Tag, I'm It

Dana at Noggins & Nonsense tagged me in a blog "getting to know you" game. Since I haven't posted in over a month, here is some proof that I'm still around. The questions she asked were:

• What is your favorite thing about being a MOM? (This is a tough one. There are so many things that I love, but I have to say that one of my favorite and most rewarding things, is being able to watch my children learn and grow. It is so awesome and overwhelming to see their strengths and talents being developed and to recognize the amazing potential they have. I feel blessed to be a part of it.)

• What part of homeschooling your family makes your heart sing? My answer to this goes along with the first one; watching them learn new thing. I love that I get to be a part of all the "awakenings" in their educational lives. There is nothing like seeing the excitement in a child (especially your own child) when they learn something new. From first learning to read, to making connections with exciting events in history, or discovering the "veins" in a leaf. That wide-eyed wonder is magical.

• If you could have any dessert right now what would it be? ( I just made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with Little C. tonight, and they really hit the spot. Anything with chocolate is usually a safe bet.)

• What is one thing about yourself that you’d like to change? (I would like to stress less. I often worry too much about things that in the grand scheme of things aren't really that important. I wish that I could give that up.)

• What are some talents you’ve been blessed with? (I’ve been blessed with faith. There are definitely times when I don't trust the Lord enough, but generally speaking, I know that He is there and knows what I need and is waiting to bless me with that if I just trust in Him. I am so grateful for that gift in my life, and the peace it brings.)

• What is a weakness you struggle with? (Not worrying about what others think. You wouldn't think I would have a problem with this since I homeschool, have home-births, am in the Constitution Party, etc., etc., but I often have to stop and ask myself if my motivation for doing something is because it's the right thing for me to do, or because I am worrying about what someone else will think. It's silly, and I am getting better, but I wish I was more like my husband in this area. He just knows what he has to do and does it, and doesn't worry about what anyone else thinks.)

• What book (just for you) have you enjoyed lately? (This is sad. I really love to read, but I don't think I have finished a book for me in 6 months. Right after C. Bear was born I read a few books just for me, and one of the ones I really enjoyed was The Keeper of the Bees, by Gene Stratton Porter. I love her books! I can't wait until I can find more time to read again. I have been itching for a good book lately, and some time to read it in.)

• What is something you would like to learn how to do? (Sew. My mother was/is a wonderful seamstress, but she never taught me how to sew. I always bring my sewing projects to her and she does them for me. It is wonderful, but some day I would like to buy a sewing machine and learn to sew. Some day. . .)

Now I am supposed to tag some people and ask them eight questions of my own.

Here are the questions:

• What are your top 5 favorite books?

• What is one of your favorite scriptures?

• What is your favorite homeschool curriculum that you have used?

• What led you to homeschool your children?

• If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?

• If you had one day all to yourself, what would you do?

• What is your favorite food group?

• What is something that your child(ren) did recently that made you laugh out loud?

The people I am tagging are:

Cellista @ La Scuola d'Argento

Meg @ Journey, Discover, Gather

Wendy @ O'Neil Oasis

Sea Star @ Sea Star Academy

You! If you want to answer any of these questions, leave a comment with a link to your blog, and I would love to read it. 

Thanks for playing!

1 Down 179 to Go!

(First day of school 2010)

We did it! We officially completed our first day of the new school year! We started a little earlier than normal because we will be taking off a week and a half in September to go to California. I felt so underprepared heading into today that I was rather nervous and stressed out last night, but now that the day is over I think things went pretty well. 

Little C. started school with us today and was incredibly excited for her first day of "school". I am doing Before Five in a Row with her, and started the reading game I made and used for all of our kids (I'll post more on that later). She just turned 3 last month, but she so wanted to do school with us this year, that we are just going to take it slow and have a lot of fun. I can tell it will be a good thing for her to get this special one-on-one time during the school day because she was able to play on her own so much better today after having her time with me. I was able to focus more on the boys and not have to spend as much time worrying about keeping her busy and happy. Hooray!

