Alice

I saw a cute doll this weekend and decided to buy her. I have been doing better about not buying spur of the moment.. Yet, she looked so sweet that I went ahead. The Moxie Dolls are a little shorter than Barbie, with bigger heads. Almost a Pullip or Blythe crossed with Skipper. This one was dressed as Alice in Wonderland. And she was passed around and admired by all the children before I could get a picture.

Today (Sunday), the church had baptisms on the beach. On the drive there & back, I was able to try a couple patterns. The first didn't work on her, but the second.. I finished the bodice during a movie tonight & like it as is, though the pattern calls for sleeves. The pattern is Long Tunic for the free Spirit Amigurumi pattern.
http://sites.google.com/site/designbybethann/home/links/FSLongTunic.pdf?attredirects=0 (I'll get the links normalized soon, I hope. I haven't got the HTML memorized now..)

I hope to make her a skirt over the next few days.

Little Guy Says, "Ow!"

It has been a really nice day. I didn't sleep much last night & the children let me sleep in.

I woke to the phone ringing. My friend Mrs. C- was due to pick up some homeschool manipulatives on her way to a charter school orientation. I'm so glad she called. I hopped out of bed, tossed on yesterday's dress & ran my fingers through my hair. She was here within five minutes & actually complemented me on how nice I look in the morning!

Inside, TJ had made chocolate pancakes - literally just added a Tablespoon of cocoa powder per cup of pancake mix - that turned out pretty good.

After breakfast, we started schoolwork. I taught the girls their math lesson, but didn't ever make it to TJ's. Then I gave them the SWR placement test (TJ, the 6th grader, scored in the tenth grade level). While TJ finished the test (the girls were dismissed as they stopped even trying to spell), the girls made us sandwiches for lunch.
Then I tried to get Little Guy down for a nap. When he ought to have been asleep, I carefully peeked in & found him at the foot of the bed with a screwdriver.. (last week, I injured my foot in that spot on a loosened screw & it still hurts)

After lunch, the children had a swim.. So, MissC & LG are playing on the pool step & LG loses his balance & falls in. MissC's so concerned that she grabs his leg & pulls him back, but won't let go.. even though he's face down in the water.. I pulled him out & thanked her & asked if she'd try for an arm next time so he could get his head up & breathe. (this was literally 5-10 seconds tops between me seeing him totter before he fell in & me pulling him out)

And then, they took the watercolor paints out back & painted. Painted paper, trees, horses, each other.

Then came the scream. I had just gone in the house for something when the Little Guy hollered something fierce. I came running out to him recovering his footing in the (filled in) pond. He had gotten behind it, as I understood, and tripped or slid down into it on accident. He was happy with a big hug, then toddled off. I sat down and painted with the older children, then whisked LG off for nursing. As I sat down, I noticed something red on the back of his knee. Hoping it was paint, I gingerly turned the boy on his tummy and saw a long scratch.

Immediately, I hollered for TJ. I handed him my debit card & sent him to the store for gauze. I cleaned up LG's leg at the sink, then decided on a bath for the stubborn dirty spot. The bath kept both MissC & LG entertained & I was able to clean the paint off them both. TJ called, near tears that he didn't know my PIN # & I explained the credit function over the phone. He returned with big bandaids, medical tape & a toy, no gauze. Kids. The bandaids worked out great, though.

Once LG was patched, TJ was late to guitar class. He was due to leave for class when he headed to the store. I dropped him & his bike at class & I headed to the store with the other 4.

LG finally had that nap in the car. I transferred him to the stroller & he slept through the store & continued the nap on the way home. We were able to get diapers (I decided on disposables for the next week to ensure no leakage onto the wound), bandaids galore, & fresh ointment.

We made it back after TJ. The message machine reminded me to have him pack for his weekend away. Once he had most of that together, I took the children out for Pho. It was so good! & The Incredibles was playing on the TV, so the children peacefully ate & watched the movie.

Now I've burned the jam I was making, had a glass of wine & blogged. It's time for bed. I have to be up in 7ish hours to have TJ catch the bus at 9.

Summer Strikes

It feels like summer is finally sneaking up on us by the bay. It's been such a cool summer here that it was beginning to feel like it might just fade into autumn.

