Checking in....

I have almost forgotten how to do this blog! I've been contemplating putting it on a setting where only I can read it since this whole idea started out from those thoughts anyway.But ...... I liked blogging. I just haven't for a while now. Let me explain why...quickly since I need to take the children out to swim. :O)

1. My homeschooling became busier with a 6th grader, 4th grader, and a 2nd grader. Plus a toddler to keep us occupied.
2. We had several unexpected remodeling projects, which left us with a better looking house.
3. Now I'm pregnant with my seventh and over the nausea so things are much better.
4. We started school this week and we'll be doing school every other week till I have 4 weeks under my belt. This will allow me to take time off after the baby gets here.

So you see, life's been busy. My kids are now 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2. We started 7th, 5th, 3rd grade, and Kindergarten. I've done gone over to the other side when it comes to teaching methods and now we use all Rod and Staff with living books on the side to keep our history and science relevant.

Life is good. God has been so good. Now we need to think of a name for this little boy in the oven. My kids like Elliot. Elliot? So blog maybe I'll blog again soon. Maybe sooner then last January. But I have an excuse....several.

Summer Happenings (Dear Journal Letters)

Dear Journal,

Summer seems to be flying by! We haven't done much except for swim in our pool and go to the library summer reading program shows every Wednesday.
We've been out of school since early June but I have spent a lot of thought since then on our new school year coming up. We switched math for 1st -3rd grade so I've been making sure I have everything needed.
The children are bored and I feel like sometimes I'm a constant referree, especially for the two older boys.
The boys were able to go flying a week or two ago with the EAA Young Eagles program. Each had a chance to fly for about 20 minutes in a small airplane and talk to the pilot, ask questions, etc. It was a great experience for them. (I don't think we could afford them that experience anytime soon.)
They don't realize how good they have it. God has blessed them so much. July 20th they will be attending a history camp full of boy fun and living history from Creation to present. (And this a gift from a good friend.)

All this living causes me- no forces me to alter my life. I see a constant need during summer break from school to manage my time and space better and yet I have trouble with this.
So many thoughts this summer, so little time...

Sincerely,

A month in time...

Can it really be May 24th? Time has just flown by. Maybe it went by so quick because I haven't had adequate sleep every night and I've been in a state of recovery.

• Baby is one month old now. She had me worried for a couple weeks because she wouln't latch on right the first week and my milk supply went down. Her weight went down too. We finally got the latch under control (and not a moment too soon because she had me in so much pain I just about wanted to quit doing this) but she began to gain weight and I began to heal. I pumped a little and have been taking Fenugreek (an herb that is suppose to help build your milk supply up.)
  
• My little 5 1/2 yr. old graduated Kindergarten Saturday. She was so excited.

• We have resumed school this past week and can say I didn't get much done but the essentials which are Math and Language Arts. We did go to the Aquarium one day and to Dollywood another day. Overall, our fieldtrips went well since baby nursed and slept most of the day. (Though I couldn't have done any of that without my husband.)


• The exciting part of homeschooling for me has begun. The Curriculum Sales! I've got a milk crate full of books to sell and have started shopping for some of my things for this coming year. I've decided to switch our math in 1st -3rd grade. So I'll be shopping for what I think will be Rod and Staff Arithmetic. I'm also looking for Rod and Staff English for 3rd and 5th grade. Our big regional used curriculum sale is Saturday and I can't wait! (I know..I know... you're so excited for me, but I've always like the beginning of the school year and teaching the stuff is not half as fun as looking for it and having great aspirations about teaching it.)
  
• My husband's garden is doing good. He planted lots of tomatoes from seed, cabbage, corn, potatoes, red peppers, beets, onions, and squash.

Considering he had a kidney stone a week and a half before I delivered, our lawnmover died, our weed eater is dying, his work vehicle is sick and he hasn't found time to fix it, and we finally got the pool open -this is a great accomplishment. I think the trick is to plant potatoes. They make your garden look good.

