Life is a Novel, with Chapters Always Ending and Starting

It seems that with children and a family, things are always changing.  No stage lasts for long.  Many times I have grieved this, however the other day I realized that one way to look at change, is the closing of a chapter and the starting of a new one.  Life is really like a novel.  I love to read, especially historical fiction.  Looking at my life as a novel, with God being the author has helped me move into the next phase or chapter.  We've had quite a few chapters ending this past year.  My 4th son graduated from high school and started college.  My oldest daughter graduated from college and started working in Tenneesee.  Our precious dog of 12 years passed away.  It's easy as a mom to grieve these times.  To see them as seasons gone forever, but really it's the end of a chapter that God has brilliantly summed-up and the start of a new one.  I'm learning to look with hope to the next chapter, and actually finding it quite exciting.  God's novel for our lives is the ultimate page turner, with plot twists and switch-backs that we would have never planned.  At times, his plans seem awkward, painful and even wrong.  Yet, he weaves his story and we yield to his orchestrations, the purpose for which, we may not understand this side of heaven. Now that my little guy is 5, I've had a lot more time to do things I enjoy, like playing tennis.  I've also been taking an RN refresher course which has been really fun. I'm hoping to be able participate in more medical mission trips in the future.  I know God has great things for all of us.  He is the articulate novelist weaving our stories for His glory.  

Difficult Times

We all go through hard times.  We all go through seasons.  I'm thankful for the change in seasons and how God keeps things interesting.  But why am I not thankful for hard times?  They draw me closer to the Lord.  They bring me to my knees.  They humble me and sober me but why do I just want to get through them?  To just be on the other side.  To have all my prayers answered the way I want them answered.  To be through the pain.  I guess we all rush it, we all don't want difficult times, because they hurt.  Not only that, they shake our faith.  They make us wonder what we did to deserve this, where is God, why didn't we see this coming, and a host of other doubts.  

As a mother, I've been through hard times before but these past months have truly been some of the hardest.  Though I can't get into the details, God has been faithful.  God is using this to draw me closer to Him and to get rid of any idols in my life.  I've learned to just let Him have it all, to just give it to Him and walk away.  As a mother, when it comes to our children, this is very hard.  No matter how old they may be, they are still our babies and really a part of us. But as they age, we have to slowly let go and this means letting them make mistakes.  We can't control them anymore.  We can only trust God with them.  He loves them even more than we do. 

I wanted to write this post not only to explain why I have not blogged lately, but to encourage anyone going through difficult times as well.  You are not alone.  We all smile and many times pretend everything is fine, but we need to be more transparent with each other.  We need to ask for help, ask for prayer and not be afraid of being judged.  I also wanted to encourage all of us moms to "let go and let God."  I know that sounds cliche but really it's true.  Our children are not our own.  They are the Lord's and we have been given them for a time as stewards.  We may be able to control them when they are little but not forever.  The sooner we learn to let go, to trust them to the Lord, really the better it will be....not only in our own heart but in theirs as well.  

Job 2:10 "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

What I'm Doing This Summer

Anyone that knows me or has followed my blog for the last few years, knows I like summer and I like to get things done in the summer.  As a homeschooling mom, it really is a nice break from the regular teaching routine and from all the usual extra-curricular activites.  I typically make a bucket list of sorts to get done during the summer.  Things like organizing and deep cleaning the house, scrapbooking, exercising more, etc.  But this summer I've decided to chill. To just enjoy the break, enjoy my children and not try to get all the lists checked off.  This past year I had a lovely homeschool mom friend pass away with cancer, another dear friend also get diagnosed with cancer, my oldest son was almost deployed to Iraq and my mother will be turning 80 soon and becoming more frail. All these things have made me ponder life.  I've realized that we aren't guaranteed tomorrow with those we love and we won't have these precious years forever with our children at home. 

So here is my list of what I'm doing this summer:

1.  I'm not setting my alarm unless I really have to. 

2.   I'm taking my kids to the pool when they want to and actually getting in the pool and playing with them.

3.  I'm hiring help so that I can do extra things with my older kids or spend more time with my mom.  

4.  I'll get my older kids to do the organizing and cleaning out, if they need things to do and want extra money.

5.  I'm going tent camping for the first time!  My kids and husband have always wanted me to go with them and now that the baby is 4, I think I can try it!  (I'm sure that I'll have a blog post on how it turns out.)

