Time

 

With my oldest son well into his teenage years and my youngest a month old this week, the song "Time In A Bottle" by Jim Croce keeps running through my head; as I savor each moment of nurturing my newborn...nursing, colic, long nights, spit up, a zillion diaper changes, cuddling, first smile...if only I could save time in a bottle, but before I know it this young one will be big just like his oldest brother. Time passes so quickly, remember to savor every moment of every day because before you know it, you will be looking back over your photos and wondering how they got so big and where the time went.

Thankful Thursday

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thes 5:18

The gal who writes thisBlog does a Thursday listing of ten things she's thankful for. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to stop and count our blessings and proclaim the goodness of our Father. I've been meaning to join in the last few weeks but finding time to sit and blog and upload photos has been challenging to say the least. Instead of procrastinating until I have a chance to upload photos I'm going to dive in and post without photos.

1. I'm thankful that after 24(4)+8 hours of surviving the single parent of many life, my traveling salesman of a hubby is home :)
(can you tell I've been teaching pre-algebra?)

2. I'm thankful that last night I got twice as much sleep(4 hours) than I did the night before.

3. I'm thankful for a king size bed that I tucked 3 of the kids in with me last night because I was too exhausted to deal with the popcorn episodes.

4. I'm thankful for the sweet prayer of my two year old as she lay in bed with me fighting sleep, "Hey! It's me! I pray...I pray Mommy...I pray Daddy..."

5. I'm thankful that I was able to stay home this entire, cold, dreary week.

6. I'm thankful for 14 hands that make messes.

7. I'm thankful that 12 of these hands help clean up the messes, some of the time:)

8. I'm thankful that God's peace ruled in our home the majority of the week and strife has been minimal.

9. I'm thankful that the fact that the laundry is behind is proof of God providing us abundant raiment.

10. I'm thankful that tonight I can snuggle up next to my hubby and sleep, letting him get up with any kids that need attention :-D

Meet My Friends

God has blessed me with some amazing friends who continually exhort me to be all He created me to be. I love these ladies, but they are not who I want to introduce you to today, instead I want you to meet some "friends" who assist me in meeting the needs and caring for my family of 9.

The first friend or actually friends, they are twins, are Bali Baby Stretch and Ergo. I discovered the Ergo when my 5th child was a few months old. Really, I wonder how I survived four babies and toddlers without it. I suddenly felt like a supermom as I tended to the needs of not only my baby but also my other children and husband, carrying baby as I cooked, cleaned, instructed and ran errands. Then baby 6 arrived and I discovered the Ergo didn't work especially well for newborns and as she got older she didn't particularly like to be carried, she preferred the stroller so she could greet and smile at everyone she met. This summer when I was pregnant with baby 7 I read a post by a mom of many about her wrap and I knew that I must have one of these for baby 7. After much research I decided on the Bali Baby Stretch and I LOVE it! I can carry my sweet newborn around as I delegate chores and lend a hand to my other children. I can go shopping and keep my baby secure against me with no one touching or breathing all over him. I can eat with both hands, put the toddler on the potty, fold the laundry and type this post while baby JL sleeps securely and snuggly against me. I haven't tried it yet but I should be able to carry JL in the wrap and busy Miss M on my back in the Ergo should I be out with them both and need them secured and my hands free. Again I wonder how I survived so many babies with out these wonderful friends.

Another trusty friend of mine is the 7 quart crockpot. This lady is such a sanity saver. I love to start breakfast in the evening and awaken to find it ready. I can start potatoes in it first thing in the morning and have piping hot baked potatoes ready by noon for lunch and I can begin dinner early in the day before baby is fussy and I'm tired making for a much calmer dinner hour. Another advantage is the prep mess is cleaned up earlier in the day making for less work after dinner as well. Black Beans is a staple I make in my crock-pot. Mine will hold 3 lbs which will feed us for several meals of beans and rice, burritos and chili.

Online shopping is also a great friend for this very busy mom of 7! My oldest daughter was in need of some clothes, so I hopped online and searched several stores, found things that she and I both liked, called the local store and had them pull her size and then sent her and Daddy shopping. Much easier than running from store to store. I can search for things and either order or send someone out to pick it up for me.

The last friend I would like to introduce you to is what I call the "crock pot of homeschool" - Audio Books. I always have some in the car and around the house, they are great for bed time, quiet time or when mom just has too much to do to sit and read for hours. When I get a chance I'll compile a list of some of our favorites!

There you have a few of my favorite friends.

End of a VERY BUSY Week...

This was a busy week around our place with errands to do every day but Monday so I enjoyed staying in bed a little longer this chilly morning even if I did have 6 wiggly kids join me.

Although I'm worn out from the week it was a productive week.

On Wednesday my Mom was taking the girls for hair cuts and I decided to use the opportunity, since I'd have only 4 kids, to start my Christmas shopping. By God's grace I was able to get over half of it done in only 3 stops and despite the fact that I had 4 of the 7 kids with me. Unfortunately a few things will not be a surprise, but I have managed to keep at least one good surprise per child.

