just what were they thinking?

Let's play What Were They Thinking
(although we all know it's just a sneaky way for me to post some more pictures that I don't want to forget...)


I don't know what he's thinking now,
but I can imagine a few things he might thinking when he sees this a few years from now :o)


When I grow up, I'm going to be just like Dad.


What do you mean two more hours until lunch?



Let's see what Mom's nose tastes like.

(Check out Ethan's expression.)
Who are these crazy people?

Busted!

I have no idea. All I know is that it involved five little people convincing their oldest sister that she would make an excellent karate instructor. I don't really think this looks much like karate, though :o)

Does she have a date that I don't know about?

You mean we have to go back down the mountain?
Are you sure there's not a hotel around here somewhere? Maybe behind the waterfall?
An elevator? Anything???

Visions of sugar plums, maybe?

One day when I'm bigger I'm gonna show 'em.

I risked life and limb for a waterfall? That's it?
I thought there were going to be cookies.

Step one, give them that "I'm The Cutest Boy Ever and You're My Favorite Person In The Whole World"
smile every time they look your way. Step two, every time they pick you up, snuggle your head against their chest and look at them with your puppy dog eyes. Step three, when they're not looking, take over the world.
If that doesn't work, you can at least bribe them for cookies.

On a totally different topic...

I am so excited! Tonight is Christmas Village. It's a craft thing that I've gone to with my Mom, my Coocal, and my sisters every year since I was born. We have never missed a year. Now we take Anna and Moriah and this will be our first year with Dyana's new baby, Addyson. Dyana is such a trooper. She just had pretty major surgery last week, but tradition calls. Afterwards, we'll all drag ourselves hop in the car and head over to the Cheesecake Factory...because you know....that's just what we do. The boys are all bummed because it's really just going to be too cold and rainy for them to go camping. So I think they're going to hunker down with some coke and popcorn and watch Star Wars.

And stay tuned (stay tuned? should I say stay blogged? stay subscribed?) for something I am really, really excited about!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

help for growing familieshomeschool planning~

My Plan (ha ha) is to keep this short and sweet. As my Help for Growing Families topic has to do with homeschool planning, it, ahem, only applies to growing families that homeschool. Obviously. Just wanted to clear that up in case there was any confusion.

I've mentioned before how baby number six really derailed me. My life was going along, nice and predictable, and wham! My whole world was thrown up in the air and the dust is really just now settling. Right in time for baby number seven :o) And it wasn't Haven. He was/is an excellent napper, has a calm personality, and is generally a laid back little guy.

I think there were many things that contributed to the whirlwind that came along with the birth of sweet Haven, but one that I have finally identified was that my older kids' schoolwork was requiring more time, effort, and planning. Kindergarten, first, second, third grade, not such a big deal, I could kind of fly by the seat of my pants, but as my olders were getting older (you know you have a big(ish) family when you have olders, youngers, littles, big kids, little kids, first half, second half, etc.!), I was beginning to need to spend more time explaining, teaching, grading, planning, and identifying and dealing with weaker areas. Whereas I used to sit down on a weekend night, go over the prior weeks' work and plan the following week's work, (and it had worked beautifully up until this point,) it was no longer working. At all. I can claim exhaustion, busy-ness, poorly used time, etc. but regardless of the reason, it just wasn't happening. There were too many days when I had a whole line of kids clamoring around me asking me what they had to do today. Not to mention the preschooler, toddler, and baby that were just, well, clamoring.

Anyway, (why can't I ever keep things short!!) for quite a while I had planned on switching to year round schooling as it was just a better fit for our family. I'm the kind of homeschooling Mom that thinks outside play, especially creative play with siblings, has tremendous "educational" value, so on those beautiful spring and fall days and warm winter days when the kids long to be outside, I love for them to be able to go out. Not to mention that southern summers are too hot for much of anything, so it makes a great time for school. I don't know about you, but my kids get b.o.r.e.d. without structure to their days and something to do. We had loosely switched to schooling year round, but the planning thing was still getting to me. I needed a solution. One that worked.

So I came up with a plan. One that so far has been working out really well. It frees up a lot of time for me and works out great with a year round schedule.

My kids each have a school planner where I write out all their daily assignments. We've done this for awhile. (This would actually be my first tip.) That way they can look at each day and see clearly what is expected of them for that day. They mark off each thing as they complete it. No question about if they're done or not.