6.  I'm going to stay in my PJ's longer and spend time reading fun books and play more with my kids.

7.  I'm not going to be so obsessed with the clock or my schedule.

8.  I'm going to hug more, laugh more and say "I love you" more. 

9.  I'm going to go on more dates with my husband, even in the day time. 

10.  I'm just gonna chill!

Snow Days/Rainy Days.....Just Embrace it

It's been a long winter for most of the USA and while spring has sprung, or at least is trying to spring, here in the south I know that many places up north are still buried in snow.  We had more than a few snow/ice days here in North Carolina this past February and I must admit I got a little tired of it.  I didn't grow-up with snow so it's still kind of a novelty for me so I do think it's beautiful.  But not so much when it starts to turn all brown and dirty and everything, including school, gets canceled.  Then we all become a little stir crazy.  I know you other moms can relate.  And most people think that because we homeschool, that we just keep going with school...not!  My older kids, who go to private school, are off and my homeschooled kids want to play in the wonderful snow, like all day.  This makes quite a mess when you have 9 people plus a few friends, coming in and out of the house with wet, muddy, snowy clothes.  We did have a fun time and the day we got 6 inches, I even went out and played in it.  I finally just gave-up trying to keep the house clean, do school and stay on a healthy diet.  Because you know when it's snowy outside then everyone wants homemade hot chocolate and all I want to do is bake cookies.  But when I did just give-up and embrace the reality of "snow days" that is when I started to enjoy it and relax.  These days are so fleeting and no school work or clean house is worth us moms walking around the house all grumpy.  So, let us moms just chill out some and enjoy life. You know the saying, "If mom's not happy, ain't nobody happy."  This is so true and we want our children to have happy family memories.  I'm talking to myself mostly here. Let's just embrace the snow days, the rainy days, even the sick days and be thankful for the precious children God has given us to make memories with. 

Changes and More Changes

We've had many happenings around here lately, which is one reason the blogging hasn't been happening as much.
First of all, my oldest graduated from college!  Yes, we are proud parents of a UNC tarheel graduate.  As you can tell from the below photo, he graduated on crutches.  With only a month left of college to go, Will tore his Achilles tendon playing basketball.  He had to undergo surgery a week later and then try to hobble to classes the following weeks.  He is still finishing up some classes this summer to graduate with a double major, but his plans to leave in June with a special branch of the military have been put on hold.  Not sure what is next for him, but we know God is in control.

Next my oldest daughter returned from college for 3 weeks, and is now in Colorado working at a Christian family dude ranch.  It is a beautiful place and we are so thankful that she got hired.  We visited the ranch as a family for a week 5 years ago.  It is such an awesome place and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for her, but she will be there all summer!  Yes, 10 weeks of her being gone!  I know she's been away at college all year, but that has only been a 1 hour drive from home and she visited every few weeks.  This is over half a continent away and needless to say, I had a very hard time saying good-bye.  We are over the shock and so happy for her, but summer will be vastly different with her gone. Here she is the airport leaving on her journey.......sniff, sniff.

And then my second son also came home from college for 2 weeks, and is now back in Tennessee doing an internship at a church. He will be back in a month or so and doesn't seem so far away.  We are so thankful he got this opportunity and know he will grow and learn much.  It was hard to say goodbye to him as well. You know even with 7 children still here, the house seems kind of quiet. Like I always tell y'all.....they grow-up in a blink of an eye, cherish the time they are home with you.

In pondering the choices we make as we raise our children, I'll leave you with some wise words from John Piper, "God will make it His rule to use our best efforts as wise, God-honoring choices to produce the most influential life. But not always. He can break that rule and make even a foolish decision fruitful.  He has His ways to keep us humble and fearful of pride.  He has His ways to keep us hopeful and protected from discouragement in view of our fallibility."  (from Life As A Vapor)

Springy Break

The Gang's All Here.....plus 1

It's amazing that all 3 of my college kids had spring break the same week even though they are at 3 different colleges. Ben brought his roommate home too, so we've had 13 in the house.  It's been a busy, fun blessing having them home.  I'm so glad they all chose to come home for break rather than travel the world.  We've still been attempting to do some homeschool but in the midst of all the craziness not much has gotten done.  And I had gotten used to "only" cooking for 9 people and half of those people rather small.  My grocery budget has gone out the window.  Yes, they are eating me out of house and home.  It's so funny how when the boys come home for break, they want to eat and eat and actually gain weight.  One batch of homemade cookies don't go very far around here right now.

