Day #1 Results

Wow, what a day!  I am really embarrassed to even show my before pictures.  It will show what absolute PIGS we really are!  Granted, Mommy was gone all day Saturday, leaving kids home with Daddy in the morning, then we were all gone until almost supper time, so we didn't have our routine Saturday cleaning, so its BAD!!!  OK, are you ready? Here is my kitchen before:

YIKES!!  We had a busy weekend, including a wonderful Sunday picnic. (See the coolers?!)

Leah helped with dishes, and LOVED it!

WOW!  If only these people I live with weren't hungry all the time, it might stay this way!

I forgot to get the before pictures... trust me, its a lot better!

It was a long day with a lot of work, but so worth it!  I will have to save the "to do" list so I can do more on it when summer break rolls around.  There aren't enough hours in MY day to complete that extensive list!!  The cupboards shown are the only ones I cleaned, plus a couple of dawers.  The garbage bag was so heavy it almost tore!  I threw away tons of expired meds & supplements and yucky utensils I don't use anymore.

Now for Tuesday's list!

Corah Noreen

I just can't believe my sweet little girl is 12 now!  Saturday was her birthday.  It was busy, I had a homeschool meeting in the morning and she had softball at 1.  Being in Des Moines on her birthday, however, managed a trip to the mall, which really helped make it better!  (Shopping is sometimes like medicine, but a habit I try to avoid!)

Remembering 12 years ago.....

When I was 37 weeks along (which developed into a trend for me) I started s howing pre-ecclampsia symptoms, so the doctor ordered a 24-your test for me to do at home.  When the results came in, he nurse told me the wrong result and the doctor was off that day.  So I waited another day for my appointment, which made me pretty sick.  I did not understand what pre-ecclampsia was, Dallas was driving to Missouri every day for work, we had kids in school who were not old enough to be left home alone... I had a lot on my mind!  When I went to the doctor that fateful Friday morning, the doctor was so upset that I had been told the wrong results, he stormed out of the room, and hormonal mama started crying!  I didn't know what was going on!  Of course, my biggest fear was that something was wrong with the baby!  (Back then we didn't find out ahead of time if it was a boy or girl, but I KNEW it was a girl!)  The doctor had me put directly into a delivery room... PANIC! PANIC! PANIC!  Dallas was still at work, the kids needed to have someone pick them up from school an my mother-in-law needed at least 3 hours to quit what she was doing, pack, and drive down to Des Moines.  Back then I didn't have a cell phone and Dallas' couldn't call his mom with "roaming charges" (remember those?!?)   ANYWAY!  Everything all worked out!  I called Dallas' cell phone at noon.  He was back to Des Moines and they let him skip driving to the airport so he could come to the hospital.  He ran home first, grabbed his bag, packed one for me (I think... maybe I had it ready?), called his Mom... of course everything worked out! 

At 7:10 that evening, I delivered the tiniest, most precious little creature I had ever laid eyes on.  She was 5 pounds, 4.8 ounces.  The nurse laid her on my chest, and... she raised her tiny little head and looked straight into my face!  Oh!  I was so overwhelmed with emotion, all I could do was cry and say, "Oh, God!"  It wasn't taking the Lord's name, I was trying to pray, and that was all I could say!!!!  ......pause, dry tears, continue....  All was perfect in my little world.  For about 30 minutes.  The nurse came in and told me that they didn't have enough hospital rooms available on Powell, the labor & delivery side, so they would move me to the Younker side, where the C-section patients stayed.  Same room accomodations, only smaller.  No biggie, we thought.  We had our baby, and each other, all was fine.  Grandma brought the older kids to visit, that was fun.  We finally went to bed.  Dallas had been up about 24 hours by this time.

An hour later I was calling the nurse.  "Something's wrong" was all I knew to tell her.  She came right away, and fund that I had a giant hematoma (blood blister) on my.... well... where the birthing took place!  I couldn't wake Dallas because he was toooo tired to wake up!  The nurse got him up, called the doctor, and as soon as he got there I was off to surgery.   I remember thinking (as I bobbed in and out of consciousness) "I have seen my baby, now I am going to die.  Lord, take care of my baby...."