I feel somewhat tired but it is really good to have my body back. I've been thinking that maybe this summer I can finish some of the things I wanted to get done before I got pregnant. -Like paint the dining room and finish our kitchen trim.

Oh, it's good to dream and plan during times like these. Even if sometimes it can't or doesn't get done.

You never know ... it might.

Did I happen to mention that giving birth brings forth pain?

It does.

It also brings lack of sleep.

Nursing woes..."Why won't she latch on right?"....

Beautiful looks from the children as they hold their new baby sister.

Emotions of one minute of chaos and another of peace.

The realization that if we can keep the bathrooms clean, the laundry moving along, the children fed, and the baby nursed that we have been successful afterall.

One day I'll miss days like these, but right now I just need to lay down for a bit. (That's hard to do around here.)

Baby #6 has Arrived!

She's here and she's so so precious!

Our baby #6 has arrived! She was born April 23rd at 8:36 am. She weighed 8lbs 1 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long. We are very thankful for our sixth little gift from God, a safe delivery, and the joys she brings to our growing family!

Now we're going to take a 3 week break from school while we adjust. :o)

The Bunny Family's Beginnings

I crosstitched this picture around 1995-1996. Yesterday was my 17th year Anniversary.

We didn't do anything fancy,(We're not very fancy folks.) except that we have now converted our 1995 Windstar Van into an 8 passenger vehicle. That's right, it was a 7 passenger, but now it will carry safely all six children.

Friday we found a nice back row seat that matches in color our interior seats and through my beloved's many talents (one being that he can weld) has clicked in the 3 seater seat into the spot where the two seater seat use to be. He switched the bottom metal pieces and now we can seat all the children. He's my hero! We can now postpone purchasing a full size van for a couple of years. All for less than $100!!! This is why it pays to have your spouse be your very best friend.

Little did I know that one of my neighbors would one day call us the bunny family. Some of my neighbors have just recently started noticing I'm pregnant. How could they miss it??

I didn't have any children back when I crosstitched that picture. To be honest, I would never have dreamed of having what I have now. But I was starting to feel like children were so sweet and cute and that perhaps I might want to get one of those one day. We even treated some of our friend's kids to places like the Aquarium and Chucky Cheese.

Eventually, he got me a lab mix puppy.

Six months later, God blessed us with Baby #1.

Two years later, with Baby #2.





Two an a half years later with Baby #3.


23 months later with Baby #4.



And 22 months later with Baby #5.

I can't wait for Baby #6 - She should arrive anytime now!

A Trusting Matter..

We Cry Out
Father of life, seated on Your throne of grace
It's only by Your mercy we are saved
Lord, You have said if we call upon Your Name
We and our families will be saved

So we cry out Your Name,
El Shaddai, God of grace
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ
We rely on Your grace,
Adonai, crowned in praise
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ

Father of love, never failing to forgive
Each moment is a gift from You to live
We're only here to tell the world about Your grace
Until the day You take us all away

We will cry out Your Name,
El Shaddai, God of grace
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ
We rely on Your grace,
Adonai, crowned in praise
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ

O, so we cry out Your Name,
El Shaddai, God of grace
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ
We rely on Your grace,
Adonai, crowned in praise
Lord Most High, Jesus Christ

I have added this song to the Songs I like... on the bottom sidebar. It is a gentle reminder to myself that He is my all in all and I will hold on to Him as an anchor to my soul.

Our little 1 1/2 yr. old is in the hospital. I seems a lot of people are sick lately. His white blood cell count is quite high and he has tonsilitis. The doctor thought it would be best to try antibiotics through an IV.

Delicious Tenderloins and Intimidating Moments

I was a little stressed last night. Someday, I'm going to look back at these moments and laugh, but last night was not funny.

I like to cook, I really do, and I'm not just trying to convince myself of this.

