The Sanctity of Marriage

Karry and I watched an episode of Jon & Kate plus 8 tonight, about their separation. At the end of the show, right after Kate said "a new chapter," there was a black screen with text on it saying that on Monday, June 22, legal proceedings took place to dissolve the 10 year marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin.  

I saw their pictures all over the tabloids recently. I didn't want to believe it--you never know if what those magazines are saying is true.

We started watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 not long after we got our TV and satellite. People were telling us about it (maybe because we have half as many kids?? :), so we decided to watch it. We thought it was a cute show at first.  Several months ago, I stopped recording as many episodes (I used to record "ALL") and I stopped showing it to the kids (they loved seeing what those 8 kiddos got to do), because I noticed Kate's attitude was sour.  I started turning on the Duggar family's show, because I really like Michelle Duggar--and because honestly, I believe what we watch on TV can impact how we act. Karry and I used to love the show Everybody Loves Raymond. We noticed though, that after a while, our humor towards each other became disrespectful. Right after we noticed that, we turned off our TV and didn't turn it on again for 3 years....Now we're back to watching it, but we really have to be careful of what we watch. I did not want to become a wife like Kate Gosselin...so I decided that I wouldn't expose myself to that show very often, if at all...

This show was SO depressing. I am very sad for that family. I feel like I know them--they invited me (and all of you) into their living room, and kitchen, and giant new house, and van as they traveled to various places. (Karry's been envying their van for a while now (you know, as we adopt more kids, a suburban won't cut it anymore!)). So I feel sad for them like I would for someone I know...

Marriage is an image of the relationship between God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I think the most vital piece of our churches, our nation, our world that Satan attempts (and does) destroy is the family--marriages.

That said, I have some things to say to the ladies. I've said these things before. I'll preach them over and over until I am blue in the face because I think these things are *IMPORTANT*...

In that show, Jon Gosselin was very cold--he's excited about what's next, he's only 32. Jerk. Yes. We can say that. He's being a jerk. But he didn't used to be like that.  He used to be a nice guy, very "passive," as he admitted--just a go with the flow, "whatever you say dear" type of guy. Any of you married to a guy like that???

*Do not walk all over him.* I repeat *DO NOT walk all over him." K? Ok. Friends, our men, Mr. Steady, passive, Mr. Compliant, Whatever You Say Dear, or whoever they may be, *need* to be the leader.  

I think that women don't even realize how much power they have to make or break a marriage. I really think that if Kate had realized how much power she had to hold her marriage together earlier on, Jon wouldn't be so cold now. I'm using them as an example, but friends, 50% of believers are ending marriages, just like this.  It's a SAD statistic, but I think *we,* women, have the power to change it. Honestly, most men like stability and want a loving wife, companion and friend do come home to--if they've got that *most* men will become the man they're supposed to be. I know that separations and divorces take two people--but more often than not, these days, I'm seeing the majority of the problems are being caused by the wives...

Some thoughts:

~~Your man's opinions *matter*...Treat him like they do.

~~Listen to him.

~~Say you're wrong when you're wrong. 

~~When he makes a request of you, do your best to follow through (as long as it is reasonable, not abusive, etc.--do I really need to throw that caveat in there? You're all smart!). 

~~Give him what he needs. You know what I mean.

~~Listen to him.

~~Don't knock down every little thing he does. Stop it with the Mommy business. He grew up, became a man, and left his Mommy for you. 

~~Stop holding onto every little thing he's ever done wrong. Grow up and let those things go.

~~Stop the fights. You have the power to end them--you know what to do--just do it.

Again, men who are faced with nagging, complaining, witchy (to put it nicely), proud, selfish wives are going to do this:

1. become a bum--zone out

2. become a whiner

3. become aggressive

4. become a workaholic or a something-else-aholic

5. leave and find another woman

Either 1 of the above or all of the above in some order. Jon is doing #5. Not exactly a great choice, Mr. Gosselin.  Could this have been prevented? Absolutely!

Kate acted like a victim--she's not happy about this, she wouldn't have ever thought her life would go this way, etc., etc., etc., etc.  Seriously, she did not see this coming? She did not see that like a duck, she was pecking, pecking, pecking away at him and eventually he would run?  I think that's the danger--we get into our comfort zones. We try to be "real"--meaning--we don't care to change for the sake of another person (that is the definition of "real" these days, isn't it?)--and then we forget that every little thing we're doing is effecting another person--other people--and the future...

Let's stop, look, and listen. Are we nagging? Belittling? Simply not caring? 

I have this quote at the end of my e-mails:

`Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 
`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 
`I don't much care where--' said Alice. 
`Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. 

Seriously, what way do we want to go? If we don't care where we end up, we can act how we want to act. But friends, do we care? DO WE CARE? Oh yes, I do, and I hope you all do too!  Then we've gotta pay attention to the path we're on & make sure we're heading in the right direction.

That's all for my lecture! :)

Random Things & Thoughts

We went to the airport to see Dave and Joy Forney & crew today. They're here for 2 weeks, then off to the East Coast, and then back in Sept. until January. We are so excited to spend time with them!! We got to see Alan & Theda and their little granddaughter, Ella, and Angie and her 5 little blessings, and Pat and Rakel Thurman, too! There were 15 busy kiddos around us! Very fun!

Modest tank tops--anyone know of any?  I wore a tank top today that appeared to cover things well, but then at the airport, I picked up Ruby, she held onto my shirt, and wa la, there was my colorful bra, right as I was standing there talking.  Oh my!!!  I just edited an article and wrote more about *modesty* to post on Serious Moms. *Oh my!* Sorry to everyone who saw it!! Help! I need good, modest tank tops!

