Vacation & Doing A Little School

We went on vacation to the Olympic Peninsula. On one hand, with five kids total including a three year old, an 11 month old, and a seven year old with a few extra challenges when it comes to not being home, it didn't feel much like a vacation. I mean it was hard, yet rewarding. And we got to explore and see new things. Which was awesome.

Since getting back, I've been organizing the house and even doing a little school. The last couple of days I've been doing Daily Grams by Wanda C. Phillips with the kids. They really love them. They are short and sweet...to the point.

I've also been trying to get more organized for my three year old. She has been a regular Princess Tyrant lately. Oh, I am pretty much as consistent as can be and she is still that way. One factor, I think, is just her coming to the age of testing, of course. Also, she REALLY needs a nap every day. Some days I'm just too busy, or I'm out and a about, and I end up paying for it. Thirdly, I think, she is bored. Yet, she has a short little attention span. So, I'm trying to come up with more ideas regarding what to do with her. I think I'm going to have her watch the Leap Frog Letter Factory movie most days. She enjoys the break and I think if I get her recognizing her letters, there are a world of activities that will open up to her. Normally, I don't believe in videos, but this video teaches the sounds of letters so well, and it frees up a little of my time. I'm also trying to get her something to trace everyday...letters or numbers, and get her setup with short little activities everyday, similar to Activity Bags, so she feels like she's doing something.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from vacation.

My little three year old (with the cast on her arm) and her three year old friend.

And, here is a picture from two days after our vacation, on a hike on Silverstar Mountain. We had three families and 17 children represented at the top of the mountain.

Olympic Peninsula Vacation #2 - Hurricane Ridge & Sol Duc Falls

We recently went on a vacation to the Olympics. I started the vacation struggling some with asthma and allergies due to grass allergies and by the end of the trip my allergies were mostly better. YAY.

While visiting the Olympics we also visited with some friends. That was nice. Here is my first set of photos from our trip. These are from Hurricane Ridge and Sol Duc Falls, both close to Port Angeles, WA. Later in the trip, we ventured around the coast and then to the rain forest. The Olympics are so diverse, it's amazing.

Mt. Olympus

Summer

Summer goes by so quickly. I have little time I can sit to put my thoughts down. Even now, it is the middle of the night and that is why I have a moment to myself. It's hard to remember already what has happened with our summer.

In the beginning of June, my little boy (my baby still just barely) got a cold bug and ended up struggling to breathe. He'd had some wheezing and coughing before then, but this was up with him all night, worried about him kind of breathing. I'm always worried that I'm being too worried about my children. Another even worse cold he had had back in January, I was really worried about him, and I took him in and the doctor said he was just fine, that it was just a hard cold or RSV, that I'd just need to stay up with him. This time, however, (in June) I took him to the doctor and she wanted him transferred to the hospital. He got oral steroids and nebulizer treatments and a little oxygen and was out in 24 hours. This happened again less than a month later. This time I had taken him to the ER. They kept him for observation in the hospital for 24 hours. And, really, about once a month, since January he has gotten a cold and every one has been characterized by coughing and increased breathing difficulty. That second visit to the ER was right around the end of June.

Then on the 3rd of July, my third and littlest girl (3 years old), climbed on a ball and fell off and whacked her hand. She ended up having a broken arm, which we got treated on the 4th and casted about a week later.

With my step-daughter coming on the 5th, and also because of the increased pressure on our household from medical visits, we postponed our 4th of July celebration until a few days later.

Recently, my son got into see the Allergist and now he is on two Nebulizer treatments a day of nebulized steroids. This is to calm down his lungs so when he has a cold, it doesn't spiral quickly out of control. Also, now we have the actual treatment in nebulizer too for when he gets a cold. Allergies are unusual in a child so small, but all the same he will get allergy tested in August, after his system calms down.

Since mid-June, but especially since a little after the 5th, I've also been affected a lot by my asthma. It's frustrating because when I went to the doctor, I was better that day. Plus, any time I go to the doctor, I get revved up (adrenalin) and I go in an almost perfectly filtered environment and my asthma symptoms clear up. Plus, sometimes I think I'm having trouble breathing and am totally tight in my upper airways, but without hardly a wheeze. The doctor said he believed me and put me on Prednisone, but I think I'm actually doing worse since then. I don't think I'm doing worse because of the medication plan, but just because of the crazy grass pollen. We are going on vacation soon and I'm hoping the pollen counts are lower where we are going. So, the last week or two I've been avoiding too much outdoor exposure and have been needing to medicate myself a lot. I also seemed to have an allergic reaction to some food I ate that made things a little worse. I think I'm more sensitive when I've had so much exposure to grass this year. Our year has been one of constant rain with sun in between and the grass is just growing crazy.