G. Diddy isn't thrilled about starting school, and we had our battles today, but he did a great job on his Math-it game and it was fun to see his sense of accomplishment in that. I-Mac wishes summer wouldn't end, and just can't wait for our California trip to come, but he is so easy going that he just does what we ask without complaining. We are reading some fun books together right now, so that is always a draw for him. The three of us will be studying about American History this year (my favorite subject) so we should be reading a lot of interesting books this year, which we are all looking forward to. If everything goes as planned, we will be taking a trip to Washington D.C. at the end of this school year to wrap up our history studies. Everyone is excited about that prospect.

H. Man was excited for school to start today. He is entering his "Middle School" years this year, and that is one of the main reasons I have been so stressed. His work load is a lot heavier this year, and I'm not sure I'm fully prepared with what I need to do on some of his courses. Luckily, most of his work is done independently and he is a very motivated student so hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed our summer, and it didn't seem to last long enough, it is exciting to be starting our new learning adventures this year. It is so fun to watch the light bulbs turn on as a child grasps a new idea, to learn about people and places you've never heard about before, to feel the wonder with your children as you ponder on the many amazing things God has created for us. For these reasons and so much more, I am grateful for the blessing and challenge of homeschooling my children. Here's to hoping I can remember to savor those moments all year long.  

Birthdays, and Blessings, and Baptisms, Oh My!

This has been one full and amazing month for our family! It started with Claire's blessing,

and was followed by G. Diddys birthday a few weeks later.

This was the birthday he has been waiting for forever. He turned eight and got to start scouts and get baptized! (More photos are coming of that event.)

The next week was H. Man's birthday.

 

This was also a "big" birthday for him. He turned twelve and got to receive the priesthood!

We were so proud of him. It was so awesome to watch him as he worthily passed the sacrament this Sunday. I can't believe we have a twelve year old child!

The week after H. Man's birthday, G. Diddy was baptized.

He was so excited! The day was awesome and he just radiated joy all weekend. I've never seen him behave so well in church. He read his new scriptures through most of sacrament meeting, and bore a wonderful testimony.

The final event is I. Mac's birthday today! 

He turned 10 and is an amazing child. We're getting ready to go swimming this afternoon and have his birthday dinner at Grandma's this evening.

The overwhelming feeling I have had over this past month is how much Heavenly Father loves His children. I have been struck by the fact that although these are my children here on earth they were His first, and it is my responsibility to do all I can to help them get back to Him again some day. I am so blessed to be the mother of these wonderful children. I hope I can be the mother they deserve. 

Waiting for Baby

For the past few weeks I have had plenty to occupy my time, and attention.  Between trying to finnish our basement, school, trying to get the house ready for a baby (despite all of the construction) and being sick with a severe head-cold for a week which then morphed into bronchitis that lasted for another week, I have had plenty to keep me from going too stir-crazy waiting for the baby to be born.  Unfortunately things have calmed down a bit now.  I am healthy again, and I think I am as ready as I am going to be for the baby; I have a freezer full of meals for after the baby is born, all the baby's clothes are washed and ready, and the house is as organized as it is going to be until the basement is finished.  Now all I have to do is wait, and that is one of the hardest things to do when you get to the "I'm too miserable to bear another minute of pregnancy" state that I have now reached.  My husband keeps trying to console me by saying that since my due date is less than a week a way, we know that at the most I will have the baby within three weeks, but when a day feels like a week, that is little consolation.