I bought yellow shoes several months ago and I'm never brave enough to wear them. They look a little to shiny, I think, but I think that's in? Well--I keep debating "should I just return them??"...Today I am wearing a shirt with yellow, it would have been perfect. But I'm not that brave. Oh me oh my!

I planted 4 tomato plants my brother gave me on Sunday (he got SIXTY free tomato plants!!! He planted about 50 in his yard--they have 3 acres now!). NICE! The plants were almost dead on my back porch. I hosed them down every now and then, but they needed to get in the dirt. Well, they're in it today!

I picked raspberries with the kids, in our backyard. I've been getting a lot, recently (a big colander full the other day), but only 1/2 a bowl today since the kids (especially Ruby) were eating, eating, eating them up before they went in the bowl! That was fun though--except for the bees! And I think I got a spider bite or something--my arm started stinging, and there were two tiny little holes that were bleeding, and then it puffed up and got pink around there. It's calmed down now, but I'm wondering what that was?  

Kaleb got lunch on the table. Since we don't eat gluten, the kids simply had lunch meat (no bread :) and some Pirate's Booty, and a jell-o snack out of the fridge (all sale items!) and some of those tasty raspberries.  Mmm.

My right thumb is hurting, right under the nail, because right after the kids ate lunch, they all went down for nap, except for Noah, who helped me shell a bunch of peas. We spent 30 min working on a full grocery sack of peas and got just enough for 1 meal. :) It's nice to be able to spend time with just 1 kid. He was the only one interested (he wants to be a farmer, and I told him farmers do this :).  He kept calling the peas "babies" that he was getting out of their mommy's tummy...oh he's so cute.

This week the boys have gone to VBS 3 days at the local 4square church. I have had 3 mornings from 9:30 to 12 to just hang out with Ruby. We went grocery shopping every day (Deal shopping!). We went to Target day 1, then Albertsons, Walgreens + Target day 2, then Walgreens, Rite Aid & Fred Meyer day 3. Anyways, just going with her was such a nice treat. I taught her where her ears, elbows and knees are. We worked on the ABC's. We sang a few songs (She's perfecting "Holy, Holy, Holy," it's VERY cute!!). I taught her that she's "ONE" and she has "THREE" brothers. :) She was such a big girl--she walked with me a lot and didn't require me holding her. She got her very first Starbucks drink (a water!) and soon after choked on it (requiring me to pull over as I was driving!). :) She loves the big red balls at Target and shouted "BALL!" right as we drove up, and wanted to hit them all as we walked up to the store. OH she is so cute!

I scheduled well-child check ups for all 4 kids next week, and cardiology appointments for Isaac & Kaleb for the end of July (they have bicuspid aoritc valves and should go every year, but I think it's been 1.5 or 2....Yikes...).  I am worried about two things with Kaleb:

~~He has started coughing after physical activity. Maybe a bad habit (Karry said he did that for a while when he was a kid until his dad told him to stop it). Maybe asthma? I want to get him checked out, just in case.

~~He says that his chest hurts, often. Today at nap he said it hurt (now he's sleeping on the couch right by me so I can keep an eye on him). His chest pounds very, very hard, even resting.  He pointed to his sternum and said it feels like a giant is pushing down on it really really hard...and then he said, "well, maybe not really, really hard, just really hard." Kaleb was born with a huge sternum and a lop-sided looking rib cage. When he was a baby it stood out to me and made me worried that something was wrong with his heart (it was very big around his heart, and smaller on the other side). It's not as noticeable now that he's bigger, but it still makes me consider that now that his sternum area is hurting all the time.  I'm worried about what could be going on with him?  Huh!?  Any thoughts?  I said to Karry "maybe his rib bones are just all too big there and now that his heart is growing as he gets bigger, there's pressure in the area. Karry said "huh, I've never heard of that. " :) Me either, but it's a theory. :)

I've been working on a new, improved Serious Moms with rss feeds and css and includes. Oh yes--I've been learning. :0) Or--uh--Karry's been learning & helping me! Someday soon, coming to an internet near you, SeriousDads.com. Someday! :)

Tonight is our last night of t-ball, and my coach hubby and half-the-team-boys will get to go play with their team for the last time. Then we have a picnic and awards tomorrow night. 1 trophy per team, for the kid with the most team spirit or something like that. My kids aren't getting it, and I'm ok with that, less junk. They might be disappointed though. Oh well. I want to build a shelf up high in their room for things like that. We've got 2 soccer trophies, and piggy banks and Mickey Mouse hats could go up there too. Maybe someday. :)

There were coupons in this last Sunday's paper for $2 off of Starbucks ice cream and it's $2.50 at WalMart this week. We'll be in Hubbard for t-ball, so we're taking a quick trip to the WalMart in Woodburn to get some ice cream! :)

That's all!! :) Have a great, sunny day! :) :0)

Good Food, Good Deals!

I have been getting so many great deals lately, I'm stocking up! I wanted to show you some of the deals I have found over the weeks (and my newly organized foods!). :)

First, the drink cupboard:

There are 6 bottles of Tree Top juices in there (behind the Magic Bullet, etc.), and I got those for .50 each. Then the Country Time Lemonade--8 of those, I think some were free and some were .50 each, plus I got a catalina for the next purchase). I've got 3 boxes of Lipton Iced Tea, all cheap. 2 boxes of Tazo Tea, very cheap. 3 International Coffee Blends, cheap. I got a bunch of Koolaid packets (only orange and yellow--no red on my carpet! :), and I used my coupons for those at Winco. On the right bottom are canned juices--strawberry, strawberry lemonade & grape! The grape tastes SO good mixed with sprite or ginger ale. Mmmm! I have little baskets (left middle shelf) for my tea--one with a variety, one with only decaf/herbal for people who request it. I have extra tea bags in a little plastic drawer in another cupboard.  

Now, an overview of my pantry:

I just organized it, but it still looks messy to me. I bout some rulers and I want to do labels like this. (I LOVE her blog, by the way--check out the whole pantry article here).

The top left is looking a little bare. I need a good salsa sale and some more salad dressing, and maybe some mustard too, k? :) Ok, so I got those salad dressings, mayos & mustards for .40 each. The bbq sauce was all free. The A1 was .69. The refried beans were .38 per can (using my $1 off of 2 coupon at WinCo!). The olives (right, red cans) were .25 each at Albertsons (this week, you can print the coupons, buy 4, and double your coupons and spend $1, too!), and a couple were .50 each at Walgreens a while wback.

I love my yellow bins (below). I need to label them! Left: potatoes, onions, ginger root--things like that. Middle: taco shells, tostadas, things like that. Right: capri suns and other such drinks. I found these bins at Wal-Mart on clearance a while back.

These all need labels! Oh, what is a pantry without labels?? :) Beans, pasta, rice--all in jars. Except a couple of packages of rice pasta. 

Oh! You can see the original shelving above the jars--just wire racks. We don't like wire racks. We detest wire racks. So--when we first moved in, we measured it all out, ran to home depot & bought cheap wood (melanine, I think--white on the top) and had it all perfectly cut to fit in the pantry. This way, if anything spills, it doesn't go to the next level and the next level, and the next level, making an incredible mess! Also, the cans/jars sit nice and flat, no tipsy-ness going on!

This one looks messy, but I'm stocking up!! Top shelf: will be labeled "extras". Our favorite chips, from Winco (they're at other stores, too, but .11 more per bag, so I stock up at Winco), Juanitas. They're authentic tasting! Mm! Then some Kettle Chips (FM sales--$1.50 per bag), then 14 bags of Pirate's Booty stuff, $1.50 each with sale (FM, this week) and coupons (from paper). Then Chex, I used the $1 off 2 coupon from the paper 2 weeks ago & bought a bunch at Winco (we've gone through a bunch...We've had vbs this week & have been having cereal every morning!). There's a HUGE bag of salt there too (25 lbs!), that I bought for making salt maps & such with the kids (Costco, $3 something), but it also works to refill the salt jars for cooking!

Next row--my baking stuff. Not so organized on the left. On the right, I have SO much sugar!!!  There was a deal at Fred Meyer last week--I got 4 pectin (Sure Jell), picked up 2 coupons on the Sure Jell display for free sugar (up to $2) with every 2 boxes, and then picked up a yellow FM coupon in the sugar aisle for free 5 lbs of Fred Meyer sugar with every 4 boxes of pectin purchased. The pectin was $2 each. So I spent $8 and got 4 boxes of pectin, a 5 lb bag of Fred Meyer sugar, and 2 bags of C&H powdered or brown sugar. And THEN, a $3 catalina printed off for my next purchase...So I turned around and did it again for only $5. I did this over and over and over...So I have lots of sugar!! One of those yellow bins is FULL of powdered sugar & brown sugar!!! The other bin is FULL of marshmallows I got for .70 each on sale--we'll use them all summer over the fire & for rice krispies! :)
Top left (the baking one you saw above is right above this): these are gluten free flours. Notice the 25 lb bag of brown rice flour on the left! This is the cheapest way to buy it. I have more gf flours in another cupboard and some right by my mixer...Oh yes, there are a lot of flours to cook with when you go gluten free!!

Middle: syrups on the left. Fruits/applesauce/preserves in the middle. Then cereals on the right: first hot cereals (brown rice, and gluten free oats), and then the boxed cereals so the kids can reach them.

Bottom: Juices galore!!! Stuffed in the back left corner, tons of Tree Top boxes (free!) and Juicy Juice boxes ( super cheap). Then 10 bottles of Santa Cruz juice that I bought at Freddy's today. Print this coupon and get them for .25 each!

Right side: snacks--popcorn and fruit leather bars in jars. then opened bags of chips & packages of crackers, etc., in yellow bins on the right.

This shelf unit is a recent addition to the pantry. Mostly baking stuff on here: sprinkles, icings (I think I collect these things--I like decorating cookies & cupcakes with the kids, but I never knew I had so many!). I have been picking up cheap pudding & stuff as filler items (.39 each) when I wanted to use my register rewards or catalinas but had coupons for every other item (the rr's and catalinas are considered a coupon, and you can only have 1 mfg coupon per item--so I pick up something super cheap to be the extra "item" and use my, say $5 off catalina/rr to discount the other stuff even more, and basically get free pudding or jell-o, or gum, or clearance nutmeg, or whatever I pick out!). :)

Bottom shelf: chicken broth, parm cheese, pears (grocery outlet).
And now, the freezer! The bottom & bottom shelf left look pretty empty. I need more stuff, right? :)

Top: 6 bags of frozen whole strawberries, a total of 25 jars of strawberry freezer jam in the door & top shelf.

2nd down:a ton of gogurts (I think 18+ boxes) that I got super cheap or free, 10+ bags of shredded cheese that were also super cheap on sale & with coupons (I think .50 each). Some popcicles in there too.

3rd down: a huge box of cheap, end of the year blueberries from a farm my friend Celina knows about. Left side, a couple of packages of bacon, and a few of hot dogs (cheap bacon, free hot dogs)

Bottom: frozen veggies & some ground sausage.

We have a chest freezer for meats, too, and an inside freezer that holds:

ice cream, chicken broth (homemade), minced garlic (home-done, frozen in ice cube trays w/a little olive oil), gluten free bread crumbs (saved for various meals), misc. jars of "lunches" for Karry (soups, stroganoff, whatever I make that can be left over & he can warm up!), more frozen veggies, cooked meats (like shredded chicken ready for meals, taco meat, etc.), yogurt starters, as well as starters for buttermilk, sour cream, and my rennet...I think that's all. There are mini Dryers Ice Creams at Target right now for $1.19 and a $1 off Dryers coupon for Target, online here, and it doesn't specify the size or the amount. So get little ice creams (about 1 cup worth) for .19 each. What a treat for the kids! And for us! :)

I also wanted to share some good food I made last night and am making tonight!

Last night I put chicken breasts in a 9x13 pan and pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees.

I made a roux with butter & flour, and garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, poultry seasoning, chicken boullion, and then added milk and some white Sherry cooking wine in and made a thick sauce.

I poured this over the chicken. I topped it with ham (I have tons of Oscar Mayer & Hormel natural lunch meats I got cheap in my fridge). Then I topped it with swiss cheese slices (cheap also!) and a little bit of shredded cheddar. Then I topped it all with some gluten free bread crumbs (straight from the freezer). I baked it for 40 min.

Meanwhile, I cooked brown rice, and steamed some broccoli, and made a salad (CSA greens + carrots & tomato & cheap Lighthouse ranch dressing...mmm!).

I also cooked swiss chard. Here's how I do it: I put olive oil in a pan, and saute about 2 TB worth of minced onions. Then I add the torn up swiss chard & saute it. Then I add chicken broth in, as well as salt & pepper & let it cook a while until it's nice and done. Tasty greens!

THEN, I also made some gluten free shortcakes for strawberry shortcake. These were VERY GOOD and could be made by anyone, even if you don't have GF flours in your house. It's made up of butter, powdered sugar, eggs, corn starch, and baking powder. That's it! We have 1/2 the pan left and have fresh raspberries to eat with them tonight!

And one more thing I am making tonight, to go with the leftover salad we have from last night: Zuppa Toscana. We got Kale from our CSA, so this will make a nice dinner tonight! 

Enjoy! :)

Political Post

Some facts to share (not just my opinions):

• The US Department of Homeland Security labels right wing conservatives as domestic terrorists.
  
• Since Obama has become president, there has been a huge shortage on ammunition. Not because people are buying it out--no, the stores can't get it. Not because of the war--no, different factories make the ammo for the war & the ammo that is sold in our country. Because it is being controlled--shelves that were full of all different kinds of ammo when GW Bush was president (even during the peak of the war) are suddenly empty, and the ammunition is suddenly "unavailable."
• ABC has turned their programming over to Obama. He kicked all of the other press ("freedom of the press"??) out of the White House, and now he's in charge of what gets covered about him and his adgendas.

Now, opinions--predictions from people I know (not myself, these are simply predictions I have heard):

• There is going to be an attack on our country. Obama will allow it to happen. (Note: there is one scheduled on Hawaii, already, conveniently where Obama's birth records are supposedly being held--nothing is being done about this). Obama will then use this attack to gain more control, saying that our country is in danger.
• One person said that this is when people will be required to be tagged with a chip. Like a cat?
• Note: regarding this: there are two things already happening that remind me of this. 1 is a 24 page survey asking all kinds of detailed questions (whether you rent or own, how much you make, and more personal questions about your personality & beliefs, etc.). I have heard of people already getting these, and there will be more issued--and there is a large fine if you do not answer & return the survey (it is from the Census Bureau).  One more thing--the government has begun to take photos of & putting GPS marks at every single person's front door. They are keeping track of who lives there & exactly where each person's residence is. They already visited my brother's house.
• Next prediction: that the government is going to take over more private corporations, like GM. The economy will get worse than it is, and many, many, many companies will go bankrupt.
• Then, Obama will issue a "clean slate."--Our money will be worthless. Whatever you've got in savings will be worthless. There will be a new money system, similar to the Euro, one person said.
• The bulk of our country's debt will fall on China. China will be mad.
• China and N. Korea will partner up & attack our country.

Again, the 2nd part was just predictions/opinions. We'll see. I don't know. What do you all think?

a math lesson :)

I mentioned that our house is a wreck, right? The boys thought that since their cousins were here, it was a chance to take out every single toy (and game!!!!! OH MY!!). The boys don't usually have toys in their room. But there are costumes, and legos, and toy instruments all over their floor right now....And Connect 4 pieces, and costumes, and so many other things all over the bonus room floor. And mega blocks, books, and other things all over the family room floor....

SO--my lesson?

I taught them tally marks, which goes well with counting by 5's, which we recently learned. I set up the white board (at their level) with a space for Isaac, Kaleb & Noah, and then told them to start cleaning up & put a tally mark down for every thing they clean up. I said, pick up 5 things, and then come make 5 tally marks...Then, I said that for every 10 tally marks they make, they'll get a penny. Not a lot, but a bit of incentive for these kids. I hesitated at paying them for their own mess--but I could struggle with them all day to get this mess cleaned up, or I could offer some pennies and make it fun. So that is what I'm doing. :)

This little game has them rushing around the house picking up stuff FAST, they're SO excited to clean!! 

The Day, The Week, and Randomness!

The Day

It's Karry's Birthday!  AND Father's Day! He woke up to a "treasure hunt" that Isaac had put together, for him to follow a map and find wrapped up presents (filled with crayons, of course--I thought the crayon drawer was looking a bit sparse!).  We had cereal (I know, exciting!), I wrapped presents, baked a cake, made pasta salad, and we left for church! 

We went to Household of Faith again today, and Dr. Brian Ray spoke this morning about fatherhood. => Dr. Brian Ray does statistics & research about home education--I've seen and heard people quote his research before. He said today that 85% of kids who grow up in "evangelical Christian" homes do not walk with the Lord as adults. That is CRAZY!!

We told my brother & his wife that the get-together started at 1:30 today because they're always late (we told everyone else it was at 2). :) My brother called Karry when we were leaving Thriftway (picking up strawberries & a few sale items!), and he asked "where are you guys? I'm parked outside of your house."  OOPS. They were there ON TIME!

We had good food with great people. My mom brought potato salad. I made pasta salad (gf) with Wishbone "Bountifuls" Italian marinade/dressing that I got really cheap (or free?) and olives I got for .50 per can w/coupons, and cherry tomatoes. We barbecued corn (I soaked it in sugar water for a few hours), and salmon burgers (Costco) and hamburgers (Costco). Mom brought buns for the bun eaters. I cut up cantaloupe. I mixed cherry jello (made it last night--the box was free w/coupons) with cool whip (.25 with coupons!), for a 25 cent side dish/dessert! 

I made a cake that turned out horrible. It was a gf box mix that I've made before, but I did it in 2 smaller pans (rather than 1 big one) and it cooked too long and was hard....The strawberries & whipped cream I put all over it sort of helped...

I got K 2 nice shirts from Lands End (he likes the polos & button ups from there, they don't wrinkle as much :), and a starbucks card, and an itunes card, and a little Flip Video Camera. It was a "Goldbox Deal" on Amazon a while back, so about 1/2 the price of what it is now, and people were blogging about it and saying it was great. :)  K wants to make short little movies with the boys. Thought this would help. :)

This Week

I re-arranged a lot of the house/organized stuff!!  I swapped our dining room/kitchen  tables and extended the one in the dining room to make more space for homeschooling. The boys are always fighting over their space (their math books are big, and the blocks take up space, etc.). I also don't really like homeschooling at the same place we eat breakfast at--we're always required to clean up before we can get any schooling done. So--I changed things! I put the living room loveseat into the den (ok, Karry did this part for me!! I moved the tables, he did the couch!). It has a big stain on it and doesn't look pretty anymore (I've tried to wash it and it hasn't worked!). Also, I wanted a comfy place to sit and cut my coupons/plan my deals. I set two small file cabinets together like a coffee table in front of the couch, with a table runner over the two...It's a perfect set up for my couponing!

I got a nice solid wood bookshelf from Craigslist this week and put it in the living room. I re-arranged homeschool stuff so I don't feel stuck in 1 room all day. Math & phonics are in the living room/dining room, as well as Bible & character stuff. Science & literature are in the family room. Art, history & geography are in the den. Music & games are upstairs in the bonus room. PE--well, that's every place they can run! =>

I organized the pantry and I think it's so pretty that I keep looking at it. :) I am so proud of my coupon deals in there. :)

I also organized the freezer & love the 15+ boxes of gogurts, 10 bags of cheese, several packs of hot dogs & bacon...Oh this is fun!

I hope we don't have a power outage, because I stayed up 'til 2 one morning making strawberry jam & freezing whole berries (3.5 flats total)!

The kids and I picked 1/2 a flat of berries on Wednesday. They did SO great. All of them. They had good attitudes, and they were seriously having fun. We quit because Kaleb had to go potty. :) Isaac asked the woman who worked at the farm if she believes in God. :)

We went to the Happy Valley garage sales w/my friend Erin on Friday. Whew! I got 4 pairs of shoes for Ruby for .50 each (NICE ones!!), and an adorable pair of boots for her for $2. Love it. Garage sales rock!!

Randomness...

Ruby is understanding so many more words and concepts and she's communicating so much more. We're getting tougher on her with "using words" instead of fussing, etc.  She is becoming such a sweet little girl.

We still have paperwork to fill out to start the adoption process through the state...We'll work on that soon!

Have y'all ever heard of embryo adoption? Kind of a strange concept. My mom told me about a couple we know of who did envitro, and they have 6 fertilized eggs left (she's now pregnant w/twin boys), and they want to give the eggs away. So, whoever adopts them would then have the egg put into the adoptive mother's womb...she would then deliver a baby that has none of her genes or her husband's.  So then, my question is (well, one of them!), who is birthmom? And then, how do you explain to a kid that they look very different from their siblings but they came from Mommy's tummy? And what about if they meet a true biological sibling someday? Wouldn't that be strange? Lots of questions. But then, another question--do we consider a fertilized egg to be a life? Yes for us, we do...And there are 500,000+ of these "snowflake babies" on ice out there, somewhere. So, anyone want a baby? :)

My house is a wreck and I didn't touch it tonight. Funny thing--we clean for parties & gatherings--and then clean after them, too.  Did you know the Duggars use paper plates at lunch time w/their kids? Good plan!!

My brother and his wife are so thrifty and wise w/their new 3 acres, I'm so proud of them. Brad picked up 50 free tomato plants from someone off of Craigslist and planted a bunch yesterday and gave me 4. :) They're slaughtering their free chickens next week. They were talking about how common it is to find free cows in their area (McMinnville).  Love it...They're awesome. :)

That's all folks! 

My Introductions to Homeschooling

Intro #1
Some girls I went to youth group with. They were nice girls, and my friends, but they didn’t have a lot of friends in the youth group, and they said it was because they were home schooled. I felt sorry for them.

Intro #2
Tim Swanson, the first person I met on the U of O campus my freshman year. I went away to college with a pretty weak faith, thinking, “whatever it takes to make friends”--I did have limits...but if I needed to drop the church thing to make friends, I was willing to. Then I met Tim, the most bold Christian I think I’ve ever met. His girlfriend Gina was my across the hall neighbor, a sweetheart and strong in her faith. God protected me by putting them there. (Note: Tim’s brother Kevin was the keynote speaker at the homeschool conference I just went to!!).

Intro #3
A family member started home schooling her children, and other family members said that was weird.