School has begun for most of the districts here. Ours has been building up as well, slowly getting a little more done each day and soon we may be doing most subjects any given day. I mainly have two classes, TJ & the girls. TJ's got 5 years on them, so his math & grammar are more advanced. Science & history are simple enough to do together & have his reports be more in depth.
Hitting 102 set us back, though. It's too hot to think! School uniforms are currently swim wear & the classroom is the pool.

Flaming Birthday Cake

I believe the words as I entered the house were, "Hurry over here, Jenn. Start singing when I say.. Now!"

Birthday Party

Today, as I studied the Well Woman Care module, Ben took the children for a grand adventure. I sat and read up on contraception and cancer. They drove around finding a gift and getting balloons.

With my foot injured, they'd dropped me by the coffee shop this morning, and they picked me up after getting the cake this afternoon.

Now, they're getting the house decorated & I'm not allowed in. Shh.. I think I'm having a surprise party..

Pillows

The little neighbor girl had brought a pillow over a while back and asked me to mend it. I was busy with something, maybe Little Guy was having one of his illnesses, and I promptly forgot. I came across it today and sewed the seam back shut. When the little girl came over, someone returned her pillow. Since we were playing in the sprinklers, she took the pillow home and returned with five more.

I made quick work of them so I wouldn't lose them in the house.. And they wouldn't get muddy from the children!

Little Green Afghan

On Monday, I sat down to crochet some stash and was joined by MissA & MissB wanting to learn to knit. I got them each started, and was able to crochet the first skein of yarn into the center star motif of the "Morning Glory" afghan from Circular Baby Afghans. MissA really likes the 'snowflake' I made. :)

Tuesday was lovely, until I injured my foot. TJ helped me make breakfast, we tidied the house, the children played outside, and after lunch we rode our bikes over to the ice cream shop & had ice cream.

When we returned, MissC hurt her finger. I had to nurse Little Guy, so I set her on my bed with her ice pack. Then, I'm not sure what exactly happened! I was by my dresser, turned around and tripped and my foot slammed into a screw sticking out of my bed frame! (How did it get loose? No clue!) It didn't hurt for a moment, except for pulling it off the screw, and started bruising.. I hollered to TJ to bring me another ice pack & a screwdriver & just sat down.

I bent that screw, I was going to screw it in, but couldn't. Somehow, though the pain became excruciating for a bit, I got on the bed and put my foot up & iced it for the next few hours (on for 30-40 min, off for 20-30, on, etc) until it was time to get Ben. During that time, I'd managed to crochet up the next skein of yarn and was out of the second color. So, when I picked up Ben, we stopped by the yarn shop for more yarn. Putting on my shoe was incredibly painful (yeah, birth-smirth, a bruised foot hurts!). I'm glad he talked me into 2 skeins - one was just over 1/2 a round too little to finish the pineapple (strawberry?) motif. The next color will be another shade lighter.

I hadn't planned on finishing the little blanket this week, but with piano class Wednesday: I can sit at the park & crochet while the littles play..

Mending Crochet

I've hurt my foot & am stuck in bed icing it. I was working on crocheting a new little afghan when MissA's blanket was brought to my attention. She had been playing one day with her siblings and someone had decided the blanket needed bigger holes to see through. Sadly, though i started fixing holes on it once before, the blanket has been in the mending pile since. Today, I got over my matchy-matchy self and fixed the rest of the holes with yellow yarn:

MissA is very happy to be able to use her favorite blanket again.

Candle Experiment

A simple experiment: light a candle, cover it with glass and time how long it lasts.

Now, uncover, place a plant next to the candle, relight the candle, cover with glass, and time the life of the flame.

Which one lasted longer?
Why?

The children had lots of fun with this. They decided to try doubling the number of candles, too.

Library Issues

I'm terrible about going to the library. At our local library, there are computers with baby games central to the children's section. Surrounding that are "early readers" that seem to have more about magic and witchcraft than much else. It's certainly hard to find history books that don't have children using magic to be in history instead of stories about people (including children) of those times.

I'm leaning more & more to library trips on piano lesson days, but that means the older children, who really need to learn to use the library, would miss out. I'd use that 2 hours to walk to that library, check out the books & walk back.

The other option, which will be more difficult for me, would be to go to the different branches myself and pick one I find the books more accessible, then start taking the children. Maybe on bikes.

This is certainly a learning curve for me.