So, here are a few pics of our crazy week.......

Anna's friend from college, who is originally from Malaysia, came to spend the day with us.  She wanted to experience large American family living first hand.  She even went to the grocery store with us. 

Patrick and Ben have reconnected. Now that Patrick is talking and saying their names, it's so funny.  The younger ones so enjoy the older ones around and vice verse. 

Ron took the older kids, well really all of them except the little boys and me, to the beach for a two days.  Here are my 3 precious older college kids.

And here is Ron with the others.....it was cold.  And I had a nice quiet time at home with the little boys getting some much needed things done.  It was like a "teacher workday" ; )

The little boys and I visited the neighborhood library.....I love spending time with just my little guys. 

Fall Break.........

Well, it's been a lovely fall break at our house and I guess you noticed I took a break from blogging too.  So sorry.  Things got busy and as you other bloggers out there know, a blog is like a pet that you have to feed and water and care for and when you're like me and have so many others to "feed and care for" the blog goes out the window, so to speak. 

We were blessed to have all our kids on the same fall break and were able to rent a mountain cabin and all be together for a few days relaxing and enjoying God's beautiful creation........I just love fall and I love the Blue Ridge Mountains!

So, here are some pics.........

My cute tired boys are the trip up to the mountains.  Isn't it so very nice when everyone sleeps peacefully on a long car ride?

The main thing we did everyday was go hiking.  Each day we took about a one mile hike on a different trial with all the kids. We would bring a picnic lunch and eat out on the trail.  It was so beautiful and the great thing about this activity is it's free, plus good for you!

My boys were great "carriers" of the smaller boys.  We borrowed an Ergo and I brought our off brand Ergo and we managed.  But next year, we need at least one true back pack for these little guys.....they are getting long and heavy!

Our cabin came complete with horses on the property.  We weren't able to ride them, but my kids loved petting them and feeding them way too many apples : ) They were beautiful to watch from our porch.  The kids also had tons of fun exploring the Christmas tree farms all around out cabin. 

We drove then hiked up some pretty high elevations. The kids loved it and the girls weren't even tired or nervous.

Matthew loved the great outdoors.  Here he is with blue lips cause he had just gotten into the M&M's that we had brought along for hiking energy.....of course, he had just been riding : )

My boys caught lots of yummy fresh water trout and we had them for dinner!

            All the girls on top of Mount Jefferson

And all my boys on top of Mount Jefferson....we never got a whole family picture but made some great memories.

The Smell of Summer

I love this picture and Patrick and I have been loving summer.  Yes, I'm getting ready to start school and I'm looking forward to the routine but we have had a good, although hot, break from school.

Tennis is summer to me.....growing up in an avid tennis family with a father who loved the sport, meant many hours on the court.  The smell of the leather grip, the balls, the sweat, etc. Tennis is the smell of summer.

This is just about the best smell in the world to me.  I know, I know, it's a #8 but yes, they do still make it and I still buy it.  It's classic smell just takes me back to the 70's, my daddy and the beach.

 Of course, chlorine is the smell of summer in suburbia.  The chlorine I'm sure is not that healthy for us all but it's a smell that is so distinct to summertime.

Fresh cut grass in the back yard and playing with animals. Is this not the cutest picture in the world?  Patrick was crying to get in the cage with the bunny.  Christian went in also to make sure neither the bunny or baby got hurt : )

Nothing smells like a summer rain and what's better than playing in the summer rain and then enjoying a rainbow after?

Watermelon!  Need I say more.....you can only get good watermelon in the summer and oh, my mouth is watering for some now.  Love that smell!

The saddest smell occurs now in August in my house.......packing up for college.  This is Anna's load, but that will be the next post.......sniff, sniff.