But I have a hard time getting the joy of cooking to show when I have to do too much multi-tasking. For example, keeping a 1 1/2 yr. old from making constant messes (and he does), breading tenderloins (which I was), having 8 yr. old come by every so often telling me how starved he is (he did) , 10 yr. practicing piano and needing help on a new hymn, plus having any other little person needing everything from a snack to bathroom attention can be much for me.(Specially since it seemed I was washing my hands every 5 minutes.) Does it sound like I'm complaining? No, not really. I just want to share this Pork Tenderloin recipe I made last night, and let you know that it turned out very good, but not stress free, quick, or easy. So if you chance to get a craving and decide to make this, take this warning to heart: Do it undisturbed!

By the way, I also decided to make it extra hard for myself by making Old Fashioned Sweet Potatoes.(I needed to use the rest of my sweet potatoes so I had to peel and slice. These are so good that perhaps I thought it was worth the effort.) 8 yr. walked in while they were cooking and said, "Ughh, I like mashed potatoes better.")
The easy part was the Cranberry Stove Top Stuffing, and green beans.

Creamy Pork Tenderloin

2 Pork tenderloins (about 1 lb. each)
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. rosemary or Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
dash of garlic powder
1 Cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp. margarine
1 can cream of chicken, undiluted
1 Cup light sour cream
1/4 Cup chicken broth

Cut each tenderloin into 8 pieces.
Place each piece on wax paper and flatten to 3/4 in. in thickness.
In a shallow dish, combine the next five ingredients. Dip pork into egg mixture, then into bread crumbs.
In a large skillet over med. heat, brown pork in oil for 5 min. on each side. Remove to a one large or one large and small baking dish. (I needed a 13x9 and a 2qt baking dish) Keep warm.
In the same skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender. Stir in soup, sour cream, and broth; pour over pork. Cover and bake at 325* for 1 hour or until pork is tender.

Yields 16 tenderloin patties.

This recipe comes from The Best of Country Cooking 1999 (Taste of Home books)


When Daddy got home, I looked a tad frazzled. He walked through the door, and reached out for the children with these words: "How's all of my babies?"

They were very normal, but it was I that needed a little therapy.
During dinner he happened to mention a conversation he had with a co-worker. "....Precious Stones are made from lots of pressure."

I hope this thought blesses you as much as it did me.

Decisions

I heard something today that stirred my thoughts about decision making. My thoughts on this weren't concrete enough to put in a post this morning.( I'm not sure if they're solid enough to make sense now but I'll try.)
Then my 10yr. asked me a question. (It seems I'm getting several deep questions this week.) He asked, "What does the word LUST mean?"
I had to think about that a minute because to the pure all things are pure and the word lust does have a meaning. To lust means to desire something very strongly. This could be power, fame, money, the opposite sex, etc. (After I answered this question, the question I had deep in my mind was, " What peaked his interest to want to know what the word lust meant?")

His mind accepted my answer which I thought over once more and thought was pretty on target when he came back at me with another question. "What's wrong with that?"
(This is where I'm thinking, "OK, that's a legitimate question......except that who told him it was wrong?") I really didn't know the answer to it so I send him off to his Daddy who I was sure would answer the question better. He did. He told him to lust meant to covet after something.
That in my mind would describe it better. See, God knew children needed dads for questions like these. It also helped me with my thoughts on decisions.

Lust has a lot to do with our decisions and we all make decisions within our days. We make decisions about jobs, moves, things we want our children involved in, things we choose to be apart of or not.... etc, and we usually have firm believes behind those choices. How much the pull lust has on us concerning those decisions is quite different from individual to individual. What feeds our heart will have a lot to do with how much hold lust has over us.

If God is our Lord then he should weigh heavily first in our decision making. How will the decision affect our relationship with God?
If we have a spouse then he should be second for we've entered into a covenant with him or her also. How will our decision affect that covenant?
If we have children, then they should be third on our priority list because we are caretakers and responsible for their physical as well as their spiritual needs while in the stage of childhood.
How will our decision affect our stewardship over them?