So I used to sit down, grade work, and write out "lesson plans" weekly. That's what wasn't working out so great anymore. There needed to be more daily oversight. Who wants kids adding improperly for an entire week before it's caught? Not such a good plan.

So this is the new plan. The one that works. I plan out six weeks at a time. And I go over work daily. Or at least every other day. That way, every day's asssignments consists of correcting the previous day's work, plus the new day's work. This allows me to see on a consistent basis what topics need more review and which concepts they are getting. That in turn allows me to tailor their daily assignments to better reflect their needs.

What is really nice about this plan is that every seventh week, we get a week off school, allowing me to catch up on house stuff, errands, and to plan the next six week's worth of school. We also get more time off at Christmas, about a month off in the summer, and there's plenty of time to take I don't feel like doing school today days "sick" days or whatever you want to call them. It's also nice when I can get my aunt to come over and I can go out, sit down at Panera or somewhere and drink hot tea while spreading out all my stuff and doing my planning in peace.

So that would be my tip for growing families that homeschool. I'm not really sure how this will look as my kids get older and their work becomes really challenging, but maybe by then someone with older kids will have written a Help For Growing Families post for Growing Families that Homeschool Little Kids and Really Old Kids. :o)

And just so as not to add to that everyone else is a perfect homeschooler except me lie that I'm convinced every homeschool Mom believes, if you read my previous post, you would know that this time I procrastinated all week long and let the kids watch tv and then I feverishly planned everything out on Sunday, while scarfing down ridiculous amounts of candy. While bribing paying my kids to clean the house. Just so we're clear here that plans are just, you know...plans. I don't want to be one of those homeschooling Moms that is an unattainable picture of perfection :o)

not me monday~

I stumbled upon another meme that looked like it would be fun to participate in (here is me grinning sheepishly.) Seeing as how blogging allows me to present my life exactly how I want you to see it, and not necessarily what it's really like around here, I've kind of been making an effort in every day life to let people know that my home and my mothering is not a model of perfection. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. So anyway, I thought it might be kind of fun to participate ;o) It's hosted by MckMama at My Charming Kids, who is kind of a kindred spirit as she just had her fourth baby in five years of marriage. Her newest baby, Stellan, was completely and miraculously healed of a serious heart condition. It's worth your time to go over there and browse around. She has a great personality, it's lots of fun to read her blog.

So...

This week it did not take us four nights to get through the new Indiana Jones movie because I kept falling asleep. Not me...

I did not keep falling asleep because I stayed out at my friend's house after book club until 1am knowing that I could nap the next day because my fabulous sister was taking and picking up my kids from school. I would never be so irresponsible.

I did not go to five stores after a homeschool moms group on Thursday night looking to replace a Signing Time video that occupies Haven for ridiculous amounts of time so I can get things done teaches Haven a valuable skill that he just happens to love. Oh no, not me.

I did not sneak in a massage and a manicure (and not tell anyone) on Wednesday when my aunt was keeping my kids so I could "run errands" and get pregnancy blood work done. I'm not sneaky like that.

I did not make my bed for the first time in a month because my family was coming over for birthdays. You guys know my house is spotlessly clean all the time. I'm Wonder Woman, remember?

I did not eat an entire bag of sour lifesaver gummies and then some peanut m & ms yesterday while planning the next six weeks of school. There were raw veggies in that bag. Promise.

I did not lie there pretending to be asleep when Haven woke up during the night this week. Moms never do things like that.

I didn't go all week without a shower because I was just too busy, and I did not wash my hair in the sink where it might clog up the disposal. Not me.

I didn't convince my husband to go out to dinner and dessert Friday night so I wouldn't have to cook so we could visit with my Dad who we hadn't seen in a few months.

I did not go to sleep without brushing my teeth twice this week because I was just so tired.

I did not skip the women's expo at church because I was afraid I would hurt my friends' feelings if I didn't buy their stuff. (Sorry guys, I kind of have issues with stuff like this. *sigh*)

I did not finish the chocolate birthday cake during breakfast last week when no one was looking. Not me, I wonder where it went?

I did not throw all the questionable sippy cups in the sink for Anna and Caleb to deal with when they clean up. Not me. I don't do things like that. That would be mean, and I'm never mean.

