More Pictures

These are a few of my favorites.  The first one was taken two weeks ago.  The bottom two were taken over a month ago. I'm having so much fun playing with my new camera.  I have NO idea what I'm doing, and I get weirdly excited when I discover some new thing - like aperture.  I know what that is now!  Course, now I just need to figure out how to use it properly.  Its great!

A was playing in the fallen leaves at the park.  She uncovered this board and was trying to convince me that she needed to take it home.

I have no idea what kind of plant this is but I thought it was very cool.  Lighting is off though. The colors are not as vibrant as they should be.

This is our kitty, Moira.  She died last month.  She was 15 years old and I still expect to see her coming down the stairs to claim her time with me after the kids go to bed.  I miss her terribly.  This is one of my favorites, not because the photo is great, but because it's the last picture I have of her.

Signs of Spring

I blinked twice and winter was gone.  Today we were at C & T's soccer game and I saw a tree in all its springtime glory.  As I walked up to the tree, it sounded as if it were alive.  The closer I got to the tree, the louder the bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz sound was. Looking up, I saw what must have been 100 bees!  It was amazing!  Here's one of the pictures I took.

I took this a few days later.  I like the way the bee's wings shine in the sunlight.

Dominos

This is what prompted the scrabble writing in the previous post.

 The other evening, B decided to set up the tiles and knock them down.  He started at 5pm.  About every 3 or 4 minutes, I'd hear the telltale clatter of tiles and B say "Oh, man!"  Then he would begin setting up the tiles again.  Finally, around 7pm he got them all set up.  (We had a break for dinner)  We gathered the whole family to watch the domino effect.

There it goes!  I tried to capture the action but my photography skills leave a lot to be desired.  It was very cool though!  The finished product was wonderful but more impressive was the amount of time B put into doing the project and his ability to remain patient and good humored as he accidentally knocked the tiles over again and again.  It never would have occurred to me to use dominos for character development!

My blessings!

Sometimes parenting can seem like a pretty frustrating and thankless job.  But then my kids go and do this..........

                and makes it all worth it!

 This one is from my 5 year old.  Originally it had the word "beast" instead of best.  I started laughing hysterically and may have hurt A's feelings a little.  She eventually saw the humor in her typo though.

I'm so thankful that God saw fit to bless me 9 times with children!  Sometimes, in the middle of fights and messes and not having a second alone to complete a thought, I forget that they are the biggest blessings in my life.  They don't let me forget for too long though!

School

Well, since I made this blog, I should write in it once in a while.  I spend most of my time playing around with the backgrounds.  :)

We just finished out 3rd week of school.  Boy was I happy to realize that Monday is a holiday!  Woo-Hoo!  School is actually going fairly well this year (last year was horrible with a capital H).  I think I'm just still in summer mode. 

Our favorite thing is history and grammar this year.  We are doing Mystery of History I and First Language Lessons.  They are a lot of fun.  The kids love memorizing the little poems and doing copywork and dictation based on the silly stories we read.

Math is still the bane of my kid's existence.  This bugs me because I LOVE math.  I used to do Calculus just for the fun of it.  Alas, so far none of my kids have shown the same weird affection for math.

We were going to try to get out every Friday and do a nature study.  So far we've been once.  It was so much fun though!  We went to Floyd Lamb and just explored most of the day.  The next week, B sprained his ankle playing soccer in the back yard so we stayed home.  Last week I forget why we didn't do anything.  Probably my laziness.

I will post a scrapbook layout I did about our adventure.  I was doing the second page to the layout last night when my ancient, wheezy computer decided it didn't want to play anymore and just shut down.  Poof!  It was gone into cyberspace.  I haven't had the energy to start it over.

One Thousand Gifts (1-10)

Even though two of my kids are working my very last nerve today :) , I am still thankful for......

1. Those 2 children because they are usually such blessings to me.
2. The sound of off-key praise songs being sung in the house all day long.
3. A husband who is my best friend and whom I love more now than the day we married.
4. My kids who are each others best friends.
5. Good friends to laugh and cry with; who listen to my rantings and don't judge.
6. My grand daughter's smile.
7. My 2nd daughter, D, who is an awesome mom.
8. E, my eldest daughter, who has matured into a thoughtful, adventurous and responsible young woman.
9. For the amazing opportunity to be a mom to all my wonderful kids and watch them grow and heal right before my eyes!
10. Having Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

Teachable Moments

Today, one of my colorful little gems plotted and planned and finally committed a crime (against long standing household rules).  When said gem was caught red-handed, s/he was not repentant or contrite but said with a touch of sarcasm "sooorry".  Hmmm.  S/he was sentenced to 15 minutes of sitting quietly on the bed.  Then, said child stomps up the stairs.  It took 2 more times of practice going up the stairs sans attitude before s/he mastered this skill.

Ok, I'm not just writing to complain about my child.  Here's where it gets really good!

Little gem calls down the stairs "Mom, can I come down now?"  I say "Yes, let's talk."  We talked about why s/he was angry with me, and why that anger was misplaced.  We talked about why the original sarcastic apology was unacceptable. Gem was worried that God was angry and might not want him/her.  We talked about why that was impossible. We talked about honesty and trust.  Gem was then asked to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the infraction.  It was very very hard for Gem but s/he finally got the words out.  Then the tears came and a real, heartfelt apology.  We prayed together and it was as though the weight of the world was removed from his/her shoulders.

Gem helped me make dinner, then swept the floor after dinner and even vacuumed the carpet in the family room - - all without being asked to. 

I love those teachable moments.  When you just know for certain that the lesson was learned and the child has grown and matured right before your eyes!  It really makes my day!

I have gotten into a bad habit of stopping at the punishment part of discipline.  I had temporarily forgotten that the word discipline comes from the word disciple, which means to teach.  It's easier and less time consuming to skip the teaching part of discipline. With 7 kids constantly needing something from me, I have allowed myself to fall in to the trap of spending my time putting out fires rather than preventing them.  I am excited about God's gentle reminder to me that I have veered off the path.  I feel relieved and look forward to tomorrows challenges.


Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul.  Proverbs 29:17