These 3 questions will keep things in the right perspective and help us in our decisions day to day. Not to mention they will help keep lust at bay.

Now, if only I could keep my son from perusing through my Janet Oke, Frank Peretti.... books because he reads his library books too fast and runs out of reading material, I'd have one less decision to make.

Yours Truly,

What I've been up to....

The new year has begun and I've been going over the last year. I find myself reviewing thru my mind what went on.

• My boys have grown up a little more this year and opened my eyes to see have much different girls are to boys.


• I've matured a little more this year. Really, I have. I can tell. As time goes on, I've noticed that what I thought was maturity really was baby steps. I've physically, spiritually, and who knows how else grown this year. Yeah!


• I got pregnant. This will make #6


• We paid off a lot of land next door to us.

I'm sure there are many more things that could be put down in review, but I'll spare you.

So what am I up to now?

I've been doing some research on the early roots of American Protestants. Why, you might ask? Because I'm intrigued at where the so called Christian faiths of today came from and specifically where and why they've changed. You might think that it was a cultural thing, but I think it was more than that. Besides, even if man changes, God doesn't- and so neither does his word. There are people that put so much stock in what their preacher says, which by the way sometimes trumps the word of God, yet why does he answer the way he does, and where does he originally get his theology? It should be always from the Bible, but then you go back to whether they are fundamental or modernized. Whether they are Catholic or Protestant. Pentecostal or Baptist. Armenian (branching from John Wesley's Methodist) or Calvanistic. And so on and so on and .... Religion can be worn by anyone, but having religion is not walking with God. Religion therefore in my humble opinion is not something we should rest our confidence on. Because religion changes according to the tide. Clear as mud?

What else have I been up to?

Well, I made bread today. Here's the baby. He seems to always want to help me in the kitchen. Making bread is his favorite.

I'm also wanting to check out a book I heard about last night on the radio program Haven Today, about the 5 Languages of Love. From what I heard, people have different ways of expressing love and if perhaps you don't relate then they have a hard time understanding that you love them.

For example: Some people feel loved when they get a gift. That's how they know because you took the time to get them something special. Others might see your love when you do an act of love- like your husband cleaning the dinner dishes everynight for you. Others might consider you loving them if you spend quality time with them, while some want to feel your touch.

Which one are you?

I think I'm the spend quality time with me type, but I need to get the book and read it to learn a little bit more about it because I'm not sure. Gifts don't do much for me and I really don't like to be ignored by someone who I love. I'm not too touchy, and as for acts of service - well they're greatly appreciated. This should be fun, since I think I have my husband all figured out!

What we did for Christmas-2008

Monday, I prepared 2 loaves of pumpkin bread with chocolate chips. I also made a new recipe called Braided Sausage and Cheese Bread. I made two loaves of that too. This was all in preparation to go out of town. We drove about 5-6 hours to the Creation Museum in Kentucky (20 min. or so from Cincinnati, Ohio) It really took us a little longer to get there because as we entered the suburbs of Cincinnati, they had just had an ice storm come through and traffic was at a crawl or even stopped. So Tuesday we didn't make the Museum but did make ourselves comfortable at the Clarion compliments of a very good price from Priceline.


Above is a picture of a dinosaur in the Garden of Eden. If God created all land animals than the dinosaurs were there too.

Adam is naming all the animals:On Wednesday, we made our way to this outstanding museum which was packed because as a gift to the community and anyone who wished to come, admission price was free on Christmas Eve. By the way, this was all made possible by Answers Through Genesis.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.(Picture above)

Adam and Eve after they sinned and God covered them with skins. A reminder of the verse that tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. (Picture below)

This is real science at work! The children enjoyed seeing all the different dinosaurs. It was nice to present it to them in a truthful form with a correct timeline in mind. Not millions and millions of years ago!