I do not give Haven a handful of mini m&ms after dinner most nights so that I can have a few more minutes before he gets down and starts running around everywhere.

I'm not sitting here eating peanut m&ms because I never put them away last night.

I'm not sitting here wasting time when I should be doing something productive. Oh no, my house is totally clean, dinner is in the crockpot, and my children are outside harvesting fresh vegetables from our fall garden. Really.

I didn't let the kids watch tv all week since I was exhausted from camping, the time change, and staying out too late two nights.

I didn't take the whole week off from school for "school planning week" and then wait until Sunday to do all of it. Not me. I am. on. top. of. things...don't ya know?

I am not still on my chips dipped in pickle juice kick. Not me.

I do not drink 3qts of tea a day.

I do not put so much lemon in my water that it's unsweetened lemonade and looks like dirty water.

I did not blow my nose on the bottom edge of my shirt during the night because I forgot to get out new kleenex. That would have been gross. I got up, retrieved a a new box, and did things properly. Promise.

I did not get into a borderline catty email fight with a woman who refuses to let me try her "miracle vitamins" unless I listen to her hour long mlm speech. Not me.

I did not sort, fold, and put all the girl clothes in drawers this week, a full five and a half months before the baby is due. That was not me. I'm not obsessive like that.

I did not pay my children a combined total of $20 yesterday to do all the deep cleaning jobs. Didn't you know my full name is Shyla June Cleaver?

I've not already had hot tea, lemon water, two pieces of toast, a bowl of chicken soup, and a ridiculous amount of m&ms already this morning. And I am not getting ready to eat a turkey sandwich with chips dipped in pickle juice. I don't get weird pregnancy cravings

.I am not sitting here ignoring the fact that my children have all disappeared and it's technically school time. Oh no, I never do things like that.

And I am not sitting here extraordinarily happy that my sister is not going to California so she can take my kids to and from school tomorrow. I'm really sad for her, even though she gets to fly for free and just went to France. Poor girl.

And as a result, I'm not going to have to convince their teachers that I, not my sister, is really my children's mother because since the whole bedrest thing happened she has taken and picked them up from school every week. Not me. I'm the involved parent.

What did you not do?

over the river and through the woodsgreat smoky mountains national park2008 october

I finally managed to confiscate Glen's camera so I could retrieve the pictures of our trip this past weekend.

We went to East Tennessee, and stayed just outside Gatlinburg. We've always stayed in State Parks before, but this time we chose a Jellystone Campground. They advertised kids' activities (craft time, flat football, hayride, etc.) and it looked like a nice spot. Their website is upfront about them being Christian owned, so we thought it would be nice to support a Christian family-owned place. During craft time Satruday morning, Glen asked the mom of the bunch what had brought them to Tennessee (she had told us her husband had formerly been a chief of police somewhere in California.) Her answer was that God brought them, so that was kind of cool. It is owned by her and her husband, and her two sons and daughter in law help run the campground. While it was nice, we happened upon some beautiful state parks nearby with river front spots, so I think we'll probably go that route next time. We had expected the entire area to be crowded due to the fall colors and beautiful weather, but were pleasantly surprised that there were only maybe four other families at the campground, and not too many people in the actual park area. I guess not many people go camping Halloween weekend.

As I mentioned earlier, camping in a pop up doesn't seem like *real* camping to me. We've camped plenty of times in a tent with little ones, but I will admit, it was very nice having a camper. We've never gone more than two nights before, and this time we went for three. It would have been so much harder if we had taken the tent. Although mid day warmed up nicely, the mornings, evenings, and of course nights were chilly (nights were close to freezing, not so good for Haven, Mr. I Like My Bed and If You Don't Give It To Me Right Now I'll Make Your Life Miserable.) There is a little nook where the table area is, and if we removed the table and layered blankets down between the seating area, it was remarkably like a pack n play. It took him a few minutes to accept it as his bed, but after that snuggled down and slept great. Anna, Caleb, and Moriah slept on one of the beds, Glen, Noah, and I slept on another, Haven got the table area, and Ethan claimed the sofa pull out bed. I remarked to Glen that we could easily get at least three more kids in it comfortably ;o) It was quite warm and cozy, and I've kind of missed everyone snuggled up all together. And Ethan did not fall out of the bed the first night. Oh no, not Ethan.

