Christ, would bring them then to the pastors of the Church to be tried, confirmed, and admitted to the further privileges of the Church, what happy, well-ordered Churches might we have!"

Foolish woman

Boy, I was grouchy last night.  I think I was having flashbacks of my days of folly- the end of pregnancy seems to push my buttons ;-)

The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. ~Proverbs 14:1

Yup, that used to be me. Angry, irritated, and bitter about all that had "gone wrong" in my life. I was carrying all that ugly stuff on my shoulders and slinging it at anybody that pushed my buttons.
I was tearing my house down.


I wish I could say I woke up one morning and decided to change and poof, a new, pleasant and kind me stood in the grumbly cantankerous me's place. Nope. I had to see my ugliness for what it was, be pained by it, and hate it, before I could change it.

Sin comes with many names. Pride, thinking I deserve to have things they way I want them. Discontentment, getting irritated when things aren't just the way I imagined or planned. Irritation, when someone isn't doing just what I think they should be doing, when I think they should be doing it. Self pity, "why do I always have to..."
Those are all sins. Selfishness, pride, anger...


A few years ago I began to realize I wasn't a victim but rather, I was choosing to feel sorry for myself, choosing to be irritated, choosing to let it turn into bitterness and choosing to get angry and yell. I could continue to stomp my feet and let everyone know I wasn't pleased and vent my frustrations. I might feel better for the moment, but I was stealing everyone else's joy and tearing my house down in the process.


I decided that I would like to be a wise woman, a kind woman, a pleasant woman. I would like for my children to grow old and say that I was a blessing to them. I would like for my husband to cherish me.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her ~Proverbs 31:28

If I wished to be a blessing, I needed to act like one! If I wanted my husband to cherish me, I could not be a constant dripping!!! No more making excuses for myself!

It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. ~Proverbs 21:19

A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike ~Proverbs 27:15

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife Proverbs 21:9

Joy and love are choices, not feelings. Patience, I think, is inversely tied to selfishness- when I let go of my selfishness I become immensely more patient. Bitterness is a poisonous gas that destroys everyone in it's path. And Pride- well, pride is at the root of all of those other things.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23

I am cannot achieve those traits own own, I am depraived and desperate. I slip back into my old (well practiced) habits of nagging and complaining (especially when 9 months pregnant) if I am not grounded daily in the saving grace of God's Word. I must choose to put off the old and put on the new.

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires ~Ephesians 4:22

How about you, will you tear your house down with your own hands? Or will you seek the wisdom of the Lord and build your house up?

be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. ~Ephesians 4:23 & 24

Begin by asking for forgiveness and putting on a smile.  It is worth it!

A Look at Our Day

A few weeks ago I decided I need a push to get out of that bed rest- morning sickness- slump I was in.  I have never been very good with schedules, I don't like being constrained and the added pressure of time makes me a bit on edge.  I have learned over the years of homeschooling though, that if I fail to plan, I plan to fail, yada yada yada.

Over the last several years I have tried a ton of different schedules.  I have asked other homeschool mom's with many children (as in more than two) what their schedule looks like and tried to copy it as if it were a magic cure.  I have found schedules on the internet and tried them too.  The schedules would always fail after about two days or so.  They simply weren't for us.

Over a year ago I finally got a clue. I was sick of trying new things and failing and I wanted some fluidity in our days. I asked Dad as the head of this home to take a look at our schedule and let me know what was missing and what was there that didn't need to be.  He told me the things that were the most important to him and I was able make some changes, add some important things and cut out the rest.

After we revised our schedule, our days began to flow pretty smoothly.  It also took a lot of pressure off of me and not worrying about what I wasn't fitting in wasn't a concern anymore.  As long as I finished the things that were most important to Dad, I could relax.

We still have to revise our schedule on a regular basis, as needs or circumstances change, but the basic format stays the same.

Here's a peek at our current schedule:

7am - Everyone's up and getting ready for the day.  We have to turn our bedroom back into the living room and kitchen, get dressed, get our teeth brushed, and get the table set for breakfast.  We either have soft music or an audio bible playing in the background.  I like my morning to start quietly since I am not really a morning person ;~) (this is a change from our normal schedule since I normally start my day at about 5:30 but since we are sharing a small space I don't want to wake everyone else up.  Actually, I am pregnant and tired.)

8am - Breakfast.  One of the three older children are responsible for getting the breakfast made.  While Boy reads the morning bible, a Proverb for the day.  Eat and clean up.

9am - MWF is American History or History of the Horse (Beautiful Feet).  TuTh is Character Training (Beautiful Feet)

10am - MWF is Math (Mammoth Math, LOVE it!) TuTh is Language Arts.  We do a writing and dictionary assignment I create using Instructions for Righteousness.