I also took my older two girls to an Allergist. It turns out my oldest girl (10) has now developed an allergy to grass. She was already allergic to dust mites, but that's more of a winter thing. Her allergies aren't a big deal, just a little sneezing mostly right now. My middle daughter (7) is allergic to quite a few things. Dust mites, grass, weeds, late trees, wheat, and oranges. It's horrible for her when she goes out in the grass...sneezing, red nose, red eyes, blotchy skin. But, thankfully no asthma.

Last week my older two girls (but not my step-daughter, she was too old), got to participate in Vacation Bible School. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and seemed to only have positive memories.

This week I've been doing errands getting ready for vacation and have also gotten together with some friends. One friend gave me some pointers on sewing while our kids played. Another I met at a park. It was so nice. I have a couple of other friends, I've been trying to get together with that hopefully I will be able to do so as the summer progresses.

An old friend from the Seattle area, had her daughter graduate from Highschool and she is getting married shortly. She is one of those girls that is mature beyond her years and I have confidence that she will do fine being married so young. Her mom and I were roommates and very good friends and I knew her little, but not as much since I moved to marry my husband. She isn't having a public wedding because her fiance is in the military and it was too much pressure because the military couldn't finalize his military leave with any predictability. I am sad but happy.

This summer has been typical in it's pattern, but eye opening when it comes to my step-daughter. She has been in Middle School one year now. Also, her Mom has given her internet access in her room, e-mail, and a cell phone with texting. Her Mom wanted her to use her cell phone a lot when she was with us. There is some difficulty having her settle in to being with us with her checking back in with her other house and with her other siblings regularly. On vacation we are going to have her leave her cell phone back. But, because she is more able bodied and more responsible than the past, I thought this summer would be more emotionally easy. Yet, it is really typical. When she is with us for a weekend or even a week, she is able to hide what she really thinks. Not so in the summer. So, it has been a constant comparison about how things are done differently between the two houses, and also how she is now used to doing such and such at school. Even the friends she has at school that she thinks are Christians (which she calls her best friends and says she tells all her secrets to), aren't necessarily all in when it comes to following Christ. Not that they have been horrible influences so far, but it seems some are dating (in 6th grade) and some are trying to get her to listen to more secular music. So, it's nothing horrible, but it's just draining.

The concept of authority is really being stretched. At 12 going on 13, she wants to be in charge of herself. There are a 100 other examples, but one is that I do the packing of the children's clothes for camping, and she says, "at my other house, we do our own packing." No big deal of a statement, but I probably here something like that 20 times a day. "At my other house, I walk to the store." "At my other house, I don't do any chores." "At my other house, my brother listens to me and says I'm in charge." "They only do this (unfair thing) at my other house." "They won't do that with me at my other house." "At my other house, I think they are going on a special trip."

Oh, to just live in the moment and have her appreciate what I do with her (like sewing, knitting, gardening, walking, etc.) and NOT to compare herself to her siblings here and want everything I do with her, plus everything I do with her siblings here, plus everything she "gets" to do over at her other house, plus not the responsibility we give her here. Oh, that she would get thankfulness, and God working on the story of her life, and using every circumstance for her benefit, as she serves Him.

Memories From Home

Summer is such a fun time for memories, even when we are at home. This summer is particularly beautiful. Here in the Northwest we have been substantially below average in temperature, but mainly substantially ABOVE average in rainfall. Almost all summer it's been rain 2 or 3 days, sun 2 or 3 days. It makes the pollen count high. I have a horrible allergy to grass, so I've been spending a lot of time indoors running the air conditioner. Horrible, I know, when the temperature only reaches into the upper 70's at the most. But, I have to do what I have to do to breathe!

Here are some pictures from our homestead. I hope you enjoy.

His name is Tom.

 

His name is Trouble.

 

Here are all our Turkeys. You can see that Tom is trying to challenge our white turkey. He does that constantly. Our one girl turkey this year is on the right.

 

Swallowtail

 

Bible Times Girl with a Basket On Her Head

 

Mary with Lame Girl (Girl With A Broken Arm)

 

Sweet Little Ones

My little ones fell asleep on the way home today. As I went to get them out of the car, I noticed that my three year old had ahold of the baby's hand. How sweet is that?! I love being a Mom.