The next pictures are small scale models of Noah's ark. The second picture shows the earth almost drowned by the water. Those are people on the rocks or tips of the mountains.

There were a lot of theaters with very moving, thought provoking 10- 30 min. shows about dragons, dinosaurs, Noah's flood, and human reasoning(evolution) and how it contradicts science and the Bible.It even showed informaton on the Scopes Trial and America's slow departure from Bible truths that have made schools what they are today. It included a 2 hour tour through creation, the fall, the flood, and finally the last Adam, Christ and God's redemptive plan. The planetarium had a beautiful star presentation about the star that led the wise men. There were also live Nativity characters you could talk to.

As I watched God's beautiful story unfold in such a well presented and public place, I was reminded how much I love the gospel story. If you ever get a chance to visit, it will be time well spent.

Christmas was again a reminder of my Saviour. A memory to the children of why He came to earth.

We ended the day on Thursday, with an evening dinner with my parents at our home.

Hope Your Christmas was also a soul moving reminder of why we need Him.

May your New Year be filled with thoughts of Him and so much more...

A Thanksgiving prayer with thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!
As I was thinking about what to post, my son mentioned that I should post on Thanksgiving.
So I will. I'll tell about what happened the other day.

We usually pray to thank God for our food before every meal. Sometimes if we forget, somewhere in between. The 3yr. old has at times totally dominated the "Who would like to pray?" She always seems to. Her prayer goes something like this:

(In baby talk, of course)
"God, thank you for our food, Mommy, 1yr. old, 7yr. old, Daddy, 5yr, old, 9yr. old, our house, our clothes, Lobo the dog,my toys.............and for everything!"
(Whew!)

She gets quite upset when she can't say the prayer, but so do some of the others since she wants to do all breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The other day I asked the 7yr. old to pray. This was his prayer:

"God, thank you for the food and for all that you have blessed us with this year. Amen."

I didn't say anything, but I was touched. Touched because he didn't pray in a hurry or from repetition. He meant it. God has blessed us this year. The funny thing is that there isn't as much to go around this year as there has been other years. Yet, God has provided abundantly for us this year. I was touched because my boy saw the provision of God.

He didn't mind that we haven't been able to go out to eat as much as before. He didn't mind that we're eating baked potatoes in place of potato chips for lunch with our sandwich. He counted it a blessing when he realized that God had provided him with a coat when I couldn't find the liner to the coat we did have, and needed a coat. He's appreciated the more frequent desserts I make because Daddy isn't buying the Little Debbie snacks, and I could go on and on.

I was so touched to see that He could see beyond what he can't have, and be thankful for what He does.

When we told the children about the baby that is on the way, they were so excited. The 7yr. old couldn't believe God would give us another baby.

So for Thanksgiving this year, I'm thankful for many things. But I'm very grateful for all my children, who daily show me that God is so good. I'm also thankful for my partner in all this.
I was thinking about him yesterday. He isn't eloquant or polished. He isn't refined. Though there are all kinds of men out there and probably some like him or better, non could match his noble and tender heart. With all his faults and mine, God has blessed us with a beautiful family.

Hope your Thanksgiving is full of good food, good memories, and God.

My Bag of Apples

It's funny how little things spur on memories.
Today, it was a big bag of apples that did it. This is not the first bag of apples I've received this week. My neighbor gave me another bag earlier this week. I very gratefully received them and counted it as God's provision. You see, it takes seven apples to go along with lunch. (5 for the children, and 2 for my husband and I.) If I happen to be short on other fruits that week, then we might have apples everyday and that could be- say five days. So 5x7 is 35 apples.
God's provision for us is so amazing! He knows exactly what we need and does not forget His children.