Of course a hematoma is not life-threatening, but it sure did hurt!  Meanwhile, Dallas thougth I was dying.  He cried and prayed in the dark until I was brought back.  I had pain for quite some time from that.  (That is probably why it took us 4 years to have the next one!)

My blood pressure stayed up at dangerous levels, so they put me on meds and kept me for 5 days instead of 3.  I went home with 2-3 kinds of bp medications.  I was exhausted, confused, drugged, and I don't honestly remember a whole lot about the next couple weeks until I was off those medications.  I do remember the Columbine shooting, which happened 11 days after Corah was born.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

CORAH!  Is the prettiest, sweetest, most talented little girl I know!  At age 5 she was a princess.  She didn't just play princess, she was one!  She had everyone at church calling her "Princess" instead of "Corah."  And when she wasn't a princess, she was a... something else.  When she woke up in the morning she didn't ask herself  "What shall I wear today?" but "Who shall I BE today?"   Somedays she was a "cowboy-girl!"  (But still a princess.) She would wear her denim skirt ("cause girls just wear dresses") and the cowboy vest my mother made me when I was little, and cowboy-girl boots.  My heart broke the day she told me, "Mom, I'm not your princess anymore." *tears* Why must they grow up?

Corah is an avid reader, a talented pianist, who can read music or play by ear.  She is creative, helpful, and great with little sisters.  (Those brothers are annoying, you know!)  Corah has a strong desire to teach the younger "women" how to live a godly life, as her Bright Lights leader (and Mom) do for her.  She was called to be a missionary at age 5, 2 years before she was actualy saved! 

I am just so thankful for each one of my children.  They are all so special, each in their own way.  But I think there is just something so sweet about the bond between a mother and her first born.  Maybe its because she is the one that "initiated" me into motherhood.  Maybe its because we've been together the longest.  I don't know, but I just can't imagine life without her.... nor would I want to!  I LOVE YOU CORAH!!!

Leah Marie

Leah Marie made her early appearance into our lives nearly two years ago now.  After her prolonged infancy, she caught up very quickly!  The next thing we knew, we couldn't keep up with her!  Now while I am cleaning up the mess she made in the kitchen, she is in the bathroom putting on my make up... or climbing to Mary's top bunk... or falling off of it!  And her talking!  Oh, my!  She is always surprising us with words and sayings that seem advanced or one who is not yet two.  Take Sunday, for example!  While feeling exasperated from trying to keep her "out of trouble",  I said to her, "Are you Charlie Troublemaker?"  At which she tilted her head to one side, scrunched up her face to show she was thinking very hard (pointing finger on chin), all while saying,"Ummm..."  Then suddenly popped up her head and said brightly, "Probably!"

Little Leah got her name because she was so, well, little!  4 pounds, 9 ounces was really good for a preemie, but smaller than normal.  She was like carrying around a little doll.  I remember once while doing my Walmart shopping with her on my shoulder, holding her there with my left hand while I did everything else with my right hand.  She was a whopping 5.2 lbs when we brought her home.  Her weight wasn't even noticeable.  Now she wakes me up every morning by climbing in my bed and "whispering" [very loudly], "Mom, eat!"  From that moment until she finally drops for a nap, she is always into everything, and screaming at me when I try to stop her.  I struggle with my anger at some moments, so I pick her up and kiss that sweet baby cheek and my anger disolves into a love so overwhelming, so deep and wonderful... it is the love only a mother can feel.  I am so blessed to have all these children!  They are loud, messy, sweet, irritating, fun, demanding, adorable, provoking... all at the same time!  There is only one love that is greater than a mother's love, and that is a Savior's love.  He loves ME when I am loud, messy, sweet, irritating, fun, demanding, adorable, provoking...  And He forgives me.  There is no greater love.  I know that without HIS love, my love for my children would be nothing.