Simplify

The bike trailer was disrobed. The frame now holds a boogy board and a child-sized beach chair. The children have been taking turns pushing each other around and right now MissA is using it as a wheelchair.

I unplugged the TV last weekend. TJ figured out there was a plug missing, but couldn't reach it to plug it back in. There has been a surge in outside play and art - MissB is getting incredibly good at drawing Frodo Baggypants!

A couple years ago, my MIL had suggested that I put the sewing away so I could focus on the children better. I'm naturally very slow to adapt, so it was a long time coming. This last Christmas (2009), I decided it was time. I've been piling the donations up, then pulling them back in to work on things, piling donations, pulling back in..

I'd still like to make their clothes, but it needs to wait for now. I have to focus my efforts to school them and get my own schooling done. I have about 1/10 of the modules sent in and about half of them in some state of work. I've found it quite difficult to study at home, so my Saturdays at the coffee shop are indispensable.

The next frustration I ran into was schooling the children. I had collected a great horde of textbooks and workbooks and supplies, Oh My! Would this turn out to be harder to declutter? Yes and no. I know where I'd like to go with some components of home school, but not with others. I'd like all my teacher books to fit in one case so we can easily take school along with us.

We invested, though that's hardly the best word as the program is inexpensive, in SWR. So, now the old phonics books and stacks of spelling workbooks that we've hardly touched can find a new home.

History and science are a little harder right now. With practice, I'll get better at this, but I'm currently not the greatest history or science teacher. I'm loving my Apologia texts, so we'll keep with those. History, though.. I've still got to figure out. I've got random children's history books lying about. I have the Veritas History (2nd grade only, at this point) & I love the cards, but the books drive me a little batty. I'm going to stick to it for now, see if we can make some headway once our school schedule is started. I know the library might be the answer, but I don't really like the local branch. I'll probably, eventually, go through the adult history sections in bookstores and have some chronology that way. We'll see. For now, it is as it is.

So Many Children!

"Your hands are full!"

"You're braver than I am!"

"Better you than me!"

Well meaning people comment on other peoples family. Most, perhaps, out of surprise. But, sometimes belittling them, or worse, their children.

"There's help for that."
"Don't you know where they come from yet?"
"They can fix that."

Nothing's broken. The natural, God-given appointment for most women is to bear children.

*1Tim 5:14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.*

*Titus 2:3-5 3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.*

The hardest thing I've ever done was to be a full time homebody. I was raised to seek "gainful" employment, to "contribute to society," and ended up with a great dislike for most things domestic. Personally, I've always hated cleaning. It was a punishment. And, in a household of 7 people, cleaning was one of the few things you could do and end up alone. What a long way I've come, and still have to go!

After Ben and I married, we worked and paid for an adoption (Ben adopted TJ) and a wedding. We waited to have our second child through most of the adoption proceedings. Then, that Christmas, we stopped the pill. Within a month, we had conceived (now knowing the research, I wonder how conceiving so soon really affected my baby). We were offered the mini pill in UK after her birth, but my body reacted horribly to it, so we chose not to use anything. And, again looking at research, I can see it's the healthiest choice. In His Word, having children is considered a blessing. They are gifts!

We have chosen to let the Lord bless us as He sees fit. Maybe He will close my womb - I'm willing to lay down my desire and allow Him to work on and through me in this way.

*But women will be saved through childbearing--if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
1 Timothy 2:15*

How right is Timothy! Most women of my generation do not leave school believing the scriptures, but many will take their children to church for the instruction, to be "good" children. In the process, they too can be ministered to and believe.

In my own life, I've found that verse applies on other levels. Having these blessings in my personal space from dawn to dawn and dusk to dusk brings out my impurities. My irritability can be changed to praise and thanksgiving for such blessings. My angry outlashes to songs of joy.

"You have way more patience than me!"

How? Through Christ alone.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Set Up

The nuts & bolts were in a bucket on the shelf near where I'd left them (thank you, Susan!) and I was able to get the rack back onto my bike pretty quick. I'd taken the rack off when my sister returned my purple -much lighter- bike, but the mounting holes on the purple bike didn't work with the rack set.

Instead of getting to ride the lighter bike, I switched the improvements from it onto the bike I've been riding. Now I have a saddle cushion, pump, and quick releases on the front wheel and seat. It could use a good cleaning still, lights, and maybe new brakes, but all in all I'm satisfied it'll work.