Intro #4
I took a class at the University of Washington about morals & education. We spent a whole day debating about home schooling and whether it was right or wrong, good or bad. I was really unsure at that moment. There was a couple in the class (with young kids at home) and he wanted her to homeschool, but she wasn’t into the idea. There was a single lady who was quite bold about how horrible homeschooling was, because kids needed exposure to other kinds of ideas. She thought conservatives were brainwashing their children by homeschooling. I wasn’t sure after that class. About a year later I became pregnant with Isaac. :)

Intro #5
When we moved to Oregon, Karry and I started attending Good Shepherd and joined a “community life” group that was led by Phil & Debbie Johnson. They were homeschoolers, and they were normal! I’d met their daughter during a church event one time and had no clue she was homeschooled--she was THAT normal! :) Their kids were lifeguards as teenagers and pretty well-rounded kids. That sparked my interest. We had Isaac while we were in that group.

Intro #6
Somehow I got a copy of The Educated Child by William J. Bennet, when Isaac was a baby. I don’t agree with Bennet’s theory that adding character education will fix the schools, by the way. That would only be a band-aid to the greater issue. Anyways, I loved the detailed lists about what kids should learn at each grade level. I realized that I was *passionate* about my child’s education!

Intro #7
Then I started getting books about homeschooling. I read Beyond Survival, a Guide to Abundant Life Homeschooling, by Diana Waring and I was *pumped*!!! I started making lists of library books I was going to check out as soon as I could, to read to Isaac. :)

Intro #8
When Isaac was 2 and Kaleb was 1, I borrowed “Hands on Homeschooling” for 2 year olds to use with them, from my friend Joy. Yes--I think I started homeschooling way back then!! After that I started checking out every book on every book list for toddlers, preschool, kindergarten and even first grade! My kids heard a lot of stories!

Decision point:
When Isaac was old enough to go to kindergarten, I was pleased with how homeschooling had gone thus far. And my thoughts at that moment, when considering the possibility of putting him into kindergarten were: “but I’m not done yet! I still have so much more to teach him!”

And that’s where we’re at today. I’m not done yet! I still have so much more to teach them! I am still passionate about what I am teaching them. I am still pumped about this homeschooling thing. : )

flashcards with Ruby

I often have one of the boys teach Ruby with flash cards or a book or a puzzle or colors or body parts (eye, nose, etc.) while I focus on math or reading or writing with one of the other boys. I pulled out the flash cards to quiz her today, to see what she's learning. :)

What she said:

penguin = bar (bird)
book = gook
astronaut = a a
envelope = pay- (paper?)
mittens = at (hat)
iguana = mommy
elephant = ele, ele
helicopter = car (while she was pointing at the sky)
girl = dess (dress)
hat = at
tiger = keeee (kitty)
oranges = apple
ant = a AAA, a AAA! (while she was screaming! where did she learn that?)
dress = preee (pretty)
cat = keee
tomato = apple
banana = a nana
quarters = moeeee (money)
escalator = tairs (stairs)
socks = ocks
rooster = bar (bird)
guitar = guiaaa
motorcycle = car
valentine = preee (pretty)
carrots = apple
insect = da bug
dog = a goggy

:) :) We'll keep working on those. :)

It is Well

I just saw this short video and wanted to share it:

The future and my children's children

Sounds like a serious title, huh? Nope, this is a silly post! My kids are always talking about their futures. Tonight at the dinner table they were doing that again. (Of course, they think the "future" is a place like in Meet the Robinsons). :)  Kaleb was saying he wants 10 kids--and then decreased that to 7. Then he drew their pictures and told me their names.  This is how it got started. Kaleb said that these names will be up to his wife, too, of course.

Kaleb's future kids:

1. Luis

2. Sayra

3. Wilbert

4. Hopphni

5. Jef

6. Phinius

7. Baby Jon

He says he's going to learn how to build his own airplane when he's a teenager, and then he's going to fly his airplane and be a missionary when he's a man. And he said "I won't care about money at all, I'll just care about people." =>

Isaac says he's going to have 3 kids now. Oh, I told him that A$$ was not an appropriate name for a child, and he was very bummed--he said "but I wrote it down in my book I'm going to have when I'm a man....so I helped him erase it. That day he changed it to Ana. Today, these are the names he's chosen:

1. Isaac

2. Isaac (the twins)

3. Abee (funny that he played with Abby at the park yesterday!!!)

He asked Karry today if he would pray for his future family, because he's going to have to work a lot to make enough money to build his machines, and he's worried that he'll be gone too much.  Then he decided that maybe he would work from home. He said he's going to put up a sign that says "Peaches for sale, 10 bucks," and people can come buy peaches from him at his house. It will be near Disneyland. He's going to make lots of money--enough to build machines, and to take his kids to Disneyland.

Noah is going to have 2 kids, he says,

1. Maggen

2. Joney (Johny)

He's going to hang up a sign at his house that says "Bananas for sale, 12 bucks," and people can come pick them. He's going to have an airplane--and then he said "I mean, a helicopter, because an airplane will be too big for my parking lot--I mean driveway." :)

The boys have figured out lately that girls change their last names when they're married, and boys keep theirs. We jokingly asked Ruby "what's your last name going to be?" and she said "Day!" and she keeps saying that.  Today after her brothers said the names of their future kids, I said "and Ruby, what are your kids going to be named?" She said:

1. Mani

2. Mine

3. Aa At

4. Gee

5. Teee (pointing at her teeth)

6. Kizzie (our dog) 

7. Day :)

Of course, we know none of this will happen exactly like this, and we remind our kids that God knows their future, we don't.  But we let them dream. I used to dream. I was going to name my kids:

1. Tyler Morgan

2. Taylor Marie (my red-headed twins)

3. Claire

4. Dawn (Karry's high school girlfriend's name ;)

5. Emily (Karry's cow's name ;)

Karry was going to name his daughter Linda. My dad used to call me Linda instead of Brenda to tease me. I wasn't going to name my daughter Linda. :) 

Oh yeah, and I was going to own an island where everybody only drove covered wagons and it only slightly (hee, hee) resembled Little House on the Prairie. Yes, I dreamed too. :)

change

We are changing churches. There wasn't any kind of big crises that led to this and we don't look down on the church we have been at for 3 years. We feel like God is taking us in a different direction. This is an awkward place to be. It's hard. We're wondering what the big picture is and what God is doing here, but we don't have a clue....