So my mind went back in time, to a time when I was 19.
My husband and I had been married maybe a year. God seems to show himself at different times and in different ways. This particular time He seemed to want to specifically let me know that He was there. You see, I had checked a book out of the library called How to Clean Everything and I was really impressed by all the ideas and good information. I really wished I didn't have to take it back. We all need all the help we can get and I definitely needed some.

I took it back, and resume my week by going back to the piano lessons I had started that year. I guess I must have been waiting on the piano teacher that day because I began to look at her bookcase and read the various titles of books she had shelved there. Would you believe she happened to have the very same book I checked out of the library? When she returned back into the room I mentioned to her how I had just checked that book out of the library and how that I thought it was a really good book. She pulled it out of the shelf and gave it to me! She said she wanted me to have it as a gift. After lessons, I could not remove the thought from my mind that it had been God who gave that book to me. He was the only person that knew how much I had wanted to keep that book. This has always been a very humbling and yet sweet experience for me. He knows the desires of our heart and chose that day to bless me.

I really didn't have much of an earthly father and couldn't tell you much about him, but oh- can I tell you about my Heavenly Father....there aren't enough words to tell you about Him.

By the way, I still have the book on my bookshelf. A reminder of God's provision.

Huckleberries and a long thoughtful road...

We went camping with family on Friday night. We'd never been to this particular mountain and didn't have any idea how rough the carved out road up to the camping sight was. I thought we crawled up the mountain for at least five miles trying to avoid the rocks. It was probably more like 2 miles but it took a long time. We probably won't do that to our vehicle again. If we had known that it was going to get that bumpy we would have camped out somewhere else but once you started up the road there was no room to turn back till maybe half way up there and we kept thinking that we would surely be there soon.

It was worth the trip though and we had lots of fun. We picked 2 gallons of Huckleberries(which I thought were going to be blueberries) and about 1/2 gallon of blackberries. There were wild ponies there and we heard them sometime during the night. The boys roasted marshmallows, picked berries and ate them, and even got to pet one of the ponies before it trotted away.

On our way down the mountain my husband made a statement that stayed with me. Maybe it was because the berries were small and it took a long time to get 1 gallon. Maybe because once you found a good tree you stayed with it..
He mentioned that he truly understood what Jesus was saying about the kingdom of Heaven being like a treasure hidden in a field and when a man finds it, he hides it and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (This is found in Matthew Chapter 13)

After he mentioned it, I kept thinking about the kingdom of God. I was exposed to it and found the treasure when I was 14.
Maybe He found me and I responded. It made me want God more than my will, the desires of my heart, more than the fashions and doings of the day, and more than the world's wisdom. I desperately wanted God and was willing to sell everything to have Him within my heart with peace, and forgiveness, and adoption, and with the love and joy that only He could give...

The Kingdom of Heaven....Oh, to seek for it and find Salvation- to buy it and make it one's own. There is no greater treasure anywhere on earth.

Looking thru the Eyes of a Girl...

I've had many thoughts this week.

There's a new book on my sidebar called NEW FOUND LAND by Allan Wolf. To be self sufficient is a great thing. One that many couldn't fathom. But so is having present conveniences. These people back in Lewis & Clark's day knew what the word work meant. I know very little of that kind of life when it comes to work, yet these people knew so much more about survival, of excellence, of life.

There's excitement in our household as we prepare to go camping. We're going tent camping with family at a mountain about 2hrs away, and then going blueberry picking the next day.

5yr old asks, "Are there bears out there in the woods?"

"There could be." I reply.

"Do bears eat meat?"

"Yes."

"I don't know that I want to go camping on the mountain."

"Are there snakes out there?"

3yr. old says, "I don't like snakes."

Dear Journal Letter # 5(vacation and rollercoasters)

Dear Journal,

It seems I have reached a happy pace in blogland. Perhaps this hobby has finally had a chance to cool off in my one-track mind.