Cleaning Games

A few months ago I was burdened to write down some of the ideas I have thought up (out of desperation) over the last few years to help me with my housework.  I posted it on our local homeschool loop and someone from the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE) contacted me and asked me if they could publish the artical in the next NICHE Newsletter! (Which, I might add, now-a-days takes on the look of a "real" magazine!)  I was thrilled, and said, "YES!" Here is a copy of the artical:

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Like many modern homeschooling families, we have a relatively large family. We started out with my husband’s three kids, then we had five more. With two of the older children moved on, we still have six at home, and all the laundry and mess that goes with it. Add homeschooling to it all and whew! Sometimes you would think a tornado went through here!
Our children at home are now 19, 11, 7, 6, 4 and 18 months. We can whip up a mess in no time! It isn’t just the kids, I have some bad habits that certainly add to the chaos, as well. The mess sometimes drives me crazy. Some days it seems like I clean all day, and never seem to make a dent. I tried “Flylady” and “Emily Barnes” and more books than I dare to mention (even “The House That Cleans Itself“)! Funny, reading all those books didn’t do a thing for the condition of our home!
During my pregnant/nursing years, I had to get creative. What works during one season of your life doesn’t always work for the next, but I thought I would write down some of my ideas, hoping to remind myself of what has worked in the past, also to help those who are in the thick of it!


1) Playing “I Spy” is a great game for pregnant and nursing mothers! You sit on the couch or in a chair and “spy” the toys and things that mysteriously end up all over the living room. This is a good opportunity to train them to put things away where they belong. You may need to follow the younger children, or put an older child with a younger child to help train them to put things away properly. If you don’t’ have children old enough to help in this way, you could have the child bring the items to you, then at least you won’t have to bend over that baby-belly and pick things up off of the floor. You could also try having a different basket for each room and the children can sort the items according to which room they go in.


2) Scavenger hunt: my eleven-year-old daughter invented this game. She walked around the house and made a list of out-of-place items in the room. When she would call off the item, the children would have to find the item. This could be good for an early reader, too if you had him read off the list. The items may or may not be all in one room. This one takes a little more time than “I Spy” and would be better if the house is “kind-of” messy rather than a disaster.


3) “The Cleaning Race” is my favorite cleaning game. The best way to “play” this game is if you have recently had your home really clean, what I call “company clean” (clean enough to allow company to visit). It may take a day or two (sometimes it takes me a week!) to get the house that clean, then every day after that, you do the cleaning race. What we do is start at the entrance of our home, where our family primarily comes in, which is in the attached garage. We all line up at the back door, like we are going to have a race. I ask three questions: 1) “Why do we do this?” (Answer: to be good stewards of what God gives us!) 2) “How do we do this?” (Answer: as to the Lord and not to men!) and 3) “What is teamwork?” (Answer: everybody helps everybody until the whole house is clean!) We put our hands together like a team would do before they begin a game, shout “TEAMWORK!” and “GO!” And the race begins! We rush around the garage, picking up shoes and coats and putting things away. Next we move into the mud/laundry room and pick up shoes and bags and laundry and whatever else is on the floor there. Next is the kitchen: cleaning up from the last meal, sweeping the floor, washing and putting away dishes, and changing the tablecloth. After the kitchen we do the living room, then the bathroom, hallway and finish in the kids’ bedroom. If I call it a “race” they hurry through it, even when I forget to set a timer! If I just say “we are going to clean the house” the results are not so good. We started this at the beginning of our summer vacation and did it every day, except sometimes we skipped Sunday, then had twice the mess to clean up on Monday. Once we started school, it was hard to squeeze the cleaning race into our schedule, and we got really behind! But we had Grandma & Grandpa over this past weekend so we had incentive on Saturday to kill ourselves cleaning the house, now the cleaning race is not such a big deal! When you are trying to keep it clean, rather than cleaning all the time, with (seemingly) never an end in sight, everyone has a much different attitude about that nasty phrase: “clean the house”.