Our Camping Trip in Photos
because I know you guys can't get enough of my adorable children :o)


Haven in his bed area before we made it into his bed,
he didn't sleep on top of the stove ;o)


Our two littlest guys in pjs with cold noses.

Our stout warriors preparing to brave the *easy* hike


Parenting Tip #11

When officials lable hiking easy, moderate, or strenuous,
they are not accounting for families with multiple preschoolers, pregnancy, or double strollers.

Boys will be boys...

Taking a little break on the way up. See my tummy?
That's *all* baby...Really, I promise ;o)

Success! Was it worth it? Who knew two miles could be SO FAR??!!

Yes, we took a tv and had movie night.
Mom and Dad can only roast so many marshmallows in the cold before alternative arrangements become necessary.
It was either bedtime at 7pm or movie night. I know, I know, the hardships of "camping."

All in all, it was a very nice trip. The time change threw us off quite a bit, especially already being an hour ahead of our normal time, but it was still very nice. This coming Friday is Christmas Village, a tradition the girls in our family have been keeping since I was a baby, so Glen is thinking about taking the boys out somewhere close by. Personally, I think he's just still wanting to play with his new toy.

Although I feel as if I've caved, I doubt we'll ever go back to the tent. The conveniences of shower, toilet, beds, heating and air, sink, microwave, toaster, and stove are just too...convenient. Anyone want to buy a really nice, big, two room tent?

journal: october 2008

Because I know you've all been holding your breath...

October found me off bedrest, thank you, Lord! For the first couple of weeks I was only supposed to do "light activities" which is extremely hard to define, especially when you're taking care of and homeschooling six children. Gee whiz.

"How important *is* this dirty diaper? Hmmm, no one is around, which means I'll have to lift Haven, is it worth it?"

"Do I let the trash overflow, or go ahead and lift it out? It's too heavy for Caleb to lift out of the can, and Glen won't be home for six hours. Fruit flies...hmmmm."

"I'm thinking a bath at 8:30am and naptime at 9 definitely falls into the light activities category."

"Dinner? Definitely *not* a light activity."

"Mopping? Are you serious? At least the sticky floors slow the kids down."

All joking aside, I am so thankful that everything turned out fine. It was a very intense six weeks, though.

Midway through the light activities phase, I was having some pretty noticeable cramping, which I really thought was probably an irritable uterus due to being pregnant for over half my adult life, but thought I probably should have checked out. (Plus I wanted to get another peek to see if "she" had grown any boys parts.) I went in, my assumption was correct, their first girl assessment was correct (yay!), and I was released to normal activity since the hemorrhage was completely gone! Glen promptly planned the camping trip.

I have got to do better with writing down what I do every day. I used to keep up with this so well, but since I switched my calendar, grocery list, meal planning, etc. to my palm program instead of a paper planner, my daily event journaling has gone down the drain. I think I'm going to pick up a little planner so I can keep up with this better. I don't hardly remember anything except highlights.

I remember Haven had a horrible diaper rash. I finally figured out he just needed good old zinc oxide, but this took me a good four days of trying other more natural methods. Sometimes I think I just need to stick with what works. We were finally able to go to church again, which was great. I was am tired all the time, and a 9 am naptime has pretty much become the norm. This is always the norm when I'm pregnant. The big kids are allowed to have quiet time, so they don't really care when it happens, and the little kids get up early enough that they are ready for a nap at 9, so it works for us. Glen sold a couple of trailers, and a bobcat, so we used some of that money to buy a pop up camper. Going to get it was an event, and it was one of those God things. The entire day worked out perfectly, literally to the minute, and they were a fun Christian couple with four kids who hit it off fabulously with our kids. We stayed at their house just visiting until after 10pm. They said they had been praying for it to end up with the perfect family, and after camping in it for four days, I have to say it *is* perfect for us. I'm going to write about camping later, though. We were finally able to get back into our weekly routine of the kids taking turns with me to do errands. This usually gives us almost an entire day together, one on one, and we all missed it. Glen and I were also able to have a date night, which was free thanks to a gift card from our sweet neighbors to a very nice Mexican place, and a Cheerios rebate gift card to the movies. I was also able to have a night out to dinner and dessert with my sisters. Our "pet" skunk finally met its end. It was becoming too close for comfort, too bold, and we realized it had a mate. We most definitely did not want baby skunks. Just a helpful hint: shooting a skunk *does* stink. It's a good thing it was right before we left for camping. The smell was gone when we returned.