The trailer, on the other hand, has a broken safety strap. I don't want to risk my babies if the join goes, too. It might be fun to convert it to a hard trailer so we can trail it behind Ben or TJ and take picnicking supplies with us for a day out. For short rides, MissC could ride her balance bike & Little Guy use the seat on my bike.

Squash Bread

Our neighbor stopped by the other day with some squash. The really big one was made into patty pan size zucchini breads, recipe from Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, And Other Good Things by Landau & Myers.

Yummy lunch!

Balanced

It was one of those days.

The plane was late coming in last night, so Ben and I went to bed quite late. This morning, TJ and MissA had piano lessons so we had to get up early. No one could find MissA's glasses. Just as we were about to go, some little person had to go.. Then we were all finally in the car, driving, and I asked the pianists to check their written work, and the one asked where the books were.. Back home we drove for books.

We dropped them at lessons, dropped Ben at the closest train station, and headed to the park. I'd forgotten Little Guy's shoes and fresh diaper (so thankful he's beginning to let me know when he needs to potty).

Everyone was hungry when lessons were over. LG fell asleep on the way home, so I lay down to nurse him and TJ made lunch (grilled cheese, yum!).

After lunch, we headed to the garage. My intention was to reattach the rack onto my bike to carry the baby seat. I inflated bike tires on all the children's bikes, but am at a loss as to where the nuts and bolts went (they were on the shelf). That's when TJ brought me MissA's glasses.

So much for bolts. I called the optometrist to see if they had an opening, and they said to come on over. We ordered her a new pair, and ordered a part for my broken glasses, too (the hinge broke, they ordered a new "temple" -ear piece).

Barely five minutes after we got in, the neighbor came to see if the children could play. I heard the doorbell, but one of them answered and I found the door open and the babies out front. I sent them in for it.

Everyone was hungry. Again. MissB requested pasta. I started the water to boil and pulled out the pasta. No sauce. No meatballs. TJ had used all the mozzarella for lunch (& it was good, though I did let him know I usually use the jack or cheddar for grilled cheese & the mozzarella fir things like pasta or pizzas), and there was just a tiny bit of Colby Jack and a scant 1/8 cup Parmesan left.

I set a saucepan on medium heat, diced an onion & melted some butter. Onion dumped in pan. My neighbor had recently given us some little tomatoes and there were two larger ones & half a cucumber left from sandwiches Sunday. I diced these and dropped them as I finished each into the saucepan, stirring once in a while. The pan smelled like boiling vegetables - not particularly tempting to me! Spice cabinet: what would smell good? Thinking spaghetti sauce, I added a bit of the Italian seasonings, could have been basil, marjoram, oregano, and the last bit of thyme, some salt & pepper, and then a hint of turmeric. Finally, good aroma! When the pasta was done, I added a splash of the pasta water to the sauce & drained the noodles. The Parmesan and some olive oil went on the pasta & the little two ate that while the sauce cooked down another few minutes.

The kids really liked it. TJ had 4 bowls! Ben liked it, too. Everyone had a cookie & a piece of taffy that Ben had brought from New York.

After dinner, MissA went to the garage to assist Daddy so she could start paying, in labor, for her replacement glasses. I took LG for a walk & came back to find one of the grape trellises finished & the second half done, MissB entertaining MissC with a tea party & TJ practicing standing while riding the balance bike.

When they finished up, I invited them for ice cream. Strawberry, chocolate mint, and vanilla were on hand. Toppings were peanuts, chocolate Magic Shell, and maraschino cherries. A nice finish for my day.

Home Again

The children asked me to make cookies on Saturday. We didn't get them mixed up until just before bedtime, so into the fridge went the dough. After lunch today, we pulled it out and they made up some yummy cookies. After dinner, they decorated them.

I gave a bag of frosting to each of the children, reddish & yellow to TJ, pink to MissA, purple for MissB, and MissC loves blue. I even got to help decorate my cookies for Ben:

Almost Foreign

Ben's in New York to attend a wedding. Friday, he set his alarm for 4 o'clock to get to the airport & through security in time for his 6:20AM flight. I woke to a gray dawn and suddenly asked, "Is it 4?" Ben was out of bed so quick! 5:50! We got ready, prayed, and drove to the airport, arriving about 6:20. His return flight is from terminal A, and I dropped him there.. One should always double check, he was flying out of terminal B! He ran, I had already driven away. It turned out his flight was cancelled & passengers deplaned & he was in line with the fellow passengers rebooking. The airport bused them up to SFO for an 8:30 flight.