I thought I would pass some of the time by sharing some of the things I've learned over the past few weeks.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 2 tablespoon honey, heated and mixed with 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper is a good natural remedy for sore throats.  Gargle a bit and drink the rest.  It didn't even give me heart burn. . .
• That same 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons honey heated, minus the cayenne pepper, can help sooth a cough, but not always . . .
• Eating an apple is a great natural way to get rid of heart-burn.  It has worked for me every time.  Even with the really bad cases that wake me up at 2am.
• These are great freezer recipes.  Double or triple the recipes and make some for dinner tonight and put the rest in foil baking dishes in the freezer for another night when you can't, or don't feel like cooking and you won't have to do any extra work to fill your freezer with food.
   Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
   Vegetable Enchiladas
   Lasagna Primavera
   Vegetable Chowder (I froze this and the next recipe in gallon freezer Zip-Lock bags)
   Tomato Soup
I also made and froze meatloaf, and spaghetti sauce, but those are recipes I have to type up if I find the time.
•  This is not a great freezer recipe (or regular recipe for that matter).  Unfortunately I didn't find that out until after I made a double batch. . .
   Mandarin Orange Chicken
In all fairness, I did recently find this recipe in its original form, in the book Once a Month Cooking.  It looks like their instructions would have corrected many of the things that caused the recipe to be so terrible, but I don't think I will give it another try.
• Babies come when they're ready, and no amount of wishing otherwise will change that.  Once they are here you forget all about the waiting and have a whole new set of joys and challenges in your life, so you might as well enjoy the moment.  (Well this is one I am still trying to learn, or at least remember.)

Always Serene

Madonna Del Granduca by Raphael

I have probably mentioned before that I love Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education. She places a lot of emphasis on atmosphere being vital for a child's education. I have been thinking a lot lately about how to improve the atmosphere in our home and recently came across this quote from Charlotte Mason's School Education, the third volume of her Home Education series. This idea really resonated with me, it is a long quote, but very worthwhile, so bear with me.

“It is not for nothing that the old painters, however diverse their ideas in other
matters, all fixed upon one quality as proper to the pattern Mother. The Madonna,
no matter out of whose canvas she looks at you, is always serene. This is a great truth,
and we should do well to hang our walls with the Madonnas of all the early Masters if
the lesson, taught through the eye, would reach with calming influence to the heart. Is
this a hard saying for mothers in these anxious and troubled days? It may be hard, but
it is not unsympathetic. If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for
their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the
mother go out to play! If she would only have courage to let everything go when life
becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day,
• out in the fields,
• or with a favourite book,
• or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures,
• or in bed,
without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and
parents”

Virgin of the Lillies by Bouguereau

I realized long ago that the oft quoted saying "If mamma aint happy, aint nobody happy." was more than a trite phrase. There is much truth in this saying. I know that I hold the key to the emotional atmosphere in our home. Too often though I am anything but serene. I tend to stress out when there is too much going on, and there is almost always too much going on in our lives. This is something I have been praying for help with for quite some time. I do think I have seen some improvement and I hope it continues.

The Sketch of the Head of Madonna by Leonardo Da Vinci

I decided to search for paintings of Mary and have included some of my favorites here. My two favorites are probably The Virgin of the Lillies; it is just so beautiful and truly "serene", and the sketch by DaVinci because she looks so tender and full of love. It was true, that in all the many paintings I looked at of Mary, the adjective that would best describe Mary's disposition is serene. Now I realize that these are just paintings, and we don't know that Mary was truly always serene, but I believe in the ideal. I know that we may never achieve the ideal in this life, but it is important to have that goal to reach for. I believe that the closer we can get to that ideal the better and happier we will be.

The Madonna and Child by J0rg Breu the Younger

I love the idea of surrounding ourselves with the ideal so that "the lesson, taught through the eye, will reach with calming influence to the heart." I think that is why the leaders of our church stress the importance of having pictures of the Savior and The Temple on the walls of our home. I also think that is why it is important to read as many uplifting books and articles on the ideals of motherhood as we can. I recently reread one of my favorite talks on motherhood by Julie Beck called "Mothers Who Know". There are many things she talks about that I know I am falling short on, but I love her talk because it paints the picture of the ideal mother and gives me something to work toward.

The Nativity by Carl Heinrich Bloch

I also see the wisdom in "going out to play!" It is important to find joy in life. Finding time to do those things that fill our reservoirs is necessary for keeping our sanity. Spending time with a good book, enjoying the peace and tranquility of nature, and riding my bike are all things that help fill me up and give me the energy to keep doing the things I need to to be a good mom. I also think that in this day and age too many parents spend too much time focusing on "me time" and too little thinking about what is best for their children. It is a difficult balancing act. One I am always trying to discern if I've got right. I think sometimes when "life becomes too tense" it is also good to "just take a day, or half a day,
• out in the fields,
• or with a favourite book,
• or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures,
• or in bed,
with the children." Sometimes what we really need is to reconnect with our children and strengthen our relationships with them. Go out and play with them! When we do that it can help remind us of the joy of being a mother and give us the energy we need to keep doing all the many little things that are required to keep our homes and children "running smoothly".