We decided not to go to Washington D.C. and opted out for season tickets to Dollywood. D.C wouldn't have been as fun for the little ones and from what I hear, included lots of walking. Perhaps, we'll catch it another year when my little ones get more out of it.

We took advantage of the nice weather recently and went to Dollywood for the first time. It has been at least 20 years since I've been to an Amusement Park! There are several advantages to homeschooling and one of them is that you can go to places like this when other children aren't there to make it crowded. That almost doesn't sound nice, but it's the truth. We rode some of the rides twice in a row without even getting off because there were hardly no lines. Everything was great and we had a lot of fun except for one thing, - when I rode the roller coasters.
I must have experienced amnesia and forgot about the last roller coaster ride 10 yrs. prior at one of those little carnivals that come to town and park in a huge parking lot. It obviously was a little roller coaster but it looped upside down 9 times!!! I got off that thing thanking God I didn't lose my cookies! So what was I thinking getting on the first roller coaster? It must have been one of those moments when you want to feel young again- not to mention, I thought it only went upside down once. It turned out to go upside down 3 times. I knew I was about to regret this when I got to the gate to wait for the ride to load and read a sign that mentioned the roller coaster was only about one minute long. All I can say is that I had to breathe through the upside down loops and wished one minute wasn't so long.

The next roller coaster ride I rode on is probably the reason God appreciates us humans. It reminded me of the fun I had riding something that looked similar to it in Six Flags when I was 14 or so. I got on this ride thinking this was definitely going to be a positive experience. It wasn't. Not only was it not pleasant, I thought the G-forces had caused me to be in several car crashes and my emotions were about to cause some unnatural phenomena to occur. If the thing would have lasted 15 more seconds at the speed it was going, I would have lost it completely! When the ride was done, though I looked normal on the outside, the inside felt like jello and the best I can do to describe it is the way I feel after delivering a baby. How in the name of common sense can people get a thrill from those things is beyond me now. I must have outgrown them. No sooner were we off that contraption of death than my lower back began to hurt. My nerves were shot for an hour or two afterwards, and if you think 5 children is stressful at times, you wouldn't have doubted it looking at me shortly after that. I was not the picture of peace and tranquility. Thankfully, it was the last ride and we were ready to go home.

After all the trauma I went through, the next morning I woke up sore from the experience. But all we could do was reminisce at the fun we had. So we're hoping to go back soon and catch a few of the rides we missed, and ride the ones we enjoyed!

Sincerely Young at Heart and Still in-tact in Body,

Linda

Together...

OK, here I am blogging. Today is my 16Th Year Anniversary. I'm writing this while my husband listens to talk radio over the Internet. It's about 11:30pm. They're talking about Obama and something about the love for the flag. He likes politics and keeps me informed.

We've done a lot of things together in the last 16 years. We've made pumpkin pie together. We've gardened and canned together. We've scraped wallpaper together. We've had 5 children together. We've cried together and laughed together, and even done crazy stunts while driving together. We've ministered together,and moved across the country together....and there are so many more memories we've made together.

As I reflect on my life with this man that I've come to love beyond infatuation, I can truly say he is just what the doctor ordered for me.

I married him at 18. I didn't even have my driver's license. I flunked the driver's test twice and was about to quit.
"Oh, no you don't. You head back in there and make another appointment to take that driver's test."
So I did.
I took piano lessons for several years and when it was time to finally put it to work I told him I couldn't.
"Yes, you can."
And I did. I wasn't very good but I played when it was needed.

Over and over he has been a provider of more than my basic needs. He has been a true friend. The kind that didn't let me have my way and act like a spoiled, selfish wife. (at least not for long) Marriage works out the kinks in a person's character. Jesus brings us back together.

Though we are imperfect, this bond of ours is strong. It was made that way in conflict and in sweet reconciliation. Thereby, making us one. We are at times beloved enemies and best partners in this walk of life. And for that I am so thankful.

He's 1 today!!

He is One year old today. One.