11am - Lunch made by one of the three older children.

12pm- Quiet Time.  Mom and the two littlest take a nap while Guys and Sis do the dishes and Boy clears the table and picks up the the house.  Once the chores are done they get to read quietly until the littles wake up.  (This is another change, we usually have another hour of school before lunch and quite time, but again, I am pregnant, hungry and tired.  I had to modify the nap time too, since living in the travel trailer.  During the day all the beds are blocked except mine, so the littles had to learn to nap together and not play with the stuff in mom and dad's room.  This is such a sweet time for us!)

2pm- Project Time.  PlayDoh, science projects, building birdhouses and feeders, sewing (beginning soon), legos, lincoln logs, meal planning, whatever.  This is our time for learning through living life.

The rest of our day is really flexible, especially since Dad's schedule is different every day.  We do try to have dinner around 5 with family worship right after, and bed time is 8...

It is easy to get caught up in schedules and checklists, but for our family, character training to bring glory to God is always the primary focus of our day.  We could "do school" all day long making academics our primary focus and raise scholars and professionals, but what good does that do if they are selfish fools?

 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.  Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”     ~Matthew 16:24-28

When Motherhood is Stressful

When Motherhood is Stressful…

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Wise Words on Wednesday ~ on keeping perspective

Boy, it was one of those days. Then it turned into one of those weeks.

I can't even remember when it started. The children have had nasty runny noses for quite some time. It has been long enough that a nose wiped on my leg isn't sweet anymore. The big wash machine is broken, the quarter machine was stolen and the front office where we might get some quarters was closed for no reason in the middle of the day so we had to take the laundry to the only mat in this town. Most of the machines were broken there and the ones that were working ate our money. I won't even tell you how dirty it was. Then someone wet their bed, again.

The black water tank got clogged. That was really fun.

I thought I fixed the refrigerator, but my milk for mashed potatoes was frozen solid.

Then I flooded the kitchen sink because I got sidetracked by the milk-cicles.

Then the circuit breaker popped because it is cold outside and we are running the heater while I am trying to make dinner that requires more than just the electric skillet. It popped for the 8th time that meal.

Then I discovered that the grey water had overflown. I forgot to pull it when I was unsticking the black water. That means all the water we have been washing the dishes with is not going down the drain into the sewer system but is sitting nicely inside the travel trailer.

Luckily the first place it overflows is the bath tub. Unluckily the bath tub is where we keep the laundry. It started as dirty laundry but is now soaked and dirtier laundry.

And the big wash machine is broken. And I am out of quarters. It is late, so I decided to leave it for morning. (Didn't someone tell me never put off until tomorrow...?)

Two of my children were wide awake at 3am. They couldn't fall back asleep. That means I could not fall back asleep. Then one of them wet the bed. My bed. And the wash machine is still broken and I still have no quarters.

I could very easily be contentious. This is stressful. This is dirty. I might even want to be contentions. It means "given to angry debate or quarrelsome" and I sure know how to whine about how difficult my 8 loads of nasty laundry with broken wash machines and no quarter is. It comes naturally to me.

But, some other things happened this week. Things that are really keeping it in perspective for me. On Monday we got an email that a man from our small group in Colorado has passed away suddenly. He leaves behind a wife and 2 school-aged children.

Then at Mops one of the moms was rushed to the hospital because she was having trouble breathing during our meeting. She died that night. They don't even know why. She was a fellow Navy wife, and she leaves behind a husband and two children.

So having all this mess to deal with doesn't really matter that much anymore does it? It is so easy to get all wrapped up in the everyday mundane-ness of life. It is very easy to wallow and trap yourself in the days that pass by. Keeping a positive outlook is really important to accomplish anything. To have joy is key. Joy is a smile on your face and in your heart no matter what your house looks like or how long your to-do list is. It is being thankful that you have a to-do list to do.

We are alive, and we have work to do. Praise God!

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

...The joy of the Lord will be my strength

Nehemiah 8:10

I did it!

Awhile back my husband gave me a dare, you can read it here ~You want me to do what?

Well, I finally did it! It is kind of sad that it took me this long to get it done and even though my children are snot buckets right now, I wanted so badly to run to the store. Just for another box of tissues and maybe some jalapeno chips or something, anything really. But, I did it! If my children weren't sick, this probably wouldn't have happened. So I guess I am actually thankful for these colds.

I read somewhere that the average person makes enough mucus to fill 7 bath tubs in the course of a year. I have wiped at least one bath tub full in the last three days alone, I am sure of it! My youngest bugger toddles up to me and says "mama" in the sweetest baby boy voice as he wraps his little arms around my skirt and wipes his nose on my leg. Heart warming, isn't it? Poor boy, to top of his nasty cold, last night I discovered a big fat molar ripping through his little 12 month old gums.

