New.

So, what do you think? Of my new design that is? It is finally updated!!! It's been long enough don't you think?!?

I am so pleased with it. And I hope you like it too! Along with the new blog design today I bring you a video of another new happening at our house.............

Yep, we now have five mobil children in our house. Jeremiah learned to crawl on Tuesday (9/30) evening. And now my life is officially CRAZY!!!

And now, another "new" thing in our life. The long over-due pictures of our new van.

Yes, as many people have told us, it looks like a church van.

We are loving all the space! And I guess it makes us an "official" large family. Seems as if all large families drive these "buses"!!

Under.

Under Construction is what we are.

A new look is coming soon!!

Thoughts.

This week is a crazy busy week for us!!

I am heading up our homeschool groups "End of Summer Picnic" on Thursday. And I am cleaning, cooking, and packing for our "stay"cation next week. While it is a "stay"cation, we are actually "staying" at my mom's. We are doing this because our on the farm we can have bone fires, sleep out in the tent if it is cool enough, and they have the big pool. We are still hunting down ideas of things to do around the St. Louis area. If you have any suggestions for us please leave me a comment. I would love any help I can get.

But before the picnic and packing begins, my heart is heavy today. You see two of my dearest friends and church members are having biopsies today. Man, that "C" word is scary!! Just the thought of these two mommas walking that road with children so young just takes my breath away. They are burdened today, and will be until Wednesday when the results are supposed to be in, I am sure. Would you lift them up and pray with me? Let's help out these fellow momma's by bearing their burden through prayer today please. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

May God bless you dear readers today as you serve Him wherever He has planted you "for such a time as this".

Bedtime

Bedtime.

It is a time of day that draws the line in the sand between parents and children. One is desperate for the day to end and quiet to finally reign. The other side is ready for a few more hours of rough and tumble play.

We are getting ready to begin a new school year and with the end of summer comes the return of stricter more structured bedtime routine here in our home.

Our bedtime routine starts at 8:00pm with a light snack and some milk for the children after they are dressed for bed. When they finish their snack they brush their teeth and go potty. Then they head to the couch.

During this time we talk about our day, deal with any issues that might have come up between the children and I during the day with Daddy, and spend some time with each other. Then when the last child is seated and ready Daddy transitions into our family worship time. This time can look different depending on the night. Some nights it is a round of Bible Challenge DVD game, some its Daddy reading from the Scriptures to us, and even others it could be a Bible Drill or question and answer time. We try to keep it fun but also respectful and reverent. During this time we work with the little ones on sitting quietly and I normally nurse the baby sleep.

Then around 9:00pm we send some of the children (we have some that struggle with night time wetting) potty one more time, diaper those that need it and everyone heads to bed. We are very firm with the children about staying in bed once the lights are out. And most of the time, they do well. Every once in awhile, one will go through a spell of calling/getting up and then we will have a tussle but it usually doesn't last more than a couple nights and then we are back to peaceful evenings.

I am wondering what bedtime looks like in your house? Set bedtime? Certain number books? Snack or no Snack? Would you share with me how you handle bedtime.

Yes Mom.

I have been trying to, this past year, be more of a "yes" mom. I have been trying to say "no" only to things that really aren't a good idea. If something makes a mess, we will clean it up. If something takes some time, I will make it. So the other day, I had a victory!!!!

Kate had some "dirty" dishes that just HAD to be washed. So, I said "yes" and she was so pleased to be able to "wash" her own dishes after she fed her baby. Another yes moment that didn't hurt anything. It just created memories and made this momma smile.

I am really enjoying being a "YES" momma!

A Day in the Life...

of a mother of five.

6:00am - Rise with baby and nurse and snuggle for an hour.

7:00am - Up with hubby, packing his lunch and seeing him out the door.

7:30am - Baby is back to sleep and I get started for the day. It's Monday so this is laundry and Home Blessing day. I start the washer and unload the dishwasher and promptly reload it from Sunday ( I don't do housework on Sunday).

8:00am - I get the master bedroom cleaned and the bathroom as well.

8:30am - Start my tomato sauce(that I prepped from our harvest of tomatoes last week) simmering and my beans soaking. The big girls are up now and I head out the garden leaving the little ones in their care.

9:00am - While in the garden I discover that over the weekend we have been taken over by tomato worms and they have done a number on my beautiful tomato patch. So I run inside, thankful to find the girls have dressed the little ones already and tell them all to load up in the van. I make a quick run to our local farm co-op store for something to rid us of these pesky and UGLY bugs.

9:45 - I am back in the garden and picking away. I get the picking down. Dust the tomatoes with the powder I brought home with me and I head back inside. I change a dirty diaper and love on the baby a little.

10:30- I start another load of laundry, call my mom to finish last minute details about our dinner together tonight and my girls' week long stay with them, and wash all the garden produce that I picked and feed the baby his lunch.

11:15am - Get the mail, receive a letter in the mail requiring my response so I make a phone call. Then I wait on hold for ever and finally am able to talk with a person for all of 5 minutes. Problem taken care of and I'm off the phone. I help clean another dirty bottom in the bathroom and change a wet diaper.

11:45am - Sit down for just a minute. I start this post, drink my third bottle of water for the day, and nurse my baby to sleep.

12:10 - Make lunch for big kids, talk with them about what I want accomplished this afternoon, and eat a bowl of leftover stir-fry for lunch and allow myself a glass of sweet tea.

12:40 - Check on my sister who started her in home daycare today. I'm anxious to hear how it's going.

12:45 - Check my email, update this post, do some work on my next post for Happily Domestic.

1:15pm - I help anothe child in the bathroom, answer the phone, and get playdough out for the little ones. The big girls and I start to fold the 4 loads of laundry that are sitting in the laundry room.

1:20pm - I smell the tomato sauce so I stir it and while I'm in the kitchen I clean up lunch, start the beans to cook for taco salad tonight and unload the dishwasher.

2:25 - Most of the laundry is folded. Big girls went through their drawers and closets and got out clothing for yard sale. We are paring down this week BIG TIME!! I also comforted Kate for the third time today as she realized yet again that she isn't spending the night at Grandma's with the big girls. Tears. Tears. Tears. But she is better now and I'm off to fold diapers and go through Kate's clothing.

2:54 - Another potty break, this one for me. Man that water keeps flowing!!! Baby is awake now. Time for snack for the big kids. And must put the last load into the dryer. I'm getting tired. Maybe a pick me up of my homemade high protien snack mix will help.

4:01pm - Pushed through the "sleepies" and got the last of the laundry folded and put away. Tomato sauce is done and cooling. All the floors have finally been vaccumed and the bedding changed. Now I'm hoping to clean up the clothing mess that was created by the down-sizing after I nurse the baby. If there's one thing that I've learned lately it is that there is always tomorrow and trying to do "one more thing" late in the afternoon adds tons of stress to my day. So, now I stop at 4:00 and finish up the day before my husband gets home.

4:42 - House is ready for daddy to come home. Now I'm off to change and dress children for dinner at my mom's tonight.

5:35 - Husband worked late and it ended up being to my benefit. I got side-tracked on here earlier writing emails and such and just now finished my food. Now nursing the baby and heading out to mom's.

10:00pm - We are home now and I am missing my girls already. They are staying at my mom's until Friday. I'm headed to bed to read my Bible and relax for a minute before bed.

It's been a busy day. But it always is. It's been fun, this blogging about my day. I hope you have enjoyed it too!

Planning.

This week I am planning our new school year. Neck deep in books and paper, and pencils. I'm school supply shopping and I'm loving it! Here is the line up for this year.

Pre-school and K (younger two kids ages 3 and 5) - Sonbeams

Math - Abeka 2nd and 4th grade

English and Phonics - Abeka 2nd and 4th grade

History, Science, Health, Social Studies - Lots of read alouds, some Abeka, some Bob Jones, and some Missouri Conservation resources.

Bible - Little Talks with God, Memorize various passages, Character studies

Life Skills - Focusing this winter on sewing and cooking for the girls. Some projects I have in mind are baby blankets, busy books for them to give as Christmas gifts, and throw pillows. I also hope to have Maggie be comfortable with at least three complete meals from start to table. I also hope to find a book on manners and table settings and such. I am really looking forward to this project this year.

Kate.

Oh my beautiful little girl!

She is her own person!

The other day she thought she would add to that person.

And put a "little" make-up on.

She was very proud of her ability and I was quite surprised at the lack of mess made.

Katherine is a climber and an explorer and you should never underestimate her ability to reach something. If she sets her mind to it she can usually reach it. And this time was no exception.

Gotta love her!!

And she is pretty cute too! (at least I think so)

Nine.

He has now been alive as long as I was pregnant with him. Nine months. So much time but it passes so quickly.

He is a bundle of joy. He is crawling and eating table food.

He is a chubby, chunky, rolly-polly little boy.

Who had two teeth on his nine month birthday, when these pictures were taken, but now has three.

He's my cloth diaper wearing, momma lovin' little man!

Jeremiah,

I love you so much! You are army crawling all over the place now. You love your walker and being outside. You are eating better now but still only a little bit here and there. Your main source of food is still momma and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love our nursing times together. We are working on you putting yourself to sleep in your own bed. Sometimes it works well and other times you just want momma to rock you. And I am totally ok with that. You love your siblings and they can make you laugh and laugh. I can see a special bond forming between you and Josiah and it melts my heart. You are such a good baby and I am proud to be your mommy. I thank God that He choose us to add you to our family.

Love,

Momma

Just.

Just some sentences toady. No pictures, sorry.

Today Jeremiah turns 9 months. His monthly update post will be coming soon. That post will have pictures, I promise!

If I seem to be MIA it is because I am. My garden is in full harvest mode and I am spending about an hour a day picking and another hour a day slicing, shelling, snapping, and cutting. I've shelled about a gallon of peas in the past two days, sliced and froze a quart of peppers, a gallon of okra and I still have more to do.

Summer is winding down for us. The older girls attended VBS last week here in town. They had a blast, but it made for a busy week.

We don't start school until September this year. It is easier to wait until the garden is done and then we always vacation the first week of September. So, we won't start a full load until after that. I love homeschooling!!

I have been over come with thankfulness lately at the life that God has blessed me with. I have five beautiful children that I get to minister to everyday. I am impacting the future with every word that I utter, every chore I demand, and every punishment carried out. Now, how many people can say that about their job!