He called from Atlanta, & again when he arrived safe in New York.

Sunday morning, Ben was able to take in the scenery. 9 story brick buildings, wouldn't stand our earthquakes! St. Mary's Church.

Civil War memorials (Abe Lincoln):

And, lunch:

Along with local more modern art:

And Best Wishes to Jon & Liz!!

Chili

I'm trying to live within my budget. I used to be pretty good at it, or so I thought, but we took a rather long break from having a strict budget. So, now I've got a week and I've spent nearly my last dollar. In the pantry are lots of cans of beans...

Chili seems easy enough, I stood for a moment looking at titles when Potpies seemed like the best cookbook. Sure enough, a recipe for chili (p. 122) with a cornbread topping. At my feet was a crying baby..

TJ wasn't feeling like entertaining Little Guy, so I asked him to make dinner. I explained the difference of instructions since we had canned and the recipe called for dried, and took the stroller to the store to pick up the bell pepper. Everything else we had, or so I thought.

When I returned, he had a pot of spiced beans and tomatoes simmering. I sliced up the onions and bell pepper and talked him through sautéing. Then I hunted for the cornmeal. We're out of cornmeal? I used it recently for dumplings.. But, we're out. And I have quinoa. Hehe, we subbed the quinoa for the cornmeal and I was a little concerned it wouldn't breadify.

35 minutes later, a strangely colored, but tasty quinoa bread topping rose from the chili. It was a little chewier than the cornbread, but very tasty. And frugal.

Bread & Tomato Salad

Yum! I was out of scallions/green onions, so for the children (who aren't so used to salads regularly yet) I omitted onion. The tomatoes are from our neighbor. I subbed mozzarella, which i had in the fridge, & had the basil & mint in the garden.

Croutons

Last night, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through a bunch of Poor Girl Gourmet. This morning, I used up the two day old sourdough bread: French toast for breakfast & croutons (recipe from the book) that will go with a salad. The crusts will be processed for crumbs, for stuffing or coatings.

Forgiveness

I was reading an article aloud yesterday about divorce from Above Rubies. The article pointed to the scripture where Jesus likens a man remarrying after divorce to adultery. My oldest daughter, MissA, asked me about TJ's father, concerned that he may have committed adultery. What a sweet heart she has! I didn't tell her the details of my divorce, just the obvious: he left, chose not to work on it, and I have no idea if he has remarried. And, I do forgive him his mistakes and what I thought to be trespasses against me. After all, how could one be unforgiving to the person God used to give such a sweet child as my TJ? I do hope he forgave me my pride (our last conversation all those years ago was civil).

I've learned much since then. I know that His grace is sufficient for me, and I could have extended that grace no matter the grievance. I was tired of the arguing, tired of the accusations that didn't hold water. I bailed in the end, when in my weakness He could have been my strength.

Even so, the Good Lord has forgiven me and given me another chance. Before we wed, Ben and I decided that we would not divorce. No matter if we "drift apart" (a cop out for lack of taking the effort any more), or if we are kept apart - we've had years of being apart, sometimes a few days, the longest was nearly 5 months.

Marriage is not something to enter lightly. It is a commitment, a sacred vessel of the Lord Almighty to ensure a godly offspring.

Potatoes!!

Just checking: yes, the potatoes are growing! Looks like mounding hay didn't do much for a larger crop. We'll see when the flowers are done, I guess.

Sweet Potatoes?

A few weeks ago, I noticed these funny palmate (pointy, really) leaves in my potato patch. What could they be? Figuring that disturbing my potatoes may bring them harm , I left the strange plant.

During swim time, MissB brought out a sweet potato that I'd apparently forgotten. The eyes have sprouted small pointy leaves. Mystery solved.

This one takes after Daddy

Little Guy has been fighting his naps. He's at that lovely age when babies think they don't need any sleep. At all.

Being a loving mother, I nurse him well, set him in bed, and shut the door. The other day when I checked on him, he had my silver clock on his chest. Today, his snuggly of choice is the phone.

Inviting

The Reading Corner: