Wow, it's been a while

So yeah, it's been busy here lately. Not much time for blog updates, and since I really hate how my pictures turn out with the lack of appropriate lighting, I've not wanted to do much food blogging.

So quick update, we've been working on using workboxes for the kids for homeschool, which has been working out quite nicely. They are getting tons of work done in less time than before. Using a timer helps tremendously as well. I am hoping to upgrade from paper covered cereal boxes to nice little drawers before long, but those cost money, so it might be a while :) They do work nice though, so that's a good thing.

Zachary, our youngest, turned 2 on Sunday. Well, technically not quite, as his birthday is officially the 29th of February, which only comes every 4 years. But we use the 28th for his alternate birthday, since we have plenty of March birthdays already, and that fits in with our goal of having one baby in every month.

Our oldest, Ben, will be TEN YEARS OLD!!! Oh Lordy, where has the time gone? He's gotten so big, and grown so much since he was just the tiny little squirt I held so long ago. I know in a few years he will be driving, and then getting all grown up and moving away.

I do hope to start updating again before long. At least a little more often than once every 4 months, hopefully.

Is This Really All That Weird?

Newborn Breast-fed By Wrong Mom In Mixup

The father of the baby in the mix-up asked that he only be identified as "Mark." He said his daughter is now being tested for viruses and other illnesses.

"It's a sick feeling," he said. "I don't know the word other than it physically makes you sick."

"I think I am almost borderline obsessed about it -- what could have happened and what still could happen," said Mark.

Now, I understand getting a little weirded out about it, but really, to feel physically ill? Mothers used to have wet-nurses, even Selma Hayek breastfed a starving baby in Africa, and no one was "physically sick". I can understand the question of communicable diseases, but even that is pretty low.

Now, I'm a bit surprised that the hospital had this sort of mixup in the first place, considering they've made those baby wards into veritable fortresses, but still, there are humans involved and there will be error. At least this was caught before the baby went home with the other family.

Curious....

Divorce Judge Orders Religious Woman's Kids Sent Back To Public School

This raises an interesting question here. As far as I can tell, this woman got involved in a religion that at first glance appears to be a cult. Her husband didn't like this new religion, and filed for a divorce, and asked that the kids be returned to public school, presumably in an attempt to help the children not be so heavily influenced by the mother's new religion.

Where do the rights fall here? Is this issue really about homeschooling or religion? Does the father/husband have any rights now in the lives of his children, or will the mother now have all the say over the children's futures?

There are a lot of issues here that could beg tons of questions in any given direction. I am a homeschooling mother, and wouldn't be very happy if I was told I couldn't do it anymore. If I were involved in a cult, I probably wouldn't realize it and would also be unhappy if I felt that my religion was being attacked. But does that make it right? Who gets to decide what is or isn't a cult? So many questions. Any thoughts?

Wow, It's Been Awhile

I really need to get back into this blogging thing again. It's been such a busy summer. We had a nice long visit to my mom's in Kansas, which was very nice. I haven't gotten to spend that much time with her since I moved out a long time ago, and while distance has been our friend, it was nice to hang out for a little bit.

When we started out, we just barely made it through all the flooding through Iowa. The water was mere feet from the road in a few places, and they closed I80 the morning after we went through. With all the kids, plus my mom, grandma, and two vehicles, it took us two days to get there, and two days to get back. Not too bad over all. The kids weren't too thrilled about the long car ride by the end of it, but they did surprisingly well.







I managed to get a little sewing in while I was there, and made this little dress for my daughter. You can't see the details very clearly, but I tried to do something like this on the front panel, and it turned out cute. The tucks were a little too close together, but it still looks nice.



I also finished my husband's blanket (finally!). It only took over a year to do it, though a lot of that was because I just didn't want to go near it for a little while. (Long story). The picture is a bit washed out, but you get the idea. It's a really nice throw size.



We started our home schooling this last week, and the kids are excited about getting back to it. At least they were the first few days, now they're getting a little more whiney, but we'll have to work on that.

We've done fairly well this summer in the injury department too. Considering all the boys, we actually didn't do too bad. 2 staples for Ethan after he cut his head, antibiotics for Sam after a nasty bug bite that swelled his whole leg up, and split lips for Aaron and Sam, neither of which required stitches thankfully. Eric managed to sprain his ankle, too, so I guess he was feeling left out :) All in all though, not too bad for a summer with 5 boys.

Well, that's all for now. I have a few goodies I'm going to post later, but that will have to wait :)

60 Seconds In The Life Of A Baby

Zachary William Is Here!

Zachary William was born on February 29th at 2:40 pm. He was 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing well, and are home resting now.

Here are a few pictures:

Family Pictures!!

Here are our family pictures we had done a few days ago. Sorry for the watermark thingy, I couldn't save them without that.

The first one is the one that we got as our main picture. The second one we got one sheet since everyone was looking happy, including Aaron (the little guy with the curlhawk), even though I'm looking down. Aaron had a double ear infection in both ears, so I'm glad these turned out as well as they did.

Once I figure out how to forward these or share the album I'll send some of you the link. For some reason it's not cooperating, so I have to wait for a response from the company.

My Little Girl

What a funny little thing she is. She is six, and the only girl in a houseful of boys. I recently had two different conversations with her. One let me know that she is starting to learn to listen. The other, well I'm not sure what she's learning there, but it was cute anyway.

Yesterday, after a rather difficult ride home from church (the ever popular stop-touching-me-he's-licking-me-i-don't-like-you-very-much fighting in the backseat kind of ride), I had finally had enough and offered to spank all of them when I got home. So, when we get home, my ever observant daughter had a revelation.

Ariel: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes dear?
Ariel: I was thinking. Maybe, if I don't steal, and I'm not naughty, maybe I won't get spanked.
Mommy: (trying desperately to turn this into a really good teaching moment), You're right sweetie. If you don't do those things, you won't get spanked. That's very good.
Ariel: (shoots me a little grin and runs off)

That, ladies and gentlemen, is my daughter, who has finally learned the truth about spankings. Now, if only her brothers would get the same idea!


Conversation number two. It was bath night last night. Lately, my daughter has decided that she doesn't like to be alone in the bathroom, and wants someone to sit with her. Well, in a house of boys, that's not always a good idea. So, I would sit with her for a little bit, then go do a few things. That seemed to work alright for a little bit. But then, came last night's conversation.

Ariel: Mommy, I don't like being alone with the door closed.
Mommy: What is it you're afraid of?
Ariel: I'm afraid the monsters are going to come get me.
Mommy: Hmmm. Where do you think the monsters are going to come from?
Ariel: Right here, behind the wall. (I was totally expecting the drain, but I went with it anyway)
Mommy: Well honey, if the monsters are going to come through that wall, they'd have to make a lot of noise doing it. (no sympathy here, right?) So, if you hear lots of noise, you'll have enough time to get out of the tub before they get through the wall. Okay? I'll be back in a little bit. (I was sooo tempted to go start banging on the wall from the other side, but I figured that might scar her for life, so I refrained).
Ariel: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes sweetie?
Ariel: I know there aren't any monsters on the other side of the wall. (Brilliant reasoning)
Mommy: That's right dear. So you have nothing to be afraid of then, do you?
Ariel: No, Mommy. You're just being silly.

How true that is. And all this from the reasoning of a 6 year old.

Feminists

Thanks to Amy from Modern Commentaries for providing this topic on Feminists. As my post was begining to become a bit lengthy, I thought I'd redirect here for a more in-depth discussion.

Please visit Modern Commentaries for the full discussion.


I believe the idea of feminists has been somewhat skewed over time as well. What the original feminists wanted was to be treated like human beings with an opinion, instead of like property. Male chauvanism had gone a bit far and women had become non-entities. While I understand and agree with the idea of women not voting, among other things, women are not 'property' in the sense that they were being seen as at that time.

We actually talked about a portion of this issue in our study yesterday, we've been reading Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. We discussed the idea of women and feminism, and the discontent that many women are told to feel when things aren't going their way around the house. Many women are told that they don't get enough 'me' time, they are doing too much around the house and their husbands aren't doing enough, and so on. The conclusion that we came to is that the women we know who are most content in their lives and their marriages, were the ones who prayed for their husbands, helping to bring their husbands in tune with God, and thereby in tune with their needs. They prayed for the strength of their husbands and their families, and the needs were met. Perhaps not in their own time, but in God's time.

I think many women also have this idea that if they stay at home their lives will be full of boredom and tedium and so on. And it can be, if you let it. I still have my days, but I'm working towards a goal of making things organized, efficient, and well-run. Something any manager can do for a salary, but with a lot more headaches because not all co-workers are as cute as my three-year-old who constantly comes up to me, batting his eyes, and telling me he loves me and trying to convince me that he is five years old. I don't think I'd appreciate that as much coming from a co-worker.

In short, or as short as I'm going to make it, today's feminists think that it's all about them. Women are the end all to be all, and men are just a side dish. Families are outdated, and why would we want to take care of our own children when someone else can do it for us? The problem with that thinking is that it is not the way God has called us to be. God has called us to be in submission to our husbands. Submission is not a dirty word. We are called to be submissive to our husbands and so shall they be in submission to us. In a healthy relationship that means we communicate with eachother for the best path the family should take, and move forward in agreement. If each side is trying to fulfil their own selfish desires, the family will be divided and in constant flux. We can only go where God has called us if we want to be truly happy. Everything else is headache and heartache.