4) “The Sock Game” At our house we have a laundry basket which is about half-full of socks that don’t seem to have matches, I call it the “dead sock pile”. Every few weeks or so, I spread out all the socks on the living room floor. I organize them into rows then the children take turns finding matches. Even the four-year-old can play this, or even three-year-old with a little help. There is always a reward for playing all the games for us it is usually candy or playing a game together so we can enjoy our clean house and the extra time Mommy has because they helped so much.
I made a spin chart to assign chores to different kids. I spin the chart each day so they don’t have the same chores every day. Here is an example of our spin chart: child #1 unloads the top left dishwasher rack (Left, being left of the dishwasher, which is cups, mugs & glasses), feeds the pets, sweep kitchen; child #2 unloads the top right dishwasher rack (little plates and plastic storage containers), cleans the bathroom (each child has a different region according to their age capabilities - sink, toilet, trash- the 19 year-old gets the bathtub); child #3 unloads bottom dishwasher rack, is in charge of living room clean-up and helps with meals. The four-year-old puts away silverware and empties the bucket of vegetable peelings & coffee grounds in the garden.
I do laundry for my husband & myself and towels. Anyone over 10 does their own laundry. Our 19-year-old daughter does everyone else’s. Practically every morning we have a basket of clean towels and washcloths to fold and put away. I separate the 4, 6 & 7 year-olds to different parts of the room, then I start sorting the clean towels. “Seven” gets big towels, “Six” gets kitchen towels and hand towels; “Four” gets washcloths. About the same time I finish sorting, they finish folding!
Keeping the home clean with a large family really does take teamwork. When I switched from a “just do it” attitude to a “good stewardship” attitude, everything changed. I hope that someone will find these ideas helpful, and keep in mind, you are not alone!
Judy


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So when the newsletter arrived, I sat down in my total-disaster-of-a-house and read the artical I wrote about keeping house!  LOL!  Thankfully, I inspired myself!  I am happy to say, that as I write this, we have re-intituted the cleaning race and our home is quite tidy!  "On your marks, get set, GO!"






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OK, Lord, OK! I give up...

my pants!  Whoa!  Where did that come from?!  Well, I guess you could say, YEARS of prep work by the Holy Spirit... and I have run out of excuses!  I used to criticize women who always wore skirts.  Then, after noticing who was wearing them, I started getting a little curious and started asking people:  "Do you always wear a skirt?" and "Why?"  Usually the "why" was because their husbands liked it or wanted them to.  That was easy.  So I asked Dallas and he laughed.  "No!  That isn't practical for your 'job'."  (You know, on the floor changing diapers and mopping us messes all the time!)  So I put if off.

But the Spirit kept prodding.  But I had plenty of excuses:  my feet hurt and it looks dumb to wear tennishoes with a skirt... I am too cold in the winter to wear a skirt... I don't have very many skirts.  People will make fun of me (more family than friends)... Sometimes it is intimidating to an unsaved person, like you are 'holier than thou' because they aren't dressed that way...  I can be modest and feminine in jeans or pants...

One by one, the Spirit has gently lead me through each one.  He has even helped my feet feel better so I can wear more "normal" shoes! (That is IF I can find them narrow enough that they don't fall off my feet!)  Once the weather warmed up, He said, "OK, this is it!"   He lead me to a very convincing website that has been very encouraging and convincing.  www.achristianhome.org/ModestFeminine  After reading several of these articles, I cleaned out my jeans drawer and filled the space with the casual denim skirts He has provided via garage sales and thrift stores.

The next dilema would be "How will Dallas react to t his?"  Well, he never said a word!  Now about my daughters, they have always worn pants, too.  I provide for and dress Mary and Leah, they are easy.  But what about Corah?  She used to love dressing up and wearing pretty dresses when she was little, but by my example, she has mostly worn jeans in recent years.  So I gave her an article to read and waited to see the results.  Next day, she got dressed in jeans.  OK, I wasn't going to shock her and make her suddenly change.  Two hours later, she changed on her own!  When I asked her why, she said, "I am going to wear skirts from now on!"  (Isn't she so sweet?!)  My hope, is that she will have her own convictions on the matter.