Waiting On The Lord And Moving Along

I've been home most of the week. I'm catching up. Catching up on laundry. Catching up on the home front.

I went out on Monday and bought some Heirloom Roses. Yesterday, I was out trying to dig holes for them and about 14 inches down I ran into solid rock. I need my husband to help me with that I think. So far, he doesn't seem to enthusiastic. But, they say one big secret to roses is they need to send their roots deep.

To look outside in our yard right now you'd never know I've been working so hard on gardening this year. The grass is long. There are holes all over the place and not too many flowers. But, as I look around I see progress...real progress, and I'm excited about it. Most of my flower beds are tilled and I've started flower starts. It's been a cold Spring and everything in our vegetable and fruit garden is a little behind, but there's progress there too. We got in the potatoes and the onions early. We should see the "fruit" (literally) of the strawberry beds my husband put in last year. I've also made some starts for the garden. Some of them, like the broccoli, got eaten up by the bunnies, but that's OK. I think, Lord willing, it will be a great garden year.

Ironically, I think we've gotten to the point where we've figured out gardening with tomatoes and potatoes. And, it looks like I'm giving them up. I was having a ton of joint pain that was causing me to not sleep at night...in my hands and feet, but also my hips. I've heard of nightshade plants causing havok in some people, although I generally thought that was about older people with active arthritis. As it turns out giving up tomatoes and potatoes and peppers, just straightaway took away the pain. And, if I cheat just a little, I get stiff hands and feet the next day. So, I'm doing that. It's funny, it's not hard to give up at all...Except that I was cooking like 85% of my meals with a substantial amount of nightshade plants.

I have also been in pain in some other ways.

The muscles of my arms and legs would ache when I went to sleep. I figured out this was from iron deficiency. I get this when I'm pregnant, even when my tests come back (on the low end of) normal for iron. As long as I remember to take iron, I'm fine on this.

Then, also I've had issues with painful varicose veins. Throbbing. Since this last pregnancy. Really, I don't know what to do about this, other than wear the stockings, which I don't like to do. Also, I've been walking this week (third day in a row), but that hasn't seem to help yet.

I'm waiting to hear about my daughters and dance. I'm waiting on the Lord too, I guess. I felt, all last year, like I need to give up some activity with my girls this next year. We've been doing dance, violin (including orchestra), and art. But, especially as the year ended, the girls were settled into not wanting to give up dance. Well, ok, I said but they'd have to give up something. I told them I felt playing a musical instrument wasn't an extra, but was a necessity (but perhaps Orchestra class is an extra, I'm still pondering that). They were ok with giving up art. I'm surprised really. And, I was a bit torn. My oldest daughter has a really special GIFT for art. The middle one not so much, but she still loves her art class and is thriving all the same.

So, the girls go to a Christian dance program, which includes some pretty good training. They test the girls each year in order to determine their placement. Both of the girls got held back this year, when girls their same age and experience level got moved up. The younger of the two girls (my middle girl) has issues with balance and being consistent about what she does with her feet. I'm not too surprised there. My older daughter is a lot less flexible than others in her group, but when I watch her she pays attention a lot more than others. She has also gained greatly in her flexibility. Anyhow, I think both my girls would benefit from going ahead, rather than staying in the same class. There are a lot of girls in their same age group and so I realize that dance is a competitive thing and that it isn't all about whether my own girls would benefit.

So, I was a little sad about that and not feeling the most positive about that, especially because I was so seriously considering what I was going to do next year. Then, after the recital, I looked at next years schedule and the dance studio had totally changed the schedule. It used to be that all the girls would be taking their classes on the same day. One girl would take two days, but her sister was previously scheduled to take a class right before her on one of her days. I also have a preschooler wanting to get into dance. The way the schedule works now, they would go to dance on four separate days, and this is without any increase in the amount of training they would be getting. So, I have an e-mail in to the dance studio asking for an exception to their training schedule. I'm waiting to hear back. I'm not very comfortable over the phone, especially when I'm trying to ask for something, or the topic is a bit uncomfortable. So, I'm waiting. We just can't do four days of dance. And, if my girls aren't making progress in that activity, I wonder if it's the best choice. They want it. But, my husband and I are paying for it and I have to look out for the peace in our household. We can't take on everything.

