Books for the Bookworms...

Just when my resolve was getting thin in my determination to finish out the homeschool year, the new Sonlight catalog came! Sonlight is the curriculum I use with the kids. I really like it, mostly, and have learned to modify or just leave out the things I don't care for. When the catalog comes, it's like having a bookstore come to my house. I usually do a quick once over when I first get the catalog. Then, when the kids go to bed, I indulge in some "window shopping". Then, over the next few weeks, I start making the lists of (1)books I need...(2)books I'd like to have...(3)books that are on the "completely extra and only if I haven't already broke the budget would I even consider buying" list... I'm a junkie, I know. I have boxes full of books that I can reuse from Andrew's younger years, and I still manage to make lists of books that fit each category. I love to read. I love to read books. And I want my kids to love it, too. Andrew is a bookworm, and now Jon is catching on to the joy of reading. He finished a book the other day, and was sad it was over. Now that's the sign of a good book. Perhaps a new bookworm has been born...

There's a new sheriff in town...

Motivated by a glut of murmuring and complaining in my house, and inspired by an article in the latest homeschool newsletter, I have instituted a "zero tolerance for complaining policy". This is how it works....
I spent some time informing the children that complaining is no longer going to be tolerated. Then I laid out the precise consequence that will occur each time a complaint slips from their mouths, or is expressed by their rolling eyes, open-mouthed, silent protest. I will not yell, lecture, or otherwise show any emotion. I will simply walk over to the refrigerator and make a checkmark on a piece of paper with their name on it. Each check mark represents a half hour of extra work of my choosing. Could be chores, could be school work--whatever I deem necessary at the moment. But the point is they lose some free time and I help them work through the bad attitude till they have a good one!
We started off strong on day one-an hour of extra work from one, two and a half hours(!) from another..but I think this is going to be a good tool. And stuff is really getting done around here!

You would think after 13 years of dealing with behavior I would remember to lay down the rules, and communicate clearly the consequences of not following the rules, but I forget. They need to know the boundaries. They need to know the consequences. They need to experience the consequences. I need to consistently enforce the rules. It's all coming back to me like I'm waking up or coming out of a fog.... :>) Must be all the baby hormones running back to wherever they go when I'm not pregnant or nursing!

A new appreciation for an old story

Back in January I used a gift certificate to a large bookstore to buy a book I had heard about years ago but never had a chance to read. Hadassah, by Tommy Tenney, is a novel based on the Biblical account of Esther. I so loved the book, and have gone back to the Biblical book of Esther many times since. I recently watched the movie One Night With the King, rounding out my own little unit study on Esther. The story is so rich, with every element of a page turner. There's romance, tragedy, plot twists and even a little comedy....the picture of Haman leading Mordecai through the streets of the city proclaiming the King's pleasure in him makes me chuckle just a bit. I am left with a swirl of thoughts, applications to my life's situations are aplenty. I find myself longing to know God in a much deeper way. To be utterly consumed by devotion to Him. To conduct myself with wisdom and love for the people around me. I'm so thankful for the Word of God. For the rich and meaningful stories of the Old Testament. For the picture of humanity it paints--of people with flaws and hopes and dreams and trials and such...who serve and seek The Ancient One. The Beginning and the End. The I Am. What a gift to be able to read about people like Esther, like David, and even Saul, the first King of Israel. The treasures we can glean from their achievements and failures are precious, indeed.

I'm finished with Hadassah, at the moment, if you'd like to borrow it..... :>)

He is Risen!

Forgiveness.
Redemption.
Victory.
Abundance.
That is our portion because He died and rose from the grave.
Happy Easter, everyone.

Suzy homemaker....

I don't know about you, but there are certain foods in life that have intimidated me. Take guacamole, for example. My sis-in-law Linda makes the best guac...she knows how to pick avocadoes and puts just the right seasoning in it...so I was always afraid to try it. It could not possibly turn out as good as hers. Not too long ago I decided it was silly not to try, and wound up buying some perfect avocadoes and making some tasty guac. Matthew loved it, too! It even passed Ken's taste test. So, with that positive food experience under my belt, (no pun intended), I decided to overcome another intimidating food. Oma makes a concoction she calls "soup green" and she uses it in everything...spag sauce, soups, meatloaf, burgers, stews, goulash, fried rice...it is the foundation for flavor in so many things she makes. Every summer she makes a huge batch or two and shares some with me. It can be frozen and lasts long in the fridge, too. But I usually use it up while she's away in NM. I have wanted to make my own for years...but was afraid of it. Oma does not follow written recipes-and though I've asked her and watched her many times, I just can't change the fact that I need to read it to learn it. Well, I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. I bought green peppers, carrots, onions, and celery and threw them in the food processor. I added a little sea salt, to taste, and Voila! My own version of soup green. I used it in my spag sauce yesterday and can't tell you the satisfaction of knowing it was my own handiwork that made it taste so good, with the added nutrition of all those veggies! Now, nuts in my dinner. That's another thing that intimidates me. But she made it sound so good, so maybe that will be my next food fear to overcome!