My Summer Schedule

I have had a few people ask about my summer schedule, so I thought I would post what our typical day looks like.  Some of it stays the same whether we are doing school or not and I will do a "school schedule" when we are back homeschooling the end of August.  


6:30am    Wake-up and work-out
7:30am    Quiet Time and kids start to wake-up
8:15am    Breakfast
9:00am    Clean-up, kids get dressed and do morning 
                 chores. I shower.
9:45am     Head to pool or meet friends for an outing or do
                 special activity/job around house.
12:00pm   Lunch and clean-up
1:00pm     Reading and Rest time (by the time I get the 
                 little ones down for their naps and the others 
                  settled with books and quiet toys, this gives
                 me almost an hour to read and rest too.)
2:30pm     Kids can watch TV (recorded old shows : ) if 
                  they have read well and done chores.  I 
                  get dinner started and do laundry.
3:00pm     My computer time to return emails, blog and 
                 other family admin work.
3:45pm      Little boys are up by this now; snack time.
4:00pm     Go to library, possibly pool if didn't go in the    
                 morning or run errands.
5:00pm     Play outside with little boys and finish dinner.
6:15pm      Dinner and clean-up
7:00pm     Take family walk or bike ride or sometimes 
                  husband takes kids to pool (our pool is in our 
                  neighborhood so they can walk) 
8:00pm      Little boys to bed and I finish laundry, make 
                 dessert.
8:30pm     Read to kids, girls to bed.
9:00pm     My time to crash......ie, spend time with 
                 husband, read, watch news.
10:30pm   Lights out :)

Summer Shenanigans

Summer is in full swing and I guess that is why I haven't posted in a while.  I'm off my normal routine plus we've had summer colds (blah) and 2 cars broken (yuck), so things haven't been running too smoothly.  But in thinking today, I realized we are having a good summer and are making sweet memories.  Here are some of the latest things going on in our busy household...............

Ron took the middle 4 kids camping with another Dad and 5 of his kids.  So, 2 Dads and 9 children but they had a great time in the Appalachian Mountains (and I had a semi-quiet weekend at home with 3 little ones and the older kids in and out.)

 Celebrated our super Dad's birthday and Father's Day.  Crazy how some years it's on the same day! Busy weekend for me trying to make it "perfect" for him.

 Patrick loves playing in his little house.  It's the perfect size for him and actually it's the girls' but he is so cute in it.  And we've had a not too hot summer so far, so we've been enjoying the backyard a good bit.

 Took Anna and her adorable roommate to college orientation.  It was surreal, but I didn't get too emotional.

 Going to the pool with 2 toddlers is quite a feat!  Not really very enjoyable for me, unless another adult is with me to help.  I usually just hang out in the baby pool and try to keep everyone safe ; )

3 of the children are on the neighborhood swim team.  This is a first for us but they are all really enjoying it and doing great.  I love sports/extracurricular activities that the kids can ride their bikes to!

Ron and I went on a weekend anniversary trip to Richmond.  We both love early American history trips and it was so nice to get away with no kids.

Summer Projects

Project #1......relax

So, it's summer!  My kids are all happy (except for my big boys who are working full time at monotonous jobs) and I'm trying to play "catch-up." When you are a homeschool mom you look at summer somewhat differently than the typical mom.  My full time job of homeschooling is on break and I can get some things done around the house that for my sanity I put off during the school year.  I know some homeschooling families just keep going all summer, but I need some time "off" and my kids want a "summer" as well.  We do try and do a little school during the summer months.  I concentrate on areas my children on weak in and do some school work on rainy days.  I also ordered an easy Latin curriculum to do over the summer with them, but so far it's not getting done very much : ) My children love the pool and I have 3 doing swim team.  We're also trying to get together with friends weekly and play a little more tennis.  We've already had our beach trip and we'll be heading up to Penn for our annual camp reunion with my husband's family in July.  So, in the midst of all this, here are my projects I want to get done:

1.  Sew some valances and pillow covers for my living room.

2.  Scrapbook.....baby books, school year books, senior book and the yearly family album.

3.  Update my blog.  I need someone to help me.  Any ideas? 

4.  Organize!  I try to do at least one closet or room a week.  

5.  Clean out homeschool things from last year and order new things for this year. 

Whew, I know that is only 5 but if I get those things done this summer than I will be very happy : ) Happy Summer!

Taking Care of Elderly Parents

My Mom this time last year holding tiny Patrick.

Sorry I haven't done a blogpost in a longer than usual time period.  It has been my turn to be the "parent" to my precious mother.  She had a fall last week that was pretty bad and was admitted for observation and tests.  She's been in the hospital 5 days now due to just not being "stable".  It's been hard and it's been pretty busy.  I'm the only child she has here in town and so I feel ultra responsible, even though I really wouldn't have it any other way.  She has some medical conditions they are trying to resolve while she is admitted and they are changing her meds and taking her off a bunch, which I think is really good.  The hardest part for me is realizing that even though she is an emotional support to me and such an encourager, I take care of her now, instead of her taking care of me.  I know this is a stage we all will go through with our parents, but it's still hard.  She seems so much like a child to me right now.  Being in the hospital has made her really confused at times, which I've never seen before.  But I'm so glad my children get to help take care of her and cheer her up.  It's so good for children I think to help care for their grandparents, be around them, love them and serve them.  I think it's how God intended it to be.  Yes, it may be hard at times but it causes us all to grow and it's REAL LIFE.......babies and the elderly and everything in between.  God loves all life, each stage no matter how hard is for a reason and is actually short lived in the scheme of things.  So anyway, pray for my mom and please send any advise....I could use it :)

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas time and always have since I was a little girl.  The sights, smells and sound of Christmas Carols bring back so many wonderful memories for me.  But a few years ago I found myself so stressed and rushed around Christmas.  I started to almost wish I could just "jump" over to January.  I realized that year that I was trying to do too much, you know, "for the kids."  I was stressing way too much about shopping and saying "yes" to every party and Christmas event.  You know, the holiday traditions mean nothing and are not enjoyable if Mom is all frazzled!  So I decided that quality is better than quantity when it comes to holiday traditions (a quote I got from Barbara Curtis)and really the children remember more about the atmosphere of the home at Christmas time than anything else.  

Here are the traditions we do just about every year and now I have older children to help!

We get our live Christmas tree every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  We go to the same farm near our house.  We have to go at night, no matter how cold it is, so the kids can play tag through all the Christmas trees.  We usually don't get it all decorated that night, but at least set it up and put some lights on it.  Then I always make homemade hot chocolate.

My older kids put up lights on the front of our house.  This year we added at blow-up Nativity that we bought from Lowes.  I love it!  We're making a statement about what Christmas is really about.

I've really chilled out about the front of the house being perfect.  I'm just glad that my kids have taken over this task.

The children love hanging up the stockings.  Our mantle is really getting full!

Every year we make our Louisiana Candy House. I did a post on how we do this last year.  Look under the Christmas tag on my side bar.

A few other traditions:

We make lots of Christmas cookies and candy, including Norwegian ones from my husband's childhood.

We have the children draw each other's names for gift giving.  So they buy a special gift for the sibling that they choose (of course I help the little ones with this.)

We go to our church's Christmas Eve service every year after eating Chinese food beforehand.  

We have the large turkey dinner on Christmas day after all the presents are done.

I usually take the kids, or sometimes just the girls, to one Christmas play or ballet during the season. 

So, what are some of y'all's unique Christmas traditions?

My Favorite Fall Craft

First you collect the leaves, after you rake them in a big pile and play in them : )

 Set-up your iron on a table and pull out the wax paper and a towel or two.

 Place some colorful fall leaves between 2 pieces of wax paper.  Then lay a towel over the wax paper and iron on a medium high setting, pressing down but not rubbing back and forth too much.

Remove the towel, let it cool down and trim the edges.  Then hang them up in a large window that gets a bunch of sunlight. The leaves will hold their beautiful fall colors for a good 4 months!  It's so pretty to still see the pretty fall leaves even when all the ones outside are brown or gone.  I've done this craft for about 12 years now. Which means I first did this when I just had a 8 year old, 7 year old, 5 year old and 18 month old. Well all my children love it and they always remind me to do it when the leaves are at their peak.  It's a great craft for those of us who are not so crafty : )