Thursday morning at approximately 10 am I decided that I could not stand going another day with out a hair cut. I had procrastinated long enough! I called a salon and was able to get in that afternoon. After I made the appointment I realized that I had no one to watch the kids and with a new born I did not feel comfortable leaving them home with big brother. I proceeded to coordinate a grand production in order to accomplish the much needed hour of cut and pampering of my hair. Two children had writing class that afternoon, so I needed to find someone to watch the others and someone to meet me at the salon to hold our newborn. After a few calls all was arranged. I left the house at 12:45 and dropped off the two for writing class. I swung by my husbands office and left one there and then headed to my cousins where I left 3 others. I arrived at the salon 15 minutes before my appointment and nursed little JL while I waited in my bro and sil to arrive. They had agreed to come and tend to him while I got my hair cut. When I sat down in the chair to have my hair shampooed, while enjoying a complimentary hand massage, I relaxed and realized the energy expended to work out the details had been worth the hour of relaxation and pampering. I left refreshed and looking better than when I arrived, ready to reverse my rounds to collect everyone and return home to find dinner ready thanks to my crockpot(one of my best friends!).

Friday I got a day out with my hubby, my oldest daughter and JL. We had fun shopping and dining. Marked a few more items off the Christmas list, got home very late buy enjoyed having time to connect with them.

Today I'm catching up on the laundry and snuggling up JL and letting him nurse as much as he wants, after three crazy days of car seats and outings.

Tomorrow another crazy week begins where I need to fit in some baking and hopefully begin working on our Christmas cards. Getting a photo of the SEVEN had proved to be challenging.

Why I ate cold spaghetti for breakfast???

A: The kids ate all the breakfast not only leaving me no toast but not even any bread to make toast.

B: I'm a famished mom nursing a newborn and I must eat immediately before I have to nurse said newborn again.

C: There wasn't enough spaghetti left to feed all six kids for lunch and not wanting a squabble I decided to finish it off.

D: All of the above.

Neverending Journey

It's been a month + since I've posted. The past weeks have been filled with the daily survival chores and an attempt to discard excess, organize the remaining and establish some routines and plans. The kids also completed their Public speaking classes, which entailed writing speeches, memorizing speeches and presenting speeches. I'm glad that's over! We also got to spend a day visiting with a couple of my aunts and cousins in a neighboring state. We had a great time catching up and the kids had fun making friends with their 3rd cousins. Too bad we all live so far from each other.

Although we've continued on with some schoolwork we still have yet to get on a good schedule where we get most of what I have planned for the day accomplished, but I have managed to plan and implement a couple of things that have brought some order and sanity to our household. Keeping the kids motivated to keep their rooms presentable had become quite the challenge and with three kids in each room it is easy to imagine how quickly their rooms can become overwhelmingly messy. I gathered all the kids together and explained the new system, which this post inspired, and then I spent the day helping them clean out their rooms, discard all the excess and non-essentials and change their sheets and make their beds neatly. We are now in our third week and this system is still working and their rooms are remaining neat and orderly! The other thing I've done is implement meal planning. I've tried this over and over only to become overwhelmed by the decisions one must make to plan out 3 meals for seven days, but after reading meal plans of other large families on different blogs I felt ready to overcome this obstacle. We are on week 2 and WOW!!! what a difference it has made. I always dreaded the first words of the morning, "Mommy what's for breakfast?" I would cringe before my eyes ever opened. Also their were constant protests to what I was planning on preparing, but now that the menu is plainly posted on the fridge, there seems to be less inclination to argue with the plan. Breakfast and lunch repeats weekly, but dinner I still add in some variety. Tomorrow I will share our menu for this week, but now I'm going to rest while my toddler is napping.

A New School Year

For years I have received the Sonlight Catalog and poured over their wonderful selection of books and resources. I've even attempted to round up used materials and instructors guides and follow it, but each attempt has ended in frustration, although we have read many of the books and thoroughly enjoyed them. This year I found myself drawn into their catalog again and with the arrival of a new baby approaching, the need for more structure in our homeschooling. I spent several days surfing the internet looking for user reviews and opinions. I already knew that it was a great curriculum, but I wanted to see how real families, with many children were using it as a tool to educate their children and enhance their time together. That is when I found Raising Olives. My heart immediately identified with her and the goals she and her husband had for raising their children. Her reviews of Sonlight and how it worked for their , family really spoke to me and I gained a renewed vision for our homeschool. After evaluating each years core and reviewing it with my husband, we decided the best fit four our family would be the Core 5, Eastern Hemisphere. I placed the order and we received our box full of books, in less than a week! I was very impressed by the quick shipping, but the wonderful books were the icing on the cake. Although my kids aren't avid readers, they are avid listeners and were completely enthralled with the books. All 6 children grabbed a book as I began to pull them from the box and even my husband joined in the fun, grabbing his own selection to explore. Now that we've seen what is ahead, we are all so excited to begin. We've already begun to explore with the World Book CD Rom that was included in our package. Just this morning the kids were searching for hares and jackrabbits. Now that I've finished my back to school supply shopping and organizing we should be digging. I'll keep you posted on how the year is working for us.

Right now Raising Olives has a $50 Sonlight Gift Card contest, so if you're interest in using any of their wonderful resources, visit here, for a chance to win!