A Lifetime of Love

Do you see this? It's a tent my kids made in the back half of our playroom. You are probably thinking, "Oh,that's fun. I remember doing that when I was a kid" or "My kids [used to] do that!" And for them, it is fun. It's a critical part of their development- they learn about creativity, teamwork, and some of the laws of physics. But for me, it induces feelings of anxiety to see it. My heart beats a little faster and I can feel my blood pressure rising. I hate every second it's up, and it takes every ounce of self-control I can muster to not make them tear it down and clean it up. Why do I feel so overwhelmed and out-of-control whenever the kids build forts or even get all of their toys out at one time? It's not because I'm a "Neat Nick" or anything like that, because I'm not; I have my fair share of clutter. I just cannot stand messes, and at the risk of sounding all "psychological," I think it goes back to my...

I will admit I don't spend as much time in my bible as I should. However, I make it a point to pray as soon as I am alone with the Lord in the morning, which is usually while getting ready for the day. I try to pray through scripture because it helps me to meditate on verses I already know and is more than just "asking" for things to be done. One of the verses I pray through each day is Ephesians 4:1-3. It says, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." As I was praying that the Lord would help me to walk worthy of my calling, I began to think about what exactly my calling was. The verse is speaking to brothers and sisters in Christ, that we walk (act) in a way that pleases Jesus and honors His sacrifice on the cross. But it goes dee...

This Thanksgiving we broke tradition and hosted friends at our house instead of spending the day with family. The idea came about when our original plan of traveling to Ohio was scrapped and we heard that a family new to the area was going to be spending the day alone. It immediately brought back memories of our Air Force days, when holidays were spent gathered with close friends who felt like family. TJ and I knew breaking tradition might cause some riffs, but the Lord worked it all out for the best! I planned and prepared in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, and when I bought the turkey, I chose the largest one I could find. We were feeding 13 people so I chose one that was 15 pounds. It would be enough for the day, but I wasn't expecting leftovers. Our guests were bringing side dishes and desserts, and I was making additional sides and desserts, so I knew we would have plenty of food for the 13 of us. A few days before Thanksgiving, I ran into a long-time friend of m...

Yesterday during our history time, the Lord allowed me to have a glimpse into my son's heart. We were learning about the prophet Amos. Although he was from Judah, God called him to go preach in the land of Israel because the Israelites had stopped relying on the Lord.  As we were discussing the reasons why (wealth, peace with neighboring countries, surplus of food and supplies), he casually mentioned that he didn't rely on the Lord, either. When I questioned him further, I learned that my son (who will remain anonymous) responded that he didn't have any reason to- he didn't fight in battles (against other countries), he wasn't wandering in the wilderness, waiting to enter the Promised Land, he wasn't being ruled by a harsh king who was a direct enemy of the Lord, etc. How did I interpret his response? Like this: he didn't know how to rely on God. I put the brakes on our history lesson and had a wonderful opportunity to explain to him what relying on God l...

We go through between 9-10 loaves of bread (just bread, not buns) in a month and I pay about $.97/loaf. That's a great deal but I am always looking for something better. About a month ago or so, a friend of mine shared with me an article about buying "feed trays" from bread outlets. I inquired a couple of weeks ago at my local store and to my delight, they took my information and said they would contact me when they had extras. Today they called and said they had 10 extra trays, and I agreed to purchase one tray. I loaded up the kids and we went to the store. I went in and paid for my purchase, not really sure of how much bread I was buying. The cashier told another employee in the back of the store that I was there to pick up my tray. She told me to drive around to the first bay door and I could load it up from there. I was beginning to get nervous, still quite unsure of what I had bought. I couldn't open both doors on the truck or the bread would have dumped a...

The title of this post is the name of a CD put out by one of my favorite evangelist groups, The Pettit Team. It is also the name of a song on that CD. (You can listen here ). The song reminds Christians to keep a heavenly focus, that one day our troubles will be gone as we sit in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought the meaning of the song was a wonderful parallel to my present "season" of life. A few years ago, in the midst of one of my children throwing a temper tantrum, someone told me that my life as a mother was eventually going to get easier. My children would grow, and the older ones would be a help to the younger ones. I wasn't going to be in this "season" of having young children forever. I remember taking the encouragement at face value; the stress of my present situation was so emotionally draining that it was difficult to imagine my life any different. As the years have passed, I have obviously added more children to my family, but that...