An angel with ski poles?

One of the things Ken and I love to do when we go to NM is hike. Each year we have found someplace new and exciting to discover as a family and we all really enjoy it. So this year, in spite of sick children, we decided to continue the tradition and chose to visit Dripping Springs. With water bottles and baby carrier in hand we set off to find the trail. When we got there, 3yo was already crying and whining about sore legs and no energy. He was the sickest of the bunch, and unbeknownst to me was battling a stomach bug that had not quite made itself known on top of the flu he was fighting. 1yo was also crying and whining-so he went right into the carrier. But he wanted Ken to carry him, and I needed Ken to carry the heavier 3yo, so 1yo was not happy for most of the hike. Then 6yo was also feeling under the weather...are you getting the picture? 3 mostly unhappy young children in the hot sun trying to climb a hill on a trail made of very soft gravel-kind of like sand, only lumpier--very hard to walk in...takes you 3 steps to actually move the distance of 2. Step, slip, step, slip....Needless to say I was really questioning my sanity and the wisdom of continuing to the top. I finally decided I should head back down with the three youngest and told Ken I was giving up...to which he declared, "We will persevere!" So on we walked. At this point Ken was carrying 6yo, I had 3yo in the carrier on my back, and 13yo had 1yo. And I began to cry. And pray. This whole experience on the trail felt so much like my life right now. Hard going. Young children needing much care. Fatigue and discouragement threatening to overwhelm me. And as I was telling this to the Lord, I looked up and saw an elderly gentleman coming down the hill. I saw him walk by Ken, but was too far away to hear if he said anything. He looked like he was wearing a park ranger uniform, and he was carrying ski poles....in the desert...with no skis. Maybe he uses them as walking sticks, I thought. He must have been close to 80 years old. I was a little afraid he might tell us it was too late in the day for us to continue and we should head back down now. Okay, part of me would have been relieved had he said that, but it would feel like defeat and deep down it was important to me to finish this hike, so when he stopped to say something to me I was holding my breath. He said, " You sure don't let young children slow you down!" We chatted about family and hiking for a few seconds, and he wished me good day and continued down the hill. I continued walking up the hill, but with a little more strength in my step, and hope and faith welled up in me. I thanked the Lord out loud for this obvious answer to my cry of despair. Through the words of this ski-pole toting park ranger God whispered in my ear, "You're doing just fine. Don't give up. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. You're going to make it, and you're bringing your kids with you!" Words of life for my weary soul, with meaning that went far beyond my need to finish this hike. We reached the top, enjoyed investigating the ruins of buildings from the 1800's, and happily started our trek down the hill, satisfied by our accomplishment and relieved that the hardest part was over. I shared with Ken what the gentleman had said to me, and how it was such a direct answer within seconds of my cry to God. With tears in his eyes he shared with me what the man had said to him. "You carry a heavy load." The truth of those words is impossible to fully express. An affirmation of the immense responsibility Ken carries day after day, and a reminder that God wants him to exchange that heavy load for his lighter and easier one. I know that man was sent there to say those words to us at this particular time in our lives. Ken thinks he was an angel. I think so, too. ;>)

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

We enjoyed our time with NM family so very much, and there was not a dry eye when we said goodbye. Thought I'd share some pics from the trip. Much of my time was spent nursing young children who were sick almost the entire time we were away, but we did manage to get out and do some fun things...

like burying cousin Sep at White Sands

and walking barefoot in the sand!

We celebrated 80 years,

and went hiking in the Organ Mountains on a trail to Dripping Springs

where you can see the remains of a hotel and livery

and a sanatorium that was built in the mid 1800's.

We loved the company


enjoyed the views,

played some poker, did some reading and relaxing and drank in the beautiful sunshine. But in the words of Dorothy from Kansas, "There's no place like home."