Madonna Adoring the Child with Five Angels by Sandro Bottecelli

Hopefully as I strive for balance, working toward the ideal, relying on the help of the Lord, I can become at least a more serene mother, if not "always serene".

Joy in the Journey

I was sitting in church today, struggling with our extremely active Little C.  As the sacrament was being passed I thought about how I used to enjoy reflecting on my week during this time, thinking about what went well, and what I could improve upon.  It was always such a peaceful and spiritually renewing part of my week.  Now, in order to keep the peace, I am usually searching for numerous ways to keep Little C. distracted and happy so that I can at least stay in the chapel.  As I was longing for the time to rerturn when I could focus more on my spiritual growth, I was struck with the thought that this was my mission right now.  Loving and enjoying this prescious child of God is most important for me right now, and will ultimately bring me the most spiritual growth.  It seems simple and obvious, but I love it when the Spirit brings things into focus for us when our expectations get a little off the mark.  Motherhood is the greatest sacrifice, the most difficult challenge, and the most sweetly rewarding endeavor we could ever undertake in this life.  In many ways, the work we do as mothers, as we lovingly and submissively give our lives (through our time, energy, sleep, pursuits, and hearts) for our children, we come closer to emulating the life of our Savior than through anything else we could do.  The Savior spent time studying the scriptures, but the bulk of his life and ministry was spent teaching, loving and serving the people.  It was a sweet experience today to be reminded of this fact and rather than feel guilty that I couldn't sit quietly and focus completely on the speakers or ponder the feelings and thoughts of the spirit, I held my baby and thanked Heavenly Father for the opportunity to be a mother and be taught a little more about what it means to loose myself in the service of others.

Epiphany

So I was cleaning my kitchen today (which looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a week even though I had cleaned it before I went to bed last night) when all of a sudden I was struck by a sudden and very enlightening thought.  To the average person it will probably be one of those, “duh” ideas, but for me it was an “aha” moment. 

 I love motherhood.  From the time my first child was born ten years ago until today, I have embraced my role as a mother and never once wished I could go back to work.  I honestly find my greatest fulfillment and joy through my role as a wife and mother.  There is one thing that has always been a weak spot in my life as a stay-at-home-mom though.  I am not a very good “homemaker”.  I have always struggled at being organized.  I have struggled even more with this since Little C. was born.  I have felt like my life has consisted of either cleaning up disasters or trying to keep Little C. from making a new one for the last 11 months.  The boys are great helpers and clean up daily, but they make as many messes as they clean up, so it kind of cancels itself out.  Even though I am not very good at keeping my house spotless, I tend to get stressed out when it is not.  Needless to say, I have been stressed far too often lately.

Back to my epiphany...  So, while I was cleaning this afternoon and feeling overwhelmed at the thought of trying to get everything straightened up before my 3:15 piano lessons, this thought suddenly struck me.  “This is your life.  You can either embrace it and be happy, or you can fight against it and be stressed all of the time.”  I realized that this was so true.  Rather than worrying and feeling frustrated that I have to clean so much and so often, I need to just accept that this is how things are going to be for a while in my life and just enjoy the journey.  It was a wonderfully empowering thought.  

I was reminded of a talk that I heard a couple of years ago, but I can’t recall who it was by.  The point of his talk was that we talk so much of enduring to the end, but as it says in Doctrine and Covenants 121:8, the point is not just to endure, but to endure well.  “And then, if thou ^aendure it well, God shall exalt thee on high...” I like this thought by Elder Neil A. Maxwell on the subject.  He said, “Without patient and meek endurance we will learn less, see less, feel less, and hear less. We who are egocentric and impatient shut down so much of our receiving capacity.”  If we fight against the things we are called to do, and complain about them along the way, we impede our progress.  If we can do the difficult things in life with a cheerful heart God will be so much more able to bless us.  This may seem like a trivial thing, but I believe that God tries us as much in the small day to day things of life as in the the big things.  If we can learn to “endure well”  through the daily trials, we will be better prepared when the bigger ones come.  