Ruthie, or Baby Ruth (like the chocolate bar) as I affectionately call her, turned 2 months old on September 22. She had her check up yesterday.  Here are her stats: Weight: 11.14 lbs (60th percentile) Length: 22.5 in (60th percentile)  She has slowed down on her weight gain but it's because she is going longer between feedings. She goes about 3 hours between her daytime feedings. At night, she usually eats about 10 or 10:30p and then sleeps until about 4a or so (however, the past couple of nights she hasn't gone as long so hopefully she'll get back on track!).  Baby Ruth continues to be an easy-going, low-demand, pleasant baby. However, she seems to be very serious, and her smiles are few and far between. I happened to catch one with the camera. Enjoy!

Ruthie is 1 month old already!  Here are her stats: Height : 22.25in (grown 1.25in) Weight : 10lbs, 7oz. (gained 2lbs, 2oz since she was discharged from the hospital) Feeding : every 2 hours with one 4 hour stretch usually from 10p-2a.

My pregnancy with Ruthie began like most of the others: an unexpected surprise. However, this pregnancy was different. It was harder on my body physically: my back and hips hurt from about month 6 on, making walking, sitting, or standing painful and moving around difficult; my hands and feet swelled, forcing me to wear one pair of flip flops every day, even to church; and I had headaches for many weeks straight for no apparent reason. Although I gained the typical (for me) 30 pounds, I gained it early in the pregnancy compared to my others. Also, unlike the others, I actually lost weight the last few weeks of the pregnancy because I simply lost my appetite. The weight of the baby sitting on my stomach just constantly left me feeling full. This was just an all-around different pregnancy experience for me, and one I really don't think I want to experience again. Another way this was an atypical pregnancy was the fact that I carried Ruthie for so long. All of my ot...

TJ and I celebrated our 14th anniversary last Wednesday. No, fourteen years is not going to break the record for having the longest marriage, and it's not considered a "milestone" year in any way. But, to me it's significant because we have worked really hard to make our marriage last. Not just last, but honor God and be a good example for our children in the process.       When we married, I was 20 years old. I had never met his family, and he had only met my family once. We had our families' blessings to get married, but it didn't come without many, many warnings of "Don't you think you're too young?" and "Don't you think you should wait a little while longer?" Speaking only for myself, I knew TJ was "the one" for me before we started dating. No, it was not "love at first sight" or anything like that.  In fact, it was quite the opposite.  TJ and I worked together while in the Air Force. He asked ...

This post is a month overdue but here it is anyway.... Taryn weighs in at 22 .15 pounds. She lost about 1.5 pounds in March from a 5-day stomach bug and hasn't regained much since she's started walking. Speaking of walking, she began taking a few steps in March (at 16-mos old) but didn't walk independently until mid-April. Since that time, she has begun to walk fast (but still not running) and can walk down 1 small step without having to sit down. She is trying to jump with both feet off the ground but so far can only get one up.   At her 1-year check up it was confirmed that Taryn has a milk allergy (not to be confused with lactose intolerance- they are not the same). She has always had a clear, runny nose even though she wasn't sick. She also had spots of eczema on her body. At about 11 months old, I introduced her to cow's milk by mixing it with her formula. As the amounts of cow's milk ...

I am sharing the link to this post because it really encouraged me... It seems like I live my life defending my choice to have many children instead of celebrating them. I have heard just about every comment and snide remark a person can make about children, mothering, and preventing more children from coming along. These remarks have come from strangers, family, and even an OB doctor at the practice I use. Why? Because our society does not embrace children as much as it says it does. Abortion wouldn't exist if it did. There would be more large families if it did. Pregnancy would be more celebrated instead of questioned. And mothers like me would not feel ashamed to walk the aisles of the grocery store with all of her children, afraid of what comments she will hear or questions her children will have to field. So, for all the moms out there reading this, whether you have one child or many children, do not be ashamed, embarrassed, or defensive. Instead, celebra...

I took the girls to pick blueberries one day while the boys were working to earn some extra money. We have only been to this particular farm once for a strawberry festival. I was familiar with the layout but honestly didn't know what to expect because we've never picked blueberries before. It was a GREAT time! When we first arrived, we made a stop at the bathroom to ensure we would have plenty of time to pick without having to "go" later. When we came out of the bathroom, we saw a group of people listening to instructions from one of the farmers. He then handed out half-gallon buckets to everyone. Side note: we have gone strawberry picking at a different farm and at that farm, customers were required to pay prior to getting their buckets. I was assuming this farm operated in the same way. I was wrong. I was only wanting a total of 1 half-gallon bucket of blueberries. Since each of the older 3 girls had a bucket, I was trying to convince them we were going to SHARE t...

Now that summer is here, school is out, and our days less busy, I have more time to post what's been going on in our lives... For several months, Tristin-Grace has been wanting to cut her hair. As in short, very short. She was tired of having to sleep in braids, and truthfully, she just wanted a change. TJ was against her getting her hair cut off. Every morning, as I brushed and fixed her hair for school, she'd plead with me to make her an appointment. Every evening, after her shower, she'd plead with me to make her an appointment. And each day when she got home from school, she'd ask me to fix her hair and beg me to make her an appointment. And each instance I told her the same thing: talk to your dad. Finally, Tristin-Grace was able to plead her case to her dad. Although not happy, he agreed she could get her hair cut. I made her appointment about 2 weeks out to give her time to think about how she wanted it cut, and if she truly did want to cut it short or if she...

This post is simply a public expression of thanksgiving to God for all that He has provided us over the past few months. Here are the specifics: *We knew last summer that we would be needing a new(er) vehicle as TJ's van (our only vehicle that could hold all 8 of us) was showing signs of its age and wear, particularly with the transmission. The goal was to keep up the maintenance on it for as long as possible until it was no longer safe to drive. On one of our trips to Ohio, we drove a rented Toyota Sienna while TJ's van was being repaired after a minor accident he was involved in. It was very spacious and had plenty of cargo space for all of us plus our luggage and gear. As a result, we discussed buying either a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna when the time came to replace his van. I will admit, I wanted a new van sooner than later, and hoped that TJ would one day soon announce his decision that it was "time". When I found out I was pregnant in November, immediate...

Thomas completed 5th grade and his third year of homeschooling, and Tanner completed 2nd grade and his first year of homeschooling. I am being completely honest when I share that, although challenging at times, this was the best school year yet! Adding Tanner to the mix meant some scheduling changes needed to be made, but once we established a routine that worked, our days passed quickly and the weeks, and inevitably the months, passed even quicker. 1st day of school- August 2012 I personally enjoyed watching both boys learn, grow, and mature over the course of the year. My favorite subject to "teach" them was history as we focused our studies on the Old Testament. I learned so much about God, the Israelites, and how it all relates to not only the New Testament, but to present day living. I know the boys did, too! After reading our daily passage, we often talked about how it applies to our lives today, or how we are/were like a particular person we read about in the...

The kids and I, except Tristin-Grace, are in Ohio for my sister's graduation from nursing school. Her ceremony is tomorrow, and she is having a party on Saturday.  Every time we visit, I try to take the kids to see a different part of the state. For this trip,  we went to visit Ohio's Amish Country.  Here are some photos of our trip thus far...  Main Street in Millersburg, Ohio...   Lunch in Berlin, Ohio... Since I don't like to be stared at when we're out in public, I didn't take any photos of the Amish people or their buggies. I used today's outing as an opportunity to discuss with the children about being different. I used our own experiences of being in public and questioned or gawked at for being different because we aren't the "normal" size family; the children understood completely!   Annie playing in my mom's backyard... Teagan wearing her new bonnet my mom bought her in Amish Country...

This is a descriptive paragraph written by Tanner. I am copying it exactly as it is written, spelling mistakes included. I am sharing it because it brings me joy to see how such small, simple creatures can mean so much to a child. How do I know they mean a lot? He chose to write about them out of anything in the world.... I have baby chicks. They are very small and colorful. They are covered in feathers and fur. They sound quiet and cherp a lot. When they are scared they cherp loudly. Their feathers feel soft and furry. I like taking care of them and I also like holding them a lot.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. ~Psalm 121 I have read this Psalm many times and I was always a little stumped as to why it used the word "keep" when talking about what God the Father does for His children... and then tonight it made sense to me (so much so that I just had to share!). The word "keep" doesn't mean "prevent," like I originally thought, but rather it means "protect." What an incredible...

This post is to answer some common questions and address the most common myths related to homeschooling. I am going to answer the questions based on my family, so they will be specific answers, but they can generally be applied to any family thinking about homeschooling. How do I get started? No matter which state you live in, you first need to visit the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)  website to find out how to legally homeschool. Every state is different, and each state has its own laws regarding homeschooling. If you are not abiding by the law, you can face fines, serve jail time, lose custody of your children, or all of the above. =( Once you find out the specific law(s) for your state, HSLDA can also put you in contact with local organizations in your area. These organizations connect you to other homeschool families and can help answer specific questions related to homeschooling, provide support and encouragement during your homeschooling years, as well a...