I'm not feeling sick anymore at all, which is great. This really confirmed to me it was probably a girl as with my boys I stay pretty sick until 16 or 17 weeks, so when I hit 12 this time and I felt better pretty much overnight, I realized it probably *is* a girl as I didn't feel sick nearly as long with my girls. I don't think this is how it is for everyone, it's just how it's been for me. I am still tired, more like exhausted, and my body is pretty much just sore all the time, and I have a lot of cramping and braxton hicks which is pretty normal for a seventh pregnancy. I've also started to feel the baby move on occassion which is always sweet. My stomach literally popped out overnight (this is how it always happens for me) a week and a half ago. I go from not really looking pregnant at all, wearing normal clothes, to being obviously pregnant (as in people have no qualms about mentioning it) and wearing maternity clothes. It's always nice to actually *look* pregnant and not just fluffy :o)

Haven finally cheered up a little. He is such a sweetie and a cuddler, and always has been, but he is also very serious (has been since birth) and could be borderline grumpy. I think he went through some kind of transition in physical and cognitive development which caused him to be in one of those frustrated with life stages babies seem to go through. He's pretty much come through it, though, which makes life easier. He also got in four teeth. My kids get teeth in masse, and Haven has had a particularly hard time with them.

October and November are always the invasion of the ladybugs. Once the weather turns cooler, on the warmer days (which we have a lot of here), the ladybugs come out. Cute, you say? Uh uh. No way. One ladybug, maybe. Hundreds...gross. Nasty. Awful. Thankfully, we only get them in two locations of our house, some people get them all over. They stink. Bad.

The last weekend of the month found us with a problem we encounter every year. The great birthday pile up. Anna's birthday always falls during our vacation week, and then when we return it's time for school to start. Then the end of September is Moriah and Glen's birthdays. For some reason, every year, life is such that their parties get put off. Last year, we didn't celebrate them until like February. This year we finally got around to it in October. I'm embarassed to admit it, but we hadn't yet had Noah's family party either. So we celebrated Noah, my grandmother, my sister Dyana, my sister Kristen, Anna, Glen, and Moriah's birthdays. And this was just my side of the family. Talk about cake and presents! Sheesh. Anna had a gluten free cookie cake, Moriah had a chocolate regular cake, and Noah had a gluten free white cake. So I spent the morning baking, Glen and the kids spent the morning cleaning :o) Yes, even the birthday kids had to help. Gee, if I'd let them off the hook I would have lost half my cleaning crew, people. In all seriousness, if having so many kids has taught me anything, one of my biggest lessons has been letting go of my perfectionism. I have a long way to go, but I have been slapped upside the head with the reality that I really can't do it all. At least not all in the same week anyway :o)

Have I mentioned Moriah's not so much a girly girl? She is the best skateboarder in our house, hands down! She had been wanting a skateboard of her own with pads for months.

My clean living room. I couldn't resist, it's been so long. If you imagine me over there on the couch with my laptop or pile of school books and a pile of toys all over the floor you would have a more accurate picture of real life. :o)

Moriah does have a sweet spot for dogs, though, and had been wanting a pet doctor kit for awhile. That's my sister Dyana and her new baby, Addyson, peeking over her shoulder.

With a grin like that I'm surprised he doesn't get everything he wants. It's a good thing he's number five!

If he ever figures out just how cute he is, we're all in trouble. That's my sister Kristen (aka our Nanny) in the corner and her friend, Ives.

Anna's a little more subdued. All she wanted were gift cards and money. The other night she and Kristen had a sleepover and Kristen took her shopping the next day. We'll also have a girls' night out with my sisters, my aunt, Anna, and myself as one of Anna's birthday gifts. My sisters and I regularly go out together, so Anna looks forward every year to getting to go out with us.


Moriah's skateboarding dog cake.

Noah's Mickey Mouse & Pluto cake. Anna drew the Pluto, didn't she do a great job?

Anna's cookie cake.

Our beautiful October view.

Two of my guys. Aren't they handsome? I am so in love.

Happy October!

i just couldn't resist~

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We had an exhausting a great time camping and I hope to get some pictures up soon along with the October Journal. For now, it's off to naptime!