I couldn't make the switch until I had developed my own convictions, so that when someone asked me, I would have my own answer.  So here it is:  I feel more feminine in a skirt.  It reminds me who really wears the pants in the family (my submission).  I feel more modest in a skirt, since women's jeans are so tight, focussing on the shape of the hiney (which is information to be kept between me & Hubby!)  And, of course, don't forget the Scripture!  Deuteronomy 22:5 "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God."  (I know this is a big debate, but how would you feel if your husband wore a skirt?!)    1 Timothy 2:9, 10  "...that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works."

So there it is!  Why I surrendered my pants to the Lord.

When times get tough...

I have tried to keep all of my (few) posts fun and up-beat.  But when something TERRIBLE happens to one of your kids, it is hard to think of something worth smiling about.  Tyler ended a bad relationship and it turned out to be a nightmare.  Please pray for God's comfort on him, and for God's righteousness to rule.  I guess when Momma prays, "bring him to his knees,"  you just don't know what you are going to get.  With some people it doesn't take much.  With others it takes a lot.  And still, others just never learn.  I believe Tyler has learned a lot this time!  I am glad he lives close so we can be there to help him pick up the pieces, and for our homeschool community who has been so helpful and supportive (at least the ones who know what is going on.)  We mommas need each other.  Our experiences help us to help each other.  Sharing these experiences draw us closer to each other, as we point each other to the cross.  Praise the Lord.  Pray for Tyler and some of the decisions he needs to make regarding the situation.

I'm Back!

I started this blog while I was on Christmas break and had more time....  then we started school again!  We all took turns being sick, with Joseph still being somewhat sick with a slight cought and a plugged nose.  His body is trying to fight it, the glands in his neck are so swollen, one sticks out visibly!  I guess I had better break down and take him to the doctor.  I am trying a new (to me) product from Beeyoutiful.com called "Berrywell" but time will tell if it actually works.

Let's see, what has happened since my last post?  Well, the Zander family Christmas went really well.  Unfortunately, Dallas' brother & his wife didn't come, but they sent their son Colin along with Grandma & Grandpa.  Since we had to reschedule due to illness, Darci's (Dallas' sister) kids were with their dad that weekend.  I had really hoped to spend December 27 with my mom & dad since it was Mom's 85th birthday, but we were coughing, not something you want to do around 85/90 year old people!

I had to pull Corah out of Acts Academy for academic reasons this semester.  That has been hard, but she is learning about using her time wisely and pushing herself to stick with the homework.   She really misses her friends, so hopefully by the end of this week she will be 100% caught up and can keep up for a few weeks and go back.

Let's see, what else has happened?  A lot of snow and cold!  The winter seems to be dragging on and on, with the exception of this week, its in the 50's!  Everyone is so happy, except Joseph, who tried to have a sleddin party in December, but all the snow melted.  Tomorrow he turns 8 and his "sledding party" is Friday... after a week of 50 degree days!  Poor Joe.  (I can't believe he is turning 8!)

This week we are taking off school for the sake of my sanity.  Cleaning, organizing, and just taking a break.  We will do it again in April.  It works out Dallas could get off the week of Joseph's birthday and Corah's in April!  The April break is also turkey season!

A special birthday took place in January.  Our Molly turned 13!  If you do the math, that makes her91 in dog years!  She has not endured the extreme cold too well, but she and Kate (the puppy) snuggle in the dog house and keep each other warm.  She is such a grandma to the pup.  She is always trying to help us chase off the males that are coming from all over the neighborhood to seek out this young female dog, who, I assume is in heat!  I can't believe we are debating to get her spayed or not!  I say "Let's get her to the vet!"  Dallas (Of all people!) says, "Let's pick a dog to breed her with."  Crazy.  If we don't decide quick, the blue heeler down the road will get her.  Here is a recent picture of Molly: