Bella's Song...

I have no idea where she learned this song or why, but she is so cute singing it. i apparently told her she could watch herself if she sang it for me so she kept stopping to see if she could be done. of course i made her do the whole thing. she is so fun. i love this singing kick she has been on. i hope it stays with her.

Whoever Loses His Life, Will Gain It...

God has really been working on me the last 3 months in many areas. It has been an inner struggle, not something that has included others deeds, wrong-doings, or even their input. Just me and God. Just me trying to figure out what is most important in this world. What is it we are working for? Who is it we are out to please? And why, if that is God, am i struggling with other's perceptions of me and my family? As stated in a previous post, the negative comments made toward having a large family far outweigh the postitive a good 90-1!!! It simply wears on you after a while. I am so glad it has though. It has forced me to take a long hard look at my life, my family and what it is all 7 of us are here for anyway!

We are a homeschooling family and with that come many pressures that just don't exist otherwise. One is that there is this understanding among most homeschooling families that you are on this neverending quest for curriculum. it never ends because there is so much out there, your kids are always changing, and the beauty of homeschooling is you get to change how you teach to fit how they learn. it is pretty much a given that if two homeschooling moms are together give it less than 5minutes and the topic of what curriculum you use will inevitably be main topic very quickly! then the cycle starts over. you have now been introduced to yet another series you did not know existed, and the research begins, then the wonder of whether or not it will work for you, etc etc. however, for me i just leave feeling inadequate most of the time. So i am having to really step back and figure out what i really want to accomplish in my children. a mission so to speak. something to wrap our minds around, to measure our each and every decision against.

i was reading this book by an author i met 2 weeks ago. she and i had a very lengthy conversation about our children and the heart of homeschooling. at one point in the book i stopped to read John 15: 12,13. It talks about how the greatest form of love is that of self- sacrificing service that benfits others. She asks in the book "in our self-centered, self-indulgent culture, how does this priciple come into play in your decision to homeschool?" however, God knew what i was struggling with and i read it totaly different. i read , "how does this self-centered, self-indulgent culture influence how you homeschool?" a totally different question. one i needed desperately to ask myself and wrestle with God about! Our decision to homeschool rests largely on trying to instill values completely opposite of our self-indulgent, self-centered culture. Yet here i was looking to others incessantly attempting to define who i was by how well i was measuring up to them. The problem is that i was never taking into account what (and who) God has given me to work with. i would look at others with their 9 year old sitting for 30 minutes doing a math workbook, with their 2 year old playing, and their 7 year old in a first grade co-op class. i would instantly think, "wow...my kids would never sit and do that...they are so hyper, so loud, i must be a terrible mom...etc etc etc." that misread question made me realize that God did not give me a 10 year old, a 7 year old and a 2 year old. he gave me 5kids. 3 of which are very hyperactive, due to some wonderful chemicals their birth parents instilled in their bodies. they are all very young. i can not expect them to sit and do a math workbook. i have 3 kids who hate workbooks (so far..but i am still holding out hope). my other has asperger's and bless her little sweet spirit loves workbooks because they make sense,they have order , and she knows what to expect from them ( i love that in her ). that is just one example of how i have been comparing myself...the list seems endless these days. But God is showing me that i can have victory over this. i already am and i love that!

We have to seriously find what God has called each of us to do! if we don't we are blindly following one of two things...either others, or ourselves. i believe most of us are following ourselves. Our own selfish ambitions. Our own desires, our own made up religion that we only wish we could find in the Bible, but will not look to find out for fear we may be called to change. But calls us to change. He calls us to radically give up ourselves to follow Him. For "whoever looses his life, will find it" (Matt 10:39). I hope that at least one of you after reading this long, boring post will rethink just one aspect of your life and then....go lose it!

Anybody Remember Grigg's Park?...

When I was in Jr. High, there was an old tradition that the last day of jr. high each year everybody would go to this park and spray everyone with shaving cream!! it was a blast. so weird, but a blast. Well, i have two kids with sensory disorders and we play in shaving cream in occupational therapy all the time. however we useually do so only withour hands. so, i took that idea and let the kids have fun one rainy day in the bath tub...it was sooo fun!!! i hope it inspires some of you to do the same...

Poor Bella just kept asking, "can i put it here?" "cani put it here?" she just could not grasp that i was letting them do this.

Isaiah on the other hand, had NO problem grasping the concept...it was all over him in a matter of seconds...

this was a fun adventure we will be doing again soon. not to mention a wondeful way to clean your bathroom (and i mean the whole bathroom) and make it smell great too!

Ag Day At the Farm...

I discovered a local farm was having an Agricultural Day so we all loaded in the car for what proved to be Ian's greatest time in all his life! There were tractors, animals, food and popcorn. if any of you really know Ian you know that he is most likely ,at this point, a farmer in the making. now if any of you know him that well, you know me that well and you're wonderin' how the heck did he get that with Sarah's blood? well, we all wonder!

Isabella has become quite funny. she found the lambs, went in and quickly began directing them as to what to do. as though lambs do not instinctively know what to do...

Here she was telling it to "stay" "sit" and "be quiet!"

Isabella is about as friendly as they come. she quickly introduced herself and made freinds with Olivia.

Is there anything greater than standing on top of a huge tractor? isaiah didn't think so...

Bella was enamored with the blind wool spinning lady. she stood there for about 5 minutes...

This llama was amazing because llamas have brown/black eyes...extremely dark. this one has beautiful sky blue eyes...

kenna getting in on some tractor action

Elias really was there...he is so content outside he didnt' make a peep. just took it all in...i will say he was not too thrilled with the llama's eating his stroller... i think he felt some territorial invasion there....

This is Ian...the happiest boy alive at this moment!

Auntie Na joined us this time at Pizza Hut with Boogaboo! the kids loved that! Elias was looked at which pretty much constitutes him feeling the need to laugh...here he is sharing a hearty laugh with auntie na!

Isabella always has to sit by/on boogaboo at pizza hut. She just loves that! i am not sure if she loves sitting by him, the fact that she is the first one to ask for the quarter for the candy, or that he lets her eat just about anything she wants (or not eat anything)...

the kiddos love Auntie Na...She needs to come around everyday!

Elias 9 1/2 Months...

Time is flying so fast with this little one. He now has 6 teeth, a vibrant personality that will have you finding him laughing at every turn, and a severe desire to move suddenly! He is really such a joy. Not only easy, but really becoming funny. He laughs at everything, is severely ticklish, and all the while utterly complacent! We are so blessed by him. I can't wait to see what God has in store for this special little guy...

Brotherly Love...

There are so many reasons that preschool was great for the girls this year! One of them was how close Ian and Isaiah became while being at home together. Elias was always napping the whole time the girls were gone, so...that left me and the boys. they have so much fun playing super hero, cowboys, trucks and bike riding! I just love watching how close they have become. Even today Ian looks at Isaiah and says, " I will go help you clean your room so we can go outside and play together!" now that is Brotherly Love!

Ian 3 1/2, Isaiah 5

Deja Vu...

It made me kinda sad the other day with dirk started snapping pictures of the kids in the playroom. he showed them to me and I instantly remembered the ones we shot in may of 06!! here they all were then...

could barely get them all to sit still...

And last month...

still can barely get them all to sit still...

Makenna, Isabella, Isaiah, Ian

Makenna's Trip to Missouri...

Last month Dirk and I took Makenna and Isabella on a trip to my home town. They each went separately with us on two different trips so we were able to spend some one on one time with each girl. it was sool fun to be alone with them!!!

While we were there I saw my first house was being moved out of. I went up and asked if we could go through just to see my old memories come to life with my daughter! It was great!


This staircase holds very significant memories for me as i used to sit on it for hours "catching rainbows" in my hands. it was a leaded glass window that made prisms with rainbows when the sun shone through. i would sit, catch one in my hand then run to my parents and try to show them my rainbow. each time i opened my hand to show them it of course was not there, so i would run back to catch another one...for hours!!!

I took kenna to our favorite place Kangaroo Gym. too much activity to take pictures...but here is one. unfortunatly i had so much fun with bella i didn't take one picture!

Interesting Facts About Penguins...

Recently we had studied Penguins for over a week. we did all sorts of activities about penguins and learned so much. it just so happened the girl's school was having a penguin visit their school right in the middle of our study. we snuck and and all the kids were able to see. we got to touch a stuffed penguin, see a real one and even hear it sneeze! The most interesting fact we learned this week was that penguins live ONLY below the equator! you will never see penguins with polar bears!!! sorry coke commercials! and we also learned that most penguins live in warm climates such as africa! amazing!!!

Curious George Inspires Us All...

There are only two shows i allow the kids to watch and both are rather science oriented. One is Curious George. after one episode they showed kids doing an experiment on the easiest way to get a large basket up in a swing set. it is easier to lift it, go up stairs, or slide it up a slide with a rope? the kids were way into this...so we just had to try! It was a success! we learned that sliding it had the least resistance and used the least amount of energy! Yeah for Curious George!!!