We've been checking out a church for the last 2 weeks and there is some excitement that comes with that. Some fear--meeting new people is hard. Learning a new environment is hard. Familiar roads are easier to travel on, I think...But there is adventure in a new road trip--new directions, new curves in the road to learn...

2 weeks ago we went to a big service with my friend Angie--all of the 5 local congregations (and some of the 4 not-so-local congregations) met together for worship and then a picnic. It was awesome....

I have to say, the church we are checking out is Household of Faith. 3+ years ago when we were "church shopping" we considered checking out HOFCC.  We had preconceived ideas about the church though.  I have been hearing more and more about the church (4 families from our old church go to the various congregations, and 2 other families I know from Canby go to one), and I have been hearing SO many great things. Last year at the homeschooling conference I heard Steve Rouse speak and walked away frustrated because I thought the class was more like an advertisement for his church. But the more and more I thought about everything he said, the more I wished we could be a part of something like that....And then I started voluntarily listening to his sermons online, occasionally. :)

This is the path God has brought us down. Our preconceived ideas about Household of Faith were blown away at that first service.  I used to be a part of a Yahoo Group of other conservative homeschoolers, and there were a few who were so ultra conservative that I was certain any church that had a lot of homeschoolers in it was just like that. Some of the women talked about praise songs being bad, and the King James Bible being the only version anyone should read. I wasn't into that. I thought HOFCC was like that. I thought every woman there would wear dresses only, all the time, and head coverings too.  Nope.

First service: huge. 40-50% of the women in pants or capris or something like that. 50-60% in skirts or dresses (like a lot of churches), but not what I call "ugly girl dresses." There were a couple of those, but not like I thought it would be....I think I saw 1 lady with a head covering (I've seen more in Albertsons lately :).  Hymns? I think 1. I love hymns, don't get me wrong--but the worship rocked. That's good. Karry loves music. I like it, he loves it. He used to sing in a bunch of different choirs before he had all these children. =) The music rocking was a big deal to him. They didn't read from the KJV. Let me say here, I do believe that the KJV is the most accurate translation, personally, and for in-depth study I appreciate it a lot. I don't think it's legalistic to have kids memorizing Scripture in KJV, I think it's great to get them used to the language and to not think it is foreign. Ok--that's my two cents. But they read from the American Standard--good version...So our ideas about what the church would look like and be like were blown away. So then--what we thought might be negative wasn't...And we already knew what was good....So this is where we're at...This last Sunday we went to the "Milwaukie" congregation, which is actually in Gladstone (they moved locations last year).

We're not positive this is where we will stay, but we're excited to check it out more and really get to know it. We're praying for God's direction here. Right now there are some things we really like and we're eager to learn more about.  The things we like:

~~They build the men up, and teach that men ought to be leaders of their home. There is a couple we know from our old church who is attending one of the congregations--the man of this family used to be very timid. A very nice guy, but very timid. Next Sunday he is preaching at his congregation. His wife says that he has grown leaps and bounds since being at this church--the men have come beside him and really challenged him. 

~~A motto they have (and the title of the class I took last year), "God's church runs on regular." They believe regular men can lead the church, they don't need a Bible degree. They train the men up. They ground them in Bible. If they have a desire to teach, they teach them how to teach. There's not one teaching pastor, there are several, and they rotate. They are regular guys, with regular jobs. They're expected to put 20 hrs into studying for their sermon, so they're not pulling it out of a file cabinet or out of their own brain at the last minute.  After they teach, that week, they're given constructive criticism by the elders--so everyone is held accountable....

~~There are a lot of homeschoolers in the church.  I've been feeling really alone as a homeschooler lately.  I've been desiring friendships with some other people in the same spot that I'm at...I've been really desiring relationships with women who have done what I'm doing, too.  I loved the Duggar family book because I could get that wisdom (what curriculum has worked for them, how they schedule their days, etc.) from someone...But I'm feeling like I NEED that kind of wisdom in my life from people I can see face to face. 

~~There are potlucks or picnics every single Sunday after church. People hang out until about 4 pm. There is a playground (it's at a school) and the kids run and play. The adults sit and have fellowship. Nice....(honestly, hard at first, when we don't know people...but I can see the value and how great it must be for the people who have been around a while and do know people).

~~The church encourages hospitality and people invite others into their homes. Our mini church at our old church was very centered around hospitality, and that worked for us. We felt connected there and we loved having people over 2x per week or so, and going into other people's homes as well.

~~The kids sit in church with their parents. This is hard when you're not used to it. 4 or so years ago we trained our boys to sit in church with us, and we did this at our old church for a while. We've been practicing again, and they're pretty good at it. Ruby is the hardest one, but she'd be like that anywhere (she screams if we put her in the nursery, so we often end up holding her). Angie told me that she trained her son Luke to take a nap in his stroller. I did that with Ruby 2 wks ago (just put her in her stroller at nap time and kept her in the family room by me, gave her a blankie and said "go night night." She slept through service the first time, but not this last week....That was a little rough. The services are 2 hrs long. =>  I like that the kids sit in church with us. "He who walks with the wise grows wise..."  The church believes it's our job to teach our children about God--specifically the fathers.  Over the past few weeks Karry has been very consistent at reading the Bible to our kids every evening. I have already seen a change in our kids--in their questions--in their discussions.  They're thinking about God a lot--because their daddy is teaching them about God. I teach them too, during the day, but I just love the encouragement of fathers teaching their kids...Men leading & men teaching their children about God is such a foreign concept in our culture. We don't want it to be foreign in our family.