Also, we were involved in a local school district program for the Orchestra and Art. Well, it looks like the funding will be removed for that. So, we'd have to pay for those out of pocket.

So, I'm waiting to hear from the dance program, but also waiting on the Lord to hear which activities He wants us involved in.

Done With Dance

Yay. We're done with dance for the year. And we're soon to be done with everything else. With the exception of a day camp my older two girls will be going to, we aren't doing ANYTHING for July and August. We're still going to school over the summer, we take so many days off during the year. Plus my kids get restless if they don't have some structure to their day. But, that will be short and laid back. We are going to enjoy the sunshine!

My 10 year old. She's supposed to be serious in this dance.

My fierce ballerina

No Time

I have definitely not had time to blog lately. We are really enjoying our family, our home, and our homeschooling here lately. It's just with a crawling baby and a three year old in the house, I don't get time to write. Yet, I want to...these memories are precious and wonderful.

My oldest turned 10. I can't believe she's 10. So big. Soon she'll be grown, where does the time go? I'm especially aware of how quickly time goes because I went up to the Seattle area to visit an old friend and her daughter that I was especially close to before getting married. She is eighteen and is graduating from Highschool and is soon to marry. No way?!

The weather was wonderful that day...sunny and about 80 for a high. Perfect. It hasn't been too bad since either. It has rained, as is usual, but since it is June, it's a lot warmer. We haven't put in our garden yet this year (at least our warm vegetables) because the weather has been so behind so far, we've worried about doing that. We've also had problems with bunnies with some cold weather veggies we put the ground. We have a deer fence installed to keep the deer from eating our garden, but the bunnies....oh, my. My husband talks about hunting them. But, there are soooo many bunnies and my husband has little patience for hunting. We'll see...we may go without the bunnies favorite foods this year.

Here's a picture of my ten year old. We're going to celebrate her birthday this weekend, as her birthday fell on a Monday.

These are our kids and their cousins on my side of the family. Mine are the three girls in the front (ages 3, 7, and 10) and the one boy in the back (age 9 1/2 months).

This is my friend and I and her daughter that will soon be graduating and getting married.

Hairstyle

I want to go back and try this hairstyle on my girls. So cute.

My Three Year Old

My cute, adorable three year old gets a little neglected around here. She is loved and she gets her share of attention. But, she isn't the baby anymore. Yet, she isn't old enough to participate in all the fun things her older sisters get to do...dance...violin...art...reading...math...even chores. She wants to do it all and be a part.

Today, while driving around in the van...taking her sisters to their art class..."Mommy, can you buy another child? Not the baby kind...another girl like me?" Looking around the van to figure out where her new friend would sit, she says, "She'll sit in my seat, on my lap, and I'll hold on to her tight."

What If?

I had a new thought.

Well, not really a new one, but I put my thoughts together into a new one.

What if...

What if I didn't try and constrain my children to learn, but encourage them?

What if I didn't try and constrain my husband to serve and to fellowship with the family, but encourage him?

What if I took time for myself...time to nourish myself...time for me to be creative...time for me to have fellowship?

What if I learned to say no, prayerfully, but without the listing of reasons, without guilt...whether to my children, my husband, or the world.

What if I purposed to enjoy each day in a nourishing way...don't be afraid to live life to it to the fullest, but purpose to eat well, move well, pray well, play well.

What if I unplug? A lot. What if I give up? A little. What if?

Our Easter

We had an unconventional Easter Day today. Last week we got together with my husband's family to celebrate Easter, so Easter Day was mostly to ourselves. We read the Easter story together as a family, much as we do for Christmas. Then, we had communion together.

We also had the last of our cattle give birth. We were nervous about her. This cow (Annabell) was one of our original calves. She had her first calf last year. As a Heifer (new Momma Cow) we expected her to have a rough time with the birth last year. Yet, she is from a breed that normally has fairly large calves and sometimes has hard births regardless if they are a first time Momma or not. So, we were pleased today when for the most part she delivered her calf by herself. It was hiplocked at the end, but came easily when my husband rotated the calf. It probably would have turned on it's own. And the calf (a girl) was up and nursing within 40 minutes, which is really good. So we were very happy.

The girls also decorated their own eggs for Easter, which they were totally psyched about. It seems I haven't done that activity with them very much in the past and they didn't remember doing it.

I also got this shot of my husband and my baby boy, sleeping together for an instant. It is a joy having a baby boy.

Happy Easter. He is Risen indeed.