He's got only two teeth. Two

He has taken three steps. Three

He has four siblings. Four

He has five little fingers on each one of his hands. Five

Without him there are only six of us. Six

But seven is the number that he made to complete us. Seven

Happy Birthday!!

Bellybuttons

Today I found myself learning something new about mothering. I have been blessed with a husband who showers the little ones for me. This is an immense blessing as you can imagine. Because having to keep up with 5 children's showers is not an easy task. At about 4 years old we begin teaching them to shower on their own. I soap up their hair and lather them up real good and close the curtain. They rinse, while I instruct them on where to rub the soap off. After they have let the water run down their belly enough, patted their underarms a couple of times, and tried to clean the important parts of ones body we proceed by putting conditioner on the girls, or just turning the water off for the boys. By 6 years old, it's time to let them do it on their own all the time.
We've learned a few things by now about this. First, 2 minute showers aren't real good showers.(If you know what I mean.) Second, if you start noticing that the shampoo is almost gone and you can't keep it in stock long enough before it's time to buy some more than you better check how the 6 yr. old is using it. Ours happened to be pouring it on his head in excessive amounts until we put a serious warning out. We literally had to show him that for the amount of hair he has on his head he didn't need more than a little bit more than a quarter size amount. The shampoo is lasting a little longer now.
Here's where my lesson on mothering comes in. I've been kind of teasing the 9yr. old on his belly going soft on account of a little too many chips at lunch time. I got to looking at his belly and noticed his bellybutton. It was dirty. It was old dirt. The kind that has been tucked in while the suds stayed out. I proceeded to get some cotton swabs soaked in alcohol to swab the dirt off. You would have thought I was operating on him. He does have a clean bellybutton now. But not before they all lined up wanting their bellybuttons to be cleaned too. With all the other things to take into account about taking care of children, I guess bellybuttons got left out.

Our Posterity

When we first got married, our thoughts on children were very different. "Sure it would be nice to have a child... one day. Not right now though." Deep in our minds we felt that having children would interrupt our plans. Good plans. We never once even thought about asking God about this area of our life
Four or five years later I began to have convictions about the pill. What did it really do? Did it stop ovulation? I came to find out the pill, like many other things out there could be an abortifacient. You could ovulate on the pill and never know it. This bothered us greatly.
I liked children and by now a child wasn't such a far off thought. So we decided to stop birth control. Six years after we got married I had our first born. I cried when they put him on my chest immediately after he was born. I cried and thanked Jesus for such a beautiful gift.
When I had my third, it was by C-section. A perfect opportunity to end it all. They asked if we wanted to in the operating room. But deep inside there was no peace to ending it. Not just for me, but in my husband also.
It was a subject we didn't quite understand, and one that we felt God did not give us the OK. It should have been easy to decide. We had three beautiful children. That was enough right? So why did we not have peace with ending it. The third child was the hardest. I had a 4yr. old, a 2 yr. old and now the baby. But, did I really want to end it? No, not really. I had enjoyed them so much! I loved thinking about what a posterity we had. Did I really want to say no to God if He had other plans? These thoughts flooded my mind. So we didn't. We had our 4TH, and then our 5TH. I can't say that I'm against spacing them out. I'm not. But something inside tugs my heart and tells me to just let the Lord have those concerns. To let God have complete control. Scary... real scary, but why? I know the Lord will help me. I read A Full Quiver by Hess last year. It was such a good book. I agreed with all of it. I couldn't disagree. It has been the thoughts of our heart.
There is a quote that goes like this:

The children bring us laughter and the children bring us tears; they string our joys like jewels bright, upon the thread of years.
by Edgar A. Guest

I cut this out from a calendar page the year my first born was born. I have the clipping on the side of my refrigerator where I can look at it every once in a while. It describes what the children do to me.
They are so worth it. It's so worth seeing the posterity of God come forth. There is joy in seeing my posterity.