These might have been the best 3 days of school we have had this year. We finished all of our work plus extra and finished some other projects too. I was also able to do several rounds of blanket training (a post on this is coming soon) and we have had a very peaceful time. No rush, no irritation, no place to go. I love it. This will be happening much more often. In fact, I hope to make it the norm around here.

Too bad I have to get groceries. Our fridge is way to small to make it more than a handful of days without running to the store.

We are out of Fat Free Vanilla Latte Creamer...

Wise Words on Wednesday ~ on being a housewife

Have you ever felt embarrassed when asked how you spend your days? Saying "I'm a homemaker" is no longer done with pride, and that to me is sad.

Of course, much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even be deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else's and not your own.

by Dorothy Patterson quoted in the book Passionate Housewives by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald

But society is wrong! Being a keeper of your home, a help meet to your husband, and a loving mother to your children is a worthy, admirable, and a holy mission.

Doug Phillips from Vision Forum puts it this way:

The household is the God-ordained seat of education. It is the first place where we are to develop and communicate a distinctively Christian aesthetic for culture. The home is not to be relegated to a mere place for consumption, but transformed into a powerful tool for industry and production. In the household (not the state welfare agency) we find God's true pattern for multi-generation, covenantal care. The home, not even the temple or church meeting house, has always been the God-ordained primary locus for daily worship. Our homes not only provide us with a platform to honor God's non-optional commands for one-anothering and hospitality, but they were designed to be the most powerful forums for evangelism and discipleship in the Christian's arsenal.

That does not sound like mousy homemaking or lousy housewifing, does it?

I have worked out in the "real world," I know both sides of the story. Being at home is tough work, but it is completely worth it. It is God's work, and I am honored to be called to keep my home and teach my daughters to do the same, and I am learning to do it passionately.

Memory Journal

Mom thinking out loud as the shelf came crashing down ~ What in the world?

Butter ~ Oh, no! I will get Dad!

Butter to Dad ~ Dad, quick! The World!

Dad ~ What?

Butter ~ The World!

It is truly a JOY to raise little ones.

I just ordered special blank journals, one for each of my children. I want to write moments like these down, so they don't get lost in life. It is my plan to keep a record for each child of the funny things they say, special milestones and moments, along with the struggles and trials they experience. I will also include specifically chosen Bible verses and the prayers that we pray for each one of our children.

We will then present to each child their own journal sometime later in life, maybe on their 18th Birthday or their wedding day...

What a special way to pass down the memories!

Change your attitude with a snap!

You know those days when everything seems to be going wrong? You pour the water into the back of the coffee pot and hear a funny noise. Trying to figure out what it is with a still sleeping brain and see in the dim kitchen through crusty eyes you discover there was already water in the coffee pot and you have effectively poured water all over the kitchen counter. You knock over another cup of water someone so thoughtfully left on the counter while trying to clean up the mess. This wakes the baby up. Now you are trying to hush baby with one arm so he doesn't wake up the other children and clean up the flooded kitchen with the other arm. Your arms are full, but your baby's arms aren't so he grabs the bowl of cereal you just poured for your husband and throws it to the floor before you can stop him. This wakes the other children up. With cereal on the floor and awake children at 6 am, you have a choice to make about how the rest of your day is going to look. It could be ruined. Or you could have joy.


I have learned a little trick to help me keep things in perspective and have joy in times of trial. In moments like this early morning kitchen disaster, I pull out my joy-theft prevention weapon. It is also called a camera. The time it takes me to find my camera and snap a picture allows me to find a chuckle, keep things in perspective, and make light of a situation. I don't want to cry over spilled milk. Or spilled coffee water and cereal. How you react in the small trials is a good indication of how you will react in the big trials, and there will be trials.


Before I learned this trick I might yell, I might get huffy, and I might let this mess ruin my day. I still might yell or get huffy on occasion, but I press on to learn this spirit of joy in all circumstances.

Besides, looking back at the pictures makes it all worth it. I didn't take a picture of this morning's kitchen disaster because it didn't even phase me. But I did catch this "disaster" two days ago...


My little two year old ruined my favorite make-up and the counter has permanent glitter, but look at her smile! No, she didn't get away with this mess and my children know that mom pulling out her camera is not a "get out of jail free" card. She had to clean it up herself, and she won't do it again. Well, we are talking about Butter, so I hope she won't do it again, lol. But I could have stolen that smile off her face and stolen the joy from the entire day by my attitude. Instead, I took a picture, we cleaned up the mess, brushed it off, learned a lesson, and kept going. And we have this adorable picture to laugh about.

Next time things start going downhill, I challenge you to take out the camera and make a memory out of it!