Recent Photos

The kids decorated a cake each for Hattie's birthday. This is the mess you'll get if you let four kids each decorate their own cake. :) Fun, fun, fun!




Fun chicken pictures taken by Molly

We're Still Alive

Hi all! I've been gone a long time, I know. That does seem to be the way things go in the winter around here. I get so busy with the formal education of my children, and my attempt to remain even slightly organised with so many irons in the fire. It feels a bit like juggling dinner plates, only I drop a lot of them. I'm not always OK with the fact that I really can't do all of my jobs well, and in my attempt I end up with what feels like a barely adequate job at each. Many times each year I reevaluate each "plate" to see if I really need to include it in the act. Some of them go by the wayside for a time to be picked up later. Here are some of the plates(each one important to me)that I'm evaluating now.
Relationship with my Savior: This is primary for me. I often neglect this one, I'm sorry to have to confess. It's because He's such a gentleman. He never throws a fit if I neglect Him. I don't have to be sure there's something for Him to pack in his lunch or cookies for after lunch. He doesn't need his clothes cleaned or his bath, and I don't have to teach him arithmetic or how to load the dish washer properly. In fact, if I fail to keep this relationship well, He can become quite invisible. That is, until my plates begin to fall in rapid succession. I realize at that point that I've lost my peace and joy, and my life feels precarious to say the least. I need that time of prayer and meditation for refreshment to stay sane. This has to be my first priority!
Relationship with spouse: This is very important. If it's really true that, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" then it is equally true of Papa! By the way, we're about to celebrate our 15th anniversary! I'm so happy that he's the one I'll be celebrating with. If you've ever seen Marley and Me, it's a fairly realistic representation of our lives together. Their struggles were so common to us. Watching it seemed to be watching ourselves grow up in our relationship together. Not in every way, but many - minus Marley. We have a dog, Katie, but we got her after 10 years of marriage and when the kids were 2, 4, 7 and 9. It's the struggles as young parents that are so similar to us. Parenting young children is so consuming in time and energy. It is such a blessing, but it takes it's toll on life as well.
Relationship with kids: This one has so many facets. There's the actual interpersonal relationships with each of them. These are one of the reasons I set about educating them at home. These relationships are among the most precious of all to me. However, the other "plates" often distract me from these relationships. This isn't OK with me, but how do I change it? There are SO MANY PLATES!

Another facet in the relationship with my children is their actual education: This should probably be in a category of its own. This is a major undertaking that gets bigger every year. There are all the subjects that the Department of Education deems important to teach, and well as guiding them in life skills that will be so important to them as they grow up. All this while still maintaining relationships and attempting to keep that "fire" lit in them. The fire I speak of is that natural desire to discover and learn. It's there in all of us, but so often it's extinguished before it's joys are discovered. I so badly want to keep that fire alive in them. It's so much fun to see it burning, and to watch what they do with it. However, some of the things I find myself doing in the process of educating them is more like pouring water on their fires. I dislike those parts. I try to evaluate things so that there's more fuel on the fires than water. When life gets too busy with spinning plates, the fuel is more likely to be set aside, and the water remains. Things like memorizing multiplication facts and learning grammar. They're important. I can't cut them out! But, we need the fuel. Classic books, art projects, science experiments, living books, constructing castles, THESE are what I want more time for.
But there are still more plates: Laundry, preparing healthy meals, teaching how to do chores, pet and livestock care, maintaining organization, friends, extended family, physical fitness, financial priorities (like TAXES!)...
I was hoping that this blog post would help me clear my head and organize my priorities. I'm not so sure that's happened. Perhaps I shouldn't post for fear that it will stress you all out! ;) But, this is where I'm at right now, and so this is what I'm sharing with you. A glimpse into a life that's definitely full, usually happy, and very imperfect! This is why blog posts are few and far between in the winter.
Jesus, help me to be OK with imperfect! :)

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011 To All!

Especially for Erin, here's our Christmas tree. :) We always try to get a tree from an area where it's going to cause a problem later, so they're not always the loveliest trees. This one is a balsam fir. The kids helped Dan find it on our property in an area that would need clearing in the future. Many of the ornaments that go on the tree were made by Dan's grandmother. She made one each year for all of her grandchildren.







These are some of my favorite ornaments because all three together remind me of one of my favorite Bible verses. "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13




In other "homestead" type news, I've been hanging laundry outside! It's been a lot of fun, really. I've missed being outdoors since there's no garden to work in and my goats are STILL not here. (They've been hard to breed this fall, so I don't know when I'll be getting them.) I don't make a point of going out as much as I did before we started school this fall. Now when it's near 20 degrees or warmer, I hang the laundry outside. It is amazing to me that it really does get dry, even if it's frozen when I take it down.

This is how I make it work:
First of all, I read that if you soak the clothes pins in salt water before using them in the winter, they last longer and don't freeze to the clothes. I haven't done this yet, but I think I'll try it because if it's cold they do freeze to the clothes.
I hang them out and let them dry (or "freeze" dry). When I take them off the line, if they're frozen stiff I drape them over chairs until they thaw a bit. If they feel damp (which they usually do) I put them in the dryer for 5 minutes. If they can fit into the dryer without thawing, I skip draping them over the chairs.
Oh, and most importantly, I wear some water proof gloves when I'm working with the laundry outside. My grandmother always (and my mother for a time) hung laundry out in the winter, and never wore the waterproof gloves. I still remember my mothers hands from that time - they were so raw!

I live right off of a main highway, and in the summer people often comment on the fact that I hang my laundry out to dry. I'm not sure what they think. I wonder sometimes if they're thinking I must be trying to save money. Someone "anonymously" bought us a turkey for thanksgiving this year, so I think maybe...
...anyway, so now when I'm hanging laundry in the winter, I wonder as each car goes past, "Are we going to get a charity batch of Christmas gifts because I'm doing this?" It's kind of funny, really. I'm out there just enjoying creation and the feel and smell of the fresh air, having a great time with God and feeling so amazingly blessed, and people are potentially feeling sorry for me. Probably they're thinking my dryer is broken. Nope, but my spirit is healing a bit each load of laundry that goes up! :) Ok, that sounds strange, but for me, it's true somehow.

Happy holidays from all of us!! Hug someone you love!

More Art to Share

Here are a couple more of Molly's pieces. I particularly love the dog, and I'm also amazed at the improvement in her people.