I hope that I can keep this perspective in mind as I go through my day.  I hope that when my children are grown their memories will be of a happy mom who enjoyed her time with them and made our home a haven of peace, rather than one who was stressed out all of the time, worrying about getting things done.

School/Life with Baby

One of my greatest fears when we started this school year was how I was ever going to be able to accomplish anything in school with a brand new baby.  Much to my surprise, things went much more smoothly this year than I had ever dared to hope.  Until now...  

Carol has been (and still is) a wonderful baby.  She is almost always happy and easily entertained.  However, her new favorite thing to do is to pull out anything and everything that she sees that is put away.  If I try to stop her, she gets very mad and starts to scream.  This means that if I want to accomplish anything I have to compromise.  I let her make her messes so that I can get done what I need to at the moment, knowing it means more work for me, and then I clean up her mess when she is distracted with something else.  This morning during our family read aloud, Carol started to pull everything off the school bookshelf.  (She does this a couple of times a day.)  I felt a little exasperated because I really didn’t feel up to another day of chaos control, but just before I lost it, the thought came into my mind that I am so going to miss this some day.  I decided to get out my camera instead and took a few pictures so that I can always remember the fun times we had when everyone was little, and our biggest worries were cleaning up the messes. I hope I can always remember to cherish every moment.  They go by way too fast.  

                       

And yes, we totally do school in our pajamas.  Isn’t homeschooling great?!

The Better Part

~Be still and know that I am God. -Psalms 46:10

I have been reading a book called Just David, which I highly recommend.  The book is about a ten year old boy who has been raised in the mountains by his father.  His father chose to only expose his son to good and beautiful things in his childhood to prepare him for his “great work” in the world.  When David is unexpectedly thrust into the world, his view of what is truly beautiful and important varies greatly from those he comes in contact with.  It has opened my eyes. 

I think that I try hard to protect my children from bad things and place good things in their lives, but at the end of our busy Saturday I started wondering if I am careful to choose only the best things for them.  It is an increasingly evil world.  We are constantly being bombarded by offensive things against our choosing.  Just driving down the freeway, or walking through the mall we are assaulted by countless sayings and images that could make us flee in terror if we stopped to think about it.  Not to mention the things we let into our home via television and other forms of media.  Even if it is a good program, which it usually is, the advertising is often worse than most PG-13 movies.   Which is actually what got me thinking tonight. Everyone was watching a show that was relatively harmless, but I started feeling like there was probably something better we could be doing with our time.  

We get so busy in our lives, and most of the things we do are good, but are they the best things we could be doing at that moment?  Are they things that draw us closer to God and fill us with those things that will help us to be of service to Him and to our fellowmen, or are they simply things that are enjoyable, but really have no lasting value.  It is so hard to weed out those things that we could do without to make room for those things that we really need.  Most things that we do seem to be important at that moment, but weighed with an eternal perspective, where would they really fit on the list? I believe Satan is working so hard to fill our lives with distractions, because the busier and noisier our lives are, the harder it is to hear the quiet whisperings of the spirit.  I know we have a “great work” to do in these last days, but will we be prepared to do it if we don’t take the time to do those things that will lead us to it?

Choice

By Jean Liebenthal

Ensign, Mar. 1995

Am I, like Martha,

too immersed in homely

chores—too single-minded

in my day’s pursuits

of worldly worries which,

by heaven’s time,

won’t count for much—

or so intent today on

busywork that I don’t pray,

or keep my soul

in touch with the divine?

And do I

(oh, yes, conscientiously)

keep thoughts so fixed

on duties of my hands,

this hour’s demands,

that I’ve no time to spare

to dry His sweet feet

with my bowed soul’s hair?

Oh, may I pattern

after Mary’s way

and choose the better part,

asking forgiveness

at those tender feet

washed with my hope,

anointed with my heart.