~~Dads lead communion for their family. Karry is SO excited about this!!

~~The church values children as blessings. There are lots of kids in the church. Lots of big families. Tons of adoption (first service we went to--the big one--there were at least 20 little black girls within my view. I really want that kind of environment for Ruby!).

~~They have "work parties" when people need help  with projects around their house--a couple of families will go get a project done and share food together. 

~~My friend Chelsea said that the congregation they go to has really come around them "like a family, like no other church experience" they've ever had....

All of this is not for everyone, of course. I'm not trying to advertise the church, I am just excited...Karry is more excited than me, truth be told. I am still in a state of "why God?" and "what is this going to look like?" and Karry is my steady rock who is excited. I am writing this tonight to help myself remember why I am excited....And why I can trust Karry's leadership here. I love my husband. I trust him right now....

I just finished reading 20 & Counting

Karry is impressed that I finished a whole book. :) (I usually read what I need & move on). Ok, truth be told, I skipped over the chapter about Jim Bob Duggar's political career--Karry said that would have been an interesting chapter, he thought--I was more interested in how they train their 18 children and what daily life looks like! I might go back and read that soon. :) I want to share a few things I really liked about the book.

~~They are patient parents. They have learned to control their anger, and they've given their kids permission to put their hand on Mommy or Daddy's arm to say gently "I think you're getting angry" so that they will calm down.
~~They are incredibly selfless people. Their days are JAM PACKED with family activities. While the little ones nap, Michelle is teaching the older ones (5 & up). My boys still take a "quiet time" while Ruby sleeps & I say that is how I survive. :) I can't imagine quiet time is happening for Mrs. Duggar with 18 children in her very busy home!!
~~I love their floorplan and I am so impressed that they built it all themselves.
~~Debt free--(and 7,000 square feet!)--what a way to go!! I am SO impressed by their frugality.
~~Contentment--living in a tiny little house with 5 kids--and then 2,000 square feet with 14 kids--again, I am impressed. I love my space.
~~I love the "clothes closet" idea. With 3 boys in 1 room, we have 2 dressers (plus drawers under Noah's captain's bed) and 2 racks of hanging clothes, completely packed in there (I keep the next size of clothes hanging up on the top rack in their closet). The boys pull clothes down and make a mess of their room--and then they throw those clean clothes right back into the hamper. I currently have about 4 clean clothes piles in our bonus room (oh my!) and twice as much dirty clothes in hampers throughout the house. Ahh! What the Duggars do is this--basically, they have a big walk in closet right off their laundry room. They hang up clothes by style and color (dresses together, pants together, etc.). The older kids pick out an outfit for the little kids every night before bed and they bring it upstairs to their room. No clothes are stored in their rooms. BRILLIANT! I love it! I'm thinking of how we can redesign our house like this. :) We have a huge walk in closet adjacent to our bedroom (we have 2 walk-ins) that is right behind the laundry room. It's currently my craft room. But someday, if we're here and we adopt more kids, I totally want to tear down the wall between the laundry room & that closet and close it off from our bedroom and make it a clothes closet for all of the kid clothes...Another BRILLIANT thing the Duggars do is this--all of the little kids wear the same color in 1 day--to make laundry loads easy. So all of the little boys will wear orange shirts--then they do a load of orange clothes. SO SMART! I want to copy this, too--oh, and laundromat style washers & dryers--2 or 3 sets would be nice. :)

I like the Duggar family a lot. I don't think they're freakish. I wish I could hang out with Michelle Duggar and learn to be so sweet and loving like she is.  I feel like people like the Duggars (homeschoolers, conservatives, people with lots of kids) are making up the new margins of society as every other kind of lifestyle is been accepted as "norm" and I see something really wrong with that.....We're in those margins, right there with the Duggars, and that's a hard place to be...I felt blessed to be able to read this book and to get encouragement from a family who is living out their values strongly, in front of everyone, and they're not ashamed....Go Duggar family!

Check it out:

I got some amazing grocery deals today. See my post on Shop.Eat.Live. here!

gluten, again!

Yesterday afternoon I got a Starbucks mint javachip frappuccino at the recommendation of my friend Angie. Oh yum. So good. I don't like coffee, but I liked that. I drank a little bit, and then thought "ooohh! I wonder if this has malt in it!!" (gluten). I know. Smart! So I looked it up on my iphone. All of starbucks drinks are gf EXCEPT for the ones with chips in them, and the gingerbread one, and something else.  Anyways, I didn't drink any more of it.

It didn't impact me then. Not right away.  Tonight, after only eating for sure gluten free foods all day (gf Chex with milk, gf chicken apple sausages, carrots, gf ranch, and pirate's booty--that's it!), I am feeling like I have had gluten. Weak. Shaky. Light headed. Starving (even after munching). Blah!  I think yesterday's java chip thing is hitting me now. I read that someone drank a whole one and felt sick for a week. I am so glad I only drank a little bit!! I hope this goes away, fast. I was going to go coupon shopping with Ruby in tow...I'm thinking that is not happening now.... :(

p.s. I was just thinking (as I lay down and play Blues Clues for Ruby while the boys are all at t-ball), I didn't feel good last night either. I thought it was because of the sun and the long day. Maybe. Maybe gluten, too. I didn't feel good this morning, either. I thought it was because I stayed up until 10:30 printing coupons. Maybe. Maybe gluten too. I played Mary Poppins for the kids today and I laid down on the couch and ended up falling alseep for a little bit! I never do that...Maybe the gluten..